Verdict and Conclusion
After testing the Zotac Geforce GTX 560 Ti, I’m happy to say I was very impressed by its performance. It produced good scores in all of our tests. And as predicted, it falls perfectly between the bigger Geforce GTX 570 and the older GTX 460 in terms of performance. So with this in mind you can expect the price of the Geforce GTX 560 Ti to match its performance accordingly.
Zotac being one of Nvidia’s board partners, has based their Geforce GTX 560 Ti on the Nvidia’s reference design. But you wouldn’t have thought so … with its great looking exterior. Furthermore, the new Geforce GTX 560 Ti GPU comes non-overclocked with a default clock speed of 822Mhz which is pretty high, and this enables it to produce good performance. So imagine what you can do with it with an overclocked GPU. If you’re after an overclocked version, Zotac has 2 more models … the Geforce GTX 560 Ti Overclock (850Mhz) and Geforce GTX 560 Ti AMP! Edition (950Mhz)
I mentioned earlier, that the Geforce GTX 560 Ti is very similar to the GTX 460 in terms of features … and it is. It uses the same 256-bit memory interface, offers 2-way SLI only, and has similar number of CUDA cores. To put it into context, the better performing GTX 570 uses a 320-bit memory interface, offers 3-way SLI and has more CUDA cores. However, the GTX 570 will cost an extra $100 more over the GTX 560 Ti and nearly $180 more when compared with a GTX 460. Since the Geforce GTX 560 Ti is Nvidia’s entry-point to their GTX 500 series, plus its features are very similar to the GTX 460, I have a feeling Nvidia will be phased out the GTX 460 this year.
I think the Zotac Geforce GTX 560 Ti will be extremely appealing to users and gamers from the higher-end of the mainstream market. A graphics card that offers all of Nividia’s 3D technologies, which includes CUDA, DX11, OpenGL 4.2, PhysX, Nvidia’s 3D Vision, support for 2-way SLI multi-GPU, as well as HD hardware video decode acceleration. What’s more … Zotac has included a full version of Assassin’s Creed: Brothernood DX11 game which is a great added bonus.
As far connectivity is concerned, the Zotac Geforce GTX 560 Ti comes complete with HDMI, DisplayPort and dual DVI outputs. Accessories include a DVI-to-VGA converter, as well as 2 x 6pin PCI-E power cables.
Noise level was pretty quite with no annoying vibrations, while the GPU temperature was at a cool 30 degrees in idle, reaching a high of 59 degrees Celsius at full load, which is acceptable. It’s much lower than some of AMD’s Radeon graphic cards … and we all know less heat inside the chassis is always good for the system.
We searched the internet and discovered that the average price for a Geforce GTX 560 Ti is around USD $250 (GBP 220 inc VAT), which I think is a great price. For $250, you get a graphics card that outperforms the similar spec’d GTX 460, and falls slightly behind the more expensive GTX 570. I have no problems recommending the Zotac Geforce GTX 560 Ti, as it offers excellent value for money with great performance to match.
Final words. I consider the Zotac Geforce GTX 560 Ti as one of the best Geforce-based graphics card you can get, in terms of price/performance. You get all the goodness from Nvidia’s Geforce GTX 500 series, plus it has everything you would want in a graphics card … price, performance, features and a full version DX11 game. If this isn’t enough for you … and you want even better performance, you can always take a look at Zotac’s overclocked versions of the Geforce GTX 560 Ti, which will cost a few bucks more.
SCORE
8.5/10
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