# [Official] MSI GTX 680 Lightning Owners Club



## exploiteddna

I'll start!

Ownership validation attached









lightningclub2.png 161k .png file


*will add OC when I get back to my gf house


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## dph314

Thanks for making the thread


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## Cool Mike

The GTX680 Lightning rightly deserves it's own thread.


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Thanks for making the thread


no problem buddy
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> The GTX680 Lightning rightly deserves it's own thread.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Thanks for making the thread


it does, indeed!


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## exploiteddna

cant wait for 2.2.3 to get released and this thread will explode!


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## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> cant wait for 2.2.3 to get released and this thread will explode!


Hell yeah it will. Mine are begging to be fed more volts. They're hungry


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## Cool Mike

Maybe by the end of the week. 2.2.3 will arrive...


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## Cool Mike

1350 Core, 7020 eff. Memory in 3dmark11


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## furyn9

those card look amazing, so jealous,


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## Cool Mike

Would love another Lightning for SLI, but system would be slightly crippled without the RevoDrive3 X2. A second lightning would be right on top of the Revo.


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## Bosniac

stable L2N [email protected]/+450



stable [email protected]/+450


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## FtW 420

Figured I'd get the nvidia lightnings all together.
680 Lightning up top, 580 lightning is naked, 480 lightning & 275 lightning


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## exploiteddna

do you guys think we should report our max OCs stable in heaven/3dmark as raw frequency or offset?


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## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> do you guys think we should report our max OCs stable in heaven/3dmark as raw frequency or offset?


Raw. Also please edit my stable Heaven to 1320. I mistyped 1335. Thanks.


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## Cool Mike

Raw Freq. is the real deal for me.


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## exploiteddna

i vote for frequency because offset is bit less definite.

That said, guys, when you report your frequency, we need a screen shot of your finished benchmark AND afterburner graph with your cursor hovering over the max boost freq.


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## Cool Mike

Effective Memory Freq. Right?


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## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> Effective Memory Freq. Right?


I vote effective


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## Cool Mike

GTX680 Lightning ownership from Cool Mike


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## exploiteddna

yes, effective memory


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Raw. Also please edit my stable Heaven to 1320. I mistyped 1335. Thanks.


fixed.

you and 420 are the only ones i have frequencies for so far.


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## Cool Mike

Yes, Memory speed is very important. I hope you are adding this to your spread sheet.








I will rerun the benches and post them soon.


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## GnarlyCharlie

Man, I didn't take AB screenshots and all that when I ran these. I posted the details in the respective bench threads.



















I7 3770K @ 4.4GHz - (2) X GTX 680 in SLI @ 1311 Core - 6610 Mem Clock ---- FPS: 117.7, Scores:2966










GnarlyCharlie ---- I7 3770K @ 4.4Ghz, MSI GTX 680 Lightning SLI @ 1305/6525


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Man, I didn't take AB screenshots and all that when I ran these. I posted the details in the respective bench threads.
> I7 3770K @ 4.4GHz - (2) X GTX 680 in SLI @ 1311 Core - 6610 Mem Clock ---- FPS: 117.7, Scores:2966
> GnarlyCharlie ---- I7 3770K @ 4.4Ghz, MSI GTX 680 Lightning SLI @ 1305/6525


sorry dude, to be fair to everyone, we all have to re-post anything we already posted in another thread. its no big deal just do it whenever you can. ill at least add you to the list in the meantime


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> Yes, Memory speed is very important. *I hope you are adding this to your spread sheet*.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I will rerun the benches and post them soon.


added new columns for memory OC for each benchmark


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## GnarlyCharlie

LOL, my clocks are set way down, I'm not trying to blow anybody out of the water here. If it strains credibility that I could achieve 1305~1311 clocks, I guess I can run all that stuff over. Or just enter me as stock Lightning clocks, I don't really care.

I'm not a pro overclocker, I just like to slap a little on there to say I did.


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## Cool Mike

Michaelrw, Guess we may need to clear up the benchmark for Heaven 3.0 and 3Dmark11. Most do the default for Heaven and performance for 3Dmark11. Thats what I vote for, just for a clear understanding across the board. Just think this needs to be addressed before you get an influx of people asking the questions.


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> Michaelrw, Guess we may need to clear up the benchmark for Heaven 3.0 and 3Dmark11. Most do the default for Heaven and performance for 3Dmark11. Thats what I vote for, just for a clear understanding across the board. Just think this needs to be addressed before you get an influx of people asking the questions.


agreed.

keep checking the OP. Im continually adding things and updating rules and such. Will add settings requirement now

EDIT: is there a way to show heaven after its run AND afterburner graph? or since heaven is full screen theres no way to show both at same time. (im not at home now so cant mess with it myself. HWBOT version of heaven is not the same and thats what im used to using)


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## Killbuzzjrad

Yeah MSI......


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> Yeah MSI......


yeah... fail


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## dph314

I'll be re-doing all of my max stable clock runs tomorrow, since I didn't take an Afterburner graph pic with everyone I have posted in the other thread. So, for now, here's the ownership pic-
----


Wondering if we should hold off on going through all of the trouble for max stable clocks until 2.2.3? We're just going to have to redo all of them and OP is going to have a lot of updating to do... I know he'll have to update mine


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## GnarlyCharlie

OK, Clock speeds about the same as posted before, scores both just slightly lower, but I'm not up to tweaking anything.

I give. I went thru all that to get a screen shot, but the site SW reduces it to where you can't even read it. it was 1308/6625 if anybody cares. I don't, so take me off the list if you want to.


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I'll be re-doing all of my max stable clock runs tomorrow, since I didn't take an Afterburner graph pic with everyone I have posted in the other thread. So, for now, here's the ownership pic-
> 
> Wondering if we should hold off on going through all of the trouble for max stable clocks until 2.2.3? We're just going to have to redo all of them and OP is going to have a lot of updating to do... I know he'll have to update mine


got you added and confirmed owner.

well add OCs for now with whatever voltage. then if you get a higher OC when we have voltage control just post it and ill update for you. no problem.
Sorry to make you re-do your runs, but itll give you something to do lol.


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> OK, Clock speeds about the same as posted before, scores both just slightly lower, but I'm not up to tweaking anything.
> I give. I went thru all that to get a screen shot, but the site SW reduces it to where you can't even read it. it was 1308/6625 if anybody cares. I don't, so take me off the list if you want to.


afterburner shows me your max frequencies. i can see them in your screen shot, there is no problem! good job!


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## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> got you added and confirmed owner.
> well add OCs for now with whatever voltage. then if you get a higher OC when we have voltage control just post it and ill update for you. no problem.
> Sorry to make you re-do your runs, but itll give you something to do lol.


Don't mind redoing them at all. May even hit higher ones this time around









I might wait until my RIVE+3930k get in later this week though. We'll see if PCIe 3.0 does anything for my Lightnings' scores. I always here mixed opinions, but the bottom line seems to always be that regardless of it sometimes not being a _big_ difference, it's still a difference. Interested in the Graphics Score especially since I already know my current Physics and Combined scores are going to be oblitterated


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## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I'll be re-doing all of my max stable clock runs tomorrow, since I didn't take an Afterburner graph pic with everyone I have posted in the other thread. So, for now, here's the ownership pic-
> ----
> 
> 
> Wondering if we should hold off on going through all of the trouble for max stable clocks until 2.2.3? We're just going to have to redo all of them and OP is going to have a lot of updating to do... I know he'll have to update mine


I just put up my screen from testing for reference, when really doing max runs I don't leave AB or gpu-z open so in future I'll probably be posting some score screens hwbot style. I may try heaven 3.0 tonight, never ran that before so may try it since I won't be getting any special scores with the card on air & stock voltage anyway.


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I just put up my screen from testing for reference, when really doing max runs I don't leave AB or gpu-z open so in future I'll probably be posting some score screens hwbot style. I may try heaven 3.0 tonight, never ran that before so may try it since I won't be getting any special scores with the card on air & stock voltage anyway.


yeah bro the only reason i didnt mention that is bc most of this crown doesnt do the HWBOT version

but yeah, using the HWBOT version and the GPUZ graphs would be way better so if thats what you wanna use then im all for it







I'll be using the same method

*
EDIT: for anyone else interested in using the HWBOT version of heaven, you can download it here

then all you need to do is open GPUZ and its graphs and use the heaven program to make screenshot for you. more details on how to do it can be found here*

or just keep doing it the other way, doesnt really matter to me. we arent doing this for points so if you feel the need to try and "cheat" for a higher OC on a forum spreadsheet, im not going to lose sleep over it


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## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I just put up my screen from testing for reference, when really doing max runs I don't leave AB or gpu-z open so in future I'll probably be posting some score screens hwbot style. I may try heaven 3.0 tonight, never ran that before so may try it since I won't be getting any special scores with the card on air & stock voltage anyway.


Is there a benefit to closing them? Benefit to using the HWBOT versions? Or is it just personal preference? Just curious


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## MrMarauder

Good pics. I love seeing the older generation Lightnings. I was not aware they made a GTX 275 Lightning. I was always under the impression the 480 was the first.

580 and 680 Lightning side by side.


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Is there a benefit to closing them? Benefit to using the HWBOT versions? Or is it just personal preference? Just curious


the benefit to the hwbot version is its made for people who need to run the benchmark and also get good validation screenshots. it basically walks you through step by step, from running the benchmark to getting a good screenshot for validation. but in the end its all personal preference (but mandatory for HWBOT submissions)

as far as having AB open during a run? i dunno, it might affect score/stability, but if it does its very minimal. maybe only relevant for hardcore benchers (like FtW420







)


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## FtW 420

Hwbot uses their own front end for the bench, so have to use the front end for a valid hwbot score (makes sure all settings are the same), but it uses an older version of heaven bench. I normally bench for boints so have never run 3.0 before.
With some cards leaving AB open in the background made things a bit less stable, I just got used to closing it every time before running the bench so usually still do when running everything maxed out (habit now). Besides that, less applications & services running is usually best when really shooting for top scores.


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## MrMarauder

From what I gather, this should be good enough.


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> From what I gather, this should be good enough.


yep youre added


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## TheBenson

I am really jealous of this card, I love the yellow. I want one. You all hold have my envy.


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## XbeaTX




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## hammerforged

I'll post updated overclocks once I get my WC loop installed.


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## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> I'll post updated overclocks once I get my WC loop installed.


In the future, I'd recommend getting Shoprunner's free 30 day trial. Most stuff you get from Newegg qualifies for free 2-day shipping, and you could always cancel the trial a day or two before it charges you.


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## DrBoss

When any of you 680 Lightning owners gets a chance i would appreciate if your could bench Unigine at the following settings with a single GPU (not sli):

Unigine 1920x1080
8xAA full screen
Shaders: high
Textures: high
Filter: trilinear
Anisotropy: 16X
Occulsion: enabled
Refraction: enabled
Volumetric: enabled
Tessellation: extreme

preferably at the lightning's factory clocks, as well as your best stable OC.
i'd like to compare performance against my MSI 670 PE OC

Thanks


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## dph314

Well, thank you michaelrw, for making me redo all of my tests. I _did_ end up getting some higher clocks









Just want to say, although I'm aware that scores do not matter for this thread, some of the scores in the pics here are lower than usual, since for these pics I was just doing runs for the GPU clocks, so in some I didn't bother OC'ing my CPU. Not bothering with high-score runs until my new CPU comes in and 2.2.3 is out









3dMark11 clocks-

This is the combo of clocks I used for my 12,600 Graphics Score. 1374mhz/7000mhz. I'm pretty sure they'll go a little higher, but I just started testing core and memory separate after this to get max clocks, but here it is anyway.


So, now for the max clock runs. Core- I was able to hit a max stable core of 1380mhz. (check out Card 2 idling @ 21C on stock fan curve







)


And the last pic, max memory clock. I hit 7.3Ghz.


Recap for OP-
Core- 1380mhz
Memory- 7300mhz

Heaven runs will be later. I need to relax and play some damn games with these things


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## Witchdoctor

Question,

is the backplate badge removable, seems this would be in the way for SLI and tri SLI using every other slot as some boards force you to and sometimes have to slide a soundcard between them

Thanks


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## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> When any of you 680 Lightning owners gets a chance i would appreciate if your could bench Unigine at the following settings with a single GPU (not sli):
> Unigine 1920x1080
> 8xAA full screen
> Shaders: high
> Textures: high
> Filter: trilinear
> Anisotropy: 16X
> Occulsion: enabled
> Refraction: enabled
> Volumetric: enabled
> Tessellation: extreme
> preferably at the lightning's factory clocks, as well as your best stable OC.
> i'd like to compare performance against my MSI 670 PE OC
> Thanks


What CPU are you using and at what speed? Just so I know to set mine accordingly for the best comparrison.


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## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> What CPU are you using and at what speed? Just so I know to set mine accordingly for the best comparrison.


*My Setup*
Intel i7-2600k @4.4ghz (1.27V, offest -.05)
Entire rig specs *here* (thats my original build thread from a year ago when i was running two MSI R6950's)


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## Bosniac

For whatever reason the Heaven scores are really low compared to other 680's. Mine did 49fps and this was with card boosting to 1215 out of the box. Both my GB 670 and 680 had higher fps with lower clocks and older drivers.

What gives?


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## DrBoss

.


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## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> For whatever reason the Heaven scores are really low compared to other 680's. Mine did 49fps and this was with card boosting to 1215 out of the box. Both my GB 670 and 680 had higher fps with lower clocks and older drivers.
> What gives?


I just ran Heaven maxed for DrBoss's comparrison at stock and did 49.7fps. So, your score really isn't too far off. What is your CPU running at?


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## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I just ran Heaven maxed for DrBoss's comparrison at stock and did 49.7fps. So, your score really isn't too far off. What is your CPU running at?


4.4GHz 2500k, 49.6fps


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## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> my scores? those are from a GTX 670, not a 680.


As per OP, lets keep this Lightning related topic.


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## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Witchdoctor*
> 
> Question,
> is the backplate badge removable, seems this would be in the way for SLI and tri SLI using every other slot as some boards force you to and sometimes have to slide a soundcard between them
> Thanks


They are removable, but they cover a little PCB that is also removable. My MB allows 2-way SLI with the covers on, as the first two PCI-E slots are double spaced, but I don't see how I'd ever get any other PCI/PCI-E cards in there. MSI Z77A-GD65 mobo, FWIW.


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## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> 4.4GHz 2500k, 49.6fps


Mine was @ 4.5Ghz when I got 49.7fps with Lightning @ stock. So, yeah you're not in that bad of shape at all


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## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I just ran Heaven maxed for DrBoss's comparrison at stock and did 49.7fps.


Thanks dph
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> As per OP, lets keep this Lightning related topic.


sure, i've removed 670 scores from my post above


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## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Mine was @ 4.5Ghz when I got 49.7fps with Lightning @ stock. So, yeah you're not in that bad of shape at all


and just for reference, my 670 Power Edition at stock with my CPU @ 4.4GHz gave me 45.6fps in Unigine Max'd. So yea, your 680 lightning is doing what it's suppose to.


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## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Mine was @ 4.5Ghz when I got 49.7fps with Lightning @ stock. So, yeah you're not in that bad of shape at all


Yeah. What's is your stock boost? L2N is 1202, and normal bios is 1215MHz.


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## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> Thanks dph
> sure, i've removed 670 scores from my post above


I just don't want this to become a pissing contest of 7970, 670, etc.

Nice card btw.


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## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I just don't want this to become a pissing contest of 7970, 670, etc.
> Nice card btw.


I think one of the reasons this thread is here is to help people make an informed decision about the 680 Lightning by us showing as much info/results as possible. I *most certainly* agree with the OP about turning this into more 7970 vs 680 crap, but if someone wants to compare their very-similar 670 PE to the Lightning, I see no harm in that


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## dph314

@ *DrBoss*

I don't remember your exact results, since your posts were edited, but I got all the clocks down before the edit. So, here are the results-(all run with 2500k @ 4.5Ghz for comparrison purposes)

*Stock run with 680 Lightning, LN2 BIOS, 1202mhz/6000mhz. 49.7fps*


*Run with Lightning @ 1290mhz/6600mhz. 54fps.*


*Run with Lightning @ 1316mhz/6800mhz. 54.8fps.*


*Run with my as-of-now max 100% stable OC. Haven't really tried going much higher yet. Will later. 1355mhz/6800mhz. 56.3fps.* (notice the 48C max temp







)


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## DrBoss

Thanks again dph314

My clocks/results on the 670 PE were:

Max OC
Core: 1316 MHz
Memory: 7406 MHz
Fps: 52.6

Standard OC
Core: 1290 MHz
Memory: 7204 Mhz
Fps: 51.5

Your 680 lightning temps are unreal!, my Max OC takes my power edition to 65C (not bad in my opinion, but certainly not 48C like you)
Once/If we get unlocked voltage if AB 2.2.3, your going to have a lot of temperature headroom to play with.


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## XbeaTX

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=4360550#post4360550

another month?? MSI are u kidding me?!
THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE ... I already paid my card and pretend that works as promised


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## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> Thanks again dph314
> My clocks/results on the 670 PE were:
> Max OC
> Core: 1316 MHz
> Memory: 7406 MHz
> Fps: 52.6
> Standard OC
> Core: 1290 MHz
> Memory: 7204 Mhz
> Fps: 51.5


What a hell of a memory overclock for Heaven







I thought my 7300mhz was good for 3dMark11, but Heaven is almost always harder to stabalize an overclock in.

Do you see any increase in performance at such a high memory clock as opposed to, say, 6800mhz? Just wondering, because sometimes, even though a higher memory overclock doesn't crash, it actually gives me a worse score. I believe because it's _on the verge_ of becoming unstable/crashing.


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## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 3dMark11 clocks-
> This is the combo of clocks I used for my 12,600 Graphics Score. *1374mhz/7000mhz*. I'm pretty sure they'll go a little higher, but I just started testing core and memory separate after this to get max clocks, but here it is anyway.
> 
> Recap for OP-
> Core- 1380mhz
> Memory- 7300mhz
> Heaven runs will be later. I need to relax and play some damn games with these things


im sorry to do this to you bro, but i think we need to keep max oc of core and mem _together_, as in they need to be maxed out together and not individually. I know this was not specified in the OP, but I will add it in there now. Your clocks are still outrageous, either way.
the bolded text above are the clocks i added (actually the mem freq was a little higher when looking at the screenshot)


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=4360550#post4360550
> another month?? MSI are u kidding me?!
> THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE ... I already paid my card and pretend that works as promised


***** ********* **** ******** *********!!









I guess it gives us a second thing to look forward to though. I mean, buying the card and using it for the first time was one thing. But instead of getting all of the 'joy' at one time, now it's divided into "Day 1 usage" and "Voltage Control". So, I'd prefer now obviously, but at least this gives owners something to look forward to. Anticipation is the spice that makes a long-awaited meal taste even better


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## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=4360550#post4360550
> another month?? MSI are u kidding me?!


awww, what!


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> What a hell of a memory overclock for Heaven
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I thought my 7300mhz was good for 3dMark11, but Heaven is almost always harder to stabalize an overclock in.
> Do you see any increase in performance at such a high memory clock as opposed to, say, 6800mhz? Just wondering, because sometimes, even though a higher memory overclock doesn't crash, it actually gives me a worse score. I believe because it's _on the verge_ of becoming unstable/crashing.


Good question. I will play around with this tonight when i get home. I will leave the core clock where it is and scale back the memory, test, and post the results.


----------



## DrBoss

"Arrakis ... Dune ... wasteland of the Empire, and the most valuable planet in the universe. Because it is here — and only here — where spice is found. The spice. Without it there is no commerce in the Empire, there is no civilization. Arrakis ... Dune ... home of the spice, greatest of treasure in the universe. And he who controls it, controls our destiny."


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=4360550#post4360550
> another month?? MSI are u kidding me?!
> THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE ... I already paid my card and pretend that works as promised


wow... thats all ive got to say. i literally can't believe it. what a huge disappointment


----------



## dph314

A huge company like MSI can't afford anything quicker than *Standard* shipping??? Jesus. Cards been in the mail for what, 5 days now? I have no problem waiting, but what a joke. Seriously.


----------



## wutang61

calm down guys not having voltage control for a month is not that huge of a deal. 680's have been without it since release what is another month at this point? honestly im happy for the wait these beta drivers need some work yet.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> ***** ********* **** ******** *********!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I guess it gives us a second thing to look forward to though. I mean, buying the card and using it for the first time was one thing. But instead of getting all of the 'joy' at one time, now it's divided into "Day 1 usage" and "Voltage Control". So, I'd prefer now obviously, but at least this gives owners something to look forward to. Anticipation is the spice that makes a long-awaited meal taste even better


What guarantee is there that it will work? MSi already flat out lied with deceptive advertising about features that haven't even been developed yet. I'm sorry, but you can bet your ass I'll be sending out some email to corporate and may even return it back to newegg.com because of the whole deception. By the time 2.2.3 is done, GK110 will be released/announced.


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## xoleras

neeevermind


----------



## XbeaTX

I just opened a ticket at msi customer service ... I'm ready to get refund and buy another brand if I do not get decent support


----------



## Witchdoctor

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> They are removable, but they cover a little PCB that is also removable. My MB allows 2-way SLI with the covers on, as the first two PCI-E slots are double spaced, but I don't see how I'd ever get any other PCI/PCI-E cards in there. MSI Z77A-GD65 mobo, FWIW.


Thansk for the feedback bro ...................









what is the little pcb for and if removed what do you lose or gain other than space.

I ask because if I bench these cards sub ambient I would like them to fit in my grinder when i am done is all


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Do you actually play games or what do you do on your PC? You're gonna sit here and complain about no voltage control when you hit nearly 1400? Do you even game or do you do 300 3dmark11 runs a day for bragging rights? Who cares? Its coming, maybe not today but it will. Unwinder confirmed its on the way but he's waiting on cards for his development PC (he already got one but it was an ES sample).
> In the meantime, yeah you should return your card. Or if it does hit those clocks i'll take it minus whatever restock fee newegg would charge you, i'll give you 500$.


What exactly is your problem? I bought the card on false premise, and I should be happy about that? Why does there need to be a profit involved for me to have a valid issue with what MSi did here. You need to get a grip. Just because I am not living off "3DMark11" does not make this issue irrelevant or less valid. Sorry it bothers you that I have a higher standard of products and services.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Do you actually play games or what do you do on your PC? Do you do 3dmark11 runs all day because thats about the limit of the usefulness of voltage. You don't need voltage to game. Do you make a living from HWBot sponsors? Anyway, its coming, maybe not today but it will. Unwinder confirmed its on the way but he's waiting on cards for his development PC (he already got one but it was an ES sample).
> If it does hit those clocks i'll take it minus whatever restock fee newegg would charge you, i'll give you 525$. I'll be happy to have your problem of hitting nearly 1400 with no voltage control, 1st world problems right here, i'll be happy to take it from you.


Totally agree with you. But I'm basing my arguments on principle. No one enjoys being deceived or getting lied to. Regardless of the greatness of this card, deception is deception if it doesn't work as advertised.

Again I completely agree with you and am very happy with them. I don't enjoy posting about '1st World problems' when there are so many other people out there very much less fortunate than I am in this world. But again, it's the principle of it and the seemingly lack of effort by a company whose products I pay good money for because of the HUGE picture on the front of the box _claiming_ 'Digitally Unlocked Power'.


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Do you do 3dmark11 runs all day because thats about the limit of the usefulness of voltage. You don't need voltage to game. Do you make a living from HWBot sponsors? Anyway, its coming, maybe not today but it will. Unwinder confirmed its on the way but he's waiting on cards for his development PC (he already got one but it was an ES sample).
> If it does hit those clocks i'll take it minus whatever restock fee newegg would charge you, i'll give you 525$. I'll be happy to have your problem of hitting nearly 1400 with no voltage control, i'll be happy to take it from you.


Xoleras, aren't you tired of shoving your "just deal with it" opinion down everybody's throat? People bought this card to have voltage control *WHEN THEY BOUGHT IT*. If MSI couldn't provide that, they shouldn't have advertised it as having triple unlocked voltage. You want to be blind to it, wonderful, but I think everyone else who wanted their card to work as advertised could care less.

This is not about breaking records or benching all day, I don't think I've seen anyone but you say that. This really just boils down to false advertising, both for this card and for the PE 670. I bought my DC II specifically because I could control voltage, or else I would've just stuck with my Gigabyte reference or Windforce. People should be able to return their Lightning if they want to, with no fees incurred. Glad I just stuck with my card and took it off Ebay.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> Xoleras, aren't you tired of shoving your "just deal with it" opinion down everybody's throat? People bought this card to have voltage control *WHEN THEY BOUGHT IT*. If MSI couldn't provide that, they shouldn't have advertised it as having triple unlocked voltage. You want to be blind to it, wonderful, but I think everyone else who wanted their card to work as advertised could care less.
> This is not about breaking records or benching all day, I don't think I've seen anyone but you say that. This really just boils down to false advertising, both for this card and for the PE 670. I bought my DC II specifically because I could control voltage, or else I would've just stuck with my Gigabyte reference or Windforce. People should be able to return their Lightning if they want to, with no fees incurred. Glad I just stuck with my card and took it off Ebay.


He's just trying to make people realize that they should have enough performance to keep themselves satisfied while they wait. Which is true, so, don't be too hard on him









I'm not happy either. I would expect this from some low-end cheap brand, not MSI. It sucks though, I know.

So has anyone heard anything about MSI and certified vendors offering any type of special return policy on these due to the false advertising? Or is MSI getting by on the fact that they technically didn't lie since voltage control is _eventually_ coming? Just curious.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> He's just trying to make people realize that they should have enough performance to keep themselves satisfied while they wait. Which is true, so, don't be too hard on him
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not happy either. I would expect this from some low-end cheap brand, not MSI. It sucks though, I know.
> So has anyone heard anything about MSI and certified vendors offering any type of special return policy on these due to the false advertising? Or is MSI getting by on the fact that they technically didn't lie since voltage control is _eventually_ coming? Just curious.


He's just kicking people when they are down, tbh. This isn't the first time he went into rage because he has a better idea of how people should react or spend their money. Nobody said "1300MHz is not enough". I never even mentioned core clocks. It's a matter of integrity and principle.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Witchdoctor*
> 
> Thansk for the feedback bro ...................
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> what is the little pcb for and if removed what do you lose or gain other than space.
> I ask because if I bench these cards sub ambient I would like them to fit in my grinder when i am done is all


They call the little module board "Reactor". It has some extra capacitors and some LEDs on it. MSI Alex has said you can run the card fine without the board or the cover, it's just power supply ripple smoothing I think is what MSI said. But I think he also said the only real benefit was to sub temp overclockers. With the cover removed, the actual board itself only sticks up a couple mm past the back plate, so you might be able to leave it in there and still clear for SLI.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> He's just kicking people when they are down, tbh. This isn't the first time he went into rage because he has a better idea of how people should react or spend their money. Nobody said "1300MHz is not enough". I never even mentioned core clocks. *It's a matter of integrity and principle*.


Couldn't agree more. That's why I'm so pissed actually. But I don't know what to do. We gottta wait. This is certainly the last time I ever trust MSI though. Whatever they say or do, I'm waiting for reviews/validations from OCN before I go ahead with anything from them. +5-day shipping when sending a card to Unwinder???? It's quite pathetic indeed. How many millions they make last year? And their reputation isn't worth overnight-shipping


----------



## hammerforged

From Unwinder:
Quote:


> So it may take longer, I'm still not sure myself if it will be possible without problems. That's why I absolutely hate marketing games and attemts to sell something that is not ready yet.


Everyone above has absolutely valid points. I love this card the way it is just fine and will continue to rape games with it. Its still the best card I've owned. However that doesnt over rule the fact that this card may never have voltage control which we were promised and very highly advertised. I'm getting frustrated at this point. I wont get too upset till it doesnt happen because its all speculation at this point but if for some reason it doesnt happen Msi needs to find a way to make it right.

Kind of odd that Alex hasnt had something to say in a while....

Ugh I'm just frustrated


----------



## DrBoss

Guess we all just have to make due with our baller GPU’s running games at maxed out turbo ultra extreme apocalypse thermo-nuclear-armageddon settings for the next month…. I am bummed/slightly angered by the Afterburner delay, but seriously… whatever. Thruth is, I’m going to waste way to much playing video games with the GPU “as is” without the voltage control.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> He's just kicking people when they are down, tbh. This isn't the first time he went into rage because he has a better idea of how people should react or spend their money. Nobody said "1300MHz is not enough". I never even mentioned core clocks. It's a matter of integrity and principle.


Kicking people when they're down? Went into a rage? Anyway, sure, you have a point about advertising features that aren't ready. Personally I don't care and don't mind the wait because i'm hitting high overclocks already and overvoltage means jack for gaming -- it only matters for synthetic benchmarks. That said Its a valid point, you guys are right that MSI could have handled that better, it should have been ready from the getgo. My personal opinion is that having near 1375 in single card and 1352 in sli is pretty darn good so I don't mind waiting a bit, but others have different views perhaps.


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Kicking people when they're down? Went into a rage? If you say so lol, I don't care what you do with your money. I'm sure you won't settle for anything less than perfect since you mysteriously RMA'ed 10 GTX 680s in an attempt to find the one that overclocks the highest. Anyway, sure, you have a point about advertising features that aren't ready. Personally I don't care and don't mind the wait, thats me though. Shrug.


Nothing wrong with not caring or minding the wait, man. But what's ok for you, might not work for others. You are pretty spot on saying that voltage might only make a difference in benching, but that doesn't change the fact that MSI clearly advertised it as one of the main features, and MSIAlex said a couple times that it would be here soon when Unwinder didn't even have a working card. I think that's what's bothering most owners, not 3dmark scores lol.

Card is still a beast either way


----------



## xoleras

I just saw unwinders latest posts, so you guys have a valid point. It should not have been printed on the box if it wasn't ready, so I concede that point. While it doesn't affect me, what works for me may not work for someone else, so i'll just admit I was wrong to throw my opinion out there.

I really enjoy the cards, I guess I should filter my opinions on this kind of stuff a bit. So, apologies to bosniac etc.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> My personal opinion is that having near 1375 in single card and 1352 in sli is pretty darn good


I'm not getting anything near 1352 in SLI, I guess I had better set my hair on fire and run around in circles


----------



## Cool Mike

I am a enthusiast, overclocker and pay a premium price for it. I love hardware. I purchased the lightning for voltage tweaking on the core and memory. If 2.2.3 is not available within 10 days, which will be near the 30th day after purchase *I may very well return it*.

Dont get me wrong, this is the most solid card I have ever purchased.


----------



## Arken2121

I gotta ask guys, i'm stuck between getting the lightning and classified. I hear the lightning has solid performance as well as the classified just I like the peace of mind with 4GB. What do you guys think?


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arken2121*
> 
> I gotta ask guys, i'm stuck between getting the lightning and classified. I hear the lightning has solid performance as well as the classified just I like the peace of mind with 4GB. What do you guys think?


EVGA Classy is just too much $$ to be honest. I'm pretty sure the 680L s a much better performing cooler and similar performance.


----------



## Cool Mike

Does anyone know if Alex from MSI recieved the Card he needed to complete software development for 2.2.3?


----------



## xoleras

They were sent a long time ago but apparently shipping takes forever to whatever country unwinder is in. He got one card that was ES, he is waiting for another.


----------



## hammerforged

Heres my scores for the thread:

2600K @ 4.8 mhz

Heaven @ 1337 and 7000



3DMark11 @ 1337 and 7100



These overclocks are stable in long heaven runs but BF3 doesnt like them at all which is the opposite of my previous cards.


----------



## Cool Mike

Thank you xoleras.

Slow boat from China I guess


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> Thank you xoleras.
> Slow boat from China I guess


The boat probably had voltage issues and had to go back to dock


----------



## General123

If the voltage does unlock for these I can kiss my 670 ftw goodbye


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> I am a enthusiast, overclocker and pay a premium price for it. I love hardware. I purchased the lightning for voltage tweaking on the core and memory. If 2.2.3 is not available within 10 days, which will be near the 30th day after purchase *I may very well return it*.
> Dont get me wrong, this is the most solid card I have ever purchased.


I just got off the phone with newegg, and they issued me an RMA for full refund and paid return label on the card. Not going give MSi my money on deceptive business practices. I wish you guys the best of luck, and I hope it works out.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> I just opened a ticket at msi customer service ... I'm ready to get refund and buy another brand if I do not get decent support


lol thats kinda funny








let us know how that plays out


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arken2121*
> 
> I gotta ask guys, i'm stuck between getting the lightning and classified. I hear the lightning has solid performance as well as the classified just I like the peace of mind with 4GB. What do you guys think?


*Get a Lightning!*

I've been doing some reading about the Classified over at EVGA.com and it doesn't look that impressive honestly. Couple that with the $660+EVBot= $760 and it's _definitely_ not worth it. I don't know what the max voltage is through EVBot, so someone might go with a Classified if they were getting a waterblock for it so they could run a ton of voltage through it if the max voltage is high. But as of right now...55% fan speed? Here's a pic of the one owner doing a Heaven run at only 1325mhz, hitting *75C* (and requiring almost 1.29v to do so too. May be contributing to the high temps, but still :/ )


He then goes on to say..."I tried going as high as 1.3v, *then it throttled down to 1084MHz and stayed there for several min*, and I couldn't get it to go back up thereafter. So I tried to reduce the Voltage and it crashed when I dropped one notch below 1.2875V."

"...*55% is just too low*... this is about all I'm going to get for now I'm sure. One Classified owner has reported getting as high as 1425MHz on air, *but then throttled back cause of temps*."

Bottom line....Get a Lightning


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> Does anyone know if Alex from MSI recieved the Card he needed to complete software development for 2.2.3?


Alex doesn't have anything to do with developing Afterburner. Unwinder is the guy who does it. He doesn't work directly for MSI. And no, he hasn't received a working card yet.


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I just got off the phone with newegg, and they issued me an RMA for full refund and paid return label on the card. Not going give MSi my money on deceptive business practices. I wish you guys the best of luck, and I hope it works out.


What was your reason for RMA'ing that you told Newegg? False Advertising?


----------



## Cool Mike

Sorry, thought Alex was Unwinder.

Thanks for the update...


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> What was your reason for RMA'ing that you told Newegg? False Advertising?


Pretty much. Not as described. I said I paid a premium for features that it did not have. She was nice enough to pay for return label. But then again I can be both charming and aggressive.









It is too bad. 680L has a KILLER cooler and performance.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Pretty much. Not as described. I said I paid a premium for features that it did not have. She was nice enough to pay for return label. But then again I can be both charming and aggressive.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It is too bad. 680L has a KILLER cooler and performance.


I would have waited for 2.2.3.


----------



## Arken2121

I see what you mean dph and I understand completely just I've been hoping it would have more VRAM. In almost every game I've played i'm close or going over 2gb has been an issue. And i'd love to put it under water which also seems like it's unavailable.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I would have waited for 2.2.3.


I would have too. But Unwinder said that it may not even work or work with problems. If MSi said they had matching software just being worked out and optimized... fine. But Unwinder does not even have a clue if it is even going to work with nvidia strict coding, on top of that he's not going to work on this until August!?


----------



## Cool Mike

Overclock Validation 
Heaven: 1,325 Core, 7,142 Memory



3Dmark11 1,350 Core 7,142 Memory


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> Overclock Validation
> Heaven: 1,325 Core, 7,142 Memory
> 
> 3Dmark11 1,350 Core 7,142 Memory


Great OC, please repost Unigine numbers with setting maxed, 16AA, 8AF, Tess Extreme, etc.


----------



## Cool Mike

This is default for 3.0 as requested by the author of this thread
At your settings core will drop slightly for sure..


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I would have too. But Unwinder said that it may not even work or work with problems. If MSi said they had matching software just being worked out and optimized... fine. But Unwinder does not even have a clue if it is even going to work with nvidia strict coding, on top of that he's not going to work on this until August!?


He said it might not work?? Where was this posted? I hope that's not true. All I've heard is that it's taking a while to get him the card. Which now that I think about it is BS. Maybe he just is having problems, like you're suggesting. I mean honestly, how can thousands of people have a card but not him?? So who knows, maybe he really does have the card and is just having problems with it.

But yeah where did you see that voltage control might not happen at all??


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> What a hell of a memory overclock for Heaven
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I thought my 7300mhz was good for 3dMark11, but Heaven is almost always harder to stabalize an overclock in.
> Do you see any increase in performance at such a high memory clock as opposed to, say, 6800mhz? Just wondering, because sometimes, even though a higher memory overclock doesn't crash, it actually gives me a worse score. I believe because it's _on the verge_ of becoming unstable/crashing.


Ive got two data sets which seem to indicate the higher Vram is operating efficiently and helping to achieve a higher fps/score in Unigine with all settings maxed at 1920x1080.

With the core fixed at *1290 MHz* i got the following results
Vram @ 6998 MHz = Fps 50.4 & Score 1269
Vram @ 7204 MHz = Fps 51.3 & Score 1292

With the core fixed at *1316 MHz* i got the following results
Vram @ 7204 MHz = Fps 51.9 & Score 1307
Vram @ 7406 MHz = Fps 52.6 & Score 1326


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> He said it might not work?? Where was this posted? I hope that's not true. All I've heard is that it's taking a while to get him the card. Which now that I think about it is BS. Maybe he just is having problems, like you're suggesting. I mean honestly, how can thousands of people have a card but not him?? So who knows, maybe he really does have the card and is just having problems with it.
> But yeah where did you see that voltage control might not happen at all??


He gave some more info here
Quote:


> Normally it takes 2-3 days to ship here from Moscow MSI office, but it takes much longer to ship to Moscow from MSI Taiwan (sometimes couple weeks) due to custom delays and so on. Implementation of new PWM support is a question of a few hours, but Lightning/PE is a bit different story - PWMs are already supported but NVIDIA changed I2C access way on 600 series. So it may take longer, I'm still not sure myself if it will be possible without problems. That's why I absolutely hate marketing games and attemts to sell something that is not ready yet.


----------



## Cool Mike

Being a test engineer myself, I cant imagine him not getting this to function. This is a custom design. During the design phase I just cant see that this aspect of the design would have been overlooked. A key marketing and selling point!! To MSI, "If you dont want an influx of returns due to non delivery of core voltage control I would issue an update on progress and get the software out ASAP, now in my business you work 12-16 hours a day until deliveried.


----------



## dph314

I just can't believe they would have all that crap all over the box and then not deliver. That can't happen. It's got to be at a point, hardware-wise, where Unwinder can do his thing. It's a *Lightning*, and it's features are heavily stressed on the box. Fingers are crossed. It just seems like there's no way MSI could put THAT BIG of a foot in their mouth and have this not work out.


----------



## Cool Mike

That is crazy, Two weeks to deliver a card on a project this HOT! Something doesnt sound right here.


----------



## emett

Can I ask how you guys are getting to 1373mhz with out voltage adjustment?


----------



## USFORCES

Hey OP can you send that photo except put the red slash through the Lightning for the For The Win classified members only club and make it an X instead of a slash also a couple red fails coming out of the fans heating up the case


----------



## hammerforged

I messaged Alex. Hopefully he is able to help us out. Just remember guys he is a hardware rep and that a lot of this is out of his control. Its nice that they even have a rep that regularly checks the forums.


----------



## Cool Mike

emett - - - Most are setting the Bios switch for LN2 mode. Core voltage goes to 1.212 as indicated in afterburner during a load, no temperature throttling, all power phases enabled 100%. I havent measured the voltage directly but it maybe slightly higher than 1.212V. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *USFORCES*
> 
> Hey OP can you send that photo except put the red slash through the Lightning for the For The Win classified members only club and make it an X instead of a slash also a couple red fails coming out of the fans heating up the case


He'll have to save some of the red flames for the Classified after it starts throttling with a mild overclock at 55% max fan speed








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *emett*
> 
> Can I ask how you guys are getting to 1373mhz with out voltage adjustment?


I actually hit 1380mhz







Another one on here, forgot exactly who, was at 1383mhz. Read below...

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> emett - - - Most are setting the Bios switch for LN2 mode. Core voltage goes to 1.212 as indicated in afterburner during a load, no temperature throttling, all power phases enabled 100%. I havent measured the voltage directly but it maybe slightly higher than 1.212V. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.


The LN2 BIOS goes up to 1.255v.


----------



## emett

ok thx cool mike.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> He'll have to save some of the red flames for the Classified after it starts throttling with a mild overclock at 55% max fan speed
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I actually hit 1380mhz
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Another one was at 1383mhz. Read below...
> The LN2 BIOS goes up to 1.255v.


Actual voltage fluctuates, I've seen up to 1.269V on the dmm.


----------



## Cool Mike

I believe 1.30V - 1.325V would get me to 1400Mhz core. Temps would be in check. I long for 2.2.3


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Actual voltage fluctuates, I've seen up to 1.269V on the dmm.


Damn. Nice. So does it go up to 1.269v everytime it's going to crash? Like I mean, does it go up that high _everytime it needs to_, or does it just go that high every now and then arbitrarily? Sorry, not sure if I'm wording that right...


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Voltage control or not, I think I'm at near the top of the heap for 2 way SLI 680s in Heaven 3.0

He kind of screwed up his updated table, but anyway.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Voltage control or not, I think I'm at near the top of the heap for 2 way SLI 680s in Heaven 3.0
> He kind of screwed up his updated table, but anyway.


That's quite a run








What clocks was each one running?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

1306 on the core, 6700 on the memory. I7 3770K at 4.4


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> This is default for 3.0 as requested by the author of this thread
> At your settings core will drop slightly for sure..


as far as the spreadsheet is concerned, youre just fine


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *USFORCES*
> 
> Hey OP can you send that photo except put the red slash through the Lightning for the For The Win classified members only club and make it an X instead of a slash also a couple red fails coming out of the fans heating up the case


lol. not going to happen. its my picture i took of both cards when i first got the lightning to show the size difference between the two... then i figured i would put it to good use for this thread









so don't get your hopes up. no, i will not be making one with the lightning crossed out instead


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Voltage control or not, I think I'm at near the top of the heap for 2 way SLI 680s in Heaven 3.0
> *He kind of screwed up his updated table, but anyway.*


are you referring to me/my table? if so, what 's the issue?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> are you referring to me/my table? if so, what 's the issue?


No, there is a thread in the Benchmarking Forum titled "Top 30 Heaven 3.0 Scores" or something like that. The owner of that thread just updated the scores this evening, but he has me about 10 places out of position. So I bumped my core clock down a bit, my memory clock up a bit, and beat my previous score that's not even in the right slot.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> No, there is a thread in the Benchmarking Forum titled "Top 30 Heaven 3.0 Scores" or something like that. The owner of that thread just updated the scores this evening, but he has me about 10 places out of position. So I bumped my core clock down a bit, my memory clock up a bit, and beat my previous score that's not even in the right slot.


ah i see. ok well, of there's ever anything wrong with the table for this thread or if anyone has suggestions about something, youre always welcome to PM me


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Damn. Nice. So does it go up to 1.269v everytime it's going to crash? Like I mean, does it go up that high _everytime it needs to_, or does it just go that high every now and then arbitrarily? Sorry, not sure if I'm wording that right...


It changes with different load/different scenes, playing 3dmark 11 I see it spike up to the highest voltage in the first game test.
Before I was testing the card on the z77 gd65 & no issues, last night I went to use it on the z77gd80, it was really bizarre, on the same OS I was using before, & on a newly installed OS it would work fine right up until i Installed the 3xx.xx driver, then it won't let me get to desktop. Driver would crash at the windows logo, it would occasionally get to desktop but freeze there instantly. Uninstalling the driver or booting safe mode, no problem. Strange stuff...


----------



## dph314

That is wierd. I've used 304.48 and 304.79 and haven't had any issues even remotely like that with mine.


----------



## FtW 420

Weirdest thing is both of those drivers worked fine with the 680 on the gd65, which is almost identical to the gd80. There is a new bios I can try on the gd80, but I wouldn't think that could be the issue, I'll find out later.


----------



## USFORCES

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> lol. not going to happen. its my picture i took of both cards when i first got the lightning to show the size difference between the two... then i figured i would put it to good use for this thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> so don't get your hopes up. no, i will not be making one with the lightning crossed out instead


Well were all green and can handle a joke, I bet if I posted that in the red section they might not of been laughing


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Voltage control or not, I think I'm at near the top of the heap for 2 way SLI 680s in Heaven 3.0
> He kind of screwed up his updated table, but anyway.


Nice, thats one of the highest for 680 sli in heaven (which usually favors AMD)


----------



## dph314

Update for the OP- Heaven ran at Default settings. 1356mhz/6700mhz.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Update for the OP- Heaven ran at Default settings. 1356mhz/6700mhz.


got it


----------



## wutang61

"NVIDIA changed I2C access way on 600 series. So it may take longer, I'm still not sure myself if it will be possible without problems." -unwinder (Riva tuner creator)

Long story short... He is not even positive that software voltage control will be possible.

Source for those who will rage about source. http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4360597&postcount=18


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> "NVIDIA changed I2C access way on 600 series. So it may take longer, I'm still not sure myself if it will be possible without problems." -unwinder (Riva tuner creator)
> Long story short... He is not even positive that software voltage control will be possible.
> Source for those who will rage about source. http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4360597&postcount=18


You got scooped back on #119.


----------



## dph314

Everytime there's another post in this thread, I keeping hoping it will be _good_ news for a change







Time will tell.


----------



## XbeaTX

This is the response from customer service to my question about why the advertised features do not work (triple overvoltage and triple temp monitor):
Quote:


> Dear sir/madam Thanks for contacting MSI technical support. Regarding your concern,you may refer to the below link.And your advice will be taken into consideration. (Link Afterburner) Thanks for your cooperation in advance! Best Regards, MSI Technical Support Team











MSI behaves ridiculous
I think the best solution is to report the matter to the technology news websites seeing that MSI rep has vanished


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> This is the response from customer service to my question about why the advertised features do not work (triple overvoltage and triple temp monitor):
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Dear sir/madam Thanks for contacting MSI technical support. Regarding your concern,you may refer to the below link.And your advice will be taken into consideration. (Link Afterburner) Thanks for your cooperation in advance! Best Regards, MSI Technical Support Team
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MSI behaves ridiculous
> I think the best solution is to report the matter to the technology news websites seeing that MSI rep has vanished
Click to expand...

I do sympathize with those who bought the card for this feature. But, you should get a refund on your card if it bothers you that much. I don't think voltage is an issue concerning gaming, but if it annoys you on principle then RMA your card. It is coming but there is no definite time frame set in stone, current guesstimates are this month or next. It sucks, can't do much but wait though or buy the competing 775$ classified EVGA card. Personally I say F that because i'm getting near 1400 in single card already...

The grass really isn't greener on the other side either because a classified owner posted today that their max OC was 1300. Considering EVBot + a 175$ higher price tag and a cheap blower fan, no thanks. I'll take the lightning and wait a month







But i can see the other side of the argument as well, and sympathize with it.


----------



## dph314

Someone in the other Lightning thread asked for some game benches before the thread got locked. So, here's BF3-
----
64-Players. Operation Firestorm. Max Settings less Blur. 1350mhz/6800mhz. 60-second run looking straight forward entire time from Filling Station north to the Offices (getting shot multiple times but stayed breathing







)

----

----Frames- 5421 Time (ms)- 60000 Min- 68 Max- 113 Avg- 90.35


----------



## Bosniac

FYI, I netted an extra 25MHz when disabling auto fans, and setting it to 90/100%.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> FYI, I netted an extra 25MHz when disabling auto fans, and setting it to 90/100%.


Not bad at all







I didn't get quite that much, but my temps were kinda low to begin with. 100% fan speed only made a few degrees difference since I keep ambient temps pretty low.

BF3 bench posted in previous post for the guy asking


----------



## xoleras

I got the most benefit in metro 2033 from overclocking, especially memory. My framerates went sky high in the built in benchmarking program.....i'll post some later

I really think a few games benefit from memory bandwidth, because the 7970 oc'ed does run a good margin faster in metro 2033. Same for crysis 1/WH (which I still play) But some other games definitely run faster on the lightning. So I think thats why those games benefit a LOT from memory overclocking on the lightning, I definitely noticed a difference in those games when cranking the memory up. Core not so much though, which was strange.

I'll post some metro 2033 benchmarks later, perhaps we can get a comparison going


----------



## exploiteddna

i contacted newegg and they gave me $25, either in the form of giftcard or direct refund to my credit card. I chose to have them put the $25 back on my credit card


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i contacted newegg and they gave me $25, either in the form of giftcard or direct refund to my credit card. I chose to have them put the $25 back on my credit card


Gave it to you because of the no voltage thing?


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Gave it to you because of the no voltage thing?


yeah. i first tried to see if they'd issue me a full refund without restocking fee. I was going to return mine and buy Bosniac's lightning that he got an RMA for, but he had better luck than me. They put me on hold to go talk to manager or whatever and then came back and said they wouldnt be able to fully refund me and offered me $25 refund for "my troubles". He said since I had 15 days left to file for RMA, that I should wait a little longer for the software update. If my 30 days was about to end and they still dont have software update, he said they may be able to fully refund me at that time. So i just said screw it and took the $25


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I got the most benefit in metro 2033 from overclocking, especially memory. My framerates went sky high in the built in benchmarking program.....i'll post some later
> I really think a few games benefit from memory bandwidth, because the 7970 oc'ed does run a good margin faster in metro 2033. Same for crysis 1/WH (which I still play) But some other games definitely run faster on the lightning. So I think thats why those games benefit a LOT from memory overclocking on the lightning, I definitely noticed a difference in those games when cranking the memory up. Core not so much though, which was strange.
> I'll post some metro 2033 benchmarks later, perhaps we can get a comparison going


I'll post some B: AC, JC2, and Metro 2033 later since they have benchmark utilities built in.

On Metro 2033 and JC2 eveything max, on AC everything max, psysx normal, and AAx4, max AF vsync [email protected]


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i contacted newegg and they gave me $25, either in the form of giftcard or direct refund to my credit card. I chose to have them put the $25 back on my credit card


for what?, nevermind, i see you answered already above...
that said, i don't see why Newegg owes you any money.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> for what?


because the product was/is not as described.. lacking the main selling point (in my opinion), the Triple Overvoltage Control\

**edit: of course i wouldnt call them and be like "uhh some guy on the forum got a $25 refund for his lightning and i want one too!" You need to call and make your case, get a little angry but still be respectful, and see what theyll do to help


----------



## dph314

Metro runs with *ONLY* the memory overclocked. My runs might not be the best indicator, since CPU is only at 4Ghz, but I didn't feel like restarting









So...stock 2-run average with everything maxed in DX11 mode, 1202/6000- 49fps


2-run average with memory +250, 1202/6500- 50.5fps


2-run average with +500 memory, 1202/7000- 52.5fps

----
So, memory overclock does make a difference. Just for comparisson, did a decent overclock on both the memory and core as opposed to just a large memory overclock. When I ran 1330/6800 I got 53fps. So, only half a frame higher with a 1330mhz core and 6800mhz mem than 1202/7000! That sucks. Ah well.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Metro runs with *ONLY* the memory overclocked. My runs might not be the best indicator, since CPU is only at 4Ghz, but I didn't feel like restarting
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So...stock 2-run average with everything maxed in DX11 mode, 1202/6000- 49fps
> 
> 
> 2-run average with memory +250, 1202/6500- 50.5fps
> 
> 
> 2-run average with +500 memory, 1202/7000- 52.5fps
> 
> ----
> So, memory overclock does make a difference. Just for comparisson, did a decent overclock on both the memory and core as opposed to just a large memory overclock. When I ran 1330/6800 I got 53fps. So, only half a frame higher with a 1330mhz core and 6800mhz mem than 1202/7000! That sucks. Ah well.


Physx to the max?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Physx to the max?


I did it without the 'advanced PhysX' box checked, just because I wanted more of a result based on clocks, and PhysX might've just added to inconsistency, since sometimes I don't get full GPU usage when it's enabled. So, I can re-run them if you'd like to see results with advanced PhysX


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I did it without the 'advanced PhysX' box checked, just because I wanted more of a result based on clocks, and PhysX might've just added to inconsistency, since sometimes I don't get full GPU usage when it's enabled. So, I can re-run them if you'd like to see results with advanced PhysX


No need. I will run same settings.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> No need. I will run same settings.


Here's a screen of the settings, for reference.
----


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Here's a screen of the settings, for reference.
> ----


Here is my run at 1345/+450



Stock 1202Mhz


----------



## Eustia

I have a question. As shown in the picture, My Lightning's 1362Mhz + 3960X @ 5.0GHz (using offset mode) end up a 3D mark 11 P11397. However, I saw many similar setting here got over 12,000 P score. Any thing wrong with me?


----------



## Cool Mike

Hello Eustia, Your correct. The graphcs score should be over P12K. Your physics score is fine. a couple ideas that might help. Make sure an download the latest beta driver from Nvidia. also download the PCIe 3.0 patch Nvidia just released.Sorry for the simple questions, I am sure your card in in a PCIe 3.0 16X slot. You will be able to find them pretty easy. Just these two download along bumped my score 300-400 points. also try backing off the memory speed. Try this and rerun and post scores.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> Hello Eustia, Your correct. The graphcs score should be over P12K. Your physics score is fine. a couple ideas that might help. Make sure an download the latest beta driver from Nvidia. also download the PCIe 3.0 patch Nvidia just released.Sorry for the simple questions, I am sure your card in in a PCIe 3.0 16X slot. You will be able to find them pretty easy. Just these two download along bumped my score 300-400 points. *also try backing off the memory speed*. Try this and rerun and post scores.


Exactly what I was going to say. Although, when my memory is too high I don't lose ~1000 points like he seems to be down, so, I don't know. But yeah also, what drivers as well. Old drivers can make a difference. Between the memory too high and the newest drivers I'd say the score will go up closer to where it should be. Mine at 1372/6800 was roughly 12,500 if I recall correctly, with the 304.48 and .79 drivers.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*
> 
> 
> I have a question. As shown in the picture, My Lightning's 1362Mhz + 3960X @ 5.0GHz (using offset mode) end up a 3D mark 11 P11397. However, I saw many similar setting here got over 12,000 P score. Any thing wrong with me?


(edit: I see mike and dph mentioned this already







) I see you're on x79, make sure you have the patch that enabled pci express 3.0. Also, the latest drivers increase 3dmark11 scores a lot so make sure you have the latest beta driver, that should you a lot.


----------



## exploiteddna

ive just noticed that after running 5 or so runs of 3DMark11 that I will have a LOT of redundant futuremark processes running for some reason. Ill take a screenshot when i do more runs in a little bit...
i thought i already had a ss but i guess i forgot to save it


----------



## exploiteddna

nevermind doing 5 runs... this is after only one 3Dmark11 run:
(click picture once.. then right click picture and choose "view image" to see in full size)


what the _*$&*%&$%*&$_ ???


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> (edit: I see mike and dph mentioned this already
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) I see you're on x79, make sure you have the patch that enabled pci express 3.0. Also, the latest drivers increase 3dmark11 scores a lot so make sure you have the latest beta driver, that should you a lot.


I just got my RIVE and 3930k in the mail today, installing tomorrow. Are all x79 boards requiring the patch?

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> nevermind doing 5 runs... this is after only one 3Dmark11 run:
> (click picture once.. then right click picture and choose "view image" to see in full size)
> 
> what the _*$&*%&$%*&$_ ???


Do scores get progressively lower as more and more of those processes are running? Not because of the CPU load I mean, but just on the software side of things wondering if 3dMark11 shows any symptoms after having so many duplicate processes running.


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> because the product was/is not as described.. lacking the main selling point (in my opinion), the Triple Overvoltage Control\
> **edit: of course i wouldnt call them and be like "uhh some guy on the forum got a $25 refund for his lightning and i want one too!" You need to call and make your case, get a little angry but still be respectful, and see what theyll do to help


I'm not looking to get any money from Newegg. They are a great online vendor. MSI manufactured the GPU, printed the boxes, shipped them across the ocean, and made false claimed about voltage... Not Newegg. You've shot the messenger.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> I'm not looking to get any money from Newegg. They are a great online vendor. MSI manufactured the GPU, printed the boxes, shipped them across the ocean, and made false claimed about voltage... Not Newegg. You've shot the messenger.


Well in this case I can't blame MichaelRW for it. I've done a TON of business with newegg over the years, dating back at least 10 years. Basically, I have done most of my computer upgrades through them and I have little doubt that the situation is similar for Mike - so I view 25$ as a symbol of customer appreciation, even though it doesn't directly involve newegg. Also, I do have some grievances with newegg because LATELY they have been selling used cards as new, which is obviously a sh**** thing to do to customers. With all of this said, i'm not asking for any money from newegg because i'm 100% satisfied with my purchase - and I get nearly 1.27V on my cards with BIOS2. I don't have software voltage, but the cards do have more legs than other cards do in terms of voltage (and software voltage coming sometime in the future). While the whole delay on software voltage sucks, I do think the voltage while using BIOS2 may be overlooked by some. I really like having that along with no kepler throttle (which no other 680 on the market has). Hopefully, MSI will get this mess straightened out soon. I think they were well intentioned with getting these lightnings to market, but perhaps they rushed this aspect of software support before it was ready...


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> I'm not looking to get any money from Newegg. They are a great online vendor. MSI manufactured the GPU, printed the boxes, shipped them across the ocean, and made false claimed about voltage... Not Newegg. You've shot the messenger.


yeah maybe. i didnt call them looking for a handout. if they want to offer me something, as someone who spends literally thousands of dollars on their company, i will certainly not turn it down.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I just got my RIVE and 3930k in the mail today, installing tomorrow. Are all x79 boards requiring the patch?
> Do scores get progressively lower as more and more of those processes are running? Not because of the CPU load I mean, but just on the software side of things wondering if 3dMark11 shows any symptoms after having so many duplicate processes running.


i havent noticed anything in terms of dropping scores, but its just weird that there are SO MANY of these processes open... its very weird.


----------



## Bosniac

Just Cause 2 benchmarks (Desert Sunrise level, 4xAA, 16xAF, everything else max, vsync off)

stock 1202MHz:


1345MHz/+450


----------



## xoleras

Bosniac, I think a better benchmark comparison would be with the CUDA features turned off (the last 3 settings). Most AMD users benchmark this game and they don't have those settings, so disabling those is a more apples to apples comparison. I've also found that enabling PHYSX or CUDA features will sometimes cause clockspeeds to fluctuate in odd ways, which doesn't happen otherwise.

Thats just my personal preference though, i've always preferred leaving physx off for benchmark comparisons


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Bosniac, I think a better benchmark comparison would be with the CUDA features turned off (the last 3 settings). Most AMD users benchmark this game and they don't have those settings, so disabling those is a more apples to apples comparison. I've also found that enabling PHYSX or CUDA features will sometimes cause clockspeeds to fluctuate in odd ways, which doesn't happen otherwise.
> Thats just my personal preference though, i've always preferred leaving physx off for benchmark comparisons


So no Bokeh, water, and point light? Will do.


----------



## FaStVtEc

hello fellas,first time poster long time lurker. I just received my new MSI gtx 680 lightning from the egg today, but apparently the fan shroud caused a gash to the outer black fan cable insulation during shipping! I know this is an issue with these cards as I seen in this same thread and a review on newegg. The guy on newegg stated that the copper wire was exposed so he was going to RMA the card. I cant see any copper on mine though. Seems like the inner blue insulation wasn't punctured enough to expose the copper.

Should I RMA? thanks...


----------



## Eustia

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> (edit: I see mike and dph mentioned this already
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) I see you're on x79, make sure you have the patch that enabled pci express 3.0. Also, the latest drivers increase 3dmark11 scores a lot so make sure you have the latest beta driver, that should you a lot.


I am using the 304.79 beta drive, enabled pcie gen3. Card is on first x16 slot of ASUS R4E. still showing the same score...........


----------



## dph314

Ran JC2 bench, Concrete Jungle, Maxed except for PLS, Bokeh, and Water Acc., and got 79fps @ 1350/6800








----
I don't have a damn clue why JC2 runs like this but does anyone else's JC2 usage during the benchmark look like this??
----


Edit:
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*
> 
> I am using the 304.79 beta drive, enabled pcie gen3. Card is on first x16 slot of ASUS R4E. still showing the same score...........


Are you running a lot of processes in the background? Unlikely to affect scores that much, but even internet sites take up GPU usage at times. Also, make sure you run 3dMark11 in "Stretched" mode as this usually scores higher than "Centered". Did you do a completely clean install of the 304.79 drivers when you installed them?


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*
> 
> 
> I have a question. As shown in the picture, My Lightning's 1362Mhz + 3960X @ 5.0GHz (using offset mode) end up a 3D mark 11 P11397. However, I saw many similar setting here got over 12,000 P score. Any thing wrong with me?


And what is your memory oc? Set it to +400 and see what happens again.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FaStVtEc*
> 
> hello fellas,first time poster long time lurker. I just received my new MSI gtx 680 lightning from the egg today, but apparently the fan shroud caused a gash to the outer black fan cable insulation during shipping! I know this is an issue with these cards as I seen in this same thread and a review on newegg. The guy on newegg stated that the copper wire was exposed so he was going to RMA the card. I cant see any copper on mine though. Seems like the inner blue insulation wasn't punctured enough to expose the copper.
> 
> Should I RMA? thanks...


Same thing happened to mine. I just RMAed mine back to Newegg. No clue why MSI design their Twin Frozr's with an exposed fan wire.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FaStVtEc*
> 
> hello fellas,first time poster long time lurker. I just received my new MSI gtx 680 lightning from the egg today, but apparently the fan shroud caused a gash to the outer black fan cable insulation during shipping! I know this is an issue with these cards as I seen in this same thread and a review on newegg. The guy on newegg stated that the copper wire was exposed so he was going to RMA the card. I cant see any copper on mine though. Seems like the inner blue insulation wasn't punctured enough to expose the copper.
> 
> Should I RMA? thanks...


I would rma it only if it was
A. Poor OC card
B. Wire caused the fans to stop.

That's just me.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FaStVtEc*
> 
> hello fellas,first time poster long time lurker. I just received my new MSI gtx 680 lightning from the egg today, but apparently the fan shroud caused a gash to the outer black fan cable insulation during shipping! I know this is an issue with these cards as I seen in this same thread and a review on newegg. The guy on newegg stated that the copper wire was exposed so he was going to RMA the card. I cant see any copper on mine though. Seems like the inner blue insulation wasn't punctured enough to expose the copper.
> 
> Should I RMA? thanks...


I bet newegg resold the card that the other guy RMA'ed....newegg are scumbags lately about selling used cards as new. It happened to me twice with 7970s, I received obviously opened / used products. Makes me want to buy all video cards from amazon.com to be honest.


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> nevermind doing 5 runs... this is after only one 3Dmark11 run:
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> (click picture once.. then right click picture and choose "view image" to see in full size)
> 
> 
> 
> what the _*$&*%&$%*&$_ ???


I've noticed 3DMark11 performance drops over multiple back to back runs for me. I've also noticed vsync off makes my scores and gpu usage lower than adaptive vsync does. I am on a 120Hz monitor though.

I would recommend a restart after a couple of runs.


----------



## xoleras

You guys need to close your browsers and ensure that adobe flash player is not in the background when you run these tests - I know chrome in particular takes up GPU cycles and especially adobe flash player. Best thing to do when gaming is close everything out if you're benching.....

My benchmark scores are way worse when I have a flash player paused in the background....Keep in mind most browsers also take gpu cycles, if you open chrome by itself you will see the 680 will clock itself up to 915mhz even when nothing is going on...it uses a few GPU cycles and can hurt benchmarks...


----------



## hammerforged

This ^

I've seen my card boost to 1202mhz while in chrome ha. Watch the afterburner next time your browsing the web. Mines all over the place.


----------



## Eustia

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> And what is your memory oc? Set it to +400 and see what happens again.


Does not help, I first try down to +400 score lows by 5 points, then +300 score lows by 13 points ...


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> I've noticed 3DMark11 performance drops over multiple back to back runs for me. I've also noticed *vsync off makes my scores and gpu usage lower than adaptive vsync does*. I am on a 120Hz monitor though.
> I would recommend a restart after a couple of runs.












Turning Adaptive V-Sync on raises your benchmark scores?


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*
> 
> Does not help, I first try down to +400 score lows by 5 points, then +300 score lows by 13 points ...


Can you run Heaven at max [email protected], along with a monitoring software in background as screenshot. I would like to see how it runs. For consistency, run in L2N bios, stock settings, and another with stable OC. We could tell more by that.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> I've noticed 3DMark11 performance drops over multiple back to back runs for me. I've also noticed vsync off makes my scores and gpu usage lower than adaptive vsync does. I am on a 120Hz monitor though.
> I would recommend a restart after a couple of runs.


yeah thats what ive been doing.
im still curious if anyone else is seeing as many futuremark processes as i am..


----------



## sp33dyj

Looks like the egg got another shipment of these cards. As I have 100 in my cart right now.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sp33dyj*
> 
> Looks like the egg got another shipment of these cards. As I have 100 in my cart right now.


Buy it. Send me mine shorty after. Thanks.


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Turning Adaptive V-Sync on raises your benchmark scores?


Only in 3DMark11 for some reason. Obviously vsync off runs everything else better but for some reason I tried vsync off on 3DMark11 and it drops my scores way down and gpu usage is terrible.


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> yeah maybe. i didnt call them looking for a handout. if they want to offer me something, as someone who spends literally thousands of dollars on their company, i will certainly not turn it down.


Point taken, and i didn't mean to sound like this whole voltage fiasco wasn't seriously eff'd up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Unwinder is able to software encode voltage control into the next Afterburner as much as the next guy. My MSI 670 Power Edition was also advertised as having unlocked voltage, which it doesn't.

I also have a 10 year+ track record with Newegg; they've always been good to me. If anything, the 25$ they gave you is a testament to their solid business practices.


----------



## Bosniac

Ok, here are some new bench marks as suggested.

Just Cause 2 stock L2N 1202MHz:



1345MHz/+450mem.



Batman: Arkham City:

Following settings:


Baseline:


Overclocked:


Dirt 3 Ultra Preset 4xAA:

stock:



overclocked:


----------



## dph314

Just out of curiosity...

With the Rampage IV Extreme, the BIOS has the ability to adjust Core/Mem/PLL GPU voltages with a hard-wire solder. Does this work on any GPU or just the Asus ones?


----------



## Eustia

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Can you run Heaven at max [email protected], along with a monitoring software in background as screenshot. I would like to see how it runs. For consistency, run in L2N bios, stock settings, and another with stable OC. We could tell more by that.






Here are the results


----------



## FaStVtEc

Thanks guys, for the reply's. I think I'm going to RMA the card. I paid 650.00 with taxes here CA, So it should be perfect.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*
> 
> 
> 
> Here are the results


That's not maxed. Need fullscreen, 16X Anisotropy, 8X AA, Extreme Tesselation.


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Just out of curiosity...
> With the Rampage IV Extreme, the BIOS has the ability to adjust Core/Mem/PLL GPU voltages with a hard-wire solder. Does this work on any GPU or just the Asus ones?


Only Asus Direct Cu II cards.


----------



## Eustia

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's not maxed. Need fullscreen, 16X Anisotropy, 8X AA, Extreme Tesselation.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*


First off, do you live in an oven? Those temps are WAY too high for this card. Is your case well vented? Second, your scores are quite a bit lower. We had several people here baseline the card around 49-50fps stock. Up to 56fps when OC'd. Is 1302MHz the maximum stable OC?

Try turning off PC, re-seating the card back into the slot, or try the PCI-E 2.0 slot. Install newest BETA drivers.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Just out of curiosity...
> With the Rampage IV Extreme, the BIOS has the ability to adjust Core/Mem/PLL GPU voltages with a hard-wire solder. Does this work on any GPU or just the Asus ones?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> Only Asus Direct Cu II cards.


It will work with any card, the dcuII has the solder points all set & makes it easier for sure, but any card that can be hardmodded just has to go to the mobo connections for hotwire instead of a VR.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> *It will work with any card*, the dcuII has the solder points all set & makes it easier for sure, but any card that can be hardmodded just has to go to the mobo connections for hotwire instead of a VR.


Even the Lightning. Interesting ...


----------



## FtW 420

I don't think anyone has hardmodded a 680 lightning yet so I don't know the mod point (have to open mine up & have a look...), but basically when hardmodding you wire the the vmod spot to a vr & back through ground, instead of a vr just need to wire the vmod spot & vmeasure to the connectors that go to the motherboard.
I've only tried out the hotwire with a powercolor 4870 just to try it, I kinda prefer the VR in a way because I use different boards all the time & the VR works anywhere.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I don't think anyone has hardmodded a 680 lightning yet so I don't know the mod point (have to open mine up & have a look...), but basically when hardmodding you wire the the vmod spot to a vr & back through ground, instead of a vr just need to wire the vmod spot & vmeasure to the connectors that go to the motherboard.
> I've only tried out the hotwire with a powercolor 4870 just to try it, I kinda prefer the VR in a way because I use different boards all the time & the VR works anywhere.


I would need to see a detailed guide before I ever attempted anything like that. But if there's one card out there that can handle more volts, it's the Lightning. If this voltage control with software falls through, then I would would consider it. It's obviously more than capable of handling more than 1.29v, so, I would definitely do it one day.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> Only Asus Direct Cu II cards.


^this is correct


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I would need to see a detailed guide before I ever attempted anything like that. But if there's one card out there that can handle more volts, it's the Lightning. If this voltage control with software falls through, then I would would consider it. It's obviously more than capable of handling more than 1.29v, so, I would definitely do it one day.


do what i did to learn.. go buy an old card with a lot of vmod guides on it, like the 8800 GT/S. You can do like 4 different hard mods on those cards and if you eff it all up, youre only out like 30 bucks. I didnt mess mine up and now i have a vmodded 8800 lol

once you get over the initial scare of soldering/potentially breaking things, its actually a very simple thing to do in terms of the actual process...


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> ^this is correct


Not sure about 680s since so few have vmodded them, but any card that can be modded with a VR to change voltage should work with hotwire. My powercolor 4870 definitely wasn't an asus dcuII & hotwire worked fine.

Edit: So far, he is correct, other 680s aren't using a VR but need VID modding which won't work with hotwire. Stripping my lightning now to see if it has the same controller as reference.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Not sure about 680s since so few have vmodded them, but any card that can be modded with a VR to change voltage should work with hotwire. My powercolor 4870 definitely wasn't an asus dcuII & hotwire worked fine.
> Edit: So far, he is correct, other 680s aren't using a VR but need VID modding which won't work with hotwire. Stripping my lightning now to see if it has the same controller as reference.


no dont waste your time. i know what controller is on the 680L. lemme go find it i made a post about it over at XS

EDIT: its International Rectifier - ChIL - CHL8318

Also, the VR mod points on a ref 680 are different than the "built in" mod points of the DC2, at least thats what i thought


----------



## FtW 420

yep, chl8318 controller. Good thing I stripped it anyway, enough TIM for 3 gpus, & one of the memory pads missed it's mark.
Looking at the datasheet, kinda looks like the lightning would also be VID modding, not really sure since these chil ICs confuse the crap out of me...


----------



## nyrmala

Hi guys,

I'm a newbbie on this website and i'm looking for some advice. Till yesterday, i had an Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II TOP but she wasn't running as good as she should. In Skyrim i had massive framerate's drop from 60 to 35 - 38. Same thing in BF3 everything is running fine till boum 38 fps then the second after that 60 again...

Anyway i saw a lot of bad comments about it on this website so i decided to send it back (still in 7 days of retractation).

And that's the point, now i'm looking for something else, something to run perfectly my games. Guys, is the MSI lightening a good choice, not specially for benchmarking, but really for gaming and perf ?
Or should i look for something else ?

Thx and would you excuse my language mistake (French noob inside ^^)


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> Hi guys,
> I'm a newbbie on this website and i'm looking for some advice. Till yesterday, i had an Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II TOP but she wasn't running as good as she should. In Skyrim i had massive framerate's drop from 60 to 35 - 38. Same thing in BF3 everything is running fine till boum 38 fps then the second after that 60 again...
> Anyway i saw a lot of bad comments about it on this website so i decided to send it back (still in 7 days of retractation).
> And that's the point, now i'm looking for something else, something to run perfectly my games. Guys, is the MSI lightening a good choice, not specially for benchmarking, but really for gaming and perf ?
> Or should i look for something else ?
> Thx and would you excuse my language mistake (French noob inside ^^)


Any info yet on 4gb version, waterblock availability, or working voltage control in afterburner? Really starting to get bummed out... Might just keep this gtx 295 another generation after all.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> yep, chl8318 controller. Good thing I stripped it anyway, enough TIM for 3 gpus, & one of the memory pads missed it's mark.
> Looking at the datasheet, kinda looks like the lightning would also be VID modding, not really sure since these chil ICs confuse the crap out of me...


yeah i sent the company a request with my academic email requesting authorization to view the full data sheet, said it was for academic purposes.. they didnt reply yet, and this was a few weeks ago..
the full datasheet will have all the VID codes listed in it.. the restricted one i found didnt have them


----------



## nyrmala

Does anyone have any issue with this MSI ?

Should i buy it ? I'm looking for something to run my game in ultra with, at less, 60fps and without drops to 38fps like my new-ex Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II TOP...
Any Advice would be nice guys.

Thx


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> Does anyone have any issue with this MSI ?
> Should i buy it ? I'm looking for something to run my game in ultra with, at less, 60fps and without drops to 38fps like my new-ex Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II TOP...
> Any Advice would be nice guys.
> Thx


This card will play _anything_ at 60fps, and it's pretty damn silent too. If you have the money to spend, I would definitely recommend it. But if you don't plan on overclocking it, then you're paying the price premium for little benefit. I think some SuperClock versions have a stock boost near 1200mhz and are probably cheaper.


----------



## Menthol

FPS depends on a lot of variables, what resolution, what game. If one card isn't enough, sli could be your answer. don't expect going from a 670 to 680 to cure all your wows


----------



## Valenz

I really hope they get this voltage control issue worked out or compensate people who bought it for that reason (slim chance). Mine should arrive today or tomorrow and I am not going to send it back either way as I will be happy with the performance. I was really looking into getting the 680 classified but IMO EVGA is going in the wrong direction as of late. They use to have great perks and now you have to pay for them all and the lifetime warranty is out of the window for these new cards. I also didn't want to drop 750.00 + dollars on a single card with no back plate & 55& max fan speed that's just plain crazy.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> Does anyone have any issue with this MSI ?
> Should i buy it ? I'm looking for something to run my game in ultra with, at less, 60fps and without drops to 38fps like my new-ex Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II TOP...
> Any Advice would be nice guys.
> Thx


670 and 680 are damn near identical in most games.

Stock vs Non-Reference design doesn't really change a whole lot. Bit of clock speed, perhaps some more ram in some instances, quieter fans, but that's about it.

Asus DCII TOP vs MSI Lightning is pretty much identical until you get into overclocking. Even then, the TOP actually has better overclocking at the moment due to easier hard modding. _hopefully_ that will all change with a new afterburner release, which will unlock the lightning and blow everything else out of the water when overclocking, but that hasn't come yet.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> I really hope they get this voltage control issue worked out or compensate people who bought it for that reason (slim chance). Mine should arrive today or tomorrow and I am not going to send it back either way as I will be happy with the performance. I was really looking into getting the 680 classified but IMO EVGA is going in the wrong direction as of late. They use to have great perks and now you have to pay for them all and the lifetime warranty is out of the window for these new cards. I also didn't want to drop 750.00 + dollars on a single card with no back plate & 55& max fan speed that's just plain crazy.


100% agreed... well maybe 90%. Evga never really had anything great going on. Most innovative thing they ever did was overpriced back plates. It was ok though cause in general their stuff was decent and well priced with a good warranty. Now it's just silly.


----------



## Bosniac

I had two different 670's and 680's at one time, and did some benchmarking. They are not nearly identical. Clock for clock the 680 was faster by 3-7fps in the same scenario/games. A 1200MHz 680 was slightly faster than a 1300MHz 670 or even. Now we can debate whether that may be worth an extra $100+, but, no, it's not identical. I've done these benchmarks myself with 4 cards, and it's been consistent .


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I had two different 670's and 680's at one time, and did some benchmarking. They are not nearly identical. Clock for clock the 680 was faster by 3-7fps in the same scenario/games. A 1200MHz 680 was slightly faster than a 1300MHz 670 or even. Now we can debate whether that may be worth an extra $100+, but, no, it's not identical. I've done these benchmarks myself with 4 cards, and it's been consistent .


I agree as a former owner of two different 670's myself.


----------



## nyrmala

Yeah but there was something wrong with this Asus 670 direct cu II top. My framerate was dropping from 60 to 38 on BF3 and Skyrim. On Unigine Heaven 3,0 full ultra my score was 1155 but still unexplicable framerate ingame. Paying 470 euros (500 dollars more or less) and not being able to run those game in ultra is a joke isn't it ?

So, on bf3 and skyrim, i disabled AA, which is supposed to be heavy for the card ==> Still no change, 60 to 38 fps in riverwood (skyrim) or gulf of Oman (bf3).
I decided to sent it back, and now i'm looking for a new one a fastest and powerfull one => a 680 with a stable OC

My specs :

Amd Phenom x6 1090T 3,8Ghz
Asus crosshair formula IV
SSD crucial M4 128Go
16Go Ram Gskill
Waterblock Corsair H50
Cooler master HAF X (the case)

So Far i had an ATI HD 5970 but ATI's drivers made me sick so i changed for Nvidia... Was it a mistake with my specs ?

Sorry if my english sucks


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> Does anyone have any issue with this MSI ?
> Should i buy it ? I'm looking for something to run my game in ultra with, at less, 60fps and without drops to 38fps like my new-ex Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II TOP...
> Any Advice would be nice guys.
> Thx


as an overclocker, i would buy it just because the GPUs seem to be binned pretty well (for the most part). add in the fact that i believe we will be getting voltage control sometime in the near future, and youve got a winning recipe.

then again i guess you could just get the 670 PE


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> then again i guess you could just get the 670 PE


OC'd and 100% stable at 1300 MHz Boost clock, my 670 PE out performs the 680 Lightning at its factory default OC (at least in Unigine). That said, i'm out of headroom. Once you guys start to turn up the clocks on your 680 lightnings, i obviously get left behind. But, for $420 the PE is delivering $600 performance.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> OC'd and 100% stable at 1300 MHz Boost clock, my 670 PE out performs the 680 Lightning at its factory default OC (at least in Unigine). That said, i'm out of headroom. Once you guys start to turn up the clocks on your 680 lightnings, i obviously get left behind. But, for $420 the PE is delivering $600 performance.


do you own a lightning as well? i thought you did...


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> do you own a lightning as well? i thought you did...


no i do not.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> no i do not.


Your Heaven score is 55.4fp/s at max settings at 1300Mhz?


----------



## nyrmala

All i ask is a card which is able to run new games in ultra without falling under 50 fps in every situation... For 600 $ is it too much asking ?

I'm starting to regret my asus matrix gtx 580 on my other computer...


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Your Heaven score is 55.4fp/s at max settings at 1300Mhz?


no,
my max stable OC registers 52.6 fps (Boost Core: 1316 MHz, Memory 7406 MHz)
the OC i run 24/7 registers 51.5 fps (Boost Core: 1300 MHz, Memory 7204 MHz)

You were involved in this same conversation a few days ago... refer to page 6 of this thread where you indicated your Lightning pushed 49.6 fps stock.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> no,
> my max stable OC registers 52.6 fps
> the OC i run 24/7 registers 51.5 fps


I see. Still, equal scores in Heaven=/Equal performance elsewhere. Same thing goes for 3DMark11. 7970 tanks in 3DMark, but performs quite well. But we know by now what the 670 is capable of. If you want to compare, I posted some AC, Metro 2033, Dirt 3, JC2 benchmarks. I would love it if you could submit yours (if possible).


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> If you want to compare, I posted some AC, Metro 2033, Dirt 3, JC2 benchmarks. I would love it if you could submit yours (if possible).


Yea, i saw your gaming benchmark post. It was very thorough. I unfortunately do not have any of those games








Crysis 1 is my go to benchmark. But i have been meaning to purchase Metro 2033.


----------



## Zero4549

I said _nearly_ identical. 3 FPS is not going to be a world changing difference. The guy is complaining about dips down into the 30s. moving from a 670 to a 680 won't fix that. Whatever the bottleneck is, it will still exist with a 3fps boost at best.


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> I said _nearly_ identical. 3 FPS is not going to be a world changing difference. The guy is complaining about dips down into the 30s. moving from a 670 to a 680 won't fix that. Whatever the bottleneck is, it will still exist with a 3fps boost at best.


agreed. Either his GPU was defective, or there is some conflict in his system?... perhaps virus protection?


----------



## samoth777

hi guys, im planning on selling my 680 dc2 top when the 680 lightning becomes available here. my only worry is whether the clocks on the 680 lightning will be better than the directcu 680 i will sell. it maxes out at around 1270mhz. so far, i noticed the from 680 lightning users taht the lowest clocks of the lightning is around 1300mhz. im wonder what are the chances of me getting a poor lightning chip? it would be a shame for me to sell my dc2 only to get a lightning that does worse than 1270.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Well, my card is on it's way back to Newegg for a replacement. Question for everyone, are you able to wiggle the fan shroud? Mine seemed like it wasn't attached to the pcb very well. I know my DCII didn't wiggle at all.


----------



## nyrmala

Nop just using windows defender on this pc...

I don't know what could be the bottleneck. I hope it was the GPU but it was running well on Unigine Heaven 3.0 ==> 1155 score in full Ultra. I'm disappointed.
I think i will ship the msi and if the issue is still there, reinstall windows and everything else


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> hi guys, im planning on selling my 680 dc2 top when the 680 lightning becomes available here. my only worry is whether the clocks on the 680 lightning will be better than the directcu 680 i will sell. it maxes out at around 1270mhz. so far, i noticed the from 680 lightning users taht the lowest clocks of the lightning is around 1300mhz. im wonder what are the chances of me getting a poor lightning chip? it would be a shame for me to sell my dc2 only to get a lightning that does worse than 1270.


My Top got 1299 and my busted Lightning got 1272 with LN2 enabled but it seems that most of the Lightnings perform better.


----------



## samoth777

oh man i cant decide whether its worth it


----------



## Rolfenstein

I just got the Lightning. However, if I clock it above default setting on the LN2 bios anything that requires any GPU power crashes my computer. *** is wrong? I clocked my 690 to almost 1200 without the slightest problem but the Lightning just doesnt do **** :|.


----------



## Valenz

Sounds like you might have to RMA it. How does it react to an overclock on the other bios?
It could also be your PSU .


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> I just got the Lightning. However, if I clock it above default setting on the LN2 bios anything that requires any GPU power crashes my computer. *** is wrong? I clocked my 690 to almost 1200 without the slightest problem but the Lightning just doesnt do **** :|.


L2N runs 1202MHz out of the box. How is your regular BIOS?


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> I just got the Lightning. However, if I clock it above default setting on the LN2 bios anything that requires any GPU power crashes my computer. *** is wrong? I clocked my 690 to almost 1200 without the slightest problem but the Lightning just doesnt do **** :|.


Same thing would happen to my system whenever I tried to OC past 1272. I would get a hard crash instead of a driver crash. I tried all three of the most current Nvidia drivers but all crashed at the same point. Hopefully my replacement doesn't do the same thing.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> I just got the Lightning. However, if I clock it above default setting on the LN2 bios anything that requires any GPU power crashes my computer. *** is wrong? I clocked my 690 to almost 1200 without the slightest problem but the Lightning just doesnt do **** :|.


i dunno.. that sounds a little weird.. its not like the card doesnt work ... it just wont OC ...
I would try reinstalling drivers, maybe the beta ones... completely uninstall your current drivers through control panel add/remove programs and device manager, then reboot, then install new drivers. is your directX up to date?


----------



## nyrmala

I was wondering... I've an Asus Crosshair formula IV motherboard.
AMD platform and supports Ati as well in crossfire X as in mono GPU but Nvidia GPU only in single.
Maybe it's a compatibilty issue ? Maybe it would run better with an ati rather than a Nvidia one ?


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> I was wondering... I've an Asus Crosshair formula IV motherboard.
> AMD platform and supports Ati as well in crossfire X as in mono GPU but Nvidia GPU only in single.
> Maybe it's a compatibilty issue ? Maybe it would run better with an ati rather than a Nvidia one ?


i'm using an Asus TUF motherboard which is geared towards AMD/Crossfire... but my N670 runs great on it.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> L2N runs 1202MHz out of the box. How is your regular BIOS?


I managed to clock the regular BIOS setting to 1266 stable on Unigine. No memory clock whatsoever.

My PSU is Corsair AX850W so its not that, as it clocks the 690 just fine.


----------



## nyrmala

Have you ever updated the BIOS since you bought the motherboard ?
Cause i've not. Should I flash it ?


----------



## Rolfenstein

LN2 bios will OC to just above 1200MHz with no memory clock whatsoever. This is pathetic.. Oh and without Afterburner it downclocks itself to reference 680 settings. It says default clock 1202 (boost 1059, ***) and real GPU clock is 1006 (boost 1059).


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> Have you ever updated the BIOS since you bought the motherboard ?
> Cause i've not. Should I flash it ?


It may be that the L2N bios is corrupted.


----------



## nyrmala

What does L2N BIOS mean ? (sorry i really don't know that ^^)

Edit : L2N for Lightning ?


----------



## CalinTM

LN2 is a special bios made by MSI and it really overclocks the lightning card, it increases the voltage that you put into the gpu and the power limit.


----------



## nyrmala

Alright but i got my issues on an ASUS gtx 670 Direct CU II TOP and i sent it back in RMA.
So i came here to ask if the msi was a good choice for replacement and if my issues could come from an oldest version of my motherboard BIOS or something else : )


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> Alright but i got my issues on an ASUS gtx 670 Direct CU II TOP and i sent it back in RMA.
> So i came here to ask if the msi was a good choice for replacement and if my issues could come from an oldest version of my motherboard BIOS or something else : )


MSi Lightning 680 is the best 680 IMO. It is by far the coolest running, and highest OC capable cards.


----------



## CalinTM

The lightning will be the best implementation for 680, i don't think a better implementation will come in the future.Has all the things you need, gpu reactor chip,bios switch, inteligent fans, very nice temperature, the looks, unlocked voltage, LED's, voltage checks, top quality pcb components(even better than DirectCU II's), many phases, etc.









So you pay some extra bucks but it's worth it. In my opinion this lightning looks and has most of goodies compared with 580 lightning and 6970 from AMD.


----------



## exploiteddna

you should always try to update your bios


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> MSi Lightning 680 is the best 680 IMO. It is by far the coolest running, and highest OC capable cards.


I dont doubt its the best OC capable GTX 680 but im willing to bet its not as cool as my Asus Direct 2 GTX 680. This thing is crazy, I have the fan locked at a silent 40% fan speed and my load temps after hours of heavy gaming are in the high 40's.

Thats at 1264mhz core and 500+ on the mem.


----------



## Cool Mike

Sorry to say, I am returning my GTX680 Lightning due to no software support for core and Memory voltage adjustments. As we all know, MSI advertises this extensively. I purchased the lightning in part on this ability. As indicated here, we have concerns if the software (Afterburner 2.2.3) will become available at all.

After reading through a few reviews I just purchased Two (2) MSI 7870 Hawks. Hardware wise, they have the same high quality custom designed PCB and components. These are the badboys of 7870's. People are hitting 1300-1400 Core and has core and memory voltage adjustment. Staying with MSI, great product. If alright with you guys I can post benchmarks here. If not, I will post them on another thread.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> I dont doubt its the best OC capable GTX 680 but im willing to bet its not as cool as my Asus Direct 2 GTX 680. This thing is crazy, I have the fan locked at a silent 40% fan speed and my load temps after hours of heavy gaming are in the high 40's.
> Thats at 1264mhz core and 500+ on the mem.


High 40's, eh? That's fantastic. I haven't seen many go under 60c tbh.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> High 40's, eh? That's fantastic. I haven't seen many go under 60c tbh.


Yep and thats just at 40% fan speed to boot. Just got done playing bf3 and checked temps at 48c. Keep in mind the cooler on this card is pretty massive though but it works really well.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> Sorry to say, I am returning my GTX680 Lightning due to no software support for core and Memory voltage adjustments. As we all know, MSI advertises this extensively. I purchased the lightning in part on this ability. As indicated here, we have concerns if the software (Afterburner 2.2.3) will become available at all.
> After reading through a few reviews I just purchased Two (2) MSI 7870 Hawks. Hardware wise, they have the same high quality custom designed PCB and components. These are the badboys of 7870's. People are hitting 1300-1400 Core and has core and memory voltage adjustment. Staying with MSI, great product. If alright with you guys I can post benchmarks here. If not, I will post them on another thread.


I just checked newegg.com out of curiosity and those cards are 339.99. HD 7950's are not much more than that and should give much better performance.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127667

Edit-
HD 7950's are also 339.99. I seriously hope you didnt pay the same price for the 7870 hawk when you could get 2 7950's for the same price and run circles around the 7870's.


----------



## Bosniac

I just wrote this email to corporate. I'll keep you updated.
Quote:


> To whom it may concern,
> 
> Hello, my name is ***** ****** and I've been a loyal MSi customer for years. Opting to buy computer components selectively on the best possible performance or value. Recently, I have purchased your product that I acquired information from your website. Namely the MSi GTX 680 2GB Lightning. Seen here: http://us.msi.com/product/vga/N680GTX-Lightning.html
> 
> This card is unique, according to you, MSi, for having "Triple Overvoltage" and "Unlocked Digital Power" overclocking.
> 
> Well, as it turns out that, that is not the case. Not only does it not allow full unlocked voltage control, neither the memory voltage, or auxiliary overclocking is available using the LATEST MSi Afterburner software (2.2.2).
> 
> So, why was I led to believe that a product you advertised, and still continue to do so, had features it does not possess? Not only on your website, but on the actual packaging itself? Not to mention vendors selling your product.
> 
> I paid an extra premium over your competitors similar product, (MSRP $499 vs $599), yet receive equal, or less of a performance relative to price paid!?
> 
> The response that I have received from MSi technical support on this was alarming:
> 
> "Those features are not yet available. We are working on the newest MSi Afterburner to support Triple Overvoltage on the Lightning GTX680, and GTX670 Power Edition"
> 
> That was exactly the response I received.
> So the features were advertised before they were implemented? That is false advertising and a deceptive practice on part of MSi.
> 
> I am hereby informing you that I am demanding a full refund for the product from the vendor I purchased it from, or equal compensation for the product.
> 
> I am not the only one that is rather furious about this. If you were to visit some of the most popular forums, blogs and sites, you'll see the same outrage from your customers.
> 
> I would take this matter seriously.
> 
> I thank you for continuing to make great products available, because I know you make high grade components, having been a customer for over 10 years. But I cannot continue, nor recommended to support your company at this time.
> 
> Thank you, sincerely
> ***** ******


----------



## CalinTM

And do you think a MSI employee, who takes decisions to MSI will answer your mail ? Don't get me wrong, but is a very high change to get a boring reply from a standard employee, who hasn't the ability to answer for real to your question.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> I dont doubt its the best OC capable GTX 680 but im willing to bet its not as cool as my Asus Direct 2 GTX 680. This thing is crazy, I have the fan locked at a silent 40% fan speed and my load temps after hours of heavy gaming are in the high 40's.
> Thats at 1264mhz core and 500+ on the mem.


Things to consider when determining how effective a cooler is: Shroud density, fan speed, and size. The DC2 is 3 slot so it wins on size however the fan RPM is much, much slower. At maximum settings the TF4 cools better, and yes I have used DC2 products. While the DC2 is a great cooler, the key point here is that the fans run signifigantly slower at their maximum setting - the TF4 is designed to scale with temperatures and if you set it at 100% fan speed the fans (3 of them) run at 4300rpm. That is nearly twice what the DC2 runs at, and the DC2 is double fan.

So to summarize:

DC2 - 3 slot, 2 fans, low fan RPM.
TF4 - 2 slot, 3 fans, extremely high fan RPM.

Cooling performance doesn't have subjectivity, you can easily determine the effectiveness by the specs and design. I have little doubt looking at specs alone that the TF4 is capable of better tempreatures IF you set it at high manual fan settings. The TF4 absolutely will cool better at 100% than the DC2 cools at 100%, from an engineering standpoint.

Aside from that, there are people who want to RMA over principle and while that is their right- I could see doing that when your sponsorship for HWBot scores depends on it, or if your paycheck depends on it. Different strokes for different folks perhaps, their right though. I would love to purchase some of these 1380+ mhz lightnings though, hit me up if you're pissed off about no voltage yet hit 1380+ mhz. I know people who will be glad to rid you of your first world problem







. This is just my opinion of course, I am in no way absolving MSI of advertising these features without implementing them. They are definitely 100% in the wrong on this. I guess I just don't care though because I just play games for the most part, and the MSI lightning already does 1.27V on bios 2 which is perhaps overlooked by everyone here.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> And do you think a MSI employee, who takes decisions to MSI will answer your mail ? Don't get me wrong, but is a very high change to get a boring reply from a standard employee, who hasn't the ability to answer for real to your question.


I've sent this to a few "upper level" heads as well. And, no, I am not naive. I am actually quite serious.


----------



## CalinTM

Ok, i hope you will have your answer !


----------



## Eustia

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> First off, do you live in an oven? Those temps are WAY too high for this card. Is your case well vented? Second, your scores are quite a bit lower. We had several people here baseline the card around 49-50fps stock. Up to 56fps when OC'd. Is 1302MHz the maximum stable OC?
> Try turning off PC, re-seating the card back into the slot, or try the PCI-E 2.0 slot. Install newest BETA drivers.


I tired all of these (change slot, set pci-e 2.0, using newest beta, reflash R4E BIOS to the latest 1404 ver), but I am still 10% lower than everyone's score (Heaven Extreme stock at 46.2 fps) at the same setting.....


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*
> 
> I tired all of these (change slot, set pci-e 2.0, using newest beta, reflash R4E BIOS to the latest 1404 ver), but I am still 10% lower than everyone's score (Heaven Extreme stock at 46.2 fps) at the same setting.....


RMA it. Sorry to say it. Unless someone else has a better idea.


----------



## xoleras

Which card are you going for next bosniac? What happened to the other cards again, did they not overclock high enough for you? Just curious


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I've sent this to a few "upper level" heads as well. And, no, I am not naive. I am actually quite serious.


I hope we get some sort of response. Just acknowledgement of the issue would be nice. I PM'd Alex on here but no response at all. Hes been on since the PM was sent. I understand the possibility that he is very busy or on vacation though. Hopefully we learn something soon.

I honestly bought the card for voltage control and the 2 slot cooler (previous card was a Asus TOP 680). I know it doesnt matter for gaming and I could give a **** about benchmarks. I just really like tweaking and playing with my cards especially since it will be going under water soon voltage would be nice. Idk Im just disappointed. From the way is sounds no Lighting has actually been over 1.2XX volts so we are not even sure if its possible especially with the way Unwinder sounded in his post.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I just wrote this email to corporate. I'll keep you updated.
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> To whom it may concern,
> Hello, my name is ***** ****** and I've been a loyal MSi customer for years. Opting to buy computer components selectively on the best possible performance or value. Recently, I have purchased your product that I acquired information from your website. Namely the MSi GTX 680 2GB Lightning. Seen here: http://us.msi.com/product/vga/N680GTX-Lightning.html
> This card is unique, according to you, MSi, for having "Triple Overvoltage" and "Unlocked Digital Power" overclocking.
> Well, as it turns out that, that is not the case. Not only does it not allow full unlocked voltage control, neither the memory voltage, or auxiliary overclocking is available using the LATEST MSi Afterburner software (2.2.2).
> So, why was I led to believe that a product you advertised, and still continue to do so, had features it does not possess? Not only on your website, but on the actual packaging itself? Not to mention vendors selling your product.
> I paid an extra premium over your competitors similar product, (MSRP $499 vs $599), yet receive equal, or less of a performance relative to price paid!?
> The response that I have received from MSi technical support on this was alarming:
> "Those features are not yet available. We are working on the newest MSi Afterburner to support Triple Overvoltage on the Lightning GTX680, and GTX670 Power Edition"
> That was exactly the response I received.
> So the features were advertised before they were implemented? That is false advertising and a deceptive practice on part of MSi.
> I am hereby informing you that I am demanding a full refund for the product from the vendor I purchased it from, or equal compensation for the product.
> I am not the only one that is rather furious about this. If you were to visit some of the most popular forums, blogs and sites, you'll see the same outrage from your customers.
> I would take this matter seriously.
> I thank you for continuing to make great products available, because I know you make high grade components, having been a customer for over 10 years. But I cannot continue, nor recommended to support your company at this time.
> Thank you, sincerely
> ***** ******
Click to expand...

I hope they will do something soon, I bought my PE just because of that feature. It would be a shame if it ends up we can't ov that card at all, even if it were advertised. That makes me wonder if I should've gone with asus this year...


----------



## Cool Mike

Thanks for asking. I did purchase from Newegg. I thought about the 7950 VS. 7870 long and hard. The problem for me was MSI doesnt make a 7950 Hawk. The 7870 hawk recieves high praise for high overclocking on memory and core also has the LN2 mode, reverse fans to help with dust, very much like the lightning series. Also uses the same high quality component as the lightning. One review had the overclocked 7870 hawk benchmarking 3Dmark11 very close to the overclocked 7950. One 3dmark11 Bench had the hawk at over P9000. The 7950's in the same price range didnt have the highend hardware(components) and cooling I was wanting. I hope it works out for me.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Which card are you going for next bosniac? What happened to the other cards again, *did they not overclock high enough for you*? Just curious


Don't be silly.

I bought a GB ref 680 originally. And I put it on sale shortyly after the 670 came out, and I bought the 670 just as I sold the 680 on ebay. And the fan died on the 680 the day I was supposed to ship the card. I had to contact the buyer to inform him of a defect, and RMA the 680. I sold the GB 670 to a friend at this point, since I was getting my card back. GB sent me a brand new replacement Windforce 680, I sold it for $530, and bought the Galaxy SOC. Super fast card,I was really impressed. Crashes, driver error when stock boost, etc. I RMA that, Newegg didn't have it in stock, so I waited until it was available. I get the new card, and it's my same card, yep, the card I bought new was my old RMA'd card. I go into fury mode. Called Newegg, anand I had management involved. For my troubles I received $75 in store credit. And bought the MSi Lightning.

What next? Don't know. I think I'll save some money, and get a slower 670. I was looking at the Zotac 670 AMP. that has a decent OC, and a 5 year warranty. I am not really concerned with core clocks, at this point. Maybe I'll just reinstall my GTX 295-COOP, and wait for GTX780.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Things to consider when determining how effective a cooler is: Shroud density, fan speed, and size. The DC2 is 3 slot so it wins on size however the fan RPM is much, much slower. At maximum settings the TF4 cools better, and yes I have used DC2 products. While the DC2 is a great cooler, the key point here is that the fans run signifigantly slower at their maximum setting - the TF4 is designed to scale with temperatures and if you set it at 100% fan speed the fans (3 of them) run at 4300rpm. That is nearly twice what the DC2 runs at, and the DC2 is double fan.
> So to summarize:
> DC2 - 3 slot, 2 fans, low fan RPM.
> TF4 - 2 slot, 3 fans, extremely high fan RPM.
> Cooling performance doesn't have subjectivity, you can easily determine the effectiveness by the specs and design. I have little doubt looking at specs alone that the TF4 is capable of better tempreatures IF you set it at high manual fan settings. The TF4 absolutely will cool better at 100% than the DC2 cools at 100%, from an engineering standpoint.
> Aside from that, there are people who want to RMA over principle and while that is their right- I could see doing that when your sponsorship for HWBot scores depends on it, or if your paycheck depends on it. Different strokes for different folks perhaps, their right though. I would love to purchase some of these 1380+ mhz lightnings though, hit me up if you're pissed off about no voltage yet hit 1380+ mhz. I know people who will be glad to rid you of your first world problem
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . This is just my opinion of course, I am in no way absolving MSI of advertising these features without implementing them. They are definitely 100% in the wrong on this. I guess I just don't care though because I just play games for the most part, and the MSI lightning already does 1.27V on bios 2 which is perhaps overlooked by everyone here.


I will pit this cooler against the TF4 any day of the week and not only will mine be quieter but it will also keep the core far cooler even with both operating at 100% fan speed. No doubt the TF4 is a good cooler but its outclassed in temps and noise levels by the DC2.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I would love to purchase some of these 1380+ mhz lightnings though, hit me up if you're pissed off about no voltage yet hit 1380+ mhz. I know people who will be glad to rid you of your first world problem
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . This is just my opinion of course, I am in no way absolving MSI of advertising these features without implementing them. They are definitely 100% in the wrong on this. I guess I just don't care though because I just play games for the most part, and the MSI lightning already does 1.27V on bios 2 which is perhaps overlooked by everyone here.


That I absolutely agree with.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> I will pit this cooler against the TF4 any day of the week and not only will mine be quieter but it will also keep the core far cooler even with both operating at 100% fan speed. No doubt the TF4 is a good cooler but its outclassed in temps and noise levels by the DC2.


You're going a bit overboard there IMHO.. The fans on the TF4 run twice as fast and there are 3 fans on the TF4 versus 2 on the DC2.

Again, cooling all boils down to density, fan speed, and design. The DC2 wins on density but loses considerably in every other respect. I'm not saying the DC2 is bad but your statement again, seems outlandish. Especially when you say "outclassed" which is simply not true. If anything since the fans on the TF4 can run up to 4300rpm, it would easily win with all other factors equal (ambient temps, etc)

*Please don't take this as me saying the DC2 is bad, it definitely isn't. However from an engineering standpoint the TF4 should win, and they should be close to each other performance wise. There is no "outclassed" here, period. The other factor is that the DC2 is horrible for SLI since it is 3 slot.....most motherboards with 2 of those in SLI would have both cards physically touching each other. That is awful for obvious reasons.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> That just seems silly IMHO. The fans on the TF4 run twice as fast and there are 3 fans on the TF4 versus 2 on the DC2.
> Again, cooling all boils down to density, fan speed, and design. The DC2 wins on density but loses considerably in every other respect. I'm not saying the DC2 is bad but your statement again, seems outlandish. Especially when you say "outclassed" which is simply not true. If anything since the fans on the TF4 can run up to 4300rpm, it would easily win with all other factors equal (ambient temps, etc)


I tell you what, anyone here with a lightning willing to do some comparisons just let me know, im all for it regardless of how silly you may think it sounds and im willing to bet the DC2 will give the better results. We can debate the semantics all night long but that will get us no where.


----------



## xoleras

duplicate


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> I tell you what, anyone here with a lightning willing to do some comparisons just let me know, im all for it regardless of how silly you may think it sounds im willing to bet the DC2 will give the better results.


Such a comparison would be futile since controlled factors would be radically different. The only way to test is in the same PC, with the same case, with the same ambient temps. You seem to be going overboard with these statements , when you're stating that the TF4 is "outclassed". It is a great cooler from an engineering standpoint. They are both good coolers.

At 70% fan speed I can run at 1.27V 1385MHz and not go above 60C. Such comparisons to the DC2 don't matter unless other factors are the same, as I mentioned earlier....your DC2 would not be directly comparable becuase you have a different case, have different ambient temps, etc. You see where i'm going with this.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> there are 3 fans on the TF4 versus 2 on the DC2.


_Sorry for my newbish question but_, where is the third fan on TF4 ?
Mine has 2 and I can't find any twin frozr with 3 fans on google...


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> _Sorry for my newbish question but_, where is the third fan on TF4 ?
> Mine has 2 and I can't find any twin frozr with 3 fans on google...


Wow. I suck. 2 fans, brain slip.


----------



## hammerforged

I've had both

TF4 wins

Both in the exact same PC. The DC2 is quieter overall but as far as overall heat displacement capabilities the TF4 wins.

The biggest issue here is that Asus didnt even put a damn heatsink over the memory or other vital PCB components. Only a VRM heatsink. What a joke. Also 2 of the 5 heat pipes dont even touch the core!!!



These companies need to stop rushing non ref designs out. Take your time and build it right the first time.

DC2 is still an amazing card, no doubt about. I just hate when companies take short cuts on such a high end product. The rest of that card was amazing but to leave that stuff out is just ridiculous.


----------



## Xnerdz

LOL xoleras seam to have done the same mistakes
Quote:


> DC2 - 3 slot, 2 fans, low fan RPM.
> TF4 - 2 slot, *3 fans*, extremely high fan RPM.


Glad I'm not crazy then

Oh lol, My brainslip now... you are xoleras


----------



## xoleras

I agree that the DC2 is an amazing card. I definitely would have purchased 2 of them if they were a double slot design - I really like the DC2 670. If future DC2 products follow that design I would very happy - I have tried SLI with 3 slot coolers in the past and it has always been a disaster because the cards will actually touch each other , leading to bad temps.

Anyway, I hope none of this was interpreted as the DC2 being bad, it definitely is a great cooler.


----------



## RobsM6S

The memory doesnt even run hot in the first place so the need for heatsinks on the mem isnt an issue, if it was then you would had heard many complaints about fried memory chips. No problems with any of the previous gen cards using this cooler either.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Anyway, I hope none of this was interpreted as the DC2 being bad, it definitely is a great cooler.


No im not taking it that way at all but when a cooler can keep my temps in the high 40s with a nice overclock and the fan speed set to a silent 40% I think that really says something. I still have yet to hear of such low temps with the lightning 680 which is why it is a big deal to me.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> No im not taking it that way at all but when a cooler can keep my temps in the high 40s with a nice overclock and the fan speed set to a silent 40% I think that really says something. I still have yet to hear of such low temps with the lightning 680 which is why it is a big deal to me.


Temp reader could be off.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*


The highest I can achieve is 1344. .I can't go any higher


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Temp reader could be off.


Lol, I knew someone would say that but no, I doubt thats the case as my Asus GTX 670 Top was nearly just as cool even though the cooler isnt quiet as good as the one on the 680.

At any rate my apologies if it sounds like im bashing on the lightnings, that wasnt my intention at all. The lightning is an awesome card and definently overclocks better.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Lol, I knew someone would say that but no, I doubt thats the case as my Asus GTX 670 Top was nearly just as cool even though the cooler isnt quiet as good as the one on the 680.
> At any rate my apologies if it sounds like im bashing on the lightnings, that wasnt my intention at all. The lightning is an awesome card and definently overclocks better.


I certainly didn't take it that way. It's cool. I wish everyone the best on their cards.


----------



## hammerforged

I wonder if the DC2 was actually designed for a larger graphics core? Say GK110? It was one of the first non-ref cards out.

-Completely off topic I know.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> I wonder if the DC2 was actually designed for a larger graphics core? Say GK110? It was one of the first non-ref cards out.
> -Completely off topic I know.


I thought 480/580 had a larger unit, and they just carried the design over.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I thought 480/580 had a larger unit, and they just carried the design over.


I had a 580 version and the cooler is the same.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> The highest I can achieve is 1344. .I can't go any higher


What is your score at max settings and 1920x1080 in heaven?


----------



## dph314

Guys I need some help big time. Anyone with experience taking cards apart especially.

My one Lightning doesn't work anymore and prevents my computer from POSTing. What happened was I installed my RIVE and 3930k today. The Noctua DOES NOT allow for a Lightning to be placed in the top slot on a Rampage IV Extreme, the Reactor does not clear the Noctua. I was pissed but just decided to remove the Reactor cover and the little square PCB underneath. So I take the backplate off, remove the Reactor attatchment, and put the card back in. Computer won't POST and I think it's my new motherboard or how I hooked it up. Eventually I get into Windows by removing the top card and running off my second card in the 4th PCIe slot.

So is this card dead now? How did I kill it? I tried replacing the chip that was under the Reactor cover, I tried different PCIe slots, different power cables. But the second card that I didn't do anything to works fine and computer starts. The card I took the Reactor off of...computer won't even POST, no screen graphics whatsoever when trying to power on. Please help. Thank you.


----------



## hammerforged

Try switching to the normal bios on each card.

I would say switch the cards around but you dont want to mess something up with the working card.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> Try switching to the normal bios on each card.
> I would say switch the cards around but you dont want to mess something up with the working card.


I switched the cards around and its definitely the card. I know that for a fact now. Not sure what I could have done to it though while just removing a few screws. I even put the Reactor chip back in while trying the card in PCIe Slot 4 and computer still wouldn't turn on.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> What is your score at max settings and 1920x1080 in heaven?


1344 was the absolute max I got with 1297 clock and 3305 mem fully maxed settings,
Anything over would black screen lock me. I was hoping for higher but oh well it will do.

This was my 3dmark
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3869862


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> I've had both
> TF4 wins
> Both in the exact same PC. The DC2 is quieter overall but as far as overall heat displacement capabilities the TF4 wins.
> The biggest issue here is that Asus didnt even put a damn heatsink over the memory or other vital PCB components. Only a VRM heatsink. What a joke. Also 2 of the 5 heat pipes dont even touch the core!!!
> These companies need to stop rushing non ref designs out. Take your time and build it right the first time.
> DC2 is still an amazing card, no doubt about. I just hate when companies take short cuts on such a high end product. The rest of that card was amazing but *to leave that stuff out is just ridiculous*.


couldnt agree more


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> I tell you what, anyone here with a lightning willing to do some comparisons just let me know, im all for it regardless of how silly you may think it sounds and im willing to bet the DC2 will give the better results. We can debate the semantics all night long but that will get us no where.


I wouldn't take that bet, I don't have a 680 dcuII to compare, but did have 580 dcuII & 580 lightning, the triple slot dcuII did cool a bit better.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Guys I need some help big time. Anyone with experience taking cards apart especially.
> My one Lightning doesn't work anymore and prevents my computer from POSTing. What happened was I installed my RIVE and 3930k today. The Noctua DOES NOT allow for a Lightning to be placed in the top slot on a Rampage IV Extreme, the Reactor does not clear the Noctua. I was pissed but just decided to remove the Reactor cover and the little square PCB underneath. So I take the backplate off, remove the Reactor attatchment, and put the card back in. Computer won't POST and I think it's my new motherboard or how I hooked it up. Eventually I get into Windows by removing the top card and running off my second card in the 4th PCIe slot.
> So is this card dead now? How did I kill it? I tried replacing the chip that was under the Reactor cover, I tried different PCIe slots, different power cables. But the second card that I didn't do anything to works fine and computer starts. The card I took the Reactor off of...computer won't even POST, no screen graphics whatsoever when trying to power on. Please help. Thank you.


When you say you took the backplate off, just the gpu reactor cover or the whole backplate? The backplate also tightens on the front plate that cools the mosfets & memory, you would want the backplate left on. The gpu reactor on or off seems to make little difference on air.

Put the 680L on the gd65 last night & tried heaven 3.0, I could not make it work with the gd80, very bizarre.
Stock clocks gave me this, forgot to screen with the clocks but 1202 boosted & 1500 mem.









