The GeForce GTX 660 Ti is an exciting prospect as it shares the same DNA as the GTX 670 and GTX 680 graphics cards. Yet what is really surprising about this new mid-range graphics card is that it boasts the same number of CUDA Cores and Texture Units as GTX 670.

On paper the GeForce GTX 660 Ti looks to be a real weapon and really it shouldn’t be a great deal cheaper than the GTX 670. Nvidia claim to be tackling the Radeon HD 7870 with this graphics card, which suggests a $300 price tag, and if that ends up being true this could spell disaster for AMD. Particularly given we expect to see Radeon HD 7950 levels of performance in a number of games from the GTX 660 Ti.

For this review we will be looking at the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti graphics card, model name GV-N66TOC-2GD. This particular card measures 21.5cm long which is quite compact. However due to the large cooler used the actual length of the graphics card is 25.0cm, which is slightly longer than the AMD reference design for the Radeon HD 7870.

As the model name suggests Gigabyte has performed a little factory overclocking, but before we talk clock speeds, let's explore the GTX 660 Ti's GPU in a little more detail. The card ships with 1344 CUDA cores and 7 SMX units, 1 SMX unit and 192 CUDA cores less than the GTX 680 but the same number as the GTX 670. The amount of TAUs is the same as the GTX 670 with 112 in total, while the ROPs have been reduced from 32 to 24.

The memory subsystem has been changed from the GTX 680 and GTX 670 cards which feature four 64-bit controllers for a 256-bit wide bus. The GTX 660 Ti drops one 64-bit controller leaving it with a 192-bit bus. Combine that with 2048MB GDDR5 memory clocked at 1502MHz (6008MHz DDR) and you end up with a bandwidth of 144.2GB/s, which isn’t bad, though it is 33% less than the GTX 670 and that is where the performance difference is found.

Nvidia's specification for the base clock frequency is 915MHz, while the average Boost Clock speed is 980MHz. Gigabyte has increased the base clock frequency to 1032MHz and the boost clock to 1111MHz, while the memory operates at the standard 6008MHz. With that said, let’s move on to see how it performs...

Hardware - Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition (3.30GHz) - x4 4GB G.Skill DDR3-1600(CAS 8-8-8-20) - Crucial m4 512GB (SATA 6Gb/s) - Gainward GeForce GTX 680 Phantom (2048MB) - Gainward GeForce GTX 670 Phantom (2048MB) - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC (2048MB) - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 590 (3072MB) - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 (1536MB) - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 (1280MB) - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti (1024MB) - AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (3072MB) - HIS Radeon HD 7970 (3072MB) - HIS Radeon HD 7950 (3072MB) - HIS Radeon HD 7870 (2048MB) - HIS Radeon HD 7850 (2048MB) - HIS Radeon HD 6990 (4096MB) - HIS Radeon HD 6970 (2048MB) - HIS Radeon HD 6950 (2048MB) - HIS Radeon HD 6870 (1024MB) - HIS Radeon HD 5870 (1024MB) - Asrock X79 Extreme11 (Intel X79) - OCZ ZX Series (1250w) Software - Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit - Nvidia Forceware 301.42 - Nvidia Forceware 305.37 - AMD Catalyst 12.7

Looking at the extreme 3Dmark 11 Pro performance the GeForce GTX 660 Ti scored 2755pts, while the Gigabyte overclocked card was 5% faster reaching 2903pts, placing it very close to the GTX 670 and Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition cards. However what is really interesting here is that the GeForce GTX 660 Ti was 33% faster than the Radeon HD 7870.

When testing at 1920x1200 the GeForce GTX 660 Ti averaged 40fps in Aliens vs. Predator, making it 2% slower than the overclocked Gigabyte graphics card. However, it was also 5% slower than the Radeon HD 7870 and 25% slower than the 7950. Furthermore, when compared to the more expensive GeForce GTX 670, the GTX 660 Ti was 22% slower.

