MSI N460GTX HAWK "Talon Attack" Edition

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Zendoren

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Nov 11, 2010
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Thought I put up a contribution thread for my first post.
(Sorry if this has been discussed already)

Unboxing: http://www.techenclave.com/reviews-and-previews/unboxing-msi-n460gtx-hwak-talon-attack-176821.html

Memory Whitesheet: http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/333512/HYNIX/H5GQ1H24AFR-T2C.html

Voltage Reg Chip Whitesheet: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.overclock.net%2Fattachments%2Fgeneral-volt-mods%2F152863d1272436883-ocns-vmod-squads-volt-mod-essentials-up6213datasheet.pdf&rct=j&q=uP6213&ei=mZ_cTIHOOMGclgfN7ZjfBQ&usg=AFQjCNFQ3QWKqIcKpBgE0ESvFn33WksFhQ

Review: None thus far

Been reading for weeks for an upgrade to my BFG 8800GTX OC.

Found this card and fell in love with it. Only issue is that this card is based on a non-reference PCB (just like the original hawk edition card) thus there will be no full water-block options for this card. Contacted MSI regarding a liquid cooling solution for the card. They promptly told me that there is none that they would recommend and that removing the stock heat-sink will void the warranty!

If you intend to push the OC on this card further. I suggest that you find a way to adequately cool the mosfets as they get flaming hot when you over-volt the card.

Hope this is some helpful information.

Zen
 
Yes, however, you will need a special bracket for it.

Called FrozenCPU today and they said that they should have the bracket in stock and added to the website in 2 weeks.

Seems that some people are getting away with getting a G80 bracket and drilling their own holes for mounting. Would not advise doing that TBH

Edit:

If you cant wait for the bracket, i would suggest the EK version found HERE with THIS bracket.
 
I know I'm still debating between this card and the Gigabyte SOC.

They are basically the same price, but:

-The Gigabyte has VRM heatsinks
-Gigabyte sells more 460 cards overall
-Slightly higher clocked

So I'm leaning towards Gigabyte over this MSI card... what's your take?

Also, should I wait until Black Friday to order my PC parts + monitor, or should I order it on Monday to get it and play over the short vacation?@!

Here are two reviews:

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...talon-attack-vs-powercolor-hd5770-crossfirex/
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=27238&page=10

In the reviews the MSI hits 1Ghz OC but has no Vram heatsinks while Gigabyte uses custom PCB boards and cherry picks their chips but MSI uses super ferrite chokes...

But I still cannot decide?!
 
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removing the cooler on that and replacing it with water cooling is a waste of money and time unless you're in it for the novelty.
 
@JAGX

1) VRM heatsinks solution = http://www.swiftnets.com/products/mc21.asp
2) Gigabyte sells, so the question is what tech support do you like better (Indian or Venezuelan :rolleyes:)
3) Meh, I look at the quality of the components that support the chips. Just because someone says they are cherry picking their GPUs does not mean that they are getting the best GPUs. IMHO the term "cherry picking" (or equivalent there of) is just a game of semantics when you are dealing with the same brand and company. Start reading up (that includes the whitepapers) on the components that each card uses. I liked what I saw with MSI card so I'm going that route; you may not.

Regarding Black Friday, why delay self gratification I always say! =D

@bAMtan2, I have a pre-existing water cooled system, and I'm too lazy to reconfigure the tubing so I WCed the card with swiftech. TBH you really cant squeeze too much more horse power out of this card with water as compared to the stock heat-sink IMHO, so I understand where you are coming from with the comment.
 
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Yah but cooler is always better on electronics...

I have way too many fans in my systems that others would object to but they run cool, loaded 100% 24/7 and I rarely have a problem.

If I ever get ambitious I am going to try water.
 
Well, the problem I have is that these OC versions usually also cost a LOT more than a plain one, and you can usually get similar overclocks very easily with a plain jane model.

My Gainward (Palit) GTX 460 GS 1GB, is very quiet, overclocks to 840/2000 without artifacts (850 it artifacts), and this is without changing the voltage in Afterburner. Modding the voltage I imagine I could easily get 900, but really have no need as I play on a normal 22-incher (1680x1050). I keep it at 800/1900 for a fairly conservative OC as a rule.

I bought this in Europe for under 150 Euros (buying in US wasn't an option), where the heavier OCed models were easily in the 220+ range which is a significant 50% price difference.
 
Zendoren said:
@JAGX

1) VRM heatsinks solution = http://www.swiftnets.com/products/mc21.asp
2) Gigabyte sells, so the question is what tech support do you like better (Indian or Venezuelan :rolleyes:)
3) Meh, I look at the quality of the components that support the chips. Just because someone says they are cherry picking their GPUs does not mean that they are getting the best GPUs. IMHO the term "cherry picking" (or equivalent there of) is just a game of semantics when you are dealing with the same brand and company. Start reading up (that includes the whitepapers) on the components that each card uses. I liked what I saw with MSI card so I'm going that route; you may not.

Regarding Black Friday, why delay self gratification I always say! =D

@bAMtan2, I have a pre-existing water cooled system, and I'm too lazy to reconfigure the tubing so I WCed the card with swiftech. TBH you really cant squeeze too much more horse power out of this card with water as compared to the stock heat-sink IMHO, so I understand where you are coming from with the comment.
Click to expand...

Where can I find the white papers and what specifically did you like/dislike?
 
@SubtleOne, I totally understand. The whole point of OCing anything is to get more bang for the buck in the first place, however, in the case of this card, I was not buying the pre-OC from factory per say but the extra mosfets. With the extra clean power on the board you are able to push the OC even further than on reference cards. MSI's warranty on the extra Mhz of OCing is just a plus.

@JAGX, I think I posted two of the white papers at the top of this thread. I think I had 3 other white papers on the individual components that I found as well. I did not post them initially because I figured that it was a little to technical of a read for an initial post at the time, however, If I find them, I'll post them here. Until then, I suggest that you Google some PCB Pics of both cards and start hunting down some white papers on your own like I did. A little work now will save you heart break in the end! =P

Some specifics were the voltage tolerances for some of the components and the quality and reputation of the manufacturers. This, and other small details let you know how far you can push a board. The devil is in the details! =P
 
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Are there any diffferences between this and the lower priced MSI Hawk except the SC?
 
@ ivioksha: No, both the Hawk and the Talon Hawk are the same card but the Talon has a higher overclock.

@ OP & Others: I have this card, and it performs beautifully. I haven't needed to overclock it any more than it already is, and at idle my power supply fan is louder. The only time that I even hear this card is when I load a game (WoW and Black Ops is what I typically play) but I use my headset for both of those. Even without the headset, there is a noticable, but marginal increase in noise. Only for extreme reasons would I consider even thinking about watercooling this. The quad heatpipe and dual 80mm fans keep it insanely cool already. 32c idle, 56c load (104c thermal limit)
 
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Ok, for the reference I just found the answer in regards to my question above. “The Talon Attack comes equipped with the same Twin Frozr II cooling solution as the original, but underneath the heatsink, MSI swapped the memory for lower-latency 0.4ns RAM chips."
 
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