# MSI GTX 780 Ti Gaming 3 GB



## W1zzard (Jan 2, 2014)

MSI's GeForce GTX 780 Ti is the best graphics card I've reviewed in a long time. It is very fast because of its overclock out of the box, but doesn't run hot at all. Its powerful TwinFrozr cooler also enables MSI to run the card at fantastic noise levels that are quieter than most other graphics cards on the market.

*Show full review*


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## qubit (Jan 7, 2014)

9.9?! This card looks like a monster. I'll read the review properly later.


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## Chetkigaming (Jan 7, 2014)

OMG! Beast! SO SILENT! But in real world maybe some noise samples can be? )) google/youtube "fun noise" search quite tiring.


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## Fluffmeister (Jan 7, 2014)

Great card no doubt about it, these custom GTX 780 Ti's really do fly.


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## Recus (Jan 7, 2014)

Would be 10 if memory could oc to 2000 Mhz. : D


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## the54thvoid (Jan 7, 2014)

I have a special request for W1zzard.

There is no doubt these custom 780TI's are _the_ fastest cards on the planet right now.  Price wise in the UK this one is only £50 more than a custom 290X.  So it looks like Nvidia have the massively upper hand on acoustics and performance (on non optimised games using Mantle, to be confirmed).

But, would it be possible for a special review edition that puts the custom 780Ti's against the custom 290X's?  At the moment the reviews pit the sample against all stock cards.  It'd be nice (just for a high end shoot out) to see 3 top custom 780Ti's versus 3 top end 290X's.  With overclocks included.

Any chance?


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## ZeroFM (Jan 7, 2014)

in JAV 710$ ? . In my country 924$ :/ (Lithuania)


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## Krahl (Jan 7, 2014)

Yet another amazing GTX 780 Ti card. Impressive feats on this MSI version - although its non-custom PCB

OT: _*For W1zzard*_: Any chance that you're reviewing the Gigabyte GTX780ti Ghz edition at all?


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## Delta6326 (Jan 7, 2014)

Fantastic review and a great card. This is how your supposed to make one. 

W1zzard any chance I can have your old 670?  Pretty please


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## N3M3515 (Jan 7, 2014)

Great review W1z, still waiting for the Custom R9 290X review


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## dj-electric (Jan 7, 2014)

I now pronounce you, w1zzard and wife. You may install the bride.


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## el etro (Jan 7, 2014)

N3M3515 said:


> Great review W1z, still waiting for the Custom R9 290X review



 In other conditions, Sapphire would put a reasonable Vapor-X powered 290 to market. Then i wanna see the first AMD graphics card ever to score 10 on TPU(1st place is 670 DCUII Top, 3rd place is Radeon HD 4850 with 9,8 score).


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## Tonduluboy (Jan 7, 2014)

ANy chance giving my kids your old 670?


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## W1zzard (Jan 7, 2014)

Krahl said:


> Any chance that you're reviewing the Gigabyte GTX780ti Ghz edition at all?



No concrete plans, but I'll ask Gigabyte if they can provide a sample



Chetkigaming said:


> some noise samples



this will be added in a few weeks, once I've moved to my new apartment



the54thvoid said:


> would it be possible for a special review edition that puts the custom 780Ti's against the custom 290X's?


no plans for that. everybody is going to want different comparisons .. reviews should be easy to compare, just use two windows or tabs. On the test setup page you'll find a revision number in the table header. All reviews with the same revision can be compared directly, the test setup is 100% identical, using same software, drivers and game versions.


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## radex7 (Jan 7, 2014)

The card that made W1zzard so excited must be a good thing! Can we have dimensions of the card on pg. 3 corrected? I wanna, make sure it doesn't fit in my case so I can stop pining for it. Thankshttp://www.techpowerup.com/forums/members/w1zzard.1/


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## N3M3515 (Jan 7, 2014)

W1zzard said:


> No concrete plans, but I'll ask Gigabyte if they can provide a sample
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Only if i had a 290X review to compare it to


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## Sasqui (Jan 7, 2014)

W1zzard said:


> I, for my part, will be replacing my personal system's ASUS GTX 670 Direct CU with the MSI GTX 780 Ti Gaming as it's the best card I've reviewed in a long time.



Wow, endorsements like that don't come along very often... after reading the review, I may just break open my piggy bank!


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## rubenclavs (Jan 7, 2014)

Great card! Great review! But still rooting for AMD 290/290X. Can't wait for TechPowerUp for the Custom Reviews. If I have unlimited budget for a card, I will still go for AMD as AMD is the future of gaming. Mantle will be showcased in CES 2014. Cheers!


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## qubit (Jan 8, 2014)

Wow, what a fantastic card. I was lusting after a stock 780 Ti, especially with that classy silver cooler, but this blows it away. While I prefer the stock cooler in looks, this blows it away in performance. A card that's as silent at load as others are at idle? Truly amazing and a must-have feature for me.

While I was lusting after the stock card, I'm positively drooling for this one!

I'm not surprised wizzy has replaced his main graphics card with this one.


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## Balanar (Jan 8, 2014)

I too have been drooling over the stock card all this while but now have an opportunity to purchase this one. Only thing stopping me is the lack of definitive evidence that this card is compatible with reference GTX 780 Ti waterblocks. The reviews I've read all mention that the PCB has some minor changes but I don't know if those changes affect compatibility.

