The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super is Nvidia’s latest entry into the growing GDDR6 based Turing architecture, superseding the GTX 1660 in terms of raw performance according to its specifications.
On this review we are going to check out the MSI GTX 1660 Super Gaming X. This is a $229 USD value card and is the highest end GTX 1660 Super in MSI’s lineup. Boost clock goes all the way up to 1830 MHz which is 200 MHz higher than the base clock. Keeping that speed is a courtesy of the MSI Twin Frozr 7 thermal design which is a huge departure compared to the 6th generation design.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
| GPU | |
| Model | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super |
| Cores | 1408 |
| Core Clock | 1530 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1830 MHz |
| Architecture | Turing |
| Manufacturing Process | 12 nm |
| TDP | 125 W |
| Memory | |
| Memory Clock | 3500 MHz |
| Memory Bus Width | 192-bit |
| Memory Capacity | 6 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 |
| Connectivity | |
| Display | 3x DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b |
| Power | PCIe, 8-Pin |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 247 mm |
| Width | 127 mm |
| Height | 46 mm |
| Weight | 862 grams |
PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES:
The MSI GTX 1660 Super Gaming X comes inside a well padded packaging. The product comes with the following items inside:
- Quick Setup Guide
- Lucky the Dragon Computer Workshop
- Thank you pamphlet
DESIGN, LAYOUT AND BUILD QUALITY:
Understated is exactly the opposite of what the MSI GTX 1660 Super Gaming X is all about. It is an edgy card with about 9.7 inches of length and a weight of about 862 grams. It is kinda heavy, so the die-cast metal sheet underneath it that acts both as a heatsink and a support brace is much appreciated. I hope it’s not the main culprit for the weight though.
The back plate is more subtle compared to the front. This is a much appreciated design choice. This area also allows us to see the graphic card’s actual PCB length which is about an inch or two shorter than the total length of the card.
Power is provided by the PCIe and the 8-Pin connector. This setup is capable of providing a total of 225W theoretically. MSI listed that this one has a maximum of 125W consumption so the power design should be more than adequate.
There are three DisplayPorts and a single HDMI port found within the card. This is a much appreciated gesture from MSI, allowing more DisplayPorts over the usual array of ports we used to see. Certainly, a company that now dabbles into the world of gaming monitors knows a thing or two to get on with times.
TEST SETUP AND METHODOLOGY:
The system performance shall be evaluated by various benchmarking tools and applications. We are testing this system with the high-performance settings enabled at the OS, with the default UEFI configuration. Background processes such as anti-viruses and third-party applications are disabled as well. Outlined below are the applications and benchmark tools for reference:
| TEST SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS | |
| PROCESSOR | Intel Core-i5 6600K |
| MOTHERBOARD | ASUS Z170-A |
| COOLER | Cryorig C1 Top Flow |
| MEMORY | ADATA Premier 2666MHz DDR4 |
| GRAPHICS | Palit GTX 1650 StormX |
| STORAGE | Crucial BX200 480GB |
| CASE | Thermaltake Core P3 |
| POWER | Thermaltake ToughPower GX1 600W |
| DISPLAY | LG 43UF680T |
| OS | Microsoft Windows 10 Pro |
TEMPERATURE, POWER AND NOISE:
- Aida64 Extreme Edition – Stability Test
SYNTHETIC PERFORMANCE:
- 3DMARK 2013 – Firestrike Presets.
- Luxmark – OpenCL benchmark.
- Aida64 Extreme Edition – GPGPU Benchmark
GAMING PERFORMANCE:
- Overwatch – Ultra Settings, Render Scale 100%, V-SYNC off
- Battlefield 4 – Ultra Settings, V-SYNC off
- DIRT: Rally – Ultra Settings, V-SYNC off
- Project CARS – Maximum Settings, V-SYNC off
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Ultra Settings, FXAA off, V-SYNC off
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Ultra Settings, HairWorks off, V-SYNC off
Average FPS values are recorded via FRAPS in-game. If the game doesn’t support FRAPS, we will use the in-game benchmark tool available.
TEMPERATURE, POWER AND NOISE:
Graphics card thermal figures are taken during a 15 minute idle and a 15 minute load via the AIDA64 Extreme Edition Stability Test. The ambient temperature is checked at 27°C (±1°C), with values extracted via HWiNFO and GPU-Z.
Total system power consumption are taken during a 15 minute idle and a 15 minute load via the AIDA64 Extreme Edition Stability Test. The measurements are taken by a watt-meter.
Graphics card noise levels are taken during a 15 minute idle and a 15 minute load via the AIDA64 Extreme Edition Stability Test. The ambient sound level is 34dBA (±1dBA), with measurements taken by a sound level meter situated exactly 12 inches away from the card.