When testing with Metro 2033 at 1920x1200 the GeForce GTX 660 Ti averaged 60fps, making it 3% slower than the overclocked Gigabyte card. However this time the GTX 660 Ti was 7% faster than the Radeon HD 7870 and it trailed the 7950 by a 12% margin. When compared to the GeForce GTX 670 the GTX 660 Ti was just 10% slower. It is interesting to note that this mid-range graphics card was actually faster than Nvidia’s previous generation flagship graphics card, the GTX 580 in this test.

The GeForce GTX 660 Ti churned out a respectable 60fps in Battlefield 3 at 1920x1200, making it 18% faster than the Radeon HD 7870 while the overclocked Gigabyte version managed to render an additional 2fps. Not only was the GeForce GTX 660 Ti much faster than the Radeon HD 7870, but it also knocked off the 7950 by a 7% margin.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 was a walk in the park for the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, allowing it to average 100fps. The overclocked Gigabyte card added another 6fps to that total, making it faster than the Radeon HD 7970. The GeForce GTX 660 Ti was 15% faster than the Radeon HD 7870 and 12% faster than the 7950.

Like most graphics cards the GeForce GTX 660 Ti struggled at 1920x1200 when testing Crysis 2 in the DX11 mode with the high resolution texture pack installed. Still an average of 37fps was respectful, making the GeForce GTX 660 Ti 6% faster than the Radeon HD 7870 while it matched the performance of the 7950.

The GeForce GTX 660 Ti managed a healthy 51fps when testing with Dragon Age II at 1920x1200. This meant that it was a whopping 38% faster than the Radeon HD 7870 and 31% faster than the 7950. The GeForce GTX 660 Ti also managed to get within 4fps of the GTX 670, making it just 7% slower.

When testing with Deus Ex: Human Revolution the GeForce GTX 660 Ti average 87fps at 1920x1200, while the overclocked Gigabyte card was slightly faster with 91fps. This meant that the GeForce GTX 660 Ti was 18% faster than not only the Radeon HD 7870 but also the 7950.

Testing Hard Reset at 1920x1200 saw the GeForce GTX 660 Ti average 73fps allowing it to match the Radeon HD 7970. This meant that the GeForce GTX 660 Ti was 26% faster than the Radeon HD 7870 and 18% faster than the 7950.

DiRT 3 is a game that heavily favors Nvidia based graphics cards and as a result the GeForce GTX 660 Ti was able to best even the Radeon HD 7950. When compared to the Radeon HD 7870 the GTX 660 Ti was 11% faster and 3% faster than the 7950 at 1920x1200.

Whereas DiRT 3 favors Nvidia we find that DiRT Showdown favors AMD. As a result at 1920x1200 the GeForce GTX 660 Ti was 21% slower than the Radeon HD 7870.

The GeForce GTX 660 Ti averaged an impressive 60fps when testing with The Witcher 2 at 1920x1200, yet despite this it was still found to be 5% slower than the Radeon HD 7870. The overclocked Gigabyte GTX 660 Ti was able to overtake the Radeon HD 7870 beating it by a 2fps margin.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim saw the GeForce GTX 660 Ti average 69fps at 1920x1200, making it 10% faster than the Radeon HD 7870 and 7950. When compared to the GeForce GTX 670 the GTX 660 Ti was 20% slower, though we were surprised to find that it beat the old GTX 580 by an 8% margin.

The GeForce GTX 660 Ti spat out 56fps when testing with Alan Wake at 1920x1200, which made it 17% faster than the Radeon HD 7870 and 2% faster than the 7950. Meanwhile when compared to the GeForce GTX 670 the GTX 660 Ti was just 8% slower.

The GeForce GTX 660 Ti rendered an average of 32fps when testing with King Arthur II at 1920x1200 and the overclocked Gigabyte card was not able to improve on this number. Still this meant that it was 10% faster than the Radeon HD 7870 and 7% faster than the 7950.

When testing with Just Cause 2 at 1920x1200 the GeForce GTX 660 Ti average 56fps, making it 17% faster than the Radeon HD 7870 and 8% faster than the 7950.

The GeForce GTX 660 Ti finished up strong with an average of 62fps at 1920x1200 in Max Payne 3, making it 9% faster than the Radeon HD 7870 and 2% faster than the 7950.

