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Best GTX 1660 Super in 2024 – Our top picks

Finding the best GTX 1660 Super on the market shouldn't be too difficult these days
Last Updated on March 7, 2024
Nvidia GTX 1660 Super

In this article, we’re going to go over our top 4 picks for best GTX 1660 Super. Nvidia’s latest budget GPU release acts as a rather potent combination against both AMD cards in the same price range and its own 1660 Ti and non-Super 1660 cards. Once we’ve gone over our top picks, we’ll tackle the GTX 1660 Super itself and discuss how it performs and compares to its competition.

Products at a Glance

How we picked the best GTX 1660 Super in 2024

To pick the best Nvidia GTX 1660 Super, we looked across many factors including hardware, ram, and architecture – prioritising the purchases of gamers and the gaming experience. This means prioritising modern titles such as Forza Horizon, Resident Evil, Red Dead Redemption, and Apex Legends. We also took a look at some of the more recent Nvidia endeavours such as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super and RTX 4070 Super, plus AMD Ryzen and Intel Core to see how this model competes with the best graphics cards of today.

We also have articles on the best motherboard for gaming in 2024 and the best high-end PSU in 2024.

Our Recommended

Best GTX 1660 Super in 2024 – Our top picks

1
PROS
  • The second-shortest GTX 1660 Super
  • Excellent value
  • Strong factory overclock
CONS
  • Cooler protrudes past 2 slots

The ASUS TUF Gaming OC is our pick for the best GTX 1660 Super, but that isn’t the only reason we picked it. In addition to the low price, it boasts a surprisingly beefy cooler, a respectably short length, and one of the better factory overclocks on this list.

If you just want a GTX 1660 Super for cheap and don’t care about any extra frills or features, then the ASUS TUF Gaming OC GTX 1660 Super is an ideal pick for you. If you’re a bit more discerning, though, feel free to take a look at our other options.

2
PROS
  • The smallest (available) 1660 Super
  • Great value
CONS
  • Not much OC headroom

The PNY Single Fan GTX 1660 Super caught our size because…

…well, look at it! It’s so tiny!

Fortunately, being tiny isn’t all this PNY card is good for. Despite its small size, it performs on par with most other GTX 1660 Supers on the market, in terms of both raw performance and cooling. While you aren’t going to be able to push much overclocks on this one (especially since it’s restricted to PCI power), it’s a perfect fit for any low-profile HTPC or Mini ITX build.

3
PROS
  • Best factory OC
  • Fantastic cooling
CONS
  • A bit pricier than other 1660 Supers
  • Quite long

The Gigabyte Windforce GTX 1660 Super is our main performance pick.

It offers the best cooling and the best factory overclock. If all you care about is raw performance, this is the GTX 1660 Super for you.

…as long as it can fit inside your system. It’s the longest 1660 Super by a considerable margin, coming in at a whopping 280 mm. That great cooling requires a large cooler, and three fans to power it, so this is an acceptable trade-off to us. Just make sure it fits in your system before buying it!

4
PROS
  • RGB
  • Fairly high factory OC
  • Should fit in most systems without compromising cooling performance
CONS
  • More expensive than other 1660 Supers

Last but not least, the MSI Gaming X GTX 1660 Super!

This is a good “middle of the road” card, with some extras. It doesn’t offer the smallest size, best cooling, or best factory overclock, but it still does pretty good in all of those areas. It’s an average-sized graphics card with a fairly good factory overclock, and it has some nice RGB.

The only real downside that comes to mind for us is the price tag, which is quite a bit higher than other GTX 1660 Supers. But if RGB is a must-have in a graphics card for you, this is pretty much your best option in this price range.

5
PROS
  • High clock speeds
  • Compact design
CONS
  • No RGB

ZOTAC is a great GPU brand that delivers some quality, low-cost GPUs. When it comes to the GTX 1660 Super, the ZOTAC iteration is one of the best, due in large part to its extremely high clock speeds. Although the card itself is rather old, the 1660 Super is still an incredibly reliable platform, one made even more powerful thanks to ZOTAC’s included 1845 MHz in memory.

At around $300, the GTX 1660 Super by ZOTAC is quite cheap, especially when compared to alternative options on the market. It’s got great overclocking potential and is solid for 1080p gaming. With a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost of up to 1785, this is certainly one powerful card despite its age.

Buying The Best GTX 1660 Super For You

In this section, we’re going to go over compatibility concerns and information that applies to all 1660 Super cards, like basic performance expectations. By the end of this section, you should be ready to make a choice, even if you’re a total novice.

