NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile represent two very different eras of graphics hardware. The GTX 660 Ti is a desktop card from the Kepler generation, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is a laptop part built on the Ampere architecture. The recorded data shows a clear performance chasm between them, with the mobile part winning both head-to-head benchmark comparisons. This analysis walks through the specific measurements, architectural differences, and use-case implications based solely on the database entries.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database includes two direct comparison tests between these GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. In both cases, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the decisive winner. The Geekbench OpenCL results show the GTX 660 Ti scoring 15,113 points, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 57,915 points. That is a delta of -73.9% from the perspective of the older card, meaning the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile outperforms the GTX 660 Ti by roughly 283% in this compute workload. The Geekbench Vulkan test follows a similar pattern: the GTX 660 Ti scores 15,012, and the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 55,812, a delta of -73.1%. In Vulkan, the newer mobile GPU is about 272% faster.

These are not marginal improvements. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile nearly quadruples the GTX 660 Ti's OpenCL score and approaches four times its Vulkan score. The data shows that even a mobile-class Ampere chip, with its lower power envelope, completely overshadows the older desktop Kepler part in synthetic compute benchmarks. The GTX 660 Ti's average benchmark score across its recorded tests is 15,063, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's average is 12,940. However, that average is pulled down by the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's inclusion of multiple Passmark tests (DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, G2D, and compute) that are not present for the GTX 660 Ti. The two shared tests, OpenCL and Vulkan, both favor the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile overwhelmingly.

When placed against their respective nearest rivals, the two cards occupy different positions. The GTX 660 Ti sits at the 57th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 15,063. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro 560X, which averages 15,082, a delta of -0.1%. The GTX 660 Ti is essentially tied with that card. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, despite its lower average score of 12,940, is at the 53rd percentile, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon RX 580 at 12,928, a delta of 0.1%. The average score difference between the two NVIDIA cards is not reflective of their actual head-to-head performance, because the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's Passmark DirectX 10 score of 60 and DirectX 12 score of 49 are outliers that depress its average. The Geekbench scores are the more reliable comparison, and they show a massive gap.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile wins every recorded benchmark that both cards share. In OpenCL, it is 73.9% ahead of the GTX 660 Ti. In Vulkan, it is 73.1% ahead. There is no benchmark in the database where the GTX 660 Ti comes out ahead. The GTX 660 Ti has zero wins, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has two wins in the head-to-head section.

For compute-heavy workloads, such as OpenCL-based rendering or physics simulations, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the clear choice. Its FP32 throughput of 5.299 TFLOPS is roughly double the GTX 660 Ti's 2.634 TFLOPS, which directly explains the Geekbench OpenCL advantage. The Vulkan result is similarly driven by the newer architecture's ability to handle modern graphics APIs more efficiently. The GTX 660 Ti's Vulkan support is listed as 1.2.175, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile supports Vulkan 1.4, a newer revision that likely includes optimizations not available to the older card.

For gaming, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also holds the advantage based on the DirectX feature levels. The GTX 660 Ti supports DirectX 12 (11_0), which is a limited implementation, whereas the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). That means the mobile card can handle hardware ray tracing and mesh shaders, features that the GTX 660 Ti cannot. The GTX 660 Ti does win in one indirect sense: it has a higher texture rate of 109.8 GTexel/s compared to the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 82.80 GTexel/s. That is a specific metric where the older card is faster, but it does not translate into a benchmark victory in the recorded data. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's pixel rate of 33.12 GPixel/s is also higher than the GTX 660 Ti's 27.44 GPixel/s, reinforcing its overall rasterization lead.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The GTX 660 Ti uses the GK104 chip, based on the Kepler architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The die size is 294 mm², and it contains 3,540 million transistors, giving a transistor density of 12.0 million per mm². The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses the GA106 chip, based on the Ampere architecture, manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. Its die size is 276 mm², but it packs 12,000 million transistors, resulting in a density of 43.5 million per mm². That is over 3.6 times the transistor density of the GTX 660 Ti, which explains how the Ampere chip fits more compute units into a smaller area.

