It’s been months since NVIDIA released their Turing based GeForce RTX 20 series graphics cards. Taking a complete departure from traditional GPU design and creating a hybrid architecture that includes a range of new technologies to power the next-generation immersive gaming experiences.
The key highlight of the GeForce RTX 20 series was the enablement of real-time raytracing which is the holy grail of graphics and something NVIDIA spent 10 years to perfect. In addition to raytracing, NVIDIA also aims to place bets on AI which will play a key role in powering features such as DLSS or Deep Learning Super Sampling, a unique way of offering the same quality as the more taxing MSAA AA techniques at twice the performance.
I’ve looked and compared the performance of several GeForce RTX 2080 Ti and GeForce RTX 2080 custom variants and consider them to be a good gain over their predecessors, the GTX 1080 Ti and GTX 1080. When it comes to pricing, the GeForce RTX 20 series are some of the most costly graphics cards NVIDIA has offered to consumers. The reference variants are great with their new cooling design and good looking shrouds but AIBs have some really great custom solutions out there, several of which I have already compared next to each other and with the reference variants.
With just a few bucks of asking price over the reference models, the custom variants offer a range of features such as triple fan coolers, bulky heatsinks, and custom PCBs allowing for better heat dissipation, higher air flow and more overclocking performance and clock stability at their respective boost clocks which will be higher compared to the reference variants. The main barrier with overclocking on Turing GPUs is by far the power limit and those that offer the highest power limits out of the box are generally the ones with the best overclocking potential and performance output.
MSI has been offering some great custom designs since the GeForce RTX 20 series launched but there’s one card that the real enthusiasts were waiting for and that’s the Lightning. Designed for LN2 overclockers and those who want the best, the Lightning series from MSI has been at the top of the spectrum, offering the best in class performance and overclocking capabilities that only a few other custom boards can match. Starting with the first Lightning cards back with GeForce GTX 200 series, the Lightning series has seen various iterations and we are getting the latest one with the GeForce RTX 20 series cards.
Today, I will be taking a look at the MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z, the best variant of the MSI Lightning graphics card and also the most expensive graphics card in production by MSI, aimed at the enthusiast community. The RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z is a journey of 10 years of Lightning cards innovation which has been incorporated in a single enthusiast grade custom graphics card based on NVIDIA’s latest GPU architecture.
In case you want to read our full NVIDIA Turing GPU architecture deep dive and GeForce RTX 2080 & GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition review, head over to this link.
The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 TI Lightning Z is MSI’s fully custom PCB, custom cooler design. MSI has already made various custom designs such as the MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Gaming X Trio which I also tested and a fantastic graphics card in its own right. The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z has four key points that go into designing each card:
- Use Highest-Quality Components
- Achieve Record-Breaking Performance
- Create an Easy Overclocking Interface
- Develop The Best Possible Cooling
These four key points are achieved through the use of various technologies that you will found out in the Lightning Z. The cooler, the PCB, the power delivering and the design are all made to deliver the best possible performance and appearance for the flagship custom graphics card.
NVIDIA states that their new reference PCB allows for more power headroom of around 55W. That is where the 325W figure is coming from. The new electrical components also ensure much cleaner power delivery, allowing for better overclocks without wasting excess power. However, Lightning Z provides even higher headroom thanks to the custom PCB design and a monstrous triple eight-pin power connector configuration which will allow for better overclocking over Founders Edition card.
The PCB used on the card is a tailored 19 phase design which makes use of durable power components. In terms of clock speeds, the graphics card features the same base frequency of 1350 MHz but the boost clock is rated at up to 1770 MHz over the Founders boost of 1635 MHz (+135 MHz overclock).
Following are some of the features of the MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z before we go into detail:
Features
Core/Memory
- Boost Clock / Memory Speed
1770 MHz / 14Gbps - 11GB GDDR6
- DisplayPort x 3 / HDMI x 1 / USB Type-C x 1
TRI-FROZR Thermal Design
- Using three of the award-winning TORX Fans 3.0 with Double Ball Bearings.
- Using groundbreaking aerodynamic techniques, the heatsink is optimized for efficient heat dissipation.
