Home >> Graphic Cards >> GTX 1660 Super vs RTX 3060: Which Is Better?

GTX 1660 Super vs RTX 3060: Which Is Better?

There is no clear winner when comparing the GTX 1660 Super vs RTX 3060. Both cards offer excellent performance for their price point, but the RTX 3060 has features and future-proofing advantages. If you’re looking for the best value for your money, either card is a great option.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060

The RTX 3070 is the mid-range model of Ampere’s latest set of graphics cards. However, the price of these cards keeps them far from the reach of most beginning PC gamers.

However, the RTX 3060 is closer to being affordable, priced at 329. The good news is that thanks to the launch of the RTX3060 Ti, the price of the RTX 3060 is now reduced.

The entry-level price has identified NVIDIA models xx60 with performance that knocks at the doors of mid-range graphic cards – particularly when they are overclocked.

After thoroughly examining this Ampere graphics card within the RTX3060, we can confidently say it will continue the trend. The RTX 3060 features 8GB of RAM, compared to the RTX 2060s 6 GB of video memory.

In our benchmarks that simulate real-world performance, the RTX 3060 has a blast past the RTX 2060 NVIDIA GeForce, the RTX 2060 Super and, more impressively, it even beats the RTX 2070 well.

However, gaming performance was not as good. Although the RTX 3060 regularly delivers frame rates higher than the RX 2060 and NVIDIA GeForce, the RTX 2060 SUPER’s performance is insufficient to justify the upgrade.

The legality of the upgrade will depend on the type of graphics card you’re upgrading to from. Customers with an RTX 2060 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER won’t experience an impressive improvement in frame rates after spending extra for this RTX 3060.

Also, those still using RX 5700’s RX Vega 56 cards won’t be able to leap teams at this point. For the 1080p Full HD, we could play Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, God of War, Metro Exodus, Forza Horizon 5, and Elden Ring at 68 FPS to 73 fps. We also maintained frame rates at around 70 frames per second.

With 1440 p Quad HD, it was possible to enjoy Battlefield 2042, Anthem, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Gears of War 5, Need For Speed: Heat at 65 frames per second up to 73 frames per second and maintained frame rates at between 71 and 71 frames per second.

For 2160p 4K games, we could play Strange Brigade, Fallout 76, Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Forza Horizon 4 and Overwatch 2. The game was played at 61 frames per second up to 83 fps and kept frame rates at 70 fps.

Pros

  • A decent value for the money
  • Solid all-metal backplate
  • Fantastic build high-end
  • Custom-designed PCB that allows for more airflow

Cons

  • Only has a dual-fan design.

GTX 1660 Super

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER

There’s good news with the launch of the GTX 1660 Ti, the GTX 1660 SUPER’s price will be reduced. NVIDIA models have been priced at entry-level levels and performance that can knock on the doors to mid-range graphic cards – particularly when they are overclocked.

After spending the time to thoroughly check this Turing graphics card in the GTX 1660 SUPER, we are confident that it will continue the trend.

However, the gaming performance was not as good. Although you consider that the GTX 1660 SUPER continuously provides frame rate improvements over the GTX 1060s 6GB model, it’s not enough to justify an upgrade.

With 1080p Full HD, we could play Anthem, Need For Speed: Heat, Cause 4, and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Battlefield 2042 with between 62 and 75 frames per second and maintained frame rates of around 70 frames per second.

In 1440p Quad HD, it was possible to enjoy GreedFall, Hitman 2, World War Z, Death Stranding, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 at 60 fps and 66 fps and maintained frame rates at around 64 frames per second. In 2160p 4K, we could experience Overwatch 2 and Valorant at 63 fps and 133 fps and keep frame rates at the 98 fps mark.

Pros

  • Excellent build quality
  • Based on the latest Turing architecture
  • Excellent cooling from EVGA
  • Beautifully aesthetic

Cons

  • It doesn’t include RTX support

rtx 3060

GTX 1660 super vs RTX 3060

1. Architecture

16 series GPUs are an up-to-date version that is a part of the 10-series of GPUs. Also, 16 series cards are a step up from the ten series. 1660 Super is built on the Turing architecture. The 3060 model is based on an upgrade of the Ampere architecture introduced in series 30.

Specifically, the 1660 Super uses the TU116-300 GPU version. The basis for this is TSMCs 12nm process. It makes an area of 284mm2 that houses 6.6 billion transistors.

The 3060 model is the GA106 300 GPU version. It was created using Samsungs 8nm process within a 276mm2 enclosure that contains twelve billion transistors.

2. Technical specifications

GTX 1660 SuperRTX 3060
Pipelines / CUDA cores14083584
Core clock speed1530 MHz1320 MHz
Boost clock speed1785 MHz1777 MHz
Number of transistors6,600 million13,250 million
Manufacturing process technology12 nm8 nm
Thermal design power (TDP)125 Watt170 Watt
Texture fill rate157.1199.0

Apart from the differences in the architecture, There are also modifications regarding the specification. They provide an excellent insight into the differences between the two cards at a fundamental level. Therefore, we close look at them to discover what they represent.

3. Card bus

One of the significant enhancements that the 30 series has is the PCI bus it uses. This is the type of connection between the GPU and the motherboard. It allows the data to move through and provides the GPU with the required information.

