Radeon RX 6800 XT vs GeForce GTX 1660

Place in the ranking	186	28
Place by popularity	39	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	48.24	50.57
Power efficiency	17.29	14.83
Architecture	Turing (2018−2022)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	TU116	Navi 21
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	14 March 2019 (5 years ago)	28 October 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$219	$649

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 6800 XT has 5% better value for money than GTX 1660.

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	1408	4608
Core clock speed	1530 MHz	1825 MHz
Boost clock speed	1785 MHz	2250 MHz
Number of transistors	6,600 million	26,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	12 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	300 Watt
Texture fill rate	157.1	648.0
Floating-point processing power	5.027 TFLOPS	20.74 TFLOPS
ROPs	48	128
TMUs	88	288
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	72

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 x16
Length	229 mm	267 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 8-pin	2x 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	16 GB
Memory bus width	192 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2001 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	192.1 GB/s	512.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

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, 2x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C
HDMI	+	+

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.5	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2
CUDA	7.5	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

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. 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 30.28

RX 6800 XT 64.94
+114%

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.

GTX 1660 11670

RX 6800 XT 25028
+114%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 1660 21064

RX 6800 XT 52046
+147%

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GTX 1660 71229

RX 6800 XT 96516
+35.5%

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.

GTX 1660 14164

RX 6800 XT 49735
+251%

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 1660 81755

RX 6800 XT 193053
+136%

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 1660 570753
+13.1%

RX 6800 XT 504438

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	83 −149%	207 +149%
1440p	49 −192%	143 +192%
4K	26 −258%	93 +258%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	2.64	3.14
1440p	4.47	4.54
4K	8.42	6.98

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

−76.1%

120−130
+76.1%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	65−70 −106%	130−140 +106%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	59 −168%	158 +168%
Battlefield 5	95−100 −108%	200−210 +108%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	73 −58.9%	110−120 +58.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	58 −116%	120−130 +116%
Far Cry 5	65−70 −69.1%	110−120 +69.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	75−80 −104%	150−160 +104%
Forza Horizon 4	160−170 −41.2%	230−240 +41.2%
Hitman 3	69 −91.3%	132 +91.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	306 +27.5%	240−250 −27.5%
Metro Exodus	144 +0%	144 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	112 −8.9%	122 +8.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	100−110 −155%	260−270 +155%
Watch Dogs: Legion	227 −36.1%	309 +36.1%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	123 −8.9%	130−140 +8.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	42 −221%	135 +221%
Battlefield 5	95−100 −108%	200−210 +108%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	67 −73.1%	110−120 +73.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	47 −166%	120−130 +166%
Far Cry 5	65−70 −69.1%	110−120 +69.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	75−80 −104%	150−160 +104%
Forza Horizon 4	160−170 −41.2%	230−240 +41.2%
Hitman 3	67 −103%	136 +103%
Horizon Zero Dawn	287 +19.6%	240−250 −19.6%
Metro Exodus	113 −27.4%	144 +27.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2	79 −50.6%	110−120 +50.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	110 −223%	355 +223%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	60−65 −114%	130−140 +114%
Watch Dogs: Legion	214 −44.4%	309 +44.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	65−70 −106%	130−140 +106%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	37 −219%	118 +219%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	49 −137%	110−120 +137%
Cyberpunk 2077	40 −213%	120−130 +213%
Far Cry 5	65−70 −69.1%	110−120 +69.1%
Forza Horizon 4	98 −138%	230−240 +138%
Hitman 3	59 −107%	122 +107%
Horizon Zero Dawn	93 −200%	279 +200%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	95 −218%	302 +218%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	57 −181%	160 +181%
Watch Dogs: Legion	29 −286%	112 +286%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−48.1%

120
+48.1%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	55−60 −161%	140−150 +161%
Far Cry New Dawn	45−50 −122%	100−110 +122%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 −134%	75−80 +134%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	27 −263%	98 +263%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	34 −124%	75−80 +124%
Cyberpunk 2077	24 −175%	65−70 +175%
Far Cry 5	35−40 −117%	75−80 +117%
Forza Horizon 4	170−180 −55.7%	270−280 +55.7%
Hitman 3	39 −192%	114 +192%
Horizon Zero Dawn	67 −221%	215 +221%
Metro Exodus	59 −89.8%	112 +89.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	67 −231%	222 +231%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	40−45 −185%	110−120 +185%
Watch Dogs: Legion	187 −67.9%	314 +67.9%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−119%

116
+119%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	30−33 −160%	75−80 +160%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 −167%	60−65 +167%
Hitman 3	21 −167%	55−60 +167%
Horizon Zero Dawn	63 −256%	220−230 +256%
Metro Exodus	44 −186%	126 +186%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35 −214%	110 +214%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18−20 −174%	50−55 +174%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	15 −333%	65 +333%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	17 −176%	45−50 +176%
Cyberpunk 2077	10 −210%	30−35 +210%
Far Cry 5	16−18 −165%	45−50 +165%
Forza Horizon 4	50 −112%	100−110 +112%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	36 −269%	133 +269%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12 −308%	49 +308%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−192%

76
+192%

This is how GTX 1660 and RX 6800 XT compete in popular games:

RX 6800 XT is 149% faster in 1080p
RX 6800 XT is 192% faster in 1440p
RX 6800 XT is 258% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Horizon Zero Dawn, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 1660 is 28% faster.
in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 6800 XT is 333% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GTX 1660 is ahead in 2 tests (3%)
RX 6800 XT is ahead in 69 tests (96%)
there's a draw in 1 test (1%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	30.28	64.94
Recency	14 March 2019	28 October 2020
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	16 GB
Chip lithography	12 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	300 Watt

GTX 1660 has 150% lower power consumption.

RX 6800 XT, on the other hand, has a 114.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 166.7% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 71.4% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 6800 XT is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 1660 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.