Msi Gtx 1050 Aero Itx 2g Oc Graphics Card Review
Nvidia's new budget video cards of the season, the GeForce GTX 1050 line, have officially launched, and with its new GP107 graphics processor (GPU) comes a blizzard of new menu designs. Considering Nvidia isn't issuing reference designs of the GeForce GTX 1050 (or a GTX 1050 "Founders Edition" menu) for the usual video-card makers to follow, gamers volition have to choose i of the many customized boards made by Nvidia'due south partners. On October 25, Nvidia launched both the GeForce GTX 1050 and a hopped-up GTX 1050 Ti version (which we've already reviewed). The MSI GeForce GTX 1050 2G OC ($109.99) nosotros have on the test bench here today is the offset GeForce GTX 1050 we've been able to benchmark, and unlike the well-overclocked Gigabyte board, it should offer a fair representation of what the card can achieve at close-to-stock settings.
Nosotros say "close" because though this menu has a fancy cooler and the letters "OC" in its name, it comes overclocked by simply a tiny amount (just around 50MHz), which isn't plenty of a bump to make a noticeable difference in games. It besides sells for the exact base-model/"starts at" MSRP mentioned past Nvidia for the GTX 1050: $109.99. So it'south almost a reference card, for all intents and purposes, admitting i that'south mildly overclocked.
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This budget MSI card is set to do battle with other GeForce GTX 1050 cards, equally well every bit with AMD's all-new Radeon RX 460, which just had its base cost lowered to $99.99 ($10 less than the base-model GTX 1050, in case you're bad at math). The Radeon RX 460's suggested starting price (and, incidentally, that of the Radeon RX 470) was lowered ahead of the GTX 1050 launch equally a way to take the wind out of the Nvidia sails (and sales). That motion illustrates once again but how cutthroat the GPU market place is, and how sharp the rivalry between Nvidia and AMD. After all, in this part of the market, with cards under $200, is where the lion's share of graphics-carte du jour sales are made, in terms of volume.
Similar Products
The MSI GTX 1050 card we have hither adheres very closely to the specs laid out by Nvidia for the GTX 1050 every bit a whole, making it a beginner GPU for those running 1080p monitors without a lot of cash to drop on PC hardware. Of course, MSI also has several other tricked-out variants of this item carte du jour, besides every bit a broadly like GTX 1050 Ti version, so there is a GPU here to fit pretty much whatever budget that can handle a card betwixt $100 and $200. Let's dig into this one.
Blueprint and Features
This MSI GTX 1050 GPU is specifically the OC version, so it offers clock speeds that are a wee fleck higher than the reference spec. For example, Nvidia lists the base clock for this card every bit ane,354MHz, merely this carte's base is one,404MHz, a difference of 50MHz. For the Boost Clock, Nvidia lists it as 1,455MHz, while this card is rated at 1,518MHz, a difference of 63MHz.
These are quite pocket-sized overclocks, and we imagine the GPU volition be able to boost even beyond these speeds all by itself, using the congenital-in GPU Boost 3.0 engineering. Then the numbers provided by MSI are good to know, but in the terminate, they are not enormously telling. It should be noted that dissimilar other high-end cards from MSI that include a feature for "one-click" overclocking (in which you open a software program and just tap an overclock setting), this card does not offer that feature. Instead, you just have to let the card do its matter, which we suspect most buyers in this price range volition do. And if you take the desire and knowledge, you tin utilise an add-on program (such equally MSI'south ain free download Afterburner) to overclock information technology manually.
This MSI card has 2GB of RAM, which is standard for the GeForce GTX 1050 as a whole, and it features a 128-bit retention interface and 640 CUDA cores. On this card, you get a single-fan cooling solution and, unlike the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Gaming G1 we tested, this card does non require additional ability via a PCI Express power connector.
Not all GTX 1050 cards volition share this trait, just it'southward 1 of the GTX 1050's major selling points. Indeed, this is i of the biggest advantages of both the GeForce GTX 1050 and the AMD Radeon RX 460 boards, as they can exist plugged into almost any desktop PC, so long as it has a PCI Express slot on the motherboard. It's the ultimate low-stop upgrade for anyone wanting to become into PC gaming on a marginal PC, as it provides great performance at 1080p at an affordable price.
