Msi geforce gtx 1080 ti lightning x
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning X Graphics Card Review
Last year, NVIDIA introduced to the world, their latest and greatest GPU architecture, codenamed Pascal. The new Pascal GPU powered everything from enterprise level supercomputer chips to blazing fast GTX 10 series graphics cards. Utilizing the 16nm FinFET architecture, NVIDIA unleashed a new generation of graphics cards that delivered the highest clock speeds on any consumer GPU to date, the fastest graphics processing capabilities and a wide range of memory technologies that were supported by these chips like HBM2 and GDDR5X.
A year has gone by since NVIDIA launched the fastest consumer graphics card, the GeForce GTX 1080, but NVIDIA is not stopping there. This year, NVIDIA introduced their latest flagship product, one that offesr even higher performance than the GeForce GTX 1080. Meet the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, a juggernaut GPU that is in a class of its own. What I have written above about the card being a juggernaut is true as months have gone by and the card still remains the undisputed king of the GPU throne, featuring the best in class price, performance and efficiency.
Today, I’ll be testing the MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning X variant which I have waited since a very long time to get my hands on. I would also like to thank MSI for arranging this sample for our review.
Meet GeForce 10 Series – Now Featuring The Behemoth GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
With Pascal, NVIDIA launched a new generation of GeForce cards, the GeForce 10 series. The GeForce 10 series comprises of Pascal based GeForce GTX 1080, GTX 1070, GTX 1060, GTX 1050 and now the GTX 1080 Ti. All cards feature the same Pascal DNA and aim at the entire top-to-bottom segment of the gaming market.
NVIDIA also launched the Titan X (Pascal) last year and the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti has a lot of resemblance to that card, except the latter comes at a lower price and features a better tuned core design for increased gaming performance.
NVIDIA GeForce 10 Pascal Family
| Graphics Core | GP107 | GP107 | GP107 | GP106 / GP104 | GP106 | GP106 / GP104 | GP104 | GP104 | GP104 | GP102 | GP102 | GP102 |
| Process Node | 14nm FinFET | 14nm FinFET | 14nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET |
| Die Size | 132mm2 | 132mm2 | 132mm2 | 200mm2 | 200mm2 | 200mm2 | 314mm2 | 314mm2 | 314mm2 | 471mm2 | 471mm2 | 471mm2 |
| Transistors | 3.3 Billion | 3.3 Billion | 3.3 Billion | 4.4 Billion | 4.4 Billion | 4.4 Billion | 7.2 Billion | 7.2 Billion | 7.2 Billion | 12 Billion | 12 Billion | 12 Billion |
| CUDA Cores | 640 CUDA Cores | 768 CUDA Cores | 768 CUDA Cores | 1152 CUDA Cores | 1280 CUDA Cores | 1280 CUDA Cores | 1920 CUDA Cores | 2432 CUDA Cores | 2560 CUDA Cores | 3584 CUDA Cores | 3584 CUDA Cores | 3840 CUDA Cores |
| Base Clock | 1354 MHz | 1392 MHz | 1290 MHz | 1506 MHz | 1506 MHz | 1506 MHz | 1506 MHz | 1607 MHz | 1607 MHz | 1417 MHz | 1480 MHz | 1480 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1455 MHz | 1518 MHz | 1392 MHz | 1708 MHz | 1708 MHz | 1708 MHz | 1683 MHz | 1683 MHz | 1733 MHz | 1530 MHz | 1583 MHz | 1582 |
| FP32 Compute | 1.8 TFLOPs | 2,3 TFLOPs | 2.1 TFLOPs | 4.0 TFLOPs | 4.4 TFLOPs | 4.4 TFLOPs | 6.5 TFLOPs | 8.1 TFLOPs | 9.0 TFLOPs | 11 TFLOPs | 11.5 TFLOPs | 12.5 TFLOPs |
| VRAM | 2 GB GDDR5 | 3 GB GDDR5 | 4 GB GDDR5 | 3 GB GDDR5 | 6 GB GDDR5 | 6 GB GDDR5/X | 8 GB GDDR5/X | 8 GB GDDR5 | 8 GB GDDR5X | 12 GB GDDR5X | 11 GB GDDR5X | 12 GB GDDR5X |
| Memory Speed | 7 Gbps | 7 Gbps | 7 Gbps | 8 Gbps | 8 Gbps | 9 Gbps / 10 Gbps | 8 Gbps | 8 Gbps | 11 Gbps | 10 Gbps | 11 Gbps | 11.4 Gbps |
| Memory Bandwidth | 112 GB/s | 84 GB/s | 112 GB/s | 192 GB/s | 160 GB/s | 224 GB/s / 240 GB/s | 256 GB/s | 256 GB/s | 352 GB/s | 480 GB/s | 484 GB/s | 547 GB/s |
| Bus Interface | 128-bit bus | 96-bit bus | 128-bit bus | 192-bit bus | 160-bit bus | 192-bit bus | 256-bit bus | 256-bit bus | 256-bit bus | 384-bit bus | 352-bit bus | 384-bit bus |
| Power Connector | None | None | None | Single 6-Pin Power | Single 6-Pin Power | Single 6-Pin Power | Single 8-Pin Power | Single 8-Pin Power | Single 8-Pin Power | 8+6 Pin Power | 8+6 Pin Power | 8+6 Pin Power |
