Are these 2 MSI cards (R7850-2GD5/OC) exactly the same?

[blackrain]

I bought this video card a few weeks ago from Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127727

A few days ago, Newegg had a great deal on this one (twin frozr):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127663

As far as I can tell both video cards are MSI HD7850 2GB 256 bit (R7850-2GD5/OC). Are the fans the only difference?

I am thinking about setting these up in crossfire. Just wonder whether they are exactly the same or slightly different

 

[Techhog]

A 7850 will crossfire with any other 7850, 7870, R9 270, or R9 270X. They don't need to be identical.

 

[blastingcap]

You can Crossfire them, they use the same GPU.

A note about fans though: some people think 2 fans is better than 1 no matter what. This is not always true. Sometimes one large fan is equal or sometimes even better than 2 little fans. In this case, those tiny fans on Twin Frozrs are what, 70mm or 80mm at best and a lot of that is taken up by the fan hub rather than fan blades. Whereas the single-fan MSI 7850 is 92mm. (The 7790 got a 10cm fan which should EASILY rival or even beat twin 80mm fans).

Even if we use numbers most favorable to the TFIII and ignore hub space, that gives us 92/80 squared = 1.32. 2/1.32 = 1.51. So in a best-case scenario the TFIII is moving 1.5 times as much air if rpms are equal and hubspace doesn't matter.

Problem is that the fans are pushing against aluminum fins on the heatspreader, and little fans have to spin a LOT faster to maintain the same static pressure as the same-design fan in larger spec, in order to force air through the aluminum fins. Those little 70-80mm fans just aren't strong enough to do much without spinning REALLY fast and thus louder than you might expect.

Net result is that after owning both flavors of 7850, I've concluded that there is no real benefit to owning the TFIII over the regular MSI 7850. My temps with the TFIII were a little lower (less than 5C difference though), but the fans were quite louder than my regular-flavor 7850. If you spun the bigger fan up to that kind of noise level, I'm pretty sure the temperatures would be very similar to each other (less than 2C difference).

TL;DR: There isn't much difference between the one-big-fan and two-little-fan design for this card. It's just marketing.

 

[blackrain]

You can Crossfire them, they use the same GPU.

A note about fans though: some people think 2 fans is better than 1 no matter what. This is not always true. Sometimes one large fan is equal or sometimes even better than 2 little fans. In this case, those tiny fans on Twin Frozrs are what, 70mm or 80mm at best and a lot of that is taken up by the fan hub rather than fan blades. Whereas the single-fan MSI 7850 is 92mm. (The 7790 got a 10cm fan which should EASILY rival or even beat twin 80mm fans).

Even if we use numbers most favorable to the TFIII and ignore hub space, that gives us 92/80 squared = 1.32. 2/1.32 = 1.51. So in a best-case scenario the TFIII is moving 1.5 times as much air if rpms are equal and hubspace doesn't matter.

Problem is that the fans are pushing against aluminum fins on the heatspreader, and little fans have to spin a LOT faster to maintain the same static pressure as the same-design fan in larger spec, in order to force air through the aluminum fins. Those little 70-80mm fans just aren't strong enough to do much without spinning REALLY fast and thus louder than you might expect.

Net result is that after owning both flavors of 7850, I've concluded that there is no real benefit to owning the TFIII over the regular MSI 7850. My temps with the TFIII were a little lower (less than 5C difference though), but the fans were quite louder than my regular-flavor 7850. If you spun the bigger fan up to that kind of noise level, I'm pretty sure the temperatures would be very similar to each other (less than 2C difference).

TL;DR: There isn't much difference between the one-big-fan and two-little-fan design for this card. It's just marketing.

With that said, here is my dilemma. I have 2 PCs that I use for gaming (one is a general home PC and the other is for a 120 inch projector screen where the serious gaming goes on.

Earlier this year, I got an EVGA Geforce GTX 660 for the big screen. Then, I managed to pick up the Powercolor Myst Edition 7870 to replace the 660. I was just thinking of using the GTX 660 for the other gaming PC (general/home use).

I like to keep a spare video card lying around (testing on a bench setup, avoiding down-time etc) so I bought the first MSI 7850. Then, I saw the TFIII, and thought I would just return the other one (free returns with shoprunner). Then, I thought....why not keep them both for a crossfire. I keep going back and forth and after what you just said, I might return the TFIII.

I also kind of wonder how the 7850's crossfired would stack up against the GTX 660. I think I got the GTX 660 for around $175 and could sell it on ebay for $130 after fees and shipping costs.

 

[blastingcap]

Crossfire is a lot better than it used to be, but I would try to avoid multi-GPU whenever possible. Games have to support it, and many of them do not. Granted, the ones that do not are often games that don't need as much horsepower anyway, but it's still a headache I personally would rather not deal with if possible. Crossfired 7850 review: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/his-iceq-x2-7970-7950-7850.html (looks like xfired 7850s are somewhat faster than a GTX 680 depending on the game and settings with big variation... but the minimum and average FPS for GTX 680 vs crossfired 7850 is very similar... but varies depending on resolution and settings: http://www.xbitlabs.com/picture/?src=/images/graphics/his-iceq-x2-7970-7950-7850/zfulltable.png)
You may have to pay restocking fees even if you don't have to pay return shipping with Shoprunner, if you opened the box already.

 

[blackrain]

Crossfire is a lot better than it used to be, but I would try to avoid multi-GPU whenever possible. Games have to support it, and many of them do not. Granted, the ones that do not are often games that don't need as much horsepower anyway, but it's still a headache I personally would rather not deal with if possible. Crossfired 7850 review: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/his-iceq-x2-7970-7950-7850.html (looks like xfired 7850s are somewhat faster than a GTX 680 depending on the game and settings with big variation... but the minimum and average FPS for GTX 680 vs crossfired 7850 is very similar... but varies depending on resolution and settings: http://www.xbitlabs.com/picture/?src=/images/graphics/his-iceq-x2-7970-7950-7850/zfulltable.png)
You may have to pay restocking fees even if you don't have to pay return shipping with Shoprunner, if you opened the box already.

I haven't opened anything yet. I will just return the TFIII.

 

[Leyawiin]

I bought the Twin Frozr model this past week. I have no point of reference for the blue/black single fan model, but the TF III is very quiet. I have it somewhat mildly OC'd (1000/1300) and it has yet to break 60C after a long gaming session in a room about 72F. The fans may be small, but the heatsink is so "weighty" (for lack of a better word) and dissipates heat so well that they don't spin up much past 30-40% on auto. This is in a cramped, ten year old Antec case with only two 120mm fans. Even thought the PCB/Specs are identical, I'm glad I held off buying until the TF III came on sale for the same price.

 

[TheGoat Eater]

You can definitely make those two cards work together in crossfire. I do agree that the best way to go about things most of the time is a single card, less headaches and ease of use is far better. I love my MSI cards for the fact of the Twin Frozr coolers indeed, amazing how good that they cool even on auto under a huge OC. The design keeps evolving, and the results get better and better. If you call up newegg and talk to a customer service person and ask for restocking to be waived they are usually very nice about it. Maybe it will give you more in your pocket soon for a more powerful single card.