Unlike the dual-slot Gigabyte GTX 1050 Ti nosotros tested, this much more than compact card has just three outputs: dual-link DVI, HDMI ii.0, and DisplayPort 1.4.
The bill of fare torso is 7 inches long, merely a flake longer than the PCB itself, with the cooler jutting out a tad.
It takes up two slots side by side because of the heft of its beefy libation. MSI covers the bill of fare with a 3-year warranty.
Since this is a basic GPU, there's not much else to cover here. It doesn't take fancy lighting or a big software package; it isn't VR-ready; you tin't arrange the carte du jour in a dual-card SLI configuration; and it's barely overclocked. Information technology's close to a stock GTX 1050 without the trimmings, which its toll and blueprint reflect.
Performance
As we've mentioned in our other recent card reviews, things are in flux these days when it comes to testing cards, because the ii emerging technologies that electric current-gen cards are built for are proving difficult to test in these early days.
The offset of these is DirectX 12 (DX12), which is just now coming on the scene. There are very few real-world benchmarks for it. Still, DX12 will likely exist the standard graphics API in the time to come, and this card was designed to terminal for a few years, if not longer. And then it's important to know if a card tin handle DX12 well earlier buying. Nosotros tested the GTX 1050 with all the newest DX12-capable games we had on hand, including Hitman (the 2016 edition), Ascension of the Tomb Raider, and Ashes of the Singularity, as well every bit Futuremark'southward 3DMark DX12 benchmark, Time Spy. We tested a load of games using DirectX 11, too, because that API volition still be in wide use for at least some other year, and probably much longer.
The other angle is virtual reality (VR) support, or lack thereof. VR is all the rage these days, but the GTX 1050 is non powerful plenty to earn an adequate rating past the powers that be at Oculus and HTC, and so you won't be immersing yourself in artificial worlds with this GPU (or any other GPU all that well-nigh its price point) someday soon.
So, on to the benchmarks. Since this specific MSI GeForce GTX 1050 card costs $109, we'll compare it to the $99-to-$110 Radeon RX 460, and it'll be quite interesting to meet how they match up. (We tested a PowerColor version of the RX 460, the Red Dragon Radeon RX 460, which was selling for $99 at this writing, down from $109 when we reviewed it.) It's rare that nosotros have 2 new GPUs from competing companies that take almost exactly the same price. However, because the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti costs just $30 more than, in some cases, it will too be interesting to see how this near-vanilla GTX 1050 performs compared to Gigabyte's amped-up GTX 1050 Ti version.
All of the recent-generation cards we've tested in the $100-to-$200 range accept also been added to the benchmark charts below, with a few higher-finish cards such as the GeForce GTX 1060 and Radeon RX 480 ($509.95 at Amazon Canada) thrown in for good measure. Nosotros also dropped in the short-board AMD Radeon R9 Nano ($509.95 at Amazon Canada) , for an idea of what kind of performance you can go in a very compact card if money is no object. (At this writing, it was about four times the toll of a typical GTX 1050!)
3DMark Fire Strike
We started off our testing with Futuremark's 2013 version of 3DMark, specifically the suite'due south Fire Strike subtest. Fire Strike is a synthetic examination designed to measure overall gaming performance.
In this initial test, the GeForce GTX 1050 scored an easy win over the Radeon RX 460. Its score of 6,105 simply smushed the Radeon's score of iv,824, making it appear that this could be a lopsided competition. It'due south also interesting that the Gigabyte GTX 1050 Ti nosotros tested was a scrap more than 10 percent faster than the 1050, which is about what we expected.
Tomb Raider (2013)
Let's beginning with some older games.
Hither, we fired upward the 2013 reboot of the classic championship Tomb Raider, testing at the Ultimate item preset and three resolutions.
In our kickoff real-globe gaming test, things are not looking practiced for the Radeon RX 460, comparatively speaking, every bit it was slower than the GTX 1050 past almost xx frames per second (fps) at 1080p resolution. At 1440p we also saw a drastic difference in the GTX 1050's favor. That merely shows at that place is a pricing problem, either on AMD or Nvidia's finish. We also saw an xviii pct divergence betwixt the GTX 1050 and the Gigabyte GTX 1050 Ti at 1080p, which is relatively modest considering the Gigabyte card's MSRP is a total $lx more.
