The Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti and RX 5500 XT are both decent gaming graphics cards, but which should you pick? In this article, we’ll test out and compare 12 different games at 1080p and 1440p resolutions to help you see the performance difference between them, and find out which is better value for the price.
 |  |
|---|---|
| RX 5500 XT | GTX 1660 Ti |
| BUY NOW | BUY NOW |
| PROS | PROS |
| Competent 60 fps 1080p performance. Much more efficient than Polaris. | Big thermal solution for a 120W GPU. Elevated GPU Boost frequency. 200W power limit. Operates quietly. Excellent performance at 1920 x 1080. |
| CONS | CONS |
| 4GB variant is notably slower in certain titles. | Similarly-priced Radeon RX Vega 56 is faster. |
SPECIFICATIONS
| OVERVIEW | RX 5500 XT | GTX 1660 Ti |
| Card Status | Released | Released |
| Manufacturer | AMD | NVIDIA |
| Release Date | 12th December, 2019 | 22nd February, 2019 |
| Launch Price | $169 USD | $279 USD |
| GPU | RX 5500 XT | GTX 1660 Ti |
| GPU Model | 7nm Navi 14 XTX | 12nm TU116-400 |
| Cores : TMUs : ROPs | 1408 : 88 : 32 | 1536 : 96 : 48 |
| CLOCKS | RX 5500 XT | GTX 1660 Ti |
| Base Clock | 1607 MHz | 1500 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1717 MHz | 1770 MHz |
| Memory Clock (Effective) | 1750 (14000) MHz | 1500 (12000) MHz |
| Computing Power (FP32) | 4,525 GFLOPS | 4,608 GFLOPS |
| MEMORY | RX 5500 XT | GTX 1660 Ti |
| Memory Size | 8192 MB GDDR6 | 6144 MB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus Width | 128-bit | 192-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth | 224 GB/s | 288 GB/s |
| PHYSICAL | RX 5500 XT | GTX 1660 Ti |
| Interface | PCI-Express 4.0 x8 | PCI-Express 3.0 x16 |
| Thermal Design Power | 130 W | 120 W |
OVERVIEW
RX 5500 XT:
I am using SAPPHIRE PULSE RX 5500 XT 8GB in this review.
The 5500 XT is going to be available in two variants, 4GB and 8GB. The RX 5700 XT is designed for 1440p and so this new RX 5500 XT is designed to tackle 1080p. In terms of the pricing for the 5500 XT 4GB version start from $169 and the 8GB version start from $179.
We have the dual X cooling which obviously involves two fans. If you’re not a fan of the RGB lighting then you’ll be pleased to know that we have none of that present.
In terms of the size, this card is neither large nor small and so it should fit into a good range of different size cases. The length of the card is 230 millimeters, width is 108 millimeters, and height is 40 millimeters.
GTX 1660 Ti:
I am using Gigabyte GTX 1660 Ti Gaming OC in this review.
The Gigabyte GTX 1660 Ti gaming OC looks very similar to the RTX 2060 version. In fact, in terms of dimensions they are identical though under the skin they are also quite different. GTX 1660 Ti weighs in at just 670 grams.
The cooler on the GTX 1660 Ti has three heat pipes. Additionally some of the weight cutting can also be attributed to these smaller PCB which doesn’t stretch the entire length of the cooler instead while the card measures 280 millimeters from end to end, the PCB measures just 225 millimeters. This is likely the same PCB used by the dual fan models.
The backside of the card we do find a full-length backplate. It is made from plastic, so it won’t aid in cooling. It just trap hot air on the backside of the PCB. Still for those of you who prefer a backplate look, it will satisfy you and it does at least protect the backside of the card.
The I/O panel, there’s 3 display ports along with a single HDMI port and this is a pretty standard configuration for these cards.
PERFORMANCE
The system that I’m testing in has an Intel i9-9900K. I’m using the best CPU that I can for gaming in order to reduce it being a limiting factor in the benchmarks. The system also has Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 memory and is running Windows 10 with all updates to date applied. Now let’s take a look at the benchmark results.
DESTINY 2
DESTINY 2 was tested with ultra settings. In terms of average FPS the 1660 Ti was 21% ahead of the 5500 XT at 1080p, and 7% ahead at 1440p.
WITCHER 3
The Witcher 3 was tested with Hairworks disabled, and like most other games was playable at both 1080p and 1440p even with ultra settings in use. This game saw a pretty big improvement with the 1660 Ti, with a 25.5% higher average frame rate at 1080p and 1440p.
WATCH DOGS 2
Watch Dogs 2 is a resource intensive game and was tested with ultra settings. In my opinion this one doesn’t need a high frame rate to play, I can get by with a solid 30 FPS, so both cards were giving me very a playable experience at 1440p. As for the differences, at 1080p the 1660 Ti was 26% ahead in average FPS and 27% at 1440p.
TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER
TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER was tested with the built in benchmark and ultra settings in use, and is another resource heavy game. Despite this the 5500 XT was almost averaging 50 FPS in this test at 1440p. As for the differences, the 1660 Ti was scoring 14% higher average frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.
SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was also tested using the built in benchmark with high settings. This seems to be more of a graphically intensive test, and the 1660 Ti was coming out ahead in both resolutions.
ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was tested with the built in benchmark using high settings, and the 1660 Ti was 14% ahead in average FPS at 1080p and 3% faster at 1440p.
HITMAN 2
HITMAN 2 was tested using the built in benchmark with ultra settings, and we were seeing almost a 37% improvement with the 1660 Ti at both 1080p and 1440p.
GTA 5
GTA 5 was tested using the replay feature with the exact same replay at ultra settings. At 1080p the 1660 Ti was giving us 20% higher average frame rate, and 24% higher at 1440p.
GEARS OF WAR 4
GEARS OF WAR 4 was tested with the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and both cards were delivering very high frame rates. At 1080p the 5500 XT was 6% ahead of the 1660 Ti, and then 8% ahead at 1440p.
FAR CRY PRIMAL
FAR CRY PRIMAL was tested using the built in benchmark with ultra settings, and once again the 1660 Ti was coming out ahead. At 1080p we’re looking at a 4% improvement to average frame rate, increasing to 18% higher once we turn the resolution up to 1440p.
DEUS EX MANKIND DIVIDED
DEUS EX MANKIND DIVIDED was tested with the built in benchmark at ultra settings. The 1660 Ti card was achieving 16% higher average FPS at 1080p, lowering to almost 8% at 1440p.
BATTLEFIELD V
Battlefield 5 was tested in campaign mode rather than multiplayer, as it’s easier to consistently reproduce the test run. I found both cards to deliver a fairly playable experience with ultra settings, even with 1440p, however the 1660 Ti was getting 15% higher average FPS here, and 9% higher at 1080p.
WHICH ONE YOU SHOULD BUY?
If you compare the price, there is not too much difference. And GTX 1660 Ti is recommended choice to buy because it was performing better than 5500 XT with the almost same price.
