A Closer Look

MSI's TwinFrozr II heatsink uses two fans and four heatpipes to keep the card cool.


Once the heatsink module is removed, you are still left with a cooling plate that cools the memory chips and the voltage regulation circuitry. It is a simple metal plate that has been shaped elaborately to work with the different heights of the components it sits on. This approach makes it easy to attach alternate cooling solutions to the card (dry ice, LN2) without having to worry about cooling the other components.


MSI has chosen to use two 8-pin power connectors on their card. One of them always has to be connected to an 8-pin, the second one will work with either a 6-pin or 8-pin cable. To do serious overclocking, MSI recommends that you use two 8-pin power cables for optimum power delivery.


The GDDR5 memory chips are made by Samsung, and carry the model number K4G10325FE-HC04. They are specified to run at 2500 MHz (5000 MHz GDDR5 effective).


GPU voltage is managed by a UP6225 voltage controller, which supports I2C software voltage control up to 1.85 V. MSI's Afterburner lets you adjust the GPU voltage up to 1.35V. Unfortunately you can only change GPU voltage via software, adjusting the other voltages requires a hard mod via soldering. The next GPU-Z version will also be able to monitor voltages and current on this controller.


MSI has included three voltage measurement points for GPU voltage, memory voltage and VDDCI.


This is AMD's Cypress GPU, it comes with a whopping 2154 million transistors and is produced on a 40 nm process at TSMC Taiwan. The Cypress die size is 334 mm².