MSI GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti 2GB Power Edition Video Card Review

We take a look at our first retail NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti video card in the form of the Power Edition model from MSI.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: MSI
17 minutes & 36 seconds read time

Introduction and Package

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Much to the horror of NVIDIA and a number of their partners, we had the opportunity to look at the new GTX 660 Ti GPU in both stock form and overclocked form well ahead of the official launch today. Today we look at our first retail sample based on the new GPU and that comes from MSI in the form of the GTX 660 Ti 2GB Power Edition.

Being a Power Edition video card our approach would be to overclock this bad boy, but because it's the first retail GTX 660 Ti that we've received, we want to see just how this model compares out of the box compared to the reference clocked version we looked at the other week. Once we've done that we'll revisit the card in another article that will be published soon and see just what the Power Edition name brings to the table when it comes to achieving an overclock and how it differs to the overclock we got out of the reference card.

As always, though, we've got a number of things to do before we get into the performance side of things at stock speeds and the first piece of information we'll be looking at is the package which will also give us a chance to cover some of the main features that are on offer. Once we've done that we'll move onto the card itself to see what is going on with the cooling side of things before we look at the specifications of the model to see just what kind of clocks this model comes with when compared to the reference NVIDIA clocks.

Then it will be time to get into the testbed, cover the cards that we'll be using in our graphs today and then get into the performance of the new model. As mentioned, though, let's first take the time to look at what's going on with the package here today on the MSI GTX 660 Ti 2GB Power Edition.

Package

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MSI GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti 2GB Power Edition Video Card Review 04

Looking at the front of the box we can see that we've got the typical Power Edition color scheme. Opening the flap up you can see MSI expand on some of the information. With highlights on the Triple Overvoltage features; probably one of the larger standouts for the Power Edition cards along with the Military Class components. We can also see a couple of the other highlights here include an Enhanced PWM design and of course MSI Afterburner support.

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MSI GEFORCE GTX 660 Ti 2GB Power Edition Video Card Review 06

As we move to the bottom half of the box you can see we get a glimpse of the card itself and MSI move the focus to what exactly the Twin Frozr IV cooler is capable of with its dual 80mm fans, multiple heatpipes, High-Density heatsink and nickel-plated copper base to name just some of the features. Turning the box over goes into some mode specific details in regards to the GTX 660 Ti itself. We'll cover this information a little later on when we move into the specification side of things.

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Finally the last thing we need to look at before we move onto the card is the actual bundle. We really don't have heaps going on with the normal line up of paperwork and driver CD present. Along with that we've got a single DVI to VGA connector and two dual Molex to 6-pin PCIe power connectors to round everything off.

The Card and Specifications

The Card

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Taking a look at the MSI GTX 660 Ti 2GB Power Edition for the first time you're going to notice the trusty Twin Frozr IV cooler that we've seen MSI use for a while now.

As we mentioned earlier when looking at the package you can see we're dealing with two 80mm fans and behind that you can see a large heatsink that takes up majority of the card. Finally we can see across the bottom a number of heatpipes that help round off the cooling solution.

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If we take a look around we don't see anything out of the ordinary when it comes to the overall design. At the back you can see that power is provided via two 6-pin PCIe power connectors while closer to the front you can see two SLI connectors which give the ability to run up to three of these together.

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Finally we finish off with the I/O side of things and looking above you can see we've got two Dual-Link DVI connectors sitting above each other while the bottom left side of the card provides a DisplayPort and HDMI connector to round out that side of things. Above these two connectors you can also see we've got an exhaust point that lets some of the hot air escape.

Specifications

Being a Power Edition based video card means that we're dealing with an overclock out of the box. If you're dealing with a reference clocked GTX 660 Ti, you'll be looking at a core clock of 915MHz which is boosted to 980MHz. As for the 2GB of GDDR5 that will come in at 6008MHz QDR.

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Looking above you can see the clock speeds we're dealing with today on the Power Edition version of the GTX 660 Ti. Starting with the core clock, you can see that MSI has pushed that up to 1020MHz which in turn means the boost clock rate has also been pushed to 1098MHz. The memory remains the same speed as the reference model at 6008MHz QDR.

Benchmarks - Test System Setup

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We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASUS and Corsair.

Looking above you can see our testbed which doesn't hold any changes and really covers everything in the image. So what we'll do is simply jump into the cards that will be included in our graphs today before we of course get into the performance side of things to see just what the new MSI GTX 660 Ti 2GB Power Edition card is capable of doing.

