MSI is readying its newest non-reference graphics card based on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 GPU, the overclocker-friendly N460GTX HAWK 1 GB. This is MSI's second non-reference design after the N460GTX Cyclone series. It features a beefier VRM that facilitates overclocking close to (or over) 25% of the reference speeds. The card is cooled by MSI's well known Twin-Frozr II GPU cooler. The cooler is claimed by the company to reduce temperatures by as much as 18°C and run 15.7% quieter compared to NVIDIA reference cooler.

Under the hood is a VRM that makes use of a 7+1 phase design with MSI's Solid State Chokes (SSCs), which don't give out high-pitched noise (translating into energy loss) during load. The SSCs are backed by high-C capacitors. The clock speeds out of the box are 780 MHz (core), 1560 MHz (CUDA core), and 900/3600 effective MHz (memory). Like most other 1 GB GTX 460 cards, it features 336 CUDA cores, and a 256-bit wide memory interface. A copy of Assassins' Creed II game is bundled. MSI's N460GTX HAWK will release later this week, priced at €226.