Five Overclocked GeForce GTX 560 Ti Cards, Compared
Table of contents
- 1. Not Quite Extreme, Way Beyond Mainstream
- 2. Asus GTX560 Ti DirectCU II TOP
- 3. Asus SmartDoctor
- 4. Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti SOC
- 5. Gigabyte OC Guru
- 6. Jetway N560-E8-1GV
- 7. MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC
- 8. MSI Afterburner
- 9. Palit GTX560Ti Sonic
- 10. Palit VTune
- 11. Sparkle Calibre X560
- 12. Sparkle SX560T1024D5MH
- 13. Test Settings
- 14. Benchmark Results: 3DMark11
- 15. Benchmark Results: Aliens Vs. Predator
- 16. Benchmark Results: Crysis
- 17. Benchmark Results: F1 2010
- 18. Benchmark Results: Just Cause 2
- 19. Benchmark Results: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat
- 20. Power, Heat, and Noise
- 21. Conclusion
We gave the GeForce GTX 560 Ti a thorough evaluation at launch. But Nvidia was perhaps most excited about some of its partners were doing with GF114. And so, we set out to find customized boards. Our search lead to five factory-overclocked alternatives.
What do you call a hardcore gamer who can’t afford the fastest parts, yet won’t settle for much less? We like to call them enthusiasts. But then again, we think the weekend warrior who spends six weeks in his garage turning a $3000 sedan into a race car is a bit more enthusiastic than the guy who buys a $150 000 status symbol. In the computer world, that’s what overclocking is often about.
The GeForce GTX 560 Ti was designed for just such a market. Unfortunately, not all graphics cards are created equal. Factory overclocked parts satisfy a third market, giving potential overclockers a chance to taste the performance of high-end parts when he may otherwise have been unable to “catch a break” in his own overclocking attempts. This is guaranteed speed without the prestigious model name that goes with it.
Only five of the many brands vying for this market were able to supply cards in time for today’s comparison. Before we set out to establish performance and value leadership, let’s take a look at the specifications of each competitor.
| GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1 GB Comparison Specifications | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asus ENGTX560 TI DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 | Gigabyte GV-N560SO-1GI | MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC | Palit GTX560Ti Sonic | Sparkle Calibre X560 | Sparkle SX560T1024D5MH | |
| GPU Clock | 900 MHz | 1000 MHz | 880 MHz | 900 MHz | 1000 MHz | 820 MHz |
| DRAM Data Rate | GDDR5-4200 | GDDR5-4580 | GDDR5-4200 | GDDR5-4200 | GDDR5-4800 | GDDR5-4008 |
| DVI | Two Dual-Link | Two Dual-Link | Two Dual-Link | Two Dual-Link | Two Dual-Link | Two Dual-Link |
| HDMI | Mini | Mini | Mini | Full-Size | Mini | Full-Size |
| DisplayPort | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| VGA | By Adapter | By Adapter | By Adapter | Onboard | By Adapter | By Adapte |
| Output Adapters | DVI to VGA Full HDMI | DVI to VGA HDMI Cable | DVI to VGA Full HDMI | None | DVI to VGA HDMI Cable | DVI to VGA Full HDMI |
| Length | 9.7" | 9.5" | 9.5" | 8.1" | 9.1" | 9.1" |
| Height | 4.5" | 5.8" | 4.4" | 4.4" | 5.2" | 4.4" |
| Total Thickness | 1.5" | 1.5" | 1.5" | 1.6" | 2.4" | 1.5" |
| Cooler Thickness | 1.4" | 1.4" | 1.4" | 1.4" | 2.2" | 1.4" |
| Weight | 24 Ounces | 22 Ounces | 24 Ounces | 19 Ounces | 24 Ounces | 22 Ounces |
| PCB Version | C1040P R1.00 | Custom | Custom | Custom | P1040 | P1040 |
| VRM | Seven Phases | Seven Phases | Six Phases | Five Phases | Four Phases | Four Phases |
| Warranty | Three Years | Three Years | Three Years | Two Years | Lifetime | Lifetime |
One company sent a second, standard-speed part to set the reference by which we could judge the level of improvement for other products. While it would be easy to simply hand a top-speed award to the fastest card, differences in warranty, price, and functionality make today’s comparison a true competition.
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Please add in the results idle noise level. For me, noise is one of the most important thing when considering a graphics card. I bought a Galaxy GTX 460 last year with the funny cooler and it sounded like a jet engine even when idle. I ended up replacing it with a Thermalright Shaman cooler, the 140mm fan is much more pleasant to the ears.
Thanks for the review, any news on any *new* 2GB models of the GTX 560 ? The only one currently available is the Palit version, which shares the same design as the Palit sonic edition card that was reviewed. Would love to see a Gigabyte SOC 2GB card...
These are some pretty sweet cards. Could you put up the numbers for a reference spec GTX 470. That would be interesting to see how they compare performance wise. The OC'ed cards have pretty similar bandwith to the 470. The big powerful 320 bit card vs the smaller more efficient 256 bit card.
There should have been a please in the previous post, and a question mark. -1 for bad grammar. -1 for bad manners.
I am not sure that even dual GTX 580s qualify as a status symbol. They sit in your computer and no one ever sees them.
I am not sure that even dual GTX 580s qualify as a status symbol. They sit in your computer and no one ever sees them.
you don't need to see it...you only need to feel it...wait, it's still in the case...lol
Well, one still need to overclock to play Crysis. But who cares, when Crysis 2 is in the wild?
Why dont your roundups ever contain reference to other cards???? Please, reference to other cards. If the most overclocked card costs nearly as much as a gtx570, you need to show the speed difference of similarly priced cards
Why dont your roundups ever contain reference to other cards???? Please, reference to other cards. If the most overclocked card costs nearly as much as a gtx570, you need to show the speed difference of similarly priced cards
This was not the intent of the article. This article was intended to see which 560Ti was the best bang for your buck. I am sure there will be future articles that compare different cards and their price points.
Well, one still need to overclock to play Crysis. But who cares, when Crysis 2 is in the wild?
Even a 8800GT can play Crysis 2.We have to change our spam to " can it play Crysis 1 ? "
just a question, where the HELL could you find the overclocked Asus GTX 560 TOP?
every retailer only has the standard asus version as the time of this post.
Good article but I cant see the Asus card costing the same as their slower clocked card when available in retail.
msi and asus cost same at retail
Hey guys, read about the upcoming z68 & x68 chipsets!
http://vr-zone.com/articles/additi [...] 11294.html
Well I understand the point of this article is to compare the different 560 versions, but it would be really great if there was a chart to compare against similar GPUs from Nvidia and ATI just to kind of show where they all fit in the grand hierarchy.
That looks like more confirmation that LGA1365 was scrapped and LGA2011 is what we'll see replacing LGA1366.
You'd think they would have made 6 and 8 pin PCI-E connectors at 90 degree angles by now...
Why dont your roundups ever contain reference to other cards???? Please, reference to other cards. If the most overclocked card costs nearly as much as a gtx570, you need to show the speed difference of similarly priced cards
It was covered almost a month ago:
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2845.html
Both articles have a reference card, you can compare percent differences for overclocked cards (this article) to percent differences for the GTX 570 (the past article, linked).
What is your favorite graphics card utility, exactly? I got a recertified PNY RVCG98GTEE1XXB GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 off of Newegg and I'd like something to control the fan speeds. It tries to stay around 60 celsius, which I think is a tad warm.