The GTX 1660 Super is still the card I'd put in an old PC before anything new

Published Oct 28, 2026, 7:00 AM EDT After a 7-year corporate stint, Tanveer found his love for writing and tech too much to resist. An MBA in Marketing and the owner of a PC building business, he writes on PC hardware, technology, and Windows. When not scouring the web for ideas, he can be found building PCs, watching anime, or playing Smash Karts on his RTX 3080 (sigh). Between the ill-fated RTX 20 series and the fondly remembered RTX 30 series, Nvidia launched the somewhat curiously named GTX 16 series. The GTX 1660 Super became the most well-known SKU from this lineup since it remained one of the most popular budget GPUs for a few years. Launched at an MSRP of just $229, the Turing GPU offered GTX 1070 levels of performance, but without the ray tracing hardware of the RTX 20 series. I used the GTX 1660 Ti for about three years, and it's possibly the best GPU I've ever owned, not because it was the fastest, but because it had the best value for money. The GTX 1660 Super is identical, and remains my first choice to revive an ancient PC for 1080p gaming. In a market where buying new GPUs is unthinkable, a used GTX 1660 Super can be the best choice for budget gaming. The GTX 1660 Super is still a great 1080p GPU You're probably not targeting the latest AAA games at 1440p The GTX 1660 Super is undoubtedly an old GPU, and that comes with definitive downsides. For starters, there's no ray tracing hardware here, so enjoying RT effects in games released in the last five years is out of the question. Secondly, the GTX 16 series doesn't support Resizable BAR (ReBAR), so you're missing out on some extra performance powered by better CPU-GPU communication. Lastly, this lineup supports PCIe 3.0, so running out of VRAM can tank your framerates. None of that takes away from the GTX 1660 Super's longevity as far as non-RT titles are concerned. Sure, you won't get 60+ FPS in the latest titles like Control Resonant, 007 First Light, or Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, but not everyone is playing the newest games. Someone reviving an old PC is probably trying out slightly older titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, The Last of Us Part 2, and God of War Ragnarok. The GTX 1660 Super can still run these games at 60+ average FPS, with 1% lows in the high 40s and low 50s. These are still heavy titles we're talking about. With esports games, the GTX 1660 Super still has a lot of horsepower to deliver consistently smooth framerates. The 6GB VRAM is not a bottleneck for older titles It's a product of its time Your GPU's VRAM has become integral to a smooth and unhindered gaming experience. GPUs with 8GB of VRAM have consistently shown their limitations in newer titles, even at 1080p. When your game runs out of VRAM, you run into stutters, unloaded textures, and even crashes. So, the GTX 1660 Super's 6GB VRAM can be a valid concern. That said, when you're installing it on an old PC that probably has several-generations-old hardware, you're not intending to play the latest titles at the highest graphics settings. As I mentioned, the GTX 1660 Super is capable enough for 60+ average FPS gaming in slightly older titles, once you tone down the settings and enable FSR. These games will run smoothly within 6GB VRAM, albeit the 1% lows will still be in the 50s and 40s. If you'll be spending most of the time playing competitive shooters, side-scrollers, and older AAA titles, you'll find the GTX 1660 Super perfectly up for the task. You can get a used model for cheap Newer GPUs are way overpriced Credit: Source: HS You via Flickr Four generations of GPUs have come out since the GTX 16 series, but that doesn't make the latter unviable. On the right system with the right games and within the right budget, the GTX 1660 Super is a great choice. You can easily get one on eBay for around $80–$100. You could go for an RX 5700 XT for around $150 or an RTX 2060 Super for around $180, but a used GTX 1660 Super is the ideal choice for an ultra-budget card. If you're building a secondary PC for your living room or a starter build for a friend or younger brother, a GTX 1660 Super paired with a $50 Ryzen 5 3600 is all you need. AM4 motherboards are still cheap, and pre-owned DDR4 RAM won't blow your budget. You can safely avoid current-gen hardware in favor of great deals on pre-owned parts. You'll not only save money in a crazy market, but enjoy a satisfying project. Assembling the PC with the intended recipient will be a bonus. Old budget cards are back in style When the GPU market decided to exclude almost every gamer, the used market came to the rescue. Sure, even some pre-owned hardware has reflected the short supply and rising demand for GPUs, but you can still find killer deals on old GPUs like the GTX 1660 Super. It remains a decent 1080p gaming GPU, even seven years after launch. You can build a capable budget gaming PC with it that can last a few years.