The ASUS ENGTX560 Ti DirectCU II Top edition video card proved itself to be faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX560 Ti reference design in our testing, but that was expected since it operates at a 900MHz versus the standard 823MHz clock speeds. We also found that it ran cooler at full load and was able to overclock better than the reference design thanks to the voltage adjustment feature (VoltageTweak) in the SmartDoctor utility. Being able to reach 1GHz on the GeForce GTX 560 when overclocking was nice, but we wish the SmartDoctor would have allowed us to push the card a bit farther. Our only gripe was that we were limited here with the ASUS software, but who can complain that much when you are seeing 1GHz core speeds!
We also think it looks a little better than the NVIDIA reference design as looking at the same old fan shroud gets a bit boring! If you want something that stands out from the crowd the DirectCU II cooler that ASUS is using on this card certainly makes it look very different than a standard reference card! We also like the custom designed PCB that ASUS designed for their GTX560 Ti design. ASUS employed their 'Super Alloy Power' design (meaning they used high quality parts) and they placed the pair of 6-pin power connectors on the top of the video card versus the end like on the NVIDIA design. This is a nice touch for those that have small cases and don't have the room to plug in the video card connectors. If you want a card that has a nice PCB design, improved cooler and a factory overclock that has some room left in it for you to have fun, this is the ideal card for you! |