Review : Asus Gtx 660 Ti Direct Cu 2

[timarp000]

The GTX 660 Ti is the 3rd in-line Trickle down GPU of Nvidia's Kepler Cards. It is based on the GK104 like the GTX 680 and the GTX 670. 

 

Specifications - 

 

·         CUDA Cores - 1344

·         Base Clock - 915Mhz

·         Boost Clock - 980Mhz

·         Memory Clock - 1502Mhz GDDR5

·         Video Memory - 2048MB

·         Memory Interface - 192-bit GDDR5

·         OpenGL- 4.3

·         Bus Support - PCIe 3.0

·         SLI - 3-Way

·         Muti-Monitor - Upto 4 Displays

·         Display Outputs - 1x HDMI, 1x Display Port, 2x DVI

·         Max Temp - 97C

·         GPU Power - 150W

·         Power Connectors - Two 6-pin 

·         Minimum PSU Power - 450W

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Supported Technologies -

 

·         3D Vision Surround

·         SLI

·         DirectX 11

·         CUDA

·         3D Vision

·         PhysX

·         TXAA

·         Adaptive V-Sync

Architecture -

 

GTX 660 Ti has one SMX and one Memory Controller is Disabled from the GK104 Processor.

 

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The Asus GTX 660 Ti Direct CU II (GTX660 TI-DC2-2GD5)

 

The Asus GTX 660 Ti Direct CU II comes with the same specifications of the reference GTX 660 Ti but has Asus' Direct Copper cooling with dual-fans and a metal shroud. The card measures in at a length of 10.7'', a height of 1.7'' and a width of 5.4''.

 

 

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The Overclock - 

 

 

Using Asus' GPU Tweak Software, I could get a Boost Clock of 1110Mhz and a Base Clock of 1035Mhz With a Memory Clock of 1570Mhz GDDR5

 

 

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The Testing - 

 

System Specs-

·         CPU - Intel Core i7 3770

·         Motherboard - Asus P8Z77 V Pro

·         RAM - 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600Mhz

·         GPU - Asus GTX 660 Ti DC2 @ 1025Mhz (1090Mhz Boost)

·         PSU - Corsair HX650

·         Case - Corsair 500R White Edition

·         CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

·         Monitor - Samsung S22B370H 21.5'' 1080p

·         HDD - Seagate 1TB @ 7200rpm

·         Optical Drive - LG DVD Writer

·         Keyboard Mouse - Logitech MK200 

Games Tested-

·         Tomb Raider

·         Sleeping Dogs

·         Max Payne 3

·         Hitman : Absolution

·         Crysis 3

·         Battlefield 3

·         Batman : Arkham City

·         Assassins Creed III

Settings-

 

Tomb Raider - 

 

 

Sleeping Dogs - 

 

 

Max Payne 3 - 

 

 

Hitman : Absolution -

 

 

Crysis 3 - 

 

 

Battlefield 3 - 

 

 

Batman : Arkham City -

 

 

Assassins Creed III -

 

 

 

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The Results -

 

 

As you can See the GTX 660 Ti is powerful enough to drive newer games (2012, 2013) smoothly. In some games 8x MSAA was unplayable, the 192-bit interface was the culprit here.

 

With the GTX 660 Ti, in newer games, 4x MSAA is playable smoothly - But if you want 60+ fps you will have to tone down in AA to TXAA or FXAA or even 2x MSAA. I think 40fps is playable so i did not need to reduce to 2x MSAA or lower.

 

I would not recommend the GTX 660 Ti to anything higher than 1080p. With a second card, you may be able to get up to 2560x1440.

 

Temperatures - 

 

 

Temperatures with the overclocked 660 Ti are respectable. Note that Ambient temperature plays a big part in your CPU and GPU temperatures. Hence temperatures in colder parts of the world will be lower.

 

Overclocking seems to increase GPU temps under load buy 8C which is not bad at all. The fan was running at 40% and was inaudible.

 

The Conclusion -

 

The GTX 660 Ti is a good card for the price in performs very well @ 1080p. Due to the crippled memory bus width, I would not recommend it to any user using higher resolutions than 1920x1080. "Can it play Crysis?" - "Yes." "With 8x MSAA?" - "No". With all the games tested, 4x MSAA was playable smoothly. The GTX 660 Ti is a good overclocker but not the best and cant even compare to "the red side rival" (HD 7950). Temperatures are not bad, even when overclocked. Ultimately, the GTX 660 Ti is a great "Budget friendly" or "Bang for your Buck" card and anyone who purchases it, will not be disappointed. 

 

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Thanks for reading this review! I hope it helps you all!

 

(If you want me to do any other tests, post a reply below!)

[911^NEmeSis]

Nice stuff man, thanks for the effort and sharing!

[timarp000]

Nice stuff man, thanks for the effort and sharing!

No problem! Happy to help :D

[mgsstar]

Nice review! Thanks for taking your time and creating the chart! Very helpful! :)

[timarp000]

Nice review! Thanks for taking your time and creating the chart! Very helpful! :)

Thank you for the compliment! I do my best :D

[coopster0102]

The review was really helpful! Thanks for the effort!

[Morfy]

Nice review man!

[timarp000]

Nice review man!

Thanks!

[timarp000]

Nice review man!

Thanks!

[timarp000]

Nice review man!

Thanks!

[Enforcers]

This was a great review and I am glad to able to see this "budget friendly" card is actually very good. I would buy this, but I'd rather wait another 2 months and then get the Direct CU II 680 (4gb edition) as it will be a much more high end card. Until I wait for the 2 months, I'll be playing xbox. :P

[timarp000]

This was a great review and I am glad to able to see this "budget friendly" card is actually very good. I would buy this, but I'd rather wait another 2 months and then get the Direct CU II 680 (4gb edition) as it will be a much more high end card. Until I wait for the 2 months, I'll be playing xbox. :P

Thanks for your kind words. I really appreciate it.

[timarp000]

If you would like me to test any other games, let me know

[Enforcers]

If you would like me to test any other games, let me know

 

Minecraft :P

 

Try getting a high res texture pack. Look at some here: http://bdcraft.net/download-bdcraft-texturepacks

[SirReallySam]

Nice, I got an MSI Power Edition when they were still overvolting the core. It's a BEAST!

[Raj8396]

Good :)

[Cataclyst]

Nice review man! Was planning to buy a GTX 660 Ti myself :). The MSI Power Edition one :))

[911^NEmeSis]

Very nice, thanks for the effort and sharing.

My friend just got his also :D

[timarp000]

Nice review man! Was planning to buy a GTX 660 Ti myself :). The MSI Power Edition one :))

Thanks for the compliment! Id go for the Asus Card over the MSI as Asus have a better customer support and the card is quieter.

[timarp000]

Very nice, thanks for the effort and sharing.

My friend just got his also :D

No problem at all! Im happy to help!

[GuppyTech]

Excellent review my friend, well done with the graphics and chart.

 

Thanks you for sharing.

[timarp000]

Excellent review my friend, well done with the graphics and chart.

 

Thanks you for sharing.

I appreciate the comments. Thanks. Please let me know if you want me to test any more games ;)

[Matsy]

Great review, just enough detail to get your point across without overloading it with unnecessary long paragraphs of text.

+1

[AaronFPS]

good read :)

[dylandylandylan]

I bought my little brother this card for his build, he's super stoked with it. It's heavily over priced here in New Zealand though.