How common is this?
Might go for the TriX...
It's common.
MSI Twin Frozr fans are crap and will not last long with steady use past 56-60%.
They are not designed for continous use.
I have replaced the fans on 17 out of 26 MSI Twin Frozr 7950 I still run.
on the other hand, I haven't lost a single fan on 20 Gigabyte WindForce 7950's.
~BCX~
Never had a problem with MSI, but I had 3 Gigabyte 7950s shoot fireballs after a few months, all with different power and riser setups
I'm talking about the fans only, the cards themselves are wonderful.
~BCX~