GeForce GTX 1660 vs Radeon 520
Aggregated performance score
GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon 520 by 1387% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
General info
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 837 | 171 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 43 |
| Value for money | 2.00 | 25.03 |
| Architecture | GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) | Turing (2018−2021) |
| GPU code name | Oland | Turing TU116 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 21 March 2017 (7 years old) | 14 March 2019 (5 years old) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $219 |
| Current price | $140 | $252 (1.2x MSRP) |
Value for money
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
GTX 1660 has 1152% better value for money than Radeon 520.
Technical specs
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 | 320 | 1408 |
| Core clock speed | 1030 MHz | 1530 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 1785 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 1,040 million | 6,600 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 12 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 50 Watt | 120 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 20.60 | 157.1 |
| Floating-point performance | 659.2 gflops | no data |
Size and compatibility
Information on Radeon 520 and GeForce GTX 1660 compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | no data | 229 mm |
| Width | no data | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |
Memory
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 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory bus width | 64 Bit | 192 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 2250 MHz | 8000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 16 GB/s | 192.1 GB/s |
| Shared memory | - | - |
Video outputs and ports
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 VGA | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort |
| HDMI | + | + |
API support
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12.0 | 12 (12_1) |
| Shader Model | 5.0 | 6.5 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | + | 1.2.131 |
| CUDA | no data | 7.5 |
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.
GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon 520 by 1387% based on our aggregated 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%
GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon 520 by 1386% in Passmark.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 17%
GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon 520 by 1253% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 17%
GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon 520 by 948% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 14%
GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon 520 by 966% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 14%
GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon 520 by 862% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 9%
GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon 520 by 974% in GeekBench 5 OpenCL.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 8%
GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon 520 by 577% in 3DMark Ice Storm GPU.
GeekBench 5 Vulkan
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 Vulkan API by AMD & Khronos Group.
Benchmark coverage: 5%
GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon 520 by 1155% in GeekBench 5 Vulkan.
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 | 15
−473%
| 86
+473%
|
| 1440p | 3−4
−1500%
| 48
+1500%
|
| 4K | 1−2
−2700%
| 28
+2700%
|
Performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6
−1320%
|
71
+1320%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 2−3
−2750%
|
55−60
+2750%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 3−4
−3033%
|
90−95
+3033%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 10−12
−918%
|
112
+918%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6
−1060%
|
58
+1060%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
−4900%
|
100
+4900%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2
−9400%
|
95
+9400%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 4−5
−3200%
|
132
+3200%
|
| Hitman 3 | 3−4
−3567%
|
110
+3567%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 3−4
−2633%
|
82
+2633%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 5−6
−1360%
|
73
+1360%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 8−9
−1063%
|
93
+1063%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 2−3
−2750%
|
55−60
+2750%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 3−4
−3033%
|
90−95
+3033%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 10−12
−673%
|
85
+673%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6
−840%
|
47
+840%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
−4500%
|
92
+4500%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2
−8800%
|
89
+8800%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 4−5
−2975%
|
123
+2975%
|
| Hitman 3 | 3−4
−2900%
|
90
+2900%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 3−4
−1933%
|
61
+1933%
|
| Metro Exodus | 3−4
−1800%
|
57
+1800%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 5−6
−700%
|
40
+700%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 8−9
−875%
|
78
+875%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10
−920%
|
102
+920%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 2−3
−2750%
|
55−60
+2750%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 3−4
−3033%
|
90−95
+3033%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6
−700%
|
40
+700%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
−4200%
|
86
+4200%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2
−8100%
|
82
+8100%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 4−5
−2350%
|
98
+2350%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 6
−850%
|
57
+850%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5
−1325%
|
57
+1325%
|
| Hitman 3 | 5−6
−1040%
|
57
+1040%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 9−10
−344%
|
40
+344%
|
| Metro Exodus | 0−1 | 33 |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 1−2
−2400%
|
25
+2400%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 6−7
−700%
|
48
+700%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2
−2300%
|
24
+2300%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 3−4
−1867%
|
59
+1867%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 2−3
−1850%
|
35−40
+1850%
|
4K
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 2−3
−1500%
|
32
+1500%
|
| Hitman 3 | 2−3
−1450%
|
31
+1450%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 7−8
−57.1%
|
11
+57.1%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 1−2
−1500%
|
16−18
+1500%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2
−1900%
|
20−22
+1900%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 0−1 | 15 |
| Far Cry 5 | 3−4
−900%
|
30
+900%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 5−6
−520%
|
31
+520%
|
This is how Radeon 520 and GTX 1660 compete in popular games:
1080p resolution:
- GTX 1660 is 473% faster than Radeon 520
1440p resolution:
- GTX 1660 is 1500% faster than Radeon 520
4K resolution:
- GTX 1660 is 2700% faster than Radeon 520
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Far Cry New Dawn, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 1660 is 9400% faster than the Radeon 520.
All in all, in popular games:
- Without exception, GTX 1660 surpassed Radeon 520 in all 47 of our tests.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Performance score | 2.03 | 30.18 |
| Recency | 21 March 2017 | 14 March 2019 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 6 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 12 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 50 Watt | 120 Watt |
The GeForce GTX 1660 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon 520 in performance tests.
Be aware that Radeon 520 is a notebook card while GeForce GTX 1660 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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