NVidia GeForce 660 GTX Ti and Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660: reviews, details

According to the statements of many users who prefer resource-intensive dynamic games, a video adapter based on the NVidia's GeForce 660 chip is the cheapest device that can not only run but also provide an opportunity to play comfortably on the minimum settings of the application. It is worth noting that most modern games in system requirements recommend the user to have a video card on a GTX 660 chip or higher. In this article, the reader will become more familiar with this product, learn the technical characteristics and, thanks to the feedback of the owners, will draw their own conclusions about the representative of the game class in the market of computer components.

Positioning in the market of products based on GeForce 660

As expected from the manufacturer, there are two modifications of the chip on the market. This GTX 660 and its improved version - GTX 660 Ti. However, unlike other NVidia products, the video card data is not built on a single chip, according to the statements of many professionals, in fact they are different products. It all looks rather strange, but if you shift focus to the cost of the GeForce 660 graphics cards, it turns out that it is minimal for the High-End class, and the performance is the maximum for the budget class.

That is, the manufacturer decided once again to erase the boundary between the two classes of video adapters, creating a semblance of a transitional model. Several years ago, NVidia already put such an experiment on the example of the video card 6800 GS 256-bit, and the results exceeded all expectations. Apparently, the manufacturer decided to repeat the forgotten success in sales.

Technical characteristics of video cards based on the chip

To make it easier for the reader to understand the difference and similarity between the two video adapters, he is invited to see the characteristics of the NVidia GeForce 660 in the form of a comparison:

1. The lightweight version of the GTX 660 has its own core GK106, while the GTX 660 Ti uses the base of the gaming segment - GK104.
2. Let the chips and created by the same technical process, but the crystals they have significantly different. The GTX 660 chip has an area of 221 mm ² and 2.540 million transistors, while the Ti modification has 294 mm ² and 3,500 million transistors.
3. The number of stream processors in the GeForce 660 is only 960 pieces, while the Ti model has 1344 pieces.
4. The frequency of the graphics core for GeForce 660 is 908 MHz (in Boost mode 1033 MHz), for the GTX 660 Ti it is less: 915 MHz (1097 MHz Boost).
5. But the memory characteristics are identical: 192-bit GDDR5 bus with a capacity of 2048 MB is used, which has an effective frequency of 6008 MHz.

Mobile graphics core version

And if everything is clear with video adapters for personal computers (the lower segment is not able to exceed the performance of the line above), then with the discrete NVidia GeForce 660 graphics cards for mobile devices, a completely different picture is observed. In the race for high performance in games, the manufacturer, apparently, was very keen on the characteristics of the AMD 6950M chip. Trying to outperform the competitor, the NVidia lab released a mobile GTX 660M chip that outperforms its older brother GTX 570M.

Due to the fact that the problem was revealed after the presentation of Asus and HP notebooks with new video cards, the new game chip did not return to the laboratory. As a result, the winner was the buyer, who bought a laptop of the initial game level and discovered in it an undiscovered potential. As the owners say in their reviews, the mobile video card is able to cope with the FullHD resolution with resource-intensive toys Metro 2033 and Crysis 2 (at the maximum settings).

First acquaintance with the video adapter

Unlike other products of the NVidia line, the GeForce 660 graphics card is present in retail sales of some countries. Some sources claim that at well-known world auctions, the manufacturer sells stale products, while others claim that these distributors create a buzz among buyers. In any case, with a special desire, you can find a reference card with the NVidia logo in retail. But the improved version of GeForce 660 Ti in retail is not available.

A video card without a box (OEM) is delivered and does not have any accompanying documentation. Even the marking of the device's belonging to the 660 series is not on the radiator grille. Only by removing the protective cover of the cooler, you can see the markings and make sure that the video card is original. The user on the PCB can detect 6 free video memory slots. Apparently, this is done with a margin for the future.

Appearance and cooling system

At first glance, the video adapter looks like a representative of the High-End class, but with a detailed inspection it turns out that the manufacturer simply increased the length of the cooling system casing, and the printed circuit board has the size standard for the budget class. On the one hand, this solution has allowed to improve the flow of air into the turbine of the fan (it is taken from both sides). But, as practice shows, some of the cold flow is dissipated before it hits the radiator grill, thus reducing the cooling efficiency.

The board of NVidia GeForce 660 is assembled soundly: the power elements were assembled by the manufacturer and placed on the front of the device. There are questions to mounting the radiator on the chip and memory chips (slightly contiguous), but the situation can be corrected by installing spring-loaded screws. In general, the impression of the cooling system is good.

Performance of the original NVidia video adapter

If the reader thinks that a representative of the initial game class without the modifications of well-known manufacturers in the computer hardware market will not be able to show high performance, then he is mistaken. The reference video card NVidia GeForce 660 fits perfectly into all graphics performance, taking the place between similar video adapters based on the same chip (Asus, Gigabyte, Zotac, EVGA and others).

But with the overclocking of the video card things are not the best way. The usual increase in the frequency of the graphics core by 3% leads to overheating of the crystal, which gives out the "window of death Windows" and reboots the computer. Definitely the whole problem in the cooling system. Therefore, amateurs to increase the performance of the system with the help of overclocking, it is worth taking a closer look at the GTX 660 chips from other manufacturers.

