Disclosure: This graphic card is sourced from MSI
Introduction
MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X graphic card is a two- slot- two- fan- two- colour design with two overclocked profiles- gaming and overclock. The OC profile has a 100MHz bump in the memory clock. Both overclock settings are clocked lesser than the Zotac GTX 1070 AMP! Extreme, a very impressive GPU with a very large cooler and design. While it may not seem practical for a very small set of people, for an ATX PC system user the size of the GTX 1070 Amp! Extreme would not be a big deal. I’ve seen longer cards (with dual slot design) going in a mini-ITX system which exceeds its VGA length limit without any modding. At the end of the day, what will attract is the design, cooling performance and other factors such as utilities, warranty period, etc. It needed to justify that, and showing it to be better than the Founders Edition isn’t enough. With so many brands coming out nowhere, its will be very difficult to stand out. Some companies will bank on previous card’s success, while some will overflood the GPU market with more than four SKUs. Some will pull all stops- from design that looks bonkers, designs with multiple LEDs enough to be called as a christmas tree or even an all white design.
Same thought would be applied on any non-reference cards. The MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X maintains the two-slot design. This is the first MSI graphic card that I am testing. So, let’s see how it goes…
To know more about the GTX 1070, you can check the Founders Edition review!
Specification
| Graphics Processing Unit | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 |
| Interface | PCI Express x16 3.0 |
| Boost / Base Core Clock |
|
| Memory Size (MB) | 8192 |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 |
| Memory Interface | 256-bit |
| Memory Clock Speed | 8108 MHz (OC Mode) 8010 MHz (Gaming Mode) 8010 MHz (Silent Mode) |
| Output | DisplayPort x 3 (Version 1.4) / HDMI (Version 2.0) / DL-DVI-D |
| Digital Maximum Resolution | 7680 x 4320 |
| Virtual Reality Ready | Y |
| Maximum Displays | 4 |
| HDCP Support | 2.2 |
| DirectX Version Support | 12 |
| OpenGL Version Support | 4.5 |
| Multi-GPU Technology | SLI, 2-Way |
| Card Dimension(mm) | 279 x 140 x 42 mm |
| Card Weight (g) | 1100 |
| Power consumption (W) | 150 |
| Recommended PSU (W) | 500 |
| Power Connectors | 6-pin x 1, 8-pin x 1 |
Just like Gigabyte G1 Series, MSI has three clock speed profiles. Gaming profile is enabled by default.
I got the MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X graphic card with the infamous BIOS with OC profile enabled. I wasn’t able to change the settings using its utility. MSI gave two BIOS replacements- one for Gaming and another for OC. None of the BIOS exceeded its intended clock speed.
Packaging
MSI does not shy away from showing off its card which is a good sign. Just like Zotac, it mentions all its features, minimum requirements and product specifications. The card is protected with foam. Just like with the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 1080, this is a big accessory box but contains very little accessories. You get a couple of reading materials, a set of stickers and the driver disc. Providing MSI’s dragon logo as a metal case badge would have been a nice touch. It is a premium card in MSI GTX 1070’s stable.
Graphic Card Overview
MSI sticks with two colours- red and black. This would attract a lot of system builders who prefer sticking to such colour schemes. You can easily make out that the black-coloured section of the GPU shroud has LED lights surrounding the fan. The card’s width is 5.51 inches and length is 10.98 inches. In comparison, the Founder’s edition is 4.37″ wide and 10.5″ long while Zotac GTX 1070 AMP! Extreme is 5.82 inches wide and 12.79 inches long. A flat design (Zotac uses wrapped-style) backplate with dragon’s logo is embossed on it, with some cut-outs on it for aesthetics and passive ventilation.
Outputs and Interface
The card supports two-way SLI. Just like its Founders Edition, it has the same video outputs and placement with a different I/O shield design. Keep in mind that this is a DVI-D port, followed by 1x HDMI and three DisplayPort. You can easily see the GPU shroud extending through its I/O shield.
First Impressions
What did catch my attention is this particular bracket that takes support from the rear PCIe slot and goes all the way in. We’ll know where it leads once the card is dismantled.
The card takes power from a 6 pin + 8 pin PCIe power connector. In comparison, the founders addition takes additional power from a single 8-pin and Zotac GTX 1070 AMP! Extreme takes additional power from dual 8-pin PCIe connector.
Judging by the open front section, there is a separate heatsink for the VRM and the MOSFET array.
The GPU shroud is plastic which makes an impression of being a good quality. There are red backlit LEDs highlighting the black coloured shroud. If you haven’t noticed, MSI is using a patented fan blade design called ‘Torx 2.0 fan’. The blades have alternate placements each other. The idea is to have steeper airflow curve, which results in 22% more air pressure as per their product listing. The MSI LOGO on the left side has a multi-colour LED function in it.
The post MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G Graphic Card Review appeared first on Hardware BBQ.