GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB vs GTX 1660

Place in performance ranking	170	153
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	24.98	24.89
Architecture	Turing (2018−2021)	Ampere (2020−2022)
GPU code name	Turing TU116	GA106
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	14 March 2019 (5 years ago)	4 January 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$219	$249
Current price	$252 (1.2x MSRP)	$385 (1.5x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 1660 and RTX 3050 8 GB have a nearly equal value for money.

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	1408	2560
Core clock speed	1530 MHz	no data
Boost clock speed	1785 MHz	1777 MHz
Number of transistors	6,600 million	12,000 million
Manufacturing process technology	12 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	130 Watt
Texture fill rate	157.1	142.2

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).

Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x8
Length	229 mm	242 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 8-pin	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	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	192 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	8000 MHz	14 GB/s
Memory bandwidth	192.1 GB/s	224.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	no data

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
HDMI	+	+

API compatibility

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.5	6.6
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	3.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.3
CUDA	7.5	8.6

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 1660 30.27

RTX 3050 8 GB 32.66
+7.9%

RTX 3050 8 GB outperforms GTX 1660 by 8% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GTX 1660 11689

RTX 3050 8 GB 12612
+7.9%

RTX 3050 8 GB outperforms GTX 1660 by 8% in Passmark.

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	84 −7.1%	90−95 +7.1%
1440p	50 +0%	50−55 +0%
4K	27 +0%	27−30 +0%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

65−70

−9.2%

71
+9.2%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	50−55 −12%	55−60 +12%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	50−55 −18%	59 +18%
Battlefield 5	90−95 −10%	95−100 +10%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	65−70 −12.3%	73 +12.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 −16%	58 +16%
Far Cry 5	60−65 −13.3%	65−70 +13.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	70−75 −10%	75−80 +10%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 −10%	132 +10%
Hitman 3	60−65 −15%	69 +15%
Horizon Zero Dawn	150−160 −14.7%	172 +14.7%
Metro Exodus	130−140 −10.8%	144 +10.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2	100−105 −12%	112 +12%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	120−130 −10%	132 +10%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 −11.4%	78 +11.4%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	50−55 −12%	55−60 +12%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 −20%	42 +20%
Battlefield 5	90−95 −10%	95−100 +10%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	60−65 −11.7%	67 +11.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 −17.5%	47 +17.5%
Far Cry 5	60−65 −13.3%	65−70 +13.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	70−75 −10%	75−80 +10%
Forza Horizon 4	110−120 −13.6%	120−130 +13.6%
Hitman 3	50−55 −12%	56 +12%
Horizon Zero Dawn	260−270 −10.4%	287 +10.4%
Metro Exodus	90−95 −11.1%	100 +11.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	80−85 −12.5%	90 +12.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	100−105 −10%	110 +10%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	90−95 −13.3%	102 +13.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	190−200 −12.6%	214 +12.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	50−55 −12%	55−60 +12%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−33 −23.3%	37 +23.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50 −8.9%	49 +8.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 −14.3%	40 +14.3%
Far Cry 5	60−65 −13.3%	65−70 +13.3%
Forza Horizon 4	90−95 −8.9%	98 +8.9%
Horizon Zero Dawn	85−90 −9.4%	93 +9.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	85−90 −11.8%	95 +11.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	50−55 −14%	57 +14%
Watch Dogs: Legion	24−27 −20.8%	29 +20.8%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

75−80

−8%

81
+8%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 −14%	55−60 +14%
Far Cry New Dawn	70−75 −10%	77 +10%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 −18.5%	30−35 +18.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 −12.5%	27 +12.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50 −13.3%	51 +13.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 −14.3%	24 +14.3%
Far Cry 5	50−55 −18%	59 +18%
Forza Horizon 4	70−75 −8.6%	76 +8.6%
Hitman 3	35−40 −11.4%	39 +11.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −11.7%	67 +11.7%
Metro Exodus	50−55 −18%	59 +18%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 −11.7%	67 +11.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 −14.3%	40−45 +14.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	16−18 −18.8%	19 +18.8%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

45−50

−17.8%

53
+17.8%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −11.1%	30−33 +11.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 −14.3%	24−27 +14.3%
Hitman 3	18−20 −16.7%	21 +16.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−33 −20%	35−40 +20%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 −14.3%	24 +14.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−33 −16.7%	35 +16.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 −18.8%	18−20 +18.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −25%	15 +25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 −21.4%	17 +21.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 −11.1%	10 +11.1%
Far Cry 5	14−16 −21.4%	16−18 +21.4%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 −11.1%	50 +11.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −8.6%	38 +8.6%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −14.8%	31 +14.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion	10−11 −20%	12 +20%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27

−8.3%

26
+8.3%

This is how GTX 1660 and RTX 3050 8 GB compete in popular games:

RTX 3050 8 GB is 7% faster in 1080p
A tie in 1440p
A tie in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	30.27	32.66
Recency	14 March 2019	4 January 2022
Cost	$219	$249
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	8 GB
Chip lithography	12 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	130 Watt