Can anyone please confirm this?


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## agent00skid (Jan 8, 2014)

Card dimensions in the review just say "xx x xx cm".


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## Krahl (Jan 8, 2014)

W1zzard said:


> No concrete plans, but I'll ask Gigabyte if they can provide a sample



That would be very much appreciated as I've been leaning towards investing in a GTX780Ti and that Ghz card - at least on paper - looks impressive.
/Sits down awaits review   *

*easier said than done


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## the54thvoid (Jan 8, 2014)

Balanar said:


> I too have been drooling over the stock card all this while but now have an opportunity to purchase this one. Only thing stopping me is the lack of definitive evidence that this card is compatible with reference GTX 780 Ti waterblocks. The reviews I've read all mention that the PCB has some minor changes but I don't know if those changes affect compatibility.
> 
> Can anyone please confirm this?



Here are the PCB's, 

MSI is top.  Looks like the VRM area has a slight difference but I think the 780Ti block would fit regardless (just dont buy the XL version if they have one).


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## W1zzard (Jan 8, 2014)

Where do you see any changes? I only see the missing white plastic connector that is used to connect the background-lit GeForce logo



agent00skid said:


> Card dimensions in the review just say "xx x xx cm".


Fixed


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## west7 (Jan 8, 2014)

wow 9.9 graphic card


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## VulkanBros (Jan 8, 2014)




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## Balanar (Jan 8, 2014)

the54thvoid said:


> Here are the PCB's,
> 
> MSI is top.  Looks like the VRM area has a slight difference but I think the 780Ti block would fit regardless (just dont buy the XL version if they have one).




Hi thanks for the comparison! I'm a noob so I'm not sure which part of it you are referring to when you mention the different VRMs? I'm planning to use the Bitspower fullcover block for the reference card.


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## W1zzard (Jan 8, 2014)

VulkanBros said:


> View attachment 53807


if you look closely you can see that the big black components (NVidia pcb) have been replaced with two smaller ones (msi pcb)

The components on MSI are same height or lower, so shouldn't interfere with a waterblock.

Good eye btw, I missed them.


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## Shadyqwerty (Jan 8, 2014)

Would really love to see fan RPMs for these cards.


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## THE_EGG (Jan 9, 2014)

Just a $10 premium over the reference model for a better cooled, quieter and better performing card?!?! Wow seriously nice work by MSI. Great review as always too.


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## Shadyqwerty (Jan 9, 2014)

Not for me. Newegg had her for $699.99 + $3.99 2 day shipping on Tuesday. Today...today is Battlefield day.


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 10, 2014)

Question: You show your Core Clock as 1020MHz and Boost at 1085MHz.  I just got this card, and the Core Clock is 980Mhz with Boost at 1046MHz.  It's only 1020Mhz Core if I enable the "OC" Mode in the MSI Gaming App.  Is that what you did? Or was your review sample already set to 1020 Core without using the MSI Gaming App? Thanks and GREAT review. Literally made me order it on the spot!


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## Shadyqwerty (Jan 10, 2014)

Got mine too. Same dealio, but Afterburner claims as high as 1111 boost wo/ touching power/temp targets. I saw it mostly @ 1085 during Firestrike. GPU-Z didn't read my Asus DC2 780 vanilla's boost right either. Is that right or am I off my rocker Wiz?


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 10, 2014)

Shadyqwerty said:


> Got mine too. Same dealio, but Afterburner claims as high as 1111 boost wo/ touching power/temp targets. I saw it mostly @ 1085 during Firestrike. GPU-Z didn't read my Asus DC2 780 vanilla's boost right either. Is that right or am I off my rocker Wiz?


On stock (980/1046) actual in game speed is 1097MHz.  On OC Mode (using the Gaming App), actual in game is speed 40MHz higher than than that, which is 1137Mhz.  I wonder if Wiz just has a different BIOS that run the card at that speed by default?  Of course I could always just OC it myself up to that level since MSI seems to endorse it with their app. Stock 980 speed is still a nice jump from the Stock 780 Ti too.


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## Shadyqwerty (Jan 10, 2014)

I'm also trying to find out whether or not that little sticker on one of our 4 screws means no TIM reapplique or heatsink swap.

I hope I'm not crossing a line here, but my impressions are on OCN: http://www.overclock.net/t/1438886/official-nvidia-gtx-780-ti-owners-club/6060_30#post_21551535

One question for you. Do you have coil whine during the WinSAT test or 3DMark 2013 tests? Mine is...not so great.

EDIT: You're right. My BIOS is 2C and his is 30. Does that mean his card is newer? I also noticed it says revision A1 for both his and my GPU's. But the pic of the die on his GPU is clearly a B1. I wonder what the different BIOS does...also, I have the OC version, maybe his was somehow different?


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## W1zzard (Jan 10, 2014)

PerfectCr said:


> was your review sample already set to 1020 Core without using the MSI Gaming App?



thats correct. I didn't install any MSI software and had those clocks out of the box.

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/150488/msi-gtx780ti-3072-131203.html
that's my bios.

upload yours before flashing the card

bios 30 is newer than 2C (hex numbers)



Shadyqwerty said:


> I also noticed it says revision A1 for both his and my GPU's.


