MSI GeForce GTX 660 Twin Frozr 2 GB

[W1zzard]

MSI has equipped their latest GeForce graphics card with its signature Twin Frozr III dual-fan cooler. Despite having two fans the card is quiet in both idle and load and also comes with a nice performance boost thanks to the overclock out of the box.

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[Ozpa]

In my eyes this is the winner of the 4 reviewed 660s. The balance between the noise, temperatures and overclocking seemed the best even if it was very little at times.

 

[master_shake_]

im sure you didn't type the result in correctly i think you meant 19 not 29 fps for the 660

 

[W1zzard]

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_660_Twin_Frozr_III/images/crysis2_5760_1080.gif
im sure you didn't type the result in correctly i think you meant 19 not 29 fps for the 660

that's correct. thank you. i fixed the graph. you might need to hit ctrl or shift+reload to get the image to update

 

[master_shake_]

are these cards even relevant? did they need to be released? its been quite some time since amd released the 7800 series and its like meh...

especially since it's really close to the end of the year and the new gpu's are going to get released soon.

 

[cedrac18]

Yes they are. Them being around lowers the price of the 7800 series of cards and choice is never a bad thing

 

[Casecutter]

Yes they are. Them being around lowers the price of the 7800 series of cards and choice is never a bad thing

This will do nothing to effect AMD pricing, if anything they can stand firm and see if Nvidia wises up and see's their lapse. Had they started a $210 while really nice OC's $230-240 tops, it would be taken on a whole different tone, Nvidia wasn’t aggressive, I had hopes green marketing had changed.

The problem with this card is, it’s more a hindrance for Nvidia as two things; Nvidia again cuts more into those who didn't/hadn’t, however contemplated a GTX660Ti, they don’t really see that as worthy jump or value anymore. Just as the 670 did to a 680, the 660Ti did with the 670... they are more cannibalize their own sales. The other is this completely just made any 560Ti or 570 obsolete and no consideration (not that they have been for a while now). I think Nvidia had to hold this from release this long to clear any 560Ti/570's from the shelves, and it has taken this long!

The folk that are already shedding tears, folks who bought GT640’s for an inordinate price, but they had to know that. While now Nvidia release a DDR5 version that’s not able to better a 7750 while needing a 6-pin. I suppose those early adopters can take solace in that, they don’t need the auxiliary power being so weak. I suppose a HTPC card, but then still none I’ve can recall are low profile.

 

[Danieldee]

3 monitors to GTX660

How you connect 3 monitors (3x Hanns.G HL225DBB)? DVI+DVI+(HDMI-to-DVI)?
I tried connect 3 monitors to Radeon 7770 (VGA+DVI+HDMI), long time ago - it's don't work. monitor number 3 must connect to DisplayPort only.

 

[W1zzard]

How you connect 3 monitors (3x Hanns.G HL225DBB)? DVI+DVI+(HDMI-to-DVI)?
I tried connect 3 monitors to Radeon 7770 (VGA+DVI+HDMI), long time ago - it's don't work. monitor number 3 must connect to DisplayPort only.

on nvidia it just works. on amd hd 7000 you need to use an active displayport adapter

the underlying reason is that dvi and hdmi require a tmds clock signal. amd has only put two tmds clock generators on their card while nvidia has at least 3

 

[Danieldee]

the underlying reason is that dvi and hdmi require a tmds clock signal. amd has only put two tmds clock generators on their card while nvidia has at least 3

Oh, I understand. Thanks.

 

[cedrac18]

This will do nothing to effect AMD pricing, if anything they can stand firm and see if Nvidia wises up and see's their lapse. Had they started a $210 while really nice OC's $230-240 tops, it would be taken on a whole different tone, Nvidia wasn’t aggressive, I had hopes green marketing had changed.

These cuts were done due to the 660 coming out right?

The folk that are already shedding tears, folks who bought GT640’s for an inordinate price, but they had to know that. While now Nvidia release a DDR5 version that’s not able to better a 7750 while needing a 6-pin. I suppose those early adopters can take solace in that, they don’t need the auxiliary power being so weak. I suppose a HTPC card, but then still none I’ve can recall are low profile.

I agree the 650 is pure fail because it needs a 6 pin and does not beat the 7750 which doesn't need one but the 660 is the most powerful 1x6pin card you can buy today and that matters to me (still using a 5770) and probably to some others like me with smaller PSUs.

Also before anyone asks buying a GPU with sucks up more power will require me to buy a ~$300 GPU, a new PSU ~$90 as well as a new UPS battery backup capable of holding the charge $90. Gaming is not important enough for me to spend that kinds of cash. (I live in Florida yes the UPS is needed)

 

[Casecutter]

These cuts were done due to the 660 coming out right?

I'm sure AMD corrected pricing early on based on what they heard a 660 might provide, but after seeing this they won't need to revise it any further anytime soon.

660 is the most powerful 1x6pin card you can buy today

While that is a true statement, I’d never constrain my purchase based solely on the PSU I might use. You need to base/balance it on the title's you intend to play, and the resolution you intend to stay at.

Basing your choice on the PSU is counter-productive especially if you haven't upgraded that in a while. A good 500-600W with active PFC / 80 Plus Bronze PSU rating would be money well spent if the goal is predominantly about gaming. A good quality PSU saves energy and provides stable power, even when incoming main power is weak. Nothing worse is to use a underpowered PSU that's staining at its' limit as continuously (like under gaming) it might be furnishing unstable power and/or can cause random corruption, shut-down or worse component failure. Even if you're more a mix of home-use, web, email, etc; while more light gaming, if not already with a quality PSU, moving to a 80+ Bronze and AMD Zero Core would make up for any gains power wise against the GTX660 long term as the systerm sleeps. If chiefly after gaming performance and holding at 1680x, consider a 1Gb 7850 for $180, and then a nice $60 PSU isn't much more that the GTX660.

