MSI 980TI Lightning Revealed [Reviewed by guru3d]

[Rekx]

 

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After few leaks in the past days, finally there is online a complete picture of the new MSI GTX 980 Ti Lightning. This card should compete against KP and extreme cards for heavy overclock specially under LN2.

 

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Specs:

 

Triple-slot 

Three power connectors (8+8+6pin)

V-Check points

5 Super Pipes

Military Class 4 components

Dual-BIOS feature

12+3-phase power VRM

10-layer customized PCB

Backplate 

clock speeds of 1203/1303 MHz (base/boost), 1774 MHz (memory)

 

The card is expected to launch this week.

 

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Review From Guru3d

 

Temperatures [load]

 

 

TDP

 

 

Noice [load]

 

 

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Overclocking Result On The Lightning

 

 

Temp Target 91 Degrees C

CPU clock +65 MHz (from default 1203 MHz)

Power Limiter 122%

Mem clock 8.794 Gbps effective

Voltage GPU 1.244 V

Voltage AUX / PLL +100 mV

Voltage MEM +100 mV

Fan RPM 60% remains silent enough yet offer great cooling !

 

 

Now first let me hand out a warning. Typical voltage control usage for end-users go a little something like this: "hey I got 1.3 Volts, let use it!", that assumption / thesis is wrong. On air cooling you can only use so much Voltage before a too high setting makes the GPU unstable again. For the lightning on air-cooling you are looking at roughly 1.22~1.25V that we can recommend. 1.3V gave us far more instability and did not yield into higher clock frequencies on the GPU.

 

I won't lie, the Lightning was a fairly hard piece of technology to overclock, in the end we hover at close to 1.5 GHz Boost clock frequencies. This was stable, but for long term usage, I'd probably have to recommend you to drop down another 50 MHz on the GPU. The (Hynix) memory is freaky, add +100 mV and you will laugh nervously, we got it running at almost 8.8 Gbps stable (effective data-rate). This was the max though, another 100MHz more resulted into screen dots.

 

I strongly recommend you to play with fan RPM, as the cooler is truly magnificent. At 60% RPM the Tri-Frozr cooler remains reasonably silent, yet your temps will drop to the mid 50'ties C.

 

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OC Game Results

 

 

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Conclusion

 

 

The performance is overall faster than a GeForce GTX Titan X, yet pricing should be better at MSRP the 750 USD marker. In the end this product will offer you a AAA gaming experience in any monitor resolution, as even Ultra HD now becomes a viable resolution for single GPU setups. The card does so while keeping itself at nice temperatures. Compared to the GeForce GTX 980 Ti at 2560x1440 you can expect an increase of up-to say 25% performance (over the reference GeForce GTX 980 Ti) and overclocked you can add another 10%. 

 

We adore the MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti Lightning for what it really is, a very fast product with nice aesthetics, excellent noise levels and great cooling performance. With the MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti Lightning you can flick on all exquisite image quality settings and get yourself submerged into a quality gaming experience. We had hoped for a slightly better OC on air-cooling, though we probably are complaining a little more then needed. The Lighting is a truly sexy product that comes very much so recommended by Guru3D.com. We are awarding the product a Top Pick award as it definitely deserves that.

 

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News Sources:

 

http://videocardz.com/57482/msi-geforce-gtx-980-ti-lightning-detailed

 

http://www.msi.com/product/vga/GTX-980Ti-LIGHTNING.html#hero-overview

Edited August 28, 2015 by jesper101996
Edited text beneath picture of Lightning card.

[alexyy]

About time. 

 

I love the lighting cards!

[Bob Jim]

Will it beat the EVGA Kingpin Edition? This will be interesting.

[Raudi_]

This card will need Samsung Memory to compete with the 980ti KPE otherwise MSI will be wasting their time developing this card. I have some high hopes but if they drop the ball on this one, idk if they will ever be taken seriously in the Extreme GPU overclocking scene again.

[Rekx]

Will it beat the EVGA Kingpin Edition? This will be interesting.

Will i'm wondering if they'll do the whole pay for better overclocks thing EVGA are doing.

[TheMcSame]

All new cooler? If they go for a "titanium edition" card rather than an OC series card I''ll cry... Well, I wont cry, I'll just be pissed.

[Rekx]

All new cooler? If they go for a "titanium edition" card rather than an OC series card I''ll cry... Well, I wont cry, I'll just be pissed.

Well what they mean is properly that they will upgrade the fans and add new features. I highly doubt they'll change the color scheme. A lot of marketing has gone into the whole lightning/yellow thing.

[TheMcSame]

Well what they mean is properly that they will upgrade the fans and add new features. I highly doubt they'll change the color scheme. A lot of marketing has gone into the whole lightning/yellow thing.

