MSI GeForce GTX 1070 SEA HAWK X

For this review we have completely changed our testing methodology. We said goodbye to basic average framerate charts and developed new tools to measure not only the framerate but all metrics that matter to GPU enthusiasts. This means that our single-page reviews are no more, there is simply no way to fit so many charts into one page without causing problems to your Internet browsers.

The first card to be tested with our news tools is MSI’s GTX 1070 Sea Hawk X. This model is just one of the few watercooled cards in MSI’s portfolio, but this one is the cheapest. In terms of the design, this card is identical to MSI’s GTX 1070 AERO, with the only exception of the GPU heat sink being replaced with Corsair’s AIO cooler. The support plate, which covers memory and VRM section was also slightly modified to host the pump.

While AIO cooler is responsible for GPU cooling, there are other components that still need to be cooled down, and that’s where blower-type fan comes into action. It’s mounted right on top of base plate, which covers memory, VRM and power section. It’s relatively quiet, it was never noisier than the fan mounted on the radiator.

The shroud is made of plastic with some carbon fiber texture and brushed aluminum.

On the side we have one 8-pin power connector and three logos, but only MSI logo is illuminated by LEDs.

Unlike AERO, the Sea Hawk X comes with a full cover backplate. The disassembly process requires all screws to be removed (including three screws on the bracket).

The pump is directly connected to the same cable as the blower fan.

This is Corsair H55 AIO cooler. What’s interesting is that the speed of this fan is not controlled by the card, but instead, it has to be connected external fan header. We connected it directly to the CPU fan header (through a splitter) which means that the same voltage will be applied to CPU fan and GPU radiator fan. In other words, the speed of the GPU fan is controlled by the CPU temperature.

Here’s the pump up close before and after cleaning off.

AT A GLANCE

16nm GP104

1920

8GB GD5 256b

1582/1772 MHz GRAPHICS

PROCESSOR UNIFIED

CORES MEMORY

CONFIGURATION BASE/BOOST CLOCK

(Gaming Mode)



The MSI GTX 1070 Sea Hawk X has three modes, which you can control through MSI GAMING App. Gaming mode is what you get out of the box. Later in this review, we compare each mode to see if there’s actually any difference in performance.

MSI GTX 1070 Sea Hawk is equipped with Pascal GP104-200 GPU. This means we have 1920 CUDA cores and 256-bit interface connected to 8GB of GDDR5 memory.

Just like AERO, the Sea Hawk X has NVIDIA’s reference PCB, which means 4+1 phase VRM and single 8pin power connector.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION DIMENSIONS WIDTH: 27.5 cm (cooler shroud)

LENGTH: 9.6 cm (cooler shroud)

HEIGHT: 2-slot

WEIGHT: 2.7 kg (AIO cooler + card)

COOLING SOLUTION Corsair H55 AIO cooler with MSI original blower fan. DISPLAY CONNECTORS 3x DisplayPort 1.2

1x HDMI 2.0

1x DVI-D DL Please note this is an official picture, the actual bracket is not black but silver. PCB DESIGN 4+1 Phase power design

1x 8-Pin power connector INTERFACE PCI-Express 3.0 x16

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Sea Hawk X Specifications VideoCardz.com GeForce GTX 1080 MSI GeForce GTX 1070

Sea Hawk X GeForce GTX 1060 6GB/3GB Fabrication Process 16nm FinFET 16nm FinFET 16nm FinFET GPU GP104-400 GP104-200 GP106-400/300 CUDA Cores 2560 1920 1280/1152 TMUs 160 120 80/72 ROPs 64 64 48 Mode — Silent Gaming OC Mode — Base Clock 1607 MHz 1506 MHz

1582 MHz 1607 MHz 1506 MHz Boost Clock 1733 MHz 1582 MHz

1771 MHz 1797 MHz 1708 MHz Memory Clock 1250 MHz 2002 MHz

2002 MHz 2027 MHz 2002 MHz Eff. Mem. Clock 10000 MHz 8008 MHz

8008 MHz 8108 MHz 8002 MHz Memory 8GB GDDR5X 8GB GDDR5 6GB/3GB GDDR5 Memory Bus 256-bit 256-bit 128-bit Power Connector 1x 8-pin 1x 8-pin 1x 6-pin TDP 180W 150W 120W

Silent / Gaming / OC Modes: