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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 custom cards are here, and there's a lot of them (Updated)

By Koh Wanzi - on 7 Jul 2016, 7:39pm

MSI

MSI

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Sea Hawk X

Much as it did with the GeForce GTX 1080, MSI has unveiled a huge selection of custom GeForce GTX 1070s that will leave gamers spoilt for choice. We’ve listed the cards as follow (prices have been added where available):

  • MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Sea Hawk X
  • MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G (S$819)
  • MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Aero 8G OC
  • MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Aero 8G
  • MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Armor 8G OC
  • MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Armor 8G

The GeForce GTX 1070 Sea Hawk X features a hybrid cooling solution comprising a blower-style fan and a closed-loop Corsair H55 liquid cooler. We were surprised to see that MSI has extended the Sea Hawk treatment to the GeForce GTX 1070, as it looks like something that would be reserved for flagship cards only (it first appeared on the GeForce GTX 980 Ti Sea Hawk. Then again, the GeForce GTX 1070 does deliver flagship-level performance, so that’s probably justified.

And if you look closely, you’ll also notice that the shroud and fan are actually the same as on the MSI Aero series cards. In OC mode, the card operates at a 1,607MHz base clock and 1,797MHz boost clock, almost a good 100MHz over the 1,506MHz reference base clock.

Then there’s the GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G, which is the real king of the hill in MSI’s line-up. As with past versions of this series, the card is designed to be overclocked, with a custom PCB design, 10-phase power design, and an additional 6-pin PCIe power connector.

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G

The Twin Frozr VI cooler has also been upgraded over its predecessor with double ball-bearing Torx 2.0 fans, an improved fan blade design for better airflow, and thick 8mm square copper heatpipes. The nickel-plated copper baseplate also reportedly helps to channel heat to the heatsink more efficiently.

Of course, there’s customizable RGB lighting included as well, in the form of an illuminated MSI logo on the top of the card. Red accents around one of the fans also glow red when the card is powered on.

The GeForce GTX 1070 Armor cards feature more modest dual-fan Armor 2X coolers, but with the same Torx fans as found on MSI’s Twin Frozr V coolers. The fans here are of the semi-passive variety as well, and can shut down under low loads. Reference and overclocked versions are available, although the overclocked version only has a rather modest 1,556MHz base clock and 1,746 MHz boost clock.

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Armor 8G

Finally, the Aero cards utilize a blower-style fan similar to that on the Founders Edition cards. These are the most basic out of MSI’s custom cards, which means there’s no RGB lighting or flashy, colored accents. Instead, MSI has gone with a nearly all black design with just a single silver accent. It is available in reference and overclocked versions as well, where the OC variant is clocked at a 1,531MHz base clock and 1,721MHz boost clock.

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Aero 8G

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