MSI N465GTX Twin Frozr II Review
Introduction and Technical Specs
Published: 17th August 2010 | Source: MSI | Price: TBC |
Introduction
New technology. It's what we live for. The thing we love. No matter what field you're interested in the release of the next generation is always a mouth-watering prospect. From HDTV to SSDs our life is nearly always better for the addition of the latest thing.
This does however, as always, come with a price. The price of early adoption, which not only involves paying a literal higher price, but usually having a product that isn't quite as refined as it should be.
Such is the case with the 'Fermi', or GTX4xx, series of cards from nVidia. As always with nVidia product the performance is absolutely stunning. The big downfall, besides the price, is the woeful stock cooler. The GTX480 suffered fairly badly, but as the premium model there are always little niggles. The one we were all being really hopeful for was the middle model. The 470/465. After all if the cooler wasn't good enough for the big boy, then it should be excellent for the lower powered model.
Unfortunately as we recently saw, when nVidia released the GTX465 they also decided to give it a very bog standard cooler that meant the lower performance of the GTX465 was coupled to the lower performance of the cooler to give something exactly as hot as the GTX480.
Enter MSI. As regular readers will know MSI have a cooler they label the "Twin Frozr". This is a huge heat-pipe and twin 80mm fan beast that can cool almost anything. They've paired this up with the GTX465 to give us the N465GTX Twin Frozr II. A card that promises to finally deliver the potential of the Fermi core without the insane heat. Hopefully we might even get some overclocking out of it.
Technical Specifications
| Graphics Engine | GeForce GTX 465 |
|---|---|
| Bus Standard | PCI Express x16 2.0 |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 |
| Memory Size(MB) | 1024 |
| Memory Interface | 256 bits |
| Core Clock Speed(MHz) | 607 |
| Memory Clock Speed(MHz) | 3206 |
| Memory Bandwidth(GB/sec) | 102.6 |
| Texture Fill Rate(billion/sec) | N/A |
| DVI Output | 2 |
| D-SUB Output | 2(optional, via DVI to D-Sub adaptor) |
| TV-Output | N/A |
| HDMI-Output | 2(optional, via DVI to HDMI adaptor) |
| Mini HDMI-Output | 1 |
| DisplayPort | N/A |
| Mini DisplayPort | N/A |
| VIVO(Video-in/out) | N/A |
| HDTV Support | N/A |
| HDCP Support | Y |
| Dual-link DVI | Y |
| HDMI Support | Y |
| Display Ouput(Max Resolution) | 2560x1600 |
| RAMDACs | 400 |
| DirectX Version Support | 11 |
| OpenGL Version Support | 4.0 |
| CrossFire Support | N/A |
| SLI Support | Y |
| HyperMemory Tech. | N/A |
| 3-way SLI | Y |
| TurboCache tech. | N/A |
| Card Dimension(mm) | 243 x 111 x 33 |
According to the MSI website the combination of their excellent Afterburner software and the Twin Frozr II cooler should enable 15% overclocking!! So amazing is the thought of this it definitely needs two exclamation marks.
Let's take a look at the Twin Frozr II.
Most Recent Comments
In all honesty Tom I was just about to quote your reply and say -
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Originally Posted by tinytomlogan
MSI have bolted their brilliant Twin Frozr II cooler to the nVidia GTX465. Does it manage to keep this beast under control? |
Amazing stuff by MSI there. This really is quite annoying though because Nvidia should be sorting the cooling out. I can not believe they recycled their 200 series coolers for Fermi. Who'd have thunk MSI could pull off something quite so miraculous with a cooler eh?
NVIDIA I HOPE YOU ARE WATCHING.
Edit. Again enormous thanks to VB for putting this one through the wringer.
Oh and -
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Originally Posted by VB
It is an absolute thing of beauty.
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lets hope the MSI guys don't read this review and stick a hefty price on it.
Nice work chaps, great review as always...
oh btw when it goes back MSI have changed address to
MSI.
attn Mr. Lasher
27 .....
QuoteNice review as always Mr. WatersQuote
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Product" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127504&cm_re=msi_46514-127-504ProductLet's see how much we get fudged in the UK this time...
230 U.S. dollars = 148.148148 British pounds
Can you see those pigs flying over yonder? Weeeeeeeeeeeek !Quote
Of course if looks were the only consideration then Wayne Rooney would never have become famous, so it's time to see if the claims of MSI stand up to scrutiny.
Made me laugh.
QuoteThat's a pretty ridiculous overclock, and is that without any extra voltage? I'd love to see what you could achieve when you max out the voltage.
However I'd have liked to seen it's performance compared to an overclocked 1GB GTX 460 as it was widely assumed that the GTX 460 was a complete replacement of the GTX 465 & made it redundant so it'd be nice to see if this version can keep up with/outperform the GTX 460.Quote
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Originally Posted by Telltale
However I'd have liked to seen it's performance compared to an overclocked 1GB GTX 460 as it was widely assumed that the GTX 460 was a complete replacement of the GTX 465 & made it redundant so it'd be nice to see if this version can keep up with/outperform the GTX 460. |
So actually this version utterly out-performs the 460 which is why we didn't bother comparing.Quote
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Originally Posted by VonBlade
We have tested a 460, which is actually the model beneath the 465. It's pretty woeful compared to any 465, much less the MSI one. So actually this version utterly out-performs the 460 which is why we didn't bother comparing. |
Bit-Tech
Hexus
The GTX 460 1GB versions seems to perform at least on par with the GTX 465, if not better.
This Tweaktown page is particularly interesting as it shows the performance of both a highly overclocked GTX 460 & the MSI GTX 465 overclocked to similar levels as yours & the GTX 460 is shown to perform better.
Fair enough if the GTX 465 outperformed the 460 in your tests, but I find it hard to believe that there'd be a massive margin and so, with the lower price of the GTX 460, I think it'd still be worthwhile to see a comparison between the two.Quote
Zotac, for me, takes up too much space for the average user, but if you're planning on getting one, you can plan around it. Keeps the AMP editions well below what you see here, even massively oc'd.
The 465 will go higher on the clocks with a bit of massaging, but the Twin Frozr II does a more capable job for me, whilst also taking up less room internally.
Note the rear venting, which -ok- isn't directionally correct with the fans, but does atleast a partial job which is better than none at-all imo.
Stock cooler... enough has been said already about the craziness behind that design.
Keep an eye out for Bios upgrades too, for 460 & 465.
(still don't understand the 50% test, it's not practical with different fans on different cards)
Oh.. uk price.. $=£ I'm afraid. For this price range, I'd favor a modded 5850, but it won't look as sexeh as this MSI card.Quote
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Originally Posted by Rastalovich
Oh.. uk price.. $=£ I'm afraid. For this price range, I'd favor a modded 5850, but it won't look as sexeh as this MSI card. |
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