Outside of the MSI version we've also got the reference clocked card we looked at the other week along with the reference clocked GTX 670 and GTX 680 to round off the NVIDIA side of things.

Of course it would be pointless not including a number of AMD cards and we're starting off with the HD 7850 and HD 7870 which from a price point of view should be the main competition for the new GTX 660 Ti. Alongside them, though, we've also got the HD 7950 and HD 7970 along with the new HD 7970 GHz Edition that we saw launch a few weeks ago.

Let's get started!

The FPS Numbers Explained

When we benchmark our video cards and look at the graphs, we aim to get to a certain level of FPS which we consider playable. While many may argue that the human eye can't see over 24 FPS or 30 FPS, any true gamer will tell you that as we climb higher in Frames Per Seconds (FPS), the overall gameplay feels smoother. There are three numbers we're looking out for when it comes to our benchmarks.

30 FPS - It's the minimum number we aim for when it comes to games. If you're not dropping below 30 FPS during games, you're going to have a nice and smooth gaming experience. The ideal situation is that even in a heavy fire fight, the minimum stays above 30 FPS making sure that you can continue to aim easily or turn the corner with no dramas.

60 FPS - It's the average we look for when we don't have a minimum coming at us. If we're getting an average of 60 FPS, we should have a minimum of 30 FPS or better and as mentioned above, it means we've got some smooth game play happening.

120 FPS - The new number that we've been hunting down over recent months. If you're the owner of a 120 Hz monitor, to get the most out of it you want to get around the 120 FPS mark. Moving from 60 FPS / 60 Hz to 120 FPS / 120 Hz brings with it a certain fluidity that can't really be explained, but instead has to be experienced. Of course, if you're buying a 120 Hz monitor to take advantage of 3D, an average of 120 FPS in our benchmark means that in 3D you will have an average of 60 FPS, which again means you should expect some smooth gameplay.

Benchmarks - 3DMark 11

3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmark11/

Buy It Here

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world's most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC's gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

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Starting with 3DMark 11 we can see the out of the box overclock that MSI offers us actually puts us ahead of the GTX 670 when it comes to the standard Performance preset.

When we move to the Extreme one, though, we see it falls a little behind as more pressure is applied. We do see compared to the reference clocked card that there's a really nice boost in performance.

Benchmarks - Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 2.5

Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com

Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark//

New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

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Looking at the performance under Heaven you can see we're not quite at the same level as the GTX 670 in this case which has a lot to do with the intensity of the benchmark. A bit like we saw under the Extreme preset under 3DMark 11, you can see when the intensity is increased, we see the two models separate each other.

Benchmarks - Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.2

Version and / or Patch Used: Benchmark Demo

Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test

Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com/UK/default.aspx

Product Homepage: http://www.hawxgame.com/

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 is an arcade-style flight action game developed by Ubisoft Romania and published by Ubisoft. The game is the sequel to Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., released in 2009.

The game begins with Colonel David Crenshaw participating in a routine patrol mission in the Middle East. After halting an insurgent attack, a volley of missiles is fired at the Air Force base that Crenshaw was stationed at, with one of the missiles disabling Crenshaw's aircraft, resulting Crenshaw being in enemy captivity. A joint strike force composed of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and a Ghost Recon squad executes an operation to rescue Crenshaw. In Scotland, Royal Navy Pilot Colin Munro encounters an unidentified passenger aircraft that explodes from an on-board bomb when undergoing training exercise. In Russia, an air force squadron led by Colonel Denisov and Captain Dmitri Sokov engages separatist aircraft but is ordered to retreat from the region after numerous Russian military installations have been attacked.

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H.A.W.X. 2 performance is strong across the board and you can see a nice little boost at all resolutions when compared to the reference clocked card. Looking above at the speed we're getting, though, it's clear that the extra MHz isn't really necessary in this situation with some strong FPS across the board.

Benchmarks - Mafia II

Mafia II

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.2kczech.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.mafia2game.com/

Buy It Here

Mafia II is a third-person action-adventure video game, the sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. It is developed by 2K Czech, previously known as Illusion Softworks, and is published by 2K Games. The game is set from 1943 to 1951 in Empire Bay (the name is a reference to New York's state nickname "The Empire State"), a fictional city based on San Francisco and New York City, with influences from Chicago and Detroit. The game features a completely open-ended game map of 10 square miles. No restrictions are included from the start of the game. There are around 50 vehicles in the game, as well as licensed music from the era.

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Mafia II looks good across the board and you can see the out of the box overclock that MSI is offering us here give us some more breathing room at 2560 x 1600, which is what we love to see.

