MSI N260GTX Lightning Review - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 6th Jul 2009, 10:18

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/gra...tning-review/1

Yes, we're reviewing a GeForce GTX 260, but this is no ordinary SKU. Armed with a custom cooler, front panel overclocking tool and redesigned power circuitry, this is one of the best GTX 260s on the market. We find out if the premium you pay for extra trimmings is a worthwhile one.

Krikkit · 6th Jul 2009, 10:26

Looks like an exciting card, maybe one to pick up 2nd hand for some OC'ing fun.

Quote:

If you're prepared to run your GPU at this velocity then you can enjoy performance that is akin to a more expensive GTX 275...

I don't mean to be critical, but there's no "velocity" increase, just frequency.

Bindibadgi · 6th Jul 2009, 10:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krikkit

I don't mean to be critical, but there's no "velocity" increase, just frequency.

It's meant to be creative and inspiring the thought of your games going faster, rather than being technically correct. There's only so many times you can say the same word in an article :P

lp1988 · 6th Jul 2009, 10:53

At the least this is a card where they really have made some major diffrences, you see many cards there has been given a slight overclock and then send out as "extreme edition" or equal.
Here thay have at the very least made some major changes, and even solved a problem I would say should have been up to Nvidia and not a third party.

But in the end you can only say nice try, but not quite up for the price

mclintox · 6th Jul 2009, 11:17

"Austin Elegro" ?

Spreadie · 6th Jul 2009, 12:18

Allegro perhaps?

xaser04 · 6th Jul 2009, 12:20

Nice card but far too expensive in the current market.

Skiddywinks · 6th Jul 2009, 13:13

I would love to see MSI apply the same thinking to a GTX 295 or HD4870X2. Whack a water block on it, and you are away!

Bindibadgi · 6th Jul 2009, 13:40

We've got a review of the 285 watercooled MSI on the way

Hustler · 6th Jul 2009, 14:29

"It's like spending a couple of grand on chrome rims for an Austin Elegro"

Lol.... i think you will find thats Austin Allegro.

azrael- · 6th Jul 2009, 14:44

But what are the noise levels compared to a stock GTX260 (or Gainward's custom cooling solution for that matter)?

Also, I believe the GTX275 Twin Frozr would be much better value for money than this "Lightning" series GTX260...

andrew8200m · 6th Jul 2009, 14:49

I dont think this is a case of, lets make a fantastic card... but more a case of, lets see if it can be done, lets see if we can make the card better in all aspects where nvidia have potentially gone wrong and if it actually works.

Now they have the knowledge on how to do this and they can see that it works, theres not stopping them actually going for a gtx285 variant or a gtx295 (provided it actually comes out on a single PCB). I think it would be worth the extra £50 or so on top of the standard card price just to have the stability increased when overclocking and an all in all better quality product.

Andy

Paradigm Shifter · 6th Jul 2009, 14:59

Yeah, I'd have been a bit more impressed if it had been a 275, 285 or 295...

pullmyfoot · 6th Jul 2009, 16:47

The temperatures was what turned me off this. With that expensive looking cooler all they can do is 3 degrees. Pah

Same thing + fix the temperatures + 4890 and I will buy 3 of them.

brooksy · 6th Jul 2009, 17:16

"The box is super sexy but, much like a good girlfriend, it's going to stay under your bed and rarely be heard of despite its great looks" what the heck are you on about?

dylAndroid · 6th Jul 2009, 18:00

For about $150, I got a superclocked 260 216 from evga off of newegg. And at that price point, compared to its competition, it's absolutely a beast!

stonedsurd · 6th Jul 2009, 18:09

For the price, no. DX11 is around the corner and this can't even touch the 275.
But I saw one on Sunday at an event, and man, I really like the look of the HSF cover.

trig · 6th Jul 2009, 18:38

yeah, too little too late...

a:you can get a gtx 260 stock for $150, I don't see the performance benefit to warrant another $115. 77% price increase for (other than stalker) a 5-10% performance increase? sure it oc'ed well, but your mileage may vary, and the stock gtx 260's oc nicely...
b:you can get a 275 for $200 now
c:the gtx 275 with the same "great" cooler is $235...

imoson · 8th Jul 2009, 01:07

It's not M-35 Lightning II, it's F-35 Lightning II. Lol, they should have used a F-22 Raptor rather than a F-35.

