# MSI GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z 11 GB



## W1zzard (Jul 12, 2017)

Lightning is MSI's flagship card for the GTX 1080 Ti Series. Our review of the Lightning Z, which is the highest-clocked variant, confirms it has the best cooler of all GTX 1080 Tis; delivering lowest temperatures and lowest noise at the same time. The Lightning Z is also the fastest GTX 1080 Ti we ever tested, but it isn't exactly cheap at $999.

*Show full review*


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 12, 2017)

@W1zzard

I dont think a 'high price' can be classed as a negative... This is the 'extreme enthusiast high end' we're talking about, It should come with a pricetag to match. To expect it to cost anywhere near 'affordable' like $300 would just be stupid.

You want the best? you gotta pay for the best. Its like walking into a lamborghini showroom and saying the price is too high....

Ever walked into a 5 star hotel or restaurant & tell them their prices are too high??


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## M2B (Jul 12, 2017)

FreedomEclipse said:


> @W1zzard
> 
> I dont think a 'high price' can be classed as a negative... This is the 'extreme enthusiast high end' we're talking about, It should come with a pricetag to match. To expect it to cost anywhere near 'affordable' like $300 would just be stupid.
> 
> ...


Best ? 3 degrees lower temperature and same max core clock of other flagships in market and 250$ price difference isn't reasonable at all.
and I Agree with wizzard , 2 8pin connectors was enough.


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## trog100 (Jul 12, 2017)

FreedomEclipse said:


> @W1zzard
> 
> I dont think a 'high price' can be classed as a negative... This is the 'extreme enthusiast high end' we're talking about, It should come with a pricetag to match. To expect it to cost anywhere near 'affordable' like $300 would just be stupid.
> 
> ...



the "too high price is a negative".. its a comparison with other 5 star hotels not 2 star hotels.. for what it is the high price is a negative.. it will put most potential buyers off.. it certainly would me.. 

trog


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 12, 2017)

trog100 said:


> the "too high price is a negative".. its a comparison with other 5 star hotels not 2 star hotels.. for what it is the high price is a negative.. it will put most potential buyers off.. it certainly would me..
> 
> trog



But the fact of the matter is you're looking to stay in a 5 star hotel anyway so you can obviously afford it.

Here in the UK an MSI Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti GAMING X is priced at $966 anyway. its not cheap but slightly cheaper than paying an extra $34. not a _big _difference.


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## intelzen (Jul 12, 2017)

this price is too high and is a negative, because if you compare it with others custom gtx 1080 ti's - why waste 250$ for nothing? if you are an enthusiast and have spare 250$ then there is ton of things to waste 250$ on your PC and even if that all is set - I mean stuff that money in the piggy bank (will thank your present self later), buy your self a pink boots, or pay your mom a SPA trip or whatever makes you happy - just do not give that money to someone who sells you "enthusiast grade" something and offers nothing more than you could get for 250$ less.


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## Frogger (Jul 12, 2017)

"considering the board weights almost 3 kilos." 

They should have included a support in the package.


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## Ubersonic (Jul 12, 2017)

It should be yellow and black, this doesn't look like a real lighting, just a chubby quicksilver


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## warup89 (Jul 12, 2017)

I justifice the price of the card if it yields superior performance. But charging more for something that performs as much as a cheaper card? No thank you. 

If you're going to spend that kind of money wait on the k|ngp|ng as it claims to reach 2100 clocks on air apparently. Then again I might be wrong, I heard that a long time ago in some video with the kingpin guy himself IIRC. 

Overall, the 1080 ti's won't overclock as much for most of the part, so it's basically coming down to looks and cooling at this point.


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## raptori (Jul 12, 2017)

As long as it stops at the same ceiling ( performance and thermal ) as other cards then that $250 isn't justified at all maybe $100 more at it's best for the extra bios and VRM , I'd give 9.2 for the price alone .


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## Ja.KooLit (Jul 12, 2017)

1,380 USD here in korea. Bwahahaha


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## Fx (Jul 12, 2017)

It's a nice card; I just can't see myself paying $1000 for a single card even if it is top of the line. Sure, I like the best of things and yes I have the money, but at some point, the threshold for a reasonable price has been exceeded.


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## prodigyX (Jul 12, 2017)

Can't wait to get this card.. it launches in my country (South Africa) in a week or two. Pity about the price here: $1,187.00 - I've already paid a 50% deposit to reserve it so those damn miners don't get their grubby paws on it first..


