MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III Power Edition Review
The MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II and III
Before we talk about the MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III, we want to show you its predecessor, the MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II, to demonstrate the “Twin Frozr” evolution if you will.
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MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III Top, R6950 Twin Frozr II Bottom - Click to Enlarge
The MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II has a number of similar features and is overclocked from the factory as well, but the GPU and memory frequency increases are very minor; 810MHz for the GPU and 1250MHz for the memory, an increase of only 10MHz for the GPU versus reference designs, but with the same memory clock. The MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II, however, sports a custom PCB with a dual-fan cooler.
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MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III Top, R6950 Twin Frozr II Bottom - Click to Enlarge
As you can see in a side-by-side comparison, the MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II and III are somewhat similar, but the cooler and PCB on the latter have once again been revamped. The coolers on both cards sport high-density heatsinks, with dual cooling fans, and think heatpipes that from the cooler’s base up through the heatsink fins. We should also point out that the cooler’s base is made of pure copper and the entire assembly is nickel-plated. The design of the Twin Frozr III’s heatsink though has been refined with quieter fans, a different heatsink layout, and fan shroud. The sum-total of these changes results in a quieter, more efficient cooler that ends up doing a much better job than AMD’s reference design—more on that later though.
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MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III and Accessory Bundle - Click to Enlarge
Other features of the MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III include a 6+2 phase PWM design that’s not only more efficient and offers more stable, cleaner output, but it’s capable of outputting up to 37% more current than the 4+1 PWM on reference designs.
Bundled with the MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III are a quick installation guide and user’s manual, a CrossFire bridge connector, dual peripheral to PCI Express 6-pin power adapters (the card requires two 6-pin feeds), a mini-DP to DVI dongle, a DVI to VGA adapter, and of course a driver / utility CD. Also available for the card is a copy of MSI’s Afterburner performing tuning and monitoring tool, which is available for download right from MSI’s website.