Phantom of Lightning
- Taking RGB to the next level which includes the fans, this feature will provide various stunning visuals effects.
Carbon Backplate
- The full carbon backplate strengthens the card but also enhances thermal conductivity using a thick heat pipe and thermal pads.
Dynamic Dashboard
- Keep an eye on clocks and temps in real-time or show off your own personal animations with this customizable OLED panel through Dragon Center software.
Dragon Center
- A consolidated platform that offers all the software functionality for your MSI Gaming product.
MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z – The Thunder Strikes Back!
One thing that is iconic about MSI’s Lightning cards is the design. The new design looks brilliant and a return to form with a fully carbon fiber mesh design on the front and back. There are also two accent bars colored in gold that are reminiscent of a Lightning bolt and look really cool. The whole card has a touch of gold and black to it and also comes with MSI’s Mystic RGB Lighting for the brilliant display of colors.
MSI has fully utilized their Mystic RGB Lighting technology on this card, taking the customization to a whole new level. It looks like the RGB innovation on much of the new cards isn’t happening on the exterior of the shroud but rather on the interior of the fans. AORUS started this with their own Xtreme graphics cards and to be honest, that looked really great. As opposed to AOURS’s design, MSI implements the RGB LEDs behind the blades on the fan frame rather than fitting them within the fan blades. It’s really a unique approach and we can see that it works really well allowing for a various mode of operation.
Using an innovative and unique design, the RTX 2080 Ti LIGHTNING provides a whole new level of visual customization. With the MSI Dragon Center software, you can control the colors and also how many fan blades will be perceived. The fans not only dazzle you with vibrant colors and effects but also cool this beastly card in silence.
MSI has incorporated and refined a couple of things in the new Tri-Frozr design for Gaming X Trio graphics cards. First is the TORX fan 3.0 which uses both traditional and dispersion fan blades to accelerate airflow and push it down in a steady stream. These fans are made up of a double ball bearing design which ensures silent functionality in heavy loads.
Dynamic Dashboard – OLED panel
The Dynamic Dashboard allows you to monitor your LIGHTNING’s hardware information in real-time. However since it’s a panel, it can of course display a lot of different things. So we’ve made sure you can upload your own image or animation as well.
The fans are fully compliant with the Zero Frozr Technology and are actually comprised of three areas. All of these would stay at 0 RPM (idle state) if the temperatures don’t exceed 60C. When it does exceed 60C, all fans would start spinning. You can change that through the MSI configuration panel if you want more cooling performance over noise load but it’s a nifty feature which I do like.
In addition to the cooling fans, the heatsink has been designed to be denser by using a rugged edge fins design. It allows more air to pass through the fins smoothly, without causing any turbulence that would result in unwanted noise. Airflow Control Technology guides the airflow directly onto the heat pipes, while simultaneously creating more surface area for the air to absorb more heat before leaving the heatsink.
Talking about the heatsink, the massive block is comprised of 2x 8mm and 6x 6mm concentrated copper squared shaped heat pipes with a more concentrated design to transfer heat from the copper base to the heatsink more effectively. The base itself is a solid nickel-plated base plate, transferring heat to the heat pipes in a very effective manner. To top it all off, MSI uses their exclusive Thermal Compound X which is said to offer higher thermal interface and heat transfer compared to traditional TIM applications.
Talking about the heatsink, the massive block is comprised of 2x 8mm and 6x 6mm concentrated copper squared shaped heat pipes with a more concentrated design to transfer heat from the copper base to the heatsink more effectively. The base itself is a solid nickel-plated base plate, transferring heat to the heat pipes in a very effective manner. To top it all off, MSI uses their exclusive Thermal Compound X which is said to offer higher thermal interface and heat transfer compared to traditional TIM applications.
On the back of the card, we see a solid backplate that is also made up of carbon fiber. This card makes use of 90% carbon fiber on its shroud which is very impressive and adds to the solid build quality of this flagship product. The back of the card also implements RGB Lightning but the most interesting part is a cleverly hid thick copper heat pipe that connects the back of the PCB along with several heat pads that further enhance the cooling performance.
