MSI GTX 780 Lightning or ASUS GTX 780 DCU II

[kLkN7]

Hi. I'm planning to buy a new GPU. And I decided to buy GTX 780. But now I have some questions. Which model I should get ? MSI GTX 780 Lightning was what I've been dreaming for. But I'm not a hardcore overclocker so people adviced me to buy ASUS. I won't OC my card in 2 years. After 2 years maybe I'll OC it.

So I'm a little confused. Which one should I get?

 

[blackened23]

Flip a coin. The lightning has a higher out of the box boost but if you're not overclocking, you can't go wrong with either one really. Both cards run cool and quiet and have high boosts out of box - Kepler's generally boost far higher than advertised so either choice is a good one.

 

[kLkN7]

Thanks for your comment. My heart says "Go and get Lightning". But I don't want to make a bad decision. I heard that Lightning using Elpida stuff. Do you know about this ? What are the disadvantages of this ?

 

[lavaheadache]

Maybe you'll OC it after 2 years? Why even bother choosing between two cards geared for overclockers at all?

 

[blackened23]

Thanks for your comment. My heart says "Go and get Lightning". But I don't want to make a bad decision. I heard that Lightning using Elpida stuff. Do you know about this ? What are the disadvantages of this ?

If you're not OC'ing it doesn't matter. Some cards have elpida ram others have samsung, it all depends on supply. Some lightnings and some DC2's have samsung, others have elpida - samsung is supply limited.

You can buy whatever card you want if you're not OC'ing. It doesn't matter.

 

[janii]

Id say go direct cu II. Just because I got one and its a monster (No really, got GTX580 and its a [swell] (sorry boss) giant)
Is my first real card I clocked. From 782 to 935 and its stable all the time. No idea if thats good. Quiet too.


Profanity isn't allowed in VC&G

- Elfear

 

[p_monks33]

MSI TF is on sale at newegg, reviews show it overclocking almost as well as the lightning but 75 dollars less. Quieter and cooler as well.

 

[Teizo]

MSI TF is on sale at newegg, reviews show it overclocking almost as well as the lightning but 75 dollars less. Quieter and cooler as well.

This ^^

MSI Gaming cards are on point. Every bit as good as Asus DirectCu.

 

[Elfear]

I just picked up a Lightning a couple weeks ago and I'm very impressed so far. This thing is built like a tank. Easily weighs twice as much as one of my 7970s. Built beefier than even the 780 Classified.

The cooling system is phenomenal. The fans on automatic hardly make any noise and keep the core at 60C under load. Even when cranked to 75% (middle fan at 60%) the noise isn't annoying at all and kept temps under 65C at 1350/1650 1.212V. Out of the box I saw boost clocks of 1124Mhz.

Some of the recent Lightnings from Newegg have shipped with the new B1 stepping chip along with Hynix memory which makes for a great overclocker.

That being said, if you don't plan on overclocking, the MSI Gaming card for $479.99 is a great deal on a 780.

 

[tweakboy]

Get ASUS is better quality motherboard. There is a reason why the MSI is cheaper then the ASUS. Grab MSI 780 Lightning.

 

[Hauk]

I just picked up a Lightning a couple weeks ago and I'm very impressed so far. This thing is built like a tank. Easily weighs twice as much as one of my 7970s. Built beefier than even the 780 Classified.

The cooling system is phenomenal. The fans on automatic hardly make any noise and keep the core at 60C under load. Even when cranked to 75% (middle fan at 60%) the noise isn't annoying at all and kept temps under 65C at 1350/1650 1.212V. Out of the box I saw boost clocks of 1124Mhz.

Some of the recent Lightnings from Newegg have shipped with the new B1 stepping chip along with Hynix memory which makes for a great overclocker.

That being said, if you don't plan on overclocking, the MSI Gaming card for $479.99 is a great deal on a 780.

Nice results with yours, good to hear. They are indeed very well built. did you get a B1?

 

[Elfear]

Nice results with yours, good to hear. They are indeed very well built. did you get a B1?

Unfortunately no. I ordered the same time as a guy on OCN but he got the B1 and Hynix. Not that I'm complaining much. Mine seems to overclock well on the core, it's just the Elpida memory that doesn't clock that high.

The only frustrating thing I've found so far switching over to the green side is the lack of voltage control. With my 7970's I could go up to 1.3V on the stock bios and 1.4V with an Asus bios. Regular 780's on the other hand max at 1.151V while the Classified can manage 1.187V (1.35V with EvBot AFAIK) and the Lightning can hit 1.212V with a special version of Afterburner.

If you want to go higher than the above, you have to flash to a 3rd-party bios (Skyn3t) and use the RBBY tool along with AB to increase voltage which is more cumbersome than my 7970's.

Just a lot more work to get the higher voltage, especially for the cards built for volts.

 

[Hauk]

Unfortunately no. I ordered the same time as a guy on OCN but he got the B1 and Hynix. Not that I'm complaining much. Mine seems to overclock well on the core, it's just the Elpida memory that doesn't clock that high.

The only frustrating thing I've found so far switching over to the green side is the lack of voltage control. With my 7970's I could go up to 1.3V on the stock bios and 1.4V with an Asus bios. Regular 780's on the other hand max at 1.151V while the Classified can manage 1.187V (1.35V with EvBot AFAIK) and the Lightning can hit 1.212V with a special version of Afterburner.

If you want to go higher than the above, you have to flash to a 3rd-party bios (Skyn3t) and use the RBBY tool along with AB to increase voltage which is more cumbersome than my 7970's.

Just a lot more work to get the higher voltage, especially for the cards built for volts.

A great OC on core though, very nice. I'm holding out another week for signs of a 780ti w/ beefed up phase/cooling, would love to see a 1300 OC.

 

[Elfear]

A great OC on core though, very nice. I'm holding out another week for signs of a 780ti w/ beefed up phase/cooling, would love to see a 1300 OC.

That would be a very fast card. Probably equal to a pair of 680's.

Hopefully we'll see custom 780Ti's and 290(X)'s in the next couple weeks.

 

[Hauk]

That would be a very fast card. Probably equal to a pair of 680's.

Hopefully we'll see custom 780Ti's and 290(X)'s in the next couple weeks.

Kitguru just reviewed a Palit custom but didn't push voltage hard enough. Cream if the crop chips with the right power and cooling.. hope it gets interesting..