MSI GTX 780 Lightning 3 GB

[W1zzard]

MSI's new GTX 780 Lightning is built to provide a ton of overclocking features for enthusiasts and record breakers. Its large overclock out of the box makes this card faster than the GTX Titan, yet it still has more headroom inside, as our manual overclock yielded another hefty 14% performance increase.

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[Random Murderer]

Great review as always, W1zz!
Disappointing that such a well-thought-out card is held back by Elpida chips...

 

[W1zzard]

Disappointing that such a well-thought-out card is held back by Elpida chips...

the difference is small, probably not worth it for most users, but people hunting world records need every little bit of performance

 

[radrok]

Thank you for the review.

Only issue I have with the card apart the Elpida memory is the fact that this should have had a Titan core instead of a 780.

This is to blame Nvidia ofc, not MSI.

 

[BigMack70]

I just have a hard time understanding what makes this card worth a $70 price premium over the evga classified or the galaxy HOF... I mean I know value is sort of not a consideration anyways for the 780 but still... 10% price hike for?????


Thanks for the review!

 

[Yeoman]

Nice review.

I'm curious though, how much of an improvement is the 'tri frozr' cooler over the new 'twin frozr'? The 780 Gaming is somewhat quieter and cooler (although I know the Lightning has a higher 'stock' clock), for all the 3 fans, and 7? heat pipes, it doesn't seem to have made an impression really.

 

[Assimilator]

I just have a hard time understanding what makes this card worth a $70 price premium over the evga classified or the galaxy HOF... I mean I know value is sort of not a consideration anyways for the 780 but still... 10% price hike for?????

Especially since many Galaxy 780 HoF samples seem to hit 1.3GHz+ core with standard cooling. This card is 20% slower for 10% more money... just not worth it.

 

[haswrong]

i had expected the lightning to hit at least 60fps @2560x1600 a bit better in hitman or far cry3. maybe titan lightning..? well.. elpida? meh.. w/e. thanks for the review.

 

[Amrael]

Why haven't you guys reviewed the EVGA GTX 780 Classified? It's been around for a while and it would be amazing to see a triple header Classified, HoF and Lightning review. Pros and cons of each just to give us more perspective. Personally I went for the Classified because I could extend the warranty to 10 years and because it clocks higher with less effort than the lightning. Given, it looks like an aesthetically ugly brick but performance wise it is something else. Would you guys consider reviewing those cards?

 

[Wastedslayer]

Why haven't you guys reviewed the EVGA GTX 780 Classified? It's been around for a while and it would be amazing to see a triple header Classified, HoF and Lightning review. Pros and cons of each just to give us more perspective. Personally I went for the Classified because I could extend the warranty to 10 years and because it clocks higher with less effort than the lightning. Given, it looks like an aesthetically ugly brick but performance wise it is something else. Would you guys consider reviewing those cards?

Show me a Heaven run, I dont like Furmark for testing stability. Just to show the Lightning isnt anything to scoff at (minus the elpida memory) here's what Im running at right now on air.

Heaven stable (extreme preset 1920x1080) with no funny business going on. I got crap for memory OC, but thats a mighty fine looking core I'm running and its boosting into the 1300's.

 

[Amrael]

Show me a Heaven run, I dont like Furmark for testing stability. Just to show the Lightning isnt anything to scoff at (minus the elpida memory) here's what Im running at right now on air.

http://img.techpowerup.org/130831/ceb93.jpg

Heaven stable (extreme preset 1920x1080) with no funny business going on. I got crap for memory OC, but thats a mighty fine looking core I'm running and its boosting into the 1300's.

Thats what I got, mine doesn't overclock too much farther than this but I still would love to see a triple header review just to set the record straight. BTW I don't really know which memory mine's got. How do I find out?

