[PCPER]MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB Lightning Graphics Card Review

[Jaydip]

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/MSI-GeForce-GTX-780-3GB-Lightning-Graphics-Card-Review

From the conclusion

"The MSI GTX 780 Lightning isn't a graphics card that just any gamer should buy. With a hefty price tag of $750 and a feature set that requires some overclocking experience to really take advantage of, MSI is hoping to once again attract the hardcore enthusiast that wants the best of the best. With a completely redesigned TriFrozr cooler with 7 SuperPipes and Military Class 4 components on top of an enhanced power delivery design, MSI's GTX 780 Lightning clearly is among the top graphics cards on the market.

Overclocking was a breeze and the clock rates we hit were impressive while maintaining noise levels in line with less effective single-fan coolers of reference designs. The card wasn't perfect as I wish the dual/triple slot cooler was compressed a bit more and the GPU Reactor could be a bit smaller for tight spacing but if you are looking for a single GPU card capable of battling with the best in the market, this is it."

 

[Xed]

109% power target makes no sense

 

[Jaydip]

Actually this card at $749 makes little sense where the HOF is faster and cheaper.

 

[RussianSensation]

1241 mhz is nothing special. Classified, DCUII and HOF can hit those speeds without problems. Given the hype MSI created and the asking price of $750 this card should have beaten all of those. Looks like MSI flopped this one unless other reviews achieve far better results.

 

[hawtdawg]

1241 mhz is nothing special. Classified, DCUII and HOF can hit those speeds without problems. Given the hype MSI created and the asking price of $750 this card should have beaten all of those. Looks like MSI flopped this one unless other reviews achieve far better results.

It's hard to judge these numbers without knowing the voltage. My MSI reference card can do 1306 with the new version of AB. It sounds like this thing wasn't pushed very hard at all.

 

[raghu78]

I agree that 780 lightning price needs to be USD 700. classified 780 and HOF 780 are around USD 700

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814162142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130943

but I don't understand why everybody believes every custom GTX 780 has to or will definitely overclock to 1.3 - 1.35 ghz. the Lightning PCB is capable of running the chip at 1.3 Ghz speeds. after that everyone knows its a silicon lottery. not every Galaxy HOF 780 and EVGA classified will hit 1.3+ Ghz. Any 780 which can do 1.25 Ghz is golden. i would say average 780 does 1150 mhz.

 

[RussianSensation]

i would say average 780 does 1150 mhz.

You are thinking Boost Clock per GPU-Z -- this is not represented correctly as the maximum frequency the card runs at in games. You need to look at maximum turbo clock during games in the log file. Average max clock in games for after-market 780s is higher than 1200mhz easily:
http://www.sweclockers.com/recensio...ii-och-evga-geforce-gtx-780-acx-sc/9#pagehead

Even a reference 780 hits 1200mhz.

 

[3DVagabond]

1, It could be reviewer's lack of O/C'ing skills
2, It could be what the reviewer considers stable is stricter than sites who are just trying to get max clocks.
3, Silicon lottery. It is only one sample

On a side note, this card might actually be uglier than the 7990 depending on whether you find red or yellow less appealing.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Someone needs to overclock this in LN2 mode!

 

[lehtv]

@3DVagabond

I don't think point 3 really applies here, the Lightning GPU should be cherry picked

 

[3DVagabond]

@3DVagabond

I don't think point 3 really applies here, the Lightning GPU should be cherry picked

The binning is for stability at a given clock and voltage. Not necessarily max O/C'ing headroom.

 

[hawtdawg]

I agree that 780 lightning price needs to be USD 700. classified 780 and HOF 780 are around USD 700

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814162142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130943

but I don't understand why everybody believes every custom GTX 780 has to or will definitely overclock to 1.3 - 1.35 ghz. the Lightning PCB is capable of running the chip at 1.3 Ghz speeds. after that everyone knows its a silicon lottery. not every Galaxy HOF 780 and EVGA classified will hit 1.3+ Ghz. Any 780 which can do 1.25 Ghz is golden. i would say average 780 does 1150 mhz.

You're not taking into account that prior to very recently, 1.212v was the highest voltage setting available.

Most reference 780's will hit 1150 with stock voltage, much less 1.3v

 

[blackened23]

Guru3d review of the Lightning 780:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_780_lightning_review,28.html

1333mhz boost, I feel like PCPer didn't even make a serious attempt to overclock - from what i've read at OCN you need to modify Afterburner to support over-voltage with the lightning. You also need to use LN2 mode as to remove the power limits (if it's similar to the 680L) Anyway, Guru3d mentions that MSI is also releasing a new BIOS with a 300% power target for the lightning.

While it looks like a nice card, the price is too high. Not sure why they are pricing it at 750$, a little too much even if the card seems pretty great.

Now then, overclocking did get more complicated as increasing the Boost functionality has an effect on voltage and thus power consumption which effects the maximum allowed board power and so on. So really it is a matter of trial and error and finding your preferred or maximum balance in terms of extra performance versus noise levels.

