MSI GTX680 OC Twin Frozr III Review

The Twin Frozr III cooling solution from MSI is matched with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX680 in our latest graphics card review. How will it compare against other GPUs?

Product on Review: N680GTX Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC

Manufacturer and Sponsor: MSI
Street Price: £439.99 inc VAT

The GTX680 has been around for a while now and retains the GPU performance crown. While the GPU has not been accused of being hot, the reference design cooler inherits the noise of previous generations. So then, MSI have seen fit to strip the GPU back to the bare essentials and instead cool it with their very popular Twin Frozr cooler. The Twin Frozr design is now in it’s third generation (fourth if you include the extreme versions) and as such, MSI have tweaked it here and there to what we have today, the Twin Frozr three. We’ve seen this cooler on other graphics cards and have been impressed both by its cooling ability and its acoustics so to include it on the best performing GPU today should make perfect sense.

MSI have not just slapped a mighty fine cooling solution on the card though, they have also boosted the core clockspeed to 1058MHz which results in a boost clock of 1124MHz. The memory speed remains unchanged at 6008MHz (effective) though so hopefully there will be some room left for overclocking. What I will certainly find interesting is if the cards performance is unleashed with the added cooling because in previous reviews, the GTX680 began to throttle back ‘boost’ clockspeeds when the 70c threshold was breached giving a false interpretation of frames per clock as the clockspeed fluctuated according to load and therefore temperatures.

About MSI (In their own words)

MSI is proud of its more than 20 years experience in designing and manufacturing high performance IT products. The product lines of MSI are mainboards, graphic cards, notebooks, consumer electronics, barebones, networking and server products, and fully integrated add-on peripherals. With its ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 qualified facilities, MSI products provide the best performance, reliability and value-increasing productivity.

We distribute our products through offices located in The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, United States, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, Brazil, Taiwan, Japan, China, Korea, India and Australia. MSI markets its products to distributors, computer system manufacturers, and system integrators. For more information about the company go to MSI

Specification

Firstly, comparing the reference GTX680 with its forbear, the GTX580 we see that there are some significant changes. Immediately identifiable are the amount of stream processors which have tripled. from 512 to 1536. The ROPs have however dropped 25% but to compensate the core and memory clockspeeds have been massively increased, with the GTX680 being the clocked slightly above the 1GHz mark and the EVGA version clocked higher still at 1085MHz.

The battle everyone wants to see though is the GTX680 vs. HD7970 and comparing the two cards against one another is a good place to start. On paper at least, the GTX680 appears to have the slight upper hand. Sacrificing a gigabyte of GDDR5 and running with the 256-bit interface, the GTX680 cannot hope to compete in total bandwidth available losing out to both the HD7970 and HD7950 by a fair margin despite having a much higher memory overclock. The tables are however turned when we study the texture fillrate where the GTX680 comes out on top.

One area where NVIDIA are shouting from the rooftops is the power consumption area. with a max power draw of 195W compared to 250W of the HD7970, the GTX680 should save a few more yards of the Brazillian rainforests (and of course cut your electricity bill) than the HD7970.

Price wise there is little to choose between them. The GTX680 is a little more expensive yet only because of the recent price drops of the HD7900 series. At launch, the HD7970 was significantly more expensive.

Overall, looking at the specifications you would be forgiven for thinking that Kepler is not the GPU everyone was hoping for. Sure it has faster clockspeeds but how does that transpire to performance when the core hardware (stream processor count, memory size) is not as impressive as AMD’s?

While the GTX680 did trade blows with the HD7970 in our comparison review, I concluded that ultimately, the GTX680 was the faster card. We have also reviewed factory overclocked HD7970’s which have stole the performance crown back from NVIDIA but overclocked GTX680’s once again saw the crown regained.

Fast forward a few months and we see that AMD have made significant price drops with the HD7970 now around £60 cheaper than the equivalent GTX680. The 7950 is now below the £300 mark too which makes justifying the £400+ for a ever so slightly faster GTX680 ever more difficult. As always though if you want the best then the performance king will always demand a premium.

