Geforce rtx 2060 vs 1660 ti: Nvidia GTX 1660-Ti vs RTX 2060

RTX 2060 Vs GTX 1660 Ti — Fierce PC Blog

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With the skyrocketing prices of graphics cards and how hard they are becoming to find, gamers are starting to think about getting older GPUs. But like every other GPU before jumping on the first one you see, it’s imperative to carefully consider what each of these older options is offering, and which one will fit better into your gaming PC aspirations.

Today, we look at the RTX 2060 from Nvidia and the GTX 1660Ti from AMD. If you’re looking for an older GPU with all the right features, there’s a good chance you will come across these two options being mentioned multiple times.

AMD Vs Nvidia

Nvidia is the most dominant brand in the GPU market. AMD has made a lot of ground in recent times delivering performance-oriented GPUs that deliver value for money and premium performance. Both options give excellent value for money.

For the longest time, Nvidia was known for its pricey GPUs. They seem to have realised this mistake, especially with AMD breathing down on their necks with quality and affordable GPUs. The RTX 2060 is among their efforts of bringing premium GPU with the latest technology like Ray tracing at affordable prices.

For gamers that are looking to slash costs even further, the GTX 1660Ti is a great contender. It might not have some of the features that 2060 from Nvidia has, but it is a vast improvement from its predecessors without a mouth-watering price point.

Why not also read: B550 Vs X570 Motherboards

However, when choosing a GPU, you need to consider a lot more than just the price and the brand. Although these two are also vital factors, there are other features that will help you determine which GPU will be a better fit with your build.

Before jumping into the details of what each GPU is about, a quick overview will help you form a strong foundation about each of the GPUs and give you an idea of what might work better for you.

RTX 2060 Overview

The RTX 2060 is classified as a next-gen gaming GPU with impressive features but a little heavy on the price tag. Overall, the 2060 is a better option with more power and more advanced features which include Ray Tracing and DLSS among other features.

Pros

Good value
Ray tracing and DLSS
Better cooling features
More ports

Cons

There are not many games that support ray tracing at the moment

GTX 1660 Ti Overview

If you can’t afford the RTX 2060, the GTX 1660Ti is the next viable option with close enough performance. It is a budget GPU with some Turing advantages and excellent performances. However, you won’t be able to enjoy ray tracing or DLSS tech that you get with the RTX 2060.

Pros

It’s an excellent upgrade from the 9-sries
Comes with Turing architecture
Budget-friendly price

Cons

No ray tracing or DLSS
Fewer Display Ports

Full Spec Overview

	GTX 1660 TI	RTX 2060
Architecture	Turing	Turing
Code name	Turing TU116	Turing TU106
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	22 February 2019	6 January 2019
Pipelines	1536	1920
Core clock speed	1500 MHz	1320 MHz
Boost Clock	1770 MHz	1620 MHz
Transistor count	6,600 million	10,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	12 nm	12 nm
Texture fill rate	169. 9	201.6
Length	229 mm	229 mm
Memory bus width	192 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	12000 MHz	14000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	288.0 GB/s	336.0 GB/s
Shared memory	—	—
G-SYNC support		+
VR Ready		+
DirectX	12 (12_1)	12
Shader Model	6.5	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2.131
CUDA	7. 5	7.5

Architecture

Both GPUs ride on the same architecture – the Turing NVENC architecture. But there are some differences that set the performance of each card apart and also determine the level of performance you can expect from each card.

The RTX 2060 has 1920 CUDA cores for stream processing. It also has 240 Tensor which can be used for real-time ray tracing and DLSS.

The GTX 1660Ti on the other hand has fewer cores. It packs 1536 CUDA cores and no Tensor or Ray tracing cores.

With the extra cores, the RTX 2060 can deliver smoother gameplay for more immersive gaming. However, some experienced gamers have questioned the ability of this GPU to keep up with modern demands of ray tracing as seen on modern gaming titles.

