Trim the memory and crank the voltages; MSI's R6950 Twin Frozr III PE

Subject: Graphics Cards | October 17, 2011 - 12:09 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: R6950 1GB Twin Frozr III Power Edition, msi, hd6950, factory overclocked

The MSI R6950 1GB Twin Frozr III Power Edition is a bit of an odd duck.  While it comes with MSI's custom cooler, the Twin Frozr III, and a 50MHz overclock on both the RAM and GPU, it sports only 1GB of GDDR5 which is half of what a reference card possesses.  On the other hand MSI has given you direct control over the voltages being fed to the GPU, memory and VDDCI, overclockers might find themselves more interested than they might have thought at first.  [H]ard|OCP compared it to a reference 2GB HD6950 and only saw issues with the smaller memory size when enabling anti-aliasing on games which did not support FXAA or MLAA, apart from that there was little real impact from having 1GB of RAM.  On the other hand the overclocking showed a lot of potential, though [H] did feel that they could have pushed the card further with updated MSI Afterburner overclocking software.

"Today we will be looking at a 1GB Radeon HD 6950 from MSI sporting its latest cooling innovation, the Twin Frozr III. Will 1GB of VRAM constrain the Twin Frozr III, or will Triple Over-Voltage support give it enough boost to soar past a 2GB HD 6950 and GeForce GTX 570?"

Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:

Graphics Cards

• Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 Dirt 3 Edition @ TechwareLabs
• MSI's R6870 Hawk Review @ Madshrimps
• ASUS EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5 @ Hardwareoverclock
• XFX HD6950 DD, HD6870 DD and HD6790 DD @ kitguru
• Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 Dirt 3 1GB Dual Fan Video Card Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• HIS Radeon HD 6970 IceQ MIX 2GB Review @ Real World Labs
• Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 FleX Edition 2GB Graphics Card Review @ eTeknix
• Silent Games: Three Unique Graphics Accelerators on Radeon HD 67xx with Passive Coolers @ X-bit Labs
• Arctic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo 6990 Cooler Review @ Kitguru
• Deepcool Dracula: Super Efficiency without Much Noise @ X-bit Labs
• x264 HD Benchmark 4.0 @ TechARP
• NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 Kit Review @ Hardware Canucks
• NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 w/ 3D LightBoost Review @ Legit Reviews
• Asus GeForce Matrix GTX 580 Platinum 1536MB Graphics Card Review @ eTeknix
• EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Classified Video Card @ Benchmark Reviews

Putting the PCIe 3.0 slot before the card, MSI's new Z68 board

Subject: Motherboards | September 26, 2011 - 04:56 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: z68, msi, Z68A-GD65-G3, sandy bridge, lga1155

When [H]ard|OCP reviewed the MSI Z68A-UD3H B3, they took some time examining MSI's version of UEFI called Click BIOS; it did not come out well, they panned it as horrible.  MSI listened to their suggestions as well as comments from other sites and users and developed the Click BIOS 2, which is first hitting the market in the Z68A-GD65-G3.  That BIOS, barring a few small issues, came out much better and seemed more in line with the other main release of the UEFI from ASUS.  Apart from that feature, the board also a pair of PCIe 16x slots (which happen to be Version 3.0) as well as three PCIe 1x slots.  Externally it sports HDMI and DVI out, as well optical and analog SP/DIF ports, two USB 3.0 ports as well as four USB 2.0 ports; internally four SATA 6GB/s and four SATA II ports will keep storage fanatics happy.  The bundled control software received poor marks but for manual overclockers [H] leaves you with this comment ... "the only motherboard we have ever tested that allowed us to stably overclock our 2500K CPUs to 5GHz"

"In the motherboard business, it’s about differentiating the product. Once in awhile a motherboard manufacturer like MSI does just that before "the other guy." And that’s where the Z68A-GD65-G3 comes in bringing PCI-Express Generation 3 support and a new UEFI interface to the table."

Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:

Motherboards

• Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 @ hardCOREware
• MSI Z68A-GD80 (G3) @ Bjorn3D
• ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Motherboard Review @ Madshrimps
• MSI Z68A-GD80 Motherboard Review @ Neoseeker
• ASRock Z68M-ITX HT @ Tweaktown
• GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 2 @ Bjorn3D
• MSI Z68A-GD65(G3) Motherboard Review @Hi Tech Legion
• Zotac Z68-ITX WiFi @ Funky Kit
• Zotac Z68ITX-A-E Wifi @ AnandTech
• GIGABYTE Z68XP-UD3-iSSD @ Tweaktown
• Three LGA1155 Mainboards from ASUSTeK on Intel Z68 Express @ X-bit Labs
• Z68 Motherboard Roundup @ OCC
• ASUS P8H67-M EVO Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
• Intel DH67GD Motherboard Review @ HardwareLOOK
• BIOS Option Of The Week - On-Chip Frame Buffer Size @ TechARP
• BIOS Option Of The Week - PIRQ x Use IRQ No@ TechARP
• ASRock A75 Extreme 6 @ kitguru
• AMD Lynx Platform (Llano A6-3650 CPU, ECS A75F-A Motherboard) Review @ Madshrimps
• ASRock 890FX Deluxe5 AMD Motherboard Review @ ThinkComputers
• Zotac A75-ITX WiFi vs ASUS F1A75-I Deluxe Mini-ITX Motherboards Review @ HardwareHeaven
• ECS A75F-A AMD FM1 @ techPowerUp

IDF 2011: MSI Shows Off Upcoming X79 Motherboards

Subject: Motherboards, Processors | September 14, 2011 - 10:59 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: x79, sandy bridge-e, msi, idf 2011, idf

Many of Intel's partners are on hand at IDF to showcase upcoming products and I was able to stop by the MSI booth yesterday to get a peek into the future of the X79 chipset.  This chipset will launch with the upcoming Sandy Bridge-E processors (for enthusiast) sometime later this year and introduce a new processor socket (Socket 2011) as well as some new features like dozens of PCI Express connections and quad-channel memory.

The flagship board on display was the X79A-GD65 (8D) that is one of the few X79 boards I have seen sporting 8 DIMM slots (hence the name) and capacities as high as 64GB!  Most of the MSI features we have come to love on current motherboards are going to be on this line as well including Military Class components, OC Genie II and the much updated and improved ClickBIOS II.

The board is completely 3-Way SLI ready (and CrossFire as well) and sports three total PCI Express 3.0 slots at x16 bandwidth but also adds in three more PCIe 2.0 slots for good measure. 

There are 4x USB 3.0 ports, 12x USB 2.0 ports, 4x SATA 6G ports and 4x SATA 3G ports.  Needless to say the X79 platforms are going to be an enthusiast's dream.

MSI is also likely to include a new breakout box with X79 motherboards that will reside in a 5.25-in bay slot on your case (and honestly I need more things to use up there these days) and give you a couple of USB ports, an OC Genie button that will double as a BIOS reset button when held down, and even integrated WiFi and Bluetooth.  The above photo is just a mock up but the plans are in place to deliver them with these new boards.

Finally, MSI did have the much improved and updated ClickBIOS II UEFI on display and without a doubt it kicks the first version's ass.  We are working on a review that includes this new implementation so expect more on that soon.

MSI slims the notebook but doesn't trim the features

Subject: Mobile | August 25, 2011 - 12:45 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: msi, x-slim x460, ultraportable, 14

The 14" MSI X-Slim X460 Ultraportable laptop hides a little more power than the Ultraportable portion of its name implies.  The 2GHz Core i7-2630QM adds some serious processing power and also provides the graphics, making the machine good for video but not so good for gaming.  While TechSpot is unsure if the model they reviewed may be different from retail models, they saw 4GB of DDR-1333 and the storage was handled by a 500GB 7200RPM Western Digital Scorpio Black in their review sample.  Battery eater showed a range of battery life, from 63 minutes when fully stressed by gaming to 5hr 41min under the reader benchmark.  If you are looking for a laptop in the range of $1100 that is worth what you pay for, this laptop bears further investigation.

"MSI recently expanded its ultraportable offerings with the addition of two last generation X-Slim notebooks. Although they're designed to be lightweight and compact, the X460 notebooks also strive to be powerful, courtesy of Intel's Sandy Bridge processors. The flagship model comes with Intel's Core i7-2630QM, packing the quad-core chip while boasting an 8-hour battery life.

There's also the X460DX, which can come configured with Core i3 or i5 processors and the Nvidia GeForce GT 540M GPU. Both the X460 and X460DX share the same dimensions using a 14" LED backlit screen. While ultraportable laptops generally carry a 12 to 13" display, MSI says the X460 strikes a fine balance between mobility and performance.

