Many users prefer to use laptops because of their versatility – you can use them at home, at work, you can take your machine with you “for a walk”. Of course, if you are a gamer and you have a powerful laptop we can bet that you’re gaming regularly on it almost every day. Now, here comes the big question – do you need a more powerful full-blown video card that most of the time is fitted in thicker machines that have better cooling and lower noise levels during gameplay?
Or maybe you prefer thinner laptops that still have good gaming capabilities thanks to technologies like NVIDIA’s Max-Q? Unfortunately, in most cases, the notebooks that are bundled with Max-Q video cards have lower performance compared to their siblings with the full-blown GPUs and at the same time, the heat and noise are one level up compared to the normal gaming machines.
That’s why for today’s comparison, we picked the Max-Q version of the NVIDIA RTX 2060 which is good mid-range GPU and the contender is another great mid-ranger – the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. Both of them bring value and performance to the table but there is only one winner.
See all configurations with GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q / GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
Contents
Specs overview
Both video cards are Turing GPUs. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q is based on the TU106 chip that is characterized with 1920 shader units, 48 ROPs, 6GB GDDR6 memory, a 192-bit memory bus, and just 65W TGP. As for the frequencies, well, they are lowered compared to the normal version of RTX 2060. The Max-Q version can offer 975 MHz base clock and 1185 MHz boost clock while the memory frequency is 11000 MHz.
The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (TU116) isn’t that different. Yep, we have a hefty shader reduction here – 1536 units which is exactly 25% less compared to the RTX 2060 Max-Q. As a full-blown GPU, the GTX 1660 Ti surely has something more up in its sleeve. Like much higher frequencies – 1455 MHz for the base clock and the boost is as high as 1590 MHz. The memory is clocked at 12000 MHz. As you can see, the GTX 1660 Ti compensates its shader reduction with greatly increased core and memory frequencies, and don’t forget the fact that this GPU has the same ROP count as its opponent – 48 units. It’s not a surprise that the TGP is higher, the normal version of TU116 has 80W of TGP which a lot more than the modest 65W of the other GPU.
A bit more details – the two video cards have the same amount of video memory – 6GB GDDR6 (6144MB if we have to be more precise), both chips use the 12nm tech, and their DirectX version is 12.1. So, let’s see is if the RTX 2060 Max-Q with its more shader units can cope up with the GTX 1660 Ti that has higher frequencies and a bigger TGP.
This time we have tested 35 games and we have recorded video clips for every test (and video card) so it’s going to be a super comparison.
GPU comparison table
| GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | GeForce GTX 1660 Ti |
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Architecture | Turing | Turing |
GPU chip | TU106 | TU116 |
Shader units | 1920 (+25%) | 1536 |
ROPs | 48 | 48 |
Base Clock (MHz) | 975 | 1455 (+49%) |
Boost clock (MHz) | 1185 | 1590 (+34%) |
Memory clock (MHz) | 11000 | 12000 (+9%) |
Memory size (MB) | 6144 | 6144 |
Memory type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |
Memory bus width (bit) | 192 | 192 |
TGP (Total Graphics Power) | 65W | 80W (+23%) |
DirectX version | 12.1 | 12.1 |
Technology | 12nm | 12nm |
RTX capabilities | Yes | No |
Release date | 01.2019 | 04.2019 |
Detailed specs | Link | Link |
Let’s see some synthetic benchmarks.
Synthetic benchmarks
Nothing mind-blowing in this section. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is 9% faster on average compared to the GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q.
Gaming tests and gameplay videos
Yes, the gaming tests are the thing that matters the most. Let’s check the performance of these video cards. Speaking of them, for the comparison, we are using the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502 with AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS, 16GB DDR4 memory, and RTX 2060 Max-Q. The GTX 1660 Ti is fitted into Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-54) with Intel Core i7-8750H and 16GB DDR4 RAM, so the GPUs aren’t bottlenecked – the CPUs are powerful enough and 16 gigs of RAM is a normal amount of memory for a modern gaming machine. Both laptops are connected to an external monitor during our testing.