Kepler Architecture

It was two years ago that we saw the introduction of NVIDIA’s Fermi, NVIDIA’s previous architectural change. The GF100 featured 512 stream processors in a 16×32 format built by TSMC in a 40nm process. Sporting OpenGL 4.0 and DirectX 11, enthusiasts climbed over each other to get the latest and greatest GPU from NVIDIA. While the performance was there, power efficiency was very poor with the cards consuming lots of power and running very hot.

Enter the 5 series 8 months later and many would say the GTX580 was the card the GTX480 should have been. It was more powerful thanks to the fully unlocked memory controller (6x64bit), ran cooler and thus became a firm favourite among the high end GPU market.

For a little over a year the GTX580 enjoyed sitting atop of the GPU pile (save for dual GPU variants) and it wasn’t until the AMD HD7970 emerged in December 2011 that the GTX580 lost its performance crown. NVIDIA however had not been resting on their laurels…

GTX680 GPU
The successor to Fermi is codenamed Kepler. Listening to feedback of Fermi from gamers around the world, NVIDIA sought to create a graphics card that was not only the best money could buy in terms of performance but crucially it had to run cool and quiet to make for a power efficient model. Kepler addresses these issues in two ways; GPU Boost which we will discuss further in our overclocking section of the review and a redesigned streaming multiprocessor.

Kepler Core
The GTX680 is equipped with a GK104 core which NVIDIA claim is their highest and most power efficient GPU to date. Fabricated on the 28nm process, every component was designed with power efficiency in mind to ensure the GPU gave the best performance-per-watt possible.

While the 28nm manufacturing process holds the bulk of the power saving features, the way the new architecture works is also key to furthering Kepler’s power reduction. SMX, an evolution of the SM from Fermi is NVIDIA’s new streaming multiprocessor:

The SMX now runs at the graphics clock speed rather than 2x that speed as before but because the GK104 has 1536 CUDA cores (8xSMX), over Fermi’s (GF110) 512 CUDA cores (16xSM), Kepler allows the GTX680 to operate at twice the performance per watt measurement compared to the GTX580.

The clock throughput of FMA2, SFU and texture operations have all been significantly increased and while some operations still retain the same speed as the GTX580, the GTX680’s much higher core clockspeed ensures a substantial increase for all GPU operations.

To feed the new SMX, each unit has four warp schedulers, each capable of firing off two instructions per warp, every clock. With a redesigned scheduling function, the GTX680 is a lot less complex and much more streamlined allowing the compiler to determine which instructions will be issued and can provide this information direct to the hardware block rather than going around the houses using Multi-port decode and a register scoreboard along with the dependency check before the information gets issued. This method is both quicker and more importantly, more power efficient.

Perhaps the biggest change to the processor core is the omission of the old shader clock. The shader clock was getting tired as it was part of the old Tesla architecture which was implemented as an area optimisation. Because of the way Kepler executes instructions at a much more streamlined manner and at a higher clock rate, fewer copies of the execution unit need be made.

Another improvement over Fermi with the introduction of SMX is the redesigned Polymorph engine (2.0). The Polymorph engine takes care of the tessellation workload of the GTX680. The design of the new Polymorph engine is to ensure that the tessellation we see on screen has little (as possible) impact on the rendering performance. What you may find bizarre though is that NVIDIA have cut the Polymorph engine count in half to 8 from Fermi’s 16 yet claim it is almost twice as quick. This is thanks to the improved core an memory clockpeed.

Overall then, it seems NVIDIA have outdone themselves. Higher clockspeeds on both core and memory, 3x the amount of stream processors yet streamlined by eliminating the shader clock to cut the amount of power consumption without compromising overall performance.

