3DMark11

Since MSI and 3DMark11 go hand in hand like Starbucks and WiFi, we have to start off the beatings (benchmarks) with the program. Give it a shot and see where you place at home.

In this benchmark, core/shader frequencies make all the difference. Coupled with some higher memory bit-rates, the GTX 480 out paces the rest of the pack. Still, you can see just how strong the MSI team is right up to the Hawk, which leads the GTX 560 Ti posse.

Batman: Arkham Asylum (DX9)

Many of today’s high performance video cards make easy work of DirectX 9 games. The Hawk comes very close to matching the performance of the GTX 480. If DX9 games are your forte, the Hawk is your best choice and Batman: AA is one great game with excellent replayability.

Mafia 2 (DX9)

Even though this is a DX9 title, it’s the maximum PhysX settings that favor the higher number of CUDA cores. Cards like the GTX 480 clearly command. That doesn’t make the Hawk look any less impressive though. Frequencies will benefit PhysX when there’s limited shader cores.

Farcry 2 (DX10)

In Farcry 2, while the Hawk reveals itself faster, it could just be a driver glitch that makes the GTX 480 look a few frames slower. Whatever the reason, we’ll take the frames we can get and will keep an eye on the GTX 480 in future tests.

Resident Evil 5 (DX10)

Similar to Farcry 2, the end result is a close battle between the GTX 560 Ti Hawk and GTX 480. It’s the Hawk’s high frequencies that once again give this card its competitive edge over its siblings. There are no issues at all running DX10 games either in this round.