[Test] MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC Edition Quick Review

Test summary:

• 1 – N460GTX Cyclone 765D5 OC overview
• 2 – N460GTX Cyclone 765D5 OC features
• 3 – N460GTX Cyclone 765D5 OC performances
• 4 – N460GTX Cyclone 765D5 OC power consumption and temperatures
• 5 – N460GTX Cyclone 765D5 OC overclocking

1 – N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC Edition overview

MSI’s N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC Edition is a factory-overclocked GeForce GTX 460. Only the GPU is overclocked and since GTX 460 are known to have nice overclocking capabilities, MSI’s product comes with a GPU clocked at 725MHz (+50MHz) which is far from the max clock as we’ll see it at the end of the test.

N460GTX Cylone is based on the GF104 GPU which support all latest technologies: OpenGL 4.x, DirectX 11 (I should write Direct3D 11…), OpenCL 1.x, PhysX and CUDA. This card is equiped with a quiet VGA cooler with a 9cm fan and two heatpipes. I use this card for all my development needs since several days and this is a really nice product. This card is really quiet even under load and this point is important for me because my devstation is in an IKEA-based open case ( yes IKEA has some cool test benches, don’t you know it?)!

2 – N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC features

3 – N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC performances

Testbed:
- CPU: Core i7 960 @ 3.2GHz
- RAM: 4GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE X58-A UD5
- Windows 7 64-bit
- R258.96
- PSU: Corsair AX1200

3.1 FurMark (OpenGL 2)

FurMark 1.8.2 has been used for the test. FurMark homepage is HERE.

Settings: 1920×1080 fullscreen, no AA, 60sec, Xtreme mode UNCHECKED.

Rule: The higher the number of points, the faster the card is.

6470 points – EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (R256.96)

5420 points – ATI Radeon HD 5870 (Cat 10.7)

5161 points – MSI GeForce GTX 470 (R256.96)

3884 points – MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC (R258.96)

2772 points – MSI R5770 Hawk (Cat 10.7)

3.2 TessMark (OpenGL 4)

TessMark 0.2.2 has been used for the test. TessMark homepage is HERE.

Settings: 1920×1080 fullscreen, no AA, 60sec, map set 1.

Rule: The higher the number of points, the faster the card is.

Tessellation: moderate

48084 – EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (R256.96)

38191 – MSI GeForce GTX 470 (R256.96)

30512 – MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC (R258.96)

20745 – MSI R5770 Hawk (Cat 10.7)

Tessellation: normal

29196 – EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (R256.96)

23316 – MSI GeForce GTX 470 (R256.96)

17452 – MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC (R258.96)

7669 – MSI R5770 Hawk (Cat 10.7)

Tessellation: extreme

13008 – EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (R256.96)

9997 – MSI GeForce GTX 470 (R256.96)

6729 – MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC (R258.96)

2159 – MSI R5770 Hawk (Cat 10.7)

Tessellation: insane

3963 – EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (R256.96)

3169 – MSI GeForce GTX 470 (R256.96)

1959 – MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC (R258.96)

565 – MSI R5770 Hawk (Cat 10.7)

3.3 FluidMark (PhysX + OpenGL 2)

FluidMark 1.2.0 has been used for the test. FluidMark homepage is HERE.

Settings: 1920×1080 fullscreen, no AA, 60sec, 3 emitters, 120000 particles, Async mode ON.

Global: 287 points, PhysX: 249 (41SPS), GraphX: 504 (83FPS) – EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (R256.96)

Global: 264 points, PhysX: 229 (37SPS), GraphX: 460 (76FPS) – MSI GeForce GTX 470 (R256.96)

Global: 207 points, PhysX: 180 (29 SPS), GraphX: 362 (60 FPS) – MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC (R258.96)

3.4 MSI Kombustor (Direct3D 9)

MSI Kombustor 1.1.3 has been used for the test. MSI Kombsutor is a Direct3D 9, 10, 11 and OpenGL 2 and 3 stress test and benchmark. I just tested the Direct3D 9 rendering.

Settings: 1920×1080 fullscreen, no AA, 60sec, Unlock power draw CHECKED.

1991 – EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (R256.96)

1962 – ATI Radeon HD 5870 (Cat 10.7)

1595 – MSI GeForce GTX 470 (R256.96)

1201 – MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC (R258.96)

943 – MSI R5770 Hawk (Cat 10.7)

3.4 Unigine Heaven (DirectX 11)

Ungine Heaven 2.1 has been used for the test.

Settings: 1920×1080 fullscreen, tessellation: normal, shaders: high.

47.6 FSP, Scores: 1200 – EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (R256.96)

32.8 FPS, Scores: 825 – ATI Radeon HD 5870 (Cat 10.7)

32.4 FPS – Scores: 816 – MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC (R258.96)

3.5 Lost Planet 2 (DirectX 11)

Lost Planet 2 has been used for the test.

Settings: 1920×1080 fullscreen, test A.

60.2 FPS – EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (R258.96)

48.8 – MSI GeForce GTX 470 (R256.96)

38 FPS – MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC (R258.96)

37.3 FPS – ATI Radeon HD 5870 (Cat10.7)

23 FPS – MSI R5770 Hawk (Cat10.7)

4 – N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC power consumption and temperatures

For measuring the power consumption, I use a simple wattmeter connected to the PSU input.

IDLE:
- Total power consumption: 100W
- Max GPU Temperatureax: 35°C

Stress Test: FurMark Xtreme + Displ.Map + 1920×1080 + No AA
- Total power consumption: 257W
- Max GPU Temperature max: 65°C

Stress Test: MSI Kombustor + D3D9 + Unlock power draw + 1920×1080 No AA
- Total power consumption: 231W
- Max GPU Temperature max: 64°C

Stress Test: MSI Kombustor + GL3 + Unlock power draw + 1920×1080 No AA
- Total power consumption: 254W
- Max GPU Temperature max: 63°C

The max power consumption is:
(257-100) * 0.9 = 141W where 0.9 is an avg PSU factor (no too far from the reality with the Corsair AX1200). And 65°C is a very nice GPU temperature under heavy load.

5 – N460GTX Cyclone 768D5 OC overclocking

Using EVGA Precision, I increased GPU clock and each time I ran a FurMark session (1920×1080 fullscreen + Xtreme mode + Displacement mapping).

The max stable (more than 15 min under FurMark) GPU clock I reached is 850MHz:

- Total power consumption: 264W
- Max GPU Temperature max: 65°C

The GTX 460 ref gpu clock is 675MHz, the N460GTX Cyclone OC is 725MHz and you can push this card up to 850MHz. No doubt, the GF104 GPU is a gem for graphics card overclockers!

More than 850MHz lead to system freezes.

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