| TDP | 75W | 75W | 75W | 120W | 120W | 120W | 150W | 180W | 180W | 250W | 250W | 250W |
| Display Outputs | 1x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 1x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 1x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI |
3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b |
| Launch Date | October 2016 | May 2018 | October 2016 | September 2016 | August 2018 | July 2016 | June 2016 | October 2017 | May 2016 | August 2016 | March 2017 | April 2017 |
| Launch Price | $109 US | $119 US-$129 US | $139 US | $199 US | TBD | $249 US | $349 US | $449 US | $499 US | $1200 US | $699 US | $1200 US |
wccftech.com
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti LIGHTNING Z
Get Game Ready with GeForce® GTX.
GeForce GTX graphics cards are the most advanced ever created. Discover unprecedented performance, power efficiency, and next-generation gaming experiences.
Discover next-generation VR performance, the lowest latency, and plug-and-play compatibility with leading headsets—driven by NVIDIA VRWorks™ technologies. VR audio, physics, and haptics let you hear and feel every moment.
Pascal is built to meet the demands of next generation displays, including VR, ultra-high-resolution, and multiple monitors. It features NVIDIA GameWorks™ technologies for extremely smooth gameplay and cinematic experiences. Plus, it includes revolutionary new 360-degree image capture.
Pascal-powered graphics cards give you superior performance and power efficiency, built using ultra-fast FinFET and supporting DirectX™ 12 features to deliver the fastest, smoothest, most power-efficient gaming experiences.
MSI LIGHTNING graphics cards are engineered for perfection. Using the best components and industry-leading design technologies, MSI LIGHTNING graphics cards have been at the top of the overclocking world for years. Advanced cooling, cutting edge features and a premium quality experience make it the best choice for those looking for top level performance.
Customize and set up your own color scheme with RGB Mystic Light. Select any of the colors from the palette using your smartphone or the MSI Gaming App to match your system style. Bored of the same colors? Simply change the complete look of your system in 1 second!
Synchronize your Mystic Light colors and effects for your whole system and peripherals.
Customize the look of your LIGHTNING to match your build using the included color highlights.
The exclusive MSI TORX 2.0 Fan technology uses the power of teamwork to allow the TRI-FROZR Thermal Design to achieve new levels of cool.
TORX 2.0 Fan design generates 22% more air fan pressure for supremely silent performance in the heat of battle.
Dispersion Fan Blade has a steeper curved blade which accelerates the airflow, increasing its effectiveness.
Traditional Fan Blade pushes down a steady airflow to the massive heatsink below
Double Ball Bearings give the unique MSI TORX 2.0 Fans a strong and lasting core for years of smooth gaming. They also remain virtually silent while spinning under load, keeping your graphics card cool during intense and lengthy gaming sessions.
Using advanced aerodynamics, Airflow Control Technology directs more air directly onto the heat pipes. The special deflectors on the heat sink enlarge the surface area, which means lower temperatures and better gaming.
Pipe down with heat pipes infused into the Close Quarters Heatsink and Backplate for greatly improved thermal performance.
A thick heatpipe connects to the back of the PCB and runs almost the entire length of the backplate for additional heat dissipation.
The massive heatsink with countless fins is connected through a number of 8MM thick Super Pipes with a Nickel Plated Copper Base at the heart of the thermal design.
Massive metal memory & MOSFET heatsink covers PCB from front to back. Additional Pins & Fins on the sink help keep MOSFETs cool.
Built from scratch and designed to deliver the highest stability when overclocking, the MSI Lightning PCBs are the envy of the industry. This generation uses 14 of the industries’ highest rated DrMOS power phases as part of new groundbreaking Enhanced Power Design, delivering plenty of punch for stable extreme overclocking. Incredibly well designed, it doesn't require any external modifications to reach world-record breaking performance.
