GeForce GTX 1660 vs GT 520
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GT 520 and GeForce GTX 1660, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
GTX 1660 outperforms GT 520 by a whopping 3513% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 1208 | 231 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 38 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.01 | 36.37 |
| Power efficiency | 2.04 | 17.82 |
| Architecture | Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014) | Turing (2018−2022) |
| GPU code name | GF119 | TU116 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 13 April 2011 (14 years ago) | 14 March 2019 (6 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $59 | $219 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.
GTX 1660 has 363600% better value for money than GT 520.
Performance to price scatter graph
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 48 | 1408 |
| Core clock speed | 810 MHz | 1530 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 1785 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 292 million | 6,600 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 12 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 29 Watt | 120 Watt |
| Maximum GPU temperature | 102 °C | no data |
| Texture fill rate | 6.480 | 157.1 |
| Floating-point processing power | 0.1555 TFLOPS | 5.027 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 4 | 48 |
| TMUs | 8 | 88 |
| L1 Cache | 64 KB | 1.4 MB |
| L2 Cache | 128 KB | 1536 KB |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Bus support | 16x PCI-E 2.0 | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | 145 mm | 229 mm |
| Height | 2.7" (6.9 cm) | no data |
| Width | 1-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | DDR3 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB (DDR3) | 6 GB |
| Memory bus width | 64 Bit | 192 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 900 MHz (DDR3) | 2001 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 14.4 GB/s | 192.1 GB/s |
| Shared memory | no data | - |
Connectivity and outputs
This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.
| Display Connectors | Dual Link DVI-IHDMIVGA (optional) | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort |
| Multi monitor support | + | no data |
| HDMI | + | + |
| Maximum VGA resolution | 2048x1536 | no data |
| Audio input for HDMI | Internal | no data |
API and SDK support
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 12 (12_1) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 6.5 |
| OpenGL | 4.2 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | N/A | 1.2.131 |
| CUDA | + | 7.5 |
Synthetic benchmarks
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark score.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics
Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.
GeekBench 5 OpenCL
Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Average FPS across all PC games
Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:
| Full HD | 2−3
−4050%
| 83
+4050%
|
| 1440p | 1−2
−4900%
| 50
+4900%
|
| 4K | 0−1 | 27 |
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 29.50
−1018%
| 2.64
+1018%
|
| 1440p | 59.00
−1247%
| 4.38
+1247%
|
| 4K | no data | 8.11 |
- GTX 1660 has 1018% lower cost per frame in 1080p
- GTX 1660 has 1247% lower cost per frame in 1440p
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low
| Counter-Strike 2 | 271
+0%
|
271
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 71
+0%
|
71
+0%
|
Full HD
Medium
| Battlefield 5 | 100−110
+0%
|
100−110
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 223
+0%
|
223
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 58
+0%
|
58
+0%
|
| Escape from Tarkov | 121
+0%
|
121
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 100
+0%
|
100
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 130−140
+0%
|
130−140
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 132
+0%
|
132
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 100
+0%
|
100
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 110−120
+0%
|
110−120
+0%
|
| Valorant | 306
+0%
|
306
+0%
|
Full HD
High
| Battlefield 5 | 100−110
+0%
|
100−110
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 107
+0%
|
107
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 270−280
+0%
|
270−280
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 47
+0%
|
47
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 219
+0%
|
219
+0%
|
| Escape from Tarkov | 93
+0%
|
93
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 92
+0%
|
92
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 130−140
+0%
|
130−140
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 123
+0%
|
123
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 88
+0%
|
88
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 115
+0%
|
115
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 57
+0%
|
57
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 110−120
+0%
|
110−120
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 102
+0%
|
102
+0%
|
| Valorant | 287
+0%
|
287
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 100−110
+0%
|
100−110
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 40
+0%
|
40
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 197
+0%
|
197
+0%
|
| Escape from Tarkov | 79
+0%
|
79
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 86
+0%
|
86
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 98
+0%
|
98
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 110−120
+0%
|
110−120
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 57
+0%
|
57
+0%
|
| Valorant | 115
+0%
|
115
+0%
|
Full HD
Epic
| Fortnite | 130−140
+0%
|
130−140
+0%
|
1440p
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 62
+0%
|
62
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 190−200
+0%
|
190−200
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 52
+0%
|
52
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 33
+0%
|
33
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 129
+0%
|
129
+0%
|
| Valorant | 226
+0%
|
226
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 75−80
+0%
|
75−80
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 24
+0%
|
24
+0%
|
| Escape from Tarkov | 48
+0%
|
48
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 59
+0%
|
59
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 76
+0%
|
76
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
1440p
Epic
| Fortnite | 70−75
+0%
|
70−75
+0%
|
4K
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 16
+0%
|
16
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 49
+0%
|
49
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 20
+0%
|
20
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 35
+0%
|
35
+0%
|
| Valorant | 125
+0%
|
125
+0%
|
4K
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 40−45
+0%
|
40−45
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 27−30
+0%
|
27−30
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10
+0%
|
10
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 87
+0%
|
87
+0%
|
| Escape from Tarkov | 24
+0%
|
24
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 30
+0%
|
30
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 50
+0%
|
50
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
4K
Epic
| Fortnite | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
This is how GT 520 and GTX 1660 compete in popular games:
- GTX 1660 is 4050% faster in 1080p
- GTX 1660 is 4900% faster in 1440p
All in all, in popular games:
- there's a draw in 64 tests (100%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.77 | 27.82 |
| Recency | 13 April 2011 | 14 March 2019 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB (DDR3) | 6 GB |
| Chip lithography | 40 nm | 12 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 29 Watt | 120 Watt |
GT 520 has 313.8% lower power consumption.
GTX 1660, on the other hand, has a 3513% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 500% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 233.3% more advanced lithography process.
The GeForce GTX 1660 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 520 in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
