MSI N450GTS Cyclone 1GD5/OC Video Card Review

There are a lot of new options coming into this holiday season and it looks like NVIDIA's newly released GTX 580 video card is set to make a splash. But not everyone is ready for a $500 graphics solution. Many consumers will likely not even come close to using the potential of such a video card. For those PC Gamers who are a little more casual, but still like to immerse themselves in a high quality graphics experience, something a little less pricey might be on your list this year. Both AMD and NVIDIA have some powerful offerings in the mid-range price segment. Recently we looked at a Radeon HD 5770 that came overclocked from the factory with a cooling design touted as quite a bit better than the reference. Now it is NVIDIA's turn and Benchmark Reviews has the MSI N450GTS Cyclone 1GD5/OC GTS 450 video card.


MSI has offered video cards with the Cyclone designation for a long time now on both their ATI and NVIDIA products. The Cyclone design refers to the fan and heatsink combination that fits onto to the card. For the MSI N450GTS Cyclone 1GD5/OC, MSI claims that the cyclone design can bring down the temperature of the video card, making it up to 17 degrees cooler than the reference design. The GTS 450 is already a very cool running video card, and a very good overclocker. An additional 17 degrees cooler would make it ideal for tightly enclosed cases with low ventilation or for the would-be overclocker.

The GTS 450 line of video cards competes pretty directly with the Radeon HD 5770 line. Due to recent releases of newer graphics solutions, the price of both series' has fallen somewhat. Benchmark Reviews recently looked at a $145 Radeon HD 5770 that boasted many of the same features of the MSI N450GTS Cyclone; cooler temperatures and a factory overclock specifically. At $140, the MSI N450GTS Cyclone competes directly with the PowerColor Radeon HD 5770 AX5770 PCS+ in price. Throughout this article we will be able to see if it also competes directly in performance.

Manufacturer: Micro-Star International Corporation, LTD.
Product Name: MSI N450GTS Cyclone 1GD5/OC
Model Number: 912-V236-020
Price As Tested: $139.99 at Newegg 

from:benchmarkreviews.com