The story doesn’t end there though as there are a whole host of features the GTX680 has to offer…

Features

Afterburner
Afterburner co-development by MSI and Rivatuner, MSI releases the ultimate graphics card utility “Afterburner”. This utility enables all MSI graphics cards users to boost performance and to monitor all kinds of critical information in real-time. Afterburner is a completely free utility which is compatible with almost all MSI graphics cards.

MSI Solid Capacitor Graphic Cards
MSI Solid Capacitor Graphic Card MSI Graphics Card products utilities high quality solid capacitor. For the gamers and high-end users, this feature not only means that product has better quality components within, but also provide much stronger support while users want to engage in hard-core tuning.

Live Update 5
MSI Live Update 5 is a single utility software that automatically checks BIOS, driver and utility updates and installs for you , which can save your time for searching and lower the risk while updating.

PhysX™
PhysX™ is designed specifically for hardware acceleration by powerful processors with hundreds of cores. Combined with the tremendous parallel processing capability of the GPU, PhysX™ will provide an exponential increase in physics processing power and will take gaming to a new level delivering rich, immersive physical gaming environments with features such as:
– Explosions that cause dust and collateral debris
– Characters with complex, jointed geometries for more life-like motion and interaction
– Spectacular new weapons with incredible effects
– Cloth that drapes and tears naturally
– Dense smoke & fog that billow around objects in motion

NVIDIA® CUDA™ Technology
NVIDIA® CUDA™ technology is the world’s only C language environment that enables programmers and developers to write software to solve complex computational problems in a fraction of the time by tapping into the many-core parallel processing power of GPUs. With millions of CUDA™-capable GPUs already deployed, thousands of software programmers are already using the free CUDA™ software tools to accelerate applications—from video and audio encoding to oil and gas exploration, product design, medical imaging, and scientific research.

NVIDIA® 3D Vision
NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ technology is a combination of Graphics Processor Units (GPU), specialized 3D glasses, software, and certified displays and projectors that deliver an immersive 3D experience on your PC or workstation.

HDMI + DVI Output
HDMI + DVI Output HDMI and DVI are the most comprehensive used interfaces for high definition video display. MSI adopts two interfaces to provide a complete output solution for users to enjoy the latest HD video such as blu-ray movie.

HDMI convertible output
Dual-link DVI convertible output supports Video/Audio signal integration through DVI to HDMI interface, which drivers resolution of a digital display up to 1920×1200 or higher.

NVIDIA SLI Technology
Delivers up to 2x the performance of a single GPU configuration for unequaled gaming experiences by allowing two cards to run in parallel. The must-have feature for performance PCI Express graphics, SLI technology dramatically scales performance on today’s hottest games.

NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology
Blu-ray and HD DVD movies are bringing a new level of movie-viewing experience; with high-definition image quality far surpassing standard-definition DVDs. NVIDIA PureVideo™ HD2 technology provides unsurpassed Blu-ray and HD DVD movie picture quality.

Blu-ray and HD DVD Support
Both support the latest specifications of Blu-ray and HD DVD(High Definition DVD). It comes with the latest GPU and DDRIII superior processing performance in which users can easily enjoy the high-definition video of 1920×1080(1080p/i).

HDMI Support
MSI graphics cards offer the HDMI functionality to provide access to premium digital content. HDMI enables gaming enthusiasts to seamlessly connect to their LCD monitor to bring the ultimate multimedia experience. (Only 1 single HDMI cable is required while streaming audio/video data to flat-panel display devices, such as Plasma/LCD TVs, or projector.)

Meet RoHS regulations
MSI products are the first to be in conformity of the EU’s RoHS(Restriction of Hazardous Substances) regulations, reducing heavy metals and toxic materials in the products. This is an effort made for the Earth, and essentially for a clean future.

PCI Express Gen 3 Standard
This advanced manufacturing technology reduces operating temperatures and improves performance, and when combined with the latest connectivity standard it can also deliver a staggering 32GB/s of bandwidth with compatible CPUs and mainboards. For gamers, this means an even better gaming experience with 40% more performance than previous generation GeForce GTX 580 graphics cards.