The core counts differ substantially. The GTX 660 Ti has 1,344 shading units, 112 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 24 raster output units (ROPs). The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 2,560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has nearly double the shading units, fewer TMUs, but more ROPs. Additionally, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile includes 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, features that are entirely absent from the GTX 660 Ti. These dedicated hardware units enable real-time ray tracing and AI-accelerated features, which the Kepler card cannot perform in hardware. The FP16 throughput also differs: the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile lists FP16 at 5.299 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio with FP32), while the GTX 660 Ti has no FP16 entry, indicating it lacks native half-precision support.

Memory configurations also diverge. The GTX 660 Ti uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 144.2 GB/s. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s. Despite the narrower bus, the GDDR6 memory runs at 12 Gbps effective versus 6 Gbps effective for the GTX 660 Ti, resulting in higher total bandwidth. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the GTX 660 Ti is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. The power characteristics are starkly different: the GTX 660 Ti has a TDP of 150 W and requires two 6-pin power connectors, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has a TDP of 75 W and requires no external power connectors, being an integrated graphics package (IGP) designed for laptops. The GTX 660 Ti is 241 mm long (9.5 inches) and dual-slot, whereas the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has no listed dimensions because it is a mobile part.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher FP32 performance?

A: The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 5.299 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is about double the GTX 660 Ti's 2.634 TFLOPS.

Q: Does the GTX 660 Ti support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 660 Ti has no ray tracing cores, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 20 ray tracing cores.

Q: Is the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile faster in Vulkan?

A: Yes. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 55,812 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the GTX 660 Ti scores 15,012, a difference of -73.1% relative to the older card.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The GTX 660 Ti has 144.2 GB/s bandwidth from GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 192.0 GB/s bandwidth from GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 2,560 shading units, compared to the GTX 660 Ti's 1,344 shading units.

Q: What are the power connector requirements?

A: The GTX 660 Ti needs two 6-pin power connectors and has a 150 W TDP. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has a 75 W TDP and requires no power connectors.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every specification field. The GTX 660 Ti uses the GK104 chip on a 28 nm TSMC process, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses the GA106 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process. Transistor counts are 3,540 million versus 12,000 million, and die sizes are 294 mm² versus 276 mm², respectively. Transistor density is 12.0M per mm² for the GTX 660 Ti and 43.5M per mm² for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. Base clocks differ: 915 MHz for the GTX 660 Ti versus 735 MHz for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, but boost clocks are 980 MHz versus 1035 MHz. Memory speed is 6 Gbps effective for the GTX 660 Ti versus 12 Gbps effective for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. Memory size is 2 GB versus 4 GB, type is GDDR5 versus GDDR6, bus width is 192-bit versus 128-bit, and bandwidth is 144.2 GB/s versus 192.0 GB/s. Shading units are 1,344 versus 2,560, TMUs are 112 versus 80, and ROPs are 24 versus 32. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, which the GTX 660 Ti lacks. Pixel rate is 27.44 GPixel/s versus 33.12 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 109.8 GTexel/s versus 82.80 GTexel/s. FP32 is 2.634 TFLOPS versus 5.299 TFLOPS, and FP16 is absent for the GTX 660 Ti versus 5.299 TFLOPS for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. TDP is 150 W versus 75 W. Slot width is dual-slot versus IGP. Power connectors are 2x 6-pin versus none. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs are 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 1x DisplayPort 1.2 versus portable device dependent. DirectX support is 12 (11_0) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2). Vulkan support is 1.2.175 versus 1.4. The GTX 660 Ti has a launch MSRP of 299 USD; the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has no launch MSRP listed. Release dates are 2012-08-15 versus 2021-05-10.

The Verdict

The data points to an unambiguous conclusion: the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the superior GPU for modern workloads. In the two shared benchmarks, it leads by margins of 73.9% in OpenCL and 73.1% in Vulkan. Its FP32 throughput is double that of the GTX 660 Ti, and it brings hardware ray tracing and tensor cores that the older card cannot emulate. For anyone running compute tasks, playing modern DirectX 12 Ultimate games, or needing a low-power solution, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the only rational choice. The GTX 660 Ti does retain a higher texture rate, but that does not offset its dramatic losses in compute and API support. The GTX 660 Ti is an end-of-life desktop part from 2012, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, though also end-of-life, is from 2021 and represents a much more capable architecture. Users with legacy software that relies on older APIs might still find the GTX 660 Ti functional, but the benchmark record shows no scenario where it beats the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. The verdict is clear: pick the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile for any performance-sensitive application.