Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti review

A more serious test is the still challenging DX10 flag bearer – Crysis. The stock GeForce GTX 560 Ti scored 52.7fps (again at 1,920×1,080 with 4x AA and high detail settings), which puts it squarely between the HD 6870 at 46.6fps and the HD 6950 with 59.6fps – so performance is following price here. To test the cards DX11 credentials we used the Stalker: Call of Pripyat benchmark. With 42.9fps at 1,920×1,080 with 4x AA it outpaced HD 6870 with 38.8fps, but was well behind the HD 6950 with 49.8fps.

However, by pushing the card up to 900MHZ core clock and 1,050MHz memory clock (equivalent to the £200 Palit card we mentioned above) produced a score of 45.8fps in Stalker. We then went further, with the card running stably at 950MHz and 1,100MHz, and managing an impressive 48.5fps – just shy of the HD 6950’s 49.8fps. This card is ripe for overclocking then, and those who are happy to fiddle with the settings should get an appreciable speed boost from it.

The card itself is nothing to write home about. It’s fairly compact at 230mm long, and so should fit in all but the most compact cases. There’s the usual pair of DVI outputs plus a mini HDMI port with support for all the latest HD standards plus HDMI 1.4a for 3D video and gaming. It does require two 6-pin power connectors, but only draws 190W at peak and even when overclocked the stock fan was reasonably quiet and kept everything nice and cool.

If you’re looking to spend exactly £200 on a graphics card then the GeForce GTX 560 Ti is an excellent choice. AMD’s offerings on either side aren’t shown up by this newcomer when you look at stock performance, but if you buy a tweaked card, or are happy to play with the clock settings yourself, then the GTX 560 just noses its way ahead of the competition on either side.

AMD has made an attempt to spoil Nvidia’s party, though. Today it announced a 1GB version of the HD 6950 – which until now only shipped in a 2GB configuration. It didn’t announce any UK pricing yet, but it should go head-to-head with the 1GB GTX 560 Ti. We’ll bring you a full review as soon as possible.