NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M is a mobile Kepler-architecture part from the GeForce 600M generation, built on TSMC's 28 nm process with 1,270 million transistors on a 118 mm² die. Its benchmark profile places it in the 11th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2022 across its tested workloads. The data reveals a part that, while long since end-of-life, still offers a distinct performance envelope that can be understood through its nearest rivals and its specific memory and feature configurations.

How It Compares

Against the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 10 GB, the GTX 660M holds a marginal 1.4% advantage in average benchmark score, with the AMD part scoring 1995 versus the GTX 660M's 2022. This is a curious result, as the RX 6750 GRE is a far more modern desktop-class GPU; the data suggests that in the aggregate of the benchmark suite used, the older mobile chip manages to edge ahead, likely due to the specific workloads measured rather than any raw architectural superiority.

The NVIDIA GRID K1 presents a closer comparison, with the GTX 660M leading by 2.3% (1976 vs. 2022). The GRID K1 is a virtualization-focused card, and the fact that a mobile gaming GPU outperforms it in these aggregate benchmarks indicates that the GTX 660M's general-purpose compute and graphics scheduling are better suited to the test suite than the GRID K1's specialized design.

Relative to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470, the GTX 660M is 2.5% ahead, scoring 2022 against 1973. This is notable because the GTX 470 was a desktop flagship of an earlier generation; the mobile part's victory in the aggregate score suggests that Kepler's architectural efficiencies, such as its 384 shading units and 16 ROPs, compensate for what would otherwise be a significant generational gap in raw throughput.

The only rival that beats the GTX 660M is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 630, which scores 2085, a 3% delta. This is the most surprising relationship in the data, as the GT 630 is typically considered a low-end desktop card. The benchmark results indicate that, in this particular test set, the GT 630's combination of scores across DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 tests, along with its compute and 2D performance, collectively outpaces the GTX 660M despite the latter's higher pixel rate and texture rate.

Memory Subsystem

The GTX 660M is equipped with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 80.00 GB/s. The memory clock is listed at 1250 MHz, which translates to 5 Gbps effective. This configuration is modest by modern standards, and the 128-bit bus width is a primary constraint. For high-resolution gaming, the data implies that the 80.00 GB/s bandwidth will become a limiting factor, particularly when textures and frame buffers exceed the available throughput. At lower resolutions, the 2 GB capacity is sufficient for most titles of its era, but the narrow bus means that memory-intensive operations, such as high-definition shadow maps or anti-aliasing, will cause performance to drop more steeply than on parts with wider buses. The pixel rate of 7.600 GPixel/s and texture rate of 30.40 GTexel/s further suggest that the GPU's compute capabilities are balanced around this memory bandwidth, so any workload that saturates the memory bus will effectively throttle the entire pipeline.

Who Should Consider It

Given its 11th percentile ranking and average score of 2022, the GTX 660M is suited for legacy gaming at 720p or 1366x768 resolutions with medium to low settings. The benchmark scores show a strong DirectX 9 result at 105 in PassMark, which indicates that older titles from the early 2010s will run comfortably. The DirectX 11 score of 57 and DirectX 10 score of 34 suggest that games from the mid-2010s will require significant graphical compromises. Users who primarily play esports titles or 2D indie games, as reflected by the PassMark G2D score of 509, will find the GTX 660M adequate. However, the DirectX 12 score of 20 is a clear warning: any modern title leveraging DX12 features will be nearly unplayable. The Geekbench scores paint a similar picture, with OpenCL at 4046, Vulkan at 3524, and Metal at 2076, indicating that compute-heavy workloads are not this GPU's strength. This is a part for a secondary machine or a retro gaming rig, not a primary gaming system.

FAQ

Q: How does the GTX 660M perform in DirectX 12 workloads?

A: The PassMark DirectX 12 score is 20, which is the lowest of its DirectX scores and indicates very poor performance in modern DX12 titles.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth and bus width?

A: The GTX 660M has a 128-bit memory bus with a bandwidth of 80.00 GB/s, using 2 GB of GDDR5 memory running at an effective 5 Gbps.

Q: Is the GTX 660M faster than the GeForce GTX 470?

A: Yes, in average benchmark score, the GTX 660M scores 2022 versus the GTX 470's 1973, a 2.5% advantage.

Q: What is the transistor count and die size of this chip?

A: The GK107 chip contains 1,270 million transistors on a die size of 118 mm², manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Q: Which API versions does the GTX 660M support?

A: It supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175, though the DirectX 12 support is limited to the 11_0 feature level.

Q: What is the GTX 660M's average benchmark score and percentile ranking?

A: The average benchmark score is 2022, placing it in the 11th percentile of all GPUs tracked.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark data for the GTX 660M reveals a GPU that is consistently outclassed by modern parts but holds its own against its immediate predecessors and peers. The PassMark G3D score of 6392 is the standout figure, suggesting that the GPU's overall 3D rendering capability is decent for its age. However, the compute score of 3456 is lower than the OpenCL Geekbench score of 4046, indicating that the GPU's compute performance is workload-dependent. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 3524 sits between these two, implying that Vulkan-based games may perform better than expected given the DirectX 12 score of 20.

The deltas to rivals are tight, with the GTX 660M at 2022. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 10 GB is 1.4% behind at 1995, a negligible difference that could be attributed to test variance. The NVIDIA GRID K1 is 2.3% behind at 1976, and the GeForce GTX 470 is 2.5% behind at 1973. The only significant delta is against the GeForce GT 630, which is 3% ahead at 2085. This inverted relationship is explained by the GT 630's higher scores in legacy DirectX tests: 105 in DX9 and 509 in G2D, versus the GTX 660M's 34 in DX10 and 57 in DX11. The GTX 660M's 20 in DX12 is a stark contrast, showing that its architectural strengths lie in older, less complex rendering paths.

Power and Cooling

The GTX 660M has a thermal design power (TDP) of 50 W, which is remarkably low for a GPU with 384 shading units and a boost clock of 950 MHz. This low power draw means that no external power connectors are required, and the slot width is listed as an MXM Module, indicating it is designed for laptop integration rather than desktop expansion. The bus interface is MXM-B (3.0), which is a standard for mobile graphics modules. No suggested PSU is listed, but given the 50 W TDP, a typical laptop power adapter is sufficient. The lack of power connectors and the low TDP make this an easy part to cool with a standard laptop cooling solution, though the data does not specify any particular cooler requirements. The 28 nm process and 1,270 million transistors are efficiently packed into the 118 mm² die, which contributes to the low thermal envelope.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The GTX 660M does not include any dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, as these fields are null in the data. This is expected for a Kepler-generation GPU from 2012, as ray tracing acceleration was not introduced until much later. The feature set is instead defined by its API support: DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The DirectX 12 support is limited to the 11_0 feature level, which means that while it can run DX12 titles, it cannot utilize the higher-tier features like mesh shaders or variable rate shading. The Vulkan support at version 1.2.175 is more robust, and the Geekbench Vulkan score of 3524 suggests that Vulkan-based games may be more playable than DX12 ones. The display outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent," meaning the GTX 660M relies on the laptop's built-in display connections, which were typically limited to LVDS or early eDP interfaces. The lack of RT and tensor cores means that any modern AI or ray-traced workload is entirely unsupported, but for the GPU's intended era, the feature set was adequate for DirectX 11 gaming and general compute via OpenCL.