NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 — Specs & Performance Compared
Verdict: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 on all 4 shared benchmarks on file, by 37% to 324%, including 182% in 3DMark Time Spy (15,477 vs 5,483). On llama3.1:8b, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 generates 79.2 tokens/s (per LocalScore.ai) against 16.7 for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (per DatabaseMart), best community run on file for each.
Side-by-side GPU comparison of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080. Released 2019 (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660), 2020 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080). MSRP range: $219 · $699. Specs, synthetic benchmarks, AI inference tok/s, and Amazon availability below; each column header links to that part's benchmark page.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Price and availability subject to change.
Where to buy
A listing for each part; the current price and stock are on the retailer's page.
Specs side-by-side
| Spec | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 |
|---|---|---|
| vram gb | 6 | 10 |
| vram type | GDDR5 | GDDR6X |
| tdp w | 120 | 320 |
| cuda cores | 1408 | 8704 |
Synthetic benchmarks
Each row says whether a higher or a lower number is better (ranks and times are lower-is-better). Scores come from 3DMark, WCCFTech, Moor Insights & Strategy, HWBOT, TopCPU.net, UL Benchmarks and CpuTronic; each row links its sources, and where they differ the cell shows their median. Empty cells mean we don't yet have that benchmark on file for the SKU.
| Benchmark | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 |
|---|---|---|
| 3DMark Fire Strike (higher is better) Source: 3DMark |
12,365 points | — |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme (graphics score) (higher is better) Source: WCCFTech |
— | 21,100 points |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra (graphics score) (higher is better) Source: WCCFTech |
— | 10,100 points |
| 3DMark Port Royal (higher is better) Source: Moor Insights & Strategy, 3DMark, WCCFTech |
— | 11,960 points |
| 3DMark Pure Ray Tracing Feature Test (average fps) (higher is better) Source: WCCFTech |
— | 48 fps |
| 3DMark Speed Way (higher is better) Source: HWBOT, TopCPU.net, 3DMark |
— | 4,969 points |
| 3DMark Speed Way (graphics score) (higher is better) Source: WCCFTech |
— | 4,500 points |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad (higher is better) Source: UL Benchmarks, CpuTronic |
1,047 points | 4,443 points |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12 graphics score) (higher is better) Source: 3DMark |
— | 4,442 points |
| 3DMark Time Spy (higher is better) Source: Moor Insights & Strategy, 3DMark, TopCPU.net, CpuTronic |
5,483 points | 15,477 points |
| 3DMark Time Spy (graphics score) (higher is better) Source: WCCFTech |
— | 17,800 points |
| 3DMark Time Spy Extreme (higher is better) Source: Moor Insights & Strategy |
— | 7,950 points |
AI inference (tokens/sec)
Top community-reported tokens-per-second results for popular LLMs whose weights fit the card's memory, each linked to its source. See the per-SKU benchmark page for the full set including quantization and prompt length.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660
- qwen3:0.6b: 47.1 tok/s (LocalLLaMA)
- llama2:7b: 41.4 tok/s (llama.cpp GitHub (discussion #15013))
- llama2:7b: 41.4 tok/s (llama.cpp GitHub CUDA Performance Discussion)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
- llama2:7b: 139.7 tok/s (llama.cpp GitHub Discussion #15013)
- llama2:7b: 139.7 tok/s (llama.cpp GitHub Discussion #15013)
- llama2:7b: 139.7 tok/s (llama.cpp GitHub (CUDA performance scoreboard))
Quick answers
Which is faster, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080?
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 on all 4 shared benchmarks on file, by 37% to 324%, including 182% in 3DMark Time Spy (15,477 vs 5,483).
Which is better for running local LLMs?
On llama3.1:8b, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 generates 79.2 tokens/s (per LocalScore.ai) against 16.7 for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (per DatabaseMart), best community run on file for each.
What did the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 cost at launch?
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 launched at a $219 MSRP and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at $699. Street prices drift from launch pricing; the Where to buy section links current listings.
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