Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 specs revealed

Internet sources state that NVIDIA will use the “TI” index for graphic card naming once again. Last time it was used (about a decade ago) to set the difference between the models that had programmable shaders (for exp. GeForce 4 MX 440 and GeForce 4 Ti 4800). And NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 will be the card to bring this naming feature back. In fact its will be called — GeForce GTX 560 Ti.

At least this is how it recognized by a leaked NVIDIA 266.44 driver.

Last time we spoke about specs, there was some uncertainty in our words. This time the specs are believed to final. So, GeForce GTX 560 Ti is based on GF114 graphics processor with 384 Cuda cores (1644Mhz), 32 ROPs, core clock speeds of 822Mhz and 1GB of GDDR5 clocked at 1000MHz (4000MHz QDR) running through a 256-bit memory interface. In addition, the novelty is equipped with dual-DVI and mini HDMI outputs and supports DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1, 2-way SLI, 3D Vision, CUDA and PhysX technologies.

Since default GPU clock is close to wall of 40nm process technology used in manufacturing of the graphics processors for these cards, this seems to be not such a good news for overclockers, However, the following pictures of the upcoming Gigabyte variants of GeForce GTX 560 say the opposite.

Gigabyte branded NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 graphics card, model number GV-N560OC-1GI (OC — for OverCloccked edition), is set to have GPU set to 900/1800 MHz for core/shader clocks. Apart from that, the card comes with a custom design cooler WindForce Twin2x. The interesting thing about it is, it uses two ultra quiet PWM fans over aluminum vapor chamber with inclined-fins and pure copper heat pipes. All of this redirects airflow and help to reduce excessive heat and turbulence as long as works for efficient heat dissipation from the interior GPU core.

Another Gigabyte variant of GTX 560 with SOC (Super OverClock) index is said to deliver 1000/2000/4580 MHz for GPU/Shader/Memory.

Quick calculations say that this card has 21% higher GPU/Shader clocks and 14% faster memory. Not a bad result, assuming some non-OC cards can be clocked this high too.

Yet, another well-know graphic card manufacturer — MSI — has preparing a custom cooled version of GTX 560 with factory overclocking, called N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC.

As it is clear from the naming, the card will be factory overclocked and will use Twin Frozr II cooler (two 80 mm PWM controlled fans and five heat-pipes) to bring quite operation and low temperatures even at high clocks. The OC indicates higher (compared to default) clocks. In fact it will have, 880MHz for GPU , 1760MHz for shader processors and 4200 MHz for memory.

Judging on performance data of the non-OC version of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 below, it comes very closed to AMD Radeon HD 6950 2 GB graphic card, its main “Red” rival (according to NVIDIA).

For example, in 3DMark 11 and 3DMark Vantage benchmarks set to Performance profiles, the novelty managed to collect 4118 and 20644 points respectively. That is, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 outperforms AMD Radeon HD 6950 by 1.9% in 3DMark Vantage while looses by almost 10% in 3DMark 11.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 is supposed to replace GTX460 that was characterized to have very attractive performance/price ratio. The announcement of the next NVIDIA’s 500-series graphic card will surely restore the competitiveness of the Company in the segment of high-end solutions for masses, which is currently owned by AMD Radeon HD 6870 and HD 6950 2 GB graphic cards.

Moreover, AMD will soon to release 1GB versions of HD6950/HD6950 cards. The reduced amount of video memory and other possible changes will allow HD 6950 1 GB to enter sub-$300 price segment, and become the main competitor for NVIDIA’s solution (according to AMD).

On the other hand, considering GeForce GTX 560 first performance numbers to be true and card’s overclocking potential, the newbie will beat AMD Radeon HD 6950 2 GB fair and square and even reach performance level of Radeon HD 6970 1 GB.

In addition, rumors say, there will be 2gb versions of GeForce GTX 560 too. Now, if we imagine the card to have clocks of a “SOC” version, with 2gb of on-board memory and with the price of round $300, wouldn’t this be a superb graphic card? ;). Back to earth, preliminary prices for 1GB OC and SOC version of Gigabyte-branded GeForce GTX 560 are $290 and $320 respectively. Pre-order price for MSI variant listed above is set to 280 EU. However, we know that things can change on the day of the official announcement which is set to 25th of January 2011.

Post updated on 18/01/11

This is just in. Gigabyte has commented on the information which was thought to be true one for the upcoming variants of GeForce GTX 560:

The information is false and the data is simulated from our old card. The picture is incorrect and was obviously photoshopped from our previous GTX460 model. The GTX560 card looks nothing like pictured on the article. We have good reason to believe this is a malicious attack.

Let’s hope those words are for Gigabyte-branded cards only and does not relate to “original” NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 cards and its specification.

Post updated on 20/01/11

Colleagues at techpowerup got hold of photo revealing specification of Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti Super OverClocked (GV-N560SO-1GI) graphic card.

According to the photo, graphic card’s technical details match the ones presented earlier in this post and that were named to be false by Gigabyte representative after. The photo also says the NDA for this card will be lifted on 25th of January. So if, NVIDIA won’t launch GeForce GTX 560 in five days, we will surely know the specs and the rest details of this specific Gigabyte-branded card. But let’s hope for better.