GeForce GTX 660 vs GTX 980M SLI
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GTX 980M SLI with GeForce GTX 660, including specs and performance data.
GTX 980M SLI outperforms GTX 660 by a whopping 149% 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 | 253 | 480 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 94 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 3.00 |
| Power efficiency | 9.12 | 5.23 |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2017) | Kepler (2012−2018) |
| GPU code name | no data | GK106 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 7 October 2014 (10 years ago) | 6 September 2012 (12 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $229 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.
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 | 3072 | 960 |
| Core clock speed | 1038 MHz | 980 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1127 MHz | 1033 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 2x 5200 Million | 2,540 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 200 Watt | 140 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | no data | 82.56 |
| Floating-point processing power | no data | 1.981 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | no data | 24 |
| TMUs | no data | 80 |
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).
| Laptop size | large | no data |
| Bus support | no data | PCI Express 3.0 |
| Interface | no data | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | no data | 241 mm |
| Height | no data | 4.376" (11.1 cm) |
| Width | no data | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | 1x 6-pin |
| SLI options | + | + |
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 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2x 8 GB | 2 GB |
| Memory bus width | 2x 256 Bit | 192-bit GDDR5 |
| Memory clock speed | 5000 MHz | 6.0 GB/s |
| Memory bandwidth | no data | 144.2 GB/s |
| Shared memory | - | - |
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 | no data | One Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPort |
| Multi monitor support | no data | 4 displays |
| HDMI | - | + |
| HDCP | - | + |
| Maximum VGA resolution | no data | 2048x1536 |
| Audio input for HDMI | no data | Internal |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| 3D Blu-Ray | - | + |
| 3D Gaming | - | + |
| 3D Vision | - | + |
| Optimus | + | - |
API and SDK compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12_1 | 12 (11_0) |
| Shader Model | no data | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | no data | 4.3 |
| OpenCL | no data | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | + | 1.1.126 |
| CUDA | + | + |
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.
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.
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:
| 900p | 135
+170%
| 50−55
−170%
|
| Full HD | 110
+134%
| 47
−134%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | no data | 4.87 |
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 130−140
+151%
|
55−60
−151%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 50−55
+152%
|
21−24
−152%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 50−55
+178%
|
18−20
−178%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 95−100
+174%
|
35−40
−174%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 130−140
+151%
|
55−60
−151%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 50−55
+152%
|
21−24
−152%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 75−80
+163%
|
30−33
−163%
|
| Fortnite | 120−130
+167%
|
45−50
−167%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 95−100
+177%
|
35−40
−177%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 75−80
+157%
|
30−33
−157%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 50−55
+178%
|
18−20
−178%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 95−100
+174%
|
35−40
−174%
|
| Valorant | 160−170
+158%
|
65−70
−158%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 95−100
+174%
|
35−40
−174%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 130−140
+151%
|
55−60
−151%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 250−260
+159%
|
100−105
−159%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 50−55
+152%
|
21−24
−152%
|
| Dota 2 | 120−130
+173%
|
45−50
−173%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 75−80
+163%
|
30−33
−163%
|
| Fortnite | 120−130
+167%
|
45−50
−167%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 95−100
+177%
|
35−40
−177%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 75−80
+157%
|
30−33
−157%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 85−90
+151%
|
35−40
−151%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 50−55
+178%
|
18−20
−178%
|
| Metro Exodus | 50−55
+157%
|
21−24
−157%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 95−100
+174%
|
35−40
−174%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 70−75
+170%
|
27−30
−170%
|
| Valorant | 160−170
+158%
|
65−70
−158%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 95−100
+174%
|
35−40
−174%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 50−55
+152%
|
21−24
−152%
|
| Dota 2 | 120−130
+173%
|
45−50
−173%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 75−80
+163%
|
30−33
−163%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 95−100
+177%
|
35−40
−177%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 50−55
+178%
|
18−20
−178%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 95−100
+174%
|
35−40
−174%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 70−75
+170%
|
27−30
−170%
|
| Valorant | 160−170
+158%
|
65−70
−158%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 120−130
+167%
|
45−50
−167%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 50−55
+189%
|
18−20
−189%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 170−180
+166%
|
65−70
−166%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 40−45
+175%
|
16−18
−175%
|
| Metro Exodus | 30−35
+175%
|
12−14
−175%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 170−180
+150%
|
70−75
−150%
|
| Valorant | 200−210
+156%
|
80−85
−156%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 65−70
+152%
|
27−30
−152%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
+167%
|
9−10
−167%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 55−60
+167%
|
21−24
−167%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 60−65
+163%
|
24−27
−163%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 27−30
+170%
|
10−11
−170%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 40−45
+150%
|
16−18
−150%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 55−60
+181%
|
21−24
−181%
|
4K
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 24−27
+167%
|
9−10
−167%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 45−50
+156%
|
18−20
−156%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 14−16
+150%
|
6−7
−150%
|
| Metro Exodus | 21−24
+163%
|
8−9
−163%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 35−40
+157%
|
14−16
−157%
|
| Valorant | 140−150
+160%
|
55−60
−160%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 35−40
+171%
|
14−16
−171%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 24−27
+167%
|
9−10
−167%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10−12
+175%
|
4−5
−175%
|
| Dota 2 | 80−85
+167%
|
30−33
−167%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 27−30
+190%
|
10−11
−190%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 40−45
+169%
|
16−18
−169%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 14−16
+150%
|
6−7
−150%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 24−27
+160%
|
10−11
−160%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 27−30
+170%
|
10−11
−170%
|
This is how GTX 980M SLI and GTX 660 compete in popular games:
- GTX 980M SLI is 170% faster in 900p
- GTX 980M SLI is 134% faster in 1080p
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 23.93 | 9.62 |
| Recency | 7 October 2014 | 6 September 2012 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 200 Watt | 140 Watt |
GTX 980M SLI has a 148.8% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 2 years.
GTX 660, on the other hand, has 42.9% lower power consumption.
The GeForce GTX 980M SLI is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 660 in performance tests.
Be aware that GeForce GTX 980M SLI is a notebook graphics card while GeForce GTX 660 is a desktop one.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