It seems NVIDIA didn't increase the revision field in the GPU


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## WozzaAndersen (Jan 10, 2014)

What is the asic quality of this card.


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## W1zzard (Jan 10, 2014)

WozzaAndersen said:


> What is the asic quality of this card.


Within 0.3% of the ASUS 780 Ti I reviewed earlier. Don't remember the exact number


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## WozzaAndersen (Jan 10, 2014)

So it was a pretty good asic quality score is that what you mean. I'm deciding between 2 cards one is the Inno 3d ichill gtx 770 HerculeZ X3 Ultra and the other msi gtx 780 ti gaming how would these go in SLI I wonder.


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## W1zzard (Jan 10, 2014)

WozzaAndersen said:


> So it was a pretty good asic quality score is that what you mean


It was in the typical range for 780 Ti, so nothing special


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 10, 2014)

W1zzard said:


> thats correct. I didn't install any MSI software and had those clocks out of the box.
> 
> http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/150488/msi-gtx780ti-3072-131203.html
> that's my bios.
> ...


My BIOS is the 2C.  I tried to upload it but it said it was already in the Database.  Oddly I don't see the 2C BIOS in the database for this card.  I'd love to have the 30 BIOS however so I will update it tonight using NV Flash.  I wonder why MSI shipped it with the 2C BIOS? Perhaps the sample you have is what they sent to reviewers only?   Thanks for replying!


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 10, 2014)

Ok so I tried to update the BIOS to the .30 version.  Here is the message I got from NV Flash.



> WARNING: Firmware image PCI Subsystem ID (1462.2985)
> does not match adapter PCI Subsystem ID (1462.2983).
> 
> ERROR: PCI subsystem ID mismatch



I guess MSI just shipped that BIOS to reviewers, while consumers get the 2C version with the 980MHz Core.


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## W1zzard (Jan 11, 2014)

PerfectCr said:


> Ok so I tried to update the BIOS to the .30 version.  Here is the message I got from NV Flash.
> 
> I guess MSI just shipped that BIOS to reviewers, while consumers get the 2C version with the 980MHz Core.


are you sure you have the same card?


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## THE_EGG (Jan 11, 2014)

PerfectCr said:


> Ok so I tried to update the BIOS to the .30 version.  Here is the message I got from NV Flash.
> 
> 
> 
> I guess MSI just shipped that BIOS to reviewers, while consumers get the 2C version with the 980MHz Core.



I'm guessing that maybe you might be in a different region and different BIOSes might used in different regions, I can only guess though. Some car companies do this with their cars where the output power can vary depending on the country/region - and thus the BIOS version can be different.


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 11, 2014)

W1zzard said:


> are you sure you have the same card?


Yep. MSI Gaming Twin Frozr GTX 780 Ti 3GB. Got it at Newegg.com. I am in the US. Like I said I bought it because of your article  

Someone else above has the 2C BIOS also. So perhaps that .30 BIOS was only for review samples and 2C is what shipped to consumers? Makes sense maybe MSI wanted the highest clocks available for reviewers. Not a huge deal, I can always over clock, but odd there was a subsystem mismatch. And I tired to upload my BIOS and it fails. Says it's already in the database. 

I can can post GPU-Z screenshots if you like.  Thanks again!


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 11, 2014)

THE_EGG said:


> I'm guessing that maybe you might be in a different region and different BIOSes might used in different regions, I can only guess though. Some car companies do this with their cars where the output power can vary depending on the country/region - and thus the BIOS version can be different.


Good point. I just realized that Techpowerup.com isn't located in the US. Is that right? Perhaps we ARE talking about regional differences?


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## W1zzard (Jan 11, 2014)

PerfectCr said:


> I can can post GPU-Z screenshots if you like


yes, and upload the bios


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 11, 2014)

Note the "BIOS is already part of our collection" statement in Number 2.


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## JBVertexx (Jan 11, 2014)

I'm really liking MSI's GPU lineup this year.  Last year I wouldn't have touched anything from MSI, but they have really nailed it this year with their Gaming GPU series.  So far I have their 270x and 280x.  Looking to pull the trigger on either the 780ti or 290x.  Any chance well see their 290x up for review sometime soon?


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## 7950 Flex (Jan 11, 2014)

Hi. I really like this 9.9 rating and all the praise you gave this card. I have 2 7950s in Crossfire at the moment and I play on 1080p for now. I want to order one massive GPU to replace these two 7950s. I will also add a second one when funds allow.
I've had AMD for the last 6 or so years and I want to try Nvidia. I really like the look of the reference cooler on those high end Nvidia cards but I won't compromise performance for it. I have two cards in mind.

1. The MSI 780 ti Gaming. I also have the MSI G45 z87 gaming Mobo. Probably not a significant factor but should go nicely together.

2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202079 this thing. Looks like the only aftermarket cooler out that can keep the temps of the 290x in check. It also has some dust repelling bearings and some other stuff.
Also, this article on tomshardware... http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/648-2-best-of-ces-2014-award.html.

I'll probably end up getting the MSI 780 ti. But I would appreciate any comments or suggestions on the matter.

I've read the review on here about the R9 290X in Crossfire and how it's only a 47% upscale over one 290x. I plan on doing SLI or Crossfire so the multi-gpu performance is very important to me. Would you say the 780 ti in SLI is better than the R9 290X in Crossfire?

I'm looking for the smoothest gameplay experience I can get. And I do play some of the most demanding games.

Thanks for the awesome review


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## THE_EGG (Jan 12, 2014)

7950 Flex said:


> I've read the review on here about the R9 290X in Crossfire and how it's only a 47% upscale over one 290x. I plan on doing SLI or Crossfire so the multi-gpu performance is very important to me. Would you say the 780 ti in SLI is better than the R9 290X in Crossfire?
> 
> I'm looking for the smoothest gameplay experience I can get. And I do play some of the most demanding games.
> 
> Thanks for the awesome review



On most games yes the 780ti SLI will be best. Not exactly sure where you got 47% from but 290x crossfire does better than that in all the games tested in reviews I've read. However you might start to run into vram limits if you are gaming on multiple screens or uber-ultra resolution (also future gaming), this is where the 4GB of the 290x will come in handy. Also the 780ti's overclock like beasts so they should have a comfortable lead over the 290x that doesn't overclock as nicely.

This has comparisons with some of the top performing custom cooled cards (780ti, 290x), check other pages for other info.

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/64705-gigabyte-radeon-r9-290x-windforce-oc/?page=11

The other 290x to compare is the gigabyte WF OC as it performs better than the sapphire (at factory oc that is).

If it were my money I would get a 780ti from MSI (the one reviewed here), or if I planned on gaming on multiple screens or at some crazy resolutions then I would probably get a Gigabyte 290x windforce OC.


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## 7950 Flex (Jan 12, 2014)

I got the 47% upscale from the Crossfire 290X review right here on techpowerup. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290X_CrossFire/23.html

Right now I'm just playing on 1080p and don't have plans on going for higher resolution but that may change in the future.

I agree with you though about the MSI 780 ti. It's probably what I will get.

I'll check out that link you posted now. Thanks


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## THE_EGG (Jan 12, 2014)

7950 Flex said:


> I got the 47% upscale from the Crossfire 290X review right here on techpowerup. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290X_CrossFire/23.html
> 
> Right now I'm just playing on 1080p and don't have plans on going for higher resolution but that may change in the future.
> 
> ...



Ah it looks like a few games in that review performed terribly with crossfire (it doesn't even look like the second card did anything in a couple of them D: ) hence why it brought down the overall performance. Most games used crossfire well though.


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## TheGoat Eater (Jan 12, 2014)

Definitely is a nice card - I have been a fan of the Twin Frozr coolers for years now, and they only keep getting better


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## Jack1n (Jan 12, 2014)

7950 Flex said:


> Hi. I really like this 9.9 rating and all the praise you gave this card. I have 2 7950s in Crossfire at the moment and I play on 1080p for now. I want to order one massive GPU to replace these two 7950s. I will also add a second one when funds allow.
> I've had AMD for the last 6 or so years and I want to try Nvidia. I really like the look of the reference cooler on those high end Nvidia cards but I won't compromise performance for it. I have two cards in mind.
> 
> 1. The MSI 780 ti Gaming. I also have the MSI G45 z87 gaming Mobo. Probably not a significant factor but should go nicely together.
> ...


The 780Ti is without a doubt faster than a 290x but it comes at a higher price,if you can afford it then the go for the 780Ti.


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## Shadyqwerty (Jan 12, 2014)

So what's the rub on the warranty? Does it cover replacing the TIM?

Im up to 1250/7500 BF4 stable w/ temps of 67C (room temp 25C) @ 1900 RPM fan speed, so I couldn't be happier.


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## 7950 Flex (Jan 12, 2014)

The price for the Aftermarket cooler R9s is also $700. So the price is the same right now. Which gives me even more reason to go for the 780 ti.

At this point the only other thing that has me still considering the AMD is the fact that I just read an article that states Mantle gives Battlefield 4 a 45% increase in performance.
Between Mantle and AMD being in the new consoles, people are talking about AMD being the future of gaming.

what ya think?


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## W1zzard (Jan 12, 2014)

7950 Flex said:


> gives Battlefield 4 a 45% increase in performance



*up to* 45%. and won't do you much good if you can play with 98564875645% performance improvement, rainbows and ponies in july or august.


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## Cinderelli (Jan 12, 2014)

Thanks in part to your excellent review, I have just replaced my two aging  EVGA 480gtx cards with two MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti Gaming cards. I have not even fired up a game yet (about to ) and the two major differences I notice right off the top is these cards run much cooler and much quieter. Thanks for your many excellent product reviews, keep them coming.


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## 7950 Flex (Jan 12, 2014)

Yea sorry, I should have said up to 45%.


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## kimko111 (Jan 13, 2014)

This card is 19900 NT (about $665) in Taiwan...


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 13, 2014)

Wiz: Did you get a chance to see the BIOS differences I posted last page between your version and mine? Thanks!! (Sorry I know you are busy)


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## 7950 Flex (Jan 14, 2014)

ha I was gonna ask if there would be a review of the 780 ti classified. The cards priced at $799 and review says fans are loud. I don't think the 2 fps the classy gets over this card is worth all that.


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## Jack1n (Jan 14, 2014)

7950 Flex said:


> ha I was gonna ask if there would be a review of the 780 ti classified. The cards priced at $799 and review says fans are loud. I don't think the 2 fps the classy gets over this card is worth all that.


