MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC Video Card Review

We've been working our way through the MSI Twin Frozr Gaming OC GTX 700 series video cards recently. Today it's all about the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 model.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: MSI
18 minutes & 57 seconds read time

Introduction and Package

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While recently we've chosen to attack the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700 series MSI Twin Frozr Gaming models with an iron fist via MSI Afterburner to see just what we're able to get out of them, today we'll be taking a little bit of a different approach. First we checked out the MSI GTX 760 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC and found ourselves impressed with what the model could do when we overclocked it.

If you wanted to spend a bit more money, though, then the MSI GTX 780 3GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC we looked at and overclocked recently might be a better option. Today, though, we're checking out the video card that sits in between these two models, the MIS GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC. While we would also normally go down the path of overclocking this card, we won't be today for two reasons.

The first is that we've already looked at the GTX 770 overclocked a few times, but are yet to check out the performance of a pre-overclocked card at its pre-overclocked settings. The second reason is coming up straight behind the MSI GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming will be the MSI GTX 770 2GB Lightning, a video card that is designed with overclocking in mind. For that reason we'll be diving into depth of MSI GTX 770 overclocking with that card in the coming days. With a couple of new benchmarks added into the mix, having a record of out of the box speeds is going to make our comparisons stronger in the future.

For now, though, we want to see the final piece of the Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 700 series cards. It's a series that has done a great job of impressing us and we'll have to see if the GTX 770 2GB is also able to do just as great a job. Let's get into the package and move on from there.

Package

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The overall box design is nearly identical to what we've seen out of the other Twin Frozr Gaming series based cards. The front gives us the series and model along with mention that it's an OC Edition in the corner. Turning over we cover some of the main features which include the Advanced Thermal Design that the Twin Frozr IV cooler brings, along with the higher quality Military Class 4 components.

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Moving into the bundle, it's pretty light. We've got a driver CD and manual, along with a DVI to VGA connector and two 6-pin PCIe to 8-pin PCIe power connectors.

The Card and Specifications

The Card

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You could instantly mistake it for one of the other GTX 700 Twin Frozr Gaming series video cards we've looked at recently. We've got a big Twin Frozr IV cooler sitting on top with two fans pushing air onto a massive heat sink that covers almost the entire PCB. You can see we've got heat pipes coming out both the top and bottom and the overall color scheme is black and red, one we've seen on all the new Gaming Series products.

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MSI has opted for a dual 8-pin PCIe power connector setup instead of the standard 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connector setup. Staying across the top and heading closer to the front, you can see two SLI connectors, giving us the ability to run up to three of these cards in SLI.

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Connectivity options are very standard with two Dual-Link DVI ports. One is DVI-D, while the other is DVI-I. Along with those, you can also see a HDMI and DisplayPort, along with some venting to let the hot air escape out the back of your case.

Specifications

Out of the box, a reference clocked GTX 770 comes in with a 1046MHz core, which is then boosted up to 1085MHz. As for the 2GB of GDDR5 memory, that carries a default clock of 7012MHz QDR.

MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC Video Card Review 01

Looking above you can see that MSI has given a slight boost on the core to 1059MHz. While not a big gap between the reference clocks, the boost clock of 1111MHz is stronger looking against the reference 1085MHz.

As for the 2GB of GDDR5, like most companies, MSI chose not to touch it and hence comes in at the default 7012MHz QDR.

Benchmarks - Test System Setup

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We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASUS and Corsair.

We've tested a ton of video cards lately and for that reason we've got many video cards in our graphs here today to compared MSI's GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC against. We've got the reference GTX 770 2GB and GTX 780 3GB for starters.

Along with those, we've got the recently looked at MSI GTX 780 3GB Twin Frozr Gaming, which we overclocked to 1020MHz on the core and 6600MHz QDR on the 3GB of memory. Finally from the NVIDIA side we finish up with the EVGA GTX TITAN 6GB SuperClocked.

