Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti Review: GF114 Rises, GF100 Rides Off

Features
By Chris Angelini
published

GF100, your services are no longer required. Nvidia’s GF114 GPU displaces the last card based on the company’s 3 billion-transistor chip using fewer than two billion transistors. It’s amazing what a little optimization can do. Welcome, GeForce GTX 560 Ti.

Benchmark Results: Multi-Card Scaling

A single GeForce GTX 560 Ti dominated the Radeon HD 5870 and 6870 in Lost Planet 2, so the fact that a pair of these cards does the same in SLI is really no surprise.

More interesting, perhaps, is that the Radeon HD 5870 and 6870 are so close together. We saw the 6870 throwing down faster frame rates at 1680x1050 and 1920x1080 in single-card mode, with the 5870 passing its successor at 2560x1600. In CrossFire, however, the two 6870s regain a tiny lead at 2560x1600, demonstrating better scaling on the Barts-based boards.

Aliens Vs. Predator is a different story entirely. The Radeon HD 5870 was a second-place finisher at 2560x1600 in single-card mode, and it uses that advantage to take first place in our three-way comparison. The GeForce GTX 560 Ti and Radeon HD 6870 were nearly indistinguishable before, and again fall very close to each other in SLI and CrossFire.

The GeForce GTX 560 Ti got brutalized in single-card mode, and the two AMD Radeon combinations smack it down again in F1. The less expensive Radeon HD 6870 even manages to turn in faster frame rates with 8x MSAA enabled than the GTX 560 Ti without AA turned on.

Better scaling on the Radeon HD 6870 allows it to outperform the GeForce GTX 560 Ti in dual-card mode, despite the fact that the Nvidia card was faster at 2560x1600 in our single-card setup. More notable is that the Radeon HD 5870 trumps both other pairs of cards for a first-place finish in CrossFire.

We banged our head against walls for days trying to figure out the SLI/CrossFire issue ahead of Blizzard’s Cataclysm expansion launch. According to AMD, it released a CrossFire Application Profile update during or shortly after we finished testing. Nvidia still has a bug report indicating that scaling isn’t consistently where it should be. However, after a number of small patches to the game and hardware driver updates, we’re happy to report that it’s now possible to see scaling in the same Crushblow to The Krazzworks flight path used in our original coverage.

Nvidia might say that it isn’t seeing ideal scaling, but the performance of two GeForce GTX 560 Tis is good enough (with 8x AA enabled) to match two Radeon HD 5870s (without AA). The Radeon HD 6870s trail behind, consistent with what we saw in our single-card results.

Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.
112 Comments Comment from the forums
  • reprotected
    Some areas could be improved, but this is still pretty decent. Just lower the price 50 dollars please Nvidia and I will buy 10 of them. :)
    Reply
  • Wow, it's not as powerful as I expected with that kind of energy use.
    Reply
  • liemfukliang
    Please don't let me go away from Tomshardware because the disapearing of Print View Mode. If there is an official anounce about that please give me the link. In Indonesia internet is so slow and expensive. That way the print mode is so much help. I open an article, klik print view page. I go watching TV, eat, drink cofee, etc. About 10 - 20 minutes later the acticle is completed. I just save as mht for feature need (personal use). Lastly I read it.
    Btw TomGUIDE still have this print page view. Why only in Tomshardware the button is missing?
    Sorry for my OOT.
    Reply
  • geekapproved
    Either way, my conclusion on the GTX 560 Ti doesn't change. It still doesn't present me with the overwhelming urge to upgrade. AMD's cards simply look better in comparison, based on their performance.

    FAIL
    Reply
  • hardcore_gamer
    6950 is really better than a GTX560Ti, and consumes less power.Gigabyte's 1Ghz card is interesting.If it has the performance of a 6950 at $269, AMD'll be forced to reduce the price (again)
    Reply
  • anacandor
    I'd love to see some more benchies on that Gigabyte card like noise and temps, for only $20 more it seems like a steal!
    Reply
  • amazing2
    liemfukliangPlease don't let me go away from Tomshardware because the disapearing of Print View Mode. If there is an official anounce about that please give me the link. In Indonesia internet is so slow and expensive. That way the print mode is so much help. I open an article, klik print view page. I go watching TV, eat, drink cofee, etc. About 10 - 20 minutes later the acticle is completed. I just save as mht for feature need (personal use). Lastly I read it.Btw TomGUIDE still have this print page view. Why only in Tomshardware the button is missing?Sorry for my OOT.
    Here you go:
    http://www.tomshardware.com/review_print.php?p1=2845

    :)
    Reply
  • James296
    I waited to see what this card was going to be like but it feels more like a rebranded GTX 460/470 as far as performance so I'm just going to skip the GTX 560 "Ti" and go for the GTX 570
    Reply
  • cknobman
    GeekApprovedFAIL
    Bigger FAIL
    Reply
  • hixbot
    So can the 6950 1GB be unlocked to a 6970? If not, I'm not sure it has the value the author mentioned, not when compared to the 2GB 6950 which comes with the free upgrade.
    Reply