The 3060 has 4th-gen PCI lanes, while the 1660 Super is connected to the older 3rd-generation connector. This means that the 3060 has more capacity than the 1660 Super.

It can achieve up to 31.508GB/s and 3rd generation of just 15.74GB/s. It could offer higher performance, but neither one of them will be able to meet the total amount they can offer.

GTX 1660 super vs RTX 3060 Clock rate

4. Clock rate

The speed at which the graphics card runs the clock is the speed at which it processes the data. Based on the silicon oscillation within the die, It’s not the only cause of this difference in performance. It is, however, an excellent opportunity to use overclocking to make the most of it.

When comparing the 1660 Super vs . 3060 series, the 16 series leads in pure speed. With a base clock higher by 1,530 MHz as opposed to 1,320 MHz. Similar results are seen with the boost. However, it is not as big of a difference, with 1660 increasing by 1,785MHz, while the 30 series clocking at 1,777MHz.

5. VRAM, Memory

Also known as video memory, it’s employed as video memory is a frame buffer and the pixel store used for graphics. It is designed to decrease the latency between your GPU and CPU. In addition, it offers more resolutions and gives you a greater likelihood of performance due to the high pixel count.

Both video cards use the same kind of memory and an identical memory bus. However, capacities are different between the cards. The 3060 has 12GB of memory versus the 1660s 6GB. The 30 series is also more efficient by 1 Gbps, putting its maximum capacity at 360 GB/s compared to the 16s’ 336 GB/s.

GTX 1660 SuperRTX 3060
Memory typeGDDR6GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount6 GB12 GB
Memory bus width192 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed14000 MHz15000 MHz
Memory bandwidth336.0 GB/s360.0 GB/s
Shared memory

6. Cores

The GPU cores are particular parts that solve equations and produce the visuals you see. These include shading cores, RT cores as well as TMUs. These create shadows and render scenes in a real-time ray tracer and 3D objects using bitmaps.

When comparing the two, The 1660 Super is the one that we can see both that 1660 Super lacks cores and doesn’t have any. Because it’s before the RTX lineup, it does not include any RT cores that can process Ray Tracing. In addition, it has less than half of the shaders and one-fifth fewer TMUs. It doesn’t handle graphics as effectively.

7. TDP

One of the most important aspects to consider, especially in times of rising electricity costs one of the most important aspects to consider will be the TDP of the graphics card.

It’s its thermal power that is built into the card and represents the highest capacity of electricity it can make use of. The majority of it is converted into heat. The 3060 comes with more power at 170W compared to the 125W found in the 1660 Super.

8. 1660 Super vs. 3060 performance

First, we will compare 1660 Super and 3060 in 3Dmarks benchmarks for pure graphic performance. In the benchmarks, the 1660 Super scores 6,060 and the price-to-performance 26. The 3060 scores an 8784 score at the same rate of price/performance.

Regarding gaming benchmarks, it appears that the RTX 3060 takes the lead across the board by 27 percent. Based on pure performance, the latest generation beats it. It can also use Ray Tracing and brand-new features such as DLSS to improve its performance further.

9. 1660 Super vs. 3060 price comparison

We can determine what they cost by looking at the MSRPs of the two models. The 1660 Super was launched at $229, while the 3060 was launched at $329. It a 100 dollars, close to 50% more than the previous card. This could be a huge difference, but it also has advantages.

In the present market, GPUs are costly, so they are unlikely to be found at this cost. So, the lowest 1660 Super would be $349.99, while a 30-60 is $469.99. Both cards suffer from the GPU shortage.

10. Compatibility, dimensions and requirements

GTX 1660 SuperRTX 3060
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16
Length229 mm242 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 8-pin1x 12-pin

11. Video outputs and ports for video outputs

GTX 1660 SuperRTX 3060
Display Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI++
HDCP+no data
G-SYNC support+no data

12. API Support for API

GTX 1660 SuperRTX 3060
DirectX12 (12_1)12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model6.56.5
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.22.0
Vulkan1.2.1311.2
CUDA7.58.6

Why is Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 better than Nvidia Geforce GTX 1660 Super?

  • 7.71 TFLOPS, higher floating-point performance
  • 28.02 GPixel/s more rate of pixelation
  • Speed of memory clocks up to 125MHz
  • Effective memory clocks up to 1000MHz faster speed
  • 2x more VRAM
  • 41.9 GTexels/s with a higher texture rate
  • 24GB/s memory bandwidth more
  • Supports ray tracer rays

FAQs

1. How much better is the RTX 3060 than the GTX 1660 Super?

In 3DMark graphic efficiency, the 3DMark 3060 gets an overall score that is 45percent higher than the 1660 Super. For gaming benchmarks, it also has a 27% more frame rate. Additionally, it can take advantage of Nvidia software, such as DLSS, to improve its performance.

2. How much faster is the RTX 3060 vs. GTX 1660 Super?

The RTX 3060 is slower than GTX 1660 Super in clock rates. The RTX 3060 has a loss of 14% for the basic clock. However, it has a lower than one percent drop on the turbo clock. It does attempt to compensate by one Gbps faster clock. But it compensates for it by gaining aspects and improvements in efficiency through the design.

Read also:

error: Content is protected !!