Packaging & Accessories

Package Top

The front of the box features a frosted picture of the MSI GTX680 OC Twin Frozr III cooler with the main features towards the top right and typical GTX680 features at the bottom right.

Box Rear

The rear of the package shows the key features of the product in multiple languages along with the base system requirements.

Flip Lid

As this is a premium product, the outer sleeve features a flip lid which goes into detail on the cards specific feature set such as solid caps, propeller blade fans and a nickel coated heatsink.

Accessories

The accessories included with the GTX680 OC Twin Frozr are as follows: Quick User Guide, installation booklet, a VGA-DVI adaptor and twin MOLEX to 6pin VGA power adaptors.

Overall a good yet typical MSI package. It is a shame we don’t get a free game, especially considering the latest GTX660Ti comes packaged with Borderlands 2. Some retailers however are including free games as an incentive to buy if you shop around.

First Look

Card Top

At first glance the card looks pretty much like any other card with the Twin Frozr III cooler as it dominates the top of the PCB. The grey, red and black effect, while discreet is starting to show it’s age and may not appeal to everyone’s tastes. It does however still look the part and as we will see later in the review, performs as good as ever.

Card Bottom

At the rear of the card we see that the MSI GTX680 OC Twin Frozr retains the dark brown PCB. While you would be hard pushed to tell the difference between this circuit board and a black PCB inside a case with a window, I would still prefer it if MSI reviewed there PCB printing procedure as other manufacturers ‘black’ PCB looks so much more attractive which in turn would make the MSI card more visually appealing. Aside from the colour, the PCB layout looks none to dissimilar to the reference NVIDIA GTX680 design.

Card Profile

Here is where the MSI cards scores high. The MSI logo is the right way up for an ATX case so will look great in any PCIe slot. The nickel coated heatpipes bulging from the sides hint at the power the card possess and with the twin 6pin power ports at the end of the card, cable management shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

I/O Area

The backplate From left to right we see that MSI have included a Displayport, HDMI port and both DVI-I and DVI-D ports. Other than the display ports, MSI have also included a small ventilation area to assist in heat dissipation.

Power Ports

Rather than add an 8pin port like some other GTX680 manufacturers, MSI have stuck to the reference twin 6pin PCIe ports in the vertical position. The power requirements for this card as recommended by MSI are a 550W PSU with a 12v line capable of providing 38A.

SLI

As with all GTX680’s, the MSI example is capable of a maximum 4-way SLI when matched up with any other GTX680 and compatible motherboard.

Let’s take a closer look shall we?

Closer Look

Heatsink

The heatsink is made up of an aluminium finned array with a nickel coated copper baseplate. 5 heatpipes help wick the heat away from the baseplate and dissipate it across the longitudinal fins. As we have seen previously, this design works extremely well despite the heatsink being an ‘open’ design with the shroud only covering half of the cooler.

Midplate Bracket

Along with the large heatsink we find the GTX680 OC Twin Frozr also has an aluminium midplate bracket which has two purposes. Firstly, it affords direct cooling to the VRM and memory modules. Secondly, it strengthens the card itself and prevents it from bowing when in-situ under the cards own weight.

Above we see the card with the cooler removed. As you can see, the midplate covers the majority of the card save for the GPU core.

Voltage Regulation

Voltage regulation comes courtesy of a 4+2 design which is identical to the reference design. Each of the four GPU inductors are joined with 3 RDS MOSFET (ON) an solid capacitors which should ensure a clean, stable yet durable VRM design.

Hynix Memory

The same reference HYNIX memory is included with the MSI card as with the standard NVIDIA GTX680. With a product code of H5GQ2H24MFA R0C we know that this memory is capable of some fantastic results rated at 1.6v to run at 6Gbps so hopefully there will also be some overclocking here too.