There’s a Pure Digital PWM control which enables accurate monitoring and control for the power delivery to each individual component. MSI has also incorporated Quadruple Over-Voltage through their MSI afterburner application which allows you to adjust voltages of Core, AUX, and VRAM individually. This obviously allows for better overclocking potential compared to other cards without the necessity of hardware-based mods.
The card makes use of a dual BIOS which can be triggered through a switch on the PCB. The default mode sets the power limit at 40% while the LN2 mode sets off the overcurrent protection, unlocking the full potential of the card. This is handy for LN2 overclockers who want to make use of all the power that the card has to offer without the need to solder, screw, tape or rework anything else at all. There are also Voltage Checkpoints on the back of the PCB which allow you to check voltages for GPU, Memory, PLL and 1V8 in real-time if you are a guy who doesn’t trust the software-based readings.
The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z graphics card comes within a large rectangular package. The front of both packages has a large “GeForce RTX” brand logo along with the “MSI” logo on the top left corner. The picture of the card itself is featured on the front with a black background that looks really neat.
The packaging has put a large emphasis on the RTX side of things as the first feature enlisted by AIBs will be Ray Tracing, followed by GDDR6, DirectX 12 and Ansel support. NVIDIA has bet the future of their gaming GPUs on Ray Tracing support as these are the first cards to offer support for the new feature.
The back of the box is very typical, highlighting the main features and specifications of the cards. The three key aspects of MSI’s top tier custom cards are its blazing performance which is achieved by a fully custom design, the new Tri-Frozr cooling system and a rugged edge fins heatsink which will offer better cooling performance compared to the traditional flat surfaced fin heatsinks.
There’s also a focus towards GeForce.com on each AIB card through which users can download the latest drivers and GeForce Experience application which are a must for gamers to access all feature set of the new cards.
There’s a second box within the main packaging that has a nice texture to it and a gold “Lightning” branding embedded in the middle.
Within this package is the card itself but I will first talk about the accessories that come within the package. The only accessory that is placed next to the card itself is the graphics card bracket while the rest of the goodies are hidden underneath the graphics card container.
The card is nicely wrapped within an anti-static cover which is useful to prevent any unwanted static discharges on various surfaces that might harm the graphics card. The card accessories include a Molex power connector which isn’t of much use in high-end systems since the PSUs already have the required cables.
Useful manuals and installation guides are packed within an MSI labeled letter case. There is an MSI Quick Users Guide, a Support bracket installation guide, a sticker letter, the MSI DIY comic, and a single drivers disk. It’s best to ignore the driver disk and install the latest software and graphics drivers directly from the NVIDIA and MSI official web pages as the ones shipped in the disks could be older versions and not deliver optimal performance for your graphics cards.
The most interesting accessory that I found in the package was a graphics card support bracket. This bracket connects the graphics card to the casing, offering better durability and prevents any sort of bending that may occur due to the heavy weight of the Gaming X Trio series graphics cards.
One thing is for sure, as soon as you look at the card itself, you are greeted with a design that is unlike anything that has been done before. This is really a special graphics card and I am excited about knowing that I will be testing it out.
MSI’s GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z is one of the biggest graphics Turing based graphics card I am testing. It’s mighty in size and weight compared to the Gaming X Trio with a weight of 1852 G and dimensions of 328 x 143 x 63. The card is a triple slot behemoth and requires a lot of space.
You would have to keep in mind the height when going for a triple card solution as your case or motherboard PCIe slot combination may not allow such setup. The cooling shroud extends all the way to the back of the PCB and it requires a casing with good interior space for proper installation.
The back of the card features a solid backplate which looks stunning and offers a premium look. There’s a lot of nifty features about this backplate including the full carbon fiber design which I’ll explain in a bit.
In terms of design, we are looking at an updated version of the Frozr heatsink for MSI Lightning cards which is now in its tenth variation. The first variation started off with the GTX 260 Lightning. The Tri Frozr heatsink was introduced back in 2013 with the GTX 780 Lightning and that makes it the fourth Tri Frozr iteration for Lightning graphics cards.