If you dont understand why the classy costs more then its not for you.


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## 7950 Flex (Jan 14, 2014)

I'm assuming it costs more because it's the fastest. 100 bucks more and louder fans for 2fps more. No thanks


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## SmokingCrop (Jan 15, 2014)

I don't really get that 9,9 again, it's like if you are silent then you get a lot of bonus points 
anyways:


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## Shadyqwerty (Jan 15, 2014)

Friend of mine has his Classy @ 1450. Granted he needed 100% fan to do it...which I would never be able to put up with, lol. I've only had my MSI card for a few days, but it stomps the ACX cooler into the ground.


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## sancco (Jan 15, 2014)

Hi, first time poster, long time fan of techpowerup.  Just wanted to ask if VRM temps on this card are worrying.  I'm extensively researching the 780ti customs and it seems that this one has a high VRM of 90, whereas others are 80-87.  Wondering if that matters.

I'm after the quietest, yet still fast.  Is this card better than the Gigabyte 780ti Ghz in that regard?  Thanks.


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## Chetkigaming (Jan 15, 2014)

Anyone get this card? Is this really so silent comparing to other in real world?


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## Frederik Hansen (Jan 15, 2014)

Hi! I bought this card very recently, and it's amazing in terms of performance and sound levels. But the issue I'm having is, that there is a pretty loud "klonking" sound every 6.7 seconds when the card is idling. Does anyone know where it comes from, whether it's dangerous and if it can be fixed or if I should return the card? Also there's quite a lot of coile whining going on, but you really can't here it unless you're benchmarking with your ear up against it. So if the "klonking" noise is a fault, I can recommend the card fully.

Oh, and to answer the question in the comment above (Chetkigaming), YES! Even when I'm benching, the fans are as silent as an owl!


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## Chetkigaming (Jan 15, 2014)

Return it


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## W1zzard (Jan 15, 2014)

I didn't notice any clonking sound, especially not at such long intervals like 6-7 seconds. Any chance the fan blades are touching the shroud? (stop the fans with your fingers to test)


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 15, 2014)

Chetkigaming said:


> Anyone get this card? Is this really so silent comparing to other in real world?


Yes it is.


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## Frederik Hansen (Jan 15, 2014)

W1zzard said:


> I didn't notice any clonking sound, especially not at such long intervals like 6-7 seconds. Any chance the fan blades are touching the shroud? (stop the fans with your fingers to test)


I tried stopping the fans, but the clonking was still there.. What do you think I should do? I'm pretty sure the graphics card is the part that's emitting the noise, since it wasn't there before I installed it.


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## hippogriff (Jan 15, 2014)

Chetkigaming said:


> Anyone get this card? Is this really so silent comparing to other in real world?



It is really silent (no clonking). Particularly, compared to the 780 I had before (and that caught fire). The CPU fan is way louder.

By the way, I have the same "issue" suggested by someone else. My default clock is 980.


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 16, 2014)

Frederik Hansen said:


> I tried stopping the fans, but the clonking was still there.. What do you think I should do? I'm pretty sure the graphics card is the part that's emitting the noise, since it wasn't there before I installed it.


No clicking sound here either. I have this card. That sort of sound happened when I had the ASUS DirectCU II 780 card. I stopped the fans with my finger and it went away. I have a owned a few MSI twin Frozr cards in the past and I've never heard any odd sound coming from the fans.


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## djfirestorm (Jan 21, 2014)

I am puzzled at the low FPS on the regular GTX 780 Performance on BF4. Here it is only in the 70's (1920x1080) yet on my card I average 105 fps at the same resolution with everything on ultra and full filtering on. Strange. But anyways, im sure if the ratio is the same, if I sold my 780 and got the ti version, I should get 130 ish?


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## ZenZimZaliben (Jan 21, 2014)

I am excited to install this card. Been holding off on a gpu upgrade, but this review pushed me over the edge.


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## Shadyqwerty (Jan 22, 2014)

Final over clock for my card is 1225/7800. Sadly, I cannot seem to push the voltage up @ all. Especially, cause I load @ 65C in 24C room temp @ 1900 RPM (66%). I def have some temp room! SO much happier w/ the TF4 than the terrible ACX/DC2 coolers.


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## Nomis22 (Jan 22, 2014)

Thanks a lot for the review (especially: great fan noise testing method).

Does any of you lucky owners of this card has coil whine *with V-Sync on*? I've read some complaints about this...
Thanks!


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 22, 2014)

Nomis22 said:


> Thanks a lot for the review (especially: great fan noise testing method).
> 
> Does any of you lucky owners of this card has coil whine *with V-Sync on*? I've read some complaints about this...
> Thanks!


None here at all.  Mine is silent.  I don't always use V-Sync, but when I do, there is no coil whine.


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## Nomis22 (Jan 24, 2014)

Well, that's good to know! Thanks!


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## Shadyqwerty (Jan 24, 2014)

I have coil whine, but it's inaudible when playing BF4 if I'm more than 2 feet away.

Also, I'm down to 1210, lol. Oh well, at least the memory clocks well, up to 7800 there.


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## el etro (Jan 25, 2014)

7950 Flex said:


> I got the 47% upscale from the Crossfire 290X review right here on techpowerup. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290X_CrossFire/23.html
> 
> Right now I'm just playing on 1080p and don't have plans on going for higher resolution but that may change in the future.
> 
> ...



