NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Roundup (EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI)

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Metro 2033 (DX11)

Metro 2033 (DX11)

For this test we use a walkthrough and combat scene from The Bridge level which starts at the beginning of the level and lasts for about 3 minutes of walking, running and combat. Famerates are measured with FRAPS and Advanced PhysX is turned off.

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Shogun 2: Total War (DX11)

Shogun 2: Total War (DX11)

Due to its very nature, Shogun 2 is a tough game to benchamark since the in-game tool doesn’t accurately convey an in-game experience. So we took a pre-recorded battle which pits three large armies against one another and includes camera zooms, fog, gun smoke and other items. Using a pre-recorded sequence also effectively removes the CPU from the equation since it doesn’t have to process AI.

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The Witcher 2 (DX9)

The Witcher 2 (DX9)

The Witcher 2 may be a DX9 based game but its graphics quality is beyond reproach. In this benchmark we take an area out of The Kayran mission and include one of the toughest effects the graphics engine has in store for the GPU: rain. Throughout this sequence, rain plays a large part but explosions, combat and even some sun shafts are included as well.

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Please note that while the numbers seem to indicate that AMD cards win hands down in this game, the HD 6900-series cards have serious driver issues that caused noticeable stuttering in our gameplay sequence. This began with the 11.9 driver release and has continued through 11.10 and is still present in 11.11.

In the coming days we will post videos showing this but for the time being, take the AMD results in the graphs above with a grain of salt. While their framerates are good, the overall in-game experience leaves much to be desired.

 

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Overclocking Results

Overclocking Results

By using a number of overclocking tools (EVGA Precision and MSI Afterburner) we pushed these cards to the limit of their default voltages. What you see below are results that were stable for no less than 120 minutes of continual gaming. Impressive is one way to describe this since with a few tweaks, we're sure these GTX 560 cards could hit GTX 580 performance levels in non-bandwidth limited situations.

EVGA GTX 560 448 Classified

Core Clock: 869 MHz
Engine Clock: 1738 MHz
Memory Clock: 4304 MHz (QDR)


Gigabyte GTX 560 448

Core Clock: 854 MHz
Engine Clock: 1708 MHz
Memory Clock: 4214 MHz (QDR)


MSI GTX 560 Ti 448 Twin Frozr III Power Edition OC

Core Clock: 878 MHz
Engine Clock: 1756 MHz
Memory Clock: 4288 MHz (QDR)

 

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Temperatures & Acoustics / Power Consumption

Temperature Analysis

For all temperature testing, the cards were placed on an open test bench with a single 120mm 1200RPM fan placed ~8” away from the heatsink. The ambient temperature was kept at a constant 22°C (+/- 0.5°C). If the ambient temperatures rose above 23°C at any time throughout the test, all benchmarking was stopped. For this test we use the 3DMark Batch Size test at its highest triangle count with 4xAA and 16xAF enabled and looped it for one hour to determine the peak load temperature as measured by GPU-Z.

For Idle tests, we let the system idle at the Windows 7 desktop for 15 minutes and recorded the peak temperature.

With all three of these cards sporting custom heatsinks, it isn't any wonder that they post such good results. By far the best numbers come from the Gigabyte card which was pretty much expected considering the size of its cooler. MSI Twin Frozr III also puts in a good showing and goes to show that an efficient, compact heatsink design can almost match a much larger competitor.

EVGA isn't known as a widespread user of non-reference cooling solutions but they seem to have done well with the one installed on the Classified. It keeps temperatures well in check even though the card's core speeds are well above those of the MSI and Gigabyte products.

Acoustical Testing

What you see below are the baseline idle dB(A) results attained for a relatively quiet open-case system (specs are in the Methodology section) sans GPU along with the attained results for each individual card in idle and load scenarios. The meter we use has been calibrated and is placed at seated ear-level exactly 12” away from the GPU’s fan. For the load scenarios, a loop of Unigine Heave 2.5 is used in order to generate a constant load on the GPU(s) over the course of 20 minutes.