Benchmarks - Lost Planet 2

Lost Planet 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Benchmark Demo

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark - Test A Scene 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.lostplanet2game.com/

Lost Planet 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition which is also made by Capcom, taking place ten years after the events of the first game, on the same fictional planet. The story takes place back on E.D.N. III 10 years after the events of the first game. The snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The plot begins with Mercenaries fighting against Jungle Pirates. After destroying a mine, the Mercenaries continue on to evacuate the area, in which a Category-G Akrid appears and attacks them. After being rescued, they find out their evacuation point (Where the Category-G appeared) was a set-up and no pick up team awaited them. The last words imply possible DLC additions to the game, "There's nothing to be gained by wiping out snow pirates... unless you had some kind of grudge."

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Lost Planet 2 sees some great gains with the best being seen at the highest resolution. We can see that the out of the box overclock really does a fantastic job of boosting our numbers as we scrape just past 60 FPS with the reference clocked card to a solid 70 FPS on the MSI version.

Benchmarks - Aliens vs. Predator

Aliens vs. Predator

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.rebellion.co.uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.sega.com/games/aliens-vs-predator/

Aliens vs. Predator is a science fiction first-person shooter video game, developed by Rebellion Developments, the team behind the 1999 original PC game, and published by Sega for Microsoft Windows, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. The game is based on the Alien vs. Predator franchise, a combination of the characters and creatures of the Alien franchise and the Predator franchise. There are three campaigns in the game, one for each race/faction (the Predators, the Aliens and the Colonial Marines), that, while separate in terms of individual plot and gameplay, form one overarching storyline.

Following the storyline of the campaign modes comes the multiplayer aspect of the game. In this Multiplayer section of the game, players face off in various different gametypes in various different ways.

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We've said this before, but Aliens vs. Predator hasn't been the kindest benchmark to the latest crop of NVIDIA video cards and while we see a nice boost in performance here, you can see that 2560 x 1600 just isn't an option. At the resolutions below that we've got some strong FPS which will make for some very smooth gameplay.

Benchmarks - Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.0.2

Timedemo or Level Used: Dark Tower

Developer Homepage: http://www.eidos.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.justcause.com/

Just Cause 2 employs the Avalanche Engine 2.0, an updated version of the engine used in Just Cause. The game is set on the other side of the world from the original Just Cause, on the fictional island of Panau in Southeast Asia. Panau has varied terrain, from desert to alpine to rainforest. Rico Rodriguez returns as the protagonist, aiming to overthrow the evil dictator Pandak "Baby" Panay and confront his former mentor, Tom Sheldon.

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We can again see that the overclock on offer helps boost performance across the board and the most appreciated gain comes at 2560 x 1600 where we see a 69 FPS average helping give us a little bit more breathing room for a solid gaming experience.

Benchmarks - Metro 2033

Metro 2033

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.4a-games.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.thqnordic.com/

Metro 2033 is an action-oriented video game with a combination of survival horror and first-person shooter elements. The game is based on the novel Metro 2033 by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. It was developed by 4A Games in Ukraine and released in March 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360.[3] In March 2006, 4A Games announced a partnership with Glukhovsky to collaborate on the game.[4] The game was announced at the 2009 Games Convention in Leipzig;[5] a first trailer came along with the announcement.[6] A sequel was announced, currently titled Metro: Last Light.

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While we continue to see some extra FPS across the board you can see that 2560 x 1600 is a struggle here. Below that, though, we see the MSI GTX 660 Ti Power Edition is able to perform exceptionally well.

Benchmarks - Dirt 3

Dirt 3

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.dirt3game.com/

DiRT 3 boasts more cars, more locations, more routes and more events than any other game in the series, including over 50 rally cars representing the very best from five decades of the sport. With more than double the track content of 2009's hit, DiRT 3 will see players start at the top as a professional driver, with a top-flight career in competitive off-road racing complimented by the opportunity to express themselves in Gymkhana-style showpiece driving events.

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Dirt 3 numbers look good and you can again see that the overclock helps push our 2560 x 1600 numbers from the 60 FPS range into the 70 FPS range which is what we love to see. While over 60 is what we consider playable, the move into the 70s just gives us that bit more breathing room making sure everything is going to run very smooth.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.01

Timedemo or Level Used: Ranch Long

Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.farcry2.com/

Buy It Here

The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by the award-winning Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers the most realistic destructible environments, amazing special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system, non-scripted enemy A.I. and so much more.