Sleeping Dogs
Next, we rolled out the very demanding existent-globe gaming benchmark examination built into the title Sleeping Dogs.
This is a difficult test for budget GPUs, just the MSI GTX 1050 was able to evangelize a major smackdown to the PowerColor Radeon RX 460: at 1080p, 46.9fps versus 28.4fps. The Radeon RX 460 was barely able to reach the 30fps mark, which is the minimum for a decent playing experience, simply dialing back some settings on this harsh test would go you lot there. Meanwhile, the GTX 1050 was close to the glorious mark, pulling down a more-than-sufficient 46.9fps. 60fps would be reachable with a few tweaks.
Bioshock Infinite
The popular title Bioshock Space isn't overly demanding, but it's a popular one with stellar good looks. In its built-in criterion programme, we ready the graphics level to the highest preset (Ultra+DDOF).
This benchmark shows a pretty clear design developing, as once more the MSI GTX 1050 was essentially faster than the PowerColor Radeon RX 460, this fourth dimension to the tune of more than 20fps more than at 1080p resolution. Both GPUs delivered extremely playable frame rates, though, so it'due south not a example of one bill of fare being playable and the other being unplayable on this title. Nevertheless, it's always squeamish to accept a big frame-rate cushion, and with the GTX 1050's 74fps at 1080p, there'southward more than than plenty performance to keep things bustling forth at 60fps even if yous meet a sudden frame driblet.
Hitman: Absolution
Next upward was Hitman: Absolution, which is an aging game only nonetheless pretty hard on a video card.
Things didn't improve here for the Radeon RX 460, as it was bested in this older benchmark at 1080p by dangerously shut to double. This is one of those situations where the RX 460 was largely unplayable, at just 20fps at 1080p resolution, though with that card, in the existent world we'd punch back the harsh 8x MSAA setting. The MSI GTX 1050 was able to hack it, though, running at a smooth-enough 35fps. Prissy.
Far Cry Key
Side by side, we moved to a more than recent game, released in 2016. Ubisoft'due south latest open up-world first-person hunting game is one of the well-nigh enervating titles we apply, thank you to its lush foliage, detailed shadows, and otherwise incredible environments.
AMD was able to end the bleeding somewhat in this test, as it was able to reduce the operation delta between the ii cards at 1080p to 11fps. That's yet a decisive victory for MSI'due south GTX 1050 card, nevertheless, and it makes sense that the Radeon bill of fare would do somewhat better in this championship, as AMD has always held an advantage over Nvidia in this first-person hunter-and-gatherer game.
Ashes of the Singularity
Oxide's Ashes of the Singularity is a scrap of a departure equally a benchmark, as it's a existent-time strategy championship, rather than a first-person shooter or a tertiary-person action title. Due to the planet-scale nature of its battle scenes, with hundreds of onscreen tanks, ships, and other implements of time to come warfare, information technology tin can be extremely demanding at high settings. And considering of the plethora of rendered units, this game is also way more CPU-bound—particularly at high settings and resolutions—than most other recent games. We used the Standard preset here, rather than the game'south killer Crazy preset.
MSI's GTX 1050 menu was able to continue its streak alive in this challenging game, this time outpacing the PowerColor Radeon RX 460 past a substantial 10fps at 1080p resolution. This is another of those games where the game was very playable on the MSI card (at 38fps), but on the RX 460 information technology was borderline. Information technology's titles like this that brand a clear distinction between these two GPUs, because at least on the settings nosotros are using, the RX 460 is simply non powerful enough.
K Theft Automobile Five
1 of the nigh popular game franchises on the planet, Yard Theft Automobile needs no introduction. Version V took a lot longer than many expected to country on the PC. But when it finally did, in early 2015, it brought a number of graphical improvements and tweakable visual settings that pushed the game far beyond its console roots.
Notation that some of the cards below have no bars because they would not run GTA V at our test settings. That'south a quirk of this game: Information technology will automatically bounce down settings if the game perceives it will not run acceptably at a given mix of resolution and detail settings.