We found a very sweet tweak that will bring your boost frequency towards 1320~1333 MHz stable, it will fluctuate depending on power draw / limits. Feel free to try our settings yourself. We applied:

Put the card BIOS in LN2 mode (clock freqeuncy will be reference, but offers slighgtly better OC results)
Power Target 110%
Priority set to temperature
GPU clock +315 MHz
Memory clock +425 MHz
Voltage +100 mV
Fan control RPM 75% (becomes a little noisy)
With the physical board power limit you are going see all card roughly ending at this overclock and boost frequency. We now have a hint extra performance at our hands on top of the factory overclock, have a peek at the results when overclocked.

 

[raghu78]

You are thinking Boost Clock per GPU-Z -- this is not represented correctly as the maximum frequency the card runs at in games. You need to look at maximum turbo clock during games in the log file. Average max clock in games for after-market 780s is higher than 1200mhz easily:
http://www.sweclockers.com/recensio...ii-och-evga-geforce-gtx-780-acx-sc/9#pagehead

Even a reference 780 hits 1200mhz.

RS you are again exaggerating.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...s/61310-nvidia-geforce-gtx-780-review-14.html

"With that being said, both of our GTX 780 samples hit nearly identical levels and provided decent overclocks. Boost clocks remained steady at 1122MHz with spikes to 1168MHz while the memory leveled out at 6868MHz before error correction began throttling performance. "

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/05/23/nvidia_geforce_gtx_780_video_card_review/7#.Uh3a-H_3x8E

"These are the final settings we settled on for a stable experience in all games. We raised the power target, the temperature, and the fan speed upwards. This resulted in a real-world in-game frequency of 1163MHz. That is a 30% clock speed increase! We got the memory up to 6.2GHz, it would actually go higher, but at the expense of GPU clock frequency. We opted for a lower memory frequency, to keep the GPU clock speed as high as possible"

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...igabyte-gtx-780-windforce-3x-oc-review-8.html

"However, there is some additional headroom lurking below the surface and we achieved a constant Boost clock of 1153MHz while the memory purred along at 6856MHz. "


http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...729-evga-geforce-gtx-780-acx-sc-review-8.html

"In the end, our final core overclock was good by reference card standards but a peak Boost of speed 1183MHz won’t provide a noticeable performance increase over the ACX’s default settings. "

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_780_review,28.html

"With this overclock we have extra performance at our hands, as the boost clock will now render at 1100~1176 MHz depending on the power and temperature signature. The GPU will continuously be dynamically altered on voltage and clock frequency to match the power and temperature targets versus the increased core clock."

btw guru3d's lightning 780 did 1330 mhz

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_780_lightning_review,28.html

"We found a very sweet tweak that will bring your boost frequency towards 1320~1333 MHz stable, it will fluctuate depending on power draw / limits."

 

[hawtdawg]

Guy, those are all pre-AB voltage mod. None of those cards even do 1.212v, which could be unlocked with a modded bios. Giving examples of mild reviewer overclocks shows nothing. Most of those reviews don't even touch the voltage, mush less push them beyond the stock 1.2v limit.

 

[Grooveriding]

Does the card actually have voltage controls ? I got my classifieds, which have a software tool to control voltage up to 1.35V. So far they are doing 1359/7000 with 1.3V. Haven't even tried to go further yet with the 1.35V.

From my experience the Classified would be the card to get. Cheaper than this and voltage control without using a hack, as well as voltage control beyond what the hack provides.

 

[blackened23]

Does the card actually have voltage controls ? I got my classifieds, which have a software tool to control voltage up to 1.35V. So far they are doing 1359/7000 with 1.3V. Haven't even tried to go further yet with the 1.35V.

From my experience the Classified would be the card to get. Cheaper than this and voltage control without using a hack, as well as voltage control beyond what the hack provides.

Yes, it does support up to 1.35V via software as does the classified. With regard to your classified statement - I tend to agree with this. As a pre-requisite, I think the Lightning 780 is an awesome card - Guru3d was able to get a 1333mhz overclock and this is without the new 300% BIOS. MSI is releasing a BIOS with a 300% power limit which will allow for some insane overclocks on water.

With that said, while i've been a long-time fan of the Lightning series, at 750$ I just cannot support buying this over a classified. Fact of the matter is that the capabilities of both the classified and Lightning 780s are similar, only the Classified is 50$ cheaper. Hopefully MSI will lower the price in time.

 

[Face2Face]

NVM

 

[Jaydip]

Now from [H]
MSI GeForce GTX 780 LIGHTNING Video Card Review
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/09/22/msi_geforce_gtx_780_lightning_video_card_review/1

 

[BrentJ]

Someone needs to overclock this in LN2 mode!

I did

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013...80_lightning_video_card_review/3#.UkCPz8bkt8E

 

[thilanliyan]

Someone needs to overclock this in LN2 mode!

900 watts!!!!!!!!

Can the PCI-e plugs and port even supply that much? I guess that is for SERIOUS overclockers who would somehow supply extra power to the board.