Pure Digital PWM Control enables accurate control and monitoring of power delivery to specific key components. Fine-tune each area to find for maximum performance and stability during overclocking sessions.
Monitor temperature of GPU/Memory/VRM through Afterburner, separate thermometer or probes are unnecessary
*Actual locations of temp monitors may vary from visual
The Hardware Monitor shows you critical hardware information in real-time; temperature, usage, clock speed, and voltage.
Through MSI's unique design you can apply voltages to not only the GPU and Memory, but also an auxiliary voltage that is relevant to your card's extreme performance.
V-Check points allow you to accurately measure the voltages of your graphics card as software will always show a small variance and this can be disastrous under wrong circumstances.
Military Class 4 is the next step in high quality components. The Hi-c CAP, Super Ferrite Choke and Dark CAP will make sure that your PC runs more stable under extreme OVERCLOCKING conditions.
DrMOS is the next-gen MOSFET which is used to deliver the power for the GPU. On the Lightning, we use the highest rated DrMOS available. The use of 60A DrMOS means that 16 power phases is more than enough for record-breaking performance. Because DrMOS is a 3-in-1 chip, it delivers much more power with less components needed.
A Hi-c CAP is a very small, but super-efficient capacitor. Besides ensuring enough spacing around a GPU socket to install large coolers, it also allows for 93% energy efficiency. Thanks to Hi-c CAP`s MSI Lightning are the most energy efficient in the market.
Super Ferrite Choke uses a Ferrite core that is Super-Permeable. This allows the Super Ferrite Choke to run at a 35 degree Celsius lower temperature, have a 30% higher current capacity, a 20% improvement in power efficiency and better overclocking power stability.
With their aluminum core design, Dark CAP`s has been a staple in high-end design PCB designs and provides lower Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) as well as its over-10-year lifespan.
The core ideology of Lightning is the ability to break world records, easily. With a single BIOS switch, your Lightning graphics card is ready for extreme performance, enabling you to unlock the limits of power, current and thermal. This simply means you can extract maximum performance out of your card without the risk of damaging it through soldering or other hard-mods.
Lightning is built for extreme overclocking, however it’s perfectly suited for gaming as well. For the lucky few who are going to game with LIGHTNING, we’ve created a special edition of our MSI Gaming App which will detect your LIGHTNING graphics card. The OC mode will turn into Lightning Mode and by clicking it, you will gain an instant performance boost. That way you still get the best out of your LIGHTNING card while gaming.
MSI Afterburner is the world’s most recognized and widely used graphics card overclocking utility which gives you full control of your graphics cards. It also provides an incredibly detailed overview of your hardware and comes with some additional features such as customizing fan profiles, benchmarking and video recording.
© NVIDIA Corporation. All Rights Reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce, GeForce Experience, G-SYNC, NVIDIA GPU Boost, and NVLink are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and copyright are the property of their respective owners.
All images and descriptions are for illustrative purposes only. Visual representation of the products may not be perfectly accurate. Product specification, functions and appearance may vary by models and differ from country to country . All specifications are subject to change without notice. Please consult the product specifications page for full details.Although we endeavor to present the most precise and comprehensive information at the time of publication, a small number of items may contain typography or photography errors. Products may not be available in all markets. We recommend you to check with your local supplier for exact offers.
www.msi.com
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti LIGHTNING X
Get Game Ready with GeForce® GTX.
GeForce GTX graphics cards are the most advanced ever created. Discover unprecedented performance, power efficiency, and next-generation gaming experiences.
Discover next-generation VR performance, the lowest latency, and plug-and-play compatibility with leading headsets—driven by NVIDIA VRWorks™ technologies. VR audio, physics, and haptics let you hear and feel every moment.
Pascal is built to meet the demands of next generation displays, including VR, ultra-high-resolution, and multiple monitors. It features NVIDIA GameWorks™ technologies for extremely smooth gameplay and cinematic experiences. Plus, it includes revolutionary new 360-degree image capture.
Pascal-powered graphics cards give you superior performance and power efficiency, built using ultra-fast FinFET and supporting DirectX™ 12 features to deliver the fastest, smoothest, most power-efficient gaming experiences.
MSI LIGHTNING graphics cards are engineered for perfection. Using the best components and industry-leading design technologies, MSI LIGHTNING graphics cards have been at the top of the overclocking world for years. Advanced cooling, cutting edge features and a premium quality experience make it the best choice for those looking for top level performance.
Customize and set up your own color scheme with RGB Mystic Light. Select any of the colors from the palette using your smartphone or the MSI Gaming App to match your system style. Bored of the same colors? Simply change the complete look of your system in 1 second!
