Msi n460gtx cyclone 1gd5/oc

[PoppaGeek]

Thinking about getting this card next week for the 1055T PC. Have had EVGA for last 5 of 6 GPU purchases. Anyone ever have any experience with MSI support, RMA type stuff? I have 3 MSI MBs, all their better ones, and no problems but have no experience how they are when things do not go well. The few comments on MSI support I see on other MSI items do not appear to have much creditability.

I am going 1 gig because if gaming. Want all the goodies and LOTRO is adding DX 11 this fall. Game now in DX10 does not seem to ever go over 510 megs on GPU memory but not sure what the new features will use so want to be safe. Consensus seems to be the 768 is fine for GPUGrid.

Cheers!

[trn]

I have a neutral MSI opinion. I wanted 2 Cyclone 768mb 460s but couldn't find one at my local stores. I ended up purchasing 2 reference design MSI gtx 460's, 1 of the two is defective and unstable. I haven't RMA'ed the card yet because it will be a big hassle and I haven't figured out what to do or just forget it. I bought the card in Hong Kong, and I wanted to RMA it in the US (where I live) but MSI does not offer global service on VGA cards, I have to RMA it in the country it was purchased. I'm in mainland China now to add to the complications. Anyways I was a bit disappointed in MSI Taiwan's response that I had to RMA it were I purchased it; and they also did not forward any contract info for the HK customer service or even a China number or email. I'm not ready to completely say MSI sucks over this.... but I have bought a XFX ATI 5870 in HK and brought it home to the US and had it break and RMA'd it in the US no problem.

[WhiteFireDragon]

hmm MSI support is questionable if you ever have any problems. i know EVGA is top notch, and XFX i just below. just keep in mind that card will dump all the heat inside your case, although i don't think that will be a big problem for you since i remember you mentioned your case has good cooling. so you're getting this 460 exclusively for the dx11 right? in terms of crunching, it's only on par with your gtx260, and if you old one is busted, you can pick up another one for half the price of this 460. if you really need the dx11, then by all means get this one. i personally would choose another brand though.

and if you didn't already notice, it's OOS

[PoppaGeek]

The case is the CM HAF 932 so cooling is no problem. It has been out of stock before. I am sure more will show up. I do want the DX11 as the game I play has announced DX11 support will be added this fall. Once GDF @ GPUGrid gets Fermi figured out the PPD on the 400s will get better. 336 shaders compared to 216 I would hope so anyway.

The GTX 260 is still, occasionally, running up to 99 degrees C. It does it when it switches from the low power setting at idle to being loaded. But not every time. And it is not just an incorrect reading as I can feel the heat coming out the back of the case. I installed 197.57 drivers, we'll see if that makes a difference.

@trn While I envy your trip around Asia I do not envy you trying to deal with the RMA. Good luck, I hope someone at MSI will help ya out!

Cheers!

[trn]

A nice thing about the 460 is the temps are very low. While crunching mine is usually around 49c - 51c (fan manually set at 70%.)

Thanks, I took a chance on buying out of country (addicted to crunching ) I think most companies would have similar RMA service. EVGA and XFX seem to be the exceptions, most brands seem to have mediocre service.

[PoppaGeek]

Got the last one TigerDirect had. Should be here Thursday.

[trn]

Congrats, the cyclone's seem to be going fast from retailers.

[PoppaGeek]

I am pleased so far. Nice card, heavier than I expected, nice plastic protectors on all contacts and ports. Runs alot cooler and quieter than the GTX 260 in LOTRO. 260 was 51-55c with fan at 75%, 460 is 45-49c fan on auto at 50% and GPU load at 100%. With fan at 100% it is about what the 260 was at 80. At 50% i cannot hear it.

On GPUGrid it is doing a TONI_KDlin WU, temp is 47c, fan on auto at 58% GPU load 68%. It is a 92mm fan and at 2040 RPM, 58% it is quiet in a HAF932 case. Will post watts later.

Cheers!

[PoppaGeek]

Idle ----------- 138 watts 1.17 amps
WCG only------ 219 watts 1.85 amps
WCG&GPUgrid-- 294 watts 2.49 amps

Will try some overclocking after I am sure no problems in game or GPUgrid. I have yet to see anyone say they could not get 800mz out of these cards.

[trn]

Poppa,

Your GPU usage seems low, i'm not sure why. The Ibuch_freebind units are the slowest and utilize the GPU the least (74%) Toni units use ~85% or so and complete in around 5 hours. I have the same driver version, clocks don't affect usage also. The only other difference I see is you are running Vista x64 and I am running Win7 x64.

[Snow Crash]

Are either of you using SWAN_SYNC?

[trn]

No Swan_sync here. I finished the ibuch_freebind WU and took a screen capture of a TONI unit, 85% GPU usage. Maybe Win 7 drivers or app is better written than the Vista drivers or app?