MSI N480GTX Lightning Review EXCLUSIVE
Conclusion
Published: 21st October 2010 | Source: MSI | Price: £425est |
Conclusion
If you're the kind of reader who zips straight here then you might be wondering how the MSI N480GTX Lightning will fare under the scrutiny of the OC3D guys.
If you read the review though, you already know exactly what we think.
The MSI N480GTX Lightning is epic. Brilliant. Amazing. The fastest single-GPU on the planet by a huge margin.
It overclocks well, and far better than the reference design. But even better it runs both stock and overclocked MUCH cooler than its reference counterpart. Almost icing on the cake is how quiet it is, and believe us when we say it's quiet. At stock it's as quiet as a reference HD5870 which isn't exactly loud. If you are used to running the nVidia design then switching to the MSI will probably make you think you've gone deaf.
28157 P-Score for the overclocked Lightning is exactly what the GTX480 should have been when it was first released.
In fact if there is one overriding impression we've had from the MSI N480GTX Lightning it's this :
nVidia, What the hell were you doing??
A multi-billion dollar company that took seemingly forever managed to produce a brutally hot, ear-splittingly loud, under-performing card that was the biggest disappointment since Daikatana.
MSI on the other hand have taken a design that isn't exactly new and with a bit of tweaking managed to give us exactly what the GTX480 should have been in the first place. Cool, quiet and faster than a top-fuel dragster.
The Twin Frozr III cooler is so brilliant that we reckon if MSI offered it as a separate upgrade for owners of the reference GTX480 they couldn't make them fast enough such would be the demand.
Sure it's a little more expensive than the current GTX480 pricing, but it's actually on a par with where the 480 was upon release with an expected street price of about £430. Considering the price of a standard 480 and an extra cooler it's a bargain. Once you factor in how much extra it does and that even at stock it tramples on an overclocked GTX480, it's a no brainer.
Finally we have a GTX480 that does what we all hoped it would. If you're in the market for one of nVidias beasts, this is the only one to buy. If you already own a GTX480, sell it and buy one of these.
Seriously. It's brilliant.
And that's why today OC3D are reviewing something that genuinely is worth lusting over, rather than a re-badged something else. Although come back tomorrow if you want to read all about that.
Thanks to MSI for providing the N480GTX Lightning for test. Discuss in our forums
Most Recent Comments
Pricey though.
Really strange to see cool, quiet, and 480 in the same review
.Good to see that someone finally tamed the beast of the 480. Sales for that sucker should go up.
it looks like its a 2 slot card , can you confirm .
How is the cooling working , are the fans pulling in and venting out the back or is it dumping all the hot air into the case .
Presuming the above is good news , would this be much better or about the same as my current setup of 2*gtx280's in sli .
Thanx .
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Originally Posted by andyvee
Couple of questions for you it looks like its a 2 slot card , can you confirm . How is the cooling working , are the fans pulling in and venting out the back or is it dumping all the hot air into the case . Presuming the above is good news , would this be much better or about the same as my current setup of 2*gtx280's in sli . Thanx . |
but still cooler than 2 280's
luvly looking card their mate, but with the 6000 nearing they probably wont get much of a look in, price depending.
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Originally Posted by ZodiarK
is it weird i can listen to another guy talking for 12mins+? lol luvly looking card their mate, but with the 6000 nearing they probably wont get much of a look in, price depending. |
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Originally Posted by ZodiarK
is it weird i can listen to another guy talking for 12mins+? lol luvly looking card their mate, but with the 6000 nearing they probably wont get much of a look in, price depending. |
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Originally Posted by ZodiarK
is it weird i can listen to another guy talking for 12mins+? lol |
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Originally Posted by AMDFTW
it will port some out the back but most of it will be in the case but still cooler than 2 280's |
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Originally Posted by Heebs
lol I love how people are assuming the 6000 series will destroy the 400 gtx series without so much as seeing a real benchmark or price. |
PRICE!
Release prices would have been like 700 Euros, not 500 Euros!
Now, was that so difficult to figure out?
Of course NV would have been able to design such a cooler and pcb, but they had to watch the total costs too.
MSI just built an extreme enthusiasts card with practically no price limit- EASY
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Originally Posted by tombman
Release prices would have been like 700 Euros, not 500 Euros! |
Where are you getting an extra 200 euros from? because that would pretty much buy a GPU water cooling system.
Also the Lightning isnt that expensive either even though its cram packed with better kit than the reference 480.
The actual radiator and pipes on a stock 470 cooler look pretty good. I reakon it's nothing more than a fan problem tbh. I'm very tempted to remove the shroud (as it comes off in a few parts, very nice and modular) and strap a 120mm fan to the actual cooler and see what happens. If it's good I can easily make a shroud out of alu sheeting and possibly put twin 92mm fans in it. It's got to be better than the crappy blower.
Centrifugal fans only work well when -
There is enough pressure to boost air through. This means that the shroud would need to be 100% sealed and the fan seriously powerful.. Not possible on 12v. Maybe a blower from a car heating system yes lmao. It isn't, not by a long shot.
Looking at the heatsink on this wonderful MSI card the sink itself it's that much larger than a stock 470 cooler (the actual metal part).
Oh and FWIW I think this card here on review is actually very cheap. It would be one thing to whack a cooler on a 480 and over charge for it, but this one has had a complete bloody revamp, new board, new layout.
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Originally Posted by AlienALX
TBH Tom and I have thought about this hard.. The actual radiator and pipes on a stock 470 cooler look pretty good. I reakon it's nothing more than a fan problem tbh. I'm very tempted to remove the shroud (as it comes off in a few parts, very nice and modular) and strap a 120mm fan to the actual cooler and see what happens. If it's good I can easily make a shroud out of alu sheeting and possibly put twin 92mm fans in it. It's got to be better than the crappy blower. Centrifugal fans only work well when - There is enough pressure to boost air through. This means that the shroud would need to be 100% sealed and the fan seriously powerful.. Not possible on 12v. Maybe a blower from a car heating system yes lmao. It isn't, not by a long shot. Looking at the heatsink on this wonderful MSI card the sink itself it's that much larger than a stock 470 cooler (the actual metal part). Oh and FWIW I think this card here on review is actually very cheap. It would be one thing to whack a cooler on a 480 and over charge for it, but this one has had a complete bloody revamp, new board, new layout. |
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Originally Posted by tinytomlogan
That will look like such a bodge. At the end of the day it should have been better from stock, thats kinda the point. |
I'll see how temps go but trust me when I say it wouldn't look bodged. I have a mate close by (same county) with a press break haha.
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Originally Posted by AlienALX
I totally agree about the better from the start comment. The fan is absolutely bloody lousy. I'll see how temps go but trust me when I say it wouldn't look bodged. I have a mate close by (same county) with a press break haha. |
As in triple monitors, 2 in DVI and 1 with the display port using one of those active display port adapters
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