If NVIDIA set out to fill a vacuum between the standard GeForce GTX 560 Ti and GeForce GTX 570, it more than achieved it with the new GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 cores. Cards based on this new SKU are priced somewhere in between the price-points of the two, but the performance measured shows it's tilting precariously close to the GTX 570. And why shouldn't it? The new GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores has everything the GTX 570 has - GF110 GPU, 1280 MB of memory over a 320 bit GDDR5 memory interface, 40 ROPs, and even the same reference clock speeds. It's just that the GTX 570 has about 7% more CUDA cores.
Is this all sounding too good to be true? Well, here's the catch. First, the GTX 560 Ti 448 cores is a "Limited Edition" product, meaning that limited quantities of it will be produced. We think North American and European markets should digest all cards made in this winter shopping season alone. Next, it's a "Limited Availability" product, meaning that it will be available only in select North American and European markets.
MSI's GTX 560 Ti 448 Twin Frozr III offers great performance for all the latest titles thanks to its close relationship with the GTX 570 and the overclock out of the box. The TwinFrozr III cooling solution works well and enables the highest additional overclock out of the cards tested today. Only fan noise under load seems a bit excessive, other boards do much better here. The GTX 560 Ti 448 cores has slightly higher power draw compared to the standard GTX 560 Ti, it's based the larger GF110 silicon, though its performance per Watt warrants it. MSI's implementation is solid, thanks to uncompromising power delivery circuitry, and good cooling.
A unique feature of the MSI GTX 560 Ti 448 TF III is that the card comes with two BIOSes that can be switched to provide a normal and a silent mode (reboot required). In our testing we see little difference in temperatures and no difference in overclocking potential. Fan noise does get reduced a bit - idle noise is outstanding with the silent BIOS. During 3D gaming I would have expected better from a "silent" BIOS. The card (in silent mode) is still the noisiest of the three cards tested today. Nevertheless, having Dual BIOS means you are protected against any screwups during BIOS flashing, as you can simply switch to the second BIOS and recover your card.
Overall, the GTX 560 Ti 448 cores is a great deal for its $289~$300 price range, but limited availability could be its downfall.