Msi gtx 560: MSI GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) Video Card N560GTX Twin Frozr II/OC

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk vs MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC: What is the difference?

36points

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

33points

MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

Comparison winner

vs

54 facts in comparison

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

Why is MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk better than MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC?

• 178MHz faster GPU clock speed?
  950MHzvs772MHz
• 74W lower TDP?
  170Wvs244W
• 11.4 GTexels/s higher texture rate?
  60.8 GTexels/svs49.4 GTexels/s
• 15°C lower load GPU temperature?
  66°Cvs81°C
• 7°C lower idle GPU temperature?
  29°Cvs36°C
• 103W lower power consumption while under peak load?
  322Wvs425W
• 10.9dB lower load noise level?
  41. 2dBvs52.1dB
• 20W lower power consumption when idle?
  113Wvs133W

Why is MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC better than MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk?

• 0.12 TFLOPS higher floating-point performance?
  1.58 TFLOPSvs1.46 TFLOPS
• 9.5 GPixel/s higher pixel rate?
  24.7 GPixel/svs15.2 GPixel/s
• 2x more VRAM?
  2GBvs1GB
• 58.4GB/s more memory bandwidth?
  192.4GB/svs134GB/s
• 128bit wider memory bus width?
  384bitvs256bit
• 128 more shading units?
  512vs384
• 1050million more transistors?
  3000 millionvs1950 million
• Has an HDMI output?

Which are the most popular comparisons?

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

AMD Radeon Vega 8

MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

vs

Gigabyte Aorus Radeon RX 570

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 DDR4

MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

vs

MSI GeForce GT 1030 2G LP OC

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

AMD Radeon R2

MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

vs

MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost OC 2GB

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

AMD Radeon R7 360

MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

vs

Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 580 8GB Limited Edition

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

Nvidia GeForce MX110

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Gaming X

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Golden Edition

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

MSI HD 6870 Hawk

Price comparison

User reviews

Performance

GPU clock speed

950MHz

772MHz

The graphics processing unit (GPU) has a higher clock speed.

GPU turbo

Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk)

Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC)

When the GPU is running below its limitations, it can boost to a higher clock speed in order to give increased performance.

pixel rate

15.2 GPixel/s

24.7 GPixel/s

The number of pixels that can be rendered to the screen every second.

floating-point performance

1.46 TFLOPS

1.58 TFLOPS

Floating-point performance is a measurement of the raw processing power of the GPU.

texture rate

60.8 GTexels/s

49.4 GTexels/s

The number of textured pixels that can be rendered to the screen every second.

GPU memory speed

1050MHz

1002MHz

The memory clock speed is one aspect that determines the memory bandwidth.

shading units

Shading units (or stream processors) are small processors within the graphics card that are responsible for processing different aspects of the image.

texture mapping units (TMUs)

TMUs take textures and map them to the geometry of a 3D scene. More TMUs will typically mean that texture information is processed faster.

render output units (ROPs)

The ROPs are responsible for some of the final steps of the rendering process, writing the final pixel data to memory and carrying out other tasks such as anti-aliasing to improve the look of graphics.

Memory

effective memory speed

4200MHz

4008MHz

The effective memory clock speed is calculated from the size and data rate of the memory. Higher clock speeds can give increased performance in games and other apps.

maximum memory bandwidth

134GB/s

192. 4GB/s

This is the maximum rate that data can be read from or stored into memory.

VRAM (video RAM) is the dedicated memory of a graphics card. More VRAM generally allows you to run games at higher settings, especially for things like texture resolution.

memory bus width

256bit

384bit

A wider bus width means that it can carry more data per cycle. It is an important factor of memory performance, and therefore the general performance of the graphics card.

version of GDDR memory

Newer versions of GDDR memory offer improvements such as higher transfer rates that give increased performance.

Supports ECC memory

✖MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✖MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

Error-correcting code memory can detect and correct data corruption. It is used when is it essential to avoid corruption, such as scientific computing or when running a server.

Features

DirectX version

DirectX is used in games, with newer versions supporting better graphics.

OpenGL version

OpenGL is used in games, with newer versions supporting better graphics.

OpenCL version

Some apps use OpenCL to apply the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for non-graphical computing. Newer versions introduce more functionality and better performance.