Doom Eternal | Full HD, Low (Check settings) | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, U.Nightmare (Check settings) |
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GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | 126 fps | 118 fps | 109 fps |
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 141 fps (+12%) | 131 fps (+11%) | 125 fps (+15%) |
Minecraft | Full HD, Minimum (Check settings) | Full HD, Maximum (Check settings) |
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GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | 436 fps | 65 fps (+35%) |
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 703 fps (+61%) | 48 fps |
League Of Legends | Full HD, V.Low (Check settings) | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, V.High (Check settings) |
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GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | 266 fps | 225 fps | 209 fps |
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 242 fps (+10%) | 251 fps (+12%) | 235 fps (+12%) |
Rocket League | Full HD, H.Performance (Check settings) | Full HD, H.Quality (Check settings) |
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GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | 360 fps | 224 fps |
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 580 fps (+61%) | 294 fps (+31%) |
Halo Reach | Full HD, Performance (Check settings) | Full HD, Original (Check settings) | Full HD, Enhanced (Check settings) |
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GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | 202 fps | 186 fps | 143 fps |
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 242 fps (+20%) | 192 fps (+3%) | 165 fps (+15%) |
Team Fortress 2 | Full HD, Low (Check settings) | Full HD, MAX (Check settings) |
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GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | 148 fps | 133 fps |
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 160 fps (+8%) | 151 fps (+14%) |
eFootball PES 2020 | Full HD, Low (Check settings) | Full HD, High (Check settings) |
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GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | 203 fps (+1%) | 148 fps |
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 202 fps | 165 fps (+11%) |
FIFA 20 | Full HD, Low (Check settings) | Full HD, Ultra (Check settings) |
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GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | 186 fps | 171 fps |
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 220 fps (+18%) | 209 fps (+22%) |
Call Of Duty Modern Warfare | Full HD, V.Low (Check settings) | Full HD, Normal (Check settings) | Full HD, Ultra (Check settings) |
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GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | 100 fps | 89 fps | 68 fps |
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 109 fps (+9%) | 98 fps (+10%) | 76 fps (+12%) |
Warframe | Full HD, Low (Check settings) | Full HD, High (Check settings) |
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GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | 265 fps(+2%) | 157 fps |
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 260 fps | 238 fps(+52%) |
Performance summary (gaming tests)
Without further ado, we can say that NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is 14% faster on average compared to the GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q. Yes, it’s hard to beat much higher frequencies and bigger TGP with just 25% more shaders.
RTX 2060 Max-Q vs GTX 1660 Ti | Full HD, Low | Full HD, Medium | Full HD, High | Full HD, Ultra | Average difference % |
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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q | | | | | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 13% | 21% | 8% | 12% | 14% |
Verdict
The mid-range GPUs are always the sweet spot especially if you need reasonably priced gaming notebook. There is no doubt that both video cards in this comparison are good performers. The fps numbers of the RTX 2060 Max-Q aren’t that much lower when compared to the ones of the GTX 1660 Ti. The Max-Q version of TU106 has one important advantage – because of the lower clock and reduced TGP, it can be found inside some really slim notebooks and yes, you can play the newest gaming titles with good visual quality. This means that you can have good portability and decent gaming capabilities at the same time.
However, the full-blown version of the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is our clear winner in this article. Higher frequencies, bigger TGP, and equal ROP count to the RTX 2060 are the “receipt” for 14% higher performance. If you don’t care about portability that much, well, you can probably have a faster machine at a bit lower price (in most cases) if you choose the TU116 over the Max-Q variant of TU106. The battery life of these machines is a bit on the low side, especially if you want to play some games away from the charger, but maybe that’s a rare case these days because most gamers play games when the AC adapter is plugged to the wall.
So, what do you need – efficiency and portability or maximum gaming capabilities? The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q can offer the first two extras while the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a more capable GPU but it’s hard to find it in a compact and light device, which means that the choice is entirely yours.
All laptops equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q
All laptops equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
1. noise, heat, have you heard about them? it’s not just portability that matters.
2. if we do count all gpus, from the weakest integrated, 1660ti/2060 is not a midrange but pretty close to the top.