MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GAMING X 4G & MSI GTX 1050 2G OC Review

Published: Nov 16th 2016, 08:29 GMT

MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GAMING X 4G

Today we test two MSI cards based on Pascal GP107 GPU, NVIDIA’s first and only processor manufactured in 14nm FinFET process.

AT A GLANCE

14nm GP107

768

4GB GD5 128b

1468 MHz
GRAPHICS
PROCESSOR
UNIFIED
CORES
MEMORY
CONFIGURATION
BOOST CLOCK
(Gaming Mode)

The MSI GTX 1050 Ti GAMING X is the latest product from GAMING series. This model is factory-overclocked to 1468 MHz out of the box. Bundled software (MSI GAMING App) gives you the option to choose between OC, GAMING and Silent Mode. Both retail and review samples ship with Gaming mode enabled by default, so this is the preset we are going to use in our review.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

To this day, NVIDIA introduced five Pascal graphics processors. GeForce GTX 1050 series are in some way following the path of GTX 750 series, which as you might remember were based on Maxwell GM107. It was the smallest Maxwell GPU used for desktop graphics.

Right now GP107 is the smallest NVIDIA GPU from Pascal series. Nothing suggests we will be seeing GP108 in the future, but no one really knows what NVIDIA is up to in entry-level segment.

PASCAL GPUS

132 mm2

200 mm2

314 mm2

471 mm2

610 mm2
GP107GP106GP104GP102GP100

We are here

Pascal GP104-400 is the full graphics processor with 12 Streaming Multiprocessors, each holding 128 CUDA cores. This means that the full chip has 768 cores, 48 Texture Mapping Units and 32 ROPs. The full chip was used in GTX 1050 Ti, and this is how it looks:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Now let’s look at the card. According to MSI, this card still features Twin Frozr VI cooler. The first thing that you will notice is the size of this card, this version is much smaller than GTX1080/1070/1060 Twin Frozr VI. It’s even smaller than TF5 from GTX 960 GAMING.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

There is one heat pipe going through the base, which covers GPU and two memory modules (but only a part of the modules).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The cooler is attached by four screws and 3 cables (one is for the fans and the other are for LED illuminated GAMING logo and those ‘red fins’ on the right side of the cooler).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The PCB looks empty, but it has everything you would expect from entry-level graphics card. The most important customization is extra 6-pin connector. As you will learn it will help to keep GPU clock stable.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
 msi-geforce_gtx_1050_ti_gaming_x_4g-product_pictures-3d1-1DIMENSIONS

  • WIDTH: 23.7 cm
  • LENGTH: 15.5 cm
  • HEIGHT: 2-slot
  • WEIGHT: 1.16 kg

COOLING SOLUTION

  • Dual-Fan Twin Frozr VI Cooler

 

msi-geforce_gtx_1050_ti_gaming_x_4g-product_pictures-ioxDISPLAY CONNECTORS

  • 1x DisplayPort 1.2
  • 1x HDMI 2.0
  • 1x DVI-D DL
msi-geforce_gtx_1050_ti_gaming_x_4g-product_pictures-3d6PCB DESIGN

  • 3+1 Phase PWM design
  • 1x 6-Pin power connector

MEMORY

  • Samsung K4G80325FB-HC28

INTERFACE

  • PCI-Express 3.0 x16

OVERCLOCKING

GeForce GTX 1050 series are currently locked to the maximum frequency of 1911 MHz. Same applies to the memory clock, which will not exceed 2002 MHz, no matter what we set. Some reviewers claim that the frequencies set beyond these limits still affect performance. Our overclocking was at the edge of this limit, so we were unable to verify if that’s true.

1050-ti

All results cumulated in one chart:

OVERCLOCKING RESULTS  
Reference :1290 MHz (100%)1392 MHz (100%)1752 MHz (100%)
Stock :1354 MHz (105%)1468 MHz (105%)1741 MHz1752 MHz (100%)
Overclocking :1534 MHz (119%)1648 MHz (118%)1911 MHz2002 MHz (114%)
BASE CLOCKBOOST CLOCKTYPICAL CLOCKMEMORY CLOCK

At stock, GTX 1050 Ti GAMING X does not exceed 63C in FS Stress Test. Our overclocking fan profile delivers temperature under 52C, which is a really good result.

gtx1050ti-gputemp

As mentioned earlier, maximum boost clock will not exceed 1911 MHz when overclocking is applied. At stock, the frequency drops sequentially until it reaches 1733 MHz. Be advised that the straight line for overclocking may be somehow misleading. GPU driver simply does not show the real frequency once it reaches 1911 MHz.

gtx1050ti-gpuclock

The next graph is a good visual representation of how ZeroFrozr technology works. It takes a whole minute for the fan to even start spinning.

gtx1050ti-fanspeed

It is not easy to capture the difference between idle and load with thermal imaging camera, but this is the best picture we managed to take. As you can see even at idle, PCB temperature reaches 55C. Temperature raises by another 7C once the card is in use.

THERMAL EXAMINATION
48 C  63 C 
GPU IDLEGPU LOAD
gtx1050ti-idle2gtx1050ti-load
PCB IDLE PCB LOAD
MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Series Specifications
VideoCardz.comMSI GTX 1050 Ti
GAMING X 4G
NVIDIA GTX 1050 TiMSI GTX 1050 Ti
2G OC
NVIDIA GTX 1050
Fabrication Process14nm FinFET
GPUGP107-400GP107-300
CUDA Cores768640
TMUs4840
ROPs32
Base Clock1354 MHz1290 MHz1405 MHz1354 MHz
Boost Clock1468 MHz1392 MHz1519 MHz1455 MHz
Memory Clock1752 MHz
Eff. Mem. Clock7008 MHz
Memory4GB GDDR52GB GDDR5
Memory Bus128-bit
TDP75W
Launch Price165 USD139 USD139 USD109 USD

msi-gtx-1050-ti-gaming-x-4g-gpuz

Review Contents
Page 1Overview MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GAMING X 4G
Page 2Overview MSI GeForce GTX 1050 2G OC
Page 3Synthetics Fire Strike ● 3DMark 11 ● Time Spy ● VRMark ● Unigine Valley ● Heaven
Page 4DirectX12 AotS ● Battlefield 1 ● DeusEX:MD ● Hitman ● Rise of the Tomb Raider ● Total War: Warhammer
Page 5DirectX11 Call of Duty: IW ● Division ● FarCry Primal ● Metro Last Light ● Project Cars ● R6 Siege ● THIEF ● Witcher 3
Page 6Conclusion MSI GTX 1050 Ti GAMING X 4G ● MSI GTX 1050 2G OC