A Closer Look

MSI's cooler uses three heatpipes, of which one is extra thick for increased heat transfer.


Voltage regulation circuitry is cooled by a second, smaller heatsink.


Power delivery requires a single 8-pin PCI-Express power connector. This configuration is specified for up to 225 W power draw.


MSI is using an OnSemi NCP81174 voltage controller, the same as on the NVIDIA GTX 960 reference design. It is a cost-effective solution without support for I2C, which makes advanced monitoring impossible. Its VID-based voltages can be monitored and controlled through NVIDIA's driver.


The GDDR5 memory chips are by Samsung and carry the model number K4G41325FC-HC28. They are specified to run at 1750 MHz (7000 MHz GDDR5 effective).


NVIDIA's new GM206 graphics processor brings the Maxwell architecture to the mainstream. It is produced on a 28 nm process at TSMC, Taiwan, with a transistor count of 2.9 billion and a die size of 228 mm².