Roundup: Nine GeForce GTX 460 1 GB Boards Benchmarked

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Happy with Nvidia's GeForce GTX 460, we invited a dozen of the industry's top graphics companies to show off their unique interpretations of the card. Nine responded with what they feel are exceptional products. Can they get any better than reference?

MSI N460GTX Cyclone 1GD5/OC

An oversized radial-fin cooler and custom slot plate make MSI’s N460GTX Cyclone 1GD5/OC stand apart from the reference design GeForce GTX 460 on which it’s based. The cooler is still slim enough to allow this card to fit within the same two-slot space as most of MSI’s competitors, but its 5.1” height could prevent placement in some compact gaming cases.

MSI uses Nvidia’s reference display output configuration, consisting of a mini-HDMI and two dual-link DVI connections, yet strangely relies on DVI to supply a full-sized HDMI output.

The 1GD5/OC doesn’t sport much of an overclock at 725.5 MHz GPU and a bone-stock GDDR5-3600. The lack of memory overclocking could be due to a lack of contact between the heat sink and RAM.

MSI has become famous for its Afterburner software, but the core voltage adjustment doesn’t work with this particular card. Clock limits still exceed the capabilities of hardware, at 1090 MHz GPU and GDDR5-4680.

Two of Afterburner’s more important “advanced” controls are the ability to start the program with Windows, and start it minimized to the tray. While overclocks “stick” without starting the program with Windows, custom fan profiles only work when the program is running.

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Fan profiles help set MSI’s Afterburner software apart, with a visual curve graphic that makes setting them easy. Poking around at the curve even allows one to add more control points for finer-grained speed changes.

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Several menus address the monitoring, reporting, and screen-capturing needs of MSI Afterburner users.

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Up to five overclocking profiles can be saved, and users can even set them to automatically launch with 3D programs.

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Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
91 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Tamz_msc
    Good article.
    Reply
  • TheStealthyOne
    I really am a fan of ASUS' DirectCu/TOP cards.

    I can't decide between the 460 and 5850 versions :P
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    I would have liked noise benchmarks.
    Reply
  • beans4you
    just installed two gigabyte 460 cards in my brothers new setup, they are pretty nice! can't hear them even with the 2 fans on each and they run around 25/29 C idle, this is as far as I've gotten with tests :p
    Reply
  • falchard
    thestealthyoneI really am a fan of ASUS' DirectCu/TOP cards.I can't decide between the 460 and 5850 versionsThats a contemplative choice? Considering its not the 5830, the clear choice is the 5850.
    Reply
  • Lmeow
    Wow. Jetway's 33 % overclock is nSane... especially on what seems to be nVidia's reference cooler.

    I wonder how many cards can reach that 900 MHz with acceptable noise and voltage levels.
    Reply
  • El_Capitan
    This review is trying to tell us what? Higher overclocked cards give better performance? Duh?

    It would have been better to see each card overclocked to it's most stable overclock first, then test the cards with all the benchmarks.

    I read CPU magazine's article comparing the GTX 460's, and same conclusion. Palit is the fastest, but MSI's is the quietest and coolest.

    I've been looking into getting a pair for SLI. Those that don't have extra space between their PCI Express 2.0 slots should go for the EVGA Superclocked because of the external exhaust. Those that do have space like me and prefer low noise would be better off the MSI's. Performance-wise, they're all great overclockers (every card in this review can overclock higher than Palit's factory overclock). Honestly, you really can't go wrong with any of these cards.
    Reply
  • vixiv
    El_CapitanHonestly, you really can't go wrong with any of these cards.
    Basically.
    Reply
  • void
    I have one gigabyte card and very happy with it. Almost complete silent at idle. and not much noise at 100% fan speed. 50% fan speed is enough to keep it around 60c in games
    Reply
  • amgsoft
    If you are going to use the cards in PC in your home, the less noisy and the coolest is often the best choice.
    Reply