MSI HD 7870 Twin Frozr III 2048M

W1zzard · Mar 28, 2012, 03:58 PM

To read this review go to: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/M...70_Twin_Frozr/

okidna · Apr 3, 2012, 04:31 PM

Typo :

"MSI is using their DirectCU II cooler on the card, which we have seen on other models before."

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/M...n_Frozr/3.html

Good review and nice card, btw

W1zzard · Apr 3, 2012, 04:34 PM

fixed, too many numbers in the coolers

NHKS · Apr 3, 2012, 05:28 PM

Nice review again W1zz.. although the card itself doesnt impress me much with performance gain(2% max over stock).. noise@load too seems on the higher side.. the temps dont look great either.. the stock card can OC to 1205 MHz compared to 1230MHz of the TFIII, while temp@load+OC for stock is 71C against 74C of the TFIII.. without OC both stock & TFIII hover around 69C.. so what is the real purpose of TFIII other than 'marginally' better OC capability (&10$ hike)?

btw.. I like the new 'Verdict icons' used by TPU! when was it updated?.. even old reviews seem updated with this

Dj-ElectriC · Apr 3, 2012, 07:09 PM

Getting the better version based on the TF IV soon. Will update results, not allowed to say more about this.

NHKS · Apr 3, 2012, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dj-ElectriC

Getting the better version based on the TF IV soon. Will update results.

U mean the 7870 Hawk?

arnoo1 · Apr 3, 2012, 07:15 PM

i don't get it, the msi twinfrozer cooler is dead silent on some geforce cards and they consume more power, it's just 155w and it's noisy? what's up with that?
crappy tim or weak airflow in the case wizz test those cards?
45db is not normal for a twinfrozer cooler

Dj-ElectriC · Apr 3, 2012, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NHKS

U mean the 7870 Hawk?

Quote:

not allowed to say more about this.

One thing i will say is that XFX's BE card was able to OC to 1245Mhz on its core at stock voltage.

OneCool · Apr 3, 2012, 08:14 PM

So in a perfect world this would have been the competition for the 680 (both being a mid-high level card)

I think it could have been very easy for AMD to have done the same thing nV did.Crank up the core and mem and let it fly.Clock for Clock the 680 is faster but some things could have been tweaked and changed to to fix that.

Nice card.If it only cost about $250 AMD would sale these things like crack.

W1zzard · Apr 3, 2012, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arnoo1

crappy tim or weak airflow in the case wizz test those cards?

same case / airflow / room temperature in all my reviews

it's the fan settings that are not properly adjusted to the cooler

Norton · Apr 3, 2012, 08:51 PM

Thanks for the great reviews as usual

This one is nice but I think I will hold off for the Hawk version for when I upgrade my 6870 Hawk later this year

Crap Daddy · Apr 3, 2012, 09:09 PM

Agreed, the 7870 is a very good card... for 2010. 5% faster than the GTX570/HD6970 for 370$? Really? Yeah, I know, uses half the power and overclocks like a beast.

N3M3515 · Apr 3, 2012, 10:41 PM

W1z, the memory clocks of the GTX 680 in the specifications sheet is wrong, isn't it 1500 Mhz?

N3M3515 · Apr 3, 2012, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dj-ElectriC

One thing i will say is that XFX's BE card was able to OC to 1245Mhz on its core at stock voltage.

All i have to say to that is......................HOLY SH*T!!!

Quote:

Agreed, the 7870 is a very good card... for 2010. 5% faster than the GTX570/HD6970 for 370$? Really? Yeah, I know, uses half the power and overclocks like a beast.

Reference card should cost $240 max.
Lightning, DCU, TF, BE, etc, maybe $260.

PD: off topic, supposedly the high prices on HD 7770 ($160), where going to dry HD 6870 (EOL?) inventories, but i still see LOTS of HD 6870 in all the stores.

Major_A · Apr 4, 2012, 06:13 AM

What happened to the days of getting a game with your video card? The first card manufacturer that sets up a plan with STEAM to offer either a game credit or a monetary limit is going to get more customers. Sure custom PCB and aftermarket fans are all great but in the end people/we buy these things to play games.

stupido · Apr 4, 2012, 08:18 AM

quick question to Wizzard:
why do you use MW4 to test the gain of overclocks? I mean is that game particularly sensitive or something else?

I'm curious because any card can run that title nicely... To me it would be beneficial to see if the overclock is doing well in more challenging games such as BF3, Crysis-whatever or likes...

zargana · Apr 4, 2012, 08:39 AM

With the AMD's 7 series MSi's custom solution is under expectation as we compare to old generation. Also Asus have some issues on his custom solution. Expl. 7950 dcu issues.