 If you found the cards at MSRP prices(~$450), Buy two 290 Tri-X to put in crossfire.

 If you want better performance, go custom GTX 780Ti like the TF or DCU.


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## 7950 Flex (Jan 27, 2014)

Hey el etro, just read your reply. I already bought this card. 290s in Crossfire would be faster I'm sure but there are only 3 available on newegg right now and they are very expensive. $600 for sapphire Trix-OC one.
So far though, this card is great. I'm glad I read this review and decided to get it. I was also considering the Gigabyte Ghz 780 ti. It was $20 bucks more, had a little higher clock rates and a backplate. But I have an MSI G45 mobo and I like the look of the Twin Frozr, although the reviews I've read of the Gigabyte say the card is gorgeous. Of course the 9.9 this card got on here made me want it . The Gigabyte also became sold out around the time I was ready to order so that made it even easier.
The card came with Assassin's Creed Black Flag and I've been playing it. The game is gorgeous and taxing to match. I play with max settings except I have shadows on very high instead of (soft shadows) because they tax the card further and I don't really care for them. There's no triple buffering option in game so I had to force it from D3DOverrider. I don't enjoy playing at 30fps or nasty lines across the screen, luckily there's D3DOverrider. I'm getting 45-60fps in the game with these settings. 
I turned off PhysX though because it's absolutely destroying my fps when It's on.


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## remedy1978 (Jan 28, 2014)

I just purchased this card over the weekend. Had some coil whine when running 3D Mark, so I switched out my Corsair HX750 PSU for a Cooler Master V1000. Still have a slight electrical hum when gaming. Is it worth exchanging or should I keep the card? Does anyone else experience coil whine?


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## 7950 Flex (Jan 29, 2014)

I hear a little noise from the card sometimes.  I don't know what coil whine sounds like and I don't know if that's what this card is doing but the card is really quiet and really cool. Hottest I've seen it was 66 degrees and that was when it was really hot in my room. Card tops out at 60 degrees when the temperature in my room is normal. That's a good bit cooler than my 7950 Flex.  

On a side note, I like the performance I'm getting from this card. I'm fairly certain it's faster than my 7950s in Crossfire. I just hate that I still can't stay above 60fps all the time in games like Crysis 3 and AC4 on max settings. 

I wonder if a second one of these for SLI would give me what I want lol, which is to play any game on max settings and stay 55-60 fps. And this is just 1080p I shudder to think how these games would run on Higher resolutions.

Why must these games be so demanding?


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## W1zzard (Jan 29, 2014)

7950 Flex said:


> I don't know what coil whine sounds like



it's a high-frequency chirping sound that changes its frequency depending on gpu load


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## 7950 Flex (Jan 29, 2014)

Don't think I'm hearing that. I'm sure it's normal w.e it is. I registered the card on MSI website and looks like I have 3 year warranty so.


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## 7950 Flex (Jan 30, 2014)

I thought I saw the card being bottlenecked in AC4 last night. I have a 4670k, It isn't overclocked because I have an old Asus heatsink+fan combo cooling it. I wanted to use the liquid cooler that came with my Alienware Aurora but didn't have the right mounting mechanisms. I'm going to get a good cooler and then I'll overclock the CPU. Anyway, I was playing AC4 last night and using FXAA instead of TXAAX2 gave me 60fps. Later, in other areas, I noticed I wasn't at 60fps and looked at the GPU usage and it was only like 80%. I've read that a 4670k shouldn't bottleneck any GPU but sometimes, at 1080p it can slightly bottleneck some of the fastest single GPUs. I've also read that at higher resolutions the GPU is doing more work so the CPU doesn't cause a bottleneck. When I turned up the AA to TXAAX4 my FPS dropped to about 44 sometimes but mostly stayed at around 50+. The GPU usage however, was constantly over 90%. I'm assuming this is similar to the higher resolutions causing the GPU to work harder and not be bottlenecked by the CPU (something like that). 

I've been testing it on my other games today and there seems to be no bottleneck. So far I've tested Crysis 3 and FarCry 3. FarCry 3 runs flawlessly at maxed settings and 4XMSAA. Crysis 3 is a lot more taxing but if I turn down shadows I stay near 60fps with other settings maxed and 4XTXAA. The GPU usage is constantly over 90% also. I'm going to test some other games and see what I get. 

Do you think the 4670k would bottleneck two of these badboys?


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## KneelbfZod (Jan 31, 2014)

Your CPU is perfectly fine!  AC4 is just horribly optimized for the PC that's all. I have a Core i5–3550 and it can drive this bad boy perfectly fine.


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## 7950 Flex (Jan 31, 2014)

Yea that's what I'm thinking also. I've read the games not very well optimized for PC. 

What do you think about two of these in SLI though? Can the 4670k handle that?


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## qubit (Feb 3, 2014)

I got this card the other day and I'm really impressed with it.

It's amazingly cool and quiet, just like the review says and very, very fast. In fact, the only way I can cause it to make any appreciable noise is to set the fans to 100% with Afterburner.

You do hear a fair amount of coil noise when it's pushed hard, though. Wiz did you notice the coil noise with your sample?