GTX680 Core

Here we see the GK104 core which is fully exposed to the elements save for a nickel surround protecting it from damage from wobbly heatsinks. Pre-overclocked to 1059MHz it makes the AMD HD7970 1GHz edition cards look slow by comparison. The contact as you can see was very good and should ensure near perfect heat transfer for cool running. Will this translate to real world performance though? I guess it’s time we found out…

Test Setup

With the latest Intel chipset release we decided to update our ageing X58 setup to the new X79 chipset. Not only that but we will be using the flagship Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition processor clocked to 4.5GHz to ensure we have no CPU bottlenecks. With 16GB of ram on board there should be minimal paging so the benchmarks we run today will hopefully give a true reflection of the graphics card’s performance.

Some of the components for our test bench were kindly donated by CORSAIR who provided the majority of components without whom we would not have been able to bring you this review so a big thanks to them.

Graphics cards on test:
MSI GTX680 Twin Frozr

MSI GTX680 Twin Frozr OC

ZOTAC GTX660Ti AMP! Edition
MSI R7870 Hawk
EVGA GTX680 SuperClocked Signature
GIGABYTE GTX680 Windforce
NVIDIA GTX670
HIS HD 7870 IceQ Turbo
MSI HD 7870 Twin Frozr III OC
GIGABYTE HD7850 OC WindForce x2
ZOTAC GTX680 2GB GDDR5
AMD HD7870 2GB GDDR5
Zotac GTX580 AMP2! 3GB GDDR5
XFX R7970 Black Edition 3GB GDDR5
XFX R7770 Black Edition ‘S’ 1GB GDDR5
AMD HD7750 1GB GDDR5
AMD HD7770 1GB GDDR5
HIS HD7970 3GB GDDR5
XFX DD Radeon R7950 3072MB GDDR5
PowerColor PCS+ Radeon HD7950 3072MB GDDR5
AMD Radeon HD7950 3072MB GDDR5
AMD Radeon HD7970 3072MB GDDR5
ZOTAC GTX570 AMP! 1280MB GDDR5
NVIDIA GTX570 1280MB GDDR5
MSI GTX560Ti-448 Twin Frozr III 1280MB GDDR5
MSI GTX560Ti-384 Twin Frozr III 2GB GDDR5
AMD HD6990 4GB GDDR5

***NOTE*** Pre-release Forceware drivers (305.37) were used with the ZOTAC GTX660Ti.

Motherboard: MSI X79 Big Bang X-Power II
CPU: Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition @ 4.5GHz
RAM – 16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance (Red) DDR3 @ 1866MHz 9-10-9-27
Power Supply – ANTEC High Current Pro 1200W
Hard Drive – Kingston HyperX 240GB
Cooler – Corsair H100

Benchmarks
We have also updated our range of benchmarks to include the following games which will give the graphics cards a challenge and sort the wheat from the chaff. Each benchmark will be run at both stock and maximum overclock settings and utilise 1920×1080 and 2560×1600 resolutions along with AA at various levels (application dependent):

Battlefield 3
Crysis 2
Crysis Warhead
Metro 2033
Batman: Arkham City
Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
DiRT 3
Futuremark 3DMark 2011
Unigine: Heaven 2.5

Let’s see how today’s graphics card performed…

Overclocking (GPU Boost)

Overclocking via NVIDIA’s GPU Boost was covered in our ZOTAC GTX680 review so I won’t go into detail here on the attributes and pitfalls of using this method to overclock a GPU. Suffice to say it is relatively easy to use if somewhat a little awkward when determining the weak link in an overclock.

The MSI GTX680 OC Twin Frozr, as the name suggests arrives pre-overclocked to an already impressive 1058MHz on the core which translates to a boost clock of 1124MHz. The memory speed remains untouched at 1502MHz (6008MHz effective).

Using MSI’s own Afterburner tool we ramped up the voltage and power boost to the maximum settings and set about overclocking the card.

