The new Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti and older GTX 1070 are both good gaming graphics cards, but which
should you pick, and is it worth upgrading? In this video we’ll test out and compare
16 different games at 1080p, 1440p and 4K resolutions to help you see the performance
difference between them, and find out which is better value for the price.
Let’s quickly take a look at how the GTX 1660 Ti and 1070 actually differ in terms
of specs, note that things like clock speed and power will vary between specific cards,
these are just the reference specs for each model. The 1070 has more CUDA cores, and only
just slightly higher base clock speed, while the boost clock on the 1660 Ti is higher.
The 1070 also has more memory, but it’s GDDR5 with different speed.
For the testing I’m using the MSI GTX 1660 Ti Gaming X and the Galax GTX 1070 EX, so
both cards are factory overclocked out of the box, which will slightly affect frame
rates, so expect slightly different results with different cards.
The system that I’m testing with has an Intel i7-8700K CPU overclocked to 5.0GHz in
an MSI Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard, along with 16GB of T-Force Night Hawk CL16
memory from Team Group running at DDR4-3200 in dual channel. Check the links in the description
for details on all of the components as well as for up to date pricing. The same Windows
updates and Nvidia driver 419.35 was used for the testing, so let’s get into the results.
Let’s start off with Apex Legends, which was tested with all settings maxed out. In
all upcoming graphs I’ve got the GTX 1070 shown by the top bar in red, while the GTX
1660 Ti is shown below in purple, while the three different resolutions, 1080p, 1440p
and 4K are shown on the left. In terms of average FPS the 1660 Ti was about 3% slower
than the 1070 at 1080p, while the 1660 Ti takes the lead at 1440p and 4K, coming out
6.5% and 15% faster respectively.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was tested with the built in benchmark using high settings,
and the 1660 Ti was ahead at all resolutions in this game. At 1080p it was 3% ahead of
the 1070, 7% ahead at 1440p, and then almost 9% ahead at 4K, with larger improvements to
1% low also seen as we step up the resolution.
Battlefield 5 was tested in campaign mode rather than multiplayer, as it’s easier
to consistently reproduce the test run. Both cards were providing a playable experience
at 1080p and 1440p resolutions, with the 1660 Ti 5% ahead of the 1070 at 1080p, and 6% ahead
at 1440p. At 4K things change, with the 1660 Ti now 10% behind the 1070, with the 1% low
from the 1070 actually above the average frame rate of the 1660 Ti, although this doesn’t
practically matter given 30 FPS for a first person shooter isn’t a fun time.
Far Cry New Dawn was tested using the built in benchmark with high settings, and there
was basically no difference between the two when it came to average frames. The 1% lows
are a different story though, with the 1660 Ti consistently delivering higher results,
as the 1070 was dipping more in this test.
Far Cry 5 was also tested using the built in benchmark with high settings, and this
game was seeing higher FPS over the newer Far Cry New Dawn just shown. The average frame
rates were also very close together in this game regardless of graphics card used, however
this time the 1% lows were much closer together.
Fortnite was tested using the replay feature with the exact same replay on both graphics
cards. In this test the 1070 was coming out ahead of the 1660 Ti at all resolutions, both
in average FPS and for 1% low. At 1080p the 1070 was 6% ahead in terms of average FPS,
11% at 1440p, and then 17% at 4K, where it was noticeably smoother at 4K on the 1070,
but no noticeable difference at lower resolutions.
Metro Exodus was tested with the built in benchmark at high settings. The actual game
performs a fair bit ahead of this, so this is more of a synthetic test rather than representative
of actual game play, but it does allow me to accurately compare between the two graphics
cards as it performs the same test run on each with very little variance. With that
in mind, the 1070 was again coming out ahead of the 1660 Ti in all tests here, with a 4%
lead in average FPS at both 1080p and 1440p, then just 3% at 4K.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was also tested using the built in benchmark with high settings.
This seems to be more of a graphically intensive test, and the 1660 Ti was coming out ahead
at all three resolutions. At 1080p the 1660 Ti was 3% ahead of the 1070, 5% ahead at 1440p,
and then 6% ahead at 4K.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested using the built in benchmark at high settings, with a 50%
render scale and T-AA in use as these were default with the presets. This is a game that
I’ve found to prefer Nvidia’s new Turing architecture, so it was no surprise to me
to see the 1660 Ti coming out ahead here. At 1080p we’re looking at a 13% improvement
to average FPS with the 1660 Ti, 12% at 1440p, and 9% at 4K. There were also very nice improvements
to 1% lows at lower resolutions too, up to a 27% increase with the 1660 Ti at 1080p.
CS:GO was tested with the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and both cards were delivering very high frame
rates. The 1070 was coming out ahead of the 1660 Ti in all resolutions at this test, with
6% higher average FPS at 1080p, 7% at 1440p, and 15% at 4K.
Overwatch was tested in the practice range as I can easily perform the same test run
compared to playing with bots or other players which will differ every time. While both of
these graphics cards were capable of delivering a playable 4K experience, even with ultra
settings, the 1070 was consistently ahead in this game. At 1080p the 1070 was 7.5% ahead
of the 1660 Ti in average FPS, 7.8% at 1440p, then 9.5% at 4K.