Supports multi-display technology

✔MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✔MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

The graphics card supports multi-display technology. This allows you to configure multiple monitors in order to create a more immersive gaming experience, such as having a wider field of view.

load GPU temperature

A lower load temperature means that the card produces less heat and its cooling system performs better.

supports ray tracing

✖MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✖MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

Ray tracing is an advanced light rendering technique that provides more realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections in games.

Supports 3D

✔MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✔MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

Allows you to view in 3D (if you have a 3D display and glasses).

supports DLSS

✖MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✖MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is an upscaling technology powered by AI. It allows the graphics card to render games at a lower resolution and upscale them to a higher resolution with near-native visual quality and increased performance. DLSS is only available on select games.

PassMark (G3D) result

This benchmark measures the graphics performance of a video card. Source: PassMark.

Ports

has an HDMI output

✖MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✔MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC

Devices with a HDMI or mini HDMI port can transfer high definition video and audio to a display.

HDMI ports

Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk)

Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC)

More HDMI ports mean that you can simultaneously connect numerous devices, such as video game consoles and set-top boxes.

HDMI version

Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk)

Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (MSI GeForce GTX 580 Twin Frozr II OC)

Newer versions of HDMI support higher bandwidth, which allows for higher resolutions and frame rates.

DisplayPort outputs

Allows you to connect to a display using DisplayPort.

DVI outputs

Allows you to connect to a display using DVI.

mini DisplayPort outputs

Allows you to connect to a display using mini-DisplayPort.

Price comparison

Cancel

Which are the best graphics cards?

MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Review

Written by

Harry Butler

January 27, 2011 | 07:54

Tags: #best #geforce #great #gtx-560 #gtx-570 #performance #recommended #speed #value #versus #vs

Companies: #msi

1 — MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Review2 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Test Setup3 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Dirt 2 Performance4 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Black Ops Performance5 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Just Cause 2 Performance6 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Bad Company 2 Performance7 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Power and Thermals8 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Overclocking9 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Conclusion

MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Review

ManufacturerMSI
UK price (as reviewed)£203. 47 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed) TBC

In our Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB review, we pointed out that the card’s incredibly impressive overclocking headroom might be due to its relatively conservative stock frequencies. Having found that a reference card could happily reach a GPU core frequency of 950MHz from a standard speed of 820MHz (a 15 per cent increase), we were convinced that pre-overclocked GTX 560 Ti 1GB cards would appear at launch.

Click to enlarge

While factory overclocked cards in the past have meant small improvements for big price increases, early signs are that Nvidia partners are being competitive when it comes to the GTX 560 Ti 1GB. MSI’s snappily titled N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC manages to combine a factory overclock with a custom PCB and cooler for the same price as many reference cards. That’s the graphics equivalent of having your cake, eating it and then finding it was served on a plateful of tenners. We wanted to see if the card delivered on all this promise.

Eagle-eyed readers might think that they’ve seen this card before, though, and they’d be almost right. The MSI is actually built on the same PCB and uses the same after-market Twin Frozr II cooler as the MSI N460GTX Hawk that we looked at last year. Our card even arrived with a not-exactly-subtle sticker covering up the Hawk branding. This is no bad thing, though, as we found the GTX 460 Hawk to be an overclocking monster that could have its GPU cranked all the way up to 900MHz.

Note the solid ferrite capacitors

The MSI isn’t just a Hawk with a GTX 560 Ti GPU slapped on instead of a GTX 460, though. Some power delivery and overclocking features have been disabled – you can only overvolt the GPU of this card, for example – but the card retains its 7+1-phase power delivery. This theoretically enables the card to deliver significantly more power to the GPU, allowing for aggressive overvolting using MSI’s excellent Afterburner overclocking utility. Some of the more superfluous features such as the manual voltage readout headers have also been removed from this card compared to the Hawk, but the vast majority of people won’t miss them. As the MSI uses a custom PCB, full-cover waterblocks won’t be compatible either.

Alongside the upgraded PCB, MSI has also chosen to top this card with the excellent Twin Frozr II cooler. Two 6mm and two 8mm nickel-plated copper heatpipes emanate from the GPU contact plate and run through a huge and tightly packed aluminium fin stack that runs the length of the card.

