Gigabyte GTX 660 Overclock 2GB Graphics Card Review

Looking at NVIDIA’s claims about this card, its easy to say that they have delivered exactly as they said they would. The card certainly gives that performance upgrade that many people on the entry level scale are looking for and taking on a 580 in numerous tests certainly shows how much Kepler has come since the Fermi architecture days.

We did also note that the card is set to perform in the region of a 7850, but what we have seen here again is another card that punches well above its weight, most likely with thanks to the mild overclock that Gigabyte have given it. Not having a stock 660 to play with and purely based on an educated guess, I would still imagine that a stock card would still be hitting close to the figures that we have recorded on our test bench and still would give a 580 a run for its money and maybe even a 7870 instead of the 7850.

There is only so much that I can say about the Windforce cooler, but considering it keeps cropping up on Gigabyte’s cards, it kudos to the fact that it is tried and tested and proven to work effectively. The slightly larger heastink that we have seen here is more what I would expect be seeing on the 660Ti, so perhaps this is an improvement that Gigabyte can make on their product line?

There is one other thing that NVIDIA mentioned in their press releases about the GTX 660 and that it is set to be affordable. This is so that everyone and everyone can easily go out and buy a 600 series card and reap the benefits, no matter what level they are working at. Based on a reference design the GTX 660 is set to be on the shelves with a MSRP of £179, which is lower than I was expecting, meaning that it has absolutely fantastic value based on its performance. The GTX 660 OC that we’ve looked at today naturally is a little higher in price, however based on previous pricing on Gigabyte’s OC variants, we expect this particular card to retail in the region of £190 which either way is fantastic value.

Bottom line for the GTX 660 and Gigabyte’s OC model? NVIDIA wanted to made Kepler available to every gamer with an affordable option and with the GTX 660 in an incredible combination of performance / power efficiency / affordability and they have hit the nail on the head on every count. Gigabyte’s OC model is just a bonus on this feat and if you want to save a whole heap of money on a new card, well, its a no-brainer surely?