MSI GTX560Ti 448 – Overclock Part 2

Conclusion

Having gone away and had another go at overclocking the GTX560Ti 448 from MSI we ended up being shocked in more ways than one.

Firstly the GF110 GPU that is at the heart of the new 448 core version of the GTX560Ti has never been a monster overclocker, and yet this went from a stock speed of 750MHz all the way up to 1000MHz. When overclocking we’re always seeking those fine percentage increases of ‘free’ performance, yet a 33% increase is a bit more than a fine percentage. It’s so high it left our collective jaws upon the floor.

It wasn’t just a case of a big number either, as the results were generally spectacular. It was consistently faster than an overclocked GTX570 and on occasion was neck and neck with the GTX580.

Perhaps most impressively this enormously improved overclock didn’t provide too much heat for the Twin Frozr III cooler to handle, and it was still quicker than the Gigabyte 448, a card that steadfastly refused to overclock any further on our modified setup.

So it’s hands up time. nVidia drivers are usually happy to work perfectly after a driver sweep and reboot/reinstall procedure. I assumed that would be the case this time but it clearly wasn’t as on a fresh install of Windows 7 the MSI was comprehensively better than we saw yesterday.

Suddenly that £250 price-tag for a card that overclocks like a demon and outperforms a GTX570 and can run a GTX580 close seems like a bargain, and we’re happy to modify our score and award to reflect this. The important thing is that the final result accurately reflects the product.

Our feelings at stock remain the same as they were in our earlier review. But if you’re willing to put the time in to overclocking you have a card that is definitely worthy of our Gold Award.

  

Thanks to MSI for supplying the GTX560Ti 448 for review. Discuss in our forum.