MSI N460GTX CYCLONE 1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Pros: Have had this guy running for over 3 years solid and by some miracle it has never once blue screened on me. And up until last week never crashed either. Finally managed to crash a game when I ran into a WvW battle in Guild Wars 2 with over 100 people in it and the game just closed out. Granted those circumstances are very rare and I've been able to play any FPS with high settings just fine.

Cons: Runs hot! And that's with a more efficient cooler than a standard GTX460 layout. This could however be considered a pro if it is winter time and you are trying to save on your heating bill :D

Other Thoughts: People always mention that it's loud, but honestly my case fans and HDD's are louder. 2 of these in SLI gets about similar performance to a single 660Ti.

Pros: It's really good as far as fit and performance. Doesn't require much from the power supply.

Cons: The fan is exposed. You have to be careful in cramped desktops not to leave any chords near the fan in the chance it might snag one.

Pros: 2x DVI, 1x mini HDMI
Runs 2 monitors and a HDTV
If you don't like games it's fine, but for the rest of us...

Cons: Irritating line runs through screen on games. It's like a see-thru raised line run horizontally, it will move up and down like an old VHS tape when you were trying to get the tracking JUUUUST right. It's not impossible to ignore it, but something that just gets on my nerves.

Can't handle certain graphics in games, items will be off center or see-thru.

i7 quad core, 8gb memory, 64 gb ssd no reason for this graphics card to be the weak link, but it is for me.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issues that you are having with this product.

Please kindly visit the URL below to set up a RMA with the following information.
http://service.msicomputer.com/msi_user/rma_form_new.aspx

1. Full name (first, and last)
2. Telephone #
3. Physical address
4. Email address
5. Serial number (located on the box, or the back of VGA card, eg 602-xxxx-xxxBxxxxxxxxxx)
6. Symptoms you are having onto the Special Remark section (as detailed as possible)

Once your information and warranty coverage are verified then we can proceed with this RMA for you.
Our turn-around time is typically about one week and our system will notify you automatically at every stage of your RMA process.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the product, received the unit back from RMA but are still having issues, please do not hesitate to contact us directly at usreview@msi.com and we will be more than happy to assist you, thank you.

Best Regards,
MSI Review Team | usreview@msi.com

Pros: over 2 yrs old and still works great, wish i had gotten two

Cons: fan was loud from day one.

Other Thoughts: broke the fan cleaning it a year ago, modified a h70 to cool it plus vram heatsinks. haven't found anything it won't play
whole pc became 75% quieter after replacing heatsink/fan (in haf935 so there isn't much to keep you from hearing it though)

Pros: It's been working for one year, ten months, zero problems.

Cons: Zero complaints.

Pros: -Rebate arrived within scheduled time.
-Card functioned at stock and with a mild core OC without problems for most of its life.
-Smaller form factor. Nice as it doesn't have a big casing that sits on your Southbridge heatsink.
-Temps were average or low for this chipset with the reference cooler.

Cons: I'm on my 3rd card now, and just over a year later. I RMA'd the first card, at my expense, after something fried on the board (mostly stock temps, mild OC). No visible cap bulges or other signs of distress. I contacted one of the reps I'd seen post a review here and they set me up with an RMA ticket. This was around 10 months into my 1 year warranty.
Another month later, the RMA card (which arrived with visible damage to the heatsink fins, might I add) crapped out the same way. Thankfully, they sent me a shipping label and took care of shipping both ways for the second RMA. It was all for naught as now, about 13 months later, the 3rd card has died as well. Sidenote: watch out for refurbs!

I'd been running the card on my Asus P8P67 Pro mobo. Before, between, and now after use of this MSI VGA, this same set-up has functioned with absolutely no similar issues using an EVGA GTX260, for longer periods of time.

Other Thoughts: Corsair HX 750w PSU
Asus P8P67 Pro Motherboard
2600K @ 3.8 CPU
Corsair H70 CPU Cooler
3x4GB Gskill @ 1600 Memory
128GB Crucial c300 Primary Drive
1TB WD Black Secondary Drive

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued MSI Customer,
“Please contact MSI customer service/RMA Team: Customer Service / RMA: 1-626-271-1004 Press 2 usrma@msi.com with your case details. Thank you.”
Best Regards,
Customer Service/RMA Team

Pros: It's a great card when it works.

Cons: One of my two cards died after a few months, so I sent it back for a replacement.

The card I got back was dirty, had a "Made in China" sticker covering the old one (lol), and rendered white lines all over the screen of my monitor.

Other Thoughts: Disappointed with MSI.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued MSI Customer,
“Please contact MSI customer service representative Jane at janegao@msi.com, or call Jane at 626-913-0828 ext 221 with your case details. Thank you.”
Best Regards,
Customer Service Team

Pros: Runs everything I throw at it on ultra. I was considering this, the 560 and a 550. I can't talk to the 550 but there isn't a need currently for the 560 for what I play. SC2, SWTOR, etc all on ultra. No FPS experience but I expect it would be great.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: This sucker is big. It also takes 2, 6 pin power connectors. Make sure your ps has them.

Pros: Card runs everything great and at almost max settings.

Cons: If the system is vertical which makes the card's fan sit horizontal, it can cause a vibration and the noise from it can get annoying, but when I turned my system horizontal the card stopped vibrating.

Other Thoughts: Other than the vibration issue, I would have to give this card 5 egg's as for the cost to performance compared to similar cards is in my opinion very good.

Pros: I have this chip sli'd with a Gigabyte 460gtx SUPEROC. The gigabyte chip is in slot one, and cyclone in two. I have tried swapping them back and forth to confirm, the gigabyte chip runs about 20 degree's hotter under load no matter what I do. I use MSI afterburner to lower clock speed and ram but nothing I do seems lower the temps. The MSI cyclone runs VERY cool, even at higher than it stock speeds. I believe I had it very stable at 1800 gpu and 1900 mem. I currently have a fan I custom built that blows away from the gigabyte card to help with heat. Getting 65-70 (gigabyte) and 56-60 (MSI) under load playing Battlefield 3 with almost everything maxed out.

Cons: I really can't think of anything I don't like about the card. Perhaps if the power cables were facing away from the motherboard? *shrug*

Other Thoughts: I am running triple monitor setup, nvidia has a long way to go with this piece of thier drivers. I spend quite a bit of time "fussing" with this when I jump in and out of games.

Hardware: ASUS P5N-D
8GB Corsair 5-5-5-18
CPU: Core2 Quad QX9650 (yes this CPU pwns.) @ 3.8ghz
1.5gps Raptor HDD
Gigabyte 460gtx SOC
MSI Cyclone 460 GTX
Triple monitors