How we test
GPU comparisons |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics card | Approx. pricing |
GPU clock (MHz) |
Stream processors |
Shader clock (MHz) |
Memory clock (MHz) |
Memory bus (bits) |
Graphics driver |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1,024MB | £180 | 822 | 384 | 1,645 | 4,008 | 256 | ForceWare 275.20 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 560 TOP 1,024MB | £175? | 925 | 336 | 1,850 | 4,200 | 256 | ForceWare 275.20 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 560 1,024MB | £155 | 822 | 336 | 1,645 | 4,008 | 256 | ForceWare 275.20 |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1,024MB | £110 | 900 | 192 | 1,800 | 4,104 | 192 | ForceWare 267.59 |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1,024MB | £140 | 675 | 336 | 1,350 | 3,600 | 256 | ForceWare 267.59 |
| KFA2 GeForce GTX 460 768MB | £125 | 675 | 336 | 1,350 | 3,600 | 192 | ForceWare 267.59 |
| Inno3D GeForce GTS 450 1,024MB | £90 | 783 | 192 | 1,566 | 3,608 | 128 | ForceWare 267.59 |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2,048MB | £200 | 800 | 1,408 | 800 | 5,000 | 256 | Catalyst 11.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 1,024MB | £155 | 900 | 1,120 | 900 | 4,200 | 256 | Catalyst 11.4 |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1,024MB | £130 | 775 | 960 | 775 | 4,000 | 256 | Catalyst 11.4 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6790 1,024MB | £105 | 820 | 800 | 820 | 4,200 | 256 | Catalyst 11.4 |
| HIS Radeon HD 5770 1,024MB | £100 | 850 | 800 | 850 | 4,800 | 128 | Catalyst 11.4 |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 5750 1,024MB | £90 | 700 | 720 | 700 | 4,600 | 128 | Catalyst 11.4 |
Test bench |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5 2500K (3.30GHz, 6MB L3 cache, quad-core, LGA1155) | |||||||||||
| Motherboard | Intel DP67BG | |||||||||||
| Memory | 8GB Corsair Vengeance (9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,600MHz) | |||||||||||
| Power Supply | Corsair AX750 | |||||||||||
| Monitor | Dell 30in 3007WFP | |||||||||||
| Disk drive(s) | Crucial RealSSD C300 (256GB) | |||||||||||
| Chassis | Corsair Graphite Series 600T | |||||||||||
| Operating system | Windows 7, SP1, 64-bit | |||||||||||
Benchmarks |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3DMark 11 | Performance preset, overall score and combined test results recorded. | |||||||||||
| Aliens vs. Predator | DX11, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 2xAA, 8xAF, medium quality. | |||||||||||
| Call of Duty: Black Ops | DX9, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 4xAA, ultra quality, FRAPS-recorded benchmark. | |||||||||||
| F1 2010 | DX11, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 4xAA, high quality, Monaco circuit. | |||||||||||
| Just Cause 2 | DX10, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, medium/high quality, Dark Tower benchmark. | |||||||||||
| Metro 2033 | DX11, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, medium quality. | |||||||||||
| StarCraft II | DX9, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 resolutions, 2xAA, high quality. | |||||||||||
| Power consumption | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record mains power draw both when idle and whilst playing Just Cause 2. | |||||||||||
| Temperature | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record GPU core temperature both when idle and whilst playing Just Cause 2. | |||||||||||
| Noise | A PCE-318 noise level meter is placed at front of a Corsair 600T chassis with side panel on. | |||||||||||
Notes
NVIDIA will be releasing the ForceWare 275 drivers later this month. We were provided with a beta set for testing. Offering a slight performance boost over presently-available 270.xx, the main focus here is on improving the control-panel interface for flat-panel TVs, the company says. We'll be taking a closer look at the new drivers once they're WHQL-certified.
We've also tested a reference GTX 560 Ti on our mid-range platform as well as adding numbers for a Radeon HD 6950 2GB and HD 6870. Re-benchmarking these cards on the mid-range suite now gives us a top-to-bottom reference for all cards; these are the lowest GPUs that feature in our high-end testing. This means that every GPU from a £35 Radeon HD 6450 through to two GeForce GTX 580s running in SLI have been tested on the same games, albeit, obviously, not at the same quality settings.
Also, as NVIDIA doesn't provide a reference card for the GTX 560, we've further tested the ASUS TOP by downclocking it to GTX 560 Ti speeds of 822MHz core and 4,008MHz memory. Doing so shows architecture-to-architecture differences - specifically what happens when the card has either 336 or 384 active shaders.