OCed


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*
> 
> I tired all of these (change slot, set pci-e 2.0, using newest beta, reflash R4E BIOS to the latest 1404 ver), but I am still 10% lower than everyone's score (Heaven Extreme stock at 46.2 fps) at the same setting.....


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> RMA it. Sorry to say it. Unless someone else has a better idea.


you cant ethically RMA a card because your benchmark scores are a little low ***. theres a million reasons your scores could be low. Your card OC's to over 1300 so im missing the point of how this is legitimate for RMA.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> When you say you took the backplate off, just the gpu reactor cover or the whole backplate? The backplate also tightens on the front plate that cools the mosfets & memory, you would want the backplate left on. The gpu reactor on or off seems to make little difference on air.


Had to take off the whole backplate, GPU Reactor cover, and the Reactor itself. There's literally no room under the Noctua for even the backplate to stick up a few mm's. But the backplate or Reactor wouldn't be necessary for the card to even power itself up though would it? I mean temps aside, this dam thing can't even get my computer to POST when it's installed


----------



## Eustia

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> you cant ethically RMA a card because your benchmark scores are a little low ***. theres a million reasons your scores could be low. Your card OC's to over 1300 so im missing the point of how this is legitimate for RMA.


I think I found the problem. The GPU-Z shows a GTX680 Ref core clock, while AB shows another core clock. When I set it to +150 core. shows 1351 at AB, but 1156 at GPU-Z



So, how can I fix this?


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Had to take off the whole backplate, GPU Reactor cover, and the Reactor itself. There's literally no room under the Noctua for even the backplate to stick up a few mm's. But the backplate or Reactor wouldn't be necessary for the card to even power itself up though would it? I mean temps aside, this dam thing can't even get my computer to POST when it's installed


Hopefully the Noctua didnt touch the back of the pcb and short something out


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*
> 
> I think I found the problem. The GPU-Z shows a GTX680 Ref core clock, while AB shows another core clock. When I set it to +150 core. shows 1351 at AB, but 1156 at GPU-Z
> 
> So, how can I fix this?


click on the sensors tab in GPUZ and choose show max for core frequency.. it should match up with your max in AB


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Had to take off the whole backplate, GPU Reactor cover, and the Reactor itself. There's literally no room under the Noctua for even the backplate to stick up a few mm's. But the backplate or Reactor wouldn't be necessary for the card to even power itself up though would it? I mean temps aside, this dam thing can't even get my computer to POST when it's installed


The thermal pads are kinda sticky but not very much, when I stripped my 680L yesterday the frontplate fell off after taking off the bracket screws & backplate, it may not be making good contact over the mosfets or something. I wouldn't think they would overheat before making it to POST though.
As hammerforged said, hopefully there wasn't any contact to short anything.

I'm running with the gpu reactor off right now, that isn't the problem.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> Hopefully the Noctua didnt touch the back of the pcb and short something out


It's not touching, but it would be if the backplate was on. Plus before I put the top Lightning in i put electrical tape around the fan clips of the Noctua. So, I don't know. I'm frustrated/sad/pissed







That was the card that did 1380mhz in 3dMark11 too


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> you cant ethically RMA a card because your benchmark scores are a little low ***. theres a million reasons your scores could be low. Your card OC's to over 1300 so im missing the point of how this is legitimate for RMA.


It's running much slower even at stock speeds, and it's reaching nearly 70c? I'd say something is wrong...


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> It's running much slower even at stock speeds, and it's reaching nearly 70c? I'd say something is wrong...


i guess all im saying is that there are so many variables to consider in terms of low scores and/or elevated temps that it doesnt necessarily have to be a bad card


----------



## DADDYDC650

1080p maxed settings in Heaven benchmark. 1327/7160


----------



## dph314

I used to get 56fps+ in Heaven maxed before my card died
















As if the RIVE+3930k weren't enough, I just ordered a H100. Shame too, because this Noctua was damn awesome while it lasted. But I'm determined to SLI these Lightnings and I do not want to have to do _anything_ with one again as far as removing the Reactor/backplate. I have no idea what happened but the H100 should solve my problem.

Any other members of this thread have nightmares about their credit card killing them for using it so often?


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> 1344 was the absolute max I got with 1297 clock and 3305 mem fully maxed settings,
> Anything over would black screen lock me. I was hoping for higher but oh well it will do.
> This was my 3dmark
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3869862


Are these results for stock or overclocked?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> 1344 was the absolute max I got with 1297 clock and 3305 mem fully maxed settings,
> Anything over would black screen lock me. I was hoping for higher but oh well it will do.
> This was my 3dmark
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3869862


Looking at the link shows HT is disabled, enable for better physics/combined score, should bring up the overall a little bit.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> 1080p maxed settings in Heaven benchmark. 1327/7160


very nice my friend! welcome to the club


----------



## nyrmala

I saw something interesting about Crossfire of 2 Msi 7870 Hawk.
What would be the perf of a such thing ? Better than the 680 lightening as for you ?


----------



## exploiteddna

to me its analogous to investing in two gtx560 instead of a gtx580, for example


----------



## nyrmala

Yeah but my motherboard supports only Xfire.

But in my shoes would you purchase the 680 lightning or the Xfire of 7870 hawk ?


----------



## exploiteddna

of course i would buy the 680L, then try to keep patient while we wait for voltage control
if i had to go AMD, i would probably get myself the 7970L


----------



## nyrmala

Thx for your help dude.

If i still have the same issue i had with the Assus DCII TOP what sould i do ?
Update my BIOS, Reinstall windows, Reap my hurt and eat it ?


----------



## exploiteddna

you dont know until you try. if when you try you come into a similar issue, then you try your best to troubleshoot it. i think if you do have the same issue id start testing each and every component of your system. update bios, ssd firmwares, etc. Its hard to speculate on what things to do until you can actually test them against the problem.. a problem that doesnt yet exist (with the 680L to be)


----------



## nyrmala

Thx for your help. I will receive the 680Lightning the next week.
In case of trouble i will do that. Update every component and at last reinstall the OS properly.


----------



## Eustia

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i guess all im saying is that there are so many variables to consider in terms of low scores and/or elevated temps that it doesnt necessarily have to be a bad card


I'm going to change new SSD and reinstall OS. Hope this will help..


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Are these results for stock or overclocked?


Yes,

I squeezed out 1377 this morning
With a clock of 1292!! If I go 95-105 I get a black screen at the end of the bench for some reason.
105+ and it crashes on 2/26.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Looking at the link shows HT is disabled, enable for better physics/combined score, should bring up the overall a little bit.


thank you , I will try it tonight after work.!!


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Yes,
> I squeezed out 1377 this morning
> With a clock of 1292!! If I go 95-105 I get a black screen at the end of the bench for some reason.
> 105+ and it crashes on 2/26.


You get a black screen because it is not stable. That's a hard crash. I would lower it by 10-15MHz, and try again.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> Yeah but my motherboard supports only Xfire.
> But in my shoes would you purchase the 680 lightning or the Xfire of 7870 hawk ?


If you can find the 7870 for 290$ you could make a case for it, doesn't seem like a bad buy at all. I really think the 7970 at 430$ is a great buy as well, but if you want the best 680s they cost 530$+


----------



## nyrmala

I'm looking for the best perf. with 650$ - 700$ => The 680 Lightning costs 599euros in France...
I just wanna play my games in Ultra without framerate drop


----------



## Newbie2009

Has the voltage unlock happened yet?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Newbie2009*
> 
> Has the voltage unlock happened yet?


No, probably won't neither.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> You get a black screen because it is not stable. That's a hard crash. I would lower it by 10-15MHz, and try again.


I got it stable on multiple runs now at +90 core and +500 mem , anything over will crash my system.
I wonder if switching to pci3.0 would make any difference in benching .


----------



## Hiemi

Purchased my Lightning about 3 days ago... Great Forum Awesome Card.


----------



## nyrmala

Just Awesome ^^


----------



## MrMarauder

In reference to the DCII cooler, back when I was ordering my GTX 580 Lightnings, I was doing research on the coolest 580's on the market, and many times the I read the TFIII ran cooler than the DCII. This was the consensus from several review sites, as well as personal experience from the owners.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> In reference to the DCII cooler, back when I was ordering my GTX 580 Lightnings, I was doing research on the coolest 580's on the market, and many times the I read the TFIII ran cooler than the DCII. This was the consensus from several review sites, as well as personal experience from the owners.


Not in my personal findings, I previously owned a 3gb 580 lightning as well as an Asus Dc2 580. The lightning cooled no where near as good as the DC2 plus it was louder.


----------



## Hiemi

Heya, Just in case you haven't made a decision on which card you will get or cards.
I had 2 x 7850 in crossfire. I think a 7970 would probably get near the performance
of the 2 7850s but because at some point I think I will want to add a second card
I went with the lightning 680. In benchmarks I'm only like 500 behind in 3dmark 11 P
score. I chose the 680 because the 7850 were horrible for stability when in CF mode.
The cards did overclock great individually but once in CF they just drove me nuts. I am very happy
with the lightning and until ATI gets the drivers and CF issues worked out the beefiest
Nvidia card is the way to go. But 1k for a 690 I just can't do 8-(. Hope this helps, send me a
message if you have any ??s.


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Not in my personal findings, I previously owned a 3gb 580 lightning as well as an Asus Dc2 580. The lightning cooled no where near as good as the DC2 plus it was louder.


While my 580's did get loud once they hit 60% fan speed and higher, they ran cooler than any other 580 on the market with the exception of running BF3. For whatever, BF3 would cause is to run hotter than stress testing it. The 580 Lightning would idle at 33 celcius, and under load would hover around the upper 40's, and dependent on the application, reach the mid 50's. Rarely did it ever clear 65 unless it was BF3.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Not in my personal findings, I previously owned a 3gb 580 lightning as well as an Asus Dc2 580. The lightning cooled no where near as good as the DC2 plus it was louder.


I'm not sure why the DC2 keeps being brought up (especially in the lightning thread), but you are clearly in the wrong when you state that the TF4 is "outclassed" and "nowhere near as good". The DC2 is a great cooler, but it is not designed to scale with temps as well as the TF4 is (the TF4 again can do up to 4300rpm on the fans). Techpowerup has reviewed both cards and their findings (at auto fan settings, obviously)

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_680_Lightning/32.html

Here the DC2 is outperformed by the TF4, in the same testbed machine. Again, i'm not saying the DC2 is bad -- quite the opposite, however you keep insisting that it is superior to the TF4. That is simply *not* the case.


----------



## MrMarauder

To be fair, I brought it up. I mentioned the 580 Lightning was just about the coolest 580 on the market.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Yes,
> I squeezed out 1377 this morning
> With a clock of 1292!! If I go 95-105 I get a black screen at the end of the bench for some reason.
> 105+ and it crashes on 2/26.


Ok... well I don't want to alarm you or anything,







but are you not supposed to get something like 1400+ on score








I'm just saying, I saw pretty good benchs on this thread by 680 owners and I'm wondering why you get so low results.

For example, I got a 670 PE and I can bench this:


Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


----------



## ethan319

Here's my GTX 680 Lightning.


----------



## ethan319

Unfortunately, mine doesn't perform as good as other Lightnings.









Overclocked to
Core: 1313 Mhz
Mem: 7000 Mhz


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ethan319*
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, mine doesn't perform as good as other Lightnings.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Overclocked to
> Core: 1313 Mhz
> Mem: 7000 Mhz


Not as good? Seriously? Anything above 1300MHz s great..


----------



## ethan319

Well, that's good to know!

Thanks for the reply buddy.


----------



## ethan319

Anyone tried EVGA Precision X 3.0.3 yet? (which allows to push the power limit to 300%)
My card wouldn't get any better with more power limits anyways.
Got no idea what the power limit is for though.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Maybe he is comparing to the official Heaven 3.0 thread in the bench marking section in which case he is using the wrong resolution...


----------



## ethan319

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Maybe he is comparing to the official Heaven 3.0 thread in the bench marking section in which case he is using the wrong resolution...


so 1920x1080 isn't the one I'm supposed to for the benchmark?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ethan319*
> 
> so 1920x1080 isn't the one I'm supposed to for the benchmark?


It is 1920 x 1080 for this thread, the official scores thread in the bench section uses same settings but 1680 x 1050 resolution which gives higher scores.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I'm not sure why the DC2 keeps being brought up (especially in the lightning thread), but you are clearly in the wrong when you state that the TF4 is "outclassed" and "nowhere near as good". The DC2 is a great cooler, but it is not designed to scale with temps as well as the TF4 is (the TF4 again can do up to 4300rpm on the fans). Techpowerup has reviewed both cards and their findings (at auto fan settings, obviously)
> http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_680_Lightning/32.html
> Here the DC2 is outperformed by the TF4, in the same testbed machine. Again, i'm not saying the DC2 is bad -- quite the opposite, however you keep insisting that it is superior to the TF4. That is simply *not* the case.


Im not sure why you feel the constant need to follow up behind every post that I make in regards to both coolers, you are entitled to your opinion and thats fine but im entitled to mine as well. The reason I mentioned it again is because of a previous comment which happened to have something to do with the GTX 580 lightning vs the DC2 version of the GTX 580. I stated that I owned both cards a while back *"Which I did"* and took notice that the DC2 GTX 580 cooled better and was quieter than the Lightning GTX 580.

You completely jumped the gun without even taking the time to see what I was talking about and assumed that it must be about the GTX 680 Lightning







. But since you bring it up again im still waiting on a contender..........but have not had one come along yet. Also I still have yet to see anyone with a 680 lightning with temps of the high 40's after several hours of gaming which im consistently getting on my DC2 GTX 680 with a fan speed of a mere 40%. Its not as though the TF4 is a bad cooler, I dont mean that at all by any stretch of imagination but I do believe the DC2 will give better results over all.

You can keep talking all the scientific dribble you wish to talk, I will stick with the results which I have seen in this thread thus far.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ethan319*
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, mine doesn't perform as good as other Lightnings.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Overclocked to
> Core: 1313 Mhz
> Mem: 7000 Mhz


Is that your score with the overclock? that is a bit low.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Ok... well I don't want to alarm you or anything,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> but are you not supposed to get something like 1400+ on score
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm just saying, I saw pretty good benchs on this thread by 680 owners and I'm wondering why you get so low results.
> For example, I got a 670 PE and I can bench this:
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


No, It seems right to me !! You have a higher clock then me and a lower score.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> No, It seems right to me !! You have a higher clock then me and a lower score.


Alright then


----------



## dph314

Well I sent the dead card back to Newegg yesterday for replacement, and they're In Stock at the site so hopefully it won't take long. Maybe this all happened for a reason and I'll get some super silicon







Fingers crossed.

Any Twitter info or anything from Unwinder? His vacation is in 2 days


----------



## CalinTM

You already broke your card ? Wow...


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> You already broke your card ? Wow...


Apparently. No idea what happened. Just took the backplate and reactor off. Now it won't work with or without the Reactor chip. So, I don't know.


----------



## CalinTM

Hmm very strange, the card should work without the reactor chip...but why you took the backplate off ? The nice part is that you could get a better oc-able card







or possible a worst oc-able card than previous one... who knows, let us know.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> Yeah but there was something wrong with this Asus 670 direct cu II top. *My framerate was dropping from 60 to 38 on BF3 and Skyrim. On Unigine Heaven 3,0 full ultra my score was 1155 but still unexplicable framerate ingame. Paying 470 euros (500 dollars more or less) and not being able to run those game in ultra is a joke isn't it ?
> So, on bf3 and skyrim, i disabled AA, which is supposed to be heavy for the card ==> Still no change, 60 to 38 fps in riverwood (skyrim) or gulf of Oman (bf3).*
> I decided to sent it back, and now i'm looking for a new one a fastest and powerfull one => a 680 with a stable OC
> My specs :
> Amd Phenom x6 1090T 3,8Ghz
> Asus crosshair formula IV
> SSD crucial M4 128Go
> 16Go Ram Gskill
> Waterblock Corsair H50
> Cooler master HAF X (the case)
> So Far i had an ATI HD 5970 but ATI's drivers made me sick so i changed for Nvidia... *Was it a mistake with my specs* ?
> Sorry if my english sucks


CPU bottleneck.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Hmm very strange, the card should work without the reactor chip...but why you took the backplate off ? The nice part is that you could get a better oc-able card
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> or possible a worst oc-able card than previous one... who knows, let us know.


Well the _odds_ are it's going to be worse, since this was my 1380mhz card









But yeah with the Noctua on my newly-installed Rampage IV Extreme, there is literally no room for even the backplate on the card. It's that tight of a fit for a card in PCIe Slot 1. So I am in the process of exchanging the card and I ordered a H100 to replace the Noctua. So...new Lightning coming in, hoping for another 1350mhz+ one but we'll see.


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well the _odds_ are it's going to be worse, since this was my 1380mhz card
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But yeah with the Noctua on my newly-installed Rampage IV Extreme, there is literally no room for even the backplate on the card. It's that tight of a fit for a card in PCIe Slot 1. So I am in the process of exchanging the card and I ordered a H100 to replace the Noctua. So...new Lightning coming in, hoping for another 1350mhz+ one but we'll see.


Haha, nice, when i was reading your post i wanted to say to buy a H100 if the Noctua is huge, and then you said it yourself.







Nice sync.

My H100 will arrive Tuesday


----------



## Darklynx

I'm extremely unlucky or i have a problem. My 680L with L2N bios can overclock only to 1250Mhz, any higher clock lead to hard crash with black screen








With the normal bios i can't even past 1230Mhz :|
The temp is around 60°C, my room is at least at 33°C (it's hot here







), i don't think the temperature is a problem.

I noticed only one strange thing, i don't know if it's normal: When i switched the bios to L2N i had to reinstall the nvidia drivers.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darklynx*
> 
> I'm extremely unlucky or i have a problem. My 680L with L2N bios can overclock only to 1250Mhz, any higher clock lead to hard crash with black screen
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> With the normal bios i can't even past 1230Mhz :|
> The temp is around 60°C, my room is at least at 33°C (it's hot here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ), i don't think the temperature is a problem.
> I noticed only one strange thing, i don't know if it's normal: When i switched the bios to L2N i had to reinstall the nvidia drivers.


Do a clean OS install, to make sure, then try to get higher clocks.

And try 304.48 instead of 304.79


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darklynx*
> 
> I'm extremely unlucky or i have a problem. My 680L with L2N bios can overclock only to 1250Mhz, any higher clock lead to hard crash with black screen
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> With the normal bios i can't even past 1230Mhz :|
> The temp is around 60°C, my room is at least at 33°C (it's hot here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ), i don't think the temperature is a problem.
> I noticed only one strange thing, i don't know if it's normal: When i switched the bios to L2N i had to reinstall the nvidia drivers.


Is this 1250MHz with boost? Another thing is maybe you have a card with high memory clocking ability, like say 7000-7200Mhz? That would help make me happy as memory overclocks help alot with Kepler.


----------



## sp33dyj

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Is this 1250MHz with boost? Another thing is maybe you have a card with high memory clocking ability, like say 7000-7200Mhz? That would help make me happy as memory overclocks help alot with Kepler.


this is kind of my situation. i bought 2 lightnings. both core clocks are rather low for the 'lightning' name at 1275/1255. The card with a 1275 max boost will do a healthy 7100+ on the memory, so i'm pretty pleased with it overall. Unfortunately the card that only does 1255 on the core will also only do +280 on the memory...so i think that card is a dud... Thinking about returning it as i really only need one of these anyways


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> CPU bottleneck.


It's not that simple. My LAN PC I use for gaming has a 1090t in it overclocked to 4.1 GHz with a GTX 580 Lightning in it, and I have no issues achieving the proper framerates for that GPU.


----------



## ethan319

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Is that your score with the overclock? that is a bit low.


Thanks for the quote.








I just switched to i7-2600, and it gives me +50 on score with 54.4 FPS.
Is this still abnormal?
Should I try re-installing OS?


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ethan319*
> 
> Thanks for the quote.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just switched to i7-2600, and it gives me +50 on score with 54.4 FPS.
> Is this still abnormal?
> Should I try re-installing OS?


Actually thats right on the money







What cpu did you have before?


----------



## nyrmala

"CPU Bottleneck"

Seriously ?
With a Phenom x6 1090T at 3,8Ghz ? It seems weird to me, but in that case, what should i do to fix it ? Oc my CPU ?


----------



## CalinTM

@nyrmala: That cpu is a bottleneck, take it this way, that cpu has muscles, but a intel i5 or i7 cpu has brain.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> @nyrmala: That cpu is a bottleneck, take it this way, that cpu has muscles, but a intel i5 or i7 cpu has brain.[/quote
> 
> That's why i just ordered a z77 & 3570k time for an upgrade.


----------



## Bosniac

Someone's going to be very happy with mine. I just manages to run Heaven several times at 1333mhz and +600 memory, resulting in 56.7fp/s, and 1417score. And on auto fans, never reaching 60c.


----------



## nyrmala

Yeah maybe i should change my motherboard and my CPU but it has a cost. And so far i just can buy a 680 Lightning. I'll try in that way, if i've still some issues, i'll look others options


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> Yeah maybe i should change my motherboard and my CPU but it has a cost. And so far i just can buy a 680 Lightning. I'll try in that way, if i've still some issues, i'll look others options


Buy cheaper 680, (save around 100 $) sell your current rig and get LGA 1155 based. I guarantee you, the fps will jump alot.


----------



## Bosniac

1350MHz, +550 Memory, stable:
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3885573



1333MHz stable


----------



## MrMarauder

If you're expecting a massive jump in FPS going from an overclocked 1090t to a 2600k, you're gonna be disappointed.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> If you're expecting a massive jump in FPS going from an overclocked 1090t to a 2600k, you're gonna be disappointed.


Massive in terms of minimum fps.


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> Massive in terms of minimum fps.


As an owner of both, this is simply not true. Using both in two different builds, utilizing the same GPU in both configurations, I saw an average difference of 5 fps. Only in some games did the fps change more than that, and that difference wasn't too great.


----------



## psyside

5 fps can make the game playable from unplayable.


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> 5 fps can make the game playable from unplayable.


True, but I can't imagine owning either processors, and not having the money for a video card decent enough for gameplay.


----------



## sockpirate

I might be on board when the 680 Lightning Extremes drop. I was in love with my 580 lightning Extremes!


----------



## Scorpion667

I have posted in the marketplace with regard to buying a golden 680 Lightning, check it out if you would like to sell.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1282025/buying-golden-msi-680-lightning-1350-core

Please lets get back on topic =D

Has anyone ran 100% fan just for fun and checked temps? These things seem to run cooler than the 460's!


----------



## nyrmala

In my case it was dropping from 60 to 38 in Skyrim and BF3 on back to karkand's map. Much more than 5 fps difference

But I read something about bad perf of the latest nvidia drivers. Could be that


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Has anyone ran 100% fan just for fun and checked temps? These things seem to run cooler than the 460's!


When I ran Heaven at 1355mhz/6800mhz I had the fan speed at 100% and the max temp was 50C for a brief moment, was at 49C 90% of the time


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> In my case it was dropping from 60 to 38 in Skyrim and BF3 on back to karkand's map. Much more than 5 fps difference
> But I read something about bad perf of the latest nvidia drivers. Could be that


Which drivers were you using?


----------



## nyrmala

the last one i mean the beta one 304.79


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> "CPU Bottleneck"
> Seriously ?
> With a Phenom x6 1090T at 3,8Ghz ? It seems weird to me, but in that case, what should i do to fix it ? Oc my CPU ?


Sorry but its true, clock for clock pretty much anything intel within the last couple of years is going to be faster.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> When I ran Heaven at 1355mhz/6800mhz I had the fan speed at 100% and the max temp was 50C for a brief moment, was at 49C 90% of the time


Man, that really sucks about your other card DPH. I had heard that the fittings for the GPU reactor were pretty delicate, I wouldn't think something like that could happen though....

Wish you luck on that


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Sorry but its true, clock for clock pretty much anything intel within the last couple of years is going to be faster.


I don't think there's any argument that Intel is the brand to go to for high end processors, but you can still game with some of AMD's CPUs.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> I don't think there's any argument that Intel is the brand to go to for high end processors, but you can still game with some of AMD's CPUs.


Yeah, im not saying that at all.


----------



## noobzpro

Hi all, newbie here which just build up my system...


i shifted the 2 gpu up to pci 16x slots....though the reactor is bending the ram abit....im curious can i anyhow just place my rams so that i can avoid it?? currently i have all 4 rams plugged into red slots of the rampage iv extreme


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *noobzpro*
> 
> Hi all, newbie here which just build up my system...
> 
> i shifted the 2 gpu up to pci 16x slots....though the reactor is bending the ram abit....im curious can i anyhow just place my rams so that i can avoid it?? currently i have all 4 rams plugged into red slots of the rampage iv extreme


just take off the gpu reactor piece


----------



## noobzpro

but taking it off wont i lose performance?


----------



## noobzpro

oh ya another thing is my rams are 1866mhz....when i set that in the asus bios it bsod when loading windows.....but 1600mhz is ok


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *noobzpro*
> 
> but taking it off wont i lose performance?


Not unless you are doing extreme cooling like LN2....


----------



## armartins

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Im not sure why you feel the constant need to follow up behind every post that I make in regards to both coolers, you are entitled to your opinion and thats fine but im entitled to mine as well. The reason I mentioned it again is because of a previous comment which happened to have something to do with the GTX 580 lightning vs the DC2 version of the GTX 580. I stated that I owned both cards a while back *"Which I did"* and took notice that the DC2 GTX 580 cooled better and was quieter than the Lightning GTX 580.
> You completely jumped the gun without even taking the time to see what I was talking about and assumed that it must be about the GTX 680 Lightning
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . But since you bring it up again im still waiting on a contender..........but have not had one come along yet. Also I still have yet to see anyone with a 680 lightning with temps of the high 40's after several hours of gaming which im consistently getting on my DC2 GTX 680 with a fan speed of a mere 40%. Its not as though the TF4 is a bad cooler, I dont mean that at all by any stretch of imagination but I do believe the DC2 will give better results over all.
> You can keep talking all the scientific dribble you wish to talk, I will stick with the results which I have seen in this thread thus far.


I stand by your side. From another owner of both the DCII and Lightning 580... I don't know how things are right now with the 6XX series lightning X DCII in terms of thermal dissipation performance. Comparing both cards in "auto fan" is nonsense since the DCII fan default profile is stupidly low and it will let the card burn while overclocked. If you put both cards with the fans spinning at the same RPM DCII outperforms TFIII by a good margin while still being quieter. It's for a reason that it uses 3 Slots. In my experience the lightning had more headroom for OC but air wasn't enough to keep ~1000Mhz for gaming, the DCII had avaliable full cover WBs back then already reducing the slots needed to 2... both great cards. I had the DCII and switched to the Lightning hoping for higher gaming overclock and got a hotter noisier card that had potential but air wasn't enought to keep the max OC. Right now with Kepler being so "green" the lightning can keep the max OC as it seens and make the 680 shine, but I think the TF4 with it's sexy looks and neat fan cleaning feature still won't outperform the massive DC II design in terms of temps/noise. But MSI's card engeneering is better IMO.


----------



## noobzpro

kk guys the witcher 2 at 2560x1440 with this 2 gpu...only get me 22-45fps......is sumthing wrong??? i check msi afterburner the gpu only running at 70%.....some ppl say is cpu bottle necking....im running 3930k stock


----------



## armartins

Overclock your CPU and disable Ubber Sampling if it's enabled =)


----------



## noobzpro

using the asus iv extreme.....simple overclock and it made my processor 4.2ghz...thats all but still gpu running at max 70% on all games


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *noobzpro*
> 
> oh ya another thing is my rams are 1866mhz....when i set that in the asus bios it bsod when loading windows.....but 1600mhz is ok


You have your cards in the wrong slot. You want to use x16/x16 in that motherboard and you're not putting your cards in the proper slots for that if I recall correctly. Don't you have to use slots 1 and 3?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *armartins*
> 
> I stand by your side. From another owner of both the DCII and Lightning 580... I don't know how things are right now with the 6XX series lightning X DCII in terms of thermal dissipation performance. Comparing both cards in "auto fan" is nonsense since the DCII fan default profile is stupidly low and it will let the card burn while overclocked. If you put both cards with the fans spinning at the same RPM DCII outperforms TFIII by a good margin while still being quieter. It's for a reason that it uses 3 Slots. In my experience the lightning had more headroom for OC but air wasn't enough to keep ~1000Mhz for gaming, the DCII had avaliable full cover WBs back then already reducing the slots needed to 2... both great cards. I had the DCII and switched to the Lightning hoping for higher gaming overclock and got a hotter noisier card that had potential but air wasn't enought to keep the max OC. Right now with Kepler being so "green" the lightning can keep the max OC as it seens and make the 680 shine, but I think the TF4 with it's sexy looks and neat fan cleaning feature still won't outperform the massive DC II design in terms of temps/noise. But MSI's card engeneering is better IMO.


Continually talking smack about how the DC2 is superior to TF4 is borderline thread crapping, this is a lightning owners club, not a DC2 owners club. While on that topic, the difference between the DC2 580 and lightning 580 is that the TF4 went through a re-design, and the 680 has signifigatly better fan speeds with the TF4. The TF4 has the potential to spin at higher rpms, which wasn't the case with the TF3. Before anyone sees fit to argue, please save it, this is a lightning thread, enough with the thraed crapping about how great the DC2 is. I don't go to the EVGA forum to talk smack about how much I hate the FTW. Or how much better the lightning is than the FTW. That crap is ridiculous. Like I said anyone talking up the DC2 in this thread, why not just make a DC2 owners club thread or something......I don't see the point of trolling in this thread talking about how great the DC2 is and so much better than the MSI cooler....make your own thread...

You wanted comparisons, techreport reviewed both in the same system while the DC2 performed worse. And a card that lets the chip burn while on auto fan? Interesting, thats a sure sign of idiocy in the design phase. Most people do use auto fan. Again, enough with the trolling and thread crapping about how much people love their DC2s. Go elsewhere in your own owners club thread.


----------



## nyrmala

Have you disabled Ubber Slamping on TW2 ?
If your issue is still there, As for me it's a driver problem but certainly not a CPU bottleneck. Which driver version have you ?


----------



## noobzpro

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> You have your cards in the wrong slot. You want to use x16/x16 in that motherboard and you're not putting your cards in the proper slots for that if I recall correctly. Don't you have to use slots 1 and 3?


haha bro i shifted that was my old pic...the gpu reactor bends the ram slightly but i guess its ok.....anyways i offed uber sampling and am getting 80+fps....anyways its was my stupidity.....i saw msi afterburner gpu power and thought that was it....until finally i scrolled down and saw gpu load....thats on 100%


----------



## noobzpro

so using after burner....what should i do?? i saw memory clock but do not understand it.....its only 1000mhz how do u guys get 7000+???


----------



## nyrmala

They get 1300 - 1400Mhz in memory clock if i'm not saying stupid things.
7K + is for another thing


----------



## armartins

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Continually talking smack about how the DC2 is superior to TF4 is borderline thread crapping, this is a lightning owners club, not a DC2 owners club. While on that topic, the difference between the DC2 580 and lightning 580 is that the TF4 went through a re-design, and the 680 has signifigatly better fan speeds with the TF4. The TF4 has the potential to spin at higher rpms, which wasn't the case with the TF3. Before anyone sees fit to argue, please save it, this is a lightning thread, enough with the thraed crapping about how great the DC2 is. I don't go to the EVGA forum to talk smack about how much I hate the FTW. Or how much better the lightning is than the FTW. That crap is ridiculous. Like I said anyone talking up the DC2 in this thread, why not just make a DC2 owners club thread or something......I don't see the point of trolling in this thread talking about how great the DC2 is and so much better than the MSI cooler....make your own thread...
> You wanted comparisons, techreport reviewed both in the same system while the DC2 performed worse. And a card that lets the chip burn while on auto fan? Interesting, thats a sure sign of idiocy in the design phase. Most people do use auto fan. Again, enough with the trolling and thread crapping about how much people love their DC2s. Go elsewhere in your own owners club thread.


Soo much hate in your heart







thanks for the welcoming answer, also I was not talking to you. If you think an owner's thread is only to praise a product, for "members only" to post, you're very wrong (and don't get me wrong IMO the Lightning 680 is overall better then the DCII 680 by many reasons). Many brands have someone on their staff watching those kind of threads searching for feedback and sometimes an honest complain or comparison can enlight newer product iterations. The Asus card is just fine in auto fan as long as you don't overclock. If you do overclock, chances are you're getting a custon fan curve anyway. Also I was not talking to you, and you can't avoid me to answer back by saying "Before anyone sees fit to argue, please save it, this is a lightning thread, enough with the thraed crapping about how great the DC2 is" and being rude. I was reinforcing the guy's argument and giving my perspective on the subject (which you could've just ignored). Also spinning even faster will only worsen the noise profile on the lightning... But nevermind... I'm out on this matter, still waiting for this damn 2.2.3 Afterburn and hoping you guys can go past 1400Mhz!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Man, that really sucks about your other card DPH. I had heard that the fittings for the GPU reactor were pretty delicate, I wouldn't think something like that could happen though....
> Wish you luck on that


Thanks







I hope the new one is competent enough to take the place of his fallen brother.

So wait, now the Reactor is going to get in the way of my RAM once I swap the Noctua for the H100? I'm getting rid of this board if that's the case, there's gotta be a 2011 board that can fit a Lightning in the top slot. I'm not home now so I can't look, I don't remember where the Reactor was sitting in relation to the DIMM slots. Going to look back through the thread for some pics now while I'm at work though.

Edit- Been thinking of possibly getting something like this board-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157285 ASRock X79 Extreme9. Check out the first PCIe slot relative to the DIMM slots....
*RIVE*

----
*ASRock Extreme9*


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Dph, I had two 7970 Lightnings with the GPU reactors installed in my RIVE and they fit just fine. Not 100% sure the 680 places the reactor in the same spot but I'd imagine it's very close so there shouldn't be any worries...


----------



## dph314

Looks similar. The guy on the last page said it was hitting his RAM. But I didn't see what kind of RAM he had, so, I'm sure my Samsung 30nm shouldn't be a problem. No heatsink on them.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *noobzpro*
> 
> but taking it off wont i lose performance?


You can pull the silver plastic cover off and leave the little board in place, it doesn't stick up much past the back plate.


----------



## hammerforged

I guess no new afterburner till august...









Unwinder will be leaving for vacation tomorrow. Im a little disappointed in Msi. Can't believe no one from Msi has had anything to say at all.


----------



## CalinTM

But why till august ? They can't implement the damn unlocked voltage into that software ?







)) Or they trolling us until august.


----------



## dph314

That's rediculous. No public apology or anything either. All the people that spent $600 out there don't deserve a little update or explanation? Really rediculous, waiting this long without them saying anything.


----------



## Cool Mike

Hello Everyone,

Said I would check in. As some may know I returned my 680 Lightning as my 30 day return was nearing. The only reason I returned it was due to lack of Voltage adjustment for core and memory. I wanted to run crossfire for the most bang for the buck. Purchased two MSI 7870 hawks. Same quality components as the lighning. I believe they are the best performing 7870's out there. I realize this is a 680 lightning thread, but thought you would be interested in the over clock and 3Dmark11 score.

In crossfire:
1300 core
6200 Eff. Memory


----------



## nyrmala

Guys, i've an opportunity but i need your advice. I can buy 2 Msi HD 7970 lightning but i've only a corsair HX 850Watts.
Is it powerfull enough for two 7970 lightning ?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> Guys, i've an opportunity but i need your advice. I can buy 2 Msi HD 7970 lightning but i've only a corsair HX 850Watts.
> Is it powerfull enough for two 7970 lightning ?


Yep, even with heavy overclocks to boot!

Nice cards there Cool Mike, I'm glad your happy with your purchase!


----------



## nyrmala

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/4641/msi_radeon_hd_7970_lightning_3gb_video_cards_in_crossfire_overclocked/index16.html

In 3D mark 11, the power consumption is tipping over 900W... I've only a 850W. Not so sure it would be enough


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nyrmala*
> 
> http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/4641/msi_radeon_hd_7970_lightning_3gb_video_cards_in_crossfire_overclocked/index16.html
> In 3D mark 11, the power consumption is tipping over 900W... I've only a 850W. Not so sure it would be enough


Start a new thread in the psu section to get more answers, this is the 680 Lightning thread. But two 7970s in crossfire won't need more than a quality 850w psu for power.


----------



## ethan319

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Actually thats right on the money
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What cpu did you have before?


I used i5-2500k overclocked to 4888mhz.
I didn't expect to see much difference though.
I might be able to get higher fps once I re-install OS and overclock my cpu.









By the way, is the AB 2.2.3 really coming soon?


----------



## Scorpion667

This is the second Lightning I got a chance to play with, this one maxes at 1270Mhz/7000. First one maxed ay 1250Mhz... Dammit man.


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ethan319*
> 
> By the way, is the AB 2.2.3 really coming soon?


No.

It will be August before Unwinder gets back from vacation to actually even attempt to program voltage control. If its possible...

Sorry for all the negativity guys. Just loosing a little bit of hope lately. No one can even tell us a damn thing. Ill be calling Msi and Newegg tomorrow.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> This is the second Lightning I got a chance to play with, this one maxes at 1270Mhz/7000. First one maxed ay 1250Mhz... Dammit man.


Are you using Bios 2?


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Are you using Bios 2?


Of course. 200% power, plenty of power, 301.48 driver, sweeped old ones. Perfectly stable at 1270, blackscreens in 3dmark11 any higher

I bought about 12 video cards from this store, NEVER got a good clocker hmm. [edit] scratch that I got a 470 off them that did 900 core wc'd in my buddy's rig[/edit]

I purchased this one for a client build so no big deal but still... talk about bad luck


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> I guess no new afterburner till august...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Unwinder will be leaving for vacation tomorrow. Im a little disappointed in Msi. Can't believe no one from Msi has had anything to say at all.


They responded to my letter with this:
Quote:


> Dear customer,
> 
> If you need refund or return, then please contact reseller where you purchase it from. Thanks!


So, basically their answer was "ohh well".


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> They responded to my letter with this:
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Dear customer,
> If you need refund or return, then please contact reseller where you purchase it from. Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> So, basically their answer was "ohh well".
Click to expand...

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Of course. 200% power, plenty of power, 301.48 driver, sweeped old ones. Perfectly stable at 1270, blackscreens in 3dmark11 any higher
> I bought about 12 video cards from this store, NEVER got a good clocker hmm. [edit] scratch that I got a 470 off them that did 900 core wc'd in my buddy's rig[/edit]
> I purchased this one for a client build so no big deal but still... talk about bad luck


Most MSI email reps barely speak english, they probably didn't even understand what you wrote lol. Anyway yeah the whole situation sucks. I think I can live with it since I have golden chips and the alternative costs 660$+660$ + 100$ so thats 220$ more than what I paid....


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> So, basically their answer was "ohh well".


Most MSI email reps barely speak english, they probably didn't even understand what you wrote lol. Anyway yeah the whole situation sucks. I think I can live with it since I have golden chips and the alternative costs 660$+660$ + 100$ so thats 220$ more than what I paid....[/quote]

Ohh, dont get me wrong the card is more than enough. But I didn't pay an extra $100 over the other 680's for same performance. And you've seen my benchmarks with baseline 1202 vs 1350 MHz. They are not that big in fps..about, 3-10fps depending on games. At least not worth extra $100 over to me when most 680's reach mid to high 1200 easily. I've made my point why I am returning the card, and it has everythingto do with MSI and their falsified advertisementof the 680 Lightning.

One thing is for sure. They lost one customer for sure.


----------



## xoleras

Now that last line of reasoning makes little sense to me, you went seeking overclockable cards but now you don't care about 10 more fps-thats how overclocking is on any card, you pay a premium for slightly higher framerates via overclocking. If 10 fps doesn't matter, why would overclocking and overvoltage matter? Yeah I get the entire principle thing, but why would you even seek out an overclockable card in the first place? I'm not flaming you, just genuinely curious - don't take this the wrong way. If 10 frames didn't matter to me I would own something crappy like a 7870 and be done with it, I wouldn't bother with SLI and I wouldn't bother with overclocking.

I'll summarize why I went the lightning route:

1) Lower noise with a proper fan profile
2) No kepler throttle (no other 680 has this feature)
3) Steady clocks (offset boosts are different on every other brand, again no other brand has this. +100 offset is 1302mhz on every lightning no matter what. Other brands : every card has a different speed with +100 offset. 1 DC2 might be 1275 with +100, another might be 1250 with +100)
4) Slightly higher framerates
5) Better than average overclocks

Anyway , I am more than happy. Looking at the EVGA forum it appears that the 680 classified isn't getting amazing overclocks, the last post I saw showed OCs ranging from 1260-1300 which certainly isn't game changing so I think I can rest easy with things as they are. I am not absolving MSI of what has seemingly been done - they are in the wrong for advertising something that isn't ready, but i'm pretty satisfied nonetheless.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

I never even made it to 1300mhz with my Lighrning with LN2. Only 1272


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Did MSI every officially promise voltage control? I don't remember that. Anyway, it goes back to what I've been saying about Kepler all along. Nvidia obviously locked down voltage for a reason and it may be more complicated to offer it than people realize. Still glad I stuck with my 7970's (though even without voltage control your 3dmark11 scores stomp mine into the pavement)....


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Now that last line of reasoning makes little sense to me, you went seeking overclockable cards but now you don't care about 10 more fps-thats how overclocking is on any card, you pay a premium for slightly higher framerates via overclocking. If 10 fps doesn't matter, why would overclocking and overvoltage matter? Yeah I get the entire principle thing, but why would you even seek out an overclockable card in the first place? I'm not flaming you, just genuinely curious - don't take this the wrong way.


No offense taken.

I think you misunderstood what my point was. I deliberately bought the Lightning on the premise of unlocked voltage. Any 680 can OC. And most don't throttle with a decent cooler. As you can see in this thread, the Lightning isn't guaranteed to hit over 1300, let alone over 1350. So it has the oc ability just like most decent 680's, maybe a bit better chance. Do I care that the Lightning runs 50c? No, because it makes no difference without voltage and high oc where you would need it. A GB680WF will never reach 70c even over 1350mhz on auto fan. Mine didn't. Without voltage unlock, the Lightning makes absolutely no sense to me. That cooler isn't worth an extra $100 alone, sorry. Is it going to have unlocked voltage? I can't say, but I am not waiting for my newegg return period to expire to find out.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> No offense taken.
> I think you misunderstood what my point was. I deliberately bought the Lightning on the premise of unlocked voltage. Any 680 can OC. And most don't throttle with a decent cooler. As you can see in this thread, the Lightning isn't guaranteed to hit over 1300, let alone over 1350. So it has the oc ability just like most decent 680's, maybe a bit better chance. Do I care that the Lightning runs 50c? No, because it makes no difference without voltage and high oc where you would need it. A GB680WF will never reach 70c even over 1350mhz on auto fan. Mine didn't. Without voltage unlock, the Lightning makes absolutely no sense to me. That cooler isn't worth an extra $100 alone, sorry. Is it going to have unlocked voltage? I can't say, but I am not waiting for my newegg return period to expire to find out.


So your saying the cooler is the only difference? better caps? better vrm? better build quality ain't matter? how can you even put the WF in same sentence with L cards? that cheapo plastic and blue pcb- no backplate etc









For me there are 2 great cards regarding 680's DCII/Lightning, WF is not in the same league.


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> So your saying the cooler is the only difference? better caps? better vrm? better build quality ain't matter? how can you even put the WF in same sentence with L cards? that cheapo plastic and blue pcb- no backplate etc
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For me there are 2 great cards regarding 680's DCII/Lightning, WF is not in the same league.


All that extra "stuff" doesnt matter at all if you are not able to put it to good use via unlocked voltage control. Sure they might provide cleaner more stable power and overall better quality. I purchased the card with the plans over overvolting and putting a water block on it. That all doesnt make sense now for a $100 premium.
Quote:


> 1) right now, 1.175v. next Afterburner update 2.2.3 will go past﻿ this limit







Plus all of the advertised marketing on the box. Triple overvoltage, unlocked digital power control, ext..


----------



## dVeLoPe

so if i have a evga branded refence card that does 1250 how much of a diff will theiri bef from this to a 1300-1400mhz lightning fps wise? ?


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Totally agree with Hammerforged especially about the water cooling. Without voltage control there is absolutely no reason to bother water cooling these 680 Lightnings which is a bummer. Really, there's no point in water cooling any Kepler cards at this point which is another reason I stuck with AMD. Nvidia needs to ditch this stupid boost clock and locked voltages next gen for real...


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> So your saying the cooler is the only difference? better caps? better vrm? better build quality ain't matter? how can you even put the WF in same sentence with L cards? that cheapo plastic and blue pcb- no backplate etc
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For me there are 2 great cards regarding 680's DCII/Lightning, WF is not in the same league.


The GPU is inside of the case. I spend more time looking at games than starring at materials. Sure it has its appeal, but I am talking performance, not Prada handbags.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> All that extra "stuff" doesnt matter at all if you are not able to put it to good use via unlocked voltage control


How come it dosent matter bro? me personally i hate cheapo plastic build cards, and "custom cards" like WF which only got good cooler but plastic shroud, and use the same phases/vrm but they added 1 more, its beyond me how come this card is considered like one of the best 680/670, the Lightning destroy the WF, and even if you don't have overvolt control the card is still worth it in my book without a single doubt, its not like you will get 200mhz plus with voltage control, i say 100mhz+ as max.

And its never about looks, its about how it feels when you own something which is build amazingly instead of chepaset "possible but works style"









Its like comparing Noctua fans with Thermaltake









Real custom cards FTW.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> so if i have a evga branded refence card that does 1250 how much of a diff will theiri bef from this to a 1300-1400mhz lightning fps wise? ?


I've done some benchmarks between a Lightning at 1202MHz (stock memory) vs 1350Mhz (+450 memory), so basically a big OC.

*Dirt 3*




*Metro 2033*




*Batman: Arkham City*




*Just Cause 2*




*Crysis 2*


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Did MSI every officially promise voltage control? I don't remember that. Anyway, it goes back to what I've been saying about Kepler all along. Nvidia obviously locked down voltage for a reason and it may be more complicated to offer it than people realize. Still glad I stuck with my 7970's (though even without voltage control your 3dmark11 scores stomp mine into the pavement)....


Isn't advertising it enough?


----------



## MouthofJustin

i have a little question...as im learning more and researching more..soon to be a proud owner of another one of these cards...SLI FTW!! anyways...im using the Ln2 bios and i was running stable at 1298mhz core clock +95 in afterburner...i was playing witcher 2, secret world, BF3, all the good stuff.for a good almost two days on the OC. fan set at 70% never went above 50C.. anyways..all of the sudden last night i was running around in secret world and my comp crashed to black screen had to reset...making all the funky sounds like when the card went too high in overclocks...just dont understand why it was running fine for so long then all of the sudden..boom! unstable? i have a AX1200 PSU from corsair..and i have not touched the memory clocks yet..trying to get the core clock down...any reason why this would be happening all of the sudden...i personally think Msi did great with the card







thanks guys. muchoo


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MouthofJustin*
> 
> i have a little question...as im learning more and researching more..soon to be a proud owner of another one of these cards...SLI FTW!! anyways...im using the Ln2 bios and i was running stable at 1298mhz core clock +95 in afterburner...i was playing witcher 2, secret world, BF3, all the good stuff.for a good almost two days on the OC. fan set at 70% never went above 50C.. anyways..all of the sudden last night i was running around in secret world and my comp crashed to black screen had to reset...making all the funky sounds like when the card went too high in overclocks...just dont understand why it was running fine for so long then all of the sudden..boom! unstable? i have a AX1200 PSU from corsair..and i have not touched the memory clocks yet..trying to get the core clock down...any reason why this would be happening all of the sudden...i personally think Msi did great with the card
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> thanks guys. muchoo


Mine does the same thing. I ended up lowering the core clock to a all the way around stable 1333MHz/+500 memory. I noticed Crysis 2 would crash after 6-10 minutes, and BF3. Sometimes it would be fine for hours on 1350+.

And yes, there is also a noise coming from the GPU. Like a small audible buzzer, along with a black screen.


----------



## Evtron

Hey guys,

Some help if you would. Currently I'm running a 2560x1600 monitor and am selling my 2 reference GTX680s.

So now I'm going to be in for 2 non-reference GTX680s but the question is - at my resolution should I get 2 x 680 Lightnings or should I get 2 x 4GB EVGA 680 Classifieds.

Non-biased answers would be much appreciated!

Thanks guys!


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Evtron*
> 
> Hey guys,
> Some help if you would. Currently I'm running a 2560x1600 monitor and am selling my 2 reference GTX680s.
> So now I'm going to be in for 2 non-reference GTX680s but the question is - at my resolution should I get 2 x 680 Lightnings or should I get 2 x 4GB EVGA 680 Classifieds.
> Non-biased answers would be much appreciated!
> Thanks guys!


I really can recommend two classifieds, when you can get either:
Two 4gb 670's for $470
Two Galaxy 680 OC 4gb for $559 each
Two Lightnings for less.

Or two 7970's Lightning for $529 each.


----------



## Evtron

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I really can recommend two classifieds, when you can get either:
> Two 4gb 670's for $470
> Two Galaxy 680 OC 4gb for $559 each
> Two Lightnings for less.
> Or two 7970's Lightning for $529 each.


Point well taken - the real question is, will 4GB of VRAM really do that much for me @ 2560x1600 instead of 2GB of VRAM


----------



## haris525

Hi guys(new to this forum), I just Got my Video card this Thursday from new egg, and this is what has happened so far.
1. The cards build quality is excellent, very heavy and large, it even comes with a Cerfificate
2. According to GPU-z the ACIS quality is 94%, this card replaced a gigabyte gtx 670 with ACIS quality for 80%
3. Upon installing the card I installed the new drivers 304.79 beta i believe, removed the old drivers properly
4. The card is powered by my 1350w Enermax maxrevo power supply which powered 2 gtx 570 sc hd cards
when i installed the card it ran perfectly at stock speeds, overclocked the card to 1260 core and 6600 memory, ran perfect with 133% power limit and 100+ mv.. played bf3 for a while, ran Heaven and the card crashed I thought the card needed more voltages, so I turned the computer off and switched to LN2 bios. Set memory to 7025, core to 1302mhz, with 1.21 core voltage, and power limit to 200%, ran heaven and right after the screen turned black......this was 2 days ago, since then the problem seems to be getting worse and worse, i started with stable core clock of 1302 mhz (LN2) and now its stable at 1285 mhz core (with everything same). I don't know if over time the Bios is going corrupt or the nvidia drivers are not mature enough...
more thoughts:
......Even at full gpu load the card seems to consume 75-100w, (any benchmark or load, read the comment below)
......It will sometimes spike to either 173W or 230W depending on the bios used----> for me these spikes cause the card to crash (GPu-z used for monitering), this happens during all benchmarks or games
......my card gets more fps in bf3 when using LN2 bios (same core, memory speeds, but different voltages)
......temp always stays below 55%
i didnt bother to put any pictures because i have been busy dealing with these issues and pulling my hair out
i really dont know what to do, i just opened an RMA ticket with new egg. I like this card a lot but i don't know if the second will do the same thing, at 600$ this is not a cheap card, my other option is Evga gtx 680 classified. I don't mind paying 600$ for a card but this card is advertised for the wrong crowd, i wouldn't mind paying 700$ for it if it did all the things it listed on the box, i just feel a little disappointed when people paying 499 are doing better. Any fix someone has please share with us. Thx in advance


----------



## sp33dyj

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *haris525*
> 
> Hi guys(new to this forum), I just Got my Video card this Thursday from new egg, and this is what has happened so far.
> 1. The cards build quality is excellent, very heavy and large, it even comes with a Cerfificate
> 2. According to GPU-z the ACIS quality is 94%, this card replaced a gigabyte gtx 670 with ACIS quality for 80%
> 3. Upon installing the card I installed the new drivers 304.79 beta i believe, removed the old drivers properly
> 4. The card is powered by my 1350w Enermax maxrevo power supply which powered 2 gtx 570 sc hd cards
> when i installed the card it ran perfectly at stock speeds, overclocked the card to 1260 core and 6600 memory, ran perfect with 133% power limit and 100+ mv.. played bf3 for a while, ran Heaven and the card crashed I thought the card needed more voltages, so I turned the computer off and switched to LN2 bios. Set memory to 7025, core to 1302mhz, with 1.21 core voltage, and power limit to 200%, ran heaven and right after the screen turned black......this was 2 days ago, since then the problem seems to be getting worse and worse, i started with stable core clock of 1302 mhz (LN2) and now its stable at 1285 mhz core (with everything same). I don't know if over time the Bios is going corrupt or the nvidia drivers are not mature enough...
> more thoughts:
> ......Even at full gpu load the card seems to consume 75-100w, (any benchmark or load, read the comment below)
> ......It will sometimes spike to either 173W or 230W depending on the bios used----> for me these spikes cause the card to crash (GPu-z used for monitering), this happens during all benchmarks or games
> ......my card gets more fps in bf3 when using LN2 bios (same core, memory speeds, but different voltages)
> ......temp always stays below 55%
> i didnt bother to put any pictures because i have been busy dealing with these issues and pulling my hair out
> i really dont know what to do, i just opened an RMA ticket with new egg. I like this card a lot but i don't know if the second will do the same thing, at 600$ this is not a cheap card, my other option is Evga gtx 680 classified. I don't mind paying 600$ for a card but this card is advertised for the wrong crowd, i wouldn't mind paying 700$ for it if it did all the things it listed on the box, i just feel a little disappointed when people paying 499 are doing better. Any fix someone has please share with us. Thx in advance


Sounds like another low clocking 'Lightning'. Most here will tell you to deal with it. I say return it for a classy. I've gotten 2 that clock under 1280 under ln2 bios... then i think back to that video saying how these cards were meant to break records...



.... that's if you win the silicon lottery.. i'd bet money your chances of getting a 1300mhz+ card is better with the evga classified.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Evtron*
> 
> Point well taken - the real question is, will 4GB of VRAM really do that much for me @ 2560x1600 instead of 2GB of VRAM


I meant to say "CAN'T".

But at 4gb, there seems to be little advantage with 680's 192 bandwith. Me personally would get two 7970 lightning, for that resolution, or wait for the upcoming 7990 with dual 6gb vram. Unless you're the kind of enthusiast who upgrades every year. If that's the case, get a single 7970 and sell it in a year or two, where the loss won't be nearly as bad as something like two cards or a dual gpu.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *haris525*
> 
> Hi guys(new to this forum), I just Got my Video card this Thursday from new egg, and this is what has happened so far.
> 1. The cards build quality is excellent, very heavy and large, it even comes with a Cerfificate
> 2. According to GPU-z the ACIS quality is 94%, this card replaced a gigabyte gtx 670 with ACIS quality for 80%
> 3. Upon installing the card I installed the new drivers 304.79 beta i believe, removed the old drivers properly
> 4. The card is powered by my 1350w Enermax maxrevo power supply which powered 2 gtx 570 sc hd cards
> when i installed the card it ran perfectly at stock speeds, overclocked the card to 1260 core and 6600 memory, ran perfect with 133% power limit and 100+ mv.. played bf3 for a while, ran Heaven and the card crashed I thought the card needed more voltages, so I turned the computer off and switched to LN2 bios. Set memory to 7025, core to 1302mhz, with 1.21 core voltage, and power limit to 200%, ran heaven and right after the screen turned black......this was 2 days ago, since then the problem seems to be getting worse and worse, i started with stable core clock of 1302 mhz (LN2) and now its stable at 1285 mhz core (with everything same). I don't know if over time the Bios is going corrupt or the nvidia drivers are not mature enough...
> more thoughts:
> ......Even at full gpu load the card seems to consume 75-100w, (any benchmark or load, read the comment below)
> ......It will sometimes spike to either 173W or 230W depending on the bios used----> for me these spikes cause the card to crash (GPu-z used for monitering), this happens during all benchmarks or games
> ......my card gets more fps in bf3 when using LN2 bios (same core, memory speeds, but different voltages)
> ......temp always stays below 55%
> i didnt bother to put any pictures because i have been busy dealing with these issues and pulling my hair out
> i really dont know what to do, i just opened an RMA ticket with new egg. I like this card a lot but i don't know if the second will do the same thing, at 600$ this is not a cheap card, my other option is Evga gtx 680 classified. I don't mind paying 600$ for a card but this card is advertised for the wrong crowd, i wouldn't mind paying 700$ for it if it did all the things it listed on the box, i just feel a little disappointed when people paying 499 are doing better. Any fix someone has please share with us. Thx in advance


What are the temperatures loading at? In a case with warm ambient can make a difference in the max overclock compared to caseless or lower ambient. I haven't experimented too much with temps, but with many cards loading at say 70° can make a fair bit of difference to the overclock compared to loading at 50°. I would think it can do better with asic 94%.
Just curious, how are you reading watts consumed by the gpu?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *haris525*
> 
> Hi guys(new to this forum), I just Got my Video card this Thursday from new egg, and this is what has happened so far.
> 1. The cards build quality is excellent, very heavy and large, it even comes with a Cerfificate
> 2. According to GPU-z the ACIS quality is 94%, this card replaced a gigabyte gtx 670 with ACIS quality for 80%
> 3. Upon installing the card I installed the new drivers 304.79 beta i believe, removed the old drivers properly
> 4. The card is powered by my 1350w Enermax maxrevo power supply which powered 2 gtx 570 sc hd cards
> when i installed the card it ran perfectly at stock speeds, overclocked the card to 1260 core and 6600 memory, ran perfect with 133% power limit and 100+ mv.. played bf3 for a while, ran Heaven and the card crashed I thought the card needed more voltages, so I turned the computer off and switched to LN2 bios. Set memory to 7025, core to 1302mhz, with 1.21 core voltage, and power limit to 200%, ran heaven and right after the screen turned black......this was 2 days ago, since then the problem seems to be getting worse and worse, i started with stable core clock of 1302 mhz (LN2) and now its stable at 1285 mhz core (with everything same). I don't know if over time the Bios is going corrupt or the nvidia drivers are not mature enough...
> more thoughts:
> ......Even at full gpu load the card seems to consume 75-100w, (any benchmark or load, read the comment below)
> ......It will sometimes spike to either 173W or 230W depending on the bios used----> for me these spikes cause the card to crash (GPu-z used for monitering), this happens during all benchmarks or games
> ......my card gets more fps in bf3 when using LN2 bios (same core, memory speeds, but different voltages)
> ......temp always stays below 55%
> i didnt bother to put any pictures because i have been busy dealing with these issues and pulling my hair out
> i really dont know what to do, i just opened an RMA ticket with new egg. I like this card a lot but i don't know if the second will do the same thing, at 600$ this is not a cheap card, my other option is Evga gtx 680 classified. I don't mind paying 600$ for a card but this card is advertised for the wrong crowd, i wouldn't mind paying 700$ for it if it did all the things it listed on the box, i just feel a little disappointed when people paying 499 are doing better. Any fix someone has please share with us. Thx in advance


I think manual fan will fix your problems. I've said it before and will say it again, auto fan is NOT ADEQUATE most of the time for high overclocks

FYI, I get 1352 completely stable in SLI but if I use auto fan I get artifacts at signifigantly lower clock speeds. You NEED manual fan. I thought this was common knowledge among overclockers but apparently some people still use auto fan. This is very odd to me as in the Fermi days, people overclocking accepted as common knowledge that if you overclock, you use high manual fan settings.

Lets use an analogy, if you overclock a 2600k to 4.8ghz, do you use the stock fan? Hell no! You need something more adequate. No matter what anyone tells you, manual fan will do a much better job at preventing artifacts and weirdness with high overclocks, period.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sp33dyj*
> 
> Sounds like another low clocking 'Lightning'. Most here will tell you to deal with it. I say return it for a classy. I've gotten 2 that clock under 1280 under ln2 bios... then i think back to that video saying how these cards were meant to break records...
> 
> 
> 
> .... that's if you win the silicon lottery.. i'd bet money your chances of getting a 1300mhz+ card is better with the evga classified.


Not so sure on that. The overclocking results i've read from users is underwhelming to say the least (1260-1305). Thats in addition to a louder cooler that maxes out at 55% manual speed.


----------



## haris525

Hi buddy, thx for the reply..I never have my fans on auto, all my previous card used to be water cooled, with this card i have tried 50%..70%..and even 100%....no luck at all, I understand cooling is very crucial to overclocked components, I do have a 700d with 2x140mm side fans blowing (custom ppcs corsair 700d panel), i keep the fan speed at 60% which keeps the temps around 52-54C..As for power measurements I don't have a volt meter hooked up but i am looking at TPD from GPU-z Charts and Msi Afterburner


----------



## haris525

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> What are the temperatures loading at? In a case with warm ambient can make a difference in the max overclock compared to caseless or lower ambient. I haven't experimented too much with temps, but with many cards loading at say 70° can make a fair bit of difference to the overclock compared to loading at 50°. I would think it can do better with asic 94%.
> Just curious, how are you reading watts consumed by the gpu?


Hi, i am using TPD from GPU-z and Msi after burner


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> *Did MSI every officially promise voltage control? I don't remember that.* Anyway, it goes back to what I've been saying about Kepler all along. Nvidia obviously locked down voltage for a reason and it may be more complicated to offer it than people realize. Still glad I stuck with my 7970's (though even without voltage control your 3dmark11 scores stomp mine into the pavement)....


yeah they promised it by printing it all over the retail boxes and heavily advertising it at computex ...


----------



## DraculaxAOE

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I think manual fan will fix your problems. I've said it before and will say it again, auto fan is NOT ADEQUATE most of the time for high overclocks
> FYI, I get 1352 completely stable in SLI but if I use auto fan I get artifacts at signifigantly lower clock speeds. You NEED manual fan. I thought this was common knowledge among overclockers but apparently some people still use auto fan. This is very odd to me as in the Fermi days, people overclocking accepted as common knowledge that if you overclock, you use high manual fan settings.
> Lets use an analogy, if you overclock a 2600k to 4.8ghz, do you use the stock fan? Hell no! You need something more adequate. No matter what anyone tells you, manual fan will do a much better job at preventing artifacts and weirdness with high overclocks, period.


Could you please explain why lower temperature i.e. manual fan can reduce artifacts? I thought artifacts are produced as a result of heavy mem oc, when data moves thru the mem faster than it can handle.
BTW, I'm using RV02-E and my Lightning can hit 1333mhz/+643 stable with LN2 bios, tested in Witcher 2 with ubersampling on. It seems the Kayran place is a great location to check for visual artifacts. I've seen artifacts when I did +652 but not for +643 on the memory.
Also, I do think the vertical mounting in my chassis reduces TF4's cooling efficiency. Mine is hitting 75C at that stable clock when fully stressed, fan @ 85%. While it seems the other people in this thread only hit the upper 50's C after OC


----------



## haris525

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I think manual fan will fix your problems. I've said it before and will say it again, auto fan is NOT ADEQUATE most of the time for high overclocks
> FYI, I get 1352 completely stable in SLI but if I use auto fan I get artifacts at signifigantly lower clock speeds. You NEED manual fan. I thought this was common knowledge among overclockers but apparently some people still use auto fan. This is very odd to me as in the Fermi days, people overclocking accepted as common knowledge that if you overclock, you use high manual fan settings.
> Lets use an analogy, if you overclock a 2600k to 4.8ghz, do you use the stock fan? Hell no! You need something more adequate. No matter what anyone tells you, manual fan will do a much better job at preventing artifacts and weirdness with high overclocks, period.


Here is my setup with pics
The max settings GPU-z shows were taken with Heaven Dx11 running, Currently the card is running Bios #1..core at 1239mhz, memory at 6800mhz, 133% and 100mv+
and specs are as follows
i5 2500k @ 4.5ghz
16gb corsair vengeance memory @ 1600
Asrock p67 fatality board
Creative X-fi
Wd-raptor 300gb
Enermax Max revo 1350
Phobya 560mm rad, plus 360mm Xspc Rad, D5 pump




























thx


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DraculaxAOE*
> 
> Could you please explain why lower temperature i.e. manual fan can reduce artifacts? I thought artifacts are produced as a result of heavy mem oc, when data moves thru the mem faster than it can handle.
> BTW, I'm using RV02-E and my Lightning can hit 1333mhz/+643 stable with LN2 bios, tested in Witcher 2 with ubersampling on. It seems the Kayran place is a great location to check for visual artifacts. I've seen artifacts when I did +652 but not for +643 on the memory.
> Also, I do think the vertical mounting in my chassis reduces TF4's cooling efficiency. Mine is hitting 75C at that stable clock when fully stressed, fan @ 85%. While it seems the other people in this thread only hit the upper 50's C after OC


Yeah, the highest I'veever seen is 63c, but normally is hovering 55-59c, in 68- 70c ambient temperature room.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DraculaxAOE*
> 
> Could you please explain why lower temperature i.e. manual fan can reduce artifacts? I thought artifacts are produced as a result of heavy mem oc, when data moves thru the mem faster than it can handle.
> BTW, I'm using RV02-E and my Lightning can hit 1333mhz/+643 stable with LN2 bios, tested in Witcher 2 with ubersampling on. It seems the Kayran place is a great location to check for visual artifacts. I've seen artifacts when I did +652 but not for +643 on the memory.
> Also, I do think the vertical mounting in my chassis reduces TF4's cooling efficiency. Mine is hitting 75C at that stable clock when fully stressed, fan @ 85%. While it seems the other people in this thread only hit the upper 50's C after OC


Artifacts can happen with any unstable OC. You guys are focusing on core temp too much, the VRM temp is hidden and is very much affected by fan speed, and it is not reported by afterburner. The VRM does not have a ton of heatpipes connected to it to prevent heat buildup, that is the critical difference between VRM temps and core temps. This has been the case with all aftermarket GPUs i've owned - with my lightnings I cannot get 24/7 stbale operation at 1352 in SLI unless I use manual fan 70% or greater. If I use auto fan I lock up in heaven or get artifacts. Take this for what you will, its like overclocking a CPU without proper cooling...core temp doesn't tell you everything.

I'm actually in disbelief that people insist on using auto fan with high overclocks, to me it seems utterly ridiculous because a few years ago it was common knowledge that high overclocks with any GPU = manual fan no matter what, i'm not sure what has changed and why people have shifted their mindsets. It was not like that a few years ago....i'm not sure if some people are relatively new to oc'ing gpu's or what. It does seem like people demand more for less as the years have gone by, high overclocks aren't free (in terms of temps/fanspeeds)

edit: it is odd to see this rash of new posters who have just registered with their 1st post talking about a MSI lightning experience and then disappearing


----------



## haris525

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Artifacts can happen with any unstable OC. You guys are focusing on core temp too much, the VRM temp is hidden and is very much affected by fan speed, and it is not reported by afterburner. The VRM does not have a ton of heatpipes connected to it to prevent heat buildup, that is the critical difference between VRM temps and core temps. This has been the case with all aftermarket GPUs i've owned - with my lightnings I cannot get 24/7 stbale operation at 1352 in SLI unless I use manual fan 70% or greater. If I use auto fan I lock up in heaven or get artifacts. Take this for what you will, its like overclocking a CPU without proper cooling...core temp doesn't tell you everything.
> I'm actually in disbelief that people insist on using auto fan with high overclocks, to me it seems utterly ridiculous because a few years ago it was common knowledge that high overclocks with any GPU = manual fan no matter what, i'm not sure what has changed and why people have shifted their mindsets. It was not like that a few years ago....i'm not sure if some people are relatively new to oc'ing gpu's or what. It does seem like people demand more for less as the years have gone by, high overclocks aren't free (in terms of temps/fanspeeds)
> edit: it is odd to see this rash of new posters who have just registered with their 1st post talking about a MSI lightning experience and then disappearing, hmm, wonder whats going on here? Interesting,


Hi, naw man i am just looking for a Fix that's all, and this is the only lightning thread atm







....i am gona try placing fans blowing air horizontally on the card and see if that helps..thx


----------



## DraculaxAOE

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Artifacts can happen with any unstable OC. You guys are focusing on core temp too much, the VRM temp is hidden and is very much affected by fan speed, and it is not reported by afterburner. The VRM does not have a ton of heatpipes connected to it to prevent heat buildup, that is the critical difference between VRM temps and core temps. This has been the case with all aftermarket GPUs i've owned - with my lightnings I cannot get 24/7 stbale operation at 1352 in SLI unless I use manual fan 70% or greater. If I use auto fan I lock up in heaven or get artifacts. Take this for what you will, its like overclocking a CPU without proper cooling...core temp doesn't tell you everything.
> I'm actually in disbelief that people insist on using auto fan with high overclocks, to me it seems utterly ridiculous because a few years ago it was common knowledge that high overclocks with any GPU = manual fan no matter what, i'm not sure what has changed and why people have shifted their mindsets. It was not like that a few years ago....i'm not sure if some people are relatively new to oc'ing gpu's or what. It does seem like people demand more for less as the years have gone by, high overclocks aren't free (in terms of temps/fanspeeds)
> edit: it is odd to see this rash of new posters who have just registered with their 1st post talking about a MSI lightning experience and then disappearing


This could be the reason for getting artifacts with auto fan. Thanks!

I tried to test the TF4 cooling efficiency by inverting my RV02-E 90 degrees, so that its heat pipes had the same orientation as normal chassis. However, I couldn't boot at all, the monitor failed to turn on. So then I put my chassis back into its original position, boot up (got "overclocking failed" message but I could still get into OS), invert the chassis, and my computer immediately froze. Not sure what would cause this. I'm using Silver Arrow for the CPU cooler. Everything is fine when putting the chassis in its normal orientation.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> in 68- 70*c* ambient temperature room.


I hope you meant "F" not "C" lol


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> I hope you meant "F" not "C" lol


LOL, true. Although it feels like that here in Atlanta during summer.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> LOL, true. Although it feels like that here in Atlanta during summer.


Pretty bad down here in Miami as well.


----------



## psyside

Lol you guys talk about temperature?









Here is 42c under shadow! on sun i measured 59c 2 days ago! its sick!


----------



## CalinTM

Same temps here, very hot, but i have air conditioning in my room







) Haha


----------



## psyside

I got to but its impossible to go out before 19.00


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Same temps here, very hot, but i have air conditioning in my room
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) Haha


Gratz me too!








The only down side is the electricity bill


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Gratz me too!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The only down side is the electricity bill


Electric is included in my rent so I leave the AC running all day while my pc is folding lol


----------



## Valenz

Here is mine..


----------



## DraculaxAOE

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DraculaxAOE*
> 
> This could be the reason for getting artifacts with auto fan. Thanks!
> I tried to test the TF4 cooling efficiency by inverting my RV02-E 90 degrees, so that its heat pipes had the same orientation as normal chassis. However, I couldn't boot at all, the monitor failed to turn on. So then I put my chassis back into its original position, boot up (got "overclocking failed" message but I could still get into OS), invert the chassis, and my computer immediately froze. Not sure what would cause this. I'm using Silver Arrow for the CPU cooler. Everything is fine when putting the chassis in its normal orientation.


So I replugged the PSU, clear CMOS, reinstall Memory, and now it can boot! Max load temp is 65C, which is 10C cooler than putting the chassis in its normal position!

Conclusion: RV02-E vertical mounting does negatively affect the cooling efficiency of the TF4 cooler!


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Gratz me too!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The only down side is the electricity bill


It's normal for a summer season, i spend about 30% more money on the bill than a non-summer day, so it's no a big deal, i mean i don't care about extra money if my butt isn't sweaty







)) haha


----------



## sp33dyj

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DraculaxAOE*
> 
> So I replugged the PSU, clear CMOS, reinstall Memory, and now it can boot! Max load temp is 65C, which is 10C cooler than putting the chassis in its normal position!
> Conclusion: RV02-E vertical mounting does negatively affect the cooling efficiency of the TF4 cooler!


really? cuz i have an ft03 (same orientation) and my lightning runs just fine.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Electric is included in my rent so I leave the AC running all day while my pc is folding lol


lol ok, I wish I could


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> It's normal for a summer season, i spend about 30% more money on the bill than a non-summer day, so it's no a big deal, i mean i don't care about extra money if my butt isn't sweaty
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )) haha


XD


----------



## DraculaxAOE

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sp33dyj*
> 
> really? cuz i have an ft03 (same orientation) and my lightning runs just fine.


You could give it a try, inverting your chassis. I know there were people who had done similar tests and they claimed not much of a difference. But in my case it's significant. 61C in heaven and 65C in Withcer 2 with ubersampling on.

BTW, I don't know what VRM cooling method that TF4 cooler uses, can anyone point it out?


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DraculaxAOE*
> 
> You could give it a try, inverting your chassis. I know there were people who had done similar tests and they claimed not much of a difference. But in my case it's significant. 61C in heaven and 65C in Withcer 2 with ubersampling on.
> BTW, I don't know what VRM cooling method that TF4 cooler uses, can anyone point it out?


There is an almost full card heatsink plate on the card which covers the VRM's as well as VRAM ... then the air is hits that plate after it cools the fins that dissipate the heat from the GPU


----------



## Bosniac

It's officially been decided. I am stepping down to a Zotac GTX 670 AMP Edition, that I ordered this morning for $427 shipped. Comes overclocked to 1176MHz, and 6600MHz Memory, with Lifetime Warranty. I don't plan upgrading until I get my 3 IPS 27" surround setup or similar, which I may get in two or so years, in time for GTX 880/HD9970. Right now, I am packing the Lightning, and saving $170. It's a great card, and I truly do hope MSI comes through, for the sake of its customers. Good luck everyone.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> It's officially been decided. I am stepping down to a Zotac GTX 670 AMP Edition, that I ordered this morning for $427 shipped. Comes overclocked to 1176MHz, and 6600MHz Memory, with Lifetime Warranty. I don't plan upgrading until I get my 3 IPS 27" surround setup or similar, which I may get in two or so years, in time for GTX 880/HD9970. Right now, I am packing the Lightning, and saving $170. It's a great card, and I truly do hope MSI comes through, for the sake of its customers. Good luck everyone.


TBH , i was thinking about doing the same thing and picking up 670 PE and maybe running sli down the line.


----------



## CalinTM

Hmm you guys are packing and send lightning, and for me isn't yet in the market







) Nice sync around the countries.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Hmm you guys are packing and send lightning, and for me isn't yet in the market
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) Nice sync around the countries.


"America F Yeah"!


----------



## xoleras

Anyone with a golden lightning that OC's to 1350+ absolutely stable and having buyers remorse, see me for selling, i'd probably buy it off ya!

I've been eyeing classified 680 OC results pretty intently and they don't seem amazing, so far i've seen (stable) 1260, 1275, 1300, 1333 out of 4 samples maximum overclocks. And the temps are higher too. Hopefully more data will come soon but it doesn't look that great for the classified unless you put it under water, of course the sample size is small so more results will be following I guess.


----------



## Bosniac

NM.


----------



## DraculaxAOE

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Anyone with a golden lightning that OC's to 1350+ absolutely stable and having buyers remorse, see me for selling, i'd probably buy it off ya!
> I've been eyeing classified 680 OC results pretty intently and they don't seem amazing, so far i've seen (stable) 1260, 1275, 1300, 1333 out of 4 samples maximum overclocks. And the temps are higher too. Hopefully more data will come soon but it doesn't look that great for the classified unless you put it under water, of course the sample size is small so more results will be following I guess.


For the classified, that's without EVBOT?

And also I think Lightning's LN2 BIOS has 1.212v but 1.175v max for the classified


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> It's officially been decided. I am stepping down to a Zotac GTX 670 AMP Edition, that I ordered this morning for $427 shipped. Comes overclocked to 1176MHz, and 6600MHz Memory, with Lifetime Warranty. I don't plan upgrading until I get my 3 IPS 27" surround setup or similar, which I may get in two or so years, in time for GTX 880/HD9970. Right now, I am packing the Lightning, and saving $170. It's a great card, and I truly do hope MSI comes through, for the sake of its customers. Good luck everyone.


I've heard nothing but good things about these cards, my only quibble is that the design with the heatpipes sticking way out is ugly! I've never been a fan of zotac aesthetics and color scheme -- that's nitpicking though, from all the results I've seen it looks like a great card.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DraculaxAOE*
> 
> For the classified, that's without EVBOT?
> And also I think Lightning's LN2 BIOS has 1.212v but 1.175v max for the classified


The classified also does up to 1.21V, I've only seen 1 person with EV Bot results and the temperatures were shockingly high with added voltage and well into kepler throttle territory (>70C). (the blower fan is not as good at cooling compared to the lightning) The classified doesn't have any kepler throttle prevention mechanism as the lightning does, but hopefully more results will be forthcoming.

It seems like a heavy overclock would be worthless if temps are in throttle territory, certainly doesn't seem desirable unless you can stay below that threshold. I do love that the lightning doesn't have kepler throttle, it may be that the classified really needs to be under water to truly shine. Again, hopefully we'll get some more data on these cards in the future.


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> "America F Yeah"!


I am so jealous, you are tired of your lightnings and send it back to shops, and i don't even have a single lightning in stock, in the whole markets.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I've heard nothing but good things about these cards, my only quibble is that the design with the heatpipes sticking way out is ugly! I've never been a fan of zotac aesthetics and color scheme -- that's nitpicking though, from all the results I've seen it looks like a great card.


Yeah, looks on these cards are subjective. I don't have anything orange in my case, but I think this particular Zotac looks badass. No cheap plastic. And it literally is exactly the same card, PCB, cooler, etc, minus one SMX, and a few Mhz slower than the GTX 680 AMP!
BTW, what's an i7 2500k?


----------



## xoleras

Its an unreleased engineering sample that I obtained from intel. I have the only one on the planet. Uhh, a typo that I just noticed. I upgraded from that system a long time ago anyway, I should just delete that out of my sig


----------



## DraculaxAOE

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> The classified also does up to 1.21V, I've only seen 1 person with EV Bot results and the temperatures were shockingly high with added voltage and well into kepler throttle territory (>70C). (the blower fan is not as good at cooling compared to the lightning) The classified doesn't have any kepler throttle prevention mechanism as the lightning does, but hopefully more results will be forthcoming.
> It seems like a heavy overclock would be worthless if temps are in throttle territory, certainly doesn't seem desirable unless you can stay below that threshold. I do love that the lightning doesn't have kepler throttle, it may be that the classified really needs to be under water to truly shine. Again, hopefully we'll get some more data on these cards in the future.


Thanks for the clarification


----------



## FtW 420

Playing with some max clocks yesterday, squeezed some more Mhz out of the 680L with cooler temps.

1.4K core


----------



## xoleras

Wow nice, I think that would be the first card i've heard of getting 1400 on air.


----------



## FtW 420

It's actually on water right now, swapped out the heatsink for a universal block & a couple case fans for PCB cooling. Also noticed today I forgot to put the gpu reactor back on, so I would say at stock voltage with air & water, it doesn't seem to make much difference.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> It's actually on water right now, swapped out the heatsink for a universal block & a couple case fans for PCB cooling. Also noticed today I forgot to put the gpu reactor back on, so I would say at stock voltage with air & water, it doesn't seem to make much difference.


How fast was it running on stock cooling, max oc?


----------



## Xnerdz

Hey guys! I don't want to bother you...
I just started a thread for the afterburner 2.2.3
If you have any infos or news, go ahead!
http://www.overclock.net/t/1282754/afterburner-2-2-3/0_50


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> How fast was it running on stock cooling, max oc?


Stock I was maxing at 1384/1779 in 3d11, 1355/1752 in heaven. The block was just sitting there so figured I'd try it out, not much gain, but a gain.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Hey guys! I don't want to bother you...
> I just started a thread for the afterburner 2.2.3
> If you have any infos or news, go ahead!
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1282754/afterburner-2-2-3/0_50


The only news is that MSI alex pulled a JFAMD, although unwinder is said to complete it in August. Hopefully. Thankfully most lightnings clock well without it, sitll a crappy situation nonetheless.


----------



## dph314

Just wrapping up my H100 install with the replacement Lightning that also just came in today. Welcome back SLI.

We'll see if this card is a worthy replacement for the 1380mhz card that decided to stop working. Results in a few.


----------



## Darklynx

Ok, a totally new computer:
MSI x79 X-Power II
3930k
Corsair AX1200
Et cetera...

Same results








LN2 bios max GPU OC Boost 1250 and max Mem 3450 on Heaven
This with the last two beta versions of the nvidia drivers


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Just wrapping up my H100 install with the replacement Lightning that also just came in today. Welcome back SLI.
> We'll see if this card is a worthy replacement for the 1380mhz card that decided to stop working. Results in a few.


Looking forward to it, I hope you get a good one!


----------



## dVeLoPe

im still deciding sell my reference evga for 450 that clocks 1200-1250ish/+400ish and pay 150$ to get a lightning for it to clock at worst say 1300 I dont think a few mhz is worth the money but then again if this unlocked voltage is really true next month it might hit 1400 ez desicions uyghh


----------



## dph314

Well the newly installed H100 and Samsung 30nm RAM allows for plenty of room for the Lightnings on the RIVE.

I have a question though. When I used to hit too high of a clock with my last 2 Lightnings, I would just get a black screen and have to do a hard reset. I tested this one at 1300mhz and the driver crashed and I get the message saying "driver has crashed but recovered, running Kernal mode..." or something like that, but no freeze/hard-reset like usual. What's this about? Just did a clean install of the 304.48 drivers.


----------



## hammerforged

I only get the hard reset on the ln2 bios. Makes sure its switched to the second position. I get the exact same thing as you on the normal bios.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> I only get the hard reset on the ln2 bios. Makes sure its switched to the second position. I get the exact same thing as you on the normal bios.


All I use is the LN2 BIOS. Now I just switched SLI on for the first time with this new build/card and the drivers uninstalled themself! The hell is going on with these things? I get a black screen and now I'm at 800X600 res and Afterburner is saying No Hardware Detected. Wierd.


----------



## MouthofJustin

i just got another lightning today and i have been benching it for a while now...and so far im hitting 1322mhz stable in ln2 bios. i have not touched the memory clock yet, trying to find the limit with the core clock first. but my dilemma is...my first lightning wont break past 1282mhz...now when i sli these cards after i get the second cards OC figured out...do i sync the cards to the weakest of the two and settle knowing that one card can OC higher than the other, or should i unsync in AB and run at two different overclocks. seems kinda far apart will that hinder performance...im still learning..but learning i will!


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MouthofJustin*
> 
> i just got another lightning today and i have been benching it for a while now...and so far im hitting 1322mhz stable in ln2 bios. i have not touched the memory clock yet, trying to find the limit with the core clock first. but my dilemma is...my first lightning wont break past 1282mhz...now when i sli these cards after i get the second cards OC figured out...do i sync the cards to the weakest of the two and settle knowing that one card can OC higher than the other, or should i unsync in AB and run at two different overclocks. seems kinda far apart will that hinder performance...im still learning..but learning i will!


You have two 680's in SLI and your worried about a slight difference in the overclock? man come on. Performance is going to be amazing for you, what really helps with the Kepler series is a nice memory overclock because the cards are bandwidth limited. You can keep raising up the core but unless your also overclocking the vram its not gonna do you much good, I would say get both cards to around 1275mhz core and go for 500+ on the mem to really open them up.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> All I use is the LN2 BIOS. Now I just switched SLI on for the first time with this new build/card and the drivers uninstalled themself! The hell is going on with these things? I get a black screen and now I'm at 800X600 res and Afterburner is saying No Hardware Detected. Wierd.


I agree that the 600 series exhibits some very odd behavior when any instability from the overclock is detected.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

I generally find that if the OC is waaaay unstable (no where close to enough voltage) you will get a hard reset scenario. When its getting closer to stability the drivers will start to recover on their own. When its just artifacting but still running you are almost stable...


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> I generally find that if the OC is waaaay unstable (no where close to enough voltage) you will get a hard reset scenario. When its getting closer to stability the drivers will start to recover on their own. When its just artifacting but still running you are almost stable...


+1


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> I generally find that if the OC is waaaay unstable (no where close to enough voltage) you will get a hard reset scenario. When its getting closer to stability the drivers will start to recover on their own. When its just artifacting but still running you are almost stable...


Yeah , turned my memory up to 600 and it was causing artifacts. I then backed down to 550 and all was good.
Pretty much anything over 600 resulted in a lockup.


----------



## MouthofJustin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> You have two 680's in SLI and your worried about a slight difference in the overclock? man come on. Performance is going to be amazing for you, what really helps with the Kepler series is a nice memory overclock because the cards are bandwidth limited. You can keep raising up the core but unless your also overclocking the vram its not gonna do you much good, I would say get both cards to around 1275mhz core and go for 500+ on the mem to really open them up.


O

Yaa i was going by the master 670 overclock guide the mister who wrote that guide was staying start with just the core oc first work your way up until it starts to crash then bring it down a mhz or two until stable then do the same with the memory clock but im assuming those increments can be spaced further? Like 25-50 offset jumps? Yes?


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MouthofJustin*
> 
> O
> Yaa i was going by the master 670 overclock guide the mister who wrote that guide was staying start with just the core oc first work your way up until it starts to crash then bring it down a mhz or two until stable then do the same with the memory clock but im assuming those increments can be spaced further? Like 25-50 offset jumps? Yes?


Yes generally you do start with the core and find its max overclock and then work on the memory. But my point is that with the 600 series hitting a high core overclock is just about useless without a nice memory overclock because the cards are somewhat bandwidth starved, for example you would get better results with 1250core 500+mem than you would with 1300+core with no memory overclock.


----------



## noobzpro

erm guys is there anyway to off all led light on this card? wanted to do a red led setup....but with the blue lights....gonna be ugly if i get red led fans right


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> I generally find that if the OC is waaaay unstable (no where close to enough voltage) you will get a hard reset scenario. When its getting closer to stability the drivers will start to recover on their own. When its just artifacting but still running you are almost stable...


The lightning is an exception to what i'm about to say but

The 680 is different generally speaking, since it has kepler throttle it can sense when things are about to go haywire and 90% of the time you will get a TDR instead of a BSOD or hard reset with the kepler when using an unstable OC. With reference 680s no matter how hard i pushed if the OC was unstable it would always end in a TDR with the 2d clocks reset to 384mhz or something......like I said the lightning with BIOS2 is different since it removes kepler throttle.

That said, the lightning BIOS2 does cause a hard reset with instability (due to no kepler throttle) but BIOS1 is TDR like most other 680s.


----------



## MouthofJustin

Call me crazy call me maybe....i was thinking what exactly causes these cards to crash? Overheating the vrm too much...im getting a 120+ offset for the core and 500+ offset on the memory with card and another card i can get past 1282 corr clock stable...havent touched the mem on that onr yet...why so different? I havent taken this particular card apart yet but what if all these lower oc cards are because maybe the heatsink or thermal pads or what have you is not seated as good as these higher oc cards? What if all it takes is a little extra TLC and maybe adding artic cooler or thermal pads yourself? This might sound crazy but call me maybe


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> I generally find that if the OC is waaaay unstable (no where close to enough voltage) you will get a hard reset scenario. When its getting closer to stability the drivers will start to recover on their own. When its just artifacting but still running you are almost stable...


The lightning is an exception to what i'm about to say but

The 680 is different generally speaking, since it has kepler throttle it can sense when things are about to go haywire and 90% of the time you will get a TDR instead of a BSOD or hard reset with the kepler when using an unstable OC. With reference 680s no matter how hard i pushed if the OC was unstable it would always end in a TDR with the 2d clocks reset to 384mhz or something......like I said the lightning with BIOS2 is different since it removes kepler throttle.

So I guess kepler throttle isn't completely worthless, just 99% worthless







That said, the lightning BIOS2 does cause a hard reset with instability (due to no kepler throttle) but BIOS1 is TDR like most other 680s. I theorize that this happens since the lightning does not have kepler throttle when using BIOS2.


----------



## hammerforged

From Shoggy:
Quote:


> So far we have not really an idea how to organize this but we will start with an important thing this evening: we will order the card so a block will be available


Sounds like water blocks are coming.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/30#post_17725575


----------



## dph314

Some wierd activity to report here with the new card. I get the driver crash at 1270mhz core and also when I set it at 1300mhz. With my last card I got a hard reset even 1mhz over my stable clock, so, yeah and also I'm getting within the margin-of-error for 3dMark11 graphics score whether I have the memory at 6400mhz or 6800mhz. I know memory makes more of a difference than that, and Afterburner is definitely reporting a stable 6800mhz memory clock during the test. GPU score @ 1260/6400= 11,[email protected] 1260/6600= 11,376 (yes I actually scored the _exact_ same with the second [email protected] 1260/6800= 11,441. This card acting wierd?

I've tried 304.48 and 304.79 drivers, and the card is definitely in the LN2 BIOS.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Some wierd activity to report here with the new card. I get the driver crash at 1270mhz core and also when I set it at 1300mhz. With my last card I got a hard reset even 1mhz over my stable clock, so, yeah and also I'm getting within the margin-of-error for 3dMark11 graphics score whether I have the memory at 6400mhz or 6800mhz. I know memory makes more of a difference than that, and Afterburner is definitely reporting a stable 6800mhz memory clock during the test. GPU score @ 1260/6400= 11,[email protected] 1260/6600= 11,376 (yes I actually scored the _exact_ same with the second [email protected] 1260/6800= 11,441. This card acting wierd?
> I've tried 304.48 and 304.79 drivers, and the card is definitely in the LN2 BIOS.


Peculiar indeed, never had a driver crash in my limited testing with 2 different lightnings. Does this occur at stock memory clocks?


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Some wierd activity to report here with the new card. I get the driver crash at 1270mhz core and also when I set it at 1300mhz. With my last card I got a hard reset even 1mhz over my stable clock, so, yeah and also I'm getting within the margin-of-error for 3dMark11 graphics score whether I have the memory at 6400mhz or 6800mhz. I know memory makes more of a difference than that, and Afterburner is definitely reporting a stable 6800mhz memory clock during the test. GPU score @ 1260/6400= 11,[email protected] 1260/6600= 11,376 (yes I actually scored the _exact_ same with the second [email protected] 1260/6800= 11,441. This card acting wierd?
> I've tried 304.48 and 304.79 drivers, and the card is definitely in the LN2 BIOS.


Sounds like a junk overclocker, sorry you didnt get one like you had before.


----------



## contruable

deleted


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Peculiar indeed, never had a driver crash in my limited testing with 2 different lightnings. Does this occur at stock memory clocks?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Sounds like a junk overclocker, sorry you didnt get one like you had before.


Yeah it doesn't appear to be a worthy replacement. But the driver crashing seems wierd instead of hard resets. And the 400mhz+ memory overclock should have at least _some_ affect on scores


----------



## contruable

I tested MSI gtx 680 lightning with Evga OC Scanner for OC stability. What happened was...the pstate doesn't stay constant, it moves from 1280 mhz to 680 mhz, sometimes to 324 mhz. it doesn't happen every second, but it does happen every few mins during the stress test with EVga Oc Scanner.

can someone enlighten me, is that normal?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *contruable*
> 
> I tested MSI gtx 680 lightning with Evga OC Scanner for OC stability. What happened was...the pstate doesn't stay constant, it moves from 1280 mhz to 680 mhz, sometimes to 324 mhz. it doesn't happen every second, but it does happen every few mins during the stress test with EVga Oc Scanner.
> can someone enlighten me, is that normal?


Is this with the LN2 BIOS? Also, what does the Power % peak at?


----------



## contruable

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Is this with the LN2 BIOS? Also, what does the Power % peak at?


Yes this is with LN2 BIOS, and Power % peak at 66-67.


----------



## Makkqverk

From what i came from i think i deserved a 680 the most haha =) glad i'm done with the old 5750


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I went from a BFG 6800 to SLI 680 Lightnings









I even played a little Quake 3 Arena last night just to see if it'd work. It'll play off the CD, but I didn't try to install it.

Timedemo demo001 ran at 988 fps with everything maxed. Took 1.4 seconds.


----------



## Mr.Pie

hey guys; just a small reminder that I'm trying to push for a "group buy/limited production run" of a full cover block for the lightning with AquaComputer.

details can be viewed in the following thread: http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30

any questions; please feel free to PM me


----------



## TURN & BURN

There are 3 sets of Bios for the lightning cards 1 plane jane 1 pre set LN2 then there is the Special LN2 full unlocked Bios only given to certain PPL direct from MSI HQ, so just to be clear the LN2 Bios onboard still have limitations just a FYI


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TURN & BURN*
> 
> There are 3 sets of Bios for the lightning cards 1 plane jane 1 pre set LN2 then there is the Special LN2 full unlocked Bios only given to certain PPL direct from MSI HQ, so just to be clear the LN2 Bios onboard still have limitations just a FYI


So who would leek that bios


----------



## TURN & BURN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> So who would leek that bios


No one of course thats the bad news

However the current LN2 bios are just fine and you most likely wont kill your card.


----------



## Benchmarksli

A guy at the EVGA forums hit 1450MHz with the EvBot and 680 Classified. The card also doesn't thermal throttle like the standard 680's. The Classified (with EvBot) is the baddest card on the planet right now.









http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?&m=1668607&mpage=3


----------



## xoleras

He didn't "get" 1450. It wasn't stable and also throttled.
Quote:


> but power throttled back a bit no matter how much voltage I pumped into the card, causing it to downclock a bit. Anything past 1.3v appears to throttle... which leaves me to ask EVGA reps: Is there a voltage cap on the Classy cards with EVBot?


^^Here you see that the card does throttle. *The classified DOES temperature throttle*, your info is wrong there, you can ask Andrew to verify, he has posted that it does before. Multiple people have confirmed that the classified does temperature throttle, even JacobF from EVGA can verify that.

*More classified results @ 1270 max OC:* http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1668607&mpage=3
Quote:


> Wow I'm so bummed reading through this thread! My classy I received today won't go past 1270 on stock voltage..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> my vanillas do 1227 core! that's only a difference of 43 MHz!!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> my power supply is brand new and More than sufficient for this card. Do you guys think my motherboard is holding back since the classy 759 doesn't have an auxiliary power input? I also tried a lightning and couldn't get past 1280 or so on the ln2 bios.Or just bad luck!


1270 max OC, doesn't your reference clock higher than that?

*More classified results from a newegg review, 1260 max OC:*http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130801
Quote:


> Cons: Unfortunately the card I received would not overclock well at all, the max GPU boost I could achieve was 1255mhz. For a 660$ card I expected more than this, these cards are supposedly binned I thought but this one was a dud. The other annoyance is that voltage control requires a 100$ purchase from EVGA, that seems pretty ridiculous - that makes the total cost near 800$ for a single card.


First, i'm anxious to see more results for the classified. Unfortunately, your claim of being the biggest and baddest isn't quite true in this case, *680 classified max OC's per newegg and EVGA forums has been 1260, 1270, 1265, 1296, and 1333.* The result you posted about 1450mhz isn't true, it wasn't stable and throttled - furthermore, the classified does temp throttle.

Now with your post history I know you love causing and stirring trouble, which is the only rationale I can think of for coming to the lightning owners club thread and talking about this. Especially when the results obtained from users contradict your statement - if anything the classified is getting worse overclocks than the lightning from what i've been reading.

*Here's another result: 1312 max OC and this guy has EVbot apparently:* http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?&m=1668607&mpage=2
Quote:


> finally I got 1312 and +500 mem stable everywhere... for more it need EVBot and Water!!!
> temps at load ~60 +/-5


*Now most of these results are less than 1300, and this is the biggest and baddest card?* Also, using EV bot causes ridiculous temps from what i've read, fatalzity posted that his temps went 80-90 with EV bot voltages. Again, the jury is still out. Perhaps you should read more thoroughly before coming to the lightning owners club to stir trouble.


----------



## xoleras

So to summarize, per the data on record the classified max OC's on the EVGA classified we have are 1260, 1270, 1296, 1300 and 1312. Thats hardly different from the lightning - the other thing to add is that EV bot voltages causes temps to skyrocket, per Andrew, so it is no usable because temps go to 80-90C. The only way to use it is on water.

I know you like stirring up trouble per your posting history, but i'd suggest reading all of the available info thoroughly before posting such things in a non - related thread. Simply reading through that thread and newegg would indicate that people aren't getting amazing OCs with it... the data suggests that the card isn't the OC beast that some people think it could be, although we could use more data in this regard.

I will also point out that multiple lightning users have achieved greater than 1350mhz oc's including DPH, bosniac, myself, and some others, so far no fully stress tested classified result has achieved that. Andrew tried 1400 and it failed, and was not able to produce a benchmark result.


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> He didn't "get" 1450. It wasn't stable and also throttled.
> ^^Here you see that the card does throttle. *The classified DOES temperature throttle*, your info is wrong there, you can ask Andrew to verify, he has posted that it does before. Multiple people have confirmed that the classified does temperature throttle, even JacobF from EVGA can verify that.
> *More classified results @ 1270 max OC:* http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1668607&mpage=3
> 1270 max OC, doesn't your reference clock higher than that?
> *More classified results from a newegg review, 1260 max OC:*http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130801
> First, i'm anxious to see more results for the classified. Unfortunately, your claim of being the biggest and baddest isn't quite true in this case, *680 classified max OC's per newegg and EVGA forums has been 1260, 1270, 1265, 1296, and 1333.* The result you posted about 1450mhz isn't true, it wasn't stable and throttled - furthermore, the classified does temp throttle.
> Now with your post history I know you love causing and stirring trouble, which is the only rationale I can think of for coming to the lightning owners club thread and talking about this. Especially when the results obtained from users contradict your statement - if anything the classified is getting worse overclocks than the lightning from what i've been reading.
> *Here's another result: 1312 max OC and this guy has EVbot apparently:* http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?&m=1668607&mpage=2
> *Now most of these results are less than 1300, and this is the biggest and baddest card?* Also, using EV bot causes ridiculous temps from what i've read, fatalzity posted that his temps went 80-90 with EV bot voltages. Again, the jury is still out. Perhaps you should read more thoroughly before coming to the lightning owners club to stir trouble.


Nice job not posting the whole message. I didn't come here to start any trouble, but you're trying to take it that direction. Here is the post in FULL without being edited or shortened.

He specified that the temps WAS NOT the cause of the throttle, but when he tried pumping more than 1.3v to the core. There seems to be a limit currently on how much volt's you can feed the Classified. In reply to the rest of your message, those clocks were achived on STOCK voltage of 1.175v, so of course you can't expect anything amazing form them without the EvBot.

At least EVGA was true to their word and provided a means for voltage adjustment, unlike MSI who sold you guys lies....
Quote:


> No final results yet, *but I was able to get to 1450 without major issues*, but power throttled back a bit no matter how much voltage I pumped into the card, causing it to downclock a bit. Anything past 1.3v appears to throttle... which leaves me to ask EVGA reps: Is there a voltage cap on the Classy cards with EVBot?
> 
> *The card wasn't thermal throttling. If this is the case, then I'll be finding the limits of these cards on air.*


Edit: Don't put words in Andrews mouth, he didn't say ANYTHING about it not being stable. Not sure how you came to that interpretation based on his post.


----------



## Valenz

So 1 card got to 1450 mhz with voltage adjustment at a cost of $760 ? I will take my lightning over it any day and I don't have the best overclocking one (1302 core).
Damn that $760.00 doesn't even include a back plate smh. BTW my clocks are higher then many classifieds can achieve and my card runs a bunch cooler and is not limited to a 55% fan speed.


----------



## xoleras

The card (classified 680) does thermal throttle at 70C like other 680 cards, several posters at the EVGA board confirmed this, you're welcome to ask them if you think i'm lying. I've lurked pretty intently at the EVGA forums for some time looking over results and it DOES THROTTLE, I just don't feel like digging up those posts. Anyway, you can ask Andrew but he certainly did not get 1450mhz stable, ask him. The card downclocks -- Yesterday he posted his max stable OC in tri sli as 1266, 1296 and 1333, then he posted today an attempt at 1400 but it didn't work.

The classified isn't getting better OC's than the lightning, most of the cards per the EVGA forum are clocking in the high 1200s. Simply reading that entire thread would make it plainly obvious that everyone is getting high 1200s with their classified cards. Now of course MSI is in the wrong for the whole voltage thing which isn't ready yet, but your statements regarding thermal throttling on the classified is false, and the overclocks achieved on the classified are certainly nothing amazing -- as I said read the entire three classy threads where they all clock in the high 1200s. And then try to claim that its the biggest and baddest card, yeah right.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> So 1 card got to 1450 mhz with voltage adjustment at a cost of $760 ? I will take my lightning over it any day and I don't have the best overclocking one (1302 core).
> Damn that $760.00 doesn't even include a back plate smh. BTW my clocks are higher then many classifieds can achieve and my card runs a bunch cooler and is not limited to a 55% fan speed.


I agree. You're getting into GTX 690 territory with those prices. Come to think of it, buying a 690 would be the smarter thing to do, price and performance wise.


----------



## Makkqverk

One question!







i turned off my system, and flipped the bios switch







when i got into windows it all looked like before i installed the nvidia drivers. Do you have to install drivers 2 times?? i'm totally new on all of this so help would be appreciated







GPU-Z did also show 0-mhz










thank you


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

^^^

Just restart your computer again and it should be fine.


----------



## CalinTM

Hey, for my motherboard with a Noctua D14 cooler the lightning's gpu reactor will fit ?


----------



## Makkqverk

I tried restarting now, nothing happened shows the low resolution and afterburner wont start.. whats this? did i get a Rma where the guy flashed the second bios and screwed it up?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> I tried restarting now, nothing happened shows the low resolution and afterburner wont start.. whats this? did i get a Rma where the guy flashed the second bios and screwed it up?


Reinstall the driver, don't get worried or excited yet.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> I tried restarting now, nothing happened shows the low resolution and afterburner wont start.. whats this? did i get a Rma where the guy flashed the second bios and screwed it up?


As MrTooshort stated, you just have to reinstall the driver when switching the BIOS.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Reinstall the driver, don't get worried or excited yet.


I had to do the same. It should all be good!!!


----------



## PrincetonM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> So 1 card got to 1450 mhz with voltage adjustment at a cost of $760 ? I will take my lightning over it any day and I don't have the best overclocking one (1302 core).
> Damn that $760.00 doesn't even include a back plate smh. BTW my clocks are higher then many classifieds can achieve and my card runs a bunch cooler and is not limited to a 55% fan speed.


Actually the card is only $659 and the evbot has dropped in price to 79.99. That's still too much for my blood.


----------



## Makkqverk

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> I had to do the same. It should all be good!!!


After reinstall-

and regular bios


Does it look normal now? =) supposed to go to reference gtx680 in ln2?

What could cause this to happen? just for fun i uninstalled the nvidia drivers and rebooted and installed again, but this time i did not need to install seperate on the LN2 because now it was all normal ...i formated windows after i had installed the card first time, and reinstalled everything. So i would get this the next time i reinstall windows? =)


----------



## EM2J

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Hey, for my motherboard with a Noctua D14 cooler the lightning's gpu reactor will fit ?


With your motherboard you should be fine. People with micro ATX boards like myself will have problems, though. Matter of fact, I just switched from a D14 to an H70 because I couldn't fit the reactor


----------



## xlur8

So guys im a little dumb here i just got my lightning in gpuz gpu clock is 1006 and default clock is 1202 so if i set afterburner to +100 does that mean its running at 1300? im a noob and confused here


----------



## PrincetonM

Any kind of ETA for software voltage control with these cards???


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> With your motherboard you should be fine. People with micro ATX boards like myself will have problems, though. Matter of fact, I just switched from a D14 to an H70 because I couldn't fit the reactor


So if i buy a Noctua D14, you sure it will fit ? Cuz my mobo has that big mosfets radiators. I've checked and the Noctua's radiators are tall from the heat pipes to the actual radiator, so that one is ok, it fits below my mosfest. But i couldn't find some Length spect for noctua. The Macho has 140mm, if the Noctua's is bigger, i don't think then i will buy the lightning, the gpu reactor cap will fit as well.


----------



## EM2J

ya your good, it'll tower over your mobo's heatsinks easily. The pci-e x1 slot will give the space needed between the d14 and gpu for the reactor.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PrincetonM*
> 
> Any kind of ETA for software voltage control with these cards???


No, but it's been a couple of days since the last wave of rants about not having it, so you might stick around and wait for that.


----------



## skatpex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> No, but it's been a couple of days since the last wave of rants about not having it, so you might stick around and wait for that.


lmao


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xlur8*
> 
> So guys im a little dumb here i just got my lightning in gpuz gpu clock is 1006 and default clock is 1202 so if i set afterburner to +100 does that mean its running at 1300? im a noob and confused here


Monitor clocks with afterburner, not gpu-z. Clocks on the 680 vary depending on graphics load, and BIOS1 is 1176 boost, while BIOS2 is 1202 boost. If you have +100 it is 1276 or 1302 depending on which BIOS you're using.


----------



## CalinTM

OK, i really hope it all will fit, cuz i've already had a big problem with the H100, the second fan didn't fit between the mosfet heatsink and i have to RMA the H100.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> ya your good, it'll tower over your mobo's heatsinks easily. The pci-e x1 slot will give the space needed between the d14 and gpu for the reactor.


Seems you have the combo i need, the Noctua and the Lightning, if you want please make a quick picture with the Noctua and the gpu reactor, i really want to see how much space is between them...









I need this because i have the risk to buy the Noctua and could be useless. Who knows when in my country they will ship the Lightning card, and i will buy the Noctua these days, and the Lightning in a couple of weeks, and when i will have them both i don't want to tell myself, "ohh, i bought the Noctua for nothing, cuz the gpu reactor cap doesn't fit".

I trust you it will fit all together, but i need a pic.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> Nice job not posting the whole message. I didn't come here to start any trouble, but you're trying to take it that direction.


I'm simply correcting your misinformation. I'm not taking it in that direction,but consider you posted this in the lightning owners club. This thread is dedicated to lightning fanboys and users







so a statement like that will get an appropriate response, realize what thread you're posting in and then the answer becomes obvious. You came to this thread to declare another card the king of all cards so what kind of response do you expect? Especially when you're wrong. What you posted was misleading and your statement regarding throttling is absolutely false. Another post from EVGA forum: http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1676756
Quote:


> The classy I purchased from evga cant get passed 1270 on stock volts 1.175. Its really a bummer when my vanillas can overclock to 1227 boost clock all day.43 mhz difference!
> Anyway my results: *Max stable overclock on the core is 1270 mhz* 1.175V (stock is 1215 bc) Memory hasn't been tested yet, will update later. heaven looped for an hour+ plus gaming. Dirt 3 and BF3.
> 100% stable during testing. Manual fan set at 55% [the maximum setting on classy]
> *Max temp was around 65 to 68c. I lowered the fan speed to raise temps past 70c and noticed a throttle at 76c to 1260 a 10mhz difference from my max of 1270 mhz. did not test higher temps though.*


1270mhz overclock, with maximum manual fan temps 65-68, ouch. Note that 55% is the maximum setting for the classified, the fan runs at 3000rpm at this setting. *Also note that the classified does have thermal Kepler throttle unlike the lightning which does not.*

I'm not saying the classified is bad but certainly the overclocks achieved are not amazing - this is all while the card costs a LOT more and has a much worse cooler. I can pretty much guarantee that TF4 with maximum manual fan @ 1270mhz would be around 50C.

Again, I emphasize, i'm not saying its a bad card. Clearly your statement that it is the king of all cards may be a bit flawed, in my eyes it doesn't appear to be - by far most overclocks are maxing out in the high 1200s (which is the same or worse than lightning) while being more expensive and having a worse cooler. Feel free to PM Andrew, the OC at 1400 was not stable and could not produce a benchmark result. So it was not a valid OC - but you can easily see from the EVGA forum that most OC's are ranging from 1255-1333. Decent OC's but not mind blowing. I would put lightning and classified on even ground, but classified certainly isn't performing as the "king of all cards" as you suggested.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Hey, for my motherboard with a Noctua D14 cooler the lightning's gpu reactor will fit ?


Are you using the MSI Z77A-GD65 in your sig?

Here's a pic of that mobo, but with the HR-02 and Lightning with Reactor in place. So if the HR-02 is an option for you, it will work.


----------



## EM2J

as you can see the macho fits, which is 140mm wide, just like the d14


----------



## xoleras

You could probably make it work, however there's really no advantage to GPU reactor unless you're on real LN2. I'd personally just remove it, thats me though


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> You could probably make it work, however there's really no advantage to GPU reactor unless you're on real LN2. I'd personally just remove it, thats me though


But its gotz blue lights in its!

The PCI-E slot spacing is kinda different on this mobo, there's no need to take the Reactors off unless you just want to. They came on the cards, so I left them on there.


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Are you using the MSI Z77A-GD65 in your sig?
> Here's a pic of that mobo, but with the HR-02 and Lightning with Reactor in place. So if the HR-02 is an option for you, it will work.


Yes i am using the GD65. All the specs are true. Ok, that's great news.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

I think that a water cooled 680 Classy with the EVBot just may be the baddest single GPU card on the planet but it sure as heck ain't worth the price. You're getting dangerously close to 690 territory at that point...

EDIT - Also, when MSI gets their heads out of their you-know-whats and delivers voltage control (and blocks become available for the 680 Lightnings) they will reclaim the "King" title in my opinion...


----------



## xoleras

659$ + 99$(EV Bot) + 150$ (EVGA block)

The lightning certainly isn't cheap but the classified is on a different level in terms of expensive lol. Thats basically 690 price like you stated. On air certainly the classified isn't amazing, it seems to be overclocking on average around 1280 (high 1200s) per posts at EVGA + newegg. I'd certainly welcome seeing more results OC wise on the classy but it is what it is so far, that is what users have reported.

I do hope the voltage stuff comes out soon, but water blocks are being developed thankfully. I'm definitely in for 2 lightning blocks


----------



## MrMarauder

For all the BF3 players on here, have you noticed some stuttering or performance drops in multiplayer? I've switched back and forth between 304.48 and 304.79 drivers and the lackluster performance in certain maps still exists.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> For all the BF3 players on here, have you noticed some stuttering or performance drops in multiplayer? I've switched back and forth between 304.48 and 304.79 drivers and the lackluster performance in certain maps still exists.


Running great with my GTX 680 but I dont own a lightning 680 so im not sure if its something specific with it or not though it shouldnt be.


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> 659$ + *99$(EV Bot)* + 150$ (EVGA block)
> The lightning certainly isn't cheap but the classified is on a different level in terms of expensive lol. Thats basically 690 price like you stated. On air certainly the classified isn't amazing, it seems to be overclocking on average around 1280 (high 1200s) per posts at EVGA + newegg. I'd certainly welcome seeing more results OC wise on the classy but it is what it is so far, that is what users have reported.
> I do hope the voltage stuff comes out soon, but water blocks are being developed thankfully. I'm definitely in for 2 lightning blocks


http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-EVBot-Hand-Held-Controller-100-EV-EB01-BR/dp/B0033FQ440/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342633824&sr=8-1&keywords=evbot

http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=100-EV-EB01-BR&family=Accessories - Hardware&sw=4

^ The EvBot cost 79.99..........


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> 659$ + *99$(EV Bot)* + 150$ (EVGA block)
> The lightning certainly isn't cheap but the classified is on a different level in terms of expensive lol. Thats basically 690 price like you stated. *On air certainly the classified isn't amazing, it seems to be overclocking on average around 1280 (high 1200s) per posts at EVGA + newegg.* I'd certainly welcome seeing more results OC wise on the classy but it is what it is so far, that is what users have reported.
> I do hope the voltage stuff comes out soon, but water blocks are being developed thankfully. I'm definitely in for 2 lightning blocks


http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-EVBot-Hand-Held-Controller-100-EV-EB01-BR/dp/B0033FQ440/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342633824&sr=8-1&keywords=evbot

http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=100-EV-EB01-BR&family=Accessories - Hardware&sw=4

^ The EvBot cost 79.99..........
Quote:


> On air certainly the classified isn't amazing, it seems to be overclocking on average around 1280 (high 1200s) per posts at EVGA + newegg.


The Classy without the EvBot is a standard 1.175v VS the Lightning 1.21v and 1.26v.....So yeah, what do you expect?


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> I think that a water cooled 680 Classy with the EVBot just may be the baddest single GPU card on the planet but it sure as heck ain't worth the price. You're getting dangerously close to 690 territory at that point...
> EDIT - Also, when MSI gets their heads out of their you-know-whats and delivers voltage control (and blocks become available for the 680 Lightnings) they will reclaim the "King" title in my opinion...


I'll have two after I sell off my signatures. I look forward to comparing my oc's vs the lightnings. Last gen, I had two 580 Classified Ultras that ran 1058Mhz 24/7 in SLI......That's why it's so funny reading that guys post because he bashes the Classified so much without ever owning it.









This is the best bench I found on my HDD from the Fermi days....

580 Classy 980MHz SLI

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3914566


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Running great with my GTX 680 but I dont own a lightning 680 so im not sure if its something specific with it or not though it shouldnt be.


I have noticed that the game is horribly bad when I turn off vsync. Jerky, stuttering, etc.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> I'll have two after I sell off my signatures. I look forward to comparing my oc's vs the lightnings. Last gen, I had two 580 Classified Ultras that ran 1058Mhz 24/7 in SLI......That's why it's so funny reading that guys post because he bashes Classified so much without ever owing them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is the best bench I found on my HDD from the Fermi days....
> 580 Classy 980MHz SLI
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3914566


That's great. I so happy you're excited. Now, go create a Classifieds thread, and bloat.


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I have noticed that the game is horribly bad when I turn off vsync. Jerky, stuttering, etc.


On a handful of multiplayer maps, it never dips below 59 fps with VSYNC on, but on a few, it drops tremendously.


----------



## CalinTM

DICE needs to optimize their engine, and Nvidia to work more with DICE to remove this problems. It will take time. You remember the big thread here about the Bad Company 2 stuttering problem ? Well it took much time until they have fixed it for good.


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> DICE needs to optimize their engine, and Nvidia to work more with DICE to remove this problems. It will take time. You remember the big thread here about the Bad Company 2 stuttering problem ? Well it took much time until they have fixed it for good.


For me, it's not only stuttering, it's framerate drop as well. I did some research, and apparently after the major Back to Karkand patch, performance decreased with the 600 series, but it only affects certain 680/670s. Also, I was curious if anyone had noticed any performance improvements with any particular set of drivers.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> For me, it's not only stuttering, it's framerate drop as well. I did some research, and apparently after the major Back to Karkand patch, performance decreased with the 600 series, but it only affects certain 680/670s. Also, I was curious if anyone had noticed any performance improvements with any particular set of drivers.


Both of my GB 680/670 ran fine on 301.42.


----------



## Valenz

[quote name="Benchmarksli"
Quote:


> On air certainly the classified isn't amazing, it seems to be overclocking on average around 1280 (high 1200s) per posts at EVGA + newegg.


The Classy without the EvBot is a standard 1.175v VS the Lightning 1.21v and 1.26v.....So yeah, what do you expect?







[/quote]

I would say thats a win for lightning owners!!! we got a little voltage boost ,very good clocks and a nice looking card with excellent cooling plus a back plate all for only 599.99.
Plus we have the small chance we will see unlocked voltage and if we do ,well that makes it just that much better especially for the price.

Classified 659.99
Ev bot 79.99

I would expect a more superior product if I am spending almost $140.00 (150-180 more for some ) more on a EVGA classified card.
Maybe these cards will be great on water but then again you are right in price range of a 690 which will smack around a single classified without breaking a sweat.

Can we just keep this thread about the lightning and how awesome it is?


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Both of my GB 680/670 ran fine on 301.42.


Notice any performance changes with the newer drivers?


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I have noticed that the game is horribly bad when I turn off vsync. Jerky, stuttering, etc.


I wouldnt know because there is no way im playing without vsync, cant stand screen tear. Oh and btw I run d3dovrrider for vsync/triplebuffering.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> On a handful of multiplayer maps, it never dips below 59 fps with VSYNC on, but on a few, it drops tremendously.


I find that gulf of oman is the most demanding map but even then im usually at 60fps with some drops into the low 50's. 1920X1080 everything Ultra 4XMSAA 16XAF and garbage FXAA disabled.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> Notice any performance changes with the newer drivers?


Only thing I noticed from those drivers to the latest beta's was a slight performance increase.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> Notice any performance changes with the newer drivers?


None. Except for what I stated. I think some say the stuttering is gone now. I never had any except now, with vsync off. I'm sure some games have improved, I just haven't noticed. People said you can get more out of Heaven, and 3DM11. My scores have remainedexactly the same, except I gained a higher graphic score in 3DM11 by about 450pts. But nothing that translates into noticable gains.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> On air certainly the classified isn't amazing, it seems to be overclocking on average around 1280 (high 1200s) per posts at EVGA + newegg.
> 
> 
> 
> The Classy without the EvBot is a standard 1.175v VS the Lightning 1.21v and 1.26v.....So yeah, what do you expect?
Click to expand...

Better clocks and lower temps?









It's actually kind of funny to see so many people waste money on a Classified that throttles because the cooler isn't good enough to keep the card under 76C with only a mild overclock.

Bottom line is it might be nice with a waterblock, but even so, it'll be more expensive and probably hit the same clocks as the Lightning will be able to on air since the cooler is so much better. Any Classified owners run Heaven @ 1350/6800 and keep the Classified @ 50C?









No offense, but why are you in an Owner's thread spouting stuff about another card, and one that isn't even that great at the moment on top of it?


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Well, since I've seen a few people on here and other places argue over which cooler is better, the DCII or the TF4, I've decided to put both of them to the test since I have both. I just got my sound level meter and temperature gauge in the mail today, so as soon as I receive my replacement Lightning I will start the tests. Is there anybody here that would like to see a specific test between the two?


----------



## CalinTM

Well they say the DC2 has more quieter fans and fewer decibels than the FT4, but the FT4 it keeps the GPU more colder, and is a little louder. So both wins in my opinion, depends of what you want. But in terms of PCB quality, we all know the Lightning wins.









Make the sound level tests. And the temperatures, let's see if the reviews are right.


----------



## RobsM6S

Im happy with my Direct 2 OC GTX 680, fan speed is set to a low 40% and after a few hours of playing BF3 I check my load temps and they are in the high 40's, usually 48-49c. This with the core clocked at 1270mhz and the mem at 500+, thats pretty darn good imo.

Edit-my room temp is at 75F, just so everyone knows.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> Well, since I've seen a few people on here and other places argue over which cooler is better, the DCII or the TF4, I've decided to put both of them to the test since I have both. I just got my sound level meter and temperature gauge in the mail today, so as soon as I receive my replacement Lightning I will start the tests. Is there anybody here that would like to see a specific test between the two?


Keep in mind the following: Fan speed is not the same between the 2 cards. 50% fan speed on a lightning is near 90% on the DC2, the DC2 maxes out at 2200 rpm while the lightning maxes out at 4200 rpm. The lightning is designed to scale with cold, and gives you fan speed far in excess of anything you will ever need.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

I'm going to be sure to clock them back to reference and probably around 1202mhz for the tests. We will see. Lightning should be here this weekend. Hopefully it isn't another dud.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Keep in mind the following: Fan speed is not the same between the 2 cards. 50% fan speed on a lightning is near 90% on the DC2, the DC2 maxes out at 2200 rpm while the lightning maxes out at 4200 rpm. The lightning is designed to scale with cold, and gives you fan speed far in excess of anything you will ever need.


DC2 max is 3390rpm. That's according to HWmonitor, Tweak It, and EVGA Precision.


----------



## Makkqverk

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> Is there anybody here that would like to see a specific test between the two?


Yes! was waiting for the Dcii, then suddenly found the lightning =)


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> DC2 max is 3390rpm. That's according to HWmonitor, Tweak It, and EVGA Precision.


3390rpm is correct, not what xoleras said.


----------



## RobsM6S

Pretty excited, ups just dropped off the GTX 680 Gigabyte Windforce that I ordered last week so now im gonna do some comparisons with it as well.


----------



## psyside

So maybe compared them both at same rpm and then both lets say at 50% fan speed? keep in mind to use same drivers/settings/games/benchmarks/ambient temps, very curious to see who the winner will be, btw your so lucky, best 2 680's on the market in your hands









BTW the real max rpm is 3420.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Pretty excited, ups just dropped off the GTX 680 Gigabyte Windforce that I ordered last week so now im gonna do some comparisons with it as well.


Good, solid card. Pretty quiet too. You returned a Lightning, correct?

I am actually going to do a thorough 670 vs 680 series of tests clock for clock, memory speed for memory speed. Temps, fps, Heaven, etc. And about a dozens of games with multiple runs.

It's going to be fun.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> So maybe compared them both at same rpm and then both lets say at 50% fan speed? keep in mind to use same drivers/settings/games/benchmarks/ambient temps, very curious to see who the winner will be, btw your so lucky, best 2 680's on the market in your hands
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BTW the real max rpm is 3420.


Interesting, I just ran AB and it gives me 3420. TweakIt and Precision gave me 3390.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Deleted


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> Interesting, I just ran AB and it gives me 3420. TweakIt and Precision gave me 3390.


lol, same here.


----------



## Rolfenstein

I got myself a new Lightning and I'm not even stable on +50MHz on LN2 bios. Could this be the worst Lightning to date?


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Good, solid card. Pretty quiet too. You returned a Lightning, correct?
> I am actually going to do a thorough 670 vs 680 series of tests clock for clock, memory speed for memory speed. Temps, fps, Heaven, etc. And about a dozens of games with multiple runs.
> It's going to be fun.


No I never had a lightning GTX 680, my last lightning was a 3gb 580. Right now I had an Asus DC2 OC GTX 680 and the Gigabyte windforce 680 which had gone on sale for 499.99. I couldnt help but to try it out and in the future I might SLI in which case the windforce would be a better solution because of space.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> I got myself a new Lightning and I'm not even stable on +50MHz on LN2 bios. Could this be the worst Lightning to date?


Thats horrible.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Thats horrible.


Yeah.. I didn't even think results like these were possible. I mean, I paid a premium and its only stable on +30/40 or something, that's basically stock clock.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Thats horrible.


So, 1250ish max? Yeah. Bad.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> I got myself a new Lightning and I'm not even stable on +50MHz on LN2 bios. Could this be the worst Lightning to date?


http://www.overclock.net/forums/posts/by_user/id/296326

Thanks for registering on OCN to make 4 posts about the lightning and disappear (I feel like we've seen this before) The EVGA employees are taking over the lightning thread on their character accounts!


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Quick! Thanks for registering today to post this, The EVGA employees are taking over the lightning thread on their character accounts!


I didn't actually register today, I registered a week back or something when I had trouble with my first Lightning







. I returned that and got this and this one just sucks.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

I hope to god I don't get another dud Lightning.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/forums/posts/by_user/id/296326
> Thanks for registering on OCN to make 4 posts about the lightning and disappear (I feel like we've seen this before) The EVGA employees are taking over the lightning thread on their character accounts!


You are such a paranoid individual, you think everyone is out to get/attack the lightning. lol.


----------



## Makkqverk

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/forums/posts/by_user/id/296326
> Thanks for registering on OCN to make 4 posts about the lightning and disappear (I feel like we've seen this before) The EVGA employees are taking over the lightning thread on their character accounts!


NOO WAAY!! ???? oh.. way.. hehe


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> You are such a paranoid individual, you think everyone is out to get/attack the lightning. lol.


I was actually just joking. Its all good though I forgive you.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I was actually just joking. Its all good though I forgive you.


Really? I guess you must have been joking the few other times that you made pretty much the same comment. Sorry for not getting your sense of humor.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

I must be an ASUS employee then since I just registered this month and my Lightning sucked too.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> You are such a paranoid individual, you think everyone is out to get/attack the lightning. lol.


You two argue like a couple... on The Modern Family.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> I must be an ASUS employee then since I just registered this month and my Lightning sucked too.


You should get the asus customer service department up to speed, I swear nobody there speaks english.







( I still love their motherboards though)


----------



## Makkqverk

Now i get PARANOID! how do i test the card?? i have never overclocked anything yet,, tried the cpu but waiting with that...









i hope i don't have a bad card ...














Google overclocking 680??


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> I must be an ASUS employee then since I just registered this month and my Lightning sucked too.


Yeah man, its all one big conspiracy.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> Now i get PARANOID! how do i test the card?? i have never overclocked anything yet,, tried the cpu but waiting with that...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i hope i don't have a bad card ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Google overclocking 680??


Dont know but from the looks of this post I'd say your probably better off with a console.







I kid man I kid!


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> Now i get PARANOID! how do i test the card?? i have never overclocked anything yet,, tried the cpu but waiting with that...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i hope i don't have a bad card ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Google overclocking 680??


My best advice to you. Stay away from PC's.


----------



## Makkqverk

Hahahahahaah =)


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> Now i get PARANOID! how do i test the card?? i have never overclocked anything yet,, tried the cpu but waiting with that...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i hope i don't have a bad card ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Google overclocking 680??


Phones make for good practice, I've overclocked my iphone to 2.5ghz, I can play angry birds at higher framerates than ever before.

I'm working on overclocking my icemaker, it just doesn't seem to make ice fast enough during the summer


----------



## Makkqverk

Kill me....


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> Hahahahahaah =)


Seriously though dude, its not that hard to do. Just do some searching around the forums, download MSI afterburner to overclock your video card.


----------



## Makkqverk

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Seriously though dude, its not that hard to do. Just do some searching around the forums, download MSI afterburner to overclock your video card.


Got the afterburner.. i thought it was the driver... also, where on my cpu do i install my lightning?







hehe


----------



## xoleras

Compared to CPUs, GPUs are cake to overclock these days. Just download Heaven benchmark, 3dmark11, and test in 5mhz increments until you have stability issues.

Its a pain in the neck on the first day until you find your sweet spot, but it is easy.


----------



## Rolfenstein

EVGA employee or not, I still want my Lightning







. Now I just have to find a reasonable argument to return the card for a new one. I thought I heard some coilwhine somewhere but maybe that was just wishful thinking







.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> EVGA employee or not, I still want my Lightning
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Now I just have to find a reasonable argument to return the card for a new one. I thought I heard some coilwhine somewhere but maybe that was just wishful thinking
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


What 3dmark11 score do you get with your lightning?


----------



## RobsM6S

So far my new $499.99 Gigabyte Windforce GTX 680 is purring along at 1300core +500mem in Heaven Demo with fan set to 50 percent. My load temps with these settings in heaven demo are 51c.

The asus card is going back, this thing is a better overclocker and cooles just as good while taking up so little space. When I find my max OC I will report back.


----------



## Makkqverk

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Compared to CPUs, GPUs are cake to overclock these days. Just download Heaven benchmark, 3dmark11, and test in 5mhz increments until you have stability issues.
> Its a pain in the neck on the first day until you find your sweet spot, but it is easy.


should i start from the boost clock 1176?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> So far my new $499.99 Gigabyte Windforce GTX 680 is purring along at 1300core +500mem in Heaven Demo with fan set to 50 percent. My load temps with these settings in heaven demo are 51c.
> The asus card is going back, this thing is a better overclocker and cooles just as good while taking up so little space. When I find my max OC I will report back.


Nice, so you quit your job at asus and work at gigabyte now. Is the pay better?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> Got the afterburner.. i thought it was the driver...


Download the Heaven 3 benchmark, then use the settings in the first post of This Thread to try. Not saying those settings are better or worse than any others, but they are pretty much the standard to compare to around here.

Launch Afterburner then launch the Heaven 3. Enter your settings in Heaven 3, hit Run, and when it loads, click the "Benchmark" button at the top of the screen. Let it run, then see what your numbers are in AB after. You can move your mouse along the graphs to see the numbers, or just look at the max numbers along the edge. Scroll down, there's a lot of stuff to look at.

Then just start moving the sliders over a little at a time and hit "Apply". You'll get tired as hell of listening to the Heaven tune, so grab some headphones or crank up some tunes on a different rig, let the Heaven and AB be your only apps running.

Eventually the thing will freeze or crash, so you'll have to reset your rig and back off a bit. But you might be able to say back off the Core Clock and go up on the Memory Clock and not crash, you just have to juggle the settings until you're ready to puke.


----------



## xoleras

Whoa LOL, heaven DX11 has music? I had no idea, and i've used it a long time


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Whoa LOL, heaven DX11 has music? I had no idea, and i've used it a long time


It's not cool distorted guitar like the old 3DMarks were, some ambient drum stuff.

Futuremark paid me to put that in there.


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> I got myself a new Lightning and I'm not even stable on +50MHz on LN2 bios. Could this be the worst Lightning to date?


What PSU do you have?


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Nice, so you quit your job at asus and work at gigabyte now. Is the pay better?


I guess this would be your "joking around" side again right?


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> What PSU do you have?


Corsair AX850W


----------



## RobsM6S

1320core 600+mem


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> I guess this would be your "joking around" side again right?


Of course not. I just got off work at MSI today.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Corsair AX850W


3dmark with URL, whats your score, also Heaven with screenshot, lets see what your 680 does


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Of course not. I just got off work at MSI today.


lol


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> What 3dmark11 score do you get with your lightning?


10246 with Heaven stable clock.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> 10246 with Heaven stable clock.


My L hit 12k, on 1202MHz, +400 memory. My 670 hit... high 10k, so there is something off about your card. Is that your P score? If so, post graphic scores, not total.


----------



## Makkqverk

Posting my stock system =) If anyone is planing on building a new one







will try some overclocking now!


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Shoot, you got a way better handle on it than I do. I'll be hitting you up for pointers next time.


----------



## Makkqverk

ok, another nub question from me <3

Do i have to use the LN2 bios, or is the normal enough (LN1 ?) since the voltage is locked?.. And i have still not found any answer to what the LN2 is really for, people are saying it is only needed if you are going to use liquid nitrogen...? huh


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> ok, another nub question from me <3
> Do i have to use the LN2 bios, or is the normal enough (LN1 ?) since the voltage is locked?.. And i have still not found any answer to what the LN2 is really for, people are saying it is only needed if you are going to use liquid nitrogen...? huh


The voltage is locked, but it's still higher in the LN2 BIOS, you'll get better OCs even under air. I don't think anybody that is into overclocking at all still uses the 1st BIOS.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> 10246 with Heaven stable clock.


You forgot the 3dmark11 URL and heaven / gpu-z screenshot, gotta diagnose your problem here bud


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> The voltage is locked, but it's still higher in the LN2 BIOS, you'll get better OCs even under air. I don't think anybody that is into overclocking at all still uses the 1st BIOS.


+1


----------



## Makkqverk

Is it enough to run the benchmark test one time to test the stability? First i just jumped right up to +150 core and +450 memory and it crashed then 14-400 crash, 140-390 crash.. so i put it down to +90core and +200memory and the benchmark went ok!







my first stable? overclock ever


----------



## Makkqverk

in afterburner i got max- core 1350 and memory 3348, is that what i'm supposed to look at ?







since that's what i overclocked.. damn, gpu-z show i did not even go over the LN1 stock clock haha.... then this is my first ever makkqverk tweked gpu setting, benchmark-went-ok hehe


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> in afterburner i got max- core 1350 and memory 3348, is that what i'm supposed to look at ?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> since that's what i overclocked.. damn, gpu-z show i did not even go over the LN1 stock clock haha.... then this is my first ever makkqverk tweked gpu setting, benchmark-went-ok hehe


+90 offset gives you 1350 core? What the hell?


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> +90 offset gives you 1350 core? What the hell?


Maybe from previous high offset?


----------



## Makkqverk

oh **** yeah i forgot to restart the afterburner hahahaha


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> is that good??


Yes, congrats and nice card. Part of me does think you have been playind dumb, lol.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> is that good??


First, sell me your lightning? Also, are you pretty certain its 1350? Yes, 1350 is a great OC, nice card for sure if so.

I noticed +100 was something crazy like 1348 on BIOS1 on one of my lightnings. It was pretty odd. Its definitely more stable on BIOS2 though. My grand theory is that OCCP and Kepler throttle are the enemies of overclocking the 680, BIOS2 helps rectify that situation somewhat.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> sell me your lightning?


Hahahaha!


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> oh **** yeah i forgot to restart the afterburner hahahaha


No need. Right click on the graph, and clear history.


----------



## Makkqverk

noo the result was obviously from when i crashed haha.. going to run again but probably ending up at 320mhz vs 1200..


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> First, sell me your lightning?


No man, this is where he's supposed to put the obligatory rant about not having unlocked voltages. Forget that he's getting 1300+ OC, he's supposed to be _pissed_.

And Makkqverk, I'm just kidding. You've got a dandy card just as it is, better than many of any brand.


----------



## Makkqverk

With +90 and +200 core-memory i now got 1292 and 3206...







and i thought i made you all sooo jealous haha


----------



## Makkqverk

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> No man, this is where he's supposed to put the obligatory rant about not having unlocked voltages. Forget that he's getting 1300+ OC, he's supposed to be _pissed_.
> And Makkqverk, I'm just kidding. You've got a dandy card just as it is, better than many of any brand.


Yeah.. im absolutely going to RMA this card!!! crappy clocker... crappy msi selling me this card cheaper than the 680 DCii hehehe <3 JOKE!









Yeah, i like overclocking! it's cool, like domino haha. i gues i will have the card in LN1 when gaming anyways hehe







gives me over 200fps? in mw3 so i'm happy haha


----------



## xoleras

We don't take kindly to modern warfare games around these parts


----------



## Makkqverk

Haha why not? it's soo cool hehe, frag frag frag run run jump run run frag...







what do you use your 680 for?.. robot unicorn attack?? haha

maybe a little to cheeky there hehehe


----------



## Vaerwind

Hey guys I'm new to OCN and overclocking and I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. Just got done with my 3570k but those tests didn't fail on me nearly as much as this Lightning is.

Currently have it set to +60/+400 which is an effective 1262/1702 and it's giving me some trouble in Heaven but runs just fine in Kombustor. The issue isn't that the Nvidia driver is crashing/recovering its that Heaven itself is crashing. Are heaven crashes normal? It seems that my card is a poor OC. (GPUz shows a boost of 1236 but the graphs of GPUz and Afterburner both show 1262 if that means anything)

This just occurred to me...How do I tell which BIOS it is currently set to? The +60 with an effective 1262 indicates the LN2 if I'm not mistaken but I haven't changed it...Does that mean I got a return/refurb from Newegg or is it possible to ship with the LN2 enabled?

Also, is it necessary to adjust the fan profile for an OC? I have it set on 100% while I'm testing but is it okay to leave it on auto once I've found my spot?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> With +90 and +200 core-memory i now got 1292 and 3206...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and i thought i made you all sooo jealous haha


You just have to set the offset higher, that's all. BIOS1 must have a higher Boost than the LN2 BIOS for some reason. But that doesn't mean you won't be stable at the same, and probably higher, core on the LN2 BIOS. For 1350mhz in the LN2 BIOS, set it to +148 offset. You'll probably be stable at a higher core since the LN2 BIOS puts out more voltage.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Hey guys I'm new to OCN and overclocking and I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. Just got done with my 3570k but those tests didn't fail on me nearly as much as this Lightning is.
> Currently have it set to +60/+400 which is an effective 1262/1702 and it's giving me some trouble in Heaven but runs just fine in Kombustor. The issue isn't that the Nvidia driver is crashing/recovering its that Heaven itself is crashing. Are heaven crashes normal? It seems that my card is a poor OC. (GPUz shows a boost of 1236 but the graphs of GPUz and Afterburner both show 1262 if that means anything)
> This just occurred to me...How do I tell which BIOS it is currently set to? The +60 with an effective 1262 indicates the LN2 if I'm not mistaken but I haven't changed it...Does that mean I got a return/refurb from Newegg or is it possible to ship with the LN2 enabled?
> Also, is it necessary to adjust the fan profile for an OC? I have it set on 100% while I'm testing but is it okay to leave it on auto once I've found my spot?


Crashes are normal as well as having to hard reset. Kombuster isn't really the best test for stability, I'd use it for temps, but that's about it. And use the graphs in Afterburner for your max clocks, not GPU-Z. When looking at your card in the computer, the LN2 BIOS is to the right, so you're probably using it since the default core speed for it is 1202mhz. 100% fan speed will let you squeeze out a few more mhz for a bench, but unless you want it running that loud during a game, you probably won't be stable unless you lower the overclock a few mhz.


----------



## Makkqverk

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> How do I tell which BIOS it is currently set to?


LN2 is right side on the switch =)


----------



## Vaerwind

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> LN2 is right side on the switch =)


Which orientation? With the card in the case (i guess upside down? backplate facing up) the switch is to the left. If I pulled it out and was looking at the fans it would be on the right then.

Edit: Nvm, its not on the LN2...maybe I'm reading the clocks wrong. Time to investigate.


----------



## RobsM6S

I would hope your memory goes higher than that, mine is at 600+ for the mem and 1320core. Gigabyte windforce 680.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Which orientation? With the card in the case (i guess upside down? backplate facing up) the switch is to the left. If I pulled it out and was looking at the fans it would be on the right then.
> Edit: Nvm, its not on the LN2...maybe I'm reading the clocks wrong. Time to investigate.


When looking at the card in the computer, with the backplate facing up, the LN2 BIOS is with the switch to the right.


----------



## Vaerwind

Well, it seems now that even +60/400 isn't stable. I'm getting a "Unigine Heaven DX11 Benchmark has stopped working." message about halfway through and the clocks are going stock. Is the LN2 bios likely to make a profound difference with that ounce of voltage increase or should I resign myself to stock clocks/a really pathetic OC?

Edit: I have no idea whats going on here. A few hours ago 60/400 was stable and now not even 50/300 will pass Heaven. Did I break it?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Well, it seems now that even +60/400 isn't stable. I'm getting a "Unigine Heaven DX11 Benchmark has stopped working." message about halfway through and the clocks are going stock. Is the LN2 bios likely to make a profound difference with that ounce of voltage increase or should I resign myself to stock clocks/a really pathetic OC?


Try doing the core and memory separate and see which one is causing the problem. Leave one at stock and test the max of the other individually.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Well, it seems now that even +60/400 isn't stable. I'm getting a "Unigine Heaven DX11 Benchmark has stopped working." message about halfway through and the clocks are going stock. Is the LN2 bios likely to make a profound difference with that ounce of voltage increase or should I resign myself to stock clocks/a really pathetic OC?


That 600.00 turd would be going back to the store, i mean dude my windforce 680 was 100 bucks less and im getting a great overclock. Not saying all lightnings are like yours, some are really good overclockers but to pay 600.00 for a card you cant even clock up on your own? forget that.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Try doing the core and memory separate and see which one is causing the problem. Leave one at stock and test the max of the other individually.


Good idea, figure out which is the problem but still either way I think he might have a dud.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> That 600.00 turd would be going back to the store, i mean dude my windforce 680 was 100 bucks less and im getting a great overclock. Not saying all lightnings are like yours, some are really good overclockers but to pay 600.00 for a card you cant even clock up on your own? forget that.


Of course every Windforce will be as awesome as yours. We should all just buy those, right? Then we could even change the title of this thread to match.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Of course every Windforce will be as awesome as yours. We should all just buy those, right? Then we could even change the title of this thread to match.












Some people don't understand the concept of the silicon lottery is all


----------



## Vaerwind

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Try doing the core and memory separate and see which one is causing the problem. Leave one at stock and test the max of the other individually.


I did this originally. I got to +60 core with mem stock and then pushed mem to 450 which crashed. I backed it down to 400 (which passed the test as I was stepping up to 450) and now I can't even get +50/+300 to pass anymore. ***


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Some people don't understand the concept of the silicon lottery is all


Amen. Your guaranteed whats on the box. Thats it.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Of course every Windforce will be as awesome as yours. We should all just buy those, right? Then we could even change the title of this thread to match.


I gotta wonder why he hangs around the lightning thread talking smack about it constantly. Obviously not every windforce will OC to high levels, looking at newegg reviews most people couldn't get past 1250. Anyway, freaking gigabyte employees! They're the worst! (just kidding buddy)


----------



## RobsM6S

Get over your pathetic overly defensive selfs, I made a simple comment that there is no way I would pay 600.00 for a card that I couldnt overclock *"and I doubt any of you would either"* I then mentioned that lots of other lightning cards are great overclockers and you guys have a hissy over that? pffft..... get over yourselfs. Im not here talking smack about the lightnings xoleras, thats pretty low of you to say.

My comment was about his card in general, not every single lightning.







And yes, I realize I got a good card and obviously not all windforce 680's will reach the same clocks as mine, I never stated otherwise.


----------



## Makkqverk

Do you guys think the islands in heaven benchmark are opposite, so the more weight you add, the higher they will rise/go up n the air?


----------



## Vaerwind

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> Amen. Your guaranteed whats on the box. Thats it.


Absolutely the truth. That's why I bought a Lightning rather than a certain other card that wasn't always stable at stock. The Lightning is a wonderful card and I can't say enough good things about it. It Maxes BF3 at stock and stays quieter than my NH-D14. Anything over stock is just a bonus and while it always nice to get something extra, I wasn't getting my hopes up cause I have garbage luck.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Get over your pathetic overly defensive selfs, I made a simple comment that there is no way I would pay 600.00 for a card that I couldnt overclock and then mentioned that lots of other lightning cards are great overclockers and you guys have a hissy over that? pffft..... get over yourselfs. Im not here talking smack about the lightnings xoleras, thats pretty low of you to say.


You spend 10 posts talking about how the DC2 cooler blows everything away (then you sell it ) and now you're talking up the gigabyte. Its just humorous seeing you post more than most lightning owners here, i'm just amused







I usually don't spend an ounce of time in owner threads for cards I don't have, thats just me though. Whatever dude, you spend more time here than lightning owners, i'm not saying anything is wrong with that.

I think kepler is just a pain for overclocking compared to previous cards or even the 7970, practically every 680 on the market you will find reports everywhere of bad overclocks. This includes the classified, lightning, windforce, whatever, you will find a report on newegg or some forum saying that their card doens't OC well. There is no consistency thanks to nvidia saying **** you to overclocks and implementing voltage control.

I miss the 580 days of simple overclocking. Hell even the 7970 is a cinch to overclock...when I had 7970s I oc'ed both of mine 250mhz easy peasy. Apparently with the 680 you have to pay a premium for a good overclock and even then it isn't guaranteed.

BTW the newegg reviews on the windforce, most of them aren't getting past 1250. Just par for the course, it is odd that users are registering today to post their overclocking experience without any validation screenshots. Whatever, anyway don't think your card is an exception







Anyway, if nvidia does this garbage again with GK110 I may just go with the 8970 or whatever. The 7970s overclocked like crazy and it was definitely easier and MORE CONSISTENT than the 680. (I say this after using both) The 680s are just a pain and annoying to get consistent OCs with. In contrast to every 7970 I had which hit 1200 with ease....no questions no problems, no voltage control.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Get over your pathetic overly defensive selfs, I made a simple comment that there is no way I would pay 600.00 for a card that I couldnt overclock and then mentioned that lots of other lightning cards are great overclockers and you guys have a hissy over that? pffft..... get over yourselfs. Im not here talking smack about the lightnings xoleras, thats pretty low of you to say.


You would be paying $600 for _a chance_ at a great overclocker. Lightnings may have a better chance of hitting over 1300mhz, but at the same time many still won't, as with any card. It's just hard to see your point when you compare a single Lightning card vs. a single Windforce, since that doesn't really make sense with the 'lottery' and all








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> Do you guys think the islands in heaven benchmark are opposite, so the more weight you add, the higher they will rise/go up n the air?


That's awesome


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Some people don't understand the concept of the silicon lottery is all


No I do understand it but for a card such as a lightning which the selling point is pretty much its overclocking ability "plastered all over the box" I think its a legitimate thing to be upset about, some of you are pretty dillusional around here.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You would be paying $600 for _a chance_ at a great overclocker.


I never said I wouldnt, even though I only needed to dish out $499.99 for one.







Your missing my point, if he cant oveclock that card AT ALL then its crap, especially at that cost.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> BTW the newegg reviews on the windforce, most of them aren't getting past 1250. Don't think for a second your card is an exception


Well obviously it is if most of them cant break past 1250 yet mine is purring along at 1320mhz core.









But besides that as I said before, I realize I got lucky with a good chip and if I wanna talk about then I will. If you dont like what I have to say then dont read it, ignore it. Its that simple.


----------



## Penryn

Let's keep the discussion to the topic please. Don't wanna see anymore unrelated posts or finger pointing below this line.


----------



## Vaerwind

I switched my BIOS to the LN2 and it booted with a gimpy resolution, installed some automatic drivers n such and then rebooted to my normal 1080 resi. Went through my previous high OC of 60/400 without a hiccup. Gonna push it further tonight to see what I can get.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> You forgot the 3dmark11 URL and heaven / gpu-z screenshot, gotta diagnose your problem here bud


Yeah sorry, I had a power outtage just as I was fixing all this shinazzle.





Afterburner says 1283 for some resaon but the max core clock it went to was 1252.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Yeah sorry, I had a power outtage just as I was fixing all this shinazzle.
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Afterburner says 1283 for some resaon but the max core clock it went to was 1252.


That's unacceptable. Your card should perform way better then this. I can do just as good as 53.3 fps with my 670.
Sooo... if it is all oc you can push without crashing, I suggest you rma it.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> That's unacceptable. Your card should perform way better then this. I can do just as good as 53.3 fps with my 670.
> Sooo... if it is all oc you can push without crashing, I suggest you rma it.


Sure, I can RMA it, but I have to pay 20 bucks in shipping and then pay even more for a new card (I got this for 30 bucks off) and without a guarantee for a better card. So maybe I'd be wasting 50+ bucks for a card as ****ty as this one :/.


----------



## Vaerwind

Lovin this card more and more. LN2 bios seems to have remedied a few of my issues. It doubled my capable OC for a final 1292/6740. I know its not a crazy good OC but for having what seemed to be a dud card I'm fairly pleased. I'll just keep praying for that voltage control so I can break 1300 (if we get it







)

Any other tips/things I might've looked over that could help me get that last +8 core?


----------



## xlur8

All good i worked it out


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Lovin this card more and more. LN2 bios seems to have remedied a few of my issues. It doubled my capable OC for a final 1292/6740. I know its not a crazy good OC but for having what seemed to be a dud card I'm fairly pleased. I'll just keep praying for that voltage control so I can break 1300 (if we get it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )
> Any other tips/things I might've looked over that could help me get that last +8 core?


Nice, I pretty much keep the same numbers for gaming and benching.
sometimes I can get away with +95- -105 but it's not 100% stable.


----------



## PrincetonM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Well obviously it is if most of them cant break past 1250 yet mine is purring along at 1320mhz core.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But besides that as I said before, I realize I got lucky with a good chip and if I wanna talk about then I will. If you dont like what I have to say then dont read it, ignore it. Its that simple.


That guy is very opinonated and pushy around here. I tend to ignore his post myself.


----------



## xlur8

Been benching mine all night here best i can get so far is 1354 on the core and +700 on memory no artifacting


----------



## MouthofJustin

I have a sli setup of these cards and this is my first sli and ive started to become more understanding with overclocking but no so much oc in an sli configuration..my concern is that i have one card stable at 1333mhz and around 575 offset in the memory clock in AB...the second card however is not able to past 1282mhz without causing a hard reset...is it alright to run
These cards at their max oc even of they are as close to eachother in numbers? Or will it cause problems? This is in ln2 bios


----------



## PrincetonM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MouthofJustin*
> 
> I have a sli setup of these cards and this is my first sli and ive started to become more understanding with overclocking but no so much oc in an sli configuration..my concern is that i have one card stable at 1333mhz and around 575 offset in the memory clock in AB...the second card however is not able to past 1282mhz without causing a hard reset...is it alright to run
> These cards at their max oc even of they are as close to eachother in numbers? Or will it cause problems? This is in ln2 bios


Bummer on the 2nd Lightning. You can run them at different clock speeds, but the gpu usage on the faster card will slightly bottleneck. Try it out and use afterburner to monitor usage.


----------



## xoleras

I have to stress again you people have to use manual fan MORE THAN LIKELY if you're using a heavy overclock.

Apparently some people are new to overclocking here, a few years ago it was accepted that if you OC a GPU you have to use manual fan. This has not changed, yet some users are not aware of this. Regardless of your core temp, your VRM temp is stressed without high manual fan settings. As an example, I can OC in SLI to 1352 stable yet it requires 70% manual fan or greater. If I use auto fan it is not stable, if I use manual fan it is stable for 10 hours in heaven stress testing. In single card, I can get one one to 1382 with 75% manual fan - verified and tested with 10 hours of heaven stress testing. In SLI with auto fan, I CANNOT OC IT past 1302. Understand that regardless of core temp, VRM temp is not listed and is much better with manual fan, it does not have the heatpipes that the core does.

I don't know what shifted in the mindset of users, I think a lot of people are new to OC'ing GPUs and expect more for less. Use manual fan. You can't OC reliably most of the time with auto fan, period. There are a few exceptions to this but my experience with OC'ing the GTX 480, 580, 680, 7970, and 6970 all provided higher clockspeeds with manual fan with no exceptions. I'm sure someone here will say "but I can do it with auto fan" that is the exception not the norm. VRM temps suck with auto fan and that definitely affects OC stability. *Don't use auto fan and expect ridiculous clockspeeds.*


----------



## EM2J

wow +80 more on the core just for manual fan? Sure, i understood that the vrm temps matter a lot when it comes to oc'ing, but that is a *HUGE* difference, hardly believable actually. I've always used auto fan, of course I made the fan curve very aggressive but if setting it manually at a very high fixed rpm makes that much of a difference, i'll be trying this out for SURE later on today when my 2 lightnings come from amazon.

edit


----------



## MouthofJustin

yeah i have been using manual fans since i had my gtx 580...i do believe a cooler card is a happier card...i dont mind the noise as much..for these lightnings i set the manual on both of them to 80..and yes its unfortunate the VRM temps are not shown..because i feel that would be something worth showing in cases of lower oc scores.


----------



## psyside

How to monitor DCII VRM temps?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> How to monitor DCII VRM temps?


Get the newest gpuz, it monitors the vrms now.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> You spend 10 posts talking about how the DC2 cooler blows everything away (then you sell it ) and now you're talking up the gigabyte.
> .


Your blowing it all out of proportion, I didnt spend even a single post claiming that the DC2 cooler blows everything away. Anyone in this forum is welcome to go back a few pages and see that for themselves. As for the gigabyte card as I mentioned earlier the price last week had dropped to $499.99 which is a heck of a good deal and I had been curious about that card anyway so I purchased it and it happens to overclock a fair bit higher than my Asus which cost a little more money so I will be returning the Asus and keeping the better overclocker of the two while saving a little $$$. What is so hard to understand about that? Who wouldnt do the same if they were able to do so?

Quote:


> Its just humorous seeing you post more than most lightning owners here, i'm just amused


So I have to be a lightning owner to post here? dont remember seeing the rules about that one. BTW- I post here because I love hardware and I am interested to see what the lightning can do when/if it gets voltage control. In the meantime im gonna continue to post here and talk about hardware, if you dont like what I have to say thats fine, but taking the things that I say and blowing them up to mean something that I never intended is pretty darn lame on your part.

Quote:


> Apparently with the 680 you have to pay a premium for a good overclock and even then it isn't guaranteed.


No, you do not. Plenty of the lesser expensive models are cracking the 1300mhz barriar, what it comes down to is the good ol chip lottery since it would seem that even some of the more expensive 680's can come with a crappy chip. I guess no one is really chip binning at all. *BTW* my very first GTX 680 was a reference Model PNY which did 1325mhz core and 500+mem rock stable, that one I sold to a guy on ebay for a nice fat profit because its when the cards were first released and no one seemed to be able to keep them in stock.




























Also you spoke about the HD 7970 earlier, I had one of those as well.










After the installation of the Artic cooler-










This is a hobby to me, man. Forgive me if I converse with others in this thread about the things that we love.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Get the newest gpuz, it monitors the vrms now.


GPu-Z false reading, last night during gaming max vrm temp shown where 200c









What are your ambient temps?

Something is wrong with my card, look at my temps with 30% fan, and yours at 20%?


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xlur8*
> 
> Been benching mine all night here best i can get so far is 1354 on the core and +700 on memory no artifacting


Congrats, thats a nice card man.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I have to stress again you people have to use manual fan MORE THAN LIKELY if you're using a heavy overclock.
> Apparently some people are new to overclocking here, a few years ago it was accepted that if you OC a GPU you have to use manual fan. This has not changed, yet some users are not aware of this. Regardless of your core temp, your VRM temp is stressed without high manual fan settings. As an example, I can OC in SLI to 1352 stable yet it requires 70% manual fan or greater. If I use auto fan it is not stable, if I use manual fan it is stable for 10 hours in heaven stress testing. In single card, I can get one one to 1382 with 75% manual fan - verified and tested with 10 hours of heaven stress testing. Yet with auto fan, I CANNOT OC IT past 1302. Understand that regardless of core temp, VRM temp is not listed and is much better with manual fan, it does not have the heatpipes that the core does.
> I don't know what shifted in the mindset of users, I think a lot of people are new to OC'ing GPUs and expect more for less. Use manual fan. You can't OC reliably most of the time with auto fan, period. There are a few exceptions to this but my experience with OC'ing the GTX 480, 580, 680, 7970, and 6970 all provided higher clockspeeds with manual fan with no exceptions. I'm sure someone here will say "but I can do it with auto fan" that is the exception not the norm. VRM temps suck with auto fan and that definitely affects OC stability. *Don't use auto fan and expect ridiculous clockspeeds.*


This is great advice, the VRM's will suffer tremendously if they are not properly cooled. Auto fan is horrible for high overclocks.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> GPu-Z false reading, last night during gaming max vrm temp shown where 200c


Obviously 200'C is incorrect on the VRM temp reading, but in general, it's right. Mine goes from 33'C up to 50'C while stressing.

Here is another example of gpuz giving a bad reading that I don't take literally:



Notice my my gpu core voltage in gpuz on the right(VDDC)?


----------



## psyside

I edited my post, can you tell me what you think about it? thanks.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Mine is watercooled, that's why mine looks nice temp wise.


----------



## psyside

Ah ok, thanks bud! but listen what happend and i'm seriously worried.

I got my card 3 days, and with auto fan speed which is 20% rpm i had only 1c over ambient temp 2 days ago.....

Now, with fan on 35/40% i got 35c on idle! with [email protected] auto it was 41c......and i cant get my card to be 1c over ambient again which is 29c or eve 2c higher now no matter what, its 35c as minimum i wonder what happened?

I'm perfectly aware that ambient temps ain't matter much but this is like 12c difference.....what gives? and also almost all of the GTX680 DCII owners have stated that their cards are never go over 1/2c over ambient at idle...


----------



## Xnerdz

I don't want to play the little police here








But I just want to gently remember you guys, that this is the MSI Lightning Owners Club thread.
People will mostly comme there seeking for discutions about their msi product so...
There is more apropriate threads for DC2 owners and you will find more apropriate answers there as well


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> I don't want to play the little police here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But I just want to gently remember you guys, that this is the MSI Lightning Owners Club thread.
> People will mostly comme there seeking for discutions about their msi product so...
> There is more apropriate threads for DC2 owners and you will find more apropriate answers there as well


No problem, im out. Enjoy your cards guys.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> I don't want to play the little police here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But I just want to gently remember you guys, that this is the MSI Lightning Owners Club thread.
> People will mostly comme there seeking for discutions about their msi product so...
> There is more apropriate threads for DC2 owners and you will find more apropriate answers there as well


Yes sorry, but anywyay i fixed my issue! it was the prefer maximum performance in global settings of Nvdia drivers keep the card at constant 1000+mhz on core









So happy now, that my temps are back to normal! i just use different profiles for games in which i turn off adaptive performance, and use prefer maximum settings, but global is adaptive


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> wow +80 more on the core just for manual fan? Sure, i understood that the vrm temps matter a lot when it comes to oc'ing, but that is a *HUGE* difference, hardly believable actually. I've always used auto fan, of course I made the fan curve very aggressive but if setting it manually at a very high fixed rpm makes that much of a difference, i'll be trying this out for SURE later on today when my 2 lightnings come from amazon.
> edit


What I meant was I get +50 more with manual fan in SLI...Anyway, preliminary to this discussion is that I must add that my stress testing is quite extensive, I will run crysis 2 maxed or heaven DX11 looped for hours. Without manual fan with SLI (keep in mind the top card in SLI will always have higher temps) I will eventually get artifacts after some time in, sometimes 30 minutes or 45 minutes. With manual fan this does not happen. I'm honestly quite surprised people are using auto fan because a couple years ago it was accepted that to OC a GPU you MUST use manual fan. I'm shocked to be honest that people aren't doing this.

I remember my 7970s would lock at 1025mhz with auto fan yet with manual fan I could get 1150 easily stress tested. Reference boards are more picky about fan settings and overclocks, you have a little more leeway with aftermarket boards but auto fan does cause heat buildup on the VRM (Since it does not have heatpipes connected to it) Not everyone will get drastically better results with manual fan, but in general it does help a lot. Some people may not get more leeway with manual fan (manual fan helps more in SLI) but it has helped me a lot over the years.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> What I meant was I get +50 more with manual fan in SLI...Anyway, preliminary to this discussion is that I must add that my stress testing is quite extensive, I will run crysis 2 maxed or heaven DX11 looped for hours. Without manual fan with SLI (keep in mind the top card in SLI will always have higher temps) I will eventually get artifacts after some time in, sometimes 30 minutes or 45 minutes. With manual fan this does not happen. I'm honestly quite surprised people are using auto fan because a couple years ago it was accepted that to OC a GPU you MUST use manual fan. I'm shocked to be honest that people aren't doing this.


Amen.
I have used manual fan since the moment I had my first video card, an Nvidia 7600GS.

It's well possible to create fan profiles that are both quieter and perform better than auto fan. I don't necessarily run auto fan to get a higher oc as much as because auto fan is absolutely terrible on most cards.

Auto fan on my old 470gtx stock settings = 93c after 2 hours of gaming, fan sounds terrible because it keeps going up 20% beyond 90c, back and forth causing annoying revving sound.
Manual fan maxed at 81c, fan speeds were very smooth and quieter than the auto fan going back and forth between 80 and 100%! Its just about finding a point in your temp curve where the fan increase will prevent heat build-up from occurring. On my 570 if I set the fan to 60% at 60c - 70% at 80c it cools better in games than 70% and 70c, 80% at 75c., depending on game of course. Then again I am a bit of control freak, the word auto makes me a little uneasy


----------



## Rolfenstein

I put the fan to 100% and as expected, it doesn't make the slightest difference :|.


----------



## Makkqverk

I feel really sorry for you! (not being cheeky or anything!) yesterday i run the heaven benchmark with the card at 1322core and +600 memory, going to turn the fans to 70% now (thnx xoleras) and i gues it would do better because the ccard is almost SILENT! on auto =)

It should be writen on the box! that the you should use manual fan when overclocking, never thought about that really, and i put my hand over the backplate where the.. gold things are (under side)







and it was hot as HEL*!! but not so hot i could not have my hand there though.. i think i have been pretty lucky with this card!


----------



## Makkqverk

This is my first time overclocking anything, and yesterday something strange happened on the screen, i got a black blob made from squares [ ] moving around in the middle of the screen!!! and suddenly i got alot of lighning and stuf around middle corners, everywhere, was pretty scary, is this dangerouds??? are those artifacts?? that was +160 on the core.....


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> This is my first time overclocking anything, and yesterday something strange happened on the screen, i got a black blob made from squares [ ] moving around in the middle of the screen!!! and suddenly i got alot of lighning and stuf around middle corners, everywhere, was pretty scary, is this dangerouds??? are those artifacts?? that was +160 on the core.....


Its not dangerous , its just artifacts. It happens when the OC is borderline (and +160 would be 1362mhz) or when the cooling is insufficient. You may be able to rectify it with better airflow or higher fan settings , but it will be loud - chances are you need to go a bit lower than 1362.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Makkqverk*
> 
> in afterburner i got max- core 1350 and memory 3348, is that what i'm supposed to look at ?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> since that's what i overclocked.. damn, gpu-z show i did not even go over the LN1 stock clock haha.... then this is my first ever makkqverk tweked gpu setting, benchmark-went-ok hehe


what concerns me is that afterburner is showing 1350 max, but from looking at the graph you can tell that afterburner has only been open for a minute, and that the max frequency was achieved in 2 brief spikes. it is evident that afterburner was not running during the benchmark run, unless of course the card spent most of its time at 324MHz with two brief spikes at 1350MHz. I will need to see a better screenshot before adding to the sheet


----------



## xoleras

Well to be fair his score would basically be 5 fps if it were running at 2d clocks of 324mhz







I'm guessing he took the screenshot 30seconds to 1 minute after the test, that would be consistent with his core.

I'm sure he can clarify better though.


----------



## MouthofJustin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PrincetonM*
> 
> Bummer on the 2nd Lightning. You can run them at different clock speeds, but the gpu usage on the faster card will slightly bottleneck. Try it out and use afterburner to monitor usage.


So yeah i ran some tests with both fans on 100 percent and the one card just does not overclock as high as the other one...i just want to know if i should rma this card...taking a chance on hopefully getting a better mate with the card that clocks higher...i know RMA is a dirty word around here..but if i have a sli config that im spending 1300 dollars for...i figure i should get what i want...is 1282mhz on one card and 1333mhz on the other worth keeping...the cards are new and i see people are getting all kinds of different overclocks..is 1282 considered a "dud" for this particular card or is it average? Are ones that clock past 1300mhz rare? Because no two cards are the same and in my case i own two of them that justify that claim.


----------



## xxmastermindxx

HWiNFO64 is much better than GPU-Z at monitoring voltages and VRM temperatures.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Well to be fair his score would basically be 5 fps if it were running at 2d clocks of 324mhz
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm guessing he took the screenshot 30seconds to 1 minute after the test, that would be consistent with his core.
> I'm sure he can clarify better though.


look at the graph, AB hasnt been open long enough.. you can see the very beginning of the graph. it doesnt even run off the page


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MouthofJustin*
> 
> So yeah i ran some tests with both fans on 100 percent and the one card just does not overclock as high as the other one...i just want to know if i should rma this card...taking a chance on hopefully getting a better mate with the card that clocks higher...i know RMA is a dirty word around here..but if i have a sli config that im spending 1300 dollars for...i figure i should get what i want...is 1282mhz on one card and 1333mhz on the other worth keeping...the cards are new and i see people are getting all kinds of different overclocks..is 1282 considered a "dud" for this particular card or is it average? Are ones that clock past 1300mhz rare? Because no two cards are the same and in my case i own two of them that justify that claim.


That's about 1308 average, and that's right at what I can run mine at in SLI. I get 23,500+ graphics score in 3DMark 11 and over 119 fps in Heaven 3 limping along at these clocks.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MouthofJustin*
> 
> So yeah i ran some tests with both fans on 100 percent and the one card just does not overclock as high as the other one...i just want to know if i should rma this card...taking a chance on hopefully getting a better mate with the card that clocks higher...i know RMA is a dirty word around here..but if i have a sli config that im spending 1300 dollars for...i figure i should get what i want...is 1282mhz on one card and 1333mhz on the other worth keeping...the cards are new and i see people are getting all kinds of different overclocks..is 1282 considered a "dud" for this particular card or is it average? Are ones that clock past 1300mhz rare? Because no two cards are the same and in my case i own two of them that justify that claim.


All of the first 10 or so owners registered in this thread had at least 1305mhz core. I _had_ 2 that did myself. But with more and more people coming in here, we are starting to see that this isn't the super card we all thought. Many are topping out around 1250mhz. If you're going to RMA and hope for a card better than 1282mhz...I'd say you have a 50/50 chance. So...you gotta ask yourself one question...do you feel lucky?


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> All of the first 10 or so owners registered in this thread had at least 1305mhz core. I _had_ 2 that did myself. But with more and more people coming in here, we are starting to see that this isn't the super card we all thought. Many are topping out around 1250mhz. If you're going to RMA and hope for a card better than 1282mhz...I'd say you have a 50/50 chance. So...you gotta ask yourself one question...do you feel lucky?


Yeah, thinking about just returning it and buying a pair of 670 or something, I dont know :|. Paid a pretty hefty price not to be able to do anything with it :/.


----------



## Bosniac

Update: I received a call from Newegg about my Lightning, and they asked me a few questions, about my RMA, and they offered me $50 off the card for the "missing advertised features". Well, I went ahead and cancelled the order on my Zotac 670, and decided to keep the Lightning. I've only paid $559 in the first place for it, so this ends up costing me as much as a reference at $509. I am still furious about the voltage MSI, but I am tired off sending malfunctioning cards back, and dealing with RMA's. In the end, even if gets no voltage, I am glad I have a working card, that runs extremely well.










So, I am sticking around....


----------



## c0ld

How much could I sell my GTX 580 LE? I was wondeing if I should step up to the 680.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Update: I received a call from Newegg about my Lightning, and they asked me a few questions, about my RMA, and they offered me $50 off the card for the "missing advertised features". Well, I went ahead and cancelled the order on my Zotac 670, and decided to keep the Lightning. I've only paid $559 in the first place for it, so this ends up costing me as much as a reference at $509. I am still furious about the voltage MSI, but I am tired off sending malfunctioning cards back, and dealing with RMA's. In the end, even if gets no voltage, I am glad I have a working card, that runs extremely well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So, I am sticking around....


Nice. Calling newegg to get something similar, I love the card but i'm pissed that software voltage isn't in place yet. Like you said it is a major selling point and all of these high 1270ish overclocks would be much higher with more voltage.

Lets see if they can do something similar for me! I won't reference you or say that I heard this on the internet of course









Basically, MSI needs to learn their lesson for advertising this feature without proper implementation. Maybe they will feel the sting if newegg has to issue tons of 50$ credits.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *c0ld*
> 
> How much could I sell my GTX 580 LE?


Since it's used, ~400-500?


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> HWiNFO64 is much better than GPU-Z at monitoring voltages and VRM temperatures.


For DCII cards?


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Nice. Calling newegg to get something similar, I love the card but i'm pissed that software voltage isn't in place yet. Like you said it is a major selling point and all of these high 1270ish overclocks would be much higher with more voltage.
> Lets see if they can do something similar for me! I won't reference you or say that I heard this on the internet of course
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Basically, MSI needs to learn their lesson for advertising this feature without proper implementation. Maybe they will feel the sting if newegg has to issue tons of 50$ credits.


Strange change of opinion... I knew you'd come around


----------



## xoleras

Hmm, I dunno! I was always pissed about the voltage issue, trust me. I'm just happy with the cards as they are, they clock really high for me without additional voltage. I've always enjoyed lightning cards, I had 580 lightnings last year as well that I loved. That being said, I recognize that MSI didn't implement a promised feature yet and that is somewhat aggravating to me.


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> For DCII cards?


For whatever reason, 680 DC II VRM temps can't be read by HWiNFO64. 7970 DC II can, but not 680. I meant for the Lightning owners, but come to think of it, it might not even work for them either. My 580 TF III and 6950 TF III were both fully supported.


----------



## xoleras

Yep, agreed with above. VRM temp is very iffy on the 680, I think it may depend on what board components are used - it doesn't work on my lightnings no matter what. I can definitely feel the heat coming from the card with a super high OC though lol, definitely can't be cozy for the VRM.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Update: I received a call from Newegg about my Lightning, and they asked me a few questions, about my RMA, and they offered me $50 off the card for the "missing advertised features". Well, I went ahead and cancelled the order on my Zotac 670, and decided to keep the Lightning. I've only paid $559 in the first place for it, so this ends up costing me as much as a reference at $509. I am still furious about the voltage MSI, but I am tired off sending malfunctioning cards back, and dealing with RMA's. In the end, even if gets no voltage, I am glad I have a working card, that runs extremely well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So, I am sticking around....


Welcome back


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Since it's used, ~400-500?


I'd give a GTX 580 300$ tops used. If you're lucky.


----------



## Vaerwind

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Update: I received a call from Newegg about my Lightning, and they asked me a few questions, about my RMA, and they offered me $50 off the card for the "missing advertised features".


Did they give you credit to buy something else or did they just refund your CC? Has anyone else had luck getting 50$ back through this process? I'd like 50$


----------



## Rolfenstein

7970 Lightning is extremely cheap atm, perhaps I should get that instead and save myself 130-140 bucks







. Performance isnt far off my ****ty 680 Lightning :|.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Did they give you credit to buy something else or did they just refund your CC? Has anyone else had luck getting 50$ back through this process? I'd like 50$


Newegg gift card. I'll spend it.







Sometimes I find myself LOOKING to buy things.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> 7970 Lightning is extremely cheap atm, perhaps I should get that instead and save myself 130-140 bucks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Performance isnt far off my ****ty 680 Lightning :|.


Yeah you should do that to end your misery. Please RMA your card.. gl


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

I think a 580 Lightning Extreme could still command $300-$350 in the marketplace...


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Did they give you credit to buy something else or did they just refund your CC? Has anyone else had luck getting 50$ back through this process? I'd like 50$


i was the first one to get a partial refund, but i only got $25. this was about 10 days ago...
they gave me the choice of either a giftcard or direct refund to my credit card. I opted for the direct refund instead of the gc


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i was the first one to get a partial refund, but i only got $25. this was about 10 days ago...


How did you angle it? How did you approach the call when you spoke to customer service about the situation?


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Yeah you should do that to end your misery. Please RMA your card.. gl


Lul







. I watched a review of a stock 680 which reached 1218 in boost clock, makes me feel special when I reach 1252 with a card thats supposedly designed for "extreme overclocking" ;].


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Lul
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . I watched a review of a stock 680 which reached 1218 in boost clock, makes me feel special when I reach 1252 with a card thats supposedly designed for "extreme overclocking" ;].


Seriously , end your suffering, Get a 7970 lightning, its actually not a bad card. Nvidia are jerks about voltage control, AMD isn't. Really good card actually. You could also get a classified which per user posts is averaging 1275 overclocks, but you can serve as a guinea pig for EV bot. 769$ is a bit beyond my comfort zone, so I give you this task.

I'm not being sarcastic btw, the 7970 lightning is a great card. When I was using 7970s overclocking was easy peasy because every 7970 lets you adjust voltage to your hearts desire......Heck I was able to get 1200 out of reference cards. I don't know why nvidia forces us through a ton of bullcrap for extreme overclocking, it wasn't like this during the GTX 580 days.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Seriously , end your suffering, Get a 7970 lightning, its actually not a bad card. Nvidia are jerks about voltage control, AMD isn't. Really good card actually. You could also get a classified which per user posts is averaging 1275 overclocks, but you can serve as a guinea pig for EV bot. 769$ is a bit beyond my comfort zone, so I give you this task.


This task that you have given me.. Shall not be acquired. I'm never spending 769$ on 1 single card, I'm not freaky enough. If anything, I'd just buy myself a GTX 690 and get 2 GPUs at almost the same price point.

Thing is, if I "downgrade" to 7970 I'll reach even smaller clocks but save a crapload of money and I mean, this 680 Lightning sucks balls either way :|. People keep reporting bad AMD drivers though but I dunno. The MS problem AMD has is discouraging aswell, going CF will kind of give me a headache it seems xd.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> How did you angle it? How did you approach the call when you spoke to customer service about the situation?


I'd like to know too... I DID bought from _msi_ because it was advertized that I could do overvoltage


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> This task that you have given me.. Shall not be acquired..


The 7970 isn't a downgrade unless you run it at stock and nobody does that. I went from 7970s to 680s from peer pressure and gaming performance isnt really different at all - the 7970s are actually faster in some games once they're overclocked. I didn't have issues with drivers either.

The 7970s are far, far, far, far far easier to overclock than the 680. You'll still need manual fan and voltage adjustment (which most 680s don't have) but its a great card really. And it will end your pain, suffering and agony that you're going through.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> I'd like to know too... I DID bought from _msi_ because it was advertized that I could do overvoltage


Just tell them the truth. Be honest and disappointed, but not too harsh/rude. Tell them you're, dare I say offended?, that the card doesn't have software support for the features that are heavily advertised. Make it seem like you're very upset, but more-so with MSI, but also Newegg for selling you the product. You should get something that way. Just don't mention _anything_ about someone else getting something, or someone else suggesting you should do this. That would just sound bad and probably turn off whoever is making the decision.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Just tell them the truth. Be honest and disappointed, but not too harsh/rude. Tell them you're, dare I say offended?, that the card doesn't have software support for the features that are heavily advertised. Make it seem like you're very upset, but more-so with MSI, but also Newegg for selling you the product. You should get something that way. Just don't mention _anything_ about someone else getting something, or someone else suggesting you should do this. That would just sound bad and probably turn off whoever is making the decision.


Ok... Can I say that I'd like a compensation for what I've not received? or is it too obvious...
Also, I'm just not a mean person. I'm not used to be rude or angry at things... but it would be really nice if this feature could come out


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> The 7970 isn't a downgrade unless you run it at stock and nobody does that. I went from 7970s to 680s from peer pressure and gaming performance isnt really different at all - the 7970s are actually faster in some games once they're overclocked. I didn't have issues with drivers either.
> The 7970s are far, far, far, far far easier to overclock than the 680. You'll still need manual fan and voltage adjustment (which most 680s don't have) but its a great card really. And it will end your pain, suffering and agony that you're going through.


Haha, peer pressure? Who pressured you into nVidia ;P? I'm a green teamer overall but this Lightning just brought me so much pain, agony and suffering







.


----------



## XbeaTX

another idiot response by MSI on facebook ....
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ale (me)*
> where is afterburner 2.2.3?!? people are tired of waiting... has already elapsed a month!


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MSI Europe*
> Hi Ale,
> 
> We're working very hard on this, but your favorite graphics card vendor is less than pleased with the extensive OC options of the GTX 680 Lightning.


They are working hard but the developer is at beach drinking cocktails


----------



## Bosniac

Everyone should call and talk to supervisors to bring this issue up. Be polite, but forceful. That's what I am doing.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> another idiot response by MSI on facebook ....
> They are working hard but the developer is at beach drinking cocktails


I had to LOL at this.


----------



## c0ld

So apparently you guys cant over-volt it? How long has been the GTX 680 out? And is it bigger than the GTX 580 LE?

Saying because the 580 barely fitted in my case length-wise.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Everyone should call and talk to supervisors to bring this issue up. Be polite, but forceful. That's what I am doing.


I worked in a customer service job my first year of college years ago and I can tell you being a jerk won't get you anywhere. Be aggressive and firm, yet polite!

I haven't called them yet but we'll see what happens.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> The 7970s are far, far, far, far far easier to overclock than the 680.


As a former owner of a 7970 myself I disagree. Sure, you get voltage control but what you end up with at the end of the day after playing around with voltage is an overclock that is very similar to what a lot of GTX 680's are getting. Neither card is really more difficult than the other when it comes to overclocking and both cards overclocked will trade blows with each other depending on the game in question. My primary game is BF3 multiplayer and with 4XMSAA enabled the 680 is simply the faster card which is the reason I now own one.

In short both cards have similar peak overclocks while one has voltage control and the other does not.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> As a former owner of a 7970 myself I disagree. Sure, you get voltage control but what you end up with at the end of the day after playing around with voltage is an overclock that is very similar to what a lot of GTX 680's are getting. Neither card is really more difficult than the other when it comes to overclocking and both cards overclocked will trade blows with each other depending on the game in question. My primary game is BF3 multiplayer and with 4XMSAA enabled the 680 is simply the faster card which is the reason I now own one.
> In short both cards have similar peak overclocks while one has voltage control and the other does not.


I've owned 5 gtx 680s so far and they have all been a pain in the neck to OC except the lightnings. I was able to sell my old reference boards at no loss (this is when they were never in stock online) so it wasn't a big deal to move from those to better 680s. Thats why I like my lightnings so much, sure some have had different experiences but mine are great. I recognize that some have had different experiences, but dealing with Kepler throttle and high temps on the reference 680 was not worth it. 7970 doesn't have any junk like this in terms of thermal throttle and such.

As far as my 7970s I had reference boards that OC'ed +275mhz higher than stock. And I could adjust the voltage to my hearts delight -- also, overclocked 7970s can meet/exceed stock 680 performance, and as 1200 or higher they are great.

Now don't get me wrong, I like my 680s a LOT and really enjoy my setup. For the 7970s though, I'm just saying they're a pretty good option, if he's looking to save a bit of money for overclocking cards.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I've owned 5 gtx 680s so far and they have all been a pain in the neck to OC except the lightnings. Thats why I like my lightnings so much, sure some have had different experiences but mine are great.
> As far as my 7970s I had reference boards that OC'ed +275mhz higher than stock. And I could adjust the voltage to my hearts delight -- also, overclocked 7970s can easily exceed stock 680 performance, and as 1200 or higher they are great.
> I'm just saying they're a pretty good option, and they're cheaper than aftermarket 680 cards for sure.


Thats cool, then your experience just differs from mine I guess. I have owned 3 GTX 680's and had no issues overclocking any of them, in fact 2 of the 3 are stable over 1300mhz core while many 7970's are doing good to hit that after voltage tweaks.

As for the performance between the two when overclocked they do trade blows and it does come down to the games in question, there is a review floating around somewhere with both cards heavily overclocked and the GTX 680 still came out on top for the most part while losing in other games such as metro 2033.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Haha, peer pressure? Who pressured you into nVidia ;P? I'm a green teamer overall but this Lightning just brought me so much pain, agony and suffering
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .










Maybe not peer pressure but the hype got to me. I bought reference 680s on release day and was kinda disappointed, because I expected a bit more. But i've always loved buying the latest and greatest tech toys! I'm sure I will buy the GTX 780 on release day as well


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> For the 7970s though, I'm just saying they're a pretty good option, if he's looking to save a bit of money for overclocking cards.


No doubt man, I agree. Dont get me wrong.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Thats cool, then your experience just differs from mine I guess. I have owned 3 GTX 680's and had no issues overclocking any of them, in fact 2 of the 3 are stable over 1300mhz core while many 7970's are doing good to hit that after voltage tweaks.
> As for the performance between the two when overclocked they do trade blows and it does come down to the games in question, there is a review floating around somewhere with both cards heavily overclocked and the GTX 680 still came out on top for the most part while losing in other games such as *metro 2033,Crysis and Witcher 2* .


Fixed.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Thats cool, then your experience just differs from mine I guess. I have owned 3 GTX 680's and had no issues overclocking any of them, in fact 2 of the 3 are stable over 1300mhz core while many 7970's are doing good to hit that after voltage tweaks.
> As for the performance between the two when overclocked they do trade blows and it does come down to the games in question, there is a review floating around somewhere with both cards heavily overclocked and the GTX 680 still came out on top for the most part while losing in other games such as metro 2033.


The 7970GE reviews clocked at 1050mhz shows that it is overall faster with a heavy OC, but obviously it uses more power and can be noisier. HardOCP did an OC vs OC review and the 7970 had a good showing.

I'm just saying its a good option if he's sick of dealing with nvidia voltage lock. There's really not much difference between them [7970 or 680], performance wise. Consider also that 7970 is selling for 370$ for the card and 6 games.. As far as 680 OC results, just like you said silicon lottery, period. Some get lucky some don't and it doesn't matter WHICH 680 you have, there are some that don't OC well. You can look at newegg reviews for every card in existence and you will find some people just aren't getting good OCs regardless of brand / card type. Silicon lottery







Obviously you fell on the lucky side of the coin.


----------



## Xnerdz

I wrote a little letter to the customer service and I'd like to see your opinion before I send it


Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!



Quote:


> Dear NewEgg customer service and stuff...
> 
> I recently (June 17) bought a MSI GTX 670 Power Edition OC from your site. Received it and installed the drivers and utility tools etc. Than, I realized that one feature wasn't included in the utilities.
> 
> The "Triple Overvoltage" as it is called, is not available from the package I received nor anywhere on the vendor web site.
> 
> Yet, it was announced in the Details->Features section of the card on NewEgg.ca.
> Quote:
> Features
> Power Edition
> - Triple Overvoltage: adjust the voltage of GPU, memory and PLL to unleash the potential of graphics card.
> etc...
> 
> Since I SPECIFICALLY bought THIS model on THIS website because of the advertizing, I'm very disappointed that I partially received what I paid for. I wont return the card because I like it and it is a good gpu. But, I'm certainly not confident to buy again from NewEgg after that deceiving 439.99$ purchase...
> 
> Respectfully, [my name].






Do I have spelling mistakes? English isn't my birth language so...
Tell me if it is too weak or too aggressive please.


----------



## dph314

Off topic-

Hello Jacob









Was waiting for the Classified but, I mean honestly, come on, throttle on a ~$700 card? 55% fan speed on a "balls-to-the-wall-look-at-what-our-company-is-capable-of" card? No thank you. Still love EVGA though. Keep up the great work









Had to go with a Lightning though


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I've owned 5 gtx 680s so far and they have all been a pain in the neck to OC except the lightnings. I was able to sell my old reference boards at no loss (this is when they were never in stock online) so it wasn't a big deal to move from those to better 680s. Thats why I like my lightnings so much, sure some have had different experiences but mine are great. I recognize that some have had different experiences, but dealing with Kepler throttle and high temps on the reference 680 was not worth it. 7970 doesn't have any junk like this in terms of thermal throttle and such.
> As far as my 7970s I had reference boards that OC'ed +275mhz higher than stock. And I could adjust the voltage to my hearts delight -- also, overclocked 7970s can meet/exceed stock 680 performance, and as 1200 or higher they are great.
> Now don't get me wrong, I like my 680s a LOT and really enjoy my setup. For the 7970s though, I'm just saying they're a pretty good option, *if he's looking to save a bit of money for overclocking cards.*


Well, the question isn't exactly about saving money. It's just that I find it hard to justify a card for 740$ (thats about 5100SEK) when I can get a similarily performing card for 590$ :|. If I was actually able to clock this card past 50MHz over factory clock I'd keep it any day but now the decision is not so simple







.

I mean 50MHz.. It's so pathetic I just want to throw the card out the window ._.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Off topic-
> Hello Jacob
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Was waiting for the Classified but, I mean honestly, come on, throttle on a ~$700 card? 55% fan speed on a "balls-to-the-wall-look-at-what-our-company-is-capable-of" card? No thank you. Still love EVGA though. Keep up the great work
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Had to go with a Lightning though


I wish nvidia would just GET RID of voltage lock already. This would make our lives so much easier, like the GTX 580 days !


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Well, the question isn't exactly about saving money. It's just that I find it hard to justify a card for 740$ (thats about 5100SEK) when I can get a similarily performing card for 590$ :|. If I was actually able to clock this card past 50MHz over factory clock I'd keep it any day but now the decision is not so simple
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


Get a 690 then. They're in stock. I have used one and its a great card, just don't expect to overclock it much, it does get warm temp wise.

They should perform around the level of 680 sli at stock, my 690 boosted to 1100 out of the box. 690 should do you good. Again, don't expect to overclock it because you will hit thermal throttle MOST likely.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Get a 690 then. They're in stock.


I had a 690, didn't need the performance so I returned it. Besides, a 690 in Sweden costs around 1300-1350$







.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> I had a 690, didn't need the performance so I returned it. Besides, a 690 in Sweden costs around 1300-1350$
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


What the hell man? Are you yanking our chains? 2 pages back you say "I should get a 690". Now you say "I had a 690".

Something doesn't add up here







! Just make your decision already and stick with it


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> The 7970GE reviews clocked at 1050mhz shows that it is overall faster with a heavy OC, but obviously it uses more power and can be noisier. HardOCP did an OC vs OC review and the 7970 had a good showing.
> I'm just saying its a good option if he's sick of dealing with nvidia voltage lock. There's really not much difference between them [7970 or 680], performance wise. Consider also that 7970 is selling for 370$ for the card and 6 games.. As far as 680 OC results, just like you said silicon lottery, period. Some get lucky some don't and it doesn't matter WHICH 680 you have, there are some that don't OC well. You can look at newegg reviews for every card in existence and you will find some people just aren't getting good OCs regardless of brand / card type. Silicon lottery
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Obviously you fell on the lucky side of the coin.


I agree with all of this.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> What the hell man? Are you yanking our chains? 2 pages back you say "I should get a 690". Now you say "I had a 690".
> Something doesn't add up here! Just make your decision already and stick with it, christ !


I didnt say I'm going to, I said I would get a 690 =p. Not as in I'm going to but for that price point I'd buy a 690 instead of a single Classified.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I wish nvidia would just GET RID of voltage lock already. This would make our lives so much easier, like the GTX 580 days !


Amen brother, amen


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> I didnt say I'm going to, I said I would get a 690 =p. Not as in I'm going to but for that price point I'd buy a 690 instead of a single Classified.


Okay gotcha







I really did like the 690 though personally. Its great but its not very ideal for overclocking...(IMHO)


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Okay gotcha
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I really did like the 690 though personally. Its great but its not very ideal for overclocking...(IMHO)


It was an awesome card, mine clocked to 1176 stable on heaven, with 1758 on the memory. Felt it was a bit overkill for HoN and GW2 though, especially now that I barely play BF3 anymore ;P.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> Fixed.


Witcher 2, not really. They are close, very close. Metro 2033 and Crysis go to the HD 7970 generally but have gotten better with nvidia's latest beta's.

NVIDIA 304.48 Beta
AMD 12.7 Beta



Batman with 4xMSAA


Crysis 2


Deus Ex


Dirt 3


Metro 2033


Shogun 2:Total War


Skyrim


Wargame: EU Escalation


The Witcher 2

[/quote]


----------



## xoleras

Jesus christ why did you link 50 billion charts.







My eyes are bleeding, ugh!


----------



## RobsM6S

Ignore the Asus Top and look at the others for a better comparison.


----------



## Vaerwind

Why has this thread turned into a 7970 vs 680 pissing contest


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Why has this thread turned into a 7970 vs 680 pissing contest


It's hardly a pissing contest (to my surprise). It just shows (I think) how equal 680 and 7970 are in terms of performance and that what game you play matters for each card as each card appears to be optimized for different games. 600 series being notoriously better at BF3.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Why has this thread turned into a 7970 vs 680 pissing contest


Its just another twist in the lightning thread, its a new topic every day , roll with it


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Why has this thread turned into a 7970 vs 680 pissing contest


It hasnt, we are just discussing hardware.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Its just another twist in the lightning thread, its a new topic every day , roll with it


Awesome answer









Yes let's hope this can be a place, unlike most threads, where we can talk about various topics, even if they're only loosely related to the Lightning, yet everyone still remains civil. And a place where everyone always remembers that regardless of the means, our end-game is all the same (performance







). Sorry, I get philisophical when I drink
















But anyways, yeah if someone wants to throw a comparrison out there or something along those lines, do it in a civil way and you will hopefully be dealt with in a similar manner. Only rule when throwing a comparrison out there is you must achknowledge that the Lightning is the best 680 on the market


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Awesome answer
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes let's hope this can be a place, unlike most threads, where we can talk about various topics, even if they're only loosely related to the Lightning, yet everyone still remains civil. And a place where everyone always remembers that regardless of the means, our end-game is all the same (performance
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ). Sorry, I get philisophical when I drink
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But anyways, yeah if someone wants to throw a comparrison out there or something along those lines, do it in a civil way and you will hopefully be dealt with in a similar manner. Only rule when throwing a comparrison out there is you must achknowledge that *the Lightning is the best 680 on the market*


If you're lucky







.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> If you're lucky
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


Very true. But aside from the quality of the Lightning's components, it's obvious that this cooler, coupled with no throttle, will definitely do some damage once we have voltage control. I mean damn, what card can run Heaven at 1355/6800 @ 50C? I did this multiple times, while not living in Alaska, so I know what this card will be capable of in a few short weeks


----------



## xoleras

True, applies to any card really. Mine get 1352 in sli so i'm extremely happy, I also like the other perks such as no kepler throttle and 1.21V on BIOS2. Hopefully MSI gets their ***** together with the software voltage









As far as the 7970s I really liked them when I had them, AMD just massively screwed up with the launch driver but its rectified now. If I were doing it again, the visiontek 7970s at 360$ with 6 free games is a ridiculously good price....but i'm happy with things are they are currently.

PS anyone else have luck with newegg? I haven't spoken to them yet.


----------



## supermi

So it seems those classifieds are getting current throttling at about 1.3v .... if the lightnings do actually get adjustable voltage ... are we likely to see the same thing on these with the LN2 bios?

the cost we are paying for non extreme -- extreme overclocking cards this generation is astounding!

on another note ... I decided to go back to surround 3d gaming ... was set on a pair of lightnings for a single monitor but with 3 I am thinking 3 way sli of a 4gb card would be better. thoughts?

I am planning to do some sort of water cooling ...

*so if classifieds it will be with waterblocks ... $800 a pop

if evga FTW 4gb universal blocks with copper on the vrm's and the backplate on for looks ...

if galaxy 4gb .... universal block with stock aluminum heatsink on the vrm's

could still do the lightnings 2gb with universal block and maybe some extra copper on the heatplate (or fullblock when it is made)
*
I am pretty set on 3 cards so I can play games like bf3 in surround 3d with high settings and such ... would do 4 but do want to keep my soundcard and seems people say 4 way sli is not great for scaling in games ...

So any wisdom guys? with a single monitor it would be the lightnings in sli FOR SURE , but now with more screen real estate I am not so sure ...
and with all this wondering whether the lightnings will EVER get real adjustable voltage and this talk of the classifieds having current throttling makes these UBER cards seem a WASH this gen ...

this from a former and potentially future again 680 lightning owner









the issue be


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Very true. But aside from the quality of the Lightning's components, it's obvious that this cooler, coupled with no throttle, will definitely do some damage once we have voltage control. I mean damn, what card can run Heaven at 1355/6800 @ 50C? I did this multiple times, while not living in Alaska, so I know what this card will be capable of in a few short weeks


As long as you have a decent cooler throttle really isnt an issue anyway, My windforce GTX 680 completes Heaven maxed out at 1920X1080 at 1320/7200 @ 51c with the fan set to a nice and silent 50%.


----------



## xoleras

supermi, for tri sli honestly open air cooled cards are not the best. You want at least .75-1.5 inches of space between cards, and with tri sli you usually have to "sandwich" them. Your temps will not be ideal if you try to TRI sli lightning cards, you'd be better off with water cooled cards or perhaps the classified despite it costing substantially more.

Just keepin it real







Aftermarket cards aren't good for tri or quad, you want cards that are A) water cooled or B) exhaust heat out of the rear of the case. BTW what resolution are you running at ? Dual SLI is usually pretty good at 5720x1200, you may have to use FXAA in some games due to VRAM though.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Very true. But aside from the quality of the Lightning's components, it's obvious that this cooler, coupled with no throttle, will definitely do some damage once we have voltage control. *I mean damn, what card can run Heaven at 1355/6800 @ 50C?* I did this multiple times, while not living in Alaska, so I know what this card will be capable of in a few short weeks


Mine certainly cant







. I know the Lightning CAN be extremely good but my card left a bad taste in my mouth. Oh well, perhaps I can break the worlds ****tiest Lightning clock record?


----------



## xoleras

Oops, just read that you're doing universal blocks. I guess the answer depends on your resolution and what games you play. With 2gb you may have to limit yourself to FXAA or No AA in some games at 5720x1200, with 4gb you can go crazy with whatever AA levels you want.

Performance shouldn't be drastically different, 4gb will just give you more image quality (MSAA takes up a lot of VRAM.)


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> supermi, for tri sli honestly open air cooled cards are not the best. You want at least .75-1.5 inches of space between cards, and with tri sli you usually have to "sandwich" them. Your temps will not be ideal if you try to TRI sli lightning cards, you'd be better off with water cooled cards or perhaps the classified despite it costing substantially more.
> Just keepin it real
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Aftermarket cards aren't good for tri or quad, you want cards that are A) water cooled or B) exhaust heat out of the rear of the case. BTW what resolution are you running at ? Dual SLI is usually pretty good at 5720x1200, you may have to use FXAA in some games due to VRAM though.


Maybe you missed ALOT of what I wrote as in EACH and EVERY option I wrote included universal or full coverage WATER BLOCKS LOL









with that being clear ... what do you say







?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Mine certainly cant
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . I know the Lightning CAN be extremely good but my card left a bad taste in my mouth. Oh well, perhaps I can break the worlds ****tiest Lightning clock record?


Jesus christ man...RMA it ...you already said 20 times that you hate it, get a 7970 or 690


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Maybe you missed ALOT of what I wrote as in EACH and EVERY option I wrote included universal or full coverage WATER BLOCKS LOL
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> with that being clear ... what do you say
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ?


I'd still go for the 4GB cards. I mean, why risk bottlenecking on VRAM?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Jesus christ man...RMA it ...you already said 20 times that you hate it, get a 7970 or 690


Haha, I'm planning to. Ordered a 7970 Lightning but I want to see what kind of clocks I can get it to (the 7970) before I send this bag of garbage back.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Oops, just read that you're doing universal blocks. I guess the answer depends on your resolution and what games you play. With 2gb you may have to limit yourself to FXAA or No AA in some games at 5720x1200, with 4gb you can go crazy with whatever AA levels you want.
> Performance shouldn't be drastically different, 4gb will just give you more image quality (MSAA takes up a lot of VRAM.)


Cool , NICE CATCH LOL

Yeah that is the thing... I mean will 3 cards have the GPU grunt to take advantage of things like MSAA or might that extra VRAM be wasted ...

if it is enough gpu grunt 4gb would be a smarter choice ...

but if not then Lightning would be ...

and WOW in the EVGA forums there is talk that to get past 1.3v SOLDERING IS NEEDED , I MEAN FOR REAL!!!!!!!!

I am happy to pay $800 a card for AMAZING but that is NOT even amazing LOL ...


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> I'd still go for the 4GB cards. I mean, why risk bottlenecking on VRAM?


Say I do 4gb ,

which ones????? LOL

FTW has backplate for aesthetics ... and warranty , galaxy has vrm heatsink ... classified has partial voltage control LOL

gosh , to wait for overpriced classified HC's or get one of those others NOW LOL


----------



## supermi

BTW MSI if you are reading this ALEX or whomever ... get us some voltage control and a 4gb lightning FAST or some indication you will do both and you can still keep me in camp LIGHTNING!


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> BTW MSI if you are reading this ALEX or whomever ... get us some voltage control and a 4gb lightning FAST or some indication you will do both and you can still keep me in camp LIGHTNING!


Unwinder has already said that even if he gets it to work (the voltage control) it might not work without problems :|.

Get 3 Classifieds for bragging rights or 3 FTW for a reasonable price







.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> As long as you have a decent cooler throttle really isnt an issue anyway, My windforce GTX 680 completes Heaven maxed out at 1920X1080 at 1320/7200 @ 51c with the fan set to a nice and silent 50%.


50%? That's awesome. I'm going to look up some info on those, since I never really looked into them before. What temp can you hit with 100% fan speed? And what would the ambient temp be for that run?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Unwinder has already said that even if he gets it to work (the voltage control) it might not work without problems :|.
> 
> Get 3 Classifieds for bragging rights or 3 FTW for a reasonable price .


Shill alert


----------



## xoleras

dp


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Unwinder has already said that even if he gets it to work (the voltage control) it might not work without problems :|.
> Get 3 Classifieds for bragging rights or 3 FTW for a reasonable price
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


that rocks, ok so waiting and money for bragging rights

or get right to it at a "reasonable cost"

and now back to the main and often distracted from point of this thread LIGHTNING ....

I have personally tested 8 Lightnings 1 did 1360 with LN2 but only 375 memory OC

ONE WAS HORRID and would not get 1250 core period!!! LN2 or not!

the rest were between 1295 and 1320 or 1325 core and right around 500-525 memory .... most RIGHT around that 1300 core this is ALL with LN2 BIOS

that is all with 100% fan speed in a room that was about 70F









and good call on Unwinder mentioning that voltage control might not be perfect ... and with the classies having issues with voltage control "current limit cough cough" it REALLY seems Kepler was not meant for the role it is in LOL

But the Lightings DO look BAD ASS and have GREAT COOLERS as I never got beyond 60C or so in ANY testing LOL


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 50%? That's awesome. I'm going to look up some info on those, since I never really looked into them before. What temp can you hit with 100% fan speed? And what would the ambient temp be for that run?


Ambient temp is 75F, will have to try a run at 100% fan speed and see what I get for peak temps.


----------



## xoleras

EV Bot on classified still has OCP throttling and Thermal throttling. Dunno man. I would probably get reference boards for tri sli tbh or something with a full coverage block. Universals don't cover the VRM which is half your overclock potential..


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> How did you angle it? How did you approach the call when you spoke to customer service about the situation?


i said that the item is not as described. for the extra $100 it is supposed to have voltage control and it does not. that's really all i said. i was asking them for a full refund and return shipping costs, so thats when they offered me the $25.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Unwinder has already said that even if he gets it to work (the voltage control) it might not work without problems :|.


Of course you can also read that as it might work without any problems.

But nobody knows, so we get this same "no unlocked voltage" rant like clockwork every couple of days.

It gives guys something to ***** and moan about, so we got that going for us.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i said that the item is not as described. for the extra $100 it is supposed to have voltage control and it does not. that's really all i said. i was asking them for a full refund and return shipping costs, so thats when they offered me the $25.


Thanks for the info, we'll see what happened tomorrow


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i said that the item is not as described. for the extra $100 it is supposed to have voltage control and it does not. that's really all i said. i was asking them for a full refund and return shipping costs, so thats when they offered me the $25.


You gonna give the $25 back if the voltage control materializes?

Didn't think so.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Shill alert


Shill alert







?


----------



## dph314

They can't go past 1.3v without a hard mod? Thanks EVGA.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Of course you can also read that as it might work without any problems.
> But nobody knows, so we get this same "no unlocked voltage" rant like clockwork every couple of days.
> It gives guys something to ***** and moan about, so we got that going for us.


Sorry Charlie but WE ALL READ THE BOX that said it was supposed to HAVE voltage control ... or maybe the unwritten part of it might be buggy or not happen at all in the invisible clause is something we should have looked into before buying these cards (in my case 8 of em for 2 builds) LOL

but whatever Mr.Apoligizer, maybe MSI will send you a free card WITHOUT voltage control for your post


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> They can't go past 1.3v without a hard mod? Thanks EVGA.


Yeah that right there just caused me to JUMP off their train, I mean lets pay $800 for a HC classified another $80 for the EVBOT plus shipping and tax then HARDMOD WOOOHOOO.... I mean if we are enthusiasts shouldn't we want to hardmod cards, especially ones of that price LOL (that was sarcastic, so no one mistakes me there)


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> They can't go past 1.3v without a hard mod? Thanks EVGA.


Stop being ridiculous...The card allows 1.8v with the Evbot. EVGA is releasing a firmeware update to address the issue.







Ah yeah, how's that voltage control coming along for you guys(serious question btw)?

If anything you need to be saying thanks MSI for false advertising and broken promises. Even when the after burner guy finally receives his card, he was quoted as saying the voltage still probably wouldn't work right....Yeah, MSI is great


----------



## xoleras

[citation required]

The EV bot is limited to 1.3V without a hard mod because going up to 1.8V on air ? seriously? That would cause the card to catch fire. If you have a source to suggest a firmware fix will address it i'd love to see it. 1.8V is more than LN2 benchmarkers use.

By allowing users to go up to 1.8 V would basically be giving end users a free ticket to make their computers go up in smoke...literally...


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> Stop being ridiculous...The card allows 1.8v with the Evbot. EVGA is releasing a firmeware update to address the issue.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ah yeah, how's that voltage control coming along for you guys(serious question btw)?
> If anything you need to be saying thanks MSI for false advertising and broken promises. Even when the after burner guy finally receives his card, he was quoted as saying the voltage still probably wouldn't work right....Yeah, MSI is great
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Editx2: The card throttles when voltage is pushed past 1.3v.....Looks like I'm not getting a Classified either.


please link to the info about a firmware (bios?) update that will fix this... I do not know about 1.8v but 1.4 under water would be SOOOO NICE LOL

again link please otherwise it is watervapor

current user of the classified in the EVGA forums is mentioning OCP throttling which he said Jacob varified as happening over 1.3V so are you saying the card WILL NOT throttle with an update?


----------



## xoleras

Oh jeez don't get benchmarksli started. There is no firmware update for 1.8 in the works, trust me.

The best approach I think would be a method of removing OCCP protection and Kepler throttle. Lightning can do this but classified is still limited to 131% power for some reason. Of course, even with high clocks you still have kepler throttle on top of OCCP throttle. I dunno. You will definitely need water to make that card shine.

By the time you pay for 2x classifieds, water blocks, and EV bot you could buy 2x 690 for not much more lol...

Is that something you considered by the way? The 690 is a pretty damn good card and 2 of them would do you right IMHO


----------



## Benchmarksli

Disregard that firmware update, I got my wires crossed...The card does go up to at least 1.325v, but it start sto throttle after that with more.

Quote:


> Andrew_K
> 
> *Still working on figuring out how to break the barrier on the first card. It will clearly do 1450+, but does need more voltage than I can evidently supply. I can go above 1.325v on the EVBot, but when I do, the voltage actually drops a bit and then I lose the OC.*
> 
> What is awesome though is the card is literally never unstable to the point of crashing given enough voltage... and I'm still well within reasonable limits of power handling and heat generation. The only thing that happens is it will start throttling back.
> 
> This happens even more so once I start oc'ing memory, which seems odd, like I'm reaching a power ceiling from the rail or something. I can't imagine the 8 pin rails are holding me back (on a 1300 watt Coolermaster silent pro hybrid)?


Still isn't bad when you can hit 1450MHz on air...Matter of fact, that's pretty amazing.


----------



## xoleras

Actually, he posted nuerous times that he couldn't successfully benchmark because of OCCP throttling. His clockspeeds immediately dip and he has thermal issues.

Anyway, be on your way now and create a classified thread







Although for 659$ x 2, 99$ x1, and 150$ x2 for water blocks i'd want a card that could wash my dishes and wash my car on the weekends.

1800$ (my bad EV bot is 20$ cheaper) so 1780$ for that setup. I'll pass, you can buy quad sli 670s or almost 2 690s for that price.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Actually, he posted numerous times that he couldn't successfully benchmark because of OCCP throttling. His clockspeeds immediately dip and he has thermal issues.
> Anyway, be on your way now and create a classified thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Although for 659$ x 2, 99$ x1, and 150$ x2 for water blocks i'd want a card that could wash my dishes and wash my car on the weekends.


+1


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Actually, he posted numerous times that he couldn't successfully benchmark because of OCCP throttling. His clockspeeds immediately dip and he has thermal issues.
> PM him and ask him. Anyway, be on your way now and create a classified thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Although for 659$ x 2*, 99$ x1*, and 150$ x2 for water blocks i'd want a card that could wash my dishes and wash my car on the weekends.


You be on your way. I'll post where ever I want. You don't run OCN, boy.
There are all types of users posting in this thread that don't own a lighting. How about you tell them to leave, kid.

The evbot is 79..99 at amazon and evga....Not sure why you keep syaing the same lie over and over again.


----------



## xoleras

Doesn't the asus DC2 have a full cover block available from EK? That might be another good option for you supermi. It also doesn't cost much more than a regular reference 680......(i'm assuming that you haven't purchased universal blocks already)

Heck...if I had a ROG motherboard i'm pretty sure i'd go with that option. I'm still working on my custom loop







No lightning blocks available yet or voltage for that matter. Meh.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Actually, he posted nuerous times that he couldn't successfully benchmark because of OCCP throttling. His clockspeeds immediately dip and he has thermal issues.
> Anyway, be on your way now and create a classified thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Although for 659$ x 2, 99$ x1, and 150$ x2 for water blocks i'd want a card that could wash my dishes and wash my car on the weekends.
> *1800$ (my bad EV bot is 20$ cheaper) so 1780$ for that setup*. I'll pass, you can buy quad sli 670s or almost 2 690s for that price.


Thank you







I haven't laughed all day until I read that part of your post







Nice. Yeah this generation so far has been a bust as far as I'm concerned. Only thing (person) that can save it is Unwinder.


----------



## xoleras

Yeah as much as I enjoy my cards the whole voltage thing is BS , I can't lie. Its funny how Alex pulled a JFAMD and disappeared into thin air LOL...maybe he went into retirement.

The big problem with this is that there is no good alternative. The other option is 760$..ugh.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Doesn't the asus DC2 have a full cover block available from EK? That might be another good option for you supermi. It also doesn't cost much more than a regular reference 680......(i'm assuming that you haven't purchased universal blocks already)
> Heck...if I had a ROG motherboard i'm pretty sure i'd go with that option. I'm still working on my custom loop
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No lightning blocks available yet or voltage for that matter. Meh.


gosh that sounds good other than if I want to use my motherboard for voltage control after the mod I believe I can only control 1 card at a time like that and I want 3 or maybe 4 ... and 4gb of ram might be nice everything else being equal ...

but yeah it does have a block, I will consider that . THANKS!


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Yeah as much as I enjoy my cards the whole voltage thing is BS , I can't lie. Its funny how Alex pulled a JFAMD and disappeared into thin air LOL...maybe he went into retirement.
> The big problem with this is that there is no good alternative. The other option is 760$..ugh.


could this be evidence that these keplers were supposed to me mid ranged?


----------



## xoleras

It is plausible, although I think the 460/670/560ti/570 all had voltage control right? I only used the 580...


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> It is plausible, although I think the 460/670/560ti/570 all had voltage control right? I only used the 580...


well the 570's and 590's were limited due to vrm and even reference 580's were mostly limited to 1.15v unless you unlocked the bios ...

just seems like these keplers are lacking hallmark features of high end cards, mainly voltage control LOL


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> You be on your way. I'll post where ever I want. You don't run OCN, boy.


Um...maybe he doesn't run OCN, but the mods do. Kind of like the one that posted this- http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/680#post_17739160
So yeah, maybe showing a little more respect in a thread for a card you've never even seen?


----------



## supermi

This is just seeming like TOOO much work and worry and money for limited voltage control and with memory bandwidth what it is these higher clocks we seek have greatly diminishing returns, when compaired to the 580's which showed GREAT scaling right to the edge of their stability even those lucky enough to clock them over 1000mhz (you lightning owners I mean you LOL)

I am right on the edge of getting some 4gb ftw or even 4gb 670's as I already have 2 uni blocks .... I am really hesitant to get full cover blocks for the 600 series ... and if I did not need cards NOW I would happily wait til the 700 series .... gosh!!!!

Any one heard any news about 4 way sli scaling with these newer drivers? .... might just use the money I save on NOT getting a classy or lightning to get a 4th card and retire the stx xonar sound card LOL


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> This is just seeming like TOOO much work and worry and money for limited voltage control and with memory bandwidth what it is these higher clocks we seek have greatly diminishing returns, when compaired to the 580's which showed GREAT scaling right to the edge of their stability even those lucky enough to clock them over 1000mhz (you lightning owners I mean you LOL)
> I am right on the edge of getting some 4gb ftw or even 4gb 670's as I already have 2 uni blocks .... I am really hesitant to get full cover blocks for the 600 series ... and if I did not need cards NOW I would happily wait til the 700 series .... gosh!!!!
> Any one heard any news about 4 way sli scaling with these newer drivers? .... might just use the money I save on NOT getting a classy or lightning to get a 4th card and retire the stx xonar sound card LOL


4GB 670s is the best price-to-performance ratio out there. I would just go with those and be happy till the 780.


----------



## EM2J

So guys so far I've been lucky enough to test 4 different lightnings. Wanted to let you know that none of them would break the 1300mhz core barrier stably, ln2 bios or not, fan maxed or not. The clocks I achieved were 1295, 1280, 1275, and a measly 1245 core.

As Rolfenstein said, these cards definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. Lack of voltage control is just the cherry on top, even though I honestly don't mind waiting. I think I'm the most unlucky lightning owner.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> *So guys so far I've been lucky enough to test 4 different lightnings. Wanted to let you know that none of them would break the 1300mhz core barrier stably, ln2 bios or not, fan maxed or not. The clocks I achieved were 1295, 1280, 1275, and a measly 1245 core.*
> As Rolfenstein said, these cards definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. Lack of voltage control is just the cherry on top, even though I honestly don't mind waiting. I think I'm the most unlucky lightning owner.


Thanks for making me feel better about having to RMA my 1380mhz card!!


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> So guys so far I've been lucky enough to test 4 different lightnings. Wanted to let you know that none of them would break the 1300mhz core barrier stably, ln2 bios or not, fan maxed or not. The clocks I achieved were 1295, 1280, 1275, and a measly 1245 core.
> As Rolfenstein said, these cards definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. Lack of voltage control is just the cherry on top, even though I honestly don't mind waiting. I think I'm the most unlucky lightning owner.


poor guy!!!


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 4GB 670s is the best price-to-performance ratio out there. I would just go with those and be happy till the 780.


so your vote is for 4 way sli 4gb 470's and no sound card

as opposed to 3 way 4gb 680's and a sound card

or 4 4gb 680's and no sound card LOL

I still want as much performance as I can









not sure if 4 way scaling is worth it, gonna look for any tests with the new drivers


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Yeah as much as I enjoy my cards the whole voltage thing is BS , I can't lie. Its funny how Alex pulled a JFAMD and disappeared into thin air LOL...maybe he went into retirement.
> The big problem with this is that there is no good alternative. *The other option is 760$..ugh.*


Or 7970 Lightning







.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> so your vote is for 4 way sli 4gb 470's and no sound card


I don't know what my vote is. If you just want the best performance for three screens then yeah I'd go with 3 670 4GBs. You'll have the VRAM buffer-zone since you'll have 4GBs, plus you'll be getting the best price-performance ratio, since multiple reviews show the 670 beating the 7970 and coming close to the 680.

Obviously there's games where the 7970 outperforms the 680, so your decision won't be as decisive as you would like it. But with the 670 coming so close to the 680, and you saying multiple times you want to go with the better performer, I'd say 4GB 670s is right up your alley







http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/770#post_17746083


----------



## hammerforged

Welp heres my sorry as of recent:

Talked to Newegg Saturday about my lighting (7/14) The support was great via online chat and basically I showed them where the card was advertised to have voltage control on Msi's website and on the box. Explained how voltage control was nonexistent and that I had been mislead as a consumer. Issued me an RMA # for a full refund. You can see my cards results on the first page. Someone will get a good used lightning for sure.

This leads me to where I am now. Just built my water cooling loop and it didnt make sense for me to have a $100 premium card with no waterblock yet or voltage control. Would of got a 7970 for voltage under water but been there done that and didnt have much luck.

Bought a used ref 680 and a koolance full cover block all for less than a Lightning. Here are my results:


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Thanks for making me feel better about having to RMA my 1380mhz card!!


GREAT run, quiet and fast!!! NICE!!!
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 4GB 670s is the best price-to-performance ratio out there. I would just go with those and be happy till the 780.


Been doing some reading about the bandwidth and seeing that named as a potential issue with surround resolutions and 4gb (gotta read more) , if that is the case 3 lightnins are still on the options list...
I will post back when I have a decision!!!

Thanks for the input! Nighty night everyone!


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> Stop being ridiculous...The card allows 1.8v with the Evbot. EVGA is releasing a firmeware update to address the issue.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ah yeah, how's that voltage control coming along for you guys(serious question btw)?
> If anything you need to be saying thanks MSI for false advertising and broken promises. Even when the after burner guy finally receives his card, he was quoted as saying the voltage still probably wouldn't work right....Yeah, MSI is great


he never said it "probably wont work". he basically said there was a _possibility_ of it not working, not that it _probably_ wouldn't.. two entirely different things
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> So guys so far I've been lucky enough to test 4 different lightnings. Wanted to let you know that none of them would break the 1300mhz core barrier stably, ln2 bios or not, fan maxed or not. The clocks I achieved were 1295, 1280, 1275, and a measly 1245 core.
> As Rolfenstein said, these cards definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. Lack of voltage control is just the cherry on top, even though I honestly don't mind waiting. I think I'm the most unlucky lightning owner.


i dunno, with four different cards and not one able to touch even 1300mhz, i may start wondering if something else could be a factor ... some cards will oc better/worse on different motherboards etc.


----------



## xlur8

hey guys whats the max memory clocks everybody getting been benching 3dmark11 at +750 memory no artifacts ????


----------



## XbeaTX

http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4368157&postcount=42
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Alexey Nicolaychuk aka Unwinder, RivaTuner creator*
> Some update and good news:
> 
> I decided to shift my vacation a bit and my Lightning finally arrived yesterday. Happily I managed to bypass the main problem with new I2C bus access on Keplers in less than two hours after installing the card. So now all 3Lightning voltage controllers (core, memory and PLL) and thermal controllers are visible to software and programmable. There are still some things left to do, right now core voltage control disables dynamic core voltage adjustment, so changing voltage results in setting maximum fixed voltage in idle as well.
> But anyway even now it is better that "voltage control" offered on any 680 card by other vendors.
> I hope that I'll be able to implement alternate voltage control in offset form for dynamic Kepler volatge control.


thank goodness! let's hope he gets it quickly


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> could this be evidence that these keplers were supposed to me mid ranged?


Just about everyone has known that since before the cards were even released. More evidence to add to the pile, but the results remain as they always have - nvidia never released a high end Kepler design - Their mid-range was "good enough" to beat AMD at the time.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4368157&postcount=42
> thank goodness! let's hope he gets it quickly


Bout time... and just as I was giving up on buying a lightning and started blowing absurd chunks of cash on the steam summer sale


----------



## cowie

To anyone who cried about no voltage control and got refunds or some cash back.
If you dont donate that money (to a good cause other then yourself)there is going to be a pox on your computers...its karma and fitting.








It sucks that once all is uploaded to msi and they get the new ab out that you babys will be running 1450+
'to those guys that did not cry and held out for it to be finished,clock um if you got um.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4368157&postcount=42
> thank goodness! let's hope he gets it quickly


Good news. +1 for starting the day off good.


----------



## xoleras

Oh my god lol.....SOFTWARE VOLTAGE IS COMING BOYS, IT WORKS AND UNWINDER Is IMPLEMENTING IT !
















Read it at guru3d.com
Quote:


> I decided to shift my vacation a bit and my Lightning finally arrived yesterday. Happily I managed to bypass the main problem with new I2C bus access on Keplers in less than two hours after installing the card. So now all 3Lightning voltage controllers (core, memory and PLL) and thermal controllers are visible to software and programmable. There are still some things left to do, right now core voltage control disables dynamic core voltage adjustment, so changing voltage results in setting maximum fixed voltage in idle as well.
> But anyway even now it is better that "voltage control" offered on any 680 card by other vendors.
> I hope that I'll be able to implement alternate voltage control in offset form for dynamic Kepler volatge control.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> To anyone who cried about no voltage control and got refunds or some cash back.
> If you dont donate that money (to a good cause other then yourself)there is going to be a pox on your computers...its karma and fitting.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It sucks that once all is uploaded to msi and they get the new ab out that you babys will be running 1450+
> 'to those guys that did not cry and held out for it to be finished,clock um if you got um.


Now hold on a sec here. We PAID THEM for the product, not the other way around. When you pay for something, and you don't get what is promised, that is simply not fair.

Got wrongly sued? Don't worry, that lawyer you paid to help you out will finish his job in a few years when he feels like it. In the mean time, pay him now and drag your bankrupt ass to the soup kitchen. Just remember, you'll _eventually_ get _some_ of what you paied for... _maybe_.


----------



## xoleras

Uhhh stop griping, worse things have happened. Now I am happy to learn that voltage control is coming !







1450 on water here I come


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

So the voltage unlock AB is coming? WOW!

I wonder if there is a chance that the new AB will unlock voltage on my Asus TOP 680? hmm....

Man I'd be so happy!


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> So the voltage unlock AB is coming? WOW!
> I wonder if there is a chance that the new AB will unlock voltage on my Asus TOP 680? hmm....
> Man I'd be so happy!


I'll cross my fingers for ya







It uses the same CHiL VR chip! Who knows though.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I'll cross my fingers for ya
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It would be plausible since it uses the same CHiL chip! Who knows though.


I'll buy the Lightning if I need to!









Just need full cover block for it to be released.


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Now hold on a sec here. We PAID THEM for the product, not the other way around. When you pay for something, and you don't get what is promised, that is simply not fair.
> Got wrongly sued? Don't worry, that lawyer you paid to help you out will finish his job in a few years when he feels like it. In the mean time, pay him now and drag your bankrupt ass to the soup kitchen. Just remember, you'll _eventually_ get _some_ of what you paied for... _maybe_.


you paid for the card and got voltage control with a bios swtich...









really you know how many times this has happened to me when getting a msi card 5 times since the 275 lightning.
i never cried just waited till unwinder got the card or yes came back from vacation but this time he delayed his vaca for cry babies.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> you paid for the card and got voltage control with a bios swtich...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> really you know how many times this has happened to me when getting a msi card 5 times since the 275 lightning.
> i never cried just waited till unwinder got the card or yes came back from vacation but this time he delayed his vaca for cry babies.


I would _love_ to live in your world where you get paied up front for work you'll _eventually_ do... if you feel like it.


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> To anyone who cried about no voltage control and got refunds or some cash back.
> If you dont donate that money (to a good cause other then yourself)there is going to be a pox on your computers...its karma and fitting.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It sucks that once all is uploaded to msi and they get the new ab out that you babys will be running 1450+
> 'to those guys that did not cry and held out for it to be finished,clock um if you got um.


I find your comment distasteful... the first to suggest a refund is Unwinder









I recall that we have all already paid for these features long ago... surely I am not angry with rivatuner but with msi and your bad support and communication with customers.


----------



## xoleras

Come on guys stop griping, good grief! This is a moment to be happy that it is coming. Sure, MSI delivering late sucks but the past is past, what we should focus on is that it is coming for sure







MSI was in the wrong for sure. But in the end they are going to come through so its all good now in my book, especially if newegg is doing what we discussed a few pages back.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Come on guys stop griping. This is a moment to be happy that it is coming. Sure, MSI delivering late sucks but the past is past, what we should focus on is that it is coming for sure


Hold on to your pants. Rejoice when you have the fully working product in hand and some form of compensation for _not_ returning what by law could be considered a defective product up until now.

Until then, hopeful pessimism is what they're getting from me, at best.


----------



## xoleras

I woke up this morning that unwinder has voltage control working so I was happy, you guys are ruining it









Just chill out, I for one think I woke up to good news! You made your point so that is that , we already know that MSI was in the wrong, nobody disagrees with you! It sucks that it is arriving late. Whatever though, it is coming 100% for sure now.

Edit for emphasis: I agree that MSI did customers wrong. But its fixed now so as far as i'm concerned it is water under the bridge


----------



## cowie

yeah just be happy now


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> he never said it "probably wont work". he basically said there was a _possibility_ of it not working, not that it _probably_ wouldn't.. two entirely different things
> i dunno, with four different cards and not one able to touch even 1300mhz, i may start wondering if something else could be a factor ... some cards will oc better/worse on different motherboards etc.


^This ..

I just ditched my x58 classified and i7 920 for a asrock z77 extreme6 and 3570k.

On the old setup I couldn't break 1300 without crashing and now I am stable at almost 1317.
I am happy now  !!


----------



## xoleras

http://tbreak.com/tech/2012/07/asus-gtx-680-directcu-ii-top-review/3/

Hold up stevemi, just found this Asus DC2T review -- I have to renege on the DC2T recommendation:
Quote:


> The *ASUS GTX 680 DirectCU II TOP* was made for overclocking, both the high-end heatsink and components used for energy distribution are proof of this. As such I managed to set the Core clock from 1137MHz (boosting to 1201MHz) up to 1214MHz (boosting to 1278MHz). That's a 6% speed increase from factory settings and a massive 21% over reference Nvidia speeds. This was accompanied by a 86mV voltage increase to steady things up a bit.*Beyond 1214MHz it didn't matter how much voltage I pushed, the card would crash.* Of course, no production card is exactly the same, so your mileage may vary.


Looks like silicon lottery is taking place across a wide variety of cards,... My main point here is going to be that hopefully unlocked voltage will rectify these issues! There is a possibly that unlocked voltage will work on the asus card in addition to the lightning (note I say possibility on the asus, unwinder hasn't confirmed it ---- he has only stated that it works on the lightning and he is still coding it, no timeframe for release yet) but I am really, really excited for some new record overclocks with the new release.


----------



## EM2J

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4368157&postcount=42
> thank goodness! let's hope he gets it quickly


thanks for the awesome news








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i dunno, with four different cards and not one able to touch even 1300mhz, i may start wondering if something else could be a factor ... some cards will oc better/worse on different motherboards etc.


tryed all 4 of them on a maximus v gene/2500k setup and a p67 sabertooth/2600k setup (both cpus oc'd to 4.6ghz). even tryed a clean install of windows with proper driver installation, and also multiple nvidia drivers.
those were the max clocks i reached. think upgrading to ivy will help?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> thanks for the awesome news
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> tryed all 4 of them on a maximus v gene/2500k setup and a p67 sabertooth/2600k setup (both cpus oc'd to 4.6ghz). even tryed a clean install of windows with proper driver installation, and also multiple nvidia drivers.
> those were the max clocks i reached. think upgrading to ivy will help?


Are you using quad sli? Its near impossible to get good overclocks in quad sli IMHO. Thermal limits will prevent any meaningful overclocks. Heck, even in two way SLI thermal limits become a much bigger problem, overclocks in SLI will hardly ever match single card overclocks. I used 580sli, 7970cf, and 680 sli and none of them could OC anywhere near as well in dual card configs...its just how things are...

