MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC Review

Performance Analysis

While the overclocked performance of the MSI was great, its stock-speed performance was none too shabby either. The 7 per cent GPU overclock and 5 per cent memory frequency increase saw the card compete with much more expensive models from both Nvidia and AMD.

In Dirt 2, the minimum frame rate at 1,920 x 1,200 with 4x AA rose was 6fps higher than a standard GTX 560 Ti 1GB at 70fps. This level of performance was identical to the monstrous GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB; not bad at all for the modestly sized, affordable and quiet MSI.


The benefits of MSI’s overclock were even clearer in Just Cause 2, where at 1,680 x 1,050 with 4x AA, the card managed a minimum frame rate of 33fps. In comparison, a standard GTX 560 Ti 1GB could only manage a minimum of 30fps while a mighty GTX 570 1.3GB could only produce an identical minimum frame to that of the MSI. At higher resolutions, the GTX 570 makes more of a case for itself – at 1,920 x 1,200 with 4x AA the GTX 570 1.3GB can produce a minimum of 29fps, compared to the slightly dicey 27fps minimum of the MSI.

The limitations of the GTX 560 Ti GPU of the MSI are still apparent elsewhere, though. Despite performing similarly to the GTX 570 1.3GB at lower resolutions in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, at 1,920 x 1,200 with 4x AA the MSI could only manage a minimum of 38fps compared to the 43fps minimum of the GTX 570 1.3GB. However, the MSI still delivers plenty of performance for a 24in screen for that £75 saving.


With its higher clock speeds, it was unsurprising to see the MSI pull a little extra juice in comparison to the stock GTX 560 Ti 1GB, resulting in a peak system power draw of 301W. That’s a 6 per cent rise over the stock card, which is in line with the overclock of the MSI. The idle power consumption of the MSI was as pleasantly low as a standard card, with our test system drawing only 135W.

The Twin Frozr II custom cooler once again impressed, and even improved on the already excellent reference GTX 560 Ti 1GB cooler. The idle GPU temperature was just 7°C above ambient, and the GPU was never hotter than 37°C above ambient under load. This is a 9°C improvement over the reference cooler. The card’s twin cooling fans remained extremely quiet throughout our testing too, making the MSI just as easy to live with as the stock card.

Conclusion

As impressive as the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB’s stock-speed performance is, the MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC improves upon this even further. The factory overclock might not be earth shattering, but it allows the card to close the gap to the GeForce GTX 570 1.3GB, and in some cases the two cards performed identically despite the £75 price difference.

It’s the price of the MSI card that really turned our heads, though. Despite a factory overclock, a custom PCB and a custom cooler, the MSI is on sale for £204, only slightly more than a standard GTX 560 Ti 1GB card. The extra performance, overclockability and cooling on offer make the MSI an incredible card, and one that’s going to be hard to better.

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• 8/10

• Features
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• 10/10

• Value
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• 10/10

• Overall
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• 10/10

Score Guide