NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590

Comparative analysis of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 videocards for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Technical info, Video outputs and ports, Compatibility, dimensions and requirements, API support, Memory, Technologies. Benchmark videocards performance analysis: PassMark - G3D Mark, PassMark - G2D Mark, Geekbench - OpenCL, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s), GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps), 3DMark Fire Strike - Graphics Score.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590

Differences

Reasons to consider the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660

Videocard is newer: launch date 1 year(s) 5 month(s) later
Around 1% higher texture fill rate: 78.4 billion / sec vs 77.7 billion / sec
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running videocard: 28 nm vs 40 nm
2.6x lower typical power consumption: 140 Watt vs 365 Watt
Around 20% better performance in PassMark - G3D Mark: 3999 vs 3341
Around 21% better performance in PassMark - G2D Mark: 478 vs 394
Around 1% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames): 3365 vs 3330
Around 1% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps): 3365 vs 3330

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	6 September 2012 vs 24 March 2011
Texture fill rate	78.4 billion / sec vs 77.7 billion / sec
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm vs 40 nm
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	140 Watt vs 365 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - G3D Mark	3999 vs 3341
PassMark - G2D Mark	478 vs 394
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames)	3690 vs 3683
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)	3365 vs 3330
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps)	3690 vs 3683
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)	3365 vs 3330

Reasons to consider the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590

Around 24% higher core clock speed: 1215 MHz vs 980 MHz
Around 7% higher pipelines: 1024 vs 960
Around 26% better floating-point performance: 2x 1,244.2 gflops vs 1,981 gflops
Around 50% higher maximum memory size: 3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU) vs 2 GB
284.5x more memory clock speed: 1707 MHz vs 6.0 GB/s
Around 15% better performance in Geekbench - OpenCL: 12959 vs 11272
Around 1% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s): 30.921 vs 30.505
Around 58% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s): 1116.126 vs 705.293
Around 23% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s): 3.799 vs 3.085
Around 39% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s): 49.114 vs 35.416
Around 71% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s): 107.239 vs 62.69
Around 15% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames): 4118 vs 3581
Around 15% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps): 4118 vs 3581

Specifications (specs)
Core clock speed	1215 MHz vs 980 MHz
Pipelines	1024 vs 960
Floating-point performance	2x 1,244.2 gflops vs 1,981 gflops
Maximum memory size	3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU) vs 2 GB
Memory clock speed	1707 MHz vs 6.0 GB/s
Benchmarks
Geekbench - OpenCL	12959 vs 11272
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)	30.921 vs 30.505
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)	1116.126 vs 705.293
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)	3.799 vs 3.085
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)	49.114 vs 35.416
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)	107.239 vs 62.69
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames)	4118 vs 3581
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps)	4118 vs 3581

Compare benchmarks

GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
GPU 2: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590

PassMark - G3D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

3999

3341

PassMark - G2D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

478

394

Geekbench - OpenCL

GPU 1

GPU 2

11272

12959

CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)

GPU 1

GPU 2

30.505

30.921

CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)

GPU 1

GPU 2

705.293

1116.126

CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3.085

3.799

CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)

GPU 1

GPU 2

35.416

49.114

CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)

GPU 1

GPU 2

62.69

107.239

GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3581

4118

GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3690

3683

GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3365

3330

GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3581

4118

GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3690

3683

GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3365

3330

Name	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590
PassMark - G3D Mark	3999	3341
PassMark - G2D Mark	478	394
Geekbench - OpenCL	11272	12959
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)	30.505	30.921
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)	705.293	1116.126
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)	3.085	3.799
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)	35.416	49.114
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)	62.69	107.239
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames)	3581	4118
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames)	3690	3683
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)	3365	3330
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps)	3581	4118
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps)	3690	3683
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)	3365	3330
3DMark Fire Strike - Graphics Score	1307	0

Compare specifications (specs)

	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590
Essentials
Architecture	Kepler	Fermi 2.0
Code name	GK106	GF110
Launch date	6 September 2012	24 March 2011
Launch price (MSRP)	$229	$699
Place in performance rating	772	773
Price now	$349.99	$184
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Value for money (0-100)	14.35	30.41
Technical info
Boost clock speed	1033 MHz
Core clock speed	980 MHz	1215 MHz
CUDA cores	960	1024
Floating-point performance	1,981 gflops	2x 1,244.2 gflops
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Pipelines	960	1024
Texture fill rate	78.4 billion / sec	77.7 billion / sec
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	140 Watt	365 Watt
Transistor count	2,540 million	3,000 million
Maximum GPU temperature		97 °C
Video outputs and ports
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	Internal
Display Connectors	One Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI..., 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	3x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort, Three Dual Link DVI-IMini DisplayPort
G-SYNC support
HDCP
HDMI
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	2048x1536
Multi monitor support
Compatibility, dimensions and requirements
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	16x PCI-E 2.0
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	9.5" (24.1 cm)	11" (280 mm) (27.9 cm)
Supplementary power connectors	One 6-pin	Two 8-pin
SLI options		Quad
API support
DirectX	12.0 (11_0)	12.0 (11_0)
OpenGL	4.3	4.2
Memory
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)
Memory bandwidth	144.2 GB / s	327.7 GB / s
Memory bus width	192-bit GDDR5	768-bit (384-bit per GPU)
Memory clock speed	6.0 GB/s	1707 MHz
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Shared memory		0
Technologies
3D Blu-Ray
3D Gaming
3D Vision
Adaptive VSync
CUDA
FXAA
GPU Boost
SLI
TXAA
DSR
Surround