Gigabyte GTX 660Ti Overclock 2GB Graphics Card Review

Well, with out a doubt the 660Ti and more so Gigabyte’s OC version that we’ve looked at here today has arrived in pure style, showing that you don’t have to be the top dog in the lineup to be the best option to go for. The numbers speak for themselves and some of them are astonishing to say the least.

NVIDIA claimed [as we mentioned in the intro] that the 660Ti was set to take on AMD’s 7950 and even though the results that we have seen here surpass that in a number of tests, we do have to account that this is an OC version. This however doesn’t means that the stock version won’t, not at all, in fact we reckon it will still have the capability to take on the 7970 in a couple of areas as well. This card in particular was even able to take on Sapphires 7970 OC Dual-X Flex edition card in one test showing that its got the might to do so.

Focussing more on the card, itself, the Windforce cooler has proved its way again running virtually silent throughout our testing with barely a whisper heard. The only pitfall it does have is on the grounds of load temperatures. Perhaps extending the cooler ever so slightly to have more surface area would aid in keeping the core slightly cooler, but that aside 72 degrees is not the worst we’ve seen in the past.

Overclocking wise, we know that the card has a got the potential for the higher clocks, but like we saw with Gigabyte’s mighty GTX 680 SOC, raising the clocks doesn’t necessarily give better performance and Gigabyte have found the sweet spot where the clocks don’t need to be any higher.

One area where the 660Ti’s predacessor, the 560Ti, took the market by storm, was its price point. With performance like we have here, one would expect a higher price point that would be knocking on the door of the higher tier cards. At a mere ~£251 inc VAT (€319) Gigabyte’s GTX 660Ti OC is only a little more over the standard 660Ti’s MSRP of £249 inc VAT, adding extra value to the deal. This price point also paved a way with the 560Ti and we saw a number of cases where enthusiasts were purchasing typically two of these cards to get performance that rose above that of higher ranked cards of the time, but critically for a better price. I do expect that given a few months after the initial rush has died down, there will be a number of cases where this is what we will be finding.

Overall, Gigabyte’s 660Ti OC has set the bar high for NVIDIA’s other partners and we look forward to seeing what they have to put forward. Until then, this is one mighty card with a not so mighty price tag. Got a tight budget but wan’t the best you can get? Then this should be seriously taken into consideration.