When one Frozr just isn't enough
The MSI GTX 660 Ti is an overclocked version of the 660 Ti, hence the name Power Edition. The company has pushed the core clock speed up 105MHz from the reference design and given the Boost clock quite a bit of latitude as well. Memory speed is 1,502MHz, just like the reference design and all the cards in this roundup. Keeping the whole things frosty is an elaborate cooler with a funny nameâ€"Twin Frozrâ€"that is comprised of two heatpipes embedded into a flat, wide array of aluminum fans. Two decently sized fans squat down on top of the heatsink and do an amazing job of keeping temperatures in check: we never saw the card go above 61C under full load, but it was easily the loudest cooler in this group when run at full load. The fan spun down nicely once the stress was relieved, like a college student exhaling after a tough final exam.
MSI continues to use its "Twin Frozr" cooler, though the latest version seems louder than before
In testing the MSI card dominated the proceedings, at least when compared to the other 660 Ti cards, taking victories in seven out of ten categories, and losing by whisper-thin margins to the Gigabyte card in the other categories. When we put the card under full load the GPU clock automatically increased from the stock 1020MHz to 1215MHz, which is a decent overclock given that the card does it automatically.
The bundle includes a scant pair of molex to six-pin power connectors and a software CD that includes the easy-to-use Afterburner overclocking program. It lets you tweak the card’s voltage, clock speeds, fan speeds and even capture activity logs but we found it had a few issues and is not the most intuitive piece of software we’ve seen, especially for newbies.
We like the MSI card a lot and it’s clearly the fastest in this group. But we don’t like the fact that it’s also the loudest, and its accessories “bundle†is severely lacking.
$310, www.msi.com
From the November Issue 2012
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