Introduction

With the GTX560Ti 448 nVidia produced a good value card with good performance, that just squeezed into a gap in the market that didn't really exist. We liked it, but couldn't see why you wouldn't save a couple of quid and get the standard Ti, or spend a little more for a GTX570.

Now we're back to look at a GTX560Ti 448 from Inno3D. A company we don't see enough of round these parts they have been producing graphics cards since the old, and incredible, 7900GTX. 

In their twenty-second year it's time to sit down and see how their take on the GTX560Ti 448 fares.

Technical Specifications

Out of the box the Inno3D is clocked the same as the other 448s we've seen at 760MHz. We know there is more to come so we look forward to overclocking it.

Short and sweet. So let's take a look at the card.

Up Close

Looking at the box we instantly recognised the design. It reminds us very much of a combination of the old and new OC3D logos. Internally it uses a combination of dense foam and plain cardboard to keep the card in tip-top condition from your local postie.

The cooler is a nice semi-transparent smoky number, with a rather odd V8 sticker at the back end. We definitely like the white fan which makes a lovely change from the standard black or red affairs we usually see.

At the business ends of the Inno3D we have two gold-plated DVIs and a HDMI. Power is provided by two 6pin PCIe express connectors and gives a brief look at the hefty heatpipes keeping the card cool.

Test Setup

The penultimate run of tests on our well-worn X58 bench system, the Inno3D is run using the latest ForceWare 290.36 drivers.

Inno3D GTX560Ti 448SP
Forceware 290.36
Intel Core-i7 950 @ 4GHz
Gigabyte G1 Assassin
Corsair AX1200W
6GB Mushkin Redline
Noctua NH-D14
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Overclocking

Although it doesn't quite hit the heights that we saw from the MSI version, the Inno3D nonetheless makes a good account of itself overclocking up to 890MHz.

Folding@Home

For you frantic folders, the Inno3D certainly has the capabilities to push some good numbers at minimal outlay.

3D Mark Vantage

In Vantage the Inno3D neatly slots into second place of the four 448s we've reviewed. Of course we wouldn't expect it to get close to the excellent performance of the MSI, but it handily beats out the ASUS and Gigabyte offerings.

3D Mark 11

Although all the scores of the 448s are within a gnats chuff of each other, the Inno3D does just edge ahead at stock and slots into second place again in 3D Mark 11.

Unigine

Surprisingly Unigine doesn't run as well on the Inno3D. Although it's happily in second place in 3D Mark it's somewhat bringing up the rear in Unigine, especially in the 8xAA test.

0xAA

8xAA

Batman Arkham City

We've learnt by now that Batman Arkham City is harsh on even the most extreme systems, so the Inno3D 448 actually performs pretty well.

Battlefield 3

The gap between the overclocked MSI and Gigabyte cards, and the Inno3D and ASUS ones, is pretty huge. The positive for Inno is how good the minimum frame-rate is. You certainly get a smooth gameplay experience.

Crysis Warhead

Finally we can wave goodbye to Crysis Warhead. It goes out with a bang though, being a very good performer on the 448. Indeed the Inno3D is the best in the Gamer test and it's the highest of the 448s on Enthusiast. So if you still enjoy killing aliens on an island, you know the card to go for.

Although we can't help but mention we're glad we never have to watch the intro ever again.

Gamer

Enthusiast

Crysis 2

Following the excellent performance in Warhead, the Inno3D keeps it up in Crysis 2. It's the best of the 448s in the vanilla, out of the box version. The Hi-Res DirectX 11 goodness of the v1.9 patch really narrows the pack up but the Inno3D comes away with a 1FPS average lead.

DX9

DX11

Dirt 3

It's always difficult to berate a card too hard for being only average at stock, especially when it's way beyond what counts as playable, but still it's worth noting that the stock Inno3D doesn't quite match the Gigabyte or MSI. However with the overclock it has some get up and go, being capable of nigh-on 140FPS.

Far Cry 2

Although all the GTX560Ti 448s will provide a playable experience, once again the Inno3D just has its nose in front of the pack.

Mafia 2

Back in Empire Bay things return to normal with a linear correlation between the clock speed of the cards and the resulting frame-rate.

Metro 2033

No great surprise from Metro 2033 as we know how much it's limited by a single GPU, and sure enough the cards are utterly inseparable.

Resident Evil 5

Using the DirectX 9 rendering path the Inno3D GTX560 not only edges ahead of its competitors, but ahead of the overclocked GTX570. Impressive. With Resident Evil in DirectX 10 mode though it drops a couple of frames against the very best, but it certainly consistent.

DirectX 9

DirectX 10

The Witcher 2

We wouldn't expect a GTX560 to provide hugely smooth gameplay in The Witcher 2, and although the Inno3D responds well to the overclock it's still not quite up with either the Gigabyte or ASUS cards.

Temperatures

The cooler on the Inno3D is a single fan design unlike the multiple fan coolers available on the other three versions of the 448. So whilst it's warmer than the rest, you get the benefit that a single fan is always much easier on the ears. It doesn't get abnormally hot either, so definitely it's easier to live with.

Conclusion

When we first did our batch of GTX560Ti 448 reviews it became very difficult to find a new way of expressing the fact that they are pretty inseparable so you couldn't go wrong with whichever one you chose.

The Inno3D doesn't change this fact really. It performs exactly as we'd expect the 448 Core version of the GTX560Ti.

It does have a couple of factors in its favour though.

Firstly because it's from a company that you might not think of as readily as the giants of ASUS, Gigabyte or MSI, it comes in at about a tenner cheaper. That doesn't mean the build quality is any less, nor do you get fewer accessories or a lower overclock. In fact apart from the name on the card, and enough for a couple of pints in your pocket, you would be none the wiser.

Secondly the decision to only have a single fan on the card has benefits to your ears. Yes it's not comprehensively quieter but it is at least noticeably so. Noise is always subjective anyway. Loud AC/DC is better than quiet Justin Bieber, so measuring the pure db production doesn't tell you everything.

Finally whereas most of the cards, MSI apart, had good and bad results, the Inno3D was very consistent, giving a good result in all of our tests.

Because of this consistency and being a bit easier on your pocket we are happy to award the Inno3D our Gamers Choice award.

Thanks to Inno3D for providing the GTX560Ti 448SP for review. Discuss in our forums.