As for the AMD offerings, we've got the two high-end cards we've been using for a while now which include the PowerColor PCS HD 7950 2GB overclocked to over 1100MHz on the core, alongside the reference HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB.

The FPS Numbers Explained

When we benchmark our video cards and look at the graphs, we aim to get to a certain level of FPS which we consider playable. While many may argue that the human eye can't see over 24 FPS or 30 FPS, any true gamer will tell you that as we climb higher in Frames Per Seconds (FPS), the overall gameplay feels smoother. There are three numbers we're looking out for when it comes to our benchmarks.

30 FPS - It's the minimum number we aim for when it comes to games. If you're not dropping below 30 FPS during games, you're going to have a nice and smooth gaming experience. The ideal situation is that even in a heavy fire fight, the minimum stays above 30 FPS making sure that you can continue to aim easily or turn the corner with no dramas.

60 FPS - It's the average we look for when we don't have a minimum coming at us. If we're getting an average of 60 FPS, we should have a minimum of 30 FPS or better and as mentioned above, it means we've got some smooth game play happening.

120 FPS - The new number that we've been hunting down over recent months. If you're the owner of a 120 Hz monitor, to get the most out of it you want to get around the 120 FPS mark. Moving from 60 FPS / 60 Hz to 120 FPS / 120 Hz brings with it a certain fluidity that can't really be explained, but instead has to be experienced. Of course, if you're buying a 120 Hz monitor to take advantage of 3D, an average of 120 FPS in our benchmark means that in 3D you will have an average of 60 FPS, which again means you should expect some smooth gameplay.

Why are some graphs incomplete?

Adding new game benchmarks is a long, tedious and time consuming task as every video card has to be re-tested in those new benchmarks. Because of that reason we have always just evaluated our benchmark line up every six months. To stay up to date and current with the latest benchmarks and games available, we've changed our approach to adding new benchmarks.

Our benchmark line up will progress and be updated as newer more intensive games with benchmarks comes to light. While this will mean that initially you may only see a single video card in those particular graphs, as the weeks go on and we test more and more video cards, the results will grow quickly. This will help keep our benchmark line up as up to date as possible as we introduce and remove games on a constant basis.

Benchmarks - 3DMark 11

3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmark11/

Buy It Here

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world's most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC's gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

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Starting off with 3DMark 11, we can see a nice bump in both presets when it comes to the MSI GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr OC. Let's see if these gains carry through to some of the games.

Benchmarks - 3DMark Fire Strike

3DMark Fire Strike

Version and / or Patch Used: 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark

Buy It Here

Fire Strike is our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. Fire Strike will only be available in the Windows editions of 3DMark initially.

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With few cards tested under the latest 3DMark and no FPS score given, it's hard to exactly tell where the MSI GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC sits on a whole. Of course as we test more and more cards, we'll get a better idea of what exactly is going on under the latest 3DMark.

Benchmarks - Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 3

Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com

Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark//

New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

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Moving into Heaven, we can see a boost in both areas. At the higher 1920 x 1200 resolution, you can see the overclock brings the MSI card over the 3,000 point mark.

Benchmarks - Phantasy Star Online 2

Phantasy Star Online 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.sega.com/?t=EnglishUSA

Product Homepage: http://www.pso2.com/us/html/index.html

Play Phantasy Star Online 2 and experience revolutionary combat in an action-driven, free-to-play multiplayer online RPG from SEGA. Take a journey into an immersive sci-fi fantasy narrative and explore mysterious worlds to unravel their secrets. Join fellow adventurers and fight against the legions of darkness to banish them from the galaxy.

Score explanation: Less than 2000: Please adjust your game settings because the processing load is quite heavy.

2000 through 5000: The game runs fine at the setting, if you have room, you can adjust some settings.

5001+: The game works wonderfully at this setting.

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PSO2 always responds well when it comes to overclocking and you can see that we see a nice gain of over 10% here when it comes to comparing the MSI GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC to the reference GTX 770 2GB.

