Recently, NVIDIA introduced another graphics card based on the Pascal architecture. GeForce GTX 1070 Ti joined the ranks of models based on GPU GP104. The novelty shows a slight lag behind the GeForce GTX 1080 and easily compensates for it when overclocked. The factory frequencies for all GeForce GTX 1070 Ti are the same and strictly comply with NVIDIA’s declared specifications. This limitation helps maintain differentiation with the GeForce GTX 1080. In the previous review, we looked at the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1070 Ti graphics card, now let’s get acquainted with the MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Gaming 8G. Let’s see what the MSI model can offer, how efficient its cooling is and what frequencies can be achieved with manual overclocking.

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming 8G

The video card comes in a standard package for the MSI Gaming series. The box is made in red colors, on the front side there is a device with a massive cooler. The bundle is minimal, there is a disk with software inside, there are no adapters.

Externally, the MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Gaming 8G does not differ from the GeForce GTX 1070 or GeForce GTX 1080 of this line. Large cooling occupies two slots, the radiator is covered with a red and black case with a pair of large fans.

The plastic casing is made in a bright, aggressive arrow-shaped design with serrated teeth on the sides. The total length of the card is 28 cm.

The reverse side is protected by a metal plate with perforation in the GPU area for free outflow of hot air from the heated PCB. On the surface of the plate there is a stylized image of a dragon.

Thick heat pipes peek out from the side. On the side of the casing there is a small illuminated window with a dragon logo and MSI inscription. The red teeth on the right side of the case are also highlighted. In the corner there are two power connectors — six and eight pins.

The rear panel has five ports for displaying images: three DisplayPort, one HDMI and one DVI.

The radiator is of a typical design, the same cooling is used by other MSI Gaming. In this case, we can talk about complete identity with the MSI GTX 1070 Gaming, since the MSI GTX 1080 Gaming has one more heat pipe.

The radiator has a large one-piece base and five heat pipes. One of the tubes with a record diameter of 10 mm. Bending, the tubes penetrate the radiator plates in different places, evenly distributing the heat load.

On the front side, two 100 mm fans are screwed onto the radiator, which blow through the entire structure and the board.

Power Logic PLD10010B12HH fans are made using Torx 2.0 technology. The special shape of the blades and their curvature improve the dispersion of the air flow and its power.

There are two heatsinks on the board to cool the electronic components. A ribbed radiator is installed on the transistors of the supply circuit.

Memory chips are cooled by a separate plate. Builds to note that the coverage of the microcircuits is complete, unlike video cards from some other manufacturers.

The PCB is based on the MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G design.

Of the 10 power phases, eight fall on the GPU power system. On top of the chokes and capacitors there are elastic gaskets that are unlikely to provide normal thermal contact, since they rest against the thin ribs of the radiator.

The GP104-300-A1 processor operates with 2432 streaming cores out of 2560.

Eight gigabytes of memory is typed in the same number of Micron chips marked 7QA47 D9TCB.

As mentioned above, all GeForce GTX 1070 Ti are released with identical frequencies without factory overclocking. The base core frequency is 1607 MHz with an average Boost Clock of 1683 MHz. The effective frequency of the GDDR5 memory is 8014 MHz.

The MSI graphics card showed real Boost around 1800 MHz. With a constant 15-minute test in the Superposition benchmark, the GPU frequency was kept at 1823 MHz with rare drawdowns up to 1797 MHz. The lowest Boost was in Project CARS 2 (high resolution, rain), here the core operating frequency range was 1759-1810 MHz. This is an average of 25 MHz below the frequencies of the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1070 Ti.

In rare games, the average Boost frequency exceeded 1823 MHz. Peak values ​​reached 1848–1860 MHz.

When testing on an open bench with an indoor temperature of 23-24 ° C, the GPU only warmed up to 67-68 ° C. The fans spun up to 1200 rpm, working in quiet mode. These are excellent indicators. Core temperatures are only a few degrees warmer than the ASUS Strix with a larger cooler spanning more than two slots.

It’s time to check the video card for overclocking. After selecting stable frequencies, we settled on a base value of 1817 MHz with peak Boost up to 2076 MHz. The memory was able to work stably at a frequency of 9040 MHz.

The average Boost in the gaming load was 2038 MHz with high values ​​up to 2063 MHz (peak 2076 MHz). This corresponds to the average Boost frequencies when overclocking ASUS. But in terms of memory frequencies, MSI wins at 130 MHz, which can provide some advantage. The power limit has been increased to the maximum, for this model it is + 33% to the initial level instead of the usual stock of + 20%.

Manual fixation of the fan speed at 1500 rpm allowed us to maintain the initial level of operating temperatures. And this speed is not associated with high noise. So overclocking is quite suitable for everyday use. Of course, inside a case with poor ventilation, the cooling requirements will be higher, but the cooling potential will allow you to achieve the desired acceleration without noticeable noise.