Introduction

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a mean machine based on NVIDIA's second-biggest implementation of its "Pascal" architecture, the 16 nm "GP102" silicon. This is the same chip that drives the TITAN X Pascal. The GTX 1080 Ti features the same number of CUDA cores as the latest TITAN, at 3,584 spread across 28 streaming multiprocessors. There is some cost-cutting here, but none that is designed to lower performance - the chip has a slightly narrower memory bus at 352 bit; that's one memory chip less than what you'd find on the TITAN X Pascal. The total memory amount is hence 11 GB. A cluster of ROPs is also disabled, so you now get 88 ROPs (as opposed to the 96 ROPs on the TITAN). The memory chips are, however, clocked 10% higher to make up for the 8.3% narrower memory bus. This move also translates into cost savings due to the lack of a 12th memory chip and probably better yields for the GP102 chip.



The MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning was unveiled at Computex this year. It comes in three variants, the regular Lightning, Lightning X, and Lightning Z. All three cards are identical in terms of cooling, looks and features, with the only exception being GPU clock frequency: Lightning 1506 MHz base / 1620 MHz boost, Lightning X 1544 MHz base / 1657 MHz boost and Lightning Z 1582 MHz base / 1695 MHz boost. If those frequencies sound low to you now, don't worry, the boost range is extremely large.

Today, we review MSI's GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z, which, just like the other Lightnings, is based on a completely redesigned PCB, using a large triple-slot, triple-fan cooler. Also included is amazing RGB lighting, VRM heatpipe cooling, and a metal backplate. The card is listed online now for $869.