We were impressed to see this formerly "tough on GPUs" game run at over 60fps at 1080p on the MSI GTX 1050, which is simply awesome. The GTX 1050 Ti also ran quite well as well, hit 73.8fps at 1080p. Sadly, nosotros could not become the PowerColor Radeon RX 460 to run this game at the exam settings we use, and so there are no numbers for it in this round. That said, its next-biggest blood brother, the Radeon RX 470, put the injure on the MSI GTX 1050 with an impressive 85fps functioning. Nonetheless, that RX 470 card cost at least $lx more at this writing.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Lara Croft rises once again in the early 2016 iteration of Square Enix's long-running activity franchise. As our hero works to unfold an ancient mystery (and reveal the secret to immortality) ahead of the ancient and deadly Order of Trinity, she traipses through a slew of complex atmospheric environments, from barren tombs to the frigid Siberian wilderness. A dynamic atmospheric condition system, and the complexities of Lara's wind-tousled hair, add to the game's visual complexity.
Nosotros used lower settings (the Medium preset) for this test since these are entry-level GPUs, and at that preset we saw the MSI GTX 1050 deliver a respectable 54.5fps at 1080p, if not quite the promised "60fps on loftier settings" that is this card'southward tagline. The Radeon RX 460 menu was, non surprisingly, a chip further away from this lofty goal, and it was able to attain just 42.9fps. That'southward still quite playable, of course, only once again, this is a pretty big deficit considering the close pricing.
Hitman (2016)
The newest game in the Hitman franchise finds Amanuensis 47 turning over a new leaf, and embarking on a journey of self-discovery equally a teacher at a schoolhouse for underprivileged children. Just kidding, of course; he kills loads of people in this i, just like the residue. It does offering gorgeous graphics in both DX11 and DX12 varieties, though. We'll tackle the former (DX11) kickoff.
This is another AMD-friendly title that gave the MSI GeForce GTX 1050 its narrowest victory yet, with the MSI GTX 1050 card just edging over the 60fps line by a small-scale margin. The Radeon RX 460 was shut backside, at a smooth 59fps.
Information technology's tough to get any rock-solid sense of DirectX 12 performance at this point. When we wrote this in late October 2016, even so merely a few major titles were available with DirectX 12 support. And running these games, anecdotally we saw no graphical differences betwixt the titles running at DX11 versus DX12 settings. In some instances, titles running under DX12 offered functioning gains, but elsewhere we saw lesser functioning.
In other words, don't draw any set-in-stone conclusions from the DX12 results below. DirectX 12 is nonetheless in its early on stages, and those developers who accept implemented it have yet to shine over the cracks. We'll take to wait some months to say for certain how much of an advantage DX12 offers, and whether information technology sways things in favor of AMD or Nvidia in whatsoever substantive style. Still, considering this is a cut-edge bill of fare and DX12 is cutting-border tech, it's worth taking a expect at what the GTX 1050 and its competition tin can do with Microsoft's latest gaming API today. (Spolier: The AMD RX 460's story gets better hither.)
This sequel to 2013'due south Tomb Raider was i of the commencement AAA titles to offer DirectX 12 support. We used the preset labeled Medium for testing.
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti G1 Gaming 4G (ROTR DX12 Medium) In DirectX 12 mode here, the margin of victory for the MSI GTX 1050 card over the RX 460 we tested was much closer than what we saw in the majority of the previous (DX11) tests. The GTX 1050 pulled out an 8fps lead over its Cherry Squad rival at 1080p. At that resolution, the MSI GTX 1050 OC card was able to maintain a frame rate of 53.4fps, versus the Radeon RX 460's 45.5fps showing. Those are both fine operation levels, of form, but apparently the MSI carte du jour is much closer to the ideal target of 60fps.
Hitman (2016, DX12)
The newest Hitman title likewise offers upwards a DX12 graphics option in its benchmark that, like Rising of the Tomb Raider, looked identical to our eyes to the DX11 version. Nosotros used the Medium setting hither.
It'due south safe to say in this particular title that the MSI GTX 1050 achieved parity with the RX 460, as the two at 1080p are just shy of 2 frames per second apart, making it a necktie. Information technology'southward an expected showing from MSI GTX 1050, of course, but besides an impressive showing by the Radeon RX 460, since elsewhere to this betoken it proved decisively slower than its competitor. As well, neither card was well-nigh 60fps in this game, which is unfortunate. Just know that this is a very demanding game, and mid-40s is still certainly playable.
Ashes of the Singularity (DX12)
The strategy title Ashes of the Singularity was among the first to offer DirectX 12 support, fifty-fifty when information technology was however in beta.
