Review: msi n680gtx lightning 2gb

Today we have the pleasure of introducing you to the MSI GTX680 Lighting graphics card with 2GB GDDR5, 1100mhz and its Twin Frozr IV cooling system.

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FEATURES MSI N680GTX LIGHTNING
Model	N680GTX Lightning
Bus	PCI Express x16 3.0
Memory	2048 MB GDDR5
Memory interface	256 bits
Clock speed	1110 (BOOST CLOCK 1176) Mhz
Memory speed	6008 Mhz
Departures	2 x DVI 1 x HDMI 1 x DisplayPort
Maximum Resolution	2560 x 1600
RAMDACS	400
Dimensions	280x129x49.15 mm (w / GPU Reactor)

Unlocked Digital Power

- BIOS Unlocked: Unlock all protections for extreme overclocking

- PWM Digital Controller: More stable and accurate voltage through digital signal

- Improved power design: Twice the power for maximum potential for the OC

GPU Reactor

- An added device on the back of the GTX 680 Lightning (Behind the GPU) for better overclocking stability

- Offers 200% more power and eliminates noise from the electrical signal (ripple)

Xtreme Thermal

- Dust Removal technology in the Twin Frozr IV removes dust to achieve the best thermal condition

- Two integrated Heatsinks in one piece to offer better dissipation and offer a stronger structure.

Military Class III components

- Meets the MIL-STD-810G standard to offer you the best stability and quality.

- With CopperMOS, Hi-c CAP, SSC Dorados, and Dark Solid CAP.

The color green and black predominates in the design of the box. We also have a fighter, which already warns us that it will be the fastest graph on the market.

Once we open the box, everything is perfectly packaged. MSI surprises us with an electric yellow and black design. The card incorporates 2GB of memory, military capacitors, clock up to 1100mhz and a length of 28.5cm.

It comes equipped with two 92mm PWM fans.

The heatsink is the Twin Frozr IV is designed with 5 fins / heatpipes of the highest quality. This allows us a cooling at the height of the famous Arctic Accelero Xtreme.

As it is a special model for overclocking, it comes with 2 8-pin PCI-E sockets. This does not mean that you will consume much more, but that your diet will be more efficient.

One of the points that I like the most about this new generation of MSI graphics is the incorporation of the backplate. This design offers aesthetics and lower 1-2ºC.

The chart includes an additional reactor to provide a 13% plus in stability. It is completely removable and has blue LEDs to give color to our team. And why are the LEDs not yellow?…

At the top we have a SWITCH that allows us to activate the Overclocking BIOS.

Look what this card looks like.

And outputs we have:

• 2 x DVI. 1 x HDMI. 1 x DisplayPort.

The box includes:

• SLI connection. Cables to test voltage. D-SUB to DVI connection. Two 6-pin to 8-pin converters.

Quality certificate, disk with drivers / software and quick guide.

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel 3770K
Base plate:	Asus Maximuis IV Extreme
Memory:	Kingston Hyperx PNP 2x4GB
Heatsink	Corsair H60
HDD	Kingston Hyperx 120gb
Graphic card	MSI N680GTX Lightning
Power supply	Thermaltake TouchPower 1350W

To evaluate the performance of the graphics card we have used the following applications:

• 3DMark11.3DMark Vantage.The Planet 2.Heaven benchmark 2.1

All our tests have been carried out with a resolution of 1920px x 1080px.

What are we looking for in the tests?

First the best possible image quality. The most important value for us is the average FPS (Frames per second), the higher the number of FPS, the more fluid the game will be. To differentiate the quality a little, I leave you a table to assess the quality in FPS:

FRAMES BY SECONDS
Frames for Seconds. (FPS)	Gameplay
Less than 30 FPS	Limited
30 - 40 FPS	Playable
40 - 60 FPS	Good
Greater than 60 FPS	Fairly Good or Excellent

Let's not fool ourselves; there are games that can have an average of 100 FPS. It may be because the game is quite old, does not require excessive graphic resources or that the graphics is the most powerful on the market, or we have thousands of euros GPU systems. But the reality is different, and games like Crysis 2 and Metro 2033 are very demanding and do not usually give high scores.

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TESTS MSI NGTX680 Lightning
3Dmark Vantage	39246 points
3DMark11 Performance	P9380 points
Heaven 2.1 DX11	3251 points and 129.1FPS
The Planet 2 (Directx11)	79.9 FPS
Resident Evil 5 (Directx10)	277.9 pts

The MSI N680GTX Lightning comes standard with 1100Mhz CLOCK / 6008Mhz GPU memory, a 1176Mhz Boost having excellent results (see previous page).

Now we want to give it one more turn and we have uploaded it to the processor (CPU) at 4000mhz, enough to get the most out of it. In EVGA Precisioon X we have raised the voltage to the maximum: 133%, the GPU CLOCK OFFSET to +94 and the memories to + 603mhz. The result is very very good:

And now some tables of the consumption of the equipment and the temperatures of the graphic card:

* To check temperatures in full (The Furmark software at 1920 × 1200 pts has been used for 2 hours).

The MSI GTX680 Lightning 2GB is based on the Nvidia Geforce GTX680 chip that comes overclocked up to 1100mhz (the fastest of the moment) and comes with the BOOST CLOCK up to 1176Mhz !!

Its lightning yellow / black design, its TwinFrozr IV cooling, which is one of the best we have tested so far, (36º Idle - 64ºC full) with two 92 mm fans and its custom 8 + 3 phase PCB and military capacitors we demonstrates the brand's commitment to the consumer.

We have tested the board with an Ivy Bridge i7 3770k at 4GHZ and a 1350w Thermaltake source. The result has been excellent… for example with the 3DMARK11: P9983 Pts and playing Crysis 2 we have obtained 66.2 FPS.

In short, if you are looking for a graphics to break records worldwide or want a powerful / silent / excellent consumption graphics, the MSI N680GTX Lightning 2GB is the card you are looking for. But beware, its price is high and is only available to very few: € 599 in online stores.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE.	- PRICE.
+ GREAT OVERCLOCK.
+ MSI TWINFROZR IV REFRIGERATION.
+ SILENT.
+ VOLTAGE TESTER.

The Professional Review team awards you the platinum medal: