MSI GTX 1660 Gaming X 6G

Note: This card has been superseded by the faster GTX 1660 Super Gaming X, which uses the same GPU but faster GDDR6 video memory. Also, see our roundup of the top-rated GTX 1660S graphics cards.

A rather sizeable factory overclock, dual fans and some RGB lighting are some of the details that put MSI’s GTX 1660 Gaming X 6G in the premium end of the scale among GeForce GTX 1660-based graphics cards. The relatively compact, dual-fan cooler takes up two slots, but it requires a bit of additional space on the fan side of the card.

MSI GTX 1660 Gaming X Vs. Armor/Ventus/Aero

Like most other manufacturers, MSI GPUs come in several flavors to suit different size requirements and budgets. MSI differentiates the cards with (sometimes only slightly) PCB designs, cooling solutions and clocks, as well as some cosmetic features. Gaming (X) is the most expensive card in the GTX 1660 range, with the highest factory overclock (“X” version; the non-X model has a lower overclock), RGB accents and a backplate. This is followed by the more affordable dual-fan Armor design, which is found on several mid-range MSI graphics cards. The Ventus XS also comes with two fans, but in a more compact (shorter) design with smaller fans. Finally, the Aero ITX is a short, single-fan card intended for SFF PC builds.

	MSI GTX 1660 Gaming (X)	MSI GTX 1660 Armor (OC)	MSI GTX 1660 Ventus XS (OC)	MSI GTX 1660 Aero ITX (OC)
Image
Memory Size	6 GB GDDR5	6 GB GDDR5	6 GB GDDR5	6 GB GDDR5
FP32 Theoretical Performance	5,069 (5,280) GFLOPS	5,069 (5,196) GFLOPS	5,027 (5,153) GFLOPS	5,027 (5,153) GFLOPS
Memory Clock	2001 MHz	2001 MHz	2001 MHz	2001 MHz
Memory Bandwidth	192.1 GB/s	192.1 GB/s	192.1 GB/s	192.1 GB/s
Recommended Power Supply	500 Watt	500 Watt	500 Watt	500 Watt
Core Clock / Boost Clock	1530 MHz / 1800 (1875) MHz	1530 MHz / 1800 (1845) MHz	1530 MHz / 1785 (1830) MHz	1530 MHz / 1785 (1830) MHz
Stream Processors	1408	1408	1408	1408
Cooling layout	Dual-fan/Dual-slot	Dual-fan/Dual-slot	Dual-fan/Dual-slot	Single-fan/Dual-slot

The memory clocks have been left untouched in MSI GTX 1660 Gaming X and in all other MSI GTX 1660-based cards. Of course, all are also equipped with the standard 6GB of GDDR5 VRAM (memory bandwidth: 192GB/s) that runs at an 8,000 MHz effective clock rate.  Similarly, all cards that use the TU116 chip have 1,408 CUDA cores.

Since there is no reference design (or Founder’s Edition in Nvidia terms) of the GTX 1660, third-party manufacturers like MSI are free to design these cards however they see fit within the given specs.

In terms of pricing, the MSI Gaming X is one of the more expensive graphics cards with the GTX 1660 GPU. A too sizable price tag may, therefore, make this card difficult to recommend based on a performance/price comparison with entry-level Ti models.

Performance

The GTX 1660 is a mid-range GPU, and the amount of factory overclocking in premium cards such as the MSI GTX 1660 Gaming X will not change this overall picture. It’s considerably slower than the RTX series and also lack ray-tracing hardware and tensor cores. On the plus side, most GTX 1660 are reasonably priced, while performing considerably better than the preceding GTX 1060 6GB – sometimes even outperforming AMD’s RX 590.

The above results are averages from a variety of systems running the GTX 1660 and don’t represent the MSI Gaming X specifically. It should still serve as an indication of relative GPU performance. In all, this card easily outpaces previous-gen mid-range GPUs from AMD and Nvidia, but the distance to GPUs around the $300 price point is still quite considerable.

Reviews

Bjorn3D:

The GTX 1660 Gaming X from MSI is a solid card for anyone looking to game at 1080p, if you’re looking to upgrade from Pascal for around 300 bucks or less, this is a great option.

TweakTown:

As for performance, we’re looking at a great card at 1080p for even games like Battlefield V where we’re seeing 103FPS average, not far away from the RTX 2060 and it beats the RX 590 easily.

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