TechPowerUp introduced version 0.5.1 of GPU-Z, our lightweight graphics sub-system information and monitoring utility. GPU-Z provides you with technical details of your installed graphics processors, and lets you monitor clock speeds, voltages, temperatures and fan speeds. This month's release adds support for new GPUs, improves stability, and corrects some minor bugs. To begin with, detection for the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics processor is added, alongside GeForce GTX 480M, and GeForce GTX 485M. Detection was improved for GeForce GTX 460M, GT 445M, and GT 435M. Early support for AMD's Fusion Llano, Ontario, and Zacate-embedded APUs were also added.

With the latest driver, NVIDIA had blocked our power-throttling disable parameter. We found our way around it, and using a new method, fixed the "/GTX500OCP" parameter using which you can override NVIDIA's power throttling feature. Support for new voltage controllers used by the latest batches of Radeon HD 6800/HD 6900 series graphics cards were also added. A number of stability improvements were made, and bugs fixed. The updates notifier is less pesky, it checks for timely updates in the background when GPU-Z is launched (according to update check frequency defined by user), and appears to users only if it finds that new updates are available.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z v0.5.1

A complete list of changes follows.

Palit Microsystems Ltd, the leading graphics card manufacturer, announces the new generation of performance level graphics cards - GeForce GTX 560 Ti Series. Including GTX 560 Ti Sonic, GTX 560 Ti 2GB and GTX 560 Ti, Palit customized design GTX 560 Ti Series come with complete line to bring you best gaming experience.

Featuring 4.2GHz for the 1GB GDDR5 frame buffer and a 10% bump for core speed from 822MHz to 900MHz, Palit GTX 560 Ti Sonic can boost 9% higher than non-OCed in DX10 performance and 4% faster in DX11. The massive factory overclock also enables Palit GTX 560 Ti Sonic beating Radeon HD6950 with ease. An 11% faster performance, Palit GTX 560 Ti scored 10320 in 3DMark Vantage benchmark. Moreover, Palit GTX 560 Ti Sonic provides killer performance in the hottest titles, 32% faster in Lost Planet 2 and 19% in FarCry2. Palit GTX 560 Ti is the top choice for enthusiast gamers! Palit also offers a 2GB option in GTX 560 Ti series. With 2X memory size, Palit GTX 560 Ti 2GB support better performance at maximum resolution monitor while GPU works alongside the CPU to drive fantastic graphics performance. You can enjoy the extreme performance while playing the latest DX10/DX11 PC games under HD large screen with Palit GTX 560 Ti 2GB. Equipping the premium GTX gaming technologies such as NVIDIA Surround, 3D Vision, PhysX and powerful SLI technology, Palit GTX 560 Ti Series is built for the best in gaming performances!

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and the world's largest channel manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards and mini-PCs, today raises the performance bar with a new performance-class graphics card - the new ZOTAC GeForce GTX 560 Ti. The new ZOTAC GeForce GTX 560 Ti delivers best-in-class features and stunning visuals to create a superior gaming experience that goes beyond the traditional frames-per-second metric.

By pairing 384 unified shaders with an ultra-wide 256-bit memory interface, the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 560 Ti is capable of rendering phenomenal hardware-tessellated visuals with Microsoft DirectX 11 technology and deliver unprecedented gaming interaction realism using NVIDIA PhysX technology - all while delivering best-in-class frame rates for a smooth lag-free gaming experience.

Last summer, NVIDIA astounded gamers with the introduction of the GeForce GTX 460 GPU, which editors called "an incredible value". Flash forward 5 months later, and NVIDIA is set to do it again with the immediate availability of the new GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU. With average performance that is 33% faster, overclocking headroom that is off the charts, and a performance per watt that puts competitive products to shame, the GeForce GTX 560 Ti is further proof as to why GeForce GTX GPUs are favored by PC gamers worldwide.

The GeForce GTX 560 Ti is the newest addition of the Company's "Fermi" line of consumer GPUs that were designed to deliver stunning DirectX 11 (DX11) performance for PC gaming platforms. The GeForce GTX 560 Ti brings a new level of DX11 price/performance to the performance PC gaming market while maintaining super quiet acoustics and minimal power requirements.

