NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Debuts: ASUS and MSI

Performance Summary: The new GeForce GTX 560 performs right about where its model number suggests. The Asus GTX 560 DirectCU II TOP and MSI N560GTX Twin Frozr II performed a fair bit better than the GeForce GTX 460 1GB and just a step behind the more powerful GeForce GTX 560 Ti. In general, the Asus and MSI GeForce GTX 560 cards also performed better than their direct competition from Team AMD, the Radeon HD 6850 and 6870. There were a couple of instances where the 6870 came out on top (F1 2010, Metro 2033), but the GeForce came out ahead in the rest of our benchmarks.


MSI N560GTX Twin Frozr II In the Buff...

GeForce GTX 560 cards will be available immediately with prices starting at $199 on up depending on their configuration. More specifically, the Asus GTX 560 DirectCU II TOP we took a look at will retail for about $219, while MSI’s N560GTX Twin Frozr II will arrive at about $209. At those prices, the GeForce GTX 560’s main competition currently are the GeForce GTX 460 and the Radeon HD 6870, both of which can be found for approximately $180 - $220 taking current mail in rebates into consideration. As our benchmark results have shown, the GeForce GTX 560 cards we tested outpace both of those cards overall, and they do so while remaining nice and quiet, and with very manageable power consumption. Seems like a solid offering from NVIDIA in this price range. Of course, there’s always more performance to be had with a relatively small additional investment, but if you’ve got about $210 to spend on a graphics card, the new GeForce GTX 560 is an attractive option.

  • Good Performance
  • Cool and Quiet
  • Competitive Pricing
  • PhysX and CUDA Support

  • Two Cards Required For Surround View
  • More Perf Available For Small Extra Investment

 


Marco Chiappetta

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com

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