NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX 660 adds to the company's product stack by providing a fully featured gaming solution at the crucial price point of around $200. In terms of performance, the reference design sits right between AMD's Radeon HD 7850 and HD 7870. Thanks to its overclock out of the box, the ASUS GTX 660 DirectCU II TOP is able to match HD 7870's performance, ending up 8% faster than the NVIDIA GTX 660 reference design. This is enough gaming power for most titles at full HD (1920 x 1080), with maximum details and anti-aliasing enabled.
The new GK106 graphics processor offers significantly improved non-gaming power draw compared to GK 104 based cards, like the GTX 680, 670, and660 Ti, beating anything similar AMD has to offer, especially while running multiple monitors or Blu-ray. The HD 7800 series is the winner when it comes to gaming power consumption despite NVIDIA having the better boost clock technology to improve performance per Watt. AMD also has ZeroCore power, which, for example, turns the card off while the screen is off during overnight download sessions.
The GTX 660 just requires a single 6-pin PCI-Express power connector, whereas the HD 7870 requires two. While this might look more attractive for entry-levels PSUs, the actual power consumption is roughly similar. A single connector here only helps in reducing cable clutter.
ASUS is using the same cooler we have seen on most other GTX 600 Series cards, which means it is extremely quiet in both idle and load. The DC II TOP is the quietest GTX 660 we tested today. Generally speaking, based on all our GTX 660 reviews, GTX 660 has a clear advantage in noise levels when compared to the HD 7800 Series. Temperatures are fine on all cards, thanks to the low heat output of the GPU.
NVIDIA's reference design price point seems a bit high with $229, considering the faster HD 7870 retails at $250. ASUS is asking $259 for their overclocked DC II TOP, which is the same as any other overclocked card tested today. This means that, price/performance considered, the GTX 660 cannot beat the HD 7870, only to, at best, match it. I don't see a clear win for either the GTX 660 or the HD 7870 - both will make you a happy gamer. The GTX 660 has lower idle power, better noise, and CUDA/PhysX. The HD 7870 has higher performance, better gaming power consumption, and ZeroCore power. Then there is the HD 7850 1 GB, which offers incredible price/performance for budget conscious shoppers. Overall, it's too close to call. Future price reductions will make the difference.