Benchmarks - Lost Planet 2

Lost Planet 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark - Test A Scene 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.lostplanet2game.com/

Lost Planet 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition which is also made by Capcom, taking place ten years after the events of the first game, on the same fictional planet. The story takes place back on E.D.N. III 10 years after the events of the first game. The snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The plot begins with Mercenaries fighting against Jungle Pirates. After destroying a mine, the Mercenaries continue on to evacuate the area, in which a Category-G Akrid appears and attacks them. After being rescued, they find out their evacuation point (Where the Category-G appeared) was a set-up and no pick up team awaited them. The last words imply possible DLC additions to the game, "There's nothing to be gained by wiping out snow pirates... unless you had some kind of grudge."

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Lost Planet 2 sees a nice bump at all resolutions and you can see that the MSI GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr OC does a good job of closing the gap between it and the GTX 780.

Benchmarks - Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Dark Tower

Developer Homepage: http://www.eidos.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.justcause.com/

Just Cause 2 employs the Avalanche Engine 2.0, an updated version of the engine used in Just Cause. The game is set on the other side of the world from the original Just Cause, on the fictional island of Panau in Southeast Asia. Panau has varied terrain, from desert to alpine to rainforest. Rico Rodriguez returns as the protagonist, aiming to overthrow the evil dictator Pandak "Baby" Panay and confront his former mentor, Tom Sheldon.

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Just Cause 2 sees some nice performance gains across the board. At 1920 x 1200 and 1680 x 1050, you can see the MSI GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr OC is putting out the same numbers as the reference GTX 780 3GB, while at 2560 x 1600 it falls just a single FPS behind.

Benchmarks - F1 2012

F1 2012

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com

In F1 2012 players will feel the unparalleled thrill of becoming a FORMULA ONE driver with a host of new features, wide-ranging technical and gameplay advancements and extensive competitive and co-operative multiplayer components. F1 2012 will feature all of the official teams, drivers and circuits from the 2012 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, including the debut of the 2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX at Austin, Texas and the return of Germany's famous Hockenheim circuit to the calendar.

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F1 2012 numbers don't move too much. At the lower resolutions you can see that we're hitting an FPS wall, and when we move to 2560 x 1600, you can see we fall in between the reference GTX 770 and GTX 780.

Benchmarks - Metro Last Light

Metro Last Light

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.4a-games.com/

Product Homepage: http://enterthemetro.com/ /

Metro: Last Light takes place one year after the events of Metro 2033, proceeding from the ending where Artyom chose to call down the missile strike on the Dark Ones. The Rangers have since occupied the D6 military facility, with Artyom having become an official member of the group. Khan, the nomad mystic, arrives at D6 to inform Artyom and the Rangers that a single Dark One survived the missile strike. Khan believes the Dark One is the key to humanity's future, and wants to make peace with it, while Ranger leader Colonel Miller wants to kill the creature due to its potential threat. Miller sends Artyom to the surface with a mission to kill the Dark One; he is accompanied by Anna, Miller's sarcastic daughter and the Rangers' best sniper.

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At the moment we don't have a lot to compare against when it comes to Metro Last Light, as it's one of our newest benchmarks.

We can see, though, that the MSI GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr OC provides strong FPS at 1680 x 1050, breaking the 60 FPS number. Past that, though, you can see we fall into the 50s and 30s, as we climb up the resolution table.

Benchmarks - Dirt Showdown

Dirt Showdown

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/dirtshowdown/360/

DiRT Showdown is the new arcade racing game from the team that brought you the award-winning DiRT series, uncaged in 2012. Pick up and play controls combine with electrifying events, frenzied crowds and stunning graphics to deliver high octane, dive in and drive thrills from event one.

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Checking out Dirt Showdown we can see a bit of a bump across the board. Nothing major and at the highest resolution you can see we still fall shy of that 60 FPS number we're on the hunt for to provide a solid gaming experience, something that the GTX 780 has no problem doing.

