1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:07,839 GTS 450. NVIDIA is coming fast and hard 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:13,360 filling out their DirectX11 lineup. So, they now have a mainstream part that's 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:16,560 going to be around $149.99 Street. This 4 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:19,279 is a 1 gig card featuring a Cyclone 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:27,039 cooler. So, obviously with the Cyclone cooler, you might imagine it's made by D 6 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:30,160 MSI. So, the GTS 450 is meant to slot in 7 00:00:27,039 --> 00:00:32,000 under the GTX 460, as you might imagine, 8 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:37,040 and really take the place in the price bracket that the GTS 250 used to occupy. 9 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:44,480 So, why don't we go around to the back of the card? Let's find out what is special about the Cyclone version of 10 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:46,000 this card. It has a 9 cm PWM fan for 40% 11 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:50,520 more air flow. It has multiple heat pipes, meaning two for better heat 12 00:00:48,079 --> 00:00:56,640 dissipation, and it has a dust preer fan lifespan. Okay, as I mentioned 13 00:00:53,840 --> 00:01:01,039 before, this is a DirectX11 card, finally at a truly mainstream price 14 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:07,119 point from NVIDIA, and it features all of their latest technologies, including 15 00:01:02,879 --> 00:01:09,119 CUDA, Physex, SLI, 3D Vision, and the 16 00:01:07,119 --> 00:01:12,479 rest of these are not really NVIDIA technologies, but they are also 17 00:01:10,479 --> 00:01:18,560 supported by the card. It is a PCI Express 2.0 card. It requires a six pin 18 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:20,479 power connector and a minimum 400 watt 19 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:27,200 power supply. So, why don't we go ahead and open up the box? Uh, I'm actually 20 00:01:24,159 --> 00:01:29,280 filming this um a while ago. I can't 21 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:34,720 upload it until the embargo. So, by the time you see this, you will be able to 22 00:01:31,759 --> 00:01:39,799 buy this card. Let's have a look at the accessories that are included. It comes 23 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:42,400 with a mini HDMI to HDMI normalsized 24 00:01:39,799 --> 00:01:47,520 adapter. Put that back in there. There we go. It comes with a two Molex to one 25 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:51,040 PCIe six pin connector. Mind you, seriously guys, if you're not using a 26 00:01:49,119 --> 00:01:55,520 power supply with a PCI Express power adapter on it or connector on it, like 27 00:01:53,759 --> 00:02:00,079 really just get one because they're not expensive. Okay, we got a DVI to VGA 28 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:04,479 adapter just in case you're still using an ancient monitor. Now, speaking of 29 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:08,080 ancient monitor, this video card is perfect if you're using an ancient 30 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:15,040 monitor because really this price bracket of video cards is designed for 31 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:16,720 around the 1280x 1024 to 1680x 1050 32 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:22,560 resolution range. If you're running a 24-in monitor, do yourself a favor, buy 33 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:24,800 a GTX 460. But if you're running a lower 34 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:28,800 res monitor, you want DirectX11, you want the latest feature set from NVIDIA, 35 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:35,920 then this is a perfect choice. We also have a user's guide, a copy of MSI After 36 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,920 Burner, and we 37 00:02:35,959 --> 00:02:43,120 have oh, a little guide on how to use their live update online feature. Now, 38 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:46,920 let's look at the card itself. I have a feeling the cooler itself isn't going 39 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:51,680 itself. See, I'm saying itself too much. The cooler is not going to 40 00:02:49,599 --> 00:02:57,599 surprise us too much because we have seen the Cyclone cooler before. MSI's 41 00:02:54,640 --> 00:03:01,760 Cyclone cooler is one of those uh value designs that performs really well. So, 42 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:08,159 everybody loves it. Um, I can tell you from my experience working at NCIX that 43 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:14,440 a lot of people have picked up the GTX 460 Cyclone because it really does make 44 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:18,000 the GPU run cooler. It's quiet 45 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:20,319 and it's cheap. I mean, what else can 46 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:23,519 you ask for? MSI includes these little covers on all the connectors. So, I'm 47 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:27,200 just removing all of those so that I can actually show you the card in great 48 00:03:24,879 --> 00:03:31,280 detail. Now, I believe this car does use a reference PCB. And the reason I'm 49 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:36,879 going to go ahead and assume that is cuz you can see right on the back there are actually uh blank spots where there are 50 00:03:34,879 --> 00:03:42,319 are no RAM chips installed. So, it looks like what we probably have on