The cards will be like .5cm close to each other...there's no way the lightning will have breathroom or legs to OC UNLESS you put them under water.......Now if you put them under water with the upcoming voltage control oh baby....you will be able to OC for sure then


----------



## EM2J

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Are you using quad sli? Its near impossible to get good overclocks in quad sli. Thermal limits will prevent any meaningful overclocks.
> The cards will be like .5cm close to each other...there's no way the lightning will have breathroom or legs to OC UNLESS you put them under water.......this is just how quad sli is


they were all tested individually first. i have 1 in my gf's rig, 2 in mine and i had RMA'd the first lightning i got cuz i was stupid. that lightning was the 1295 oc'ing one...karma?


----------



## RobsM6S

Hmm, not gonna send the DC2 GTX 680 back just yet. Will wait and see if it gets voltage control first. Wonder if it could be flashed to the lightning bios?


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Great news about AB coming soon, hopefully MSI compensated him for delaying his vacation


----------



## lacrossewacker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Are you using quad sli? Its near impossible to get good overclocks in quad sli IMHO. Thermal limits will prevent any meaningful overclocks. Heck, even in two way SLI thermal limits become a much bigger problem, overclocks in SLI will hardly ever match single card overclocks. I used 580sli, 7970cf, and 680 sli and none of them could OC anywhere near as well in dual card configs...its just how things are...
> The cards will be like .5cm close to each other...there's no way the lightning will have breathroom or legs to OC UNLESS you put them under water.......Now if you put them under water with the upcoming voltage control oh baby....you will be able to OC for sure then


I may be nitpicking.....but you may want to change your signature, it still stays SLI 580s, your Lightning 680s are going to get jealous


----------



## supermi

goodness!!!

Now doesn't this make me wanna just pick up 3 more lightnings and saw goodbye to the thought of 2gb more vram,

I LOVE overclocking!!!!

GREAT NEWS GUYS, hope you are all as happy as I .... great people shuffle their vacations for others benefit ...!!!! Unwinder ROCKS


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Good news. +1 for starting the day off good.


Thats great news but you know whats not funny? All the posts we will see in a couple of weeks about people who blew up their cards!!!!


----------



## supermi

Question, does the LN2 BIOS with it's 200% power target mean we won't have the same OCP "current throttling" as the silly classified?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Question, does the LN2 BIOS with it's 200% power target mean we won't have the same OCP "current throttling" as the silly classified?


Yessir







. I doubt the TDP Limit will be reached with the voltage 2.2.3 gives us.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Thats great news but you know whats not funny? All the posts we will see in a couple of weeks about people who blew up their cards!!!!


Lol imagine Unwinder posting that he blew up all its samples XD we would be back to square one


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Lol imagine Unwinder posting that he blew up all its samples XD *we would be back to square one*


For a couple of weeks while MSI sends another Lightning with *standard shipping*







.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Lol imagine Unwinder posting that he blew up all its samples XD we would be back to square one


The Galaxy 680 OC pushed 1600mhz at 1.5v, and that card uses the same CHiL controller, and design. As a matter of fact, the SOC could give Lightning a run for its money . All SOC cards have a boost value of 1267MHz, and OC close to or over 1300 out of the box. But, the stock triple fan cooler isn't even as good as Windforce, or MSI. But, the point is, that the Lightning will be just fine at 1.35v.

Would be supersweet to go 1.4v, and 1400+MHz, even if the gains are small.


----------



## hammerforged

Thats great news guys. Hopefully it comes out soon and works well for everyone. Congrats.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> The Galaxy 680 OC pushed 1600mhz at 1.5v, and that card uses the same CHiL controller, and design. As a matter of fact, the SOC could give Lightning a run for its money . All SOC cards have a boost value of 1267MHz, and OC close to or over 1300 out of the box. But, the stock triple fan cooler isn't even as good as Windforce, or MSI. But, the point is, that the Lightning will be just fine at 1.35v.
> Would be supersweet to go 1.4v, and 1400+MHz, even if the gains are small.


might that Galaxy card be adjustable with this afterburner update? and I remember someone asking the same of the ASUS top a few pages ago...

But GOSH it is AMAZING how happy we are all feeling right now LOL


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

From the reviews I've seen on the Classy with EVBot it doesn't look like additional voltage helps Kepler much. I think that some golden chips just may hit 1400MHz but most will still probably be in the high 1200MHz to low 1300MHz range even with added voltage. Just my guess....

EDIT - Lol at the thought that software voltage control will allow anything like 1400mV! You'll be lucky to see 1300mV (Anandtech said that the EVBot only allowed for 1275mV in their review). EVGAJacob has said repeatedly that Nvidia is very much against voltage manipulation and MSI isn't going to allow you guys to start blowing up and RMA-ing your Lightnings....


----------



## xoleras

I agree with your statement Majin. I think 1.4V could be tops but beyond that, you'd probably need a mod. Why do you ask? That many volts in a GPU will absolutely positively fry it.....LN2 benchers go in that territory, not normal air OC'ers







Heck even LN2 people don't go 1.7-1.8V.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Question, does the LN2 BIOS with it's 200% power target mean we won't have the same OCP "current throttling" as the silly classified?


OCCP is disabled on the LN2 BIOS. Classified has OCCP protection, Kepler throttle, 131% power, and 3300rpm fans at 55% (the max) Lightning has no OCCP protection, no kepler throttle, 4300rpm fans, and 200% power









When they're on even ground in terms of voltage adjustment oh baby.


----------



## dph314

I would think 2.2.3 has to give us at least 1.35v. Any less than that and...what's the point? Doesn't the LN2 BIOS already read around 1.269v with a DMM? They would go through all this trouble making the card and getting the software adjustment to work just for 30mv?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I would think 2.2.3 has to give us at least 1.35v. Any less than that and...what's the point? Doesn't the LN2 BIOS already read around 1.269v with a DMM? They would go through all this trouble making the card and getting the software adjustment to work just for 30mv?


I'm pretty sure they will give us at least 1.4V. We'll have to wait and see though - unwinder isn't stupid, he knows that we reach 1.25V already







I put my faith in him.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I'm pretty sure they will give us at least 1.4V. We'll have to wait and see though - unwinder isn't stupid, he knows that we reach 1.25V already
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I put my faith in him.


Imagine what your cards will do with 1.4v









You were lucky enough to get 2 great cards. Can't imagine what your Graphics Score will be for SLI after water+1.4v


----------



## lacrossewacker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> From the reviews I've seen on the Classy with EVBot it doesn't look like additional voltage helps Kepler much. I think that some golden chips just may hit 1400MHz but most will still probably be in the high 1200MHz to low 1300MHz range even with added voltage. Just my guess....
> EDIT - Lol at the thought that software voltage control will allow anything like 1400mV! You'll be lucky to see 1300mV (Anandtech said that the EVBot only allowed for 1275mV in their review). EVGAJacob has said repeatedly that Nvidia is very much against voltage manipulation and MSI isn't going to allow you guys to start blowing up and RMA-ing your Lightnings....


well you gotta take into account that the anantech review used the lowest of the 3 bios switches......

but I think it's still all bs considering NVIDIA is limiting these overclocks. They probably said "nobody allow software voltage change, that way we can keep the manufacturing process at a bare minimum and not actually put in lots of quality power phases"

HUGE step back from nvidia....they're supposed to be pushing the boundries..not releasing Gk104s


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *lacrossewacker*
> 
> well you gotta take into account that the anantech review used the lowest of the 3 bios switches......


I could be wrong, but i'm pretty sure the classified does not have a dual or triple BIOS. It definitely does not have an unlocked BIOS like the lightning does.


----------



## lacrossewacker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Imagine what your cards will do with 1.4v
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You were lucky enough to get 2 great cards. Can't imagine what your Graphics Score will be for SLI after water+1.4v


didn't Zotac say they were going to make a 2ghz one?

did you all see this? Classy at 2ghz under LN2
http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/27618-evgas-gtx-680-classified-goes-over-2ghz


----------



## xoleras

No, zotac didn't say that. Also kingpin is in a different world in terms of overclocks, no end user will ever get that unless they invest 10000$ in LN2


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *lacrossewacker*
> 
> didn't Zotac say they were going to make a 2ghz one?
> did you all see this? Classy at 2ghz under LN2
> http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/27618-evgas-gtx-680-classified-goes-over-2ghz


I think the Zotac one was a typo. Wasn't it meant to say 1.2Ghz and then it got blown out of proportion before it was corrected?

And yeah Kingpin is definitely in another world. Give him any 680 edition and he will hit close to 2Ghz. The amount of binning and mods that went into that run must be astounding


----------



## lacrossewacker

I stand correct









Is it worth getting a lightning, then putting it under water? It would be nice to JUST buy the PCB rather than pay an extra 75-100 dollars for the aftermarket cooler, which you'll just take off anyways


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *lacrossewacker*
> 
> I stand correct
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is it worth getting a lightning, then putting it under water? It would be nice to JUST buy the PCB rather than pay an extra 75-100 dollars for the aftermarket cooler, which you'll just take off anyways


FTW420 hit 1400mhz with his on a universal block. Granted his did 1383mhz before the block, but it just shows you that you'll gain a few mhz on water, maybe more with the higher voltage from 2.2.3


----------



## lacrossewacker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> FTW420 hit 1400mhz with his on a universal block. Granted his did 1383mhz before the block, but it just shows you that you'll gain a few mhz on water, maybe more with the higher voltage from 2.2.3


off topic, but do you only one 1 500 gig hard drive for your system? You have good specs all around, then just that one little drive lol. SSD???


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *lacrossewacker*
> 
> off topic, but do you only one 1 500 gig hard drive for your system? You have good specs all around, then just that one little drive lol. SSD???


Yep, cheap-ass hard drive









Spend all my money upgrading everything else, ha. But yeah next on my list is a SSD and 1200p monitor.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> FTW420 hit 1400mhz with his on a universal block. Granted his did 1383mhz before the block, but it just shows you that you'll gain a few mhz on water, maybe more with the higher voltage from 2.2.3


SICK OC< golden gpu !!!!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> SICK OC< golden gpu !!!!


Wait till he has 1.35v


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Wait till he has 1.35v


I had one that did 1360 on air (lightning) but the memory was crap topping out at plus 375







.... but this guys is WOW LOL

I will keep my eyes open for what he does!


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> I had one that did 1360 on air (lightning) but the memory was crap topping out at plus 375
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .... but this guys is WOW LOL
> I will keep my eyes open for what he does!


Did you try increasing memory voltage with XTP.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Did you try increasing memory voltage with XTP.


sadly no, I got rid of it before I thought of trying that (actually the new XTP was not out yet or was just released)

it is ok cause now I am on the hunt for the right cards for surround (and that card would have been held back by the others I had at the time in any case) ...

whenever I crossed the plus 375 memory thresh hold say to plus 400 my scored in HEAVEN would drop from almost 1400 to about 900 and there were sections that would consistently show stuttering due to LOW fps regardless of core speed or BIOS... with the other cards I had not showing any issues till closer to plus 600 and knowing the importance of memory OC with kepler I wrote the card off (possibly too soon) but it is all good


----------



## DrBoss

From guru3d forums

*"*Today, 10:13 | posts: 9,666 | Location: Taganrog, Russia
Some update and good news:

I decided to shift my vacation a bit and my Lightning finally arrived yesterday. Happily I managed to bypass the main problem with new I2C bus access on Keplers in less than two hours after installing the card. So now all 3Lightning voltage controllers (core, memory and PLL) and thermal controllers are visible to software and programmable. There are still some things left to do, right now core voltage control disables dynamic core voltage adjustment, so changing voltage results in setting maximum fixed voltage in idle as well.
But anyway even now it is better that "voltage control" offered on any 680 card by other vendors.
I hope that I'll be able to implement alternate voltage control in offset form for dynamic Kepler volatge control.

Alexey Nicolaychuk aka Unwinder, RivaTuner creator*"*


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> From guru3d forums
> *"*Today, 10:13 | posts: 9,666 | Location: Taganrog, Russia
> Some update and good news:
> I decided to shift my vacation a bit and my Lightning finally arrived yesterday. Happily I managed to bypass the main problem with new I2C bus access on Keplers in less than two hours after installing the card. So now all 3Lightning voltage controllers (core, memory and PLL) and thermal controllers are visible to software and programmable. There are still some things left to do, right now core voltage control disables dynamic core voltage adjustment, so changing voltage results in setting maximum fixed voltage in idle as well.
> But anyway even now it is better that "voltage control" offered on any 680 card by other vendors.
> I hope that I'll be able to implement alternate voltage control in offset form for dynamic Kepler volatge control.
> Alexey Nicolaychuk aka Unwinder, RivaTuner creator*"*


This has already been quoted, hence the "upty spirit" ;].


----------



## cowie

It will be MSI that sets what the voltage limit will be not unwinder.
the chips need 1.38 and up to really respond for long lasting clocks(not the 3d11 bs)
Even my ref card handles that(hotwire mod) so i think the way the lightning is built 1.40 np on good cooling...i'm hoping for 1.35-1.38v for us without ABX at least.
i do put 1.40 on my dcii with stock cooling and fans up without any fear or high temps from the core or vrm.


----------



## psyside

Why Nvidia ain't allowing voltage control on custom cards? whats behind that? those are not cards designed for stock operations, they got the components and cooling to be overclocked, i don't get idea, if it was reference cards, i understand, but custom?


----------



## XbeaTX

usually do AB extreme edition for LN2 users ... these versions are not restricted and not distributed in public
are required to sign NDA and also you lose the warranty


----------



## psyside

Not sure if i understand you : /


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> Not sure if i understand you : /


There is a certain edition of Afterburner, lets call it "Afterburner Extreme Edition" that isn't voltage locked and is only distributed to LN2 users. To use this version you have to sign an NDA and ontop of that you lose your warranty. And it's not released to the public.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> There is a certain edition of Afterburner, lets call it "Afterburner Extreme Edition" that isn't voltage locked and is only distributed to LN2 users. To use this version you have to sign an NDA and ontop of that you lose your warranty. And it's not released to the public.


Ah ok, rep + to both


----------



## supermi

All this voltage talk , and in a positive spin of it being on it's way is SOOOO exciting (I have said it a few times already) and be prepaired for me to say it several more times!!!

It also makes me have a HARD time taking 3 way 4gb cards over 3 of these babies!!!









Big smiles over here in Seattle!!! YEAH!


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> Not sure if i understand you : /


my post does not answer to your question ... I have no idea why nvidia has chosen this approach ... surely people don't like this








I hope that with gtx 780 will be able to control the voltage for all models


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> my post does not answer to your question ... I have no idea why nvidia has chosen this approach ... surely people don't like this
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I hope that with gtx 780 will be able to control the voltage for all models


Yeah if not that would be truly disappointing... I dont get why they did this in the first place but left it unlocked for the older cards that would get fiery hot with stock volts (480 for ex.) If anything these cards should of defiantly had it unlocked as they are more efficient and cooler.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> From the reviews I've seen on the Classy with EVBot it doesn't look like additional voltage helps Kepler much. I think that some golden chips just may hit 1400MHz but most will still probably be in the high 1200MHz to low 1300MHz range even with added voltage. Just my guess....
> EDIT - Lol at the thought that software voltage control will allow anything like 1400mV! You'll be lucky to see 1300mV (Anandtech said that the EVBot only allowed for 1275mV in their review). EVGAJacob has said repeatedly that Nvidia is very much against voltage manipulation and MSI isn't going to allow you guys to start blowing up and RMA-ing your Lightnings....


i disagree. for those of us that are going to bench these cards with LN2, we will likely have voltage in the 1.6+ range using the LN2 bios. the regular bios may have a limit at like 1.3 or 1.4, but the LN2 bios should give a much greater amount of voltage. Its called the LN2 bios because its supposed to be used with LN2 lol


----------



## supermi

Think I might have gotten my choices more clear









Firstly I will open up the option of having 4 way sli even with the asus rampage 4 by using a pci 1x extentor and putting the sound card into one of the unused case pci slots (big case LOL) .

So I can do:

4 way Lightning with Universal blocks (already have 2 blocks) and add some copper to the heatsink plate the copper on the plate with some air from 120mm fans should keep the vrm's quite cool







but is only 2gb vram

4 way 470 4gb with universal blocks and the vrm's already have aluminum heatsinks also has a back plate for looks







a shade under $2000

or

3 way classified Hydro coppers with 4gb ram ... universal block is not as easy and I cannot afford 4 of them with the HC ... about $2500 with EVBOT and backplates

*man it is looking like it comes down to the extra vram of the 470's or the VOLTAGE on the Lightnings!!!
*
I have enough psu power and cpu power for all those configurations and 3D surround to drive ....

well I am SOOO happy the lightnings are back in the running LOL

If you have thoughts on this chime in, otherwise consider it ramblings of an enthusiast


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Think I might have gotten my choices more clear
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Firstly I will open up the option of having 4 way sli even with the asus rampage 4 by using a pci 1x extentor and putting the sound card into one of the unused case pci slots (big case LOL) .
> So I can do:
> 4 way Lightning with Universal blocks (already have 2 blocks) and add some copper to the heatsink plate the copper on the plate with some air from 120mm fans should keep the vrm's quite cool
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> but is only 2gb vram
> 4 way 470 4gb with universal blocks and the vrm's already have aluminum heatsinks also has a back plate for looks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> a shade under $2000
> or
> 3 way classified Hydro coppers with 4gb ram ... universal block is not as easy and I cannot afford 4 of them with the HC ... about $2500 with EVBOT and backplates
> *man it is looking like it comes down to the extra vram of the 470's or the VOLTAGE on the Lightnings!!!
> *
> I have enough psu power and cpu power for all those configurations and 3D surround to drive ....
> well I am SOOO happy the lightnings are back in the running LOL
> If you have thoughts on this chime in, otherwise consider it ramblings of an enthusiast


Just get 3 670s honestly, it'll be enough and you'll save some money







.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Just get 3 670s honestly, it'll be enough and you'll save some money
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


THANKS!!!

Rolfenstein represents the voice of reason







!!!


----------



## exploiteddna

another thing you should always consider is which of them will be easier to sell and hold its value the most when it's time for you to sell them in a year or so. The more popular a piece of hardware, the easier it will be to sell when you want to upgrade. It's not something a lot of people think about when making a purchase, but it's something I've learned to do.. it makes upgrading A LOT easier in the future.
just my


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> but whatever Mr.Apoligizer, maybe MSI will send you a free card WITHOUT voltage control for your post


I'm as pissed about the voltage control issue as the next guy, pal.

Difference is, I realize that moaning about it on the internet isn't going to do anything but make my fingers tired.

So go ahead and make some more posts about it.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> I'm as pissed about the voltage control issue as the next guy, pal.
> Difference is, I realize that moaning about it on the internet isn't going to do anything but make my fingers tired.
> So go ahead and make some more posts about it.


and you don't think seeing people unhappy had anything to do with Unwinder graciously shifting his vacation time to work on this for MSI and us complainers?

I am not moaning just commenting here and there in a balanced way, nor am I giving "moaners" a hard time ... SHEESH









I also apologize if my comment caused any ill will ... sorry ,


----------



## exploiteddna

so... how 'bout them Mets..
lol


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> so... how 'bout them Mets..
> lol


Thanks for the much needed humor


----------



## exploiteddna




----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> and you don't think seeing people unhappy had anything to do with Unwinder graciously shifting his vacation time to work on this for MSI and us complainers?
> I am not moaning just commenting here and there in a balanced way, nor am I giving "moaners" a hard time ... SHEESH
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I also apologize if my comment caused any ill will ... sorry ,


No sweat. I don't think moaners on the internet had one iota of influence on anything Unwinder did. Read his posts, he hates moaners. People that directly contacted MSI over the issue might have had some influence.

When I posted my previous reply, I was not aware that Unwinder had even commented on the issue. I unfortunately have to work most days. I think it's funny, not 24hrs ago some guy was posting how Unwinder said the software voltage mod probably wouldn't work. Now we get a post that it took him all of a couple of hours to crack it. But hey, he probably felt the need to gripe about something he didn't even own.

And to think, I could have RMA'd my cards. Whoops.

Terrible news, really. So many people have made a vocation of griping about this voltage issue, now they will have to find something else to latch onto. Pity.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> No sweat. I don't think moaners on the internet had one iota of influence on anything Unwinder did. Read his posts, he hates moaners. People that directly contacted MSI over the issue might have had some influence.
> When I posted my previous reply, I was not aware that Unwinder had even commented on the issue. I unfortunately have to work most days. I think it's funny, not 24hrs ago some guy was posting how Unwinder said the software voltage mod probably wouldn't work. Now we get a post that it took him all of a couple of hours to crack it. But hey, he probably felt the need to gripe about something he didn't even own.
> And to think, I could have RMA'd my cards. Whoops.
> Terrible news, really. So many people have made a vocation of griping about this voltage issue, now they will have to find something else to latch onto. Pity.


There's always a chance of temperature limits & more voltage may not help everyone clock higher, then it can continue...


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> There's always a chance of temperature limits & more voltage may not help everyone clock higher, then it can continue...


LOL


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> There's always a chance of temperature limits & more voltage may not help everyone clock higher, then it can continue...


At least MSI didn't print on the box that temperature would not be a limiting factor, but I can already see the posts griping about how MSI blew up their cards by allowing voltage control.

Bank it.

When I bought the things, I hadn't had a new video card since BFG 6800 OC Ultra. A factory OC card with a little better performance than reference. Cost about $600 back in 04. So when I decided to build a new rig, 680 Lightning had just come out. So I just bought a factory OC card that seemed to have a little better performance than reference. Cost about $600, but I wanted to try SLI. The 6800 was the last of the AGP cards.

I didn't even know about voltage control, but thanks to the tireless efforts of posters griping about not having it, I became aware. And of course I resented not having it, even though I wasn't even sure I'd need it. I'd paid for it at any rate.

So I took every opportunity to gripe about it in as many posts on as many forums as I could. Oh wait. I didn't do that. I just waited until a definitive answer could be had, and if MSI couldn't deliver, I'd complain to them, not pounding my keyboard bloody on the internet.

Not much drama there, probably why I'm not much good at this forum thing.


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> No sweat. I don't think moaners on the internet had one iota of influence on anything Unwinder did. Read his posts, he hates moaners. People that directly contacted MSI over the issue might have had some influence.
> When I posted my previous reply, I was not aware that Unwinder had even commented on the issue. I unfortunately have to work most days. I think it's funny, not 24hrs ago some guy was posting how Unwinder said the software voltage mod probably wouldn't work. Now we get a post that it took him all of a couple of hours to crack it. But hey, he probably felt the need to gripe about something he didn't even own.
> And to think, I could have RMA'd my cards. Whoops.
> Terrible news, really. So many people have made a vocation of griping about this voltage issue, now they will have to find something else to latch onto. Pity.


Did you miss nap time little guy?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> Did you miss nap time little guy?


Your mom let you stay up late on Fridays?


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Your mom let you stay up late on Fridays?


Of course, a mom joke. I didn't expect any less. Litter this thread more with your whining, you bad ass you


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> At least MSI didn't print on the box that temperature would not be a limiting factor, but I can already see the posts griping about how MSI blew up their cards by allowing voltage control.
> Bank it.
> When I bought the things, I hadn't had a new video card since BFG 6800 OC Ultra. A factory OC card with a little better performance than reference. Cost about $600 back in 04. So when I decided to build a new rig, 680 Lightning had just come out. So I just bought a factory OC card that seemed to have a little better performance than reference. Cost about $600, but I wanted to try SLI. The 6800 was the last of the AGP cards.
> I didn't even know about voltage control, but thanks to the tireless efforts of posters griping about not having it, I became aware. And of course I resented not having it, even though I wasn't even sure I'd need it. I'd paid for it at any rate.
> So I took every opportunity to gripe about it in as many posts on as many forums as I could. Oh wait. I didn't do that. I just waited until a definitive answer could be had, and if MSI couldn't deliver, I'd complain to them, not pounding my keyboard bloody on the internet.
> Not much drama there, probably why I'm not much good at this forum thing.


Software voltage is a fairly new thing, very few nvidia cards ever had any kind of voltage control until the 400 series, up till then it was pretty much all hardmodding. AB 2.2.3 probably won't have enough voltage to cook cards, MSI doesnb't really want lots of RMAs so tends to limit the max voltage to fairly safe limits in public releases (I say fairly safe because someone will probably manage to do damage).
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> Of course, a mom joke. I didn't expect any less. Litter this thread more with your whining, you bad ass you


GnarlyCharlie is more like sarcastic comic relief, complaining about complainers (really must not be used to the forum thing







)


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> Of course, a mom joke. I didn't expect any less. Litter this thread more with your whining, you bad ass you


I wanted to trash the DCII thread, but not enough people own them to even get their own thread going.


----------



## Xnerdz

Not even on the PE thread


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Not even on the PE thread


Yeah not alot of people own them, sucks because they are great cards!
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pwnzilla61*
> 
> Any word on a water block? I have money to buy a 680 now and i want the lightning. Should I wait just a little longer or just go ahead and buy a ref. 680.


I would wait. When the voltage unlocks on these and its under water no other single card can even try to compete with it, (especially with 1300+ a norm on AIR)


----------



## pwnzilla61

Any word on a water block? I have money to buy a 680 now and i want the lightning. Should I wait just a little longer or just go ahead and buy a ref. 680.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Not much point to water cooling the reference 680's because of the locked down voltages. Water cooling the Lightning might have very nice results however...


----------



## pwnzilla61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Not much point to water cooling the reference 680's because of the locked down voltages. Water cooling the Lightning might have very nice results however...


That's one of my main reasons. Either way w/e I can get will be water cooled. Looking for silence an aesthetics on this one. But this card under water would be so nice.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> No sweat. I don't think moaners on the internet had one iota of influence on anything Unwinder did. Read his posts, he hates moaners. People that directly contacted MSI over the issue might have had some influence.
> When I posted my previous reply, I was not aware that Unwinder had even commented on the issue. I unfortunately have to work most days. I think it's funny, *not 24hrs ago some guy was posting how Unwinder said the software voltage mod probably wouldn't work.* Now we get a post that it took him all of a couple of hours to crack it. But hey, he probably felt the need to gripe about something he didn't even own.
> And to think, I could have RMA'd my cards. Whoops.
> Terrible news, really. So many people have made a vocation of griping about this voltage issue, now they will have to find something else to latch onto. Pity.


Talk about taking it out of context. I simply said that Unwinder said that it might not work without problems even if he gets it to work. And I quote: "NVIDIA changed I2C access way on 600 series. So it may take longer, I'm still not sure myself if it will be possible without problems."

So please, read the actual post before complaining about it :|.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Not much point to water cooling the reference 680's because of the locked down voltages. Water cooling the Lightning might have very nice results however...


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pwnzilla61*
> 
> That's one of my main reasons. Either way w/e I can get will be water cooled. Looking for silence an aesthetics on this one. But this card under water would be so nice.


Silence & aesthetics would be the main reason right now, I put a lightning on water & gained about 20Mhz over the stock cooler. Worthwhile since I had the block here anyway, would not have been as worthwhile if I was buying one just for better clocks. It was a universal block, so no water on the mem or mosfets, just left the stock plate on & used case fans to cool it.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Software voltage is a fairly new thing, *very few nvidia cards ever had any kind of voltage control until the 400 series*, up till then it was pretty much all hardmodding. AB 2.2.3 probably won't have enough voltage to cook cards, MSI doesnb't really want lots of RMAs so tends to limit the max voltage to fairly safe limits in public releases (I say fairly safe because someone will probably manage to do damage).
> GnarlyCharlie is more like sarcastic comic relief, complaining about complainers (really must not be used to the forum thing
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


Erm... The entire 200 series (or at least all the ones that weren't relabeled 8000 series) all had software voltage control. I can't speak about anything before that because I was mainly ATi up until that point, but I know I've seen software voltage control on some cards as early as windows XP.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Erm... The entire 200 series (or at least all the ones that weren't relabeled 8000 series) all had software voltage control. I can't speak about anything before that because I was mainly ATi up until that point, but I know I've seen software voltage control on some cards as early as windows XP.


The 275 lightning, the 285 classified, 65nm 260 & 275, & dual gpu 295 had some software voltage, most 200 series did not. There was an 8800gt or 2 that had some limited control as well, but it wasn't that common until 400 series. Can only speak for nvidia, ati/amd is still pretty new to me.v


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> The 275 lightning, the 285 classified, 65nm 260 & 275, & dual gpu 295 had some software voltage, most 200 series did not. There was an 8800gt or 2 that had some limited control as well, but it wasn't that common until 400 series. Can only speak for nvidia, ati/amd is still pretty new to me.v


My old 8800gt couldn't


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> My old 8800gt couldn't


Come to think of it it wasn't really software for the galaxy 8800gt i had, it was a jumper that allowed either stock voltage or increased voltage (can't remember what the increase was). It was the only 8800gt I had seen that did come with a way to increase vcore out of the box though.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Come to think of it it wasn't really software for the galaxy 8800gt i had, it was a jumper that allowed either stock voltage or increased voltage (can't remember what the increase was). It was the only 8800gt I had seen that did come with a way to increase vcore out of the box though.


A jumper? darn... I think I'm seeing it now...
A shame I didn't notice it sooner... Anyway, mine is dead. Don't know how but it's defenitly dead (16bit color with random tracing lines etc...)

I would've love to over volt that baby when it worked







but didn't found the support in afterburner at the time.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> A jumper? darn... I think I'm seeing it now...
> A shame I didn't notice it sooner... Anyway, mine is dead. Don't know how but it's defenitly dead (16bit color with random tracing lines etc...)
> I would've love to over volt that baby when it worked
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> but didn't found the support in afterburner at the time.


its a good card to hard-mod though if youre into that kinda thing


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> its a good card to hard-mod though if youre into that kinda thing


Nope, I'm a real beginner. I oc as far as I can and that's it









I did try to find a way to "hard-mod" it on google. Spent hours and hours to find the "way" of doing it but... I was just so ignorant back then. I tough the brand (zotac for me) was only for the cooler, and all pcbs were the same on 8800gt









Didn't found anything about my amp edition that could be unlocked with a jumper lol

Again, this card is definitely dead. makes weird artifacts all the time, stays in 800x600 resolution, 16bit colors...
I was playing "Nimbus" when the game crashed and reboot the computer with artifacts.

Pretty happy with the performance of the PE for now though


----------



## dVeLoPe

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693

it is now 569.99$ with free shipping omg im gonna totally buy one now or maybe not.. hmmmmmm lolol


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693
> it is now 569.99$ with free shipping omg im gonna totally buy one now or maybe not.. hmmmmmm lolol


MAN that is a great price!!!

Now I am between 4 lightnings and 4 Galaxy 4gb 680's

TOUGH CHOICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lightnings at a GREAT price!!! Likely voltage!!! backplate!

Galaxy's nice overclock and 4gb ram ....

Bed time I guess


----------



## cowie

I had asked about the voltage limit since who cares about software voltage unless it would make a differance
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Unwinder;4368867*
> Now it is +300mV on core, +100mV on memory and +50mV on PLL. Not sure if MSI will change it or leave it as is after internal testing.


So if like some of you guys have said max read 1.26ish voltage is in 3d so 1.56v!!!
MSI if nice would keep it to +200mv that be ok and i feel safe 1.45ish.1500 boost can be done with this amount so lets all cross our fingers that its kept to +200mv
+150mv would be around 1.40v and would seem more likely for general public thats ok too.
+100mv would be lamest option 1.36v


----------



## Mr.Pie

hmmm
an interesting read here by anandtech "explaining/clarifying/speculating" why there is no software control on voltages
Quote:


> So much of the GTX 680 Classified is geared around overvolting, so we wanted to break this out into its own section.
> 
> For some time now NVIIDA has kept a tight leash on their partners' designs, with partners required to clear their designs with NVIDIA before they can sell them. NVIDIA's interest in this matter is that video card manufacturing is a true partnership - their name and brand is at stake as much as the partners - *so they want to be sure that GeForce cards meet their standards.* This includes cooling, build quality, and noise limits (the reason the GTX 680C is limited to 55% fan speed). NVIDIA doesn't publish what those requirements are so we can only speculate from the outside about what's going on, but clearly *NVIDIA has been unhappy with some partners' custom designs in the past.*
> 
> With the GeForce 600 series things have become a bit harder for NVIDIA's partners. As we briefly mentioned before, *NVIDIA is shying away from hardcore overclocking with the GeForce 600 series.* Specifically, there are two things going on:
> 
> Partners wishing to have a card with a base power target over 195W must use a custom PCB with suitable power circuitry. NVIDIA won't allow partners to ship higher-power cards using the reference PCB.
> Software overvoltage control is forbidden.
> These rules impact two classes of cards. The first are heavily factory overclocked cards using the reference PCB, which goosed the GPU voltage to hit their high factory overclocks. Partners that wish to ship heavily overclocked cards will now need to bin to stay within NVIDIA's power requirements. Meanwhile the second class of cards impacted is of course overclocking-focused cards like the GTX 680 Classified. Voltage control becomes necessary beyond a certain point, and since NVIDIA is requiring custom PCBs and disallowing software voltage control EVGA had to get creative.


from the 680 classified review
source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6096/evga-geforce-gtx-680-classified-review/3

edit: I see this as a bad move for us consumers......we used to be able to easily overclock on reference designs for the past several generations since the GTX2xx series if I remember correctly. This stinks of what Intel does with locking down the "bus" speeds on SB, IB etc to stop overclocking......Maybe Nvidia is going to release an overclock friendly series of cards for a premium?


----------



## cowie

Nvidia can blow it out thier as5
They were the one to put out a 680 that has crap vrm for 500usd in the first place.
look at the lightning or dcII's pcb and cooling for the same price or just a few dollars more.
If anyone should not be happy with like"NVIDIA has been unhappy with some partners' custom designs in the past" should be us the comsumer with nv's ref card.


----------



## dph314

That realy makes me want to consider AMD for the first time...

I wonder what, if any, reprocussions we'll see with MSI and Nvidia. The oh-so-forbidden fruit (software voltage control) is coming any day now, so I wonder what this means for MSI and the deal they'll have with Nvidia for the 700-series









On a more positive note, I'd be damn happy with ~1.4v. It'll give us some of the best OCs around as far as the 680 goes (as far as _any_ card goes really, since these run so cool), and also test the limits of this awesome cooler.

So how long does "internal testing" take? I'm gettin' antsy


----------



## xoleras

Several points on the classified, EV Bot, software voltage on the lightning:

1) Msi is one of nvidias biggest sellers abroad so there's no such issue DPH.. Despite what is said, they have close collaborations with nvidia - EVGA is big in the states but MSI is way bigger than EVGA overseas.

2) EVGA says they offer EV Bot because nvidia wants them to do this. To this, I say what whatever. I like EVGA and have a lot of respect for Jacob, but being real for a second lets look at this situation. EVGA is the biggest seller of nvidia products in the USA and with that being the case it is absolutely ridiculous that nvidia would not heed the words of EVGA - if they were a leader they could simply collaborate with nvidia for a proper solution. ( FYI I'm pretty certain that MSI isn't going full steam ahead on this without talking to nvidia - they have close ties) Now back to the main point. If EVGA were leaders they would work out a real solution for end users instead of pretending to be a victim, they could easily approach nvidia and say "Hey lets make this work". Deep down I know all the sales people at EVGA know that requiring a hardware mod on aftermarket cards for voltage control is stupid....the hardware is WELL capable of handling additional voltage, period...

3) Third point. EVGA is insisting that EV Bot exists because of nvidia. Whoa. Hold on there, I don't believe that for a second - remember the classified GTX 580? Yeah, THAT CARD required ev bot for voltage on release as well, and not UNTIL users expressed outrage did they change it. To me this makes it appear that EVGA simply wants to sell more EV Bot products, nothing more nothing less, period. I could be wrong, but I remind AGAIN that they did this very same thing with the classified 580......for months you could NOT adjust voltage on the classy 580 without EV Bot.

4) Here are two unavoidable facts at hand: a) *nobody wants to pay 760$ for voltage control* and b) *a super premium card loses substantial value without voltage control*. c) On the 760$, this is almost as much as a 690. That is utterly ridiculous. IMO instead of playing the blame game, start collaborating with nvidia for a proper solution that doesn't cost an arm and a leg... If EVGA had offered the classified at 660$ and had included EV Bot with that price, i'm pretty sure NOBODY would be complaining about the classified product right now - as things are the card is so not worth it. Its not good enough without EV Bot and is too expensive with EV Bot. IMHO. These are some of the things that led me to purchase lightnings and I could not be happier with my purchase. I don't have anything against EVGA or the classified, but you have to look at the price - who wants to pay 800$ for a single card with voltage control? No one. You have the option of getting classified without voltage control but then there is little point - Kepler needs more voltage to shine.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Several points:
> 1) Msi is one of nvidias biggest sellers abroad so there's no such issue DPH.. Despite what is said, they have close collaborations with nvidia - EVGA is big in the states but MSI is way bigger than EVGA overseas.
> 2) EVGA says they offer EV Bot because nvidia wants them to do this. To this, I say what whatever. I like EVGA and have a lot of respect for Jacob, but being real for a second lets look at this situation. EVGA is the biggest seller of nvidia products in the USA and with that being the case it is absolutely ridiculous that nvidia would not heed the words of EVGA - if they were a leader they could simply collaborate with nvidia for a proper solution. ( FYI I'm pretty certain that MSI isn't going full steam ahead on this without talking to nvidia - they have close ties) Now back to the main point. If EVGA were leaders they would work out a real solution for end users instead of pretending to be a victim, they could easily approach nvidia and say "Hey lets make this work". Deep down I know all the sales people at EVGA know that requiring a hardware mod on aftermarket cards for voltage control is stupid....the hardware is WELL capable of handling additional voltage, period...
> 3) Third point. EVGA is insisting that EV Bot exists because of nvidia. Whoa. Hold on there, I don't believe that for a second - remember the classified GTX 580? Yeah, THAT CARD required ev bot for voltage on release as well, and not UNTIL users expressed outrage did they change it. To me this makes it appear that EVGA simply wants to sell more EV Bot products, nothing more nothing less, period. I could be wrong, but I remind AGAIN that they did this very same thing with the classified 580......for months you could NOT adjust voltage on the classy 580 without EV Bot.
> 4) Here are two unavoidable facts at hand: a) *nobody wants to pay 760$ for voltage control* and b) *a super premium card loses substantial value without voltage control*. c) On the 760$, this is almost as much as a 690. That is utterly ridiculous. IMO instead of playing the blame game, start collaborating with nvidia for a proper solution that doesn't cost an arm and a leg... If you had offered the classified at 660$ and had included EV Bot with that price, i'm pretty sure NOBODY would be complaining about the classified product right now - as things are the card is so not worth it. Its not good enough without EV Bot and is too expensive with EV Bot. IMHO. These are some of the things that led me to purchase lightnings and I could not be happier with my purchase. I don't have anything against EVGA or the classified, but you have to look at the price - who wants to pay 800$ for a single card with voltage control? No one. You have the option of getting classified without voltage control but then there is little point - Kepler needs more voltage to shine.


Couldn't have said it better myself









Lot of good points in there. All of these "rules" that Jacob references when discussing the voltage control through software seem very suspicious. Think about this though...unless there's something internally different that I don't know about regarding the difference of delivering various levels of voltage between software and EVBot, then there is literally only one difference...*$$$* One is free and one isn't. If Nvidia is somehow cheaping out on the components, then a custom board should solve the issue and they shouldn't have a problem with more voltage. Or, they really did use a lesser chip and are already substantially overvolting it at stock just to let it reach the stock clocks they went for. That's the only reason that I can understand them still having a problem with a custom board: the chip itself.

But back to the money issue. If cost is really the only difference between software and EVBot, then perhaps Nvidia wants to be cut in on some of the loot? Since a premium is being charged to adjust the voltage and software would have been free, perhaps Nvidia's plan all along was to make a good reference with locked voltage and then charge a premium later on down the road, knowing that many people out there would pay for it. Sell the reference-->make it decent but make people _crave_ voltage control for it-->charge $80 to do it, knowing that people will pay.

What other reason could explain these rediculous "rules" that Jacob references, and that MSI is 'breaking' them with free software?


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693
> it is now 569.99$ with free shipping omg im gonna totally buy one now or maybe not.. hmmmmmm lolol


I wonder if this means the xtreme is right around the corner. .at a 599.99 price point.


----------



## resis

I have a i5-760 on a UD3 motherboard, 8GB RAM, Seasonic 850v PSU and HD 5850. Would like to upgrade the GPU. Would it be a good idea to go for the Lightning? Can my system handle it and would the performance boost be significant? And how long would it serve me (to run games on high settings). Or is the i5 way to weak and won't handle games to come despite the Lightning?


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *resis*
> 
> I have a i5-760 on a UD3 motherboard, 8GB RAM, Seasonic 850v PSU and HD 5850. Would like to upgrade the GPU. Would it be a good idea to go for the Lightning? Can my system handle it and would the performance boost be significant? And how long would it serve me (to run games on high settings). Or is the i5 way to weak and won't handle games to come despite the Lightning?


It would bottleneck like 30% of the card performance, i would change the platform first.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *resis*
> 
> I have a i5-760 on a UD3 motherboard, 8GB RAM, Seasonic 850v PSU and HD 5850. Would like to upgrade the GPU. Would it be a good idea to go for the Lightning? Can my system handle it and would the performance boost be significant? And how long would it serve me (to run games on high settings). Or is the i5 way to weak and won't handle games to come despite the Lightning?


If you have a nice overclock on that CPU I don't see why not.


----------



## resis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> If you have a nice overclock on that CPU I don't see why not.


I plan to overclock it. No idea how yet. You sure that an overclocked i5-760 would be sufficient?


----------



## psyside

It wont, like i said, you wil lose like 30% of the card performance.

I got a friend with stock 2500K and 7970, he has dips into 30's and on my system the same fps never go under 43 as minimum in BF3, [email protected] here.

So count on it, before you buy the card, like i said, even with overclock in BF3/cpu intensive games on big maps, you will lose like 30% of the performance, even with overclock.


----------



## driftingforlife

Looking forward to see some results. I like the lighting but I have one thought in my head. Have you seen the 7970 Matrix?. Imagine if they did a 680 version.


----------



## dph314

The Afterburner beta site won't load, keeps giving me an error. And when I click on "Check for Update" in AB's settings, I get a "Cannot establish a connection" error. Is it happening? Are they updating the site now?? So exciting. It might be here guys...

Edit: No one else excited? I'm going to experience this here all alone?


----------



## resis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> It wont, like i said, you wil lose like 30% of the card performance.
> I got a friend with stock 2500K and 7970, he has dips into 30's and on my system the same fps never go under 43 as minimum in BF3, [email protected] here.
> So count on it, before you buy the card, like i said, even with overclock in BF3/cpu intensive games on big maps, you will lose like 30% of the performance, even with overclock.


I see, thanks. Sorry to go off-topic here, but just few quick questions before I disappear. What GPU would fit my system best then? And if I'm to upgrade the CPU, can I keep the motherboard (GA-P55A-UD3), or does it depend on the actual CPU? So if I'm to keep the motherboard, which would be a good CPU for it to be able to properly run the Lightning?

Edit: Ok, on the Gigabyte site I see the highest CPU that is supported is the i7-875K. I guess it's not the fastest one.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *resis*
> 
> I see, thanks. Sorry to go off-topic here, but just few quick questions before I disappear. What GPU would fit my system best then? And if I'm to upgrade the CPU, can I keep the motherboard (GA-P55A-UD3), or does it depend on the actual CPU? So if I'm to keep the motherboard, which would be a good CPU for it to be able to properly run the Lightning?


Could keep the board, get a i7 860/870 and OC it a little, that should be able to handle the Lightning relatively well.

Edit: I see a ton of complaints about parts of that board dying within a few months of purchase. How's it been treating you so far?

Edit: Although, for the price of that, you could instead spend a little more and go with a P67/2500k and be _really_ set. A decent cooler and the 2500k can fly.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *resis*
> 
> I see, thanks. Sorry to go off-topic here, but just few quick questions before I disappear. What GPU would fit my system best then? And if I'm to upgrade the CPU, can I keep the motherboard (GA-P55A-UD3), or does it depend on the actual CPU? So if I'm to keep the motherboard, which would be a good CPU for it to be able to properly run the Lightning?
> Edit: Ok, on the Gigabyte site I see the highest CPU that is supported is the i7-875K. I guess it's not the fastest one.


7850/7870 would be best option









Upgrading the cpu wont help, not on that platform, you need at least X58-i7 920/[email protected]+ for balanced rig, if you think to get GTX680L









And if you want to get the max, get 1155 + 3750K @4.5+


----------



## dph314

Afterburner download site is still down. I haven't had this much fun F5'ing since I got my Lightning


----------



## xoleras

FTW420 will be the new kingpin once afterburner 2.2.3 is out


----------



## resis

Ok, #### it! What if I go for i7-3770K and MSI GTX 680L. What's the best cheapest motherboard (SLIable preferably, methinks) for it?









Would my G.Skill 2x4GB RAM hold up with this, because I could not afford to upgrade the RAM aswell (unless to buy a single same G.Skill RAM stick, from what I recall the i7 platform allows for three RAM sticks, while i5 only two)?
I have a "Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced" case, I think it's moddable and large enough. Do I need a maximum amount of fans or just the stock is fine? Does the i7-3770K comes with a good cooler or do I need to buy a custom one (wouldn't like)?

Time goes by like hell, so what's the prognosis of such a system, how long will it be on top of the food chain? I hope more than 2 years.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Edit: I see a ton of complaints about parts of that board dying within a few months of purchase. How's it been treating you so far?


Using it nearly daily for about two years now. Never had any problems, guess I was lucky so far. Not a single crash with my build (except with my previous corrupt GEiL RAM and early crashes in pre-GOTY Red Orchestra 2)! Did not re-install Win7 for a year also.

Generally I'm pleased with my rig, only it's getting slowly weak.

And again, I'm sorry for the off-topic, but you are guys are helpful.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> FTW420 will be the new kingpin once afterburner 2.2.3 is out












@FTW420: When do you plan on getting that 'Afterburner Extreme' for some LN2 benching once 2.2.3 is out?


----------



## xoleras

Nice! I really love asus motherboards, they are great. My opinion is biased though! I think the P8Z77 will serve you nice if you want full ATX, or you could get a Gene V maximus. They are somewhat costly, though.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *resis*
> 
> Ok, #### it! What if I go for i7-3770K and MSI GTX 680L. What's the best cheapest motherboard (SLIable preferably, methinks) for it?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Would my G.Skill 2x4GB RAM hold up with this, because I could not afford to upgrade the RAM aswell (unless to buy a single same G.Skill RAM stick, from what I recall the i7 platform allows for three RAM sticks, while i5 only two)?
> I have a "Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced" case, I think it's moddable and large enough. Do I need a maximum amount of fans or just the stock is fine? Does the i7-3770K comes with a good cooler or do I need to buy a custom one (wouldn't like)?
> Time goes by like hell, so what's the prognosis of such a system, how long will it be on top of the food chain? I hope more than 2 years.
> Using it nearly daily for about two years now. Never had any problems, guess I was lucky so far. Not a single crash with my build (except with my previous corrupt GEiL RAM and early crashes in pre-GOTY Red Orchestra 2)! Did not re-install Win7 for a year also.
> Generally I'm pleased with my rig, only it's getting slowly weak.
> And again, I'm sorry for the off-topic, but you are guys are helpful.


http://www.amazon.com/MSI-P67A-GD55-B3-LGA1155-Motherboard/dp/B004P3X4V0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342890666&sr=8-2&keywords=msi+p67a-g45 - Very decent board, will do everything you want and for a cheap price. I had the G45 before my Rampage Extreme and it was great.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *resis*
> 
> Ok, #### it! What if I go for i7-3770K and MSI GTX 680L. What's the best cheapest motherboard (SLIable preferably, methinks) for it?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Would my G.Skill 2x4GB RAM hold up with this, because I could not afford to upgrade the RAM aswell (unless to buy a single same G.Skill RAM stick, from what I recall the i7 platform allows for three RAM sticks, while i5 only two)?
> I have a "Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced" case, I think it's moddable and large enough. Do I need a maximum amount of fans or just the stock is fine? Does the i7-3770K comes with a good cooler or do I need to buy a custom one (wouldn't like)?
> Time goes by like hell, so what's the prognosis of such a system, how long will it be on top of the food chain? I hope more than 2 years.
> Using it nearly daily for about two years now. Never had any problems, guess I was lucky so far. Not a single crash with my build (except with my previous corrupt GEiL RAM and early crashes in pre-GOTY Red Orchestra 2)! Did not re-install Win7 for a year also.
> Generally I'm pleased with my rig, only it's getting slowly weak.
> And again, I'm sorry for the off-topic, but you are guys are helpful.


1 .Best cheapeset is relative, but i would say this mobo without a single doubt, only Asus has better option, but its 40$ more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544

2. Yes it should be fine, if the memory is not lower rated then 1333mhz, keep in mind memory lower then 1600mhz lower the performance in games on Ivy, like 5-10% max.

3. You need to buy custom cooler for sure, stock coolers are crap, and Ivy is one *hot chip.
* Hyper 212+ or Contact 29 should be fine.

4. Your case should be fine, but yes adding fan/s should be a must, at the side panel, to cool of the card they are cheap.

5. Your system would be fine for 2 years for sure, depends what kind of enthusiast you are, if you like to max out (totally) games, then even 2 years is a bit 2 much.


----------



## dVeLoPe

so im stuck in a rock and a hard place... i have an offer for 450$ locally to sell my reference evga card that clocks around 1200ish after the thermal throttle... I would have to put in 120$ to upgrade to a lightnight... say i get the lotto card and mine does [email protected] volts..

how much of a difference will I really noticie ingames? i dont benchmark care for those results... I also am wondering since they recuded the price to 570 if like that one guy sid their will be another version even better released soon?? please help me not make stupid choice thanks!


----------



## Rolfenstein

Since were already off-topic.. Mmmm, ASUS HD7970 Matrix..


----------



## dph314

I don't think on 1080p you would notice much of a difference with the extra VRAM. And these run so cool that even if you have to give one a few more volts to get a decent overclock past the 1200mhz your reference does, you will be pleased. No throttle + possibly ~10fps more from the core/memory overclock for only $120? I'd say go for it


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> so im stuck in a rock and a hard place... i have an offer for 450$ locally to sell my reference evga card that clocks around 1200ish after the thermal throttle... I would have to put in 120$ to upgrade to a lightnight... say i get the lotto card and mine does [email protected] volts..
> how much of a difference will I really noticie ingames? i dont benchmark care for those results... I also am wondering since they recuded the price to 570 if like that one guy sid their will be another version :


100mhz is about 4-5 fps, 200 would be like 8/10+ fps, which is alot in demanding games.


----------



## dVeLoPe

so it's basiclly worth it if i get a card that does at least 1300-1400 mhz but if the card only clocks under 1300 will just be the same as my card except much quieter?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> so it's basiclly worth it if i get a card that does at least 1300-1400 mhz but if the card only clocks under 1300 will just be the same as my card except much quieter?


I don't think we'll see many cards stuck under 1300mhz after 2.2.3









Crap. the site is back up but no 2.2.3


----------



## dVeLoPe

hmm i wonder how long its gnona be 570 with free shipping anyone know??


----------



## supermi

Ohhh MSI , a LIGHTING EXTREME PLEASE!!!


----------



## dVeLoPe

^^ 2nd person whos said that are they releasing such a card? I will be freaking pissed if i sell my ref 680 to buy a lightning and then another one comes out! maybe the price drop is a normal newegg special?? or does anyone one here have something anything to back up their being a new card released called the extreme version of the lightning?!!?!


----------



## Valenz

If the 4g extreme comes out mine will be on ebay in 2 seconds!!!


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> ^^ 2nd person whos said that are they releasing such a card? I will be freaking pissed if i sell my ref 680 to buy a lightning and then another one comes out! maybe the price drop is a normal newegg special?? or does anyone one here have something anything to back up their being a new card released called the extreme version of the lightning?!!?!


to clarify I am not saying they are releasing one, in fact I have NO idea whether they are LOL

It would just be the PERFECT card this gen!!!









and the price is lower on newegg but does not seem to have dropped at other etailers at this poing , so we shall see

yes i also welcome ANY info on this


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> If the 4g extreme comes out mine will be on ebay in 2 seconds!!!


I think the only thing people have to go off of is that there was a 580 Lightning Xtreme. So you never know, they might or they might not.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I think the only thing people have to go off of is that there was a 580 Lightning Xtreme. So you never know, they might or they might not.


that and msi has yet to release a 4gb kepler while several other manufacturers have ... and we know if MSI does it , they do it right!


----------



## dVeLoPe

ugh so i guess i should hold off on sellini my ref card incase they do release that? will be mad if they dont and neweggs price goes back up!!


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> ugh so i guess i should hold off on sellini my ref card incase they do release that? will be mad if they dont and neweggs price goes back up!!


well there is no real evidence to show that they will release one at all to say the least of releasing one soon ... this could be a simple Lightning sale at NE or a start to a lower price point ... could have something to do with the feedback NE has been getting on the phone from some Lightning purchasers unhappy with no voltage control (as of a few days ago , though things seem to be changing for the better in that regard now).

Point being hold off if you REALLY want to wait and see but not because a few of us mentioned wanting a lightning 4gb or because 1 single person asked whether this price drop has anything to do with a lightning extreme release ...

my 2 cents

On my part I would love these lightnings in 4gb flavor enough to wait and see ... and if I miss out on saving $30 a card plus free shipping (even for 4 of em) that is ok with me







but it could be a long wait and I might not feel like waiting more than a week or 2 more in any case ...

Good luck with your choice and if you find out any info please share it here


----------



## dVeLoPe

well i have a take it or leave it kind of offer on my plate he wants to have a card by monday whether its mine or he buys a 7970 locally and now he only wants to pay 430$ instead of the initial 450$

so out of pocket I will be putting down 140$ for this card whch I dont mind doing but once again if they do release a 4gb or Extreme version i would be quite pissed.. anyway I think i will just order this and then call newegg once 2.2.3 is released or in am onth or so and request that 50$ credit that i forgot some peope said they recieve already!!


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> well i have a take it or leave it kind of offer on my plate he wants to have a card by monday whether its mine or he buys a 7970 locally and now he only wants to pay 430$ instead of the initial 450$
> so out of pocket I will be putting down 140$ for this card whch I dont mind doing but once again if they do release a 4gb or Extreme version i would be quite pissed.. anyway I think i will just order this and then call newegg once 2.2.3 is released or in am onth or so and request that 50$ credit that i forgot some peope said they recieve already!!


Wait, on a 1080p screen how does 4gb help you...


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Wait, on a 1080p screen how does 4gb help you...


Certain nitch situations, like going overboard on skyrim mods or using your card for some armature CAD work while still being able to game on the same rig.

Other than that, he could be thinking like me. I'm on 1080 _now_, but only because upgrading my monitor would kill my current GPU, and there aren't any nice 1600p IPS monitors out there yet for any kind of reasonable cost. After upgrading the GPU, and giving it about a year for LG and samsung to release all those new panels they're talking about, I'll no longer be on 1080 and that extra 2gb will matter a lot.

I know some of you like to upgrade to the latest and greatest every time something is released. Personally, I couldn't care less for the prospect of spending as much as 1000 bucks every few months just for a minor, possible not even noticeable upgrade. Never mind having to redo my loop and going without a working rig for a few days or weeks. I upgrade when the performance increase justifies the cost. That means I'll likely be sticking with whatever card I get this gen, for another 2-4 years if GPUs keep up their current pace.


----------



## dVeLoPe

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Certain nitch situations, like going overboard on skyrim mods or using your card for some armature CAD work while still being able to game on the same rig.
> Other than that, he could be thinking like me. I'm on 1080 _now_, but only because upgrading my monitor would kill my current GPU, and there aren't any nice 1600p IPS monitors out there yet for any kind of reasonable cost. After upgrading the GPU, and giving it about a year for LG and samsung to release all those new panels they're talking about, I'll no longer be on 1080 and that extra 2gb will matter a lot.


you hit it on the head i have a 120hz nvidia 3d vision monitor that is only 1080p but I will eventually upgrade to something better in the future 2k res lets go!


----------



## xoleras

4gb does not help you AT ALL unless you are at 5760x1200, with 4x-8x MSAA. Otherwise its a complete waste.

Zero: you're willing to spend 1k$ on GPUs but you stick with a 1080p panel? You should spend more on your monitor than your GPUs, thats 50% of your experience. Just IMHO


----------



## dph314

So I take it nothing is happening today? Ah well, at least it's coming soon.

So he's aiming for around 1.5v? I wonder what the temperature will limit us to... Especially in SLI. Although even in SLI, running Heaven with both cards over 1300/6800 I only hit 56C on the top card.

So, just wondering...since this is my first Lightning... How much does the PLL voltage help? Anywhere near as much as the core voltage?


----------



## Johnny_Utah

I'm still holding out for an Extreme 4GB version...again I have NO idea whether there will be one but I can wait. I just got my 2nd of 3 Catleap 2560x1440 monitors today. I think I would like to play it safe with more VRAM. I'm glad to hear people are enjoying these wonderful cards!


----------



## MoBeeJ

From what i understand, based on the guru3d, all chill based cards will be able to change volts? Also if voltage is unlocked i love to see a new separate thread about oc results.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MoBeeJ*
> 
> From what i understand, based on the guru3d, all chill based cards will be able to change volts? Also if voltage is unlocked i love to see a new separate thread about oc results.


I nominate you as Thread Owner of a new OC GTX6XX club!









I am hoping very much that voltage will unlock on my Asus 680 as it does have that very same voltage chip.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MoBeeJ*
> 
> From what i understand, based on the guru3d, all chill based cards will be able to change volts


Doesn't this include DCII cards as well? DIgi+ is the same re branded controller right?


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Johnny_Utah*
> 
> I'm still holding out for an Extreme 4GB version...again I have NO idea whether there will be one but I can wait. I just got my 2nd of 3 Catleap 2560x1440 monitors today. I think I would like to play it safe with more VRAM. I'm glad to hear people are enjoying these wonderful cards!


I remember seeing you around here and the EVGA boards ALOT when the Lightning and Classified were announced









unlike you I did not wait and got the lightning .. though I got rid of it now that I am back up to three screens







...

So if the lightning extreme is just a meme LOL and not released what other cards are you considering? I was looking at the galaxy 4gb as a backup personally...
Also how many are you planning on running for that res?

BTW does anyone know if those galaxy x31 voltage regulation chips which I believe that 4gb as well as the SOC both have are the same as the one the lightning uses?


----------



## resis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Nice! I really love asus motherboards, they are great. My opinion is biased though! I think the P8Z77 will serve you nice if you want full ATX, or you could get a Gene V maximus. They are somewhat costly, though.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/MSI-P67A-GD55-B3-LGA1155-Motherboard/dp/B004P3X4V0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342890666&sr=8-2&keywords=msi+p67a-g45 - Very decent board, will do everything you want and for a cheap price. I had the G45 before my Rampage Extreme and it was great.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> 1 .Best cheapeset is relative, but i would say this mobo without a single doubt, only Asus has better option, but its 40$ more.
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544


Thanks guys! The Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H and the Asus RoG Maximus V Gene look good. The Gigabyte seems to have more options, while it's slightly cheaper. What's ther deal with the Asus?

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> 3. You need to buy custom cooler for sure, stock coolers are crap, and Ivy is one *hot chip.
> * Hyper 212+ or Contact 29 should be fine.


What is Ivy? More suggestions on a cooler would be nice.









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> 5. Your system would be fine for 2 years for sure, depends what kind of enthusiast you are, if you like to max out (totally) games, then even 2 years is a bit 2 much.


I'm a performance and longetivity enthusiast. Performance as in fluid game and mouse look, longetivity as in knowing the system will do the performance thing for some time and I don't have to upgrade nine months later.

Out of curiousity, what is the next best GPU after the GTX Lightning? A MSI Radeon R7970 Lightning perhaps?


----------



## Johnny_Utah

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> I remember seeing you around here and the EVGA boards ALOT when the Lightning and Classified were announced
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> unlike you I did not wait and got the lightning .. though I got rid of it now that I am back up to three screens
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...
> So if the lightning extreme is just a meme LOL and not released what other cards are you considering? I was looking at the galaxy 4gb as a backup personally...
> Also how many are you planning on running for that res?
> BTW does anyone know if those galaxy x31 voltage regulation chips which I believe that 4gb as well as the SOC both have are the same as the one the lightning uses?


Hey there!

Yup, I got quite busy with work unfortunately, but still active in other areas on the EVGA forums, just not the 680 threads.

I am not really sure what I will do yet. I have 2 680 2GB HC on another X79 build, While I like these cards I should have waited for the extra VRAM before purchasing but I never claimed to be smart

I am not convinced yet that the Classy is the card to have. I REALLY like everything about this card, except worrying about the AB release. Maybe I will consider a 670 4GB card and get some blocks? Heck I don't know!


----------



## dVeLoPe

The item# 14-127-693 in which you are inquiring about just offered the deal today, 7/21/12. Unfortunately, New Egg does not guarantee prices

aparantly it might just have been for today sale and this was just random on neweggs part so I dont think I will be buying one as it will be 175$ + to upgrade meh 4g XTREME or gk110 for me!


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Johnny_Utah*
> 
> Hey there!
> Yup, I got quite busy with work unfortunately, but still active in other areas on the EVGA forums, just not the 680 threads.
> I am not really sure what I will do yet. I have 2 680 2GB HC on another X79 build, While I like these cards I should have waited for the extra VRAM before purchasing but I never claimed to be smart
> I am not convinced yet that the Classy is the card to have. I REALLY like everything about this card, except worrying about the AB release. Maybe I will consider a 670 4GB card and get some blocks? Heck I don't know!


I am in the same boat except I got rid of my lightnings for now LOL,

I have been ALL over the interweb searching about the 2gb vs 4gb as well as how the ram bus factors in and filtering through problems with 4 way sli as that is what I am looking at ...

Seems you have more pixels to push but I am pushing surround in 3d so we both need similar gpu power ... keep me updated in the threads or through pm









Some good choices out there but not the PERFECT one, I thought classies would be but NOPE not... are you still open to universal blocks? or just full cover?

Seems the 470 4gb have their own full cover and also have aluminum heat sink with fins on the vrm so you could do the universal blocks without getting copper heatsinks they are SHORT cards but the backplate looks ok.... and the galaxy 680 4gb has tall aluminum heatsink with fins on the vrm's so again no copper is needed , but no backplate there and no full coverblock at all...

If there is another option Ito consider let me know


----------



## exploiteddna

heh .. +300mv is ok.. its a start..
hoping for +400 or +500, for those of us using ln2


----------



## NateST

I ready somewhere that the Classys while clocking better than most 680's didn't do much more with voltage control, so if/when 2.2.3 AB releases voltage control do you think the lightning will be the same deal? I'm considering buying one myself but the voltage overclocking is really a deal breaker whether or not it will SUBSTANTIALLY increase OC performance.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NateST*
> 
> I ready somewhere that the Classys while clocking better than most 680's didn't do much more with voltage control, so if/when 2.2.3 AB releases voltage control do you think the lightning will be the same deal? I'm considering buying one myself but the voltage overclocking is really a deal breaker whether or not it will SUBSTANTIALLY increase OC performance.


It [classified] definitely isn't clocking better, most reviews are showing it clocking 1260-1300. You can get additional voltage but then you run into thermal throttle (lightning doesn't have this) - AT did a review on the card and while overvolted , the classified hits temperatures in excess of 80C. That will cause the card to rapidly downclock which lowers the OC'ed performance. Then there's the price at 760$ with EV Bot. IMHO, its too much - you can get a 690 for 999$.

Overvoltage will definitely help overclocks. Time will tell how well afterburner 2.2.3 increases overclocks, hopefully kingpin junior AKA FtW420 will get some world records







To answer your last question depends on what you do with your PC, do you need 5-10 more frames per second? Or are you a benchmarking nerd (I am , kinda). Honestly, the 7970 @ 1200 performs great -- so a lightning 680 would be mostly a sidegrade in terms of performance. Some games will be faster, some will be slower (depending on whether it favors AMD or nvidia) and the difference won't be mind blowing (I went from an OC'ed 7970 to 680s myself- ) You're probably fine where you are to be honest, unless you have a sell offer that you can't refuse.


----------



## NateST

Thinking of BF3 where the 680 is better than the 7970 @ 120hz monitor single card setup. Obviously with lowered detail but in that scenario every frame helps.


----------



## XbeaTX

7970 + 120 Hz monitor is crap ... there is flickering in many games and also in 2D ... is unacceptable after 7 months


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> I nominate you as Thread Owner of a new OC GTX6XX club!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am hoping very much that voltage will unlock on my Asus 680 as it does have that very same voltage chip.


Unlock it yourself..... I did







lol


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> Unlock it yourself..... I did
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> lol


Yep, I've seen what you did with your 680. Nice job!

But ripping off the resister I don't want to do. I still might do this if I don't get voltage control with AB, still thinking about it.









Did you do the memory voltage mod and if so, did it help out the memory overclocks? My memory oc is nothing to write home about and I'm stuck at +400, 6800MHz.


----------



## exploiteddna

if the new AB 2.2.3 doesnt have enough voltage for ln2 clocks, its very likely we will see some VR mods (hard mod) for the lightning popping up soon.

i havent compared the dc2 pcb layout to that of the lightning, but since they both have the same controller, the vr mods that people are doing on the dc2 may be easy to translate onto the lightning..


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NateST*
> 
> I ready somewhere that the Classys while clocking better than most 680's didn't do much more with voltage control, so if/when 2.2.3 AB releases voltage control do you think the lightning will be the same deal? I'm considering buying one myself but the voltage overclocking is really a deal breaker whether or not it will SUBSTANTIALLY increase OC performance.


So far I have owned 2 680 reference cards, one 690, 2 DC2T's and one 680 Lightning, they all clock differently, One of my DC2T's would do 1306, one 1356, Lightning so far 1303.
Vanilla's one 1286, one 1246. the 690 close to 1200. I don't care for the dust removal spin fan 100% on boot up. DC2T is the quietest and coolest running card even at 1356.
Just from my personal experience. and from what I see on the net, I would not expect miracles. I just don't think you'll see many hitting 1400. Just my opinion tho.


----------



## Xnerdz

Hey! this thread passed the 1000 posts


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> So far I have owned 2 680 reference cards, one 690, 2 DC2T's and one 680 Lightning, they all clock differently, One of my DC2T's would do 1306, one 1356, Lightning so far 1303.
> Vanilla's one 1286, one 1246. the 690 close to 1200. I don't care for the dust removal spin fan 100% on boot up. DC2T is the quietest and coolest running card even at 1356.
> Just from my personal experience. and from what I see on the net, I would not expect miracles. *I just don't think you'll see many hitting 1400. Just my opinion tho.*


thats a very generalized statement.. it would be better to follow up your statement with something like "...with stock cooling"
so "I just don't think you'll see many hitting 1400 with stock cooling"

if people throw on a gpu block and some huge solid copper ramsinks, its a much different story. or if they make a full cover block, its a different story. or with ln2 or dry ice, its a different story... pretty much anything other than stock air, id be shocked not to see 1400+++


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> 4gb does not help you AT ALL unless you are at 5760x1200, with 4x-8x MSAA. Otherwise its a complete waste.
> Zero: you're willing to spend 1k$ on GPUs but you stick with a 1080p panel? You should spend more on your monitor than your GPUs, thats 50% of your experience. Just IMHO


Where on earth do you get your info? I'm starting to think you live in another reality, cause you certainly aren't talking logic in mine.

1) Where Did I say anything regarding a $1000 GPU? The only thing you could possibly have gotten that from is my expressed intrest in a 4GB lightning. The lightning is under $600, even accounting for the premium for an extra 2GB VRAM, that is just over _half_ the price you're blabbering on about.
2) Spend more on monitors than GPUs? What kind of backwards ass line of logic is that? Unlike audio, real time video rendering is still _far_ from being a negligible task for your computer. As already stated, anything more than 1080 on my current GPU would result in unacceptable frame rates in _any_ modern application. Why should I spend more on a monitor _now_ when all it will do is result in a _worse_ experience?
3) Resolution =/= Price.
4) Resolution alone =/= image quality.
5) Image quality alone =/= user experience.
6) Price =/= user experience.
7) 4GB certainly _does_ matter, regardless of resolution (and regardless of even having a display at all), in many real-world applications. There is much more in this world than benchmarks and video games.
8) 4GB _does_ matter at resolutions far below 5760x1200 in select games under certain conditions today.
9) VRAM will become exponentially more important in the near future upon the release of new video game consoles, and thus new console-to-pc ports and cross-platform games which aren't still based on 2005 technology.

You've been spewing a lot of crap throughout this entire thread. I've been letting it go since I don'y really care about your fanboy arguments with other fanboys from other camps, but now I'm starting to think you're just letting your mouth run while your mind is asleep.

Back on topic: Someone wake me when either a) 4GB edition is announced or B) afterburner is updated and _actually works properly_.


----------



## pwnzilla61

I will probably be getting the lightning but don't doubt the classy there are actually a few on the evga forums hitting over 1400 heaven stable on multiple cards, but given they are using ev bot.


----------



## xoleras

1) Unfortunately, you are completely wrong on VRAM. Even at 5760x1200, 2gb is fine unless you use stupid amounts of anti aliasing - running 5760x1200 with no AA is only 82,944,000 bytes for the front and back buffers, and 442M for the G-buffer. So ~520M for the presentation stuff, which leaves 1.5G for textures and characters, which is more than enough. (Honestly for 99% of games, you could probably get away with 2xAA and be fine at 5760x1200). VRAM usage is easy to calculate given the application, apparently in some mystery world you think that 4gb would help you at 1080p. I have to stress that you can calculate VRAM requirements *precisely
* once you figure out the presentation VRAM requirements of an application and you will not ever come close to 4gb especially at 1080p....... Perhaps if you use 2 trillion mods in skyrim, but thats it.
Quote:


> other than games and benchmarks


Uhh, these are GAMING CARDS so the argument is related to gaming. If you want to do something else you'd be much better off with a quadro or firepro GL card. As it stands, 4gb is worthless unless you're doing surround reolutions.

2) With all this said, please don't bother replying, if you feel the need to waste your money on a 4gb card and pair it with a horrible wal mart monitor feel free lol, i'm not going to argue with you anymore......we're done here.

All this said 4gb has its uses. If I were doing 5760x1200 I would no doubt be using a 4gb SLI setup - that is what supermi is doing and to him I say, hats off. You've been arguing in favor of 4gb and at the resolution of 1080p which is mind boggling to say the least. 4gb doesn't matter at 1080p or 2560x1600.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *resis*
> 
> Thanks guys! The Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H and the Asus RoG Maximus V Gene look good. The Gigabyte seems to have more options, while it's slightly cheaper. What's ther deal with the Asus?
> What is Ivy? More suggestions on a cooler would be nice.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm a performance and longetivity enthusiast. Performance as in fluid game and mouse look, longetivity as in knowing the system will do the performance thing for some time and I don't have to upgrade nine months later.
> Out of curiousity, what is the next best GPU after the GTX Lightning? A MSI Radeon R7970 Lightning perhaps?


Аsus mobo has better vrm design, better cooling, better BIOS - tons of overclocking options, alot better fan control - BIOS & Windows & network priority controll as well, uses higher quality high end Nichicon caps etc, all in all alot better mobo then UD3H, but for 150, the UD5H is unbeatable.Ivy is processor, Ivy Bridge....

Well other cooler, depends of what overclocking your goal is, if you want to max out, D14 or H100, if you want lets say 4.5ghz then something cheaper like i suggested.

Best GPU after 680L imho is Asus GTX 680 Direct CU II TOP, the temps, power efficiency and the VRM design are simply amazing, if you want to go for AMD 7970, Asus just released 7970 Matrix which should be great card.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> Аsus mobo has better vrm design, better cooling, better BIOS - tons of overclocking options, alot better fan control - BIOS & Windows & network priority controll as well, uses higher quality high end Nichicon caps etc, all in all alot better mobo then UD3H, but for 150, the UD5H is unbeatable.Ivy is processor, Ivy Bridge....
> Well other cooler, depends of what overclocking your goal is, if you want to max out, D14 or H100, if you want lets say 4.5ghz then something cheaper like i suggested.
> Best GPU after 680L imho is Asus GTX 680 Direct CU II TOP, the temps, power efficiency and the VRM design are simply amazing, if you want to go for AMD 7970, *Asus just released 7970 Matrix which should be great card.*


7970 Matrix isn't coming out for a while yet though? Q3 is what's been said and we just entered Q3







.


----------



## psyside

Yes it was a typo









Sorry for that.

BTW any confirmation about the digital controller on Lightning cards, is it the same with Digi+ on Asus DCII cards?


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> BTW any confirmation about the digital controller on Lightning cards, is it the same with Digi+ on Asus DCII cards?


I highly dought it would work on asus or any other brand,only msi cards open up for tri voltage control and that would be an easy way to put a lock down on other brands benifiting from this software.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> snip


not sure if illiterate, or just troll.

Either way, I think we're done here.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> not sure if illiterate, or just troll.
> Either way, I think we're done here.


Of course you are.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> thats a very generalized statement.. it would be better to follow up your statement with something like "...with stock cooling"
> so "I just don't think you'll see many hitting 1400 with stock cooling"
> if people throw on a gpu block and some huge solid copper ramsinks, its a much different story. or if they make a full cover block, its a different story. or with ln2 or dry ice, its a different story... pretty much anything other than stock air, id be shocked not to see 1400+++


You are correct
I did mean on air and probably water unless a full cover block cooling the VRM helps. Believe me I hope I am wrong. I've been waiting for years to see GPU's over 1GHZ, now you can buy one with 1200 right out of the box, I thought I would be satisfied with that, Apparently I am like everyone else and still want more


----------



## driftingforlife

Regarding the 7970 matrix I have asked about it







and if their doing a 680 version.


----------



## resis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> Аsus mobo has better vrm design, better cooling, better BIOS - tons of overclocking options, alot better fan control - BIOS & Windows & network priority controll as well, uses higher quality high end Nichicon caps etc, all in all alot better mobo then UD3H, but for 150, the *UD5H* is unbeatable.


Thanks for the suggestions again. You mean UD3H? Speaking of which:

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD*5*H vs. Asus Maximus IV Extreme (Rev.3.0) vs. Asus Crosshair V Formula

I guess Maximus IV Extreme is the winner, but UD5H would take second place?

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> Well other cooler, depends of what overclocking your goal is, if you want to max out, D14 or H100, if you want lets say 4.5ghz then something cheaper like i suggested.


Hmm, H100 looks affordable. I take it cools much better than D14? Which one is more silent then?


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> Yes it was a typo
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry for that.
> BTW any confirmation about the digital controller on Lightning cards, is it the same with Digi+ on Asus DCII cards?


They use the same CHiL 8318 chip, so it _might_ be possible. I'd be surprised if it does though.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Yep, I've seen what you did with your 680. Nice job!
> But ripping off the resister I don't want to do. I still might do this if I don't get voltage control with AB, still thinking about it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Did you do the memory voltage mod and if so, did it help out the memory overclocks? My memory oc is nothing to write home about and I'm stuck at +400, 6800MHz.


I haven't had the time to do anything else unfortunately








Looks like I might have some time towards the end of this week though, so I'd like to try and see what I get. I'll update my post when I do


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *resis*
> 
> Thanks for the suggestions again. You mean UD3H? Speaking of which:
> Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD*5*H vs. Asus Maximus IV Extreme (Rev.3.0) vs. Asus Crosshair V Formula
> I guess Maximus IV Extreme is the winner, but UD5H would take second place?
> Hmm, H100 looks affordable. I take it cools much better than D14? Which one is more silent then?


Yes for cheap mobos *UD*3H - best. For mid end mobos, Maximus V Gene or Maximus V Formula, you said something cheap now your looking at 300$ range i dont get it







if you can afford the best balance from the mid end segment atm is Maximus V Formula, and for a bit cheaper Maximus V Gene but its MATX, UD5H is also quite good, but can't compare to Gene or Formula. Maximus IV Extreme is amazing, but its more for 2600/2700K i would not get it if i would buy Ivy Bridge CPU, for that i strongly suggest Z77 based mobo.

H100 is like 10000 times louder then D14 if both on max rpm, but it has fan speed settings so it should be good, if you want your components to be able to being seen , get H100 (case with window that is) otherwise D14, even if it does cover almost the whole mobo :








H100 offer better temps then D14 for like 2-3c as max, and this is on extreme settings, (*with both coolers with fans on max*) like 4.8GHZ + with medium to high overclocks, they are very close.

P.S. Its getting way offtopic bro, if you want open your thread, and pm with link, i will help you no problem, this is GTX680 Lightning thread








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> They use the same CHiL 8318 chip, so it _might_ be possible. I'd be surprised if it does though.


Thanks lets hope


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Regarding the 7970 matrix I have asked about it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and if their doing a 680 version.


Well, 680 Matrix will take even longer to come out, if they even make one. Really want the 7970 Matrix though







.


----------



## dph314

I want 2.2.3









Wonder if MSI will drag their feet with this 'internal testing' the same way they did when getting a card to Unwinder. He got it working in 2 hours (aside from the offset feature) and it could take 2 weeks for MSI to grant permission to release it.


----------



## resis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> P.S. Its getting way offtopic bro, if you want open your thread, and pm with link, i will help you no problem, this is GTX680 Lightning thread


Yeah better is. Thanks for everybody's patience with me.









http://www.overclock.net/t/1285110/upgrading-pc


----------



## Xnerdz

Since undwinder develops on lightnings, will the Triple Overvoltage be unlocked on the Power Edition too???
Does the lightning and the PE have the same pcb ? (except for the reactor thing of course)


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Since undwinder develops on lightnings, will the Triple Overvoltage be unlocked on the Power Edition too???
> Does the lightning and the PE have the same pcb ? (except for the reactor thing of course)


Over at guru3d.com he stated he wasnt sure if it would work or not because he never recieved the Power Edition GPU.


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Since undwinder develops on lightnings, will the Triple Overvoltage be unlocked on the Power Edition too???
> Does the lightning and the PE have the same pcb ? (except for the reactor thing of course)


The Power Edition doesn't have a voltage controller that allows control through software. It has the same exact controller that all reference cards have. This makes their claim to triple overvoltage questionable.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> The Power Edition doesn't have a voltage controller that allows control through software. It has the same exact controller that all reference cards have. This makes their claim to triple overvoltage questionable.


If it has the same controller, and they stated it would have OverVoltage support, then what would be the distinguishing factor that would still prevent it on the reference cards? If the controller is the same, would a BIOS flash allow voltage control on the references?


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> If it has the same controller, and they stated it would have OverVoltage support, then what would be the distinguishing factor that would still prevent it on the reference cards? If the controller is the same, would a BIOS flash allow voltage control on the references?


I'm not sure. The controller is the issue I believe. From TPU's review:
Quote:


> MSI uses use a Richtek RT8802A voltage controller on their card, just like the reference design. This is a fairly simple controller which does not offer any monitoring features or software voltage control. Voltages are controlled via VID pins that are directly connected to the GPU.


A BIOS flash wouldn't give the hardware support for a feature that it just doesn't have. I'm not sure what MSI's plan is.


----------



## exploiteddna

im ready to sign NDA and waive my warranty if it will get me voltage control up to 1.6 ~ 1.7


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> im ready to sign NDA and waive my warranty if it will get me voltage control up to 1.6 ~ 1.7


So can anyone do that? Just wondering, like if I'm still running really cool with a waterblock someday because MSI gives us a low max voltage with regular AB.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> So can anyone do that? Just wondering, like if I'm still running really cool with a waterblock someday because MSI gives us a low max voltage with regular AB.


to be honest, i don't know the exact procedure. It's something I'm going to start asking around about. I know people who have a special AB for 7970 so they may be able to tell me how to go about asking for a special AB for 680


----------



## NateST

What kind of FPS are you guys seeing on BF3 Ultra Presets @ 1080 or 1200 on 1300+ Core?


----------



## dVeLoPe

price is back up to 599 + 10$ shipping so i guess im waiting for a 4gb extreme version


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> The Power Edition doesn't have a voltage controller that allows control through software. It has the same exact controller that all reference cards have. This makes their claim to triple overvoltage questionable.


maybe the PWM controller was implemented differently....Richtek RT8802A permits to have a voltage up to 1.6 with appropriate vid pin configuration ...look the datasheet


----------



## ahnafakeef

I don't know whether this is the right place to ask or not, but here goes nothing.

MSI HD 7970 Lightning vs MSI GTX 680 Lightning - which one should I get? For a 1080p screen.

Thanks a lot!


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ahnafakeef*
> 
> I don't know whether this is the right place to ask or not, but here goes nothing.
> MSI HD 7970 Lightning vs MSI GTX 680 Lightning - which one should I get? For a 1080p screen.
> Thanks a lot!


for 1080p IMHO I believe that the 680 lightning would be a better buy. Once you move into 1440p+ I think its generally agreed that the 7970 is better.

also just another reminder about the 680 lightning fullcover waterblock that I'm trying to get for us members to buy








http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30

details are inside the thread.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> maybe the PWM controller was implemented differently....Richtek RT8802A permits to have a voltage up to 1.6 with appropriate vid pin configuration ...look the datasheet


thats nothing new. theres been a voltmod out for months now that uses the vid pins to set the desired voltage.. the problem is it is a hard mod, multiple soldering points and lots of places to make mistakes. there is no way to control the voltage output by manipulating the rt8802a with software.

this is what you have to do to set voltage through vid pins. this cant be done with software.


----------



## cowie

thats not the only game in town
theres sammy's way also

http://kingpincooling.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1680&page=4
you have to short three resisters also all of which can be found in the first page


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ahnafakeef*
> 
> I don't know whether this is the right place to ask or not, but here goes nothing.
> MSI HD 7970 Lightning vs MSI GTX 680 Lightning - which one should I get? For a 1080p screen.
> Thanks a lot!


Depends on the games you play and what kind of price you're willing to pay. In Sweden, the 7970 Lightning is about 140$ cheaper than the 680 Lightning atm.


----------



## ahnafakeef

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Depends on the games you play and what kind of price you're willing to pay. In Sweden, the 7970 Lightning is about 140$ cheaper than the 680 Lightning atm.


I don't play just one game and I don't play online multiplayers or competitively. My favorite titles are Assassins Creed, NFS, GTA, Devil May Cry, Tomb Raider, Mirrors Edge etc. and the occasional FPS and RTS.

I'm going to be getting it from abroad and honestly, I don't know what the difference in price is going to be. This is why I have stopped considering price as a factor. But I try to get the idea about price from newegg.com. And according to those prices I;m okay with both their prices.

So which one would be better? I want it to last at least until whatever cards come out in 2014.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ahnafakeef*
> 
> I don't play just one game and I don't play online multiplayers or competitively. My favorite titles are Assassins Creed, NFS, GTA, Devil May Cry, Tomb Raider, Mirrors Edge etc. and the occasional FPS and RTS.
> I'm going to be getting it from abroad and honestly, I don't know what the difference in price is going to be. This is why I have stopped considering price as a factor. But I try to get the idea about price from newegg.com. And according to those prices I;m okay with both their prices.
> So which one would be better? I want it to last at least until whatever cards come out in 2014.


From what I've heard, the 680 Lightning runs way cooler. Lot more overclocking potential in the future for when you want to push it a little further for more demanding games.

But I would wait until the software is released (Afterburner 2.2.3) and we get the full picture on both cards.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ahnafakeef*
> 
> I don't play just one game and I don't play online multiplayers or competitively. My favorite titles are Assassins Creed, NFS, GTA, Devil May Cry, Tomb Raider, Mirrors Edge etc. and the occasional FPS and RTS.
> I'm going to be getting it from abroad and honestly, I don't know what the difference in price is going to be. This is why I have stopped considering price as a factor. But I try to get the idea about price from newegg.com. And according to those prices I;m okay with both their prices.
> So which one would be better? I want it to last at least until whatever cards come out in 2014.


Then you should look into the 670, if those are your games.


----------



## EM2J

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Then you should look into the 670, if those are your games.


i believe he's in the market for a 120hz monitor as well....in that case, he's going to want the 680 that has a little more juice.

@120hz/1080p, 680 lightning all the way.


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Then you should look into the 670, if those are your games.


Agreed, a 670 will push those games without breaking a sweat (obviously a 680 would do an even better job... but it will cost you another $130)

EDIT: Nevermind, i just was you are looking to apply this to a 120Mhz monitor. Yea, get a 680 Lightning.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

If you wanted ultimate performance you could go with two 7870's which would cost similar to the 680 Lightning but destroy it in terms of performance. That would be much more complicated though. I still suggest the 680 Lightning...


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> If you wanted ultimate performance you could go with two 7870's which would cost similar to the 680 Lightning but destroy it in terms of performance. That would be much more complicated though. I still suggest the 680 Lightning...


For $300 I loved my 6870 CF setup, but I did have a fair share of performance issues with certain games. Can't say I recommend CF/SLi.


----------



## Xnerdz

The worst FPS I had in Metro 2033 was 40 in some specific scenes, with my 670 PE (all max settings).
And it's not a good game for nvidia in every benchmark I've seen.
So, I'd say it's a prety descend card in terms of performance even if it's not a 680 lightning.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> The worst FPS I had in Metro 2033 was 40 in some specific scenes, with my 670 PE (all max settings).
> And it's not a good game for nvidia in every benchmark I've seen.
> So, I'd say it's a prety descend card in terms of performance even if it's not a 680 lightning.


No, just no.

You didn't max all settings *at 40 fps as min*, that's not possible my friend.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> No, just no.
> You didn't max all settings *at 40 fps as min*, that's not possible my friend.


Yeah, even the best cards go as low as 5fp/s.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> No, just no.
> You didn't max all settings *at 40 fps as min*, that's not possible my friend.


DX10 mode and no Advanced Physics probably.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> No, just no.
> You didn't max all settings *at 40 fps as min*, that's not possible my friend.


Metro looks the same whether you run medium settings or max settings - simply lowering 1-2 settings and disabling physx will let it run fine, and it will almost exactly look the same. The engine isn't even that great, the fact that it runs so slow is quite dumb. Crysis 2 looks way better and runs much more fluid.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> thats not the only game in town
> theres sammy's way also
> http://kingpincooling.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1680&page=4
> you have to short three resisters also all of which can be found in the first page


right, obviously there is more than one voltmod out there...
but this is the only way that involves manipulating the VID pins of the richtek controller, which is what we're talking about here.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Metro looks the same whether you run medium settings or max settings - simply lowering 1-2 settings and disabling physx will let it run fine, and it will almost exactly look the same. The engine isn't even that great, the fact that it runs so slow is quite dumb. Crysis 2 looks way better and runs much more fluid.


Crysis1 and Warhead are still the best looking games when moded, nothing comes close. To bad SSAA wont work in Crysis


----------



## NateST

Yeah I really don't want to deal with a CF/SLI setup if I don't have too. I believe this will be the best solution for single card BF3... possibly the DC2 TOP however is in the running.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Metro looks the same whether you run medium settings or max settings - simply lowering 1-2 settings and disabling physx will let it run fine, and it will almost exactly look the same. The engine isn't even that great, the fact that it runs so slow is quite dumb. Crysis 2 looks way better and runs much more fluid.


Truth be told!


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NateST*
> 
> Yeah I really don't want to deal with a CF/SLI setup if I don't have too. I believe this will be the best solution for single card BF3... possibly the DC2 TOP however is in the running.


My DC II non-TOP, flashed to a TOP, has been a champ. Overclocks to ~1350's with no vmod, and closer to 1475 with 1.35V. If I had to complain, it would be the dinky VRM cooling, and non existent VRAM cooling (other than blow by air from the heatsink fans). I like the card though, and it's water cooled, so no big deal.

That being said, if Afterburner does something good for these Lightnings, they'd probably end up being my first choice, especially for an air cooled card


----------



## AndrewK

Would any of you guys mind uploading your LN2 bios from the lightning?

Much appreciated


----------



## exploiteddna

gpuz is telling me "bios reading not supported on this device" when i try to save the ln2 bios.. sorry dude, no go.


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Would any of you guys mind uploading your LN2 bios from the lightning?
> Much appreciated


You can download it directly from msi http://www.msi-computer.de/product/vga/N680GTX-Lightning.html#?div=Firmware


----------



## AndrewK

You have to unlock read/write. But I found a copy of both bios' - thanks!


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> No, just no.
> You didn't max all settings *at 40 fps as min*, that's not possible my friend.


Your probably right...
I don't know how to edit all the settings, I can only touch those between "Directx 11 options" and "Gamma"
Anyway, these are my settings.
I also edited the config file to have the v-sync but I'm not sure it worked well


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Yeah, even the best cards go as low as 5fp/s.


I was wrong







The lowest isn't 40.
I just played a couple of minutes and It seams to be more around 20 fps min.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Metro looks the same whether you run medium settings or max settings - simply lowering 1-2 settings and disabling physx will let it run fine, and it will almost exactly look the same. The engine isn't even that great, the fact that it runs so slow is quite dumb. Crysis 2 looks way better and runs much more fluid.


What exactly is physx







I don't know how to deactivate it (or activate it)...
That's what I get when I go the the nvidia CP.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Your probably right...
> I don't know how to edit all the settings, I can only touch those between "Directx 11 options" and "Gamma"
> Anyway, these are my settings.
> I also edited the config file to have the v-sync but I'm not sure it worked well
> 
> 
> I was wrong
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The lowest isn't 40.
> I just played a couple of minutes and It seams to be more around 20 fps min.
> What exactly is physx
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know how to deactivate it (or activate it)...
> That's what I get when I go the the nvidia CP.


Where it says auto select, to disable physx set that to cpu.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Where it says auto select, to disable physx set that to cpu.


Ok








But, what it does? is it the best for gaming or to benchmark or anything else... I just want to understand


----------



## dph314

The Contol Panel Physx section just lets you decide which GPU to process it on, if you have more than one. You don't have a choice since you only have one (do not run it on the CPU, it's horrible). It's turned on and off within each individual games' settings though. In Metro there is a 'Advanced PhysX' option, you can turn it on and off in Metro with that setting.


----------



## Xnerdz

Ok so i'm leaving it to my gpu if it is the best.

I took a pic where the game seems to be the most demanding and I got 20 fps
It's in the war chapter


From what I remember, when I played that game last week (great game btw), the avg fps was ~40 I think (I might have mixed up the min and avg in my head







)


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Ok
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But, what it does? is it the best for gaming or to benchmark or anything else... I just want to understand


Nvidia only physics - they bought Ageia and PhysX with it - only used in a few games - think ATI/AMD use Havok physics, but DX11 has physics hooks anyway....
PhysX not allowed in some HWBot benches...
Not that big a deal....

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhysX for a list of games and better explanation.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Nvidia only physics - they bought Ageia and PhysX with it - only used in a few games - think ATI/AMD use Havok physics, but DX11 has physics hooks anyway....
> PhysX not allowed in some HWBot benches...
> Not that big a deal....
> see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhysX for a list of games and better explanation.










Thanks

EDIT: You're right, I should have gone here before asking. I guess I'm just playing too lazy on this forum since I _ask_ before I _google_ things


----------



## psyside

One way or another highly overclocked 7970 1250+ on core and as much as possible on ram, will give you "playable" Metro 2033 experience regarding single gpu performance.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Metro looks the same whether you run medium settings or max settings
> .


That isnt true, there is even a difference going from high to very high and its the lighting which vastly improves once very high is enabled plus you can use the games built in AA method instead of forcing MSAA which takes more of a performance hit. The best settings to go with for the best visual experience is to enable Very High but disable advanced physics/advanced dof and tesselation. Those 3 features will eat up your frame rates and give very little in return for improved visuals.

Btw DX11 very high runs the exact same as DX10 very high so I always enable DX11.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> One way or another highly overclocked 7970 1250+ on core and as much as possible on ram, will give you "playable" Metro 2033 experience regarding single gpu performance.


When I had my HD 7970 I loved the way it ran metro 2033, GTX 680 loses that one for sure.


----------



## ahnafakeef

According to the MSI site, the 680 Lightning only comes with a DVI to VGA adapter.

What adapter/cable is required to use this card with the Samsung S23A950D?

I'm concerned esp because I read that 120Hz can only be accessed with only one particular port, don't remember which one it is though.

Can anyone using this card with a 120Hz monitor shed some light on this issue?

Thanks a lot!


----------



## pwnzilla61

Looks like the lightning blocks are incoming. I should be able to order on Thursday. Cannot wait to be a part of this club.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xnerdz*
> 
> Your probably right...
> I don't know how to edit all the settings, I can only touch those between "Directx 11 options" and "Gamma"
> Anyway, these are my settings.
> I also edited the config file to have the v-sync but I'm not sure it worked well
> 
> 
> I was wrong
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The lowest isn't 40.
> I just played a couple of minutes and It seams to be more around 20 fps min.
> What exactly is physx
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know how to deactivate it (or activate it)...
> That's what I get when I go the the nvidia CP.


Nobody said you can't run 2033 at a minimum of 40fps. You just can't with max settings. Duh!


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ahnafakeef*
> 
> According to the MSI site, the 680 Lightning only comes with a DVI to VGA adapter.
> What adapter/cable is required to use this card with the Samsung S23A950D?
> I'm concerned esp because I read that 120Hz can only be accessed with only one particular port, don't remember which one it is though.
> Can anyone using this card with a 120Hz monitor shed some light on this issue?
> Thanks a lot!


It works perfectly fine with a 120Hz monitor. It's a top end card, it if wouldn't, it would be quite pathetic :d.

PS. I'm using it with a 120Hz monitor. Specifically, an Alienware AW2310 OptX.


----------



## Ice009

Got a question about using the GTX 680 Lightning on a Rampage 4 Formula X79 MB with a Noctua NH-D14. I obviously know that it won't fit with the reactor cap as there is only a 1-3mm clearance, but will it fit without the reactor cap? Anyone using the card on a R4F with an Air Cooler?

The GTX 680 back plate looks like it sicks out a bit from the card. I've currently got my GTX 580 Lightning in that first PCI-e x 16 slot, but that doesn't have a back plate and I had to run electrical tape around the wire clips of the NH-D14 as one clip touches a component on the back of the card. Also, how hot do the components get on the card? The electrical tape wouldn't melt would it?


----------



## ahnafakeef

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> It works perfectly fine with a 120Hz monitor. It's a top end card, it if wouldn't, it would be quite pathetic :d.
> PS. I'm using it with a 120Hz monitor. Specifically, an Alienware AW2310 OptX.


I know that it will work with a 120Hz monitor. But thats not my question.

What port are you using to connect the card to the monitor? DP, HDMI, VGA, DVI?

AFAIK, HDMI doesnt have the bandwidth to provide 120Hz. DP is required for it. Now that I rechecked, I found out that the card has a DP of its own and I'll just need a DP cable in order to connect it to a 120Hz screen and get 120Hz.

Thanks anyways!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ice009*
> 
> Got a question about using the GTX 680 Lightning on a Rampage 4 Formula X79 MB with a Noctua NH-D14. I obviously know that it won't fit with the reactor cap as there is only a 1-3mm clearance, but will it fit without the reactor cap? Anyone using the card on a R4F with an Air Cooler?
> The GTX 680 back plate looks like it sicks out a bit from the card. I've currently got my GTX 580 Lightning in that first PCI-e x 16 slot, but that doesn't have a back plate and I had to run electrical tape around the wire clips of the NH-D14 as one clip touches a component on the back of the card. Also, how hot do the components get on the card? The electrical tape wouldn't melt would it?


No. It won't fit. I know this for a fact unfortunately









You would have to take the backplate off.

Get a H100 and you'll be fine


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ahnafakeef*
> 
> According to the MSI site, the 680 Lightning only comes with a DVI to VGA adapter.
> What adapter/cable is required to use this card with the Samsung S23A950D?
> I'm concerned esp because I read that 120Hz can only be accessed with only one particular port, don't remember which one it is though.
> Can anyone using this card with a 120Hz monitor shed some light on this issue?
> Thanks a lot!


You can use a mini-DP to DP cable. That's what I used for my 7970 Lightning and S27A950D...


----------



## MrMarauder

For all those wondering, disabling DOF in Metro 2033 will greatly reduce the FPS drop, but won't sacrifice quality.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> For all those wondering, disabling DOF in Metro 2033 will greatly reduce the FPS drop, but won't sacrifice quality.


Yeah I never play it with DoF on. Can't even notice the difference really.


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> For all those wondering, disabling DOF in Metro 2033 will greatly reduce the FPS drop, but won't sacrifice quality.


Great advice thanks


----------



## Bosniac

I've received my new MB today, the ASUS Z77 Sabretooth today. Putting my old into my wife's "work" PC.

Just figured I share, and ask, should I upgrade to IB and make use of the board or stay at 2500K. Which btw, reached 5GHz today at max 65c stressing.


----------



## NateST

I think I'm going to wait to see if/what 2.2.3 AB brings, if we're talking 1400+ consistently then this card will be a no brainer for me. If not then i might consider saving $100 and just going CFX 7970s


----------



## XbeaTX

http://download3.msi.com/files/downloads/uti_exe/vga/MSIAfterburnerSetup223.zip

come on guys! download the new version now


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> MSI Afterburner Version 2.2.3 (2012/7/24)
> Revised I2C access API for NVIDIA 301.xx and newer display drivers
> Added core, memory and auxiliary PEXVDD voltage control for custom design MSI N680GTX Lightning series graphics cards with CHL8318+uP6262 voltage regulators
> Added memory and VRM temperature monitoring for custom design MSI N680GTX Lightning series graphics cards with NCT7718W thermal sensors
> Added core, memory and auxiliary PEXVDD voltage control for custom design MSI N670GTX Power Edition series graphics cards with uP6262 voltage regulators


----------



## exploiteddna

http://www.msi.com/product/vga/N680GTX-Lightning.html#/?div=Utility&os=All

yep its out


----------



## Zero4549

Results?


----------



## exploiteddna

im still only getting +100mv for vcore... actually when i hit "apply" it drops it down to +93mv

+100mv vmem
+50mv vpll

dont know why im not getting any extra vcore...
will try the non-LN2 bios now

it may be because im using 304.79 beta drivers


----------



## exploiteddna

nope, the only thing that has changed is the extra 100mv for vmem and 50mv for vpll
my vcore is still maxing out at 1.215

tried 301.42 and 304.79 drivers
tried LN2 bios and regular bios

no go


----------



## XbeaTX

first run ... just for test it


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> 
> first run ... just for test it


sure looks like it works

have you read voltage with a dmm?


----------



## sam350

from 3d guru web site

While I was writing this article I learned that NVIDIA just issued new BIOS files to the AIC partners and is frowning upon voltage tweaking outside their limitations. As such all new batches Lightning cards will have BIOSes where their limit of 1.175V is enforced, even in the LN2 BIOS. MSI has to follow that directive or probably face the fact that they will not be able to purchase the GPUs anymore.

That means that only the first batch of 5000 cards will have an OLD Bios that is freed up from the limitation and thus allows voltage tweaking to a certain extent. We can only assume that the old BIOS will spread like a virus to current Lightning owners to give them a little more flexibility on voltage tweaking matters.

OWNERS THAT ARE GETTING +300MV PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR BIOS.....AS MSI HAVE SAID ONLY FIRST 5,000 CARDS HAD UNLOCKED BIOS EVERYONE ELSE WILL ONLY GET =100 CORE OR LESS I GET ABOUT +80......

WITH NEW SOFTWARE I CAN GET 1350MHZ CORE STABLE.....PLEASE POST BIOS SOMEONE SO WE CAN SHARE


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> 
> first run ... just for test it


Woah , nice OC!!!


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> sure looks like it works
> have you read voltage with a dmm?


I'll try better later... unfortunately i have to go at work in half hour


----------



## exploiteddna

http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-gtx-680-lightning-voltage-tweaking/

basically were all screwed

can someone please figure out a VR mod for this card so we can actually bench the dang thing!?!?!?!?


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-gtx-680-lightning-voltage-tweaking/
> basically were all screwed
> 
> can someone please figure out a VR mod for this card so we can actually bench the dang thing!?!?!?!?


I'm sure msi themselves will get the mod to its pro clockers soon.
BTW
did you even test for cb cbb yet?


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> I'll try better later... unfortunately i have to go at work in half hour


1440 is nice boost clocks not bad for it "not working"


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> I'm sure msi themselves will get the mod to its pro clockers soon.
> BTW
> did you even test for cb cbb yet?


nope.. but i saw a ref card cb at -60 or around there.. i havent wasted my time testing for cb/cbb yet.. frustrating

this is my most expensive piece of hardware and its the only one that hasnt been benched lol


----------



## Benchmarksli

Yeah, the guru3d article is really depressing. Even with the old BIOS, voltage adjustment desn't seem like the old days...EVGA Jacob was right, sadly. If Nvidia does this again with GK110, I'm jumping ship to AMD.
Quote:


> That means that only the first batch of 5000 cards will have an OLD Bios that is freed up from the limitation and thus allows voltage tweaking to a certain extent. We can only assume that the old BIOS will spread like a virus to current Lightning owners to give them a little more flexibility on voltage tweaking matters.
> 
> We understand NVIDIA's point of view on this, really .. extreme voltage tweaking can damage GPUs, and in the end these are returned to NVIDIA. Next to that the complexity of this new methodology is extensive and to a certain extent even unreliable. For NVIDIA it thus is matter of RMA and cost.
> 
> The flipside of the coin however is that when imposing such limitation on the high-end GPUs it pretty much kills off the fun for many of you. Extreme performance and tweaks drive the overclocking community and in the end drive the sales of the complete product line.
> 
> *We do hope this point of view will change in the future allowing the AIC partners more flexibility. But for now you guys will have to face the fact that NVIDIA's 1.175V limitation is a solid fact. But sure, this news is a little bitter.*


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> 
> first run ... just for test it


That is a BEASTLY score on air!


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> nope.. but i saw a ref card cb at -60 or around there.. i havent wasted my time testing for cb/cbb yet.. frustrating
> this is my most expensive piece of hardware and its the only one that hasnt been benched lol


i had ref and non ref act funky under cold so far(pissed me off) msi pros will get a hard mod soon i'm sure if the software does not do you well


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> i had ref and non ref act funky under cold so far(pissed me off) msi pros will get a hard mod soon i'm sure if the software does not do you well


yeah i hope so..

in other news.. my multimeter is reading out a max core voltage of 1.349 now, even though afterburner is the same +100mv

..and ive already pushed the core to 1360mhz (and still going up), when before my max core was 1320


----------



## cowie

well sir you are getting there its adding +100mv so your ln2 bios 1..24+.10= 1.34 there you go i knew it had to work since XBEATX is upwards to 1440 boost clock on his run







.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> well sir you are getting there its adding +100mv so your ln2 bios 1..24+.10= 1.34 there you go i knew it had to work since XBEATX is upwards to 1440 boost clock on his run
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


yeah its definitely a nice surprise..
i will enjoy this for a little bit but definitely still looking for subzero voltages


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> yeah i hope so..
> in other news.. my multimeter is reading out a max core voltage of 1.349 now, even though afterburner is the same +100mv
> ..and ive already pushed the core to 1360mhz (and still going up), when before my max core was 1320


.

I was able to get a stable +60 extra on the core this morning Old was +90 now I am at +150. I was able to change the power limit to 300 but every time I put the volts to 100 and hit apply it would drop them back to 97. Do you have any idea why?


----------



## Mr.Pie

hmmmm
I'm really hating Nvidia for doing this. If Nvidia continues this practice on its next set of cards I'm jumping ship to AMD


----------



## xoleras

Anyway, this afterburner works for me. *I get over 1.3V per my multimeter* and have successfully benchmarked 1372 in SLI with additional voltage. I also noticed that I can go up to 300% power now.. Further, this afterburner allows VRM Temperature monitoring and as I mentioned to you guys earlier the VRM is much warmer than the core temp! VRM temps are VERY important for OC'ing.

Guess I have the original release BIOS.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I bet this all happened because of EVGA whining to nvidia. So instead of looking for a real solution, they whined to nvidia so they could sell more EV Bots. I'd bet money this is what happened.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> F U EVGA
> Anyway, this afterburner works for me. *I get over 1.3V per my multimeter* and have successfully benchmarked 1372 in SLI with additional voltage. I also noticed that I can go up to 300% power now.. Further, this afterburner allows VRM Temperature monitoring and as I mentioned to you guys earlier the VRM is much warmer than the core temp! VRM temps are VERY important for OC'ing.
> Guess I have the original release BIOS.


Does your volt slider go over 100>?


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I bet this all happened because of EVGA whining to nvidia. So instead of looking for a real solution, they whined to nvidia so they could sell more EV Bots. I'd bet money this is what happened.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> F U EVGA
> Anyway, this afterburner works for me. *I get over 1.3V per my multimeter* and have successfully benchmarked 1372 in SLI with additional voltage. I also noticed that I can go up to 300% power now.. Further, this afterburner allows VRM Temperature monitoring and as I mentioned to you guys earlier the VRM is much warmer than the core temp! VRM temps are VERY important for OC'ing.
> Guess I have the original release BIOS.


very nice








I suggest someone upload the old bios and put it in the OP so people with the new bios can hopefully flash it onto their cards? (assuming that both bios's are interchangeable)

anddddddd one more thing:
pricing for the 680 lightning waterblock from AquaComputer is about to be finalized after Gary gets back to me with costs for paypal/CC and shipping. I'll keep this thread updated http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30
with information for pre-orders/payment.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Does your volt slider go over 100>?


No. But I still get over 1.3V. I'm not sure how the slider works but it is applying over voltage.


----------



## xoleras

Gentlemen, 1382mhz in SLI










http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3958369


----------



## xoleras

I will try to upload my BIOS so all lightning owners can get this, if anyone can provide me instructions on how to do so.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> No. But I still get over 1.3V. I'm not sure how the slider works but it is applying over voltage.


Ok good stuff , I need to buy a tester!!
while I am not hitting 1400 anytime soon I was able to get 1362 on the core and 600 on the mem now which is 70mhz over my original stable core oc.
I am very happy and most people with the classified aren't seeing those numbers


----------



## emett

In gpuz about in the middle on the right there is a little button. Click it and it will ask for a location to save your bios too.
Store it somewhere on your pc, then upload for all interested. It should only be a small file, about 100kb.


----------



## xoleras

gpu-z doesn't work on the lightning. For saving the BIOS. Might have to use nv flash.


----------



## xoleras

Gentlemen, I just benched 1402 in SLI, however temps on the VRM are a bigger issue. I was using 70% manual fan at the time, but it was COMPLETELY STABLE









I will post pictures later.

Here is 1382 in SLI:










http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3958369








F YOU EVGA


----------



## cowie

if someone can please show us some vrm temps in something like heaven bench.
i would think they are not going over 80c or so?

heres hilberts tests on the 2.2.3
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-gtx-680-lightning-voltage-tweaking/


----------



## xoleras

You can see it yourself. You can now monitor VRM temps in afterburner 2.2.3, it is in your "monitor" tab in settings. You can monitor them within afterburner.


----------



## cowie

I know but dont have a card yet or i would have.


----------



## Bosniac

So, no wonder some Lightning owners are hitting mid 1200's....


----------



## error-id10t

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I will try to upload my BIOS so all lightning owners can get this, if anyone can provide me instructions on how to do so.
> Again
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> F U EVGA


Compare if it's already up.. it says it's Lightning but I don't have the card so check clocks etc.

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/122088/MSI.GTX680.2048.120528.html


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> So, no wonder some Lightning owners are hitting mid 1200's....


Exactly what I was thinking. Probably because the new release BIOS is on new lightning cards. I still need someone to tell me how to upload the proper BIOS, I have the unlocked BIOS on my cards. So these new BIOS' are causing new lightnings to not go as high.

I will bet money that EVGA is behind this crap. They probably went running to nvidia to complain after the lightning was released. I will never buy EVGA again, so you're tellin me that this method is not kosher but with EV Bot over-voltage is okay. FU EVGA







Never again EVGA, never again.

*Someone give me instructions on how to upload the BIOS with nvflash and I will do it.*


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *error-id10t*
> 
> Compare if it's already up.. it says it's Lightning but I don't have the card so check clocks etc.
> http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/122088/MSI.GTX680.2048.120528.html


How can I compare? I'm definitely not flashing my BIOS lol


----------



## cowie

there is no need to flash bios at all at this point

for nvflash commands look in nvflash info in the folder

save b -filename- Read EEPROM and save to -filename-.


----------



## Valenz

Unwinder post!!!

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=366203

A few things to keep in mind while overvolting 680 Lightning / 670 PE:

1) Even considering that it is showing you the same +100 as before, it is absolutely not the same overvoltage mode like on reference 680. On original 680 adding +100mV offset is done via NVIDIA driver and it just moves clock/voltage mapping curve a bit, limiting the maximum on NVIDIA driver level (1175mV on regular cards or 1215mV on Lightning with previous Afterburner versions). 2.2.3 deals with voltage regulator directly and it adds +100mV to any voltage commanded to VRM by NVIDIA driver. So under load it results in 1215mV + 100mV VID.
2) You cannot use GPUZ to monitor voltage control on 680 Lightning / 670 PE. Currently it shows target VID read from NVIDIA driver on these cards, it needs to support advanced VRMs of 680 Lightning / 670 PE to monitor proper voltage. Use DMM to control voltages.


----------



## xoleras

My cards get hot at 1402 mhz lol. 82C on my top card


----------



## Darco19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> My cards get hot at 1402 mhz lol. 82C on my top card


Is it BF3 stable?







Sounds amazing, I wish my TOP could get anywhere near...


----------



## EM2J

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-gtx-680-lightning-voltage-tweaking/
> basically were all screwed
> 
> can someone please figure out a VR mod for this card so we can actually bench the dang thing!?!?!?!?


returning all 4 of my cards, i respect msi for trying, but nvidia can suckit. and yeah evga can suckit too, cuz they probably had a hand in this. I'm grabbing a 7970 lightning.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> there is no need to flash bios at all at this point
> for nvflash commands look in nvflash info in the folder
> save b -filename- Read EEPROM and save to -filename-.


Does this have to be done on a DOS boot still? I can't do this in a DOS window can I?


----------



## lacrossewacker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> returning all 4 of my cards, i respect msi for trying, but nvidia can suckit. and yeah evga can suckit too, cuz they probably had a hand in this. I'm grabbing a 7970 lightning.


just going out on a limb here and saying there's no reason to blame EVGA, nvidia strictly said no software voltage changes. I don't know their reasoning, I personally figure they wanted to keep things as cheap as possible, so they limit the amount of overclocking possible so their cards don't melt.


----------



## bgineng

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> returning all 4 of my cards, i respect msi for trying, but nvidia can suckit. and yeah evga can suckit too, cuz they probably had a hand in this. I'm grabbing a 7970 lightning.


I am contemplating making a switch to AMD as well. I have a strange feeling that these locked voltages are not going to go away in future generations.


----------



## dph314

Anyone get the old BIOS up yet?


----------



## EM2J

Quote:


> The flipside of the coin however is that when imposing such limitation on the high-end GPUs it pretty much kills off the fun for many of you. Extreme performance and tweaks drive the overclocking community and in the end drive the sales of the complete product line.


