MSI GTX680 OC Twin Frozr III Review
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
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
- Kepler Architecture
- Factory overclocked with overclocking headroom to spare
- Cool & Quiet
- Very good all round performance
Cons:
- Dark Brown PCB
- Price
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