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## hapkiman (Jul 12, 2017)

Always loved the Lightning versions, but I must say I'm not liking the overall look of this card so much.  It just looks a little plain Jane to me.  I guess I was just used to the yellow and black look.  But otherwise its a monster of a card.  Thanks for the review.


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## the54thvoid (Jul 12, 2017)

Prices are relevant. I learned my lesson from my past 980ti custom and bought the cheapest MSI 1080ti FE and put it under water. It runs at about high 40's at 2038MHz (completely game stable) with obviously low noise in a small case.
I decided in advance that buying a more expensive custom was not good sense.  Also, we're all techy so (most) people who tend to buy discrete cards have an idea what they're doing.

What I would love @W1zzard to do is flip that bios switch and see if the OCP removal allows higher power consumption on air, or if it's purely LN2. The Kingpin card was designed that way, even water cooling didn't do much.  These over engineered cards seem to be expensive toys that only serve their intended purpose on far below sub zero cooling.

Edit: I am fully aware that's what the over-engineering is for (sub zero) but when some folk buy it expecting it to be faster, it's a costly lesson. And I knew what my kingpin was for when I bought it. I just wanted one for the hell of it.


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## Enterprise24 (Jul 12, 2017)

Nice review. Can I suggest 2 things ?
1.OC performance. I think BF3 2560x1440 may come close or already hitting CPU limit. It is time to move to 4K.
2.Nvidia card should use Zcash to benchmark mining performance.


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## Prince Valiant (Jul 12, 2017)

FreedomEclipse said:


> @W1zzard
> 
> I dont think a 'high price' can be classed as a negative... This is the 'extreme enthusiast high end' we're talking about, It should come with a pricetag to match. To expect it to cost anywhere near 'affordable' like $300 would just be stupid.
> 
> ...


It can and should be a negative. Premium products should be criticized for weak points and failings just the same as standard. Not grilling it for costing more than every other variant and barely outperforming them is generous, if anything.


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## W1zzard (Jul 12, 2017)

Enterprise24 said:


> I think BF3 2560x1440 may come close or already hitting CPU limit. It is time to move to 4K.


Nope, I carefully ensure that's not happening


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## XiGMAKiD (Jul 13, 2017)

A new page explaining the components used in the card, I like it

TPU review is getting better with time, great job W1zzard


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## Th3pwn3r (Jul 13, 2017)

I see no reason to buy this card over Gigabytes Aorus GTX 1080 ti, I'm sure it's just as fast if not faster. When you guys tested the Gigabyte 1080ti you were on older drivers. For some reason, all your frame rates across all video cards were lower back then. What could have changed? Sure you're using the same test setup to test all cards or did the results from other cards come from different test setups? To show what I'm talking about-

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1080_Ti_Lightning_Z/13.html

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_1080_Ti_Xtreme_Gaming/13.html

Using Doom as an example you can see what I'm talking about. Why are ALL the frame rates higher in the MSI 1080 results? Could it be just improvements on Doom's end?


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## mcraygsx (Jul 13, 2017)

At this stage it is better to wait for VOLTA. They are asking too much for same old Pascal chip for what is being offered. Might as well as go but TITAN for same price.


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## coolernoob (Jul 13, 2017)

W1zzard said:


> Nope, I carefully ensure that's not happening


are you carefully ensuring that 4K is not happening?


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## W1zzard (Jul 13, 2017)

Th3pwn3r said:


> Using Doom as an example you can see what I'm talking about. Why are ALL the frame rates higher in the MSI 1080 results? Could it be just improvements on Doom's end?



No idea. It's a new OS install, with Creators Update, new drivers.


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## Warrgarbl (Jul 13, 2017)

Frogger said:


> "considering the board weights almost 3 kilos."
> 
> They should have included a support in the package.


Actually, this made me wonder, so I looked it up. MSI lists the package at ~3kg, but the card at *~1.7kg*, so I think this should have been *pounds* and not kilograms. For a 3kg card the cooler would probably have to be made of depleted uranium or something


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## W1zzard (Jul 13, 2017)

you are right, just measured at 1700g, fixed the review


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## Vayra86 (Jul 13, 2017)

FreedomEclipse said:


> @W1zzard
> 
> I dont think a 'high price' can be classed as a negative... This is the 'extreme enthusiast high end' we're talking about, It should come with a pricetag to match. To expect it to cost anywhere near 'affordable' like $300 would just be stupid.
> 
> ...