Benchmarks - Nexuiz

Nexuiz

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.alientrap.org/

Product Homepage: http://www.nexuiz.com/

Nexuiz is an Arena First Person shooter coming soon to consoles. Nexuiz is fast paced with extremely competitive game play. IllFonic brings Alientrap Software's Nexuiz to next-gen gaming consoles around the world while staying true to the game play refined over the years through development. IllFonic introduces a new Victorian influenced art style that is simultaneously futuristic and sophisticated. Nexuiz for consoles is powered by CryENGINE 3.

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Apart from a bit of movement at 1680 x 1050, you can see no change to Nexuiz. Even with strong performance increases, the MSI card is still too far below 60 FPS, at all resolutions.

Benchmarks - Sniper Elite V2

Sniper Elite V2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.rebellion.co.uk/

Product Homepage: http://sniperelitev2.com/us/age.html

Sniper Elite V2 features detailed sniping simulation with advanced ballistics, taking into account gravity, wind, velocity, bullet penetration, aim stability and more. Guaranteed to provide players with the most realistic simulation of military sharpshooting yet available.

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At the lower resolutions we see a slight performance increase that puts the MSI card between the two top GTX 700 offerings.

At the highest resolution we seem to have a small drop for some reason. We did test multiple times and it was consistent. Fortunately it's not huge and we continue to be a decent chunk above the 60 FPS average that we're always on the hunt for.

Benchmarks - Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://eu.square-enix.com/en

Product Homepage: http://www.sleepingdogs.net/

The core gameplay of Sleeping Dogs consists of giving the player an open world environment in which to move around freely. Sleeping Dogs is played as an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective action-adventure game with role-playing elements. The player controls Wei Shen, a Chinese-American police officer, as he goes undercover to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triad organization. On foot, the player character has the ability to walk, run, jump, climb over obstacles and swim, as well as use weapons and martial arts in combat. Players also drive a variety of vehicles including cars, boats, and motorcycles.

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At the lower resolutions we can see very little change in performance, but when we move to 2560 x 1600, we see a 10% increase, which lines it up with the more expensive GTX 780 3GB.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.01

Timedemo or Level Used: Ranch Long

Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com

Product Homepage: http://www.farcry2.com

Buy It Here

The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by the award-winning Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers the most realistic destructible environments, amazing special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system, non-scripted enemy A.I. and so much more.

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On a whole the movement under Far Cry 2 is fairly positive. You can see on all high-end setups here, though, that Far Cry 2 is not an issue.

Please Note: We still include Far Cry 2 in our benchmarks (we know it's old) as a way for our readers to get a general representation of how older games perform on new hardware.

Benchmarks - Hitman Absolution

Hitman Absolution

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.ioi.dk/

Product Homepage: http://hitman.com/

Hitman: Absolution is an action-adventure stealth game developed by I/O Interactive and published by Square Enix. It is the fifth entry in the Hitman game series, and runs on I/O Interactive's proprietary Glacier 2 game engine. Before release, the developers stated that Absolution would be easier to play and more accessible, while still retaining hardcore aspects of the franchise. The game was released on 20 November 2012, which is in the 47th week of the year (in reference to the protagonist, Agent 47).

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At the lower resolutions we really see no change as we hit an FPS wall. Moving to 2560 x 1600, though, you can see that the MSI card gets a couple of extra FPS in both the minimum and average department. At these FPS levels, those extra few are always appreciated.

Benchmarks - Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.nixxes.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.tombraider.com/us/base/agegate?refer=184&

Tomb Raider is an action-adventure platform video game. Published by Square Enix, Tomb Raider is the fifth title developed by Crystal Dynamics in the Tomb Raider franchise. As the first entry in a new Tomb Raider continuity, the game is a reboot that emphasizes the reconstructed origins of the culturally influential lead character Lara Croft. Tomb Raider was released on 5 March 2013 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows to universal critical acclaim.

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Tomb Raider sees a bit of an increase across the board and at 1920 x 1200 and 1680 x 1050 we see some great performance. At the highest resolution, though, both the minimum and average is just too low.

