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MSI N680GTX Lightning review: best GTX 680 overclocking card @ HWinfo

Published: Friday, August 17, 2012 | Posted By: Dennis

I wouldn't really call this a review of the GTX 680 Lightning but rather an article talking about their overclocking experiences using a video card designed for just that, Overclocking.

MSI did it again. With the N680GTX Lightning they have created the best GeForce GTX 680 graphics card for overclockers, but more than ever it's best suited for seasoned overclockers. Thanks to Nvidia's strange decision, the standard BIOS limits this card to performance you can achieve with standard and cheaper GTX 680s. Only when you download the older BIOS from the internet are you free to explore the overclocking potential of the MSI Lightning.

"Finding a BIOS online" is nothing new for the overclocker and well known sites like TechPowerUp, XtremeSystems, and HWBot regularly host modified BIOS files that have been obtained from the mfg or modified by end users. This is how you combat video cards running slow under LN2 and how you often unlock higher voltage profiles or disable OCP. The process worked because people knew where to look, and mfgs supported it because they knew the files were in the hands of people who knew what they were doing.

It would seem some of that understood trust is now in danger of being violated.

During the latest MOA qualifier the question came up regarding the use of modified MSI Afterburner instances and if those versions would be made available to everyone who wanted to enter. The special version allowed you to set unofficial voltages on the HD7970 Lightning and was how the skilled overclockers were posting such insane scores. Up until that competition I had no idea the special version existed and was exactly how MSI wanted it.

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