After only an hours work, we managed to overclock the core to 1214MHz resulting in a boost speed of 1279MHz. During testing we actually saw this boost hit 1300MHz briefly too which is verging on the ridiculous! For suicide benching we did manage to clock the card a little higher to 1250MHz but sadly this resulted in Heaven locking up occasionally so we settled for the rock solid stable 1214MHz. Their was also room to manoeuvre with the memory too which resulted in a maximum stable overclock of 1570MHz(6280MHz effective) which is a great result for MSI.

Temperature, Acoustics and Power Consumption

Power Consumption

To test for power consumption we do not use anything too technical, just a wall meter which measures the total system power draw minus the monitor.

The MSI GTX680 drew a little less power than the other GTX680’s on test at stock clockspeeds with a full system draw of 343W. Even with the voltages increased to their maximum anlong with enhanced clockspeeds, the card still behaved by drawing just 20W more.

Temperature

To test temperatures we measured idle temperatures after booting windows, letting all applications finish loading and ran a few benchmarks. Once the benchmarks were complete we left the card to reach a cooling plateau where we then took the idle temperatures. For the load tests, we would normally run Furmark for 20 minutes, taking the absolute maximum temperature attained however we found that this throttled the card and resulted in spurious results. So we set Heaven running continuously for 20 minutes and used this as a temperature result as the card did not throttle with this application.

As expected, he MSI GTX680 Twin Frozr performed very well indeed, keeping the temperatures very cool indeed. 61c on full load is a fantastic result for MSI and to further concrete their position, the cards temperatures only increased by a further couple of degrees when the voltages and clockspeeds were increased.

Acoustics

The Twin Frozr cooler with it’s twin fan ‘propeller’ design works very well by keeping the heatsink cool and I am happy to report it does this fairly quietly too. With the fans set to auto in Afterburner, the card barely raised a murmur and you would be hard pushed to notice it above medium speed case fans. Setting the card manually above 50% did raise volume levels but rather than the whoosh sound you would expect from two large fans, the sound is more of a whine. That said you will have no cause to increase the fan speed manually thanks to the Twin Frozr cooling design being so efficient at dissipating heat.

Let’s move on to our suite of gaming and synthetic benchmarks…

Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3 leaps ahead of its time with the power of Frostbite™ 2, the next instalment of DICE’s cutting-edge game engine. This state-of-the-art technology is the foundation on which Battlefield 3 is built, delivering enhanced visual quality, a grand sense of scale, massive destruction, dynamic audio and incredibly lifelike character animations. As bullets whiz by, walls crumble, and explosions throw you to the ground, the battlefield feels more alive and interactive than ever before. In Battlefield 3, players step into the role of the elite U.S. Marines where they will experience heart-pounding missions across diverse locations including Paris, Tehran and New York.

Average and minimum frames per second were measured using Fraps during the parking lot scene on Operation Sword Breaker. High and Ultra presets were loaded at both resolutions.

Crysis 2

Crytek took an internet beating from its loyal fans due to the fact that they pandered to the console masses and dumbed down the graphics to DirectX 9. Fortunately, fans of the PC version of Crysis managed to force Cryteks hand and they have since developed a DX11 patch and have also enhanced the textures with added tesselation. It is for this reason that we have decided to include it in our suite of benchmarks.

To test the cards we used the Crysis 2 benchmark courtesy of Adrenaline with both the 1.9 patch, DX11 update and Hi-res texture pack. Settings were manually placed to Ultra, DX11 and tessellation enabled with the Central Park map being run 3 times per resolution benchmark test.

Crysis Warhead

Following the success of Crysis, the stand alone expansion “Warhead” was hotly anticipated to bring more game play, more weapons, improved visuals whilst maintaining better performance, the latter being what gamers wanted most. After all how many people upgraded their rigs just to play this game… In the game, you play as the upbeat Brit Sergeant “Psycho” Sykes, chasing down a Korean nuclear warhead. Throw in some ice shooting aliens and we’re bound to have a great game. It sure delivered.