Synchronize your Mystic Light colors and effects for your whole system and peripherals.
Customize the look of your LIGHTNING to match your build using the included color highlights.
The exclusive MSI TORX 2.0 Fan technology uses the power of teamwork to allow the TRI-FROZR Thermal Design to achieve new levels of cool.
TORX 2.0 Fan design generates 22% more air fan pressure for supremely silent performance in the heat of battle.
Dispersion Fan Blade has a steeper curved blade which accelerates the airflow, increasing its effectiveness.
Traditional Fan Blade pushes down a steady airflow to the massive heatsink below
Double Ball Bearings give the unique MSI TORX 2.0 Fans a strong and lasting core for years of smooth gaming. They also remain virtually silent while spinning under load, keeping your graphics card cool during intense and lengthy gaming sessions.
Using advanced aerodynamics, Airflow Control Technology directs more air directly onto the heat pipes. The special deflectors on the heat sink enlarge the surface area, which means lower temperatures and better gaming.
Pipe down with heat pipes infused into the Close Quarters Heatsink and Backplate for greatly improved thermal performance.
A thick heatpipe connects to the back of the PCB and runs almost the entire length of the backplate for additional heat dissipation.
The massive heatsink with countless fins is connected through a number of 8MM thick Super Pipes with a Nickel Plated Copper Base at the heart of the thermal design.
Massive metal memory & MOSFET heatsink covers PCB from front to back. Additional Pins & Fins on the sink help keep MOSFETs cool.
Built from scratch and designed to deliver the highest stability when overclocking, the MSI Lightning PCBs are the envy of the industry. This generation uses 14 of the industries’ highest rated DrMOS power phases as part of new groundbreaking Enhanced Power Design, delivering plenty of punch for stable extreme overclocking. Incredibly well designed, it doesn't require any external modifications to reach world-record breaking performance.
Pure Digital PWM Control enables accurate control and monitoring of power delivery to specific key components. Fine-tune each area to find for maximum performance and stability during overclocking sessions.
Monitor temperature of GPU/Memory/VRM through Afterburner, separate thermometer or probes are unnecessary
*Actual locations of temp monitors may vary from visual
The Hardware Monitor shows you critical hardware information in real-time; temperature, usage, clock speed, and voltage.
Through MSI's unique design you can apply voltages to not only the GPU and Memory, but also an auxiliary voltage that is relevant to your card's extreme performance.
V-Check points allow you to accurately measure the voltages of your graphics card as software will always show a small variance and this can be disastrous under wrong circumstances.
Military Class 4 is the next step in high quality components. The Hi-c CAP, Super Ferrite Choke and Dark CAP will make sure that your PC runs more stable under extreme OVERCLOCKING conditions.
DrMOS is the next-gen MOSFET which is used to deliver the power for the GPU. On the Lightning, we use the highest rated DrMOS available. The use of 60A DrMOS means that 16 power phases is more than enough for record-breaking performance. Because DrMOS is a 3-in-1 chip, it delivers much more power with less components needed.
A Hi-c CAP is a very small, but super-efficient capacitor. Besides ensuring enough spacing around a GPU socket to install large coolers, it also allows for 93% energy efficiency. Thanks to Hi-c CAP`s MSI Lightning are the most energy efficient in the market.
Super Ferrite Choke uses a Ferrite core that is Super-Permeable. This allows the Super Ferrite Choke to run at a 35 degree Celsius lower temperature, have a 30% higher current capacity, a 20% improvement in power efficiency and better overclocking power stability.
With their aluminum core design, Dark CAP`s has been a staple in high-end design PCB designs and provides lower Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) as well as its over-10-year lifespan.
The core ideology of Lightning is the ability to break world records, easily. With a single BIOS switch, your Lightning graphics card is ready for extreme performance, enabling you to unlock the limits of power, current and thermal. This simply means you can extract maximum performance out of your card without the risk of damaging it through soldering or other hard-mods.
Lightning is built for extreme overclocking, however it’s perfectly suited for gaming as well. For the lucky few who are going to game with LIGHTNING, we’ve created a special edition of our MSI Gaming App which will detect your LIGHTNING graphics card. The OC mode will turn into Lightning Mode and by clicking it, you will gain an instant performance boost. That way you still get the best out of your LIGHTNING card while gaming.
MSI Afterburner is the world’s most recognized and widely used graphics card overclocking utility which gives you full control of your graphics cards. It also provides an incredibly detailed overview of your hardware and comes with some additional features such as customizing fan profiles, benchmarking and video recording.