Compared to all previous designs, the MSI RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z is the greatest one with the main changes being the updated shroud and triple slot heatsink design that features an aggressive design on the front, absorbing the gold and black accents with 90% carbon fiber body while having the RGB Lightning effects across the shroud.
Coming to the fans, the card actually features two different fan designs based on the Torx 3.0 system. All three fans combine traditional and dispersion fan blade technology to offer better cooling performance.
The dispersion fan blade technology has a steeper curved blade that accelerates airflow and as such increases effectiveness in keeping the GPU cool. All fans deploy double ball bearing design and can last a long time while operating silently.
MSI also features their Zero Frozr technology on the Tri Frozr heatsink. This feature won’t spin the fans on the card unless they reach a certain threshold. In the case of the Tri Frozr heatsink, that limit is set to 60C. If the card is operating under 60C, the fans won’t spin which means no extra noise would be generated. One thing I noted is that while this feature is definitely available on the card, it isn’t enabled by default and you have to switch to the LN2 BIOS mode to enable ZeroFrozr which is a bit confusing.
Gone is SLI and now we have the latest NVLINK gold finger connectors. The RTX 2080 comes with a single NVLINK connector which allows for 2-Way multi-GPU functionality. The RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 2080 are the only cards to support NVLINK connectivity so multi-GPU is only for the high-end spectrum of cards and for good reason. Only these cards have enough bandwidth that can drive another GPU of their tier as anything below wouldn’t have the power to interlink to the other card.
A single x8 NVLINK channel provides 25 GB/s peak bandwidth. There are two x8 links on the TU102 GPU and a single x8 link on the Turing TU104 GPU. The TU102 GPU features 50 GB/s of bandwidth in parallel and 100 GB/s bandwidth bi-directionally. Using NVLINK on high-end cards would be beneficial in high-resolution gaming but there’s a reason NVIDIA still restricts users from doing 3 and 4 way SLI.
Multi-GPU still isn’t optimized so you won’t see much benefits unless you are running the highest end graphics cards. That’s another reason why the RTX 2070 is deprived of NVLINK connectors. The NVLINK connectors cost $79 US each and are sold separately. Currently, only NVIDIA is selling them as the AIB cards don’t include any such connectors but that may change once the standard is adopted widely.
With the outsides of the card done, I will now start taking a glance at what’s beneath the hood of these monster graphics card. The first thing to catch my eye is the huge fin stack that’s part of the beefy heatsink which the cards utilize.
The heatsink has been designed to be denser by using a rugged edge fins design. It allows more air to pass through the fins smoothly, without causing any turbulence that would result in unwanted noise. Airflow Control Technology guides the airflow directly onto the heat pipes, while simultaneously creating more surface area for the air to absorb more heat before leaving the heatsink.
Talking about the heatsink, the massive block is comprised of 2x 8mm and 6x 6mm concentrated copper squared shaped heat pipes with a more concentrated design to transfer heat from the copper base to the heatsink more effectively. The base itself is a solid nickel-plated base plate, transferring heat to the heat pipes in a very effective manner. To top it all off, MSI uses their exclusive Thermal Compound X which is said to offer higher thermal interface and heat transfer compared to traditional TIM applications.
The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z is ultimately designed for LN2 overclockers and as such, it features a very power hungry design. Being so, it uses a very power-intensive connector config which comprises of three 8 pin connectors. The card is rated at a TDP of 300W officially by MSI.
I/O on the graphics card sticks with the reference scheme which includes three Display Port 1.4a, a single HDMI 2.0b and a single USB Type-C port for VirtualLink connectivity to high-end HMD (Head Mounted Displays).
MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z PCB Teardown
MSI makes use of a 19 phase PWM design that includes their Military Class components such as Hi-C Caps, Super Ferrite Chok, s and Japanese Solid Caps. The card also uses the K4Z80325BC-HC14 GDDR6 memory from Samsung that operates at 14 Gbps along a 352-bit wide memory interface.
Following are a few close-up shots of the reference PCB which is being offered under the hood of the Lightning Z series graphics cards.
MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z Mystic Light RGB and Dynamic Dashboard
MSI RTX 20 Lightning series cards utilize their Mystic Light RGB technology to offer you a visually pleasing lighting experience on your graphics cards. There are a total of 17 different RGB effects which you can choose from and the cards have five RGB accent points, three on the front one on the back and one light bar surrounding the side of the card which looks really good. There’s also the ability to set the speed and brightness at which the RGB LEDs operate.
You can fully customize the RGB lights to your preference using the MSI Mystic Light application from MSI’s web page.
Following is what the graphics card looks like when lit up.
The card also comes with MSI’s first OLED panel known as the Dynamic Dashboard. I am looking at this trend on the new GeForce RTX 20 series cards where manufacturers have started using OLED screens on their flagship custom cards to display real-time statistics such as GPU frequency, temp, voltages, memory clocks, GPU/VRAM utilization, etc. This is a really cool feature and something that does have many practical uses if you’re not monitoring the statistics already through a 3rd party software such as MSI afterburner.
The Dynamic Dashboard is fully customizable through the MSI Mystic Light software. The Dynamic Dashboard can display Temperature Animation, Lightning animation, Fan Speed, GPU Temp, GPU clocks, Memory usage or you can also select from a pre-defined user-profile. The Dashboard can also be entirely disabled as per your preferences.
We used the following test system for comparison between the different graphics cards. Latest drivers that were available at the time of testing were used from AMD and NVIDIA on an updated version of Windows 10. All games that were tested were patched to the latest version for better performance optimization for NVIDIA and AMD GPUs.
GPU Test Bench 2019
| CPU | Intel Core i9-9900K @ 4.70 GHz |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | AORUS Z390 Master |
| Video Cards | Colorful iGame GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Vulcan X OC ASUS ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 2080 TI OC ASUS ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 2080 OC AORUS GeForce RTX 2080 Xtreme MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Gaming X Trio MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio MSI GeForce RTX 2080 DUKE OC NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Trio MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Titanium MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Armor X OC MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti Lightning OC Gigabyte Radeon RX Vega 64 (Reference Air) XFX Radeon R9 Fury X Liquid Cooled |
| Memory | G.SKILL Trident Z RGB Series 32GB (4 X 8GB) CL16 3600 MHz |
| Storage | Samsung SSD 960 EVO M.2 (512 GB) |
| Power Supply | ASUS ROG THOR 1200W PSU |
| OS | Windows 10 64-bit |
- All games were tested on 2560×1440 (2K) and 3840×2160 (4K) resolutions.
- Image Quality and graphics configurations have been provided in the screenshots below.
- The “reference” cards are the stock configs while the “overclock” cards are factory overclocked configs provided to us by various AIB partners.
MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z Overclocking
Since the card is clocked at overclocked specifications, we are kind of left with limited headroom to overclock. I pushed the core to +150 MHz beyond its overclock profile and +1100 MHz on the memory.
I had the power and temp target slider maxed out in EVGA Precision X1 so that meant that the GPU was under no restrictions or blocks when it came to overclocking. The clocks were stable after testing for an hour under stress load and the boost speeds were running around 2175-2200 MHz while gaming.
DOOM
In 2016, Id finally released DOOM. My testing wouldn’t be complete without including this title. All cards were capable of delivering ample frame rates at the 1440p resolution using Nightmare settings, so my focus turned to 4K.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Wolfenstein is back in The New Colossus and features the most fast-paced, gory and brutal FPS action ever! The game once again puts us back in the Nazi-controlled world as BJ Blazkowicz. Set during an alternate future where Nazis won the World War, the game shows that it can be fun and can be brutal to the player and to the enemy too. Powering the new title is once again, id Tech 6 which is much acclaimed after the success that DOOM has become. In a way, ID has regained their glorious FPS roots and are slaying with every new title.
Ultra HQ-AF, Vulkan, Async Compute On *if available, Deferred Rendering and GPU culling off
We tested the game at Ultra settings under the Vulkan API which is standard. Async Compute was enabled for graphics cards that support it while deferred rendering and GPU culling were disabled.
Ashes of The Singularity: Escalation
NVIDIA and AMD have been tweaking the performance of their cards for Ashes of the Singularity since the title released. It was the first to make use of the DirectX 12 API and the first to leverage from the new Async compute technology that makes use of the DX12 renderer to improve performance.