Benchmarks - BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://irrationalgames.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.bioshockinfinite.com

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter video game and the third installment in the BioShock series. Previously known as "Project Icarus", it is being developed by Irrational Games and was released worldwide on the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms on March 26, 2013. BioShock Infinite is not part of the storyline of previous BioShock games but features similar gameplay concepts and themes.

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BioShock Infinite like a lot of the more intensive games sees a couple of FPS bump across the board. While we get a bit more breathing room at 1920 x 1200, you can still see we're not where we need to be at 2560 x 1600, with a 48 FPS average.

Benchmarks - High Quality AA and AF

High Quality AA and AF

While we test all our games with maximum in-game settings, turning on Anti-Aliasing (AA) and Antistrophic Filtering (AF) helps take the intensity of our testing to another level.

Here we see video cards go from playable FPS to an unplayable FPS and the real power houses continue to help break that 60 FPS mark we always aim for to provide a smooth gaming experience.

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Checking out Far Cry 2 performance you can see a bit of a boost in overall performance. As you'd expect, though, the numbers are very strong on this high-end card, even when we throw AA and AF into the mix.

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With few results to compare against, there's not a whole lot we can say on a comparison here. We can clearly see, though, that we're way below the 60 FPS average that we need at both resolutions.

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We manage to get a couple of extra FPS at both resolutions, and at 2560 x 1600, you can see the extra almost 10% brings us up to a 59 FPS average.

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Finishing our game testing up with Sleeping Dogs, while we see a decent percentage increase at both resolutions, the FPS is just way too low at both resolutions.

Temperature Test

The temperature of the core is pulled from MSI Afterburner with the max reading used after a completed run off 3DMark Vantage and the Performance preset.

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Looking above you can see that the TwinFrozr IV cooler brings the GTX 780 core down to 71c from the 80c seen on the reference GTX 780 - and remember the MSI video card is clocked faster.

Sound Test

Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).

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Noise levels are in the fairly typical low 60 dB range. This is pretty standard, as you can see when it comes to these higher-end single GPU solutions.

Power Consumption Test

Using our PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01 or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated graphics cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a SSD hard drive is used with a single CD ROM and minimal cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

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Like we've seen from so many high-end video cards in the latest generation, power draw numbers are impressive. At load, you can see we're just a tad over 400 watts, which is fantastic.

Pricing, Availability and Final Thoughts

Coming in at $399.99 at the time of writing, the MSI GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr OC falls in line with four other GTX 770 2GB video cards at the same price. From there we start to move up a little bit with the most expensive 2GB offering coming in at $449.99, which is the MSI GTX 770 2GB Lightning, the next video card that will be hitting our testbed.

It feels like if you've had a chance to look at our reviews on the MSI GTX 760 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC or MSI GTX 780 3GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC, you'll already have a fair idea of just what we think of these new Gaming series based Twin Frozr cards. The MSI GTX 770 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC simply feels the gap.

The Twin Frozr based cards from MSI have never disappointed us and as we go through new generations of the Twin Frozr cooler, and they only get better. We love the move that MSI has made to the new Gaming Series name. We've said it before and we'll say it again - it's nice to see the company have some unity between the motherboard and video card departments.

Comparing the three models against each other, it's really going to come down to price, when deciding which one to buy. If you can afford more than what a GTX 760 costs, look at the GTX 770. Similarly, if you can afford more again, you'll no doubt want to look at the GTX 780.

When it comes to comparing against the competition, it's tough. A lot of it will more than likely come down to brand loyalty and availability, as all the non-reference GTX 770s we've looked at perform extremely well. If you've been on the MSI video card bandwagon for a while now, you can know with confidence that if you're continuing the MSI video card legacy, you won't be disappointed with what's on offer from this solution here today.

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Shawn takes care of all of our video card reviews. From 2009, Shawn is also taking care of our memory reviews, and from May 2011, Shawn also takes care of our CPU, chipset and motherboard reviews. As of December 2011, Shawn is based out of Taipei, Taiwan.

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