Official GTX560 Review Thread (updated with 17 reviews at this time)

[maniacalpha1-1]

Looks like AMD timed their HD6950 1GB NDA to coincide with the GTX560, based on the post just up now on AT.
Hopefully most sites will have managed to benchmark both cards and offer comparisons between them.

On the AT brief post he said:

We'll be back in a few hours with a full explaination, but in the mean time we can say that performance is virtually identical to the 2GB card throughout our test suite at 1920x1200 and 1680x1050. It's only at 2560x1600 and under Eyefinity that we see the 2GB card make a name for itself"

 

[Grooveriding]

On the AT brief post he said:

Anandtech News Page Ryan Smith
"We'll be back in a few hours with a full explaination, but in the mean time we can say that performance is virtually identical to the 2GB card throughout our test suite at 1920x1200 and 1680x1050. It's only at 2560x1600 and under Eyefinity that we see the 2GB card make a name for itself"




That's interesting. If a stock 560 is 50% and up to 60% in some situations, faster than a stock 460, that will allow the 560 to be as fast as the 6950.

Will be interesting, these cards are going to be very, very close. They are also priced the same currently, although only the 1GB 6950 seems to be available for sale at newegg.com so far.

If the 1GB 6950s unlock to 6970s that will really be something. The cards pictured in that brief blurb have the bios switch, but may just be a reuse of the pictures used for the 2GB card launches.

 

[Termie]

And the Canucks win the race. Here's your first review:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...119-nvidia-geforce-gtx-560-ti-1gb-review.html

They also review the 6950 1GB:
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...iews/40165-amd-radeon-hd-6950-1gb-review.html

Guess time runs faster in Canada.

SPOILER ALERT:
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7% faster than GTX470, 5% slower than 6950 1GB.

In terms of overclocking, they were able to take the Ti from 822 to 991 on the core. As for the 6950...800 to 855. I think this makes the Ti the people's choice (and it runs cooler and draws less power too).

 

[load81]

You buy a 560 to overclock the hell out of to match a 570 which means you go with the one with the best cooler.

I got a reference 570 and I didn't have any problem overclocking to 580 performance. Overclocking the hell out of it wasn't needed. But who knows how good reference 560 coolers will be so you may be right.

 

[n0x1ous]

Anandtech News Page Ryan Smith
"We'll be back in a few hours with a full explaination, but in the mean time we can say that performance is virtually identical to the 2GB card throughout our test suite at 1920x1200 and 1680x1050. It's only at 2560x1600 and under Eyefinity that we see the 2GB card make a name for itself"




That's interesting. If a stock 560 is 50% and up to 60% in some situations, faster than a stock 460, that will allow the 560 to be as fast as the 6950.

Will be interesting, these cards are going to be very, very close. They are also priced the same currently, although only the 1GB 6950 seems to be available for sale at newegg.com so far.

If the 1GB 6950s unlock to 6970s that will really be something. The cards pictured in that brief blurb have the bios switch, but may just be a reuse of the pictures used for the 2GB card launches.

That is interesting. Isn't Cayman size a bit bigger than GF104/GF114

Correct me if Im wrong, but Cayman is 389mm2 vs GF104/Gf114 (assuming its the same size since its just a fully unlocked GF104) is 331 mm2 or 360mm2 depending on where you read it.

This would mean that Nvidia is approaching parity or beating AMD in perf/mm2 which is something they havent been close on over the last few rounds. And thats simply with a fixed version of a 2009 chip versus AMD's new Cayman chip.

What a turnaround for Nvidia since the 580 launched. Even if the 6950 is a bit faster, they have really closed the gap on this it seems.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

7% faster than GTX470, 5% slower than 6950 1GB.

Usually I only look at 1680 X1050 numbers since that's my monitor...and the Hardware Canucks review shows that in BC2 the 560 is faster than the 6950 1GB, not 5% slower...but then sure enough, at 1920 X 1200 the 6950 1GB pulled ahead. (Not in minimum frame rate though but in average),

 

[happy medium]

hardware canucks conclusion............

