GIGABYTE GTX560 1GB OC Review

Today we take a first look at Nvidia’s mainstream (Non-Ti) GTX560 graphics card courtesy of GIGABYTE.

Product on Review: Gigabyte GTX560 GV-N56GOC-1GI
Manufacturer and Sponsor: Gigabyte
MSRP: $199
Street Price: N/A

Today we will be taking a quick look at the latest graphics card to come out of NVidia’s gates, the GTX560. We received the card courtesy of Gigabyte, fresh from Taiwan in OEM state and as such we will commit ourselves to a full in-depth review at a later date but today we will give you a quick overview of the card.

The GTX460 was a firm favourite for those looking for an equal balance of performance versus cost. Sure, it was never going to be up there with the performance of the (at that time) flagship GTX480 model but it was cheaper to run, cheaper to buy and also had decent performance for such a small card. Indeed it was what most believed to be a very good balance of the two main factors when buying a GPU, price vs. performance.

Moving on 10 months and today we see the release of the GTX560. This is not to be confused with the GTX560ti as the GTX560 is a different animal despite coming from the same brood of both the GTX460 and GTX560ti variants. NVidia claim the GTX560 will be positioned directly between the GTX460 and GTX560ti both in terms of price and performance, a claim we will investigate later in the review.

The GTX560, specifically the version we have on test today, the Gigabyte GV-N56GOC-1GI has features which you would expect for a NON-Ti card. As you will see on the specifications page of the review, the GTX560 has less shaders than its ti sibling but matching those of the GTX460 (336) yet thanks to the engineers at Gigabyte, this OC (Overclocked) edition has a core clock speed that’s slightly higher than the stock GTX560, weighing in at 830MHz on the core coupled with memory clockspeed of 4008MHz on the 1GB of GDDR5 paired with a 256-bit memory interface. Moreover, this is a big increase over the GTX460’s 675/3600 GPU/memory speed offering. How this translates to real world performance thought we will have to wait and see but at a glance it appears NVidia have indeed specified this card to perform between its stable mates.

About Gigabyte:

GIGABYTE was founded in 1986 in a small lab by four young engineers passionate to make their mark on the industry. GIGABYTE remains dedicated to the core belief of improving the lives of our users by manufacturing products that are high-performing, reliable, and of excellent quality.

Let’s take a look at the specifications of the graphics card on test today…

Specifications

The GF104 chip was originally designed from the ground up to target the mainstream market and it came in the form of the GTX460 in two SKUs sporting different framebuffers. However, it was still based on the same Fermi architecture as its bigger brother, the GF100 and following in its footstep it came with one functional unit disabled. The GTX560 gets the same treatment the GTX580 cards have received and features an updated/tweaked version of the GF104 chip. This has come in the aptly named GF114 GPU. As with the GF104 GPU, the GPU features a total of 384 CUDA cores but on the former, it was always limited to 336 Cores as found on the GTX460. Improvements in power leakage and reduction in power consumption meant that in the GF114 guise, all the cores were functional and as such the GTX560ti had 8 functional Stream Multiprocessors (SM). To target the mainstream, Nvidia have decided to provide a cut down version of the GF114 GPU with only 7 of the SMs enabled for a total of 336 CUDA cores. This places the GTX560 non ‘ti’ perfectly between the old GTX460 and the more recently released GTX560ti. The card boasts the benefits of the updated GF114 GPU with performance to outmatch the GTX460 thanks to its clock speed.

The GF114 GPU still boasts the same transistor count of 1.95 billion and uses the same 40nm manufacturing process. The latter highlights the fact that Nvidia have engineered the chip to be more efficient on a more mature process without resorting to a small manufacturing process. Architecturally, the layout of the core has remained unchanged. Each of the 8 SMs has a polymorph engine and every 4 SM shares a raster engine. Unlike the GF110 core, each SM has 48 CUDA cores instead of 32 and each has 8 texture units rather than 4. The implication of this is that each SM of the new core has more compute and texture power than the original GF100/110 GPU. The result is a core organised in an 8×48 block to give a total of 384 CUDA cores. Additionally, there’s the L1 Cache for each SM and a common L2 Cache shared the by the core’s 8 SMs. One disabled block on the GTX560 means that the total number of cores has reduced to 336 and the number of texture units is down to 56, matching the GTX460.