Leader of sales

The representative of Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 can rightly be considered a popular video adapter in the markets of the post-Soviet space. A worthy title of the product was provided by Taiwanese technology, which made small changes in the design of the PCB of the video card and installed a proprietary cooling system. In the market, the buyer can meet several modifications of the device based on this chip: with a volume of 2 and 3 GB, as well as an active cooling system consisting of two and three fans.

Changes affected first of all the batteries - all the heating elements were replaced by modern modules that can not be heated (solid capacitors, ferrite controllers). Also, the manufacturer made changes in the distribution of the power phases of the GeForce 660, separating the power supply of the crystal from the memory modules. The only shortcoming of designers is the presence of several controllers (including memory chips for the modification of 3 Gb) on the back of the PCB - they are not cooled at all.

Branded cooling system Gigabyte

Regardless of the device model, as well as the amount of RAM, all representatives of the Gigabyte GeForce 660 series (including the Ti version) have two types of cooling system: with two and three fans. Accordingly, the presence of three coolers indicates that the video adapter is ready to cope with overclocking. In the media, opinions differ on this issue. The reason for this is the presence of uncooled memory modules on the back of the PCB (we are talking about modifications from 3 GB of memory).

In any case, the cooling system still more effectively cope with the heating, rather than the reference device NVidia. Aluminum radiator isolates not only the graphics core and memory chips - almost all the surface of the board is covered by its grating. To efficiently remove heat, the manufacturer used copper tubes, which lead to the contact area. The owners of claims also do not have fans: they are big, reliable, noiseless and perfectly cope with the task set before them.

Performance and Overclocking

A decent cooling system allowed the manufacturer of the video card Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 to increase the frequency of the graphics core by almost 100 MHz. But, as the owners of this device say, this is far from the limit, and the crystal can be continued to overclock to 1211 MHz, but as practice shows, the performance gain in synthetic tests and games is not directly proportional to the increase in frequency. Accordingly, raising the frequency does not make sense.

The situation with memory modules is not quite clear either - it's impossible to raise the frequencies of their operation even by 10 MHz. Artifacts (colorful squares) appear on the screen immediately. It turns out that the memory chips on the hardware level simply can not work faster. It becomes clear what determines the affordable cost of the product on the domestic market (10,000 rubles) - a graphics card is productive, but it has limitations in overclocking.

Game class representative

Completely different results are expected by the fans of Gigabyte products on the GeForce 660 Ti chip. Externally, almost identical device, the same cooling system, pre-factory overclocking, but quite a different behavior in overclocking. Even when working at the nominal frequencies (915 MHz for the core and 6008 MHz for memory), the video adapter bypasses the representative of the High-End class in the games - the NVidia GTX 580 (quite strange, considering that the video cards have the same graphics core).

With overclocking in the NVidia GeForce 660 Ti, things are also better than in the younger version. The crystal demonstrates stable operation at a frequency of 1180 MHz, and the memory runs at 6800 MHz. No failures or failures of equipment are observed. It turns out that the problem with overclocking the younger model is not in the cooling system, but in the hardware part of the video card. However, for the prefix "Ti", and, accordingly, for the performance with overclocking, the buyer will have to give the store 15 000 rubles (1.5 times more than for the modification of the GTX 660).

Another worthy player in the market

Video adapter Asus GeForce 660 is also in demand in the domestic market, although seeing its cost (12-13 thousand rubles), many buyers switch their attention to products from the low-cost segment. But it is the Asus product that demonstrates the best performance among all competitors, both in the usual mode of operation and in overclocking. In the market, the buyer can meet two modifications of video cards from the Taiwanese manufacturer: TOP and OC. They differ only in the bundle - the TOP model comes with a free game (the buyer selects the option of interest from the list).

The standard frequency of the graphics core is 1020 MHz (in the 1212 MHz clock), however, in games and synthetic tests this minor overclocking somehow places the video card on top of the rating table of video adapters based on the GeForce GTX 660. Reviews in the media are as follows: That the performance is provided by the installed Hynix memory modules with a low response time (0.2 ns).

Asus Cooling System

Taking the Asus video card in its hands and feeling its weight, any potential buyer will understand what determines the high cost of this representative on the market. The non-ferrous metal in the production of the cooling system at the plant was clearly not spared. The aluminum radiator covers the entire surface of the motherboard. Through its grilles pass copper tubes, which are reduced to a contact with the crystal pad. Two huge fans create a powerful airflow, which, passing through the grilles of the radiator, is removed from the body through the ventilation grille.

It is clear that not only the cooling system is obliged to have high performance of the GeForce 660 chip. The characteristics of the device also play an important role: the installation of PWM controllers, the replacement of power distribution distributors, ferrite cores, branded memory modules - all in all, made the video adapter more productive.

Finally

On the devices based on the GeForce 660 graphics chip, the reviews are of a twofold nature. On the one hand, affordable cost and good performance. On the other - a weak potential for overclocking. It is this modification of video cards that is better to be considered in the context of the brand, and not to judge the performance of the chip in the performance of NVidia. After all, the product from the company Asus proved to everyone in the market that interference in the technological process can bear fruit. It's up to the buyer to decide whether to give preference to cheapness or high productivity.