This review will be rather short. The GeForce GTX 2xx family is gradually leaving the market, but we'd like to attract your attention to a very interesting solution. No, it doesn't support DX11, like ATI's new cards, but the new API won't be needed much until the spring of 2010 or even later, when the corresponding game titles are released. For now it's just the competition of clock rates, GPUs, and buses in the DX10 camp.
The reviewed card is interesting for its higher clock rates, the customized cooler, and the advanced overclocking capabilities provided by the Afterburner utility from the developer of RivaTuner. The latter allows increasing voltages, as well as clock rates.
As for the huge amount of memory, it's nothing but marketing. Many users are tempted by these numbers, but today there are very few games requiring more than 1GB of video RAM.
Card design
| MSI GeForce GTX 275 Lighting 1792MB |
- GPU: GeForce GTX 275 (GT200)
- Interface: PCI Express x16
- GPU clock rate (ROPs/Shaders): 700/1400 MHz (nominal 633/1400 MHz)
- Memory clock rate, physical (effective): 1150 (2300) MHz (nominal 1130 (2260) MHz)
- Memory bus: 448-bit
- Vertex processors: -
- Pixel processors: -
- Unified processors: 240
- Texture processors: 80 (BLF/TLF)
- ROPs: 32
- Dimensions: 270x100x33 mm
- PCB color: black
- RAMDACs/TDMS: on the separate NVIO chip
- Outputs: 1xDVI (Dual-Link/HDMI), 1xVGA, 1xHDMI.
- VIVO: n/a
- TV-out: n/a
- Multi-GPU support: Hardware SLI
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| MSI GeForce GTX 275 Lighting 1792MB |
The card has 1792 MB GDDR3 SDRAM in 14 Hynix memory chips on the front side of the PCB; 1250 (2500) MHz peak clock rate. |
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| Comparison with the reference design, front view |
| MSI GeForce GTX 275 Lighting 1792MB |
Reference card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 |
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| Comparison with the reference design, rear view |
| MSI GeForce GTX 275 Lighting 1792MB |
Reference card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 |
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This card is quite unique. Its PCB is custom-made by MSI and supplemented with higher efficient power supply parts. Moreover, it is based on the enhanced layout, having all of the 14 memory chips on the front side of the PCB. The cooler is also customized, but we'll describe it in the respective section.
Note that the card has no TV-Out connector.
Also have in mind that the card has two 6-pin connectors for external power supply.
Maximum resolutions and frequencies:
- 240 Hz maximum refresh rate
- 2048 x 1536 x 32bit @ 85Hz Max -- analog interface
- 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz Max -- digital interface (Dual-Link DVI/HDMI)
As for the HDTV support, a review is available here.
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