GF110: 16 SMs x 32 = 512 Cores, 16 SMs x 4 = 64 texture units
GF114 (GTX560ti): 8 SMs x 48 = 384 Cores, 8 SMs x 8 = 64 texture units
GF114 (GTX560): 7 SMs x 48 = 336 Cores, 7 SMs x 8 = 56 texture units

The memory subsystem is also intact. The core has 4 memory controllers for a 256-bit memory interface. The GTX560 makes full use of them for 1024MB of on-board memory. To compensate for the narrower memory bus, Nvidia have teamed the core with GDDR5 memory for much higher bandwidth that could previously be achieved using the same bus width.

GTX580: 32-bit channel x 12 = 384-bit interface, 256MB x 6 memory controllers = 1536MB memory

GTX560: 32-bit channel x 8 = 256-bit interface, 256MB x 4 memory controllers = 1024MB memory

Other benefits that have made their way onto the GTX560 are less leaky transistors and as a result, much higher default clock speeds. Whereas the GTX460 came clocked at 675/3600MHz, the GTX560 is clocked at 810/4000MHz. The result is a card that is substantially more powerful than its predecessor with a 10W drop in TDP.

The card we have today is an overclocked edition from Gigabyte, the GV-N56GOC-1GI. As such, it has a factory overclock preset on the card to boost its GPU core to 830 MHz. Shaders too are overclocked to run at 1660MHz while the memory remains at a stock speed of 4008MHz. While these are by no means huge overclocks, they are nonetheless a welcome addition to the cards armoury. The GTX560 stock settings are 810MHz on the core along with 1620 for the shaders and 4008MHz for the memory.

So as you can see, the CUDA processors are the same as the GTX460, some 48 less than the GTX560 Ti but the overclocked card we have has a faster clocked GF114 core, faster shaders and faster memory, albeit slight. The good news doesn’t stop there though as the power draw of the GTX560 is 20w less than the Ti version which should equal a cooler, quieter card, especially as this version has Gigabytes ‘Windforce’ cooling solution.

Product Specifications
Graphics Engine: GeForce GTX560
Model: Inno3D GeForce GTX560
Bus Standard: PCI Express x16 2.0 (Compatible with 1.1)
Memory Size(MB): 1024 GDDR5
Memory Interface: 256-bit
Core Clock Speed (MHz): 830
Stream Processors: 384
Shader Clock (MHz): 1660
Memory Clock Speed (MHz): 4008

3D API: Direct X 11 & OpenGL 4.1
DVI Output: 2
HDMI: 1
VGA: Supported using DVI-to-VGA adapter
Display Output (Max Resolution): 2560 x 1600
HDCP Support: Yes
Dual Link DV1: Yes
HDMI Support: Yes
SLI: Yes

Features

Nvidia GeForce GTX500 series is the world’s fastest DirectX 11 GPU. With screaming performance and an innovative new thermal design, GeForce GTX500 series rips through the latest games while running quieter than the previous generation.

3D Graphics
•Full Microsoft® DirectX® 11 Shader Model 5.0 support: o NVIDIA PolyMorph Engine with distributed HW tessellation engines
•BC6H and BC7 texture compression formats
•Gather4 extensions
•OpenGL 4.1 support
•Advanced image quality features: o 32× coverage sample antialiasing
•Transparent multisampling and transparent supersampling
•16× angle independent anisotropic filtering
•128-bit floating point high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting with antialiasing; 32-bit per-component floating point texture filtering and blending
•Interactive ray tracing support
•Full-speed frame buffer blending
•Full-speed FP16 texture filtering
•Advanced lossless compression algorithms for color, texture, and zdata
•Support for normal map compression
•Adaptive z-cull
•Early-Z

GPU Computing
•NVIDIA CUDA™ technology—allows the GPU cores to provide performance improvements for applications such as video transcoding, gaming, ray tracing, and physics. API support includes: o CUDA C
•CUDA C++
•DirectCompute 5.0
•OpenCL
•Java, Python, and Fortran
•Third Generation Streaming Multiprocessor (SM) o 32 CUDA cores per SM
•Dual Warp Scheduler simultaneously schedules and dispatches instructions from two independent warps
•64 KB of RAM with a configurable partitioning of shared memory and L1 cache
•Second Generation Parallel Thread Execution ISA o Unified Address Space with Full C++ Support
•Optimized for OpenCL and DirectCompute
•Full IEEE 754-2008 32-bit and 64-bit precision
•Full 32-bit integer path with 64-bit extensions
•Memory access instructions to support transition to 64-bit addressing
•Improved Performance through Predication
•Improved Memory Subsystem o NVIDIA Parallel DataCacheTM hierarchy with Configurable L1 and Unified L2 Caches
•Greatly improved atomic memory operation performance
•NVIDIA GigaThreadTM Engine o 10x faster application context switching
•Concurrent kernel execution
•Out of order thread block execution