© NVIDIA Corporation. All Rights Reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce, GeForce Experience, G-SYNC, NVIDIA GPU Boost, and NVLink are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and copyright are the property of their respective owners.
All images and descriptions are for illustrative purposes only. Visual representation of the products may not be perfectly accurate. Product specification, functions and appearance may vary by models and differ from country to country . All specifications are subject to change without notice. Please consult the product specifications page for full details.Although we endeavor to present the most precise and comprehensive information at the time of publication, a small number of items may contain typography or photography errors. Products may not be available in all markets. We recommend you to check with your local supplier for exact offers.
us.msi.com
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti LIGHTNING X | Graphics card - The world leader in display performance | MSI Global
Get Game Ready with GeForce® GTX.
GeForce GTX graphics cards are the most advanced ever created. Discover unprecedented performance, power efficiency, and next-generation gaming experiences.
Discover next-generation VR performance, the lowest latency, and plug-and-play compatibility with leading headsets—driven by NVIDIA VRWorks™ technologies. VR audio, physics, and haptics let you hear and feel every moment.
Pascal is built to meet the demands of next generation displays, including VR, ultra-high-resolution, and multiple monitors. It features NVIDIA GameWorks™ technologies for extremely smooth gameplay and cinematic experiences. Plus, it includes revolutionary new 360-degree image capture.
Pascal-powered graphics cards give you superior performance and power efficiency, built using ultra-fast FinFET and supporting DirectX™ 12 features to deliver the fastest, smoothest, most power-efficient gaming experiences.
MSI LIGHTNING graphics cards are engineered for perfection. Using the best components and industry-leading design technologies, MSI LIGHTNING graphics cards have been at the top of the overclocking world for years. Advanced cooling, cutting edge features and a premium quality experience make it the best choice for those looking for top level performance.
Customize and set up your own color scheme with RGB Mystic Light. Select any of the colors from the palette using your smartphone or the MSI Gaming App to match your system style. Bored of the same colors? Simply change the complete look of your system in 1 second!
Synchronize your Mystic Light colors and effects for your whole system and peripherals.
Customize the look of your LIGHTNING to match your build using the included color highlights.
The exclusive MSI TORX 2.0 Fan technology uses the power of teamwork to allow the TRI-FROZR Thermal Design to achieve new levels of cool.
TORX 2.0 Fan design generates 22% more air fan pressure for supremely silent performance in the heat of battle.
Dispersion Fan Blade has a steeper curved blade which accelerates the airflow, increasing its effectiveness.
Traditional Fan Blade pushes down a steady airflow to the massive heatsink below
Double Ball Bearings give the unique MSI TORX 2.0 Fans a strong and lasting core for years of smooth gaming. They also remain virtually silent while spinning under load, keeping your graphics card cool during intense and lengthy gaming sessions.
Using advanced aerodynamics, Airflow Control Technology directs more air directly onto the heat pipes. The special deflectors on the heat sink enlarge the surface area, which means lower temperatures and better gaming.
Pipe down with heat pipes infused into the Close Quarters Heatsink and Backplate for greatly improved thermal performance.
A thick heatpipe connects to the back of the PCB and runs almost the entire length of the backplate for additional heat dissipation.
The massive heatsink with countless fins is connected through a number of 8MM thick Super Pipes with a Nickel Plated Copper Base at the heart of the thermal design.
Massive metal memory & MOSFET heatsink covers PCB from front to back. Additional Pins & Fins on the sink help keep MOSFETs cool.
Built from scratch and designed to deliver the highest stability when overclocking, the MSI Lightning PCBs are the envy of the industry. This generation uses 14 of the industries’ highest rated DrMOS power phases as part of new groundbreaking Enhanced Power Design, delivering plenty of punch for stable extreme overclocking. Incredibly well designed, it doesn't require any external modifications to reach world-record breaking performance.
Pure Digital PWM Control enables accurate control and monitoring of power delivery to specific key components. Fine-tune each area to find for maximum performance and stability during overclocking sessions.
Monitor temperature of GPU/Memory/VRM through Afterburner, separate thermometer or probes are unnecessary
*Actual locations of temp monitors may vary from visual
The Hardware Monitor shows you critical hardware information in real-time; temperature, usage, clock speed, and voltage.
Through MSI's unique design you can apply voltages to not only the GPU and Memory, but also an auxiliary voltage that is relevant to your card's extreme performance.
V-Check points allow you to accurately measure the voltages of your graphics card as software will always show a small variance and this can be disastrous under wrong circumstances.
