GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

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linuxuser
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GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by linuxuser »

For my new linux pc (Ubuntu 18.04, soon newer) I have to buy a new graphics adapter too. The decision is between GeForce GTX 1660 an GTX 1660 TI. CPU will be a Ryzen 3700X.

I know OpenCL is experimental with Linux and handbrake. Do you recommend the GTX 1660 TI or the cheaper GeForce GTX 1660?
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s55
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by s55 »

OpenCL support has been removed so it makes no difference which card you take. Making encodes slower wasn't beneficial to anyone. (That's when it even worked). It's only real use-case was for those old, slow AMD APU's, Ergo, It's gone.

NVEnc I believe is identical on both in terms of performance (but, very limited support on Linux)
Segfault
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by Segfault »

I just purchased 1660, tried NVEnc and was impressed - with speed. More testing needs to be done to see how it looks quality wise.

Are there any tips about settings somewhere?
mduell
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by mduell »

The settings largely don't matter, there's not much of a range of tradeoffs to be had.
Segfault
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by Segfault »

Well, changing CQ has substantial impact on file size. H.265 test file using NVEnc:

CQ=15 > size 157 MB
CQ=20 > 72 MB
CQ=23 > 46 MB

The source is a 1080i file.

Same file encoded using software encoding is 20 MB.

I'm afraid this NVEnc is good for streaming, but not so good for archiving where quality is more important than encoding time.
linuxuser
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by linuxuser »

Do you _see_ the difference?
Segfault
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by Segfault »

Look for yourself and tell us what you think.

NVEnc
Software
Segfault
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by Segfault »

NVEnc with CQ=28
This size is comparable to SW encoding, what do you think?
mduell
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by mduell »

Segfault wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:54 pmWell, changing CQ has substantial impact on file size. H.265 test file using NVEnc:
Sorry, I meant other than the quality selection. The encoder settings for speed have much less range than x265. Same quality range.
Segfault wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:54 pmI'm afraid this NVEnc is good for streaming, but not so good for archiving where quality is more important than encoding time.
Indeed, hardware encoders do one thing well: speed.
Segfault
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by Segfault »

Now I tried on a BR rip. Aiming for smaller output file. When encoded with CQ=28 there is some loss of fine details. Noticing it required rather close examination on PC screen. For me it wasn't noticeable on TV screen, but this is subjective opinion.
Segfault
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by Segfault »

Final thoughts. I have a bunch of old movies, around 2 GB each, 1080p. Using this card and H.265 NVEnc I've recoded/resized some of them to 720p. Reducing the file size about 2-3 times. The result is surprising. These movies actually look better after recode! Using CQ=28 is rather aggressive, some fine details will be lost as I mentioned before. But if these fine details are noise then the result is actually cleaner and nicer picture. Go figure ...
Summa summarum, I'm happy with my purchase!
mduell
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by mduell »

If you're that happy with lower res/low quality, you'd probably be happy with a veryfast x264 encode that would deliver about the same.
Segfault
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Re: GeForce GTX 1660 or GTX 1660 TI?

Post by Segfault »

mduell wrote: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:23 pm If you're that happy with lower res/low quality, you'd probably be happy with a veryfast x264 encode that would deliver about the same.
First, I did not say lower quality. These old movies may be "blown up" to 1080, but if the source itself does not have all the fine details then 720 or perhaps even lower is adequate, there will be no quality loss.
Second, what is "the same" H.264 encode would deliver? Same compression ratio (file size) with same quality? Why did they invent H.265 then? And why "veryfast"? NVEnc exceeds 380 FPS with 720 res and H.265 "slow" setting, why should I need more?
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