Four nickel-plated copper heatpipes deliver plenty of cooling

Recessed into the heatsink are two 80mm fans, blowing air down through the fins and over the card’s PCB and 1GB of GDDR5 memory. This is a similar, but expanded, setup to the reference GTX 560 Ti 1GB cooler, but still has the downside that it exhausts waste heat into your case rather than out of it. The Twin Frozr II cooler also lacks the aluminium cooling plate for the memory and power circuitry. In the past we’ve found the Twin Frozr II cooler to be effective as well as quiet, so we’re not overly concerned by this omission.

Under the hood (or inside the vBIOS, to be more accurate) MSI has cranked up the clock speeds, but not to the ludicrous levels you might have expected. The GPU core and stream processor clocks have been upped to 880MHz and 1,760MHz respectively, a mere 7 per cent increase over the stock-speed card. Meanwhile, the memory has seen an increase in frequency of 5 per cent, as it runs at 1.05GHz (4.2GHz effective). Needless to say, we’ll also be dabbling with overclocking the card further, with the prospect of overvolting the GPU and pushing clock speeds beyond that fanciful 1GHz barrier.

Specifications

• Graphics processor Nvidia GeForce GTX560, 880MHz
• Pipeline 384 stream processors (1,760MHz), 32 ROPs
• Memory 1GB GDDR5, 4.2GHz effective
• Bandwidth 134GB/sec, 256-bit interface
• Compatibility DirectX 11, OpenGL 4. 1
• Outputs/inputs 2 x DVI, 1 x mini-HDMI, 2 x SLI
• Power connections 2 x 6-pin, rear-mounted
• Size 240mm long, dual-slot
• Warranty Two years

1 — MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Review2 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Test Setup3 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Dirt 2 Performance4 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Black Ops Performance5 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Just Cause 2 Performance6 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Bad Company 2 Performance7 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Power and Thermals8 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Overclocking9 — N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Conclusion

0024 66°C vs 81°C

Has DPFP?

3°C lower GPU idle temperature?
29°C vs 32°C

1 more DVI outputs?
2 vs 1

22mm narrower?
244mm vs 266mm

• GPU frequency 176MHz higher?
  1126MHz vs 950MHz
• 3. 14 TFLOPS above FLOPS?
  4.6 TFLOPS vs 1.46 TFLOPS
• 56.9 GPixel/s higher pixel rate?
  72.1 GPixel/s vs 15.2 GPixel/s
• 703MHz faster memory speed?
  1753MHz vs 1050MHz
• 2812MHz higher effective clock speed?
  7012MHz vs 4200MHz
• 4x more VRAM?
  4GB vs 1GB
• 83.2 GTexels/s higher number of textured pixels?
  144 GTexels/s vs 60.8 GTexels/s
• 1 newer version of DirectX?
  12 vs 11

Which comparisons are the most popular?

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

AMD Radeon Vega 8

Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

vs

XFX HD 6950 XXX9 2GB

0004 vs

Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 DDR4

Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

vs

AMD Radeon RX 580

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

AMD Radeon R2

Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

vs

Nvidia GeForce GTX 10500004 MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

AMD Radeon R7 360

Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

vs

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

Nvidia GeForce MX110

Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

vs

Manli GeForce GTX 1650

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC

Nvidia GeForce GTX

3

Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

vs

MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Gaming X

Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

vs

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

VS

MSI GEFORCE GTX 970 Gaming Golden Edition

NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980

NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX

MSI GEFORCE GTX 560 TI HAWK 9000 9000 9000 9000. 0003

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980

VS

ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1050

Complexes

Productive frequency GP

9000 frequency.

Turbo GPU

Unknown. Help us offer a price. (MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk)

1216MHz

When the GPU is running below its limits, it can jump to a higher clock speed to increase performance.

pixel rate

15.2 GPixel/s

72.1 GPixel/s

The number of pixels that can be displayed on the screen every second.

FLOPS

1.46 TFLOPS

4.6 TFLOPS

FLOPS is a measure of GPU processing power.

texture size

60.8 GTexels/s

144 GTexels/s

Number of textured pixels that can be displayed on the screen every second.

GPU memory speed

1050MHz

1753MHz

Memory speed is one aspect that determines memory bandwidth.

Shading patterns

Shading units (or stream processors) are small processors in a graphics card that are responsible for processing various aspects of an image.

texture units (TMUs)

TMUs take texture units and map them to the geometric layout of the 3D scene. More TMUs generally means texture information is processed faster.

ROPs

ROPs are responsible for some of the final steps of the rendering process, such as writing the final pixel data to memory and for performing other tasks such as anti-aliasing to improve the appearance of graphics.