*this this this* ya sure they may be saving money on rmas, but all their enthusiasts will jump ship, costing them, hopefully more, in the long run. once again, goodbye nvidia, FUUUU








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *lacrossewacker*
> 
> just going out on a limb here and saying there's no reason to blame EVGA, nvidia strictly said no software voltage changes. I don't know their reasoning, I personally figure they wanted to keep things as cheap as possible, so they limit the amount of overclocking possible so their cards don't melt.


I'll bet you as soon as evga heard msi was going to try and give the lightning voltage tweaking through software, i'm sure they went to nvidia and asked to put more presssure on msi. it's clear to me that evga tries to nickel and dime you with their accessories...backplate, highflow bracket, ev bot??? include it in a freaking package that isn't overpriced ffs


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Anyone get the old BIOS up yet?


Your cards have it don't they? Mine did...I bought on day1...


----------



## RobsM6S

Anyone with the Asus DC2 OC or TOP benefiting from the new afterburner?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Your cards have it don't they? Mine did...I bought on day1...


I just tested my newer card that was sent as a replacement to the Day 1 that died, goes up to 1.306v. Going to see what the other says now. But it's not getting the 1.35v that I've seen, so, would like that 1.35v


----------



## Menthol

On my way to work so only a couple minutes to download and try this morning but my Lighting hit 1400 mhz first try. didn't pass 3dm11. Did not improve my DC2T that I have in sli with the Lightning, but it hits 1367mhz already, best on Lightning previously was 1303, am looking forward to playing later.


----------



## Rolfenstein

I have a 7970 Lightning on the way in the mail. I mailed customer support of the shop to cancel the order but it was too late, perhaps thats a good thing..

Perhaps this is the reason I'm hitting 1250 max core then :|. Stupid BIOS.


----------



## dph314

Yeah just tested mine. Both go up to 1.306v. During 3dMark11 they went down to 1.277v when under load during the graphics tests.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Mine has definitely got the new BIOS. I'm stable on 1250 core without even touching the voltage and subsequently cant go over it because voltage wont affect my card :/.

This just made my decision a bit harder :|. Go over to 7970 Lighting or hopefully maybe call this BIOS up later maybe?


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Mine has definitely got the new BIOS. I'm stable on 1250 core without even touching the voltage and subsequently cant go over it because voltage wont affect my card :/.
> This just made my decision a bit harder :|. Go over to 7970 Lighting or hopefully maybe call this BIOS up later maybe?


Where did you buy your card from?
I got mine last week from TigerDirect and I can OC more now with the new AB.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Where did you buy your card from?
> I got mine last week from TigerDirect and I can OC more now with the new AB.


From a Swedish store called CDON.com. They're always a bit slow with getting in new releases when it comes to hardware but the prices are better. I guess this explains why I got the new BIOS on mine.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Kinda glad I stuck with 7970's now. Sure the 680 lightnings are doing amazing in 3dmark11 but I just prefer the freedom AMD offers compared to the nazi like rules nvidia is sticking to. Really missing the good old days of Fermi...


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Kinda glad I stuck with 7970's now. Sure the 680 lightnings are doing amazing in 3dmark11 but I just prefer the freedom AMD offers compared to the nazi like rules nvidia is sticking to. Really missing the good old days of Fermi...


Maybe they will do for GPU's what consoles did for gaming. You'll get voltage OC in form of DLC's...







Evbot does just that.


----------



## Newbie2009

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Afterburner-2.2.3-download-2952.html

Is this not news? Voltage control for u guys finally?









Changes list includes:

Revised I2C access API for NVIDIA 301.xx and newer display drivers
Added core, memory and auxiliary PEXVDD voltage control for custom design MSI N680GTX Lightning series graphics cards with CHL8318+uP6262 voltage regulators

Dated tomorrow lol


----------



## dph314

What's someone with a DMM reading when Afterburner says 1.306v? I don't have one so I can't check.

Also, I'll crash during the second or third graphics test in 3dMark11 at a certain clock, but if I hit escape after the first test (also the one that uses the most power), I'll see the voltage bouncing around 1.275v, not the 1.306v it jumps to when I click "Apply" after maxing the voltage slider. If the voltage doesn't hit 1.306v during the first test, it probably doesn't during subsequent ones.

Any feedback?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Newbie2009*
> 
> http://downloads.guru3d.com/Afterburner-2.2.3-download-2952.html
> Is this not news? Voltage control for u guys finally?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Changes list includes:
> Revised I2C access API for NVIDIA 301.xx and newer display drivers
> Added core, memory and auxiliary PEXVDD voltage control for custom design MSI N680GTX Lightning series graphics cards with CHL8318+uP6262 voltage regulators
> Dated tomorrow lol


Yep. We're in the testing phase


----------



## Newbie2009

Oh nice, looking forward to seeing results.


----------



## EM2J

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Maybe they will do for GPU's what consoles did for gaming. You'll get voltage OC in form of DLC's...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Evbot does just that.


lolrite was thinking the same thing... here, buy this graphics card...want to take full advantage of it? too bad cough up more money.


----------



## xFk

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> lolrite was thinking the same thing... here, buy this graphics card...want to take full advantage of it? too bad cough up more money.


at least the graphics card was resonably priced to begin with!


----------



## EM2J

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xFk*
> 
> at least the graphics card was resonably priced to begin with!


the evga classified at 660$? ya i know its 4gb but i don't know about that....... and you're missing the point. when i buy something i should have access to all it's features without coughing up more $$$ same goes with games...


----------



## xFk

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> the evga classified at 660$? ya i know its 4gb but i don't know about that.......


sarcasm my friend


----------



## Newbie2009

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-gtx-680-lightning-voltage-tweaking/
> basically were all screwed
> 
> can someone please figure out a VR mod for this card so we can actually bench the dang thing!?!?!?!?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xFk*
> 
> sarcasm my friend


What in God's name is Nvidia playing it???


----------



## EM2J

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xFk*
> 
> sarcasm my friend


sorry, maybe if you had a little more rep and posts i would have been able to sense it...







seeing you only have 100 posts and 5 rep and no avatar...who knows you could have actually believed paying 660$ for a beefed up 660ti i mean 680 was reasonable.


----------



## xFk

the tone of my voice should have been a dead giveaway









i do need an avatar


----------



## xoleras

edit: delete


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Dude, its not evga's fault. All the AIC's knew of nvidia's voltage policy long before the lightning came out. Msi is the one who decided to break the rules while evga abided by them. Jacob has been telling you guys this from the beginning. Its nvidia that is to blame, not evga...


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Mark my words, I am almost sure that EVGA had a hand in this new BIOS that all AIC makers have to use. They want to charge users for voltage 99$ and they complained to nvidia that the lightning was encroaching on their territory
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I will never, ever, ever buy an EVGA product.


Ahh, stop it. You're being paranoid and too harsh. There is no evidence of that. I think it has to do with Kepler architecture.


----------



## 2DeviationsOut

Dang, I'm so glad that I've already got my Lightning 680s. I bought them within a few days of their release, from Amazon. I've got a triple setup, and so if anyone tells me how to suck the BIOS off of them, I'll do it.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Ahh, stop it. You're being paranoid and too harsh. There is no evidence of that. I think it has to do with Kepler architecture.


+1


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Dude, its not evga's fault. All the AIC's knew of nvidia's voltage policy long before the lightning came out. Msi is the one who decided to break the rules while evga abided by them. Jacob has been telling you guys this from the beginning. Its nvidia that is to blame, not evga...


Fair enough, you're right, there is no evidence.... the blame lies with nvidia.

I'll concede to that and drop it.


----------



## xoleras

Yeah if anyone can share precise details on whether nvflash requires a DOS boot or not I will try to get my BIOS up.


----------



## Valenz

I am contemplating picking up a second one and hoping I get a old one before they are all gone.


----------



## xoleras

As long as people sitll have the original BIOS circulating we should be good to go...

I don't have MS DOS 6.22 disks so i'm not sure how to get a DOS Boot going to extract the BIOS....i'm 99% sure you can't do it from a DOS window..


----------



## Newbie2009

For next gen ati/nvidia , I would like a switch to disable all restrictions and garbage. However I can see it getting worse and not better


----------



## dph314

What are you guys with the old BIOS reading in Afterburner? Both of mine say 1.306v max, and I have one from Day 1 and one that was sent to me as a replacement last week.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Yeah if anyone can share precise details on whether nvflash requires a DOS boot or not I will try to get my BIOS up.


You need this file: USB flash tool for NVIDIA GPU's +Fermi BIOS guide

*To copy VGA bios:*
Open folder "USB flash tool for NVIDIA GPU's +Fermi BIOS guide"

Open folder "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool" See SP27213.exe

Instal to your PC. It will instal itself in a folder called "USBDriveFormatTool". Open it.

Have a flash drive plugged in ready to use. Click on HPUSBFW.EXE

Choose "Create a DOS startup disk" using files found by browsing to your "USB flash tool for NVIDIA GPU's +Fermi BIOS guide" folder. Select "USB image w7" and Start. This takes ages.

Then;

Copy "USB flash tool for NVIDIA GPU's +Fermi BIOS guide/nvflash" folder contents to the usb

Restart and in motherboard bios make the usb drive the first in your boot order list.

It will say Windows Millenium and below that c: prompt

Type c:nvflash -b backup.rom

That makes a copy of yr vga rom.

*To install bios:*

Enter bios. Set to start on USB.

Just type nvflash (biosname).rom and if there is protection that stops you then try again with nvflash -4 -5 -6 (biosname).rom

Nvflash will recognise the bioses one at a time and ask for a y for yes prompt to continue.

When all bios are flashed, restart, enter bios, reset boot order to HDD first, save and reboot.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Very helpful Alan! +1 imaginary rep for you sir!


----------



## xoleras

Thank you good sir, +rep. I will do this later today.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> What are you guys with the old BIOS reading in Afterburner? Both of mine say 1.306v max, and I have one from Day 1 and one that was sent to me as a replacement last week.


Just ordered a multimeter and I will check mine.
I know I am benefiting from the voltage increase because going from +90 core to + 160 core would not be possible.
Very happy with my card as I never planned on Water cooling it anyway.


----------



## xoleras

Yeah, i'll check again when I get back home but I know my overclock results jumped by 50mhz with nothing else changing...there's definitely more voltage being fed, but I will double check this evening.


----------



## 2DeviationsOut

Is it possible to boot a DOS install off of a USB drive? If so, then we should be able to do it there.


----------



## 2DeviationsOut

EDIT: I accidentally a double post.


----------



## NateST

Is this the proper BIOS? http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/122088/MSI.GTX680.2048.120528.html


----------



## xoleras

1392mhz in SLI, note i'm using ivy bridge so my physics score is not as good as SB-e. Note the graphics score

My temps are high during benching at these voltages so i'd like to put these cards under water as soon as blocks are available.

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3960407










With SB-E this would be over 21k total I believe. I do think this is the highest graphics (not combined) score recorded on OCN


----------



## AndrewK

Even with voltage unlocked bios, are you guys capping around 1.325v? That is what the classy is maxing at without any soldering, as it is being limited by the current sense resistors controlling overcurrent protection.


----------



## Bosniac

Long day at work today. Can't wait to see what it will do. I am hoping 1400, since I can hit 1350/7200 in 3DM11 already, and 1331 stable in Heaven/all games.


----------



## AndrewK

Xoleras - are you sure those cards are stable at those speeds? Often if they are oc'ed too high you'll actually lose scores. 2 of my classy's in sli at stock speeds net 28962 graphics score.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Even with voltage unlocked bios, are you guys capping around 1.325v? That is what the classy is maxing at without any soldering, as it is being limited by the current sense resistors controlling overcurrent protection.


I will double check this evening but I believe so. The lightning does not thermal or overcurrent throttle, so your clockspeeds will stick on the lightning during benching even at super high voltages..

The temps are high at around 1400mhz/1.3V, no doubt about that.....but I am running in SLI so that is a consideration. My top card would near 75-76C and the bottom mid 60s during stress testing at high voltages/speeds, but would not throttle. For this I am going to look at water blocks whenever they're available.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Xoleras - are you sure those cards are stable at those speeds? Often if they are oc'ed too high you'll actually lose scores. 2 of my classy's in sli at stock speeds net 28962 graphics score.


Your graphics score in 2 way SLI is absolutely not 28962. The world record on file currently is 27k on LN2 with 2 GK104s at 1800mhz.

This is the world record SLI graphics score:

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3834479

And I know for a fact you're not beating that score







edit: you're also understanding that i'm looking at the graphics score only in 2 way SLI with no other cards installed right?


----------



## AndrewK

You're right, that's my bad. I had just peeked quick at my screenshots not realizing that was for tri sli, stock. My apologies.

Regarding the bios, do you think there's any reason a classy would reject the lightning bios? Tried it last night and it didn't like it so much...


----------



## hammerforged

Newegg should be getting an open box Lightning today because I RMA'd mine last week for a refund. It will do 1322 and has the old bios so keep an eye out for it if anyone is interested in picking up another card. I guess its a good thing I did.

This whole voltage thing is getting ridiculous. Thats part of the fun of high end video cards. Theres some sort of kepler conspiracy for sure ha. I should of just originally stuck with my 7970 that let me play with voltage. Anyways, best of luck to everyone. You guys still have some of the highest clocking 680s around.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> Newegg should be getting an open box Lightning today because I RMA'd mine last week for a refund. It will do 1322 and has the old bios so keep an eye out for it if anyone is interested in picking up another card. I guess its a good thing I did.
> This whole voltage thing is getting ridiculous. Thats part of the fun of high end video cards. Theres some sort of kepler conspiracy for sure ha. I should of just originally stuck with my 7970 that let me play with voltage. Anyways, best of luck to everyone. You guys still have some of the highest clocking 680s around.


not just part of the _fun_, it part of the _value_ of those cards. Its what gives them high resell values and what allows them to last potentially years longer than their lower end counterparts!


----------



## supermi

Well,

When I got up this morning and saw the PAGES of posts I missed since about midnight last night I knew the new afterbrner was released and then when I saw that the unhindered BIOS was only on the first 5000 cards I was sad as I had 6 of those cards in my home before getting rid of em ...

Then of course it became clear we could flash the BIOS, but MOSTLY it was clear how much of a fiasco this KEPLER thing is with regards to high end video cards and especially enthusiast overclocking, you know most of us here who do not want to hard mod a $600-700 investment!

Though the idea of overvolting makes me happy, I think this has further cemented me to get some good 4gb cards like the Galaxy and wait and hope NVIDIA get their S**T together for us next round,, and nvidia if you ARE reading this I will go right to AMD as well once they get a decent stereo 3d solution if you don't fix this voltage stuff by then!

On another note it seems that those of you with more golden gpu's will have some GREAT numbers under water!!!


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Well,
> When I got up this morning and saw the PAGES of posts I missed since about midnight last night I knew the new afterbrner was released and then when I saw that the unhindered BIOS was only on the first 5000 cards I was sad as I had 6 of those cards in my home before getting rid of em ...
> Then of course it became clear we could flash the BIOS, but MOSTLY it was clear how much of a fiasco this KEPLER thing is with regards to high end video cards and especially enthusiast overclocking, you know most of us here who do not want to hard mod a $600-700 investment!
> Though the idea of overvolting makes me happy, I think this has further cemented me to get some good 4gb cards like the Galaxy and wait and hope NVIDIA get their S**T together for us next round,, and nvidia if you ARE reading this I will go right to AMD as well once they get a decent stereo 3d solution if you don't fix this voltage stuff by then!
> On another note it seems that those of you with more golden gpu's will have some GREAT numbers under water!!!


How much do you wanna bet AMD follows suit? lol......ugh.


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> How much do you wanna bet AMD follows suit? lol......ugh.


I will be very upset if this happens. Just the thought of it sucks.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> How much do you wanna bet AMD follows suit? lol......ugh.


Please don't give em that idea, LOL

I am actually curious what your stable speed is in Heaven or BF3 and does the VRAM voltage control give you anything more out of your VRAM?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Please don't give em that idea, LOL
> I am actually curious what your stable speed is in Heaven or BF3 and does the VRAM voltage control give you anything more out of your VRAM?


I can't test right now but i'm 100% sure bf3 will run just fine because I play with vsync on lol. Heaven was stable for 1 round and I got a round of 3dmark testing done as well....I'll have a better answer this evening.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I can't test right now but i'm 100% sure bf3 will run just fine because I play with vsync on lol. Heaven was stable for 1 round and I got a round of 3dmark testing done as well....I'll have a better answer this evening.


SWEET I will keep my eyes open for that LOL!!!


----------



## CalinTM

Finally after i've waited 2 months without a GPU, the Lightning is finally here. I've ordered online, and on that site says "available on order" It's a very big site, so it's trustful. So guys until tomorrow hands crossed, until they email me and say its really available.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Finally after i've waited 2 months without a GPU, the Lightning is finally here. I've ordered online, and on that site says "available on order" It's a very big site, so it's trustful. So guys until tomorrow hands crossed, until they email me and say its really available.


Gratz man , i hope you get one with the old Bios!!!!


----------



## AndrewK

Did I miss something? Do the "new bios" lightnings have the inability to be flashed with the old unlocked bios?


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> How much do you wanna bet AMD follows suit? lol......ugh.


Yep, unfortunately you might be right....


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Did I miss something? Do the "new bios" lightnings have the inability to be flashed with the old unlocked bios?


I'm sure they can....i'll get my BIOS online later, for those with the original BIOS there are instructions a few pages back for uploading your BIOS via NVFLASH..you must do it from a DOS boot....


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> Yep, unfortunately you might be right....


I have little doubt that AMD will do the same thing. They did a slight imitation of gpu boost as well....lol..

I hope i'm wrong though and I commend AMD for at least not locking the 7970s. That definitely is their saving grace right now because they perform insanely good (and faster than the 680 many times) when overclocked.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Gratz man , i hope you get one with the old Bios!!!!


And if its the new BIOS i'll hook him up


----------



## Benchmarksli

I'm not getting all of the EVGA hate in this thread.







It wasn't EVGA that set the voltage guidelines, it was NVIDIA.<

How can you be upset with EVGA for "trying" to get around this locked voltage in the most legal way possible? MSI knew what they were getting in to by directly promising something that Nvidia was agaisnt....**SOFTWARE VOLTAGE CONTROL** The prices of this generation of GPU's is bad all around....$600 for a 2gb card. You can be sure that the Xtreme version will be close to $700.00, just like the Classified because of the 4gb vram.

I know everyone here is pissed, but the old BIOS should be flashable to ALL cards(Lightnings).

Download NVFlash and save the original BIOS, and then upload it to the website below.

http://www.mvktech.net/

^ This should make it widely available for ALL lightning owners!









Locked voltage seems to be here to stay, on Kepler anyway.....Im no longer waiting for GK110, I don't care how fast it is....AMD will be able to catch up with it anyway because of the unlocked voltage control.


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Gratz man , i hope you get one with the old Bios!!!!


Man, i really don't care now, i just want my GPU







I am sick of waiting.

By the way, what the old bios ??!? Explain ?


----------



## MrMarauder

Actually, I'd surmise with this new information about nVidia forcing AIC's to use a gimped BIOS, MSI might be a bit hesitant to work on an Xtreme version of the Lightning. The main advertising point of the card has been snatched away.


----------



## Bosniac

Even without AB 2.3, Lightning>Classy, imo.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Man, i really don't care now, i just want my GPU
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am sick of waiting.
> By the way, what the old bios ??!? Explain ?


It was announced that only 5000 cards were made with the original Bios that allowed 1.212 v. The new batch of cards will not be able to surpass 1.175 I believe under the new bios.
However if it is possible you will be able to flash your card to the older bios ( which hasn't been tested yet). Either way you have yourself a great card , enjoy it.


----------



## supermi

Alright guys,

So it seems the lightnings don't have too much more OC headroom than the Classies and in my case 4gb makes a difference ...

So here is the question I can afford 4 Classies with the air coolers and already have 2 universal waterblocks and can get 2 more cheaply or I can wait and afford 3 classified HC ... which do you think is the better choice... as I write this I am leaning towards 4 with universal blocks due to limited voltage tweaking!!! ???

You guys know I had the lightnings and would have stayed with 2 or 3 of those if I was still on one monitor, but now with 3 I want 4gb vram and yes the classifieds are overpriced but I need some room for overvolting LOL

if I do not hear any feedback I will likely just buy the 4 of em within the hour LOL

COOL BEANZ


----------



## CalinTM

But why MSI did such a thing ?? Why the heck they made a 5000 models that pass Nvidia's voltage, and the other cards don't ? They must be the same Lightning cards.... :| it's the same product i am paying.

And here it's pretty expensive, the conversion in dollars is 1000 dollars, for the Lightning card.


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Even without AB 2.3, Lightning>Classy, imo.


Yeah, because you own one....







That 2GB will be pushing it after the new consoles come out. $600.00 down the drain unless you resale it pretty soon.


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Alright guys,
> So it seems the lightnings don't have too much more OC headroom than the Classies and in my case *4gb makes a difference ...*
> So here is the question I can afford 4 Classies with the air coolers and already have 2 universal waterblocks and can get 2 more cheaply or I can wait and afford 3 classified HC ... which do you think is the better choice... as I write this I am leaning towards 4 with universal blocks due to limited voltage tweaking!!! ???
> You guys know I had the lightnings and would have stayed with 2 or 3 of those if I was still on one monitor, but now with 3 I want 4gb vram and yes the classifieds are overpriced but I need some room for overvolting LOL
> if I do not hear any feedback I will likely just buy the 4 of em within the hour LOL
> COOL BEANZ


That's honestly how I see it...Both cards are a pretty bad value and priced the same. The 4GB on the Classy is where the extra cost comes from. I have a hard time justifiying either product.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> Yeah, because you own one....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That 2GB will be pushing it after the new consoles come out. $600.00 down the drain unless you resale it pretty soon.


Go pound sand. You've contributed nothing to this thread of value. Yes, as I said, it is better IMO. All high end cards lose value. The purpose of them is not to retain or attain investment. We're not talking 401K here....


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Alright guys,
> So it seems the lightnings don't have too much more OC headroom than the Classies and in my case 4gb makes a difference ...
> So here is the question I can afford 4 Classies with the air coolers and already have 2 universal waterblocks and can get 2 more cheaply or I can wait and afford 3 classified HC ... which do you think is the better choice... as I write this I am leaning towards 4 with universal blocks due to limited voltage tweaking!!! ???
> You guys know I had the lightnings and would have stayed with 2 or 3 of those if I was still on one monitor, but now with 3 I want 4gb vram and yes the classifieds are overpriced but I need some room for overvolting LOL
> if I do not hear any feedback I will likely just buy the 4 of em within the hour LOL
> COOL BEANZ


The classified cannot be realisitically overvolted. Keep in mind that over volting with EV Bot doesn't allow you to offset voltages, so if you over volt to 1.3V you will be at 1.3V even at idle...

whereas with AB 2.2.3 it has offset voltages , your voltage will adjust in respect to the voltage reuqested by the driver...so for instance if the driver goes to .95V at idle, +100mV will give you 1.1V with afterburner 2.2.3. Overvolting with the classified is only viable if you are on water, basically. Personally for 4gb i'd get a couple of 670s or 680 reference 4gb and be done with it.

IMHO, the approach with afterburner 2.2.3 is superior to what EV Bot is doing because it allows offset voltages whereas EV Bot forces a 24/7 voltage and it doesn't not persist after turning your computer off and back on. Obviously, nvidia doesn't want us messing with these things but we still have the original lightning BIOS with ab 2.2.3 so I think it is the better approach.

Of course, you want 4gb so your selection is more limited in terms of what products you can buy. But i'd be hesitant to get classifieds for over volting because the situation with Classy overvolting is not ideal to say the least. Not having offset voltages will result in high temperatures even at idle. Now if you're going water, have at it. Thats the *only way* it will be viable IMHO.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> Yeah, because you own one....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That 2GB will be pushing it after the new consoles come out. $600.00 down the drain unless you resale it pretty soon.


Unless new consoles are doing 5760x1200 this isn't true. 2gb is fine for all single monitor resolutions.

Note that I don't have anything against 4gb, but it is only useful for surround. If you're using triple monitor, 4gb is the way to go. Single monitor, there is no reason to use more than 2gb.


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Go pound sand. *You've contributed nothing to this thread of value. Yes, as I said, it is better IMO*. All high end cards lose value. The purpose of them is not to retain or attain investment. We're not talking 401K here....


Yeah, throw insults because you're butt hurt.







You're so darn defensive iit's funny. I can see you sitting by the pc turning red as soon as you see my user name appear lol

Actually I've contributed a lot more than you in my last few post than you have since the beginning of this thread. You and your aggressive attitude, for what? You look like a clown.


----------



## dph314

Helped my 3dMark11 score a bit. Voltage seems to have given me roughly 50mhz on each card's core. Not bad I suppose.


Had a run of P19,917, 10pts out of 1st Place for air-cooled 680s on HWBot, but froze up on the next run and forgot to save the link. Xoleras, when you get a 3930k you'll destroy 1st Place


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Unless new consoles are doing 5760x1200 this isn't true. 2gb is fine for all single monitor resolutions.
> Note that I don't have anything against 4gb, but it is only useful for surround. If you're using triple monitor, 4gb is the way to go. Single monitor, there is no reason to use more than 2gb.


I should've clarified, but you are right, 4gb is more suited for surround. I game at 2560x1440 and the 'New Dawn" demo nearly saturated all of it. For maxing games at this resolution and above, we're definitely coming close to reaching that point.

btw...Have you saved your BIOS using NVFlash?


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> Yeah, throw insults because you're butt hurt.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You're so darn defensive iit's funny. I can see you sitting by the pc turning red as soon as you see my user name appear lol
> Actually I've contributed a lot more than you in my last few post than you have since the beginning of this thread. You and your aggressive attitude, for what? You look like a clown.


I said I think it's better IMO. Why wouldn't I? This is a Lightning thread first and foremost, not Classified. And performance wise, they are even. Even at higher resolutions. If one is so concerned about surround setup, two 7970's would have been a smarter purchase, and smoke the Classy.

Again, this is a Lightning discussion, and you can try to disprove anyone's opinion all you want.


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> As long as people sitll have the original BIOS circulating we should be good to go...
> I don't have MS DOS 6.22 disks so i'm not sure how to get a DOS Boot going to extract the BIOS....i'm 99% sure you can't do it from a DOS window..


NvFlash 5.118 and above can be ran in windows using cmd.... I use it to save/flash my BIOS files quite often. If you need help or a walk though Xoleras, just shoot me a pm.









AndrewK
Quote:


> Bummer... I tried this last night to flash a card, but it didn't work. (got a bunch of weird green artifacting all over the screen), so I assumed I had to boot in dos instead of doing it via cmd in windows... hmmm...


It works. Are you familiar with running programs using command prompt?


----------



## AndrewK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> NvFlash 5.118 and above can be ran in windows using cmd.... I use it to save/flash my BIOS files quite often. If you need help or a walk though Xoleras, just shoot me a pm.


Bummer... I tried this last night to flash a card, but it didn't work. (got a bunch of weird green artifacting all over the screen), so I assumed I had to boot in dos instead of doing it via cmd in windows... hmmm...


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> I should've clarified, but you are right, 4gb is more suited for surround. I game at 2560x1440 and the 'New Dawn" demo nearly saturated all of it. For maxing games at this resolution and above, we're definitely coming close to reaching that point.
> btw...Have you saved your BIOS using NVFlash?


By the time we need more then 2gig for normal gaming the next set of cards will be out if that soon. I will then upgrade to 4gigs if needed but right now in this generation of cards it is not for most people.
I feel good about saving $130.00 and having similar/better performance with the classified. pushing the card to 99% today with the new AB I never saw a temp over 55 with 85% fan speed I call that awesome!! yeah , did I also mention I saved $130.00


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> The classified cannot be realisitically overvolted. Keep in mind that over volting with EV Bot doesn't allow you to offset voltages, so if you over volt to 1.3V you will be at 1.3V even at idle...
> whereas with AB 2.2.3 it has offset voltages , your voltage will adjust in respect to the voltage reuqested by the driver...so for instance if the driver goes to .95V at idle, +100mV will give you 1.1V with afterburner 2.2.3. Overvolting with the classified is only viable if you are on water, basically. Personally for 4gb i'd get a couple of 670s or 680 reference 4gb and be done with it.
> IMHO, the approach with afterburner 2.2.3 is superior to what EV Bot is doing because it allows offset voltages whereas EV Bot forces a 24/7 voltage and it doesn't not persist after turning your computer off and back on. Obviously, nvidia doesn't want us messing with these things but we still have the original lightning BIOS with ab 2.2.3 so I think it is the better approach.
> Of course, you want 4gb so your selection is more limited in terms of what products you can buy. But i'd be hesitant to get classifieds for over volting because the situation with Classy overvolting is not ideal to say the least. Not having offset voltages will result in high temperatures even at idle. Now if you're going water, have at it. Thats the *only way* it will be viable IMHO.


I COMPLETELY agree with you on each of those points!!

If I was not set on 4gb for surround 3d I would as I said have the lightnings and be done with it (2 of em)

But my other choices of 4gb vram give me NO room to play with volts and that just is not fun LOL ... and as you pointed out I will be on water (looks like I will do the universal blocks and save some cash) case has good airflow for the vram and I can always get the FC Blocks at a later date
















Ok I guess I am off to by the classy's , and I PROMISE I will not be a fanboy LOL I have MUCH love for the Lightnings and their stable voltage lack of Overcurrent protection and their relative great value, great cooler, BACKPLATE that is included and over all awesomeness ... and I have a friend who might take the classifieds off my hands if lightning 4gb's are released and I want those instead , sooooo I feel ready to FINALLY complete my build!

May your voltage run free and high and your overclock overtake the speed of light!


----------



## xoleras

I haven't uploaded the BIOS yet, I will this evening. I will also try to write some thoughts down on how to obtain the best overclock.

First and foremost, I have to stress that temps do get high with increased voltage so until water blocks are available, the best bet is to go with no offset voltage or minimal offset voltage and
find a sweet spot overclock from there. Now the new afterburner allows 300% power which does increase OC stability, this will help some people without additional voltage.
IMHO the best bet for most people is to apply as little additional voltage as possible and find a reasonable overclock using that method. You can also obviously max out voltage but temps will
get higher - and you will have to use manual fan.

I got 1402mhz this morning with 1.3V but i'd be lying if I said temps were kosher - temps were in the mid 70s here.

*I was able to get 1362mhz with +0 offset voltage, 250% power, and nothing else changed* stable as well and my temps were insanely good. *This was an improvement over afterburner 2.2.2 just because the power% is higher, and I did not use higher voltage.* In fact, they were so good that I was shocked - in the mid 50s, no higher. My ambient temps are HIGH here, keep that in mind. With additional voltage I was able to get 1392 mhz stable as well.

So I would suggest everyone try +0-+25 offset voltage with 225-300% power, don't immediately max out the sliders, it will cause temps to get high. Try to find a middle of the road voltage and power % , that is your best bet.

I will upload the BIOS this evening and test things some more







*To everyone testing, i'd suggesting testing with minimal voltage (start at 0 and try to climb very slowly) and increase your power %*. You should get better overclocks than you did with afterburner 2.2.2 even without additional voltage, that was my experience this morning anyway.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> I COMPLETELY agree with you on each of those points!!
> If I was not set on 4gb for surround 3d I would as I said have the lightnings and be done with it (2 of em)
> But my other choices of 4gb vram give me NO room to play with volts and that just is not fun LOL ... and as you pointed out I will be on water (looks like I will do the universal blocks and save some cash) case has good airflow for the vram and I can always get the FC Blocks at a later date
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ok I guess I am off to by the classy's , and I PROMISE I will not be a fanboy LOL I have MUCH love for the Lightnings and their stable voltage lack of Overcurrent protection and their relative great value, great cooler, BACKPLATE that is included and over all awesomeness ... and I have a friend who might take the classifieds off my hands if lightning 4gb's are released and I want those instead , sooooo I feel ready to FINALLY complete my build!
> May your voltage run free and high and your overclock overtake the speed of light!


Ah dude, go for it. I have nothing against the classifieds







There's no clause that requries you to hate EVGA when you buy an MSI product that i'm aware of. Or maybe Alex didn't force us to sign it LOL

Let us know how it goes!


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I played with the new AB a little at lunch. My cards have never gotten anything outstanding in the way of clocks before, like 1306/6800, but I've always done pretty good in the Heaven 3 and 3D11 (graphics) despite that.

So I load the new AB, up the voltage slider to +60, run the core up to 1325 and mem up to 7K. Power slider to 200, then 300. And my Heaven scores went way down. I never finished a run, I know what the FPS should be at the end of the first few sections and I was way below what I was previously getting so I bailed to save some time. But it was running smooth, not jittery like it does if it's on the ragged edge. I've crashed the thing enough to usually sense when it's about to crater. Definitely not like it was bogging due to too much clocks.

Temps were fine, I enabled all the temp and voltage monitors in the OSD so I could shut down if it started getting hot. I didn't hook a DVM up to the voltage leads, but I know it would have crashed at 1325 before. AB 2.2.3 even showed it running the LN2 BIOS.

Something is not reporting correctly one way or another. I've never been able to even load H3 at 1325/7K.

I'll play with it some more this evening, but this is sort of strange.


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> By the time we need more then 2gig for normal gaming the next set of cards will be out if that soon. I will then upgrade to 4gigs if needed but right now in this generation of cards it is not for most people.
> I feel good about saving $130.00 and having similar/better performance with the classified. pushing the card to 99% today with the new AB I never saw a temp over 55 with 85% fan speed I call that awesome!! yeah , did I also mention I saved $130.00


That sounds great, actually. If I can find out for certain, that the old Lightning BIOS can flash successfully with the new batch of 680 lightnings, I'll be joining this club by the end of the week.


----------



## AndrewK

Can anyone comment on why a card would start showing a bunch of weird artifacting when flashed to a new bios? (happens all over the screen during boot, in and out of windows, etc.)


----------



## Valenz

My question is , will the new batch of cards have the same labeling on the box?


----------



## supermi

ORDERED THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I get 1350mhz and plus 500 mem in 4 way sli I will be VERY happy!!!

Now MSI that I have ordered them it is right on schedule for you to release the 4gb Lightnings this afternoon


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> ORDERED THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> If I get 1350mhz and plus 500 mem in 4 way sli I will be VERY happy!!!
> Now MSI that I have ordered them it is right on schedule for you to release the 4gb Lightnings this afternoon


Nice! Keep us updated!


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Can anyone comment on why a card would start showing a bunch of weird artifacting when flashed to a new bios? (happens all over the screen during boot, in and out of windows, etc.)


I hope you saved your original BIOS prior to flashing....Keep in mind, WHEN EVER YOU FLASH YOUR GPU BIOS YOU MUST RE-INSTALL THE DRIVERS! Didn't mean to shout, just wanted to drive that point home.









Re-load the drivers first, if that doesn't work, try flashing back to the original BIOS and see if the problem persist. It could be a bad BIOS file, or something done incorrectly while you were flashing. If you are using multiple cards, remove them and flash each card seperately to make sure you don't scew up any SLI regestries. At the very least remove the SLI bridge prior to flashing.

^ Give that a try and report back whether or not it solved the problem.


----------



## AndrewK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> I hope you saved your original BIOS prior to flashing....Keep in mind, WHEN EVER YOU FLASH YOUR GPU BIOS YOU MUST RE-INSTALL THE DRIVERS! Didn't mean to shout, just wanted to drive that point home.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Re-load the drivers first, if that doesn't work, try flashing back to the original BIOS and see if the problem persist. It could be a bad BIOS file, or something done incorrectly while you were flashing. If you are using multiple cards, remove them and flash each card seperately to make sure you don't scew up any SLI regestries. At the very least remove the SLI bridge prior to flashing.
> ^ Give that a try and report back whether or not it solved the problem.


I flashed it, then reinstalled drivers. Issue persists. Should I have removed drivers before the flash? I did it with only one car installed at the time. I have the original backed up as well, so I'll try loading that and then reflashing again tonight when I get home.


----------



## exploiteddna

just an FYI... the latest version of nvflash works in a windows command prompt.. you do not need to do anything other than put the nvflash files in C:\
then open cmd prompt, run as administrator, then type "cd C:\" to change directory to C:\
then type "nvflash -...." with whatever string of commands you want.. like "nvflash -3 -4 -5" for example
ill do it in a little bit if noone has done it yet


----------



## exploiteddna

MSI GTX 680 Lightning UNLOCKED BIOS

I just did it myself. I am hosting the BIOS file on my gmail account. Download it.
the actual BIOS Version is: 80.04.09.00.F8
This is for the LN2/Unlocked BIOS. I am getting 1.349v (multimeter reading) during 3dmark11

OCN will not let me upload/attach a .rom file to my posts, so this link is the best i can do.
I will add this link to the OP


----------



## AndrewK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> just an FYI... the latest version of nvflash works in a windows command prompt.. you do not need to do anything other than put the nvflash files in C:\
> then open cmd prompt, run as administrator, then type "cd C:\" to change directory to C:\
> then type "nvflash -...." with whatever string of commands you want.. like "nvflash -3 -4 -5" for example
> ill do it in a little bit if noone has done it yet


So that means I did do it correctly (in theory). Is there something that would cause it to just **** out and artifact all over the place after a flash?


----------



## SonnyM5

Just curious if anyone's had this issue. I'm running 2 cards in SLI and I'm trying to set the overclock through Afterburner, but one card always seems to be running slightly faster than the other, even with the setting to synchronize the cards turned on. I can't seem to get the cards to run at the same speed no matter what I try.



As you can see there, card 1 is at 1306, but card 2 is at 1267. The memory clocks seem to match up fine though.

EDIT: The card 1 is running faster than what I have it set to, card 2 is running slower (set to 1280MHz)


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> So that means I did do it correctly (in theory). Is there something that would cause it to just **** out and artifact all over the place after a flash?


not that i know of.. maybe try the BIOS file i just uploaded


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SonnyM5*
> 
> Just curious if anyone's had this issue. I'm running 2 cards in SLI and I'm trying to set the overclock through Afterburner, but one card always seems to be running slightly faster than the other, even with the setting to synchronize the cards turned on. I can't seem to get the cards to run at the same speed no matter what I try.
> 
> As you can see there, card 1 is at 1306, but card 2 is at 1267. The memory clocks seem to match up fine though.
> EDIT: The card 1 is running faster than what I have it set to, card 2 is running slower (set to 1280MHz)


You should use the LN2 BIOS. Your cards will always stock to 1202 boost with the LN2 BIOS.

Wait your sig seems to indicate you have an ASUS card. There is nothing you can do here, all cards run at different speeds with the GTX 680. Boost speed depends on chip quality, the lightning is the only card different in that respect (they all are stock 1202mhz on the LN2 BIOS..)

This is normal behavior, you are fine - all GTX 680 sli setups (other than lightning LN2) do this.


----------



## SonnyM5

Yeah, I realize that all cards run slightly different outta the box, but I was just hoping there would be a way to actually force them at a certain clock speed, since both cards are capable of around 1319MHz stable on their own, but in SLI they both start running weird clocks that don't match each other, even with Afterburner set to +78MHz.

And yeah, Asus cards, but there doesn't seem to be an Asus DCUII thread here







and since I'm using msi afterburner to clock them, figured this would be the best place to look


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SonnyM5*
> 
> Yeah, I realize that all cards run slightly different outta the box, but I was just hoping there would be a way to actually force them at a certain clock speed, since both cards are capable of around 1319MHz stable on their own, but in SLI they both start running weird clocks that don't match each other, even with Afterburner set to +78MHz.
> And yeah, Asus cards, but there doesn't seem to be an Asus DCUII thread here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and since I'm using msi afterburner to clock them, figured this would be the best place to look


You could always unsync them and set individual boosts. What you do is go in "settings" and select GPU1 or GPU2 and change your boost per card...

You should be able to get same clockspeeds that way


----------



## AndrewK

Is there anything that prevents one manufacturer's cards from being flashed with anothers bios?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Is there anything that prevents one manufacturer's cards from being flashed with anothers bios?


No, there shouldn't be. I have seen people flash from asus to MSI bios in the past. Now that I think of it though, since the classified has 4gb that may be why the lightning BIOS is having issues with it...i'm just speculating though.


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Is there anything that prevents one manufacturer's cards from being flashed with anothers bios?


I would say not wanting a paperweight might be one of the reasons. Flashing reference cards with another manufacturers BIOS might be ok, because they're all the exact same. Custom cards use custom designs, and the BIOS is written specifically for that design.

Do not recommend (though I may be wrong, who knows).

Also, looks like this does nothing for Asus DC II. Ah well, back to freely controlling voltage via hard mods


----------



## AndrewK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> No, there shouldn't be. I have seen people flash from asus to MSI bios in the past. Now that I think of it though, since the classified has 4gb that may be why the lightning BIOS is having issues with it...i'm just speculating though.


I'm trying to figure it out, since yeah I have heard that too. Anyone have experience flashing between different vram cards (2 to 4, and vice versa)?

I'm attempting to figure out the hex values in the bios that determine OCP in the lightning bios so I could apply that change to the classy.


----------



## xoleras

There's one website with a guy who is a wizard with GTX 680 BIOS flashing. He has made custom BIOS' for a TON of people, unfortunately I don't remember the name or URL. If anyone knows, I bet he does.

Anyone know what i'm speaking about? I wish I had saved the URL. He made custom BIOS for people with special fan and offset settings...


----------



## AndrewK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> There's one website with a guy who is a wizard with GTX 680 BIOS flashing. He has made custom BIOS' for a TON of people, unfortunately I don't remember the name or URL. If anyone knows, I bet he does.
> Anyone know what i'm speaking about? I wish I had saved the URL. He made custom BIOS for people with special fan and offset settings...


I know it, but as far as I know he doesn't know where the OCP values are. And having a classy I really don't care about changing voltages or clocks in the bios... I just want to remove the pesky overcurrent protection


----------



## exploiteddna

Ok guys, the OP has been updated. I added a link to download the OLD unlocked LN2 bios for those of you that need it!
I have also added a second tab to the OC spreadsheet. Tab 1 is now titled AB 2.2.2 and thus contains OC results for everyone when we were using 2.2.2 voltages. The new tab, entitled AB 2.2.3 thus contains, or will contain, the OC results of everyone who is using the increased voltage provided by AB 2.2.3

Any ideas or suggestions, feel free to PM me or write me a message in the thread


----------



## xoleras

Hey thanks mike. Just to confirm: I know you stated that you can upload a BIOS in a DOS window, but can you flash your BIOS in a DOS window as well?


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Hey thanks mike. Just to confirm: I know you stated that you can upload a BIOS in a DOS window, but can you flash your BIOS in a DOS window as well?


yep, ive done it many times with several diff cards, including two different 680s


----------



## SonnyM5

Sigh....

It's like they see the other one slowed down and just decide to speed themselves up lol.
I unsynced them and tried to manually set them, I get card 1 to 1306 (+52Mhz), runs fine, card 2 I left stock while setting this. Set card 2 to 1306 (+78Mhz)... Card 1 now goes to 1319 (same +52 hasnt changed on it), so I go back to card 1, set it to +39... Card 2 now goes to 1319Mhz on the +78... So I slow it down to +65... Still 1319Mhz...

Very strange lol.


----------



## AndrewK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> yep, ive done it many times with several diff cards, including two different 680s


Ever do it between a 2/4gb card, or different manufacturers?


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> *I was able to get 1362mhz with +0 offset voltage, 250% power, and nothing else changed* stable as well and my temps were insanely good. *This was an improvement over afterburner 2.2.2 just because the power% is higher, and I did not use higher voltage.* In fact, they were so good that I was shocked - in the mid 50s, no higher. My ambient temps are HIGH here, keep that in mind. With additional voltage I was able to get 1392 mhz stable as well.


How does more power available helps if your card aint use more then 120% of its max TDP for example?
My card never goes above 90% power [email protected]/3300 should i try to max the power in order to get more stable oc?

Also how bad is to max the overclock you need at once, (for example + 300 on memory) without going step by step? i use this way because my second pc is not here and i got nothing to do during testing periods boring...

Oh and btw, i see many different ways of stating memory overclocks, which is the most realistic, for example i got my card at +300 on memory, how much i got actually effective? for example Guru3d increased the memory to 450+ and from 6000 stock they state they got their overclock to 7000 how come?


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> Oh and btw, i see many different ways of stating memory overclocks, which is the most realistic, for example i got my card at +300 on memory, how much i got actually effective? for example Guru3d increased the memory to 450+ and from 6000 stock they state they got their overclock to 7000 how come?


Well they just state the offset. The *effective* increase is always double though. So if you're stock at 6000, but do an offset of +450, that's an effective +900 and takes you to 6900. An overclock of 7000+ requires an offset of 500+, if you're stock clocks are at 6000.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Ever do it between a 2/4gb card, or different manufacturers?


nope..
i did flash a 680 superclocked+ with an edited bios of some other reference 680 but...


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> Well they just state the offset. The *effective* increase is always double though. So if you're stock at 6000, but do an offset of +450, that's an effective +900 and takes you to 6900. An overclock of 7000+ requires an offset of 500+, if you're stock clocks are at 6000.


So its like Dram i guess? thanks i tought its like that but was not sure, so my memory is actually @6600 atm? (+300mhz)


----------



## contruable

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> Ok guys, the OP has been updated. I added a link to download the OLD unlocked LN2 bios for those of you that need it!
> I have also added a second tab to the OC spreadsheet. Tab 1 is now titled AB 2.2.2 and thus contains OC results for everyone when we were using 2.2.2 voltages. The new tab, entitled AB 2.2.3 thus contains, or will contain, the OC results of everyone who is using the increased voltage provided by AB 2.2.3
> Any ideas or suggestions, feel free to PM me or write me a message in the thread


how do i know if i have OLD unlocked LN2 bios or NEW unlocked LN2 bios?


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> So its like Dram i guess? thanks i tought its like that but was not sure, so my memory is actually @6600 atm? (+300mhz)


Yep, same thing man. As far as the offsets go, just double them to get the effective rate. I'm normally at +500 on my card, so it's 7000 for me.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *contruable*
> 
> how do i know if i have OLD unlocked LN2 bios or NEW unlocked LN2 bios?


Click the "i" Info icon on the main AB screen and it'll tell you the BIOS version you have, it'll be a hex string. The "old" overclockable version is 80.04.09.00.F8 I think, I can confirm in 45 minutes or so.

EDITED to correct 80.04.09.00.F8


----------



## exploiteddna

the version you want is: 80.04.09.00.F8

80.04.09.00.F7 is the non-LN2 BIOS (the BIOS that you get when the card is switched on the non-LN2 mode), and is the version that is available for DL on techpowerup! This version is not what you want. You want 80.04.09.00.*F8*


----------



## Valenz

My new score yay.. btw I noticed the volts don't go over 1.304

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3962696


----------



## jona2125

Just did a run on my 680 with the new Afterburner. Started out easy. Going for more now. This was 1342/3454. Voltages: +0 core, +40 memory +20 aux. Not bad to start if I do say so myself.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> the version you want is: 80.04.09.00.F8
> 80.04.09.00.F7 is the non-LN2 BIOS (the BIOS that you get when the card is switched on the non-LN2 mode), and is the version that is available for DL on techpowerup! This version is not what you want. You want 80.04.09.00.*F8*


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Click the "i" Info icon on the main AB screen and it'll tell you the BIOS version you have, it'll be a hex string. The "old" overclockable version is 80.04.09.00.F8 I think, I can confirm in 45 minutes or so.
> EDITED to correct 80.04.09.00.F8


Great info, thanks! Might be good to put that in OP as well


----------



## AndrewK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> My new score yay.. btw I noticed the volts don't go over 1.304
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3962696


Implying overcurrent protection is still active on these cards?


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Implying overcurrent protection is still active on these cards?


I am not sure, I don't think 3d mark is hard enough on the card. Most of the bench the card was at 1.24-1.27. I will try Heaven and see what happens. I only have it set to 1357 right now. and + 575 on mem


----------



## Rolfenstein

Well, I've got BIOS 80.04.28.00.3a :|. Glad I have that knowledge out of the way atleast.

Anyone mind posting a detailed description of how to flash the BIOS? Never done this before







.


----------



## xoleras

Open a dos window and put all of the nvflash files and .ROM in the same directory. Make sure that you change to that directory.

Then simply do nvflash filename.ROM


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Implying overcurrent protection is still active on these cards?


Hmm, There is no overcurrent throttling, but you can't go past 1.35V-1.4V. If you're referring to overcurrent protection in terms of not letting you go past 1.4V, no card will ever let you do that unless you do a hard mod.

The overcurrent protection most people talk about is where your clockspeeds lower if you reach your power % threshold. On other cards if you reach 120-133% (whatever the max is), clockspeeds will lower. This does not happen on the lightning on the LN2 BIOS. But I think you mean something different - right now it goes up to 1.35V-1.4V via software (tested with a voltmeter). You can;t go higher than that or you really do put the card in danger of frying.....


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Implying overcurrent protection is still active on these cards?


Wouldn't know I don't have a Lightning

Here is a 1362 I just finished same memory

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3962796?key=7zxyNaucFZLD8E7vPIPlZA

EDIT: Another run this time at 1382. Got artifacting pretty decently so I'll do more tweaks later. I'm impressed with the score and what it can do at 1.23 so far. I'll keep pushing more later.

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3962841?key=24yLD2U8v1qyCV_kTeLoog


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Open a dos window and put all of the nvflash files and .ROM in the same directory. Make sure that you change to that directory.
> Then simply do nvflash filename.ROM


Aight, thanks. Should I reinstall drivers afterwards aswell?


----------



## xoleras

Dont' think you need to. Just do a cold reboot and you should be set. Once you cold reboot you will be able to apply over voltage with 2.2.3.


----------



## Valenz

Heaven ..

All maxed at 1920 x 1200

clock 1312
no mem
power 300
volt slider on 40

Highest volt on a full pass 1.234


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Dont' think you need to. Just do a cold reboot and you should be set. Once you cold reboot you will be able to apply over voltage with 2.2.3.


Rebooted and AB now shows the "old" BIOS







. Thanks!

Now to test this shizzle out.

Can you check how much voltage the card is fed through AB?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Rebooted and AB now shows the "old" BIOS
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Thanks!
> Now to test this shizzle out.
> Can you check how much voltage the card is fed through AB?


Voltmeter is the most accurate. The monitor in AB will give you a rough idea but its not 100% accurate, although it should be within 100mV.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> Just did a run on my 680 with the new Afterburner. Started out easy. Going for more now. This was 1342/3454. Voltages: +0 core, +40 memory +20 aux. Not bad to start if I do say so myself.


Nice, does the new afterburner unlock core clocks for you as well?


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Nice, does the new afterburner unlock core clocks for you as well?


Triple overvoltage is unlocked and works well but I did flash to your BIOS of course. Getting artifacting at 1382 unfortunately and enough to cause a full crash at 1392. Kind of bummed on that but can't complain. 1370 runs gorgeously at 1.215 volts. Haven't turned it up yet.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Voltmeter is the most accurate. The monitor in AB will give you a rough idea but its not 100% accurate, although it should be within 100mV.


AB says 1.283, spiking at 1.304 when I shut down heaven, so I guess I'm still having problems







. Atleast I'm stable on +100 now :|.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> Everything is unlocked and works well but I did flash to your BIOS of course. Getting artifacting at 1382 unfortunately and enough to cause a full crash at 1392. Kind of bummed on that but can't complain. 1370 runs gorgeously at 1.215 volts. Haven't turned it up yet.


Nice, thats a sick overclock. Great results







I wonder if asus owners can flash to this as well since it also uses the same CHiL chip.....


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> AB says 1.283, spiking at 1.304 when I shut down heaven, so I guess I'm still having problems
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Atleast I'm stable on +100 now :|.


Start low (aim for 1300 or so) and make sure your temps are their best possible by using manual fan 70% or higher. You may want to use a lower voltage as well, like I said earlier if you max everything out from the getgo it will give you high temperatures.....Make sure your power % is 250% or greater, that could help.

If you max everything out from the getgo that might be problematic. Otherwise I dunno!


----------



## psyside

LOL if that is possible it would be epic









Also i asked, but i guess u missed that post Xoleras, how does maxing power help if the card is at 90% of its max power during most of the time even with overclock in sig.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Well it's working fine now. Just bumped my Heaven score up a full point from 119.3/3004 to 120.4/3033 on the first run (using the settings in the "Official H3" thread), nothing got over 70°C. That's 1325 clocks in synched SLI, 3962 mem. +70 on the V Slider, 300% power, +123 core, +450 mem.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Nice, thats a sick overclock. Great results
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I wonder if asus owners can flash to this as well since it also uses the same CHiL chip.....


Yea I would assume so. I'll have a friend do his shortly. Relatively painless too. Few commands in cmd and a driver install. I wonder if triple voltage will display for him as well. It might not lock in values but you never know.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> LOL if that is possible it would be epic
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also i asked again, but i guess u missed that post Xoleras, how does maxing power help if the card is at 90% of its max power during most of the time even with overclock in sig.


I have no idea I just noticed I got a better overclock immediately just from increasing the power %. I have no idea how or why


----------



## contruable

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Click the "i" Info icon on the main AB screen and it'll tell you the BIOS version you have, it'll be a hex string. The "old" overclockable version is 80.04.09.00.F8 I think, I can confirm in 45 minutes or so.
> EDITED to correct 80.04.09.00.F8


Thank you!, yah i got the old bios!


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> Triple overvoltage is unlocked and works well but I did flash to your BIOS of course. Getting artifacting at 1382 unfortunately and enough to cause a full crash at 1392. Kind of bummed on that but can't complain. 1370 runs gorgeously at 1.215 volts. Haven't turned it up yet.


Hold the horses







you now have unlocked voltage on that Galazy SOC !!!

So the SUPERBINNEDCHIP cards not have unlocked voltage, if I was getting a 2gb card that might be the one I would get now ... 1370 + at only 1.21V WOW and AMAZING!!!

I can only HOPE my incoming classies can come close to that LOL

and the PRETTY white PCB man you are a HAPPY camper!

EDIT: It is a BLAST watching all these great numbers get posted!


----------



## xoleras

Nice result charlie! I noticed that temps can get hairy at 1.35V so I tend to back on the voltage a little bit.

Kepler can get warm for sure! I had my best results at 40-70mV. One thing is certain: MSI lightning with unlocked BIOS _with water blocks_ will be epic. Can't wait for blocks to be released.


----------



## AndrewK

Going to retry flashing to the "un-ocp-capped" bios again tonight. If it doesn't work it's time to take the soldering iron to my classy's. On stock air I still have 10*C to work with before I hit 70, and that is 1440mhz @ 1.3v. She wants more juice!!


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Going to retry flashing to the "un-ocp-capped" bios again tonight. If it doesn't work it's time to take the soldering iron to my classy's. On stock air I still have 10*C to work with before I hit 70, and that is 1440mhz @ 1.3v. She wants more juice!!


What happens when you bench at that voltage? Do your clockspeeds throttle back still?


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Hold the horses
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> you now have unlocked voltage on that Galazy SOC !!!
> So the SUPERBINNEDCHIP cards not have unlocked voltage, if I was getting a 2gb card that might be the one I would get now ... 1370 + at only 1.21V WOW and AMAZING!!!
> I can only HOPE my incoming classies can come close to that LOL
> and the PRETTY white PCB man you are a HAPPY camper!
> EDIT: It is a BLAST watching all these great numbers get posted!


Lol I love the card for sure. I'm not done yet. Upping the voltage now since that was stock. Going for 1400 which I don't expect to be the peak, not with so much more left on the voltage.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> Lol I love the card for sure. I'm not done yet. Upping the voltage now since that was stock. Going for 1400 which I don't expect to be the peak, not with so much more left on the voltage.


If you were limited by temps at 1380mhz (you mentioned that you had artifacts, which = bad temps), more voltage will make your temps even worse.....


----------



## AndrewK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> What happens when you bench at that speed? Do you have clockspeed throttling or TDRs?


No clock throttling, just overcurrent protection. Everything seems to be capping at whatever amps ~1.3-1.325v pulls.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

+70mv is probably as high as I'll go, really. I was happy as a clam just having a pair that'd both do 1300+, and I've fiddled and tweaked and couldn't get much over 1308 to be stable. So to bust off a 1325 with them synched on the very first pass is pretty fine for me.

To be honest, I'm probably going to use 2.2.2 most of the time. The 2.2.3 will be fun to run some numbers now and then, and I'm glad to have it, but 2.2.2 is just less to fiddle with.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> Going to retry flashing to the "un-ocp-capped" bios again tonight. If it doesn't work it's time to take the soldering iron to my classy's. On stock air I still have 10*C to work with before I hit 70, and that is 1440mhz @ 1.3v. She wants more juice!!


hey Andrewk I am really excited to see what you can accomplish as I have 4 classifieds which will be here tomorrow and 2 evbots , hope I can get some clocks near yours!


----------



## AndrewK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> hey Andrewk I am really excited to see what you can accomplish as I have 4 classifieds which will be here tomorrow and 2 evbots , hope I can get some clocks near yours!


Trying to finish testing each of my four individually, and if I can push the overcurrent barrier I'll be lookin even better.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> No clock throttling, just overcurrent protection. Everything seems to be capping at whatever amps ~1.3-1.325v pulls.


Oh, I thought I read that your clockspeeds didn't stick (throttling) at 1.3V or your temps were high......or maybe i'm crazy...

Whats your highest stable single card 3dmark11 score?

edit: we should really create a new classified thread for this on second thought, maybe supermi could take up the reigns on that and create a verified classified overclocks spreadsheet like michaelrw did for the lightning. What do you say supermi. This would be like the one stop shop for lightning users, you can make the one stop shop for classified overclock users. Honestly, i'd love to see some verified benchmark URLs for the classifieds and there isn't a thread here dedicated to that.

Or perhaps benchmarksli can do that since he wants to get classified cards also..


----------



## AndrewK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Oh, I thought I read that your clockspeeds didn't stick (throttling) at 1.3V or your temps were high......or maybe i'm crazy...
> Whats your highest stable single card 3dmark11 score?
> edit: we should really create a new classified thread for this on second thought, maybe supermi could take up the reigns on that and create a verified classified overclocks spreadsheet like michaelrw did for the lightning.


My first card will do 1450, but starts to throttle due to voltage capping and bouncing around a bit if I try to push 1.325v on the evbot. Definitely not temp/clock throttling.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Oh, I thought I read that your clockspeeds didn't stick (throttling) at 1.3V or your temps were high......or maybe i'm crazy...
> Whats your highest stable single card 3dmark11 score?
> edit: we should really create a new classified thread for this on second thought, maybe supermi could take up the reigns on that and create a verified classified overclocks spreadsheet like michaelrw did for the lightning. What do you say supermi. This would be like the one stop shop for lightning users, you can make the one stop shop for classified overclock users. Honestly, i'd love to see some verified benchmark URLs for the classifieds and there isn't a thread here dedicated to that.
> Or perhaps benchmarksli can do that since he wants to get classified cards also..


I would be happy to do it!!!

Though I have never started a thread before or made a chart on one ... if someone could post or pm me some helpful tips on doing that I would be HAPPY to get it set up sometime this evening when I finish my errands for the day







\\









the Lightnings and the Classis each having their own homes we can all visit sounds like a WIN!


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> My first card will do 1450, but starts to throttle due to voltage capping and bouncing around a bit if I try to push 1.325v on the evbot. Definitely not temp/clock throttling.


Hard to say, because if clockspeeds are lowering, voltage is as well. The kepler driver will simultaneously lower clockspeeds/voltage 1 bin at a time (13mhz and 10mV) so if clockspeeds lower, voltage does as well. I'm kinda surprised that EVGA didn't create a BIOS to prevent that, do any of the BIOS switches on the classified help? I think it has a LN2 BIOS like the lightning does, although i'm not sure what it does.

Hopefully you'll find a way to prevent this, there HAS to be something in the BIOS you can change. Its just a question of finding the right person that knows what it is.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> If you were limited by temps at 1380mhz (you mentioned that you had artifacts, which = bad temps), more voltage will make your temps even worse.....


No it just wasn't getting enough juice. I turned down the power limit a bit, upped the voltage from stock LN2 voltage by +30 and it ran 1382 fine. This was a 1400/6800 run at 1.265 volts in AB. Temps are fine, only about 5 degrees hotter than before. I'm in the 70's more often now but no big deal.

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3963100?key=R2hoLWWhVIJoQ9EOvg_1Kg


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> I would be happy to do it!!!
> Though I have never started a thread before or made a chart on one ... if someone could post or pm me some helpful tips on doing that I would be HAPPY to get it set up sometime this evening when I finish my errands for the day
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> \\
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> the Lightnings and the Classis each having their own homes we can all visit sounds like a WIN!


I'm genuinely curious about classified overclocks too. I've only seen like 2 results lol. Would love to have an easily accessible spreadsheet to see what people are getting, kinda like what michaelrw did here.

Or maybe we can merge threads? Create a classified and lightning super thread managed by michaelrw with separate spreadsheets for both cards? I'm not sure how he would feel about that though. I'm just brainstorming, this will give us easier access to URL verified overclocking results that a wide range of users of both cards are getting. What do you guys think? Merged thread or what?


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> I would be happy to do it!!!
> Though I have never started a thread before or made a chart on one ... if someone could post or pm me some helpful tips on doing that I would be HAPPY to get it set up sometime this evening when I finish my errands for the day
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> \\
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> the Lightnings and the Classis each having their own homes we can all visit sounds like a WIN!


Can Dobby have one too?


----------



## AndrewK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Hard to say, because if clockspeeds are lowering, voltage is as well. The kepler driver will simultaneously lower clockspeeds/voltage 1 bin at a time (13mhz and 10mV) so if clockspeeds lower, voltage does as well. I'm kinda surprised that EVGA didn't create a BIOS to prevent that, do any of the BIOS switches on the classified help? I think it has a LN2 BIOS like the lightning does, although i'm not sure what it does.
> Hopefully you'll find a way to prevent this, there HAS to be something in the BIOS you can change. Its just a question of finding the right person that knows what it is.


I'm sure it has to do with voltage regulated by the current sense resistors. This is what kingpin experienced as well. Haven't found a concrete difference between the three bios' yet. Jacob said the LN2 bios "removed some protections" but was pretty vague about it, and the "overclock" bios was an idea they originally had that "didn't work out." Upon hearing this it was like... lolwut?

And evidently the lightning has the same R0005 current sense resistors, so unless you solder them (same with the classy) you probably won't get higher than 1.35v with these cards.


----------



## xoleras

I wonder if Kingpin could impart his knowledge on the classified BIOS...if anyone knows its him lol, he makes a living by circumventing these protections









Edit: also its still crazy that nvidia is forcing to go through such hassle to enjoy our overclocking hobby







I really really hope this doesn't happen with gk110...


----------



## Darco19

I'm really tempted to flash my Asus DC2 TOP with this BIOS, but I'm worried if I screw up the card, then that's gonna be some real trouble as I don't think it's got dual BIOS's, unlike the Lightning...


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darco19*
> 
> I'm really tempted to flash my Asus DC2 TOP with this BIOS, but I'm worried if I screw up the card, as I don't think it's got a dual BIOS feature, unlike the Lightning...


Just create a USB drive with a DOS boot on it. Should be good to go, if you need to revert the BIOS.

10 or so pages ago there were instructions on creating a DOS boot thumb drive, just add your nvflash files and both .ROMs to it, and you should be set if you need to revert.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darco19*
> 
> I'm really tempted to flash my Asus DC2 TOP with this BIOS, but I'm worried if I screw up the card, then that's gonna be some real trouble as I don't think it's got dual BIOS's, unlike the Lightning...


Yea like he said if it fails you can counter it with that DOS boot. I hope the best for you should you decide to do it. Went very smooth for me. Only took 5 minutes and that's including remembering and re-learning how to use NVFlash


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

1335/6950 stable in H3, still no temps over 70°C. This is I7 3770K @ 4.4Ghz

The voltage slider seems to have steps. I set it to 70, it jumps back to 68 when I apply. The next step appears to be 74, at least for my set up.


----------



## xoleras

Dang bro you passed Majins Heaven score here (http://www.overclock.net/t/1235557/official-top-30-heaven-benchmark-3-0-scores) lol...I haven't even tried yet


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darco19*
> 
> I'm really tempted to flash my Asus DC2 TOP with this BIOS, but I'm worried if I screw up the card, then that's gonna be some real trouble as I don't think it's got dual BIOS's, unlike the Lightning...


I'm thinking the same. Let me know if you do first though


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I passed him the day the update was posted, but only by .1 fps. I didn't even bother to post the score, so it still shows us tied. The one I like passing is FTW 420









I just did a stable 3DM11 run at 1335, but something about my CPU holds me back. I'm almost breaking 24K on graphics, but still well down into the 17Ks P score.

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3963314


----------



## SonnyM5

I might try flashing one of my TOPs too if you have any luck lol. If not I'll be hooking up the VGA hotwire in a few weeks when I get my EK blocks on it to see if I can hit 1.5ghz


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> I passed him the day the update was posted, but only by .1 fps. I didn't even bother to post the score, so it still shows us tied. The one I like passing is FTW 420
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just did a stable 3DM11 run at 1335, but something about my CPU holds me back. I'm almost breaking 24K on graphics, but still well down into the 17Ks P score.
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3963314


You're in my situation then







I wish I had a sb-e for benchmarking


----------



## Valenz

Best I could get!!!
I am happy with it being I could only get a stable bench of 1280-90 before .


----------



## exploiteddna

OP has been updated with explanation of the different BIOSs, how to identify which one you have, how to flash your card's BIOS, etc...

I have also posted several links to download both the BIOS file and NVFlash that is needed to perform the flash process


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> 
> Best I could get!!!
> I am happy with it being I could only get a stable bench of 1280-90 before .


Yep, manual fan definitely increases headroom for overclocking now with higher voltage....I was able to bench at 1402mhz at 100% fan but I really wanna do it on water as soon as blocks are available


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Yep, manual fan definitely increases headroom for overclocking now with higher voltage....I was able to bench at 1402mhz at 100% fan but I really wanna do it on water as soon as blocks are available


You have yourself a really nice card !!!

BTW , deactivated !!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693R


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> You have yourself a really nice card !!!
> BTW , deactivated !!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693R


Open box? I bet thats hammerforged's card lol


----------



## Valenz

Yeah , it was in stock for a second !!!

1320 on that card I would have bought it..


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> You have yourself a really nice card !!!
> BTW , deactivated !!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693R


Still at tigerdirect









and for anyone wanting a classified they are there as well , just hard to find unless you know they are there doesn't show up in most browsing (classified) , lightning is easy to find there









edit: oops see now you meant open box LOL ... I should look before posting LOL


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Yeah , it was in stock for a second !!!
> 1320 on that card I would have bought it..


I returned a card which did 1360 on LN2 , I hope a lucky happy person out there has it now!!!


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> I returned a card which did 1360 on LN2 , I hope a lucky happy person out there has it now!!!


Maybe a 1420-1450 easy with the new AB !!!

Damn


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Maybe a 1420-1450 easy with the new AB !!!
> Damn


Well the chip does get hot with voltage.....for 1400mhz comfortable you'd need really high manual fan settings and/or water cooling.


----------



## RobsM6S

Flashed my Asus DC2 OC to the LN2 bios and it went well but I have one problem, voltage is locked and I cant seem to get it unlocked. Using 2.2.3 afterburner and the latest beta driver.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Well the chip does get hot with voltage.....for 1400mhz comfortable you'd need really high manual fan settings and/or water cooling.


To be honest I don't even hear mine on 100%


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> To be honest I don't even hear mine on 100%


Then your computer must be seriously loud already. I use air cooling (I do use H100 though) and I can hear the fan as soon as it hits above 40%~.


----------



## Bosniac

I finally came home, and you guessed it, went OCing.

Here is my artifact free highest stable OC run:



*1401MHz/+600*



But running at 1385/+500 is 10c cooler, so I'll stick to that.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Question for all of you. What is the difference between the old LN2 bios and the new LN2 bios. I had the new one and reflashed to the old one but I didn't see any increases in anything. The only thing that happens now is it will do a hard crash instead of a driver crash.


----------



## xoleras

12839 graphics score


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

You guys are getting some amazing OC's now. I admit it, the 680 is the OCing champion...







Still, can't wait to finish my extreme water cooling CF 7970 build just to see what she can do...


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> You guys are getting some amazing OC's now. I admit it, the 680 is the OCing champion...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Still, can't wait to finish my extreme water cooling CF 7970 build just to see what she can do...










I told you guys the last few months that an unlocked Kepler would be the best overclockers. No worries, the HD 7970 is no slouch when it comes to overclocking & high resolution gaming.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Flashed my Asus DC2 OC to the LN2 bios and it went well but I have one problem, voltage is locked and I cant seem to get it unlocked. Using 2.2.3 afterburner and the latest beta driver.


Edit-Earlier MSI 2.2.2 allows me to adjust the voltage slider but the latest 2.2.3 doesnt work. What the heck? the ln2 bios helped my overlcocking with the asus card but i need the voltage slider to work to push it all the way. Anyone have any idea's?


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Yep, manual fan definitely increases headroom for overclocking now with higher voltage....I was able to bench at 1402mhz at 100% fan but I really wanna do it on water as soon as blocks are available


Me jelly







I just couldn't pull the trigger on the classified. MSI definitely has the edge with no thermal or voltage throttle...Must resist until Lightning Xtreme is announced.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> 12839 graphics score


Thanks. It all worked out fine. I also checked, and I have the Unlocked bios. I basically turned everything to max, except power target. At 300 it artifacts, but at 250 its fine. Also, lowering memory increases CPU score, and overall P, but drops graphics scores.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Edit-Earlier MSI 2.2.2 allows me to adjust the voltage slider but the latest 2.2.3 doesnt work. What the heck? the ln2 bios helped my overlcocking with the asus card but i need the voltage slider to work to push it all the way. Anyone have any idea's?


BUMP.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

1372MHz core and 7008MHz memory.

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3962105


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> Me jelly
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just couldn't pull the trigger on the classified. MSI definitely has the edge with no thermal or voltage throttle...Must resist until Lightning Xtreme is announced.


Yeah I was in the same boat, but I do not know if they will even do an extreme ... I have heard from a few people (no names I can share) that the talk about the 4gb lightning was a rumor as of a few weeks ago, though things can change!!!

If you have the patience I hope you find it rewarded!!!! I for 1 really wanted to finish my build and already sold off all my cards other than an aging 4870 LOL ...

May your patience be rewarded by a golden 4gb lightning from ZEUS himself!


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Flashed my Asus DC2 OC to the LN2 bios and it went well but I have one problem, voltage is locked and I cant seem to get it unlocked. Using 2.2.3 afterburner and the latest beta driver.


you flashed using the BIOS that I posted in the OP?


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> Question for all of you. What is the difference between the old LN2 bios and the new LN2 bios. I had the new one and reflashed to the old one but I didn't see any increases in anything. The only thing that happens now is it will do a hard crash instead of a driver crash.


when did you get your card? the "new" one is supposed to be voltage limited by nvidia.. the old one will allow 1.215v using AB 2.2.2 or 1.305 (? i think ?) with AB 2.2.3


----------



## DADDYDC650

My max stable OC is 1390Mhz/7Ghz. Max temp in Heaven was 61c. +81 voltage, +300 power limit. Fan @55c.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Edit-Earlier MSI 2.2.2 allows me to adjust the voltage slider but the latest 2.2.3 doesnt work. What the heck? the ln2 bios helped my overlcocking with the asus card but i need the voltage slider to work to push it all the way. Anyone have any idea's?


does your card have the switch in the LN2 mode position?


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> does your card have the switch in the LN2 mode position?


Yeah I flashed with your bios but I dont have a bios switch on my card, Im using the Asus DC2 card which many were curious to see if it would work or not since it uses the same chil chip as the lightning.


----------



## Bosniac

This is a stable Heaven run, and I think I can push it a few more mhz, and memory, but I feel this will do for now.

*1382MHz/+550*, max CORE temp was 64c, VRM 58c:


----------



## DADDYDC650

Nice OC Bosniac!

Can you tell me if your voltage setting lowers itself after restarting your PC?


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> when did you get your card? the "new" one is supposed to be voltage limited by nvidia.. the old one will allow 1.215v using AB 2.2.2 or 1.305 (? i think ?) with AB 2.2.3


Just got it yesterday.


----------



## pwnzilla61

All you guys are making me jelly with this oc's, cannot wait to order on payday this week. PUMPED!


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> There's one website with a guy who is a wizard with GTX 680 BIOS flashing. He has made custom BIOS' for a TON of people, unfortunately I don't remember the name or URL. If anyone knows, I bet he does.
> Anyone know what i'm speaking about? I wish I had saved the URL. He made custom BIOS for people with special fan and offset settings...


Is it MVKTECH.net


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> Nice OC Bosniac!
> Can you tell me if your voltage setting lowers itself after restarting your PC?


Haven't tried it, but I think it was mentioned at Guru3D. My core voltage maxes out at 93 though, and most stable OC is *1401MHz/+600*, but the difference in temps are like 5-10c for an extra 25MHz, so this will do. Not worth going from [email protected] to [email protected], without WC


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Yeah I flashed with your bios but I dont have a bios switch on my card, Im using the Asus DC2 card which many were curious to see if it would work or not since it uses the same chil chip as the lightning.


I wouldn't expect it to work on any other card, who knows what else is different on the non reference cards. You probably answered your own question


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Haven't tried it, but I think it was mentioned at Guru3D. My core voltage maxes out at 93 though, and most stable OC is *1401MHz/+600*, but the difference in temps are like 5-10c for an extra 25MHz, so this will do. Not worth going from [email protected] to [email protected], without WC


Yeah, agreed with you. Getting 1400+ in sli is hard because temps on the top card will be high, I mean, I could do it but temps definitely get warm. It will be easier in single card mode for sure though - temps in SLI easily exceed single card temps by a lot. Make no mistake kepler without throttling can get warm. I'm not saying a lot of people will get 1400, some will some won't but since the lightning does not have thermal or overcurrent throttle (_while the classified does_) it will get warm at 1.35V+ / 1400mhz. Its doable but definitely would be better on water. I don't feel like using 100% manual fan 24/7 lol.

If you simply lower voltage by about 20-30 mV and clockspeeds 20-40 your temps will be WAY WAY better which IMHO is more worth it. With water these babies will fly though , I cannot wait to see what clocks FtW420 gets. I really cannot wait for blocks to be released (and they are being developed)

Maybe i'll get a universal block though !


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> Just got it yesterday.


i see... which version of the LN2 BIOS do you have? 80.04.09.00.F8 ? I dont know what the version number is for the "new" LN2 BIOS...


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> I wouldn't expect it to work on any other card, who knows what else is different on the non reference cards. You probably answered your own question


Yeah probably so, oh well at least that will help some others that was curious about it.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i see... which version of the LN2 BIOS do you have? 80.04.09.00.F8 ? I dont know what the version number is for the "new" LN2 BIOS...


I didn't have F8. It was 80.04.28.00.3A.


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Yeah, agreed with you. Getting 1400+ in sli is hard because temps on the top card will be high, I mean, I could do it but temps definitely get warm. It will be easier in single card mode for sure though - temps in SLI easily exceed single card temps by a lot. Make no mistake kepler without throttling can get warm. I'm not saying a lot of people will get 1400, some will some won't but since the lightning does not have thermal or overcurrent throttle (_while the classified does_) it will get warm at 1.35V+ / 1400mhz. Its doable but definitely would be better on water. I don't feel like using 100% manual fan 24/7 lol.
> If you simply lower voltage by about 20-30 mV and clockspeeds 20-40 your temps will be WAY WAY better which IMHO is more worth it. With water these babies will fly though , I cannot wait to see what clocks FtW420 gets. I really cannot wait for blocks to be released (and they are being developed)
> Maybe i'll get a universal block though !


i'm just waiting for pricing from sidewinder's before we go about putting a method to implement preorder (OCN discounts)
http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> I didn't have F8. It was 80.04.28.00.3A.


ok cool, so now we know the BIOS version of the "new" LN2 mode


----------



## xoleras

I used the newer BIOS briefly and noticed that it doesn't black screen on an overclock instability crash, it always TDRs.......(I was using 3A just to test it out)

Not sure what the voltage is with the newer one. Other things: Dust removal fans at startup is gone, not sure of any other differences. Thats a sure way to tell if you have the old bios, the old bios always has the dust removal spinup at startup.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

1350 core stable in H3 and 3DM11, still under 70°C. Never thought I'd see that on these 2 cards


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I used the newer BIOS briefly and noticed that it doesn't black screen on an overclock instability crash, it always TDRs.......(I was using 3A just to test it out)
> Not sure what the voltage is with the newer one. Other things: Dust removal fans at startup is gone, not sure of any other differences. Thats a sure way to tell if you have the old bios, the old bios always has the dust removal spinup at startup.


I thought the dust removal fan speed was cut in half.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Crazy that your 1350MHz in Heaven only beats my score by 1 fps even though my 7970 Lightnings were clocked only to 1225MHz. I can't wait to see if I can get 1300MHz on my Sapphire 7970's under water.

As far as 3dmark11 goes, I have no chance against you guys...


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Crazy that your 1350MHz in Heaven only beats my score by 1 fps even though my 7970 Lightnings were clocked only to 1225MHz. I can't wait to see if I can get 1300MHz on my Sapphire 7970's under water.
> As far as 3dmark11 goes, I have no chance against you guys...


The 1350 score was a little higher, and I don't have a 3930K.


----------



## Creator

I just flashed my Galaxy GTX 680 SOC with the LN2 bios and I'm unlocked. I'm getting up to 1.3V as reported by AB, and I know it's happening because I just did a loop at 1377 without crash. And at pure stock I couldn't even do 1300 (1.175v max).


----------



## pwnzilla61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Creator*
> 
> I just flashed my Galaxy GTX 680 SOC with the LN2 bios and I'm unlocked. I'm getting up to 1.3V as reported by AB, and I know it's happening because I just did a loop at 1377 without crash. And at pure stock I couldn't even do 1300 (1.175v max).


pics by chance?


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Crazy that your 1350MHz in Heaven only beats my score by 1 fps even though my 7970 Lightnings were clocked only to 1225MHz. I can't wait to see if I can get 1300MHz on my Sapphire 7970's under water.
> As far as 3dmark11 goes, I have no chance against you guys...


The better question is, how many polar bears do your 7970's kill due to your carbon footprint?


----------



## Rolfenstein

It's weird.. Even with the old BIOS and the new AB, my voltage doesn't go above 1.265, thus I cannot go beyond 1302 :|.


----------



## Creator

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pwnzilla61*
> 
> pics by chance?


Just look at the maxes (some time passed before I snapped so that's why the graphs themselves look low). I have yet to run to benchmarks, and will probably hold off doing so until I mod my 680 for the 620. I've got the 620 and the bracket, but it's getting too late for me to do this today.









It's definitely just a global offset now. With no offset I get 0.98V idle and 1.212V load. The above picture is snapped with +93 core offset. (Notice my idle is now 1.08v)


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> It's weird.. Even with the old BIOS and the new AB, my voltage doesn't go above 1.265, thus I cannot go beyond 1302 :|.


Are you still using auto fan? If your voltage is maxed your fan speed should be higher, also, you can't judge voltage with the software. ONLY SURE way is with a voltmeter, the monitoring software doesn't accurately pick up voltages.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Creator*
> 
> I just flashed my Galaxy GTX 680 SOC with the LN2 bios and I'm unlocked. I'm getting up to 1.3V as reported by AB, and I know it's happening because I just did a loop at 1377 without crash. And at pure stock I couldn't even do 1300 (1.175v max).


Glad it worked for you, couldnt get it to work with the Asus DC2 card. The bios would flash and everything booted up just fine by the voltage is completely locked with the latest AB.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Are you still using auto fan? If your voltage is maxed your fan speed should be higher, also, you can't judge voltage with the software. ONLY SURE way is with a voltmeter, I mentioned this a few pages ago. The monitoring software doesn't accurately pick up voltages.


I'm running fan at 100%, and are you sure that AB is showing the wrong voltages by this much? I mean it's quite alot :|. And even if it was showing the wrong voltage that would mean I'm stable at 1302MHz at 1.35, which is ******edly bad and frankly I dont think that's possible







.


----------



## Bosniac

*Michaelrw*, you can add me to the new sheet. I am going to settle with these scores on air.
I think I am going to settle my Heaven 3.0 stable with this. Temps are not crazy, and I just did 3 runs, and none crashed. I tried 1390, and got artifacts. Definetly a keeper if you ask me.








1386/+600



Max 1401/+600


It's been a good day. I wish everyone have fun. I would recommend playing BF3, or Crysis 2 to test the cards. and mine was super stable at 1386MHz in Crysis 2 MP. Have fun guys, I hope everyone gets at least over 1300MHz now...


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Creator*
> 
> I just flashed my Galaxy GTX 680 SOC with the LN2 bios and I'm unlocked. I'm getting up to 1.3V as reported by AB, and I know it's happening because I just did a loop at 1377 without crash. And at pure stock I couldn't even do 1300 (1.175v max).


glad to know my BIOS is helping some people get more voltage!


----------



## DADDYDC650

I must of not have raised the power limit/voltage high enough before since I was in a rush but I managed to finally reach 1400Mhz/7114Mhz stable! Been running BF3 for the last hour without issue. Don't think I'm going to go any higher. Temps are good and I don't want to push it too far.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> glad to know my BIOS is helping some people get more voltage!


You are a gentleman for taking the time to share! I'm sure everyone here appreciates it!


----------



## Rolfenstein

Just to prove that I'm not getting max voltage out of it I installed the old AB and was still stable at the same core clock (1302) as with the new one. AB is now reading 1.202 max voltage.


----------



## Creator

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> You are a gentleman for taking the time to share! I'm sure everyone here appreciates it!


I know I do. Thank you very much OP for sharing.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

I flashed my Asus top witht he LN2 bios and it worked like a charm. Maxed out at 1.205v though and I get massive stuttering or throttling? not sure. I'm watercooled btw.

I can't see what the problem could be.

Glad to see the actual Lightning owners finally got what they paid for!


----------



## Rolfenstein

Getting stable 1312 core clock on old AB (derp). Guess my card isn't as **** as I first thought but.. New AB doesn't bring any performance increase for me :s.


----------



## xoleras

Rolfenstein, watch this:






You can likely get the same speed with lower voltage. This isn't my video, but as you can see from that video the software readout for voltage doesn't match actual voltage.

In any case, 1312 is a pretty damn good overclock IMO. Anything 1300 or higher is great.


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Open box? I bet thats hammerforged's card lol


Ha yeah it was mine. Just got delivered today. Someone got a hell of a deal









Great clocks guys. Im jealous. Cant wait to see waterblock results.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> I flashed my Asus top witht he LN2 bios and it worked like a charm. Maxed out at 1.205v though and I get massive stuttering or throttling? not sure. I'm watercooled btw.
> I can't see what the problem could be.
> Glad to see the actual Lightning owners finally got what they paid for!


Thats odd, flashed my DC2 card as well but cannot use the voltage slider with MSI afterburner.


----------



## Rolfenstein

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> Ha yeah it was mine. Just got delivered today. Someone got a hell of a deal
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great clocks guys. Im jealous. Cant wait to see waterblock results.


Why'd you return it anyway?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Rolfenstein, watch this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You can likely get the same speed with lower voltage. This isn't my video, but as you can see from that video the software readout for voltage doesn't match actual voltage.
> In any case, 1312 is a pretty damn good overclock IMO. Anything 1300 or higher is great.


Well, I'm happier now than I was before when I thought my card maxed out at 1252







.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Thats odd, flashed my DC2 card as well but cannot use the voltage slider with MSI afterburner.


1.21v will be max regardless of the slider. But go run a benchmark and you'll see stuttering or throttling. Atleast it does for me.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> 1.21v will be max regardless of the slider. But go run a benchmark and you'll see stuttering or throttling. Atleast it does for me.


I ran Heaven demo and played some bf3 with it and all was smooth as silk, it did help with the cards max overclock as well so like you said its obviously getting more voltage now. Think im still gonna keep my gigabyte windforce 680 instead though.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Did either of you two run into any problems trying to flash the DCII bios? I get an error every time I try. "WARNING: Firmware image PCI Subsystem ID (1462.2831) does not match adapter PCI Subsystem ID (1043.83F7). Thoughts?


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> Did either of you two run into any problems trying to flash the DCII bios? I get an error every time I try. "WARNING: Firmware image PCI Subsystem ID (1462.2831) does not match adapter PCI Subsystem ID (1043.83F7). Thoughts?


No problems at all with the flash and that warning is pretty much normal.


----------



## samoth777

I'm gonna try and flash my 680 top, but i have no clue how to do so or what software to use. is there a guide somewhere?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> I'm gonna try and flash my 680 top, but i have no clue how to do so or what software to use. is there a guide somewhere?


If you don't have a clue, then don't do it. you can brick your card. Anyways, you'll go from 1.17v to 1.21v, not worth doing.


----------



## exploiteddna

here's my multimeter reading during game test #3 of 3DMark11. Core voltage during this test fluctuates between 1.351 - 1.357



the rest of the 3DMark11 tests max out at ~1.345


----------



## samoth777

ive done so a long long time ago with my 580. but thats fermi

a helpful link would be nice


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> ive done so a long long time ago with my 580. but thats fermi
> a helpful link would be nice


I don't think it works on the asus card.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> I'm gonna try and flash my 680 top, but i have no clue how to do so or what software to use. is there a guide somewhere?


read the OP of this thread. I spent several hours saving, hosting, organizing files then writing a small guide with everything you need to get going.. take advantage of it, that's what it's there for


----------



## samoth777

yeah, it doesn't. but according to the other dude that tried, the volt goes up to 1.21 instead of 1.175. i think i can get a good 30+mhz increase with that small increase of volts. that should be able to help my 1280mhz oc go past 1300mhz


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> read the OP of this thread. I spent several hours saving, hosting, organizing files then writing a small guide with everything you need to get going.. take advantage of it, that's what it's there for


Thanks dude! will study it carefully!









heheh funny i had to go to google to check what OP meant. i'm such a forum noob hheh


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rolfenstein*
> 
> Why'd you return it anyway?


Because they promised voltage control and didnt deliver before my return period.

Ended up getting a ref card with a full cover block for less that does 1300 so I am.

I'm completely over voltage control this generation. Hopefully better luck next time I guess.


----------



## dph314

So I'm a little unclear on the different BIOS readings and max voltages. Does both the 'old' and 'new' BIOS read a max of 1.308v in software, and you'll only see the difference on a DMM? And Michael, what was your Afterburner graph showing during that 3dMark11 run when the DMM said 1.36v?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

So the LN2 bios on the Asus top bios is a no go for me. It does allow 1.21v atleast, but at stock and overclock clocks, any benchmark will stutter. I noticed in gpuz and Afterburner the clocks are fluctuating from 1400MHz down to 1200MHz, and down even further at times, but very frequent.

Also afterburner recognizes my 680 as aircooled and has the fan speed going up and down. So I thought I'd fool everything by setting manual 100% fan speed. but it didn't work.

Oh well, there is always the volt mod for me using my R4E board, or just live with my 1338MHz OC!


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> So the LN2 bios on the Asus top bios is a no go for me. It does allow 1.21v atleast, but at stock and overclock clocks, any benchmark will stutter. I noticed in gpuz and Afterburner the clocks are fluctuating from 1400MHz down to 1200MHz, and down even further at times, but very frequent.
> Also afterburner recognizes my 680 as aircooled and has the fan speed going up and down. So I thought I'd fool everything by setting manual 100% fan speed. but it didn't work.
> Oh well, there is always the volt mod for me using my R4E board, or just live with my 1338MHz OC!


these stutters, do they happen in games too?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> these stutters, do they happen in games too?


Yep, everything.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> So I'm a little unclear on the different BIOS readings and max voltages. Does both the 'old' and 'new' BIOS read a max of 1.308v in software, and you'll only see the difference on a DMM? And Michael, what was your Afterburner graph showing during that 3dMark11 run when the DMM said 1.36v?


i dont know, i didnt have AB running. next time i run it ill try to remember to have AB running and I'll check it out. From the Guru3d article, the "new" bios is supposed to prevent anything over 1.175.. i dunno


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Yep, everything.










I wonder what it could be. Could it be something with watercooling? no.. that doesn't make sense









for me though, i can finally break 1300mhz! haven't tried any higher.







shame the limit is just 1.21. in gpu-z it says 1.207.

i noticed though, when the gpu is in idle, the lowest it gets is only 1.195. is this the same with you guys with Lightnings on LN2 bios?
is this something to worry about?

also does the fan dust removal at start up heheh pretty cool, i dont mind it


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i dont know, i didnt have AB running. next time i run it ill try to remember to have AB running and I'll check it out. From the Guru3d article, the "new" bios is supposed to prevent anything over 1.175.. i dunno


Because I haven't been home since this old BIOS was posted (thank you for your efforts







), so, I don't know, but I had both cards definitely showing over 1.175v in AB. But they would show ~1.28v during runs when they'd crash, so I guess the software is way off as has been said, since I would think they'd give themselves more voltage before crashing. I'll check BIOS versions when I get home in 5 hours or so.


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Oh well, there is always the volt mod for me using my R4E board, or just live with my 1338MHz OC!


Yes hotwire it! that would be fantastic







and 1338mhz is very good in my opinion!


----------



## dph314

I wonder if using a driver pre-304.xx would do anything? I mean I know it's a long shot, but if it's the 680 drivers holding back even the unlocked LN2 BIOS, would using a driver with no specific ties to the 680 allow for a higher VID for the offset to add to? I don't know, just throwing ideas out there since I can't do it myself at the moment. But I would definitely be interested in the Afterburner Extreme version, if anyone can offer any info on this if they've attempted obtaining it before?


----------



## CalinTM

Ohh, bad news for me, seems in my country the Lightning isn't available, and it could never be. I am sick waiting for 2 months for this card. I am buying from foreign territory.









If i buy from another country, i will still have the warranty ? I have the risk to receive a broken card, due to transporting ? And then i will aren't able to RMA it ?


----------



## nyrmala

Hi everyone. I'm finally one of yours : )

I've changed everything on my old pc (For those who remember)

Before :

Asus Crosshair formula IV
Amd Phenom x6 1090T Black Edition
Corsair H70
Ati HD 5970
WD Velociraptor 160 Go
Seagate Barracuda 1To
8 Go of Ram Corsair dominator

Now :

Asus Rampage IV Extreme
Intel i7 3930K oc 4,7 Ghz
Corsair H60
MSI LIGHTNING GTX 680
Crucial M4 128Go
Caviar Black 2To
16 Go of ram Gskill

IT DEFINITLY ROXXXXXXXXXX !!!

No longer trouble in each game... Intel + Nvidia = COMBO BREAKER xD

And the Lightning ==> Just an Epic Card (ok i've just built it yesterday but there is no match between the msi and my old 5970)


----------



## dph314

Congrats







Now get some 3dMark11 runs done!

On another positive note, I was incredibly glad to see that the replacement Lightning I received last week has the new BIOS







My score was being lowered by that weaker card, could only get stable in SLI at 1305/6950 because of it. When I flash it to the old BIOS I should see a nice increase in scores.

Also testing the better card alone. Max OC used to be 1305 core, +300 on the memory. Just did a run with it at 1340/6900 and it was fine. I'll post some screenshots for the OP when I'm done. Michael, once you update the OP with everyone's _new_ max OC's, you'll REALLY be helping MSI sell these


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Ohh, bad news for me, seems in my country the Lightning isn't available, and it could never be. I am sick waiting for 2 months for this card. I am buying from foreign territory.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If i buy from another country, i will still have the warranty ? I have the risk to receive a broken card, due to transporting ? And then i will aren't able to RMA it ?


I hope you can find one!!!


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Thats odd, flashed my DC2 card as well but cannot use the voltage slider with MSI afterburner.


could it be that the PGR100 resistor switch is blocking it? in hotwire guides of the DC2, it says you need to remove the PGR100 resistor allow voltage adjustment. I dunno just a thought


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> could it be that the PGR100 resistor switch is blocking it? in hotwire guides of the DC2, it says you need to remove the PGR100 resistor allow voltage adjustment. I dunno just a thought


That's what I would suspect. And if you remove the resistor you need one of the asus motherboards with the hotwire setup to allow over volting.


----------



## dph314

Would it be worth getting a Galaxy HoF Edition and flashing the LN2 BIOS to it? Reading the thread for a bit, not only does the Lightning LN2 BIOS work with it, but they seem to be higher-binned chips as well, boosting to ~1300mhz right out of the box, while under the 1.212v limit of its stock BIOS


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Would it be worth getting a Galaxy HoF Edition and flashing the LN2 BIOS to it? Reading the thread for a bit, not only does the Lightning LN2 BIOS work with it, but they seem to be higher-binned chips as well, boosting to ~1300mhz right out of the box, while under the 1.212v limit of its stock BIOS


I wouldn't. The outputs suck (4x HDMI), the cooler doesn't cool as well at 100% manual fan, and its longer than the lightning.....overclocking is silicon lottery just like all other cards. The color scheme is also disgusting, thats just my personal opinion though. Performance wise it should be similar to the lightning, highly dependent on luck of course.

Computer aesthetics #1 priority bro


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I wouldn't. The outputs suck (4x HDMI), the cooler doesn't cool as well at 100% manual fan, and its longer than the lightning.....overclocking is silicon lottery just like all other cards. The color scheme is also disgusting, thats just my personal opinion though. Performance wise it should be similar to the lightning, highly dependent on luck of course.
> Computer aesthetics #1 priority bro


True. I guess I should keep the one with the better cooler/components since I may do the voltmod with my RIVE, which works with any card if I correctly recall what FTW420 said.

In the process of flashing my replacement card, which had the new BIOS. But when testing one of the original 2 I bought, at 1340/7000, the VRM temp didn't break 60C, so, I think I'd someday like to pump more volts in with the hardmod if Nvidia/MSI doesn't someday allow for more through software. Well, on that topic again, does anyone know anything about the Afterburner Extreme edition? Anyone know how long it takes, how easy it is to go through the process, anything like that?


----------



## xoleras

michaelrw: There is an updated nvflash version 5.95 on TPU


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> could it be that the PGR100 resistor switch is blocking it? in hotwire guides of the DC2, it says you need to remove the PGR100 resistor allow voltage adjustment. I dunno just a thought


My PGR100 is removed. I am going to try this and I'll report back.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> That's what I would suspect. And if you remove the resistor you need one of the asus motherboards with the hotwire setup to allow over volting.


You don't need an Asus motherboard. The Hotwire feature basically just connects variable resistors to your card for you, but you can use your own and skip the board.


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> That's what I would suspect. And if you remove the resistor you need one of the asus motherboards with the hotwire setup to allow over volting.


Would it still? i wonder cause wouldn't AB 2.2.3 already allow voltage change since the lightning and the dc2 both have the same voltage controller chips?


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> My PGR100 is removed. I am going to try this and I'll report back.
> You don't need an Asus motherboard. The Hotwire feature basically just connects variable resistors to your card for you, but you can use your own and skip the board.


yeah thats what i meant lol


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> My PGR100 is removed. I am going to try this and I'll report back.
> You don't need an Asus motherboard. The Hotwire feature basically just connects variable resistors to your card for you, but you can use your own and skip the board.


Well ya if you are a serious skilled modder, I would sure like to see some pictures from these mods. It takes more skill than I have, I verified this by killing one of my DC2T's trying to remove that resistor. It is just beyond my skill level. If someone here with these skills in Southern California area, I wouldn't mind paying someone to mod my card for me.


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Well ya if you are a serious skilled modder, I would sure like to see some pictures from these mods. It takes more skill than I have, I verified this by killing one of my DC2T's trying to remove that resistor. It is just beyond my skill level. If someone here with these skills in Southern California area, I wouldn't mind paying someone to mod my card for me.


What??







how did it happen??


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Well ya if you are a serious skilled modder, I would sure like to see some pictures from these mods. It takes more skill than I have, I verified this by killing one of my DC2T's trying to remove that resistor. It is just beyond my skill level. If someone here with these skills in Southern California area, I wouldn't mind paying someone to mod my card for me.


I made a thread here with everything I did to mod it. Removing that resistor is literally the easiest part, not sure how you bricked your card taking it off


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Would it be worth getting a Galaxy HoF Edition and flashing the LN2 BIOS to it? Reading the thread for a bit, not only does the Lightning LN2 BIOS work with it, but they seem to be higher-binned chips as well, boosting to ~1300mhz right out of the box, while under the 1.212v limit of its stock BIOS


Coming from owning one, I can't complain. The Lightning didn't exist when I needed to get a graphics card otherwise I would of had one day one. I've been able to run 1411 at 1.26 volts in 3DMark11. That run is linked below. My temps on that run were 71 degrees at 85% fan. The cards are technically the same length but the HOF has more involved cooling than the Lightning so the fins overhang a smidgen more than on a Lightning. The PCB's have the same hardcore build quality, the components are practically identical as is the binning process. Basically it's what you want since in a blind test these cards will probably go neck and neck forever. Personally with a white HAF X I was instantly drawn to the Galaxy just due to the gorgeous PCB. It is the cleanest white I have ever seen from any manufacturer and I love the lighting on the side and such. It's a look at me card and I can't complain one bit.

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3966748

EDIT: Just wanted to add that what you said about the boost from stock out of the box was also something that impressed me. My card was 1293 without touching it and would go to 1340 at 1.175 which Lightnings seemed to need the LN2 BIOS to achieve. Not calling anyone out saying the Galaxy is superior. I'm for both sides trust me. I've been a MSI Graphics fanboy for a long time. Love their products and what their cards can achieve. My old 560Ti Hawks pulled 1070 which was very impressive. A friend that had one of them managed to get his to 1100. Very impressive products from them. First time with Galaxy and all I have been able to come up with is amazement. Both companies have amazing quality and both offer extensive warranty support. You can brick your card with overclocking and they'll say here ya go. I love that. Galaxy and MSI both have been very personal companies to me in regards to communications. I've never had a sit down style conversation with support in regards to any other company like EVGA and ASUS though ASUS is really still pretty good. Enough chit chat though just wanted to point out that the Galaxy SOC and the MSI Lightning 680's are both top tier so far. They each have their handful of bad eggs but that's expected from anyone. I heard a few chimes in from a Classified 680 owner and that seems positive as well. Just a personal thought though is that a major price premium for that card is kind of unjustified. Still a great card just won't show up in my rigs for that reason.


----------



## jona2125

EDIT: Double Post


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> Coming from owning one, I can't complain. The Lightning didn't exist when I needed to get a graphics card otherwise I would of had one day one. I've been able to run 1411 at 1.26 volts in 3DMark11. That run is linked below. My temps on that run were 71 degrees at 85% fan. The cards are technically the same length but the HOF has more involved cooling than the Lightning so the fins overhang a smidgen more than on a Lightning. The PCB's have the same hardcore build quality, the components are practically identical as is the binning process. Basically it's what you want since in a blind test these cards will probably go neck and neck forever. Personally with a white HAF X I was instantly drawn to the Galaxy just due to the gorgeous PCB. It is the cleanest white I have ever seen from any manufacturer and I love the lighting on the side and such. It's a look at me card and I can't complain one bit.
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3966748


1.26v is with the stock BIOS or after you flashed to the Lightning? Also, do you have a DMM to see what the voltage reading says when software is showing 1.26v?


----------



## dph314

When trying to backup my old BIOS before flashing, I'm getting the error "Error- No Nvidia display adapters found". Anyone know why this is? I'm using the latest version, 5.95. Tried typing a bunch of different commands similar to "nvflash --index=1 --save oldBIOS.rom", and "nvflash -b oldBIOS.rom". Multiple combinations of each, nothing works. Still get the No Display Adapter error, even though card shows in Device Manager and Afterburner, as do the drivers that are installed. Any help would be much appreciated


----------



## DrBoss

Are you lightning owners also OC voltage on the Vram?
Any idea what Aux voltage is?

So far on my PE i've been able to push 1350 MHz (Core) and 3703 (Vram) through Unigine with +20mV on the core (no Vram or Aux voltage adjustment).
Those specs gave me 54.0 FPS and a score of 1361


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

^^^^ dph314

"Nvflash --protectoff"

Use this command.

Or you need to update your nvflash files to the latest.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 1.26v is with the stock BIOS or after you flashed to the Lightning? Also, do you have a DMM to see what the voltage reading says when software is showing 1.26v?


With the Lightning BIOS. Not sure as I don't have a meter but going off all other tests I've seen personally and on here it should chime in at around 1.3-1.31 hardware
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> When trying to backup my old BIOS before flashing, I'm getting the error "Error- No Nvidia display adapters found". Anyone know why this is? I'm using the latest version, 5.95. Tried typing a bunch of different commands similar to "nvflash --index=1 --save oldBIOS.rom", and "nvflash -b oldBIOS.rom". Multiple combinations of each, nothing works. Still get the No Display Adapter error, even though card shows in Device Manager and Afterburner, as do the drivers that are installed. Any help would be much appreciated


Try "index=0"

index=1 is usually card numero 2 for SLI users

I had the same error then remembered and tried 0 and it worked


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> Are you lightning owners also OC voltage on the Vram?
> Any idea what Aux voltage is?
> So far on my PE i've been able to push 1350 MHz (Core) and 3703 (Vram) through Unigine with +20mV on the core (no Vram or Aux voltage adjustment).
> Those specs gave me 54.0 FPS and a score of 1361


That's a great score. You can push the voltage some more without a doubt as long as temps are within acceptable for you. The Aux voltage is PLL voltage and just can maybe give you a better chance at max effort stability. As far as memory voltage, I've been using it since before it was an option for afterburner and have noted through my Galaxy and two Lightnings that even with maxed out memory overvoltage the memory just runs out of breath at 7200, which can be done on stock voltage. I made a run at 7250 and it was instant crash. 7200 had artifacts even at max memory voltage, still does with 2.2.3


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> With the Lightning BIOS. Not sure as I don't have a meter but going off all other tests I've seen personally and on here it should chime in at around 1.3-1.31 hardware
> Try "index=0"
> index=1 is usually card numero 2 for SLI users
> I had the same error then remembered and tried 0 and it worked


You got an excellent card then. Well, what was the stock voltage and boost? Because if the chips are binned well and run at ~1300mhz on the stock 1.212v(?), then they should see better results than the Lightnings more often than not I would think.

And thanks, I will try that now.

Edit- Didn't work. Tried "nvflash --index=0 --save oldBIOS.rom", still said no display adapter found


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You got an excellent card then. Well, what was the stock voltage and boost? Because if the chips are binned well and run at ~1300mhz on the stock 1.212v(?), then they should see better results than the Lightnings more often than not I would think.
> And thanks, I will try that now.


That's what I keep hearing from people. I am just satisfied to own the top tier card for once. I've been a mid range for the longest time. It's a nice feeling to have the highest card and one of the top clockers.

And stock for LN2 BIOS or stock for the original? Stock for LN2 BIOS was 1202 boost which was the base clock for the original BIOS. I managed 1370 running the LN2 BIOS at stock voltage of 1.212


----------



## xoleras

_The voltage readout in MSI afterburner is not accurate;_ The only way to get an accurate reading is with a volt meter. Afterburner reads 1.21V for me when the volt meter is 1.35V-1.36V.


----------



## RobsM6S

The Gigabye Windforce GTX 680 wouldnt work with the LN2 bios would it? I know it has beefed up VRM's compared to referrence but I dont think it has the chil chip.

This thing overclocks so nice that it would be killer with a little more voltage.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> The voltage readout in MSI afterburner is not accurate; The only way to get an accurate reading is with a volt meter.


It's been accurate to me with every volt test I've seen done so far. Before 2.2.3 1.212 software was 1.268 hardware full load. Now it's 1.31 software and 1.368 full load. Tested on a Lightning. So the offset voltage is a direct relation. I studied that for the longest time and have come to the conclusion software readout is .05~ below the hardware which has been true since the day one of Kepler.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> It's been accurate to me with every volt test I've seen done so far. Before 2.2.3 1.212 software was 1.268 hardware full load. Now it's 1.31 software and 1.368 full load. Tested on a Lightning. So the offset voltage is a direct relation. I studied that for the longest time and have come to the conclusion software readout is .05~ below the hardware which has been true since the day one of Kepler.


If you didn't test it with a volt meter on your card its not accurate.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> The Gigabye Windforce GTX 680 wouldnt work with the LN2 bios would it? I know it has beefed up VRM's compared to referrence but I dont think it has the chil chip.
> This thing overclocks so nice that it would be killer with a little more voltage.


I honestly wouldn't be able to say for certain. I don't think it does


----------



## RobsM6S

The Gigabye Windforce GTX 680 wouldnt work with the LN2 bios would it? I know it has beefed up VRM's compared to referrence but I dont think it has the chil chip.

This thing overclocks so nice that it would be killer with a little more voltage.

BUMP.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> If you didn't test it with a volt meter on your card its not accurate.


I didn't test it but I watched my friend physically in person test it on his Lighting for the whole period the Lightning has been out. It is 100% accurate lol.

EDIT: I made a little chart the first week after we were messing around with it. Then we tested the chart. The tests were "This voltage setting in AB should show this number on the meter", tested, and it was correct. Then yesterday we did the same. From software to hardware readings the offset is .05+ or - .006


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> I honestly wouldn't be able to say for certain. I don't think it does


Thanks, im tempted but afraid. Although I can do it from a bootable usb drive so i should be able to recover if its messed up.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> I didn't test it but I watched my friend physically in person test it on his Lighting for the whole period the Lightning has been out. It is 100% accurate lol.


The voltage readout in afterburner is not accurate with the new IC, unwinder stated this and it is fact







The software readout for the lightning isn't accurate either.






That isn't my video but drives home the point......the software readout IS NOT ACCURATE Just FYI....the max afterburner will show is 1.265V and at that readout my card is at 1.37V....so obviously what afterburner says and what is really happening isn't correct.

There are tons of users in this very thread that have tested this extensively and what afterburner shows doesn't match reality. It has already been discussed many times


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I don't know why you're arguing this point. The voltage readout in afterburner is not accurate with the new IC, unwinder stated this and it is fact
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The software readout for the lightning isn't accurate either.


I wasn't arguing but I was just going off what I've seen. It's been constant since we started tinkering with it. Nothing changed in the difference between software and hardware for us. Not as of yet.

Wasn't trying to cause an argument about it. Btw this right here is from his mouth and confirms just what me and my friend got done testing for. "So under load it results in 1215mV + 100mV VID."


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> The voltage readout in afterburner is not accurate with the new IC, unwinder stated this and it is fact
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The software readout for the lightning isn't accurate either.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That isn't my video but drives home the point......the software readout IS NOT ACCURATE Just FYI....the max afterburner will show is 1.265V and at that readout my card is at 1.37V....so obviously what afterburner says and what is really happening isn't correct.
> I feel like you'd argue with a spot sign though. There are tons of users in this very thread that have tested this extensively and what afterburner shows doesn't match reality. It has already been discussed, so arguing the point is worthless. Its not accurate, period.


How many times you gonna edit this post? lol.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> How many times you gonna edit this post? lol.


over 9000


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> The voltage readout in afterburner is not accurate with the new IC, unwinder stated this and it is fact
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The software readout for the lightning isn't accurate either.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That isn't my video but drives home the point......the software readout IS NOT ACCURATE Just FYI....the max afterburner will show is 1.265V and at that readout my card is at 1.37V....so obviously what afterburner says and what is really happening isn't correct.
> There are tons of users in this very thread that have tested this extensively and what afterburner shows doesn't match reality. It has already been discussed many times


Just to point out. The video you posted just showed exactly what we were getting. +93 to 1.212 is 1.305 + the hardware difference of .05 is 1.355 which is about bingo what he was seeing. NOT saying it's confirmed just saying so far it's been accurate to every extent.


----------



## dph314

Should I just try the update command since the backup isn't working? If it works, I guess I could just get the stock BIOS from MSI's website if I ever need it. But since the backup isn't working I doubt the flashing to the new one will. Ugh. No one's come across the "No graphics adapter" problem before? I been searching for it and a few sites have people posting the problem, but it's either a different OS or different version of NVFlash, or their solutions aren't working for me


----------



## xoleras

Lets move on to a more interesting topic


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Should I just try the update command since the backup isn't working? If it works, I guess I could just get the stock BIOS from MSI's website. But since the backup isn't working I doubt the flashing to the new one will. Ugh. No one's come across the "No graphics adapter" problem before? I been searching for it and a few sites have people posting the problem, but it's either a different OS or different version of NVFlash, or their solutions aren't working for me


You need to use the newest nvflash:

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/Utilities/BIOS_Flashing/NVIDIA/

I had the same error when I flashed my 680.


----------



## xoleras

Does the asus hard mod require an asus motherboard with VGA hotwire? or can you do it with any board?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

It can be done without an Asus ROG board as xxmastermindxx has done. It's so much easier if you have the board in hand.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> You need to use the newest nvflash:
> http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/Utilities/BIOS_Flashing/NVIDIA/
> I had the same error when I flashed my 680.


Excellent







Just worked. Flashing to Unlocked now.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Excellent
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just worked. Flashing to Unlocked now.


Awesome news. Can't wait to see some numbers from you.


----------



## xoleras

Does SB-E /x79 have native pci express 3.0 x16 in sli? Or does it use the PLX chip?

I know normally the PLX chip for double x16 adds latency and lowers benchmark scores (at least for the z77 platform) but I wonder if its native on the x79 chipset......in fact...I tested the P8Z77 premium quad sli board with the PLX chip and in double card SLI it actually benchmarks quite a bit lower (than the asus P8z77 deluxe) due to the PLX chip. The deluxe doesn't have the PLX chip and benchmarks higher in some cases by a lot in 2 way.

I wanna go x79 but I hope it doesn't have the same issue with 2 way sli.

I think it may be time to switch platforms


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

You need to use the regedit hack to get pci-E 3.0 on x79. I have had no problems with it. The x79 boards do 16x X 16x in two-way SLI. 8x by 4 in quad SLI, just like x58.

I'd stick with what you have with IVY, that system is rocking. Besides, rumour has it that even though IVY-E will be socket 2011 still, the pin out will be different. So you'll need a new board anyways when a person upgrades to IVY-E.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> You need to use the regedit hack to get pci-E 3.0 on x79. I have had no problems with it. The x79 boards do 16x X 16x in two-way SLI. 8x by 4 in quad SLI, just like x58.
> I'd stick with what you have with IVY, that system is rocking. Besides, rumour has it that even though IVY-E will be socket 2011 still, the pin out will be different. So you'll need a new board anyways when a person upgrades to IVY-E.


Didn't Nvidia just publish an update for X79 allowing PCI-E 3.0 no hacks?