But the comments on various sites for Sapphire with his dual-x solution is very good. Sapphire with new AMD 7 series has the "wind" on his side. Price, cooling, quietness etc.

I think before buy any AMD 7870,7950, 7970 custom designed solution, sapphire dual-x must be considered!

Dj-ElectriC · Apr 4, 2012, 09:12 AM

IMO Sapphire was always the best in price\performance\cooling\OC ratio, at least since the HD5000 days where OC became more important and do-able.

djxinator · Apr 4, 2012, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dj-ElectriC

IMO Sapphire was always the best in price\performance\cooling\OC ratio, at least since the HD5000 days where OC became more important and do-able.

I got my Sapphire 7870 recently, Its wonderful. 1250/1450 (MSI Afterburner Limits memory, need to use ASUS GPU Tweak for higher memory)

Paid £265 for it, which is lower than the Reference price.

Kärlekstrollet · Apr 4, 2012, 04:17 PM

Great review, but sadly I have Sapphire HD7870 for a good price of 299USD.

Mar 28, 2012, 03:58 PM	#1
W1zzard Benevolent Dictator Join Date: May 2004 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posts: 13,758 (4.18/day) Thanks: 184 Thanked 10,207 Times in 3,156 Posts System Specs	MSI HD 7870 Twin Frozr III 2048M To read this review go to: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/M...70_Twin_Frozr/ Last edited by W1zzard; Apr 3, 2012 at 04:36 PM.

Processor:	Intel Core i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz
Motherboard:	ASUS P8Z68-V Pro
Memory:	3x 2048 MB Mushkin DDR3
Video Card:	ASUS GeForce GTX 670 Direct CU II TOP
Hard Disk:	Crucial C300 128 GB, WD6400AAKS 640 GB, WD15EADS 1.5 TB
Optical Drive:	BenQ DW1640
CRT/LCD Model:	Dell U3011 30", 2560x1600 + 19" 1280x1024
Case:	NZXT H2
Sound Card:	On-board Realtek HD
PSU:	Kingwin Absolute Platinum 550 W
Software:	Windows 7 64-bit

System Name:	Downgrading......
Processor:	AMD FX-4100 @ 4.6 Ghz
Motherboard:	ASRock 970 Extreme3
Cooling:	Xigmatek DK Nighthawk
Memory:	F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
Video Card:	HIS HD7850 @ 1000/1400
Hard Disk:	80GB WDC + 500 GB WDC GREEN
PSU:	Seasonic SS-650AT 650W
Software:	Windows 7 SP1 x64
Benchmarks:	http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/aqppg/ \| http://valid.canardpc.com/2702426

Processor:	Intel Core i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz
Motherboard:	ASUS P8Z68-V Pro
Memory:	3x 2048 MB Mushkin DDR3
Video Card:	ASUS GeForce GTX 670 Direct CU II TOP
Hard Disk:	Crucial C300 128 GB, WD6400AAKS 640 GB, WD15EADS 1.5 TB
Optical Drive:	BenQ DW1640
CRT/LCD Model:	Dell U3011 30", 2560x1600 + 19" 1280x1024
Case:	NZXT H2
Sound Card:	On-board Realtek HD
PSU:	Kingwin Absolute Platinum 550 W
Software:	Windows 7 64-bit

Apr 3, 2012, 05:28 PM	#4
NHKS Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 572 (0.96/day) Thanks: 1,853 Thanked 375 Times in 199 Posts	Nice review again W1zz.. although the card itself doesnt impress me much with performance gain(2% max over stock).. noise@load too seems on the higher side.. the temps dont look great either.. the stock card can OC to 1205 MHz compared to 1230MHz of the TFIII, while temp@load+OC for stock is 71C against 74C of the TFIII.. without OC both stock & TFIII hover around 69C.. so what is the real purpose of TFIII other than 'marginally' better OC capability (&10$ hike)? btw.. I like the new 'Verdict icons' used by TPU! when was it updated?.. even old reviews seem updated with this Last edited by NHKS; Apr 3, 2012 at 05:36 PM.

Apr 3, 2012, 04:31 PM	#2
okidna Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Indonesia Posts: 360 (0.72/day) Thanks: 496 Thanked 270 Times in 150 Posts System Specs	Typo : "MSI is using their DirectCU II cooler on the card, which we have seen on other models before." http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/M...n_Frozr/3.html Good review and nice card, btw

Apr 3, 2012, 04:34 PM	#3
W1zzard Benevolent Dictator Join Date: May 2004 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posts: 13,758 (4.18/day) Thanks: 184 Thanked 10,207 Times in 3,156 Posts System Specs	fixed, too many numbers in the coolers

Apr 3, 2012, 07:09 PM	#5
Dj-ElectriC Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Trollithia Posts: 1,577 (1.56/day) Thanks: 141 Thanked 643 Times in 300 Posts System Specs	Getting the better version based on the TF IV soon. Will update results, not allowed to say more about this.