Again, we see the two cards perform similarly, then it seems clear at this point that AMD's DX12 mojo is indeed real. In this detail test, the gap between the two cards was just 6fps at 1080p, which is still a clear GTX 1050 victory simply a smaller margin than we saw in many of the previous tests.
3DMark (Fourth dimension Spy)
We oasis't tested all of the cards we outline hither on the 3DMark Time Spy criterion nonetheless; it's a test from the Futuremark suite that was simply relatively recently finalized. But nosotros did run it on the MSI GTX 1050 carte nosotros're reviewing here, besides every bit the Gigabyte GTX 1050 Ti G1 Gaming card and PowerColor'southward Blood-red Dragon Radeon RX 460.
The Gigabyte GTX 1050 Ti delivered a Graphics Subscore of 2,349, while the MSI GeForce GTX 1050 clocked at 1,834. Meanwhile, The Radeon RX 460 we tested came in at a Graphics Subscore of 1,622. That RX 460 showing is still a bit backside a GTX 1050, but not decisively so—again suggesting that the Radeon RX 460 card has a bit more than pep, in a relative sense, under DX12.
Very Good, Inexpensive, and Meaty
This was an easy conclusion to write because at that place was not much of a competition between the MSI GeForce GTX 1050 OC and its closest competitor here, the Radeon RX 460.
Almost of the time, when doing video-carte du jour reviews, it usually comes down to one card beingness faster but more expensive, or vice versa, and so the decision comes down to "It all depends on your budget!" That'southward not the example this time around.
The MSI GeForce GTX 1050 2G OC is a clear winner at the sensitive around-$100 cost point, if the PowerColor RX 460 card is typical of that ilk. Information technology's the faster card at this toll by clear margins, and it'south impressive that we saw this kind of functioning in a menu with an MSI-claimed $109 MSRP.
AMD certainly deserves credit for making upwardly some of the ground information technology lost nether DX11 in our DirectX 12 examination, but the Nvidia GTX 1050 carte du jour was still faster in every test. In the battle of the GTX 1050 and the Radeon RX 460, the GTX 1050 is the ane to get at the current pricing level, even factoring in the Radeon RX 460'southward $10 toll drib to $99. In our opinion, spending $10 more for a GTX 1050 nets yous a 20 pct (and in some cases, much bigger) functioning gain, making that a deal nobody should refuse.
It'south interesting that AMD has also lowered the price of its Radeon RX 470 (cards based on that scrap start now at $169), only that carte du jour is doing boxing with the GTX 1050 Ti, so it is not going to bear upon any of the cards down much closer to the $100 toll signal. The RX 470, with its $169 price break, volition exist going up confronting the basic $139 GTX 1050 Ti and tricked-out 1050 Ti cards similar the $169-list Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Gaming G1. Given what we've seen so far of the GTX 1050, information technology seems like AMD might need to knock down the toll of the Radeon RX 460 a flake more, perhaps to $90 or even $80, to brand shoppers call up twice when comparison information technology to the GTX 1050.
Our only concern with the Nvidia card is whether this MSI GTX 1050 2G OC (and others similar it) will actually come up in at a street toll equal to or lower than the $109 MSRP—and stay in stock. With the early "Pascal" GeForce GTX 1080 and 1070 cards, stock levels were wildly uneven the first few months after their release, and when available they sometimes sold for well to a higher place MSRP. That situation has stabilized, and nosotros do see one GTX 1050 card (a Zotac) on this forenoon of the line'south release available at Newegg.com for $109. (That said, we saw no sign yet of our MSI test model.)
Nvidia did warn that the GTX 1050 cards would be more widely stocked a couple of weeks after their Oct 25 coming-out (many GTX 1050 Ti cards are hither at present), then we'll meet presently enough if the situation stays stable. But for now, life looks sunny for shoppers who demand a good budget card for high-particular 1080p gaming: $100 to $150 is the new baseline for that, as opposed to the $200 information technology was a year or so agone.
MSI GeForce GTX 1050 2G OC
The Bottom Line
The MSI GeForce GTX 1050 2G OC is a winner at $109, and it generally delivers on the hope of 60fps at 1080p. Information technology's a very good bill of fare for budget desktop upgrades and space-strapped PCs.
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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/msi-geforce-gtx-1050-2g-oc
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