Testing was done using Framebuffer’s Crysis Warhead benchmarking tool. The tests were configured to DirectX 10 at Enthusiast levels. Each test on the Ambush map was looped three times from which the average FPS was recorded.

Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City, the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.

The results below were obtained from the built-in benchmark utility from the game.

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Skyrim is not a direct successor to the very popular Oblivion. Instead it takes place 200 years after the events of Oblivion. The non-linear playing that made the Elder Scrolls such a popular series does however make a return along with the beautiful scenery the encompasses the world of Skyrim.

Average and minimum frames per second were measured using Fraps during the drop down passage to Riverwood. V-sync was disabled to allow fluctuating (higher the 60) FPS for these runs. It is however recommended that v-sync is left enabled during normal gameplay due to the games dynamics.

DiRT 3

As players race to elevate their global standing, DiRT 3 is back delivering mud, sweat and gears world over: from the intense weather-beaten rally stages of Europe, Africa and the US, to executing performance driving showcases and career challenges where car control is pushed to spectacular limits.

The in-game benchmarking tool was used to test performance. All the display settings were set to the maximum available and DirectX 11 was applied. The average FPS was recorded at the end.

Metro 2033

Based on the novel by the same name, Metro 2033 is a first person shooter with elements of survival horror. As Artyom, you trawl through the mutant infested metro systems of post-apocalyptic Moscow. The game delivers presents a grim ambience that reflects on the overall atmosphere of the underground setting. Metro 2033 uses the setting as a back drop to showcase some of the best visuals of any games out now, making it the ideal benchmark for those looking for the best graphics card.

The bundled benchmarking tool was used on Metro 2033, configuring the settings to High and making use of DirectX 11. The frontline scene was looped 3 times for each configuration. The average FPS was recorded at the end.

Futuremark 3DMark 11

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world’s most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. The benchmark was run in both Performance and Extreme presets.

Unigine: Heaven 2.5

Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine™ engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.

Conclusion

The MSI GTX680 OC Twin Frozr is a very good card which has many positives and few negatives. Let’s start with the negatives:

Firstly, the PCB colour choice. Who can honestly say brown is their favourite colour? Indeed many would say brown is their least favourite so why do MSI persist in using it for their circuit boards? While this will be a minor point for many, some enthusiasts are placing aesthetics very high on their list when choosing components and I can’t help feeling MSI would sell many more if they developed a black PCB across their entire range.

Secondly, it has to be said that £440 is not cheap. This card costs some £80 more than a reference design and for that you are getting a mild factory overclock on the core which most if not all reference GTX680’s should be able to do. The key to the increase in price though is the Twin Frozr III cooler. Whether you value the cooler so much will depend on your need for a cool and quiet card – which brings me to the positives of the MSO GTX680 OC Twin Frozr.

This cooler on this card has to be one of the best on the market as it not only cools very well, it also does so quietly. With this added cooling we were able to overclock the card further, increasing voltages as we went. While many will claim they can do this with a reference design cooler, what you don’t see at first glance is the clockspeeds throttling back due to temperature increases. We encountered no such throttling with the MSI Twin Frozr III. The cooler has seen a refresh of late on their extreme ‘lightening’ cards which enhances the visual appeal but other than the aesthetics, the Twin Frozr III is still very much top drawer.

Justifying the high price tag is difficult. However, in MSI’s defence, it is one of the cheaper custom cooled GTX680’s available and as we have shown today, one of the best performing cards on the market today not only the raw FPS performance but also the acoustic and cooling ability too so for that reason it is clearly deserving of our Gold award. If the card had tweaked aesthetics and a slightly lower price point it may have reached platinum territory!

So, if you are looking for a cool, quiet yet extreme performance graphics card, look no further than the MSI GTX680 OC Twin Frozr, our current ‘best on test’ single core graphics card

Pros:
– Kepler Architecture
– Factory overclocked with overclocking headroom to spare
– Cool & Quiet
– Very good all round performance

Cons:
– Dark Brown PCB
– Price