Battlefield 1
Battlefield 1 takes us back to the great war that was meant to end all wars aka World War 1. Using the latest Frostbite tech, the game does a good job at looking gorgeous in all ways possible. From the open world environments to the intense and gun-blazing action, this multiplayer and single player FPS title is one of the best Battlefields to date.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Humanity is at war with itself and divided into factions. On one end, we have the pure and on the other, we have the augmented. That is the world where Adam Jensen lives in and this is the world of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. The game uses the next generation Dawn Engine that was made by IO interactive on the foundation of their Glacier 2 engine. The game features support of DirectX 12 API and is one of the most visually intensive titles that taxes the GPU really hard.
Hitman (2016)
With the latest drivers, NVIDIA has managed to up the performance of their Pascal and Maxwell parts in Hitman (2016). The game has been a major win for AMD graphics cards that still show a strong gain in performance when switching over from DX11 to DX12, but NVIDIA is slowly catching up with their drivers.
Shadow of The Tomb Raider
The Rise of The Tomb Raider
The rise of the Tomb Raider is one of the most beautiful games that I have played recently and was patched to the DX12 API. The game features a wide variety of settings and we chose Very High, HBAO+ without any AA.
Assassins Creed: Origins
Assassins Creed Origins is built by the same team that made Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag. They are known for reinventing the design and game philosophy of the Assassins Creed saga and their latest title shows that. Based in Egypt, the open-world action RPG shows its graphics strength in all corners. It uses the AnvilNext 2.0 engine which boosts the draw distance range and delivers a very impressive graphics display.
We tested the game at maxed settings with TAA enabled and 16x AF. Do note that the game is one of the most demanding titles out in the market and as such tweaks and performance issues are being patched out.
Far Cry 5
Far Cry 5 is a standalone successor to its predecessor and takes place in Hope County, a fictional region of Montana. The main story revolves around doomsday cult the Project at Eden’s Gate and its charismatic leader Joseph Seed. It uses a beefed up Dunia Engine which itself is a modified version of CryEngine from Crytek.
Final Fantasy XV
Grand Theft Auto V
GTA V is the most optimized gaming title that has been made for the PC. It’s so optimized, it even runs on my crap GT 840M based laptop with a smooth FPS on a mix of medium/low settings. I mean what???
Aside from being optimized, GTA V is a great game. It was the Game of The Year for 2013. At 1440p Ultra quality, the game gave us smooth frames on all cards tested.
Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Using the new Anvil Next engine that was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, Ghost Recon: Wildlands goes wild and grand with an open-world setting entirely in Bolivia. This game is a tactical third-person shooter which does seem an awful lot similar to Tom Clancy’s: The Division. The game looks pretty and the wide-scale region of Bolivia looks lovely at all times (Day/Night Cycle).
The Witcher 3 Game of The Year Edition
Witcher 3 is the greatest fantasy RPG of our time. It has a great story, great gameplay mechanics and gorgeous graphics. This is the only game I actually wanted to get a stable FPS at 4K. With GameWorks disabled, I gave all high-end cards the ability to demonstrate their power.
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Being a huge fan of the Mass Effect series, I was highly anticipating the arrival of Andromeda to store shelves. Now that it’s here, I put the fastest gaming card to the test. Using Frostbite, the latest Mass Effect title looks incredibly gorgeous and the open world settings on the different planets immerses you a lot.
Middle Earth: Shadow of War
The successor of 2014’s epic, Shadow of Mordor, Shadow of War continues the previous game’s narrative continuing the story of the ranger Talion and the spirit of the elf lord Celebrimbor, who shares Talion’s body, as they forge a new Ring of Power to amass an army to fight against Sauron. The game uses the latest Firebird Engine developed by Monolith Productions and is very intensive even for modern graphics cards.