Found it here

http://www.techpowerup.com/tags.php?tag=X79


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> could it be that the PGR100 resistor switch is blocking it? in hotwire guides of the DC2, it says you need to remove the PGR100 resistor allow voltage adjustment. I dunno just a thought


that sounds like a good idea actually.. seems plausible... if you remove it without ripping the soldering pads, you can always remount it if you need to


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> Didn't Nvidia just publish an update for X79 allowing PCI-E 3.0 no hacks?
> Found it here
> http://www.techpowerup.com/tags.php?tag=X79


It's the same hack, just the update does it for you automatically.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> It's the same hack, just the update does it for you automatically.


Lol win


----------



## driftingforlife

The RIVE will do PCI 3.0:

1 card x16
2 cards x16, x16
3 cards x16, x8, x16
4 cards x16, x8, x8, x8


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> that sounds like a good idea actually.. seems plausible... if you remove it without ripping the soldering pads, you can always remount it if you need to


xxxmastermindxxx is gonna test it since his resistor is already removed. were gonna find out soon enough


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

OK, here is the actual info from the RIVE manual:



The board is better than I thought!


----------



## AndrewK

I can confirm that the supposedly "un-overcurrent-protected" Ln2 lightning bios does not work on the classy. Not that it matters anymore, because it's still overcurrent protected. Guess it's time to do some soldering. I have some power hungry cards that can do more.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndrewK*
> 
> I can confirm that the supposedly "un-overcurrent-protected" Ln2 lightning bios does not work on the classy. Not that it matters anymore, because it's still overcurrent protected. Guess it's time to do some soldering. I have some power hungry cards that can do more.


Yeah, I don't get why nvidia are being so picky about all of these restrictions. It definitely doesn't make sense for cards like the classified or lightning......definitely not EVGAs fault, i'm sure they want unlocked cards as badly as we do.


----------



## RobsM6S

I flashed the Gigabyte Windforce to the LN2 bios, lol. It works but im having some video stuttering so I might have to revert back, my Asus card works perfect with the LN2 bios but even after the flash its still not as good of an overclocker as my Windforce.


----------



## xoleras

I was just looking at prices and was surprised the galaxy SOC card is actually only around 550$...not bad at all...would be awfully tempting now that I think about it....

That color scheme drives me crazy though







(and the outputs)

Anyway I need to figure out what to get for x79. I'm almost sure that the 3960k doesn't get as warm as the 3770k when oc'ed, my chip can get nearly 85C at 4.8ghz...


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> I flashed the Gigabyte Windforce to the LN2 bios, lol. It works but im having some video stuttering so I might have to revert back, my Asus card works perfect with the LN2 bios but even after the flash its still not as good of an overclocker as my Windforce.


Awesome news. I noticed stuttering when I switched to a newer LN2 BIOS on the first reboot after a full system shutdown and restart it worked fine again.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Yeah, I don't get why nvidia are being so picky about all of these restrictions. It definitely doesn't make sense for cards like the classified or lightning......definitely not EVGAs fault, i'm sure they want unlocked cards as badly as we do.


I'm actually getting mad about this voltage thing now.

I mean Nvidia getting bent out of shape that the Lightning had an unlocked bios and now they want the new Lightning LN2 bios to be locked down too.

I probably should have went AMD this round.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> Awesome news. I noticed stuttering when I switched to a newer LN2 BIOS on the first reboot after a full system shutdown and restart it worked fine again.


Hmm, im about to reinstall the driver so I will try again.


----------



## dph314

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1607292&mpage=1&print=true

I did that and can confirm that it does allow my cards to run x16 3.0 / x16 3.0 just fine. Haven't had any problems. Had to do it manually (via my link in this post) since the auto .exe file wouldn't work for some reason. Running stock-for-stock SLI (for least amount of variables introduced) I did a 2.0 vs 3.0, changing nothing else, and scored about 100 points higher on GPU Score, so, within margin-of-error I believe. Not sure if it will help for high overclocks in SLI, but 3 and 4-way SLI will see a big improvement:


+Rep to xoleras, tooshort, and jona for the NVFlash help







Showing unlocked in both cards. Quick test with the crappy one that was sent as a replacement, and had the new BIOS, seems promising. Before shutting down to put the second card back in, crappy one was stable at only 1250mhz, then with 2.2.3 it was stable at 1300mhz, and after the flash it did 1320mhz fine. Doing an SLI run now (P20,000...here I come







)


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I was just looking at prices and was surprised the galaxy SOC card is actually only around 550$...not bad at all...would be awfully tempting....
> That color scheme drives me crazy though
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (and the outputs)


The Galaxy 680 GC will do voltage but not memory or aux per Galaxy techs a few weeks back and personally I think it looks more in line with the agressive style of the Lightning and I like it a lot plus it has better display output options. Would have been my next choice had the SOC not been an option. It matches oh so well with my case so I couldn't resist.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> The Galaxy 680 GC will do voltage but not memory or aux per Galaxy techs a few weeks back and personally I think it looks more in line with the agressive style of the Lightning and I like it a lot plus it has better display output options. Would have been my next choice had the SOC not been an option. It matches oh so well with my case so I couldn't resist.


I was interested in the GC, you think the ln2 flash will allow core voltage adjustment with that one?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

jona2125

Did you update your Galaxy Hall of Fame 680 with the LN2 bios?

Is it working?


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> I was interested in the GC, you think the ln2 flash will allow core voltage adjustment with that one?


I had a lengthy discussion with some of the guys on the R&D team for Galaxy and a very helpful rep as well. They stated the GC has the same chip for core voltage as the SOC so going off their statement yes. I can ask Andrew from Galaxy if he would be willing to mod his. I really like that card. Between the GC and the Lightning I think they are the two sexiest ones out right now.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> jona2125
> Did you update your Galaxy Hall of Fame 680 with the LN2 bios?
> Is it working?


Yea did it yesterday. Re-did it with a different newer BIOS my buddy Killbuzzjrad sent me because I really was not a fan of full system lock up every single time the driver crashed. Humored me that your cards spool up fans like a jet engine from start to login screen and now mine does it lol. Mine doesn't do the dust removal like yours obviously but it didn't overwrite the one Galaxy put in for my card. It blasts the fans for a moment. Works well so glad that's there still.


----------



## AndrewK

-- Single card Heaven -- @ 1410/6958


--SLI Heaven -- @ 1410/7100, 1398/7100


Tri and quad benches to come, in addition to 3dmark.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> Yea did it yesterday. Re-did it with a different newer BIOS my buddy Killbuzzjrad sent me because I really was not a fan of full system lock up every single time the driver crashed. Humored me that your cards spool up fans like a jet engine from start to login screen and now mine does it lol. Mine doesn't do the dust removal like yours obviously but it didn't overwrite the one Galaxy put in for my card. It blasts the fans for a moment. Works well so glad that's there still.


Ok.

You you probaly have me confuded with Rob's Asus 680, mine is watercooled. No fan here!


----------



## RobsM6S

Dang, windforce is still stuttering and its running about half the speed it should run. this is too bad cause the ln2 bios flashed to without any problems. guess i will revert back.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Ok.
> You you probaly have me confuded with Rob's Asus 680, mine is watercooled. No fan here!


Haha my bad forgot you are a wanderer of this thread like me. Us non Lightning folk need to stick together.

The Lightning's are the cards that do all the spooling. Caught me by surprise at first then I remembered my buddy's does that and was like oh yea.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Dang, windforce is still stuttering and its running about half the speed it should run. this is too bad cause the ln2 bios flashed to without any problems. guess i will revert back.


That's really lame. Must be very strictly hardware limited.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1607292&mpage=1&print=true
> I did that and can confirm that it does allow my cards to run x16 3.0 / x16 3.0 just fine. Haven't had any problems. Had to do it manually (via my link in this post) since the auto .exe file wouldn't work for some reason. Running stock-for-stock SLI (for least amount of variables introduced) I did a 2.0 vs 3.0, changing nothing else, and scored about 100 points higher on GPU Score, so, within margin-of-error I believe. Not sure if it will help for high overclocks in SLI, but 3 and 4-way SLI will see a big improvement:
> 
> 
> +Rep to xoleras, tooshort, and jona for the NVFlash help
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Showing unlocked in both cards. Quick test with the crappy one that was sent as a replacement, and had the new BIOS, seems promising. Before shutting down to put the second card back in, crappy one was stable at only 1250mhz, then with 2.2.3 it was stable at 1300mhz, and after the flash it did 1320mhz fine. Doing an SLI run now (P20,000...here I come
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


Appreciate the rep btw thank you a bunch.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> That's really lame. Must be very strictly hardware limited.


Yeah, thats what I think.


----------



## DrBoss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> That's a great score. You can push the voltage some more without a doubt as long as temps are within acceptable for you. The Aux voltage is PLL voltage and just can maybe give you a better chance at max effort stability. As far as memory voltage, I've been using it since before it was an option for afterburner and have noted through my Galaxy and two Lightnings that even with maxed out memory overvoltage the memory just runs out of breath at 7200, which can be done on stock voltage. I made a run at 7250 and it was instant crash. 7200 had artifacts even at max memory voltage, still does with 2.2.3


with my custom fan profile +20mV took me to 66C on the core with the fan only ramping up to 67%
with the fan set at 100% (excessive) +20mV took me to 61C on the core.
I will try to take the voltage/core higher when i get home from work today.. but i honestly can't imagine i'm going to get much more out of the N670 PE.

and thanks for the info on the Aux voltage.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Yeah, thats what I think.


I wish you much luck for sure as that was my hopes when I first got the card and heard promise of voltage in general. I lucked out and crested my goal of 12K P score with a 2600K and one card so I am extremely satisfied right now. What's your next plan of action?


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DrBoss*
> 
> with my custom fan profile +20mV took me to 66C on the core with the fan only ramping up to 67%
> with the fan set at 100% (excessive) +20mV took me to 61C on the core.
> I will try to take the voltage/core higher when i get home from work today.. but i honestly can't imagine i'm going to get much more out of the N670 PE.
> and thanks for the info on the Aux voltage.


Don't doubt yourself my friend. I think you should squeeze a decent little bit more out of it. Good luck and let us all know what happens.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> I wish you much luck for sure as that was my hopes when I first got the card and heard promise of voltage in general. I lucked out and crested my goal of 12K P score with a 2600K and one card so I am extremely satisfied right now. What's your next plan of action?


I might just hold onto the gigabyte, it breaks the 1300mhz core barrier already and does 600+mem. Dont know if you remember me or not but I had the Galaxy SOC a while back myself, had to return it to the egg though because of some issues with the fan going whacko on me. lol.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> _The voltage readout in MSI afterburner is not accurate;_ The only way to get an accurate reading is with a volt meter. Afterburner reads 1.21V for me when the volt meter is 1.35V-1.36V.


Does your slider also drop to 93 when you apply it at 100?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> I might just hold onto the gigabyte, it breaks the 1300mhz core barrier already and does 600+mem. Dont know if you remember me or not but I had the Galaxy SOC a while back myself, had to return it to the egg though because of some issues with the fan going whacko on me. lol.


Yeah there are specific ICs that the lightning BIOS requires, apparently the galaxy SOC is a close match but no other cards are yet (known anyway). Other users are reporting anomolies with the lightning BIOS on their non lightning cards.... .

One can hope that nvidia doesn't adopt such a stupid stance with their next part, all of this stuff we're doing is a hassle. But we do know that the GTX 780 lightning will be the best gtx 780 for sure.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> I might just hold onto the gigabyte, it breaks the 1300mhz core barrier already and does 600+mem. Dont know if you remember me or not but I had the Galaxy SOC a while back myself, had to return it to the egg though because of some issues with the fan going whacko on me. lol.


Lol yea I remember you talking about it. Sucks that happened. Sucks that you seem to always get a bad stroke of luck honestly. I feel for you.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Yeah there are specific ICs that the lightning BIOS requires:


Yeah thats what I figured, thought it would be worth a try anyway so now that it doesnt work im back to my original bios. At least I didnt brick the card, lol.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> Lol yea I remember you talking about it. Sucks that happened. Sucks that you seem to always get a bad stroke of luck honestly. I feel for you.


Thats probably that bosniac guy or whatever his name is, he had the same issue but has had MANY others as well. lol.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

You guys should push me to do the hotwire mod to my Asus card!

I'm really thinking this over here, struggling in my mind. LoL.


----------



## dph314

Finally


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> You guys should push me to do the hotwire mod to my Asus card!
> I'm really thinking this over here, struggling in my mind. LoL.


ive said it before, ive said it again. DO IT!







you got the mobo+gpu combo for it. its just asking for it!


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Finally


Very nice!









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> ive said it before, ive said it again. DO IT!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> you got the mobo+gpu combo for it. its just asking for it!


I know I know!


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Finally


Awesome sauce man. 20K P score is a helluva achievement


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> You guys should push me to do the hotwire mod to my Asus card!
> I'm really thinking this over here, struggling in my mind. LoL.


as far as soldering goes, this is as easy as it gets. huge solder points for each wire, dont have to worry about shorting nearby SMDs, etc.
I'd be all over it if I were you..


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Very nice!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I know I know!


+ 1 to do it as well. Just be cautious I'd hate to see something go wrong


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Thats probably that bosniac guy or whatever his name is, he had the same issue but has had MANY others as well. lol.


Yeah, it was a great card. 1300 out of the box. But was crashing, had a broken DVI adapter, and when Newegg sent me a new card, I received the same one, lol. It was a great card. See signature for review. One thing to note, the cooling was inadequate even with 3 fans. I was hitting [email protected]


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Yeah, I don't get why nvidia are being so picky about all of these restrictions. It definitely doesn't make sense for cards like the classified or lightning......definitely not EVGAs fault, i'm sure they want unlocked cards as badly as we do.


My honest opinion is that the capability of these cards far exceeds what they want us to think , by allowing us to OC at volts 1.3-1.8 I am willing to bet that these cards would give their next tier of cards a run for their money. In all seriousness if people are reaching 1500+ mhz and these cards drop $300-350 in price with the release of 7xx series , who is really going to pay 500-700 for a kepler card that will put out 5-15% maybe not even that much with how these cards OC. Come on , a classified 680 hit 2k ( I know it's under extreme conditions) and that's insane and kinda sets the standard much higher for their next cards. Granted I might be looking into it too much but I really can't think of any other reason other then people blowing up their gpus.

Just to add , if 580's were able to hit 1300-1500mhz and you owned one who you really have dropped 500-700 on a 680 in it's current state with locked voltage?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> My honest opinion is that the capability of these cards far exceeds what they want us to think , by allowing us to OC at volts 1.3-1.8 I am willing to bet that these cards would give their next tier of cards a run for their money. In all seriousness if people are reaching 1500+ mhz and these cards drop $300-350 in price with the release on 7xx series , who is really going to pay 500-700 for a kepler card that will put out 5-15% maybe not even that much with how these cards OC. Come on classified hit 2k ( I know it's under extreme conditions) and that's insane and kinda sets the standard much higher for their next cards. Granted I might be looking into it too much but I really can't think of any other reason other then people blowing up their gpus.
> just to add , if 580's were able top hit 1300-1500mhz and you owned one who you really have dropped 500-700 on a 680 in it's current state with locked voltage?


Very interesting opinion, I like it.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Very interesting opinion, I like it.


Thanks, It's really the only way I can look at it. These cards are damn powerful under the right conditions and Nvidia wants to control that power.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Thanks, It's really the only way I can look at it. These cards are damn powerful under the right conditions and Nvidia wants to control that power.


Plausable to say the least. Definitely plausable. They lose some of the overclocking community this generation, but more than make up for it in sales next gen by making the difference in performance worth the purchase


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Thanks, It's really the only way I can look at it. These cards are damn powerful under the right conditions and Nvidia wants to control that power.


Love the Genesis man.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Yeah, it was a great card. 1300 out of the box. But was crashing, had a broken DVI adapter, and when Newegg sent me a new card, I received the same one, lol. It was a great card. See signature for review. One thing to note, the cooling was inadequate even with 3 fans. I was hitting [email protected]


What the heck? They sent you the same card as a replacement? Pretty scummy on their part









I've had issues with newegg sending me used GPUs as new in the past (with the 7970), I honestly prefer amazon.com for purchases these days. Their return policy is hassle free as well, newegg is luck of the draw.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Love the Genesis man.


Haha +rep!!!

thanks , I fell in love the first time I sat in it at the dealer!!


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Haha +rep!!!
> thanks , I fell in love the first time I sat in it at the dealer!!


But does it overclock?! Benchmarks!!

I want to overclock my 0-60mph speed but It negatively affects my fuel efficiency


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> But does it overclock?! Benchmarks!!
> I want to overclock my 0-60mph speed but It negatively affects my fuel efficiency


i am putting a samsung galaxy tab in the dash!!! I can bench and OC that


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Haha +rep!!!
> thanks , I fell in love the first time I sat in it at the dealer!!


Yeah I bet, they look great and sound so good when you get on it.


----------



## RobsM6S

So did that one guy with the Asus DC2 card that had the resistor removed flash his bios yet?


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> So did that one guy with the Asus DC2 card that had the resistor removed flash his bios yet?


I dunno. he's going to chime in soon. he said he'll test it out.


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> I dunno. he's going to chime in soon. he said he'll test it out.


Looks like it's a no go for me. BIOS flashed, and regardless of 301.10, 301.42, 304.48, or 304.79 driver versions, this is my Afterburner screen with every option unlocked in the menu:



Higher max power at least, I guess. lol


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> Looks like it's a no go for me. BIOS flashed, and regardless of 301.10, 301.42, 304.48, or 304.79 driver versions, this is my Afterburner screen with every option unlocked in the menu:
> 
> Higher max power at least, I guess. lol


ah that sucks







thanks for trying it out for us though!


----------



## RobsM6S

Okay thanks you two, now I can pack up the asus card and return it.


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Strange, Asus GPU Tweak lets me do a voltage offset, and it will now max at 1.26 V under load. Graph shows 1.212 V. Just sounds like normal LN2 BIOS behavior, am I right?

Edit: Actually, never mind this. It shows 1.26 V regardless of what monitoring program is open.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Well I finally got around to comparing TF4 and DCII.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1286218/twin-frozr-4-vs-directcu-ii

It's not the best review but I tried.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> Well I finally got around to comparing TF4 and DCII.
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1286218/twin-frozr-4-vs-directcu-ii
> It's not the best review but I tried.


Nice review, thanks for taking the time to gather all that info. This should cement the TF4 as the best cooler hands down (yes my opinion is biased







), i like the DC2--great card--but triple slot is a deal breaker, and in your review the TF4 is getting better temps on top of that..


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> Strange, Asus GPU Tweak lets me do a voltage offset, and it will now max at 1.26 V under load. Graph shows 1.212 V. Just sounds like normal LN2 BIOS behavior, am I right?
> Edit: Actually, never mind this. It shows 1.26 V regardless of what monitoring program is open.


How does voltage work with the VGA hot wire? Do you have to do it through a motherboard BIOS or how does that work?


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> How does voltage work with the VGA hot wire? Do you have to do it through a motherboard BIOS or how does that work?


You use the OC key.


----------



## xoleras

Whoa...thats pretty cool actually..


----------



## Asmola

Tested that LN2 bios on my 680 DCII but it didnt work so i desided to solder my card and istalled hotwires.. here is my result with 1.35v under stress (see GPU-Z sensor tab







)


----------



## xoleras

I'm not gonna lie, this thread is becoming not about the lightning..... Just IMHO though. Nice results in any case... you should put that in the 3dmark11 benchmarks database!


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Nice score there Asmola!









is 1.35v the max that is allowed from the hotwire and mobo?

And yep xoleras, I see your point.

There should be an unlocked voltage gtx6xx thread.


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> How does voltage work with the VGA hot wire? Do you have to do it through a motherboard BIOS or how does that work?


You can do it via:

1. OC Key (which someone already mentioned). This gives you the OSD, which is an on screen software overlay that allows you to monitor and set voltages on the fly. Rampage IV Extreme required.
3. Soldering your own wire and variable resistors to the 6 mod points the card has. Small amount of skill and a digital multimeter required.


----------



## Asmola

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Nice score there Asmola!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> is 1.35v the max that is allowed from the hotwire and mobo?


No, i can give +1.5v if i want but that was just quick test that mods/hotwires are working.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> You use the OC key.


Not for nothing but I was expecting the motherboard to fly off the table and out the window with all that stuff he was doing.
it's funny this is what's its come to for people that want to oc a damn video card.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> There should be an unlocked voltage gtx6xx thread.


Done.


----------



## supermi

JUST GOT MY CLASSIFIEDS!!!

I will test them one by one with stock volts on air then with the EVbot this weekend ... going on water next week if I have time , KK back to the lightnings LOL


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> JUST GOT MY CLASSIFIEDS!!!
> I will test them one by one with stock volts on air then with the EVbot this weekend ... going on water next week if I have time , KK back to the lightnings LOL


supermi?

Go here to this thread and let us know how your cards go.









http://www.overclock.net/t/1286239/the-gtx-680-670-unlocked-voltage-discussion-thread/20#post_17787683


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> The Gigabye Windforce GTX 680 wouldnt work with the LN2 bios would it? I know it has beefed up VRM's compared to referrence but I dont think it has the chil chip.
> This thing overclocks so nice that it would be killer with a little more voltage.


If by beefed up you mean 1 more phase (same type as reference) then yes


----------



## XbeaTX

hi guys...
a little advice to save/flashing bios in a few second... try the latest version of zotac firestorm!










http://china.zotac.com/download/drivers/FireStorm_V1.0.11.109E.exe
Setup is in Chinese but the utility is in English (because this version is for zotac extreme... available only in China)

tested on my lightning and working perfectly


----------



## emett

Does this work with all 600 series cards?


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *emett*
> 
> Does this work with all 600 series cards?


afterburner YES
voltage control above 1.17v NO
LN2 Bios NO exception being the galaxy SOC

unless you mean the Zotac for flashing BIOS ... I would think yes but am not sure ...

"maybe quote the post you are referring to in the future







"


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Finally


Congrats I've been shooting for that number myself, time to give it another shot.


----------



## FtW 420

Some new single card clocks, forgot to leave afterburner open in the heaven run but gpu-z was open


----------



## DADDYDC650

@FTW 420, what? No 60FPS? Pshh......


----------



## FtW 420

I'll have to tweak a bit more, should have some time to play with them tonight.


----------



## Ice009

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> No. It won't fit. I know this for a fact unfortunately
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You would have to take the backplate off.
> Get a H100 and you'll be fine


What about an EVGA card with a backplate, or do cards with backplates not fit at all on a Rampage 4 Formula and Noctua NH-D14?

I don't really want watercooling as I leave the rig on most of the time. If I turned it off when I wasn't using it, then I might consider it, but I just don't like the idea of having it on unsupervised.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> hi guys...
> a little advice to save/flashing bios in a few second... try the latest version of zotac firestorm!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://china.zotac.com/download/drivers/FireStorm_V1.0.11.109E.exe
> Setup is in Chinese but the utility is in English (because this version is for zotac extreme... available only in China)
> tested on my lightning and working perfectly


Good find I had seen that Zotac was coming out with it soon but never followed up afterwords. I was on the hunt for it a week ago so thanks a bunch


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> hi guys...
> a little advice to save/flashing bios in a few second... try the latest version of zotac firestorm!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://china.zotac.com/download/drivers/FireStorm_V1.0.11.109E.exe
> Setup is in Chinese but the utility is in English (because this version is for zotac extreme... available only in China)
> tested on my lightning and working perfectly


Lol works on my 670 like a charm, Guess ill start the hunt for a decent 670 bios with a bigger boost.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ice009*
> 
> What about an EVGA card with a backplate, or do cards with backplates not fit at all on a Rampage 4 Formula and Noctua NH-D14?
> I don't really want watercooling as I leave the rig on most of the time. If I turned it off when I wasn't using it, then I might consider it, but I just don't like the idea of having it on unsupervised.


It was a _really_ tight squeeze with the Noctua and a card in that first slot that didn't have a backplate, so I would think with any card having a backplate it might be difficult.


----------



## Mr.Pie

yumyum
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shoggy*
> 
> I have the prices now.
> Our normal retail price in the webshop will be 104.90 EUR with VAT or 88.15 EUR w/o VAT. I will write en e-mail to Gary with his prices.


I'm discussing pre-order/special OCN members discount with [email protected] I'll be putting up a new survey so you can submit your name; OCN name and contact details so I can inform you of final pricing and when the blocks will officially be available through sidewinder.

more information please see this thread: http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30

edit:

*Please fill in this survey if you're interested. Need to let gary know roughly how many blocks he'll need to order as well as a way of contacting you








https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHBHcFJwODNrcnE3Y2dJRHprQ0UxUFE6MQ*


----------



## dph314

Excellent news









Still wondering if I should get a DCII though for the hardwire RIVE mod. If I can do it just as easily with the Lightning then I would definitely pick up 2 of those blocks for a future water setup.


----------



## xoleras

If you do the RIVE mod you'll have to go water anyway...you do understand all those other guys (tooshort, etc) that did the same thing are on water right? They're using universal waterblocks. You aren't realistically going to do 1400+ on air 24/7 in sli, it would be easy on single card but much harder in sli..

FTW420 has his lightning under water he beat tooshorts score anyway...so whatever...screw asus triple slot gpu's (although I love their mobos) , thats me though. I would have considered an asus but triple slot for sli is worthless and not usable. The lightning has a better cooler (see http://www.overclock.net/t/1286218/twin-frozr-4-vs-directcu-ii or the review at TPU), it is also double slot and has a full cover block being released.

this is ftw's score


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> 
> 
> yumyum]












In for 2!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> If you do the RIVE mod you'll have to go water anyway...you do understand all those other guys (tooshort, etc) that did the same thing are on water right?


I do realize that. That's why I said I want to start researching how to do the hardmod so I know how to when the waterblocks come out









Testing a new card and before flashing (it had the New BIOS), it was stable at 1310mhz core but not 1320mhz. So I flashed to new BIOS and maxed the voltage, and it still crashes at 1320? No increase at all? Something doesn't seem right. Has anyone measured the old and new BIOSes with a DMM and compared those readings?


----------



## Darco19

I just ordered my Lightning that should come in tomorrow because a) I kind of lost my sanity and b) I found a buyer for my DC2 TOP anyway. I just really wanna see what these are capable of, as my DC2 TOP is actually only stable at 1300mhz in BF3, and I really don't like the cooler sagging and exhausting air back into my case. Hoping for the best...


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darco19*
> 
> I just ordered my Lightning that should come in tomorrow because a) I kind of lost my sanity and b) I found a buyer for my DC2 TOP anyway. I just really wanna see what these are capable of, as my DC2 TOP is actually only stable at 1300mhz in BF3, and I really don't like the cooler sagging and exhausting air back into my case. Hoping for the best...


The Lightning exhausts air into the case the same way the DC II does, and any other cooler that is not a blower style.


----------



## Darco19

Well I'm also hoping for an actual memory OC as well, since my DC2 TOP doesn't like anywhere near 1600 on the mem (6400 effective) which is kinda crap.


----------



## Scorpion667

What's are the max temps you guys have seen with maxed voltage? Preferably custom fan profile, looking for both benchmark and gaming temps


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> What's are the max temps you guys have seen with maxed voltage? Preferably custom fan profile, looking for both benchmark and gaming temps


If you're running single card i'm pretty sure you would never go past 60C ever. Even with maxed voltage.

SLI, thats a different story...the top card will get warmer. I tested single card briefly and getting 1400+ mhz was ridiculously easy, and I still had good temps on air. Obviously things are different in SLI, its more difficult to get huge overclocks in SLI

To be specific, I tested single card briefly and in that configuration I hit 1402 with ease and my temps were around 53-54c at 100% manual fan. That was with maxed voltage. I know I could have gone higher but I didn't really bother. *You will need manual fan at high voltages* to optimize your temperatures, you won't have temp issues-- trust me-- as long as long _as you don't do something stupid like running auto fan while overclocked._

I mention this because I see people trying to get 1350mhz on auto fan, which I find ridiculous TBH because people knew a couple of years ago to not use auto fan for overclocking (not sure what changed in the past 2 years)... 99% of people can't do that regardless of core temps.


----------



## Valenz

Would like to see the xtreme in stores please!!! Need 4 gigs!!!!


----------



## Xnerdz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darco19*
> 
> [...] I really don't like the cooler sagging and exhausting air back into my case. [...]


Ya well, the bests gpu coolers on air focus on cooling the gpu itself, not the whole case.... If you have a descent air flow in your case, it will do no difference and those coolers are better than the crappy closed box ones...


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> If you're running single card i'm pretty sure you would never go past 60C ever. Even with maxed voltage.
> SLI, thats a different story...the top card will get warmer. I tested single card briefly and getting 1400+ mhz was ridiculously easy, and I still had good temps on air. Obviously things are different in SLI, its more difficult to get huge overclocks in SLI
> To be specific, I tested single card briefly and in that configuration I hit 1402 with ease and my temps were around 53-54c at 100% manual fan. That was with maxed voltage. I know I could have gone higher but I didn't really bother. *You will need manual fan at high voltages* to optimize your temperatures, you won't have temp issues-- trust me-- as long as long _as you don't do something stupid like running auto fan while overclocked._
> I mention this because I see people trying to get 1350mhz on auto fan, which I find ridiculous TBH because people knew a couple of years ago to not use auto fan for overclocking (not sure what changed in the past 2 years)... 99% of people can't do that regardless of core temps.


My card hits over 70c at 1400mhz, at 100% fan during heavy gaming sessions. Otherwise temps are in the low 50's at low 1300's.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> The Lightning exhausts air into the case the same way the DC II does, and any other cooler that is not a blower style.


Which shouldnt be an issue for any modern day PC case with moderate airflow to exaust the hot air.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> 
> 
> yumyum
> I'm discussing pre-order/special OCN members discount with [email protected] I'll be putting up a new survey so you can submit your name; OCN name and contact details so I can inform you of final pricing and when the blocks will officially be available through sidewinder.
> more information please see this thread: http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30
> edit:
> *Please fill in this survey if you're interested. Need to let gary know roughly how many blocks he'll need to order as well as a way of contacting you
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHBHcFJwODNrcnE3Y2dJRHprQ0UxUFE6MQ*


Damn you!!! Now you make me want to buy something! Trying to save money here man!


----------



## exploiteddna

*Updates*

Page 2 (labeled AB 2.2.3) of the spreadsheet is now up to date. If I accidentally missed your OC, shoot me a PM and let me know..
As a reminder, the the first sheet of the spreadsheet is reserved for OC results using AB 2.2.2 with 1.215v, while the second page is reserved for OC results using AB 2.2.3 with greater than 1.215v.
I may decide to switch the sheet order, having the newer OC results on top and the older results on second sheet.. i dunno, we'll see.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> If you're running single card i'm pretty sure you would never go past 60C ever. Even with maxed voltage.
> SLI, thats a different story...the top card will get warmer. I tested single card briefly and getting 1400+ mhz was ridiculously easy, and I still had good temps on air. Obviously things are different in SLI, its more difficult to get huge overclocks in SLI
> To be specific, I tested single card briefly and in that configuration I hit 1402 with ease and my temps were around 53-54c at 100% manual fan. That was with maxed voltage. I know I could have gone higher but I didn't really bother. *You will need manual fan at high voltages* to optimize your temperatures, you won't have temp issues-- trust me-- as long as long _as you don't do something stupid like running auto fan while overclocked._
> I mention this because I see people trying to get 1350mhz on auto fan, which I find ridiculous TBH because people knew a couple of years ago to not use auto fan for overclocking (not sure what changed in the past 2 years)... 99% of people can't do that regardless of core temps.


Thanks for that, I will be running single card, got a 1357/7114 card (heaven stable) coming my way in a few weeks. I always use aggressive custom fan profile =)

People laugh when they see me running 3930k with single card, but I laugh knowing I got it for $179 with IRE =P


----------



## xoleras

Ya, whatever works for ya







I only use SLI because I play at 2560x1600.....

Temps do depend a lot on ambients, I keep my PC in a really cool ventilated room now so that surely makes a difference, but temps shouldn't really be a huge issue for you if you have great case airflow..


----------



## Scorpion667

What's this about afterburner locking voltage to 1.175v? Will we still be able to OC Lightnings on the old BIOS?

Source:


Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!



http://www.overclock.net/t/1286717/guru-3d-msi-gtx-680-lightning-voltage-tweaking



I am surprised Nvidia went this far, maybe their internal research showed the GPU's degrading at higher voltages?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I haven't heard of anybody getting a lightning with the new BIOS, but lots of folks have flashed to the unlocked OG BIOS, it doesn't work on many but it work great on the Lightning.

And I don't think AB is locking the voltage, it's the BIOS nVidia is imposing on MSI to keep from altering the voltage. If you're getting a Lightning that's more than a week old, I bet you'll have the OG BIOS. Get AB 2.2.3 and o to town. Might want to get 2.2.3 now before nVidia has a spasm and gets it yanked


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> What's this about afterburner locking voltage to 1.175v? Will we still be able to OC Lightnings on the old BIOS?
> Source:
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1286717/guru-3d-msi-gtx-680-lightning-voltage-tweaking
> 
> 
> I am surprised Nvidia went this far, maybe their internal research showed the GPU's degrading at higher voltages?


You will be able to overvolt fine , don't worry. Some of the new BIOS' apparently have a limit (although its not confirmed to be shipping yet) but you can flash to the original.


----------



## antikarma

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> I haven't heard of anybody getting a lightning with the new BIOS, but lots of folks have flashed to the unlocked OG BIOS, it doesn't work on many but it work great on the Lightning.
> And I don't think AB is locking the voltage, it's the BIOS nVidia is imposing on MSI to keep from altering the voltage. If you're getting a Lightning that's more than a week old, I bet you'll have the OG BIOS. Get AB 2.2.3 and o to town. Might want to get 2.2.3 now before nVidia has a spasm and gets it yanked


I got my lighting about a week ago, had the new bios, 3A. Flashed it to the F8 bios without any problems.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *antikarma*
> 
> I got my lighting about a week ago, had the new bios, 3A. Flashed it to the F8 bios without any problems.


Thanks for posting that! Nothing like hearing it from an actual owner, and dang glad it worked.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *antikarma*
> 
> I got my lighting about a week ago, had the new bios, 3A. Flashed it to the F8 bios without any problems.


You do have the new bios but it is unlocked as well. The only difference I saw between f8 and 3a is 3a doesn't do a hard crash when it gets unstable.


----------



## pwnzilla61

Finally get to order my lightning tonight, nice to see what the blocks are going to look like. I put my info in for a water block. I am so ready!


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I The lightning has a better cooler (see http://www.overclock.net/t/1286218/twin-frozr-4-vs-directcu-ii


The cooler is not better, is even weaker at lower rpm, but lets say they are equal to be fair, because we are comparing tripple vs dual slot cards.


----------



## xoleras

Cooling performance is equal. I was referring mainly to being double slot which is a big big plus for me since i'm using SLI. You're right they're roughly equal in terms of cooling


----------



## dVeLoPe

so what is the LOWEST stable overclocking card?? are they ALL above 1300 so far or a few in the mid 12s?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> so what is the LOWEST stable overclocking card?? are they ALL above 1300 so far or a few in the mid 12s?


If you're looking for guarantees that isn't going to happen with any card


----------



## dph314

I would say the lowest after 2.2.3 has to be in the 1300's. I mean, at least with mine anyway, 2.2.3 added ~50mhz to each card, and the lowest ones we saw on the locked BIOSes were around 1250-1260. I'd say the Lightning is your best bet if you're going for a 1300mhz card. If you get less than 1300mhz on the old BIOS with max voltage then you're really unlucky.


----------



## pwnzilla61

just pulled the cord on a lightning, should be here monday or tuesday.


----------



## PLAY911

Hi all please can someone upload bios 3a?

Thank you


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PLAY911*
> 
> Hi all please can someone upload bios 3a?
> Thank you


If someone else doesn't help you out before I get home, I get out of work in 4 hours and I can upload it for you.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PLAY911*
> 
> Hi all please can someone upload bios 3a?
> Thank you


https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3l0C2xbzQ5TX2tQXzBicHBwMjA


----------



## antikarma

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3l0C2xbzQ5TX2tQXzBicHBwMjA


Can we get this posted on the front page please? 
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> You do have the new bios but it is unlocked as well. The only difference I saw between f8 and 3a is 3a doesn't do a hard crash when it gets unstable.


Really? Because my overclock has gone from +70 to +150 with the F8 Bios (Admittedly I did, at the same time, move the card to a different PCIE slot and upped my VTT voltage).

The hard crash is really annoying, tempted to revert back to the 3A bios if your comments are fact. Will have to do some more testing


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *antikarma*
> 
> Really? Because my overclock has gone from +70 to +150 with the F8 Bios (Admittedly I did, at the same time, move the card to a different PCIE slot and upped my VTT voltage).
> The hard crash is really annoying, tempted to revert back to the 3A bios if your comments are fact. Will have to do some more testing


The newest one I tried gained absolutely nothing when going from the 3A to F8. Would crash at 1320mhz on both BIOSes but was stable at 1310mhz on both. So, I don't have a DMM but I asked earlier if someone had took readings of the F8 as well as the 3A to compare because it was wierd I gained absolutely nothing at all. I double-checked the BIOS version, restarted computer, then even reinstalled the drivers and Afterburner. Nothing made a difference.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *antikarma*
> 
> Can we get this posted on the front page please?
> Really? Because my overclock has gone from +70 to +150 with the F8 Bios (Admittedly I did, at the same time, move the card to a different PCIE slot and upped my VTT voltage).
> The hard crash is really annoying, tempted to revert back to the 3A bios if your comments are fact. Will have to do some more testing


3A has worked for me. Granted I don't have a lightning. It did eliminate the hard crash. Only issues I've found which might be specific to not having a Lightning is that I'll get a full card crash blue screen if I try to put the voltage to max on occasion especially right after benching. Another note is that I can get the full range of +93 mv (what it reverts too despite going to 100) when I use anything but 3dmark 11 which drops me down to +55-60 so I'm losing clocks because of it. When I get home from work I will be doing heaven finally. I'm shooting for 1400.


----------



## XbeaTX

@michaelrw

core clock with AB 2.2.3 is 1432 MHz... not 1342
thank u


----------



## PLAY911

Many thx!!.....I am going to give it a try

Thx again

Jona whats ur GTX 680...do you know if it has RT8802A Voltage controller?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3l0C2xbzQ5TX2tQXzBicHBwMjA


----------



## Asmola

Afterburner "extreme edition" in the works. Good to hear.


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Asmola*
> 
> Afterburner "extreme edition" in the works. Good to hear.


You know... the toasters are pretty cheap these days.









Holy Cow!


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> You do have the new bios but it is unlocked as well. The only difference I saw between f8 and 3a is 3a doesn't do a hard crash when it gets unstable.


^this


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PLAY911*
> 
> Hi all please can someone upload bios 3a?
> Thank you


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *antikarma*
> 
> Can we get this posted on the front page please?


its been posted in the OP for over 24 hours .. way ahead of you, mates







(i thought i even made a post about the update... heh)

TO ALL: I have posted a copy of the 3A bios (courtesy of killbuzzjrad) in the OP over 24 hours ago, along with my personal analysis of what it is. While we know it is not a locked BIOS like we've been expecting, I do fully expect to see a BIOS version that is locked. I think this is merely a different revision. Like someone else said, the "locked" ones arent confirmed as having shipped/sold yet. However, we will keep our eyes peeled and update everyone as soon as we get some more information. Us Lightning owners, we're all in this voltage battle together so if you have or find some valuable info about any of this, shoot me a PM so we can get it up in the OP for the whole crowd to see


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> @michaelrw
> core clock with AB 2.2.3 is 1432 MHz... not 1342
> thank u


lols


----------



## Darco19

Ok , just got my Lightning and it's using the new BIOS, but it's not supposed to lock me out on the voltage right? I've tried re-installing the drivers and AB, but still no luck. What could be wrong?


----------



## gotendbz1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darco19*
> 
> Just got my Lightning as it's using the new BIOS, but it's not supposed to lock me out on the voltage right? I've tried re-installing the drivers and AB, but still no luck. What could be wrong?


prolly stupid question, but did you check/enable voltage control in AB settings?


----------



## Darco19

Yep, should I try some newer drivers? It letting me do it on my DC2 TOP, even though that wouldn't do anything as it's a different BIOS.

Update: I flashed it to the older BIOS successfully, still no show though.


----------



## dph314

deleted


----------



## Darco19

Fixed, time for some voltage tweaking







I fixed it by updating to the 301.42 drivers (the 301.10 must have been too old). I just hope the 301.42 ones are stable though, as 301.10 have been the most stable for me so far.


----------



## xoleras

You're using a really old driver, update to 304.79. Secondly, you have to enable voltage in afterburner settings which will unlock the slider. It could be caused by the 301.10 driver as well

Edit: looks like you got it working!


----------



## Newbie2009

400 posts since my last look.

So what's the verdict on this voltage control?
From what I have read it is not what we are used to in the past, but is it giving big boosts & working for everyone?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I may have found an older version. I installed it but can't seem to get it to unlock the voltage control slider though. Maybe someone more tech-savy could check out the files and see what they can do.


It is designed for real LN2 benchmarkers, and for them its great but its certain death for an air cooled card to go 1.5V or beyond......please don't post it here if you find it.

I could seriously see a forum lurker who is a newbie trying to use it, maxing it out, and frying their card if it got out.....


----------



## Darco19

Hmmm, not bad. I'm stable on Heaven at extreme tess and 16X AA with 1370mhz on the core, but I haven't touched the memory yet. Fan speed was set to 60% and the max temp was 71c, but it WASN'T throttling down, now that's sick. Still kinda hot though...

Will continue to play around, and so far, I'm liking my Lightning a lot. The only 'con' that I can think of atm is that it hard crashes my system if my OC isn't stable, as I'd have to power-down my whole PC, but I heard that I'm not the only one who gets this.


----------



## dph314

deleted


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I may have found an older version. I installed it but can't seem to get it to unlock the voltage control slider though. Maybe someone more tech-savy could check out the files and see what they can do.


yeah its in the works but youll need to contact msi directly to get it legit. good luck finding a leaked version though


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PLAY911*
> 
> Many thx!!.....I am going to give it a try
> Thx again
> Jona whats ur GTX 680...do you know if it has RT8802A Voltage controller?


My card has the ChiL 8318 I believe. It's the Galaxy 680 SOC


----------



## PLAY911

OK thx....thats why the bios works fine wit your card
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> My card has the ChiL 8318 I believe. It's the Galaxy 680 SOC


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PLAY911*
> 
> OK thx....thats why the bios works fine wit your card


Strangely it's only the Lightnings and my card that it works with. A few people with ASUS DCII cards tried the BIOS and it only gave them the LN2 1.21 volts and no voltage control and it has the same chip. All the Lightning features work on my card. I would have to take a volt meter and probe for what the aux volt is pushing if at all. Pretty sweet though. Wanted a Lightning but they weren't avail so this Galaxy filled in and she's doing great. I got 1411 to run at 1.26 volts. It throttles down from 1.3 in 3DMark for some reason. Kinda sucks I can't push it.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> It throttles down from 1.3 in 3DMark for some reason. Kinda sucks I can't push it.


AFAIK it starts to throttle upon reaching 69-70c, keep the card under that and it should not throttle. Air conditioning units are great for that. Needless to say keep fan at 100% if benching on kepler, these are sensitive to temperature


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> I hope you can find one!!!


I am buying from Germany tomorrow.







Is in stock, and in 7 days is here









And price is good too, product + shipping. Besides US that i need to pay around 200 dollars more for my country customs, when the card arrives. So it's better for me to buy from Europe Union, no taxes here.

I had to buy from here from the beginning, not waited 1 month for nothing, in the first place.


----------



## PLAY911

Dont complain







You are lucky !!!
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> Strangely it's only the Lightnings and my card that it works with. A few people with ASUS DCII cards tried the BIOS and it only gave them the LN2 1.21 volts and no voltage control and it has the same chip. All the Lightning features work on my card. I would have to take a volt meter and probe for what the aux volt is pushing if at all. Pretty sweet though. Wanted a Lightning but they weren't avail so this Galaxy filled in and she's doing great. I got 1411 to run at 1.26 volts. It throttles down from 1.3 in 3DMark for some reason. Kinda sucks I can't push it.


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> AFAIK it starts to throttle upon reaching 69-70c, keep the card under that and it should not throttle. Air conditioning units are great for that. Needless to say keep fan at 100% if benching on kepler, these are sensitive to temperature


It will throttle the moment it gets into benching in only 3DMark that I've noticed. Temps are totally fine. I've benched it at 52 in a fast made cold room and in my normal room with 85 ambient. Highest I seen at those volts was 75 at 80% fan. I haven't noticed any throttling on this card even before the BIOS. I struggled to heat soak it to test but when I did it only throttled at 88 degrees on the Galaxy BIOS and haven't tested it yet on this one for max temp but I don't think it does on the LN2 BIOS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PLAY911*
> 
> Dont complain
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You are lucky !!!


Trust me I'm not complaining. I love this card lol


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> I am buying from Germany tomorrow.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is in stock, and in 7 days is here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And price is good too, product + shipping. Besides US that i need to pay around 200 dollars more for my country customs, when the card arrives. So it's better for me to buy from Europe Union, no taxes here.
> I had to buy from here from the beginning, not waited 1 month for nothing, in the first place.


Glad to hear that bro , how much did you get it for? Usd


----------



## antikarma

I pulled out my Fluke today to test the voltages on different settings. Switched back to 3A bios (as per above conversations) because the hard crash was pissing me off. My card also runs at 1241MHz on the standard bios, which may affect my voltages. Here are my results (all at load):

Standard Bios
Default Voltage - Software: 1.158V
Default Voltage - Probe: 1.210V

Standard Bios +100mV
Default Voltage - Software: 1.246V
Default Voltage - Probe: 1.311V

LN2 (3A) Bios
Default Voltage - Software: 1.214V
Default Voltage - Probe: 1.253V

LN2 (3A) Bios +100 mV
Default Voltage - Software: 1.281V
Default Voltage - Probe: 1.351V

What I can deduce from this is that, if I'm only wanting a mild +100 overclock, it might not even be worth using the LN2 Bios. Going to do some more testing tonight.


----------



## Darco19

Not bad, so I'm stable at 1360 on the core and 1700(6800effective) on the mem







These Lightnings sure deliver.

Also, with regards to AB, the +mv bar seems to keep 'dropping' on its own, it's now at +62 (it was 93 or so yesterday and I didn't make any changes). I've restarted AB and re-applied the OC and voltages, but it still does it when I reboot the application. Is this normal as well? It's just not staying at that fixed voltage for some reason... although the mem and AUX stay put. Or, could it just be a reading error on AB?


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Glad to hear that bro , how much did you get it for? Usd


Just ordered right now with paypal, in max 7 days should be here.









Well the price + shipping in usd is 878 usd (converted from 577 euros with dollars) but it's with my 24% VAT taxes, in USA i think it is 19%. So less than 870 usd.


----------



## sew333

If i have MSI GeForce GTX 680 TwinFrozr can you add me?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darco19*
> 
> Not bad, so I'm stable at 1360 on the core and 1700(6800effective) on the mem
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These Lightnings sure deliver.
> Also, with regards to AB, the +mv bar seems to keep 'dropping' on its own, it's now at +62 (it was 93 or so yesterday and I didn't make any changes). I've restarted AB and re-applied the OC and voltages, but it still does it when I reboot the application. Is this normal as well? It's just not staying at that fixed voltage for some reason... although the mem and AUX stay put. Or, could it just be a reading error on AB?


You have to bump it up past what you want each time before you hit "Apply" to save any changes. If I set it on say +70, it'll bump down to +67 when I hit Apply. So I set it on (I think) +77 and it bumps down to (again, going from memory) +74. But if I leave it on +74, next time I make a change and hit Apply, it'll go to +67. And if you leave it on +67, it'll bump back down when you hit Apply next time. I now just make all the changes I want, hit Apply, then go back and set the +mv bar a little past what I want and hit Apply again, last thing before I test. I can never get +100mv, my slider always reverts to +93 as the max.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> You have to bump it up past what you want each time before you hit "Apply" to save any changes. If I set it on say +70, it'll bump down to +67 when I hit Apply. So I set it on (I think) +77 and it bumps down to (again, going from memory) +74. But if I leave it on +74, next time I make a change and hit Apply, it'll go to +67. And if you leave it on +67, it'll bump back down when you hit Apply next time. I now just make all the changes I want, hit Apply, then go back and set the +mv bar a little past what I want and hit Apply again, last thing before I test. I can never get +100mv, my slider always reverts to +93 as the max.


This is correct and you have to watch out for this if you have an overclock that requires a lot of volts.
Every time you log in you need to change it back to the seeting your core required or you will crash.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sew333*
> 
> If i have MSI GeForce GTX 680 TwinFrozr can you add me?


please refer to the OP


----------



## xoleras

Question, has anyone used nvflash with SLI? As far as I can tell nvflash only does GPU1, I was thinking about going to 3a so I get TDRs instead of blackscreens when pushing for max overclocks...


----------



## alancsalt

Well, no trouble with my SLI 580 to flash. Does both no problems. with my 460 SLI would ask twice, but with 580s just seems to do both at once....


----------



## xoleras

Figured it out....

Have to use "nvflash -i0" for GPU 1 and nvflash -i1 for GPU 2


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Well, no trouble with my SLI 580 to flash. Does both no problems. with my 460 SLI would ask twice, but with 580s just seems to do both at once....


Yep, my old gtx480s in SLI would flash both no problem too.

EDIT,

glad you figured it out xoleras.


----------



## xoleras

Holy crap, I just went back to BIOS 3a and its much better like you guys said. I don't get blackscreen anymore, I get TDRs on pushing clocks that are too high.

Backstory: BIOS 1 on the lightning boosts depending on your chip quality. LN2 BIOS boosts to 1202 no matter what. So with that said:

I went back to BIOS 1 just to test and holy crap, my first GPU much be one of the most golden chips of all time. *It boosts to 1280 out of the box*







with NO overclocking and with no additional voltage! SO I went to test both in heaven and with +100 core clock and +133 power limit (from BIOS 1) my GPU1 boosts to 1380 and GPU2 boosts to 1320ish lol..

I'm going to test this more, i'm trying to find a sweet spot where I can get a maximum overclock with as little voltage as possible.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Holy crap, I just went back to BIOS 3a and its much better like you guys said. I don't get blackscreen anymore, I get TDRs on pushing clocks that are too high.
> Backstory: BIOS 1 on the lightning boosts depending on your chip quality. LN2 BIOS boosts to 1202 no matter what. So with that said:
> I went back to BIOS 1 just to test and holy crap, my first GPU much be one of the most golden chips of all time. *It boosts to 1280 out of the box*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> with NO overclocking and with no additional voltage! SO I went to test both in heaven and with +100 core clock and +133 power limit (from BIOS 1) my GPU1 boosts to 1380 and GPU2 boosts to 1320ish lol..
> I'm going to test this more, i'm trying to find a sweet spot where I can get a maximum overclock with as little voltage as possible.


Yes, 3A is awesome.


----------



## xoleras

I'm actually preferring the non LN2 BIOS right now. I can push past 1400 on the LN2 BIOS but the BIOS 1 actually gives me lower voltages and slightly better temps (preferred). Testing to see max overclocks on BIOS1....

LN2 definitely gives better max overclocks but with higher temps


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I'm actually preferring the non LN2 BIOS right now. I can push past 1400 on the LN2 BIOS but the BIOS 1 actually gives me lower voltages and slightly better temps (preferred). Testing to see max overclocks on BIOS1....
> LN2 definitely gives better max overclocks but with higher temps


What about the 70'C throttling issue with bios 1? Will your top card stay under that?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> What about the 70'C throttling issue with bios 1? Will your top card stay under that?


I've never gone over 70C even with maxed voltage.... I have 2 120mm fans blowing right on my cards....

I'm just trying to find my 24/7 speed because I don't use my benchmark settings for playing games usually......because lets be honest...there aren't any games out that take advantage of this hardware fully yet


----------



## AnonGoldfish

Hello there msi gtx 680 lightning owners!
i have a question for you and its about the airflow through the card.
does all the hot air exit next to the DVI ports (like the reference cards) or does it exit a little bit everywhere (basically left inside the case)?
I'm sorry if i sound stupid but I don't know too much about graphics cards.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AnonGoldfish*
> 
> Hello there msi gtx 680 lightning owners!
> i have a question for you and its about the airflow through the card.
> does all the hot air exit next to the DVI ports (like the reference cards) or does it exit a little bit everywhere (basically left inside the case)?
> I'm sorry if i sound stupid but I don't know too much about graphics cards.


Inside the case, you need a blower style aircooler to have the hot air go outside the case.

No question is stupid here, people have to learn somehow!

Welcome to OCN btw!


----------



## CalinTM

With Afterburner 2.2.3

What is the maximum possible voltage(given by software or other)
On normal BIOS what is the default voltage and the maximum voltage (by software)
On LN2 BIOS, the default voltage and the maximum one (software, again)

And how much temps differ on the normal bios vs LN2


----------



## xoleras

I think this is correct...

LN2 BIOS is around 50mV higher than the standard BIOS.....

Standard BIOS = 133% power
LN2 BIOS = up to 300% power

Standard BIOS = boost depends on your chip
LN2 BIOS = boost is always 1202

Standard BIOS = obeys driver voltages, goes up to around 1.325V with 2.2.3
LN2 BIOS = goes a bit higher, goes up to around 1.35 or 1.37V with 2.2.3

Increasing voltage always gives a noticeable increase in temperatures but its never bad with a single card. With SLI you'll become more temperature limited , depending on how close your motherboard requires the cards to be to each other...if you can place the cards far apart it may be a non issue.

Temps only differ between normal bios vs LN2 because LN2 always has like 50mV higher voltage, all other things equal (I think,...have to double check)


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Asmola*
> 
> Afterburner "extreme edition" in the works. Good to hear.


Dear Santa...


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AnonGoldfish*
> 
> Hello there msi gtx 680 lightning owners!
> i have a question for you and its about the airflow through the card.
> does all the hot air exit next to the DVI ports (like the reference cards) or does it exit a little bit everywhere (basically left inside the case)?
> I'm sorry if i sound stupid but I don't know too much about graphics cards.


Inside the case but if you have a great airflow and only 1 card it doesn't really matter.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I'm actually preferring the non LN2 BIOS right now. I can push past 1400 on the LN2 BIOS but the BIOS 1 actually gives me lower voltages and slightly better temps (preferred). Testing to see max overclocks on BIOS1....
> LN2 definitely gives better max overclocks but with higher temps


I had the BIOS switch set to the LN2 position on the cards when I flashed to 3A, and it's showing that's the BIOS I have loaded, but I can't tell any difference from the 8A.It crashes identically to the crashes I had with 8A. I think I'm pretty much at the wall at 1377 in SLI. I can live with that, I've settled on a 1300/6800/Stock Voltage/ Auto Fan combo for daily driving.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> I had the BIOS switch set to the LN2 position on the cards when I flashed to 3A, and it's showing that's the BIOS I have loaded, but I can't tell any difference from the 8A.It crashes identically to the crashes I had with 8A. I think I'm pretty much at the wall at 1377 in SLI. I can live with that, I've settled on a 1300/6800/Stock Voltage/ Auto Fan combo for daily driving.


Yeah testing some more, I just tried to test at 1452mhz and it black screened. Sometimes a TDR and sometimes a black screen, just depends on the mood of the card I guess LOL (my cards must be female







)


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I think this is correct...
> LN2 BIOS is around 50mV higher than the standard BIOS.....
> Standard BIOS = 133% power
> LN2 BIOS = up to 300% power
> Standard BIOS = boost depends on your chip
> LN2 BIOS = boost is always 1202
> Standard BIOS = obeys driver voltages, goes up to around 1.325V with 2.2.3
> LN2 BIOS = goes a bit higher, goes up to around 1.35 or 1.37V with 2.2.3
> Increasing voltage always gives a noticeable increase in temperatures but its never bad with a single card. With SLI you'll become more temperature limited , depending on how close your motherboard requires the cards to be to each other...if you can place the cards far apart it may be a non issue.
> Temps only differ between normal bios vs LN2 because LN2 always has like 50mV higher voltage, all other things equal (I think,...have to double check)


Aha, so LN2 BIOS isn't that much of a deal, i mean he allows just a little more voltage to push a little more Mhz into the gpu.

But on standard bios, what is the stable overclock (on most of the Lightning cards, i know this one depends, but the standard) vs. the LN2. In other words, how much Mhz LN2 pushes into the card ?

And the voltage is huge, compared with previous Nvidia cards, the 570 and 580. I remember my 570 had a maximum of 1.1v









And that 300% power you can't achieve with a reference card ? And reference cards has by default 133% too ?


----------



## Rube

Is this with 3a bios?


----------



## Rube

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I think this is correct...
> LN2 BIOS is around 50mV higher than the standard BIOS.....
> Standard BIOS = 133% power
> LN2 BIOS = up to 300% power
> Standard BIOS = boost depends on your chip
> LN2 BIOS = boost is always 1202
> Standard BIOS = obeys driver voltages, goes up to around 1.325V with 2.2.3
> LN2 BIOS = goes a bit higher, goes up to around 1.35 or 1.37V with 2.2.3
> Increasing voltage always gives a noticeable increase in temperatures but its never bad with a single card. With SLI you'll become more temperature limited , depending on how close your motherboard requires the cards to be to each other...if you can place the cards far apart it may be a non issue.
> Temps only differ between normal bios vs LN2 because LN2 always has like 50mV higher voltage, all other things equal (I think,...have to double check)


Is this with 3a bios?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rube*
> 
> Is this with 3a bios?


Its with either BIOS. There is no difference except with fan profiles at startup...they both have same voltage parameters.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Aha, so LN2 BIOS isn't that much of a deal, i mean he allows just a little more voltage to push a little more Mhz into the gpu.
> But on standard bios, what is the stable overclock (on most of the Lightning cards, i know this one depends, but the standard) vs. the LN2. In other words, how much Mhz LN2 pushes into the card ?
> And the voltage is huge, compared with previous Nvidia cards, the 570 and 580. I remember my 570 had a maximum of 1.1v
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And that 300% power you can't achieve with a reference card ? And reference cards has by default 133% too ?


No, LN2 BIOS is a big deal. It is more stable than BIOS 1 for overclocking mainly because it prevents throttle mechanisms.

I'd say try BIOS 1 first and if that doesn't work for you, LN2 will definitely give you better results.


----------



## xoleras

Let me repost this for clarification







Maybe Michaelrw can add this to OP as well..

I think this is correct...

LN2 BIOS is around 50mV higher than the standard BIOS.....

Standard BIOS = defaults to 1175mV with no overvoltage
LN2 BIOS = defaults to 1.21V with no overvoltage

Standard BIOS = 133% power
LN2 BIOS = up to 300% power

Standard BIOS = boost depends on your chip
LN2 BIOS = boost is always 1202

Standard BIOS = obeys driver voltages, goes up to around 1.325V with 2.2.3
LN2 BIOS = goes a bit higher, goes up to around 1.35 or 1.37V with 2.2.3

*Standard BIOS= has kepler throttle and overcurrent throttle!
LN2 BIOS= has *disabled* all throttle mechanisms and is ultimately more stable with maximum overclocks*

Kepler throttle is a mechanism on all 680s which lowers clockspeeds in 1 bin increments when you hit 70C ! This can lower the effectiveness of your overclock, although hitting 70c is NOT LIKELY with TF4 (with a good fan profile) it is possible. Thus LN2 prevents this. Increasing voltage always gives a noticeable increase in temperatures but its never bad with a single card. With SLI you'll become more temperature limited , depending on how close your motherboard requires the cards to be to each other...if you can place the cards far apart it may be a non issue.

Temps only differ between normal bios vs LN2 because LN2 always has like 50mV higher voltage, all other things equal (I think,...have to double check)

_There is also no difference between 3a BIOS and original BIOS for overclocking, despite the initial belief. 3a has a less aggressive fan profile at startup._

AS always,

*1)-overclocks depend on luck partially
2)-You should always use manual fan 70% or higher for maximum overclocks especially with voltage
3)-SLI will cause more temperature limitations (not an issue for single card)
4)-If using SLI create maximum distance between cards and improve case airflow
5)-Do not use auto fan for heavy OCs! ANYTHING 1350 or higher should be at least 70% manual fan
6)-SLI overclocks will NOT be as good as single card overclocks
7)- As always, voltage adds higher temps - for 24/7 find an overclock that uses the least overvoltage possible is the best bet IMHO*

Happy overclocking


----------



## pwnzilla61

Ugh, they just dropped the price on the lightning again on newegg, the day after I bought mine. back down to 569.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pwnzilla61*
> 
> Ugh, they just dropped the price on the lightning again on newegg, the day after I bought mine. back down to 569.
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693


Contact their CS, they should be able to help you..

Or you can just buy another and return the initial card you bought (don't open it! They won't RMA without a restock fee if you do)


----------



## pwnzilla61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Contact their CS, they should be able to help you..
> Or you can just buy another and return the initial card you bought (don't open it! They won't RMA without a restock fee if you do)


Yeah I am going to try customer support, it's not a total big deal, but it is an irritation if anything. I may just stick with, i've been waiting on this card for far to long.


----------



## Rube

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Its with either BIOS. There is no difference except with fan profiles at startup...they both have same voltage parameters.


Thanks!! Now to update.


----------



## CalinTM

Ok, so switching to normal bios and LN2, is on the fly, or you need to turn off your PC ?

And if i use LN2 bios, and NO overclock, just the defaults, i basically get the same temps and clocks as the normal bios ? Do i get some stability on LN2, with NO overclock, or anything.

I'm asking cuz i need this kind of info, when my Lightning arrives, i don't want to search the entire thread.


----------



## xoleras

You have to power down your PC to switch the BIOS. If you flip the switch with the PC on you'll probably corrupt your BIOS....

LN2 is 50mV higher than BIOS 1 so your temps may be a bit higher. LN2 is better for maximum overclocks, but I suggest trying BIOS 1 first before switching


----------



## MrMarauder

I actually sent mine back in for RMA for two reasons. One, artifacting at stock speeds, two, $30 cheaper








This was back when they had it for $569 the first time.

Also, MSI Alex makes an appearance, and doesn't even mention the Lightning.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> name="MrMarauder" url="/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/1620#post_17811215"


LOL

Go dodgers

I'm surprised he hasn't come out of exile yet since 2.2.3 was released


----------



## RobsM6S

Add me to the list now that the card went back down to $569.99+Free Shipping, gonna try one of these bad boys for myself.

There was something about the $599.99+shipping that kept me from pulling the trigger before, lol.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pwnzilla61*
> 
> Ugh, they just dropped the price on the lightning again on newegg, the day after I bought mine. back down to 569.
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693


lol , don't worry for most that will be watered down!!!


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Add me to the list now that the card went back down to $569.99+Free Shipping, gonna try one of these bad boys for myself.
> There was something about the $599.99+shipping that kept me from pulling the trigger before, lol.


Grats man !!!!! you will love it, i hope you get a golden one!!


----------



## CalinTM

Golden, un-golden, cmon we use this cards in gaming.







You want to break a world record







?


----------



## xxmastermindxx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> I actually sent mine back in for RMA for two reasons. One, artifacting at stock speeds, two, $30 cheaper
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This was back when they had it for $569 the first time.
> Also, MSI Alex makes an appearance, and doesn't even mention the Lightning.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> LOL
> Go dodgers
> I'm surprised he hasn't come out of exile yet since 2.2.3 was released


Yea, probably embarrassed about talking out of the wrong end like that AMD guy


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxmastermindxx*
> 
> Yea, probably embarrassed about talking out of the wrong end like that AMD guy


Problem is they are passing along info given to them by MSI HQ. So pass along the info, if it isn't right, some of the more impatient OCNers jump all over them. It is nice to get some info whether it might be 100% correct or not, but when the reps end up taking crap over passing info that they were given it is probably less headache to just not post any info they aren't 100% sure of.
OCN is too good at chasing reps away, that is even more embarrassing.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Grats man !!!!! you will love it, i hope you get a golden one!!


Thanks man, after seeing a couple at 1400mhz core on air I couldnt help myself. Hope I get a good one like that.


----------



## pwnzilla61

add me to the list.


----------



## dVeLoPe

someone buy me one should of never bought my refence evga on release day but then again ive had my card since march =b


----------



## GenoOCAU

Hey guys been trolling this thread for a while now, decided to post up at least my 3d mark 11 results.

Did this run in the bitterly cold winter morning chillz, outwise I doubt I could have kept my temps under control given im still on air.

1453mhz screenshot - Here

Link to 3d mark 11 run - Here

Seriously happy with this for a 2700k and Republic of Cheapness motherboard!!


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> LOL
> Go dodgers
> I'm surprised he hasn't come out of exile yet since 2.2.3 was released


lol
he chose "death by exile"

those that have watched TDKR will get it


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Hey guys been trolling this thread for a while now, decided to post up at least my 3d mark 11 results.
> Did this run in the bitterly cold winter morning chillz, outwise I doubt I could have kept my temps under control given im still on air.
> 1453mhz screenshot - Here
> Link to 3d mark 11 run - Here
> Seriously happy with this for a 2700k and Republic of Cheapness motherboard!!


Awesome run man









So, is there any benefit on a Lightning to flashing to the modified BIOS that mrTOOSHORT posted in the Unlocked Voltages thread? I know F8 doesn't have throttle, but I don't know what was modified in his 'special' one. It just help DCUII owners and wouldn't do anything for a Lightning?


----------



## xoleras

Well that bios goes up to 1.5V, could help if under water


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Well that bios goes up to 1.5V, could help if under water


The Lightning's is limited? I mean i know it is in Afterburner, but with a hardmod it'd still be limited by the BIOS?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> The Lightning's is limited? I mean i know it is in Afterburner, but with a hardmod it'd still be limited by the BIOS?


I have no idea, I think going up to 1.5v is not for me..... pretty sure you'd need a different version of afterburner to bypass that and thats the realm of LN2 benchmarkers...I have no intention of going that high ever, For playing games its way too much









Not sure if anyone else knows, maybe michaelrw?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I have no idea, I think going up to 1.5v is silly... pretty sure you'd need a different version of afterburner to bypass that and thats the realm of LN2 benchmarkers...I have no intention of going that high ever, For playing games its way too much
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not sure if you need a diff version of afterburner or a new BIOS


Oh I know. Just was wondering, since I hadn't heard of any limits on the LN2 unlocked BIOS.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> The Lightning's is limited? I mean i know it is in Afterburner, but with a hardmod it'd still be limited by the BIOS?


With hardmodding the bios won't limit voltage, there may be some OCP issues at some point but right now it's just software limiting voltage.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> With hardmodding the bios won't limit voltage, there may be some OCP issues at some point but right now it's just software limiting voltage.


Nice, thanks. Was probably just the DCUII that was having issues with it. Good to know.


----------



## Trelga

Hey guys does the 680 backplate from evga fit on this card or no?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Trelga*
> 
> Hey guys does the 680 backplate from evga fit on this card or no?


I would say not likely, the lightning has a larger PCB than reference, but either way the lightning comes with a backplate.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Trelga*
> 
> Hey guys does the 680 backplate from evga fit on this card or no?


No, it already has a backplate. MSI doesn't nickel and dime for stuff that should be included anyway


----------



## Trelga

huh, i didn't see the backplate somehow on newegg lol. I'm an idiot thanks guys.


----------



## shamefulanomaly

hi guys, registered just to post this.
dont know if you knew already, but a simple memory editor gets past the 100mv limit.

screenshot of memory editor in action:









verification of voltages:









no, i do not run my card at that voltage, thats for the purpose of demonstration only.
my max clocks are 1355 on 1.35v, i cant hit 1400 ever, not even on 1.52v (i tried







)


----------



## sam350

wow dhamefulanomaly Can i please have tha program how did u do it im dying to get these cards under LN2 with software mods only please pm me


----------



## dph314

That's awesome


----------



## shamefulanomaly

PMed both of you, and ran out of PMs.
Pass the message on to anyone else who asks, could ya? It's pretty simple though. I'd think stuff like artmoney would work too, and be easier, but I was too lazy and ended up just getting the first thing that came up in google


----------



## dph314

I see a ton of editing in the near future in the first post for max overclocks michael


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> hi guys, registered just to post this.
> dont know if you knew already, but a simple memory editor gets past the 100mv limit.
> screenshot of memory editor in action:
> 
> verification of voltages:
> 
> no, i do not run my card at that voltage, thats for the purpose of demonstration only.
> my max clocks are 1355 on 1.35v, i cant hit 1400 ever, not even on 1.52v (i tried
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


there is a god, lol. Im at my gf house now so cant try this but man i sure will be tomorrow!!
If I download that prgram and basically make mine look like yours in the screenshot, then thats all i will need to do???


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> PMed both of you, and ran out of PMs.
> Pass the message on to anyone else who asks, could ya? It's pretty simple though. I'd think stuff like artmoney would work too, and be easier, but I was too lazy and ended up just getting the first thing that came up in google


what do you mean you ran out of PMs lol.. i just PMed you too


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I see a ton of editing in the near future in the first post for max overclocks michael


haha yeah


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Let me repost this for clarification
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Maybe Michaelrw can add this to OP as well..*


done


----------



## shamefulanomaly

idk, i was told i had a limit of 2 PMs and had hit that limit already, don't know why I can still PM.

Anyway, to summarise:

BUY A DMM FIRST, ITS SO AWESOME AND YOU NEED IT

open memory editor
search for a "byte" type address, with the value of whatever the Core Voltage (+mV) is
move the slider of the Core Voltage around in afterburner
keep filtering for new values in memory editor
use memory editor to key in new value and lock it in
type rubbish in Core Voltage section of afterburner
click apply
check that the Core Voltage gets set to your preferred value
profit

good luck!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> idk, i was told i had a limit of 2 PMs and had hit that limit already, don't know why I can still PM.
> Anyway, to summarise:
> BUY A DMM FIRST, ITS SO AWESOME AND YOU NEED IT
> open memory editor
> search for a "byte" type address, with the value of whatever the Core Voltage (+mV) is
> move the slider of the Core Voltage around in afterburner
> keep filtering for new values in memory editor
> use memory editor to key in new value and lock it in
> type rubbish in Core Voltage section of afterburner
> click apply
> check that the Core Voltage gets set to your preferred value
> profit
> good luck!


shamefulanomoly has just been added to my list of all-time favorite people


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> shamefulanomoly has just been added to my list of all-time favorite people


i wont be back at my place for another two hours.. im dying to try this right now!! Have you tried it yet??


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> what do you mean you ran out of PMs lol.. i just PMed you too


New members have a PM limit


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i wont be back at my place for another two hours.. im dying to try this right now!! Have you tried it yet??


I'm dying to get out of work! I'll be home in half an hour








Just tell her you gotta go man. Just tell her you gotta go.


----------



## sam350

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I'm dying to get out of work! I'll be home in half an hour
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just tell her you gotta go man. Just tell her you gotta go.


 IMG_20120729_194244[1].jpg 1400k .jpg file

took me ages to find using memory editor.......cant seem to narrow results as quick as the other guy said.....and extra volts make me hard crash but proud i got it working lol


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sam350*
> 
> IMG_20120729_194244[1].jpg 1400k .jpg file
> 
> took me ages to find using memory editor.......cant seem to narrow results as quick as the other guy said.....and e*xtra volts make me hard crash* but proud i got it working lol


wonder why? maybe too much heat? even if youre running at same speed as before but just with extra volts?


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sam350*
> 
> IMG_20120729_194244[1].jpg 1400k .jpg file
> 
> took me ages to find using memory editor.......cant seem to narrow results as quick as the other guy said.....and extra volts make me hard crash but proud i got it working lol


I'm having a hard time finding anything using the memory editor.

I need someone to guide me step by step. I see nothing in right colums by items, or far left column. Also there is a message on bottom left corner saying "Access Is Denied"


----------



## sam350

OK basically i had troubble too kust fluked it......scrolled down the massive list of numbers till i found it

Umm kept under 70 degrees just .... tried +10mhz more with the extra voltage and scored less than before.....im thinking maybe a OCP mod is needed need to short the 3 green resistors on the pcb but im not game enough lol........i found the required file serching 0 min value 100 max and jsut scrolled down till i found it was hard though hope i helped.....plz post if the voltage helps anyone

what i got send from the user that posted the guide NOT ME dont give me credit

basically open afterburner first, (not in background, have the window active)
then open the memory editor. select afterburner in the process dropdown, then type in XX in your +XXmv in afterburner, into both the value start and value end boxes.
value type should be byte.
click find new.
you should get a lot of results. move the slider in afterburner. if you moved it to a lower value than previously, click "decreased" under filter options to the right, then click the filter button. likewise if you moved it to a higher value than previously, click "increased" under filter options, then click the filter button. repeat until you have around 2-4 values.
if youre doing it right, you should see these 2 numbers, at least: 00449000 and 0044F5B0. double click 00449000, and it should appear right there at the bottom. change the value to a number of your choice (say, 150, for +150mv), then click write, then click hold.
go back to afterburner and type any value in the core voltage section, and press apply. the value should reflect whatever you typed in the memory editor, +- abit. for example if you typed 150 itd give you 143, 200 gives you 193, etc.

hope this helps. remember, dont push too much voltage in, make sure your card is cooled properly, and dont run it on high volts too long. good luck!


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I'm having a hard time finding anything using the memory editor.
> I need someone to guide me step by step. I see nothing in right colums by items, or far left column. Also there is a message on bottom left corner saying "Access Is Denied"


you have your max and min set to something way different than what your slider is set to. your range in the mem editor needs to include the value of your core voltage slider








thats why you dont have any results i would imagine


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> you have your max and min set to something way different than what your slider is set to. your range in the mem editor needs to include the value of your core voltage slider
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> thats why you dont have any results i would imagine


For example I put in 81 in my AB mV.

I put 81 in both the "value start" and "value end".
I hit "Find New"

Nothing comes up. Unless I should wait like 10min. or so for results to come up. So far, just a message "5- Access is denied. in bottor left hand column." appears.

Here:


----------



## dph314

Should it literally be XX typed into the Value start and Value end boxes? I get the access denied error too


----------



## sam350

i must admit its hard to find.......fluked it 3 or 4 times..... just put in whateva the msi afterburner voltae was etc 93 hit find new......then scrolled down manually till i found it........my chip does 1350mhz with afterburner 1.2.3 but with increased core voltage up to 1.45V hasnt helped me at all......gained maybe 200 points in 3d mark vantage.......thinking its time to get my waterblock out ........nothing seems to push the chip further


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sam350*
> 
> i must admit its hard to find.......fluked it 3 or 4 times..... just put in whateva the msi afterburner voltae was etc 93 hit find new......then scrolled down manually till i found it........my chip does 1350mhz with afterburner 1.2.3 but with increased core voltage up to 1.45V hasnt helped me at all......gained maybe 200 points in 3d mark vantage.......thinking its time to get my waterblock out ........nothing seems to push the chip further


But I'm not getting any results so I can't edit anything. Mine just either says "Access Denied" or freezes and doesn't show any results. Unless it takes forever for results to pop up?


----------



## shamefulanomaly

No hard and fast rules, guys! Any memory editor should do! I'm starting to think it was a mistake choosing this one. Hold on a sec, I'll source for a new one and see if I can make a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

Also:










@[email protected]


----------



## exploiteddna

maybe its a driver issue... what driver are you using Sam? which BIOS version are you using?


----------



## dph314

Yeah we need a guide. Having trouble with this memory editor. When I select Afterburner from the drop-down menu it says access denited on the lower left corner of the Editor


----------



## xoleras

What the


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> What the


I was hoping you'd see this







Can't wait to see what your scores will be like by the end of the day

But yeah anyone have a good editor yet? Or a clearer guide with the original one used?


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Hi guys, screenshots in the spoiler. Bandwidth-disadvantaged personnel are not advised to continue.


Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!



This is how I did it.

1) Open afterburner and memory editor










2) Select MSI Afterburner in "Processes"










3) Key in 93 (Reference to MSI Afterburner, where my Core Voltage is +93) in "Values start" and "Values end", select "Byte" in value type, and click "Find New"










4) Move Core Voltage slider in MSI Afterburner down, and select "Decreased" in memory editor










5) Press "Filter". Your results should have been narrowed down to just a handful of addresses.










6) Repeat steps 4 and 5, until you get just over 2 results. Notice how addresses 00449000 and 0044F5B0 both show "52 <-- 69" next to them, this is due to their previous value being 69, and their current value being 52.










7) Double click the first address, 00449000 (This address may vary from system to system, I'm still trying to find out if it does)










8) Key in your desired value in "Value"










9) Press "Write"










10) Press "Hold"










11) In MSI Afterburner, go to "Core Voltage" and key in any value you wish.










12) Press enter in your keyboard, then click "Apply"










13) Voila, your "Core Voltage" should indicate your desired voltage offset.










Good luck!


----------



## xoleras

I dunno man, i'm scared of 1.4V+ until I get on water. I think i'll pass


----------



## xoleras

Dude, is it wise to post this out in the open? There are lots of lurkers / newbies that aren't registered and I can definitely see someone causing harm with this..

IMHO....not the best stuff to have out in the open....just IMHO though







(or am I being an overclock sissy? What do you guys think







))

Thanks for trying to be helpful though, I can respect that


----------



## shamefulanomaly

harm... to their own cards! and warranties!

Well I didn't want to, but I keep running out of PMs, and I keep getting them.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> Hi guys, screenshots in the spoiler. Bandwidth-disadvantaged personnel are not advised to continue.


I've used hex editors, but would not have thought to use one to change voltages on my graphics card. Does the card actually get that voltage or just read it?


----------



## shamefulanomaly

I posted a picture of my DMM in a previous post, the voltage does actually go up. Purely software limitations on the afterburner. Naughty naughty.


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Note: I can't edit my posts?!

Also, ArtMoney works fine. The value is listed as Integer (standard) in type. I get the same 00449000 value there too, and editing it works.










note: do NOT edit 0044F5B0 and freeze it in artmoney, it caused my furmark to run at 6fps when it usually does 30+ on 8xAA. editing 00449000 will do.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> Note: I can't edit my posts?!
> Also, ArtMoney works fine. The value is listed as Integer (standard) in type. I get the same 00449000 value there too, and editing it works.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> note: do NOT edit 0044F5B0 and freeze it in artmoney, it caused my furmark to run at 6fps when it usually does 30+ on 8xAA. editing 00449000 will do.


I can't get ArtMoney to open it. Says I need to paid version?


----------



## xoleras

Honestly, I think this stuff shouldn't be out in the open if it works...

Someone should test this with a voltmeter, perhaps someone not afraid of going up to 1.4V or higher? Because i'm not crazy and don't plan to (because i'm on air)

Voltmeter is the only way to verify....


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*


From a few pages ago.


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I can't get ArtMoney to open it. Says I need to paid version?


Man, I don't know why you're having problems, ArtMoney SE 7.39.2 (the free one) works fine for me...

EDIT: Oh, I can edit now! And why shouldn't it be out in the open? It's not like anyone hacked into MSI's servers or anything, it just shows that the limitation on voltage is purely software based. They gave MSI Afterburner the full capability to adjust voltages above the +100mV point, and with this kind of half-baked attempt to stop it at +100mV, it was just a matter of time before someone found out.


----------



## xoleras

Okay i'll be on my way....you guys are crazy


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> Man, I don't know why you're having problems, ArtMoney SE 7.39.2 (the free one) works fine for me...


Could you post the steps to editing that string? I think I found the 00044900, but I don't see the same options as there are in your picture to edit values. Small steps for ArtMoney would be awesome if you wouldn't mind


----------



## shamefulanomaly

I actually ran my card at 1.52v for a very short period of time, enough to see green artifacts all over my screen at 1400mhz. 1350mhz ran fine at that voltage though! I'm darn pissed that I can't even break 1400 with ridiculous voltage on one card, whereas others have gotten 1411 on 1.26v or something. And angry people do crazy stuff I guess









EDIT: @DPH: In artmoney, the green arrow brings all addresses from the left side to the right side. From there, just double click the value of the 00449000 address, type in new value, and press enter. after that, go to msi afterburner and change something else like fan speed, and press apply. worked for me.


----------



## exploiteddna

i cant get the java app to run.. what do i do with the .jar file of the editing program?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> I actually ran my card at 1.52v for a very short period of time, enough to see green artifacts all over my screen at 1400mhz. 1350mhz ran fine at that voltage though! I'm darn pissed that I can't even break 1400 with ridiculous voltage on one card, whereas others have gotten 1411 on 1.26v or something. And angry people do crazy stuff I guess
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: @DPH: In artmoney, the green arrow brings all addresses from the left side to the right side. From there, just double click the value of the 00449000 address, type in new value, and press enter. after that, go to msi afterburner and change something else like fan speed, and press apply. worked for me.


Yeah when I select Afterburner it says I need the Pro Edition of ArtMoney, so I exit that pop-up and there's nothing listed on the left column for the arrow to bring over


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Do you have java runtime? This should do it.

Worse comes to worst, use ArtMoney.

EDIT: @DPH screenshot? I haven't encountered that problem before. ArtMoney has been very obedient around me.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> Do you have java runtime? This should do it.
> Worse comes to worst, use ArtMoney.


I'm reinstalling it. But yeah I been using ArtMoney, same version as you. And I get the "BuyArtMoney Pro" popup when I select Afterburner as the process. Then when I close the ArtMoney Pro pop-up, Afterburner is in the drop-down menu, but there's nothing listed to the left or right of the arrows.


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I'm reinstalling it. But yeah I been using ArtMoney, same version as you. And I get the "BuyArtMoney Pro" popup when I select Afterburner as the process. Then when I close the ArtMoney Pro pop-up, Afterburner is in the drop-down menu, but there's nothing listed to the left or right of the arrows.


lol! man, you have to do a search! above the "select process" dropdown, theres a "search" button at top left. search for an exact value, type integer (standard).


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> lol! man, you have to do a search! above the "select process" dropdown, theres a "search" button at top left. search for an exact value, type integer (standard).


I have the same issue. "Process Not Found" when I hit search.


----------



## exploiteddna

ive got it now, using artmoney

no matter how many times i change and re-filter, the 4 addresses im always left with are:

00449000
00449004
0044F5B0
01D600A0

ill just change the value of the first one


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> lol! man, you have to do a search! above the "select process" dropdown, theres a "search" button at top left. search for an exact value, type integer (standard).




Thats what happens when I click Search. Cant do anything with it


----------



## exploiteddna

after i change the value to 150, for example, then goback to AB and key in whatever and hit apply it just sets the voltage at that.. not the 150. then the 150 automatically changes back to whatever normal setting is in AB


----------



## exploiteddna

i got it, you have to go to "Edit" then "edit selected" then type in the address and value and check the box that says "freeze" and it keeps it there


----------



## exploiteddna

its sooo easy guys





ArtMoney is really easy to use.. dont panic, look at the options and the way the app is set up and youll figure it out. were all supposed to be smart computer guys... its easy once you calm down and concentrate on what youre trying to do


----------



## elbubi

Hi guys, been reading the thread since post 1. Tomorrow I'm mounting my lightining, hope to get 1350's on air.

Regarding BIOS I've one doubt, should I flash to 3A to get the best out of it or keep F8? Btw, on MSi Germany theres a "v1.1" Bios update to download => http://www.msi-computer.de/product/vga/N680GTX-Lightning.html#/?div=Firmware

What it confuses me is that this ones are labeled internaly as F7/F8 respectively, but don't match CRC with the ones we've been seing as F7/F8 till now.

Hope to keep learning from you.

Kind Regards!


----------



## Darco19

Okay, 1377mhz seems to be my limit on my Lightning, I'm definitely ok with that. The max temps were 74c and +400 on the mem is also nice. Just to confirm: http://i50.tinypic.com/2hwmi69.jpg


----------



## dph314

What do you do once you get MSI Afterburner in the drop-down menu?? I can't do a Search. And if I go to Edit then Edit Selected, I make the text boxes look just like yours in the pic and then I click OK but nothing happens


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> Hi guys, screenshots in the spoiler. Bandwidth-disadvantaged personnel are not advised to continue.
> cut


thank you for this! works perfectly








I think you can use the same method for other voltages ... right?
rep+1


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Honestly, I think this stuff shouldn't be out in the open if it works...
> Someone should test this with a voltmeter, perhaps someone not afraid of going up to 1.4V or higher? Because i'm not crazy and don't plan to (because i'm on air)
> Voltmeter is the only way to verify....


this
unfortunately I think lurkers would take advantage of this knowledge and then somehow screw up if they're inexperienced. I'm worried that if MSI starts getting too many fried cards they might actually stop giving out/implementing voltage contorl or using some sort of BIOS check on new lightning cards to use the "Nvidia approved" locked bios and not let use flash the unlocked BIOS.

I think someone should open up a google page/doc and put a password on it so that only us OCN members can access it.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Okay i'll be on my way....you guys are crazy


and this too








1.4v+ on a 28nm chip sounds a bit crazy for you guys? Wonder how long before the chip degrades before it'll start require more and more votlage for it to run at whatever clocks you're running it on......


----------



## shamefulanomaly

what do the mods think? if you want i can edit and remove the instructions... but i suspect its not so much of a "chips easily get fried" issue, rather than a "lets make sure theyre not so powerful so we can sit back and relax for the next generation" issue. after all, we know that the GTX 680 is basically a repackaged 660, it fits what one can expect from their mentality atm.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> what do the mods think? if you want i can edit and remove the instructions... but i suspect its not so much of a "chips easily get fried" issue, rather than a "lets make sure theyre not so powerful so we can sit back and relax for the next generation" issue. after all, we know that the GTX 680 is basically a repackaged 660, it fits what one can expect from their mentality atm.


this is an overclocking site.. if some people cant handle it or will cry like girls when they fry their cards, they need not be in here or attempt these things.. sorry but im just being real about it.

EDIT: If every person who is trying this out to get more voltage doesnt +REP shamefulanomaly _at least_ once, it would be a crime


----------



## xoleras

You're talking about voltages that far exceed what any sane air cooling person could run 24/7. I think there are lurkers that would take this information and hurt their card with it, thats my opinion though....The fact that people are even trying this on air is pretty insane....

If you're into HWBot and extreme overclocking, sure its great, but for the average user (like myself) who uses a PC for gaming, not so much.....or am I overestimating the stupidity of the general (lurkers and newbies) populace? *While i'm ALL For overclocking and overvolting*...fact of the matter is you shouldn't be using these voltages unless you're on water or if you're going past 1.4V you should be on LN2.....now damage doesn't happen overnight but it definitely does cause electromigration and I have had CPUs die over the course of 6+ months of continuous insane voltages. I've had several i7-870s die, but it didn't happen overnight, it happened after 6 months of 24/7 usage, like I said at really insane voltages.

I think people will try to do this stuff on air, and I think going in this realm on air is stupid. Just IMO. I don't know, I think a large majority of this website is the average overclocker who is overclocking on air or perhaps quite a few on water. LN2 benchmarkers are here but are a minority. For the latter this is a benefit, for the rest....I dunno, I would be cautious.

Maybe i'm becoming an overclocking sissy...i've overclocked and overvolted for years and years but this is a little too extreme for me









This is just my opinion, i'm not trying to hate on you guys that are doing this. You all know what you're doing and are aware of the risks, but I just think that newbies will put this info to bad use and harm their wares.


----------



## exploiteddna

i agree. everyone listen to xoleras he has very valid points. my 1.4v screenshot was for a brief second and then i shut down. i had my fan set to 100% too.

that being said, we all make our own decisions and if someone else breaks their stuff bc they werent mindful of what they were doing, thats on them. then next time they get a 600 dollar card they will either cool it better or not push it so hard. everyone has to fry a few pieces of hardware at some point and theres nothing you can do about it.. even though i know your intentions are good. Anyways, have fun guys but be careful of what youre really doing here.

*EDIT: it was 4am last night when i first saw this whole thing pop up.. i was on my way to bed.. I never made it to bed, and have been up for over 24 hours now. Im due to crash out here pretty soon and will be MIA for the majority of the day. So if all you guys are gonna be posting results that need to be updated to the sheet, dont worry yourselves to death if it doesnt get updated today.. ill get around to it when im not hallucinating from sleep deprivation and mild malnutrition







Have fun*


----------



## shamefulanomaly

i still dont know why theyre getting that whole "need artmoney pro" thing, though.
can anyone try

MSI Afterburner.zip 0k .zip file
 this file? open afterburner and artmoney, then click table > load and select msi afterburner.amt.
the 00449000 address should appear on the right, and should be editable.

note: afterburner needs to be actually open, with a window and stuff, not running in the taskbar.

EDIT: and yeah, maybe we can put another warning at the OP? im thinking the average gamer who has a 680 lightning will respond properly to "OVER-OVERVOLT AT YOUR OWN RISK, WARRANTY CAN BE VOIDED" in huge red letters or something


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i agree. everyone listen to xoleras he has very valid points. my 1.4v screenshot was for a brief second and then i shut down. i had my fan set to 100% too.
> that being said, we all make our own decisions and if someone else breaks their stuff bc they werent mindful of what they were doing, thats on them. then next time they get a 600 dollar card they will either cool it better or not push it so hard. everyone has to fry a few pieces of hardware at some point and theres nothing you can do about it.. even though i know your intentions are good. Anyways, have fun guys but be careful of what youre really doing here.


You know, now that I think of it this is a really good point as well. People should accept responsibility for what they do in this regard. Again, I hope i'm not coming across as trying to hate on you fellas that are doing this, because you all know what you're doing.

Anyway, I really can't wait for waterblocks on my cards, then i'll do some test runs at 1.45V







Both of my lightnings do 1312mhz at stock voltages, one of them boosts to 1277mhz on BIOS1 with no overclocking.....so with that said I can't wait to try 1.4V on water and see what kind of records I can get


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> i still dont know why theyre getting that whole "need artmoney pro" thing, though.
> can anyone try
> 
> MSI Afterburner.zip 0k .zip file
> this file? open afterburner and artmoney, then click table > load and select msi afterburner.amt.
> the 00449000 address should appear on the right, and should be editable.
> note: afterburner needs to be actually open, with a window and stuff, not running in the taskbar.


Thats just a hex editor right?


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> You're talking about voltages that far exceed what any sane air cooling person could run 24/7. I think there are lurkers that would take this information and hurt their card with it, thats my opinion though....The fact that people are even trying this on air is pretty insane....
> If you're into HWBot and extreme overclocking, sure its great, but for the average user (like myself) who uses a PC for gaming, not so much.....or am I overestimating the stupidity of the general (lurkers and newbies) populace? *While i'm ALL For overclocking and overvolting*...fact of the matter is you shouldn't be using these voltages unless you're on water or if you're going past 1.4V you should be on LN2.....now damage doesn't happen overnight but it definitely does cause electromigration and I have had CPUs die over the course of 6+ months of continuous insane voltages. I've had several i7-870s die, but it didn't happen overnight, it happened after 6 months of 24/7 usage, like I said at really insane voltages.
> I think people will try to do this stuff on air, and I think going in this realm on air is stupid. Just IMO. I don't know, I think a large majority of this website is the average overclocker who is overclocking on air or perhaps quite a few on water. LN2 benchmarkers are here but are a minority. For the latter this is a benefit, for the rest....I dunno, I would be cautious.
> Maybe i'm becoming an overclocking sissy...i've overclocked and overvolted for years and years but this is a little too extreme for me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is just my opinion, i'm not trying to hate on you guys that are doing this. You all know what you're doing and are aware of the risks, but I just think that newbies will put this info to bad use and harm their wares.


+1

no matter how much you stress that overvolting can damage you card I do wholeheartdly agree that some newbies and lurkers would not doubt not read the warnings even if they are posted so they risk damaging their card.

Its not a matter of the core temperature if you can control the temps.....I think its more likely people will blow VRM's first as they're semi-actively cooled by the fans blowing down from the main heatsink onto the heatsink-plate thing that MSI has under the main cooler. Then electromigration over the long term.

I'm not making much sense I'm tired, cross eyed and needa get to bed


----------



## shamefulanomaly

the file i uploaded is a format that artmoney uses, it directly loads up the address for you to edit. no need to search and filter and stuff. this method simply takes advantage of the fact that afterburner stores the core voltage offset in memory, and editing that in memory has an effect on the actual voltage. and yeah, any memory editor would work. do hex editors usually come with memory editors? i used to use ultraedit or something but that was long ago and i cant remember all its functions anymore


----------



## dph314

Not sure what to make of the results. It seems like the voltage increases yield quite a low core clock increase. The card that was max stable at 1330mhz @ +100mv, I ended up trying +148mv for a 3dMark11 run and even though core temp was mid 60C's and VRM temp was 55C, I still got a bunch of green artifacts at only 1350mhz, 20 mhz more with 48mv more voltage and I was getting artifacts.


----------



## xoleras

If you're testing single card you should remove the second card to improve GPU1 temps....SLI will lower your overclocks always without exception.....Also of course always bench with 100% fan, there are other components that may get too hot (excluding whats reported in AB)

I dunno if any of that would help, sounds like you hit a wall


----------



## cowie

Sometimes its not the voltage its just gettnig the voltage that is more fun.
People WILL blow there cards up with high voltage its just who and when and yes some will kill there cards with that trick.....
I am big on getting voltage into stuff but thuogh the years i'v learned my lesson too many times.
We get greedy thats what always does a card in,best bet in any voltage adding sinairo is to pick a sweet spot that might not be for allout killer 3d scores but has temps clocks and voltage well tuned.
1.36v may to to much given temps for one ,nother it may be 1.43v so it is not how much voltage that may do you in.
Thing is nobody had forced me to do voltage mods it was all me...when you kill stuff take it like a man or **** NO RMA
just my 2c

Oh and it seems some are finding out more aint better


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> Sometimes its not the voltage its just gettnig the voltage that is more fun.
> People WILL blow there cards up with high voltage its just who and when and yes some will kill there cards with that trick.....
> I am big on getting voltage into stuff but thuogh the years i'v learned my lesson too many times.
> We get greedy thats what always does a card in,best bet in any voltage adding sinairo is to pick a sweet spot that might not be for allout killer 3d scores but has temps clocks and voltage well tuned.
> 1.36v may to to much given temps for one ,nother it may be 1.43v so it is not how much voltage that may do you in.
> Thing is nobody had forced me to do voltage mods it was all me...when you kill stuff take it like a man or **** NO RMA
> just my 2c


Agreed. I've learned my lesson from past mistakes and I think I would never go past 1.35V on air. Heck I wouldn't go up to 1.3V on air except for 10 minutes at a time to benchmark...24/7 no way....

But in the end its all the discretion of the user like michaelrw said.


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Not sure what to make of the results. It seems like the voltage increases yield quite a low core clock increase. The card that was max stable at 1330mhz @ +100mv, I ended up trying +148mv for a 3dMark11 run and even though core temp was mid 60C's and VRM temp was 55C, I still got a bunch of green artifacts at only 1350mhz, 20 mhz more with 48mv more voltage and I was getting artifacts.


perhaps some cores react to the voltages differently, ive seen 1550 on 1.4v i think, and 1411 on 1.26v somewhere. my card cant get above around 1370 either, 1.52v (+250mv) didnt do it for 1400mhz on my card. maybe the 2 of us have cards with some serious disabilities. i mean, the artifacting wasnt due to high voltages or anything, my card ran at 1350 on 1.52v just fine..


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> perhaps some cores react to the voltages differently, ive seen 1550 on 1.4v i think, and 1411 on 1.26v somewhere. my card cant get above around 1370 either, 1.52v (+250mv) didnt do it for 1400mhz on my card. maybe the 2 of us have cards with some serious disabilities. i mean, the artifacting wasnt due to high voltages or anything, my card ran at 1350 on 1.52v just fine..


Yeah I want to see other people's results as well. But mine, like yours, seem to be rather crappy when overvolted any further. I've come to conclusion that this editing isn't worth it, at least for me. The personal best 3dMark11 run in my sig, I had the cards at 1320/6950 and got ~23,580 Graphics Score. I just did another run, with the cards at 1340/6950 (and +158mv







), and even though temps were fine, I only scored 23,604. 25pts for an extra 20mhz on each card? No thank you. Unless my results seem strange after more people post how they are doing, I can definitely say on air this edit is kinda pointless.

Edit- Unless the score is lower because of my CPU for some reason. For this testing I just had it at stock speed and with HT off, so, if that would affect the GPU score in any noticeable way, I'm not sure. But if not, then yeah that's a horrible improvement for such an increase in voltage. Not worth it.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Do you folks think that maxing out the voltage slider (+93) is harmful even if temps are under control? Let's say that I game at an overclock that requires +93 on the voltage and I game for about 2-4 hours a day.


----------



## xoleras

I'd say you're likely safe on air up to 1.3v without harming long term longevity. 1.4-1.5V and beyond is dangerous on air and is asking for problems, that realm should strictly be for water / LN2,, Insane voltages cause electromigration, and it usually takes some time to kill a card. It is not overnight.


----------



## EM2J

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> Do you folks think that maxing out the voltage slider (+93) is harmful even if temps are under control? Let's say that I game at an overclock that requires +93 on the voltage and I game for about 2-4 hours a day.


Ya I was wondering if my overclock of 1350mhz @ 1.28 is ok for 24/7 use without fear of chip degredation.

i'm worried that these kepler chips are susceptible to degredation past 1.75v that's why nvidia has locked it down.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> Ya I was wondering if my overclock of 1350mhz @ 1.28 is ok for 24/7 use without fear of chip degredation.
> like i'm worried that these kepler chips are susceptible to degredation past 1.75v that's why nvidia has locked it down.


I believe without a doubt that your OC is very safe imo.

Especially on the Lightning 680. A jump from 1.21-1.26v, or whatever the stock LN2 bios pulls out, to 1.28v is nothing.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> I believe without a doubt that your OC is very safe imo.
> Especially on the Lightning 680. A jump from 1.21-1.26v, or whatever the stock LN2 bios pulls out, to 1.28v is nothing.


Anyone know how voltage we can apply before chip degradation occurs?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I'd say you're likely safe on air up to 1.3v without harming long term longevity. 1.4-1.5V and beyond is dangerous on air and is asking for problems, that realm should strictly be for water / LN2,, Insane voltages cause electromigration, and it usually takes some time to kill a card. It is not overnight.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> Anyone know how voltage we can apply before chip degradation occurs?


I think xoleras said it best.


----------



## Vaerwind

Does afterburner measure the voltage or do I need a multimeter to check it? What are the two bios stock voltages?

Sorry for the noob questions. I'm new to overclocking. Not gonna even go near that hex editor


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Does afterburner measure the voltage or do I need a multimeter to check it? What are the two bios stock voltages?
> Sorry for the noob questions. I'm new to overclocking. Not gonna even go near that hex editor


You'll need a multimetre to be sure.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

It's been a really interesting day. I think I'm going to hold off on the hex editing until a few more people try it out first. I wonder if we are going to see another update to AB soon.


----------



## DraculaxAOE

Mine is doing 1333/7298mhz stable at 1.212V on LN2 BIOS. I could probably squeeze a few mhz on the core but I wouldn't try that. Also anything higher than 7298mhz on the memory can possibly cause artifacts in the Witcher 2 with ubersampling on. It's been more than a week and I haven't experienced any issue with these clocks. Guess I won't try AB 2.2.3 tho, since these clocks are already not considered "mild".


----------



## XbeaTX

+143mV vGPU tested on Unigine xtreme

1432MHz core
1802Mhz mem

This means that I can push easily the core to ~1.5Ghz in 3dmark11 with the same voltage ...I like it!


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> 
> +143mV vGPU tested on Unigine xtreme
> 1432MHz core
> 1802Mhz mem
> This means that I can push easily the core to ~1.5Ghz in 3dmark11 with the same voltage ...I like it!


hot damn thats a lot of volts friend!!


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> hot damn thats a lot of volts friend!!


i hope that my cooling is good enough for a quick run ...


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> i hope that my cooling is good enough for a quick run ...


I'd put H100 on that. Congrats. These cards turned out to be golden awesome.


----------



## dph314

I'm going to do a little bit more testing and see if the Aux Voltage makes any difference. If anyone wants to try that as well, find it the same way, address 00449060. I doubt it will help much but we'll see.

Well, XbeatX seems to be having much better luck than I did. Anyone else getting good results with the edit?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> Ya I was wondering if my overclock of 1350mhz @ 1.28 is ok for 24/7 use without fear of chip degredation.
> i'm worried that these kepler chips are susceptible to degredation past 1.75v that's why nvidia has locked it down.


Before voltage control that was the max allowed, vendors usually make the allowable limit reasonably safe so as long as it stays clean & cool there all should be well.

I'll have to try out the editor, nice find shamefulanomaly!


----------



## dph314

Oh man I can't wait to see FtW's numbers


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Before voltage control that was the max allowed, vendors usually make the allowable limit reasonably safe so as long as it stays clean & cool there all should be well.
> I'll have to try out the editor, nice find shamefulanomaly!


Interested to see if that can be verified by multimeter...


----------



## gotendbz1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Interested to see if that can be verified by multimeter...


http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/1680_30#post_17814543


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gotendbz1*
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/1680_30#post_17814543


You guys post so much I missed that.







Thanks.


----------



## pwnzilla61

Hoping my card will be in tomorrow if not tuesday, we shall see. As long as I can break 1300 i'll be satisfied.


----------



## dph314

So apparently my cards are the technological equivalent of a 95 year-old women being pumped full of steroids...(seems like a fitting analogy)

Decided to do a suicide run with my CPU at the same settings as when I hit my best score from my sig. Had the AC on in the room for an hour, so ambient temp was 16C, and had the side panel off with a fan blowing into the computer. I set the core voltage at +162mv and PLL at +85mv. Temps were pretty decent for stock cooling, considering voltages. Core on top card stayed under 70C and VRM temp stayed below 60C, obviously fan speed was 100%. Now with unedited AB I ran my sig run at 1320/6950, GPU Score of 23,584. I ran with the above voltage at 1345/6950, and not only was there artifacts (green blotches during 1st and 2nd graphics tests), but I also only scored 23,604 GPU Score. CPU was at same settings as best run, and AB shows full load during all 4 tests and steady clocks.

These must be really be hit and miss as far as reactions to more volts. I would assume water would make a difference, but even so, I keep getting scores almost exact to what I got with both cards 25mhz slower. Did a few runs and always score almost exactly 23,604 everytime. I'd be interested in other's results though for sure.


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> 
> +143mV vGPU tested on Unigine xtreme
> 1432MHz core
> 1802Mhz mem
> This means that I can push easily the core to ~1.5Ghz in 3dmark11 with the same voltage ...I like it!


man.... go away







1432 on less voltage than i take to reach 1350.


----------



## xoleras

I'm going to be all about this when i'm on water...temps are much more sensitive in SLI and I can get 1400+ on each of my cards in single card mode (with no hex editing)...running them in SLI forces me to scale back a little for 24/7 operation, gpu2 causes gpu1 to get warmer by about 15c than it does in single card mode.

Those blocks can't come soon enough! As far as doing these voltages on air....you guys are more brave than I am









Tooshort: do you have any type of VRM cooling with your universal block?


----------



## Bosniac

I just noticed my non L2N bios goes up to 1.28v, and 1360MHz. Sweet.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> I just noticed my non L2N bios goes up to 1.28v, and 1360MHz. Sweet.


Are you saying that you get a higher OC with less voltage on your stock BIOS?


----------



## jcamp6336

Hey anyone notice the $30 price drop on newegg?? What gives>?


----------



## RobsM6S

Honestly that is where the price should be to start with and with free shipping its closer to $40.00 cheaper now.


----------



## sam350

HMM I GOT GREEN ARTIFACTS WITH MORE VOLTAGE USING THE MEMORY EDITOR.......I WONDER IF THIS IS GONNA HAPPEN TO ALL USERS. SURLEY THE CHIPS CANT ALL BE LIMITED TO 1350MHZ....... MAYBE ITS HOW WE ARE APPLYING THE VOLTAGE I DUNNO??? WOULD THINK MORE VOLTAGE ALLOWS HIGER CLOCKS


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EM2J*
> 
> Ya I was wondering if my overclock of 1350mhz @ 1.28 is ok for 24/7 use without fear of chip degredation.
> i'm worried that these kepler chips are susceptible to degredation past 1.75v that's why nvidia has locked it down.


Ye but remember, the L has 10x better VRM design then the reference card so you cant compare like that









L cards should be perfectly fine in that range....plus your cards at that voltage only during gaming/load, (not really 24/7 far from that) otherwise they are on alot less voltage/clocks, since they downclock.

If you don't use i strongly recommend to use adaptive performance in NVCP and use separate profiles for games/benches for which you can use prefer maximum performance settings









Also your room wil be alot cooler, once i forget into global settings maximum performance turned on, and my card was idling on 40c and before was 29/30 same as ambient, so keep that in mind, i was freaking out before i notice what was the problem







+10 c in 1 day is not a good sign!

This is great tip for all who own Nvidia cards. Never set *global profile* for max performance.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sam350*
> 
> HMM I GOT GREEN ARTIFACTS WITH MORE VOLTAGE USING THE MEMORY EDITOR.......I WONDER IF THIS IS GONNA HAPPEN TO ALL USERS. SURLEY THE CHIPS CANT ALL BE LIMITED TO 1350MHZ....... MAYBE ITS HOW WE ARE APPLYING THE VOLTAGE I DUNNO??? WOULD THINK MORE VOLTAGE ALLOWS HIGER CLOCKS


THEY AREN'T ALL LIMITED TO 1350, DEPENDS ON THE SILICON, VOLTAGE & TEMPERATURE. A CARD MAY BE SAFE TO 80°, BUT WILL OVERCLOCK BETTER AT THE SAME VOLTAGE IF KEPT UNDER 50°. IF THE CARD IS RUNNING WARM (STILL SAFE TEMP BUT WARM) MORE VOLTAGE CAN MAKE IT HOTTER & CLOCK EVEN WORSE SOMETIMES


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sam350*
> 
> HMM I GOT GREEN ARTIFACTS WITH MORE VOLTAGE USING THE MEMORY EDITOR.......I WONDER IF THIS IS GONNA HAPPEN TO ALL USERS. SURLEY THE CHIPS CANT ALL BE LIMITED TO 1350MHZ....... MAYBE ITS HOW WE ARE APPLYING THE VOLTAGE I DUNNO??? WOULD THINK MORE VOLTAGE ALLOWS HIGER CLOCKS


Do you understand how annoying a post in all caps is? And you just registered too, another usual suspect? Glance over your post before you hit submit IMO


----------



## shamefulanomaly

I feel like getting a new card.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

xoleras,

I have a full cover EK block and backplate and my VRMs get up to 60'C pushing 1.46ish volts. When I bench, I put a house fan towards my mobo, gpu area to help the vrms.


----------



## CalinTM

Hey, there is that device to buy, its some kind of pistol with a laser pointer, and if you point the laser on a object you get on the display how warm is that part. For example we can point the laser on the VRM's. It's expensive ?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Hey, there is that device to buy, its some kind of pistol with a laser pointer, and if you point the laser on a object you get on the display how warm is that part. For example we can point the laser on the VRM's. It's expensive ?


here?

http://www.amazon.com/HDE-Temperature-Infrared-Thermometer-Laser/dp/B002YE3FS4


----------



## CalinTM

Yes,that is it









Now if i can find one in Europe...


----------



## Bosniac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> Are you saying that you get a higher OC with less voltage on your stock BIOS?


I can't say that I can get more efficient OC. But placing the mV to 100 in AB does raise both OC headroom and voltage beyond the locked 1.175V in stock bios. It doesn't go as high as 1400mhz, but it is more stable, and doesn't hard crash. Voltage hovers around 1.2+.


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> xoleras,
> I have a full cover EK block and backplate and my VRMs get up to 60'C pushing 1.46ish volts. When I bench, I put a house fan towards my mobo, gpu area to help the vrms.


Did you ever tested VRM temps before you go water?

Some users are complaining that the vrm is getting toasty on DCII cards during overclocks but some say otherwise


----------



## xoleras

HardOCP has a lightning review up with afterburner 2.2.3:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/30/msi_geforce_gtx_680_lightning_overclocking_redux/1


----------



## dph314

Nice review. The extra voltage seemed to help them a bit more than it did for me. And I definitely hit the wall hard at anything over +100mv


----------



## xoleras

IMO, its probably because you're using 2 cards in SLI; Single card overclocks are always better by a lot. My instability temperature threshold is low on GPU1 when running SLI, I have to keep it very very low in temps for complete stability... i'd take a guess if you removed your 2nd GPU altogether you'd get a bigger overclock with a single card. Thats how it always works usually.

I've oc'ed quite a few dual gpu setups and you'll never OC SLI to the same level unless you're on water generally speaking. In fact, i've gotten both of my cards over 1400 in single card quite easily but in SLI GPU1 becomes temperature limited because GPU2 is blowing hot air onto GPU1 and temps creep up slowly. My temperature instability threshold is low so obviously there's something in addition to core and VRM temps that is important - If I go past 65C on GPU1 in SLI I get artifacts while over volting. That is why I say 100% manual fan is best for OC and OV for maximum overclock benchmarking...some of the other components are getting toasty with high voltage I think (which explains the low temp threshold while in SLI - this doesn't happen in single card testing)

There is no easy way around the fact that GPU2 blows hot air onto GPU1 and that will always limit your OC headroom on aftermarket cooled cards. On water this is a complete non issue. _I think you're entering this (I could be wrong) expecting a similar overclock in SLI_ as you would get in single card. That just isn't very likely to be honest..99% of users will never get as good of an overclock in SLI when they're really pushing things. Overvolting in single card is also a breeze while over volting in SLI can be problematic for the cards to sync and get along.


----------



## RobsM6S

Will get mine on Wednesday and will report back with my overclocks.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> IMO, its probably because you're using 2 cards in SLI; Single card overclocks are always better by a lot. My instability temperature threshold is low on GPU1 when running SLI, I have to keep it very very low in temps for complete stability... i'd take a guess if you removed your 2nd GPU altogether you'd get a bigger overclock with a single card. Thats how it always works usually.
> I've oc'ed quite a few dual gpu setups and you'll never OC SLI to the same level unless you're on water generally speaking. In fact, i've gotten both of my cards over 1400 in single card quite easily but in SLI GPU1 becomes temperature limited because GPU2 is blowing hot air onto GPU1 and temps creep up slowly. My temperature instability threshold is low so obviously there's something in addition to core and VRM temps that is important - If I go past 65C on GPU1 in SLI I get artifacts while over volting. That is why I say 100% manual fan is an absolute requirement for OC and OV for maximum overclock benchmarking...


I want to see how my bottom card responds, so I'm going to put that one in the top slot and leave the other out for testing. But when disabling SLI and testing the top card alone, even though I didn't remove the 2nd card, temps were noticeably better, but still got a horrible increase in performance from a ton of voltage. I'll see what happens with the bottom card tested alone later on tonight and let you know.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> HardOCP has a lightning review up with afterburner 2.2.3:
> http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/30/msi_geforce_gtx_680_lightning_overclocking_redux/1


that's a really good review and this card is bad ass!!!!


