Will GTX 1660 Super fit/work in my computer?

[scubatke]

Greetings,

 

The AMD Radeon HD 7670 graphics card in my HP Envy is currently on its last legs. The temp is almost always above 100 C (currently 110 C) and occasionally it will just shut off. I've been researching which GPU will be a good match to the i7-3770 processor and decided on the GeForce GTX 1660 Super. Among other things, it had the best 'compatibility' score (98) on gpucheck.com. Civ VI is the only game I play so I think this card will be a nice upgrade that won't break the bank.

 

I have three questions that I'm hoping the board can help me with:

 

1) I think that I have plenty of space for a new card, but I'd like to verify that with someone that knows better than I do. (Pics below.)

2) Is there any reason that I should reconsider the GeForce GTX 1660 Super?

3) Will I need (or should I buy) a new power supply? If so, any recommendations?

 

Space available around current GPU:

 

Socket:

 

Label from power supply:

 

Only free connector from power supply (Will I need an 8-pin?):

 

 

BTW...I currently have 2 HDD and 1 SSD and I have a new 10TB HDD that I would also like to add. I can get rid of the other 2 HDD but it's just easier to just add a 3rd. Any issues?

 

Thanks for reading and for any help that anyone has to offer!

 

[Mister Woof]

quick google search says 6 pin should work

 

but don't quote me on that

[Bombastinator]

1: I think so too.  It’s not a big card

2: if all you play is civ6, what is their recommended card?  There might be money to be saved.

3: looking at your PSU I am reminded that I tried to learn to read chinese once and ran away in horror.  I’m seeing three things I can read that might matter:

480w, Delta, and 2000.  I don’t know if the 2000 is a date or not, but if it is that was 19 years ago.

[17030644]

26 minutes ago, scubatke said:

1) I think that I have plenty of space for a new card, but I'd like to verify that with someone that knows better than I do. (Pics below.)

 

The pics don't show wether or not drive bays may prevent you from installing a large videocard. If that is the case look for a short single-fan card like this https://www.pny.com/PNY-GeForce-GTX-1660-SUPER-6GB-Single-Fan they are less than 200mm long so those should be compatible with pretty much every single full-lenght PCIe case on the market.

 

I recently had to cut the drive bays to fit a GTX 970 gaming 4G (269mm) since the bays weren't removable 

 

37 minutes ago, scubatke said:

 

2) Is there any reason that I should reconsider the GeForce GTX 1660 Super?

3) Will I need (or should I buy) a new power supply? If so, any recommendations?

 

all the GTX 1660s's I have seen so far require an 8-pin connector so I think you should either, buy a 1650 super or get a new PSU

 

 

[scubatke]

I really appreciate all of the responses...thanks!

 

GTX 770 or greater is the recommended card for Civ VI. Overall, I'd like to get a little better card if I can. I saw the GTX 1660 on a LTT video about what graphics card to buy for 2020. I don't know how meaningful it is but gpucheck.com gave it a score of 98 when paired with my CPU. GTX 770 scored 75 and GTX 1030 scored 68. I'm open to recommendations but don't want to go much over $250.

 

I can't speak for the PSU but my machine is about 6 years old. Would there be any issue with the processor being physically too old to handle the GTX 1660? (Or any new GPU.)

 

Are there any issues with replacing the PSU in an HP system? I don't know how good the source is but I had been told that HP systems don't work well with non-proprietary power supplies. 

 

 

[Action_Johnson]

I have the Asus flavor of the 1660 Super, and it requires 8-pin's of PCI-E power. It's also a surprisingly long card. If you get one, you might need to get the one for Mini ITX so it'll fit. Again, this one uses 8 pin power, so if you put 6 to it, it might not be enough https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-1660-super-gv-n166sixoc-6gd/p/N82E16814932234?Description=GTX 1660 super&cm_re=GTX_1660_super-_-14-932-234-_-Product

[scubatke]

A co-worker translated the Chinese remark that included '2000'; it's not referring to a calendar year. It basically says not to use the power supply above 2000 meters of elevation.

[scubatke]

Action_Johnson, thanks for that. I'd like to have two fans for extra security but I think I may end up taking your recommendation or the GPU recommended by 17030644. I measured 250mm of clearance but that is absolute max. A card that's 251 won't fit. I'm going to re-measure and make a decision in the morning.

