Never thought my first experience on a GTX260 would be on such a high spec version. 🙂
The Appearance
A sleek looking black PCB card with brushed metal heatsink bezel and shiny heatpipes.
Here’s a closer view of it.
The card requires 2x PCI-E power connector for power feed.
Notice also the heatsink fins in the photo above and also the heatpipes in the photo below.
The card is ever-ready for SLI.
PCI holder piece with MSI carved on it. 🙂 The card comes with HDMI, DVI and VGA output – alright! No converters needed.
Generally it’s a beautiful card but how does it perform? And what about the heatsink?
The Bundle & Card Details
All the details are at the official product page.
Test Setup
The computer setup used for this review.
Processor | Intel Coreâ„¢2 Duo E7200 @ 3.6ghz |
RAM | Kingston HyperX 4GB Dual-channel Kit |
Motherboard | Jetway X-Blue P45 |
Cooler | Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer Heatsink 92mm |
Monitor | 20″ Dell Ultra-sharp Wide-screen LCD |
Power Supply | Gigabyte Odin GT 550w |
Operating System | Windows Vista Home Basic 32bit |
Driver Version | Forceware 190.38 |
The Performance
Since I don’t have any GTX275 around, I believe the closet comparison would be to the HD4890 card.
World In Conflict
Graphic Detail : Maximum @ 1680×1050
Card | Average |
39 | |
Gigabyte Radeon HD4890 | 35 |
Company Of Heroes : Opposing Fronts
Graphic Detail : Maximum @ 1680×1050
Card | Average |
MSI N260GTX | 54.1 |
Gigabyte Radeon HD4890 | 55.9 |
Lost Planet : Extreme Condition
Graphic Detail : Maximum at 1680 x 946
Card | Snow (Average) | Cave (Average) |
MSI N260GTX | 67.9 | 67.8 |
Gigabyte Radeon HD4890 | 64.6 | 60.6 |
Crysis
Graphic Detail : Maximum @ 1680×1050
Card | Average |
MSI N260GTX | 18.47 |
Gigabyte Radeon HD4890 | 22.21 |
H.A.W.X.
Graphic Detail : Maximum @ 1680×1050, not using DX10.1 for mode.
Card | Average |
MSI N260GTX | 54 |
Gigabyte Radeon HD4890 | 52 |
Furmark
Graphic Detail : Maximum @ 1680×1050
Card | Average |
MSI N260GTX | 13 |
Gigabyte Radeon HD4890 | 42 |
Operating Temperature
Furmark was used for graphic card stressing.
Card | Idle (°C) | Load (°C) | Stress (°C) |
MSI N260GTX | 43 | 52 | 68 |
Readings were taken when ambient temperature was around 23°C.
– Load, Furmark was run for 1 minute at 1680×1050 with 4xAA.
– Stress, Furmark was run under the Stress Test mode for 5 minutes.
Great temperature I must say, the customized heatsink is certainly worth the value.
Power Consumption
Please note that the numbers below indicate the wattage for the entire system, not the graphic card alone.
System Power Consumption | Idle (w) | Load (w) |
MSI N260GTX | 68 | 184 |
Readings taken with Gigabyte’s P-Tuner software.
Other Matters
Unlike the other articles, the MSI N260GTX review would be pointless if we missed the the goodies that come with the LIGHTNING!
First up – the AirForce Panel. I have no idea why it’s called AirForce panel, like whether it’s designed based on any particular component used in any AirForce.
Regardless, here’s the AirForce Panel in action. Take note of my annotations.
As you can see – it’s flimsy. The panel itself is great but the mounting was awful. 1 center piece to hold a panel? I thought the idea was good but it certainly doesn’t look “airforce” or “military” here. It’s touch-sensitive nature is not all that sensitive either, it’s difficult to know where you’re touching either since it’s all flat.. 🙁 The semi-transparent screws MSI are tricky to keep track too, misplace it and it’s difficult to find.
And next, let’s have a look at the overclocking software – again, another good idea BUT it fades off too quickly. And to get that thing showing again, I had to press the panel and a few seconds later – it goes off again. I don’t recall any option was available to disable the FADE AWAY but it sure is annoying.
More details on the flaw of this software.
And lastly (just for fun) – a video showing how the panel could allow you to control screen brightness and contrast, which I think is pointless since people would have already done that via their monitor when they first purchased it.
Conclusion
The card itself is good, as you can see it stacks up very well against even the HD4890 which his supposedly to be GTX275 class.
As for the accessories – great ideas with bad implementation. 🙂 Seriously, I couldn’t care if the panel was removable. I’d rather they made it “hold still” to the 5.25″ bay itself to be sturdy enough so I could at least touch it properly.
good review Goldfries! keep it coming..