GeForce 9800 GT vs GeForce 660 GTX review

Vtech

2012-09-19 10:57

I think it was important to compare the performance of both with a CPU from the 9800GT era, you know for the people that goes to upgrade only the card, or to see what they gonna loose in the new card if they don't upgrade the hole system.

#4412962

sapo_joe

2012-09-19 14:41

I used a 9800gt but it died just after warranty ended. That kind of cooler that looks like a turbine is piece of crap. So I switched to a Radeon 5670 (great card from MSI, but AMD drivers are crap), and then to a Geforce 560Ti. The processor has changed as well, from a Athlon x2 6000+ (2.8Ghz) to a Phenom II X4 955 BE. That's what I love from AMD, the motherboard is the SAME! I started with 2GB of RAM and now I've installed 8gb on it, and I can kick any game fully MAXED on it, and it runs butter smooth! The performance difference is amazing, but still, that was a very good and capable machine, could be running the latest games at medium levels.

#4412994

iancook221188

2012-09-19 15:23

hey H have you got the gpu score for vantage it would also be cool to see the score against all the other cards as the system and the bench make setting are the same. good review though very interesting:rock:

#4413027

Ven0m

2012-09-19 15:49

Thank you for this review. It's really refreshing and shows how the products change over time.

#4413050

ViperXtreme

2012-09-19 16:12

my 460 SE is dying, using my ol 9600GT now and planning to get a 660 as well, so i would expect similar improvement

#4413068

micketh

2012-09-19 16:42

Great comparison there aren't enough reviews like this out there. I would love to know how my 5850 would do against a 7950/660Ti.

#4413076

Yxskaft

2012-09-19 16:50

Interesting, though I had wanted to see some more, modern DX11 games. Benchmarks for modern DX11 games very rarely feature DX10/10.1 cards(which is a damn shame), and the modern games are afterall what we upgrade for

#4413105

signex

2012-09-19 17:17

That's why i like CoD engine, it runs good on old hardware.

#4413108

chispy

2012-09-19 17:20

Very interesting article Hilbert , good to see something differnt done. The jump in performance from that old architecture compared with the latest says it all. Great review.

#4413193

signex

2012-09-19 19:11

I still remember buying the 8800GTX first day it came out. Jesus what a price tag it had, sold my crappy scooter to buy best videocard 😀

#4413231

Elder III

2012-09-19 19:46

Thank you Hilbert for doing this apples to apples comparison. It's nigh impossible to find a review from a leading source that compares the older GPUs with current ones. As a system builder, it's very useful for me, since otherwise I have to scour the internet for multiple reviews, generally using different games, to be able to tell a prospective client - this would be XX% better than what you have right now. 🙂

#4413334

Yxskaft

2012-09-19 21:54

Why would you benchmark a card that doesn't support DX11 on a DX11 game? Granted you could run most in DX9 mode (or sometimes DX10) but wouldn't that defeat the purpose? Why would you want to know how your shiny new DX11 card ran a game in DX9?

I don't think you understood me correctly, I want DX11 cards to run in DX11 and DX10 to run in DX10 settings I simply want to see a DX10/10.1 card's performance in DX10/10.1 and compare it to the DX11 card's performance in DX11 in the same game. True, it's not a "fair" comparison since the DX11 setting often enables other demanding effects not available in DX9/10. It is however more interesting, since we get to see how much better the DX11 card will run than our current DX10/10.1 card AND with the improved graphics. This benchmark had 2 games running in DX10 vs DX11, which is good, but more is never worse in those cases.

#4413372

Reddoguk

2012-09-19 22:45

The rumored 650ti sounds like it could be the best bang for buck card ever. Those looking to upgrade on a budget should wait to see the benches. I heard its gonna be about 100-130 pounds and able to handle even the newest titles on half descent settings.

#4413526

CPC_RedDawn

2012-09-20 02:55

We place the GeForce 9800 GT vs GeForce 660 GTX in a quick four page article slash review. Demographics show that a lot of end-users who purchased their PC a couple of years ago very likely still have... GeForce 9800 GT vs GeForce 660 GTX review

Would of been interesting to see you use 2x 9800GT in SLi against just 1 GTX660 and see how much the GTX660 beats it, and if its still worth the upgrade (which is will be but those 300-400% difference would be a lot smaller).

#4413529

CPC_RedDawn

2012-09-20 02:58

My card is still doing great despite its age. Games like Deus Ex HR, F1 2012, even Metro2033 and Sleeping Dogs run perfect, not even on low but medium-high settings. I wait another 6 months at least before I upgrade.

I would love to know your settings and frame rates in games like Metro 2033, and Sleeping Dogs because with your specs I bet your only pulling in 25-40fps in these game at mid-high. I am being generous saying 40fps to be honest.

#4413570

Reddoguk

2012-09-20 05:18

My son has some of my old bits of hardware including a 250 gts a.k.a 9800 gtx. He also has an old 17" CRT @ 1280x1024. At that res on the old crt he can game on ultra settings in most games with a decent frame rate.

#4414215

vidra

2012-09-20 22:09

This is amazing, Hilbert. You seem to have read my mind. A couple of days ago I did just this. Browsed old reviews to compare present and past graphic cards. Thanks.

#4416545

sykozis

2012-09-24 05:32

Why would you benchmark a card that doesn't support DX11 on a DX11 game? Granted you could run most in DX9 mode (or sometimes DX10) but wouldn't that defeat the purpose? Why would you want to know how your shiny new DX11 card ran a game in DX9?

Most games are still DX9....so, this is a very good review. If you deal with customers like mine that want to upgrade processors, but not graphics cards....this type review makes it much easier to show the customer where they'd benefit from the graphics card upgrade.