MSI AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/2xMini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card R7950 TWIN FROZR 3GD5/OC
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513wNOm%2BVwL._SL160_.jpg
- Chipset: AMD Radeon HD 7950
- EngineClock: 880 MHz
- Video Memory: 3GB GDDR5
- Memory Clock: 5000 MHz
- Memory Interface: 384-bit
- Connectors: DVI, HDMI,?2x Mini DisplayPort
- Max. Resolution: 2560 x 1600
MSI AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/2xMini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card
MSI Video Cards
MSI AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/2xMini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card R7950 TWIN FROZR 3GD5/OC
List Price: $ 434.99
Price:
Top-Tier Card for Mid-Tier Price!,
At ~$300 this card is a steal. Many online benchmarks paint a fairly mediocre picture of the 7950, but the ones that do fail to take into account its massive overclocking potential. Using the MSI Afterburner overclocking utility, this card can easily go toe-to-toe with the much more expensive GTX 670 at stock voltage, and overvolted it blows it out of the water. 3Gb of memory and 2 DisplayPort sockets mean that long after this card falls behind the cutting edge, it will still be more than capable of powering the multi-monitor and 1440p+ display setups that are becoming increasingly common.
As for this particular model, the MSI Twin Frozr III, I am also very pleased. I can confirm Amazon is carrying the newer version with the more robust 7970 PCB and 8+6 pin power connecter arrangement. It does, however, come with an adapter that allows you to use two 6 pin power cables if necessary. Also, one thing that bothered me about my older Twin Frozr II GTX 560 Ti was the relatively high minimum fan speed, which in a quiet room made the card audible even at idle. With this card there is no such limitation; you get full fan speed control in Afterburner from 0-100% (though you should obviously use common sense when setting up a custom profile). Finally, the built in support bracket and unisink give this card excellent rigidity, another shortcoming of my MSI 560 Ti.
I did have to return the first card I received due to a faulty cooler, but Amazon immediately shipped me a replacement which has been working perfectly.
This card may not be right for you if you absolutely do not wish to overclock, or if you absolutely NEED Nvidia’s CUDA or PhysX technology (you really don’t, though). One area where Nvidia does seem to be superior right now is in its stereoscopic 3D support, but that is primary a driver issue and will likely change as 3D displays become more popular. Conversely, if you plan to use more than two monitors or game at higher than 1080p resolution, Radeon is really the way to go right now.
Was this review helpful to you?
Works great!,
I was waiting for the inevitable price drop for the Radeon 7950 series so I latched onto the MSI Twin Frozr version when it came down. It was easy to install, is quieter than a stock 7950 and has a fairly aggressive default overclock so I don’t have to mess around tweaking the frequencies. It was a good deal at a bit over $300 net after the rebate.
Was this review helpful to you?
Great Decent Price Card,
I bought this card to update my old computer. It has been the perfect upgrade for the perfect price for the games I play. Mainly Flight Sim X and Battlefield 3. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a middle of the road card at a good price.
Was this review helpful to you?