A quick comparison of the architecture specs includes:

	RTX 2060	GTX 1660 Ti
NVIDIA Cuda Cores	1,920	1,536
Clock speeds	1365 1680	1500 1770
VRAM	6GB GDDR6	6GB GDDR6
Memory interface	192-bit	128-bit
Memory bandwidth	336 GB/s	288 GB/s
Memory speed	14 Gb/s	6 Gb/s
Power	160 W	120 W
Ray tracing	✓	—
DLSS	✓	—
1440p gaming	Great	Great
4K gaming	Mediocre	Poor
Ports	HDMI 2. 0b 3x DisplayPort 1.4	HDMI 2.0b DisplayPort 1.4 DVI

For a clearer perspective, here is a look at clock speed details for each of the GPUs:

GTX 1660 Ti

Base clock speed – 1500 MHz
Boosted clock speed – 1770Mhz

RTX 2060

Base clock speed – 1356 MHz
Boosted clock speed – 1680 MHz

The GTX 1660Ti GPU is faster than the RTX 2060 in both the base and boosted clock speeds. But when the GPU is overclocked, the gap between the two reduces substantially.

Cooling

For gamers that are obsessed with overclocking, it’s critical to have a decent cooling system to avoid overheating and potentially damaging your new GPU while squeezing it for all it’s got.

The GTX 1660Ti has an advanced cooling system that will effectively prevent the card from overheating even in the most intense gaming sessions. It has an effective 85mm single fan that is surrounded by a thin fin stack and additional thermal pads that are located on the plate’s surface.

The RTX 2060 has a more complex cooling system that features a dual-axial cooling system with 16-blade fans that keep things crispy and cool while still managing to keep surprisingly low noise levels.

When using either GPU you should avoid getting over 85 degrees Celsius. Although the RTX 2060 can reach a maximum of 88 degrees Celsius and the GTX 1660Ti has a maximum of 95 degrees Celsius, staying below the 85 degrees threshold will ensure a longer life for your GPU.

For overclockers, staying below this temperature with the stock cooling system is almost impossible. You can check out some replacement cooling systems that are more effective and compatible with the GPU you select. Such systems will help the GPU stay cooler as it takes care of more demanding task loads when playing GPU heavy gaming titles.

Dimensions

The dimensions of your GPU will not necessarily determine the performance. But, they will determine if the GPU can fit in your PC case. Unless you haven’t bought the PC case, the dimensions will determine which GPUs you can and cannot buy.

The GTX 1660 Ti measures 229mm inches in length and 35mm in height. It has dual slots with a width of 111mm. both GPUs share the same height and width, but the RTX 2060 is longer by 2mm.

The GTX 1660 Ti GPU has a die area of 445mm-squared, 10,800 million transistors and a board that draws 130 watts of power. The RTX 2060 has a higher power draw of 160 watts and requires a next-generation 6-phase power supply that allows for maximum overclocking.

Both of the systems connect via the same pin – an 8-pin connector and they also use a PCI Express 3.0 x 16 interface.

For the outputs, the GTX 1660 Ti has fewer ports. They include the DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort. The GPU also has an entirely new USB Type-C port.

Resolution

The resolution is where you can truly determine the type of GPU you want. Most of the features on the card all add up to delivering a better viewing experience. Under resolution is where you get to see the true performance of the card. Typically, GPUs with better resolutions are often considered to be superior for obvious reasons.

The GTX 1660 Ti is a big jump from the GTX 1070, which was before it, not to mention that is comes dangerously close to the performance of the RTX 2060.

Although the 1660Ti is not truly at par with the RTX 2060, neither of the cards struggles. They both perform exceptionally well across the board consistently pushing out around 60 frames per second.

When playing in 4K, the GTX 1660 Ti struggles slightly. But in 1080p, it has exceptional performance. It also has decent frame rates when playing at 1440p. the RTX 2060 fairs better at 4K and 1440p settings.

The RTX 2060 is a better choice in this case because of its faster and smoother gameplay with lower chances of lags. It also has more room for future-proofing.

Ray Tracing

The RTX 2060 has AI-enhanced graphics that offer real-time ray tracing which sharpens up your shadowy imagery for a more immersive gaming experience with more realistic detail in your games.

The RTX 2060 is a more reasonably priced entry point to premium features like ray tracing and DLSS technology with a stunning performance in your games.

Why not also read: Best X570 Motherboard

If ray tracing is a priority and you want to utilize it sooner, the RTX 2060 is a clear winner. The RTX 2060 is also better suited for gamers that are keen on future-proofing. The GTX 1660 Ti though competitive doesn’t have the correct cores or the architecture to run the same technology which is one of the reasons why it is more affordable than the RTX 2060.

