The AMD RX 590 and Nvidia GTX 1660 are both decent gaming graphics cards, but which should you pick? In this article, we’ll check out a bunch of games at 1440p and 1080p to help you see the performance difference between them. For the review, I’m using the XFX RX 590 FATBOY 8GB and the MSI GTX 1660 Gaming X 6GB.
OUR VERDICT:
I do probably go for the Nvidia GTX 1660 as it seems to be about the same price and power consumption is very low than the RX 590.
PROS & CONS:
| [i2pc show_title="true" title="AMD RX 590" show_button="false" pros_title="Pros" cons_title="Cons" ][i2pros]Faster than Radeon GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Good build quality Lots of display outputs [/i2pros][i2cons]Poor performance/watt [/i2cons][/i2pc] | [i2pc show_title="true" title="Nvidia GTX 1660" show_button="false" pros_title="Pros" cons_title="Cons" ][i2pros]Excellent 1080p performance Reasonable 120W power consumption [/i2pros][i2cons]Not ideal for 1440p gaming [/i2cons][/i2pc] |
Specification Table:
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Expert Reviews For Nvidia GTX 1660:
By Techspot
Bang for your buck the GTX 1660 can’t be beat. The power efficiency is there, and the MSI Gaming X model we used for testing worked like a charm, running cool and quiet with a reasonable amount of overclocking headroom on offer.By TomsHardware
Based on the same TU116 processor as GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1660 loses two Streaming Multiprocessors and swaps out GDDR6 memory for slower GDDR5. As a result, it remains an excellent choice for gaming at 1920×1080 but isn’t recommended for 2560×1440. Just be sure to comparison shop before making your purchase. Hot deals on Radeon RX 580 cards may warrant a look, despite their lower performance.By PCGamer
The GeForce GTX 1660 continues the downward price and performance trend with Nvidia’s Turing architecture, cutting additional high-end features to bring a generational improvement to the mainstream market.By PCWorld
Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1660 and EVGA’s superb XC Ultra custom design result in a new mainstream gaming champion. This is the graphics card you want for 1080p gaming at 60 frames per second.By TechRadar
The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 OC 6G might not feature RT or Tensor cores, or even GDDR6 video memory, but it delivers excellent gaming performance and streaming capabilities for its entry-level price.Expert Reviews For AMD RX 590:
By PCGamesN
AMD’s RX 590, especially in this affordable PowerColor Red Devil trim, is the fastest sub-$300 graphics card. Though not much of an upgrade over its predecessory its existence helps make the case for buying an RX 580… at least while stocks last.By TomsHarware
The new Radeon RX 590 beats Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1060 6GB across our benchmark suite at 1920 x 1080 and 2560 x 1440. However, AMD took a truncheon to the card’s power limit in order to motivate its Polaris GPU. We think you’re better off scooping up great deals on older Radeon RX 580 8GB cards for high-quality gaming at FHD.By HotHardware
Ultimately, if you’re budgeting less than $300 for a GPU, the Radeon RX 590 is arguably the best overall choice at this time. It’s the strongest performer in the category and multiple AAA games are being tossed in for good measure.By Hexus
The Radeon RX 590 represents a relatively quick method of gaining an extra 10 per cent performance over the RX 580(X). And given its similar pricing, the RX 590 is generally ahead of the GTX 1060 6GB.By PCWorld
The XFX Radeon RX 590 Fatboy uses brute force and an improved 12nm process to muscle past Nvidia’s GTX 1060, but it doesn’t displace the RX 580 completely.
Comparison & Detailed Review:
Above we have shown the overview and depth specifications of both the graphics card. Now, we are sharing the full review and comparison of both graphics cards.
QUICK SPECS: RX 590 vs GTX 1660 |
| RX 590 | GTX 1660 | |
| S.Proces. / C.Cores | 2304 | 1408 |
| Base Clock | 1469 MHz | 1530 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1580 MHz | 1875 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 8000 MHz | 8004 Mhz |
| Memory | 8GB GDDr5 | 6GB GDDr5 |
| Interface | 256 – Bit | 192 – Bit |
| Bandwidth | 256 GB/s | 192 GB/s |
| Power Connectors | 1*6pin + 1*8pin | 1*8pin |
| TDP | 225W | 120W |
| Price | $210 – $250 | $220 – $250 |
RX 590 has 2304 Stream Processor and GTX 1660 has 1408 Cuda Cores. The base clock and the boost clock of GTX 1660 are higher. Both the graphics card are based on GDDR5 but the RX 590 has more memory. Most people think that more memory the GPU have will win the comparison, but it’s not true.
