MSI GTX 680 Lightning Review Comment Thread

[NyteOwl]

Intel used to have the same attitude years ago about people overclocking their pentiums until all the overclockers moved to AMD. That got their attention real quick.

[velias]

Originally Posted by Eluder

Anyone considering this card should now look elsewhere; nVidia has strong armed MSI to cap the voltage to 1.175mV with the next release of AB.

Wow. I don't like nvidia doing this at all. While I can still use the voltage features by sticking with the old version, why are nvidia being pricks about this? Let's face it, only a few enthusiasts explore these type of overclocking options anyway so there's no harm in throwing us a bone. I really don't understand it.

edit: or maybe we're not getting the whole story? I dunno man, if things are as you say I hope its not indicative of future products.

[NyteOwl]

nVidia are probably annoyed about it for the same reasons Intel was.

Scenario:

User buys nVidia based product, User uses and likes, posts glowing reports.
User then decides to push envelope and overclocks product. Sees great results posts glowing reports. Word spreads.
More users overclock and then overvolt and get even faster results. glowing posts. Tech-savvy enthusiasts excited.

Suddenly hundreds of average users (not tech-savvy like msot enthusiasts) read reports and see they can get the equivalent or better of the fastest cards at lower prices just by overclocking/overvolting (whatever that means) so they push the cards to, and beyond their limits.
Cards start dying, expensive cards. Suddenly net is flooded with angry bad reports on the cards. All the people who haven't bought yet, or were undecided decide to go with an AMD product based on all those bad reports ...

THAT is why manufacturers generally hate having their products pushed beyond specs. They don't worry about the enthusiast market. Tos folks generally know what they're doing and have the sense to know that if they blow something up it's usually their own fault. But that doesn't translate over to John Q. Public jsut only sees the end results.

[Eluder]

Why is AMD allowing it with their cards though?

[NyteOwl]

I'm just guessing based on past experience. but it would seem a valid possibility. You'd have to ask AMD to be sure. But perhaps AMD's are less sensitive to overvoltage so they're wiling to risk a few dead cards to get a jump on the competition. Again, just speculation.

Remember this is basically a cut-throat market now with just two mainstream competitors anymore. Sadly, most of the major component markets are becoming duolopies, Intel/AMD, nVidia/AMD, Segate/WD (not there yet but close).

[SugarJ]

MSI makes the Afterburner software for MSI cards, not for general use even though a lot of us use it. Most of their cards have beefed up power supply circuitry, so they can handle the extra voltage. I bet a lot of the cards burning out are reference models, and can't handle the extra juice. Thus the edict from Nvidia, as the other AIB's are crying about their RMA rates.

The above is my personal opinion/guess only.

[Eluder]

But the extra voltage tweaking isn't available in non Lightning/PE cards if I'm not mistaken.

[velias]

Unwinder said there will be an .ini profile tweak in afterburner 2.2.4 which will allow voltage adjustment on MSI cards. It won't be published however the ability will be there.

Not to worry.

[velias]

Originally Posted by SugarJ

MSI makes the Afterburner software for MSI cards, not for general use even though a lot of us use it. Most of their cards have beefed up power supply circuitry, so they can handle the extra voltage. I bet a lot of the cards burning out are reference models, and can't handle the extra juice. Thus the edict from Nvidia, as the other AIB's are crying about their RMA rates.

The above is my personal opinion/guess only.

I feel the same way. The card is ridiculously durable, hell it can handle LN2 voltages sky high up to 1.6V. There are people on LN2 that have published results at 1.6V so obviously its not an issue with the hardware not being up to snuff. I think nvidia is trying to apply something that is ideal for reference cards, but is not ideal for aftermarket cards - obviously a reference card cannot handle voltage like a 680 lightning can.

[Eluder]

New version of AB is out, and thankfully, Unwinder was kind enough to provide a workaround to allow the increased voltage beyond 1.175V!