Temperature wise, the MSI GTX 1660 Super Gaming X ranked great on the test bench with a maximum load temperature of 64°C. Power figures on the other hand is about 46.8W on idle and 150.4W at load. Sound level could be a bit better at load though, featuring a 44.5dBA. That’s higher compared to say even the Founders Edition models. Its 0dB fan deserves some merit though at low performance applications.
SYNTHETIC PERFORMANCE:
3DMark 2013 is a suite of benchmarks catered for the gamers and enthusiasts. The total system scores from each presets will be used.
LuxMark is an OpenCL cross-platform benchmark tool. The software has become one of the most popular OpenCL benchmarks over the past years.
The Aida64 Extreme Edition GPGPU Benchmark is designed to measure GPGPU computing performance via different workloads. Every benchmark methods are designed to work on up to 16 GPUs, including AMD, Intel and nVIDIA GPUs, in any combination.
The GTX 1660 Super Gaming X is about 16.1%, 13.9% and 2.6% faster compared to the GTX 1660 at the 3DMark, Luxmark and AIDA64 benchmarks respectively.
GAMING PERFORMANCE:
Overwatch is Blizzard Entertainment’s critically acclaimed First Person Shooter, running on a custom game engine utilizing the DirectX 11 API. Settings are set to Ultra with a Render Scale set to 100%.
Battlefield 4 is Electronic Art’s popular First Person Shooter, running on the Frostbite 3 game engine developed by DICE utilizing the DirectX 11 and the Mantle API. Settings are set to Ultra.
DIRT: Rally is CODEMASTER’s take on the rally racing game genre. It utilizes the EGO game engine with support for the DirectX 11 API. Settings are set to Ultra.
Project CARS is Slightly Mad Studios’ latest simulation racing game, running on the Madness game engine utilizing DirectX 11 support. Settings are set to maximum.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda’s critically acclaimed Action Adventure RPG. Skyrim utilizes the Creation Engine with DirectX 10 support. Settings are set to Ultra with V-SYNC turned off.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is CDProjekt RED’s award winning Action Adventure RPG. The Witcher 3 utilizes the REDengine 3 with DirectX 11 support. Settings are set to Ultra.
Gaming performance wise and at all resolutions tested, the MSI GTX 1660 Super Gaming X is truly a faster card compared to the GTX 1660. Maybe even the next best thing to the GTX 1070 without the GTX 1660 Ti around. This card is just capable at playing games smoothly on ultra across most games even at 1440p resolution.
SOFTWARE, LIGHTING AND SPECIAL FEATURES:
In true MSI Gaming fashion, the MSI GTX 1660 Super Gaming X comes compatible with the Dragon Center software. This allows the user to set the card into 5 setting, four of which are pre-defined profiles made by MSI themselves. You may also monitor the card (and system) status via the software and adjust RGB lighting options within its convenient UI.
If overclocking is your thing, then the award winning MSI Afterburner should feel at home to you. No need to introduce this software really, but we appreciated the addition of the OC Scanner to its latest build. It is basically a 1-click overclocking tool that uses a step-by-step method to automatically overclock your graphics card at its most stable over-the-standard clock speed.
Finally, we’d also like to talk about the 7th generation MSI TWIN FROZR Thermal Design. It features the new TORX FAN 3.0 that runs only when the GPU reaches 60°C (could be adjusted) and the die-cast metal that acts as a cooling solution and a brace to keep the card from sagging. I’ve been told MSI also replaced the older thermal pads and paste for this iteration of the Twin Frozr design.
As for lighting, I couldn’t really fault this one. It is candy like which is always a plus and they actually work well together with the card’s design.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The MSI GTX 1660 Super Gaming X bridges the power gap between the GTX 1660 and the GTX 1070. It is a meaningful budget to mid-range graphics card with a performance capable of handling games smoothly at 1440P.
Product stacking wise, the GTX 1660 Super is under the GTX 1660 Ti yet we do not see the need to check that card out based on numerous external reviews. Suffice to say, Nvidia really confused us with the power rankings this time around with the marginal gap between the Super and Ti card.
As for the card specifics, the MSI GTX 1660 Super Gaming X is a good looking card with great performance levels out of the box. With an MSRP of $229 USD (14, 430 Pesos locally), this is a much better option than the top of the line GTX 1660 models and perhaps even the GTX 1070 at its most basic form.
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MSI GTX 1660 Super Gaming X Review
- PERFORMANCE
- BUILD QUALITY
- FEATURES
- AESTHETICS
- VALUE
4.1
Summary
The MSI GTX 1660 Super Gaming X bridges the power gap between the GTX 1660 and the GTX 1070. It is a meaningful budget to mid-range graphics card with a performance capable of handling games smoothly at 1440P.