"In our opinion, the GTX 560 Ti is one of the best cards released in the last year or so. It is literally a perfect sub-$300 product which is quieter and more efficient than the competing AMD cards and even puts the once-mighty GTX 470 to shame. March marks the beginning of the busy PC and console game spring release season and the GTX 560 Ti is in an enviable position to take advantage of this upsurge in demand."

 

[Termie]

Anandtech review: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4135/nvidias-geforce-gtx-560-ti-upsetting-the-250-market



Ryan's conclusion:

"So what do I make of the GTX 560 Ti? There’s the question I haven’t quite answered. It seems like the video cards that go down in history as being truly great are aggressively priced cards the competition has no immediate answer for. I firmly believe that NVIDIA deserves most of the credit for the recent shakeup in video card pricing between $200 and $300 due to the launch of the GTX 560 Ti. But credit is not the same as a solid recommendation.

AMD’s scramble to launch the Radeon HD 6950 1GB has produced a card with similar levels of performance and pricing as the GTX 560 Ti, making it impossible to just blindly recommend the GTX 560 Ti. With sufficient case cooling both the GTX 560 and the Radeon HD 6950 1GB are good cards for the price, and represent a meaningful step up from where we were just 2 weeks ago. Ultimately I think the situation is very similar to December’s launch of the 6900 series, and the match-up between the GTX 570 and the Radeon HD 6970: we have two very similar cards in almost all respects. The GTX 560 Ti ultimately has the edge: it’s a bit faster and it’s quieter than the 6950, and if that’s all you care about then there’s the answer you seek. But you could grab the 6950 1GB and you’d be doing no worse. The deciding factor seems to come down to just how much to value noise and cooling (560) versus power consumption (6950), what games you play, and whether you’re currently invested in the NVIDIA (CUDA, 3D Vision) or AMD (Eyefinity) ecosystem."

 

[Termie]

HardOCP review:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/01/25/galaxy_geforce_gtx_560_ti_gc_video_card_review

TechPowerUp review: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_560_Ti/


I have to say...if you recently got in on the $200 HD5870 deal, you did really damn well. The 560Ti rarely beats it and costs $50 more. In fact, there are several HD5870s still available for less than the 560Ti.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...7320 600007602&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon HD 5870

Thoughts?

 

[ljtatej]

Sorry, posted this in wrong thread, but here is another one:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2011/01/25/nvidia-geforce-gtx-560-ti-1gb-review/1

 

[Idontcare]

Welcome to the forums Ben_Verheven! :thumbsup:

 

[happy medium]

Thanks for the help guys and I posted a bunch of reviews on the first page.

Keep em comming.

 

[Vette73]

Yea the 6950 still performs better even at 1gig.

But hopefully AMDs 6950 1gig will make the 560 drop in price much quicker.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

I don't see this card as shaking too many things up, like I thought it wouldn't. It's priced according to its performance with the current marketplace. It basically fills the gap in Nvidia's lineup, and to some extent fits into the gap between AMDs 6870 and 6950. It isn't overly aggressive nor too conservative. It's a Goldilocks card. A solid, good card. Now I consider consumers to have excellent choices at any price point they want to pay.

 

[happy medium]

@ Castiel

Your ASUS direct cue II gtx560 just got reviewed bro...

http://www.pureoverclock.com/article1201.html

 

[Jodiuh]

Classy that Kyle over @ Hardocp. I asked if he were to sit down and play some BC2 w/ this card, would he really be ok w/ 20 min, 40 avg. What does he do? Delete my post and ban me from the video card section.

So sick of his crap, time to move on I suppose.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

That is interesting. Isn't Cayman size a bit bigger than GF104/GF114

Correct me if Im wrong, but Cayman is 389mm2 vs GF104/Gf114 (assuming its the same size since its just a fully unlocked GF104) is 331 mm2 or 360mm2 depending on where you read it.

