Value Meets Performance: HD 4890 Cards from Gigabyte and MSI

MSI HD 4890 Cyclone OC Packaging & Accessories

Manufacturer's Part Number: R4890CYCLONEOC
Price: Click here to compare prices



As we mentioned in the introduction, the MSI Cyclone series is made up of stock, mildly overclocked and wildly clocked models. Our OC-edition sports what could only be called a pathetic increase in its core speed coupled with a total lack of memory speed increase. Seriously, a 30Mhz bump isn’t going to do anything in terms of increasing playability over a reference card.


MSI has a wide variety of box designs and this is one of the most understated ones we have seen in a while. It is done mostly in black but the back has a wealth of information and marketing jargon that mostly centers around the Cyclone cooler installed on this HD 4890.


Much like the Gigabyte card we saw earlier, MSI’s Cyclone is well protected against life’s bumps and bruises by thick foam padding as well as the typical anti static bag. Accessories are basic with a pair of Molex to PCI-E cables and a single extremely long Crossfire bridge.