MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Pros: Runs cool and quiet when not overstressed, much quieter than some other brands.
Great performance for most games at 1080p.
Very reliable and smooth in single mode (i.e. no xfire)
I love the Twin Frozr design and performance.
Build quality is very solid.
Came with a coupon for 2 AAA quality games, but I unexpectedly received a 3rd later (FC3 Blood Dragon)
Low power draw - just one 6-pin connector needed.

Cons: Not great in crossfire - I got great frame rates in Far Cry 3, but suffered noticeable stuttering, as documented in other places online with AMD cards. My older SLI'd GTX 460's ran the game much smoother despite running at a third less frame rate than the two 7850's.
Older generation Twin Frozr design than the one on my current MSI GTX 670, though it still performs well.

Other Thoughts: I bought this when a friend gave me his surplus H.I.S. 7850 2GB after he upgraded to a GTX 680, so I could run it in crossfire. Initially I was happy with the boost it gave in games like Far Cry 3, but soon noticed the stuttering effect.
This is the only reason I docked an egg.

Thereafter I upgraded to an MSI GTX 670, giving slightly lower frame rates, but the stuttering disappeared completely,

However, I will keep this for a 2nd rig, as it is a great value for the performance, about 50% better than a single (now discontinued) GTX 460 1GB.

The fact that it came with 3 great games made it a steal. I hadn't expected to like Tomb Raider due to my previous experience with the series, but it's now my favorite game of the three it came with, inc. Bioshock Infinite and Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon.

Final note: If you do crossfire this card, make sure to disable the 2nd card from going into low power mode when gaming, either in Catalyst or 3rd-party software.

Pros: * Real cool
* Small
* x2 Fans
* Good price for performance!

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I broke the little PCI-E blue lever (My fault, probably the heat made the plastic weak) when I was getting my old card out, this is not much of a bad thing because it's nothing but junk. I feel lucky I got it that out ;D.

Pros: IMO the best card for this price. Paired with a i3-3220 for my first DIY "good enough for gaming" PC, it really performs awesomely. The cooling design keeps the card cool and when overclocked to the max and under full load it never reaches more than 60 degrees. When overclocked, it can perform like a 7870

Cons: The voltage is locked which limits it's overclocking ability.

Other Thoughts: This card is not great for extreme overclocking but if you're not looking for that like me then this is your card. The free games really allow you to see just how well this card performs making it a great value.

Pros: Quiet
Fast
Lower power utilization than previous crossfire config that this now outperforms

Cons: Was glitchy at first

Other Thoughts: Latest driver update solved glitching. I was having a lot of white or black squares appear in unchanging areas of the screen while video was playing.

Pros: Stays extremely cool, currently paired with a i3-3220 system. Under 100% load with 1050/1450 overclock the temperature never exceeds 60c.

Cons: Over voltage is not supported on this card!! If you were hoping to pick up the 7850 to utilize its high overclocking potential do not buy this card! Other brands can do over voltage, but for MSI, the only 7850 that supports over voltage is the R7850 Power Edition 2GD5/(OC) which is now discontinued.

With this card you will be locked to 1050/1450 clock speeds max!

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your review, very technical and a true warrior.
Some customers had mentioned that they used a different tool to do over-voltage, however this cannot be confirmed by us.

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with our tech support team directly at 626.271.1004 for assistance during regular business hours from M to F, 9am to 6pm Pacific Time.
Or you can email us at usreview@msi.com, thank you.

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

Pros: - OC's very well
- Runs very quiet, even under full load
- Hardly ever goes near 65 C, even under full load and OC'd
- Runs anything I throw at it at max settings

Cons: Worked great for about a day, then suddenly games would start crashing. As someone else said in another review:

"When system crashes it completely halts unexpectedly. Sound buzzes, horizontal lines on greyish screen, no system dump generated, have to power system off and on to get it in a working state again."

And I'm having these same exact problems. It happens when I'm either OC'ing or running stock. At first I thought it was Virtu MVP acting up, but disabling it does nothing. I'm getting these errors on a brand new build - I just installed everything. Windows and drivers are all fully up to date, I don't have random garbage running in the background, and I've tried both the 13.4 and 13.5beta2 AMD drivers.

I now have to RAM it, and to really add that extra bit of salt to the wound, MSI wants me to pay for shipping. And honestly, after seeing these other posts about how people are on their 3rd or even 4th RMA of this card, I'm not very confident with my purchase here so far.

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 two weeks 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: Ordered on 23/04/13, arrived from New Jersey morning of 25/04/13 in rural Prince Edward Island. Installed and up and running in no time. A good card, and with the new AMD Catalyst Beta, easy to set up (fiddle with !!!). The only program that would up the core V, was Sapphire Trixx. MSI actually state in small letters on their web site that the voltage cannot be adjusted on this particular model.....I am tempted to get an second one and run them in Crossfire....

Cons: No problems getting licences and keys for the AMD games that were part of the package, but the only two games that showed up on the coupon code were Tom Raider and BioSchock Infinite. I'm not much of a game player, so I'm not going to take a point away...Amazingly fast service.. Worth paying the small amount extra for express!.

Other Thoughts: MSI, AMD and Newegg need to get the straight on included "goodies". Some people might not be as easy going as I am....

Pros: Easy installation. Size works well with mid tower and only one power plug. Quiet even under load so far.

Cons: I attempted to redeem the "Unique Coupon Code for the AMD Far Cry3 and Tomb Raider and I received an error window stating the code was incorrect. After three attempts I emailed support and sent in the required info. Now they are stating I had already redeemed the coupon and I can forget about it. Bull. I was never allowed to download or redeeem anything. I have read other reviews about how so many have had problems from AMD about redeeming their games too. Sorry to find out just how bad AMD has become with theri customer support. I am becoming a very firm supporter of APPLE. This is just one more nail in the coffin as far as I am concerned for any MS based system. Thank you AMD for screwing up and helping me make a change.

Other Thoughts: Newegg is still a great site for reviewing and buying. I have never had any negitive issues with them so far. Customer service has been great the couple times I had to do an RMA.

Pros: Card works as advertised. Plays what I have at high settings (1920x1200), very satisfied :)
Current Config:
MSI Z77-G45 mATX
2x4GB GSkill Ripjaws (1600)
i5 3570k at 4 GHz
Hyper Evo 212
400 Watt Rosewill PSU (i know i need to upgrade lol)

Cons: None, its a great card :) Read other thoughts though.

Other Thoughts: That being said, when i bought the card, it came with 3 games, FC3, TR and Bio. I received the key for TR and Bio but not FC3. Not knocking eggs for that as im reviewing the cards but i am knocking AMD and Newegg for that (Newegg only deal). SO buyer beware. Will update review when this is handled and maybe help shed some light on how to handle that situation for others who have/ will buy.

Pros: Short depth makes it a good choice for mini-ITX systems, and at the time I bought this, was the best bang for the buck.

Cons: No real complaints to be had.

Other Thoughts: Mine came with the AMD reloaded game bundle, which was a definite plus, swaying me to a Radeon over GeForce. Handles all my games at the highest settings at 1920x1200, so it was a nice upgrade from my laptop's FireGL M5950.