 

Can anyone tell me:

1. Would there be any issue with the processor being physically too old to handle the GTX 1660? (Or any new GPU.)

2. Are there any issues with replacing the PSU in an HP system? I don't know how good the source is but I had been told that HP systems don't work well with non-proprietary power supplies. 

[Bitter]

Have you considered re-pasting the current card in the mean time? Also honestly a GDDR6 1650 may be a good deal, it's a 6 pin card and with a very light OC it's a great deal and a BIG upgrade over the current card.

[scubatke]

Something like this, Bitter?

 

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GeForce-Advanced-Graphics-ROG-STRIX-GTX1650S-A4G-GAMING/dp/B082N86RPJ/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=GeForce%2BGTX%2B1650&qid=1587855782&sr=8-5&th=1

[Bitter]

1 hour ago, scubatke said:

Something like this, Bitter?

 

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GeForce-Advanced-Graphics-ROG-STRIX-GTX1650S-A4G-GAMING/dp/B082N86RPJ/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=GeForce%2BGTX%2B1650&qid=1587855782&sr=8-5&th=1

No, they refreshed the 1650 with GDDR6, not the Super.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/15701/nvidias-geforce-gtx-1650-gddr6-released-gddr5-price-parity

However the 1650 doesn't make any sense to buy if you've got the power and cooling capacity for a 100W card and are not solely slot powered. 1650 Super or a 1660 would  be better buys by a long shot here. Just make sure you can get the heat out of the case so you don't run into thermal limitations!

[Action_Johnson]

6 hours ago, Bitter said:

No, they refreshed the 1650 with GDDR6, not the Super.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/15701/nvidias-geforce-gtx-1650-gddr6-released-gddr5-price-parity

However the 1650 doesn't make any sense to buy if you've got the power and cooling capacity for a 100W card and are not solely slot powered. 1650 Super or a 1660 would  be better buys by a long shot here. Just make sure you can get the heat out of the case so you don't run into thermal limitations!

It amazes me that a card like the 1650 needs a heatsink and cooler that big.

 

1650's are pretty slow, if you can swing a 1660Ti or Super, definitely go with that. I ran the 1660 Super on my old i7 3770 system and it did fine. DOOM ran fine, but a game like Far Cry 5 or BFV, or the new Star Wars game, were too much for the CPU and I would get lots of stuttering.

[scubatke]

Good to hear Action_Johnson. I think I'm going to go with the Super; I just need to pick one. I'll be placing my order tomorrow (didn't get to it today). After installation I'll check back in and let everyone know what I picked and how it turned out.

[Bombastinator]

23 hours ago, Bitter said:

No, they refreshed the 1650 with GDDR6, not the Super.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/15701/nvidias-geforce-gtx-1650-gddr6-released-gddr5-price-parity

However the 1650 doesn't make any sense to buy if you've got the power and cooling capacity for a 100W card and are not solely slot powered. 1650 Super or a 1660 would  be better buys by a long shot here. Just make sure you can get the heat out of the case so you don't run into thermal limitations!

They both have gddr6.  The gsdr6 1650 got it late while the 1660s got it long ago.  As for sense it depends on what is being done with the machine.  For some things a 1650 is overkill.  COD 1080p low settings for example can live on a 1650.  Any aaa rpg would choke of course.

[Bitter]

I think you'll be pretty happy with it! I was impressed with what the 1650 could do with 75W power budget in a SFF system I built my dad so a faster card will be a nice change over what you've been using, it's going to be massively more powerful!

[Bitter]

2 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

They both have gddr6.  The gsdr6 1650 got it late while the 1660s got it long ago.

The non Super 1650 was GDDR5, it's been updated to GDDR6 due to lack of GDDR5 supply. Nvidia downclocked the GPU speeds a little bit to segment it further away from their other offerings and to keep it in the 75W power budget for a slot powered card.

[scubatke]

OK...update time. (Skip to the last paragraph for the short version.) So I went with the ASUS GeForce GTX 1660 Super and Corsair TXM 650 power supply. The power supplies were widely out-of-stock but I found the 650 for only $10 more than the 550 and the key thing for me was that it would arrive sooner (it didn't). There were shipping delays for both items but they finally arrived and then this morning I finally had some free time. The 1660 fit into my machine like it was a component designed by automotive engineers...everything fits but with no clearance and if you ever need to change a part out, you'll have to uninstall something else first. Literally, if I ever want to change RAM, I'd have to pull the graphics card because I wouldn't be able to open the socket releases. But hey...I was good!!