VRAM

The GTX 1660 Ti comes with 6GB GDDR5 memory while the RTX 2060 has 6GB GDDR6. On the surface, this looks like a minor difference. But it couldn’t be further from the truth.

GDDR6 is a newer and more efficient technology that uses a 192-bit memory interface. It runs comfortably at 14 GBPS for smooth operation. It is faster than the GTX 1660 Ti which has 12 GBPs instead. The faster GPU can retrieve data and images quicker and reduce loading time.

The GTX 1660 Ti has the same 192-bit memory interface, but there’s a difference in the amount of memory bandwidth the GPU has. The GTX 1660 Ti has 288 GB/s and the RTX 2060 has a much faster 336 GB/s.

Price

Most gamers look at the price tag before anything else. Although it’s a great way to narrow down your options, it can also make you miss out on great deals. Pick various products in the same price range, compare the features and then consider the price as the last factor. This way, you’re not just looking at the cheapest GPU at your budget but the one that gives you the most value for your money.

If you’re on a tight budget, the GTX 1660 Ti is the best option. It offers a balance of premium features at a pocket-friendly price. The RTX 2060 sets you back further. But, spending a little extra or saving for an extra month proves worthwhile. The RTX 2060 offers a better in-game experience and it is more future-proof. While you might save some money buying the GTX 1660 Ti, you will need to upgrade as soon as you get into 4K gaming.

Which One is the Best For You?

After considering all these factors, it’s time to choose which GPU fits your needs the best. For most new gamers, the GTX 1660 Ti is an excellent choice. It has all the right features and will ensure you get the best possible experience during your initial years as a game.

The GTX 1660 Ti is also a formidable choice for intermediate gamers. However, for gamers already into 1080 gaming, the RTX 2060 is a more suitable option because it can support 1440p gaming and light 4K gaming which saves you the trouble of upgrading in the near future.

The most advisable approach in determining which of the two GPUs is best for you is considering your current and near future needs first then comparing which GPU has features that best align with your needs.

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GTX 1660 Ti vs RTX 2060: benchmark performance and feature comparison

The GTX 1660 Ti is something of an oddball: the first Turing card without RTX features or indeed the RTX name, a £260/$280 successor to the GTX 1060 that delivers performance on par with the GTX 1070. That makes it hard to anticipate how it compares to the other mainstream Nvidia GPU, the RTX 2060, which was released at the beginning of 2019 and has an RRP of £320/$350. This article is intended to put an end to the guessing games, as we show you exactly how these two cards compare in terms of performance, what extra features you get from the RTX card and how they sit in terms of current pricing and availability.

For our performance comparison, we’ll include live game benchmarks from a range of the latest titles and legacy favourites, from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to the Witcher 3. While these cards are designed to tackle 1080p and stretch to 1440p gaming, we’ll also see how they handle 4K at a pinch. (However, if you are considering either card for a 4K setup, we’d instead recommend at least looking at the RTX 2070 or GTX 1080 unless you’re content to turn down your settings far below the high or ultra presets we tested at and pick up a high-end processor to boot.) Finally, we’ve also included a generational benchmark, so you can get a general idea of gaming performance if you’re upgrading from an older GeForce GTX card.

If you’re interested in the benchmark or pricing for these two cards, then feel free to click on the links below to get straight to the relevant section. Otherwise, scroll on and take it all in!

GTX 1660 Ti vs RTX 2060: Features
GTX 1660 Ti vs RTX 2060: Benchmarks
GTX 1660 Ti vs RTX 2060: Price and availability

The GTX 1660 Ti looks to deliver impressive performance for its price, but how much extra performance do you get by saving up for the RTX 2060?

	GPU cores	VRAM	Memory Bus	Bandwidth	Boost Clock	TDP
GTX 1660 Ti	1536	6GB GDDR6	192-bit	288GB/s	1770MHz	120W
RTX 2060	1920	6GB GDDR6	192-bit	336GB/s	1680MHz	160W

GTX 1660 Ti vs RTX 2060: Feature comparison

For two members of obstensibly the same Turing generation, the GTX 1660 Ti and RTX 2060 are suprisingly dissimilar. The RTX card includes specialised RT and Tensor cores, allowing you to use Nvidia’s implementation of real-time ray tracing (RTX) and deep learning super sampling (DLSS). While not many games support this technology yet, with Metro Exodus and Battlefield 5 being the most notable examples, they could be deeply transformative features.