What we have here is a statistical tie between all three GTX 560 Ti 448 cards. Every one of them is whisper quiet and there should be no way you'll hear any of them over the noise most case fans make. To their credit, Gigabyte's card is one of the quietest GPUs we have ever tested.

System Power Consumption

For this test we hooked up our power supply to a UPM power meter that will log the power consumption of the whole system twice every second. In order to stress the GPU as much as possible we once again use the Batch Render test in 3DMark06 and let it run for 30 minutes to determine the peak power consumption while letting the card sit at a stable Windows desktop for 30 minutes to determine the peak idle power consumption. We have also included several other tests as well.

Please note that after extensive testing, we have found that simply plugging in a power meter to a wall outlet or UPS will NOT give you accurate power consumption numbers due to slight changes in the input voltage. Thus we use a Tripp-Lite 1800W line conditioner between the 120V outlet and the power meter.

Power consumption numbers pretty much run the gamut with the reference clocked Gigabyte card posting the best results in part due to its low temperatures and efficient PWM design. The EVGA card meanwhile does push the envelope but when you get into its performance territory, efficiency really should become a secondary concern.

 

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Conclusion

Once everything was said and done, taking a closer look at cards from various board partners has only served to heighten our love affair with the GTX 560 Ti 448. By allowing their AiBs to approach this card with different perspectives NVIDIA not only fostered internal competition but has allowed some very unique designs to come to market. While each card in this roundup had its own strengths and weaknesses, when taken as a whole they have shown us a perfect example of what’s possible when the term “reference design” is thrown into the wind. Let’s take a look at each individually.

EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 Classified

The EVGA Classified card in this roundup proved itself to be something of a freak. Its GTX 570-trampling performance was nothing short awe inspiring and with a premium of just $10 over the most other GTX 560 Ti cards; we can’t imagine why anyone would look anywhere else. There was even some additional overclocking headroom sans voltage tweaks.

Granted, it may not be the quietest GPU in this roundup and high efficiency isn’t in the Classified’s lexicon but its minimal fan noise puts most other cards to shame and the 6-phase PWM could make it the venue of choice for enthusiasts. There really is an endless list of things to like about the EVGA’s Classified but we’ll end this short overview with a simple statement: this will be the GTX 560 Ti 448 that all competitors –and even some GTX 570s- are measured against.

Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti 448

Gigabyte’s entry into our pile of GTX 560 Ti 448 cards was straightforward and didn’t pack some of the competition’s notable features. Its quiet, unassuming position in the charts likely means that many readers just passed it by and if you did, we suggest going back and paying special attention to a trio of metrics: price, acoustics and core temperatures.

Done? Good and now you’ll likely understand why Gigabyte’s card holds a special place in our hearts. It may not boast increased clock speeds or a particularly appealing industrial design but it offers the best cooling efficiency of any card we’ve tested in the last four months and goes about its business without any perceptible fan noise. Gigabyte has even seen fit to equip it with a custom PCB sporting Ultra Durable components. The price for this: not a penny over NVIDIA’s reference retail price of $289. What’s not to like about that?

MSI GTX 560 Ti 448 Twin Frozr III Power Edition OC

The Twin Frozr III Power Edition OC is precisely what we have come to expect from MSI as of late. It boasts what is arguably the highest level of fit, finish and overall component quality among this roundup’s cards and overclocking becomes a dream come true due to MSI’s Triple Overvoltage feature. Even the Twin Frozr III heatsink continues a longstanding tradition of offering excellent cooling efficiency without sacrificing acoustics. Unfortunately, we're worried that many will look at MSI’s entry as an also-ran.

While the Power Edition’s framerates are very good across the board, we have to remember that it is a full $20 more expensive than Gigabyte’s entry and even one-ups the beastly Classified in terms of overall cost. Regardless of component choices and an excellent heatsink design, this will be a bitter pill to swallow for prospective buyers.

MSI has continued to lead the way by offering a high quality card that should appeal to a board market but we feel like the Power Edition OC is a good $10 too expensive when competing products like the EVGA Classified are taken into account. With that being said, if you see this card hitting the $299 mark, we’d recommend taking a good look at it.

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