Final thoughts and rating
The GeForce GTX 560 is an interesting mid-range GPU insofar as NVIDIA doesn't prescribe default frequencies. Leaving all the work to its horde of partners, which includes designing the PCB, cooling and qualifying speeds, most have simply taken their extant GTX 560 Ti cards and switched the GPU around.
Priced from £145 in the UK, the cheapest of our trio is the MSI GeForce GTX 560 Twin Frozr II/OC, tipping the financial scales at £160, which, crucially, is below GTX 560 Ti levels. MSI's rather conservative with the frequencies of 870MHz core and 4,080MHz memory, but we can't complain at the price.
Shipped with an aggressive fan-speed profile that puts temperatures ahead of noise - easily manipulated through Afterburner software - the card overclocks reasonably well and offers a solid package.
Gigabyte, on the other hand, goes with a 900MHz core and 4,008MHz clocking, therefore just beating out the MSI in the benchmarks. Twin 100mm fans ensure the card is super-quiet at all times, which is impressive given its high-ish power-draw.
But a retail price of £180 puts the GTX 560SO firmly in the crosshairs of a regular 560 Ti and, tellingly, £30 dearer than AMD's venerable, impressive Radeon HD 5870. There's plenty of good in this package, absolutely, but it would really help to snip the price by £15-£20.
The fastest of this bunch is the 925MHz/4,200MHz-clocked ASUS TOP. Cool and quiet in the face of elevated frequencies, the £180 asking price is also the obvious stumbling block - especially when you consider that it encroaches on Radeon HD 6950 (1GB and 2GB) and pre-overclocked GTX 560 Ti territory.
GeForce GTX 560 is a sensible buy at <£150. Spending more provides extra performance with, at times, significantly higher cost. Considered purely on technical merits the ASUS GeForce GTX 560 DirectCu TOP is the best of the trio. Gigabyte makes a case if whisper-quiet operation is high on your priority list, while MSI's Twin Frozr II/OC provides the best bang for buck.
HEXUS Ratings
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 |
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MSI Twin FrozrII/OC |
ASUS GTX 560 TOP |
Gigabyte GTX 560SO |
HEXUS Where2Buy
The MSI GeForce GTX 560 Twin Frozr II/OC is available for £160, on request, from Novatech.
The ASUS GeForce GTX 560 TOP is available for £180 from CCL.
The Gigabyte GTX 560SO pricing link TBC.
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
