What's in the box?
The LOTR-esque packaging is nice and makes a change from the big-breasted anime ladies that have adorned previous MSI boxes.
Bundle-wise, there's everything you need to get started, but we somehow feel slightly shortchanged. A premium, pre-overclocked card should be sold on with a decent game or two, notwithstanding the free copy of Terminator Salvation that's bundled in with current NVIDIA mid-to-high-end cards.
Warranty-wise, MSI's cards ship with a two-year warranty which begins on the date of sale of the card from MSI to the distributor; it should begin on the date of the customer's purchase instead. The warranty is transferable between users and is handled by the reseller the card is purchased from.
MSI will deal with customers who are unable or unwilling to return the item to the place of purchase.
For direct returns MSI states a replacement time for faulty items of 7-28 days, with an average of 14 days and replacement items of the same or higher specification.