MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming Video Card Review

There are four screws holding the Twin Frozr IV in place making it exceptionally easy to remove.  As an added security measure you will find a warranty sticker over one of the screws that will puncture if you attempt to remove it.  The sole purpose of this is to catch people who attempt to RMA the video card after voiding the warranty.  

Rumor has it that MSI has added this "feature" to all of their current generation cards including the high-end Lightning.  I guess there is no hiding the fact that when you go cold the heatsink must come off.

Under the cooler you'll clearly see the component layout and we are happy to report that you will get a heatspreader with this card covering the memory and VRM.  This leaves the GPU as the only heat load into the Twin Frozr IV cooler.

Power is delivered using a 6 phase VRM located on the side nearest the video connectors.  You will notice from the photo that two more phases have been silkscreened but have been left unoccupied.  Could this PCB be shared with the "Hawk" edition?

The Twin Frozr has become a common cooling solution on all of the high-end MSI video cards and is often regarded as the best factory cooler on the market today.  Twin Frozr IV is a fourth generation cooling design that features two specially designed cooling fans over a massive heatpipe array.  The same style cooler could be found on the popular GTX Lighting however, this one is considerably smaller and only features four heatpipes.  

As we mentioned before we have gotten the impression that this PCB might be used on the higher end (and Enthusiast friendly) R9 270X Hawk and the silkscreened placement for voltage test leads would be a leading indicator.