Not everyone can afford a really bug spec graphics card, particularly when you consider that these things have a limited shelf life. OK, so the bigger ones have a longer viable life so an, yes, but you get what we’re saying. In this article we take a look at a more affordable Radeon option from MSI that is still very capable and even has a monstrous feature.

When you take the R6850 Cyclone IGD5 Power Edition out of the box, you will notice a few things about it right off the bat; it is a bit shorter than many of the options on the market today, and it doesn’t have an external casing. The card is, for want of a better term, naked. But both those observations will play second fiddle to the absolutely huge heat dissipation array that the card sports.

This heat dissipation system is comprised of three main parts; a larger than usual fan, a large number of aluminium fins and dual heat pipes to carry the heat to them. The whole thing is designed for improved air flow, too, and the result is significantly cooler operation. Surprisingly, this set up is also fairly quiet. Under strain there is a bit of noise, but two preset fan speed profiles mean that you can either have it going all blazes when using demanding software, or set it to silent mode for less noise when cooling isn’t as important.

Armed with a Radeon HD 6850 chipset and 1GB of GDDR5 memory, it will handle most tasks asked of it well. And if the user wants a little more, the usual MSI Afterburner software makes over locking easy. This combines with the chipset’s 6+1 Phase Power System, which provides a better power management system and, as a result, better and more reliable overclocking. As with all MSI graphics car these days, this one comes with Military Class II components. Those include tantalum core Hi-Caps, aluminium core solid capacitor and super ferrite chokes.

The end result; increased stability, longer life, better performance under strain, less noise and no chance of explosions. That last one always amuses us, but a component explosion really is no laughing matter. With all that said, this card is still in a price range that doesn’t qualify it as being top of the line. And while it features most of the bells and whistles one would expect from a Radeon chipset these days, they’re not quite as impressive as those of some of its stable-mates. For example, it has Eyefinity functionality, but only supports up to three screens, rather than the five we see with other cards. Outputs come in the form of two DVI ports, as well as one Display port and one HDMI port. If you have little or no reason to go for a top of the line graphics card, this MSI solution should take care of your needs quite nicely.

It is Crossfire compatible, too, so putting a few of these guys together will be a good option, particularly when you consider the effective cooling that each one will have.

Verdict:

A smaller graphics offering with a huge cooling system

PROS:

• Very cool
• Good performance

CONS:

• Only 1GB RAM

TECH SPECS:

• Radeon 6580 HD chipst
• 1GB GDDR5 RAM
• 1 Displayport
• 1 HDMI port
• 2 DVI ports

Manufacturer: MSI
Distributor: Pinnacle
Online: www.pinnacle.com