AMD finalized its recalibrated product pricing of Radeon HD 6800 and Radeon HD 6900 series products in the wake of NVIDIA's launch of the GeForce GTX 560 Ti later today. NVIDIA's new GPU is expected to revive the green giant's competitiveness at a key sub-$300 price-point, which could destabilize AMD's SKUs in the price-proximity. Without many options left, AMD is setting the following new prices (EUR and USD):

• Radeon HD 6870 1 GB: 189.99€, $219
• Radeon HD 6950 1 GB: 225.00€, $259
• Radeon HD 6950 2 GB: 239.99€, $269~289

The prices should be in effect very soon. Prices apart, AMD will also release a new driver that will bring about considerable performance improvements to all Radeon HD 6000 series GPUs.

Galaxy's first wave of graphics cards featuring NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics processor includes at least two non-reference designs. The first one, the GC Version, makes use of Galaxy's publicized "Gemini" GPU cooler, which uses two large 90 mm fans to cool a large aluminum heatsink which is fed by four copper heat pipes. The GC Gemini features slightly upped clock speeds of 835/1670/1000 MHz (core/CUDA core/memory actual).

The second card is the Galaxy GTX 560 Ti White Edition, which features a white PCB, possible digital PWM circuitry, a full-coverage single fan cooling assembly, and high overclock speeds of 950 MHz core, and 1100 MHz memory. Both cards feature Galaxy's typical spacecraft-styled cooler shrouds, connectivity that includes two DVI and a mini-HDMI. While the GC Version draws power from two 6-pin connectors, the White Edition requires 6-pin plus 8-pin. Based on the 40 nm GF114 GPU, GeForce GTX 560 Ti features second-generation Fermi architecture, and is powered by 384 CUDA cores, and aided by 1 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface. The GTX 560 Ti is slated for release on the 25th of this month.

Here are the first pictures of an NVIDIA reference design GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card. The pictures reveal quite a bit about the PCB layout and the cooling assembly. To begin with, the card is longer than the GTX 460, and uses a more refined cooler. The GF114 GPU uses a rectangular package, much like the GF104. The eight GDDR5 memory chips lie adjacent to the GPU. Power supply consists of 4-phase GPU, single-phase memory, and is drawn in by two 6-pin PCI-E power connectors. SLI is restricted to 2-way, and display outputs include two DVI and one mini-HDMI. Although the PCB is green, one can expect it to come in various colors depending on the partners' specifications.

The cooling assembly, as mentioned earlier, is much more refined compared to the previous generation. The GTX 460 cooler was not much more than a GPU heatsink with radially-projecting aluminum fins, covered by shroud. With the GTX 560 Ti, NVIDIA used a base-plate unisink, which collects heat from other components such as the memory and VRM, and conveys it to the GPU heatsink, which is much more elaborate, and uses 8 mm thick copper heatpipes to spread heat across a much larger heatsink. The design of this heatsink seems to be inspired from MSI's Cyclone cooler. Don't mind the flowery-green "sticker" that's Photoshop'd to the shroud, it's not part of the reference design. That's where partners can either demonstrate their creativity, or show off their anime fantasies.

Gigabyte is ready with a Super Overclock (SOC) variant of its upcoming GeForce GTX 560Ti graphics card, already. The GV-N560SO-1GI clocks at an impressive 1000 MHz core (vs. 822 MHz reference), and 1145 MHz (actual) or 4580 MHz (effective GDDR5) memory speed, with a CUDA core clock speed of 2000 MHz. Apart from these, the card features 384 CUDA cores, and 1 GB of memory over a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface.

The GV-N560SO-1GI uses Gigabyte's Ultra Durable VGA+ PCB, which is rich in copper and uses top-grade components. It is cooled by a larger version of WindForce 2X, which the company earlier used on older high-end GPUs. Gigabyte also run its own performance tests on the card. The card yielded X11515 points in 3DMark Vantage Extreme preset, and P24590 in Performance preset. The card is said to be at least made public, if not released to market, on the 25th of this month.

One of MSI's first graphics cards based on NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU got listed on a European store. The N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II OC from MSI features the company's iconic Twin Frozr II GPU cooler, paired with the GTX 560 Ti GPU, overclocked out of the box at 880 MHz core and 1050 MHz (4.20 GHz GDDR5 effective) memory, against reference speeds of 820 MHz core and 1000 MHz (4.00 GHz) reference.

