Conclusion
Today we have reviewed the MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X video card. This video card is based on NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GPU. MSI has put together a video card that has overclocking potential. Though, even if you are not interested in, or worried about, overclocking this video card still offers a very high level of boost clock performance in gaming beyond the reference design. Plus, it does so looking good. That is, this is a very good-looking video card.
The Comparison
In our review we put the MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X video card to the test, comparing it to factory overclocked video cards. We utilized a SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB OC video card which is $229.99 online. We also compared it with an XFX Radeon RX 5600 XT THICC II Pro video card which is $289.99 online.
The MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X video card itself is $269.99 online. This puts the pricing of this video card in-between these two competition AMD GPUs, though leaning closer to the Radeon RX 5600 XT pricing.
When you look at the reference MSRP pricing for stock reference video cards it looks slightly different. The MSRP for the GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is only $229, while the Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB is $199 and the Radeon RX 5600 XT is $279. In that scenario, the GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is closer in price to the Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB models.
This shows that the MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X’s price is perhaps higher than it should be, or needs to be competitive. It has a $40 price premium. At any rate, we included both a factory overclocked Radeon RX 5500 XT and Radeon RX 5600 XT to give us the big picture on performance and cover all bases.
Gaming Performance
The pattern on performance was pretty consistent throughout all of our game testing. First and foremost, this video card is a 1080p video card. It is geared for a 1080p gaming experience and gameplay. It mostly allows High to Ultra gameplay at 1080p. Some demanding games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Metro Exodus will only be playable at “High” settings. However, there are many other games that you will be able to “max out” at 1080p on this video card. That means you should have a good 1080p gameplay experience in today’s games able to use High to Ultra game settings.
In terms of performance, the MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X is certainly a lot faster than the Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB. It allows for performance advantages that are extremely noticeable. It allows you to run at quality settings that are a notch higher than the Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB. There is just simply no doubt that the MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X is a better value for gaming compared to the 8GB Radeon RX 5500 XT. Even though it has 6GB of VRAM versus 8GB, that VRAM difference just doesn’t make a difference.
As for the Radeon RX 5600 XT, that comparison is much more complex. In every game, we tested the Radeon RX 5600 XT is faster than the MSI GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X, and in some games, by a very large margin. There are big numbers, like 30% differences. Now, the pricing is more expensive on the Radeon RX 5600 XT, but with the two video cards tested here, it’s only a $20 difference. When pricing is so close, that isn’t a big difference in pricing.
Pricing
It is possible to find Radeon RX 5600 XT video cards at a lesser price than the one used in this review. Even a stock Radeon RX 5600 XT, with no factory overclock, would be faster than the GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER. That kind of changes things. It would appear the Radeon RX 5600 XT is overall, a better value than the GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER when the prices are close like this.
That said, our MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X does carry a bit of a hefty price premium. If it was at reference MSRP pricing of $229 then the value would swing back to it because it does offer a nice performance boost over the Radeon RX 5500 XT. Or, if you found the video card on sale, or with rebates that lowered the price, then its value would also be increased. Therefore, it all comes down to how close in pricing the GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER in question is to the Radeon RX 5600 XT.
Final Points
Concluding performance, the MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X offers performance in-between the Radeon RX 5500 XT and Radeon RX 5600 XT. That is something unique. As long as the price is also in-between the two, then it makes sense. If the price swings are closer to the Radeon RX 5600 XT pricing, then the Radeon RX 5600 XT would clearly be the best value. If its pricing stays in the middle or is nearer to the reference pricing, then the MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X is a better value compared to any Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB model.
MSI has put together a well-made, robust and appealing video card for gaming enthusiasts. It looks the part, with an aesthetically pleasing look front and back, along with customizable RGB lighting. The custom PCB, hardware components and custom cooling work great to keep the GPU very cool while gaming.
The video card operates at a very high boost clock out-of-the-box box that delivers performance well above reference specifications. The video card has overclocking potential, and that allowed us to gain about 8% more performance on average. The TWIN FROZR 7 cooling technology is not holding the video card back on overclocking, it is well made and does the job extremely well in our testing.
If you are looking for an overclockable GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER or even one with great out-of-box performance, then you should definitely keep your eye toward the MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X video card.
Discussion
