MSI R6870 HAWK (Twin Frozr III Thermal Design) Review

The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 23c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this.

Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by playing Crysis Warhead for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature. We also have included Furmark results, recording maximum temperatures throughout a 30 minute stress test. All fan settings were left on automatic.

The custom Twin Frozr III is an extremely efficient design, massively outperforming the reference solution, and even Sapphire's Toxic Cooler which we reviewed last week. Temperatures with the quiet fan profile are 4c higher when under full load.

Return to ambient is a feature we have recently added to our reviews … we measure the time it takes for a solution to return to idle temperatures, immediately after full load. The faster the time, the better the cooler – for example a Noctua NH D14 cooler will return an Intel processor to idle temperatures much faster than a reference cooler. This is a good indication of how quickly a heatsink can dissipate heat.

A twin fan design generally helps with return to idle performance, and the Twin Frozr III cooler design is one of the best in this respective field. Using the quiet fan mode lowers this performance time to around 21 seconds.

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