Overall and Final Verdict
So with this being the second GTX 1660 Ti that I have taken a look at, it has cemented a few different things. For one, I am loving Turing without the RTX features. I was really hoping for a full RTX without the RTX but even this slightly cut back card performs great and frankly outperforming the GTX 1070 is impressive not to mention performance favoring newer DX12 games which we are seeing more and more of. Second, the differences between the entry level MSI GTX 1660 Ti Ventus XS and the EVGA GTX 16670 Ti XC Ultra show how much flexibility AICs have. The EVGA having a DVI port for example when that was a big sticking point for me on the MSI. That couldn’t fit in my pro’s but seriously having a DVI port is important at this price. The cards are also completely different sizes and shapes and all of the companies have a variety of designs that cover all of the sizes. The EVGA XC Ultra is their only long card, their other two models are ITX sized. The MSI, on the other hand, was short in length but tall in height. Tall cards have been a growing issue that SFF guys especially will need to keep in mind. As I put it in my pro’s I really shouldn’t have to call out cards for being a standard height or length, but it has gotten to that point.
EVGAs design almost looks like an aggressive OEM card. It obviously takes a lot of the normal EVGA styling which has carried across multiple designs like the brand and model nameplates in the center of the card. But the all-black design with no backplate or RGB lighting is a lot like what OEMs would want to be made. Its also what Batman would want to be made as well so take that however you want. Personally, I like the look and while I love using RGB lighting, I also like a nice stealth or murdered out look and this has that. The biggest area that the XC Ultra stands out and earns that “Ultra” name that I would normally want to make fun of is in its cooling performance. The stock fan profile was tame, in fact, the MSI ran cooler. But when I turned the fans up, this card showed that the cooler had a LOT of room left in it. EVGA also didn’t use a basic cast heatsink that only took up half the space in the card so there is that as well.
Downsides, well with this being their most premium card it felt weird for it to not have a nice backplate to go with it. I get not including them on entry level cards but let's remember that the GTX 1660 Ti is still a premium card. Which brings me to the other con, the price. This is $30 more than the base price that Nvidia has made sure to enforce. That price difference from stock to overclocked isn’t out of the ordinary. I also think that the cooler performance here might justify the money alone. People spend a LOT more adding a different heatsink or waterblock on to other cards. But my concern is that this price is inching closer to the RTX 2060 which even without figuring in the RT and Tensor cores (Ray Tracing and DLSS) is a faster card by a good margin in most tests. Those cards also, at least right now, get you a free copy of Battlefield V or the upcoming game Anthem. Those two things are worth the $40, Anthem is actually worth $60 by itself assuming you wanted to get it or BFV. It is a fine balance from the base GTX 1660 Ti price point and the RTX 2060 and I think that the higher end models are right near the top of that. That said, if you want the best possible GTX 1660 Ti this might just be the card. From what I can tell it has the highest clock speed and it has cooling covered.
Live Pricing: HERE
