MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB Graphics Card Review

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB
MSI’s GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB looks like most of MSI’s 10-series graphics cards in their Gaming line. They all feature MSI’s Twin Frozr VI cooling solution, which covers the entire card. MSI’s Gaming colors are red and black and MSI has done a great job on the design and overall look of the card. Official dimensions of the card are 277 x 140 x 39 mm, so that makes it the basic size for most graphics cards these days. The cooler shroud itself is plastic, but it is still one of the better looking ones out there.

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB Graphics Card

Taking a closer look at the cooling solution itself you have two 95 mm cooling fans. These are MSI’s Torx 2.0 fans which feature an alternating blade design with a dispersion fan blade that has a steeper curved blade which accelerates the airflow, and a traditional fan blade that pushes down a steady airflow to the heatsink below. MSI claims that the Torx 2.0 fan design generates 22% more air pressure. These fans feature MSI’s ZeroFrozr technology that will stop them from spinning if the GPU temperature is under 60C, which makes for completely silent operation.

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB Graphics Card

Taking a look at the card from the side we can see we have a dual-slot card. You can also point out various locations on the card where there is a metal base-plate to help transfer heat away from critical areas of the card. Three large heatpipes are spotted, which we will give you a closer look at in just a second. The card has a TDP of 120W and draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector. Also on the side of the card that will face out is a MSI Dragon logo that will light up and is customizable with RGB lighting.

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB Graphics Card

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB Graphics Card

The card does feature a full backplate that extends the entire length of the card. It is all black and has the MSI Dragon logo on it with some triangular-shaped cutouts.

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB Graphics Card

Removing the cooler we can get a better look under the hood. Starting with the card itself there is a large baseplate that covers most of the card. This helps keep the card rigid and aides in cooling. You can see MSI makes use of super-ferrite core chokes with this card.

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB Graphics Card

The TwinFrozr VI cooling solution is made up of a large aluminum heatsink that has three large nickel-plated copper heatpipes running through it in an “S” fashion. All three heatpipes go through the base of the cooler.

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB Graphics Card

Moving on to the rear I/O you have three DisplayPort 1.4 connectors, a single HDMI connector, dual-link DVI connector.

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB Graphics Card

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