Nvidia Technology
•NVIDIA SLI® technology—patented hardware and software technology allows up to two/four NVIDIA GeForce GPUs to run in parallel to scale performance and enhance image quality on today’s top games.
•NVIDIA PhysX™ technology—allows advanced physics effects to be simulated and rendered on the GPU.
•NVIDIA 3D Vision™ Ready— GeForce GPU support for NVIDIA 3D Vision, bringing a fully immersive stereoscopic 3D experience to the PC.
•NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround™ Ready—scale games across 3 panels by leveraging the power of multiple GPUs in an NVIDIA SLI configuration. Combine with 3D Vision technology for the ultimate 3 panel stereoscopic 3D gaming experience.

Advanced Display Functionality
•Two pipelines for dual independent display
•Two dual-link DVI outputs for digital flat panel display resolutions up to 2560×1600
•Dual integrated 400 MHz RAMDACs for analog display resolutions up to and including 2048×1536 at 85 Hz
•HDMI 1.4a support including GPU accelerated Blu-ray 3D support, x.v.Color, HDMI Deep Color, and 7.1 digital surround sound. See www.nvidia.com/3dtv for more details.
•DisplayPort 1.1a support
•HDCP support up to 2560×1600 resolution on all digital outputs
•10-bit internal display processing, including support for 10-bit scan out
•Underscan/overscan compensation and hardware scaling

Video
• NVIDIA® Pure Video® HD technology with VP4 programmable video processor
•Decode acceleration for MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile, H.264, MVC, VC1, DivX (version 3.11 and later), and Flash (10.1 and later)
•Blu-ray dual-stream hardware acceleration (supporting HD picture-in-picture playback)
•Advanced spatial-temporal de-interlacing
•Noise reduction
•Edge enhancement
•Bad edit correction
•Inverse telecine (2:2 and 3:2 pull-down correction)
•High-quality scaling
•Motion Compensation
•Video color correction
•Dynamic contrast enhancement and color stretch

Digital Audio
•Support for the following audio modes: o Dolby Digital (AC3), DTS 5.1, Multi-channel (7.1) LPCM, Dolby Digital Plus (DD+), MPEG2/MPEG4 AAC
•Data rates of 44.1 KHz, 48 KHz, 88.2 KHz, 96 KHz, 176 KHz, and 192 KHz
•Word sizes of 16bit, 20bit, and 24bit

Gigabyte Exclusive Innovations
Cooling Technology
• Ultra quiet Windforce cooling design
•2 x 100mm anti-turbulence PWM fans
•4 x copper heatpipes
•30.5 CFM @ 2000rpm
•Advanced fan control
WINDFORCE™ 2X parallel-inclined fin design is equipped with 2 ultra-quiet PWM fans and two copper heat pipes to enlarge air channel on the graphics card vents and creates a more effective airflow system in chassis. More info here.

Ultra Durable VGA
GPU Temperature 5%~10% down
Ultra Durable VGA board provides dramatic cooling effect on lowering both GPU and memory temperature by doubling the copper inner layer of PCB. GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA can lower GPU temperature by 5% to 10%.

Overclocking Capability 10%~30% Up
Ultra Durable VGA board reduces voltage ripples in normal and transient state, thus effectively lowers noises and ensures higher overclocking capability. GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA graphic accelerators improve overclocking capability by 10% to 30%.

Power Switching Loss 10%~30% Down
Ultra Durable VGA board allows more bandwidth for electron passage and reduces circuit impedance. The less circuit impedance, the more stable flow of current and can effectively improve power efficiency. GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA can lower power switching loss by 10% to 30%.