----------



## xoleras

Hopefully you'll find a workaround to this DPH, It really does suck that you hit a wall. I almost want to trade cards with you because I don't ever run it full speed, and my GPU1 is a definite golden chip... (I use vsync and do 24/7 cruising at 1300mhz / 0 voltage ). My setup is probably overkill for what I do TBH


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I can't get ArtMoney to open it. Says I need to paid version?


Idk if you got it worked out or not as I am just starting to get halfway through the 70 posts I've missed lately but have you ran it as an administrator. I had the same deal until I did that.


----------



## RobsM6S

Card is back up to $599.99 plus shipping cost, this is the kind of stuff that I hate about newegg. Glad I bit when it was 569.99 with free shipping.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Card is back up to $599.99 plus shipping cost, this is the kind of stuff that I hate about newegg. Glad I bit when it was 569.99 with free shipping.


.

I really hope they release an extreme because I have a new catleap inc and will need more then 2 gigs to push it. galaxy is my only option being I don't support EVGA anymore.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> .
> I really hope they release an extreme because I have a new catleap inc and will need more then 2 gigs to push it. galaxy is my only option being I don't support EVGA anymore.


Yep, evga is uninteresting to me these days and I dont care about the warranty because I never keep my cards for more than a year at a time anyway.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> You guys post so much I missed that.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks.


Youre welcome









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> THEY AREN'T ALL LIMITED TO 1350, DEPENDS ON THE SILICON, VOLTAGE & TEMPERATURE. A CARD MAY BE SAFE TO 80°, BUT WILL OVERCLOCK BETTER AT THE SAME VOLTAGE IF KEPT UNDER 50°. IF THE CARD IS RUNNING WARM (STILL SAFE TEMP BUT WARM) MORE VOLTAGE CAN MAKE IT HOTTER & CLOCK EVEN WORSE SOMETIMES


lol.. +1


----------



## Capwn

Michael I still cant figure it out... Could you PM me some more detailed info on how this art money program works, I can edit drivers, I can edit fermi bios np. This is like chinese to me tho


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Capwn*
> 
> Michael I still cant figure it out... Could you PM me some more detailed info on how this art money program works, I can edit drivers, I can edit fermi bios np. This is like chinese to me tho


id rather have the convo out here so everyone can read/benefit

Make sure youre running both AB and AM "As Administrator"
Set AB vcore to +93, hit apply, make sure its still at +93
go to AM, search for integer with value 93; it should give you like several thousand results.
Go back to AB, change vcore to like +50, hit apply, then see what vcore it changes it to (+43 i think)
Go back to AM, filter your previous search. Hit filter, then enter in value 43 (or whatever value is currently displayed in vcore of AB. Hit enter. It should leave you with 4 results.
Add all 4 of them to the right side of AM window by highlighting them and hitting the right-arrow. once theyre over in the other side, you can make changes to them.


----------



## Capwn

Cool with me. Lets get a full on step by step guide here. Ive got all necessary software. I find MSI afterburner in the process list. Then I'm flat lost on how to find the 4 values, pretty much every step after that lol.


----------



## RobsM6S

For those of you with reference GTX 680's there is a bios that allows for 1.21vc, this has helped my Gigabyte 680 windforce increase its max core overclock by 40mhz.

I crash at 1360mhz core in the Heaven Demo after running it a while so I backed it down to 1350mhz core and 600+mem for max overclock/stability. My load temps in Heaven demo with the fan set to 60% is just 55c at 1.21vc with my overclock.


----------



## exploiteddna

Make sure youre running both AB and AM "As Administrator"
Set AB vcore to +93, hit apply, make sure its still at +93
go to AM, search for integer with value 93; it should give you like several thousand results.
Go back to AB, change vcore to like +50, hit apply, then see what vcore it changes it to (+43 i think)
Go back to AM, filter your previous search. Hit filter, then enter in value 43 (or whatever value is currently displayed in vcore of AB. Hit enter. It should leave you with 4 results.
Add all 4 of them to the right side of AM window by highlighting them and hitting the right-arrow. once theyre over in the other side, you can make changes to them.

you only need to change the one seen in the picture. click on the first one then go to top of window --> edit -->edit address
then you can enter in all the info in the 'edit address' window. I gave it a 'description' so its easily identifiable. I entered in a value of 143 (which will give me an offset of +143 in AB). The address should be 00449000. Select 'integer 4 bytes' for "Type". Check the "Freeze" box, then choose "from minimum to maximum" in the adjacent dropdown box. Then enter 143 and 150 into the "minimum" and "maximum" boxes, respectively. This prevents the value from being changed back down to the +93 max of AB.
voila!


----------



## Capwn

already hit a snag, when I set it to +93, it jumps to +100 when I click apply
Must just be a difference between 680 and 670, idk. when I set +93 it jumps to +100, when I set it to +50 and you say it should go to +43, it stays at +50. Oh well. The steps worked none the less just by searching for value 100, then filtering value 50..







Im getting there. Now what is the last step to enable these edited values?


----------



## dph314

Also, I didn't try to find the memory voltage yet, but if anyone wants to do the PLL, Search and Filter the same way with the values being changed before Filtering, and when you're left with 4 results, 00449060 is the PLL address. I'm sure someone has found the memory one by now as well.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Capwn*
> 
> already hit a snag, when I set it to +93, it jumps to +100 when I click apply


That's odd, my max has always been +93 before the edit. Well you don't need to set it to +93, any 2 values will work for the Search and Filter.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Capwn*
> 
> already hit a snag, when I set it to +93, it jumps to +100 when I click apply
> Must just be a difference between 680 and 670, idk. when I set +93 it jumps to +100, when I set it to +50 and you say it should go to +43, it stays at +50. Oh well. The steps worked none the less just by searching for value 100, then filtering value 50..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Im getting there. Now what is the last step to enable these edited values?


Just change the value in AM and then when you move the fan slider or something to enable the Apply button in AB and then click it, the voltage will shoot to the value you have set in AM


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Capwn*
> 
> already hit a snag, when I set it to +93, it jumps to +100 when I click apply
> Must just be a difference between 680 and 670, idk. when I set +93 it jumps to +100, when I set it to +50 and you say it should go to +43, it stays at +50. Oh well. The steps worked none the less just by searching for value 100, then filtering value 50..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Im getting there. Now what is the last step to enable these edited values?


yeah it doesnt matter what values you use, as long as you use two different values and be sure to use whatever values AB gives you AFTER you hit apply (sometimes it stays the same, sometimes AB will change). Youre merely trying to locate a memory address and to do that you are searching for its associated value. So if AB is showing +100, youre searching for a memory address with a value of 100. But when it gives you several thousand results, that doesnt help. so what you do is change the AB value to something else, then go back to your results and see which of the results have changed their value to match the "new" value in AB.. chances are the only memory addresses that will have changed are the ones associated with AB


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Hopefully you'll find a workaround to this DPH, It really does suck that you hit a wall. I almost want to trade cards with you because I don't ever run it full speed, and my GPU1 is a definite golden chip... (I use vsync and do 24/7 cruising at 1300mhz / 0 voltage ). My setup is probably overkill for what I do TBH


Any day of the week my man, any day of the week


----------



## DADDYDC650

How can I go about enabling memory + auxiliary voltage control in MSI AB 2.2.3?


----------



## Cool Mike

My fellow Enthusiasts
Just a heads up, the SAPPHIRE Toxic 7970 GHz Edition 6GB is available at Newegg. $699.99 Just purchased one. Also started a new thread.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> How can I go about enabling memory + auxiliary voltage control in MSI AB 2.2.3?


do you have core voltage control, but not the others? click the arrow thing on the far right of the core voltage slider and it will slide open voltage options for the other two


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> How can I go about enabling memory + auxiliary voltage control in MSI AB 2.2.3?


do you have core voltage control, but not the others? click the arrow thing on the far right of the core voltage slider and it will slide open voltage options for the other two


----------



## dVeLoPe

price is back up to 609$ shipped instead of 570 that extra 39$ has me holding off ughhh why do they do this 1 day deal migiht as well leave it at that price newegg hell im gonna buy one and complain they mislead us about voltage and ask for that 50$ credit back!


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> do you have core voltage control, but not the others? click the arrow thing on the far right of the core voltage slider and it will slide open voltage options for the other two


+rep!


----------



## Creator

Is there a way to edit default clocks via bios flash? I'd love to boot at 1300 core and 6600 memory if possible. From there if I need any extra, I could just adjust the sliders and clocks in AB. NBiTor doesn't seem to support Kepler yet.


----------



## dph314

Well I tested my bottom card by itself for the first time since this edit. Tried the non-LN2 BIOS for the first time as well, just to see what it'd do, and it sucks. Passed 3dMark11 at 1340mhz only because it was throttling big-time, at around 1270mhz most of the test, even though "Prefer Max Performance" was enabled, the Power % was not even close to 133%, and core temp stayed under 60C and VRM temp at 50C. Never using that BIOS again, ha. Going for a suicide run on the LN2 BIOS now, going to see if this card hates more than +100mv just like my other one


----------



## DADDYDC650




----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well I tested my bottom card by itself for the first time since this edit. Tried the non-LN2 BIOS for the first time as well, just to see what it'd do, and it sucks. Passed 3dMark11 at 1340mhz only because it was throttling big-time, at around 1270mhz most of the test, even though "Prefer Max Performance" was enabled, the Power % was not even close to 133%, and core temp stayed under 60C and VRM temp at 50C. Never using that BIOS again, ha. Going for a suicide run on the LN2 BIOS now, going to see if this card hates more than +100mv just like my other one


The non LN2 BIOS actually works pretty good for OC'ing (for me at least) you just can't max out overvoltage. If you keep it within 100mV on core (and nothing else) it should be fine. There's a tendency for people to max out voltage when doing this stuff (including memory, aux, etc), but that is definitely not the best approach (IMO) it usually causes a lot of secondary issues if you go too high. When I go to 1402mhz on my cards, I get that with +100mV --- if I add more voltage on top of that or max out aux, memory, etc, My temps just go 10C higher with no benefit except crashing whereas it doesn't if I don't max out...(need to try it on water)

Of course, you could just be at a wall and that sucks if so


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> My fellow Enthusiasts
> Just a heads up, the SAPPHIRE Toxic 7970 GHz Edition 6GB is available at Newegg. $699.99 Just purchased one. Also started a new thread.


That must be an Nvidia card I'm unfamiliar with.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> That must be an Nvidia card I'm unfamiliar with.


Lol


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*


Awesome!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> The non LN2 BIOS actually works pretty good for OC'ing (for me at least) you just can't max out overvoltage. If you keep it within 100mV on core (and nothing else) it should be fine. There's a tendency for people to max out voltage when doing this stuff (including memory, aux, etc), but that is definitely not the best approach (IMO) it usually causes a lot of secondary issues if you go too high. When I go to 1402mhz on my cards, I get that with +100mV --- if I add more voltage on top of that or max out aux, memory, etc, My temps just go 10C higher with no benefit except crashing whereas it doesn't if I don't max out...(need to try it on water)
> Of course, you could just be at a wall and that sucks if so


Well the second cards seems to take voltage a little better. This is the one that was at only 1320/6950 with unedited 2.2.3. With the cooling I use for these suicide runs (AC takes the room down to 16C, side-panel off, fan blowing cold air onto GPU), I keep temps with all this voltage at only slightly higher than when I don't freeze the room and open the computer. For example, in SLI this card's core will reach ~62C with my max OC it'll do (1320mhz). When using all this voltage on the card when it's alone and freezing the room, it got up to 68C. I don't know if that little of an increase affects the clock so much or not. But this card's clocks didn't seem to love the voltage either (CPU only running stock speed)-
----

----
With Core at +179mv, Memory at +120mv, and PLL at +80mv, I got the card up to 1345/7000, 1355/6950 ended up crashing. Temps weren't _insane_, as you can see in the pic. I understand what you're saying too about the higher voltages, but my experience has always been- if a clock is stable at a certain voltage, it will only become _un_stable at some lower one, not higher (temps permitting). I've never crashed on a stable clock/voltage combo by raising the voltage first, as I sometimes do to make sure temps are OK before also raising the clock and making temps even higher.

So I don't know, this edit seems to show my cards just don't like more voltage. I mean with 2.2.3, that's +100mv we got and I got roughly 40mhz more. So, with another ~70mv, only getting another 20mhz sadly enough seems about right









This card does stay pretty cool though. I mean considering the insane voltage, I kept it under 70C and the VRMs under 55C (assuming software is reporting correctly). So, that's really not bad. I could never run my 570s at 1.1v because temps would get into the high 80C's. Now 1.4v+ isn't getting temps into the danger-zone. Awesome card, but I wish it took the extra voltage better.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cool Mike*
> 
> My fellow Enthusiasts
> Just a heads up, the SAPPHIRE Toxic 7970 GHz Edition 6GB is available at Newegg. $699.99 Just purchased one. Also started a new thread.


Let us know how it overclocks! Thats a beast of a card for sure, although the price is a little too high for me


----------



## armartins

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> 
> Make sure youre running both AB and AM "As Administrator"
> Set AB vcore to +93, hit apply, make sure its still at +93
> go to AM, search for integer with value 93; it should give you like several thousand results.
> Go back to AB, change vcore to like +50, hit apply, then see what vcore it changes it to (+43 i think)
> Go back to AM, filter your previous search. Hit filter, then enter in value 43 (or whatever value is currently displayed in vcore of AB. Hit enter. It should leave you with 4 results.
> Add all 4 of them to the right side of AM window by highlighting them and hitting the right-arrow. once theyre over in the other side, you can make changes to them.
> 
> you only need to change the one seen in the picture. click on the first one then go to top of window --> edit -->edit address
> then you can enter in all the info in the 'edit address' window. I gave it a 'description' so its easily identifiable. I entered in a value of 143 (which will give me an offset of +143 in AB). The address should be 00449000. Select 'integer 4 bytes' for "Type". Check the "Freeze" box, then choose "from minimum to maximum" in the adjacent dropdown box. Then enter 143 and 150 into the "minimum" and "maximum" boxes, respectively. This prevents the value from being changed back down to the +93 max of AB.
> voila!


Well, I was really hoping for "easy" 1350 core... that + lower power consuption + better performance on blizzard games would make my mind towards the 680L... But bypassing this voltage lock and the boost is getting very very tricky... even more with SLI... I guess is time for me to pull the trigger on a decent pair of 7970s that can do 1300Mhz with 1.3V... god I hope 7xx doesn't have this stupid lock...


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *armartins*
> 
> Well, I was really hoping for "easy" 1350 core... that + lower power consuption + better performance on blizzard games would make my mind towards the 680L... But bypassing this voltage lock and the boost is getting very very tricky... even more with SLI... I guess is time for me to pull the trigger on a decent pair of 7970s that can do 1300Mhz with 1.3V... god I hope 7xx doesn't have this stupid lock...


Almost every Lightning will do 1300mhz without the edit, and with less than 1.3v. And definitely remain a lot cooler while doing it too.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I get a steady 1377 on a pair in SLI with no hex editing, just the parameters in AB 2.2.3

I got a 24/7 everyday 1300+ with AB 2.2.2, in fact I have AB 2.2.2 set to start in my startup folder so I get the rather aggressive auto fan profile I have set any time I fire up my rig. If I want to try a bench, I launch AB 2.2.3 and run it with manual fan, but it's not as handy as 2.2.2 for everyday stuff.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> I get a steady 1377 on a pair in SLI with no hex editing, just the parameters in AB 2.2.3
> I got a 24/7 everyday 1300+ with AB 2.2.2, in fact I have AB 2.2.2 set to start in my startup folder so I get the rather aggressive auto fan profile I have set any time I fire up my rig. If I want to try a bench, I launch AB 2.2.3 and run it with manual fan, but it's not as handy as 2.2.2 for everyday stuff.


What were your results with the edit? With like, say, +130mv?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> What were your results with the edit? With like, say, +130mv?


I never tried the hex edit thing. I'll flash a BIOS or install new drivers, but I'm not about to go fiddling around with that hex editor thing. All I've done is download AB 2.2.3 and flashed to the new A3 unlocked LN2 BIOS. I'm very satisfied with what 2.2.3 brought me, I had one of the lower clocking pair of cards before, now I have pretty respectable numbers for an SLI application when I want them, but I don't use them except to run a new bench.


----------



## xoleras

DPH, My instability temperature threshold has been low on the lightnings, when my core temp is 70C and i'm overvolting a lot I can feel the side of my card and it is hot. I mean..HOT. Like, my top card in SLI it hurts to touch the heatpipe sometimes. The cooler does great on dispersing heat from the core and VRM but there must be other temp sensitive components i'm thinking. Thats the only explanation as to my results. I can get 1402mhz @ +100mV but maxing everything out will make it unstable at the same settings. I absolutely cannot go in and max out every voltage slider in existence, that ruins my overclocks and honestly I don't think its the best approach to air OC'ing. If anyone else has other opinions on this, please share.

I really think there are more components that suffer when volts get high, although I can't say for sure. I do know that overvolting too much on air will always lessen stability for me, I really think past 1.3V is not meant for air and won't help things on air..... I really feel like more is not always better, you have to find a happy medium.

I don't know, thats what my findings have been. If anyone else has any overclocking particulars or oddities they've found, please share by all means







Keep in mind that this is in the context of SLI. Temps are never ever an issue with single card with the 2nd card removed. But in SLI temps are much more sensitive for GPU1. (GPU2 blows hot air directly onto GPU1)

If any other lightning SLI users can share your results and thoughts, i'd love to hear em!


----------



## resis

Hi,

I have a MSI GTX680L now (pics later). When I booted first time the fans spin like crazy and loud continuously. I don't remember if it was the nvidia or mainboard driver, but it works normal and silent now, but during the boot it still spins like insane and slows/quiets down during the process of booting. Is there a way to fix it? Perhaps a BIOS setting. I don' have time to figure it out myself at the moment, so I just ask away, if you don't mind.

Nice card, I only wish the leds were green (nvidia color, as the packaging), but blue is nice, too. Can I put them off at all?


----------



## GenoOCAU

Have you maybe had a look at the litre of thermal paste MSI has used on your lightnings xoleras? A few people at OCAU have re-pasted and gotten -8 degrees on MSI's effort.

Might get you off that clock wall?

My 24/7 clocks are 1310mhz core on normal bios ~ 1.2v, been 15+ hours stable on BF3 MP.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *resis*
> 
> Hi,
> I have a MSI GTX680L now (pics later). When I booted first time the fans spin like crazy and loud continuously. I don't remember if it was the nvidia or mainboard driver, but it works normal and silent now, but during the boot it still spins like insane and slows/quiets down during the process of booting. Is there a way to fix it? Perhaps a BIOS setting. I don' have time to figure it out myself at the moment, so I just ask away, if you don't mind.
> Nice card, I only wish the leds were green (nvidia color, as the packaging), but blue is nice, too. Can I put them off at all?


You can take the GPU Reactor cap off, and the little board underneath it, that's about it. And the fan speed at start-up is an anti-dust technique built into the BIOS, can be gotten rid of by flashing to the...3A BIOS is it? Someone else can jump in on that.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Have you maybe had a look at the litre of thermal paste MSI has used on your lightnings xoleras? A few people at OCAU have re-pasted and gotten -8 degrees on MSI's effort.
> Might get you off that clock wall?
> My 24/7 clocks are 1310mhz core on normal bios ~ 1.2v, been 15+ hours stable on BF3 MP.


1310 on normal BIOS? Damn. You have to try the edit on the LN2 BIOS







I tried the non-LN2 BIOS and got crazy downclocking at anything over 1300mhz.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> DPH, My instability temperature threshold has been low on the lightnings, when my core temp is 70C and i'm overvolting a lot I can feel the side of my card and it is hot. I mean..HOT. Like, my top card in SLI it hurts to touch the heatpipe sometimes. The cooler does great on dispersing heat from the core and VRM but there must be other temp sensitive components i'm thinking. Thats the only explanation as to my results. I can get 1402mhz @ +100mV but maxing everything out will make it unstable at the same settings. I absolutely cannot go in and max out every voltage slider in existence, that ruins my overclocks and honestly I don't think its the best approach to air OC'ing. If anyone else has other opinions on this, please share.
> I really think there are more components that suffer when volts get high, although I can't say for sure. I do know that overvolting too much on air will always lessen stability for me, I really think past 1.3V is not meant for air and won't help things on air..... I really feel like more is not always better, you have to find a happy medium.
> I don't know, thats what my findings have been. If anyone else has any overclocking particulars or oddities they've found, please share by all means
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Keep in mind that this is in the context of SLI. Temps are never ever an issue with single card with the 2nd card removed. But in SLI temps are much more sensitive for GPU1. (GPU2 blows hot air directly onto GPU1)
> If any other lightning SLI users can share your results and thoughts, i'd love to hear em!


Always appreciate your input







+rep

Well, memory lowers my core OC. You mean that with the core voltage at +100mv and the clock at 1402mhz, you can raise the Memory and PLL voltages _while leaving the memory clock the same speed_ and you'll crash? That would mean it's the temp I would assume. If so, what's the temp increase that makes you crash at? Like what's the temp threshold for your 1402mhz OC? Just curious. Trying to figure these out. Because my 570s would not crash no matter what the temp was. 10C or more would make no difference on stability. I know I have to stop comparing to another generation, but it's all I have to go on experience-wise, so if the 600-series has major differences then I have to figure them out.. But yeah if a voltage/clock combo was stable on them, then it was stable no matter what the temp. In the summer before I got my AC, temps would hit high 80Cs and not crash. After the AC, I tried higher OCs on the same volts and it made zero difference.

But yeah, thanks again for the observations


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 1310 on normal BIOS? Damn. You have to try the edit on the LN2 BIOS I tried the non-LN2 BIOS and got crazy downclocking at anything over 1300mhz.


I definitely plan to and have a massive text document with all steps!







I couldnt get beyond 1453mhz on LN2 bios with +93 mV (1.36v multi) on air in 3d mark11. Only pulled off those benches due to 12degree ambient, so im pretty much waiting for either the waterblocks to get cannoed out to Australia or another freezing morning to start hexxing.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Have you maybe had a look at the litre of thermal paste MSI has used on your lightnings xoleras? A few people at OCAU have re-pasted and gotten -8 degrees on MSI's effort.
> Might get you off that clock wall?
> My 24/7 clocks are 1310mhz core on normal bios ~ 1.2v, been 15+ hours stable on BF3 MP.


Temps are not an issue for me really, like I said this is in the context of SLI, GPU2 blows hot air onto GPU1 and makes GPU1 very very sensitive to temps. This is why SLI overclocks are generally m uch worse than single card, in addition to being harder to sync clocks/voltages.

I'm almost 100% sure I can do higher than 1400mhz 24/7 if I so wanted on either of my cards, but GPU2 definitely makes GPU1 very hot to the touch - since GPU2 blows hot air onto GPU1 in SLI.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> Temps are not an issue for me really, like I said this is in the context of SLI, GPU2 blows hot air onto GPU1 and makes GPU1 very very sensitive to temps. This is why SLI overclocks are generally m uch worse than single card, in addition to being harder to sync clocks/voltages.
> 
> I'm almost 100% sure I can do higher than 1400mhz 24/7 if I so wanted on either of my cards, but GPU2 definitely makes GPU1 very hot to the touch - since GPU2 blows hot air onto GPU1 in SLI.


Oh fair enough, I guess the best longterm option for high overclocked 24/7 sli would be to find a different board that you can split them further apart. Either that or deal with it I guess.
Oh FYI been playing with undervolting (does actually work @ the multimeter), played for about an hour and a half of MP BF3 on 1300mhz @ -18mV all fine so far. Under volting like over volting (goes up or down in increments of 6) also affects idle volts, currently sitting @ .977 in windows.


----------



## Shempio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> .
> I really hope they release an extreme because I have a new catleap inc and will need more then 2 gigs to push it. galaxy is my only option being I don't support EVGA anymore.


Hi, I'm new here and I own a msi L. Overclocking it to 1350 / 1386 works on all benches and completes on AFB 2.2.3.
But when playing BF3 I have to LOWER voltages for stability on a 1350 clock and crysis 2 no stability not even on standard clocks. I get lock ups after 5 min.
Tried both bios F8 and 3A and voltages are working. I'm beginning to wonder if the crashes are related to the Catleap monitor since I'm running 2560x1440 res and this card begins to fail on memory
at that point on crysis2 fully loaded on ULTRA settings and extreme TESS?


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> crysis 2 no stability not even on standard clocks. I get lock ups after 5 min


Settings in Afterburner then goto monitoring and add 'Memory Usage' to OSD, should be able to monitor (no pun intended) if 1440dpi is stealing all 2gb. Shouldn't be though, if anything you should get lower min fps and stutters as opposed to no stability at standard clocks/crash.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I have a Catleap, but not those games. I'd back down on the clocks if it's crashing and try that. I did a run of maxed out Heaven at 2560x1440 82Hz and was generally in the 1.4GB mem usage, but had one spike of 1.890.


----------



## Shempio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Settings in Afterburner then goto monitoring and add 'Memory Usage' to OSD, should be able to monitor (no pun intended) if 1440dpi is stealing all 2gb. Shouldn't be though, if anything you should get lower min fps and stutters as opposed to no stability at standard clocks/crash.


just checked my log on memory usage in Crysis 2 and it exceeded 2000 to 2017 and then a minute later the game crashed even at stock settings.

BF3 maxed out doesn't even come close in mem usage according to my log files, 1700 is tops.

2 gig seems like NOT enough mem on a 2560x1440 monitor for crysis 2 maxed out.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> just checked my log on memory usage in Crysis 2 and it exceeded 2000 to 2017 and then a minute later the game crashed even at stock settings.
> BF3 maxed out doesn't even come close in mem usage according to my log files, 1700 is tops.
> *2 gig seems like NOT enough mem on a 2560x1440 monitor for crysis 2 maxed out*.


Imagine adding the Blackfire mod


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> Hi, I'm new here and I own a msi L. Overclocking it to 1350 / 1386 works on all benches and completes on AFB 2.2.3.
> But when playing BF3 I have to LOWER voltages for stability on a 1350 clock and crysis 2 no stability not even on standard clocks. I get lock ups after 5 min.
> Tried both bios F8 and 3A and voltages are working. I'm beginning to wonder if the crashes are related to the Catleap monitor since I'm running 2560x1440 res and this card begins to fail on memory
> at that point on crysis2 fully loaded on ULTRA settings and extreme TESS?


Yeah. More voltage isn't better on air, especially when you're talking 1.3V+.......finding a happy medium while NOT maxing out all your sliders (which I think is ridiculous on air) is the best approach

Its not monitor or VRAM related either, those settings are just very GPU demanding


----------



## Shempio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Imagine adding the Blackfire mod


Shiiit the card would crash in 10 seconds.


----------



## klewlis1

Do they make or have plans to make a 670 lightening?


----------



## Shempio

Quote:
Its not monitor or VRAM related either, those settings are just very GPU demanding
Quote:
It is vram related, at those high settings on crysis 2 all the crashes occur after the card passed 2 gig slightly confirmed in my msi logs


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> Its not monitor or VRAM related either, those settings are just very GPU demanding
> It is vram related, at those high settings on crysis 2 all the crashes occur after the card passed 2 gig slightly confirmed in my msi logs


I'm over 2000MBs usage when I don't overclock the memory at all, and I never crashed at a proven-stable core clock. Only crash when the core is too high. OCing the memory I then show less than 2000MBs usage, but either way I've never crashed with a stable core.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> Its not monitor or VRAM related either, those settings are just very GPU demanding
> It is vram related, at those high settings on crysis 2 all the crashes occur after the card passed 2 gig slightly confirmed in my msi logs


Crysis 2 doesn't > 2gb of VRAM at 2560x1440 unless you run super sampled anti aliasing. I played through crysis 2 maxed out 3 times and it does NOT require more than 2gb.

Nx AA costs you N * the framebuffer memory.

Running 5760x1200 with no AA is only 82,944,000 bytes for the front and back buffers, and only 442M for the G-buffer. So basically 5760 * 1200 * 4 bytes (per sample) * 8 (samples per pixel) = 221,184,000 bytes per back and front buffer. There is one front buffer and two back buffers, so 663,552,000 bytes just for your frame buffer.

With no AA you can run crysis 2 at 5760x1200 with no problems... At 2560x1600, you will never need more than 2gb unless you do something absolutely ******ed like 8x SGSSAA via nvidia inspector. Your crashes are related to something else, I play at 2560x1600 also. Lastly, running out of VRAM doesn't cause a crash. It causes a slide show.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Ive registered here as i've been reading this thread in particular for a while and wanted to give back to it; even if its in the form of posting results. I wont be disappearing though


----------



## dph314

Ha. Yeah just people looking for a good card on the net and then this thread pops up when searching for info on the Lightning








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Ive registered here as i've been reading this thread in particular for a while and wanted to give back to it; even if its in the form of posting results. I wont be disappearing though


Welcome. We await your results!


----------



## Shempio

Thanks for the info. I look further into it to see whats causing the crashes.


----------



## Shempio

Quote:
Also whats up with these new registered people posting 3 times and only in the lightning thread and disappearing? Shempio, roflenstein, who else?

I haven't disappeared yet. I just got here today and explaining my problems with this card playing crysis 2 maxed out on a 2560x1440 res.

You say it isn't the memory, so I will look further into the situation and try to solve it.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *klewlis1*
> 
> Do they make or have plans to make a 670 lightening?


no my friend, the lightning equivalent for the GTX 670 is the 670 Power Edition


----------



## Shempio

My research finds that disabling the tessellation add on on Crysis 2 playing at a 2560x 1440 res. the game is stable all the way up to
1386 core on my card. Went back to look at the memory log after playing with TESS disabled and it shows a consistent mem. usage
of 1515. On the other hand with Tess Enabled and stock clocks the memory starts off at 1515 and reaches a whopping 2015 as I progress forward in game play and crashes anywhere between 3-5 minutes.

Sorry to say, but this card cant handle this game with TESS enabled because of it's 2 gig minimum at a 2560x1440 res with all settings on ULTRA.

So I decided to put my E-vega 680 classified to the test on same MB which has 4 gig memory on the card and TESS enabled on crysis 2 and overclocked to 1350 core with evbot and presto no more crashes. Runs like a charm.

Folks you can listen to Xoleras all you want this game with TESS enabled on this MSI L needs more than 2 gig of memory to run at 2560x1440.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> Welcome. We await your results!


I posted them a few pages earlier, only 3d mark 11 tested at these clocks. 1453/3542 on LN2 bios with +93mV. (12deg ambient, air cooled) - Screenshot

P12739 on a 2700k - no hex fiddling yet waiting for a colder morning or a waterblock. Loving this card heaps more then my Inno3d ref model!


----------



## CalinTM

The 680 overclocks so well, and has 2gb vram, because Nvidia has released this card as a high-end card name, but the card actually is a mainstream card. If was a high-end the overclock wasn't so big, and the vram was bigger.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> My research finds that disabling the tessellation add on on Crysis 2 playing at a 2560x 1440 res. the game is stable all the way up to
> 1386 core on my card. Went back to look at the memory log after playing with TESS disabled and it shows a consistent mem. usage
> of 1515. On the other hand with Tess Enabled and stock clocks the memory starts off at 1515 and reaches a whopping 2015 as I progress forward in game play and crashes anywhere between 3-5 minutes.
> Sorry to say, but this card cant handle this game with TESS enabled because of it's 2 gig minimum at a 2560x1440 res with all settings on ULTRA.
> *So I decided to put my E-vega 680 classified* to the test on same MB which has 4 gig memory on the card and TESS enabled on crysis 2 and overclocked to 1350 core with evbot and presto no more crashes. Runs like a charm.
> Folks you can listen to Xoleras all you want this game with TESS enabled on this MSI L needs more than 2 gig of memory to run at 2560x1440.


Just registered, You just happen to have mismatched 680s with a lightning and a classifed. Of course you have EV Bot too., Sounds legit.







First, preliminary to this discussion you should be aware that the crytek 2 engine scales the VRAM cache depending on how much you have available - no matter how much VRAM you have, if you're using DX11 assets it will automatically report VRAM maxed minus 100MB (approx). Some people get confused when they see this on 3gb-4gb cards, I have seen it too. Read up on crytek 2. It caches VRAM usage but does not require more than 2gb unless you're using a surround resolution. I have played through crysis 2 on a dell u3011 several times maxed out with DX11 textures and tessellation. Further, you are wrong, it does not need more than 2gb of memory. PM me and I can put you in touch with one of the guys who works at nvidia, he works in software relations and works with software developers to implement TWIMTB features into games, he can correct your misconceptions.

The game assets of Crysis 2 takes roughly 900MB maxed out at 2560x1600, any VRAM used above that is strictly for anti aliasing. And it will not pass 2gb unless you're using override SGSSAA.


----------



## dph314

Good to know. I know I've never had a crash in any game "using" ~2000MBs. That number goess down with a higher memory clock, but never crashed at any stable one.

Maybe you need to RMA that card if it can't handle a full load on the VRAM.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> Folks you can listen to Xoleras all you want this game with TESS enabled on this MSI L needs more than 2 gig of memory to run at 2560x1440.


+1 even 1920X1200 pushes the bounderies of 2gbs in that game and yes I am aware of the memory cache but I have also heard others with 2gb cards reporting the same issues with Crysis 2 maxed out at 2560X1440 res.


----------



## Valenz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> Folks you can listen to Xoleras all you want this game with TESS enabled on this MSI L needs more than 2 gig of memory to run at 2560x1440.


Which I am willing to be is less then 15% of gamers , and I just bought a 4gig galaxy 680 for my catleap and I am happy.
I can reach 1320 and I paid about $200 less then a classified with evbot. This card also runs cooler then most classified temps I have read.

The lightning being 2gb is good enough to max any game for most people that are playing at 1920x1200/1080.
Actually , I would suggest the lightning over any other 2gig on the market right now with some of the best features period.


----------



## xoleras

Saw this linked elsewhere......4gb doesn't help at 2560x1600. http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4665/palit_jetstream_geforce_gtx_680_4gb_video_card_review/index6.html


----------



## xoleras

Source:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/palit-geforce-gtx-680-4gb-jetstream-review/21


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Saw this linked elsewhere......4gb doesn't help at 2560x1600. http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4665/palit_jetstream_geforce_gtx_680_4gb_video_card_review/index6.html
> Direct comparison of 2 vs 4gb at 2560x1600. No performance difference. In fact, the 4gb is slower due to additional latency.
> We can go at this all day, I can find tons of reviews showing this to be the case at 2560x1600. 4gb doesn't help you until you do surround. Even in surround you are generally fine as long as you use FXAA or only 2x MSAA.


Yes, but when a certain game eats all the vram, then the stuttering starts to show.I've used all my 1.2gb in Skyrim with mods, and when the vram was all full, i had massive stutterings. And when the vram runs to 0 the application (game) takes memory form the ram, which is a lot slower than vram.


----------



## xoleras

The only way to run out of VRAM is to use a crap ton of mods and a LOT of override SGSSAA. Remember anti aliasing beyond MSAA x 8 uses a TON of VRAM.

You won't run out of VRAM on a single screen resolution ever UNLESS You go overboard on SSAA. You can only enable SSAA in nvidia inspector for most games. See the performance charts above, if you go 4gb for 2560x1600 you are throwing your money away.

There is no game in existence that has more than 500MB for game assets including textures. Anything past that is mostly anti aliasing, and you can go up to 8x MSAA at 2560x1600 without breaking 2gb, easily.


----------



## CalinTM

Well i've remember for Skyrim i was using 4gb of texture mods. And the vram was 0, in a small resolution. Used 570gtx.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Well i've remember for Skyrim i was using 4gb of texture mods. And the vram was 0, in a small resolution. Used 570gtx.


Yeah, tons of mods can do it or override SSAA. I've seen a lot of performance anomalies with override AA and tend to prefer in game IQ settings, but it works ok in some games.


----------



## CalinTM

Also Skyrim has a problem, if you play with tons of mods, the game looks great, but as soon as you play more, the vram fills up because you're exploring the game as you play and loading the textures mods. If the game can do some kind of refresh, when the game loads a new area of the game, for example you explore a area of the game, the vram fills up to 800mb, and when the game loads another area, that previous 800mb to be erased, and loaded into the vram the new textures that require that specific area, and so on....

I say this, because i've experienced good gameplay in Skyrim with 4gb texture mods for 1 hour, and after, it starts to stutter, cuz the textures mods fills up the vram within each area/more areas you visit.


----------



## AnonGoldfish

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> Also whats up with these new registered people posting 3 times and only in the lightning thread and disappearing? Shempio, roflenstein, who else?
> I haven't disappeared yet. I just got here today and explaining my problems with this card playing crysis 2 maxed out on a 2560x1440 res.
> You say it isn't the memory, so I will look further into the situation and try to solve it.


it suppose they had a problem wich was solved and then they had nothing more relevant to their interests in this thread.
Or they are just lurking the thread


----------



## Shempio

Xoleras, I don't use any of those mods with nvidia inspector.

Like I said before with Tess disabled on cysis 2 the memory stays the same through out the whole game at 1515. When I apply the TESS the memory grows past 2000 until it crashes the game.
Who knows maybe its a memory leak in the TESS file


----------



## xoleras

edit: DP


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> Xoleras, I don't use any of those mods with nvidia inspector.
> Like I said before with Tess disabled on cysis 2 the memory stays the same through out the whole game at 1515. When I apply the TESS the memory grows past 2000 until it crashes the game.
> Who knows maybe its a memory leak in the TESS file




















It doesn't go past 2000 (I think you mean 2048 right? Yeah I guess so lol) That test is also maxed with dX11 textures and full tessellation.

Crytek2 changes the VRAM cache dynamically but will never pass 2gb on a single screen resolution.


----------



## xoleras

Crysis 2 also maxes out on a GTX 580 at 2560x1600:

demonstration






Something else is causing your issue


----------



## Shempio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Crysis 2 also maxes out on a GTX 580 lol at 2560x1600:
> demonstration
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Something else is causing your issue


I'll do further testing tonight and put the classy back on. But first I will change Pcie slots with the msi.

Can it also be because I'm on a 8x lane and pcie 2.0?


----------



## jona2125

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> Which I am willing to be is less then 15% of gamers , and I just bought a 4gig galaxy 680 for my catleap and I am happy.
> I can reach 1320 and I paid about $200 less then a classified with evbot. This card also runs cooler then most classified temps I have read.
> The lightning being 2gb is good enough to max any game for most people that are playing at 1920x1200/1080.
> Actually , I would suggest the lightning over any other 2gig on the market right now with some of the best features period.


http://www.galaxytechus.com/usa/xtremeTuner.aspx?class=8

Try this out. I am in the process of doing an RMA with my SOC right now otherwise I'd jump all over it.


----------



## dph314

I said right away you should RMA that card. It should not be crashing, even if you are showing over 2000MBs VRAM usage. Tell them it crashes when VRAM usage goes up on stock clocks and they will tell you that you have a valid RMA reason. And the PCIe 2.0 x8 probably won't affect a single card much, but either way, even if there was a ~5% difference in performance between x8 and x16, I doubt it would cause crashing.

xoleras is right. And MSI Alex has even said that the 2GB card will be faster than 4GB on any single screen set-up, and that they went with 2GB for the Lightning because it was built for performance. They would have made it 4GB right off the bat if needing more than 2GB was even somewhat common among users. 4GB will only improve performance if you get massive stuttering because of VRAM limitations. If you don't get insane stuttering, then 4GB won't help you.


----------



## MouthofJustin

not sure if this question has been answered already...been busy actually enjoy my setup and playing through some games







...what does it mean when i alt tab out of a game and look at AB and for some reason one of my lightnings has the core voltage at like -131 after i set it to +93 offset? what causes this?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jona2125*
> 
> http://www.galaxytechus.com/usa/xtremeTuner.aspx?class=8
> Try this out. I am in the process of doing an RMA with my SOC right now otherwise I'd jump all over it.


Oh wow. I'm kinda surprised by this, if I had that card i'd keep it for sure. Didn't it clock over 1300 out of the box? Did it have issues ?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MouthofJustin*
> 
> not sure if this question has been answered already...been busy actually enjoy my setup and playing through some games
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...what does it mean when i alt tab out of a game and look at AB and for some reason one of my lightnings has the core voltage at like -131 after i set it to +93 offset? what causes this?


My slider for the core voltage only goes down to -100. No idea. Does it do it all the time or did it just happen once?


----------



## xoleras

Oh WOW.

Remember how I used to always talk about how my GPU1 was always a lot hotter than GPU2? I switched my GPU positions (GPU2 > GPU1) and found that one of my GPU2 was higher in temps (remember , I swapped this from top to bottom). I knew this wasn't right because GPU1 is supposed to be hotter than GPU2 in SLI, yet here i swapped my cards and GPU2 is still hotter.

So I took my card out and inspected further, and I may have gotten a used card from newegg. Thanks newegg (I bought this on week 1 by the way, W T H??). There are fingerprints where there should be none (on the PCB!) and such, apparently someone before me removed the shroud as well. I'm not HAPPY abou this, but i'm not complaining *that much*, because this is my golden chip that does 1400 .Newegg gave me a 50$ coupon so whatever. So anyway I remove the shroud and reapply PK1 TIM and reseat the shroud and my temps literally improved by 10C. I am just floored by this because both of my lightnings run within 1C of each other in SLI now.

I just did a 1402mhz run in SLI and before that would make my GPU1 go up near 80C. Now both GPUs are around 70C at that speed! Better yet, my GPU1 doesn't get far hotter than GPU2 in SLI like it did previously.

And GRR at newegg for selling used cards. I *may* try that hexedit thing now, i'm feeling brave today. Or maybe i'll wait for water blocks


----------



## pwnzilla61

FINALLY the beast has arrived. Just finished and installed drivers. Haven't tried to oc yet, cannot stop staring at how magnificent it looks. Also it came with the 3A bios. Time to test out and report back later.







I will probably buy a volt meter this weekend to get the clocks down.


----------



## xoleras

3dmark11 run @ 1402, top GPU1 @ 67C, GPU2 @ 64C

This TIM re-application did wonders

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4014949


----------



## RobsM6S

So whats the highest stable overclock on air with the Lightning so far guys? Voltage too please.


----------



## pwnzilla61

what would be a good voltage offset to start out at? Is it safe to crank it all the way up?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pwnzilla61*
> 
> what would be a good voltage offset to start out at? Is it safe to crank it all the way up?


With AB 2.2.3?

I started out at +67 on core, +50 on mem, and +40 on aux. Temps were fine, I ended up maxing all out with no outrageous temps but +93 is max I can run on core.

And I just use 2.2.2 for daily driving, it does all I need for daily use.


----------



## pwnzilla61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> With AB 2.2.3?
> I started out at +67 on core, +50 on mem, and +40 on aux. Temps were fine, I ended up maxing all out with no outrageous temps but +93 is max I can run on core.
> And I just use 2.2.2 for daily driving, it does all I need for daily use.


thanks, i just tried +56mv, +400 mem, running 1350 boost so far no issues at all, and this is what i get in heaven. Looks like a might break 1400 soon. Im going slow so i will probably wait tell tomorrow to OC further.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

in 2.2.3 there's a little arrow just to the right of the core voltage slider, click that and it'll show the mem and aux volt sliders. You can also play around with those.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pwnzilla61*
> 
> thanks, i just tried +56mv, +400 mem, running 1350 boost so far no issues at all, and this is what i get in heaven. Looks like a might break 1400 soon. Im going slow so i will probably wait tell tomorrow to OC further.


IMHO, the best approach is to increase slowly if you run into instability. Start with core voltage first and as adjust in small increments.

If you go in with guns blazing and max everything you'll just increase your temps when you probably could get the same OC with a much smaller voltage (desirable)


----------



## pwnzilla61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> IMHO, the best approach is to increase slowly if you run into instability. Start with core voltage first and as adjust in small increments.
> If you go in with guns blazing and max everything you'll just increase your temps when you probably could get the same OC with a much smaller voltage (desirable)


Yeah ,I've been going slow and this is where am, i think the voltage is a lil higher than needed for those clocks, but i am goin up 10-20 mhz at a time. mem i pushed +50 at a time. and started out at +50mv. fan is at 67 with temps never going above 50c. I am in a chilled basement.


----------



## Shempio

Ok, tests are in and some very good news and bad news.

Lets start with the bad news first. The LN2 bios is only meant for benching, and if you try to play aggressive games on it MAXED OUT ( CRYSIS 2) at very high resolutions
it will fail. Why does it fail?? Because the LN2 bios is buggy and has a memory leak in it. It does't flush properly when its supposed to. It might be designed this way for protection.

Now on to the good news. I moved the bios switch on the card to its original position which is the default bios. Boost is 1176 on this bios
Did a few voltage tweaks on afterburner 2.2.3 set the core clock to 1300 and memory up 300 mhz and fan manual 95%
Ran benchmarks with Heaven 3.0 and 3dmark2011. All completed several times with no issues and no throttling of gpu.








Now my biggest worry was will this puppy be able to play crysis 2 maxed out on ultra and TESS enabled on a 2560x1440 res
Played 1:45 min with no lock ups







Closed the game out and I went to go check the log on memory load during game play. The highest it hit was 2008 and flushed within a split second
and went to 1900 which is the way its supposed to be when the buffer is working correctly with out a memory leak.
Next test moved up to 1350 core 400 plus on mem voltage at .67 and fan still on 95% Went to play crysis 2 again for 1:40 minutes no hiccups whats so ever.
Closed out the game and i went to go check the monitor log again to see If the card at any point throttled and it didn't except for cut screens. Temps never above 60c at anytime
FPS was 31 to 52 depending on the scene. I think these are very good results for a maxed out crysis 2 on a 2560x1440 res.
I was about to rma this card today and I'm glad I didn't. Hopefully they find the bug in the LN2 bios and give us an update.

At what temp does this card begin to throttle is at 70c??


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> screens. Temps never above 60c at anytime
> FPS was 31 to 52 depending on the scene. I think these are very good results for a maxed out crysis 2 on a 2560x1440 res.


Dude, really Crysis 2 is easy mode with this cards. Head over to Guru3d or Google Maldo HD mod, it looks 10x better then the default Crysis 2 and runs like *5-10 fps* better AT LEAST while looking miles better


----------



## Darco19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> 3dmark11 run @ 1402, top GPU1 @ 67C, GPU2 @ 64C
> This TIM re-application did wonders
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4014949


Interesting, you're making me want to replace the TIM too







Is the dissembling process not too difficult?


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> Ok, tests are in and some very good news and bad news.
> Lets start with the bad news first. The LN2 bios is only meant for benching, and if you try to play aggressive games on it MAXED OUT ( CRYSIS 2) at very high resolutions
> it will fail. Why does it fail?? Because the LN2 bios is buggy and has a memory leak in it. It does't flush properly when its supposed to. It might be designed this way for protection.
> Now on to the good news. I moved the bios switch on the card to its original position which is the default bios. Boost is 1176 on this bios
> Did a few voltage tweaks on afterburner 2.2.3 set the core clock to 1300 and memory up 300 mhz and fan manual 95%
> Ran benchmarks with Heaven 3.0 and 3dmark2011. All completed several times with no issues and no throttling of gpu.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now my biggest worry was will this puppy be able to play crysis 2 maxed out on ultra and TESS enabled on a 2560x1440 res
> Played 1:45 min with no lock ups
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Closed the game out and I went to go check the log on memory load during game play. The highest it hit was 2008 and flushed within a split second
> and went to 1900 which is the way its supposed to be when the buffer is working correctly with out a memory leak.
> Next test moved up to 1350 core 400 plus on mem voltage at .67 and fan still on 95% Went to play crysis 2 again for 1:40 minutes no hiccups whats so ever.
> Closed out the game and i went to go check the monitor log again to see If the card at any point throttled and it didn't except for cut screens. Temps never above 60c at anytime
> FPS was 31 to 52 depending on the scene. I think these are very good results for a maxed out crysis 2 on a 2560x1440 res.
> I was about to rma this card today and I'm glad I didn't. Hopefully they find the bug in the LN2 bios and give us an update.
> At what temp does this card begin to throttle is at 70c??


I also noticed that Crysis 2 runs pretty crappy on the LN2 BIOS @1080p max settings + DX11.. Switched back to the stock BIOS after reading your post and now Crysis 2 runs golden. Hmm...

BTW, temps never exceed 67c and my card is not throttling.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darco19*
> 
> Interesting, you're making me want to replace the TIM too
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is the dissembling process not too difficult?


Its very, very easy. There's roughly 10 screws on the backplate to remove and thats about it. I think my one card was an anomaly, I think it was messed with by someone before me (before I got it)

Be VERY VERY careful, the screws are tiny torx 6 screws, they are very easy to strip...be very gentle with them.


----------



## Darco19

Alright, that's not too bad. I presume you need to apply a lot of pressure once you screw the backplate and the TF4 cooler back into place to ensure max contact. I'll definitely do it whenever I have the time.

On a sidenote, the Prolimatech PK-3 just came out a while ago (http://forum.chip.co.id/showthread.php?t=177719&p=3409609) - I might give it a try with that for sure







One of the best TIMs just got even better!


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Its very, very easy. There's roughly 10 screws on the backplate to remove and thats about it. I think my one card was an anomaly, I think it was messed with by someone before me (before I got it)
> Be VERY VERY careful, the screws are tiny torx 6 screws, they are very easy to strip...be very gentle with them.


torx screws? i dont have any torx screws.. like 10 or so small philips head scres for the backplate, and 4 larger spring-loaded philips head screws surrounding the GPU that hold on the heatsink.. oh, and 2 more small philips screws that screw into the top-plate up on the I/O bracket


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> torx screws? i dont have any torx screws.. like 10 or so small philips head scres for the backplate, and 4 larger spring-loaded philips head screws surrounding the GPU that hold on the heatsink.. oh, and 2 more small philips screws that screw into the top-plate up on the I/O bracket


I had always assumed the tiny screws were torx. I don't know, i'm not too familiar with tool lingo. Anyway, the point stands - some of the screws on the backplate are sensitive to stripping if you're careless (notably, the 4 screws with springs that hold the core to the cooler).


----------



## exploiteddna

indeed.. the small screws that hold on the backplate are very easy to strip out.. would really suck if you couldnt get them off anymore lols


----------



## Valenz

So now MSI puts out a 4gb card at 599 smh , I was hoping it would be an extreme but now this tells me if they do get one out it will be almost as expensive as the classified minus the evbot.


----------



## dph314

Damn all these overclocks are looking amazing (well, except for mine of course). more and more at 1350mhz...~1400mhz without the hack...xoleras's DISGUSTINGLY INSANE 1402mhz SLI run... I think I may have to try the Lottery again









Xoleras, you _have_ to try maxing out your cards individually with the hack. I'm dying here waiting for the results and seeing what they can hit. 24,7000 GPU Score...


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I'm dying here waiting for the results and seeing what they can hit. 24,7000 GPU Score...


http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3970867









He's still got me by a hair, my physics score just blows chunks.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Damn all these overclocks are looking amazing (well, except for mine of course). more and more at 1350mhz...~1400mhz without the hack...xoleras's DISGUSTINGLY INSANE 1402mhz SLI run... I think I may have to try the Lottery again
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Xoleras, you _have_ to try maxing out your cards individually with the hack. I'm dying here waiting for the results and seeing what they can hit. 24,7000 GPU Score...


Im with you, got the lightning today that I ordered and its just a so so overclocker compared to some of the others in this thread such as xoleras's. My Gigabyte windforce 680 seems to have a golden chip as im running rock stable at 1380mhz core and 525+mem after flashing the bios which allows 1.21vc for normal 680's.

Lightning unfortunately will be going back since I cannot clock it as high and mine also came with the unlocked bios so that wasnt an issue.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3970867
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> He's still got me by a hair, my physics score just blows chunks.


Yeah yours are awesome too. You gotta try the edit and see what happens, if your temps will allow.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Im with you, got the lightning today that I ordered and its just a so so overclocker compared to some of the others in this thread such as xoleras's. My Gigabyte windforce 680 seems to have a golden chip as im running rock stable at 1380mhz core and 525+mem after flashing the bios which allows 1.21vc for normal 680's.
> Lightning unfortunately will be going back since I cannot clock it as high and mine also came with the unlocked bios so that wasnt an issue.


Yeah that Windforce you got seems pretty nice indeed.

Well, I may sell mine, for whatever I can get for them, and take another shot at the Lottery. It seems like I can't do too much worse, so why not. 1320mhz with 2.2.3 is good, but not as great as many on here. Worst-case scenario I get one that clocks similarly. I think I'll go for it.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yeah yours are awesome too. You gotta try the edit and see what happens, if your temps will allow.
> Yeah that Windforce you got seems pretty nice indeed.
> Well, I may sell mine, for whatever I can get for them, and take another shot at the Lottery. It seems like I can't do too much worse, so why not. 1320mhz with 2.2.3 is good, but not as great as many on here. Worst-case scenario I get one that clocks similarly. I think I'll go for it.


Mine was doing 1325mhz and 500+ mem on the Regular bios which is good but when I switched over to the LN2 bios for more voltage I had a lot of stability issues.


----------



## xoleras

I just don't see how LN2 BIOS is less stable , thats weird, it is always more stable for every person i've spoken to. Unless you max voltage sliders out from the getgo, which is a stupid thing to do and a horrible way to OC a card. The max voltages are way overkill. Further, it doesn't completely matter what the core temp is because there are a lot of mission critical components that get way too hot if you max anything and everything.

Anyway, I just don't understand some people I guess. I must be the only person here that doesn't really give a f* about 3dmark11...the good score is nice but in games it makes 2 fps difference, I don't care to impress people in 3dmark11, that wasn't my goal. I used lightning 580s prior and really enjoyed them, really fast and OC'ed very well on air (even though I used low speeds for 24/7 cruising).

There must be a clear differnece in personalities on OCN, those that only care about benchmarks and those that use their computers for real world stuff and games on the side. I am definitely the latter, i'm not out to impress people in 3dmark11. You can make an argument that its a 600$ card etc etc and I can definitely respect that opinion but I still think you're all crazy to go through the hassle of changing cards for 50 more mhz lol. My only goal with my cards was 1290 or higher for 24/7 cruising and I was happy. Definitely far better than reference cards. I still love you all though.









Like I said, I can respect the other argument, hoepfully nobody takes this the wrong way. I *love you all*







. Its 600$ and you want the best. Well, its silicon lottery which does suck.


----------



## CalinTM

80% next week Thursday i will have the Lightning.







Shipping with DHL.


----------



## pwnzilla61

I think 1300-50 is probably the sweet spot for everyday use with these so far. Ive only overclocked to 1350, and i am completely happy with that. I know it could go much further but for everyday gaming no need.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I bet newegg loves you for returning cards left and right. I just don't see how LN2 BIOS is less stable , thats weird, it is always more stable for every person i've spoken to. Unless you max voltage sliders out from the getgo, which is a stupid thing to do and a horrible way to OC a card. The max voltages are way overkill. Further, it doesn't completely matter what the core temp is because there are a lot of mission critical components that get way too hot if you max anything and everything.
> Anyway, I just don't understand some people I guess. I must be the only person here that doesn't really give a f* about 3dmark11...the good score is nice but in games it makes 2 fps difference, I don't care to impress people in 3dmark11, that wasn't my goal. I used lightning 580s prior and really enjoyed them, really fast and OC'ed very well on air (even though I used low speeds for 24/7 cruising).
> There must be a clear differnece in personalities on OCN, those that only care about benchmarks and those that use their computers for real world stuff and games on the side. I am definitely the latter, i'm not out to impress people in 3dmark11. You can make an argument that its a 600$ card etc etc and I can definitely respect that opinion but I still think you're all crazy to go through the hassle of changing cards for 50 more mhz lol. My only goal with my cards was 1290 or higher for 24/7 cruising and I was happy. Definitely far better than reference cards. I still love you all though.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Like I said, I can respect the other argument, hoepfully nobody takes this the wrong way. I love you all. Its 600$ and you want the best. Well, its still silicon lottery no matter what unfortunately you will never guarantee a darn thing with any card.


You know, you replied exactly the way that I expected you too as an overly defensive little prick. No one can say a damn thing about the lightning unless its something positive without you going into this mode that you get into. Also no, I didnt just go straight into maxing the voltages as you so wrongly assumed that I must have done







I just noted some issues with the LN2 bios that I didnt get under the standard bios, I wasnt dogging the card but OF COURSE you would take it that way.

With that said the cards that I purchase and return are none of your concern neither are the places that I purchase them from.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> You know, you replied exactly the way that I expected you too as an over defensively little prick. No one can say a damn thing about the lightning unless its something positive without you going into this mode that you get into.
> With that said the cards that I purchase and return are none of your concern neither are the places that I purchase them from.


I don't care what you do. I can't be bothered to spend 48 hours and more money on 25mhz. Like I said I respect and understand your outlook on video cards and I can understand why you are doing what you do. Its 600$. *I get it.* 600$ and you want the best. That said, I still think you're crazy


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> LOL.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't care what you do


Then shut the hell up and mind your own business you opinionated jerk off.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Then shut the hell up and mind your own business you opinionated jerk off.


You should just go ahead and put me on ignore instead of humoring me further.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> You should just go ahead and put me on ignore instead of humoring me further.


Nah I dont think that I will, need the healthy reminder that your an *******. Notice no one else in this thread replies to me the way that you do when talking about video cards.


----------



## pwnzilla61

I think some of you are taking opinions a little to serious. Now just stop and keep the lightning on topic.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't care what you do, I only care what I Do. I can't be bothered to spend 48 hours and more money on 25mhz. Like I said I respect and understand your outlook on video cards and I can understand why you are doing what you do. Its 600$. *I get it.* 600$ and you want the best. That said, I still think you're crazy


Nice edit, if your gonna call me an idiot along with other insults then you can at least be man enough to leave it up.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

@ xoleras

I'm sort of in the same mindset. My cards are some pretty stout examples, but I haven't even launched AB 2.2.3 after I made a few runs to see what they'd do. And I've never clocked them individually to see if one is measureably better than the other. I just don't care, I bought them as an SLI pair and that's how they'll be used until I buy something else (on a side note, this morning I mailed the VISA card statement with the cards on it - so there's $1218 off the reservation).

As it is, I run them at a nice conservative 1305







, leaving all that 2.2.3 overhead laying on the table. 1305 for everyday driving gets the job done, and it'll get me by until a markedly superior model shows up.

That's not saying I didn't have a little fun throwing down some benchmarks, but been there done that and time to get on with enjoying the thing now.


----------



## xoleras

Gnarly: Yeah. Like I said, I definitely understand the other side. The cards are expensive and some people want the best no matter what even if it means going through tons of hassle. I get it and respect it.

So i'll just stop now and behave. And yes i'm an ahole lightning fanboy.


----------



## Bosniac

That's all.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

This thread amuses me.


----------



## dph314

Yeah I just like winning the lottery









Obviously even one of these cards is enough for every game I have. Well, most games, since I like closer to 120fps (maxed, of course). But I'm still debating if it's worth it or not to try again. So, it's just like buying a scratch-off lottery ticket as far as I'm concerned. I buy them when I have a few extra bucks laying around just to see if I can win anything. So, would be same with the Lightning I guess. If I have $50 that I don't mind spending, I might take another shot.

Guess I'm just addicted to the excitement of trying out a new card for the first time. It's so exciting


----------



## elbubi

Just to clarify: Is LN2 BIOS bugged or not???


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Just to clarify: Is LN2 BIOS bugged or not???


Dont know if its bugged or not but I did have some issues with it as well as a couple of other people in this thread.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/1860


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Just to clarify: Is LN2 BIOS bugged or not???


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Just to clarify: Is LN2 BIOS bugged or not???


Nope, been using it forever here, and I definitely play tons of PC games.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

There was a Recent Review of the card playing games in the LN2 BIOS with the AB 2.2.3 enabled. Seemed to work OK for those guys.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> There was a Recent Review of the card playing games in the LN2 BIOS with the AB 2.2.3 enabled. Seemed to work OK for those guys.


Works fine for me as well as long as I dont play with the voltage at all in Afterburner. Not saying everyone else will have issues, could be that I got a bad card, who knows.


----------



## Valenz

LN2 and 1280-1297 ran my games fine all the time ..
With AB I could take it up to 1360 and game fine as well but would never need that kind of juice for the games I play.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valenz*
> 
> LN2 and 1280-1297 ran my games fine all the time ..
> With AB I could take it up to 1360 and game fine as well but would never need that kind of juice for the games I play.


I should probably clarify that I could game and overclock with the LN2 bios just fine, however making any adjustments with the voltage gave me issues when in the LN2 bios but as I said before I might have a bad one to begin with.


----------



## Benchmarksli

EVGA GTX 680 FTW+4GB SLI @1342MHZ









http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022137

Thanks for the BIOS Lightning owners


----------



## pwnzilla61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Just to clarify: Is LN2 BIOS bugged or not???


No problems here.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> EVGA GTX 680 FTW+4GB SLI @1342MHZ
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022137
> Thanks for the BIOS Lightning owners


Here's my latest:
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4014949

Does the 2gb BIOS work on a 4gb card? I am under the impression that they're not cross compatible, thats what they were saying over at mkvtech.net (which is where they make custom BIOS). Nice score by the way and i'm not giving you crap or anything, i'm genuinely curious. I know Andrew_K and many other classified 680 owners tried to do this and it did not work, because the BIOS requires the same memory configuration and also similar components. If not, others have reported the lightning BIOS causing extreme stuttering from I presume the dissimilar components - specifically, it looks for 2gb and the CHIL VRM among other things.

But, if there is a way to make this work it could be awesome for the classified as a means of circumventing the throttling on it. Also, does the FTW+ have the CHIL VRM? What kind of VRM does it have?

Edit: your 3dmark11 score also shows "EVGA" as the subvendor? Did you link the wrong url or what? Should say MSI.


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Here's my latest:
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4014949
> Does the 2gb BIOS work on a 4gb card? I am under the impression that they're not cross compatible, thats what they were saying over at mkvtech.net (which is where they make custom BIOS). Nice score by the way and i'm not giving you crap or anything, i'm genuinely curious. I know Andrew_K and many other classified 680 owners tried to do this and it did not work, because the BIOS requires the same memory configuration and also similar components. If not, others have reported the lightning BIOS causing extreme stuttering from I presume the dissimilar components - specifically, it looks for 2gb and the CHIL VRM among other things.
> But, if there is a way to make this work it could be awesome for the classified as a means of circumventing the throttling on it. Also, does the FTW+ have the CHIL VRM? What kind of VRM does it have?
> Edit: your 3dmark11 score also shows "EVGA" as the subvendor? Did you link the wrong url or what? Should say MSI.


You're correct. I was having issues with the lightning bios because the onboard memory was different. That was case until Salitus of MVKTech forums built me a custom bios file (built from lightning bios) with 1.212v for my 4GB gpus. I now have a base clock of 1268MHz and everything is rock solid stable. Both cards clocks are perfectly synchronized (no more different boost). This is a test bios for now. I'm waiting on the final version with a much higher power target and unlocked 100% fan. This bios also eliminates thermal throttle. I am very grateful for you guys providing the bios file(s) in the first place. This wouldn't be possible without you guys. Thanks.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Here's my latest:
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4014949


Had to do it... Felt the need to throw down. 24896 Graphics. I had never OC'd my system RAM, getting the rig dialed in a little finally.

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022345


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Had to do it... Felt the need to throw down. 24896 Graphics. I had never OC'd my system RAM, getting the rig dialed in a little finally.
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022345


Holy ******!

Nice score man. What were the cards running at for that run? And did you try the edit yet?


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Had to do it... Felt the need to throw down. 24896 Graphics. I had never OC'd my system RAM, getting the rig dialed in a little finally.
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022345


Holy guacamole! Nice graphics score! I still beat both of you guys on the overall score.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Still ain't edited, I just don't have that skill set.

But I ain't done. 24942 Graphics, 1384 Core, 6966 mem.

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022391

Not even breathing hard, I think I can crack 25K graphics here directly.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> I still beat both of you guys on the overall score.


Your CPU is at 4.8Ghz, I'm limping along at 4.5


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Had to do it... Felt the need to throw down. 24896 Graphics. I had never OC'd my system RAM, getting the rig dialed in a little finally.
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022345


Oh snap

Its on like donkey kong now.


----------



## dph314

Yeah we're just interested in the Graphics Score here anyway.

Charlie- the edit is so easy! Well, now that I know how to do it. I'll give you a guide, full of every detail. You gotta tell me what you can run at 1.4v!!

xoleras- Your core clocks were higher with a lower score. What was your memory at for your best run?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yeah we're just interested in the Graphics Score here anyway.
> Charlie- the edit is so easy! Well, now that I know how to do it. I'll give you a guide, full of every detail. You gotta tell me what you can run at 1.4v!!
> xoleras- Your core clocks were higher with a lower score. What was your memory at for your best run?


Well motherboard optimization definitely effects the graphics score. I've found that most quad SLI boards that are based on Z77 using the PLX chip will produce a poor graphics score,
because the PLX chip (for quad SLI) introduces additional latency to the PCI E lanes. With normal Z77 boards the PCIE lanes run full speed, while the PLX chip for quad sli introduces some timing issues. This is for z77 only and not x79, not sure how x79 works there - I assume x79 gets full pci express 3 speeds across all lanes. Z77 is definitely hobbled in that respect... Anyway I don't have that issue with the PLX chip, but I just have to dial my motherboard BIOS settings some. My memory is @ 520 in afterburner, I bet I can do more. We'll see what happens


----------



## hammerforged

@xoleras

3dMark11 is showing your system info version as 4.6 whereas GnarlyCharlie is 4.9

Not sure if there is much of a difference there but worth a shot. Maybe check for an update.

http://www.3dmark.com/support/systeminfo-updates/

I know its crazy but I also got better scores with adaptive vsync on in 3dMark11. 120hz monitor though.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Close, but not quite 25K

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022607


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Close, but not quite 25K
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022607


As if I needed anymore reason to take another stab at the Lottery









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Well motherboard optimization definitely effects the graphics score. I've found that most quad SLI boards that are based on Z77 using the PLX chip will produce a poor graphics score,
> because the PLX chip (for quad SLI) introduces additional latency to the PCI E lanes. With normal Z77 boards the PCIE lanes run full speed, while the PLX chip for quad sli introduces some timing issues. This is for z77 only and not x79, not sure how x79 works there - I assume x79 gets full pci express 3 speeds across all lanes. Z77 is definitely hobbled in that respect... Anyway I don't have that issue with the PLX chip, but I just have to dial my motherboard BIOS settings some. My memory is @ 520 in afterburner, I bet I can do more. We'll see what happens


What kind of settings? I'm new to X79, learned a bit. But I have no clue what I could edit that would affect my graphics score. Only thing I can think of is where I can select what PCIe Gen to run, and I obviously have that set at Gen 3.


----------



## Shempio

<<< Just to clarify: Is LN2 BIOS bugged or not???>>>>

You wont know for sure until you test in game play and see if the memory flushes correctly after 2000 or if it just hangs there and causes a crash.
The stock bios on my card is very good so that's what I'm using now.


----------



## elbubi

Thanks to all you guys for answering my question regarding LN2 Bios bugged or not. I will definetly be using it as soon as I get it running and throw in here my oc results.

Kind Regards once again.


----------



## Shempio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> There was a Recent Review of the card playing games in the LN2 BIOS with the AB 2.2.3 enabled. Seemed to work OK for those guys.


Mine was stable also in battlefield 3 on LN2 that's because that game never reaches 2gig memory on any resolution.

I wonder why he didn't test crysis 2 or maybe he did and said oh oh, i better not post it otherwise no commissions


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Might ask them, I don't think they are too worried about giving a bad review to be honest.


----------



## Shempio

Bench, did you try switching the bios on the classy?? it has 3 positions, Normal, overclock and LN2


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Where's my popcorn?


----------



## dph314

For the record...I've played Crysis 2 (WITH Maldo mod) since I've gotten my Lightnings...both in single-card mode and SLI. And I can tell you that I never crashed with a stable core clock

Anyone crashing with stock clocks should RMA! If there's a problem with the LN2 BIOS then I for one am unaware of it. Only problem I had with this card was on the *non*-LN2 BIOS, with unnecessary throttling.


----------



## xoleras

I just bought 30 classifieds


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I just bought 30 classifieds


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> As if I needed anymore reason to take another stab at the Lottery
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


Graphics went down a tad, now I'm honing in on breaking P19000/ 25K Graphics.

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022917


----------



## Shempio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I just bought 30 classifieds


No problem buddy. just remember I don't make **** up I have no need to. On that note I hope its all settled









Wow how fast the mod removed my post and pics. he's fast


----------



## alancsalt

Gentlemen, gentlemen, just a reminder...

TOS

You are expected to
Treat others with respect at all times
Maintain an environment that is friendly to all ages

If you see an offensive post, report rather than respond.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Gentlemen, gentlemen, just a reminder...
> TOS
> You are expected to
> Treat others with respect at all times
> Maintain an environment that is friendly to all ages
> If you see an offensive post, report rather than respond.


Thank you









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Graphics went down a tad, now I'm honing in on breaking P19000/ 25K Graphics.
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022917


Good God. You're almost within 1,000pts of me and you have a Physics score ~4,000pts lower









Want to trade Lightnings???


----------



## Shempio

Mod, Sorry about that. He posted twice about me not having the 2 cards I claimed i had. So I had to prove him wrong and i got carried away a little.

Hopefully it's all settled now. I just don't like being called a liar.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> Mod, Sorry about that. He posted twice about me not having the 2 cards I claimed i had. So I had to prove him wrong and i got carried away a little.
> Hopefully it's all settled now. I just don't like being called a liar.


I respect apologies. But you gotta understand...you're coming in here and telling someone off, on a debatable point as well, who has a lot more credibility. It's only natural to receive resistance. Plus I can verify... I've been over 2000MBs with no crash in Crysis 2. So....I don't know where you're getting this from. Sources would be appreciated.


----------



## Shempio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I respect apologies. But you gotta understand...you're coming in here and telling someone off, on a debatable point as well, who has a lot more credibility. It's only natural to receive resistance. Plus I can verify... I've been over 2000MBs with no crash in Crysis 2. So....I don't know where you're getting this from. Sources would be appreciated.


Did you do that on the LN2 bios? If you did maybe yours flushes real quick and goes back to 1900 once reaching that limit, but mine didn't.

My card runs real great now on the stock default bios at 1350 with no crashes or throttling. My LN2 bios has a memory leak or a buffer that's not working correctly.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> Did you do that on the LN2 bios? If you did maybe yours flushes real quick and goes back to 1900 once reaching that limit, but mine didn't.
> My card runs real great now on the stock default bios at 1350 with no crashes or throttling. My LN2 bios has a memory leak or a buffer that's not working correctly.


Yeah I played for a long while on the LN2, both stock and overclocked. Stock, my usage reported stays at ~2008MBs. When playing with memory at 6900mhz, usage tops out around 1950MBs (this is all with Maldo mod, in-game settings maxed). Never got a crash at stable clocks.

I definitely have no basis to call you a liar. But I just want to say...never had a crash at stable clocks.


----------



## Shempio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yeah I played for a long while on the LN2, both stock and overclocked. Stock, my usage reported stays at ~2008MBs. When playing with memory at 6900mhz, usage tops out around 1950MBs (this is all with Maldo mod, in-game settings maxed). Never got a crash at stable clocks.
> I definitely have no basis to call you a liar. But I just want to say...never had a crash at stable clocks.


I was able to run BF3 on the LN2 bios easily as it never reached that high of a memory load, but once I played crysis 2 it would crash like 5 minutes in.

The problem with the memory not flushing correctly is probably only on a few cards and maybe not widely spread.

It had nothing to do with my findings on the memory leak on LN2


----------



## pwnzilla61

seems like you are the only one that is having issues with crysis, try skyrim and see, with mods of course.


----------



## alancsalt

My advice is let it go or you will finish up with deleted posts again, maybe warnings leading to infractions.

If someone posts something you feel is rude and disrespectful, report, don't respond.

It has been deleted and you are still bringing it up. Enough said. Please move on and stop dwelling on it.


----------



## dph314

Has anyone else had a crash on stock clocks? Most importantly if so....what BIOS did it happen on?


----------



## Shempio

dph314, The issue I have doesn't have to be related to every Ln2 bios. It's just that mine has a memory leak and cant play games that hit the 2gig memory mark because the buffer doesn't flush and go back to 1900 which is the normal limit for cysis 2 on ultra. When I played BF3 maxed out on the ln2 it worked like a charm since that game never exceeded 1.5 gig memory usage at any time.


----------



## CalinTM

Can anyone tell me what the PLL voltage does ? I know via Afterburner you could change voltage,mem voltage, and pll.

PLL voltage if increased can make the Lightning stable on a certain overclock ? And what about mem voltage ?


----------



## antikarma

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> <<< Just to clarify: Is LN2 BIOS bugged or not???>>>>
> You wont know for sure until you test in game play and see if the memory flushes correctly after 2000 or if it just hangs there and causes a crash.
> The stock bios on my card is very good so that's what I'm using now.


I assume BF3 won't fill the memory at 1080p?

What game/benchmark can I use that will fill the memory at 1080p?


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Can anyone tell me what the PLL voltage does ? I know via Afterburner you could change voltage,mem voltage, and pll.
> PLL voltage if increased can make the Lightning stable on a certain overclock ? And what about mem voltage ?


mem voltage help stabilize your memory OC

PLL is "phase locked loop." _PLL voltage_ helps any device that is clocked against a reference clock, where the resulting clock speed is higher than the reference clock speed. As far as we need to be concerned, it can help stabilize the overall OC of your card.


----------



## CalinTM

Ok, thanks !


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *antikarma*
> 
> I assume BF3 won't fill the memory at 1080p?
> What game/benchmark can I use that will fill the memory at 1080p?


Well I can tell you for sure that Crysis 2 with Maldo mod will. Not sure if I have any others that do. But yeah the Maldo mod is a easy install if you're new to mods, so it shouldn't be a problem. I would give that a go.

I don't remember checking usage for the New Dawn Nvidia demo, maybe try that too?


----------



## jbobb

Not sure if this has been mentioned here already, but just wondering if anyone has tried flashing the Lightning BIOS that goes to 1.2v to a reference card. If so, were you able to up the voltage? Just asking because of all the talk about the modded Gigabyte 680 BIOS that people are flashing to their cards and saying they were able to up the voltage and therefore get better performance.

Beings I have a MSI 680 Twin Frozr, I would probably rather try flashing the Lightning BIOS to my card than using a modded Gigabyte BIOS if it would work.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jbobb*
> 
> Not sure if this has been mentioned here already, but just wondering if anyone has tried flashing the Lightning BIOS that goes to 1.2v to a reference card. If so, were you able to up the voltage? Just asking because of all the talk about the modded Gigabyte 680 BIOS that people are flashing to their cards and saying they were able to up the voltage and therefore get better performance.
> Beings I have a MSI 680 Twin Frozr, I would probably rather try flashing the Lightning BIOS to my card than using a modded Gigabyte BIOS if it would work.


No, the only cards which can flash to the MSI lightning bios are those with the same CHIL chip. As for the modded GTX 680 bios it allows 1.21vc on reference GTX 680's and you dont have to make any adjustments with MSI afterburner as the bios flash simply removes the 1.175 limitation and moves it up to 1.21.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jbobb*
> 
> Not sure if this has been mentioned here already, but just wondering if anyone has tried flashing the Lightning BIOS that goes to 1.2v to a reference card. If so, were you able to up the voltage? Just asking because of all the talk about the modded Gigabyte 680 BIOS that people are flashing to their cards and saying they were able to up the voltage and therefore get better performance.
> Beings I have a MSI 680 Twin Frozr, I would probably rather try flashing the Lightning BIOS to my card than using a modded Gigabyte BIOS if it would work.


All reference cards go up to 1.21V anyway, its just not reported by software. Its been discussed and verified via voltmeter before on reference cards, there were some posters at hardocp discussing that months ago. Chimax83 I think it was, he found reference cards going up to 1.21V (but reported 1175mV in software). That is weird though, that better results are coming from a modded BIOS....hmm, wonder if something else in the BIOS is helping (power %? Overcurrent protection? Shrug) Cool for them though for sure whatever it is.

To answer the question, no the lightning BIOS would not work for you. Whatever modded BIOS this is , you may want to give it a shot.


----------



## RobsM6S

Im not buying it, to many folks such as myself who previously reported seeing only 1175 via GPUZ before the flash now see 1.21 after the flash in GPUZ *"yeah I realize you will say its a software error"* and also have an extra 50mhz on the core to back it up. There is nothing magical about the bios that would give another 50mhz to the core besides the obvious fact that the cards are now getting more voltage.

It could possibly be that a few 680's were already peaking out at 1.21 while most others such as myself were stuck with 1175vc.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Im not buying it, to many folks such as myself who previously reported seeing only 1175 via GPUZ before the flash now see 1.21 after the flash in GPUZ *"yeah I realize you will say its a software error"* and also have an extra 50mhz on the core to back it up. There is nothing magical about the bios that would give another 50mhz to the core besides the obvious fact that the cards are now getting more voltage.
> It could possibly be that a few 680's were already peaking out at 1.21 while most others such as myself were stuck with 1175vc.


I have the 1.21v bios for my Asus card and for kicks I ran without the hotwire. I measured 1.23v load with my multimetre.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> I have the 1.21v bios for my Asus card and for kicks I ran without the hotwire. I measured 1.23v load with my multimetre.


Thanks, that is interesting info.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Im not buying it, to many folks such as myself who previously reported seeing only 1175 via GPUZ before the flash now see 1.21 after the flash in GPUZ *"yeah I realize you will say its a software error"* and also have an extra 50mhz on the core to back it up. There is nothing magical about the bios that would give another 50mhz to the core besides the obvious fact that the cards are now getting more voltage.
> It could possibly be that a few 680's were already peaking out at 1.21 while most others such as myself were stuck with 1175vc.


Its already been verified with voltmters by others on various other forums. I suspect you know this but software doesn't report proper voltage on the GTX 680 (sans the lightning) it only reports what the BIOS lists as vDroop max. So if you go over that on such a board, even if you mod your card with EV Bot on a classy it will report 1175mV. Again, *software doesn't report proper voltage.* It is pretty cool that a BIOS is benefitting others, thats great for them. Who knows what the actual cause is though, there are a lot of power related parameters in the BIOS.

GPU-z reports 1.21V on my lightning when its at 1.37V.

Of course, since you have so many 680s you could easily just try it yourself by using a voltmeter on an unflashed 680. Try it!


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> I have the 1.21v bios for my Asus card and for kicks I ran without the hotwire. I measured 1.23v load with my multimetre.


Have you tested this with the old BIOS? I know other ref boards go up to 1.2V at max vDroop. Some of them do, anyway.


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Its already been verified with voltmters by others on various other forums. I suspect you know this but software doesn't report proper voltage on the GTX 680 (sans the lightning) it only reports what the BIOS lists as vDroop max. So if you go over that on such a board, even if you mod your card with EV Bot on a classy it will report 1175mV. Again, *software doesn't report proper voltage.* It is pretty cool that a BIOS is benefitting others, thats great for them. Who knows what the actual cause is though, there are a lot of power related parameters in the BIOS.
> GPU-z reports 1.21V on my lightning when its at 1.37V.
> Of course, since you have so many 680s you could easily just try it yourself by using a voltmeter on an unflashed 680. Try it!


Well what ever it was, I love it. I am, imo, having a hard time believing that it couldn't read 1.21v before but after the flash it is now? Thats the main part that does not make sense to me, but oh well.


----------



## xoleras

Thats awesome dude.







Whatever the cause, its pretty awesome that you guys are getting better overclocks. Join us in the 3dmark11 benchmarking!


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> GPU-z reports 1.21V on my lightning when its at 1.37V.


Thats because GPUZ does not read anything beyond 1.21vc. Up to that point however it reads vcore just fine.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Of course, since you have so many 680s you could easily just try it yourself by using a voltmeter on an unflashed 680. Try it!


There's the sarcastic comment that I was expecting, for a minute I was getting worried that you might be sick or something.


----------



## jbobb

Thanks for the info guys. I may try the modded reference BIOS when I feel a little adventurous. I kind of want to try something on my card beings it is not quite the normal 680. Just about every other card out there will actaully boost past it's set boost speed (like getting >1100mhz boost speed instead of the 1058mhz on a stock card). My card will only boost up to what I set it to. So, as stock my boost is 1124mhz. It will not boost higher. If it OC so my boost it 1200mhz, it will not boost past 1200mhz. Not saying a different BIOS will in fact make it boost higher, but I still think it is wierd that my card is about the only one out there that I know of that boosts to exactly what I set it to. It does make it easier to OC though beings I know exactly what it will go to.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *General123*
> 
> Well what ever it was, I love it. I am, imo, having a hard time believing that it couldn't read 1.21v before but after the flash it is now? Thats the main part that does not make sense to me, but oh well.


Thats because it wasnt at 1.21vc before the flash, it was 1175 regardless of what certain know it all's around here would have you to believe.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RobsM6S*
> 
> Thats because GPUZ does not read anything beyond 1.21vc. Up to that point however it reads vcore just fine.
> There's the sarcastic comment, for a minute I was getting worried that you might be sick or something.


I knew you'd respond with this type of stuff. Of course i'm lying. Obviously you could easily test this stuff with a voltmeter or ask the creators of GPU-z. They have a forum.







And obviously i'm making up the bit about other users who tested this months ago on his gtx 680 and found 1.21V. Whatever dude whatever.

Now whether this is limited only to certain GTX 680 ref boards -- that i'm not certain of. Seems unlikely since nvidia manufactures all gtx 680 reference boards.

I'm happy that others are getting better overclocks, good on them, whatever the cause is


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I knew you'd respond with this type of stuff. Of course i'm lying. Obviously you could easily test this stuff with a voltmeter or ask the creators of GPU-z. They have a forum. But no, just accuse xoleras of lying. Good stuff


I suggest you to take a long hard look in the mirror at yourself before you accuse me or anyone else of making such accusations because numerous times you have accused myself and a couple other guys of being liars which you were quickly proven wrong after a couple of screen shots, do you really wanna go down that road again? I dont believe that you do.......

.......And for the record I never said you were a liar, I only said you dont now what your talking about.


----------



## dph314

All we need is a DMM to be certain. It'd be interesting. I don't remember if anyone asked you yet Robs, so, sorry if I missed it but is there anyway you could borrow a DMM from someone and try the BIOS's to see if the +50mhz came from higher voltage? It obviously sounds like it, since I'm unaware of what else in the BIOS would help that much. But yeah, DMM readings on both BIOSs would be quite interesting.


----------



## xoleras

Its a question worth exploring. RMS, I know you don't believe me but ref cards have been found to go over 1175mV at other forums. Maybe some do, some don't (which would be odd since NV makes all ref cards), or maybe its another parameter. I don't know. It would be an interesting question to explore in any case.

Different parameters? Higher vDroop settings? Shrug. Whatever the case, it is cool that people are getting better OCs. Good on them.


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> All we need is a DMM to be certain. It'd be interesting. I don't remember if anyone asked you yet Robs, so, sorry if I missed it but is there anyway you could borrow a DMM from someone and try the BIOS's to see if the +50mhz came from higher voltage? It obviously sounds like it, since I'm unaware of what else in the BIOS would help that much. But yeah, DMM readings on both BIOSs would be quite interesting.


Sorry but I dont know any body with one and I dont have one myself. Perhaps someone else could test it like that?


----------



## RobsM6S

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Maybe some do, some don't.


Which I stated was a possibility.


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Here's my latest:
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4014949
> Does the 2gb BIOS work on a 4gb card? I am under the impression that they're not cross compatible, thats what they were saying over at mkvtech.net (which is where they make custom BIOS). Nice score by the way and i'm not giving you crap or anything, i'm genuinely curious. I know Andrew_K and many other classified 680 owners tried to do this and it did not work, because the BIOS requires the same memory configuration and also similar components. If not, others have reported the lightning BIOS causing extreme stuttering from I presume the dissimilar components - specifically, it looks for 2gb and the CHIL VRM among other things.
> But, if there is a way to make this work it could be awesome for the classified as a means of circumventing the throttling on it. Also, does the FTW+ have the CHIL VRM? What kind of VRM does it have?
> *Edit: your 3dmark11 score also shows "EVGA" as the subvendor? Did you link the wrong url or what? Should say MSI*.


No...I provided *my* BIOS file to Salitus and then he "modified" it based on the data obtained from the Lightning BIOS. Prior to this MSI BIOS, it was not possible to increase volts this way. Now the cat is out of the bag and Nvidia can go take a hike.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Graphics went down a tad, now I'm honing in on breaking P19000/ 25K Graphics.
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4022917


And here ya go

P19004, 25034 graphics

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4029409


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> And here ya go
> P19004, 25034 graphics
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4029409


Nice, you got me on the graphics score! My current best sli 24991 graphics
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4029458


----------



## xoleras

Puppies


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> And here ya go
> P19004, 25034 graphics
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4029409


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Nice, you got me on the graphics score! My current best sli 24991 graphics
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4029458


You two make me cry and drool at the same time









Nice, now I'm getting crashes during BF3 on stock clocks. Looks to me like I have a free shot at the Lottery







Now I just have to find out which card is causing it.


----------



## famich

Hello, everybody !

I am not quite new at Overclock.net , but today I ve bought my new Lightning here in the Czech Republic . I have been following this thread
for some time and Id like to take part in it. I m going to upload my proof of the ownership as requested tomorrow.

However, I wanted to report right away, that my Lightning s got the "normal " BIOS version 80.04.28.00.39
and the LN2 BIOS 80.04.28.00.3A - the latter s got the PWTGT up to 300MHz and V PLLV and MemV are STILL unlocked.

My chip does 1245 @ boost on the normal BIOS without the added voltage , so far, so good.
Keep up a nice thread and have a nice weekend.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad




----------



## hammerforged

Nice card. Now start abusing that bad boy with some voltage and post your results! Hopefully it does well


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> Nice card. Now start abusing that bad boy with some voltage and post your results! Hopefully it does well


I've had it for a little while now. Forgot to upload that pic. Here is the best my Lightning could do with 3dMark11. I'll mess around with Heaven later.

1372Mhz Core, 7008Mhz Memory


----------



## Menthol

Killbuzz
How good is your DC2T, is it a good clocker


----------



## Mr.Pie

Last week of reminding you guys of the aquacomputer 680L FC block special OCN pre order discount from sidewinder computers.

Pre order pricing will be sent to you via email after you leave a reply in my spread sheet in the following thread
http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30

All I can tell you is that the pricing is a steal compared to other FC blocks right now









I'll be closing the form by request of Gary at start of the weekend next week as he'll be submitting the final order quantity to aquacomputers.

ETA including shipping and manufacture of the blocks is about a month as it'll need to be shipped over from Germany and distributed to all the members that pre ordered. (that is if US customs doesn't delay the blocks)


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> Last week of reminding you guys of the aquacomputer 680L FC block special OCN pre order discount from sidewinder computers.
> Pre order pricing will be sent to you via email after you leave a reply in my spread sheet in the following thread
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30
> All I can tell you is that the pricing is a steal compared to other FC blocks right now
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll be closing the form by request of Gary at start of the weekend next week as he'll be submitting the final order quantity to aquacomputers.
> ETA including shipping and manufacture of the blocks is about a month as it'll need to be shipped over from Germany and distributed to all the members that pre ordered. (that is if US customs doesn't delay the blocks)


hey, any chance we could see what this block would look like on the card? in the other thread i saw a pic of the block alone, but it looks kind of... short.


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> hey, any chance we could see what this block would look like on the card? in the other thread i saw a pic of the block alone, but it looks kind of... short.


you'll have to ask shoggy as he promised/said that he'll post pictures of the actual block on the card but hasn't actually done so.
I"ll ask him again.


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> you'll have to ask shoggy as he promised/said that he'll post pictures of the actual block on the card but hasn't actually done so.
> I"ll ask him again.


alright, thanks a bunch! considering between buying from AC, and... your most hated brand, apparently.


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> alright, thanks a bunch! considering between buying from AC, and... your most hated brand, apparently.


support AC








down with EK


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> support AC
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> down with EK


im addicted to their CSQ design... :/


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> im addicted to their CSQ design... :/


nooooooooooooooooooooooo












































I'm not talking to you ever again









jokes nah.
I'm still going to hate on EK. But you've been warned


----------



## dph314

New personal best-

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4041548

So...xoleras...when we team up for an amazing score...shall I send you my CPU for the run, or did you want to send me your Lightnings?









question- Why would I be getting throttling in the combined test on my second GPU? Clock went from it's 1330mhz overclock down to 1202mhz and everywhere in between the whole combined test. Temps and Power % were fine, but it doesn't even matter since they don't cause throttling anyways. What would cause it on the LN2 BIOS???


----------



## famich

Congrats, my LN2BIOS allows me with +93mV to reach "only "1,272 V - at that voltage I was able to run Unigine [email protected] tesselations at 1399MHz.
Is it possible that the older LN BIOS posted here allows more or is it "card-dependend " ?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Congrats, my LN2BIOS allows me with +93mV to reach "only "1,272 V - at that voltage I was able to run Unigine [email protected] tesselations at 1399MHz.
> Is it possible that the older LN BIOS posted here allows more or is it "card-dependend " ?


Good Lord. What can you run 3dMark11 at?


----------



## famich

Hi, dunno, I m going to try though soon- BTW as you all know, this card is awesome, period.








Well made, quiet, 1st class components .
I have posted this on the German forum as well, but Germans are sloow to acknowledge , it seems


----------



## CalinTM

Cmon baby, only several days to wait...


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Congrats, my LN2BIOS allows me with +93mV to reach "only "1,272 V - at that voltage I was able to run Unigine [email protected] tesselations at 1399MHz.
> Is it possible that the older LN BIOS posted here allows more or is it "card-dependend " ?


So you think that the other LN2 BIOS allows better overclocking results?


----------



## famich

It s possible, I m going to try- BTW see my first 3DM 11 P run at 1399 MHz @1.275 V








This card is awesone, my CPU was "only " oced to 4500MHz though..


----------



## xoleras

Manual fan is a lot better at high overclocks







I eventually artifact if I ever use auto fan with super high clockspeeds


----------



## famich

Thanks, Xoleras !

BTW, my BIOS No2/LN2/ allows me to go "only "to 1.275V at +93Mv -I got the version 80.04.28.00.3A - I have compared it to
the A3 version posted here at the beginning of this thread under NVFLASH at DOS - it was reported to be the same, though the numbering seems to be slightly different









Do you think that the F8 BIOS will let me to go up to 1.3 V..?


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Thanks, Xoleras !
> BTW, my BIOS No2/LN2/ allows me to go "only "to 1.275V at +93Mv -I got the version 80.04.28.00.3A - I have compared it to
> the A3 version posted here at the beginning of this thread under NVFLASH at DOS - it was reported to be the same, though the numbering seems to be slightly different
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do you think that the F8 BIOS will let me to go up to 1.3 V..?


What are you using to read the voltage?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Thanks, Xoleras !
> BTW, my BIOS No2/LN2/ allows me to go "only "to 1.275V at +93Mv -I got the version 80.04.28.00.3A - I have compared it to
> the A3 version posted here at the beginning of this thread under NVFLASH at DOS - it was reported to be the same, though the numbering seems to be slightly different
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do you think that the F8 BIOS will let me to go up to 1.3 V..?


Yeah you can go up to 1.3V. Software doesn't report it though









I've found the voltage reported in AB to be off compared to DMM, sometimes 50mV sometimes a little more


----------



## shamefulanomaly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It s possible, I m going to try- BTW see my first 3DM 11 P run at 1399 MHz @1.275 V
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This card is awesone, my CPU was "only " oced to 4500MHz though..


if you measure it manually your voltage is probably around 1.35v instead...


----------



## famich

Just now i wanted to mention it as well, got to measure it manually, will be interesting. One thing, though-need to buy a voltmeter


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Just now i wanted to mention it as well, got to measure it manually, will be interesting. One thing, though-need to buy a voltmeter


You just need to grab a cheap digital multimeter (DMM) from amazon. Here is one for $11 that will work perfectly


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> I've had it for a little while now. Forgot to upload that pic. Here is the best my Lightning could do with 3dMark11. I'll mess around with Heaven later.
> 1372Mhz Core, 7008Mhz Memory


I've got you added!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> It s possible, I m going to try- BTW see my first 3DM 11 P run at 1399 MHz @1.275 V
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This card is awesone, my CPU was "only " oced to 4500MHz though..


I've got you added to the sheet. *I need a picture of your card/screenshot of your invoice (proof of purchase) so i can confirm you as an owner!*


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> You just need to grab a cheap digital multimeter (DMM) from amazon. Here is one for $11 that will work perfectly


OK, thanks, will have a look if they got it here on amazon.co.uk @GB or amazon.de @Germany - I do not want to wait for it and pay the custom fees..










edit-picture will follow....



UNIGINE BIOS 1/normal/


----------



## dVeLoPe

to all of you running these crazy overcocks with heaven,3dmark11,etc how about with games? if you top out at 1400 mhz in the benchmarks is your overcock higher the same or lower running bf3, csgo, and so forth?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> to all of you running these crazy overcocks with heaven,3dmark11,etc how about with games? if you top out at 1400 mhz in the benchmarks is your overcock higher the same or lower running bf3, csgo, and so forth?


You can but I don't. Reason being is that there aren't any games to take advantage of it, and to offset the heat 1400+mhz overclocks require higher manual fan settings. Obviously overclocking isn't free, there is higher heat output and you have to balance that with higher manual fan settings and better air flow. I may revisit that when I get my water blocks for my lightnings but I seriously doubt I need it - all of my games perform well faster than I need them to so I usually do 24/7 cruising at around 1300 (with 0 overvoltage) and all of my games perform flawlessly - while my cards stay 50C and under at that overclock. I really don't want to run 1.35V+ 24/7 , thats a super high voltage and past my comfort zone.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> OK, thanks, will have a lokk if the y got ti here on amazon.co.uk @GB or amazon.de @Germany - I do not want to wait for it and pay the custom fees..


yeah you can find and buy them from many different places.. just do a search for "digital multimeter" or just "multimeter" on your amazon site or any other retailer and youll find some cheap ones without a problem


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> to all of you running these crazy overcocks with heaven,3dmark11,etc how about with games? if you top out at 1400 mhz in the benchmarks is your overcock higher the same or lower running bf3, csgo, and so forth?


Yeah, me too planning to settle round 1300-1320MHz for 24/7 @air, just now I m testing
offset+59 core+12mV /BIOS 1/ runs smoothly 1300MHz at 1,162 V

Most of GTX680/vanilla/ what I ve seen can do 1200-1260MHz @1,175V-definitely selected chips here on them


----------



## wutang61

What my card pulled at +93 (1.37v metered) 232+ core 600+ memory.

I just snapped this on my phone a few days ago.

SO close to 13k in graphics... Maybe the next driver
Release will give me the boost I need to crack that.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> What my card pulled at +93 (1.37v metered) 232+ core 600+ memory.
> I just snapped this on my phone a few days ago.
> SO close to 13k in graphics... Maybe the next driver
> Release will give me the boost I need to crack that.


what driver are you using for that benchmark run? are you using a 3770k or 3930k?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> what driver are you using for that benchmark run? are you using a 3770k or 3930k?


One of the best 3770k physics scores is about 13,000 by FTX 420. 15,000 is a 6 core SB-E no doubt.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> One of the best 3770k physics scores is about 13,000 by FTX 420. 15,000 is a 6 core SB-E no doubt.


14K + is subzero cooling country, 3770k can do 15k + around 6Ghz. Anything 15K that isn't extreme cooled is 6 core for sure. (it has the cpu in his photo, 3930k).
My latest 3dmark 11 http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4039393 , lost the screenshot so can't remember the clocks, it was a bit over 1500Mhz core & I think 1752 memory.


----------



## xoleras

Ftw, you getting some blocks from shoggy in a couple weeks as well? Gonna be my first WC build









1400mhz sli certainly sounds more enticing when its a quiet 1400mhz without 80-100% fan. What kind of vrm temps do you get with uni blocks?


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> 14K + is subzero cooling country, 3770k can do 15k + around 6Ghz. Anything 15K that isn't extreme cooled is 6 core for sure. (*it has the cpu in his photo, 3930k*).
> My latest 3dmark 11 http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4039393 , lost the screenshot so can't remember the clocks, it was a bit over 1500Mhz core & I think 1752 memory.


oops, lol
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> 14K + is subzero cooling country, 3770k can do 15k + around 6Ghz. Anything 15K that isn't extreme cooled is 6 core for sure. (it has the cpu in his photo, 3930k).
> My latest 3dmark 11 http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4039393 , lost the screenshot so can't remember the clocks, it was *a bit over 1500Mhz core & I think 1752 memory*.


nice did you finally put it under? did you find any CB/CBB with yours?


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> what driver are you using for that benchmark run? are you using a 3770k or 3930k?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> One of the best 3770k physics scores is about 13,000 by FTX 420. 15,000 is a 6 core SB-E no doubt.


3930k. actually that cpu score was on the low side. i normally pull 15,700~ routinely.

that run was1446 core 7200 memory. STOCK COOLING.

i run 1406 and 7100 for my 24/7 clocks.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> 14K + is subzero cooling country, 3770k can do 15k + around 6Ghz. Anything 15K that isn't extreme cooled is 6 core for sure. (it has the cpu in his photo, 3930k).
> My latest 3dmark 11 http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4039393 , lost the screenshot so can't remember the clocks, it was a bit over 1500Mhz core & I think 1752 memory.


That is, in a word, awesome.

What was the voltage at for that run?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Ftw, you getting some blocks from shoggy in a couple weeks as well? Gonna be my first WC build
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1400mhz sli certainly sounds more enticing when its a quiet 1400mhz without 80-100% fan. What kind of vrm temps do you get with uni blocks?


I won't buy full cover blocks anymore, I change hardware too often. Full cover are too much when they only work for 1 card type, the uni work for everything. Highest I've seen the VRM at are 50° or so, but I don't use a case & having fans on the stock plates doesn't bother me.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> oops, lol
> nice did you finally put it under? did you find any CB/CBB with yours?


Didn't get it that cold yet, did that run at -60 but think it wasn't a good mount, it started getting flakey pretty fast, gonna try again today but pull it down slower before taking off the plates & trying. No cb, cbb or cold slow around -60 at least
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That is, in a word, awesome.
> What was the voltage at for that run?


max in AB 2.2.3, didn't have the meter on it so would have been ~ 1.36V, just 100° cooler under load than I could do on water.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I won't buy full cover blocks anymore, I change hardware too often. Full cover are too much when they only work for 1 card type, the uni work for everything. Highest I've seen the VRM at are 50° or so, but I don't use a case & having fans on the stock plates doesn't bother me.
> Didn't get it that cold yet, did that run at -60 but think it wasn't a good mount, it started getting flakey pretty fast, gonna try again today but pull it down slower before taking off the plates & trying. No cb, cbb or cold slow around -60 at least
> max in AB 2.2.3, didn't have the meter on it so would have been ~ 1.36V, just 100° cooler under load than I could do on water.


That's crazy. I can't imagine what you could do with more voltage. I can see 2Ghz in the near future.


----------



## furyn9

Xoleras
In heaven 1080p all max out , how many fps you get ( benchmark )


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Oh nice score FTW420!

Unfortunately I won't be trying to break that score anytime soon. I sold my gtx680 today. Im thinking about the Lightning now!


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Oh nice score FTW420!
> 
> Unfortunately I won't be trying to break that score anytime soon. I sold my gtx680 today. Im thinking about the Lightning now!


Can't go wrong honestly. Solid card anyway you slice it.

I'm curious to see if anymore voltage on the core becomes a option. Id love to bench at a solid 1.4v no question in my mind my card would be damn close to or actually make 1.5ghz.

Temps are so low on my card as of now even with the voltage cranked it makes my mouth water for more juice.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Oh nice score FTW420!
> Unfortunately I won't be trying to break that score anytime soon. I sold my gtx680 today. Im thinking about the Lightning now!


You sold that beautiful chip? Lucky buyer









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> Can't go wrong honestly. Solid card anyway you slice it.
> I'm curious to see if anymore voltage on the core becomes a option. Id love to bench at a solid 1.4v no question in my mind my card would be damn close to or actually make 1.5ghz.
> Temps are so low on my card as of now even with the voltage cranked it makes my mouth water for more juice.


Best of luck. Both my cards hate more voltage for some reason. I'm still waiting for more people's results using the edit. I'm curious to see if I really got 2 cards that hit a wall at the 1.36v from unedited 2.2.3, or if the edit is somehow to blame for the way it gives the cards more voltage.


----------



## XbeaTX

I'd like to try with 3930k but it is too expensive for me


----------



## CalinTM

Tomorrow i will have the Lightning







UOOOO !!!


----------



## samoth777

hey guys, they finally have stock in my part of the globe. I'm considering getting one but i have a few questions. What is considered safe 24/7 voltages with a higher than normal fan profile, but not too crazy? in LN2 bios and/or normal bios. cheers!


----------



## Mr.Pie

pictures of an actual production model of the 680L block by Aquacomputer should be available by Wednesday....or so Shoggy said









can't wait to see it. Another reminder from me that the pre-orders kindly organised by SidewinderComputers will be closing Saturday night (GMT+8)


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> hey guys, they finally have stock in my part of the globe. I'm considering getting one but i have a few questions. What is considered safe 24/7 voltages with a higher than normal fan profile, but not too crazy? in LN2 bios and/or normal bios. cheers!


I'd say the ~1.36v Afterburner 2.2.3 gives you is perfectly safe. My temps stay quite low at this voltage, and I doubt any degredation will happen, especially within the timeframe when you'll upgrade a few years from now. Trying the edit...well that's another story, and obviously not for 24/7 use. I don't think it's worth it on my cards since they didn't gain much, but even at 1.43v I was able to keep temps at a safe level for benching.


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> hey guys, they finally have stock in my part of the globe. I'm considering getting one but i have a few questions. What is considered safe 24/7 voltages with a higher than normal fan profile, but not too crazy? in LN2 bios and/or normal bios. cheers!


the term 24/7 does not apply unless you plan on gaming 24/7. once at idle the card down volts and downclocks. Nothing to fear


----------



## dVeLoPe

ok so ive been playing with my card and have been wondering what does it mean when your in game but it doesnt crash just stutters for 15 seconds and then my clocks go down to 1006 as if i wasnt in a game?? unstalbe overclock? I have it to +120 which is 1200 after the downclock and it runs fine put my memory up to 500 and it soft locks restart pc and set memory to 250 funs fine.. how much of a factor is memory in overclocking fps wise? I might as well just run my memory at stock?? and what program will tell you without spending hours of testing for sure if your oc is unstable???? i run 3dmark11 and heaven3.0 maxed out for hours fine and then bf3 crashs...


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> ok so ive been playing with my card and have been wondering what does it mean when your in game but it doesnt crash just stutters for 15 seconds and then my clocks go down to 1006 as if i wasnt in a game?? unstalbe overclock? I have it to +120 which is 1200 after the downclock and it runs fine put my memory up to 500 and it soft locks restart pc and set memory to 250 funs fine.. how much of a factor is memory in overclocking fps wise? I might as well just run my memory at stock?? and what program will tell you without spending hours of testing for sure if your oc is unstable???? i run 3dmark11 and heaven3.0 maxed out for hours fine and then bf3 crashs...


Memory helps out a lot in my testing of Kepler. Try backing off some until you're 100%. To get the most out of your core oc, with Kepler you do need some kind of oc on the memory to increase bandwidth.


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> 
> 
> It s possible, I m going to try- BTW see my first 3DM 11 P run at 1399 MHz @1.275 V
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This card is awesone, my CPU was "only " oced to 4500MHz though..


^I'm not attacking this guy, but this is a prime example of WHY you should overclock the memory. He has a VERY high core of 1399MHz, but because he didn't overclock the memory enough, his performance is being bottlenecked.

My card was clocked @ 1346MHz, but because of the increased memory oc, my card performed better.
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4059107



Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> Memory helps out a lot in my testing of Kepler. Try backing off some until you're 100%. To get the most out of your core oc, with Kepler you do need some kind of oc on the memory to increase bandwidth.


----------



## furmark

i adore msi cards i want 2 of these for my new rig


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> ^I'm not attacking this guy, but this is a prime example of WHY you should overclock the memory. He has a VERY high core of 1399MHz, but because he didn't overclock the memory enough, his performance is being bottlenecked.
> My card was clocked @ 1346MHz, but because of the increased memory oc, my card performed better.
> http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4059107


Hi, I know, you ve got the point here , I know-but I was trying to OC one part at the time- the memory will follow.
No hard feeling on my part, really...


----------



## wutang61

im having a huge issue with art money. now it seems my card is running 1.4 at idle and 1.6+ under any load what so ever. i cannot seem to revert the changes. Ive tried switching bios to no avail. soon as the system boots the card jumps to 1.6 and hold then drops to 1.4. as i type this the card is showing 1.402 volts.... does anyone have an idea how to fix this? im looking at an rma otherwise as its a ticking time bomb at this voltage level.


----------



## Benchmarksli

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Hi, I know, you ve got the point here , I know-but I was trying to OC one part at the time- the memory will follow.
> No hard feeling on my part, really...


Cool, no prob. I wasn't trying to call you out, just using an example.







Btw, that's a very nice card you have there.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> im having a huge issue with art money. now it seems my card is running 1.4 at idle and 1.6+ under any load what so ever. i cannot seem to revert the changes. Ive tried switching bios to no avail. soon as the system boots the card jumps to 1.6 and hold then drops to 1.4. as i type this the card is showing 1.402 volts.... does anyone have an idea how to fix this? im looking at an rma otherwise as its a ticking time bomb at this voltage level.


I thought voltage was supposed to revert back to normal after a restart when using artmoney, can you go back into the editor & edit it back to the way it was?


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

I thought artmoney just modifies programs running in memory? Therefore, AB should be fine after a reboot.


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> I thought artmoney just modifies programs running in memory? Therefore, AB should be fine after a reboot.


You would think so right? But I can confirm that it does infact mess with hardware level coding.

Once I set the custom offset in art money I saw the V ACTUAL shoot to 1.67v so I shut the system down immediately. Once I powered the system back on (before post) the v actual was still 1.6 once in windows at desktop it throttles down to 1.4v. The code line in art money shows some ridiculous number. Around 450000~. Changing this to 0 or any number has no effect. The load voltage is over 1.6v

I'm not sure of the "fry the chip" voltage redline but I got Money on if the card sees any load it will cook.

Any voltage adjustment in afterburner has zero effect.

I'm open to any crazy ideas guys. As it sits I got a bomb strapped to the core so I'm up for anything at this point.


----------



## FtW 420

Tried a complete uninstall of AB (including delete saved settings) & reinstall? Maybe uninstall artmoney first as well.


----------



## xoleras

Glad I never fooled with that hex edit stuff.


----------



## wutang61

well catastrophe avoided. afterburner was totally corrupted. if you ever have to hard shut down your pc keep in mind that can corrupt afterburner. delted AB and problem resloved.

time to get drunk... see ya on the field.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> well catastrophe avoided. afterburner was totally corrupted. if you ever have to hard shut down your pc keep in mind that can corrupt afterburner. delted AB and problem resloved.
> time to get drunk... see ya on the field.


i dont see why one couldnt just go back into the memory editor and reprogram the memory address back to its default value. glad you got it worked out









regardless, everyone needs to be careful using this method to control their voltages. it is a memory hack... which is a *hack*! when bypassing the programming of a piece of software, always keep in mind the risk of your actions. We are overclock.net, so i can appreciate one's eagerness to try and use this method, but please dont forget that there is always the risk of damaging your system and the hardware that it's comprised of


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> well catastrophe avoided. afterburner was totally corrupted. if you ever have to hard shut down your pc keep in mind that can corrupt afterburner. delted AB and problem resloved.
> time to get drunk... see ya on the field.


Crisis averted! Great news


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

I still don't know why AB was still screwed up. All memory editors just mess with binary in the memory only. There is no way it messes with AB on disk because any modification to the code will require recompiling. Oh well, as long as you got it working again, that's all that matters.


----------



## dph314

I never had any problems with the edit. Well, unless you include the fact that the only thing it raised for me was the temps


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> I still don't know why AB was still screwed up. All memory editors just mess with binary in the memory only. There is no way it messes with AB on disk because any modification to the code will require recompiling. *Oh well, as long as you got it working again, that's all that matters*.


I agree. as long as you got it worked out, then youre good to go. the computer theory behind it is mostly foreign to me, as my programming knowledge is rudimentary at best. anyways, glad it worked out.
everyone just needs to be careful when tweaking, regardless of how conventional or unconventional the methods you're using are.

in lieu of this "mishap", OP has been updated with a warning about the memory editor


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> well catastrophe avoided. afterburner was totally corrupted. if you ever have to hard shut down your pc keep in mind that can corrupt afterburner. delted AB and problem resloved.
> time to get drunk... see ya on the field.


Good you got it sorted, that would be pretty scary with a pricey new card on air. Someone without a multimeter to actually see what was going on there could have been in the disaster zone without even knowing it.


----------



## Supreme888

Superb card!


----------



## MouthofJustin

Not sure if anyone answered this yet but when im in a game with my cards overclocked in AB ...one cards voltage will be +93 and the other will be -131 volts...i set them both at 100+ and i get the drop to +93 for both before i go into a game...but yeah then auto pilot mode decides to take over my voltages...i dont get this...but when i set the voltage back to where i applied it...i check the or lightning and its like +300.....then i change back and usually end with a hard reset....its not fun and pretty annoying...any idea what this wrinkle is exactly...very much appreciate it because i cannot figure it out....:/


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I replaced the thermal grease on my gpus and am now running at 1386 core/SLI. There's tape on the memory chips, so I left them alone.

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4060977


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MouthofJustin*
> 
> Not sure if anyone answered this yet but when im in a game with my cards overclocked in AB ...one cards voltage will be +93 and the other will be -131 volts...i set them both at 100+ and i get the drop to +93 for both before i go into a game...but yeah then auto pilot mode decides to take over my voltages...i dont get this...but when i set the voltage back to where i applied it...i check the or lightning and its like +300.....then i change back and usually end with a hard reset....its not fun and pretty annoying...any idea what this wrinkle is exactly...very much appreciate it because i cannot figure it out....:/


Not sure but kinda sounds like one of the cards is crashing, I have seen the negative voltage thing after a crash.


----------



## MouthofJustin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Not sure but kinda sounds like one of the cards is crashing, I have seen the negative voltage thing after a crash.


Yah thats what i was thinking... But the readings in AB are still posting so idk


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Benchmarksli*
> 
> Cool, no prob. I wasn't trying to call you out, just using an example.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Btw, that's a very nice card you have there.