That's what I thought tbh, then I remembered the confused board... XPower (OC series board name) Gaming Titainium Edition.

[Rekx]

That's what I thought tbh, then I remembered the confused board... XPower (OC series board name) Gaming Titainium Edition.

Though it's strange that the board isn't show in the OC board category 

 

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/#?category=Overclocking

[ChrisxIxCross]

I WANT THE POWER

[Lays]

Will it beat the EVGA Kingpin Edition? This will be interesting.

 

 

It won't unless MSI somehow gets Samsung VRAM on it.

 

The KPE is beating Titan X's with external VRM's soldered on due to the fact that Samsung VRAM can be clocked higher and is more efficient for benchmarking.

Samsung VRAM doesn't cold bug as easily as hynix does on the 980 TI, so you can usually get lots more mhz out of it whilst on Ln2. 

 

(The Kingpin is the ONLY 980 TI with samsung memory right now)

 

 

I don't think any 980 ti or titan x will dethrone the Kingpin this generation, it's basically perfect for Ln2. The engineering that went into that card is nuts!

[-CLASSIFIED-]

This card will need Samsung Memory to compete with the 980ti KPE otherwise MSI will be wasting their time developing this card. I have some high hopes but if they drop the ball on this one, idk if they will ever be taken seriously in the Extreme GPU overclocking scene again.

i got some extremely good hynix chips on my 980ti  

[Lethal Seraph]

I've read people mentioning EVGA KPE cards being good with Samsung vram. What exactly is the difference between Samsungs and Hynix?

[Lays]

I've read people mentioning EVGA KPE cards being good with Samsung vram. What exactly is the difference between Samsungs and Hynix?

 

Samsung VRAM can be clocked higher and is more efficient for benchmarking.

Samsung VRAM doesn't cold bug as easily as hynix does on the 980 TI, so you can usually get lots more mhz out of it whilst on Ln2. 

It also scales better with voltage & can handle more voltage.

 

I believe the timings are slightly different, which is why it benchmarks better. ( Have heard talk of this a few times, not sure if true)

[zacRupnow]

I hope it's sexy like the N780 Lightning, and not ugly like the new Twin Frozr design.

[Lays]

I hope it's sexy like the N780 Lightning, and not ugly like the new Twin Frozr design.

 

 

It's apparently going to be a 2 fan design, but it's a lightning so I'm sure it'll look nice.

 

I hope they don't have memory problems like the 780 Lightning, a lot of them got really poor "Elpida" memory chips that didn't overclock for crap.  (The 780 Lightning club on OCN has a lot of people complaining about the elpida memory) Apparently their reasoning for putting elpida on some of the cards was hynix / samsung vram was in a shortage.

 

The 290x Lightning was primarily Samsung though, so hopefully they can source some samsung chips for it.

[Laputacake]

It's apparently going to be a 2 fan design, but it's a lightning so I'm sure it'll look nice.

 

I hope they don't have memory problems like the 780 Lightning, a lot of them got really poor "Elpida" memory chips that didn't overclock for crap.  (The 780 Lightning club on OCN has a lot of people complaining about the elpida memory) Apparently their reasoning for putting elpida on some of the cards was hynix / samsung vram was in a shortage.

 

The 290x Lightning was primarily Samsung though, so hopefully they can source some samsung chips for it.

Mine has hynix

[Lays]

Mine has hynix

 

 

Good!

 

I had one that had elpida, literally it was all I could do to get +200 mhz on memory.  Core clock was a beast though, got it as high as like 1340 mhz on air lol

Everyone on OCN thread said they could barely do +150 to +300 max lol..

[ChrisxIxCross]

If they do a Titanium Edition like they did with their new XPOWER board I will literally crap my pants. 

[Lays]

If they do a Titanium Edition like they did with their new XPOWER board I will literally crap my pants. q

 

 

don't you think that's a bit over the top?

To me it's like sensory overload! I'm not sure what to look at lol

[ChrisxIxCross]

don't you think that's a bit over the top?

To me it's like sensory overload! I'm not sure what to look at lol

Hahaha I'm only saying that becase I have an all Black & White system right now  

 

[TheMcSame]

Though it's strange that the board isn't show in the OC board category 

 

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/#?category=Overclocking

And this is why I call it the confused mobo, it doesn't know what it wants to be.

[-CLASSIFIED-]

If they do a Titanium Edition like they did with their new XPOWER board I will literally crap my pants. snip

that is a beautiful mobo ... I think I have a new color scheme in mind ...

[Epitome]

that is a beautiful mobo ... I think I have a new color scheme in mind ...

It seems like everyone likes it. I think it looks a bit gaudy and a bit confused

[-CLASSIFIED-]

It seems like everyone likes it. I think it looks a bit gaudy and a bit confused

I think it's because we're used to bland black pcbs and not coloured pcbs ...