Memory

effective memory speed

4200MHz

7012MHz

The effective memory clock speed is calculated from the size and data transfer rate of the memory. A higher clock speed can give better performance in games and other applications.

maximum memory bandwidth

134GB/s

224GB/s

This is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored in memory.

VRAM (video RAM) is the dedicated memory of the graphics card. More VRAM usually allows you to run games at higher settings, especially for things like texture resolution.

memory bus width

256bit

256bit

A wider memory bus means it can carry more data per cycle. This is an important factor in memory performance, and therefore the overall performance of the graphics card.

versions of GDDR memory

Later versions of GDDR memory offer improvements such as higher data transfer rates, which improve performance.

Supports memory troubleshooting code

✖MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

Memory troubleshooting code can detect and repair data corruption. It is used when necessary to avoid distortion, such as in scientific computing or when starting a server.

Features

DirectX version

DirectX is used in games with a new version that supports better graphics.

OpenGL version

The newer the OpenGL version, the better graphics quality in games.

version of OpenCL

Some applications use OpenCL to use the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for non-graphical computing. Newer versions are more functional and better quality.

Supports multi-monitor technology

✔MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

The video card has the ability to connect multiple screens. This allows you to set up multiple monitors at the same time to create a more immersive gaming experience, such as a wider field of view.

GPU temperature at boot

Lower boot temperature — this means that the card generates less heat and the cooling system works better.

supports ray tracing

✖MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

Ray tracing is an advanced light rendering technique that provides more realistic lighting, shadows and reflections in games.

Supports 3D

✔MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

Allows you to view in 3D (if you have a 3D screen and glasses).

supports DLSS

✖MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is an AI based scaling technology. This allows the graphics card to render games at lower resolutions and upscale them to higher resolutions with near-native visual quality and improved performance. DLSS is only available in some games.

PassMark (G3D) result

Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Nvidia GeForce GTX 980)

This test measures the graphics performance of a graphics card. Source: Pass Mark.

Ports

has HDMI output

✖MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk

✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 980

Devices with HDMI or mini HDMI ports can stream HD video and audio to an attached display.

HDMI connectors

Unknown. Help us offer a price. (MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk)

Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Nvidia GeForce GTX 980)

More HDMI connections allow you to connect multiple devices at the same time, such as game consoles and TVs.

HDMI version

Unknown. Help us offer a price. (MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk)

Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Nvidia GeForce GTX 980)

Newer versions of HDMI support higher bandwidth, resulting in higher resolutions and frame rates.

DisplayPort outputs

Allows connection to a display using DisplayPort.

DVI outputs

Allows connection to a display using DVI.

mini DisplayPort outputs

Allows connection to a display using mini DisplayPort.

Price match

Cancel

Which graphics cards are better?

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II/OC video card review GECID.

com. Page 1

::>Video cards
>2011
> MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC

02-02-2011

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Not so long ago, NVIDIA introduced a new graphics core GeForce GTX 560 Ti . Its architecture and performance of the «reference» graphics accelerator model for NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti were described in the first test of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti. There, the reader’s attention was drawn to the complete similarity of the architecture of the GF104 graphics core with its new implementation GF114. If we compare the final products made using these crystals, two changes can be noted. The GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU used all streaming multiprocessors (SMs), while the GeForce GTX 460 had one disabled. The frequency formula has also been raised in the new model. The core frequency was 822 MHz versus 675 MHz for the previous generation model. Naturally, such changes seriously affected the overall performance of the final product.

The great similarity between the GF104 and GF114 graphics cores allowed MSI to use the GeForce GTX 460 PCB to develop the new N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC graphics card based on the GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics core. Successful compatibility was also facilitated by the enhanced GPU power subsystem used on the MSI GeForce GTX 460 1GB Hawk graphics accelerator. The novelty has increased clock frequencies of the graphics core from 822 MHz to 880 MHz and video memory from 1002 MHz to 1050 MHz, and is also equipped with a proprietary cooling system Twin Frozr II .

The hardware component of the video card MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II (MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC) is made in the best traditions of MSI using Military Class II components. This graphics accelerator is also supported by universal software developed by MSI engineers. Here are the main features of the sample tested in this article:

• Twin Frozr II Thermal Design — The Twin Frozr II dual-slot cooler features a nickel-plated base, four heatpipes, an aluminum heatsink, and two 80mm fans that result in 50% better airflow and a 20°C drop in GPU temperature compared to the reference cooling system.

