Conclusion
I really cannot find anything wrong with this card. It is a small design that hits all of its targets. It has a nice set of video outputs that will allow people to use up to four monitors (3+1 surround). It runs relatively cool and is not overly noisy at full load. The build quality is great and after extended testing (like, a month+) I had no problems. MSI was not as happy with how long I tested it, but in the end it did show that I experienced no show-stopping issues.
While the card is missing a second DVI ouput, MSI makes up for it by including 2 x DisplayPorts. This gives plenty of room for that entire top portion to exhaust hot air from the GPU.
So where are there potentially problems? The release of the new GTX 900 series will make some folks leery about potentially dropping some money on what could be an obsolete card. I would not be terribly worried as the GTX 760 looks to be around for a while. This particular card now retails for around $210, which is a pretty good drop from the $260 it was several months ago. The cheapest GTX 970 card is over $110 more in price, which is a significant chunk of change for people who typically look at the $200 area for a midrange card. I have not heard any hints as of late about a GTX 960, and when that card eventually rolls around, it looks to be a 2015 product at the earliest.
The backplate is nice and sturdy as well as powdercoated. It not only acts as support, but also cools the memory mounted on the back of the card.
We must also look at the industry. This looks to be the last ITX branded card from MSI anytime soon. I asked MSI if they would be releasing a GTX 970 in the ITX form fact as Asus and Gigabyte have announced. It seems as though MSI is abandoning that particular niche. There just do not seem to be the sales needed to keep designing and producing these cards. This is not to say that this card is not perfect for those looking for a smaller form factor product, because it quite frankly is. MSI did a great job with this design and implementation.
The card performed right where it was supposed to. The ability to run it at stock, overclocked, and gamer speeds is a nice plus that is easy to accomplish with the bundled application from MSI. A beginner who does not want to mess with Afterburner will find this a very handy feature. The only downside is that the AMD R9 270X is about $30 to $40 cheaper and will provide an experience that is very comparable to what the GTX 760 offers. The R9 270X I tested against this particular board was overclocked, but this is not uncommon for the R9 270X SKUs.
How small is this card? Located above it is the now ancient GTX 280 from many years back. Half the size and about four times more powerful is a nice advancement.
If one is an NVIDIA fan and must have an NVIDIA card, who is looking for a small form factor graphics card that is relatively inexpensive and runs nice and cool, then the MSI GTX 760 ITX is certainly the card to beat. It is an outstanding design that pays testament to MSI’s design team. It is compact, cool, and relatively quiet (though not anywhere close to zero decibel). It will find a nice home in a power, portable mini-ITX design case.
the temps are similar to a
the temps are similar to a 970. just for a smaller card. rather get a 970
the temps are similar to a
the temps are similar to a 970. just for a smaller card. rather get a 970
Nvidia needs to buy back all
Nvidia needs to buy back all the 660s and discount the 760s or else we wont see the 960s this year with all the stock in the retail channel. With the higher prices that’s even less likely to happen.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127794
$50 less and uses 40watts less. Unless your looking for a specific Nvidia game to play
700 series discounting is
700 series discounting is about to pop right now. Just noticed on newegg. Been waiting for my budget but high quality builds to jump from the refurb’d 660’s to 760/770’s.
Though we’ll see what happens with this nvidia fiasco with dysfunctional tablets, I was working towards offering whole PC gaming packages with an included Shield and all the accessories needed to fully enjoy it. If I scrape that plan I’ll likely go to AMD for a new solution. Was also working on a high quality cheap custom Google Cardboard head mount for Shield.. : (
And there is a mini itx
And there is a mini itx version of the 970 out already… for msrp of 330$…
Yup, I believe I discussed
Yup, I believe I discussed those products from Asus and Gigabyte in my review. $120 more expensive than this little number, which could translate into more memory, a bigger SSD, a faster processor, etc. A pretty significant price increase at this level.
Thanks for the review.
I’ed
Thanks for the review.
I’ed like to see a review of this one to:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1227&pid=2445&lid=1
That’s another neat looking
That's another neat looking little card. I will inquire.
Josh,
Would it be possible to
Josh,
Would it be possible to add some photos of the test PC? Curious to see how it looks inside a case (spacing, etc.)
Even thou this is ITX model, would you be able to use it on a ATX board?
You can absolutely use it in
You can absolutely use it in a regular ATX board. It is just a small card, nothing is fancy or different about its actual implementation when it comes to spacing. I will swap that into a full ATX case where I tested it this weekend and post a pic.
I’ve got a Sapphire R9 285
I’ve got a Sapphire R9 285 Compact itx in a Corsair C70…it’s kinda funny looking, but works great. Temps are surprisingly low, stays under 62*C
Here is the deal…If you are
Here is the deal…If you are buying an mini-ITX motherboard to game in a SFF case like I did, You do NOT want to limit yourself to a case that requires this size GPU since they(the cards) are so little in variety. Temperatures really hurt in SFF cases and cramming a video card in there with only one fan is even worse. Again, if you are buying a SFF case for gaming get one that can use a full size card like my CM Elite 130. Think about it. You are getting a 1.5 year old mid-range card, do you really want to have tech that old?