MSI Announces GeForce GTX 1080 Ti LIGHTNING Z
by Nate Oh on June 21, 2017 11:00 AM EST
After posting a teaser video last week, MSI has followed up by announcing their latest ultra-high-end Lightning-branded graphics card: the MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti LIGHTNING Z. The triple-slot-width, triple-fan, and triple-8-pin power connector card comes equipped with all the latest in thermal solutions, overclocking design, and shiny colors. Yes, for those hoping that ‘Lightning’ correlates with ‘lighting,’ the LIGHTNING Z comes LED-strewn and slickly-hewn with Mystic Light RGB control, backplate, and alternate colored shroud highlights.
A key feature of the LIGHTNING Z is a BIOS switch that toggles “LN2 Mode,” which lifts power/current and thermal limits. The allure here is that for extreme overclockers used to hard volt-modding (with pencil or otherwise) can simply flick the switch when necessary. At the same time, MSI also advertises Military Class 4 components, as well as card features such as V-Check Points, a hardware-based voltage measurement design, and Quadruple Overvoltage, a specialized auxiliary voltage system.
| MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti LIGHTNING Z | |||
| Boost Clock | 1721MHz (Lightning Mode) 1695MHz (Gaming Mode) 1582MHz (Silent Mode) |
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| Base Clock | 1607MHz (Lightning Mode) 1582MHz (Gaming Mode) 1480MHz (Silent Mode) |
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| Memory Clock | 11124MHz (Lightning/Gaming Mode) 11016MHz (Silent Mode) |
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| VRAM | 11GB GDDR5X (352-bit) |
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| TDP | 250W | ||
| Outputs | 2x DP1.4, 2x HDMI2.0b, 1x DL-DVI-D | ||
| Power Connectors | 3x 8pin | ||
| Length | 320mm | ||
| Width | 2.5 Slot (61mm) | ||
| Weight | 1.7kg | ||
| Cooler Type | Open Air | ||
| Price | TBA | ||
Keeping the beast cool is MSI’s Tri-Frozr design, armed with 3 TORX 2.0 Fans (1 x 9cm, 2 x 10cm). Alongside the main heatsink/heatpipe complex, the card has a flatter memory/MOSFET heatsink and heatpipe, as well as a rear heatpipe in between the PCB and backplate. The custom PCB itself possesses 10 layers, 14 GPU power phases, and 3 memory power phases.
And as for Mystic Light, MSI’s LED control software enables users to synchronize and adjust lighting across devices, other components, and peripherals, even changing color schemes from the luxury of your smartphone.
MSI has not released pricing information at this time. The LIGHTNING Z is “expected to be available in July.”
Source: MSI
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Ken_g6 - Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - link
Triple 8-pin? Who needs more than double, which can provide 375W? Triple would be...525?!ingwe - Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - link
People who live in cold climates and want their GPUs to double as space heaters.nathanddrews - Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - link
Is there a heat/voltage advantage to spreading out the power delivery across three plugs? Maybe that's why?mickulty - Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - link
Doubt it, the real capability of an 8-pin (in terms of the molex mini-fir jr's physical specifications) is well over 200A. But it does force the user to run it with a good power supply, plus it means people who don't know much in-depth will add up the connectors and assume the VRM is 150W better than the evga kingpin.blahsaysblah - Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - link
Source? When i was researching, 9A was common per pin, with i think 11A being available. 8 pin has 3 hot pins, 3 ground and 2 sense. 3 time 9 is 27 Amps.FLHerne - Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - link
I'm guessing that was a typo intended as 200W rather than amps, which would be quite alarming through those little pins!3 × 9A × 12V is 324W, greatly exceeding the 150W spec for GPU connectors.
blahsaysblah - Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - link
The 9A is for the mini-fit female pin itself, precluding wire used, what the PCB traces and pin can handle. http://www.molex.com/molex/products/datasheet.jsp?...DanNeely - Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - link
"You see, most blokes will be playing at 2. You’re on 2, all the way up, all the way up...Where can you go from there? Nowhere. What we do, is if we need that extra push over the cliff...Three. One faster."shabby - Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - link
Classicvladx - Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - link
Ha that reminds me somehow of an old TheOnion article about Gillette.