Nvidia GTX 560 is unveiled

Zotac's version of the latest GTX 560
Zotac's version of the latest GTX 560

Nvidia's GTX 560 has arrived – bringing 384 CUDA cores, DirectX 11 and 820Mhz core clock speed.

The GTX 560 is the latest graphics offering from Nvidia as the company continues its long-running competition for gamer hearts with AMD.

Following the path laid down by Nvidia's last two 500 series cards, the 560 offers around a 30 per cent improvement on the GTX 460 but, impressively, uses 20 per cent less power.

Footsteps

Although much of the tech under the bonnet is similar to the GTX 460, the GTX 560 follows in the footsteps of the GTX 580 and GTX 570 in its incrementally rejigged GPU architecture, offering extra streaming microprocessors – 8 to the 7 already in the 460 – and with it another 48 CUDA cores.

The clockspeeds of the GTX 560 might raise some eyebrows though.

At 820MHz and 1640MHz for the chip's core and shader speeds the touted GF114 GPU at its heart is clocked significantly higher than any card Nvidia has released in living memory.

Overclockers may wonder though just how much extra they'll be able to get out of the card, with the 560 clocked so much higher than any of its predecessors.

Expect the usual array of offerings from the key graphics card manufacturers – including a few overclocked offerings from Zotac alone.

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.