The power consumption of the GeForce GTX 660 Ti was a little surprising as our Gigabyte card used roughly the same amount of power as the GTX 670. That said, when you consider that the only major change has been made to the memory sub-system, it makes sense. Therefore despite being less efficient than the GTX 670, the GTX 660 Ti is still a very efficient graphics card as it consumed 11% more power than the Radeon HD 7870 but provided an even larger performance gain.

Armed with the Gigabyte WindForce 2X solution the GeForce GTX 660 Ti reached a maximum of 77 degrees under load, which is a little hotter than the HIS IceQ Radeon HD 7870 but still a very manageable temperature.

The overclocked GeForce GTX 660 Ti performed well, delivering 11% more performance over the standard GTX 660 Ti and 7% more performance than the Gigabyte factory overclock when testing with Deus Ex: Human Revolution. This was enough to overtake the GeForce GTX 670 and put the GTX 660 Ti within striking distance of the Radeon HD 7970.

This time our manual overclock boosted performance by 11% over the Nvidia specification and 8% over Gigabyte’s factory overclock. With an average of 41fps the GeForce GTX 660 Ti was now just 2fps slower than the GTX 670.

Max Payne 3 really enjoyed the overclock and we saw a 15% increase from our overclock over the standard Nvidia specification for the GeForce GTX 660 Ti. The performance delivered from our overclock was also 8% higher than the Gigabyte factory overclock and it allowed the GeForce GTX 660 Ti to overtake the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, while placing it within 5fps of the GTX 670.

Whereas we had previously crowned the GeForce GTX 670 the best value high performance graphics card money could buy, the GTX 660 Ti goes a step further in the price vs. performance rating. Based on current estimates we believe by the time you read this the Gigabyte GTX 660 Ti will be hitting shelves for around $300, making it roughly 33% cheaper than the GTX 670. This is amazing news for gamers as the GTX 660 Ti was only 13% slower on average than the GTX 670 in 16 games that we tested.

The performance of the GeForce GTX 660 Ti really was quite staggering given the price. Something we found very interesting about this graphics card was the fact that on average it was 6% faster than the previous generation flagship single-GPU product, the GeForce GTX 580. This is quite incredible given that the GTX 580 was released just under 2 years ago at a sticker price of $500.

When compared to the competition things look rather different for AMD today when compared to 4-5 months ago and by different we mean bleak. Having been stripped of the performance crown by the more efficient GeForce GTX 680, and then having the GTX 670 deliver devastating blows to not only the Radeon HD 7950 but also the 7970, it was time for AMD to make some price cuts. They also released the 7970 GHz Edition in a desperate act to reclaim the performance crown, though that wasn’t exactly a total success.

Now with Nvidia starting to chum the waters with the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, the upcoming feeding frenzy is no doubt going to see the Radeon HD 7870 go off the bite. This is for good reason, as the GTX 660 Ti was on average 11% faster than the 7870, while we believe it will retail for roughly the same value.

Even more devastating for AMD is the fact that the GTX 660 Ti was 3% faster than the 7950, while costing around 14% less. Since the arrival of the GeForce GTX 670 back in May we have felt AMD needed to reduce the 7950 pricing further than $350 and we feel even stronger about that now with the arrival of the GTX 660 Ti.

The only weakness of the GeForce GTX 660 Ti if you were to nitpick is efficiency. The fact that the core configuration is the same as the GTX 670, with the only real change being made to the memory controller, means that the power consumption requirements are roughly the same as the GTX 670.

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This is both an advantage and a disadvantage of the GTX 660 Ti as it makes it very fast but just as power hungry as the higher-end cards. Still when compared to the AMD Radeon HD 7870 the GTX 660 Ti is still a more efficient product, so efficiency is not a key issue here.

It would be interesting to see how a 3-way SLI configuration using GeForce GTX 660 Ti graphics cards would compare to the GTX 690 given it would be cheaper and likely faster. That’s just food for thought, and what we will say for now is that the GeForce GTX 660 Ti is the best value graphics card money can buy right now, period.