The new Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti and older GTX 1070 are both good gaming graphics cards, but which should you pick, and is it worth upgrading?
 |  |
|---|---|
| GTX 1660 Ti | GTX 1070 |
| BUY NOW | BUY NOW |
| PROS | PROS |
| Cuts the cruft. Efficient and overclockable. Good overall balance. | Excellent 1440p gaming performance. Fantastically overclockable. Very power efficient Super quiet while running. |
| CONS | CONS |
| Only ties the GTX 1070. RTX 2060 doesn’t cost much more. What, only 12nm?. | Limited SLI capabilities |
SPECIFICATIONS
| OVERVIEW | GTX 1660 Ti | GTX 1070 |
| Card Status | Released | Released |
| Manufacturer | NVIDIA | NVIDIA |
| Release Date | 22nd February, 2019 | 10th June, 2016 |
| Launch Price | $279 USD | $379 USD |
| Board Model | NVIDIA PG161 | NVIDIA PG411 |
| GPU | GTX 1660 Ti | GTX 1070 |
| GPU Model | 12nm TU116-400 | 16nm GP104-200 |
| Cores : TMUs : ROPs | 1536 : 96 : 48 | 1920 : 120 : 64 |
| CLOCKS | GTX 1660 Ti | GTX 1070 |
| Base Clock | 1500 MHz | 1506 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1770 MHz | 1683 MHz |
| Memory Clock (Effective) | 1500 (12000) MHz | 2002 (8008) MHz |
| Computing Power (FP32) | 4,608 GFLOPS | 5,783 GFLOPS |
| MEMORY | GTX 1660 Ti | GTX 1070 |
| Memory Size | 6144 MB GDDR6 | 8192 MB GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus Width | 192-bit | 256-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth | 288 GB/s | 256.26 GB/s |
| PHYSICAL | GTX 1660 Ti | GTX 1070 |
| Interface | PCI-Express 3.0 x16 | PCI-Express 3.0 x16 |
| Thermal Design Power | 120 W | 150 W |
NOTE – Things like clock speed and power will vary between specific cards, these are just the reference specs for each model.
The 1070 has more CUDA cores, and only just slightly higher base clock speed, while the boost clock on the 1660 Ti is higher. The 1070 also has more memory, but it’s GDDR5 with different speed.
PERFORMANCE
GRAPHICS CARD USED:
- MSI GTX 1660 Ti Gaming X
- Galax GTX 1070 EX
Expect slightly different results with different graphics cards.
SYSTEM SPECS:
- Intel i7-8700K CPU overclocked to 5.0GHz
- MSI Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard
- 6GB of RAM running at DDR4-3200 in dual channel.
Let’s get into gaming performance.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was tested walking through the start of the game with the very high setting preset. In this game both the GPUs were scoring solid 50FPS at 1440p.
Battlefield V
Battlefield V was tested using the built in benchmark at ultra settings. GTX 1070 was just a 1.3% higher average frame rate with the 1660 Ti.
Far Cry New Dawn
Far Cry New Dawn was also tested with ultra settings using the game’s built in benchmark tool, this time the 1660 Ti was 2.9% ahead of the GTX 1070 in terms of average frame rate at 1440p resolution.
Hitman 2
Hitman 2 was tested with ultra settings in campaign mode. There was just 1FPS difference, GTX 1070 was 1FPS ahead at 1440p.
Metro Exodus
Metro Exodus was tested with ultra settings. The GTX 1070 was reaching average frame rates 3.5% higher than the 1660 Ti. Realistically the game was still very playable even maxed out on either though.
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2 was tested with the built in benchmark, and with the highest setting preset it tends to be fairly GPU bound, which probably explains why the 1660 Ti was a higher 3.7% ahead of the GTX 1070 in average FPS.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was also tested with the built in benchmark with highest settings. There was no real difference in terms of average FPS in this game, while the 1660 Ti was able to achieve an 7% higher average frame rate over the 1660 Ti.
Witcher 3
Witcher 3 was tested using the replay feature with the exact same replay on each machine using Ultra settings. In this test the 1660 Ti was 1.6% or 1FPS faster at 1440p, in terms of average FPS.
CONCLUSION
In the US my GTX 1660 Ti I’m testing with is $310 USD. I am using a higher end 1660 Ti. As for the GTX 1070, well prices are a bit sad there, they seem to be around $450 USD new minimum on Newegg. Many stores are already no longer even stocking the GTX 1070, as supply starts to dry up. This will likely mean that over time, the price will continue to go up further as they become difficult to buy new.
Looking at brand new prices, I think the 1660 Ti is the clear winner, simply because it’s only just launched it’s much more widely available, and as we’ve seen here it is capable of similar levels of performance on average, though it does of course vary by game, although it is possible that in future the extra memory of the 1070 may be more beneficial.
I will recommend you to go with the 1660 Ti, but if you’re on a tight budget and want to save some money try and find a used 1070. Otherwise if you’re looking to upgrade and already have a 1070, well it makes no sense to go a 1660 Ti.