Real time ray tracing realistically renders light and shadow in a scene, incurring a heavy performance penalty but providing a unique look. In Metro, switching between RTX off and on can make a huge difference to how a room looks, with the baked and faked lights of traditional rendering techniques paling in comparison to authentically lit scenes, especially in dark areas. Meanwhile, in Battlefield 5, RTX allows you to see around obstacles by looking at reflections, providing new tactical possibilities.

You may well still prefer higher frame-rates to these atmospheric tweaks, but it’s nice to have the option — especially when DLSS has the potential to claw some of the lost performance. DLSS essentially lowers the internal rendering resolution of the game, then makes up for the loss in image quality by intelligently upscaling based on the algorithm’s knowledge of how the game ought to look at high resolutions. The success of DLSS can vary from game to game and improve over time, but when it goes well, it provides an instant improvement in performance.

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Of course, DLSS and RTX are only supported in a handful of games at this point, so their utility is limited at best. And from that point of view, there’s little to separate the 1660 Ti and 2060.

Both GPUs lack the USB-C VirtualLink port of the higher-tier RTX cards, but both support new shader techniques like Variable Rate Shading which can see performance advantages in games that support it. So far that list of games only includes Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, where you can get up to a 15 per cent frame-rate boost when the tech is enabled.

Both cards are also able to stream or record game footage with less CPU utilisation than on last generation cards, thanks to a new iteration of the NVENC encoder. Finally, both support both G-Sync and FreeSync variable refresh rate monitors, so you’ll be able to consider a wide range of the best gaming monitors for your setup.

One last point of contention is the size of these two cards. As you can see from the picture of our test unit above, the GTX 1660 Ti is available in some very compact form factors indeed, which are well-suited to cramped cases where space is at a premium. The RTX 2060 can also be had in these configurations, but the GTX card’s marginally lower power requirements mean that the newcomer gets a narrow advantage here.

GTX 1660 Ti vs RTX 2060: Benchmarks

We tested the GTX 1660 Ti and RTX 2060 in a high-end system, built around a Core i7-8700K processor with all cores pinned to 4.7GHz and kept cool with a Corsair all-in-one liquid cooler. If you’re looking to make use of a high refresh rate monitor, we recommend sticking with at least a recent Core i5 or Ryzen 5 processor, with better results coming from a Ryzen 7 or Core i7 CPU. That means these results represent a best-case scenario in some respects, and especially at 1080p weaker CPUs will impact performance in some games. It’s also worth noting that our PNY XLR8 GTX 1660 Ti comes with a nominal 45MHz overclock, while the RTX 2060 is a Nvidia Founders Edition tested at stock clocks. With both cards being entry-level options, this should be a fair fight.

If you’re new to Digital Foundry, you might not have seen our unique system for showing benchmark results before. The general idea is that instead of using static bar charts or burned-in video data, we’re combining the two into a dynamic system. Press play on the test scene for each game, and you’ll see live frame-time and frame-rate data that gives you a better idea of performance than a traditional average frame-rate figure. You can choose which cards at which resolutions you want to see with the controls to the right of the video, with up to four data sources being shown at once.

If you’re in a rush though, you can also find average frame-rate figures in a barchart below. Here, you can also mouse over the chart to see how each card did at the best or worst moments of the benchmark, which can tell a different stories than the averages alone. You can also click on the resolution tabs on the right to filter between 1080p, 1440p and 4K results. It’s worth mentioning too that you can click on the chart to change between frame-rate values and percentages, which can make comparisons between different cards and resolutions a bit easier. Now, let’s get started.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is a challenging test even for high-end cards, so we’re not expecting brilliant performance here — even at 1080p. The RTX 2060 comes the closer of the two cards, but both fall short of 60fps at the punishing ultra high preset we’ve selected. The performance gap is only 10 per cent between the two cards at 1080p, but this rises to 19 per cent at 1440p and 23 per cent at 4K.