System Name:	UTPC \| IRIS \| mITX
Processor:	Core i7 3960X @ 4.4Ghz \| Core i5 3570K @ 4Ghz \| 2500K
Motherboard:	MSI X79-GD65 8D \| Asus Z77 Sabertooth \| ASRock Z77 mITX
Cooling:	Swifty pump, EK block, DD GTX 360MM rad \| Raystorm\MCP655\240MM Rad \| Corsair H80i
Memory:	AVEXIR Core 32GB 1600Mhz \| Patriot VIPER3 Venom-Red 32GB 1600Mhz \| 8GB 1600Mhz
Video Card:	MSI Lightning GTX680 2GB SLI \| Intel iGPU Graphics \| iGPU
Hard Disk:	X2 Seagate barracuda 1TB, Corsair Perf Pro 256GB \| Samsung 830 128GB SSD \ Seagate 3TB \| 2TB Seagate
Optical Drive:	like... plastic media readers and such? o_0
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PSU:	Antec HCP Platinum 1000W \| Classified Antec 750W \| Antec TPN-750W
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate 64BIT \| same \| same
Benchmarks:	Over 9000 @ 3DMark V\11

Apr 3, 2012, 07:15 PM	#7
arnoo1 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Netherlands Posts: 708 (0.54/day) Thanks: 98 Thanked 116 Times in 99 Posts System Specs	i don't get it, the msi twinfrozer cooler is dead silent on some geforce cards and they consume more power, it's just 155w and it's noisy? what's up with that? crappy tim or weak airflow in the case wizz test those cards? 45db is not normal for a twinfrozer cooler __________________ intel + nvidia the best amd

System Name:	gaming system/ Moms pc
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Memory:	8gb corsair vengeance 1600mhz c8 @1.5 v/ 4gb kinston ram 1333mhz
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Hard Disk:	corsair F3 120gb SATA 6gb's OS ,2tb wd caviar black 64mb sata 6gb's(storage)/ corsair F3 60 @sata300
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Apr 3, 2012, 08:14 PM	#9
OneCool Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Look behind you!! Posts: 795 (0.29/day) Thanks: 71 Thanked 58 Times in 39 Posts	So in a perfect world this would have been the competition for the 680 (both being a mid-high level card) I think it could have been very easy for AMD to have done the same thing nV did.Crank up the core and mem and let it fly.Clock for Clock the 680 is faster but some things could have been tweaked and changed to to fix that. Nice card.If it only cost about $250 AMD would sale these things like crack.

Apr 3, 2012, 08:51 PM	#11
Norton WCG Team Assistant Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Northeast, USA Posts: 5,121 (9.94/day) Thanks: 5,358 Thanked 9,990 Times in 3,157 Posts System Specs	Thanks for the great reviews as usual This one is nice but I think I will hold off for the Hawk version for when I upgrade my 6870 Hawk later this year __________________ *Why sit on the Bench* when you can get in the game and Crunch!!!- World Community Grid (FTW) CPU crunchers- FX-8350(4.4)/FX-8150(4.0)/FX-6200(4.0)/ PII 1045T/PII 1045T/i7-920/Xeon (6c/12t)....(44 cores/54 threads) GPU crunchers- no WCG GPU work available Folding@Home- 2x GTX 580's WCG-TPU Mothers Day Challenge (5/10 thru 5/19- crunch for our Team, for Mom, for games and prizes )**

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Motherboard:	ASUS M5A99X Evo/ ASUS M4A79XTD Evo/Biostar A880GZ/Biostar A880GZ/ASUS M5A97 EVO/EVGA X58 SLI 3- x2
Cooling:	Xig Night Hawk/ AMD stock hp/Xig Gaia/Xig Night Hawk/Xig Night Hawk/H70/Phantek
Memory:	2x4GB G.Skill Ares DDR31866/2x4GB DDR3 1600/2x2GB DDR31600/2x2GB DDR31600/2x4GB DDR31600/2x3GB/2x3GB
Video Card:	HD 7870/8400GS/IGP/7770/HD 7870/3x HD 7770's
Hard Disk:	2xWD 640(Blue)/WD 80/WD 160/WD 320 (2.5")/WD 160(2.5")/WD VR 150GB/WD 320
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Software:	Windows 7 HP 64/Win7 Pro 64/ Vista 64bit/Win7 Pro 64/Win7 Pro 64/Win7 Pro 64/Win7 Pro 64
Benchmarks:	Why sit on the Bench when you can get in the game and Crunch!!!

