discussion EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2Win Dual GPU Review

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Taking Image Quality to the Next Level

Taking Image Quality to the Next Level

In this section we take a number of games we have tested previously in this review and bring things to the next level by pushing the in-game settings to the highest possible level. All other methodologies remain the same.

Crysis 2

Dirt 3

Metro 2033

Shogun 2: Total War

The Witcher 2

 

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Folding @ Home Performance / Overclocking Results

Folding @ Home Performance

For these tests, we used the new Stanford’s newest GPU3 client with the –forcegpu nvidia_fermi flag in order to ensure the appropriate Work Units were sent our way. We let the system run through four work units on each GPU core and the results are shown below.

With an average PPD of about 25,000 on a P6803 project, we can safely say that the 2Win is one of the most powerful Folding@Home cards you can currently buy. Adding a few of these on a multi card compatible motherboard could net you some serious point production without having to invest massive amounts of money for higher end cards like the GTX 590. You can also see by the GPU-Z screenshots above that this particular dual GPU card runs pretty cool while folding.

Overclocking Results

Overclocking the 2Win wasn’t exactly the easiest experience but with a good amount of EVGA Precision tweaking we were able to dial in relatively good overclock frequencies which resulted in a significant performance increase across the board. Here are a few of our most notable results:

Core Clock: 903 MHz
Engine Clock: 1806 MHz
Memory Clock: 4388 MHz (QDR)

 

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Temperature Analysis & Acoustics / Power Consumption

Temperature Analysis

For all temperature testing, the cards were placed on an open test bench with a single 120mm 1200RPM fan placed ~8” away from the heatsink. The ambient temperature was kept at a constant 22°C (+/- 0.5°C). If the ambient temperatures rose above 23°C at any time throughout the test, all benchmarking was stopped. For this test we use the 3DMark Batch Size test at its highest triangle count with 4xAA and 16xAF enabled and looped it for one hour to determine the peak load temperature as measured by GPU-Z.

For Idle tests, we let the system idle at the Windows 7 desktop for 15 minutes and recorded the peak temperature.

With a pair of slightly overclocked GF114 cores sitting at the 2Win’s heart, we were expecting some higher than normal temperatures. However, due to its excellent heatsink design and trio of cooling fans, things were kept well in check.

Acoustical Testing

Yes, we have finally added decibel testing to our repertoire and this section will expand in future reviews. What you see below are the baseline idle dB(A) results attained for a relatively quiet open-case system (specs are in the Methodology section) sans GPU along with the attained results for each individual card in idle and load scenarios. The meter we use has been calibrated and is placed at seated ear-level exactly 12” away from the GPU’s fan. For the load scenarios, a loop of Unigine Heave 2.5 is used in order to generate a constant load on the GPU(s) over the course of 20 minutes.

EVGA’s 2Win is far from the quietest card around but the noise profile put out by its three fans is a low hum rather than the high pitched whine most other cards exhibit. The result is an acoustical footprint that may look high on paper but it is extremely easy to ignore due to its frequency. Coupled with its great temperatures, we’re more than willing to call this a win in the 2Win’s favor, especially considering it is MUCH quieter than a GTX 560 Ti SLI setup.

System Power Consumption

For this test we hooked up our power supply to a UPM power meter that will log the power consumption of the whole system twice every second. In order to stress the GPU as much as possible we once again use the Batch Render test in 3DMark06 and let it run for 30 minutes to determine the peak power consumption while letting the card sit at a stable Windows desktop for 30 minutes to determine the peak idle power consumption. We have also included several other tests as well.

Please note that after extensive testing, we have found that simply plugging in a power meter to a wall outlet or UPS will NOT give you accurate power consumption numbers due to slight changes in the input voltage. Thus we use a Tripp-Lite 1800W line conditioner between the 120V outlet and the power meter.

The power consumption on dual GPU cards will never be something that can easily be stomached but some sacrifices have to be made in favor of performance. It is however good to see that EVGA has almost mirrored the result of two single GTX 560 Ti cards in SLI considering their 2Win has higher clock speeds and an NF200 chip running in the background.

 

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Conclusion

Conclusion

By taking a risk on a custom dual GPU graphics card, EVGA has swung for the fences with the GTX 560 Ti 2Win. In our eyes their gamble has mostly paid off since the 2Win offers up excellent performance results while minimizing some of the concerns normally associated with multi card configurations. Adding to this card’s appeal is the lack of competition since most AMD and NVIDIA board partners are simply unwilling to take a chance on such a niche product.

Focusing directly upon in-game framerates, one can’t be anything but satisfied with what EVGA’s engineering team has accomplished. In most situations the 2Win was able to go far beyond the numbers posted by a GTX 580; a card that retails for almost $500 these days. Granted, the GTX 580 consumes less power and is a bit quieter but many will be willing to accept these tradeoffs for additional performance. There were some initial worries that the inclusion of an NF200 bridge chip would impart a certain amount of excess latency but the slight overclock on the 2Win’s cores allowed it to easily keep pace with –and in some cases narrowly beat- a GTX 560 Ti SLI configuration.

While there is a long list of positive points here, we struggled to find situations where a gamer would choose the 2Win over a dedicated GTX 560 Ti SLI setup. Anyone who can afford a $520 graphics card probably has an SLI certified P67, Z68, X58 or P55 motherboard or at the very least plans to buy one. For those people a pair of GTX 560 Ti’s can be found for about $450 (or less in some cases) and provide nearly identical performance as the 2Win.

There are however a number of niche markets where EVGA’s dual GPU product will shine. Many mATX boards don’t provide sufficient spacing between PCI-E slots or simply lack dual card support so installing a 2Win could be an excellent way to push high framerates out of a small form factor computer. Plus, some SFF chassis now support longer graphics cards; the Silverstone Sugo series and new Lian Li PC-V600F immediately spring to mind. The real area where we see this card making inroads is as a GPU Folding powerhouse. With a pair of GTX 560 Ti cores it is a compact, cool running PPD beast and populating a motherboard with two or even three of these cards is a cost effective and more efficient alternative to high end GTX 590s.

While there were some minor stumbling blocks throughout testing which were largely a byproduct of the GTX 560 Ti’s memory bandwidth limitations, the 2Win performed flawlessly. However, the true value of EVGA’s GTX 560 Ti 2Win will lie in the eyes of the beholder. For those who are strapped for space but can’t justify (or find) an expensive, power hungry GTX 590, it provides an excellent gaming experience and bridges the gap between NVIDIA’s flagship product and a GTX 580. Standing on the other side of that fence will be the people who just can’t see a use for a dual GPU card when two individual GTX 560 Tis cost less. Nonetheless, we feel that EVGA has released an innovative product that will certainly find good traction among specific enthusiast circles.

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