| MSI N560GTX Ti Hawk Video Card |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | |
| Written by Steven Iglesias-Hearst | |
| Wednesday, 18 May 2011 | |
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Page 18 of 18
MSI N560GTX Ti Hawk Final ThoughtsI am overall very impressed with the performance of the MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk, in most tests it was able to better a stock HD6950 and an overclocked HD6950 where a stock NVIDIA GTX 560Ti would not be able to. MSI really know how to build a great video card and our results have proved this today, this card is certainly worthy of the HAWK moniker and my only hope is that further experimentation will yield better overclocking results. The Twin Frozr III is essentially the same as the Twin Frozr II. The main differences between the two are; 1) Improved 'Propeller Blade' fans, 2) MSI's 'Form-in-one' heatsink covering all of the memory and power circuitry, and 3) An improved shroud design that not only enhances the aesthetic qualities of the cooler, but also covers the aluminum fin array much better. These enhancements culminate to make the overclocked GTX 560Ti Hawk run cooler than a GTX 560Ti with a reference design cooler when under load. MSI N560GTX Ti Hawk ConclusionImportant: In this section I am going to write a brief five point summary on the following categories; Performance, Appearance, Construction, Functionality and Value. These views are my own and help me to give the MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk Video Card a rating out of 10. A high or low score does not necessarily mean that it is better or worse than a similar video card that has been reviewed by another writer here at Benchmark Reviews, which may have got a higher or lower score. It is however a good indicator of whether the MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk is good or not. I would strongly urge you to read the entire review, if you have not already, so that you can make an educated decision for yourself.
The graphics performance of the MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk is way above standard, sure other GTX 560Ti cards may be able to reach this core clock but the Hawk does it out of the box. In seven out of our ten tests the 560Ti Hawk manages to beat not only a stock speed HD6950 but also an overclocked variant of the HD6950, this is something a reference design GTX 560Ti is unable to achieve. The appearance of the MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk is, as I'm sure you will agree, very nice indeed. The side view is given extra attention thanks to the anti-warp edge support and shroud design that provide both function and aesthetics. These additions are relatively simple but it makes all the difference once you install the card into your system. There are some that will surely disagree but thanks to the graphic nature of this review you can easily make your mind up for yourself. One thing is for sure, the Twin Frozr III design really makes the Twin Frozr II look ugly. Construction is excellent as you would expect from a company with a good reputation like MSI, there were some slightly missed areas during the cleaning process but it is nothing major as it only hurts the aesthetics and not the performance. Taking the card to pieces and reconstructing it was a breeze and everything lined up perfectly, the Twin Frozr III cooler is solid and really adds some weight. This gives the feel of confidence when handling the card that you won't break it. Functionality is very good, I can't help but keep singing praise for the Twin Frozr III cooler, it really is so good. The MSI Afterburner and Kombustor utilities are very handy when it comes to overclocking and stress testing your video card. The bundled APS (Auto Phase Switching) utility should help reduce power consumption by disabling power phases when they are not needed, I would have prefered if it would run without confirmation after every boot but it only takes 2 clicks to enable it. The V-Check points and the fan profile switch add a whole new level of functionality to the GTX 560Ti and will give enthusiasts something extra to play with. The MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk video card is available now for $264.99 at NewEgg.com at this price point it is only a small premium over the average price of $249.99 for a standard GTX 560Ti. Throughout our tests the price/performance ratio is very appealing indeed, but the GTX460 has come down in price recently and still offers excellent overall cost/performance. The very high factory overclock and quality cooler design are this cards main selling point. Pros:
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Comments
* Not to mention a fine effort again from you guys:)
1)They are nickel plated copper heatpipes.
2)I have not actually reviewed a video card with the twin frozr II, but if you look at Bruce Norman's review of the MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II here at BmR #benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=689&Itemid=72&limit=1&limitstart=1 you will see they are essentially the same cooler with a different shroud and different fans (as I described in my final thoughts). The extra $$ is not necessarily just for the cooler but the different features the Hawk card has over the Twin Frozr II card.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
MSI's bizarre marketing aside, the cooler seems to be the best custom air cooler on the market right now.
I've got a pretty hard to answer question!! I'm totally confused to buy this card (MSI N560 GTX Ti hawk)or ATI HD 6950 2GB reference version and flash it to HD 6970 2GB which is quit stronger than this card.But I don't know anything about the risks of this flashing process and consequences. The price of this card (MSI) is about 30$ cheaper than 2GB version of 6950 in our country. But XFX version of 6950 2gb has the same price as the MSI card has.What do you say Steven? (power consumption of this card is higher than HD 6950)
Thank you very much.
Buying a reference 6950 to flash to a 6970 is a risky choice. First you must find a compatible BIOS and then of course you have to flash it.
If the flash goes wrong or you use an incompatible BIOS you will only see a blank screen next time you boot, some 6950's have dual BIOS switch to overcome this issue but some don't. If the flash does not work out you will have to install another card in slot one and the failed flash card in slot 2 and use the -i function of atiflash to detect the correct GPU to and reflash the BIOS to the correct card.
For example where the failed GPU is in slot 2 the command "atiflash -i" would list any installed GPU's starting with 0 upwards, the second card would typically be 1. The command to reflash that would be "atiflash -r -f 1 biosname.bin"
While the GTX560Ti HAWK has higher power consumption, my testing shows that it is better than the 6950 2gb at the tested resolutions in most tests.
If you do manage to flash a HD6950 to a HD6970 you would see a big rise in power consumption and heat production but obviously you would get much better FPS.
What are your thoughts?
The one 6950 I've played with that would flash to 6970 would always crash under heavy load, probably because it only had a single 6-pin power connector, rather than the dual 6-pin power connectors a "real" 6970 has.
Bottom line: if you can flash your 6950 to a 6970 and it runs well, great, but don't buy any 6950 expecting to be able to do this.
no i see it have only 18 Amps available per lane (12x18=216w)
you think is possible to use it or ill better start looking for a single lane ( CM Silent Pro M850)
thanks in advance for reply