KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
Today we are using one of KitGuru’s most powerful systems, a Core i7 970 based configuration – liquid cooled to 4.33ghz, with a Corsair AX1200 power supply – all built into a sexy Thermaltake Level 10 chassis.
Processor: Core i7 970 @ 4.33ghz
Cooling: Coolit Vantage
Motherboard: MSI X58A-GD65 (MS-7522)
Chassis: Thermaltake Level 10
Power Supply: Corsair Ax1200
Memory: 6GB GSkill Performance Gaming ram @ 902.9 MHz (2:10) @ 9-9-9-24
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB Gen 2 SSD (Storage) / Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB (OS boot)
Monitors: Hazro Ultra Sharp HZ230Wi, Dell Ultrasharp U2410 Rev A00 x3
Other graphics cards for comparisons:
AMD HD6970
AMD HD6950
AMD HD6870
AMD HD6850
AMD HD5870
AMD HD5850
nVidia GTX570
MSI N560GTX Twin Frozr II
nVidia GTX460 OC (715/900)
Software:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
Catalyst 11.4
Forceware 266.66 WHQL
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark
TessMark
ShaderToy
HQV 2.0 Software
Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
Nikon D300S with R1C1 kit
Keithley Integra unit
Thermal Diodes
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
Extech digital sound level meter & SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter
Games:
Resident Evil 5
Colin McRae Dirt 2
Lost Planet 2
Dead Space 2
Far Cry 2
Alien V Predator
Mafia 2
BattleField: Bad Company
Tom Clancy H.A.W.X. 2
F1 2010
Crysis Warhead
Metro 2033
Left4Dead2
Battleforge
Medal Of Honor
Devil May Cry 4
All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests all games across five closely matched runs and average out the results to get an accurate median figure.
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, thats a hell of a card again from MSI
That cooler design just keeps getting better. the V2 of the frozr was one of the best, but they have really overhauled the heatpipes on this one. wasnt expecting a 6970 to be loaded when gaming under 60c!
MSI get overlooked for graphics cards, but its like ASUS and GIgabyte. when these boys want to play, no one can compete. its all the motherboard engineering teams they have on hand to create the custom designs. wicked.
A metal cooler, you dont often get that. I was reading the HIS review last night and it looks thin plastic. both work, but very different design concepts.
Never bought an MSI graphics card before, I take it their warranty would be good?
Its expensive, but they have certainly done the ‘full monty’ with the design. no stone left unturned !
The fan design is unusual. I noticed also that there are voltage options on the PCB. that is one sick friggin card.
Wow thats a nice card..
Real reason for commenting: That stone giant benchmark… Wasnt kitguru the one that posted an article about two months ago now that talked about biased benchmarks? One of them happened to be stone giant yet youre still running it in all the GPU reviews?
Hi. Yeah we had an interview with Richard Huddy in AMD who said that they are running a very high level of tessellation in Stone Giant which isnt indicative of a ‘real world’ situation.
We use it sometimes out of curiosity, but I wouldn’t think many people rely on it as a buying decision….
keep watching the stores, this will go up soon and it will sell out too. loads of people waiting on this monster board.
Thats a fucking serious gfx. hopefully they do the same for the 590 🙂
Frozer iii ftw !
Considering the extras it’s worth the extra 45 quid. The cooler is what AMD should do for the reference boards!
Apparently this card is discontinued due to too many problems. Just read through the Feedback on NewEgg’s page:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-127-581&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo
Shame on you for giving a misleading positive review. Did MSI pay you off?
Our sample was great. Loads of positive reviews around, even on the link you sent.
You expect us to review hundreds of cards to find a problem? We only get a single sample for a handful of days, we arent a retailer.
Newegg.com is still selling this product and it is hard to get one. I just got mine today and it is beautiful!