We love it when a manufacturer finds their groove and sticks to it for multiple generations. We say this as the MSI 5060Ti Gaming OC (as we are going to call it for brevity’s sake) pretty much uses “just” a slightly modified version of the shipping container that housed the 4060Ti… and the 3060Ti-series before that (and… and… well, you get the picture). We seriously wish more companies’ art departments would stop trying to fix that which is not broken and take a page from MSI and their multi-generational reliability. We say this as this is pretty much as close to a perfect shipping container, for its class, as you can find. Not perfect, but close enough not to be worth the risk of making it worse while they try to “improve” upon it.
To be brief. This shipping container is big, but not too big; it is colorful, but not garish; it is attention getting, without being the ocular equivalent of a punch in the face; and last but certainly not least, it is liberally covered in information – in both written and picture format we might add. All things we not only like but want to see in a shipping container. As a bonus, even though this is a PC Gaming component, MSI has once again resisted the urge to include the (sadly) typical “1337 G4M3R” nonsense some manufacturers resort to to stand out. So yes, this box just plain looks like it is a premium product… even if the Gaming OC model is not their premium model. In other words, this is how you make a great first impression.
Opening up this marvelous(ly designed), but not mysterious, box o’ goodness, we find that MSI has, rightly so, taken the conservative approach to internal protection. Consisting of a 1-2 combination of plenty of medium-density foam and an EMI shielding baggie, one can pretty much rest assured that even if they order it directly from the manufacturer, and it ships directly like our sample did, that it is going to arrive in pristine condition. Needless to say, (chaotic neutral) Sir Stabby McCuttington the Third, who likes to moonlight as a Shipping Agent, is not going to like all that protection, but that too is a Good Thing™ from our point of view.
Sadly, if there is one area that some buyers may feel… less than enthused about it is the included accessories. MSI does not ‘do’ goo-gaws, and other useless pieces of dross. They include only actually value-added features and leave the MSRP boosting garbage to other manufacturers who want to ‘own’ that corner of the market. We like that. We hate paying for shi… things we don’t want, need, or even desire. You may feel differently, and if you do, MSI is probably not the right manufacturer for you.
As such, it is not surprising that the grand total of the accessories consists of two things. An installation/instruction pamphlet and the 12V-2×6 to dual PCIe 8-pin adapter. Nothing more. Nothing less. This is perfectly fine for two reasons. The first is this on the more value end of the 50-series, and with NVIDIA releasing drivers, patches, and more drivers seemingly on a weekly basis any driver ‘disc’ (or USB flash drive) would be so far out of date that it is pretty much not worth the effort to use it. Simply download the latest and greatest (or better still the latest ‘known good’) driver package and consider it a couple of dollars of savings on the MSRP.
The other reason is the adapter. If you are not lucky enough to have purchased a latest generation MSI PSU, say the rather good (for its class) MPG A1000GS 1000watt for example, and do not have access to really custom looking 12v-2×6 cables this adapter is going to help add a dash of elegance and style to your build while adding a bit of safety to said build. Make no mistake, a single 12v-2×6 can easily handle 200 watts of power. That is well within the realm of reasonable. The same is true if the adapter was a 12v-2×6 to single 8-pin, and if MSI had simply tacked on a 6-pin secondary header for additional safety would have been happy. They did not do an 8+6 configuration. Instead, they went with two 8-pin headers. For a piddly little sub-200-watt class card.
That is overkill in a good way. So much so, the only negative we have to say about this adapter is that MSI did not bestow upon it their yellow go/no-go gauges at each end. As such, make sure you hear the click and visually confirm it before considering it fully seated.
On the positive side, and still just sticking with the safety features of this adapter, the bag itself tells you specifically how much distance you need to give it before you start bending it. The included secondary sheath covering at the end is a little short for our likening but… 1) it is darn close to the 25mm mandatory minimum, and a single (or dual) wrap of black ~8mm wide electrical tape will let you hit the safer end of the mandatory minimum standoff… or you know 16mm long piece of black heat shrink tubing if you want to make it look neat works well too. Mostly, though, it is 2) one millimeter is a rounding error, and in return,n it does add a nice dash of elegance to go along with the safety it offers.
Moving on. In this vein, this adapter comes replete with a tight all black sheathing that once again boosts the mundane into something worthy of using in a higher-end mainstream build… and certainly helps give the impression of this card costing (even) more than it does! As such, if ‘you’ are only going to include one accessory, this is how you do it right, as MSI has knocked it right out of the park with this one. So much so, other companies need to crib their notes and step up their game… as nearly everyone will give up goo-gaws for good gear. Just the way it should be.
