According to the Steam hardware survey, about more than 60% of users like to play on 1080p resolution, but for that, we need a good gaming graphics card. So, you might be thinking what’s the best 1080p graphics card we can get as mostly budget hardware’s are preferred for this resolution these days.
The best graphics card we can get for this resolution is GTX 1660 Ti because it doesn’t break our bank and offers excellent performance. So, after the GTX-10 series graphics cards, Nvidia released some RTX-20 series GPUs, but later on, they released the GTX-16 series.
The GTX 1660 Ti has a significant advantage over the GTX 1060 because it got GDDR6 memory and Turing architecture but lacks RTX and tensor cores. So, we have decided to go with these Turing based non-RTX graphics cards, but now there is a question which vendor will fit best for us as there are more than 50 models available in the market.
Taking care of this, we have wrapped up some of the best GTX 1660 ti to get in the year 2021. Before starting, let’s take a look at why GTX 1060 Ti is better than Pascal-based graphics cards.
The first thing is GDDR6 memory, which is a combination of GDDR5 and GDDR5x, but its better than them in every way. The power consumption of GDDR6 is lower than others, and also its bandwidth and speed are much better than them.
Also, the performance of this graphics card somewhere matches the GTX 1070, and with some little overclocking, you can easily get performance similar to GTX 1070 Ti.
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Best GTX 1660 Ti 2021
There are several GTX 160 Ti models released by different reputed manufacturers as only MSI has released more than ten different models, so there are the best graphics cards from every category, including high-end premium and to budget or wallet-friendly graphics cards we have everything.
All you have to do is pick up the best graphics card according to your budget and compare its price with others. So without doing further ado, let’s start with the MSI Ventus XS GTX 1660 Ti.
MSI has released plenty of graphics cards in 1660 series though they had also changed the designs of their Gaming series from previous architecture but still stands first in the crowd.
The Ventus is the MSI mainstream series specially targeted for budget users where it lacks some premium features like high-end thermal design, RGB lights, and some other features.
The clocks of this GPU are slightly lower than the Gaming X series. As I’ve mentioned before, these graphics cards are going to lack some RTX features like Ray Tracing and Tensor cores.
Those super expensive graphics cards which offer great aesthetics are not recommended for budget users as they are not going to give you extra performance.
The boost clock of this graphics card is 1830 MHz and has 12 GBPS of memory speed. In addition to this, it’s a factory overclocked version and supports overclocking, too, if you want to push it more.
If you prefer to overclock this graphics card, I would recommend you go with the MSI Afterburner as the manufacturers of this GPU released it, and it’s much more stable than others.
The front of this graphics card has a simple black and silver-colored shroud with two fans who are responsible for the cooling inside the shroud. The top side has a single pin power connector, and unlike the Gaming X edition, it doesn’t have any RGB logo or such thing.
The dimensions of this GPU are 204mm x 128mm x 42mm in length, height, and depth, respectively. This graphics card is not that big, and it can be easily fit into any casing you want.
One of the main features in the graphics card is the remote control of the Afterburner so you can overclock this GPU remotely. For video output, this graphics card has three DP 1.4 ports and one HDMI 2.0b port and supports multiple graphics cards.
This GPU has a black colored backplate on the backside, which has some white accent on it and looks good. Again, this GPU got effortless and straightforward aesthetics and is not going to offend any RGB build.
The price of this hardware is almost lower than any other GTX 1660 Ti as far as I know, and for it, we are getting the same performance as other vendors. In the end, I would say that this is one of the best GTX 1660 Ti graphics cards you can get in 2021.
The second graphics card on our list is the Gigabyte Windforce GTX 1660 Ti, which is slightly more expensive than the founder edition but a worthwhile option to consider.
This graphics card is factory overclocked and rated boost clock up to 1800 MHz, which is a plus point over the reference card. The looks of these graphics cards are not very exciting as it has matte black shroud with some grey accent on it.
This graphics card is very color neutral, and in my opinion, you are not going to see anything terrible in color coordinate builds. This graphics card itself is not very fancy, but in any color, coordinate build it picks colors from RGB lights and looks good, and that’s the same case with most of the Gigabyte graphics cards.
This graphics card has dual fans where each fan is 90mm, where Gigabyte calls it Windforce 2x, and it makes sense because of these two fans. However, there is a Windforce 3x edition too, which is, of course, better in cooling and allows more overclocking potential.
Though if you don’t prefer some serious overclocking with it, you are good to go with this one. On the top, there is an idle fan logo backlit, which indicates if the fans are working or not, as these graphics cards stop fans if the GPU is running under typical loads.
Both of its fans work in opposite directions so that they flow air on the heatsink effortlessly and allows the maximum amount of cooling inside the shroud.
Like Zotac graphics cards, this one also has a small or compact design, having two slots and can be easily fit into 99% of the cases available in the market.
