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Inside
Unpacking the box you find your graphics card, manual, cables and a CD. While there are no included games, I think the card speaks for itself, especially at this price point.
 
   
The MSI N260GTX is a long card, while this is not an issue with a full ATX motherboard and case, if you are using a mATX motherboard in a smaller case, you could quickly run out of room. It has been some time since I have seen a card that takes up as much depth as this one does. MSI includes the HDMI adapter as well as the required riser cable to bring sound along the HDMI path with the video, this is especially nice when bridging the HTPC with an in line Audio Amplifier. MSI has positioned 2 fans that not only pull air into the card but exhaust it out the rear of the system, granted some of the air bleeds out the top and bottom as well, this is due to the cooling solution not being a sealed version. A very nice heat pipe solution with the color scheme of brushed nickel/platinum, the very High Tech appearance only adds to its aesthetics...
One thing I noticed missing, which caught me off guard TBH, was the lack of a Molex to PCIe power adapter. I mean, most cards I have tested that have required external power have included this adapter. Add to that, the MSI N260GTX has 2 external power inputs. This either means that MSI does not want you to use an adaptor (understandable) or it was overlooked...
Install
As usual, physically installing the MSI N260GTX was no problem at all (unless you have a micro case, then you are going to need to watch the back end of this thing), the driver side of the house went smoothly as well.
     
I chose to download the latest version offered by MSI/nVidia from their site(s). Once the system rebooted it automatically detected the proper settings for my monitor (I did double check to make sure the settings were correct) and we were ready to start the fun... As you can see the MSI applications were monitoring the status of the N260GTX as I went thorough my paces, I will also be using another app or two just to double check.
One thing to note is the fans on this thing, while day to day operation is near silent, when you first power on your system be ready for a blast, these fans, when cranked to full tilt, will be extremely loud. This only goes to show the extent to which MSI has kept cooling in mind, the fact that they run dead silent, but have the ability to more then double in speed is impressive, especially on those hot summer days when the AC breaks and gaming must go on :).
Testing
We will be performing all tests at 16:10 resolution of 1680x1050 and 1920x1200. Bear in mind that the 3850 I will be comparing the MSI N260GTX to is over a year old. Just as an FYI, all of the games I have chosen support WS out of the box.
Benchmark System: Intel i7 920, CM PR-500 Power Supply, MSI X58 Platinum, 6GB Super talent PC3-12000, Patriot 128GB Warp V.2 SATA-II, MSI N260GTX, KDS K-2626 (26” 1920x1200), Windows 7 RC1 (7100)
The Comparison System: Identical to above with the exception of: HIS HD3850 IceQ3. This card offers us a comparison from an upgraders point of view.
The games:
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Crysis:Warhead - She's out, and hurts the current generation of cards just a lil bit (sometimes we like a little hurt though)
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Devil May Cry 4 - A new twist on an older Hack and Slash, with a nice benchmark tool to boot.
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Left4Dead - Steam's popular Zombicide awaits
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