MSI R7950 Twin Frozr III 3GD5/OC Review

The MSI R7950 Twin Frozr III 3GD5/OC certainly hasn't disappointed during the last week of testing. MSI are well known for releasing formidable video cards, and this is without question one of the finest HD7950's on the market.

The Twin Frozr III cooler is a work of art and quite possibly the finest cooler in its class. The nickel plated copper base helps to transfer heat along the thick heatpipes and outwards across the aluminium fins. The dual ‘propeller' fan system generates a high level of air flow while maintaining very reasonable noise emissions, even under extended load. It is thankfully much quieter than the reference AMD solution.

We have already reviewed many HD7950's in the last couple of months and we know to expect great performance with many Direct X 10 and Direct X 11 games. MSI have pushed the core clock higher, to 880mhz, which translates to a couple of extra frames per second with many of the leading game engines.

If you have the inclination, then the core can be pushed from 880mhz to 1100mhz and potentially more with other software tools. At 1,100mhz, the R7950 Twin Frozr III outperforms the much more expensive MSI R7970 Lighting at ‘out of the box' clocks. This in itself is quite an achievement.

The MSI R7950 faces some stiff competition in the market from cards such as the XFX HD7950 Black Edition and the Sapphire HD7950 Overclock Edition. Choosing a winner from this trio would be very difficult and would have to be based on pricing.

The MSI R7950 Twin Frozr III 3GD5/OC can be bought from Overclockers in the UK for £339.95 inc vat. At this price it is only £10 more than a reference card at default clocks with a standard cooler. It is hard to fault at this price.

Pros:

• Twin Frozr III cooler is class leading.
• Quiet.
• Cooling running.
• well built.
• overclocks great.

Cons:

• Stiff competition from XFX and Sapphire.

Kitguru says: Another great video card from MSI.

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