A good look at the card
NVIDIA's reference GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB card looks eerily similar to the GTX 460 1GB released in July 2010, though that's no bad thing as the reference card was good in all respects.
The PCB measures 9in - 0.75in longer than the GTX 460 - and the GF114 chip is cooled by a dual-slot heatsink with a centrally-mounted 80mm fan. Most partners will opt for this design out of the gate, we think, but those with a pedigree for releasing super-clocked cards will have special-edition models available at the same time.
The rear illustrates that the GTX 560 Ti is considered a mid-range GPU by NVIDIA; it has a single SLI finger that enables two boards to be connected in tandem; GTX 570 and GTX 580 both have two fingers each, suitable for three-way SLI.
The cooling isn't as overt or robust as the next model up - GeForce GTX 570 - which ship with a TDP that's nearly 30 per cent higher.
But this 170W GPU still needs to have two six-pin PCIe connectors to keep it nice and happy at the default speeds of 822MHz core and 4,008MHz memory.
A peek at the rear highlights that NVIDIA retains the same ports' arrangement found on the GTX 460, that is, two dual-link DVI next to a mini-HDMI. NVIDIA appeases the HTPC-lovin' enthusiast by endowing this card with bitstreaming support for Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master audio over HDMI - just like the GTX 460.
The interesting design takes in three aluminium heatsinks that are in contact with both the central copper block and heatpipes, thus maximising the heat-removal ability of the cooler. Once the cover is placed on top, the fan forces air around the heatsink, though not a great deal makes it out of the rear exhaust.
Taking it one step further, the frame-type heatsink also cools the eight GDDR5 memory chips and other hot-running components, as well.
Now bare, the GF114 die - that's GTX 560, remember - is flanked by Samsung chips rated at a nominal 4GHz. Look to the bottom-right of the picture and a four-pin fan-header comes into view, intimating that the 80mm fan is controlled by temperature. Without wholly giving the game away until the temperature, noise and power sections of this review, the cooler's really rather good.
The NVIDIA reference design for the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB graphics card is a well-engineered bit of kit. Solidly built and well-thought-out, partners will have a tough time beating the plain-Jane board.
