GeForce GTX 560 vs GTX 660

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 660 and GeForce GTX 560, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

GTX 660
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 140 Watt
10.40
+45.5%

GTX 660 outperforms GTX 560 by a considerable 45% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking439546
Place by popularity76not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.421.86
Power efficiency5.093.27
ArchitectureKepler (2012−2018)Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)
GPU code nameGK106GF114
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date6 September 2012 (12 years ago)17 May 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$229 $199

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 660 has 84% better value for money than GTX 560.

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores960336
Core clock speed980 MHz810 MHz
Boost clock speed1033 MHzno data
Number of transistors2,540 million1,950 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)140 Watt150 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data99 °C
Texture fill rate82.5645.36
Floating-point processing power1.981 TFLOPS1.089 TFLOPS
ROPs2432
TMUs8056

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Bus supportPCI Express 3.016x PCI-E 2.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length241 mm210 mm
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin2x 6-pin
SLI options++

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB1 GB
Memory bus width192-bit GDDR5256 Bit
Memory clock speed6.0 GB/s1000 MHz
Memory bandwidth144.2 GB/s128.0 GB/s

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display ConnectorsOne Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPortTwo Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMI
Multi monitor support4 displays+
HDMI++
HDCP++
Maximum VGA resolution2048x15362048x1536
Audio input for HDMIInternalInternal

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

3D Blu-Ray++
3D Gaming++
3D Vision+-

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX12 (11_0)12 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.34.1
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan1.1.126N/A
CUDA++

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 660 10.40
+45.5%
GTX 560 7.15

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

GTX 660 4005
+45.3%
GTX 560 2756

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

GTX 660 5040
+66.3%
GTX 560 3030

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.

GTX 660 11368
+36%
GTX 560 8356

Octane Render OctaneBench

This is a special benchmark measuring graphics card performance in OctaneRender, which is a realistic GPU rendering engine by OTOY Inc., available either as a standalone program, or as a plugin for 3DS Max, Cinema 4D and many other apps. It renders four different static scenes, then compares render times with a reference GPU which is currently GeForce GTX 980. This benchmark has nothing to do with gaming and is aimed at professional 3D graphics artists.

GTX 660 33
+6.5%
GTX 560 31

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD47
+56.7%
30−35
−56.7%

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.876.63

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 10.40 7.15
Recency 6 September 2012 17 May 2011
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 140 Watt 150 Watt

GTX 660 has a 45.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 42.9% more advanced lithography process, and 7.1% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 660 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 560 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
GeForce GTX 660
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560
GeForce GTX 560

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


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Questions & comments

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