PERFORMANCE: RX 590 vs GTX 1660 |
For the testing, I’m using the XFX RX 590 FATBOY 8GB and the MSI GTX 1660 Gaming X 6GB. The system that I’m testing with has an Intel i5-9600K CPU in a Gigabyte Z390 Auros Xtreme motherboard running at stock speeds, along with 16GB RAM DDR4-3200MHz.
The Nvidia drivers were used for the testing – GeForce Graphic driver 419.35
The AMD drivers were used for the testing – Adrenalin Edition 19.3.1
Anthem
Nvidia enjoyed by far their biggest win in Anthem. At 1080p, the GTX GPU is 2FPS faster. At 1440p, almost average 60FPS while the GTX 1660, struggled with around 50FPS.
Apex Legends
The GTX 1660 also easily beat the RX 590, when testing with Apex Legends and even the 1080p or 1440p. In fact, whereas the RX 590 was giving a very good playable performance at 1440p. The GTX 1660 was also playable with over 60 FPS.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is another Demanding title. The GTX 1660 absolutely roast the RX 590 once again. At 1080p, the GTX 1660 was 12FPS faster and 8FPS faster at 1440p.
Battlefield 5
Battlefield 5 is a very demanding title but even so using the Ultra quality preset with the RX 590, it was able to provide very good playable frame rates at 1080p. The GTX 1660 though, was just giving playable frame rates. The Radeon GPU was a whopping 13% faster.
Call of Duty Black Ops 4
Both GPUs did perform rather well in Call of Duty Black Ops 4 at both resolutions. The RX 590 was 8FPS faster, the GTX 1660 did just fine with 122FPS on average. The performance difference was more noticeable at 1440p although the RX 590 was still 8FPS faster but again the margins more impactful here as we are talking about lower frame rates.
Darksiders 3
Darksiders 3 was tested with the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and there was a 5FPS difference at both the resolutions.
Devil may cry 5
Devil may cry 5 was tested in the practice range as I can easily perform the same test run compared to playing with bots or other players. At 1080p and 1440p, there was only a 5% improvement to the average frame rate.
Far Cry New Dawn
Far Cry New Dawn was tested using the replay feature with the exact same replay at ultra settings. At both resolutions, there was only 1FPS difference, as RX 590 was in lead.
Forza Horizon 4
Forza Horizon 4 is a resource-intensive game, and I can play it alright with a solid 60FPS. At 1080p, both graphics cards have the same FPS of 97. And at 1440p, GTX takes the lead of 1FPS.
GTA 5
GTA 5 is the most loved game among gamers. Nvidia easily beats the AMD here. And well, I was surprised to see the results of AMD RX 590.
Just Cause 4
Just Cause 4 isn’t exactly the most well-optimized title to be released last year. There was almost no difference of FPS at both resolutions.
PUBG
I think PUBG is the most famous and demanding game. If you are just buying graphics card for this particular then you should go with GTX 1660 as it was much better than RX 590.
Resident Evil 2 Remake
Resident Evil 2 Remake was tested with the built-in benchmark using ultra settings. At 1080p, the RX 970 is scoring 7FPS higher compared to the GTX 1660 in this game. At 1440p, RX 590 is now getting only 1FPS higher. A very good comeback for GTX 1660.
Shadow of Tomb Raider
Shadow of Tomb Raider, a super demanding title in terms of visuals and using the ultra quality preset, it was a bit overwhelming for the RX 590 while the GTX 1660 was good for just 81 FPS on average. The GTX 1660 pumped out 52FPS making it 9FPS faster, that’s obviously a massive win for Nvidia.
The Division 2
The Division 2 was tested in campaign mode. With the resolution set to 1080p at ultra settings, the RX 590 was getting 5FPS faster, when compared against the GTX 1660. At 1440p, this lowers to 4FPS.
Warhammer Vermintide 2
Warhammer Vermintide 2 was tested using the built-in benchmark with ultra settings. There was almost no difference in both the graphics card. At 1080p, both graphics cards were getting 89FPS. At 1440p, RX 590 was just 1FPS faster.
Witcher 3
Witcher 3 was also tested using the built-in benchmark, and there was also not much difference, as you can see the graph.
Wolfenstein 2
Wolfenstein 2 was tested using the built in benchmark at ultra settings. I’ve found this game to favour Nvidia’s at both the resolutions.
World War Z
World War Z was tested with the replay feature using the exact same replay with ultra settings. At both 1080p and 1440p, there was a 20% increase to average FPS with the RX 590.
Overall Power Consumption:
I want here that GTX 1660 was giving very less load which makes it the overall winner. As lower LOAD POWER is better.
WHICH TO BUY: AMD RX 590 or Nvidia GTX 1660 |
When it comes down to it both are very capable of providing a good gaming experience at 1080p and 1440p with Ultra settings. It really comes down to what sort of games you want to play, what resolutions you want to play at, and what frame rates you want to target.
