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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti vs AMD Radeon R9 290X

NVIDIA
VS
AMD
Performance
GeForce GTX 660 Ti
8,4158% of 104,937
Radeon R9 290X92% better
16,167.515% of 104,937

The Radeon R9 290X has 92% better performance than the GeForce GTX 660 Ti for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 660 Ti
28.1417% of 161.45
Radeon R9 290X5% better
29.4518% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 290X has 5% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 660 Ti for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Shop GeForce GTX 660 Ti
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Summary

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About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti GPU

The GeForce GTX 660 Ti is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by NVIDIA. It launched in Q3 2012 with a suggested retail price of $299. Its GK104 chip that powers the GPU uses the Kepler architecture and is fabricated on the 28 nm process.

This GPU is paired with 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 1,502 MHz memory clock and 192 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 144.2 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

The GTX 660 Ti 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 150 W. NVIDIA recommends using a power supply of at least 450 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

The GeForce GTX 660 Ti has the 194th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 8.02% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 8,415 score and $299 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 28.14. This is the 79th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon R9 290X GPU

The Radeon R9 290X is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by AMD. It launched in Q4 2013 with a suggested retail price of $549. Its Hawaii chip that powers the GPU uses the GCN 2.0 architecture and is fabricated on the 28 nm process.

This GPU is paired with 4 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 1,250 MHz memory clock and 512 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 320 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

The R9 290X 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 290 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.

The Radeon R9 290X has the 135th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 15.41% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 16,167.5 score and $549 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 29.45. This is the 78th 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 660 TiRadeon R9 290X
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureKeplerGCN 2.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ3 2012Q4 2013
Launch Price (MSRP)$299$549
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Display FPS for Rise of the Tomb Raider
Rise of the Tomb Raider
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Dota 2 - Reborn
Display FPS for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3
Display FPS for Grand Theft Auto V
GTA V
Display FPS for BioShock Infinite
BioShock Infinite
Display FPS for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
CS: GO

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 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
GeForce GTX 660 TiRadeon R9 290X
Low - 720p
--
--
Medium - 768p
--
--
High - 1080p
--
61 FPS
Ultra - 1080p
--
33 FPS
QHD - 1440p
--
--
4K UHD - 2160p
--
--
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 660 Ti orRadeon R9 290X

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 660 Ti orRadeon R9 290X
GPUCost Per Frame
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)9.65-42%
Radeon VII9.99-40%
GeForce GTX 97011.71-29%
Radeon R9 FURY15.42-7%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti15.75-5%
Radeon R9 290X16.59
GeForce GTX 98016.94+2%
GeForce GTX 68056.07+238%

Benchmark Performance

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Performance
GeForce GTX 660 Ti
8,4158% of 104,937
Radeon R9 290X92% better
16,167.515% of 104,937

The Radeon R9 290X has 92% better performance than the GeForce GTX 660 Ti for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 660 Ti is ranked 194th with a score of 8,415, and the Radeon R9 290X is ranked 135th with a score of 16,167.5.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 660 Ti
28.1417% of 161.45
Radeon R9 290X5% better
29.4518% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 290X has 5% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 660 Ti for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 660 Ti is ranked 79th with a performance per dollar of 28.14, and the Radeon R9 290X is ranked 78th with a performance per dollar of 29.45.

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 660 Ti or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)17,401+107%
Radeon R9 Nano17,282+105%
Radeon R9 290X16,167.5+92%
GeForce GTX 97016,033+91%
GeForce GTX 780 Ti15,619+86%
GeForce GTX 10508,571+2%
Radeon R7 3708,518.5+1%
GeForce GTX 660 Ti8,415
GeForce GTX 9508,351-1%
GeForce GTX 7607,962-5%

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 660 Ti or

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 660 TiRadeon R9 290X
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
--
4,003
3DMark Time Spy Score
--
4,114
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
37,758
73,987
(+95.95%)
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
5,432
11,717
(+115.7%)
3DMark 11 Performance Score
7,693
13,415
(+74.38%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
--
142
PassMark G3D Mark
4,415
8,638
(+95.65%)
PassMark G2D Mark
463
771
(+66.52%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
78.7
140
(+77.89%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 OpenGL
--
111
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 660 TiRadeon R9 290X
CodenameGK104Hawaii
ArchitectureKeplerGCN 2.0
Process Size28 nm28 nm
Transistors3,540 million6,200 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 660 TiRadeon R9 290X
Memory Size2 GB4 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth144.2 Gb/s320 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,502 MHz1,250 MHz
Memory Interface192 bit512 bit
L1 Cache16 KB16 KB
L2 Cache384 KB1,024 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 660 TiRadeon R9 290X
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)150 W290 W
Suggested PSU450 W600 W
Power Connectors2x 6-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2DVI, 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 660 TiRadeon R9 290X
Stream Processors (SP)--2,816
CUDA Cores1,344--
Compute Units (CU)--44
Stream Multiprocessors (SM)7--
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)112176
Render Output Units (ROP)2464
Core Clock Speed915 MHz1,000 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)980 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 660 TiRadeon R9 290X
Pixel Fill Rate27.44 GPixel/s64 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate109.8 GTexel/s176 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance2.63 TFLOPS5.63 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance109.8 GFLOPS704 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 660 TiRadeon R9 290X
DirectX12 (11_0)12 (12_0)
OpenCL3.02.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.5 (5.1)6.5

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