Review: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Gaming OC

Conclusion

You can look at cards like the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Gaming OC in two ways. On the one hand, a GPU such as Turing TU116, restrained to 120W or so, is screaming for a simple, small card - preferably Mini-ITX - that does without all the bells and whistles present on high-end cooling. A card along these lines makes implicit sense when trying to keep costs in check.

Gigabyte goes the other way with the Gaming OC, though do understand that it does have smaller and cheaper GTX 1660 Tis in its product arsenal. The purpose of the large, impressive heatsink is to keep temperatures low, offer near-silent operation, and give the GPU the best chance of overclocking.

It does all those things well enough. Our biggest gripe isn't one of form factor; it's of the price premium inevitably associated with robust air cooling, which pushes this card dangerously close to the £300 mark. At that level the GTX 1660 Ti fails to make sense, bombarded by the combination of faster AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 cards and minor cost hike to the GeForce RTX 2060 - a card that, from a performance perspective, is better in every way.

This is the balancing act that partners must get right. Though there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the Gaming OC, a fee of £290, with due knowledge of the price sensitivity at this end of the market, means it's largely stuck in no man's land.

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The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Gaming OC can be purchased from Scan Computers*

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