Apr 3, 2012, 09:09 PM	#12
Crap Daddy Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 2,282 (2.45/day) Thanks: 941 Thanked 961 Times in 669 Posts System Specs	Agreed, the 7870 is a very good card... for 2010. 5% faster than the GTX570/HD6970 for 370$? Really? Yeah, I know, uses half the power and overclocks like a beast.

System Name:	Dusty/Rusty
Processor:	i5-2500K/E8400
Motherboard:	ASRock P67Extreme4/ASRock 4core1600P35
Cooling:	CM Hyper TX3/Intel stock
Memory:	4x2GB Kingston HyperX/2x2GB DDR2
Video Card:	EVGA GTX570SC/Palit GTX560SE
Hard Disk:	WD BlueCaviar 500GB/Spinpoint F3 1TB/Seagate Barracuda 500 GB
Optical Drive:	LG/Asus
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung SyncMaster T220/Samsung 32" LCD TV
Case:	Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced/El Cheapo
Sound Card:	Asus Xonar D1/Denon PMA500AE/Senn HD518/Sony SSB1000
PSU:	Corsair TX650/Corsair TX650M
Software:	Windows 7/Windows 8 Pro

Apr 3, 2012, 10:41 PM	#13
N3M3515 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cartagena Posts: 374 (0.39/day) Thanks: 173 Thanked 37 Times in 33 Posts System Specs	W1z, the memory clocks of the GTX 680 in the specifications sheet is wrong, isn't it 1500 Mhz?

Processor:	Intel Core I5 2500K @ 4.5 Ghz
Motherboard:	ASUS P8Z68-V
Cooling:	Cooler Master V6 GT
Memory:	Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600 Mhz
Video Card:	MSI 7870 Hawk 2GB
Hard Disk:	OCZ Vertex 4 256GB Sata 3, WD Caviar Black 2TB
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CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung Syncmaster 2243LNX
Case:	Lian Li PC-K63
PSU:	Corsair TX650 V2
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64 Bits

Apr 4, 2012, 06:13 AM	#15
Major_A Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 126 (0.09/day) Thanks: 13 Thanked 25 Times in 24 Posts System Specs	What happened to the days of getting a game with your video card? The first card manufacturer that sets up a plan with STEAM to offer either a game credit or a monetary limit is going to get more customers. Sure custom PCB and aftermarket fans are all great but in the end people/we buy these things to play games.

System Name:	2600k
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Motherboard:	Intel DZ68BC
Cooling:	Asetek 550LC
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Apr 4, 2012, 08:18 AM	#16
stupido Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Belgium Posts: 135 (0.10/day) Thanks: 2 Thanked 21 Times in 11 Posts System Specs	quick question to Wizzard: why do you use MW4 to test the gain of overclocks? I mean is that game particularly sensitive or something else? I'm curious because any card can run that title nicely... To me it would be beneficial to see if the overclock is doing well in more challenging games such as BF3, Crysis-whatever or likes...

System Name:	No name
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Motherboard:	GA-EP45-UD3P
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Apr 4, 2012, 08:39 AM	#17
zargana Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 41 (0.09/day) Thanks: 6 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	With the AMD's 7 series MSi's custom solution is under expectation as we compare to old generation. Also Asus have some issues on his custom solution. Expl. 7950 dcu issues. But the comments on various sites for Sapphire with his dual-x solution is very good. Sapphire with new AMD 7 series has the "wind" on his side. Price, cooling, quietness etc. I think before buy any AMD 7870,7950, 7970 custom designed solution, sapphire dual-x must be considered!

Apr 4, 2012, 09:12 AM	#18
Dj-ElectriC Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Trollithia Posts: 1,577 (1.56/day) Thanks: 141 Thanked 643 Times in 300 Posts System Specs	IMO Sapphire was always the best in price\performance\cooling\OC ratio, at least since the HD5000 days where OC became more important and do-able.

System Name:	The Xinator
Processor:	i5 2500k @ 4.6Ghz
Motherboard:	ASUS P8Z68-V-PRO
Cooling:	Phanteks PH-TC14PE
Memory:	8GB Corsair Vengeance White LP 1600Mhz 1.35v
Video Card:	AMD Sapphire HD 7870 2GB @ 1250/1450
Hard Disk:	640GB WD Caviar Black
Optical Drive:	Samsung 24x RW+ DVD Rewriter
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung Syncmaster 226BW 22' LCD
Case:	Antec 1200 (V1)
Sound Card:	Integrated 7.1
PSU:	Antec CP-850
Software:	Windows 7 Pro 64bit

Apr 4, 2012, 04:17 PM	#20
Kärlekstrollet Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 8 (0.02/day) Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Great review, but sadly I have Sapphire HD7870 for a good price of 299USD.

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