Closer Look

The graphics card

Gigabyte’s Windforce cooling technology is the first thing that greets the eye when you first unpack the card. Rather than opt for a reference cooling design, the Windforce cooling solution adds performance and gloss to what would otherwise be a rather drab affair. The cards PCB measures 21cm but a further 1.5cm should be added due to the overhang of the cooling shroud.

The rear of the card

Gigabyte have used their traditional blue PCB which should make for a perfect match should you make use of one of their motherboards and while Gigabyte are not the only manufacturer to utilise this colour scheme, it certainly sets it apart from the dull black affairs we have become accustomed to. The contrasting copper heatpipes (4x6mm) gives the card a bit more bulk and they hint at its underlying performance.

SLI Connector

Here we see that the card is SLI capable (dual card only) due to the single SLI connector. Adjacent to this you will see a gold connector hidden behind the I/O backplate, this is a gold plated HDMI port.

Dual 6-pin PCIe port

Despite the 10w power savings of this card over its predecessor the GTX460, the GTX560 requires 2x6pin power cables with a PSU capable of delivering 500w (recommended by NVidia). Even though the power connectors are at the end of the card rather than the leading edge, the card should not present any issues of clearance and could easily be accommodated in all but the smallest setups thanks to the cards length.

I/O Backplate

The dual slot design is a standard affair found on most recent NVidia cards. It houses a vent upmost, which while welcomed is not entirely functional as the card does not have a fully enclosed shroud. 2x DVI connectors are chaperoned by a single gold plated mini-HDMI port which supports the latest 1.4a standard. The ports also support Nvidia Surround technology, without requiring DisplayPort, as long as another GTX560 is used in SLI. The I/O panel is exactly the same as found on the GTX570 and GTX580.

Closer Look (Continued)

Shroud and fans

Removing the fan assembly was a relatively simple task with just four small screws attaching it to the heatsink. Both the fans and the shroud however are very delicate so care should be taken when cleaning the heatsink.

Heatsink top

The heatsink is a free venting design so while some of the air will be channelled by the heatsink, through the vent and outside of the case, much of the hot air will inevitably be vented back into the case. While this type of design is generally quieter and better for the card as its cooling performance is enhanced, it can sometimes add to case temperatures. The parallel inclined design of the Windforce 2X heatsink is apparent here boasting the ability to reduce turbulence and consequently noise.

Heatsink bottom

Like the shroud, the heatsink is attached to the PCB by four screws, this time spring loaded. As you can see from the picture above, the four heatpipes come in direct contact with the GPU core. The heatpipes then channel the heat to separate section of the aluminium finned heatsink, spreading the heat dump making for an efficient cooling design. The standard thermal interface material was applied very well indeed with our sample making good contact to the heatsink without too much TIM seeping out from the edges.

Naked PCB

Finally we arrive at the naked card itself. The electrical components are arranged very neatly with all of the power circuitry towards the PCIe connectors as you would expect. While the PCB has 11 holes to attach a cooler/heatsink, this design only uses 6 of them; four for the main heatsink and 2 for a mini-heatsink hidden beneath which provides additional cooling for the MOSFETS.

MOSFET cooler

Unlike the GTX560Ti’s 4 choke setup, the GTX560 makes do with 3 phase coupled with 9 MOSFETS adjacent to the chokes. How this affects overclocking headroom we will investigate later in the review.

On-board GDDR5 memory modules

Unlike the majority of NVidia cards of late, the Gigabyte GTX560 uses integrated chips courtesy of Hynix. Sporting 128MB of GDDR5 each, the eight IC’s totalling 1Gb are clocked at 2008MHz. The 8n prefetch architecture allows the memory to operate at 5.0Gbps @ VDD 1.5v with a CK frequency of 1.25GHz (WCK 2.5GHz). Perhaps even more impressive is that Gigabyte feel no additional cooling is required as none of the memory chips required make contact with the main heatsink body!

The GF114 GPU

Lastly, we arrive the heart of the GV-N56GOC-1GI, the GF114 core. Manufactured in Taiwan, the core has the familiar nickel plated integrated heat spreader shielding the fragile silicon beneath.