PUBG was tested using the replay feature with the exact same replay at high settings. This
was another game where 1440p with good settings was quite playable, but I wouldn’t want
to step up higher to 4K with either. The 1660 Ti was coming out ahead in average FPS at
all resolutions tested, however it was quite close. At 1080p the 1070 was actually seeing
12% higher 1% lows, which I’d argue is more beneficial over the 2 FPS difference to the
average, given both are already over 100 FPS, however this changed at 1440p with the 1660
Ti now 18% ahead in 1% low.
Watch Dogs 2 is a resource intensive game and was tested with high settings. In my opinion
this one doesn’t need a high frame rate to play, I can get by with a solid 30 FPS,
so both cards were actually giving me a playable experience at 4K. At all resolutions though
there was basically no noticeable difference between the two.
Ghost Recon was tested with the built in benchmark and high settings in use, and is another resource
heavy game. The 1070 was just slightly ahead of the 1660 Ti here, but only by a small amount,
just 0.9% at 1080p and 1440p, then 4.7% at 4K.
The Witcher 3 was tested with Hairworks disabled, and like most other games was playable at
both 1080p and 1440p even with high settings in use. The 1660 Ti was coming out ahead in
all three resolutions, however it was a close match with the 1070 not far behind, with no
real practical difference between the two.
Shadow of War was tested using the built in benchmark with high settings, and this is
another game that I’ve found to favour Nvidia’s new Turing architecture. In this case it doesn’t
really seem to be making much of a difference though, with the 1660 Ti 1.6% ahead at 1080p,
3.6% ahead at 1440p, and 2.4% at 4K.
In terms of overall improvement, over all 16 games tested with a 1080p resolution on
average the GTX 1660 Ti was performing just 0.5% better when compared with the GTX 1070
in terms of average FPS. There wasn’t really that big of a gain on the 1660 Ti, other than
from the games that really seem to favour the Turing architecture, like Rainbow Six
Siege.
At 1440p on average over the same 16 games the GTX 1660 Ti was now scoring 0.9% higher
average frame rates when compared with the GTX 1070, so only a very small change on average
from what we saw at 1080p. Again we only seem to be in the positive for the 1660 Ti due
to Rainbow Six Siege.
At 4K we’re now seeing the scales tip towards the 1070, with more games performing better
with it compared to the 1660 Ti, perhaps due to the larger memory of the 1070 which becomes
more useful at these higher resolution. Realistically though neither of these are 4K cards.
When it comes down to it, I don’t think there’s very much of a performance difference
between these two graphics cards, they’re quite similar once we average things out,
but it does of course depend on the game.
It’s also worth noting that the GTX 1070 does have SLI support, while the 1660 Ti does
not, so technically you could expand the 1070 with a second card to improve performance,
however considering how hit or miss SLI support is in games I wouldn’t consider that as
an upgrade path, and would instead recommend the best single slot card you can get at the
time.
I haven’t tested overclocking here, as results aren’t guaranteed and will vary between
hardware based on what overclocks you can get, realistically it generally only makes
a couple of FPS difference, but I will cover overclocking in the full review videos.
Now for the final difference, the price. I suggest checking updated prices using the
links in the description, as prices will change over time. At the time of recording, in the
US my GTX 1660 Ti I’m testing with is $310 USD. I am using a higher end 1660 Ti however,
it just happened to be a good deal for me here in Australia when I bought it, lower
end models can be had for around $280 though. As for the GTX 1070, well prices are a bit
sad there, they seem to be around $450 USD new minimum on Newegg. Many stores are already
no longer even stocking the GTX 1070, as supply starts to dry up. This will likely mean that
over time, the price will continue to go up further as they become difficult to buy new.
As a result the second hand market will eventually become the only practical option, if not already,
which completely changes the value proposition. I got my 1070 second hand for about $220 USD
in October 2018 for example.
Looking at brand new prices, I think the 1660 Ti is the clear winner, simply because it’s
only just launched it’s much more widely available, and as we’ve seen here it is
capable of similar levels of performance on average, though it does of course vary by
game, although it is possible that in future the extra memory of the 1070 may be more beneficial.
If you don’t mind not getting brand new with a warranty, then look for a second hand
1070, there’s great value there. If we plug the numbers in, I spent $220 USD on my 1070
and $310 USD on my 1660 Ti, so I’ve spent 40% more money on the 1660 Ti. If I got a
cheaper $280 1660 Ti instead then I’m still paying 27% more money over the used 1070,
but this is of course only the difference in graphics cards. When you factor in the
whole price of a system, the percentage value is much less. Basically if I was buying new
today, I’d just go with the 1660 Ti and get the warranty, but if you’re on a tight
budget and want to save some money try and find a used 1070.
Otherwise if you’re looking to upgrade and already have a 1070, well it makes no sense
to go a 1660 Ti, I’d be looking at something higher.
Let me know which card you’d pick down in the comments and why, the newer GTX 1660 Ti
or older GTX 1070, and don’t forget to subscribe for more comparisons and future tech videos
like this one.