NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti vs GTX 1070 Max-Q – benchmarks and performance comparison

NVIDIA’s updated GTX line-up features the newer Turing architecture minus the Ray-tracing capabilities of its RTX brothers. However, the GTX 1070 Max-Q was one of the best GPU solutions for thin and light gaming laptops. Is it worth it to go for the GTX 1660 Ti, or the GTX 1070 Max-Q still has the punch needed for a great gaming experience?

You can check out our Top Laptop Graphics Ranking to see these two graphics cards and many more.

Specs overview

Well, let’s start off with the fact that these graphics cards are very different from each other – the only similarity is the 80W TDP. While the GTX 1660 Ti has 1536 CUDA cores, the GTX 1070 Max-Q is equipped with 2048. The former is built on a 12nm manufacturing process, while the latter goes – on a 16nm one. Additionally, the GTX 1660 Ti has a higher frequency – 1455 MHz Base and 1590 MHz Boost clock speed. At the same time, the GTX 1070 Max-Q works at 1215 MHz Base and 1379 MHz Boost frequency.

Their differences spread out to the memory as well – the Pascal GPU has a 256-bit interface, while the newer Turing competitor offers a 192-bit one. With that said, the GTX 1070 Max-Q has more VRAM – 8GB versus 6GB, although the GTX 1660 Ti has a faster one – 288 GB/s versus 256.3 GB/s.

Benchmarks

In synthetic benchmarks, the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti scores a little better in almost every test, except for Unigine Heaven 3.0.

Results are from the 3DMark: Time Spy (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)

Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)

Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)


Gaming tests

Newer titles, like the Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Far Cry 5 are better run by the GTX 1660 Ti, while older ones – like GTA V and Rise of the Tomb Raider run almost equally on both machines.

GTA-V-benchmarks

Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)Full HD, MAX (Check settings)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti127 fps72 fps47 fps
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q118 fps71 fps48 fps

Far Cry 5Full HD, Normal (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Ultra (Check settings)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti101 fps94 fps88 fps
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q88 fps82 fps79 fps

rise-of-the-tomb-raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016)Full HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)Full HD, MAX (Check settings)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti125 fps66 fps44 fps
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q113 fps63 fps41 fps

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018)Full HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Highest (Check settings)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti84 fps79 fps50 fps
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q74 fps68 fps45 fps

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon WildlandsFull HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)Full HD, Ultra (Check settings)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti81 fps72 fps47 fps
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q77 fps68 fps45 fps

Conclusion

It was a very though battle between very evenly matched opponents. However, the winner in this competition would be the GTX 1660 Ti. It has less CUDA cores, but a higher frequency, which apparently results in a higher fps in most of the newer titles on the market. On the other side, while a tad slower, the GTX 1070 Max-Q’s memory has more capacity, which may offer an advantage in some scenarios.

All laptops equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6GB GDDR6)

All laptops equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q (8GB GDDR5)

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