 

[cedrac18]

I'm sure AMD corrected pricing early on based on what they heard a 660 might provide, but after seeing this they won't need to revise it any further anytime soon.

I agree prices with that.

While that is a true statement, I’d never constrain my purchase based solely on the PSU I might use. You need to base/balance it on the title's you intend to play, and the resolution you intend to stay at.

Using 3x1 eyefinity portrait on my 5770 for the desktop real estate. I mostly play MMOs, they don't require much horsepower also like gaming in windowed @ 3072x1280 on my setup just lower the graphics to medium/low on most games.

Basing your choice on the PSU is counter-productive especially if you haven't upgraded that in a while. A good 500-600W with active PFC / 80 Plus Bronze PSU rating would be money well spent if the goal is predominantly about gaming. A good quality PSU saves energy and provides stable power, even when incoming main power is weak. Nothing worse is to use a underpowered PSU that's staining at its' limit as continuously (like under gaming) it might be furnishing unstable power and/or can cause random corruption, shut-down or worse component failure. Even if you're more a mix of home-use, web, email, etc; while more light gaming, if not already with a quality PSU, moving to a 80+ Bronze and AMD Zero Core would make up for any gains power wise against the GTX660 long term as the systerm sleeps. If chiefly after gaming performance and holding at 1680x, consider a 1Gb 7850 for $180, and then a nice $60 PSU isn't much more that the GTX660.

A 7870 was my number one choice and 7850 2nd before the 660 came out but now i am weighting both. I currently use this PSU it is only 80PLUS i don't really trust it to handle a 2x6pin GPU along with my 1090t, 1SSD, 3 HDDs, 6 fans, USB3.0 card, Sound card and ethernet card. I still have the box for it i could buy a new one and ebay the OCZ but to lazy to rewire my case . But thx i will take what you wrote into consideration.

 

[Casecutter]

Using 3x1 eyefinity portrait on my 5770 for the desktop real estate

Wow that kind of mix's the coventional wisdom as I haven't check such cards for multi-screen, that has me in a whole different thinking.

 

[cedrac18]

Wow that kind of mix's the coventional wisdom as I haven't check such cards for multi-screen, that has me in a whole different thinking.

Yep works for most of the games i play here is what it looks like you dont need an extreme setup to enjoy lowered detailed eyefinity and the desktop real estate is nice when you get used to the black bars and do your work around them.

 

[Casecutter]

Yep works for most of the games i play here is what it looks like you dont need an extreme setup to enjoy lowered detailed eyefinity

I normally wouldn't imagine something up to a 7870 as taxing a OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W, well any more than a GTX660, it has the 2x PCI-E 6-pins while having Active PFC is a plus. Although, running what you said, is in your rig the "eXtreme PSU Calculator" shows that with a 7870 451W is recommended, the 5770 shows it as 405W, the GTX660 isn’t yet load in their database. However given the peak and maximum from W1zzard a 660 reviews, a GTX660 looks like it’s closer to a 7870 even if only on 6-pin, while not as low as a 7850 with one 6-pin (432W recommendation). Looking at reviews most said the OCZ PSU had no issue delivering the stated 500W (if not more), while given the 6-case fans (120mm?) keep cool air for it shouldn’t be a problem.

I suppose if you’re not OC that X6 1090T Thuban 3.2GHz or plan on over clocking whatever discrete graphics you choose the 500W ModXStream Pro is fairly suitable

Too bad you didn’t see that Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W that was $35 –AR$20 yesterday at Egg that has one 6-pin and one 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors.

 

[cedrac18]

I normally wouldn't imagine something up to a 7870 as taxing a OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W, well any more than a GTX660, it has the 2x PCI-E 6-pins while having Active PFC is a plus. Although, running what you said, is in your rig the "eXtreme PSU Calculator" shows that with a 7870 451W is recommended, the 5770 shows it as 405W, the GTX660 isn’t yet load in their database. However given the peak and maximum from W1zzard a 660 reviews, a GTX660 looks like it’s closer to a 7870 even if only on 6-pin, while not as low as a 7850 with one 6-pin (432W recommendation). Looking at reviews most said the OCZ PSU had no issue delivering the stated 500W (if not more), while given the 6-case fans (120mm?) keep cool air for it shouldn’t be a problem.

I suppose if you’re not OC that X6 1090T Thuban 3.2GHz or plan on over clocking whatever discrete graphics you choose the 500W ModXStream Pro is fairly suitable

Too bad you didn’t see that Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W that was $35 –AR$20 yesterday at Egg that has one 6-pin and one 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors.

Hey sorry never thanked you for your comment and all this research you did. Today i bought this there is also this Deal to lol. Not sure which one i should keep but i already bought the 7870 i might keep since it has better high resolution numbers.

 

[jml]

Which software did you use to achieve the load & oc temps?

(Owner from Finland)

 

[W1zzard]

Which software did you use to achieve the load & oc temps?

(Owner from Finland)

a stressful game, not furmark

 

[jml]

a stressful game, not furmark

I thought so, even though with the stock clocks my GPU doesn't go above 65C with Kombustor, (if I remember correctly...).

Just curious, did you look up the ASIC quality of the reviewed card?
(Mine's 77.1%)