Best MSI Radeon RX 470 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020 * Black Friday Deals

Best MSI Radeon RX 470 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020:

The MSI Gaming X series represents the brand’s top of the range. This custom version of the Radeon RX 470 therefore offers all the know-how of the firm, with a factory overclocking, careful power supply and a Twin Frozr VI cooling system.

Best MSI Radeon RX 470 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020

1. MSI GAMING Radeon RX 470 GDDR5 4GB CrossFire FinFET DirectX 12 Graphics Card (RX 470 ARMOR 4G OC)

2. MSI Performance Gaming AMD X470 Ryzen 2ND and 3rd Gen AM4 DDR4 DVI HDMI. Onboard Graphics CFX ATX Motherboard (X470 Gaming Plus Max)

3. XFX AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card

4. MSI Gaming Radeon RX 570 256-bit 8GB GDRR5 DirectX 12 VR Ready CFX Graphcis Card (RX 570 ARMOR 8G OC)

5. MSI Computer Video Graphic Cards GeForce GTX 1050 TI GAMING X 4G, 4GB

Noise

The cooling block is therefore a Twin Frozr VI, a variation of a system that we have encountered for several years. The GPU is in contact with a nickel-plated copper plate, which is in contact with two heat pipes, also made of copper. These pipes distribute the heat given off by the chip on the dissipation surface. This takes the form of a multitude of aluminum fins clipped between them. The supply stage has a small radiator separated from the assembly. The memory chips are however left as they are and therefore do not benefit from any heat dissipation aid.

The card is then cooled by two fans which push the air against the radiator. These fans are extremely quiet on this model and the breath generated after almost an hour of play is hardly noticeable in a closed case. At rest, the ventilation is completely cut off once the GPU temperature drops below 60 ° C. Enough to extend the life of these fans a little.

Obviously, it is now unthinkable to offer a graphics card in high-end finish without RGB LED lighting system. The side logo and part of the housing can thus be illuminated. If the part present on the casing remains red whatever happens, the logo can display any color. Several effects are also possible, to choose between a fade, a strobe effect and we pass. Illumination management goes through the Gaming App utility, which also modulates the card’s overclocking .

Factory frequencies and manual overclocking

The overclocking operated by the manufacturer is quite timid since the 1206 MHz of classic models are pushed here to a maximum of 1254 MHz, a gain of 4%. Same processing for the graphics memory which increases only from 1650 to 1675 MHz, an increase of 1.5%. These are the values in OC mode, a mode to activate via the Gaming App utility mentioned above. Two other modes are available: Gaming, with a GPU at 1242 MHz and non-overclocked memory and a Silent, with zero overclocking . Given the low gain of overclocking and the low noise levels in OC mode, there is no need to switch to a lower mode.

In games, after more than 30 minutes non-stop, the frequency is also extremely stable at 1254 MHz, without any oscillation. Side manual overclocking , we were able to push the card to around 1330 MHz, while the memory was satisfied with 1800 MHz.

Performance in games

In games, it turns out that this custom version of the RX 470 is quite close to a non- overclocked Radeon RX 480 using the reference design. The difference between the two is very slight since there is only a little less than 5% in favor of the higher model. What to approach the GeForce GTX 970 (+ 4%) or to exceed the Radeon R9 380X by 28%. Clearly, you can play in Full HD without almost any compromise.

Consumption

To achieve these performances, MSI opted for a power supply which goes through an 8-pin PCIe connector, against a 6-pin model on certain competing models. This helped push the GPU consumption limit to 150 watts, against 85 watts on the AMD reference model.

These adjustments therefore make it possible to maintain a high frequency, but they also have an impact on the power consumption of the card, which increases to 185 watts maximum, for an average roughly equivalent. If that would have been acceptable a year ago, it is now a little ticking, since the consumption is almost identical to that of a GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition! Consumption is also about fifteen watts higher than that of the reference Radeon RX 480.

Grabbing a few megahertz and a few performance points is therefore once again at a high price in terms of power consumption, with an increase in consumption exponential compared to the gain in games. This is logically felt on the performance, here average and located at the level of that of the AMD Fury series or the Maxwell generation of Nvidia, two series engraved in 28 nm and not in 14 nm.

So consumption is high, either. But is this harmful for the player? No, certainly not. With such electricity consumption, the difference on the annual electric bill will only be a handful of euros. The difference is also not made on the sound level meter, since MSI is here clearly capable of absorbing overconsumption with a really efficient and well calibrated cooling system. Finally, it is rather a warning for the engineers of AMD who, clearly, are limited to increase in frequency and therefore to offer faster maps.

STRONG POINTS

Extremely silent ventilation.
Ventilation stopped at rest.
Frequencies stable.

WEAK POINTS

Energy efficiency not very interesting.

CONCLUSION

By freeing itself from the consumption limit recommended by AMD, MSI manages to maintain a GPU frequency that is both stable and higher. This is strongly felt on energy efficiency, down, but the manufacturer brilliantly manages to calm the heat of the card by offering an efficient and really very discreet cooling system.

Black Friday Deals

Best MSI Radeon RX 470 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020