Test Setup

CPU – Intel Core i7 920
RAM – 6GB (3x2GB) OCZ Platinum DDR3 1333MHz
Motherboard – ASUS Rampage III Extreme
Power Supply – Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W
Hard Drive – Samsung F3 1TB
Cooler – Prolimatech Super-Mega

Gigabyte GTX560 OC 1024MB @ 830/4008MHz Pre-overclocked – Forceware 275.20
Inno3D GTX560Ti 1024MB @ 820/4008MHz – Forceware 266.66
HIS HD6950 2048MB @ 800/5000MHz – ATI Catalyst 10.11 (8.790.6.0, 8.790.6.2 & 8.800)
MSI R6870 2PM2D1GD5 1024MB @ 900/4200MHz – ATI Catalyst 10.10

Benchmark Suite
MSI Afterburner & Kombustor
GPU-z
Crysis Warhead using the FRAMEBUFFER Crysis benchmark tool
Far Cry 2
Metro 2033
Battlefield Bad Company 2
3DMark 11
3DMark Vantage
Unigine V2.1 DX 11 Benchmark

Temperature & Overclocking

At stock, the card is near silent when idling with temperatures rising to just 10c above ambient. Most impressive was when the card was put under immense stress; the noise did not increase while the temperatures remained at an acceptable 55c. Intrigued by the performance of the cooler, I set it to run at 100% using MSI’s Afterburner overclocking tool and I was surprised at just how quiet it was. While it was slightly more noticeable than at the stock setting (50%), it was nevertheless still near silent with only a faint drone being emitted.

Stock

To test for overclocked settings, we used a combination of MSI’s Kombuster programme and multiple runs of the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark. Here’s what we achieved with today’s sample:

Overclocked

With the Gigabyte card being a pre-overclocked edition, we did not expect any great shakes from the card. Although the factory overclocks are the card are slight, as we saw with the Ti version, factory overclocked cards are often already near their limit. With this in mind, we began our testing with some minor overclocks, testing for stability along the way until we reached artefacts. We then backed down until the card became stable under Kombuster, a programme which severely stresses a GPU.

I am pleased to report that our sample reached a very good 941MHz on the core, some 111Mhz over the factory overclock and 131 MHz over stock editions. The most astounding aspect of the card though was the GDDR5 Hynix memory. Bearing in mind this memory has no direct cooling, it reached an astronomical 5016MHz, an amazing feat for a mid-range GPU!

The Gigabyte GTX560 already comes with a slight overclock but further overclocking it results in substantial gains in performance as shown by a 25% increase in memory bandwidth reflecting the memory overclock. On the core, the overclock represents a 13% boost over the standard Gigabyte clock which in itself is a 2.4% increase over reference clocks. This allows it to match the GTX560Ti easily on paper.

Temperature

Overclocking however means very little for 24/7 usage if it means you have to live in an igloo and listen to something that resembles and jet aircraft preparing for take-off to compensate for that extra speed, this is where the Windforce cooler comes into its own.

Temperatures at both stock and overclocked were very good, reaching a maximum 64c when put under maximum load. Better still this was done with only the faintest drone from the twin 10cm fans, testament to Gigabytes innovative cooling solution.

Crysis Warhead

Following the success of Crysis, the stand alone expansion “Warhead” was hotly anticipated to bring more game play, more weapons, improved visuals whilst maintaining better performance, the latter being what gamers wanted most. After all how many people upgraded their rigs just to play this game… In the game, you play as the upbeat Brit Sergeant “Psycho” Sykes, chasing down a Korean nuclear warhead. Throw in some ice shooting aliens and we’re bound to have a great game. It sure delivered.

Testing was done using Framebuffer’s Crysis Warhead benchmarking tool. The tests were configured to DirectX 10 at Enthusiast levels. Each test on the Ambush map was looped three times from which the average FPS was recorded.

Far Cry 2

One of the most hyped games of 2008, Far Cry 2 had some big shoes to fill. It was built to be the next best thing since well… Far Cry I suppose. Combining an open-world game play with highly detailed graphics, physics and AI, what more could we possibly want? The game puts us in the body of a malaria inflicted mercenary hunting down the “Jackal” in the heart of Africa, in a bid to stop an on-going conflict between two rival factions. The storyline can be hard to follow sometimes but I’m no game reviewer, so let’s concentrate on the graphics and performance. After all, we all need to know if our hardware will be able to handle the scorching savannah burning at the hands of our flamethrowers.

The bundled benchmarking tool was used on Far Cry 2, configuring the settings to Ultra and DX10. The small ranch level was chosen and each configuration was looped three times from which the average FPS was recorded.

