ECS Black Series NBGTX560-1GPI-F GeForce GTX 560
At $192 (on Newegg), ECS’ entry is the lowest-priced option in our round-up, though not the least-expensive GeForce GTX 560 available. This model closely follows Nvidia's reference design with a 9” x 4.5” PCB and a 9.5” x 5” total size, including its bezel and cooler.
Despite the relatively low price ECS asks for its Black Edition card, the company applies a factory core overclock of 870 MHz core, though the 1000 MHz memory setting is almost identical to Nvidia's 1002 MHz reference spec.
Its two six-pin power inputs sit on the side of the card, just like the reference version. If you own a smaller chassis without much room behind the graphics cards, plugging in stiff power leads can be problematic. Admittedly, that's more of an issue for folks who own longer boards, though.
ECS’ reference GeForce GTX 560 cooler uses three 8 mm heat pipes to transfer heat to aluminum fins positioned radially away from the GPU cooling block. A single 3” fan pushes air through the plastic shroud.
Based on Nvidia's reference model, the presence of two DVI connectors and a single mini-HDMI outputs are no surprise. Again, though, you're only able to use two displays at a time.
A DVI-to-VGA adapter, two dual Molex-to-six-pin power adapters, a mini-HDMI-to-HDMI adapter, a driver disk, and user manual are included with ECS' card. Given its value-oriented price, the bundle makes sense. Basically, you don't get any frills aside from the core overclock.
Overclocking
We’re happy to report that this model cooperates with MSI’s freely-available Afterburner software, which let us push the card’s 0.987 V default setting to 1.15 V. This facilitated an astounding 1010 MHz core clock, which was the highest seen from any vendor. Is it likely that our sample was hand-picked for its scalability? Quite possibly. Should you expect similar results? As with any exercise in overclocking, your mileage will almost assuredly vary.
This card's memory wasn't as accommodating, though the 1200 MHz we managed to push is still quite respectable.
