MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ventus XS 6 GB

W1zzard · Apr 9, 2019

The MSI GTX 1660 Ventus XS is MSI's answer for people looking to maximize cost efficiency. Priced at the NVIDIA MSRP of $220, the card offers much better price/performance than AMD's RX 590 and even RX 580. Also included is an overclock out of the box and a backplate.

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Fluffmeister · Apr 9, 2019

Great little card, I do like MSI's Ventus range and this 1660 is no exception. This card packs nice performance whilst sipping power, and again a 15%+ overclock too.

Looks like a winner.

jabbadap · Apr 9, 2019

Fluffmeister said:
Great little card, I do like MSI's Ventus range and this 1660 is no exception. This card packs nice performance whilst sipping power, and again a 15%+ overclock too.

Looks like a winner.

Well yeah sure it's a good card, but all Ventus cards are quite hideous by the looks. I prefer old Armor look over it.

Caring1 · Apr 9, 2019

jabbadap said:
Well yeah sure it's a good card, but all Ventus cards are quite hideous by the looks. I prefer old Armor look over it.

Looks are subjective, I like the look of Ventus and thought the Armor were hideous.
Doesn't really matter as the MSI Gaming X beats this card in O.C. Temps, and Noise.

natr0n · Apr 9, 2019

MSI has a bad habbit of always leaving a few chips uncooled.

letho · Apr 9, 2019

natr0n said:
MSI has a bad habbit of always leaving a few chips uncooled.

asus as well

notb · Apr 9, 2019

Caring1 said:
Doesn't really matter as the MSI Gaming X beats this card in O.C. Temps, and Noise.

Gaming X is long.

bug · Apr 9, 2019

I wonder why you keep saying "no support for RTX or DLSS". Now that support for these is (about to be) open all the way down Pascal cards, I believe you should reword that.
I'm pretty sure we're not talking about usable level of performance here, but still, support is technically there.

And more on topic, I'm a little bummed about the noise. Is that a feature of the entire XS line?

syrup · Apr 9, 2019

Good to see a lower-end variant being sent out for review. Looking for info on the 2070 Ventus recently led to a very vague and confused picture because there were no decent reviews of it, but heaps of great yet redundant reviews of the more expensive 2070 variants.

Caring1 · Apr 10, 2019

notb said:
Gaming X is long.

That only matters in an mItx case.

kastriot · Apr 10, 2019

Well it seems that RX 590 loses with actual pricing, nice review BTW.

jabbadap · Apr 10, 2019

bug said:
I wonder why you keep saying "no support for RTX or DLSS". Now that support for these is (about to be) open all the way down Pascal cards, I believe you should reword that.
I'm pretty sure we're not talking about usable level of performance here, but still, support is technically there.

And more on topic, I'm a little bummed about the noise. Is that a feature of the entire XS line?

DXR sure but not DLSS, that needs tensor cores which 16 -series lacks.

bug · Apr 10, 2019

jabbadap said:
DXR sure but not DLSS, that needs tensor cores which 16 -series lacks.

You're right, of course.

ltkAlpha · Apr 11, 2019

Okay, so it "could be quieter", it's the hottest running card out of all reviewed so far, it's power locked and has a plastic backplate (?!) and you give it an Editor's Choice Award, because it's ... cheap? Cool.

W1zzard · Apr 11, 2019

ltkAlpha said:
because it's ... cheap?

Yup.

Why do you want a metal backplate? What actual effect does 60°C vs 76°C have?

ltkAlpha · Apr 11, 2019

I don't care about backplates, unless they help w/ structural stability or thermals (in combination w/ thermal pads). A plastic one only helps with optics (arguably) and it actively worsens cooling, which in my book is a minus. The actual effect of better cooling would be minimal in practice, granted, but a fair way to summarize the particular result would be "the worst cooling of any 1660 we've tested despite the dual fan config", so again - a hardly a pro. So, the way I see it, you have a list of "adequate" marks on one side and only price on the other (and that matches MSRP, so "adequate" again, maybe?). I'd expect a part presented with an Editor's Choice award from a reputable tech site to delight in some way, whereas the model in question just passes muster, hence the comment.

Casecutter · Apr 11, 2019

ltkAlpha said:
Okay, so it "could be quieter", it's the hottest running card out of all reviewed so far, it's power locked and has a plastic backplate (?!) and you give it an Editor's Choice Award, because it's ... cheap? Cool.

No it's not cheap... well only in cost of components!

Sure it's 'Gussied up' and looks like something, but hardly a value! They give it a lubb of aluminum extrusion with one heat-pipe pinched into it, the PCB is as lackluster, as are the two fans and all that translate in to the ugliest load temps/fan noise by a huge margin. The 12 nm "TU116" silicon is a nice part, but MSI is skimping hard on value because they can.

At least the Zotac GTX 1660 Twin Fan 6 Gb has a real fin-stack 2 heat pipe cooler, what appear to be a more competent PCB, and run much cooler and less noise, all for $220. That got an Editors Choice this MSI Ventus isn't that.

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MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ventus XS 6 GB

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