Testing Thread: GeForce GTX 660

[Jerime]

yes, your psu will do fine, no problem. it's just that rendering a given task consumes more power on the older cards and that means it is more expensive. depending on the work you do this cost might add up to quite a few bucks over the year. and the 660 does produce less heat and is generally easier to cool: silent operation.

and yes, the 580 is more expensive than the 660. it is faster as well.
take a look at these benchmarks:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5699/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680-review/17
the 660 has roughly 2/3 of the raw power of the 680.
but it all depends on the specific work you do and if the software you use has CUDA optimization either option will be massively faster than your old card.

So, the 660 will be worth the money it costs to upgrade a card less than a year old?

 

[pool1892]

So, the 660 will be worth the money it costs to upgrade a card less than a year old?

as i said: it all depends on the software you use.
if your tools do not utilize the old card and can make use of the 660: sure thing. but the same is true for all other modern nvidia cards, even 640/650.

 

[Jerime]

I use Adobe CS6, not limited to, but including Photoshop Extended, After Effects, and Dream Weaver.
Cinema 4D R13 with Vray. And maybe sometime soon, M4D Iray.
Autodesk Maya.

I think that is the limit. I know M4D/Vray, and Maya should be able to use CUDA.

 

[pool1892]

I use Adobe CS6, not limited to, but including Photoshop Extended, After Effects, and Dream Weaver.
Cinema 4D R13 with Vray. And maybe sometime soon, M4D Iray.
Autodesk Maya.

I think that is the limit. I know M4D/Vray, and Maya should be able to use CUDA.

you should be ok, but perhaps order the card at a dealer with a good return policy, just to be sure.
performance in maya and vray will be better with a 580 if the software uses double precision floats (a 580 with 3gb of ram is faster than 680 in maya)
this thread gives a few more details: http://www.tonymacx86.com/buying-advice/58696-graphics-card-advice-video-editing-ivy-build-3.html


adobe should work with a little edit (see this epic post: http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm)

 

[Jerime]

Too expensive for my blood. :/

 

[hamiltus]

So has anyone tried using the 10.8.2 nVidia drivers on the GTX 660 yet ? Really wanna get something better than a GTX 650 and upgrade from my HD 4000 iGPU

 

[emoxxxkid]

So has anyone tried using the 10.8.2 nVidia drivers on the GTX 660 yet ? Really wanna get something better than a GTX 650 and upgrade from my HD 4000 iGPU

I've upgraded to 10.8.2 and used the nvidia drivers after running the 10.8.2 update and my GTX 660 works great! No issues on my part!

 

[hamiltus]

I've upgraded to 10.8.2 and used the nvidia drivers after running the 10.8.2 update and my GTX 660 works great! No issues on my part!

so how it's performing on OS X ? Have u tried any intensive apps ? Is it worth buying this over a GTX 650 ?

 

[StevenPJ]

I am getting a lot of freezes with this card anytime I try to watch an online video. All the videos play as solid green scrnes with pink fuzz over it. May be a flash problem but it doesn't usually crash the whole system. I have tried editing AGPM, all the Nvidia kexts, GraphicsEnabler=Yes, Old and new versions of flash player, different drivers for the Nvidia. Still no luck.

I am running a Z77 DS3H with an i7 2600k and the GTX 660. Everything is running smoothly except for the freezes when I watch videos. I am getting 6000+ on Luxmark and 15000 on Geekbench 64bit, and it appears to shift states properly on Cuda-Z. I am at my wits ends trying to figure it out!

 

[minihack]

So, having RMA'd my 560Ti due to a non-working HDMI port I will be joining this testing thread with a new MSI GTX 660 Twin Frozr III. Hoping that this will be a good upgrade.....card is on next day delivery so should be able to post initial results tomorrow.