SiliconDoc · 14th Jul 2009, 09:53

Page 7 " Fallout 3 was a consistently bad result for the Lightning. It was unable to play the game smoothly at 2,560 x 1,600 with 4x AA or higher. "
--
LOL - Yes, I'd bet those with near $2,000.00 monitors to get to that resolution have an overlcocked GTX260 to match up with it. What a joke this review is.
Did our little website get all standard stocked nvidia cards, and a healthly supply of overclocked or dual ati cards?
Where is the 295 ? Why is the dual red card in every review, but no dual nvidia ? Why are the red cards overclocked, XXX, or toxic versions presented, but never is the nvidia card overclocked ? At least in this review they gave an overclocked number during the test instead of saving the OC numbers for the second to the last page then displaying them only by themselves and not in comparison to the red card they declared a winner but was beaten by the ocerclock.
Nice. It's amazing.
I can get 2 games, Terminator Salvation + COD plus the overclocked out of the box MSI GTX260 for $145.
The CHEAPEST 4870x2 is $360.00 with ZERO games.
The cheapest 4980 is $190.
-----
I keep HEARING there's some kind of red deal, but it ain't HERE.

6th Jul 2009, 10:18	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	MSI N260GTX Lightning Review http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/gra...tning-review/1 Yes, we're reviewing a GeForce GTX 260, but this is no ordinary SKU. Armed with a custom cooler, front panel overclocking tool and redesigned power circuitry, this is one of the best GTX 260s on the market. We find out if the premium you pay for extra trimmings is a worthwhile one. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

6th Jul 2009, 12:18	#6
Spreadie CustomPC Refugee Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Sunny Doncaster Posts: 1,489	Allegro perhaps? __________________ QX9650 @ 4GHz ~ 4GB Geil Black Dragon ~ GA-X38-DS5 ~ 128GB M225 ~ 2 x Spinpoint F1 ~ Antec P182 HD 4870 1GB ~ Samsung SM226BW ~ Swiftech H2O 220 Compact ~ X-Fi Extreme ~ CM m700W

6th Jul 2009, 12:20	#7
xaser04 Multimodder Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 149	Nice card but far too expensive in the current market. __________________ Scientology - A Religion for those who think Star Trek is a documentary

6th Jul 2009, 13:40	#9
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,284	We've got a review of the 285 watercooled MSI on the way __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

6th Jul 2009, 14:44	#11
azrael- Ex nihilo nihil fit Join Date: May 2008 Location: Aarhus, Denmark Posts: 1,179	But what are the noise levels compared to a stock GTX260 (or Gainward's custom cooling solution for that matter)? Also, I believe the GTX275 Twin Frozr would be much better value for money than this "Lightning" series GTX260... __________________ ''Trying is the first step towards failure.'' - Homer Simpson

6th Jul 2009, 10:53	#4
lp1988 Multimodder Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Varde; Denmark Posts: 106	At the least this is a card where they really have made some major diffrences, you see many cards there has been given a slight overclock and then send out as "extreme edition" or equal. Here thay have at the very least made some major changes, and even solved a problem I would say should have been up to Nvidia and not a third party. But in the end you can only say nice try, but not quite up for the price

6th Jul 2009, 11:17	#5
mclintox Get the jigsaw out! Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Wigan Posts: 137	"Austin Elegro" ?

6th Jul 2009, 13:13	#8
Skiddywinks Supermodder Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Caerwys, North Wales Posts: 408	I would love to see MSI apply the same thinking to a GTX 295 or HD4870X2. Whack a water block on it, and you are away!

6th Jul 2009, 14:29	#10
Hustler Multimodder Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: The Dark Side Posts: 116	"It's like spending a couple of grand on chrome rims for an Austin Elegro" Lol.... i think you will find thats Austin Allegro.