But that's the thing, the Lightning and all those other 'top end' AIB versions are really nothing different apart from, in this case, some really cool lights and some marketing. You see, a Lambo is actually really much faster than a regular car.

When you get 3% OC out of a Lightning, you know its obsolete altogether. This wasn't always the case, but since Maxwell, honestly, there is no real argument for a Classy or a Lightning or whatever unless you are hardware modding or just epeening. Paying for a Lightning in 2017 means you're paying for a Lambo with an Volkswagen engine in it.


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## narutolao (Jul 13, 2017)

I just wanted to let everyone here that you can order MSI 1080 Ti Lightning from Newegg.com today. Only see two model Lightning X price at $859.99 and the Lightning Z price at $869.99. What do you guys think of the pricing on them?


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## Ninjachopstixx (Jul 13, 2017)

Looking to grab a GTX 1080 Ti in the near future, I originally had my eyes on the EVGA FTW 3 card before discovering the Zotac AMP Extreme edition and the monster it is. My question is, between these 3 cards who comes out on top? My concern on the Zotac card is the poor cooling as explained by GamersNexus's review. Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback.


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## birdie (Jul 13, 2017)

mcraygsx said:


> At this stage it is better to wait for VOLTA. They are asking too much for same old Pascal chip for what is being offered. Might as well as go but TITAN for same price.



A Ti edition of Volta is at least a year away.


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## Frick (Jul 13, 2017)

So uh did you properly benchmark the GT1030 and RX550? If yes, could we have the results plz?

With that said, with the high end cards I only read the flagship reviews, as they are more fun. This card needs some colour. Also, it's pretty cool it's straight. 1.7kg is a lot.


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## Sabishii Hito (Jul 13, 2017)

Ubersonic said:


> It should be yellow and black, this doesn't look like a real lighting, just a chubby quicksilver



Or a chubby Black Bolt.


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## the54thvoid (Jul 13, 2017)

@W1zzard - price announced is way less than review reported. Does this raise the score?

Makes it far more palatable, though still like all 1080ti cards, a bit expensive.


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## W1zzard (Jul 13, 2017)

the54thvoid said:


> @W1zzard - price announced is way less than review reported. Does this raise the score?


i'm not 100% sure if that's enough to bring it to 9.9, it's much closer though.


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## Vlada011 (Jul 14, 2017)

EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3 Hybrid is better than Lightning... Now is available for 849$ and look AMAZING.

https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=11G-P4-6698-KR

Most important things is that temperature will not pass 60C in most graphically demanding games.
People say temperatures are far below 60C, but let's say in some case with limited airflow, etc...
Off course hot air from GPU will not influence on ambient temperatures because radiator could be mounted in exhaust configuration.
AIO on CPU, AIO on GPU and better ambient temps than 5 120mm case fans.
AIO systems win over aircooling even during period when tower coolers offer lowest temp, because they are simple, small and effective.
Now when temperatures on GPU with AIO coolers are far below air cooled graphics with 2 or 3 fans no reason to go on air cooling any more.
Temperatures of these cards with air cooler are completely different on bench table and inside case after 2h of gaming.
ASUS GTX1080Ti Poseidon at least have option for liquid and save your money on GPU waterblock, that's 100-150$.


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## webdigo (Jul 14, 2017)

DVI.....so I can actually use this card for my Sony FW900, with an VGA - DVI converter?


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## Sabishii Hito (Jul 14, 2017)

webdigo said:


> DVI.....so I can actually use this card for my Sony FW900, with an VGA - DVI converter?



Probably not, I think just about all video cards these days that actually have a DVI connector use DVD-D, which doesn't have the pins for analog VGA output (DVI-I).


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## Prince Valiant (Jul 14, 2017)

webdigo said:


> DVI.....so I can actually use this card for my Sony FW900, with an VGA - DVI converter?


You could get an active converter like the HDFury but the cheaper one is fairly bandwidth limited and the more expensive one isn't a whole lot better. I don't know of any other options but I'm sure they exist.


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## Th3pwn3r (Jul 14, 2017)

Ninjachopstixx said:


> Looking to grab a GTX 1080 Ti in the near future, I originally had my eyes on the EVGA FTW 3 card before discovering the Zotac AMP Extreme edition and the monster it is. My question is, between these 3 cards who comes out on top? My concern on the Zotac card is the poor cooling as explained by GamersNexus's review. Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback.



The only reason to get the EVGA card is for space savings from what I've read. I myself, was interested in their card until reading reviews.


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