PNY & MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 1GB SLI Video Review Linus Tech Tips

The video is Linus Tech Tips’ two-card evaluation of the PNY GeForce GTS 450 and the MSI Cyclone GTS 450, focusing on SLI performance and how these mid-range cards stack up against higher-end models. Linus opens with the goal of delivering a compact review of the two GTS 450 variants and then dives into SLI benchmarks, explaining that both cards share the same reference PCB design while differing mainly in cooling solutions. He sketches the test bench, listing components: an overclocked Core i7 860 at 3.8 GHz with hyperthreading, four gigs of Kingston memory with a third RAM stick, an SLI/Crossfire-capable motherboard, and an OCZ Vertex SSD drive as the storage backbone. The video then enumerates the graphics cards involved, including the GTX 480 and 5870 as reference points, and highlights the comparison setup of single versus dual 5770s and two mid-range cards against a high-end single card. Linus announces the game suite and settings: 1680x1050 resolution, medium presets for main games, and careful handling of PhysX settings to isolate GPU performance. He outlines how Crisis, Mafia 2, Batman Arkham Asylum, and other benchmarks were configured to show scaling, CPU bottlenecks at the chosen resolution, and the impact of different drivers including the latest Nvidia and Catalyst releases. In the closing segment, Linus summarizes observed scaling in SLI, cautions that price-to-performance for the GTS 450 series is not a slam-dunk decision yet, and emphasizes that up-to-date drivers yield the most accurate numbers, before inviting viewers to subscribe for future reviews.

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