New generations of graphics adapters wouldn't be worth releasing if they didn't clearly outclass their predecessors in some fashion, and NVIDIA is determined to prove that its GeForce 600 definitely is a good deal better than 500. The GeForce GTX 680 and 670 have been around for some time, but the GTX 660 and 650 have yet to debut.
Last we heard, the formal launch will happen on September 12.
GeForce GTX 660 may actually impress the world more than the 680 did. While the latter was expected to be powerful, and it is, the 660, a mid-range board, wasn't expected to actually match the flagship member of the previous generation.
Nevertheless, that is the case, according to some benchmark results published by TweakTown on
Facebook.
The video adapter scored on par (actually a bit higher) with the GeForce GTX 580, and better than the Radeon HD 7870, in 3DMark 11.
Not bad for a board meant to sell for around $200, or 200 Euro in Europe. Technically, $200 converts into 158 Euro, but we've long since passed the stage where we thought there was any chance of EU prices reflecting exchange rates.
For those who don't want to go looking for the specs of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, the relevant details are these: 960 CUDA cores, 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, a GPU clock frequency of 980 MHz (1,033 MHz in Boost state), a memory speed of 6,008 MHz and a TDP (thermal design power) of 140W. A single 6-pin connector provides the needed energy.
To hold its ground on the video board market, at least until the
Southern Islands GPUs arrive, AMD has both
cut the prices on its 7800 line and
boosted the clock speeds of Radeon HD 7950, through a BIOS update. The AMD Catalyst Display Driver 12.8 also optimized performance somewhat. Nevertheless, there won't be any change in the current power balance (or lack thereof) until the Radeon HD 8000 make their entrance.
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