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Is it worth to get a 660ti over a 660, "budget wise"?

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goldorak

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Apr 8, 2010
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Hi, I am a casual gamer, and by casual I mean rarely decide to put a game on and play.

My main usage for the graphics card is to supply my 1080p or 720p/120Hz/3D projectors (130 inch screen approx from 25 feet away) when I want to play a bluray movie or similar. But I do want some horsepower to casually play some games over the course of the upcoming 3 years (once in a blue moon) or maybe get my nephew to play some games over the weekend so that he can "think" his uncle is cool :)

I am on a budget as I want to buy several items. I had an msi twin frozr 560 ti that had a dvi and hdmi port die on me, and that I sold. Is it worth to get the 660 ti over the 660 for the difference of USD 75 as I am seeing in the market?

It seems the difference is mainly around 15% in performance and it depends if it is a reference or OC version.

Any advice? is the 660 gigabyte a good card to get? over the evga ones? I am trying to stay away from MSI after the port problem although I know MSI is a good brand.
 
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I don't think the GTX660ti is worth it. If you'd like to save some money, get the GTX660. Spend a little bit more ($30+) and you can get a Radeon HD7870 XT (Tahiti LE) which performs similar to a GTX660ti but cheaper.
 
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I really don't think that a 660 could make it in 3 years, but that really depends on what kind of games are you going to play. i mean if you are planning to play games like Far Cry or Crysis in the upcomming years then I don't think so but if you mean games that do not need a very powerfull card then yes.
I have a 660 ti and I am able to play any game on the market with a very decent framerate i.e Far cry 3 I get between 45 and 60 FPS in ultra quality at 1080P using DX11 while in consoles you get 30 or less and a much lower quality.

But games that do not demand too much of a graphics card like devil may cry 5 or dead space 3 I get ridiculous FPS like 200 or 220 FPS I just set it to 60 so the card will consume less power.
 
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the 78xx radeons are good value but I am bound to an Nvidia solution as I have invested in few 3D vision glasses that can run on my 720p projector. But I am inclined to the 660 to save 65-75 USD. I can get something else for that amount, the 15% doesnt seem worth 30% more money. Especially if I get an overclocked 660 like a gigabyte one. In normal cases, I would get the 660 ti for some future proofness. But I have found myself rarely playing and only getting the card for the self bragging element :)

I am leaning towards a gigabyte 660 OC, it is around 30% faster then my older gtx 560ti. Should do the job, can it play 1080p games like Crysis and BF3? if i didnt use the super hight setups?

 
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since you've said it yourself that you'll only be playing casually/once in a blue moon, buying the 660ti will not be worth the price admission over the non "Ti" 660 budget wise. the 660 will provide you ample enough performance for your needs. plus if you don't mind you could always dial down the graphic settings should you decide to play some of the upcoming demanding games such as crysis 3, etc. unless of course that you are using the term "casual gamer" very loosely.
 
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This is how the 670,660ti and 660 fare in Crysis 3 Beta with everything maxed at 1080p
c3%20vh%201920.jpg

Yes the 660 ti and the 670 goes neck in neck.
For the entire review
http://translate.google.co.id/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fgamegpu.ru%2Faction-%2F-fps-%2F-tps%2Fcrysis-3-beta-test-gpu.html
 
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I would stick with a 660. It will give you good performance for what you are using it for, especially if you are running 720p then you should max out everything. EVGA has some great customer support in my experience. As far as future proofing which is really not possible the 660 has some good headroom for overclocking on your own. I would go reference on the 660. The EVGA software is really easy to use if you wanted to overclock (just move some sliders and perform the stress test that is built in).
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-geforce-gtx-650-benchmark,3297-15.html
this webpage has some overclock numbers. stable @1.2Ghz and almost 10% better than a 660ti stock.

EVGA reference 660 and you will be fine for your uses and you will way outperform any console and 90% of all desktops out there, but not on tom's hardware .
 
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guys he is not a hardcore gamer and crysis/ farcry are not the end all in gaming. He is also using a 720P projector so I bet he can play every game at max settings on his projector for quite some time. the 660 is above the recommended requirements for farcry 3 (640), the recommended for crysis is a 500 series.

the 660 will play games with good quality and playability for the next 1-2 years

crysis will play on a 400 series and far cry 3 min specs are an 8800

I think with his gaming profile he could hit three years of use, barely.
 
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People keep missing this so I will point it out... "I am bound to an Nvidia solution as I have invested in few 3D vision glasses that can run on my 720p projector."
 
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then the 660 should suffice for 720p gaming for atleast a year or 2 maybe even 3. end of story, right?
 
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@720p I think the GTX 660 will last 3 years... Might have to drop a few settings in a couple of years.. But nothing big.
 
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lol, It's best if you just get a 660(I'd recommend a 650Ti) because you got a 720p projector and beside you dont play games that much...
 
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Yep moreover if a gtx 650 ti can churn out 40+ fps in far cry 3 with very high settings at 1680x1050 resolution,it will not only rip any game at 720p but will also be able to run them on 3Dvision as well.
 
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Hey guys and fkr since you are relaxing :)

I appreciate the advice and thoughts. I do have a 720p for 3D but I have as well a 1080p panasonic AE4000 for 2D, so I am planning to use both but mainly for 3D and 2D blurays respectively. As for gaming, yes I am a casual gamer by meaning barely few hours of gaming a year but I am tempted and planning to increase my gaming needs and play more when I get some more free time. And the kids are growing so they might enjoy it as well.

But although I am a casual gamer and the 660 is "fine" for 1080p for most of the games now with some decreased settings for some games. I am as most of you I think, eager to get the best hardware for just the fun of it and because I like the high end techy stuff.

I am using an i7 920 currently at stock speeds but can increase it to 3.6 GHz when gaming if needed.

I am travelling to the US in around 3 weeks so I have to put some online orders after 10 days to 2 weeks, depending on the deals at that time, I will decide. Like the PNY on ebay is a good deal although I prefer better brands but PNY is a good brand as well. Unfortunatly, my country cant pay with paypal on ebay 🙁 but my brother lives in another country so I might make use of his paypal account to get something from ebay if there is a good offer.
Otherwise I am stuck with amazon for the simplicity of payments with international credit cards and to be honest It was a good store over the years for my purchases but not always the best deals compared to seeking better alternatives elsewhere when needed.
So the bottom line, for the range of 230 USD I will get the best I can get. And depending on the technology addiction I might pay more if I feel the itch :)
 
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Hi legendkiller,

Thanks for the options, I wish i can do that but budget wise I jumped to 380 USD, I can get a PNY 670 for 330 USD which is a better choice. And moreover, putting nvidia and amd in one chassis "might" cause some drivers issues or at least pause some concerns regarding compatibility and additional heat in the system and power consumption. Moreover, this will not serve 3D gaming that well, although I am using 720p but is still 3D at 120 Hz.

In fact I was aiming if my pocket doesnt get a hole in it :) to get a second card for my second pc in a small room I have for more private free of kids gaming. Like a radeon 7850 or gtx 650 ti (because I can use it in case my 660/ti in my HTPC dies on me and I need 3D vision.)

But hey, I need to think about my pocket so for now I am still thinking of spending only around USD 230 + or -. I will get soon a nyrius wireless hdmi, I want to try if it will reach my second private screen at home but doubt it, in that case I might be able to use one vga/PC in several places at home. But the main reason for the wireless hdmi is to reach my new 47 inch LG 3d HDTV in a nearby room as well for 3D bluray and gaming. (I like electronics :))
 
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