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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti vs AMD Radeon R9 280X

NVIDIA
VS
AMD
Performance
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti112% better
22,891.522% of 104,937
Radeon R9 280X
10,79210% of 104,937

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti has 112% better performance than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti127% better
82.0551% of 161.45
Radeon R9 280X
36.0922% of 161.45

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti has 127% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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Summary

#

About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a desktop graphics card by NVIDIA. It launched in Q1 2019 with a suggested retail price of $279. Its TU116 chip that powers the GPU uses the Turing architecture and is fabricated on the 12 nm process.

Memory

This GPU is paired with 6 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. Its 1,500 MHz memory clock and 192 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 288 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

Compatibility

The GTX 1660 Ti is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4a display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 120 W. NVIDIA recommends using a power supply of at least 300 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti has the 103rd highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 21.81% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 22,891.5 score and $279 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 82.05. This is the 35th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon R9 280X GPU

The Radeon R9 280X is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by AMD. It launched in Q4 2013 with a suggested retail price of $299. Its Tahiti chip that powers the GPU uses the GCN 1.0 architecture and is fabricated on the 28 nm process.

Memory

This GPU is paired with 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 1,500 MHz memory clock and 384 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 288 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

Compatibility

The R9 280X is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 250 W. AMD recommends using a power supply of at least 600 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The Radeon R9 280X has the 167th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 10.28% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 10,792 score and $299 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 36.09. This is the 71st best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoGeForce GTX 1660 TiRadeon R9 280X
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureTuringGCN 1.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ1 2019Q4 2013
Launch Price (MSRP)$279$299
Production StatusActiveEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Riders Republic
Riders Republic
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Far Cry 6
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Vampire Bloodhunt
Display FPS for Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
Display FPS for Ghostwire: Tokyo
Ghostwire: Tokyo
Display FPS for ELEX 2
ELEX 2

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for Riders Republic
Riders Republic
GeForce GTX 1660 TiRadeon R9 280X
Low - 720p
174 FPS
--
Medium - 1080p
94 FPS
--
High - 1080p
75 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
66 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
45 FPS
--
4K UHD - 2160p
20 FPS
--
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 1660 Ti orRadeon R9 280X

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 1660 Ti orRadeon R9 280X
GPUCost Per Frame
Radeon RX 570010.26-26%
GeForce GTX 166010.95-22%
GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER11.08-21%
Radeon RX 660011.34-19%
GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER12.48-11%
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti13.95
Radeon RX 6500 XT22.11+59%

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti112% better
22,891.522% of 104,937
Radeon R9 280X
10,79210% of 104,937

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti has 112% better performance than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is ranked 103rd with a score of 22,891.5, and the Radeon R9 280X is ranked 167th with a score of 10,792.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti127% better
82.0551% of 161.45
Radeon R9 280X
36.0922% of 161.45

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti has 127% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is ranked 35th with a performance per dollar of 82.05, and the Radeon R9 280X is ranked 71st with a performance per dollar of 36.09.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GTX 980 Ti23,057+1%
Radeon RX 6500 XT22,954+0%
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti22,891.5
GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER21,982-4%
GeForce GTX 166021,131-8%
GeForce GTX 165013,645-40%
Radeon R9 38012,191-47%
Radeon R9 280X10,792-53%
GeForce GTX 96010,767.5-53%
GeForce GTX 68010,216.5-55%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
GeForce RTX 306086.25+5%
Radeon RX 59083.74+2%
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti82.05
Radeon RX 48078.25-5%
GeForce RTX 206077.83-5%
Radeon R9 390X41.83-49%
GeForce GTX 750 Ti36.09-56%
Radeon R9 280X36.09-56%
GeForce GTX 98032.07-61%
GeForce GTX 76031.98-61%

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkGeForce GTX 1660 TiRadeon R9 280X
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
6,303
(+185.2%)
2,210
3DMark Time Spy Score
6,759
(+182.45%)
2,393
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
93,095
(+78.63%)
52,117
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
16,024
(+92.07%)
8,343
3DMark Night Raid Graphics
75,385
--
3DMark 11 Performance Score
21,539
(+110.32%)
10,241
PassMark G3D Mark
12,926
(+108.79%)
6,191
PassMark G2D Mark
805
(+19.08%)
676
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
--
95.2
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

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Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecGeForce GTX 1660 TiRadeon R9 280X
CodenameTU116Tahiti
ArchitectureTuringGCN 1.0
Process Size12 nm28 nm
Transistors6,600 million4,313 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecGeForce GTX 1660 TiRadeon R9 280X
Memory Size6 GB3 GB
Memory TypeGDDR6GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth288 Gb/s288 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,500 MHz1,500 MHz
Memory Interface192 bit384 bit
L1 Cache64 KB16 KB
L2 Cache1,536 KB768 KB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecGeForce GTX 1660 TiRadeon R9 280X
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)120 W250 W
Suggested PSU300 W600 W
Power Connectors1x 8-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4aDVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecGeForce GTX 1660 TiRadeon R9 280X
Stream Processors (SP)--2,048
CUDA Cores1,536--
Compute Units (CU)--32
Stream Multiprocessors (SM)24--
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)96128
Render Output Units (ROP)4832
Core Clock Speed1,500 MHz850 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,770 MHz1,000 MHz

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecGeForce GTX 1660 TiRadeon R9 280X
Pixel Fill Rate84.96 GPixel/s32 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate169.9 GTexel/s128 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance5.44 TFLOPS4.1 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance169.9 GFLOPS1,024 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecGeForce GTX 1660 TiRadeon R9 280X
DirectX12 (12_1)12 (11_1)
OpenCL3.02.1 (1.2)
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.76.5 (5.1)

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* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.