5 Best GTX 1660 Ti Graphics Cards

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Thinking about building yourself a gaming rig? The process is easier than ever, but the prices can be a little intimidating. Whatever your budget, the most important component in a gaming PC will be the graphics card.

Nvidia has been shaking up the market in the graphics card industry with their new RTX 3000 series cards. They’re great, but they’re incredibly hard to get ahold of and not everyone building a gaming PC has a budget in the quadruple digits.

Luckily, the 1660 Ti is still around!

Nvidia released the GTX 1660 Ti back in February of last year, and it instantly became a fan favorite. Why? Because it has performance that rivals the GTX 1070 at half the price. By utilizing the Turning architecture developed for their 2000 series cards and dropping the ray tracing, they could focus exclusively on raw performance without the added cost.

It’s the little-engine-that-could of GPUs. That’s why we decided to put together this list of the 5 best 1660 Ti graphics cards!

Should You Buy a 1660 Ti?

You might not know whether the GTX 1660 Ti is the right card for you. Picking out components can be intimidating, especially when you’re first dipping your toes into the PC building pool. Measuring performance with terms like “CUDA cores” and “GDDR6 RAM” might give a beginner more anxiety than answers.

The easiest way to choose a graphics card is in terms of your budget. It’s an old rule of thumb that you should allocate a little under half the cost of your build (before peripherals) to your graphics card if you’re using your PC for gaming. That means your GPU should cost nearly as much as your case, power supply, motherboard, CPU, storage, and RAM put together.

Because of this, the GTX 1660 Ti is best for builds near the $500-$800 range. This graphics card will enable players to reach over 60 fps at 1080p resolution on most AAA titles, offering great mid-range game performance at an entry-level price. The next step-up for a more expensive build would be the AMD Radeon 5700 XT or the 2060 SUPER.

Zoom In: 5 Best GTX 1660 TI Graphics Cards

We hope you’re ready to game, because we’re about to give you our top picks for the best GeForce GTX 1660 Ti cards on the market.

1. GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 Ti OC 6G

The best GTX 1660 Ti overall

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Manufacturer: GIGABYTE | Memory: 6 GB GDDR6 | Clock Speed: 1800 MHz | CUDA Cores: 1536 | Price: 💰💰💰

Our pick for the best overall GPU is the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 Ti OC 6G. Its greatest appeal is its price-to-performance ratio, offering top-notch cooling and performance at one of the lowest prices on the market.

The GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 Ti OC 6G has two unique 90mm WINDFORCE fans, which spin in alternate directions for maximum heat dissipation. These fans are mounted on top of a heat-sink with a composite copper heat-pipe. All this adds up to some very respectable cooling for a “value” component.

It has a backplate with an all-black design, which isn’t flashy but will look good in any build. You’re not going to find a better deal than this.

2. EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti XC Overclocked

The best GTX 1660 Ti SFF

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Manufacturer: EVGA | Memory: 6.144 GB GDDR6 | Boost Clock: 1845 MHz | CUDA Cores: 1536 | Price: 💰💰💰

Not very many of the graphics cards on this list are especially big. The EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti XC Overclocked is particularly petite even among small cards, coming in at 7.48 inches in length. The smaller size makes it ideal for small-form-factor and micro-ATX builds that are tight on space.

It’s no slouch in the cooling department either. Since the SFF design only allows one fan, EVGA compensates by giving the card a thick heat-sink. Doing this allows the larger fin-stack to dissipate a substantial amount of heat from the card despite the limited volume of moving air.

The downside is that the card requires three case slots to install. It might obstruct a second PCIe slot that a user could want for WiFi, a capture card, or additional NVMe SSD storage. Some SFF cases may not even have three slots for the card to occupy, so make sure to check your other components for compatibility and buy with caution.

It has an all-black design, making it an easy addition to any system. 

The PNY GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Gaming Overclocked Edition might have been a competitor in this category, but the price has inflated to the point that the card is no longer relevant.

3. MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

The best GTX 1660 Ti for overclocking

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Manufacturer: MSI | Memory: 6 GB GDDR6 | Boost Clock: 1875 MHz | CUDA Cores: 1536 | Price: 💰💰💰💰

The MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a little pricier than some of the other cards on this list, but the increased performance justifies the cost. Its boost clock comes in at 1875 MHz, giving it a small but noticeable lead on EVGA and GIGABYTE options.

This card also has its own unique fan design. The MSI Torque 3.0 fans use two differently-shaped fans to create an irregular airflow stream for better cooling performance. As we all know, better cooling means better overclocking.

The most popular piece of overclocking software on the market is MSI Afterburner. This program has a built-in OC Scanner that allows for “1-click overclocking,” a utility that also works with all Nvidia and AMD-based graphics cards.

It has a black and gunmetal design with a brushed gunmetal backplate and software-controlled RGB. Some users aren’t fans of the aesthetic, but we find it to be one of the more stylish cards on this list.