here is 1 51 00:03:38,959 --> 00:03:44,720 2 3 4 5 6 7 eight RAM chips for a total 52 00:03:42,319 --> 00:03:50,879 of 1 gig. And I am correct. You can see on the other side we've got an 53 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:54,640 additional Yeah, an additional four. And those two spots are also blank on the 54 00:03:52,799 --> 00:04:00,000 other side. So, I guess it could support up to 1.5 gigs of RAM. So, I wouldn't be 55 00:03:57,439 --> 00:04:04,560 too surprised to see a card, a GTS 450 with more RAM in the future. Although, I 56 00:04:02,319 --> 00:04:08,879 have to say there's probably not much benefit to loading up RAM on a card like 57 00:04:06,799 --> 00:04:13,280 this because it is a mainstream card. Here on the back, we've got two DVI 58 00:04:10,799 --> 00:04:18,160 ports as well as a mini HDMI. We've got the typical MSI branding built into the 59 00:04:15,599 --> 00:04:21,919 PCI back plate. Now, it's not even terribly important that they have all 60 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:27,840 this ventilation here because this is primarily an interior uh exhaust design. 61 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:32,000 It means you're not exhausting a ton of heat outside the case. But the benefit 62 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:36,160 is that you do get to keep the GPU cooler. You get all of this incidental 63 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:41,360 air flow going down over your RAM as well as onto your power circuitry here. 64 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:45,040 And you do still get to exhaust a little bit of heat outside the case through the 65 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:49,600 vents, but it's not going to be a ton. Power delivery is all right here at the 66 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:53,520 back of the card. As I said before, I suspect this is a reference PCB, so 67 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:57,960 you're not going to find anything exceptional in terms of power delivery. Although, for a mainstream card like 68 00:04:56,639 --> 00:05:02,240 this, you don't really need anything exceptional. Here at the back of the 69 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:07,520 card, you find a six pin PCI Express power connector. And then you can see 70 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:10,800 the fan is controlled via PWM. You know, I don't think I've ever talked about 71 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:15,840 this before. No, no, stay talk. Look at the card. There we go. Uh PWM means that 72 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:19,440 there is a fourth pin. It's pulse width modulation. So what it means is it's 73 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:23,280 only actually sending voltage to the fan every so often instead of actually 74 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:28,240 decreasing the voltage to run slower and then increasing it to run faster. 75 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:32,080 Instead, it just runs 12vt all the time, but it does it in bursts. So the fan, if 76 00:05:30,639 --> 00:05:36,880 you're running 12 volt all the time, it'll spin fast. And if it does 12vt 50% 77 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:40,160 of the time and then 50% of the time nothing, it'll spin slow. There you go. 78 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:43,919 You learned something today if you didn't know how PWM fans work. At the 79 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:51,600 back of the card, we don't find anything particularly exceptional. We've got our 80 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:51,600 PCI Express 16x interface. 81 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:57,479 And I'm a little confused. Look at this. 82 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:04,720 I don't think I've ever seen this before. There's a great number of 83 00:06:01,039 --> 00:06:07,680 missing pins on the PCI Express 16X 84 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:13,440 interface. And I don't know why. Uh you know what? If we have any astute viewers 85 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:15,680 out there, please let me know why it is 86 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:19,600 missing the contacts here. because uh I have not seen that in the past. I'm sure 87 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:23,039 there's a very good reason for it, but uh there you go. There's something I've 88 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:27,120 never seen before. We do have an SLI connector up here at the top of the 89 00:06:24,319 --> 00:06:33,120 card. Remember, one SLI connector, that means two-way SLI only. No support for 90 00:06:30,479 --> 00:06:38,800 3-way SLI. 3-way SLI is only supported on the GTX 465 and up, not the 460. 91 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:43,199 Nothing below there except the older generation stuff, you know, 275, etc., 92 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:47,360 etc. And remember, four-way SLI is supported only on the 480. So, that 93 00:06:45,759 --> 00:06:51,280 pretty much covers everything I wanted to say about the GTS 450 Cyclone. I'm 94 00:06:50,319 --> 00:06:57,520 also going to try and get some performance numbers going at some point today. Thank you for checking out this 95 00:06:54,960 --> 00:07:01,199 unboxing video and uh thank you for subscribing to Linus Tech Tips. If you 96 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:05,039 haven't subscribed to Linus Tech Tips, hit the subscribe button now. It's not 97 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:08,000 that hard. Cameraman, no smart ale comments from you.