Military Class 4 is the next step in high quality components. The Hi-c CAP, Super Ferrite Choke and Dark CAP will make sure that your PC runs more stable under extreme OVERCLOCKING conditions.
DrMOS is the next-gen MOSFET which is used to deliver the power for the GPU. On the Lightning, we use the highest rated DrMOS available. The use of 60A DrMOS means that 16 power phases is more than enough for record-breaking performance. Because DrMOS is a 3-in-1 chip, it delivers much more power with less components needed.
A Hi-c CAP is a very small, but super-efficient capacitor. Besides ensuring enough spacing around a GPU socket to install large coolers, it also allows for 93% energy efficiency. Thanks to Hi-c CAP`s MSI Lightning are the most energy efficient in the market.
Super Ferrite Choke uses a Ferrite core that is Super-Permeable. This allows the Super Ferrite Choke to run at a 35 degree Celsius lower temperature, have a 30% higher current capacity, a 20% improvement in power efficiency and better overclocking power stability.
With their aluminum core design, Dark CAP`s has been a staple in high-end design PCB designs and provides lower Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) as well as its over-10-year lifespan.
The core ideology of Lightning is the ability to break world records, easily. With a single BIOS switch, your Lightning graphics card is ready for extreme performance, enabling you to unlock the limits of power, current and thermal. This simply means you can extract maximum performance out of your card without the risk of damaging it through soldering or other hard-mods.
Lightning is built for extreme overclocking, however it’s perfectly suited for gaming as well. For the lucky few who are going to game with LIGHTNING, we’ve created a special edition of our MSI Gaming App which will detect your LIGHTNING graphics card. The OC mode will turn into Lightning Mode and by clicking it, you will gain an instant performance boost. That way you still get the best out of your LIGHTNING card while gaming.
MSI Afterburner is the world’s most recognized and widely used graphics card overclocking utility which gives you full control of your graphics cards. It also provides an incredibly detailed overview of your hardware and comes with some additional features such as customizing fan profiles, benchmarking and video recording.
© NVIDIA Corporation. All Rights Reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce, GeForce Experience, G-SYNC, NVIDIA GPU Boost, and NVLink are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and copyright are the property of their respective owners.
All images and descriptions are for illustrative purposes only. Visual representation of the products may not be perfectly accurate. Product specification, functions and appearance may vary by models and differ from country to country . All specifications are subject to change without notice. Please consult the product specifications page for full details.Although we endeavor to present the most precise and comprehensive information at the time of publication, a small number of items may contain typography or photography errors. Products may not be available in all markets. We recommend you to check with your local supplier for exact offers.
www.msi.com
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning X OC 11 GB Review – The Thunderous GeForce Gaming Graphics Card
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti has dominated the enthusiast graphics market for a whole quarter and it looks like it will keep on doing so. The graphics card is the fastest that gamers can purchase right now and even after AMD's Radeon RX Vega launch, nothing has changed for this card. Compared to the competition, the GTX 1080 Ti still feels like miles ahead and it just keeps on getting better. MSI gave me the opportunity to test one of their mightiest production card to date, the GTX 1080 Ti Lightning X and this one truly is a powerful card.
The GTX 1080 Ti replaced the GTX 1080 as the fastest consumer graphics card at the same price of $699 US. The card I tested today goes for $839 US and that's a big premium you are paying for this overclocked model. The Lightning Z costs even more at $869 US but features higher clock speeds. Truth be speaking, the Lightning Z clock speeds are great but nothing that can't be achieved with a small manual overclock on the Lightning X. There are some thing to note about the GTX 1080 Ti in terms of clock speeds. All cards max out around 2050-2100 MHz with the default voltage. NVIDIA is not opening voltage control any time soon but the Lightning cards manage to cross some barriers.
The MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning X makes every other card seem like a generation old already even though it's utilizing the same Pascal architecture that is featured on the GTX 1080, GTX 1070 and Titan X. It offers a massive uplift to game performance and has three different profiles for gamers who want silent card operation, good gaming performance and enthusiast caliber OC performance.
But that's not it, this card allowed me to see the full potential of the Pascal GP102 chip. When I was testing games, I saw clocks north of 2050 MHz with ease and also mighty stable compared to other 1080 Ti's that I had tested. But even with a manual OC, I can only utilize a fraction of the facilities in the Lightning X. This card is meant to be overclocked and that too by a professional one with ample supply of liquid nitrogen at hand. I unfortunately don't have the kind of tools or a big supply of LN2 to push this to the limits like world record holders do.