Those who are looking for an RGB graphics card this one might disappoint you because there is no RGB light, not even a single backlit logo, and this saddens me, and it might for some other users too.
But apart from its design and aesthetics, there are reasonable clock rates as its factory overclocked by the company and also has the potential to overclock by some third-party software.
In the end, I would say If you are an RGB lover, I would not recommend this card, but for those who want performance can go with this one.
EVGA is one of the primary and top distributors from the past several years, and their graphics cards are no doubt better than any other vendor in terms of price and overclocking power.
You might find this graphics card not so good in terms of aesthetics and design, but for performance, its better than any other vendor. First of all, it has a black colored shroud with some grey looks on it, which looks attractive, and it has RGB lights.
Also, it picks colors from RGB lights in your case. This graphics card has a 2.75 slots design means it doesn’t allow you to use the other two slots of your motherboard as it covers the slots.
This GPU has a much more full heatsink but a thin array and has a single fan on it, but no doubt its cooling is much better than others. The RTX 2060 is using the same design, but the thermal solution is different because this one has a lower TDP, and it works fine with this one.
I would recommend you get the single fan version if possible, but make sure that your PC supports three slots. The core clocks of this GPU are slightly lower than the other vendors as it offers only 1770 MHz, which you know is not enough but you are allowed to overclock it.
The EVGA provides several other GTX 1660Ti models, but this one is the cheapest, and you are not going to skip anything with it. It offers the same heatsink pipes and large size heatsink for maximum heat dissipation.
The base plate of this graphics card is the best in its class, but it lacks a backplate, but the other models got them. This graphics card is very compact, and if you are building a small form factor build, I would recommend you go with this one because of its features, performance, and its price.
This graphics card has a budget-friendly price, and that’s why it lacks some features like an idle fan, backplate, and some other things too, but that doesn’t matter a lot.
So, in the end, I would say if you want a compact GPU for a budget price, you are good to go with this one while there are some similar models too from the same lineup.
If you want GTX 1660 Ti for a very affordable price point and don’t care about features and other non-performance related things there, we have ASUS Dual OC GTX 1660 ti for you.
This GPU doesn’t have premium features, not some fancy looks, but for performance, it’s the same as other vendors. So, starting with the design, it has a black colored shroud with some white accent on it, which gives straight forward looks and nothing fancy.
But as it is targeted for budget users, I don’t think they matter, and you can also consider some high-end models. It has a base clock of 1830 MHz, and you can overclock it a little bit to get some more performance out of it but don’t expect something over than average from it.
There are no RGB lights, not any backlit logo, and it also lacks backplate. The I/O side has some ports, including DVI, DisplayPort 1.4, and an HDMI port 2.0, and it supports multiple monitors.
The shroud feels hard over the GPU, but it looks sloppy on the left side, and it looks weird. The cooling system of this graphics card is not that great, and I could be much better.
The top side has an 8-Pin connector and some ASUS and other logos, and unlike the different graphics cards, all of its sides are fully exposed, meaning you can see components on the PCB. As I told you before, this graphics doesn’t have RGB lights, but if your PC has enough RGB, it will look good inside it because it picks colors from a color coordinate build, and that’s the right thing in it.
The cooling design of this GPU is average, and we can’t expect something serious with it. The performance of this graphics card is almost the same as of others, but it lacks some premium and high-end features, and you can consider it if you can skimp them.
If you are not super conscious about the looks of your machine and want some budget hardware, I would recommend you to go with the ASUS Dual OC GTX 1660 Ti. There we have another option for you for the same price, namely ZOTAC GTX 1660 Ti, so look at this graphics card too listed below.
MSI GTX 1660 Ti Gaming X is no doubt one of the top-end graphics cards in the 1660 Ti series as it is better than others in aesthetics and performance. As we already know that MSI completely changed the looks of their Gaming X series in Turing based GPUs, and now they have lovely silver and black colored theme.
This graphics card blends well in any modern build because of its colors and surface, and it picks colors from RGB lights in the case.
MSI Gaming X is packed with excellent performance power and attractive design, and it’s the most appealing card in this list. On the front, there are two fans, and it has MSI Twin FROZR technology while on the back, there is a beautiful brushed silver-colored backplate with the MSI logo on it.
The left side has three Display ports 1.4 and one HDMI 2.0b port and supports multiple displays while there is an 8-Pin power connector on the top side.
There are several RGB lights on the top and bottom side of these graphics cards, which you can easily control using the Windows applications and can match them with your build.
The overall size of this graphics card is not that big as other graphics cards we have reviewed before, and you can easily put it into any mid-tower case. This GPU has a 105 MHz clock boost as compared to the reference card, and with some minor overclock, you can easily push it up to 2000 MHz; however, it goes hot.