With enough power to put the average desktop PC to shame, the MSI X460 flagship model costs roughly $1,100. Even so, that price tag makes the X460 one of the cheapest second-gen Core i7 notebooks money can buy."

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• ASUS G74SX-A1 Gaming Notebook Review @ Hardware Canucks
• Tweaks To Extend The Battery Life Of Intel Linux Notebooks @ Phoronix
• Dell Vostro V131 Review @ TechReviewSource
• HP Elitebook 2560p Review @ TechReviewSource
• HP EliteBook 8760w: Color, So Dreamy @ AnandTech
• MYTHLOGIC Pollux 1400: Clevo's W150HR Tested @ AnandTech
• How to speed up an aging MacBook with a solid state drive @ Ars Technica
• Cooler Master Notepal U Stand Review @ Neoseeker
• Cooler Master Notepal U Stand Review @ OCC
• Logisys iStand S3 Tablet Stand Review @ TechwareLabs
• Cooler Master NotePal U-Stand Aluminum Laptop Cooling Stand Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• Cooler Master Notepal U Stand Review - A Laptop Cooler Living Up To Its Name @ The SSD Review
• Cooler Master NotePal U Stand Review @ ThinkComputers
• Cooler Master NotePal U-Stand Laptop Cooler @ Pro-Clockers
• BlackBerry Torch 9860 Review @ t-break
• HP TouchSmart 610 Review @ t-break
• iPhone 4 App of the Week: Phoenix HD @ t-break

Can two overclocked GTX 550 Ti's beat the competition?

Subject: Graphics Cards | August 23, 2011 - 03:33 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: nvidia, gtx550 ti, msi, sli, N550GTX-Ti Cyclone II

If you put a limit of $300 on your graphics subsystem, you are most likely shopping for an HD6950 or possibly a heavily overclocked GTX 560 Ti or a discounted GTX570.  [H]ard|OCP tested out a different choice, two of MSI's N550GTX-Ti Cyclone II card in SLI, which can also be had for under $300.   The testing did not go so well for NVIDIA's less powerful card, the HD6950 won in almost every test and consumed less energy doing so.  There were certain situations in which they would recommend running the cards in SLI, specifically when you already own a GTX 550 or other lower powered NVIDIA card and don't plan on playing at resolutions above 1920x1200.  Only then would this upgrade make sense.

"Packing a GeForce GTX 550 Ti GPU each, we have a pair of N550GTX-Ti Cyclone II video cards that we are going to evaluate against a Radeon HD 6950, GeForce GTX 570 and even an overclocked GeForce GTX 560 Ti. At a total cost of only $260 we will find out if this dual-GTX 550 Ti action has what it takes to compete. "

Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:

Graphics Cards

• Four Graphics Cards: Inno3D iChill GTX 560 Ti, Leadtek WinFast GTX 560 OC and XFX Radeon HD 6970/HD 6950 Standard Edition @ X-bit Labs
• Zotac GTX 560 Multiview Video Card @ TechwareLabs
• ASUS MARS II 3GB Dual GTX 580 Video Card Overclocked @ Tweaktown
• ASUS Mars II 3 GB Dual GTX 580 @ techPowerUp
• ASUS ROG MARS II 3GB Video Card Preview @ Legit Reviews
• ASUS MARS II 3GB Dual GTX 580 @ Tweaktown
• ASUS ROG Mars II 3GB - A Mini Review @ VR-Zone.
• ASUS ENGTX580 DirectCU II Review @ OCC
• ZEROtherm CoolMaxx 4000 VGA Cooler @ X-bit Labs
• Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide @ TechARP
• Catalyst 11.8 Windows 7 Driver Analysis @ Tweaktown
• AC Accelero TwinTurbo Pro on HD6950 @ Hardwareoverclock

MSI's new line of Slim and Sleek Superior Performance notebooks

Subject: Mobile | August 16, 2011 - 05:27 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: msi, x460, x460dx, 14

Today MSI introduced three new 14" 1366 x 768 notebooks, the X460DX-008US, X460DX-006US and the X460-004US.  All but the X460DX-008US sport 6GB of DDR3, with the aforementioned limited to 4GB, the two DX models have a 500GB drive for storage while the non-DX has 750GB. All three have THX TruStudio Pro Technology for sound, USB 3.0 ports, HDMI out, 802.11 b/g/n Wireless LAN and extended battery life that MSI claims will provide all-day computing.  Check out the rest of the specs, including processor below, and click over to MSI if you are interested in purchasing one.