EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Conclusion

IMPORTANT: Although the rating and final score mentioned in this conclusion are made to be as objective as possible, please be advised that every author perceives these factors differently at various points in time. While we each do our best to ensure that all aspects of the product are considered, there are often times unforeseen market conditions and manufacturer changes which occur after publication that could render our rating obsolete. Please do not base any purchase solely on our conclusion, as it represents our product rating specifically for the product tested which may differ from future versions. Benchmark Reviews begins our conclusion with a short summary for each of the areas that we rate.

Beginning with frame rate performance, the GeForce GTX 560 Ti video card demonstrated to us that NVIDIA has tuned the GF114 well enough to easily replace the GeForce GTX 470 series. At the 850 MHz reference speed, the EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti performed nicely against higher-priced competition. Able to tap another 100 MHz from the GF114 GPU, each game we tested received a 5.2-10.7% boost to frame rate performance. The GTX 560 Titanium beats ATI's Radeon HD 5870 in Aliens vs Predator and Metro 2033 at the more expensive $280 price point, and then goes on to challenge the next price market segment with success. Priced at $300, the AMD Radeon HD 6950 succumbs to the GTX 560 Ti in 3DMark Vantage New Calico, Crysis Warhead, Battlefield Bad Company 2, BattleForge, Lost Planet 2, and Unigine Heaven 2.1. Clearly, the GTX 560 Ti is a video card series with the same value:performance potential that made the GTX 460 a popular choice for budget gamers.

DirectX-9 games performed extremely well with all of the setting turned up high and played at 1920x1200 resolution. Mafia-II with SSAO easily pushed 50 FPS with PhysX turned off, and kept pace with the slightly more expensive Radeon HD 5870. Call of Duty: Black Ops was easily tweaked to use the highest settings possible, and had extremely fluid performance during action-packed multiplayer games. In DirectX 10 game tests, Crysis Warhead kept an average 28 FPS and edged out the much more expensive AMD Radeon 6950 video card. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 used 8x anti-aliasing and 16x anisotropic filtering, and yet the GTX 560 Ti still pushed past 70 FPS and dominated the Radeon HD 6950. DirectX 11 Aliens vs Predator puts the GeForce GTX 560 Ti at 31 FPS on average, matching performance with the Radeon 5870. Lost Planet 2 required 2x AA in order to produce 40 FPS frame rates, but still surpassed the Radeon HD 5870 and 6850 by more than 7 FPS. Metro 2033 isn't a game for mainstream graphics, yet the GTX 560 Ti was still able to play with 24 FPS on average.

Appearance is a more subjective matter since the rating doesn't have benchmark scores to fall back on. Partners traditionally offer their own unique twist on the design, with improved cooling solutions and colorful fan shroud designs. This might not happen with the GeForce GTX 560 Ti, because the video card operates so efficiently that improving an already effective cooling solution would be superfluous. The reference design allows nearly all of the heated air to externally exhaust outside of the computer case, which could be critically important to overclockers wanting the best possible environment for their computer hardware. This deeply concaved plastic shroud and raised fan help preserve the Fermi GF114 GPU in SLI sets. Overall, the GTX 560 Ti might not look as tough as the GTX 570/580, but it looks just nearly identical to the GTX 460.

If NVIDIA was accurate in pricing the GeForce GTX 560 Titanium at the $250 price point, they've done well to attack a hole in the market. Heading into February 2011, the ATI Radeon HD 5870 still sells for $280 at its best while the AMD Radeon HD 6950 sells for $300. Since the EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti often compete with both of these cards in terms of FPS performance, this could be the GTX 460 all over again for mid-range bargain shoppers. As of 25 January 2011, Newegg sells the EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR model for $259.99. Newegg also lists the faster EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1563-AR model for $279.99.

In summary, the GF114 GPU inside the EVGA GTX 560 Titanium is the perfect replacement for the now end-of-life GTX 470. Because this product is named similarly to the GTX 460 from the previous generation, consumers might think that this is a mainstream graphics card. Considering the price and performance, it's safer to consider the GTX 560 series as a solid part of the upper midrange market segment and allow the upcoming GeForce GTS 550 to prove itself worthy of mainstream praise and prices. Still, by matching performance with the more expensive options, it won't be long before the EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti does one of two things: become a sought-after $250 product or have the price increased to match the competition.

So what do you think of EVGA's GeForce GTX 560 Ti video card? Leave comments below, or ask questions in our Forum.

Pros:

+ Plenty of overclocking headroom for enthusiasts!
+ Outperforms Radeon HD 5870 and 6950 video card
+ Great performance for ultra high-end games
+ Much lower power consumption vs GTX 470
+ Reduced heat output and cooling fan noise
+ Fan exhausts all heated air outside of case
+ Includes native HDMI audio/video output
+ Adds 32x CSAA post-processing detail
+ Supports dual-card SLI functionality
+ Adds GDDR5 Error Correcting Code (ECC)

Cons:

- Premium-priced mainstream product

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