Metro 2033

Based on Novel by the same name, Metro 2033 is a first person shooter with elements of survival horror. As Artyom, you trawl through the mutant infested metro systems of post-apocalyptic Moscow. The game delivers presents a grim ambience that reflects on the overall atmosphere of the underground setting. Metro 2033 uses the setting as a back drop to showcase some of the best visuals of any games out now, making it the ideal benchmark for those looking for the best graphics card.

The bundled benchmarking tool was used on Metro 2033, configuring the settings to Very High and making use of DirectX 11. The frontline scene was looped 3 times for each configuration. The average FPS was recorded at the end.

Alien VS Predator

Spawned from the popular Alien and Predator franchises, Rebellion have collaborated to bring the legendary war to us through the medium of a first-person shooter. The game forces you to hunt, prey and most importantly survive in the swamp colony of Freya’s prospect as a Predator, Alien or Marine. The stunning visuals add to the sense of dread and terror that we have become so accustomed to seeing with the series.

The stand-alone Alien VS Predator benchmark tool was used for testing here. All the settings were set to very high and Tessellation was applied. The average FPS was recorded at the end

Battlefield Bad Company 2

Battlefield Bad Company 2 is the new rendition of the widely successful Battlefield series of game. Having more in common with the console release of Bad Company, the sequel hopes to inject the DNA of the timeless Battlefield 2 online experience with the witty action packed single player shooting adventure of the original. As Private Preston Marlowe, your goal as a member of Bad Company is to once again save the world by securing a scalar weapon device.

Fraps was used to test performance. Each test was conducted at the start of the ‘Cold War’ level ensuring that the same actions and paths were taken during the 2 minute sample. All settings were set to the highest available in game with AF set to 16x and HBAO turned on. The average FPS was recorded by FRAPS at the end of each walk through.

Colin McRae DIRT 3

As players race to elevate their global standing, DiRT 3 is back delivering mud, sweat and gears world over: from the intense weather-beaten rally stages of Europe, Africa and the US, to executing performance driving showcases and career challenges where car control is pushed to spectacular limits.

The in-game benchmarking tool was used to test performance. All the display settings were set to the maximum available and DirectX 11 was applied. The average FPS was recorded at the end.

Mafia II

Following the success of Mafia back in 2002, the third person action adventure game is back with a new grittier and darker world. As Vito Scaletta, an aspiring made man, your job is to work through the twist and turns of Mafia lifestyle. The more blood spilt, the more you get in return but the lifestyle was never meant to be an ideal one. Set in the visually stunning Empire City, the wartime references provide the ever present back drop to a rife period in America’s history, in which potential for exploitation becomes Vito’s key focus.

The in-game benchmarking tool was used to test performance. All the display settings were set to the maximum available in-game. PhsyX was only enabled if specified in the charts. The average FPS was recorded at the end.

Tessmark 0.2.2

TessMark 0.2.2 is an OpenGL benchmark and tech demo that uses the new hardware tessellation (or GPU tessellation) features exposed by the OpenGL 4 API. Hardware tessellation makes it possible to divide a polygon into smaller ones (according to the tessellation level factor) in order to increase polygons density: the higher the tessellation level, the higher the polygon density. A high tessellation level requires much GPU processing power.

TessMark was run in fullscreen, benchmark mode using map set 1 and configured to use OpenGL 4.

3DMark 11

Finally here is the latest Futuremark benchmark suite, bringing DX11 and tessellation to benchmarkers. Will it bring your computers to their knees?

Unigine V2.5 Benchmark

Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine™ engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.

Tessellation

DX 10

DX 11 Tessellation off

DX 11 Tessellation off – wireframe mode

DX 11 Tessellation on

DX 11 Tessellation on – wireframe mode

Let’s focus on a few characteristics of tessellation in the first image. Firstly, when we compare the wireframe mode, it is clear that tessellation, triangular in this case, is adding a lot more features and details, which may at first not be recognisable. The surfaces are divided in many more triangles, allowing the objects to replicate more complex structures. The ground for example is one of the features that benefits from it. To make it as efficient as possible, tessellation becomes a function of distance, generating more polygons closer to the viewer.

