MSI Caught Overvolting GTX 660 Ti, 670 Power Edition Cards?

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blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
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The non POST issue I think is sensationalism. I know my Lightning will *allow* for higher voltage, but by default it is within the nvidia stock specifications. I seriously, seriously doubt that any of these cards fail to post. If that were the case, there would be users on forums everywhere screaming about their defective cards.

Obviously, most MSI lightning/PE users are happy with their product. I have personally never seen any reports anywhere regarding non POSTing MSI cards due to voltage. I think it is sensationalism - especially the part where Toms mentions the cards use 9.3V on the core. Yeah right, give me a break Tomshardware :rolleyes:
 
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MrK6

Diamond Member
Aug 9, 2004
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I'd be interested to see how the fallout of this is handled. This is a nice melding of MSI's vs. NVIDIA's vs. customer's goals and expectations.
 

Sharchaster

Junior Member
Oct 1, 2012
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two question for all of you guys...

1. are you FULLY TRUST Toms article?

2. are you BLAMING MSI because of this?


Interesting battle between MSI vs NVIDIA vs Customers...:D
 
Feb 19, 2009
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Agreed. Nvidia is cracking down hard on overvolting. It's either because they know GK104 is bandwidth strapped, and gets very little additional benefit from over-volted overclocking (unless the vram is clocked to the moon), they are genuinely trying to put a stop to overvolt overclocking for cost/warranty/RMA reasons, or they don't want users extracting 30+% more performance out of their GPU's which they feel was eating into upgrade cycles.

I think it's probably all of the above.

product differentiation. custom 670 come way too close to 680 out of the box. 3-7% delta for 100-150 bucks?

if voltage tweak was allowed, 670 with good cooler > 680. gk104 is not shader bound but as mentioned, vram/bandwidth limited.

look at 660ti, crippled where it matters.
 

tviceman

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2008
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product differentiation. custom 670 come way too close to 680 out of the box. 3-7% delta for 100-150 bucks?

if voltage tweak was allowed, 670 with good cooler > 680. gk104 is not shader bound but as mentioned, vram/bandwidth limited.

look at 660ti, crippled where it matters.

It is more than that.

There were plenty of extremely grey areas with Fermi. Many overclocked gtx560ti's were faster than gtx560ti 448's. There were some gtx570's that were essentially as fast as gtx580's. There were plenty of gtx560's that were as fast as gtx560ti's.
 

SirPauly

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2009
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Indeed, the GTX 570 was 349 and when over-clocked could obtain GTX 580 performance -- this aspect hasn't changed but the rules have been changed since the introduction of GPU Boost to me.
 

Nelly

Member
Oct 17, 2009
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Reply from MSI Tech-support.

  1. MSI respects the result which is tested by Tom’s Hardware, but we have much confidence and believe our products would not cause any customer RMA concerns.
  2. Since MSI designs these custom products with overclocking in mind, we “supercharge” these cards because we’re anticipating enthusiast to overclock. Because of this design decision and the higher component quality, we’re able to provide more power to the board resulting in higher and longer GPU Boost operation without reducing the lifetime of the graphics card or warranty term.
  3. MSI’s all graphics cards including GTX 670 and GTX 660 Ti passed strict test and stand behind our products with a 3 year warranty.

Source >> http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=162140.msg1188472#msg1188472
 
Jul 29, 2012
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Obviously, most MSI lightning/PE users are happy with their product. I have personally never seen any reports anywhere regarding non POSTing MSI cards due to voltage. I think it is sensationalism - especially the part where Toms mentions the cards use 9.3V on the core. Yeah right, give me a break Tomshardware :rolleyes:

There was a post on failing to POST :) not a few days ago
 

zaydq

Senior member
Jul 8, 2012
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I don't get the folly...

If MSI did this and cards became RMA worthy, its ultimately their screw up and would cost them in RMA.

I think Nvidia is pulling the leash a bit hard this generation, and that MSI just released a poor batch of cards. They definitely spent a bit of R&D money to make sure the cards can run safely with the voltages they were putting through.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
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The non POST issue I think is sensationalism. I know my Lightning will *allow* for higher voltage, but by default it is within the nvidia stock specifications. I seriously, seriously doubt that any of these cards fail to post. If that were the case, there would be users on forums everywhere screaming about their defective cards.

Obviously, most MSI lightning/PE users are happy with their product. I have personally never seen any reports anywhere regarding non POSTing MSI cards due to voltage. I think it is sensationalism - especially the part where Toms mentions the cards use 9.3V on the core. Yeah right, give me a break Tomshardware :rolleyes:

THIS!!!!!!

Remember when the EVGA GTX 670 SC cards were dying? How many threads did you see? 2 here with multiple posts in other threads, I saw a bunch on Guru3D and OCN also. How many threads about no post MSI cards?

I can't find one and until this article, I have never heard of one single issue with the MSI GTX 660/670/680 cards.
 

Sharchaster

Junior Member
Oct 1, 2012
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I think toms just jealous/angry with MSI because MSI didn't give them a PE sample for their testing (Seven GTX 670)...lol
 

blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
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I think toms just jealous/angry with MSI because MSI didn't give them a PE sample for their testing (Seven GTX 670)...lol

They certainly seemed to completely lack objectivity in their recent reviews regarding MSI. Some of the stuff in that article seems ridiculous, they stated that cards are getting 9.3 on GPU core(yeah right) and that cards don't POST (seriously doubtful)
 

Sharchaster

Junior Member
Oct 1, 2012
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They certainly seemed to completely lack objectivity in their recent reviews regarding MSI. Some of the stuff in that article seems ridiculous, they stated that cards are getting 9.3 on GPU core(yeah right) and that cards don't POST (seriously doubtful)

9.3 volt? lol...sounds like Toms just Angry with MSI....hahaha...that's why I never trust Toms review...I always wait for Anand, Guru3d, HC review...

now we all know, who is the REAL Champion for this generation? haha...I am very glad for bought PE Card from the real champion....:D

I will always SUPPORT a company that offers ENTHUSIAST Feature....(Overclocking of course), not just gaming feature.
 

Hlynska

Junior Member
Sep 28, 2012
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they stated that cards are getting 9.3 on GPU core(yeah right) and that cards don't POST (seriously doubtful)
Nonsense. Read the article attentively (if you have ever read it): the PMW-controller is overvolted (88% over specs!) not the GPU! The RT8802A may produce a faulty power good signal (POST problems), that's all.
 

chimaxi83

Diamond Member
May 18, 2003
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Meh. Although I don't have one now, I love MSI cards, and will continue to buy them. I'd have a Lightning 680 if I hadn't bought the DC II for overvoltage fun :D
 

DrBoss

Senior member
Feb 23, 2011
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This is just one more reason to ignore TomsHardware, which is a shame considering the site use to be worth a damn in the late 90's. Perhaps the title should read "MSI makes effort to circumvent bogus Nvidia enthusiast level gpu neutering."

I will be sure to let you know when my N670PE fails to post........:rolleyes:

Reference MSI reply #32
http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?P...t1ubnjeij5&topic=162140.msg1188472#msg1188472
 
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KompuKare

Golden Member
Jul 28, 2009
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What? Someone is using the boost function to cheat and pad the benchmark results in their favor! Who would have seen this coming? :rolleyes:

I think they want to reserved that trick for Nvidia PR and tech sites willing to go along...