4. ASUS ROG-STRIX GeForce GTX 1660 Ti OC

The best premium 1660 Ti

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Manufacturer: ASUS | Memory: 6 GB GDDR6 | Clock Speed: 1530 MHz | Boost Clock: 1890 | CUDA Cores: 1536 | Price: 💰💰💰💰

This is a tricky recommendation. On the one hand, the ASUS ROG-STRIX GeForce GTX 1660 Ti OC undeniably has the best specs in its class with the highest boost clock of anything on this list. It’s also the only card on the list to offer a three-fan design, ensuring superior cooling and overclocking capability.

On the other, it gets harder to justify the expense of a premium 1660 Ti as the price creeps closer and closer to 2060 Super territory.

There’s something to be said for a card that feels premium, though. The RGB and sleek black design certainly look the part. Still, I would only recommend this card to gamers who are either die-hard ASUS fans or who really want that top-of-the-line aesthetic in a mid-tier build.

5. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile

The best GTX 1660 Ti for laptops

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Manufacturer: NVIDIA | Memory: 6.114 GB GDDR6 | Clock Speed: 1455 MHz | CUDA Cores: 1536 | Price: 💰💰💰

You don’t need to be building a desktop to be interested in a 1660 Ti, but you should be sure you’re getting the best version of the card for portable devices. There are only two versions of the 1660 Ti for laptops — the Nvidia GeForce 1660 Ti Mobile (AKA the Max-P) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q.

The Max-P is 10-15% faster than the Max-Q, giving it a 22% higher base clock and a 16% higher boost clock. That said, the Max-Q has two major advantages over the Max-P. 

Firstly, the Max-Q was designed for thinner laptops like the one featured above. It has a lower profile and works in laptops that the Max-P is simply too large for. Secondly, the Max-Q only utilizes 60 Watt TGP (20 Watts less than the Max-P), making it less of a draw on the laptop’s battery.

There are certain situations where the Max-Q is the better-suited of the two GPUs. Overall, however, the Max-P offers better speed and performance, which is why we chose it as our pick for the best GTX 1660 Ti for laptops.

BONUS: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X CPU

The best CPU for the 1660 Ti

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Manufacturer: AMD | Cores: 6 | Threads: 12 | Processor Speed: 4.4 GHz | Socket: AM4 | Price: 💰💰

There are plenty of Intel devotees out there who are probably shouting that the Intel is “better than Ryzen for gaming!” and that’s true… in the premium market. The truth is, ever since Ryzen’s 2000 series processors were released back in 2018, the mid-range market hasn’t been so black and white. Their new 3000 series cards have tilted the scales even more in Team Red’s favor.

The Ryzen 5 3600X is a great CPU for building a PC that can do a little bit of everything. It has six cores and twelve threads, making it ideal for running multiple tasks simultaneously. Do you video edit? Live stream? Are you the kind of person who likes to have 5+ programs running at the same time? If so, you’ll be grateful for those extra threads.

True, single-core performance dictates gaming speed, but the gap between Intel and AMD has been closing little by little every year, eventually becoming barely noticeable;

All modern AMD processors run on the AM4 chipset, meaning you can upgrade your CPU down the line without having to change your motherboard. 

In addition to all that, the Ryzen 5 3600X comes with AMD’s Wraith Spire cooler. Traditional wisdom says that stock coolers are generally only good as thermal grease-coated paperweights, but the Spire is a great low-profile cooler with a matte-black design and an RGB ring light that is more than sufficient to get you started. Investing in this option might save you a few bucks and help keep you on budget.

Buyer’s Guide: Best GTX 1660 Ti Graphics Cards

Here’s what to consider when buying a GTX 1660 Ti:

• Price: Finding the best 1660 Ti for your budget is the top priority. Don’t be swayed by more expensive tech if it’s going to force you to cut corners elsewhere. Likewise, don’t skimp out on your GPU to get a fancier SSD. An unbalanced build is just performance left on the table.
• Cooling: Cooling is the next crucial factor after cost. Be sure to check multiple reviews on any card you’re considering, and be wary of any complaints about the card running hot. This is doubly important if you plan on doing any overclocking. You should also keep an eye out for complaints about the amount of unwanted noise generated by the fans.
• Size: What are the dimensions of your case? The ASUS ROG-STRIX 1660 Ti OC Gaming is 11.9 inches long. You need to make sure that there’s enough space between the slot at the back of the case and the fans at the front, especially if you’re thinking about installing a radiator.
• Brand: Branding is another thing to consider. Certain brands like ASUS and MSI use native RGB-controlling software. You might think about matching your GPU with a same-brand motherboard to get the most out of that synchronized control. ASUS, GIGABYTE, Zotac, MSI, and EVGA are all reputable manufacturers of aftermarket GPUs.
• Appearance: Pick the one that you think will look best in your system. Aesthetics should always be second to performance, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth considering.

Our Process

For this guide on GTX 1660 Ti graphics cards, our writers spent 5 hours researching over 10 of the most popular options from brands big and small. After comparing this data, we then read over 100 user reviews and narrowed our list down to the top 5 GTX 1660 Ti graphics cards on the market. All of this research adds up to recommendations you can trust.

Further Reading

We hope you’ve found the perfect model for your setup! Feel free to tell us more about your experience with any of the cards on this list. Don’t forget to keep up with the High Ground team for more gaming rig roundups and rankings.

Happy gaming! 

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