Ready for a limited edition graphics card? The GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core just landed. Learn how it differs from the GeForce GTX 560 Ti, why its life will be be short, if it's a decent performer, and what we can do with this thing overclocked.

It’s not often that a graphics card manufacturer goes through the trouble of launching a special, limited-run product just for the holiday season. But that’s exactly what Nvidia is doing with its GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core.

Given the name, you might expect this new card to be an unlocked and enhanced version of Nvidia's existing GeForce GTX 560 Ti. But that's simply not so. Recall that the GF114 graphics processor used in the existing GeForce GTX 560 Ti is already unfettered. All of its 384 cores are functional, leaving no disabled hardware to turn on. Rather, the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core is equipped with a cut-back GF110.

This GPU was first seen on the company's GeForce GTX 580, slightly handicapped for use in its GeForce GTX 570, and now further trimmed back for the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core.

GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core Specs:

Compared to the GeForce GTX 580, two Streaming Multiprocessors (SM) are disabled; the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core utilizes 14 of the GF110’s 16 available SMs. Each functioning SM has 32 shader cores and four texture units. Five of the six 64-bit ROP partitions are left enabled, each capable of handling eight 32-bit integer pixels per clock cycle.

All told, the card has 448 shader cores, 56 texture units, 40 ROPs, and a 320-bit memory interface. Not surprisingly, its power demands necessitate two six-pin PCIe power cables. And because it's one of Nvidia's higher-end boards, the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core card supports two-, three-, and four-way SLI through its pair of SLI bridges. You cannot match it up to a standard GeForce GTX 560 Ti card, of course. It'll only cooperate with other 448-core models. So, if you'd like to run in a multi-card configuration, buy these boards at the same time, since they're not expected to remain available.

If this card's specs sound familiar, that's probably because they match Nvidia's now-defunct GeForce GTX 470. You might also notice that the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core is essentially a GeForce GTX 570 with one SM disabled. And speaking of the GeForce GTX 570, the new card has the same 732 core, 1464 MHz shader, and 950 MHz GDDR5 memory frequencies.

Knowing what we know from past reviews on Nvidia's existing cards, the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core should perform between the GeForce GTX 560 Ti and the GeForce GTX 570. For more information on the company's line-up, check out the following reviews:

Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti Review: GF114 Rises, GF100 Rides Off
GeForce GTX 570 Review: Hitting $349 With Nvidia's GF110
GeForce GTX 580 And GF110: The Way Nvidia Meant It To Be Played
GeForce GTX 480 And 470: From Fermi And GF100 To Actual Cards!

Nvidia made it clear to us that its GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core isn’t a replacement for any existing product. A limited supply exists, and it’s exclusive to Asus, Evga, Gainward, Gigabyte, Inno3D, Palit, MSI, and Zotac. This new card is only available in the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Russia, and the Nordics.

The circumstances of this board's birth are somewhat strange. Perhaps Nvidia has a small collection of GF110 GPUs with two bad SMs, precluding them from use on a GeForce GTX 570. Or, it could simply be a product intended to fill a gap right before the holidays. It could even be a test case of sorts to see if there's a market for something between the GeForce GTX 560 Ti and 570.

Pressed for more information, Nvidia let us know that our first two suspicions were dead-on. Like any chip manufacturer Nvidia bins its processors, and it has a number of GF110s with 14 viable SMs. It chose to put them into a limited product to drum up sales over the holiday season, and tah-dah: the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core. No matter how few of these boards end up hitting shelves, though, it'll stand or fall based on its performance per dollar, just like any other graphics card.