The Twin Frozr II, used on several MSI graphics card models till date, uses a dense aluminum fin array to which heat is conveyed by 8 mm thick heatpipes, ventilated by two 80 mm fans. MSI claims this cooler to keep the GPU up to 20°C cooler compared to NVIDIA reference cooler. It is currently listed at €280.33, but one can take this pricing with a pinch of salt, as pre-release prices tend to be a little higher.

Here are the first pictures of a Gigabyte branded NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card. Carrying the model number GV-N560OC-1GI, Gigabyte's card is based on the 40 nanometer GF114 GPU, featuring 384 CUDA cores, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory. The card itself doesn't look much different from some of Gigabyte's GTX 460 graphics cards. This can be attributed to the rumor that GF114 is pin-compatible with GF104, to minimize R&D costs partners have to incur. They would probably just have to use the new GPU and its appropriate BIOS.

Being an "OC" marked model, Gigabyte's card could feature factory-overclocked speeds. Taking this and the GPU itself into account, Gigabyte claims its GTX 560 Ti card to be competitive with Radeon HD 6950. The card uses Gigabyte's Ultra Durable VGA construction which combines a copper-rich PCB with high-quality components, and is cooled by the company's in-house design WindForce2X GPU cooler that uses a large aluminum fin heatsink using two fans.

Update (01/18): Gigabyte commented on this article. The company outright denied to have anything to do with whatever is in those pictures, and alleged it to be some kind of a "malicious attack" on it. In a statement, it said: "the information is false and the data is simulated from our old card. The picture is incorrect and was obviously photoshopped from our previous GTX460 model. The GTX560 card looks nothing like pictured on the article. We have good reason to believe this is a malicious attack."

HIS unveiled one of its first Radeon HD 6950 1 GB graphics cards. The HIS HD 6950 1 GB Fan Edition features AMD's high-end GPU with 1 GB of memory, and a cost-effective design that makes it competitive with upcoming GeForce GTX 560 Ti. HIS used its own design PCB that's shorter in length, and uses cost-effective VRM since the card isn't dealing with high-density 2 Gbit GDDR5 memory chips anymore. It uses a GPU fan-heatsink that uses a large fan to ventilate an aluminum fin array that cools the GPU and other components. the cooler is covered by a well-ventilated shroud.

That and the memory aside, other specifications are the same: the 40 nm Cayman GPU features 1408 VLIW4 stream processors, and connects to 1 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface. The core is clocked at 800 MHz, and the memory at 1250 MHz (5.00 GHz GDDR5 effective). HIS did not release pricing yet, but it will be well below the $300 mark.

About a decade ago when programmable shaders were new, NVIDIA identified its first graphics processors that used them under the GeForce 3 series and 4 series with the "Ti" marker (for example, GeForce 4 Ti 4800), to demarcate them from mainstream "MX" series, which lacked them (eg. GeForce 4 MX 440). Exactly a decade later, there are faint indications that NVIDIA is reintroducing the Ti marker. This was found out on close examination of a leaked 266.44 GeForce driver, which recognized an unreleased NVIDIA GPU as GeForce GTX 560 Ti. This baffles us. To begin with, this doesn't seem like a notebook GPU, second, we don't know of anything big in works at NVIDIA. One plausible explanation we can come up with is that NVIDIA is using "Ti" to simply make its GTX 560 SKU "look" presentable on paper, especially since the SKU may face competition from Radeon HD 6950 1 GB the moment it's released.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti is being introduced to restore competitiveness to NVIDIA in the sub-$270 "performance" segment, after it was depleted by AMD's introduction of the Radeon HD 6870 and Radeon HD 6850. With GTX 560 seeming imminent, AMD is preparing two new SKUs, Radeon HD 6950 1GB and HD 6970 1GB, which, coupled with cost-effective board designs, are expected to significantly drive down prices, restoring AMD's competitiveness in the crucial market segment. The GeForce GTX 560 Ti is based on new GF114 silicon, features 384 CUDA, a 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface, and core clock speeds of 820 MHz. The new SKU is slated for January 25th.