MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti LIGHTNING Video Card Review @ [H]

Crushing_Grief said:
^
Hey Mods, I find it very creepy that this guy (Nenu) is searching through my posting history and trolling me in this thread.
I finally gave up on TH and decided to give this forum a chance. With weirdos like Nenu bullying, maybe this is not the best place for new users to come?
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we are all mad here:eek:.. that's normal, everyone do that, you will have a [H]ard time here as a biased guy, you will be rapidly called fanboy and nobody will care for your post as you will be in the ignore list of most people.. :p Nenu just pointed facts about your bias inconsistency and your post history support him.
 
Wait what 970 is memory limited at 1440p now? Where's the "3.5GB is not an issue until 5K where you get unplayable framerates anyway" brigade?
 
Not much information out there on the difference between the Lightning and the Lightning LE edition. Clock speeds are of course lower on the LE version, but is everything else identical? Memory brand, caps, chokes, etc? I noticed the LE version has the same 8+8+6 power connections as the standard Lightning. It is running barely above stock, only one guy reviewed it on Newegg and not much to get out of his two reviews on the card, so no word on overclocking.
 
Question - since the card is so cool on air why can't you just switch to the LN2 bios and use that on air?
 
Direfox said:
Not much information out there on the difference between the Lightning and the Lightning LE edition. Clock speeds are of course lower on the LE version, but is everything else identical? Memory brand, caps, chokes, etc? I noticed the LE version has the same 8+8+6 power connections as the standard Lightning. It is running barely above stock, only one guy reviewed it on Newegg and not much to get out of his two reviews on the card, so no word on overclocking.
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LE cards are ones that didn't quite pass the binning to reach the stock Lightning speeds. Personally I find it completely pointless to buy an LE Lightning. Either get the real deal, or buy another card.
 
Crushing_Grief said:
^
Hey Mods, I find it very creepy that this guy (Nenu) is searching through my posting history and trolling me in this thread.
I finally gave up on TH and decided to give this forum a chance. With weirdos like Nenu bullying, maybe this is not the best place for new users to come?
Click to expand...

Saddest thing I've read all day. Emotional cruelty barriers violated :(
 
Crushing_Grief said:
^
Hey Mods, I find it very creepy that this guy (Nenu) is searching through my posting history and trolling me in this thread.
I finally gave up on TH and decided to give this forum a chance. With weirdos like Nenu bullying, maybe this is not the best place for new users to come?
Click to expand...
Someone disagreed with you, therefore trolling. And bullying.

Mods help!
 
Guess I chose the wrong forum, lots of tough guys around here. Notice how very few new members (less than a year) are here and ask yourselves why. I've seen good forums die of attrition because a handful of hostile members ran off the new members while veteran members age and move on from computer hardware.
 
Cobalt35 said:
Cause this is a 980Ti review, not a 390X Crossfire review, and no single card that's available today is really suitable for serious 4k gaming.


I would assume that, given AMDs history of driver issues, it's a driver problem on AMDs part. This is borne out by what Brent says about the 390X having issues at 1440p in Project Cars.
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?! What are you even talking about?! The systems are basically the same; 3770k at 4.6 and 4.8.

Yet 390x Crossfire in Devil review gets better performance at 4K then 390x in the Lightning review at 1440p.

:rolleyes:
 
The cooler on this resembles those from the Arctic Accelero Extreme series of coolers, which is pretty much the best thing you can say about a stock air cooler for a video card.
 
n=1 said:
LE cards are ones that didn't quite pass the binning to reach the stock Lightning speeds. Personally I find it completely pointless to buy an LE Lightning. Either get the real deal, or buy another card.
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generally speaking there doesn't seem to be much more overclocking potential (if any) on 'top shelf' 980 Ti's compared to the standard cards. to me the LE Lightning is the most intriguing. comparative overclock potential, fantastic cooling (leading to less throttling?), and $80 cheaper.
 
Porter_ said:
generally speaking there doesn't seem to be much more overclocking potential (if any) on 'top shelf' 980 Ti's compared to the standard cards.
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I agree. However, I would be willing to pay a small premium over standard for better/quieter cooling.
 
Porter_ said:
generally speaking there doesn't seem to be much more overclocking potential (if any) on 'top shelf' 980 Ti's compared to the standard cards. to me the LE Lightning is the most intriguing. comparative overclock potential, fantastic cooling (leading to less throttling?), and $80 cheaper.
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Two things:

1. The LE version basically means it failed the Lightning's binning process. Dunno about you but that would make it an instant non-buy for me.

2. The Lightning LE still sells for $699, which is the same as a Classified, and is more expensive than any other 980 Ti except the Kingpin. For that price, either get a Classified, or buy some other non-LE card and save some money while you're at it too.