We can expect that this GPU is going to perform better than some other GTX 1660 Ti GPUs out of the box.
Though the factory clocks are also good and I think you might don’t need to overclock this GPU. The overclocking headroom of this graphics card is also apparent as this one is capable of hitting +130 MHz GPU clock and 1000 MHz memory clock, which is impressive.
With these clock rates, you will notice a 3-8% improvement in FPS at 1080p and 1440p resolutions. The thermals of this GPU are not that bad, but some other vendors are offering even better at the same clocks; also, this one has idle fan features.
Finally, I would say that no doubt this GPU got a significant spot in the best GTX 1660 ti if you are looking for aesthetics and performance.
In the end, we got the Zotac Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Amputation, which is better than most of the vendors in terms of clock rates. The best thing I like in the graphics card is its compact size, where you can easily fit it into any case even in small form factor builds too.
With its small size, the company has released some software like Fire Strom if you are willing to get more potential out of it by overclocking and new thermal design for better cooling them before.
ZOTAC Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Ti comes with Ice Storm 2.0 thermal design, and it has two pipes along with the heatsink, which allows maximum heat dissipation and makes it cool under high loads.
On the top, there is a beautiful looking ZOTAC logo and an 8-Pin power connector while you can change the effects of the RGB from Windows application.
The backside has a very good looking black colored backplate with the Zotac logo on it, which is, of course, a good point for RGB builds. On the I/O panel, we got three Display ports 1.4 and one HDMI port to connect multiple displays at once.
The thing which might disappoint its users is it doesn’t have many RGB lights except a single ZOTAC logo on top means no aesthetics in RGB builds. This graphics card meets the performance the same as of the GTX 1070 as you are freely allowed to overclock it for more performance.
The overclocking software is provided with this graphics card, and I would recommend you to use that one instead of others as the manufacturers directly offered it.
This graphics card is recommended for those users who like to have something fast, beautiful, and affordable as we all know that ZOTAC is building their reputation from the past several years and are a significant distributor of Nvidia graphics cards which you can see there.
This card looks more appealing, but the lack of RGB lights in Zotac GPUs has always been a bad point, and those who love lighting builds skips them. With all of its greatness and reasonable price, it’s the best GTX 1660 ti graphics card in 2021.
Nvidia non-Turing based graphics cards got a significant spot in entry-level graphics cards because of their price and GDDR6 memory, which was not available in GTX 10 series GPUs.
We have compiled a list of some of the best GTX 1660 Ti you can get in the year 2021. So, starting with the most budget-friendly GPU there, which is ASUS Dual OC GTX 1660 Ti, but only consider it if you can ignore some premium features like RGB lights and backplate.
Another alternative to this GPU from MSI is Ventus XS GTX 1660 Ti, which offers the same set of features but is slightly expensive because of better thermal design and backplate.
The premium graphics cards you can get are MSI Gaming X or Gigabyte Windforce 2x, as both of them have great clock rates and have high overclocking potential. For compact builds, we have EVGA GTX 160 Ti, and Zotac GTX 1660 Ti as both of them offer the same features set but have different designs.
The overclocking potential of all of these graphics cards is good, but don’t expect some serious overclocking with them.
MSI Gaming X is the only graphics card that can hit 2000 MHz with overclocking, but for that, of course, you have to pay for a premium price too.
There are some other options, too, like if you don’t like to have a three-slot graphics card like EVGA GTX 1660 ti, you can also go with the dual fan version of it, and it depends upon your case compatibility.
I found this one best in terms of the hard base, low price, and better cooling solution, but it’s upon your choice.
Asus Rog Strix GTX 1660ti OC is considered as the best GTX 1660ti with good airflow, affordable price, cooling system, and overclocking limits.
Is 1660ti good in 2021?
It is the best Mid-range GPU in the market. It can easily give high frames on 1080p ultra-high settings in many games. So yes! 1660ti is still very good in 2021.
Is a GTX 1660 Ti good for gaming?
GTX series is slowly becoming older but GTX 1660ti is still a good mid-range GPU for those who can’t afford high expensive GPUs for gaming. 1660ti is a great choice for all the mid-range gamers as it can give high FPS on 1080p in many games and also in recent big AAA titles.
What is the 1660 TI equivalent to?
RTX 2060 is made on the same basic turning architecture of GTX 1660ti. So RTX 2060 can be called the equivalent of GTX 1660ti despite their diverse differences.
Zakriya is right from Pakistan. He was raised with a quest for gaming craze with an organization of specialized folks. This is the place he understood that computer games can grow your creative mind to unlimited universes. Gaming is no longer for him only a method for amusement, yet enthusiasm. From the youthful age of 8, gaming was simply the main method for communicating. At whatever point he got the opportunity to play computer games, he took it with two hands and played for quite a long time. Much to his dismay that gaming would turn into his closest companion.
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