 

Everything went GREAT until I saw that I missed a little piece of the plastic film on the front of the GPU.  Admittedly an irrational fear but I didn’t want the plastic film to eventually come loose and hang up the cooling fan. I couldn't get it off with my fingers or needle-nose pliers so I decided to simply pull the GPU. I didn’t have it screwed down yet so it would be quick and easy. I pressed the socket release down and lifted the card up but it only moved a little. The thing with a really big GPU is that, when installed, you can’t see the PCI socket very well and the length of the GPU increases leverage on the PCI slot considerably.

 

If you’ve read this far you’ve probably guessed, at least to some degree, what happened next…DISASTER. Anyone who’s removed/installed a card in a PCI slot knows they can be tight. When the card moved only a little, I swear that I increased the pressure only a small amount…I thought I was being careful. But that small amount, combined with the leverage of the card, caused about 1/3 of the socket to pull off the motherboard pins. As it turned out, even though I felt the socket release, it hadn’t released fully. The socket is fully off about 30% of the pins and at an angle. I can also see a couple of the pins are badly bent.

 

So…now what do I do? Am I correct in thinking that there's no fixing this? Do I try to find a motherboard? Take the opportunity to upgrade my motherboard and CPU (and move into a larger case)? Buy new?

 

[Bombastinator]

There’s a low percentage chance you could push it back and it would be fine.  They’re just electrical connections after all.  If they’re not fine motherboard replacement is mandatory.  Is it still under warranty?  Not sure if even feel bad about activating it.  PCIe slots shouldn’t pull apart like that.

 

as for the rest of it yet to be determined.

[scubatke]

The machine is about 6 years old, so no warranty. Some of the pins that are fully out of the socket are already bent. I think I would have to remove the socket, close to perfectly straighten the pins and then push the socket down evenly across it's length. Is that possible? Is there a chance of frying the GPU if I inadvertently short two of the pins (maybe bend one down against another without realizing it)?

[Bombastinator]

12 minutes ago, scubatke said:

The machine is about 6 years old, so no warranty. Some of the pins that are fully out of the socket are already bent. I think I would have to remove the socket, close to perfectly straighten the pins and then push the socket down evenly across it's length. Is that possible? Is there a chance of frying the GPU if I inadvertently short two of the pins (maybe bend one down against another without realizing it)?

I didn’t see that any of the pins were fully out of the socket.  That and bent pins change the dynamic.  Predicting what is or isn’t possible for you personally isn’t something I can do.  

[Bitter]

New motherboard time if I were you.

[scubatke]

Thanks Bombastinator and Bitter. I'll have to educate myself a bit. I'm not up to speed on motherboards. Not that I 'need' it, but if I go new, I'd be able to upgrade the processor and RAM and get a larger case but I have no idea what price range I'd be into...~$5-600?

[Bombastinator]

55 minutes ago, scubatke said:

Thanks Bombastinator and Bitter. I'll have to educate myself a bit. I'm not up to speed on motherboards. Not that I 'need' it, but if I go new, I'd be able to upgrade the processor and RAM and get a larger case but I have no idea what price range I'd be into...~$5-600?

The standard upgrade these days is to a ryzen+ or ryzen2 system as there’re generally much better value for money than intel at the moment.   Depending on processor power CPUs run usd100-400, motherboards run 75-130 if you’re willing to forego upgradability to the next gen or 185-300 if not.  Ram wants minimum 16gb of the fastest stuff you can conveniently get with maximum of 3600mhz ddr4.  Many consider the minimum to be 3000mhz. Prices vary.  $80-250 perhaps?

[Bitter]

First step is to set a budget, the second step is to go over that budget.

[Action_Johnson]

New motherboard time.

 

BUT, good news though.

You can get a CPU/Mobo/RAM combo that will run literally everything you throw at it, and run it great, for $360.

 

Ryzen 5 2600

https://www.newegg.com/amd-ryzen-5-2600/p/N82E16819113496?Description=ryzen 5 2600&cm_re=ryzen_5_2600-_-19-113-496-_-Product&quicklink=true

 

Gigabyte x570 UD

https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-x570-ud/p/N82E16813145168?&quicklink=true

 

16GB 3200 CAS 16 DDR4

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820231941

 

You can go cheaper, but you can't get a better long-term value than that. and when the new new Ryzen 3rd gen comes out, you can pop out that CPU, and dish in whatever 16-core Zen3 behemoth is out if you wanted to.

 

DONE.