As for the cooling solution, it's big, it's bulky and it's heavy. But in return, it provides the best cooling performance of all other thermal solutions for the 1080 Ti that I have tested. It even bests MSI's own Twin Frozr VI heatsink which is known to be a great performer and ASUS's DirectCU III. With just 60C in gaming and 66C when hitting the highest overclock, the Tri Frozr heatsink proved tremendously well in the cooling results.
As for power consumption, the 1080 Ti Lightning X has a lower power draw than the 980 Ti Lightning X while delivering almost twice the performance out put. The card is a fantastic and a true enthusiast product but it comes at a very high cost. It's one of the most aggressive heatsink designs that I have seen to date but it also performs really well and the clocks this beast can hit are amazing. I would say that the MSI GTX 1080 Ti Lightning X is an enthusiasts choice with a high-end PCB design, tremendous overclocking potential and tons of gaming performance packed inside its belly.
wccftech.com
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z Review
MSI's GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z is a limited-edition flagship designed to show what the company's engineers can do. The result is an almost 1.7-kilogram behemoth that needs three expansion slots worth of space to deliver high-end air cooling.
The stock specifications that MSI cites may as well be a footnote. Anyone buying such an overbuilt thermal solution surely plans to overclock anyway. So, even though a base 1607 MHz and GPU Boost frequency of 1721 MHz in Lightning Mode already sounds aggressive, we're anticipating more.
Indeed, a high factory-set power target of 300W, in combination with binned GPUs (according to MSI) and top-end cooling guarantees high clock rates under load in real gaming workloads. In addition, MSI overclocks its GDDR5X memory a bit, which should help at high resolutions with anti-aliasing enabled.
Since the actual performance of any third-party card depends on the GPU Boost frequency it can sustain, and thus on cooling, power limits, and processor quality, any review that relies on bar charts is little more than a snapshot of a single specimen. That's why we're putting our emphasis on the actual implementation of each model. To that end, a lot of equipment goes into thoroughly documenting a graphics card's behaviors. If you'd like a peek at what goes into such an evaluation, check out our Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB Review. It makes for a good baseline on which MSI builds.
Unboxing, Dimensions & Interfaces
MSI does bundle a number of accessories with its GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z, including a real three-slot bracket in matte black, various color highlights that allow for a bit of customization, and a selection of connectors for voltage monitoring.
Exterior
MSI employs a matte, graphite-colored plastic cover that's quite angular in appearance. Yet it's still fairly conservative as far as high-end graphics hardware goes. Those highlights can be changed out to taste; you also get a gold, red, and carbon-fiber-like set to match other components in your PC.
The milky-white plastic inlay provides RGB lighting on the front and back, which you can control through a phone-based app or MSI's Gaming App software. If you have other compatible components installed, their colors and effects can be synchronized. We don't mind the extra bit of flair, even if it does push the upper bounds of classy-looking.
The cooling fins are installed vertically, meaning heated air is pushed up, out the top and down, toward your motherboard. Three auxiliary eight-pin power connector line the card's top edge. They're rotated by 180° so the connector release mechanisms aren't trapped up against heat sink.
The complement of two DisplayPort 1.4-ready connectors, one dual-link DVI-D output, and two HDMI 2.0 ports reflect a growing acceptance of VR HMDs (which use HDMI) and the gradual phasing out of DVI. Of those five interfaces, a maximum of four can be used simultaneously in a multi-monitor setup.
A GPU-Z screenshot provides the most pertinent technical information, even if the GPU Boost values we observed were much higher than MSI's official specifications.
| GP102 | GP102 | GP102 | GP104 | GM200 |
| 3584 | 3584 | 3584 | 2560 | 2816 |
| 1417 MHz | 1480 MHz | 1582 MHz | 1607 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| 1531 MHz+ | 1582 MHz+ | 1695 MHz | 1733 MHz+ | 1076 MHz+ |
| 12GB GDDR5X | 11GB GDDR5X | 11GB GDDR5X | 8GB GDDR5X | 6GB GDDR5 |
| 471 mm² | 471 mm² | 471 mm² | 314 mm² | 601 mm² |
| 16nm | 16nm | 16nm | 16nm | 28nm |
| 12 billion | 12 billion | 12 billion | 7.2 billion | 8 billion |
| 28 | 28 | 28 | 20 | 22 |
| 10,157 | 10,609 | 11,340 | 8,228 | 5,632 |
| 224 | 224 | 224 | 160 | 176 |
| 317.4 GT/s | 331.5 GT/s | 354.4 GT/s | 257.1 GT/s | 214 GT/s |
| 96 | 88 | 88 | 64 | 96 |
| 136 GPix/s | 130.24 GPix/s | 139.2 GPix/s | 114.2 GPix/s | 116.7 GPix/s |
| 10Gb/s | 11Gb/s | 11Gb/s | 10Gb/s | 7Gb/s |
| 384-bit | 352-bit | 352-bit | 256-bit | 384-bit |
| 480 GB/s | 484.4 GB/s | 489.3 GB/s | 320 GB/s | 336 GB/s |
| 3MB | 2816KB | 2816KB | 2MB | 3MB |
| 250W | 250W | 300W (PT) | 180W | 250W |
Test System & Measurement Methods
We explained our test system and methodology in How We Test Graphics Cards. If you want to learn more about the procedures we're using in today's review, have a look at that story. In the time since it was published, we also upgraded our CPU and cooling system to rule out any possible host processing bottlenecks.