Now let’s look at the application of this. If we gaze at the rock pillar closest to us, we can immediately notice that with tessellation, they are not just mere square blocks but instead have irregular surfaces, more representative of a natural rock. Now, let’s move on to the stairs, which again is a notable improvement on past rendering methods. Rather than being flat, they have depth, giving the impression of real steps as opposed to a slide. The same applies to the cobbled road although the compressed/downsized pictures make it hard to judge. The last thing I’ll point out are the tiled roofs. With tessellation, the individual tiles form a more complex/realistic shape instead of appearing flat with repeated textures. You’ll have to take my word for it if you don’t notice them or try the demo for yourself!

Nvidia Sled Demo

It has always been customary of both Nvidia and ATI do showcase their latest technology with some sort of tech demo. For the Fermi generation of card, Nvidia have opted for a mini game in which a character on a homemade rail restricted sled has to speed its way to the finish line without destroying the vehicle. It demonstrates several aspects of the DX11 API, namely tessellation, and also PhysX.

Tessellation off- Wireframe Mode

Tessellation on- Wireframe Mode

In wireframe mode, it is clearer the effect that tessellation has on the visuals. The last picture is able to outline the small crater to the left, thanks to the superior triangulation.

Physics Mode

Physics plays a big part in the demo, with each component of the sled interaction with regards to the velocity at which the vehicle is travelling. It makes the game an interesting balance between speed and stability, prompting the player to race to the end without allowing the sled to disintegrate on the rails. Switching on the velocity vectors, we can see exactly how all the separate components are interacting, both in magnitude and direction.

Conclusion

As a direct replacement for the GTX460, you cannot go far wrong with the GTX560. While the card on test today was a factory overclocked card, the overclocks were small enough to make the extra MHz barely noticeable over a stock clocked edition. With a price point of $199 for a reference card, I would expect to pay a slight premium for the GV-N56GOC-1GI considering it arrives pre-overclocked from the factory and has Gigabytes custom Windforce cooling solution. The acoustics alone are worth the premium as I was thoroughly impressed by the cooler not only in terms of the noise output but also for its performance. A cooler that keeps temperatures well within safe limits while overclocked to the maximum is one thing but to do it silently is an excellent achievement.

As expected, the card falls just shy of matching the GTX560Ti performance. NVidia have therefore succeeded in their remit to create a card that wedges itself firmly between the performance of the GTX560Ti and its predecessor, the GTX460. The more expensive card out-performed the GTX560 OC by a slight, yet clear margin throughout the performance testing. That isn’t to say the GTX560 is a slouch as it clearly isn’t but the extra CUDA shaders of the GTX560Ti saw its bigger brother present us with more satisfying results.

NVidia have been making lots of noise about the cards performance at 1920×1080 promising gamers a great experience while using their high resolution displays. Sadly, based on today’s findings, the GTX560 began to suffer with frame rates dropping below what most would deem acceptable. 30fps might well be fine for some people but it is not what I would refer to as a quality experience. As such certain sacrifices need to be made be it in texture quality, AA or AF.

One area where the Gigabyte GTX560 excelled was when we began to overclock the card. To say we were shocked at the ease with which the card overclocked is an understatement. The card gave is very good overclocks on the core but most impressive was the memory overclock, just 100mhz shy of maxing out the slider in Afterburner , reaching a magnificent 4800MHz!. All this was done without the whooshing noise inherent with overclocked graphics cards. Perhaps the one area in the overclocking tests that disappointed was the lack of over-voltage control. With additional voltage regulation and adjustment available, I have little doubt that this card could overclock even further.

Overall, the performance of the card on test today was very good and it is certainly a worthy successor to the hugely popularGTX460 and comes close to matching its GTX560Ti sibling. My one reservation would be the limitation of the card at high resolutions. Sure the games will be playable but with demand for high resolution monitors and indeed multi monitor setups on the rise, you may need a card that can deliver performance without making sacrifices that impact on image quality. If this is you then you may wish to look elsewhere. If however you are gaming at a more respectable resolution and you are in the market for a mid-range card that ticks all the right boxes then the GTX560 is certainly one worth considering. The Gigabyte example we reviewed today is one such card and as such I have no hesitation in awarding it the Silver award and value for money.

Pros
+Very good performance
+Pre-overclocked
+Excellent overclocking headroom
+Excellent tessellation performance
+Very efficient and cool operation
+Brilliant dual fan custom cooler
+CUDA and PhysX support
+Small

Cons
-Confusing naming scheme
-GTX560Ti closely priced