The best Nvidia GTX 1660 Super – how does this card perform in game?

Expect this card to push 100+ FPS at 1080p and High-to-Max settings in all but the most intensive modern games. At 1440p, the same frames can be achieved with Medium-to-High settings, and 1800p should be able to push 60+ FPS at medium-to-high settings as well. Native 4K will certainly not be able to maintain 60 FPS at high or max settings, so we recommend scaling from 1800p and lowering other settings in order to achieve a comfortably smooth frame rate.

Aside from heavier modern games, lightweight eSports titles (like CS:GO, Dota 2, League of Legends, etc) should be much easier to push into sky-high FPS ranges. If you’re on a 1080p or 1440p 144 Hz monitor, pushing games like that to their maximum frame rates is well within range of this graphics card, so long as your CPU can keep up!

We’ve linked some max-settings benchmarks below for you to peruse as well, if you want more specific and less general information.

The best Nvidia GTX 1660 Super – how does it compare to the competition?

The GTX 1660 Super competes with the RX 5500 XT and RX 5600 XT, and falls between the two in pricing. In the case of the 5500 XT, it’s a bit of a one-sided stomp- it boasts 20-30% performance improvements, depending on the game. It does come with a $40 higher price tag at the time of writing, but that’s money well worth it for the extra performance.

Compared to the RX 5600 XT, the 1660 Super certainly falters. While the 5600 XT has its own issues with variability, even the non-updated VBIOs cards outperform the 1660 Super and the 1660 Ti. However, this comes at the cost of a much higher price. In terms of performance-per-dollar, the 1660 Super is still the better option when compared to either the 5500 XT or the no-VBIOS-update 5600 XT.

What difference does clock speed make between models?

Truthfully, not very much. Fundamentally, these are all based on the same graphics chip, so you aren’t going to see massive performance leaps based on factory overclocking alone. A higher factory OC reduces the need for you to worry about pushing it yourself, though, and tends to indicate a superior cooling system in play.

Should I overclock my GPU? Does it matter?

…however, GPU overclocking can still be worth it, especially in those scenarios where you need just a bit more performance to get a stable frame rate. Don’t expect gains any greater than about 5-7 percent unless you’re really lucky with the silicon lottery.

How width and length impact compatibility

Width and length are the two specs that have the greatest impact on compatibility since they literally determine whether or not your graphics can fit inside your system.

Width is measured in PCI slots, and most GPUs are dual-slot. Unless you’re running other expansion cards in your system or you’re extremely space-constrained (ie, an HTPC or ITX build), you should be perfectly fine with a dual-slot graphics card.

Length is more likely to be an issue, though. Length is measured in millimeters (mm), and refers to the longest side of the graphics card. Keep the length spec in mind before buying a card, and double-check your case specs to ensure you have the clearance to fit your GPU. While you can return an oversized GPU if need be, that’s still an extra hassle you’d rather avoid, right?

Common video ports and what they’re used for

Now for a quick word on the three ports you’ll see on your GTX 1660 Super GPUs, and which ones to use for what purpose.

  • DisplayPort – Highest bandwidth, supports the most combinations of resolutions and refresh rates. Supports audio pass-through. The de facto standard for PC displays, and the most recommended port to use.
  • HDMI – High bandwidth, but sometimes restricted resolutions and refresh rates. 1080p and 4K at 60 Hz are the most likely to work with HDMI, the others will depend on your TV. Supports audio pass-through. Only recommended for use with a TV- if DisplayPort is available, use it instead.
  • DVI-D – Low bandwidth, maxes out at 1440p 60 Hz and 1080p 144 Hz. No audio pass-through. Only resort to DVI-D if your display doesn’t support the above two.

Is the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 good for gaming?

Yes, while there might be some better options on the market now, the GTX 1660 is still quite good for 1080p gaming in 2023. What makes the GTX so great is its pricing and availability. Again, definitely more quality options on the market, but the GTX 1660 will be suitable for budget gaming builds.

Which 1660 super is the best?

The current best GTX 1660 Super is the ASUS TUF Gaming OC. In addition to the low price, it boasts a surprisingly beefy cooler, a respectably short length, and one of the better factory overclocks on the market currently

 

Our Verdict

Which is the top 1660 Super I hear you ask? Well, we’d have to recommend the ASUS TUF Gaming OC GTX option. It’s not only low cost compared to the other variants, it is also quite compact, allowing you to slot it into smaller case builds. Moreover, it also boasts a strong factory clock, making it very user-friendly, not requiring clock speed tampering to get solid gaming results.