 

[Wastedslayer]

I think the Classifieds also have Elpida memory since Samsung and Hynix are in mega short supply. Only real way to tell is to take the heatsink off and look at the physical chips

 

[Amrael]

I think the Classifieds also have Elpida memory since Samsung and Hynix are in mega short supply. Only real way to tell is to take the heatsink off and look at the physical chips

Why is your Lightning clocking @ 863 Stock, are you using the regular bios? What's your boost core?

 

[Wastedslayer]

Why is your Lightning clocking @ 863 Stock, are you using the regular bios? What's your boost core?

I'm using the LN2 bios since it supposedly has a little more OC headroom. Based on what afterburner is telling me during my runs I'm boosting right around 1333. I think it could go maybe a little higher with more power, but I honestly don't think a few more Mhz is going to make the difference.

Edit: Im also starting to wonder if I need to re-install the drivers versus just slapping the card in and ripping my 670 out. GPU-Z is saying I dont have PhysX support as well lol.

 

[radrok]

Could you both post some scores here?

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183712&page=10

Wanna see what those 780s are capable of

Thanks

 

[Wastedslayer]

Could you both post some scores here?

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183712&page=10

Wanna see what those 780s are capable of

Thanks

Ill get on it here soon, I'm realizing now that just putting in my 780 after having the 670 is causing some....issues. Going to do a fresh install of Windows and the nVidia drivers after which Ill post some more results.

 

[Amrael]

Could you both post some scores here?

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183712&page=10

Wanna see what those 780s are capable of

Thanks

Downloading valley now

 

[radrok]

Thank you both

 

[dj-electric]

Why haven't you guys reviewed the EVGA GTX 780 Classified? It's been around for a while and it would be amazing to see a triple header Classified, HoF and Lightning review. Pros and cons of each just to give us more perspective. Personally I went for the Classified because I could extend the warranty to 10 years and because it clocks higher with less effort than the lightning. Given, it looks like an aesthetically ugly brick but performance wise it is something else. Would you guys consider reviewing those cards?

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1149243_523692254378184_884533210_o.jpg

Reviewing cards goes like this:
Reviewer ask a card from the local PR >> PR checks for review sample and retrieve an answer. if Positive - a card is sent, if negative or no answer at all = no review.

Sometimes a reviewer decides that some type of products had enough exposure. Sometimes PRs' are out of review samples and getting new ones may take a while.

The hardware industry isn't always an open buffet as some people might think, even for the most popular of websites. Pardon w1zz and the stuff for off-topic'ing.

 

[Footman]

Jacob at EVGA told me that early Classifieds had Samsung memory, but there is a shortage of Sansung and Hynix memory currently so all GTX 7 series cards will have Elpida memory moving forward.
I can't see the shortage lasting for ever, so at some stage I expect that they will swap back.

From my testing core overclocking makes more difference to performance than memory, so having a 100mhz lower overclock on the memory is meaningless unless you are trying to break records...

I too would look forward to a comparison review of the HOF, Classified and Lightning, however I realize that as a reviewer it is not always possible to test everything as often review samples are provided FOC for testing saving the reviewer the burden of purchasing review samples.

I like your reviews Wizzard, keep up the good work.

 

[radrok]

FYI guys

yes, lightning should arrive today, evga will be shipped soon

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

So does this mean that it is essentially a 4 slot card with the GPU reactor taking up part of the slot above it and the cooler going past the limit of the 2 slot bracket on the other side??

 

[Amrael]

So does this mean that it is essentially a 4 slot card with the GPU reactor taking up part of the slot above it and the cooler going past the limit of the 2 slot bracket on the other side??

Yup basically, but in all honesty my Classified is better at keeping the space tidy but its really similar in performance to the MSI. Unless you destroy the chances of getting warranty you wont get anything too spectacular out of it. Welcome to the age of uniformed overclocking.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

....I already hate 3 slot cards.....

Now this one makes 4 unusable??? No thanks MSI. I may get a classy when/if price drops come amd 9xxx release.

 

[Amrael]

Which other 3?