And yes Maxwell doesn't voltage scale worth shit on air/water, so paying an extra premium for these OC cards is a waste of money. Which means all the more reason to look to something else besides the Lightning LE.
 
n=1 said:
And yes Maxwell doesn't voltage scale worth shit on air/water, so paying an extra premium for these OC cards is a waste of money.
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I agree with you here. But if they all clock the same what good does the binning process do you?

In my opinion it's worthwhile to pay extra for a better cooling solution, ignore the rest. It looks like the Lightning's cooling solution is great.
 
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rinaldo00 said:
Question - since the card is so cool on air why can't you just switch to the LN2 bios and use that on air?
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I just read 3 other reviews of the card and I found the answer to my question

from here
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_980_ti_lightning_review,36.html

With AfterBurner we applied the following settings in the regular mode (you can select LN2 mode as well but it made no difference as to the end result).
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Above one more screenshot of the card active in LN2 mode. Just for reference. In LN2 mode a few protection features get disabled, the clocks return to reference clocks and you will have extended GPU voltage up-to 1.3 Volts. BTW the tweak below was not stable at that stage. For regular end-users we doubt that the LN2 mode will yield better results in terms of tweaking.
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BTW they could not even crack 1500 mhz on the card and neither did another site. The 1518 mhz that [H] got was the best I have seen anywhere for this card. Other cheaper cards can hit 1500 mhz.
 
Porter_ said:
I agree with you here. But if they all clock the same what good does the binning process do you?

In my opinion it's worthwhile to pay extra for a better cooling solution, ignore the rest. It looks like the Lightning's cooling solution is great.
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You misunderstand, the Lightning LE cards are designated LE because they can't even reach the stock Lightning speeds (without excessive voltage), so you're pretty much guaranteed a dud overclocker. This is especially bad for Maxwell because as I said voltage scaling is non-existent until subzero. For Kepler it wasn't too much of an issue since more volts = more overclock as long as you kept temps under control.

As far as cooling solution goes, Gigabyte G1, Zotac AMP, and Palit Jetstream all offer great cooling. The G1 is also the only card that I know of to offer active cooling for both the memory chips and VRM mosfets, so that would be my pick for air cooling.
 
n=1 said:
You misunderstand, the Lightning LE cards are designated LE because they can't even reach the stock Lightning speeds (without excessive voltage), so you're pretty much guaranteed a dud overclocker. This is especially bad for Maxwell because as I said voltage scaling is non-existent until subzero. For Kepler it wasn't too much of an issue since more volts = more overclock as long as you kept temps under control.

As far as cooling solution goes, Gigabyte G1, Zotac AMP, and Palit Jetstream all offer great cooling. The G1 is also the only card that I know of to offer active cooling for both the memory chips and VRM mosfets, so that would be my pick for air cooling.
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ha i'm not misunderstanding anything. the LE card is just a non preoverclocked card. all of these cards are subject to the silicon lottery. for example my Gaming LE card runs 15 Mhz below the full blown Lightning with no voltage and can equal the Lightning clocks with a moderate +40mV.

anyway we're way off topic here so i won't continue. my point is that i think the LE Lighting is an intriguing card and could offer good bang for the buck. you disagree, fair enough :)
 
The LE is non-preoverclocked because it didn't meet the bin for the non-LE cards, meaning it's at the bottom of the clock/voltage curve, so it will have a low ceiling, and likely won't overclock worth a damn. That's what I was getting at, and your Gaming LE example kind of shows that. Not trying to belittle you or your card, but that's just what LE means and why they go for cheaper.

Yes it's still a lottery with other cards but the difference is you're not guaranteed a dud, whereas with LE you're pretty much guaranteed to get a card that has a very low ceiling. And the Lightning LE at $699 just isn't a value proposition at all when other non-LE or non-MSI cards could be had for cheaper, especially when you consider the EVGA 980 Ti Classified goes for the same price.
 
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n=1 said:
and likely won't overclock worth a damn. That's what I was getting at, and your Gaming LE example kind of shows that. Not trying to belittle you or your card, but that's just what LE means and why they go for cheaper.

whereas with LE you're pretty much guaranteed to get a card that has a very low ceiling.
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no worries, no personal feelings or bias associated with the stuff i buy. but your views on 'low overclocking' are skewed when it comes to the 980 Ti.
 
Interesting that the MSI Lightning is faster than the ASUS Strix despite having lower peak boost clocks.

Any chance of seeing a graph of the actual clock speed plotted against time?
 
Wow, I did not read this review until now. I find it quite a bit amusing considering most people claim that AMD has 100% scaling and all that jazz. Yet their drivers rear the ugly head, once again.

If I had 700 to blow, I would on a 980 Ti. No need to spend the extra 100 for a lightning either.
 