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Far Cry 2 numbers across the board are just strong at all resolutions and you can see the GTX 660 Ti Power Edition from MSI like our other cards here has no trouble dealing with the FPS.

Benchmarks - High Quality AA and AF

High Quality AA and AF

While we test all our games with maximum in-game settings, turning on Anti-Aliasing (AA) and Antistrophic Filtering (AF) helps take the intensity of our testing to another level.

Here we see video cards go from playable FPS to an unplayable FPS and the real power houses continue to help break that 60 FPS mark we always aim for to provide a smooth gaming experience.

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While we can see under Mafia II 1920 x 1200 isn't a problem for the new GTX 660 Ti. You can see when we move to the more intensive 2560 x 1600 resolution that the FPS drops to a level which we consider unplayable.

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Aliens vs. Predator on the other hand doesn't have the same luxury as you see our numbers at both resolutions are below 60.

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While many consider Far Cry 2 to be not intensive you can see even here the new GTX 660 Ti Power Edition struggles to hit that 30 FPS minimum we want at the highest resolution when AA and AF is turned on for a smooth gaming experience.

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Metro 2033 with AA and AF on hardly sees a move in the FPS which ultimately means we're again at below playable levels.

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Finally we finish up with Just Cause 2 and at 1920 x 1200 with AA and AF on we can see some strong performance. Moving to 2560 x 1600, though, with the same settings, just isn't an option as we see the FPS drop significantly.

Temperature Test

The temperature of the core is pulled from MSI Afterburner with the max reading used after a completed run off 3DMark Vantage and the Performance preset.

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On the subject of heat we can see the MSI GTX 660 Ti Power Edition lines up with other cards in this category sitting around the mid 60c mark, while idle looks good at 30c.

As usual the Twin Frozr cooler does an excellent job of keeping temperatures at a good level.

Sound Test

Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).

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Looking at noise levels you can see that we're sitting in the middle of the pack with some good numbers. Again we'd expect nothing less out of the Twin Frozr cooler from MSI.

Power Consumption Test

Using our PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01 or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated graphics cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a SSD hard drive is used with a single CD ROM and minimal cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

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Power draw sits at just above 400 watts at load and just above 200 watts at idle. These are pretty standard numbers these days for performance based video cards and the chances are if you're buying a video card like this, then you'll have a quality power supply that is capable of handling it.

Final Thoughts

When we looked at the new reference clocked GTX 660 Ti the other week, we find ourselves extremely impressed with it. Today we continue to find ourselves impressed with it if not slightly more as we see partners attack the model straight away and go to work on the new GPU.

When we saw the MSI GTX 660 Ti arrive and it fall under the Power Edition labeling, we instantly knew that we'd more than likely have something that was special on our hands based on past experiences. Normally we'd skip the out of the box overclock, though, and move straight into the overclocking side of things. Because this is the first retail GTX 660 Ti we're looking at, though, and the out of the box overclock is quite strong, we wanted to see just what someone could expect from the GTX 660 Ti Power Edition in the event they didn't want to overclock.

That means the next thing we've got to do is overclock this bad boy and see what features like Triple Overvoltage can do for our clock speeds. With potentially a strong overclock on offer, we should see even better performance out of the model and it will be interesting to see if we can get the new model sitting against the more expensive GTX 600 series offerings and the new HD 7970 GHz Edition video card.

Moving onto the specifics of this model, though, it's just a solid MSI video card - this is just something we have come to expect and the trend continues. The Twin Frozr cooler as always does an excellent job when it comes to cooling the GPU and doing it at a good noise level that isn't going to annoy you. Overall quality is also fantastic as you'd expect from a card that falls under the Power Edition label and the only area where we see it not shine, is the same area we see most cards not shine in these days, and that is the bundle.

We should really see a lot of GTX 660 Ti models hit the market today and come in at a price point around $299 - $349; higher than what was initially speculated. Deciding which one to buy is no doubt going to come down to price and personal preference, but the chances are if you've used MSI video cards in the past, the Power Edition one we looked at today is one that should grab your attention.

If you're looking at a video card that is going to fall in at around the $300 mark, you're going to be hard press to look at something other than the new GTX 660 Ti. Let's see what AMD does to respond to the latest model from NVIDIA. There's no denying that good times are ahead for the consumer, though, as both companies battle each other.

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Shawn takes care of all of our video card reviews. From 2009, Shawn is also taking care of our memory reviews, and from May 2011, Shawn also takes care of our CPU, chipset and motherboard reviews. As of December 2011, Shawn is based out of Taipei, Taiwan.

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