• MSI Afterburner overclocking utility — MSI Afterburner supports GPU voltage control and fan speed control to improve stability when overclocking.

• Military Class II Components — «military class II» includes the following components: tantalum capacitors (Hi-C CAP) in the GPU power circuit provide its increased stability; chokes with ferrite cores SFC (Super Ferrite Choke) provide increased reliability during overclocking; all capacitors on the PCB are polymer, which ensures the durability of the graphics card.

All of these technologies and capabilities have already been found in other similar solutions from MSI. In today’s article, we will take a closer look at the MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II graphics card and start with its specifications:

Model	MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC
Graphics core	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (GF114-400-A1)
Conveyor	384 Unified Streaming (CUDA)
Supported APIs	DirectX 11 (Shader Model 5. 0) OpenGL 4.1
Core frequency (shader processors), MHz	880 (1760)
Size (type) of memory, MB	1024 (GDDR5)
Memory frequency (effective), MHz	1050 (4200)
Memory bus bit	256
Tire standard	PCI Express X16 2.0
Maximum resolution	Up to 2560×1600 Dual-link DVI or 1920×1200 Single-link DVI Up to 2048×1536 VGA (via DVI-to-VGA adapter) Up to 1920×1080 HDMI
Outlets	2x DVI-I (VGA via adapters) 1x mini HDMI
HDCP and HD-Video support	Yes MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, WMV9, VC-1 and H. 264/AVC decoding
Maximum core temperature, °С	99
Recommended power supply, W	500
Drivers	Fresh drivers can be downloaded from: — GPU manufacturer website ; — support site .
Manufacturer website	http://ua.msi.com/

All prices for MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC

As you can see, the novelty has a higher frequency formula compared to the «reference» model. The GPU of the graphics accelerator operates at a frequency of 880 MHz, and its memory at an effective frequency of 4200 MHz. For the rest of the points in the table, starting with the technologies supported by this video card and ending with the monitor connection interfaces, the MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II graphics accelerator completely repeats the capabilities of the reference video card based on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti.

The factory overclocked graphics card arrived in our test lab in a medium sized blue and black carton. On its front side, the use of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics processor and support for its inherent technologies: NVIDIA SLI and NVIDIA PhysX are noted. It also indicates the presence in this solution of one gigabyte of GDDR5 memory, support for DirectX 11, the presence of Dual DVI-I and mini HDMI connectors. In addition, proprietary features have not been forgotten: the use of military grade II components in the production, support for the proprietary overclocking utility MSI Afterburner. A separate place is reserved for the notification that the cooling system has a 20 ° C better efficiency and the presence of factory overclocking is noted.

Opening the top cover you can see the main features of the graphics accelerator. The manufacturer first of all draws attention to the presence of a monitoring and overclocking utility for the graphics accelerator. The power circuits of the video card involve components, as the manufacturer calls them, «military class II», which should lead to their increased reliability and durability. Solid and tantalum capacitors and ferrite core chokes add a few more pluses to the high overclocking potential of the MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II and increase its stability in hot modes. At the bottom there are three medals that the «proprietary» cooling system received Twin Frozr II in a range of famous editions.

Just under the top cover is a window in which you can see the graphics accelerator MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II/OC. All the benefits of the Twin Frozr II cooling system are described below. It, thanks to the presence of two 80 mm fans, with the ability to control the PWM method, and direct contact of the heat pipes with the GPU, provides a noticeable decrease in temperature with less noise than the «reference» cooler.

On the back of the package, some characteristics of the graphics accelerator are noted, its basic capabilities are listed, and the minimum system requirements for the computer in which this video card will be installed are indicated. The most important thing to note is that a minimum 500W power supply is recommended that is capable of delivering at least 30A of 12V.0003

• Brief instructions for installing a video card;
• A slightly more detailed guide to using this particular model;
• CD with drivers and utilities;
• Two adapters from a pair of peripheral power connectors to a 6-pin video card power connector;
• DVI to D-Sub adapter;
• Mini HDMI to HDMI adapter.

The package will provide in 90% of cases all the necessary components to install this video card in an average case. Such a complete set once again confirms the good care of users by MSI.