For max 1440p performance, the 980ti is tops, no doubt about it. At 4k, the xfire option seems better if you are ok with high power consumption. Very informative review - the MSI Lightning was always one of my favorites next to HIS ICE-Q line.

The 980ti has to be the most reviewed card of all time. I counted 5 on this site and I believe you guys are on the low side yet! Any chance we can get a hotter GTX 960 or a R9 380x, which should come out soon?


p.s. Are that many people really buying 1440p monitors? (not trying to troll, just a question) 1440p always seemed like a stop-gap until hardware was strong enough for 4k, which will be the next resolution used by things like netflix and UHD blu-ray.
To me , it is like what 720p was until the real 1080p TVs came out, which supported things like Blu-ray. 1440p seems even lamer then 720p, since I don't even see 1440p TVs around.
 
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Nihilus1 said:
p.s. Are that many people really buying 1440p monitors? (not trying to troll, just a question) 1440p always seemed like a stop-gap until hardware was strong enough for 4k, which will be the next resolution used by things like netflix and UHD blu-ray.
To me , it is like what 720p was until the real 1080p TVs came out, which supported things like Blu-ray. 1440p seems even lamer then 720p, since I don't even see 1440p TVs around.
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I have been using 1600p/1440p for 9 years. The fact that that it took so long to get to 4K is amazing to me. I will stay at 1440p/144 until 4K/144 becomes reasonably available.
 
Nihilus1 said:
p.s. Are that many people really buying 1440p monitors? (not trying to troll, just a question) 1440p always seemed like a stop-gap until hardware was strong enough for 4k, which will be the next resolution used by things like netflix and UHD blu-ray.
To me , it is like what 720p was until the real 1080p TVs came out, which supported things like Blu-ray. 1440p seems even lamer then 720p, since I don't even see 1440p TVs around.
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I would imagine 1080p 120hz/144hz would be the stop gap and 1440p 144hz(or 90+hz) would be what the poster above mentioned...until 4k/144hz is reasonable.

...but i guess those two are the same thing... :D
 
Porter_ said:
no worries, no personal feelings or bias associated with the stuff i buy. but your views on 'low overclocking' are skewed when it comes to the 980 Ti.
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It's all relative really. I'd say 90% of the reviews/user comments I've read the 980 Ti can overclock to 1500+. So if a 980 Ti can't even reach 1400 without adding voltage, then I consider that "low overclocking".
 
Nihilus1 said:
The 980ti has to be the most reviewed card of all time. I counted 5 on this site and I believe you guys are on the low side yet! Any chance we can get a hotter GTX 960 or a R9 380x, which should come out soon?
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Yeah well the 980 Ti is the flagship of the industry and the entire world swoons before it. Reviews have merely risen to accommodate demand.

Wasting time creating yet another review on budget cards like 960 or 380x wouldn't have much ROI or generate any excitement.
 
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I'd love to own a 980ti, but since many of us don't have $650, how about a 970sli review to give us an idea if saving for a second 970 is worth the money.
 
KickAssCop said:
Wow, I did not read this review until now. I find it quite a bit amusing considering most people claim that AMD has 100% scaling and all that jazz. Yet their drivers rear the ugly head, once again.

If I had 700 to blow, I would on a 980 Ti. No need to spend the extra 100 for a lightning either.
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So you are saying one is blowing their money on a 980 Ti? :confused: :D

I do believe AMD Fury line needs to come down some in price. Take off $50 and it would make it more reasonable. The CFX issues on these reviews are glaring. My experience is different (not in these games since I don't have them yet) but going single card either camp does well to avoid those issues.
 
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Crushing_Grief said:
I'd love to own a 980ti, but since many of us don't have $650, how about a 970sli review to give us an idea if saving for a second 970 is worth the money.
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You're in luck. This recent review uses 970's in SLI as a comparison. It focuses on 4K resolution, though, and that's where the 970 memory bugaboo finally rears its head. If you don't plan on gaming that high, you can extrapolate that all memory-limited situations in the review would be resolved.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015...al_core_r9_390_video_card_review#.Vi4kZX6rRhF
 
DPI said:
Yeah well the 980 Ti is the flagship of the industry and the entire world swoons before it. Reviews have merely risen to accommodate demand.

Wasting time creating yet another review on budget cards like 960 or 380x wouldn't have much ROI or generate any excitement.
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Guru3d just reviewed their 10th, yes 10th, 980ti. The 380x has not been released yet and i wouldn't consider a review of a specialized mid range card a waste of time. Reviewing 10 cards that are VERY close together - now that is a waste of time.
 
Hey I'm thinking of buying a lightning here soon and so far from this thread I've got hardly any negatives on buying the LE version. I'm just wondering if anyone who owns one would advise otherwise.
 
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