Here's a short summary in table-form to provide a quick overview:
| System | Intel Core i7-6900K @ 4.3 GHzMSI X99S XPower Gaming TitaniumCorsair Vengeance DDR4-32001x 1TB Toshiba OCZ RD400 (M.2, System SSD)2x 960GB Toshiba OCZ TR150 (Storage, Images)be quiet Dark Power Pro 11, 850W PSU Windows 10 Pro (All Updates) |
| Cooler | Alphacool Eisblock XPXAlphacool Eiszeit 2000 Chiller2x be quiet! Silent Wings 3 PWM (Closed Case Simulation) Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut (Used when Switching Coolers) |
| Case | Lian Li PC-T70 with Extension Kit and ModsConfigurations: Open Benchtable, Closed Case |
| Monitor | Eizo EV3237-BK |
| Power Intake | Contact-free DC Measurement at PCIe Slot (Using a Riser Card)Contact-free DC Measurement at External Auxiliary Power Supply CableDirect Voltage Measurement at Power Supply2x Rohde & Schwarz HMO 3054, 500MHz Digital Multi-Channel Oscilloscope with Storage Function4x Rohde & Schwarz HZO50 Current Probe (1mA - 30A, 100kHz, DC)4x Rohde & Schwarz HZ355 (10:1 Probes, 500MHz) 1x Rohde & Schwarz HMC 8012 Digital Multimeter with Storage Function |
| Thermography | 1x Optris PI640 80Hz Infrared Camera + PI ConnectReal-Time Infrared Monitoring and Recording |
| Acoustics | NTI Audio M2211 (with Calibration File, Low Cut at 50Hz)Steinberg UR12 (with Phantom Power for Microphones)Creative X7, Smaart v.7Custom-Made Proprietary Measurement Chamber, 3.5 x 1.8 x 2.2m (L x D x H)Perpendicular to Center of Noise Source(s), Measurement Distance of 50cmNoise Level in dB(A) (Slow), Real-time Frequency Analyzer (RTA) Graphical Frequency Spectrum of Noise |
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Page 2
MSI uses its own design for this board, and that implementation is much different from what the company did for its GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning X card.
Behind a trio of eight-pin auxiliary power connectors, the board has three chokes to smooth out spikes in the electrical input, along with a shunt.
The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z employs a 7+3-phase power supply with doubling. Thus, each phase is able to distribute the load between two parallel 180°-shifted control circuits. You can see the memory's three phases over there on the PCB's right side.
MSI keeps the back of its card tidy-looking. It's home to the memory's PWM controller and a number of other components.
| IR3595AInternational RectifierEight-phase single or 6+2 dual-loop configurable Seven phases in use (doubled) | |
| IR3599International RectifierPhase multiplierDrives two power stages 180° out of phase | |
| IR3555MInternational Rectifier 60A PowIRstage Includes high- and low-side MOSFETsIncludes Schottky diode | |
| Ferrite core coils Lianzhen Electronics | |
| MT58K256M321JA-110 Micron 11 x 1GB GDDRX5 11 Gb/s1391 MHz | |
| IR3570BInternational Rectifier 3+2-phase PWM controller | |
| CHL8510Infineon | |
| QM3816N6UBIQDual N-channel trench MOSFETs Includes high- and low-side MOSFETs | |
| Ferrite core coils Lianzhen Electronics | |
| INA3221Texas InstrumentsHigh-side current and bus voltage monitor | |
| NCT7511YNuvoton Temperature and fan speed monitor | |
| 8295FNITE | |
| 1x coil (smoothing) and shunt per PCIe connector (12V input voltage) | |
| Winbond 25Q40Kynix SemiconductorEEPROMDual-BIOS (via switch) | |
| (3) Eight-pin auxiliary power connectorsFilter coils for power input Voltages and other sensor output |
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