The design of the MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II graphics card is completely formed by a fairly large proprietary cooling system. Its aluminum casing hides virtually the entire front of the board. The dimensions of the cooling system make the tested video card slightly longer than the reference solution on the GeForce GTX 560 Ti. However, this does not prevent the MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II accelerator from fitting into any average case.

The graphics accelerator received only one SLI port. This will allow you to combine up to two such video cards into one subsystem, which should double its total performance.

Like the «reference» version, the additional power connectors for the MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II video card are located in the back of the accelerator and are positioned parallel to the textolite. This can give rise to some difficulties in operation, especially in a compact case.

In addition, the two 6-pin auxiliary power connectors located at the end of the graphics accelerator are not implemented very ergonomically. The power connector latches are located just below the aluminum heatsink fins, making them very difficult to unplug.

MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II Accelerator Interface Panel occupies two slots. To connect image output devices, there are two universal DVI ports and a mini HDMI multimedia connector. The latter can be turned into a full-sized one with the included mini HDMI to HDMI adapter. One VGA connector can also be obtained using the DVI to D-Sub adapter supplied with the video card. In total, such a set of connectors and adapters to them should provide good versatility for connecting a monitor, plasma panel or projector to a video card.

On the reverse side of the PCB board, you can see a number of tantalum capacitors surrounding the graphics core installation site. They should balance the power of the GPU, which will provide it with a decrease in temperature and increase stability during overclocking.

At the end of the board textolite, we can note the uP6213AJ PWM controller, specially developed for MSI by uPI Semiconductor Corp, responsible for managing 4 power phases. Three of them provide power to the GPU, and one goes to power the memory chips.

Each of the three power channels of the graphics core has a doubled element base, so in terms of load capacity, but not in terms of the efficiency of smoothing high-frequency voltage ripples, the power stabilizer is comparable to a six-phase one. In total, the MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II power system can be called 6 + 1 + 1-phase. Where 6 virtual phases are used to power the GPU itself, one phase controls the power of the memory chips, and the last phase is used to power the clock generator.

In the central part of the board’s textolite, you can see the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics processor marked GF114-400-A1.

GPU and shader domain clocks on MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II exceed the recommended values ​​by 58 MHz and 116 MHz, respectively, which is 7% of the factory overclock and should affect the speed of the video card.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics processor itself is a slightly improved modification of the 40 nm NVIDIA GF104 chip, in which one more streaming multiprocessor (SM) was added, which provided an increase to 384 unified shader processors (CUDA cores). This GPU includes 32 ROPs and communicates with video memory via a 256-bit bus.

Video memory with a total capacity of 1 GB is based on eight GDDR5 chips manufactured by SAMSUNG (K4G10325FE-HC04) with an access time of 0. 4 ns, which allows them to operate at an effective frequency of up to 5000 MHz. Since the frequency of the memory chips with factory overclocking is 1050 MHz, which is equal to 4200 MHz of the effective frequency, this allows us to hope for good opportunities for manual overclocking of video memory on the MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II.

At no load, the GPU frequency is reduced to 405 MHz for the core and 810 MHz for the shader domain, and the video memory frequency is reduced to an effective 648 MHz. But at the same time, the supply voltage also decreases, which in total provides a noticeable reduction in power consumption and allows the cooler to work even quieter.

Now let’s consider the video card cooling system — the Twin Frozr II cooler. It has already been described in our previous review of the MSI N460GTX Hawk video card and has been repeatedly awarded various awards in other reputable test laboratories. Now we will only dwell on the important features of the design. To speed up heat dissipation, two pairs of nickel-plated heat pipes are used that do not have direct contact with the GPU — the middle ones are thinner with a diameter of 6 mm and longer 8 mm, the so-called SuperPipes.

The main mass of the radiator is made of aluminum plates, which are blown by two low-profile 80 mm PWM-powered fans. Forced by these fans, the air passes through the aluminum fins of the radiator and cools the memory chips and power system elements at the exit. However, only part of the air is blown out through the grille of the second system slot, and some remains inside the case.

To evaluate the efficiency of the cooling system and monitoring, we used MSI’s proprietary Afterburner utility. When running at stock frequencies and controlling the rotation speed automatically, the GPU warmed up to 71°C. At the same time, the cooler used only 54% of its capabilities, but the noise emitted by the cooling system was already quite noticeable against the general background of the PC.