This would mean that Nvidia is approaching parity or beating AMD in perf/mm2 which is something they havent been close on over the last few rounds. And thats simply with a fixed version of a 2009 chip versus AMD's new Cayman chip.

What a turnaround for Nvidia since the 580 launched. Even if the 6950 is a bit faster, they have really closed the gap on this it seems.

It's closer. But then we have Barts, which is only 255mm^2, and the 6970 is still a good bit faster. The 6950, afterall, is the same die as the 6970, so you're comparing apples to oranges. If we were to do that, then we could be comparing the 6970 to the GTX 570 and in this perspective AMD clearly as the perf/mm advantage. But that wouldn't really be fair, would it?

 

[Skurge]

Classy that Kyle over @ Hardocp. I asked if he were to sit down and play some BC2 w/ this card, would he really be ok w/ 20 min, 40 avg. What does he do? Delete my post and ban me from the video card section.

So sick of his crap, time to move on I suppose.

Yeah, 40fps in that game isn't very good.

 

[Stoneburner]

I don't get teh anandtech summary. The charts all showed the 560 slower than a 6950 1gb except in a few games. How does anandtech conclude that it's overall faster? It seems right between a 6870 and a 6950. All the reviews i've read so far say the same thing.

 

[BladeVenom]

Welcome to the forums Ben_Verheven! :thumbsup:

A couple of new members, just in time to promote Nvidia's latest card. Not that I'm suspicious of Nvidia engaging in more stealth marketing again.


Personal attacks are not acceptable.

Calling into question a member's credibility based on join date is an ad hominem personal attack.

Please no more disparaging comments regarding members and their join date...the join date should be irrelevant (as should the post count), the credibility of the poster is relevant in how you view their stated position but does not give you the right to post a negative character assessment (including innuendo) in the technical forums.

We aren't going to tell you what to think, but we are going to tell you to keep it to yourself.

Moderator Idontcare

 

[n0x1ous]

It's closer. But then we have Barts, which is only 255mm^2, and the 6970 is still a good bit faster. The 6950, afterall, is the same die as the 6970, so you're comparing apples to oranges. If we were to do that, then we could be comparing the 6970 to the GTX 570 and in this perspective AMD clearly as the perf/mm advantage. But that wouldn't really be fair, would it?

all good points, certainly the 6970 to 580 isn't super close yet, but its nice to see some progress in at least once market section! It hasn't been close anywhere since G92

 

[rickcfer]

Does the 560ti have the same VP4 as the 460series with DTSMA & DolbyHD bitstream support?

 

[Vette73]

Does the 560ti have the same VP4 as the 460series with DTSMA & DolbyHD bitstream support?

I would think it has the same if not better. Being that it has not been talked about in reviews and the trans count is the same I am guessing it has the same as the 460.

 

[happy medium]

So far I think the best gtx560 card is the Gigabyte SOC for 275$.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...162&CatId=3669

This thing equals a gtx570/6970 from the factory (1000 core) , overclocks to 1044 core WITH NO VOLTAGE, runs cool and quiet for a card of this performance level.

QUOTE:
Now we left fan control at default, thus self regulating and during the overclock it did not at all become noisy. Our stable end result was not a huge overclock as the product is already so far factory clocked, yet still a good 1044 MHz on the core and 4950MHz on the memory. Temp went up merely a few degrees C. We did not apply any voltage tweak or anything."


and only 195 watts power consumption!

Quote:
"Power consumption isn't really an issue either, albeit higher due to the default factory overclock, we calculated that the product consumes roughly 195 Watt when it's stressed badly in a game. Mind you these are peak levels, the average power consumption will tell another story."

"

http://www.guru3d.com/article/gigabyte-gtx-560-ti-soc-review/20

 

[Jodiuh]

I'm a plant!

See!?

Buy Nvidia! Buy! Buy! Buy!