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## W1zzard (Feb 3, 2014)

qubit said:


> Wiz did you notice the coil noise with your sample?



none, or coil noise is very low. some combinations of graphics card, mobo and psu are more susceptible to this effect


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## qubit (Feb 3, 2014)

W1zzard said:


> none, or coil noise is very low. some combinations of graphics card, mobo and psu are more susceptible to this effect


Ok, thanks.

It was actually a buzz at the framerate frequency, with it being louder and more obvious if I turned off vsync. While I don't like it, it's not that bad, either and the fact that the fans make almost no noise makes it more obvious, obviously (sorry).

My reference GTX 285 sounded very similar. I guess you can't have everything, lol.

Do you think it's worth RMAing it for this?


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## W1zzard (Feb 3, 2014)

qubit said:


> Do you think it's worth RMAing it for this?



try the card in another pc, the noise will probably go away


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## qubit (Feb 3, 2014)

Will do.


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## Cinderelli (Feb 8, 2014)

Hi Guys, first time poster here. I am currently running two of these in sli. I am getting ready to build a new system and decided to try 3 way sli, so I bought a third card. And then I read that because of the high metal back plate on the cooler, it is not possible to use a regular 3 way sli bridge. So I checked it out, and sure enough, 3 way sli is not possible with these cards using a regular 3 way sli bridge. I have been searching for a solution to this issue, I have tried contacting MSI, but so far, nothing. I would hate to think I have wasted all that money on a third card and now I cannot run 3 way sli. Does any one know of a solution? Thanks for you time and comments.


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## W1zzard (Feb 8, 2014)

Have you considered building your own 3-way bridge from flexible 2-way bridges?







I've seen some very long SLI bridges which would let you route around the problem


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## qubit (Feb 8, 2014)

That diagonal twist looks untidy and painful.


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## Cinderelli (Feb 8, 2014)

W1zzard said:


> Have you considered building your own 3-way bridge from flexible 2-way bridges?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks Wizard, I have seen that picture, and I would be all to happy to try that setup.
I have ordered three 4.7 inch single, flexible sli bridges from Asus. However, I am not sure if
the length of the bridge will go from card #1 to card #3, as the metal back plate really does get in the way.


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## Cinderelli (Feb 8, 2014)

qubit said:


> That diagonal twist looks untidy and painful.


I agree Qubit, but we do what we must sometimes.


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## qubit (Feb 8, 2014)

Cinderelli said:


> I agree Qubit, but we do what we must sometimes.


Oh yes, quite! I didn't mean to imply that this shouldn't be tried.

Excuse me for a potentially numpty question here, but I've now got one of these MSI cards and I can't see what you mean by interference from a backplate?

Here's an example of 3-way SLI using the legendary 8800 Ultra and you can see that it's no wider than two bridges. Also, the heatpipes on the MSI don't stick up so high that they interfere with the SLI cable.






*I actually have one of those, bought brand new and cheaply off eBay long after its heyday.


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## Cinderelli (Feb 8, 2014)

I have found this comment in a different forum, basically stating what we see in the above diagram.........
For the OP, just use three flexible bridges. It will work as long as each card is connected to the other two cards. For instance, with there being two SLI gold fingers, connect the first gold fingers on cards 1&2, connect the second gold fingers on cards 2&3, and then connect the second gold fingers on card 1 to the first gold fingers on card 3.


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## Cinderelli (Feb 8, 2014)

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_Ti_Gaming/images/card1.jpg
As you can see from this picture, the cooler blocks the second sli connector on the card,
preventing the use of a regular 3way sli bridge.


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## qubit (Feb 8, 2014)

Ah yes, I see what you mean now. At the angle I looked at my card sitting in my rig (on my desk, to my right) this isn't so obvious.

It looks like MSI decided that it was worth having this problem to gain the benefit of superb cooler performance with those big fans. Aren't these cards quiet!  I guess they didn't want to advertise it too much to put people off buying them. On the other hand, they've missed a golden opportunity to make custom SLI connectors that loop over the fans for these cards as it would only encourage enthusiasts such as yourself to buy more of them. If I had the money, I'd buy two for sure.


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## Cinderelli (Feb 8, 2014)

qubit said:


> Ah yes, I see what you mean now. At the angle I looked at my card sitting in my rig (on my desk, to my right) this isn't so obvious.
> 
> It looks like MSI decided that it was worth having this problem to gain the benefit of superb cooler performance with those big fans. Aren't these cards quiet!  I guess they didn't want to advertise it too much to put people off buying them. On the other hand, they've missed a golden opportunity to make custom SLI connectors that loop over the fans for these cards as it would only encourage enthusiasts such as yourself to buy more of them. If I had the money, I'd buy two for sure.


Thanks. They are awesome cards, I bought them to replace my gtx480's. Well worth the wait. Nice and quiet, super cool temperatures, exactly what I wanted in a card. But this sli bridge issue is most annoying, as I may not be able to use my third card.
I cannot believe the lack of response from MSI regarding this issue, shame on them. They are missing out on a golden opportunity here. After almost two weeks of digging for answers, I am shocked to see that no one makes longer than 4.7 inch flexible sli bridges. Or bridges that allow you to use different spaces on your motherboard, should you want to leave a slot open between cards for better air cooling performance.


