This guest review was provided by forum member and moderator ignsvn, with editing performed by John Morrison. Want to contribute a review or editorial? Private message John (confusis) on the forum!
Smaller GPUs with lower wattage may not be the most powerful out there, but they will always have a place in the heart of us SFF or HTPC enthusiasts.
Today I’m going to do a short, alternative review on the ZOTAC 1660 Super Twin Fan. I said “alternative” because this review will not go into performance details (you can easily find 1660 Super specification and benchmarks on the internet). Instead, this review will emphasize on other aspects we SFF enthusiasts consider equally important. Dimension is one example.
In certain cases (pun fully intended), dimension can be the make-or-break factor (especially if you already own a case). Temperature and noise can...

Continue reading...
 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
1,706
1,646
Hopefully it'll be helpful to those who are looking for a mainstream GPU in small enclosures (imagine brickless S4, or Lazer 3D LZ7, for example). It's a great alternative with less heat & noise, yet easily deliver 60fps on 1080p screen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: confusis

tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
2,279
2,338
Good review!

Some comments:-
The card's heatsink fin array is in the east-west orientation, thus roughly half of the heat is exhausted out of the case's rear and half of the heat is dumped into the case via the card's front.

In the MI-6 case, this front exhaust is likely to then go out of the case via the top panel as the case's only fan is at the case bottom intaking, possibly providing a small positive pressure environment.

It would be better if a pic or two is provided to illustrate the test setup (as I personally am not familiar with the MI-6 and, therefore, have to dig a little bit to understand the internal layout) so that SFF beginners (like myself) can grab the big picture more easily.

Additionally, maybe, as an extra benefit, do a temp run with the case side panel off to form a thorough 'thermal relationship' between the card and the case.

Also, anything special about Zotac's own software? Have you tried it? Or, you just use AB?

Again, good job!
 

ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
1,706
1,646
Good review!

Some comments:-
The card's heatsink fin array is in the east-west orientation, thus roughly half of the heat is exhausted out of the case's rear and half of the heat is dumped into the case via the card's front.

In the MI-6 case, this front exhaust is likely to then go out of the case via the top panel as the case's only fan is at the case bottom intaking, possibly providing a small positive pressure environment.

It would be better if a pic or two is provided to illustrate the test setup (as I personally am not familiar with the MI-6 and, therefore, have to dig a little bit to understand the internal layout) so that SFF beginners (like myself) can grab the big picture more easily.

Those are some valid points @tinyitx. I agree that, the issue with horizontal GPU heatsink fins, combined with a solid, clean front panel design, is that the heat going out from the front side of the GPU will be trapped for a while. I mean it'll go out eventually, but will take some time.

CCD MI-6 is a microtower sandwhich, meaning the CPU and GPU are placed back-to-back using a riser cable, with the SFX PSU located underneath them. I'll see if I can provide a picture of the test setup without cover. In the meantime, in the review there's a link which will bring you to CCD MI-6 main thread. There are some pictures of the internal structure & layout (or straight away click the URLs in my signature below).

Additionally, maybe, as an extra benefit, do a temp run with the case side panel off to form a thorough 'thermal relationship' between the card and the case.

Personally I'm not really interested in a test without cover, because it doesn't reflect our normal usage scenario. For science however, I remember I did it before with a different GPU, and the difference between cover & no cover is like 6-8C cooler without cover. Then again my cable management is really bad, so yeah..

Also, anything special about Zotac's own software? Have you tried it? Or, you just use AB?

Good question about the software - unfortunately it's not the focal point of this review, so I only used AB. On top of that, I'm not really an expert in overclocking, so perhaps I won't be able to really notice differences between MSI AB VS Zotac Firestorm.

Again, good job!

Thank you!