Watch Dogs 2
Finally, we have Watch Dogs 2. Gone is Aiden Pearce as the new game takes us away from Chicago and puts us in the shoes of Marcus, a seasoned hacker in San Francisco. Running off the Disrupt engine, the game is based on the DirectX 11 API and is a graphics hungry monster. You can see the results for yourself below:
No graphics card review is complete without evaluating its temperatures and thermal load. The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z is fitted with the most advanced version of the Tri-Frozr cooling design. The triple TORX 3.0 fans are featured on the shroud underneath a massive heatsink featuring multiple heatpipes (8mm and 6mm). The card comes with PWM cooling and an anti-bending plate that keeps the card sturdy and durable in the harshest environments inside your PC.
Note – We tested load with Kombuster which is known as a ‘power virus’ and can permanently damage hardware. Use such software at your own risk!
I compiled the power consumption results by testing each card under idle and full stress when the card was running games. Each graphics card manufacturer sets a default TDP for the card which can vary from vendor to vendor depending on the extra clocks or board features they plug in on their custom cards. The default TDP for the RTX 2080 Ti is 260W (Founders Edition) while the MSI custom model has a TDP of more than 410 Watts when overclocked and just shy of 400W when it was loaded under a normal game.
Also, it’s worth noting that the 12nm FFN process from TSMC is a refinement of their 16nm FF node. NVIDIA is cramping even larger amount of transistors and more cores than their previous cards, making it one of the densest chip built to date. It’s likely to consume a lot of power and the results are reflective of that.
MSI is starting 2019 with a bang with the launch of their flagship graphics card, the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z. The MSI Lightning series have always gained special attention of overclockers and enthusiasts and the reason behind this is that they deliver on the promise of superb overclock and stability. This new card is no exception and while the price is definitely not cheap, you should expect it to perform way better than other variants, especially the reference model which retails for $1299 US.
The factory overclock on the MSI GeForce RTX 2080 TI Lightning Z comes in at 1770 MHz for the GPU while the memory is clocked at the reference clocks of 14 Gbps. Given that the card is able to handle much higher loads with its 19 phase power design, up to 380W TDP limit (highest on any RTX 2080 Ti custom model so far), MSI could’ve offered a triple BIOS that offered even better clocks considering some custom models already offer over 1800 MHz factory overclocks for the GPU and overclock the memory beyond its reference specs. The Samsung GDDR6 memory used on the card overclock really well so I was excepting a good overclock on them but I guess MSI leaves it to the users to tweak the memory themselves too.
That said, the card lets you unlock its full clock potential through manual tuning and that’s what this card is all about. To let the user tweak it as they like and during my time testing this card, I found it a lot of fun to tune than the other RTX 2080 Ti cards I tested. The overclocking power of this card shows when you get a final score that’s way ahead of the other flagship custom models from different manufacturers. The reason is that MSI Lightning Z is able to maintain those higher clock speeds and doesn’t fluctuate thanks to its better power delivery and higher board power limits. There’s also the new Quadruple overvoltage system and the LN2 BIOS that go hand in hand to deliver some of the best overclocking results possible on any RTX 2080 Ti graphics card. But I’d say that to unlock the full potential of this card, LN2 is a must and the PCB design reflects that.
The design of the card is also a return to form. While the previous Lightning Z (GTX 1080 Ti) was great in its own right but I think it looked a bit bland. The Lightning Z solves this through the use of a full carbon fiber shroud, backplate and impressive Lightning bolt accents on the front. This is a true Lightning card and the gold / black color theme goes well on it. The RGB Lightning is not overdone on the shroud itself but I think the fans could’ve used a slightly better implementation. They don’t look bad by any means and you can get over the stock lightning effect by customization through the Mystic Light app but I think the effects could’ve been better here. Also worth noting is that the Zero Frozr mode isn’t available on the stock BIOS and you have to load the LN2 BIOS to enable it which is confusing.
The OLED panel can display a range of GPU details and has a cool starting splash screen featuring MSI’s mascot, Lucky the Dragon. It has good uses and provides a good array of statistics which come in handy to users, especially those who benchmark a lot.
MSI has really hit the notes right with their flagship GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z graphics card. A strong contender in the custom RTX 2080 Ti lineup and a card that features excellent cooling, excellent overclocking and an excellent design. The card sure comes at a high price but if you’re going for the best in the market, than the RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z is definitely the best RTX 2080 Ti on the market right now.
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