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## qubit (Feb 8, 2014)

Oh yeah, the performance gain over a 480 is massive. I did a quickie bench with Metro 2033 (DX9 mode) comparing it to my 580 (which is no slouch) and it destroyed it. The 580 got 50fps average while the 780 Ti got 90fps average and that's at the stock 980MHz. What a beast of a card.

I'm really surprised that you can't find an extended SLI connector, what a bummer. I've done a bit of searching and come up with a 10cm SLI connector which should do the trick. At Amazon it costs a massive £84 though, while at Asus, just $6, but is out of stock.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/NVidia-Bridge-Connector-Cable-centre/dp/B000LXVFAA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1391857248&sr=8-6&keywords=sli connector

http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=2015

And here's a 12cm one for a very reasonable $13.50: http://us.ncix.com/products/?mode=productreviewread&product_id=28972

I searched for "extended SLI connector" in Google to find these.

Gotta hand it to AMD for doing away with the bridge connector on their latest range of cards and thereby eliminating problems like these.


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## Cinderelli (Feb 8, 2014)

qubit said:


> Oh yeah, the performance gain over a 480 is massive. I did a quickie bench with Metro 2033 (DX9 mode) comparing it to my 580 (which is no slouch) and it destroyed it. The 580 got 50fps average while the 780 Ti got 90fps average and that's at the stock 980MHz. What a beast of a card.
> 
> I'm really surprised that you can't find an extended SLI connector, what a bummer. I've done a bit of searching and come up with a 10cm SLI connector which should do the trick. At Amazon it costs a massive £84 though, while at Asus, just $6, but is out of stock.
> 
> ...


Yes, good for AMD. Years ago when they were still owned by ATI, I had one of their cards. Way to many driver issues, and I switched to Nvidia. No turning back for me, I will be staying with the green team.

Regarding longer sli bridges, I am amazed there is not a company/person cashing in on longer, or custom made sli bridges.

Also, on a different note, here is a link regarding the need to flash the bios on these cards to an UEFI ultra fast uefi boot in Windows 8.1
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=176958.0
It makes me wonder if MSI rushed these cards to market.


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## W1zzard (Feb 8, 2014)

You could just cut off a piece of the metal on one card


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## Cinderelli (Feb 8, 2014)

W1zzard said:


> You could just cut off a piece of the metal on one card


I would need to cut off a piece of metal on two cards, and hope to hell the fan blades don't touch the sli bridge.
And of course you know it will void the warranty on both of those cards. I'll pass, thanks anyways.


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## remedy1978 (Feb 11, 2014)

Does anyone else have stock clocks of 980mhz? I only achieve clocks of 1020mhz with the MSI gaming app.


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## qubit (Feb 11, 2014)

remedy1978 said:


> Does anyone else have stock clocks of 980mhz? I only achieve clocks of 1020mhz with the MSI gaming app.


Yes, I've got that and it's normal. The idea is to overclock it with that app. See the MSI page:

http://uk.msi.com/product/vga/GTX-780Ti-GAMING-3G.html

Note that even at 980MHz that's still significantly overclocked compared to the reference card's 876MHz.


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## KneelbfZod (Feb 15, 2014)

qubit said:


> Yes, I've got that and it's normal. The idea is to overclock it with that app. See the MSI page:
> 
> http://uk.msi.com/product/vga/GTX-780Ti-GAMING-3G.html
> 
> Note that even at 980MHz that's still significantly overclocked compared to the reference card's 876MHz.


Yes, earlier in this thread I was asking Wiz this.  It seems like reviewers got a different BIOS that put the stock speed at 1020MHz.  Cards that shipped to consumer however were clocked at 980MHz.


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## qubit (Feb 15, 2014)

PerfectCr said:


> Yes, earlier in this thread I was asking Wiz this.  It seems like reviewers got a different BIOS that put the stock speed at 1020MHz.  Cards that shipped to consumer however were clocked at 980MHz.


tsk, sounds a bit cheeky of MSI, lol.


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## 7950 Flex (Feb 16, 2014)

I think I've seen it at 980 but that's rare. I normally see 1020, 1084, and 1097.


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## Aethna (Mar 3, 2014)

PerfectCr said:


> Ok so I tried to update the BIOS to the .30 version.  Here is the message I got from NV Flash.
> 
> WARNING: Firmware image PCI Subsystem ID (1462.2985)
> does not match adapter PCI Subsystem ID (1462.2983).
> ...



Sorry to go so far back on the posts, but getting this error too, but seeing the .30 and wanting to update it. i'm afraid of doing something wrong. It's safe to update the bios from 2C to .30?


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## W1zzard (Mar 3, 2014)

It should be safe, assuming the boards are 100% identical. If you run into issues you can always flash back, worst case is you need a 2nd graphics card to boot from


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## Prima.Vera (Jun 2, 2014)

Just a question. 
Are your MSI cards also crash like madness on Watch Dogs with the latest drivers?


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## Cinderelli (Jun 2, 2014)

Watch Dogs keeps crashing to the desktop. Grrrr


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## Prima.Vera (Jun 6, 2014)

So I am not the only one? Or just trolling?


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## Cinderelli (Jun 6, 2014)

You definitely are not the only one. The game has severe optimization issues, which is such a shame. Hopefully as time passes these issues will be resolved. One patch has already been issued, I am sure more will follow.


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