6th Jul 2009, 14:49	#12
andrew8200m Not quite with it... Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 382	I dont think this is a case of, lets make a fantastic card... but more a case of, lets see if it can be done, lets see if we can make the card better in all aspects where nvidia have potentially gone wrong and if it actually works. Now they have the knowledge on how to do this and they can see that it works, theres not stopping them actually going for a gtx285 variant or a gtx295 (provided it actually comes out on a single PCB). I think it would be worth the extra £50 or so on top of the standard card price just to have the stability increased when overclocking and an all in all better quality product. Andy

6th Jul 2009, 14:59	#13
Paradigm Shifter Lethargic Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 1,213	Yeah, I'd have been a bit more impressed if it had been a 275, 285 or 295... __________________ Core i7 920 D0 @ 3.8GHz \| 6GB Corsair 1600MHz \| Gigabyte EX58-UD5 \| XFX 4870X2 2GB \| 4TB \| WUXGA

6th Jul 2009, 16:47	#14
pullmyfoot superbacon Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 72	The temperatures was what turned me off this. With that expensive looking cooler all they can do is 3 degrees. Pah Same thing + fix the temperatures + 4890 and I will buy 3 of them. __________________ PII 720BE X3 @ 3.8Ghz \| HD4850 \| 4gigs OCZ Reper \| Gigabyte 790GX \| WDC 640gb Black \| OCZ StealthXstream 500W \| CM RC-690 Pure \| W7 RC Athlon II 250 X2 @ 3.85Ghz \| HD4670 \| 4 gigs OCZ Reper \| Gigabyte 770 \| WDC 500gb Black \| Vista Home Premium D80 \| Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-11

6th Jul 2009, 17:16	#15
brooksy Multimodder Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 117	"The box is super sexy but, much like a good girlfriend, it's going to stay under your bed and rarely be heard of despite its great looks" what the heck are you on about?

6th Jul 2009, 18:00	#16
dylAndroid is human? Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 72	For about $150, I got a superclocked 260 216 from evga off of newegg. And at that price point, compared to its competition, it's absolutely a beast!

6th Jul 2009, 18:09	#17
stonedsurd I'm not Sparta :/ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA, USA/Delhi, India Posts: 1,806	For the price, no. DX11 is around the corner and this can't even touch the 275. But I saw one on Sunday at an event, and man, I really like the look of the HSF cover. __________________ Project PC3 - a PC in a PS3! (While the old one is mothballed) We're people who have the patience and know the pain of sleeving. And love it Bit Tech is more than games and hardware - check out the mods too. Don't let modding die in Bit-Tech.net.

6th Jul 2009, 18:38	#18
trig sweet sweet hangin joben Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: cardboard box outside of sears Posts: 1,638	yeah, too little too late... a:you can get a gtx 260 stock for $150, I don't see the performance benefit to warrant another $115. 77% price increase for (other than stalker) a 5-10% performance increase? sure it oc'ed well, but your mileage may vary, and the stock gtx 260's oc nicely... b:you can get a 275 for $200 now c:the gtx 275 with the same "great" cooler is $235... __________________ I love me some me e8400 @ 4.45 ghz..ac freezer 7..2 gigs patriot extreme 1150 mhz..abit ip35-pro..xfx 4770 with asus top bios @ 926 core/1077 memory..antec p182b..corsair hx620..seagate 500 gb 32mb cache THE best site ever...1600 signatures under the same avatar...time for a new one

8th Jul 2009, 01:07	#19
imoson What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1	It's not M-35 Lightning II, it's F-35 Lightning II. Lol, they should have used a F-22 Raptor rather than a F-35.

14th Jul 2009, 09:53	#20
SiliconDoc Banned Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 23	Page 7 " Fallout 3 was a consistently bad result for the Lightning. It was unable to play the game smoothly at 2,560 x 1,600 with 4x AA or higher. " -- LOL - Yes, I'd bet those with near $2,000.00 monitors to get to that resolution have an overlcocked GTX260 to match up with it. What a joke this review is. Did our little website get all standard stocked nvidia cards, and a healthly supply of overclocked or dual ati cards? Where is the 295 ? Why is the dual red card in every review, but no dual nvidia ? Why are the red cards overclocked, XXX, or toxic versions presented, but never is the nvidia card overclocked ? At least in this review they gave an overclocked number during the test instead of saving the OC numbers for the second to the last page then displaying them only by themselves and not in comparison to the red card they declared a winner but was beaten by the ocerclock. Nice. It's amazing. I can get 2 games, Terminator Salvation + COD plus the overclocked out of the box MSI GTX260 for $145. The CHEAPEST 4870x2 is $360.00 with ZERO games. The cheapest 4980 is $190. ----- I keep HEARING there's some kind of red deal, but it ain't HERE.