With rumors showing no sign of going away, it seems that the release of a GTX 1660 Ti graphics card is all but certain. So what is this strangely named card and who is it for? We spend some time digging through the noise.Nvidia's RTX 20-series of cards have not exactly set sales records ablaze. It’s not that the cards themselves aren’t any good. There is no doubt that these are the most advanced, most powerful GPUs ever put up for sale.
In fact, that may very well be why RTX cards are not flying off the shelf. Compared to the smash-hit 10-series, these cards don’t really perform that much better. While there are worthwhile gains in standard rasterized graphics applications, much of the price premium comes from the new Turing chip’s real time ray tracing and machine learning hardware. When paired with compatible software, RTX is a revelation. However, it may be a generation or two before developer’s really start investing in this new hardware capability.
This means plenty of people don’t see the value of buying an RTX card. Instead it may make more sense to buy a faster 10-series card, or something from AMD’s previous generation which has now come down in price.
A Card for the People While it’s still not official, there have been so many leaks, rumors and even apparent benchmark numbers, that there’s little doubt we’ll see GTX 1660 Ti cards on the shelves soon. Card specs have leaked, and AMD has already dropped the Vega 56’s price by 30%. This rumored card sports performance numbers slightly south of the GTX 1070 Ti, with an MSRP of $279. The exact price the Vega 56 now sits at. What it won’t have are any of those expensive first generation ray tracing or machine learning technologies. Making it a very attractive product for any user who just wants better performance from their rasterized applications. Based on the model number, this is aimed at the folks who were in the market for the excellent 1080p GTX 1060 card from the previous generation. The GTX 1660 Ti should easily transition these users over to the 1440p resolution standard that’s now becoming popular. It’s unlikely to be a viable 4K card, but then no one is expecting it to be. When will we see it? It could literally be any day now, since a few online retailers have already accidentally posted listing. If you’ve bought a Vega 56 at the old price or have a GTX 1070 or similar card on order, this is probably a good time to cancel or ask for a partial refund. The mid-range could be in for a price and performance shakeup.
