MSI GeForce GTX 760 Twin Frozr OC 2GB Review

Performance Analysis

With just a four per cent increase to the GPU Boost curve, the Twin Frozr OC doesn’t really deliver a huge increase in performance out of the box, although its excellent cooler does allow it to GPU Boost more reliably. As our thermal tests show, a peak delta T of only 40°C saw the card boost to its maximum frequency of 1,150MHz and stay there regardless of benchmark or load duration. This is in contrast to the stock card, which often bounced off Nvidia’s default 81°C thermal limit, even at stock speeds.


However, the extra MHz did see some improvements. In BF3 at 2,560 x 1,600 the Twin Frozr OC’s minimum frame rate of 35fps was 1fps higher than that of a stock card. In Skyrim at 1,920 x 1,080 with 8x AA a minimum frame rate of 78fps was 4fps higher (four per cent) faster than the stock card. Crysis 3 saw no improvement to over the stock card’s minimum frame rate at 1,920 x 1,080, but at 2560 x 1,600 we saw a single extra fps to the minimum frame rate, for a borderline playable minimum frame rate of 22fps. Bioshock Infinite was little more obliging, as the Twin Frozr OC’s minimum frame rate at 1,920 x 1,080 of 54fps was 2fps faster than a stock card, but again, the margins are fairly minimal, as evidenced by the Unigine Valley score of 1,536 points, only 44 points more than a stock card.

It’s the card’s cooler and its overclocking abilities that are the real highlights here, though. We pushed the card to an amazing base clock of 1,170MHz (constantly boosting to 1,293MHz underload) and a phenomenal 7.6GHz effective memory frequency; both more than 20 per cent increases that saw the card dominate the £20 dearer GTX 670 2GB and even reel in the GTX 770 2GB. Despite these mighty frequencies, the card’s fans never span above 1,200rpm and the GPU temperature remained at a cool 43°C delta. Of course, overclocking performance can vary from card to card, but if our sample is any indication, this card is wasted at its factory speeds and deserves to be pushed higher.

The only caveat is that by the nature of the design of the cooler, a lot of the hot air produced will be pushed into your case rather than out the back. As such you'll need to ensure your case has reasonable overall airflow to exhaust that heat.

Conclusion

While the MSI GeForce GTX 760 Twin Frozr OC 2GB only offers a minimal overclock out of the box, its uprated PCB and excellent low-noise cooler are easily enough to justify the £20 premium over a stock card. Add in the amazing overclocking ability on tap though and you have a truly special card; it’s simply one of the best partner cards we've ever reviewed. If you’re shopping for a graphics card around the £200 mark then this is a phenomenally strong contender and a go-to choice for GTX 760 buyers.