Five Overclocked GeForce GTX 560 Ti Cards, Compared

Not Quite Extreme, Way Beyond Mainstream

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. 

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GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1 GB Comparison Specifications
Row 0 - Cell 0 Asus ENGTX560TI DCIITOP/2DI/1GD5Gigabyte GV-N560SO-1GIMSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC Palit GTX560Ti SonicSparkle Calibre X560Sparkle SX560T1024D5MH
GPU Clock900 MHz1000 MHz880 MHz900 MHz1000 MHz820 MHz
DRAM Data RateGDDR5-4200GDDR5-4580GDDR5-4200GDDR5-4200GDDR5-4800GDDR5-4008
DVITwo Dual-LinkTwo Dual-LinkTwo Dual-LinkTwo Dual-LinkTwo Dual-LinkTwo Dual-Link
HDMIMiniMiniMiniFull-SizeMiniFull-Size
DisplayPortNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNone
VGABy AdapterBy AdapterBy AdapterOnboardBy AdapterBy Adapte
Output AdaptersDVI to VGA Full HDMIDVI to VGA HDMI CableDVI to VGA Full HDMINoneDVI to VGA HDMI CableDVI to VGA Full HDMI
Length9.7"9.5"9.5"8.1"9.1"9.1"
Height4.5"5.8"4.4"4.4"5.2"4.4"
Total Thickness1.5"1.5"1.5"1.6"2.4"1.5"
Cooler Thickness1.4"1.4"1.4"1.4"2.2"1.4"
Weight24 Ounces22 Ounces24 Ounces19 Ounces24 Ounces22 Ounces
PCB VersionC1040P R1.00CustomCustomCustomP1040P1040
VRMSeven PhasesSeven PhasesSix PhasesFive PhasesFour PhasesFour Phases
WarrantyThree YearsThree YearsThree YearsTwo YearsLifetimeLifetime

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.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
  • 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.
    Reply
  • Annisman
    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...
    Reply
  • ScoobyJooby-Jew
    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.
    Reply
  • ScoobyJooby-Jew
    There should have been a please in the previous post, and a question mark. -1 for bad grammar. -1 for bad manners.
    Reply
  • mattmock
    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.
    Reply
  • nebun
    MattMockI 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
    Reply
  • gti88
    Well, one still need to overclock to play Crysis. But who cares, when Crysis 2 is in the wild?
    Reply
  • iam2thecrowe
    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
    Reply
  • utengineer
    iam2thecroweWhy 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 cardsThis 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.
    Reply
  • hardcore_gamer
    gti88Well, 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 ? "
    Reply