Thanks,I m going to try the"old"unlocked F8 BIOS.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Not sure but kinda sounds like one of the cards is crashing, I have seen the negative voltage thing after a crash.


Yeah if you ever get a TDR from pushing too high of an overclock you'll need to either do a reboot (cold preferably) or close/reload AB. Have noticed this too - you have to reset after getting a TDR, always.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

What's a TDR?


----------



## xoleras

timeout driver recovery. You'll get an error in your system tray when the driver fails from a too high overclock sometimes , if not a black screen.


----------



## CalinTM

I've got the lightning card. But it makes some grinding noise, i think it's a fan, or the VRM's. Or it's just it's nature. My PSU is not the problem, i think it can handle the Lightning (Seasonic X-760).

The noise, it's some type of half-cricket sound. And it's the card, not some other fans. The card has no overclock. Here is the GPU-Z


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> I've got the lightning card. But it makes some grinding noise, i think it's a fan, or the VRM's. Or it's just it's nature. My PSU is not the problem, i think it can handle the Lightning (Seasonic X-760).
> The noise, it's some type of half-cricket sound. And it's the card, not some other fans. The card has no overclock. Here is the GPU-Z


You got it, nice!
Only things I can think of for the cricket-like noise would be the fan wires routed through the heatsink (under the heatpipes), one bit might be making contact with the fan as it spins, hopefully not in the fan itself since you can't really do much about that.


----------



## CalinTM

Could be the audio card ? I've heard it could be some issues on video cards, because of audio cards "signals" or "interferences".


----------



## xoleras

Hmm, i'd take the shroud off and take a look. Its probably something simple causing it, although it sucks that its happening to your new card. (you need a tube of TIM handy)

Don't think its audio related.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Hmm, i'd take the shroud off and take a look. Its probably something simple causing it, although it sucks that its happening to your new card. (you need a tube of TIM handy)
> Don't think its audio related.


^this


----------



## Supreme888

This might be a stupid question but my MSI logo does not light up...








Have the latest drivers...no afterburner though i'm using precision X


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Supreme888*
> 
> This might be a stupid question but my MSI logo does not light up...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Have the latest drivers...no afterburner though i'm using precision X


Remove the plastic cap and check the seating on the GPU reactor. Make sure it is securely seated.

Might be a stupid question... Why aren't you using afterburner? No interest in overvoltage?


----------



## Mr.Pie

Small update on the blocks









Gary said that Shoggy told him that the blocks will have an ETA of 1 week. So if all goes good I think we can expect the first blocks to start arriving within 2-3 weeks.

Another reminder that the special OCN discount only applies till Saturday. After pre orders close you will have to pay normal retail price if you want one of these blocks









I think Shoggy will also be posting some pictures of the block mounted on a real card tonight as well. I'll repost it here when he posts it


----------



## CalinTM

Hmm, now seems the grinding/cricket sound inside my card to disappear. Not all, but i think it's a little less now. I've checked the card by eye, and i don't have some fan cable blocking the fans to rotate, or other strange objects in the heatsink. I guess i've got a noisy (VRM, PCB stuff) card. But at least the performance is GREAT !!


----------



## renzkuken1

I just purchased one of these for $650, i hope it's worth it and nothing is wrong with it. Does anyone think i overpayed?
What motherboard should i get to go with it? I'll have an i5 3570k with a h100 cooler in a aerocool x-predator full tower case. =]


----------



## CalinTM

The Z77 GD65 is a good mobo.


----------



## famich

Hello, regarding the voltage measurement points. Number 1-2-3 - I di not find anything specific for them e.g. if for example the No1 ist the VGPU ,2 VMEM , 3 VAUX etc

Regarding that cricket sound, me, too , think it s just something slightly touching the fan blades when spinning.

BTW 3DM11 @1401


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Hello, regarding the voltage measurement points. Number 1-2-3 - I di not find anything specific for them e.g. if for example the No1 ist the VGPU ,2 VMEM , 3 VAUX etc
> Regarding that cricket sound, me, too , think it s just something slightly touching the fan blades when spinning.
> BTW 3DM11 @1401


yeah it tells you on the card, on the PCB, what each one measures.
the one closest to PCIe slot measures Vgpu


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> I just purchased one of these for $650, i hope it's worth it and nothing is wrong with it. Does anyone think i overpayed?


Where do you live?


----------



## CalinTM

Is ok that the vrm and memory temps to be at 61 and 65 degrees during games, like battlefield 3 ? The gpu temp is max 62 degrees.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Is ok that the vrm and memory temps to be at 61 and 65 degrees during games, like battlefield 3 ? The gpu temp is max 62 degrees.


Yeah, thats fine IMO


----------



## CalinTM

I think, when the card starts to heat up, the grinding/hard disk, noise appears.And it stays on idle too.

Could be any chance that my power supply can't take the PC ? I have overclock on the CPU at 4.5Ghz.
My Seasonic PSU has 760W, is enough ? I think, some of the hard disk noise comes from the PSU and some of the video card. Could the PSU struggle to give power to the rig at load, and makes the video card to have hard disk/grinding noises ?


----------



## FtW 420

760w should be plenty, I've had the kill-a-watt on a pair of 680L overvolted & it maxed at 590W for the 2 cards (cards not system, so just under 300w per card, 80% eff has it close to 250w for single card maxed), I can't remember if the 3770k was at 5.2 or 5.4Ghz, but the cpu maxed at 215W well over 5Ghz.. As long as your psu can handle 500W it should be able to take any clocks your rig can throw at it.
Or is it an old PSU that might not perform as well as it once did?


----------



## CalinTM

It's not old, its about 4 months old. Tomorrow i will try to remove the gpu reactor and see if the grinding appears again. And i will move the card on the second pci slot, cuz i have 2 pci-e x16 3.0 slots. And i will remove the PSU from the screws and flip it vertically and power up the system and enter battlefield 3 and put my ear to see if the PSU is making this noise, or the PSU fan.

My PSU came with a 8pin cpu cable, but the end that needs to enter the PSU, is actually 16pin, the other 8pins are empty, but i can't rip that 8pin empty plastic off. What should i do ? Because i can't take it off, i've plugged the 8pin CPU on the 16pin on PSU that says it's for PCI-E.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> It's not old, its about 4 months old. Tomorrow i will try to remove the gpu reactor and see if the grinding appears again. And i will move the card on the second pci slot, cuz i have 2 pci-e x16 3.0 slots. And i will remove the PSU from the screws and flip it vertically and power up the system and enter battlefield 3 and put my ear to see if the PSU is making this noise, or the PSU fan.
> My PSU came with a 8pin cpu cable, but the end that needs to enter the PSU, is actually 16pin, the other 8pins are empty, but i can't rip that 8pin empty plastic off. What should i do ? Because i can't take it off, i've plugged the 8pin CPU on the 16pin on PSU that says it's for PCI-E.


that doesnt sound right.. the cable with the 8-pin plug for the cpu shouldnt be plugged into one of the PCIe inputs.. what psu do you have


----------



## FtW 420

Agreed, that doesn't sound right, if the psu came with an 8 pin EPS that plugs into the psu with a 16 pin connector, there should be a dedicated 16 pin input on the psu for it. I'm pretty sure 12V EPS & PCI-E have different pinouts.


----------



## CalinTM

Ive checked its' the PSU that is making the grinding noise. I will replace it. But with what ? What brand should i chose ?


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Ive checked its' the PSU that is making the grinding noise. I will replace it. But with what ? What brand should i chose ?


Id recommend Seasnic Xserie /850W , I got 1250W and I m happy

BTW thanks MichaelW for the V point reference !


----------



## CalinTM

Nah, i've had Seasonics all my life. I will buy a Corsair AX850. And i hope that PSU will be silent and no coil noise crap.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Nah, i've had Seasonics all my life. I will buy a Corsair AX850. And i hope that PSU will be silent and no coil noise crap.


The AX850 is a Seasonic X850

http://www.overclock.net/t/906661/corsair-ax-850-or-sea-sonic-x850


----------



## famich

Yes, thats what I wanted to point out as well-Seasonic is the OEM producer for Corsair


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> The AX850 is a Seasonic X850
> http://www.overclock.net/t/906661/corsair-ax-850-or-sea-sonic-x850


And then ? I will have the same grinding coil noiise ? Gimme another brand, which is silent (by feedback of users).

What's the difference between having a PSU that haves a single 12v rail, and 4x 12v rail ?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

MY PSU is dead silent, the fan doesn't even come on if you don't want it to...but I leave it on as it is extremely quiet anyway.

Seasonic 860W









Probably overkill for a single 680, probably overkill for a SLI 680.


----------



## CalinTM

A enermax modu 87+ is ok ?


----------



## Mr.Pie

2 more days before pre-orders close









Remember; this isn't a fugly EK "CSQ" bock but a sexy sleek machined slab of copper made by AquaComputer








http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> 2 more days before pre-orders close
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Remember; this isn't a fugly EK "CSQ" bock but a sexy sleek machined slab of copper made by AquaComputer
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30


Hello,

any pictures available ?


----------



## hammerforged

Lighting is $549 at US.NCIX.com right now.

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=73224&vpn=N680GTX%20Lightning&manufacture=MSI%2FMicroStar&promoid=1034


----------



## B rad

Have 2.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> 
> Have 2.


You're awalleyeguy from the evga bench team?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> 2 more days before pre-orders close
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Remember; this isn't a fugly EK "CSQ" bock but a sexy sleek machined slab of copper made by AquaComputer
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30










Can't wait.


----------



## Scorpion667

Just popped my new lightning in, benches shortly.

Aft. 2.2.3 download is going DAMN slow


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Good luck!


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> You're awalleyeguy from the evga bench team?


Yes.


----------



## Scorpion667

1357/7114 Stable 30 mins of heaven loops, at max voltage obviously...

Maxed at 63c on 100% fan speed and low ambients

I'll do some benching later, just wanna start gaming on this thing

I don't play any demanding games (LoL, MW2) I'll probably keep it at 1300/7000 til I get into next games

I'm a happy camper


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> Yes.


Was looking at the pic & the name on it looked familiar, I was just checking out the 680 rankings yesterday.
Hopefully you got a sli set that plays nicely together with good clocks!


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> 1357/7114 Stable 30 mins of heaven loops, at max voltage obviously...
> Maxed at 63c on 100% fan speed and low ambients
> I'll do some benching later, just wanna start gaming on this thing
> I don't play any demanding games (LoL, MW2) I'll probably keep it at 1300/7000 til I get into next games
> I'm a happy camper


Glad you got a good one, congrats!


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Glad you got a good one, congrats!


Thanks!

I seem to hit a hard wall at 1388 core in 3dmark11, lower ambients are not helping it either. Even got her down to 22c at idle (100% fan), still wouldn't do any more oh well =P
This is what I have so far for benching clocks:



Also, I said it once and I'll say it again, this cooler is amazing.


----------



## Scorpion667

Hey guys since I'm only planning on using one card, would it be of any benefit to stick these little heatsinks on the backplate where the VRM's are since they get hot during benching sessions?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835708011


----------



## exploiteddna

where are you going to put them? the VRMs arent exposed.. are you planning to take off the backplate?

EDIT: youre thinking about sticking them directly to the backplate? not sure how much it will benefit.. i mean it certainly can't hurt your temos any, i just dont know if it will help noticeably


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> 
> Have 2.


Added!









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Thanks!
> I seem to hit a hard wall at 1388 core in 3dmark11, lower ambients are not helping it either. Even got her down to 22c at idle (100% fan), still wouldn't do any more oh well =P
> This is what I have so far for benching clocks:
> 
> Also, I said it once and I'll say it again, this cooler is amazing.


Added!


----------



## Mr.Pie

Pre orders close tonight I'll close the form in 9 hours or so before I go to sleep tonight.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30


----------



## famich

Hello, managed Unigine @ 1401 and once more the proof of the ownership..
Have a nice weekend !


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Hello, managed Unigine @ 1401 and once more the proof of the ownership..
> Have a nice weekend !


Added! Confirmed ownership


----------



## CalinTM

Without gpu my mobo temp was 30 degrees, now with gpu is 36 degrees, is normal ?


----------



## Mr.Pie

Last reminder!
pre-orders for the 680L FC block from AquaComputer will close in 2 hours time.
Last chance









http://www.overclock.net/t/1275528/please-read-possible-680-lightning-waterblock-from-ac/0_30


----------



## Scorpion667

I found the best stress test for a gaming 24/7 profile to be heaven Maxed (16xAF, extreme Tess, 8xAA, max resolution) it really puts the card to its knees! The profile I previously thought was stable (1300/7000, stock volts LN2 bios) would crash within first 5 minutes until I added +21mv offset. Hoping this is ok for 24/7 what with nvidia crying cause of voltage control


----------



## xoleras

You probably could do 1300 with the original BIOS. I cruise at around 1325 on BIOS1, uses less power and produces less heat than LN2.....LN2 BIOS definitely produces noticeably more heat, I can feel the ambient temps rise and the card definitely gets a lot hotter even though core temp isn't much different. I know it does something which causes more heat output even if AB doesn't show it...

Using 70% manual fan.


----------



## Scorpion667

I'll give it a shot, just installing driver again ATM -_- it sees it as a different card on BIOS1


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Also, I said it once and I'll say it again, this cooler is amazing.


Yes it is.









http://www.overclock.net/t/1286218/twin-frozr-4-vs-directcu-ii


----------



## Scorpion667

What's the stock voltage for LN2 BIOS so I can work out how much V offset I need on BIOS1 for the same OC?

[edit[ nvm yanked out my multimeter
BIOS1 is 1.206v
LN2 is 1.254v

If I needed +25 offset for LN2, I will need +73 offset on BIOS1

To the server room! *cranks up AC*

[2nd edit] stable 15 mins into maxed heaven loops. Lemme try to lower voltage =D

[3rd edit] 30mins maxed heaven stable at 1300/7000 BIOS1 at +62mv offset! Thanks for the tip Xoleras
Anyone play LoL? add me "udovoodoo" =D


----------



## dph314

Well, as most of you know I _had_ a golden chip that did 1374/7000 pre-2.2.3, before it stopped working for some reason. So I took another shot at the lotto and it paid off big-time. Still testing, but as of now this is my latest run- 1380mhz/7100mhz (CPU @ 4.1Ghz)
----


----------



## xoleras

NICE bro!







Glad it worked out for ya, I know it sucks going from a lotto winning chip to a dud (I had that problem with CPUs - very annoying!). Good to see that you now have a good chip again.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> NICE bro!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Glad it worked out for ya, I know it sucks going from a lotto winning chip to a dud (I had that problem with CPUs - very annoying!). Good to see that you now have a good chip again.


Thanks man. Good to be back









Too bad I couldn't pair this one up with one of yours though, would be quite a score 1401/7000-
----


----------



## Shempio

When benching or playing games in the Nvidia settings are you guys changing the way physx is allocated?
Which do you choose AUTO GFORCE or CPU for best performance?


----------



## pwnzilla61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> When benching or playing games in the Nvidia settings are you guys changing the way physx is allocated?
> Which do you choose AUTO GFORCE or CPU for best performance?


always on the gpu, never cpu.


----------



## Shempio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pwnzilla61*
> 
> always on the gpu, never cpu.


Thanks, I will switch it now. i had it on auto this whole time.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> When benching or playing games in the Nvidia settings are you guys changing the way physx is allocated?
> Which do you choose AUTO GFORCE or CPU for best performance?


Benching always on cpu, gaming on gpu. Setting to gpu enables physx for the games, but you want to disable for benchmarks.


----------



## dph314

+13k GPU score









michael, got another card for you to list for me in the OP...-1455mhz/7300mhz
----

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4099052

This one is a beast. Now if xoleras will trade me one of his awesome ones I'll be all set


----------



## Shempio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Benching always on cpu, gaming on gpu. Setting to gpu enables physx for the games, but you want to disable for benchmarks.


Thanks, I'll take note of that.


----------



## Shempio

DPH314, very awesome score. What voltage did you have on core and memclock any aux voltage? How high was your cpu overclocked ?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> DPH314, very awesome score. What voltage did you have on core and memclock any aux voltage? How high was your cpu overclocked ?


Thank you. I only had the CPU at my everyday overclock of 4.1Ghz, since I was just going for the Graphics Score.

I had the Core at +143mv, Memory I believe was either +110mv or +120mv, and the Aux was at +70mv. Temps climb pretty fast at those voltages, good thing the tests are short


----------



## Shempio

DPH, you must of did the mod to get to +143. i can only get to +93 after I save and apply the profile.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> DPH, you must of did the mod to get to +143. i can only get to +93 after I save and apply the profile.


Yeah. I got up to 1400mhz with the +93mv, so I wanted to keep going and see if this one responded to more voltage better than my other 2 (which don't like the edit at all). This one had a much better response to more than +93mv.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> +13k GPU score
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> michael, got another card for you to list for me in the OP...-1455mhz/7300mhz
> ----
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4099052
> 
> This one is a beast. Now if xoleras will trade me one of his awesome ones I'll be all set


Matched my 1455 core & beat me on the memory, very nice!
I have a 1500 or 1550 core validation posted before, but will have to get a screenshot next time, I never did find that one although I did save it somewhere.


----------



## teichu

i am goin to buy this card , but just want to know this card guranteen oc to 1300mhz without issues??


----------



## Shempio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *teichu*
> 
> i am goin to buy this card , but just want to know this card guranteen oc to 1300mhz without issues??


Nothing is guaranteed, but I can run mine 24/7 at 1350 on the stock bios with voltage at .65
Reason I don't run it on the LN2 bios is I was getting lock downs when playing crysis 2 due to a memory leak my card has on LN2.
But yeah 1300 seems pretty easy so far for many users and this card cools like no other.


----------



## Valkayria

I'm thinking about picking one of these up. How much of an overclock would my 3570k need for this card?
Thanks in advance.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Matched my 1455 core & beat me on the memory, very nice!
> I have a 1500 or 1550 core validation posted before, but will have to get a screenshot next time, I never did find that one although I did save it somewhere.


I wish I could hit 1500. I'm happy with what I got but maybe someday I'll try. Maybe with a little more voltage and lowering the memory overclock. I'll play around with it a little more today or tomorrow. What was your GPU Score with the 1500mhz core?


----------



## Mr.Pie

OCN special Pre-orders for 680L FC Aquacomputer block by Sidewinder has been closed. Details on payment, shipping etc will be disclosed via email sometime later this week by [email protected]


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I wish I could hit 1500. I'm happy with what I got but maybe someday I'll try. Maybe with a little more voltage and lowering the memory overclock. I'll play around with it a little more today or tomorrow. What was your GPU Score with the 1500mhz core?


Thanks for showing me the way, I have tried to mimick your settings during the 1401 3DM11run and succeeded, however I doubt that I could reach up to 1440-1450 MHz.
What were your setting back then , please ?

BTW, this card is really awesome !!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Thanks for showing me the way, I have tried to mimick your settings during the 1401 3DM11run and succeeded, however I doubt that I could reach up to 1440-1450 MHz.
> What were your setting back then , please ?
> BTW, this card is really awesome !!


Looking very good. I think you'll probably be able to hit 1440mhz no problem after doing the edit. Unless, you're unlucky enough to get a card like my first 2, which don't like more voltage at all. This one I just got the other day took the extra voltage pretty well though, so you never know. For the 1400/7000 run, if that's what you're wondering about, I had all 3 voltages maxed. Only when going up to the 1455/7300 did I use the edit.


----------



## CalinTM

Anyone has sometimes black textures while enters battlefield 3 ?


----------



## famich

Thanks, I did the same for the Unigine benchmark ... I m going to buy the voltmeter first to see, what the volategs really are and I shall see..
The V edit hack is not easy to do, as I ve seen here


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Valkayria*
> 
> I How much of an overclock would my 3570k need for this card?
> Thanks in advance.


4.6 should be ok.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Thanks, I did the same for the Unigine benchmark ... I m going to buy the voltmeter first to see, what the volategs really are and I shall see..
> The V edit hack is not easy to do, as I ve seen here


It's very easy once you know how to do it. PM me if the directions you find in the thread aren't specific enough for you. But yeah memory editing was Greek to me before I got the hang of it. Some help from a few people here and now it's as easy as can be


----------



## famich

Thanks, wil do as soon as I measure everything up.









UNGINE: V Core +0mV, PWTGT +133 , clock offset +60 MHz gave me 1302MHz on the chip at 1.154V
and the loop ran for 40 minutes OK - had to put the fan on 60% to keep it cool /52C/ .

I m starting really to like this card !!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Thanks, wil do as soon as I measure everything up.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> UNGINE: V Core +0mV, PWTGT +133 , clock offset +60 MHz gave me 1302MHz on the chip at 1.154V
> and the loop ran for 40 minutes OK - had to put the fan on 60% to keep it cool /52C/ .
> I m starting really to like this card !!


Try running on the LN2 BIOS with the fan speed at 100%. You will hit a way higher clock, especially if you're maxing out the voltage sliders.

I had the F8 BIOS on my other 2 cards, this one came with the 3A so I kept it for testing. I like it a lot better because I don't have to reset the computer every crash. I found my max clock with the stock voltages, then bumped the core voltage and it gave me a higher overclock everytime, even after getting into edit voltages. So, if you want to cut right to the chase and find your max overclock for benches like Heaven or 3dMark11, I would just switch to the LN2 BIOS and throw the voltage slider all the way up and then slowly increase the clocks till you crash.

Going slow will give you max overclocks for each voltage increment, so you can pick the most efficient overclock depending on how demanding the game is you happen to be playing at that particular time. But yeah as long as you don't live in an oven and can keep temps cool at +93mv, I would just save time when looking for your max overclock by going right for that +93mv voltage and then test clocks.

That's a great clock for such a low voltage. You should be running 1400mhz just fine on the LN2 BIOS. Without the edit I hit 1430mhz/7000mhz-


----------



## Neo Zuko

Is there any reason to get dual 680 Lightnings for 27" monitor gaming? For future proofing in a watercooled system? Or is one plenty? I have one now.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> +13k GPU score
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> michael, got another card for you to list for me in the OP...-1455mhz/7300mhz
> ----
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4099052
> 
> This one is a beast. Now if xoleras will trade me one of his awesome ones I'll be all set


Im not going to add this one for now becuase it was achieved at higher voltages than allowed by 2.2.3 and i dont have a sheet for that yet.. maybe i should make one?
i added your score below, the one you got without the mod.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Matched my 1455 core & beat me on the memory, very nice!
> I have a 1500 or 1550 core validation posted before, but will have to get a screenshot next time, I never did find that one although I did save it somewhere.


did i miss one of yours that should be added?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Try running on the LN2 BIOS with the fan speed at 100%. You will hit a way higher clock, especially if you're maxing out the voltage sliders.
> I had the F8 BIOS on my other 2 cards, this one came with the 3A so I kept it for testing. I like it a lot better because I don't have to reset the computer every crash. I found my max clock with the stock voltages, then bumped the core voltage and it gave me a higher overclock everytime, even after getting into edit voltages. So, if you want to cut right to the chase and find your max overclock for benches like Heaven or 3dMark11, I would just switch to the LN2 BIOS and throw the voltage slider all the way up and then slowly increase the clocks till you crash.
> Going slow will give you max overclocks for each voltage increment, so you can pick the most efficient overclock depending on how demanding the game is you happen to be playing at that particular time. But yeah as long as you don't live in an oven and can keep temps cool at +93mv, I would just save time when looking for your max overclock by going right for that +93mv voltage and then test clocks.
> That's a great clock for such a low voltage. You should be running 1400mhz just fine on the LN2 BIOS. Without the edit I hit 1430mhz/7000mhz-


added this one


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> Im not going to add this one for now becuase it was achieved at higher voltages than allowed by 2.2.3 and i dont have a sheet for that yet.. maybe i should make one?
> added this one


I think there should be another sheet, yeah. I mean, it's a Lightning, so handling high voltages is part of the cards appeal. Max clocks, albeit on a separate sheet, should definitely be shown I think.


----------



## exploiteddna

done. made new sheet called "extreme voltage"


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> done. made new sheet called "extreme voltage"


Awesome. I'm interested in seeing some other people's results, since my first 2 cards hated more than +93mv but the second one didn't artifact at all even at +143mv. So, I expect mixed results. Good luck everyone







Be careful. Double-check what you're typing in.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Awesome. I'm interested in seeing some other people's results, since my first 2 cards hated more than +93mv but the second one didn't artifact at all even at +143mv. So, I expect mixed results. Good luck everyone
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Be careful. Double-check what you're typing in.


----------



## dph314

Does anyone know where I would put the "-1" in this line to flash the BIOS of the second card? Would it go like this- "nvflash -1 -4 -5 -6 680L_UnlockedBIOS.rom"? Using the line from the OP, but I'm not sure where to put the -1 to specify the lower card.


----------



## FtW 420

To specify the card I've always used in index=0 or 1, like nvflash --index=1 -4 -5 -6 680l.rom

My best validation, thought i posted it here somewhere but the thread grows so fast... Haven't found the screenshot http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4039393


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> To specify the card I've always used in index=0 or 1, like nvflash --index=1 -4 -5 -6 680l.rom
> My best validation, thought i posted it here somewhere but the thread grows so fast... Haven't found the screenshot http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4039393


Thanks










Woah momma. 13.5k. I ain't touching that on air









Edit- Well I seem to be stuck on 3D clocks all of the sudden. Nothing is really open, but both cards are sitting at 1202mhz with 0% load. I reinstalled AB since I thought maybe some editing could have caused this somehow, then restarted the computer. Still idling at 1202mhz








Edit 2- Nevermind. New mouse, and apparently the software, even when minimized, puts both GPUs at full speed.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> To specify the card I've always used in index=0 or 1, like nvflash --index=1 -4 -5 -6 680l.rom
> My best validation, thought i posted it here somewhere but the thread grows so fast... Haven't found the screenshot http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4039393


well unfortunately its not reporting your clocks properly so theres nothing for me to add :thumb:nice score though


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> well unfortunately its not reporting your clocks properly so theres nothing for me to add :thumb:nice score though


No problem, I still intend to smash that one, & save a screenshot where I can find it so I can get it subbed at the bot as well. I have a ways to go to beat my 7970 score still...


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Woah momma. 13.5k. I ain't touching that on air
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Edit- Well I seem to be stuck on 3D clocks all of the sudden. Nothing is really open, but both cards are sitting at 1202mhz with 0% load. I reinstalled AB since I thought maybe some editing could have caused this somehow, then restarted the computer. Still idling at 1202mhz
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Edit 2- Nevermind. New mouse, and apparently the software, even when minimized, puts both GPUs at full speed.


I had that too, create a program profile for it in the nvidia control panel and select "adaptive" for power management for that program. I do that for chrome also, my 3d clocks used to go to 1202 whenever i opened chrome...quite stupid...

If you select "prefer max performance" in the nvidia control panel, that will happen sometimes. You'll need to create profiles for your mouse software







(set to adaptive power mgt)


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I had that too, create a program profile for it in the nvidia control panel and select "adaptive" for power management for that program. I do that for chrome also, my 3d clocks used to go to 1202 whenever i opened chrome...quite stupid...
> If you select "prefer max performance" in the nvidia control panel, that will happen sometimes. You'll need to create profiles for your mouse software
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (set to adaptive power mgt)


Thanks









So...if you or anyone you know wants to sell/trade a 1400mhz Lightning, just let me know







If I recall correctly, I lost about 25mhz on my max overclocks when going into SLI mode. If I can get a similar card, imagine SLI at ~1430mhz/7300mhz







If for no other reason than to say I can, ha. Yeah I got a problem, but it's a fun problem to have


----------



## GenoOCAU

Dont know if mine was missed but had a 1453mhz run @ +93mV run on air. (I start getting artifacts if I oc memory anymore sadly.) Which netted me a 13.2k graphics score.

Screenshot

Getting this baby under water with a ek uni block in the next couple days, really want to crack 13k on SB ... fingers crossed !


----------



## Valkayria

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*
> 
> 4.6 should be ok.


Thanks mate:thumb: Also looking at the gtx 680 Twin Frozr III. I was asking because I saw some newegg reviews. A few people said "You need an i7. If you have an i5, you can't get this card" My thoughts,


----------



## CalinTM

Cmon guys that's only you do ? OC the card and test some 3d marks ?









I for example i bought the gpu for gaming. And it's not a performance from the stock 1202mhz to a 1350mhz.


----------



## famich

@dph314: thank you very much for your advice !

Will do some testing when I ll have some time !


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Cmon guys that's only you do ? OC the card and test some 3d marks ?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I for example i bought the gpu for gaming. And it's not a performance from the stock 1202mhz to a 1350mhz.


Benching gets addicting. A few years ago I felt my p3 was getting too slow, so I got a 920 rig (for gaming) & it just seemed so fast I ran some benchies to compare to the old rig. Comparing them on the net they seemed kinda low, started overclocking to catch up, & wondering just how they guys with WAY higher scores did that.
Turned out to be more interesting & challenging for me than the gaming, benching addiction begun...


----------



## CalinTM

Well if you have the money to spend, is ok. If you bench and race against other benchmark-ers, a PC component that could bring you that extra 40 points to be in the 1st place for a short period of time could cost many dollars, 300-600....


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Benching gets addicting. A few years ago I felt my p3 was getting too slow, so I got a 920 rig (for gaming) & it just seemed so fast I ran some benchies to compare to the old rig. Comparing them on the net they seemed kinda low, started overclocking to catch up, & wondering just how they guys with WAY higher scores did that.
> Turned out to be more interesting & challenging for me than the gaming, benching addiction begun...


it is indeed very gratifying.. and addicting









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Well if you have the money to spend, is ok. If you bench and race against other benchmark-ers, a PC component that could bring you that extra 40 points to be in the 1st place for a short period of time could cost many dollars, 300-600....


yes it can get expensive, but it's a fun hobby. and competitive benching will teach you so much about computer hardware, software, engineering, etc.. i thought i knew everything there was to know but when i started learning how to bench, i realized there was sooo much to learn still. its a far more in-depth understanding of how things work and, more importantly, _why_ they work the way they do


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Dont know if mine was missed but had a 1453mhz run @ +93mV run on air. (I start getting artifacts if I oc memory anymore sadly.) Which netted me a 13.2k graphics score.
> Screenshot
> Getting this baby under water with a ek uni block in the next couple days, really want to crack 13k on SB ... fingers crossed !


I ran 1455/7300 and only got 13,043







What does the rest of your setup look like? Are you running PCIe 3.0?


----------



## CalinTM

I've heard people talking here about some week ago about the Lightning BIOS version. Something about F7 and F8. What's with them ? From what i see on GPU-Z, says i have F7 BIOS.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> I've heard people talking here about some week ago about the Lightning BIOS version. Something about F7 and F8. What's with them ? From what i see on GPU-Z, says i have F7 BIOS.


That's the Default BIOS. F8 should show when you switch over to the LN2 BIOS. Or the 3A one, which I have on my latest card, which is also unlocked.


----------



## CalinTM

Ahh, ok.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> I've heard people talking here about some week ago about the Lightning BIOS version. Something about F7 and F8. What's with them ? From what i see on GPU-Z, says i have F7 BIOS.


if you read the OP there is a little summary/description/analysis of the different BIOSes, including F8 and F7


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I ran 1455/7300 and only got 13,043
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What does the rest of your setup look like? Are you running PCIe 3.0?


Z77 boards usually get higher graphics score I thinks. Boards with the PLX chip have slightly more pcie latency (hence lower gfx score)


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Ahh, ok.


You have the old BIOS, the newer one removes the fan spinup on bootup


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Z77 boards usually get higher graphics score I thinks. Boards with the PLX chip have slightly more pcie latency (hence lower gfx score)


Ah well. Thanks









Edit: So, just wondering if anyone messed with the other 3 "matches" when narrowing down the values in ArtMoney to 4. I know the top one, 00449000, is the core voltage one that you want to edit. But the others change values as well when you apply a different core voltage value in AB (watch the values of these in AM after you move them over to the right column and then apply a different voltage in AB). I'm going to be at work for a while so I can't offer any more info at the moment, but I changed the one (I think the 3rd value of the 4), and it gave my voltage slider a max value of +100mv. But it was still adjustable like normal, only that the max slider value was now +100mv instead of +93mv, which was nice.

But yeah just wondering if anyone else gave any attention to the other 3 values, because they do change with core voltage adjustments in AB, but not exactly to the same value. Are these sort of a hidden secondary voltage value that AB automatically assigns based on the core voltage slider? Maybe changing all of the values would allow for more effective overclocks at higher than +93?









I don't know. Just some info to throw out there while I'm bored and stuck at work. I'll try messing around with the other 3 values when I get home later.


----------



## exploiteddna

dont mess with the other 3.. they dont do anything. if you change one of them and not the first one, it wont change your voltage. all you need to do is change the first one, then "freeze" the value, and choose to allow it to increase only (freeze options in the "edit" menu, not the "edit value" menu)


----------



## dph314

Ah. Yeah I was just seeing if anyone played with them, since they seemed to adjust up and down relative to voltages applied in AB. Didn't know if they were relavent or not.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I ran 1455/7300 and only got 13,043
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What does the rest of your setup look like? Are you running PCIe 3.0?


I have the same setup as you. Running static clocks and voltage (EIST, C1E, C7, C3, C6 all disabled) increases my single card gpu score in 3dmark11 by 100pts at 1300 core, consistently. I only had CPU at 4.1 at the time, might yield better results at 4.8/5


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> I have the same setup as you. Running static clocks and voltage (EIST, C1E, C7, C3, C6 all disabled) increases my single card gpu score in 3dmark11 by 100pts at 1300 core, consistently. I only had CPU at 4.1 at the time, might yield better results at 4.8/5


Hmm. Yeah I been doing all these runs at my 24/7 overclock of 4.1Ghz. I'll try a higher CPU clock, thanks.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I ran 1455/7300 and only got 13,043
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What does the rest of your setup look like? Are you running PCIe 3.0?


Think it's an x79 thing, it doesn't score quite as high on the gpu, but close, & the physics score gets the overall score over the top.
At 1455/7200 I got 13067 gpu score, 3930k at 5.1Ghz .


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Think it's an x79 thing, it doesn't score quite as high on the gpu, but close, & the physics score gets the overall score over the top.
> At 1455/7200 I got 13067 gpu score, 3930k at 5.1Ghz .


Are you using the PCIe 3.0 hack? Well, I guess our scores are within the margin-of-error, because with the memory clocked 100mhz higher I score 24pts lower (13,043) than you. Because I upped the CPU from 4.1Ghz in the original run to 4.8Ghz and actually scored lower








----


Well michael, got another update. Sorry for yet another one, but this should be the last 3dMark11 one. 1461mhz/7300mhz (Extreme 2.2.3)

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4114079 - GPU Score- 13,041. I scored lower again. These scores are all within the margin-of-error I would think?


----------



## FtW 420

I did use the pci-e 3.0 hack.
Scores are within margin of error, after getting everything tuned I usually do a restart & then run for best score.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

Something interesting happened to me today. I haven't run 3dMark11 for about a week, so I decided to do a benchmark run with the settings that I saved before which worked just fine. This time, however, I get a ton of artifacts. I had to go in and increase the memory voltages to get it to stop. Anyone else run in to this?


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Ah well. Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Edit: So, just wondering if anyone messed with the other 3 "matches" when narrowing down the values in *ArtMoney* to 4. I know the top one, 00449000, is the core voltage one that you want to edit. But the others change values as well when you apply a different core voltage value in AB (watch the values of these in AM after you move them over to the right column and then apply a different voltage in AB). I'm going to be at work for a while so I can't offer any more info at the moment, but I changed the one (I think the 3rd value of the 4), and it gave my voltage slider a max value of +100mv. But it was still adjustable like normal, only that the max slider value was now +100mv instead of +93mv, which was nice.
> But yeah just wondering if anyone else gave any attention to the other 3 values, because they do change with core voltage adjustments in AB, but not exactly to the same value. Are these sort of a hidden secondary voltage value that AB automatically assigns based on the core voltage slider? Maybe changing all of the values would allow for more effective overclocks at higher than +93?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know. Just some info to throw out there while I'm bored and stuck at work. I'll try messing around with the other 3 values when I get home later.


Ok I must be dumb. I've seen reference to "ArtMoney" "AB hack" etc. But can not seem to find anything to reference. Could someone point me in the right direction?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> Ok I must be dumb. I've seen reference to "ArtMoney" "AB hack" etc. But can not seem to find anything to reference. Could someone point me in the right direction?


If you use "Search this thread" and go to the first post that ArtMoney is mentioned and read from there you should get up to speed. Basically it's the program we use to edit Afterburner into giving us any voltage we want


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/1650#post_17813718

That's where it really starts.

shamefulanomaly is the one who introduced it.

ArtMoney is a hex editor (memory editor for game cheats, actually).


----------



## xoleras

What mobo do you use gnarly?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> Something interesting happened to me today. I haven't run 3dMark11 for about a week, so I decided to do a benchmark run with the settings that I saved before which worked just fine. This time, however, I get a ton of artifacts. I had to go in and increase the memory voltages to get it to stop. Anyone else run in to this?


Either starting to degrade a bit, or more likely it's a warmer day & temps went up a bit. Higher temps make it draw more power.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> What mobo do you use gnarly?


An MSI Z77A-GD65, no idea how it stacks up vs other Z77 boards, but it has double spaced primary PCI-E slots and I wanted to SLI a pair of MSI cards.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well michael, got another update. Sorry for yet another one, but this should be the last 3dMark11 one. 1461mhz/7300mhz (Extreme 2.2.3)
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4114079 - GPU Score- 13,041. I scored lower again. These scores are all within the margin-of-error I would think?


got it updated. thats one huge score and OC my friend.. im going to hit the lotto again in a few weeks.. my 1380/6800 isnt cutting it


----------



## B rad

Well i don't know how to use ArtMoney.
How do you increase mem voltage?
Edit yeah I a noob at some things.


----------



## znam1980

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> You have the old BIOS, the newer one removes the fan spinup on bootup


hello
where you can get this BIOS?
just a little tired of the noise at startup
thanks in advance


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> Well i don't know how to use ArtMoney.
> How do you increase mem voltage?
> Edit yeah I a noob at some things.


http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/1640#post_17813612

and then:
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shamefulanomaly*
> 
> idk, i was told i had a limit of 2 PMs and had hit that limit already, don't know why I can still PM.
> Anyway, to summarise:
> BUY A DMM FIRST, ITS SO AWESOME AND YOU NEED IT
> open memory editor
> search for a "byte" type address, with the value of whatever the Core Voltage (+mV) is
> move the slider of the Core Voltage around in afterburner
> keep filtering for new values in memory editor
> use memory editor to key in new value and lock it in
> type rubbish in Core Voltage section of afterburner
> click apply
> check that the Core Voltage gets set to your preferred value
> profit
> good luck!


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sam350*
> 
> OK basically i had troubble too kust fluked it......scrolled down the massive list of numbers till i found it
> Umm kept under 70 degrees just .... tried +10mhz more with the extra voltage and scored less than before.....im thinking maybe a OCP mod is needed need to short the 3 green resistors on the pcb but im not game enough lol........i found the required file serching 0 min value 100 max and jsut scrolled down till i found it was hard though hope i helped.....plz post if the voltage helps anyone
> what i got send from the user that posted the guide NOT ME dont give me credit
> basically open afterburner first, (not in background, have the window active)
> then open the memory editor. select afterburner in the process dropdown, then type in XX in your +XXmv in afterburner, into both the value start and value end boxes.
> value type should be byte.
> click find new.
> you should get a lot of results. move the slider in afterburner. if you moved it to a lower value than previously, click "decreased" under filter options to the right, then click the filter button. likewise if you moved it to a higher value than previously, click "increased" under filter options, then click the filter button. repeat until you have around 2-4 values.
> if youre doing it right, you should see these 2 numbers, at least: 00449000 and 0044F5B0. double click 00449000, and it should appear right there at the bottom. change the value to a number of your choice (say, 150, for +150mv), then click write, then click hold.
> go back to afterburner and type any value in the core voltage section, and press apply. the value should reflect whatever you typed in the memory editor, +- abit. for example if you typed 150 itd give you 143, 200 gives you 193, etc.
> hope this helps. remember, dont push too much voltage in, make sure your card is cooled properly, and dont run it on high volts too long. good luck!


Then there's a full set of instructions with pics, bit big to repost, but,
http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/1670#post_17814238

Further commenting for those that still had trouble, from this post on..
http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/1690#post_17814404

If you cannot follow it after reading all that, maybe it's just not for you. No responsibility taken for any damages. Everything at users own risk.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> An MSI Z77A-GD65, no idea how it stacks up vs other Z77 boards, but it has double spaced primary PCI-E slots and I wanted to SLI a pair of MSI cards.


Ah, cool. I was wondering because i've had some BIOS annoyances with my motherboard lately, yours was one of the few i've seen with super high gfx/physics scores. Just curious: do you overclock your CPU with offset voltage? I have tried with my asus board and its just impossible. My offset voltages rise way too high to make it usable, so im forced to use 24/7 1.26V (i'd much rather use offset voltage). If I use offset my voltage goes as high as 1.45v....lol thats a definite no go.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> got it updated. thats one huge score and OC my friend.. im going to hit the lotto again in a few weeks.. my 1380/6800 isnt cutting it


Hope you get one man. They're out there alright. Out of the 4, I got 2 amazing ones. So, hopefully you can nail those 50/50 odds


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

It has a boost type setting where it idles at low clocks/voltage then ramps up under load. I tried that with 4.6GHz as the target. It worked, but my scores were pretty dismal. So now I have it set with a 46X multiplier and 1.275v full time.

FTW 420 has a similar board IIRC, next one up, he'd be the guy to ask about BIOS settings. I haven't built a rig since 04 and it was AMD. I don't have a clue what half the stuff in these BIOS do now days.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Then there's a full set of instructions with pics, bit big to repost, but,
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/1670#post_17814238
> If you cannot follow it after reading all that, maybe it's just not for you. No responsibility taken for any damages. Everything at users own risk.


Those instructions are for Memory Editor. After using ArtMoney, I can definitely say it's a lot easier. Try this B rad-

-Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
-Open Afterburner 2.2.3
-Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
-Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
-Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
-Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
-Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
-Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
-Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
-Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
-Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
*BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltages in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card*


----------



## B rad

Thanks much dph314


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> Thanks much dph314


Best of luck. But don't keep increasing the voltage if you start getting green artifacts thinking that it will help, because more voltage will only make it worse. For me anyways, it's a 50/50 shot of whether or not your card will respond positively to more than +93mv, especially on air. Even with temps staying in the 60C's, only one of my cards likes the extra voltage.


----------



## Scorpion667

Anyone up for some suicide runs tonight? I wanna see if the CPU PLL does anything, best run in 3dmark11 was 1388 with stock cpu pll and max voltage (unedited bios)
Waiting for my room to get really cold first


----------



## dVeLoPe

whats this crash mean?


----------



## Scorpion667

This is all I could get for tonight... I found for my sample, after 1390Mhz, lowering PLL by 50mv was the only way to go higher else it would crash instantly.


1395/7258
+93mv gpu
+20mv mem
-50mv pll
ambients ~16c

Oh well


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> whats this crash mean?
> *IMG snip*


Seems like a common error that no one is sure of the reason.

I assume you've tried these:
reinstalled drivers (Clean install using driversweeper?)
reinstalled Direct X
reverted to older driver (Are u using 304.79)
install the directx that you find in the game folder (if playing BF3 does it?)


----------



## renzkuken1

I have a question for all you msi lightning gtx680 owners.

I am considering purchasing a second msi lightning gtx680 and want to know how the temperatures will get when i overclock and what noticeable differences

will i see when gaming compared to a single card?

Any input is much appreciated. I will be overclocking to 1300+ if my cards allow me.









Chris


----------



## famich

Tried another 3DM 11 at submax voltage- it seems that my chip is sensitive to the temperature, during the run the temp rose to 90+C..
might really nedd the watercooling or at least to change the TIM !


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Tried another 3DM 11 at submax voltage- it seems that my chip is sensitive to the temperature, during the run the temp rose to 90+C..
> might really nedd the watercooling or at least to change the TIM !


90c? There is something wrong with your card. At max voltage with 100% fan I never pass 60c.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Tried another 3DM 11 at submax voltage- it seems that my chip is sensitive to the temperature, during the run the temp rose to 90+C..
> might really nedd the watercooling or at least to change the TIM !


'

Dude, are you using auto fan or something...IF you're doing over voltage you NEED manual fan!'

edit: just saw your pic with 100% fan, dunno. Something is wrong or the air flow in your case is really horrible. What voltage are you running? Is this with the hex edit? Don't mess with that hex edit garbage unless you're using real water cooling, your card shouldn't get that hot with max manual fans. It will get hot with maxed out voltage let there be no question but I don't think it would be 90C.

Either way you shouldn't be running that voltage 24/7 anyway


----------



## Scorpion667

So last night after an hour of benching at 16c ambient, my Lightning was giving artifacts and froze at a completely stable clock in 3dmark11 =/
rebooted and all worked fine after, no more artifacts.

Strange


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> This is all I could get for tonight... I found for my sample, after 1390Mhz, lowering PLL by 50mv was the only way to go higher else it would crash instantly.
> 
> 1395/7258
> +93mv gpu
> +20mv mem
> -50mv pll
> ambients ~16c
> Oh well


I'm always up for some suicide runs







Just waiting for my room to cool down too.
So you got a higher clock by lowering the Aux voltage 50mv?? I must admit that's definitely something I never tried. Did it lower temps enough to make that difference? I would think the lower voltage would cancel out the benefit of the few degrees lower temp and not help much. But yeah I'll have to try that. Interesting...

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Tried another 3DM 11 at submax voltage- it seems that my chip is sensitive to the temperature, during the run the temp rose to 90+C..
> might really nedd the watercooling or at least to change the TIM !


Holy hell! Replace TIM immediately or if you don't want to mess with doing that then send it back. Judging from how my temps have been, I don't think I'd hit 90C at 100% fan speed until I up the voltage close to +180mv. That sucks though because that's quite a good chip if it can hit 1411mhz when going all the way up to 90C. I'd change the TIM and try to keep that one


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I'm always up for some suicide runs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just waiting for my room to cool down too.
> So you got a higher clock by lowering the Aux voltage 50mv?? I must admit that's definitely something I never tried. Did it lower temps enough to make that difference? I would think the lower voltage would cancel out the benefit of the few degrees lower temp and not help much. But yeah I'll have to try that. Interesting...


Well it yielded an extra 5Mhz above 1390Mhz where as before lowering PLL anything above 1390 would crash on the first test in 3dmark11 consistently. However due to the small gain, I wouldn't rule out my room getting colder as the AC was blasting so it may be a false result. But it didn't lower my OC potential so it's worth trying. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes =P

I got the idea from my 2500k actually, lowering CPU PLL allowed me to lower vcore a little bit. Not by much tho, 0.012 I think it was. Depends on the individual chip, some like lower, some like higher...


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Well it yielded an extra 5Mhz above 1390Mhz where as before lowering PLL anything above 1390 would crash on the first test in 3dmark11 consistently. However due to the small gain, I wouldn't rule out my room getting colder as the AC was blasting so it may be a false result. But it didn't lower my OC potential so it's worth trying. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes =P
> I got the idea from my 2500k actually, lowering CPU PLL allowed me to lower voltage a little bit. Not by much tho, 0.012 I think it was. Depends on the individual chip, some like lower, some like higher...


I'll be damned. My max with vanilla 2.2.3 was 1430/7000 (all voltages maxed). I tried 1435/7000 with Core and Memory voltages maxed, but PLL at +0mv, and it crashed like it did when I was originally testing. Then...I tried 1435/7000 with Core and Mem maxed again but PLL at -50mv, and wouldn't ya know, it passed. Going to try 1440 now. But yeah temps were the same for me. Like exactly the same, max of 61C both times.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> This is all I could get for tonight... I found for my sample, after 1390Mhz, lowering PLL by 50mv was the only way to go higher else it would crash instantly.
> 
> 1395/7258
> +93mv gpu
> +20mv mem
> -50mv pll
> ambients ~16c
> Oh well


dude this is worse than the OC you already have in the spreadsheet? is your card not performing as well as it used to or something? Well, actually your memory oc is a little better but core OC is down by 50mhz...
do you want me to put this data into the sheet?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> dude this is worse than the OC you already have in the spreadsheet? is your card not performing as well as it used to or something? Well, actually your memory oc is a little better but core OC is down by 50mhz...
> do you want me to put this data into the sheet?


Looks like 1388 in spreadsheet --> 1395 new max.


----------



## dph314

xoleras, you're not up there? I thought you had already posted a validation or two? Just wondering because I checked the sheet to look for what your cards did individually. I know you got a killer SLI overclock/score, but I can't remember what the cards did solo and I was curious. Didn't feel like searching through all the pages.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Here's a shot of mine at 1386 core/3479 mem in 3D Mark 11, and that wasn't even my best 3DM11 score. I ran the same clocks when I did my best Heaven run of 124.3, but no AB screenshot.

.


----------



## dph314

What can you run SLI in 3dMark11 at? I seem to have to drop around 20-30mhz when going from a 3dMark11 stable OC to Heaven.


----------



## teichu

Hi doesn anyone know why i still running pcie2.0 with my lightning , gpu-z shows still running pcie 2.0 instead of 3.0 , i have enable force gen-3 but it didnt work and it was work good with my prior evga gtx680 , anybody got idea?? thanks


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *teichu*
> 
> Hi doesn anyone know why i still running pcie2.0 with my lightning , gpu-z shows still running pcie 2.0 instead of 3.0 , i have enable force gen-3 but it didnt work and it was work good with my prior evga gtx680 , anybody got idea?? thanks


http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2148/NVIDIA_GeForce_Kepler_PCIe_3.0_mode-enabling_patch_for_Sandy_Bridge-E_systems.html

Go into your motherboard's bios and enable Gen 3 on the corresponding pci-E slot. Install the Gen3 patch, and then restart the PC. Simple as that. If it doesn't work after that, then I couldn't tell ya.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> What can you run SLI in 3dMark11 at? I seem to have to drop around 20-30mhz when going from a 3dMark11 stable OC to Heaven.


That's as good as I ever got, 1386. I got a better score when I did a fresh boot the next day, but the clocks were the same.

I might have been able to squeeze some more out of it, but Heaven seemed to always crash right at the last scene and 3DM11 would always crash at the next to the last test, the physics test. I just got tired of making an entire run, crash at the end, tweak, and re-do the whole mess. I was happy enough with the scores I got to let it go at that. Plenty of guys would probably be happy to get 1386 on one card, much less SLI.

I could probably drop my CPU OC down and up the GPU clocks and get a full run in 3DM11 at higher than 1386, but no way it'd pass Heaven like that. Plus my GPU memory flat won't OC past +475 on the slider, I could never run at 7K mem without radical polygon artifacts.

I'm back to running nice and stable at 4.5Ghz CPU/1300 GPU @+400 mem.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> That's as good as I ever got, 1386. I got a better score when I did a fresh boot the next day, but the clocks were the same.
> I might have been able to squeeze some more out of it, but Heaven seemed to always crash right at the last scene and *3DM11 would always crash at the next to the last test, the physics test*. I just got tired of making an entire run, crash at the end, tweak, and re-do the whole mess. I was happy enough with the scores I got to let it go at that. Plenty of guys would probably be happy to get 1386 on one card, much less SLI.
> I could probably drop my CPU OC down and up the GPU clocks and get a full run in 3DM11 at higher than 1386, but no way it'd pass Heaven like that. Plus my GPU memory flat won't OC past +475 on the slider, I could never run at 7K mem without radical polygon artifacts.
> I'm back to running nice and stable at 4.5Ghz CPU/1300 GPU @+400 mem.


Yeah one card doing 1386 is awesome, let alone in SLI. You're lucky you got a good pair. I got one great one and one not-so-good one. That's ok though I guess. At least it let's me use only one card for more games rather than SLI all the time.

But yeah if you're crashing during the Physics test then that would be the CPU wouldn't it? I would test the GPUs with a stock and proven-stable CPU speed when testing the Lightnings, to eliminate another variable (CPU crashes). If you have the 3A BIOS and have to hard-reset after a crash, that's the CPU, not the Lightnings.

Edit- What the hell keeps happening here? During the first GPU test in 3dMark11, usage keeps dropping, or the clock keeps throttling. This is a pic of the first test, run in SLI, and the clock of the top card-

Either get a lot of low-usage spikes or a lot of clock fluctuation.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Yeah, it's the CPU OC that's crashing the 3DM11, but dropping the CPU OC would drop the P score more than a little more GPU OC would raise it. So while I might be able to turn the clocks up on the GPU and pass, I wouldn't get a better overall score. 19K P w/25K+ graphics was my goal, and I made that happen.

Edit: And it wasn't a hard crash in the physics, it'd just go back to the desktop with a little 3DM11 window that said something like "process unable to complete because of workload".


----------



## phazers

So I've got the 680 Lighting today, but I got a problem with my voltage, I've tried the 2 bios from the topic starter followed the instructions everything went well, installed the drivers, And began overclocking with afterburner 2.2.3.

But here's the deal without juicing my core voltage it says is 1.214v that's alright I suppose but when I select more MHz for the core the voltage goes down instantly ? I've tested my 680 with 150+ on the core and the voltage displayed right then is 1.177v without touching the mV slider so it's down clocking my voltage from the standard 1.214v

with the 150+ I've down several test no errors whatsoever and with 93mV, Power limit 300 it displays 1.269v in windows? in games it peaked 1.3 max. I thought there was at least something like 1.35 possible with this bios LN2. Temps are fine.

Machine: Intel 2500K (4.8)
Memory 1866mhz
Windows 7 64bit
Tested 2 drivers.

Suggestions???


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *phazers*
> 
> with 93mV, Power limit 300 it displays 1.269v in windows?


Try measuring the voltage with a meter at the voltage check points on the card, the software readouts have not been reliable. Some guys get a repeatable reading with a set difference between software and the meter, but I don't think anybody gets true actual voltage in software.


----------



## phazers

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Try measuring the voltage with a meter at the voltage check points on the card, the software readouts have not been reliable. Some guys get a repeatable reading with a set difference between software and the meter, but I don't think anybody gets true actual voltage in software.


Will do that in the weekend, I've got another problem that is voltage related with LN2 bios that is, my core and memory don't downclock in windows 1206mhz and 3000mhz is this somewhat related? with the problem I am having?

With the standard BIOS no down clock problems whatsoever.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

There was a guy the other day had that problem, it was his mouse driver. I had it happen with the "performance" setting in Nvidia control panel. It's just a bug I guess.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> There was a guy the other day had that problem, it was his mouse driver. I had it happen with the "performance" setting in Nvidia control panel. It's just a bug I guess.


Yep, didn't realize it was the mouse software at first.

Simple fix is go into the Nvidia Control Panel, set the "Global Settings -> Power Management Mode" to 'Adaptive', and then in the "Programs Settings" tab, set the individual programs you want to run at "Maximum Performance". That way the card will only refrain from downclocking when one of those manually-adjusted programs is open.


----------



## famich

I have measured today , on a default BIOS , the AFB readout of 1.175 makes around 1.2 in real, will try with the LN2BIOS as well.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Ek block helped out a bunch, been hitting my head against the wall (metaphorically) for a couple hours now, cbf hunting 13k today. Maybe tomorrow.

P12986 on 2700k


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Ek block helped out a bunch, been hitting my head against the wall (metaphorically) for a couple hours now, cbf hunting 13k today. Maybe tomorrow.
> P12986 on 2700k


good result ... we own a similar configuration









http://hwbot.org/submission/2305215_xbeatx_3dmark11___performance_geforce_gtx_680_13167_marks


----------



## GenoOCAU

Haha thanks xbeatx, wish I could get this damn cpu stable past 5.3ghz.. Likewise with the ram on this lightning - but im more then happy to lose out to another italian









Nice on the 1.5ghz btw!


----------



## dph314

Awesome scores guys. I barely broke 13k with my best run, How much did the waterblock help clocks?


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Awesome scores guys. I barely broke 13k with my best run, How much did the waterblock help clocks?


i don't know ... I mounted the waterblock almost at once









however I think that the card is still far from its maximum potential ... This winter I could get nearly 1.6GHz


----------



## Bruennis

Is the 680 Lightning still worth buying for overclocking? Or do they all come with the speculated voltage locked bios? I ask because I'm seriously thinking of buying one tonight


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Is the 680 Lightning still worth buying for overclocking? Or do they all come with the speculated voltage locked bios? I ask because I'm seriously thinking of buying one tonight


you can flash the unlocked bios on the new "locked" bios


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> you can flash the unlocked bios on the new "locked" bios


Suppose I pull the trigger and it comes with the locked bios. Where can I find instructions on how to flash the bios?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Suppose I pull the trigger and it comes with the locked bios. Where can I find instructions on how to flash the bios?


Yes, in the first post of this thread.


----------



## TURN & BURN

Managed 13338 w MSI LT 680 1460/1800 and [email protected]

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4053125

Will be running a 3770K next higher clocks and try getting the card higher as I feel it has more room!


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Suppose I pull the trigger and it comes with the locked bios. Where can I find instructions on how to flash the bios?


IMHO the Lightnings come nowadays still with the unlocked LN2BIOS A 3, I have received mine 2 weeks ago with it...

BTW measured the LN2 BIOS voltages with the voltmeter- +93mV V offset makes really around 1.35-1.37 V








AFB reports the voltages wrong.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> IMHO the Lightnings come nowadays still with the unlocked LN2BIOS A 3, I have received mine 2 weeks ago with it...
> BTW measured the LN2 BIOS voltages with the voltmeter- +93mV V offset makes really around 1.35-1.37 V
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AFB reports the voltages wrong.


If this is true then buying as soon as off work. Want to overclock this card past 1300MHz


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> If this is true then buying as soon as off work. Want to overclock this card past 1300MHz


Im sure you are going to make it 100%, you ll see


----------



## Asmola

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TURN & BURN*
> 
> Managed 13338 w MSI LT 680 1460/1800 and [email protected]
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4053125
> Will be running a 3770K next higher clocks and try getting the card higher as I feel it has more room!


Why so low physics score? You should get +17k with those clocks.. But nice clocks on gpu.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> you can flash the unlocked bios on the new "locked" bios


I don't think the locked BIOS ever happened. Guru3d rumored that BIOS 3a would be locked , but it definitely isn't locked









Also, software doesn't report GTX 680 voltages properly. This isn't directed at you, but some others in the thread.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> If this is true then buying as soon as off work. Want to overclock this card past 1300MHz


Yep, the lightning is not locked - it also comes with borderlands 2 free!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TURN & BURN*
> 
> *Managed 13338 w MSI LT 680 1460/1800 and [email protected]*
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4053125
> Will be running a 3770K next higher clocks and try getting the card higher as I feel it has more room!


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Asmola*
> 
> Why so low physics score? You should get +17k with those clocks.. But nice clocks on gpu.


Low physics score indeed. No way that 3930k was at 5.25Ghz unless it throttled bigtime. Also...it's a 7970 in the run, not a 680?? Using the Tess cheat too I see, ha. Us 680 Lightning owners get those scores without cheating.


----------



## xoleras

If you're not cheating you're not trying









I'm pretty pissed that all 680 cards come with borderlands 2 free now. I really want that game, I loved the first one.


----------



## Asmola

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Low physics score indeed. No way that 3930k was at 5.25Ghz unless it throttled bigtime. *Also...it's a 7970 in the run, not a 680??* Using the Tess cheat too I see, ha. Us 680 Lightning owners get those scores without cheating.


Damn, i totally overlooked that one.. Poor 7970.. Sad.

Wrong Compare url perhaps?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Yeah, and good luck getting a better physics score with a 3770K than a 3930K.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Low physics score indeed. No way that 3930k was at 5.25Ghz unless it throttled bigtime. Also...it's a 7970 in the run, not a 680?? Using the Tess cheat too I see, ha. Us 680 Lightning owners get those scores without cheating.


That is strange for a physics score at those clocks, but never know if he tried a set of dual channel 1333Mhz memory with it (still strange but possible). Tess tweak, it's only a cheat in the 'official default settings' threads here, if you want to be competitive on the bot it has to be done.

Slowly getting the lightning figured out & clocking higher, have to play with different cpus & clocks to get the score higher.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> That is strange for a physics score at those clocks, but never know if he tried a set of dual channel 1333Mhz memory with it (still strange but possible). Tess tweak, it's only a cheat in the 'official default settings' threads here, if you want to be competitive on the bot it has to be done.
> Slowly getting the lightning figured out & clocking higher, have to play with different cpus & clocks to get the score higher.


Good God. What kind of cooling did you use in that run? What were the temps and voltage?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Yeah, and good luck getting a better physics score with a 3770K than a 3930K.


Never know though, if higher clocked 3770 increases gpu score by 500, lower physics drops overall 300, you can still end up with a higher overall.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Good God. What kind of cooling did you use in that run? What were the temps and voltage?


It was running at about -40° @ 1.5V, ln2 cooled.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Yeah, but I was looking the MSI OC 3DMark 11 competition standings, the top 20 physics scores are all either 3930 or 3960 cpus. 3770s start popping up around 22nd or so.

Shoot, I'd be in 11th place graphics







I even have MSI MB and GPUs


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Never know though, if higher clocked 3770 increases gpu score by 500, lower physics drops overall 300, you can still end up with a higher overall.
> It was running at about -40° @ 1.5V, ln2 cooled.


I get green artifacts at any voltage over +150mv. Like right away, before temps even climb above 42C. Guess I need subzero cooling to get the volts up any higher.


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> If you're not cheating you're not trying
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm pretty pissed that all 680 cards come with borderlands 2 free now. I really want that game, I loved the first one.


Yeah, I would've much rather gotten that than the half-hearted NBA2k11


----------



## Asmola

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> That is strange for a physics score at those clocks, but never know if he tried a set of dual channel 1333Mhz memory with it (still strange but possible). Tess tweak, it's only a cheat in the 'official default settings' threads here, if you want to be competitive on the bot it has to be done.
> Slowly getting the lightning figured out & clocking higher, have to play with different cpus & clocks to get the score higher.


Nice clocks but bad efficiency, atleast on combined score.

Try 304.79 driver, it might give you about 200 point boost.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> Yeah, I would've much rather gotten that than the half-hearted NBA2k11


I didn't get anything but LighterWallet1.2K


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Asmola*
> 
> Nice clocks but bad efficiency, atleast on combined score.
> Try 304.79 driver, it might give you about 200 point boost.


Playing with LOC rules, has to be 3d11 version 1.03 & 301.42 driver. I would be doing a bit better with 1.01 & newer drivers.


----------



## pwnzilla61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> If you're not cheating you're not trying
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm pretty pissed that all 680 cards come with borderlands 2 free now. I really want that game, I loved the first one.


I know right, I got that damned nba 2k11. ***.


----------



## B rad

1391 core 3506 mem


----------



## Darco19

Just re-applied the TIM on my Lightning with some new Prolimatech PK-3 and the temp difference turned out to be pretty big. It couldn't have been dust either since it is still very new, and I haven't even given the new paste time to burn-in yet so it will probably get even better hopefully









It was at 35-40c on idle before, now its down to 30-32c. It's also a lot cooler on load as well, peaking 70c at 65% fan speed on one of the most intensive benchmark programs (it was 75c-78c before).

Heaven at maxed out settings: http://i48.tinypic.com/33271pd.jpg


----------



## dph314

Seems to be persistent 5-6C difference in temps when the TIM is reapplied. I guess I'm going to have to give it a go.


----------



## Darco19

It goes back up to 38c~ with my browser open since it ups to 1200mhz on the core, sadly. It's also pretty hot around here, but I'm happy with the results.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darco19*
> 
> It goes back up to 38c~ with my browser open since it ups to 1200mhz on the core, sadly. It's also pretty hot around here, but I'm happy with the results.


Scroll back a few pages, there are settings in the Nvidia control panel that'll eliminate this 1202 boost in desktop use. I'm pretty sure having it set to "Performance" will cause it to do what you're seeing, but I'm not at a computer right now to be able to see the settings to change.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> 
> 1391 core 3506 mem


Looks like you got the hex editor thing working


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darco19*
> 
> It goes back up to 38c~ with my browser open since it ups to 1200mhz on the core, sadly. It's also pretty hot around here, but I'm happy with the results.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Scroll back a few pages, there are settings in the Nvidia control panel that'll eliminate this 1202 boost in desktop use. I'm pretty sure having it set to "Performance" will cause it to do what you're seeing, but I'm not at a computer right now to be able to see the settings to change.


Yeah go the Nvidia Control Panel and set the Manage 3D Settings -> Global Settings -> Power Management Mode and change it to Adaptive. Then any game you want to run with a full stock clock, set the Power Management Mode under the Program Settings tab to Prefer Maximum Performance. That way the clock will only go up to 1202mhz when that particular game is open.

I personally have been using Adaptive for more and more games. I mean, I see really no difference at all in performance, so why not have the core clock drop down to ~700mhz at a loading screen? If I have a stable overclock, the downclocking during non-demanding scenes doesn't really affect anything or cause a crash.


----------



## TURN & BURN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> IMHO the Lightnings come nowadays still with the unlocked LN2BIOS A 3, I have received mine 2 weeks ago with it...
> BTW measured the LN2 BIOS voltages with the voltmeter- +93mV V offset makes really around 1.35-1.37 V
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AFB reports the voltages wrong.


The bio's the Lightnings come with are still locked! but very little







there is still some minor OCP or they wouldnt be able to sell the card w a warranty (FACT).

I do some work with MSI so this is all true!


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TURN & BURN*
> 
> The bio's the Lightnings come with are still locked! but very little
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> there is still some minor OCP or they wouldnt be able to sell the card w a warranty (FACT).
> I do some work with MSI so this is all true!


Dude, I don't think you have enough gear. You must buy more. Go, now.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TURN & BURN*
> 
> The bio's the Lightnings come with are still locked! but very little
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> there is still some minor OCP or they wouldnt be able to sell the card w a warranty (FACT).
> I do some work with MSI so this is all true!


There are two BIOS' ROMs for the MSI lightning and when someone states that it is "unlocked", they mean unlocked voltage control via software.

The voltage is not locked, you can adjust it up to 1.37V via afterburner. I have literally no idea what you're talking about, every msi lightning is unlocked in terms of voltage adjustment regardless of which BIOS it uses - 2 versions have been released and they both allow it.


----------



## famich

Concur to that ...


----------



## Scorpion667

So what voltage are you guys running on your daily OC? Also please specify if you use BIOS1 or LN2 for daily use/gaming. Cheers.

Personally I either run stock on BIOS1 or +68mv on BIOS1 for 1300/7000

I have a feeling this chips won't like high voltage in the long run unless exceptional cooling is used. - I could be completely wrong however, I was just surprised at Nvidia's reaction to voltage control...


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> So what voltage are you guys running on your daily OC? Also please specify if you use BIOS1 or LN2 for daily use/gaming. Cheers.
> Personally I either run stock on BIOS1 or +68mv on BIOS1 for 1300/7000
> I have a feeling this chips won't like high voltage in the long run unless exceptional cooling is used. - I could be completely wrong however, I was just surprised at Nvidia's reaction to voltage control...


Same here, BIOS1 for approx 1320ish on both GPUs in SLI. I can bench on LN2 much higher than that but for actual games there isn't really a need for it, that could change on water though. I'm pretty happy as is - BIOS 1 uses less power / heat output than LN2 so I use BIOS1 for 24/7


----------



## B rad

I had a MSI 680 lightning that the LN2 bios was way different. Don't recall the number but it didn't have any letters in the bios name. Also that card was horrible if I increased the voltage +001 it would crash and burn. Even if no increase on anything else. That card was returned.


----------



## Scorpion667

Xoleras is that with stock voltage for BIOS1? If not, what's your offset voltage for that OC? Cheers


----------



## teichu

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> I had a MSI 680 lightning that the LN2 bios was way different. Don't recall the number but it didn't have any letters in the bios name. Also that card was horrible if I increased the voltage +001 it would crash and burn. Even if no increase on anything else. That card was returned.


Same here also , i already ship back to MSI request RMA


----------



## Menthol

Does anyone have the Aqua Computer water block installed yet. I haven't seen anyone post any pic's or results yet. Or have I just not looked in the right place. Sidewinder has them on there site.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> I had a MSI 680 lightning that the LN2 bios was way different. Don't recall the number but it didn't have any letters in the bios name. Also that card was horrible if I increased the voltage +001 it would crash and burn. Even if no increase on anything else. That card was returned.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *teichu*
> 
> Same here also , i already ship back to MSI request RMA


Is this the new 'Nvidia-friendly' BIOS we've been hearing about?


----------



## famich

Possibly so, it seems that in the US the unlocked Lightnings are sold out,
in my place there were still to be had 2 weeks ago ..

BTW I have posted the new [email protected] a while back, not that it s any major improvement..


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Does anyone have the Aqua Computer water block installed yet. I haven't seen anyone post any pic's or results yet. Or have I just not looked in the right place. Sidewinder has them on there site.


People that have pre ordered haven't received their blocks yet. They should by earliest get it by next Friday

To everyone that pre ordered a block; I have just sent out 2 emails about payment, eta, shipping etc
Any questions please feel free to email/PM me or Gary with the emails that I've included in the information email.


----------



## dph314

Couldn't those Lightnings just get flashed to the new BIOS? Famich, sorry but I can't remember if it was you teichu, that said that you tried flashing to the new BIOS and it still didn't help? Is MSI changing the PCB in some way too or is it just the BIOS being changed to appease Nvidia? Because I would think the BIOS flash would work if nothing hardware-wise was changed.


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Couldn't those Lightnings just get flashed to the new BIOS? Famich, sorry but I can't remember if it was you teichu, that said that you tried flashing to the new BIOS and it still didn't help? Is MSI changing the PCB in some way too or is it just the BIOS being changed to appease Nvidia? Because I would think the BIOS flash would work if nothing hardware-wise was changed.


thats what I was thinking.......didn't someone have a locked card before and they could flash the "unlocked LN2 bios"


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> thats what I was thinking.......didn't someone have a locked card before and they could flash the "unlocked LN2 bios"


I'm pretty sure. But someone said that the card they're returning is being returned because the 'unlocked' BIOSes didn't work either. I'd have to check my PMs. But maybe they'll see this post and jump in with some more info.

But yeah it was wierd. If I recall, they said it crashed with any movement of the voltage slider whatsoever even with the F8 and 3A BIOSes. So, either the chip was a rotten egg to begin with, or the PCB was somehow altered, because obviously if it was the BIOS then the flash would cure it.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I'm pretty sure. But someone said that the card they're returning is being returned because the 'unlocked' BIOSes didn't work either. I'd have to check my PMs. But maybe they'll see this post and jump in with some more info.
> But yeah it was wierd. If I recall, they said it crashed with any movement of the voltage slider whatsoever even with the F8 and 3A BIOSes. So, either the chip was a rotten egg to begin with, or the PCB was somehow altered, because obviously if it was the BIOS then the flash would cure it.


Hi, nope, it was not me, I got luckily the Lightning with the "newer" 3A BIOS: just some lettering in the middle has changed, but when comparing both
A3 s with NVFLASH in DOS revealed that they are the same -I got the 80.04.28.00.3A version of the LN2 BIOS and my card works like a charm..

Strange thing , really, a BIOS flash should work.


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Couldn't those Lightnings just get flashed to the new BIOS? Famich, sorry but I can't remember if it was you teichu, that said that you tried flashing to the new BIOS and it still didn't help? Is MSI changing the PCB in some way too or is it just the BIOS being changed to appease Nvidia? Because I would think the BIOS flash would work if nothing hardware-wise was changed.


Did that, didn't change a thing.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> Did that, didn't change a thing.


Oh yes, sorry, forgot it was you. Yeah that's wierd. Must be a bad chip (I would hope). Or else everyone is going to be holding onto the Lightnings they got now instead of trying for a better one.


----------



## TURN & BURN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Dude, I don't think you have enough gear. You must buy more. Go, now.


Haha NO theres always more one can use.

Will be doing some LN2 work next week for the best benching I can get this will no doubt fry a few things so the more the merry









5X3770's in hand right now

T&B


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TURN & BURN*
> 
> Haha NO theres always more one can use.
> Will be doing some LN2 work next week for the best benching I can get this will no doubt fry a few things so the more the merry
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 5X3770's in hand right now
> T&B


haha I was kidding bro, I figured you were into benching =P
It's nice to see that IB loves the cold a lot more than SB
If you get a chance check if any of those 3770k's have a golden IMC, those are definitely the chips to break memory records on =D

Best of luck!


----------



## FtW 420

Getting closer but no 14k + in 3d11 yet. :sad Going to try with the other card & different cpus next, any more voltage on this card redscreens it, any more cold makes it bug out, seems pretty maxed.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4158816


----------



## dph314

Great score









What voltage did the card end up red-screening at?


----------



## Menthol

That is very impressive


----------



## Mako0312

I'm super jealous of you guys with this card. I so want to upgrade, but I'm fighting the urge to.


----------



## Mr.Pie

FYI for people that didn't pre-order the fullcover block they can now be ordered via Sidewinders
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/aqcofucogpub.html

just a heads up








and to the people that have pre-ordered as I've said before; you'll be recieving your coupon codes shortly later this weekend/Monday from Gary to get your special pre-order discounts









Can't wait to see those bad boys in action


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Great score
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What voltage did the card end up red-screening at?


I didn't have the dmm on it but was getting close to 1.6V when red screening. Ran it above at +300 which was 1.575V on the dmm, it didn't like +312 any more than it liked getting colder than -45°.


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I didn't have the dmm on it but was getting close to 1.6V when red screening. Ran it above at +300 which was 1.575V on the dmm, it didn't like +312 any more than it liked getting colder than -45°.


You sure it was the voltage cuasing the red screen?
In my testing it was the cold every time not so much the voltage that lead to it.
1.55v no issues 1.60v no issues but under -40c or so red screen any colder then that cbb, really sucks in dx9 benches since its in 2d or low power 3d alot more then the newer dx10 or dx11 benches so its harder to get heat.
For 3d11 i keep it warmish(-10 /-20c) till it gets passed gt1 then you can bring the pot down without the 2d-lp3d cycling more easy.
After the msi contest going on there will be mods and more info out for this card i am sure








you on ln2 or dice?
besides redscreen how was it reacting for you when cold? are you using a heat gun on vrm/core area?


----------



## TURN & BURN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Getting closer but no 14k + in 3d11 yet. :sad Going to try with the other card & different cpus next, any more voltage on this card redscreens it, any more cold makes it bug out, seems pretty maxed.
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4158816


Hey FTW420 Nice job I havent tried the 680 yet but the 7970's love the cold no issues going full pots LN2

Great work hope you can get more from your other card!!


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> You sure it was the voltage cuasing the red screen?
> In my testing it was the cold every time not so much the voltage that lead to it.
> 1.55v no issues 1.60v no issues but under -40c or so red screen any colder then that cbb, really sucks in dx9 benches since its in 2d or low power 3d alot more then the newer dx10 or dx11 benches so its harder to get heat.
> For 3d11 i keep it warmish(-10 /-20c) till it gets passed gt1 then you can bring the pot down without the 2d-lp3d cycling more easy.
> After the msi contest going on there will be mods and more info out for this card i am sure
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> you on ln2 or dice?
> besides redscreen how was it reacting for you when cold? are you using a heat gun on vrm/core area?


It could have been the voltage + cold. I have had it colder without redscreen, first time I froze pulled it down to -60 pretty fast without extra voltage & got a couple benches in before it bugged after 10 minutes or so.
This was on ln2 & I didn't use any heat. The main cold issue was the driver freaking out when it changes p states colder than -45 or so, it gets to desktop fine when colder but as soon as the voltage drops to 2d, nightmare...,
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TURN & BURN*
> 
> Hey FTW420 Nice job I havent tried the 680 yet but the 7970's love the cold no issues going full pots LN2
> Great work hope you can get more from your other card!!


I haven't frozen the 7970 lightning yet, my reference 7970 did pretty well (3d11 p14360), trying to catch up to that score with the 680L now. It didn't like full pot, but was happy with -120° at least. My other 680L did a fair bit better on air/water, hoping it does better cold as well.


----------



## famich

Changing the TIM- hello, guys, anybody got the experience with the changing of the TIM on Lightning ?


----------



## Menthol

Yes it's very simple, remove the 4 screws around the GPU and remove the heatsink.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Yes it's very simple, remove the 4 screws around the GPU and remove the heatsink.


no need to remove the gpu reactor ?


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> no need to remove the gpu reactor ?


Just remove the 4 screws ... those are the only thing keeping the heatsink connected to the card


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Just remove the 4 screws ... those are the only thing keeping the heatsink connected to the card


Don't forget to disconnect the fan cable too, don't yank on it by accident =P


----------



## famich

Ok, thanks for the advice !









Changed the TIM, had a very chepo looking grey stuff, cleaned everything , I ve put AC MX4 stuff, no need even to detach the fan !

I ll see about that WC block, athough I ve not seen its pics and the layout anywhere..


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Don't forget to disconnect the fan cable too, don't yank on it by accident =P


good catch


----------



## phazers

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Changing the TIM- hello, guys, anybody got the experience with the changing of the TIM on Lightning ?


Did it work out for you? how are the temps now?

I am going to buy Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra tomorrow or the MX4 I heard Liquid Ultra is better, but it comes with a warning don't use it on aluminium they say, is the surface aluminium that, the part that makes contact with GPU? anyway would love to hear you're thoughts I may buy MX4 anyway if its significant to suppose the standard tim.


----------



## elbubi

Hi guys.

Just wanted to share with you the BIOS compilation I've made through the different versions that are available till today.

MSiGTX680LightingBIOS.zip 333k .zip file


100/110 are stock versions, "a" versions introduced fan reduction on startup and 111 is the famous 3A version. Altough some of them share there id number (xx.xx.xx.xx.xx), they have not the same internal structure nor date nor release version number (xxx). Personaly I'm using 101a on standard BIOS and 111 on LN2 (mine came with 101/110 factory BIOS).

Hope it helps someone and maybe it can be added to first post.

Kindest Regards!


----------



## FtW 420

Tried some 3dmark 11 with sandy this time, better gpu & combined score (14390 gpu isn't bad







) but overall score just isn't there yet, next up 3770k.










Since I think I'm allowed to post some pictures of it today, a little MSI z77 mpower teaser for the lightning owners because the cards just look really good in this board...,


----------



## elbubi

Nice sweet loking moboo!!!


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Tried some 3dmark 11 with sandy this time, better gpu & combined score (14390 gpu isn't bad
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) but overall score just isn't there yet, next up 3770k.


Wait, single card GPU score is higher on 1155? If I'm not mistaken your GPU score is almost 500pts higher than it was on the 3930k!
Is it cause of less PCI-e latency or what?
Feel like a 'tard for buying a 3930k now. Cost me less than a 2500k but STILL!

Would the same apply for two cards?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Wait, single card GPU score is higher on 1155? If I'm not mistaken your GPU score is almost 500pts higher than it was on the 3930k!
> Is it cause of less PCI-e latency or what?
> Feel like a 'tard for buying a 3930k now. Cost me less than a 2500k but STILL!
> Would the same apply for two cards?


A good part of it is because the cpu clocks higher, really wish I had a 5.8Ghz sb-e. At the same cpu frequency the gpu score would be closer, I also squeezed a bit more memory & core clock out of the 680L in that session. 3930k is still the better cpu.
Might not be able to get the 3770k clocked as high but hoping better efficiency & faster memory clocks can make up & surpass my current scores.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Hi guys.
> 
> Just wanted to share with you the BIOS compilation I've made through the different versions that are available till today.
> 
> MSiGTX680LightingBIOS.zip 333k .zip file
> 
> 
> 100/110 are stock versions, "a" versions introduced fan reduction on startup and 111 is the famous 3A version. Altough some of them share there id number (xx.xx.xx.xx.xx), they have not the same internal structure nor date nor release version number (xxx). Personaly I'm using 101a on standard BIOS and 111 on LN2 (mine came with 101/110 factory BIOS).
> 
> Hope it helps someone and maybe it can be added to first post.
> 
> Kindest Regards!


Nice job







+rep
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Tried some 3dmark 11 with sandy this time, better gpu & combined score (14390 gpu isn't bad
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) but overall score just isn't there yet, next up 3770k.
> 
> 
> 
> Wait, single card GPU score is higher on 1155? If I'm not mistaken your GPU score is almost 500pts higher than it was on the 3930k!
> Is it cause of less PCI-e latency or what?
> Feel like a 'tard for buying a 3930k now. Cost me less than a 2500k but STILL!
> 
> Would the same apply for two cards?
Click to expand...

You got a 3930k for less than the price of a 2500k and feel stupid?? That's an awesome deal, and you got the better CPU by far. No reason to downgrade that much in CPU performance just for 500 GPU pts in a generic benchmark.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Wait, single card GPU score is higher on 1155? If I'm not mistaken your GPU score is almost 500pts higher than it was on the 3930k!
> Is it cause of less PCI-e latency or what?
> Feel like a 'tard for buying a 3930k now. Cost me less than a 2500k but STILL!
> Would the same apply for two cards?
> 
> 
> 
> A good part of it is because the cpu clocks higher, really wish I had a 5.8Ghz sb-e. At the same cpu frequency the gpu score would be closer, I also squeezed a bit more memory & core clock out of the 680L in that session. 3930k is still the better cpu.
> Might not be able to get the 3770k clocked as high but hoping better efficiency & faster memory clocks can make up & surpass my current scores.
Click to expand...

Keep up the great work. You're definitely puttin' the Lightning on the map. Who needs a Classified?








Nice pics of the new mobo too. That Lightning really does look great sitting in that board.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *phazers*
> 
> Did it work out for you? how are the temps now?
> I am going to buy Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra tomorrow or the MX4 I heard Liquid Ultra is better, but it comes with a warning don't use it on aluminium they say, is the surface aluminium that, the part that makes contact with GPU? anyway would love to hear you're thoughts I may buy MX4 anyway if its significant to suppose the standard tim.


Use a good quality non conductive TIM, I personally don't think you need the Coolaboratory, more trouble than what it's worth. Just my opinion. My personal favorite is Prolimatech PK1. Going to purchase some PK2 and 3 to try next. Pk1 is very easy to apply and one of the best.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Use a good quality non conductive TIM, I personally don't think you need the Coolaboratory, more trouble than what it's worth. Just my opinion. My personal favorite is Prolimatech PK1. Going to purchase some PK2 and 3 to try next. Pk1 is very easy to apply and one of the best.


That is a good one. IC7 is crazy good too
I wouldn't bother with Coolaboratory, too much of a hassle for a marginal difference. These GPU's load at sub 65c temps, 2 or 3 degrees extra is not worth it. If I had a 480gtx that loads up to 95c then yeah I'd consider it.


----------



## famich

I got MX4 applied, might try that Prolimatech stuff as well..
BTW regarding the BIOS- I got the "normal :BIOS version 80.04.28.00.39 , that has not been mentioned by elbubi.

If you want, I can post it as well...


----------



## renzkuken1

Guys I'm struggling. I have my case and gtx 680 lightning and asus saber tooth.
To start with the card won't lock into to the tool-less design pci slot. It won't close the lock properly? Anyone else know how I can fix this?

Also what do the 2 x 2 Prong little plugs go on? Lol


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> Guys I'm struggling. I have my case and gtx 680 lightning and asus saber tooth.
> To start with the card won't lock into to the tool-less design pci slot. It won't close the lock properly? Anyone else know how I can fix this?
> Also what do the 2 x 2 Prong little plugs go on? Lol


what do you mean? do you have any pictures?
The card should be easily locked in; just push it in the slot.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> Guys I'm struggling. I have my case and gtx 680 lightning and asus saber tooth.
> To start with the card won't lock into to the tool-less design pci slot. It won't close the lock properly? Anyone else know how I can fix this?
> Also what do the 2 x 2 Prong little plugs go on? Lol


Is the latch removable so you can use screws, if not I would suggest a new case, I wouldn't put a 600.00 card in a case I couldn't screw it down in. Those little prong plugs cover the HDMI and Displayport connectors.


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> I got MX4 applied, might try that Prolimatech stuff as well..
> BTW regarding the BIOS- I got the "normal :BIOS version 80.04.28.00.39 , that has not been mentioned by elbubi.
> If you want, I can post it as well...


Please post it so I can add it to the compilation









Kind Regards!


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> A good part of it is because the cpu clocks higher, really wish I had a 5.8Ghz sb-e. At the same cpu frequency the gpu score would be closer, I also squeezed a bit more memory & core clock out of the 680L in that session. 3930k is still the better cpu.
> Might not be able to get the 3770k clocked as high but hoping better efficiency & faster memory clocks can make up & surpass my current scores.


vivi just put up a 16.9k on his with a 3770k 18k+ gpu score








I might get one of these if people start to spill then beans with some mods for it after the loc bs is done


----------



## famich

OK, will do !!









bios.zip 105k .zip file


BTW 1424 3DM01 -not BAD !!









3DM 1424.bmp 6075k .bmp file


----------



## dph314

Not bad at all. Awesome card


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> vivi just put up a 16.9k on his with a 3770k 18k+ gpu score
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I might get one of these if people start to spill then beans with some mods for it after the loc bs is done


You have to look at the subscores closer, the gt1 test bugged a little bit for vivi.


----------



## elbubi

Bios Compilation Updated







(Thanks famich!)

MSi GTX680 Lighting BIOS.zip 388k .zip file


It seems that 102 normal BIOS is really different from other normal bioses, anyone knows which those differences are? And btw, are there any truly "locked" BIOS out there all was it just a "roumour"?

Kind Regards!


----------



## xoleras

That isn't a legit BIOS that was supplied by MSI I don't think. Probably one of those clowns from the 670 overvolt thread TBH.

Nvidia BIOS' don't follow that format. "102" would not be the proper format.

I'd suggest not using it until we known more, nvidia BIOS for 680s are a single letter (usually) and single-double number. The latest BIOS supplied by nvidia (and yes, it is used by all board partners) is F12. There is no 102 - so either someone got a used card, not a legit BIOS, or i'm really missing something. I could be wrong but I don't believe so, the format should follow nvidia' format.


----------



## renzkuken1

The v ports at the back of the card is what I meant. The 3 connector plus that branch off to there own 3cm socket what are those for.
Also do I need to do anything to my reactor? The instructions don't make sense to me..


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> You have to look at the subscores closer, the gt1 test bugged a little bit for vivi.


I did see that but have had the subtest list crasy numbers in gt1 like that but score was normal just subtest bugged, i guess in that case it did effect the score forsure.


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Nvidia BIOS' don't follow that format. "102" would not be the proper format.


Hi Xoleras









If you download this legit bios from MSI Germany here and check line 004A8 with an hex editor, you'll see the numbering "101", which changes with different BIOS versions from MSi (100/101/110/111). The files are also labeled as "101a" and "110a" from MSi.

I'm not saying this "102" version couldn't be fake, just pointing out that other versions have this internal structure too









If you look it deeply, 102 (39) y very similar to 111 (3A), so i guess it might be the normal bios of 3A LN2 bios set.

Kind Regards!

PS: Famich can you tell us if voltaje adjustment is working right for you under that normal bios version?


----------



## xoleras

I see! Thanks for that clarification. Buddy of mine is getting a lightning in a couple days, i'll check to see if he has a different BIOS.

edit: Also: waterblocks ordered!


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Buddy of mine is getting a lightning in a couple days, i'll check to see if he has a different BIOS.


Nice!


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> The v ports at the back of the card is what I meant. The 3 connector plus that branch off to there own 3cm socket what are those for.
> Also do I need to do anything to my reactor? The instructions don't make sense to me..


Voltage read points.

Those?


----------



## pchow05

anyone have max fan speed during boot up ?


----------



## renzkuken1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> Voltage read points.
> Those?


Yeah what do I connect this to?


----------



## GenoOCAU

Preferably a multimeter renzkuken1.


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pchow05*
> 
> anyone have max fan speed during boot up ?


it's called "Msi Dust Removal Technology"

if you don't like this you can find official update bios to remove this feature


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Any downside of getting a new Lightning gtx 680 with the new LN2 bios compared to the old? Can the newer Lightnings be flashed to old LN2 bios? Does the UPC on the box tell you if you are getting the old style Lightning or the newer?

Really considering buying one.

Thanks.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Any downside of getting a new Lightning gtx 680 with the new LN2 bios compared to the old? Can the newer Lightnings be flashed to old LN2 bios? Does the UPC on the box tell you if you are getting the old style Lightning or the newer?
> Really considering buying one.
> Thanks.


Mr. Short,
Do you still have that killer DC2T


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

I sold it a couple weeks ago.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Not bad at all. Awesome card


Thanks , pal !!
I take it from you with pride, really...


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Hi Xoleras
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If you download this legit bios from MSI Germany here and check line 004A8 with an hex editor, you'll see the numbering "101", which changes with different BIOS versions from MSi (100/101/110/111). The files are also labeled as "101a" and "110a" from MSi.
> I'm not saying this "102" version couldn't be fake, just pointing out that other versions have this internal structure too
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If you look it deeply, 102 (39) y very similar to 111 (3A), so i guess it might be the normal bios of 3A LN2 bios set.
> Kind Regards!
> PS: Famich can you tell us if voltaje adjustment is working right for you under that normal bios version?


Yes, Ican go up to the offset +130MHz PWTGT 125 V +93 mV - it took me to 1372 MHz Unigine extr tesselation stable ...
and I can really confirm that this is the BIOS the card came with.

The other LN2 BIOS was the already known 82.04.28.003A , yet the BIOS no I was 80.04.28.00.39


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Any downside of getting a new Lightning gtx 680 with the new LN2 bios compared to the old? Can the newer Lightnings be flashed to old LN2 bios? Does the UPC on the box tell you if you are getting the old style Lightning or the newer?
> 
> Really considering buying one.
> 
> Thanks.


Get one. You won't regret it









No downside to the new ones whatsoever. BIOS can be flashed to whatever you want. My latest one was purchased less than 2 weeks ago I think it was, and it came with the regular unlocked BIOS. So, not sure if another BIOS will be released that is 'locked-down' to appease Nvidia. If there is we haven't seen it yet. Not sure about the UPC numbers, but yeah even if you're the first of us to get the locked BIOS, you can just flash in 2 seconds








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Not bad at all. Awesome card
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks , pal !!
> I take it from you with pride, really...
Click to expand...

Good, because I ain't lying







You definitely got one of the better cards in this thread.
I wish I had another good card like yours so I could SLI at 1400mhz, ha.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Any downside of getting a new Lightning gtx 680 with the new LN2 bios compared to the old? Can the newer Lightnings be flashed to old LN2 bios? Does the UPC on the box tell you if you are getting the old style Lightning or the newer?
> Really considering buying one.
> Thanks.


Hassle free software voltage, and full coverage waterblocks available........i'm not seeing a downside here









My waterblocks should get here next week.


----------



## famich

Thanks 1 more-

BTW I am considering to get the WC block from Aquatuning as well. I am living in EU, so it ll be easier for me . I ve seen the pics of it and it looks awesome !


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> I sold it a couple weeks ago.


K, I am tired of looking for one of these magic cards and would like to find someone willing to sell one that is stable in benchmarks at 1400mz or over.
Thanks


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> I sold it a couple weeks ago.
> 
> 
> 
> K, I am tired of looking for one of these magic cards and would like to find someone willing to sell one that is stable in benchmarks at 1400mz or over.
> Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm looking to buy one as well, ha. Anyone interested in selling a +1400mhz 3dMark11 card let us know


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Look me up about a week before the Lightning GK-110 come out


----------



## dVeLoPe

theirs another sale for the lightning on newegg for 570 free shipping or after rebate comes out to 550$$


----------



## Pansyfaust

Hey guys, new member here. From South Africa (for anyone who doesn't know where that is, its on south of Africa lol). I recently acquired a 680 Lightning second hand(was bought about 2 months ago by the original owner) and was keen on doing a bit of clocking and heaven runs. Only after I bought the card did I read up on all the ****e that nvidia has done with the voltage locking.

So I wanted to see if i had either the old ln2 bios/the newer still unlocked ln bios or the completely restricted new ln2bios. I have tried to read through as much of this thread as humanely possible, but my eyes are getting strained @[email protected],









so if anyone could please answer me simply : Which version of the ln2 bios is this : 80.04.28.00.3a. I have tried some clocking and AB reads max voltage to be 1.306, but then this drops to 1.277 when I run a stress test. (not sure if I must just increase the clock to "max out" the voltage as i'm sure the clocks i'm using (1202 Base: 1252 boost, default mem) are not high enough to require the full 1.3V


----------



## famich

Hello, it is the newer version of the MSI unlocked BIOS - with the digital MM you could see the voltage to jump up to 1.37 with it.


----------



## xoleras

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693

On sale at newegg today for 549.99 after MIR, comes with Borderlands 2 for free. Lowest price thus far.


----------



## Pansyfaust

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Hello, it is the newer version of the MSI unlocked BIOS - with the digital MM you could see the voltage to jump up to 1.37 with it.


Hi, thanks for the reply







. So how is this bios any different to the old unlocked ln2 bios?. I dont have a multimeter, but I should be able to get one in time. So far i'm quite happy with the card, currently I've lowerd the vcore to about 1.203~1.205 and had the core at 1300mhz, and have run heaven benchmark a few times stably and played bf3 for about 45 mins. Not sure if that's a good OC, but 1300 without a hiccup seems good to me for a first run







. Gonna try find the max I can do, then move to the memory.


----------



## famich

The newer unlocked BIOS won t give you the need to do a hard reboot after the failure during overclocking.
My card runs 1300mhz @ 1.175 or so and yes, it s a nice overlock, most of the "regular " GTX 680 go up to 1250MHz and no more.

Believe me, I had 3 of them...


----------



## Pansyfaust

Haha, 3 of them! Gosh. In South Africa buying one is about all you can afford! Let me put it this way, The lightning through neweggs costs you guys using dollars 549$, to buy the same card here in South Africa costs about 650$







. Luckily I got it second hand though









Well in the days to come i'll come on and share my benches and what not. I think I should first see what my max default bios can do with the card...


----------



## Jessekin32

Trying to search the thread for any Nvidia Surround users. Anyone with two of these beasts regretting not getting 4gb cards for their 3 monitors? I just picked up one here from someone nearly new for $520, and can't wait to get a second one.

I'll be running at 5760x1080 (plus whatever my bezel correction will be) and I've been worried that i'll regret not getting 4gb cards for nvidia surround.

Can anyone speak from experience, and maybe shed some light on my whole situation? I'm diving in thinking I'll get much better performance with the lightning cards + a huge OC, vs the 4gb cards with hardly any OC.

Anywho I'm going to be happy either way. I finally get Adaptive Vsync (which I honestly think will be a LIFE saver.) I've heard it helps with microstutter so much... I can't even stand my 7970's anymore because of that very reason.


----------



## FtW 420

I was getting into the 14k scores I was after, but didn't do as well as I had hoped to. I did get a better score with z77 but wasn't able to save it, the motherboard went, I had to go back to x79 & ended up with this http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4193929


----------



## CalinTM

Could anyone give me some fps limiter (seems the limiter in afterburner doesnt work for witcher 1).


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Could anyone give me some fps limiter (seems the limiter in afterburner doesnt work for witcher 1).


Adaptive vsync works for me in witcher 1


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I was getting into the 14k scores I was after, but didn't do as well as I had hoped to. I did get a better score with z77 but wasn't able to save it, the motherboard went, I had to go back to x79 & ended up with this http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4193929
> ]


nice run there








what were the vga clocks and volts?
Looks like your sb-e needs crasy volts


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> nice run there
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> what were the vga clocks and volts?
> Looks like your sb-e needs crasy volts


Vga was at 1668/1752 @ about 1.575V, on z77 I did finish a run at 1700/1800 at 1.6V but crashed pressing the save, turned out the mobo blew a memory channel, will only boot single channel now.
The 3930k would pass with less volts, but higher voltage was adding a bit to the physics score so ran it higher.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Could anyone give me some fps limiter (seems the limiter in afterburner doesnt work for witcher 1).


http://downloads.guru3d.com/NVIDIA-Inspector-1.94-download-2612.html

Nvidia Inspector is just like GPU-Z, but go into the settings by clicking the icon to the right of the 'Driver Version' textbox and you can adjust all sorts of settings that work at the driver level. Sort of an advanced Nvidia Control Panel I would say? Anyways, I mostly use it for the framerate limiter, since Adaptive V-Sync isn't all it's cracked up to be. Half the time it gives you tearing, and half the time it gives you mouse lag. Might as well just go with some tearing but no lag at all.

So, click the Settings icon that's to the right of 'Driver Version', and if you want to adjust settings for all games, leave the Global Profile selected and just look for Framerate Limit in the list of settings. If you want to adjust the settings for a specific game, select it's profile from the drop-down list in the upper-left corner. Happy limiting








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> nice run there
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> what were the vga clocks and volts?
> Looks like your sb-e needs crasy volts
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Vga was at 1668/1752 @ about 1.575V, on z77 I did finish a run at 1700/1800 at 1.6V but crashed pressing the save, turned out the mobo blew a memory channel, will only boot single channel now.
> The 3930k would pass with less volts, but higher voltage was adding a bit to the physics score so ran it higher.
Click to expand...

You, sir, are the man







Excellent run. Sorry to hear about the motherboard blowing a gasket. Casualties of war


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> 
> 1391 core 3506 mem


UPDATED!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Possibly so, it seems that in the US the unlocked Lightnings are sold out,
> in my place there were still to be had 2 weeks ago ..
> BTW I have posted the new [email protected] a while back, not that it s any major improvement..


UPDATED! In this OC even though your core is 1411, your mem was lower frequency than before. I had to update your mem frequency in order to change the core freq to 1411

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Tried some 3dmark 11 with sandy this time, better gpu & combined score (14390 gpu isn't bad
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) but overall score just isn't there yet, next up 3770k.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Since I think I'm allowed to post some pictures of it today, a little MSI z77 mpower teaser for the lightning owners because the cards just look really good in this board...,


UPDATED!


----------



## famich

Hi, Michael, I have posted one more run in betweeen, you must have missed it-1424MHz-some improvement


----------



## dph314

Man. Looking at that OC spreadsheet in the OP is quite a sight. I can still remember last gen when hitting 1Ghz was the thing to do. Now 1.4 seems like the new milestone to hit. I can't imagine what the 780 Lightning will be like. Although, Nvidia's already been giving MSI a hard time. I wonder what will happen with the next gen.


----------



## famich

True, true... I remember trying 1Ghz with GTX 580 quite well, well.. it looks that my card with the WC could run 1400MHz easily -I can play Skyrim at1342 with the fan
55% @1.216 / really its more, we know../

But it really looks that MSI hit the nail - good chips, excellent chokes and extra capacitors pay off . BTW I d be interested what the EVGA boys think of this card








EVGA at my place is not that strong, but as far as I can see they got a pretty hefty fan base in the U.S. A.

GTX 680 Classified seems to be quite overpriced and lacking the OC features of Lightning. You need EV bot and EVGA MB to bypass the Nvidia fence ..


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Man. Looking at that OC spreadsheet in the OP is quite a sight. I can still remember last gen when hitting 1Ghz was the thing to do. Now 1.4 seems like the new milestone to hit. I can't imagine what the 780 Lightning will be like. Although, Nvidia's already been giving MSI a hard time. I wonder what will happen with the next gen.


GTX 780 and GTX 780K IMHO! I hope they don't burden overclockers with this nonsense (locking voltage on most cards) again.


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Vga was at 1668/1752 @ about 1.575V, on z77 I did finish a run at 1700/1800 at 1.6V but crashed pressing the save, turned out the mobo blew a memory channel, will only boot single channel now.
> The 3930k would pass with less volts, but higher voltage was adding a bit to the physics score so ran it higher.


Not bad just keep pluging away









Sucks my z77(ud5) blew a ram slot too,cant get it back even after a massage over the area and resetting the cpu with an air cooler.
sucks even older benches dont like single channel so for 3d its garbage


----------



## elbubi

Flash to latest normal bios (102 - 39). 100% Fan at startup has been brought back, so I guess I'm reverting back to 101a. Famich do you experience this behaviour too?

Regards!


----------



## famich

Yes, my card s got the newer BIOSes and it spins in the reverse at the startup .
I personally do not mind, 39 and 3A /LN2/ seem OK to me, tried once the F8 LN2, but it gave me the hard reset after the failed OC , pretty much like to everyone else...









Regards !


----------



## Pansyfaust

Hey guys so I tried to see what the "true" voltage my ln 2 bios could achieve. So I maxed out in afterburner the mv and connected up a multimeter and ran heaven benchmark. This was the max recorded V 1.078 ~1.081 

On Afterburner software though it recorded a max V of 1.304

So yea, no idea what that means :/. Does it mean my Voltage is software locked at the default 1.1750V?! Coz if it is that would suck nut.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Pansyfaust*
> 
> Hey guys so I tried to see what the "true" voltage my ln 2 bios could achieve. So I maxed out in afterburner the mv and connected up a multimeter and ran heaven benchmark. This was the max recorded V 1.078 ~1.081
> On Afterburner software though it recorded a max V of 1.304
> So yea, no idea what that means :/. Does it mean my Voltage is software locked at the default 1.1750V?! Coz if it is that would suck nut.


Doesn't sound right, does the meter hold the max recorded? You could try watching it to see the changes as well.

& OC that card.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Are you sure you have it plugged into the right test port on the card?


----------



## alancsalt

Resubbing after accidental unsub....all thumbs today...


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Pansyfaust*
> 
> Hey guys so I tried to see what the "true" voltage my ln 2 bios could achieve. So I maxed out in afterburner the mv and connected up a multimeter and ran heaven benchmark. This was the max recorded V 1.078 ~1.081
> On Afterburner software though it recorded a max V of 1.304
> So yea, no idea what that means :/. Does it mean my Voltage is software locked at the default 1.1750V?! Coz if it is that would suck nut.


Looks like you connected it to the wrong one. The core is the closest one the pcie slot I believe.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

^^^^

Looks like PLL voltage.


----------



## famich

Yes, the VGPU is the closest to the PCIE slot, than goes the VMEM and VPLL /V AUX / , looks the same to me...


----------



## Pansyfaust

Hahahahaha, lol. I'm just a noob. It was not in the correct pin out ;/. In my defence though I used this as a guiding point on which pin out was the Vgpu. Seems they got it backwards. Afterwards I took out my card from my case and saw that underneath the pin outs they had the icons for what they were supposed to measure. Did the measurements and my card at full Voltage tilt was getting 1.355V in heaven. So seems I got some headroom for voltage







. Thanks guys.


----------



## Pansyfaust

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Doesn't sound right, does the meter hold the max recorded? You could try watching it to see the changes as well.
> & OC that card.


Hey ftw, I am in the process of doing just that







Want to see what i can do with this card







. Oh and I think i saw your name on the MSI lords of overclocking list? Are you going to Taiwan? If you are Well done bud, if not still a sick single card bench you have there







See my fellow South African drewez and vivi made it tops









Also another question: it seems the volts are a bit high on my card when it is running at full tilt on the normal bios : Even though they say max locked volts for the lightning is 1.1750V when i run heaven with a MM attached it records the Volts hitting 1.204~1.206. This is with core V and power limit set to normal on AB.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Pansyfaust*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Doesn't sound right, does the meter hold the max recorded? You could try watching it to see the changes as well.
> & OC that card.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hey ftw, I am in the process of doing just that
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Want to see what i can do with this card
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Oh and I think i saw your name on the MSI lords of overclocking list? Are you going to Taiwan? If you are Well done bud, if not still a sick single card bench you have there
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> See my fellow South African drewez and vivi made it tops
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also another question: it seems the volts are a bit high on my card when it is running at full tilt on the normal bios : Even though they say max locked volts for the lightning is 1.1750V when i run heaven with a MM attached it records the Volts hitting 1.204~1.206. This is with core V and power limit set to normal on AB.
Click to expand...

That's correct. Even the references, also "locked to 1.175v", measure around 1.2v on a DMM.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Pansyfaust*
> 
> Hey ftw, I am in the process of doing just that
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Want to see what i can do with this card
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Oh and I think i saw your name on the MSI lords of overclocking list? Are you going to Taiwan? If you are Well done bud, if not still a sick single card bench you have there
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> See my fellow South African drewez and vivi made it tops
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also another question: it seems the volts are a bit high on my card when it is running at full tilt on the normal bios : Even though they say max locked volts for the lightning is 1.1750V when i run heaven with a MM attached it records the Volts hitting 1.204~1.206. This is with core V and power limit set to normal on AB.


No Taiwan for me this year. I was the first runner up in the americas part of MOA qualifications, & now 3rd runner up in single gpu for LOC. I'll have to work harder at it next year.
As dph314 said, that is normal for the regular stock bios, with any card the true voltage is rarely the same as software reported voltage.


----------



## Pansyfaust

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> No Taiwan for me this year. I was the first runner up in the americas part of MOA qualifications, & now 3rd runner up in single gpu for LOC. I'll have to work harder at it next year.
> As dph314 said, that is normal for the regular stock bios, with any card the true voltage is rarely the same as software reported voltage.


Ah, better luck next time dude. Thanks dph314 and ftw for the info

Well so far i've managed to record max 1304Mhz on the core using ~1.260v stable in bf3 (played for about 30 minutes) and did a few runs of heaven. Yet to do 3dmark 11 or vantage, they seem to hate 680 cards and always give me errors when i start them up.

Now that i've got to the 1300 mark I think its a good time to stretch out the memory for a bit. Whats safe amount of voltage to do on the memory? The MM reads about 1.617V when under heaven.
And another bit of guidance please







can anyone give me a heads up on potentially having an unstable card if both memory and core are fine when overclocking each individually, but get unstable applying both stable overclocks at the same time? I'm not a total noob at overclocking







, but i'm by no means an expert


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Pansyfaust*
> 
> Ah, better luck next time dude. Thanks dph314 and ftw for the info
> Well so far i've managed to record max 1304Mhz on the core using ~1.260v stable in bf3 (played for about 30 minutes) and did a few runs of heaven. Yet to do 3dmark 11 or vantage, they seem to hate 680 cards and always give me errors when i start them up.
> Now that i've got to the 1300 mark I think its a good time to stretch out the memory for a bit. Whats safe amount of voltage to do on the memory? The MM reads about 1.617V when under heaven.
> And another bit of guidance please
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> can anyone give me a heads up on potentially having an unstable card if both memory and core are fine when overclocking each individually, but get unstable applying both stable overclocks at the same time? I'm not a total noob at overclocking
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> , but i'm by no means an expert


Thanks!
I usually OC the core first & then overclock the memory while the core is overclocked. Testing max memory by itself & then using that with max overclocked core can be unstable, they have to be somewhat balanced to play nice with each other.
I haven't touched memory voltage while the card is under normal cooling, can't help much there.


----------



## Endergemini

I should be getting my 680 Lightning sometime this next week. I'm a GPU OC noob, but this thread seems to have a lot of awesome info and helpful people. Looking forward to joining the ranks and contributing any helpful tips I pick up on my way to becoming a pokémon overclocking master!


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Welcome aboard, I'm dumber than a bag of hammers and I did OK OCing these things!


----------



## K2mil

Hello guys

After trying some luck with msi 670 pe I decide that I want to step up to 680L. The nvidia forced bios make me sick I'm glad there is a way with bios flashing . I believe I read somewhere on guru3d forums that never batch of cards could be hardware limited to go only 1.175v I'm not a pro so I'm asking you is it possible my 680L is in mail and I'm concern now. I appreciate your answer..


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> Hello guys
> After trying some luck with msi 670 pe I decide that I want to step up to 680L. The nvidia forced bios make me sick I'm glad there is a way with bios flashing . I believe I read somewhere on guru3d forums that never batch of cards could be hardware limited to go only 1.175v I'm not a pro so I'm asking you is it possible my 680L is in mail and I'm concern now. I appreciate your answer..


If it does come with a voltage limiting bios, you can flash an unlocked bios on it & get full control. Haven't heard of anyone getting a locked one yet though.


----------



## rmhavy

Hey Guys! I just recently received my lightning 680. After a week of trying to push the card to its max, I ended up with 1310 core and 6800 mem as my max. I am definitely disappointed, and wondering if this is the norm. I have heard of people pushing mem over 7000 and core past 1350. I did notice my power usage is only about 65% sometimes 70%. Is that normal? I had an EVGA SC Sig 680 before this card and I had a 1300 core and 7100 mem, so I see this as an expensive downgrade. I was using the ln2 bios with voltage maxed out at like 1.289 or something like that. Thanks for any insight!


----------



## Pansyfaust

Check what the bios number is? You might just have a locked bios and the max voltage might only be 1.1750...


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rmhavy*
> 
> Hey Guys! I just recently received my lightning 680. After a week of trying to push the card to its max, I ended up with 1310 core and 6800 mem as my max. I am definitely disappointed, and wondering if this is the norm. I have heard of people pushing mem over 7000 and core past 1350. I did notice my power usage is only about 65% sometimes 70%. Is that normal? I had an EVGA SC Sig 680 before this card and I had a 1300 core and 7100 mem, so I see this as an expensive downgrade. I was using the ln2 bios with voltage maxed out at like 1.289 or something like that. Thanks for any insight!


Did you check up with th MM ? Max voltage shold be around 1.36-1.37 on LN2 BIOS.
Every chip is not the same and the overclock is not guaranteed


----------



## dph314

1.289v in software? That's not really reliable. I'm not home now, so I forgot what voltage I'm running when Afterburner shows 1.289v.


----------



## HALA MADRID

Hi guys. I got my awesome new rig about 1 month ago. I just want to check with you to see if my settings for my 680 lightning are k and that they won't cause any damage to the card. So I've ran unigine for 2 hours at these settings except that the fan speed was set at 70% manual instead of the 55% manual at which it is now. Here is 1 benchmark run of unigine file:///E:/Unigine%20scores/unigine_20120826_1407.html. Here is how AB looks after this run   . Now I could push these clocks a little higher, but other than benchmarking, they would serve no purpose. Based on what you've seen, would these settings be 100% safe to run 24/7? Note that today is very hot and these temperatures will most likely be lower once our beloved 7 months winter comes around. I have the 80.04.28.00.3a bios is it good? Is there a better bios out there? Thank you for your help.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HALA MADRID*
> 
> Hi guys. I got my awesome new rig about 1 month ago. I just want to check with you to see if my settings for my 680 lightning are k and that they won't cause any damage to the card. So I've ran unigine for 2 hours at these settings except that the fan speed was set at 70% manual instead of the 55% manual at which it is now. Here is 1 benchmark run of unigine file:///E:/Unigine%20scores/unigine_20120826_1407.html. Here is how AB looks after this run . Now I could push these clocks a little higher, but other than benchmarking, they would serve no purpose. Based on what you've seen, would these settings be 100% safe to run 24/7? Note that today is very hot and these temperatures will most likely be lower once our beloved 7 months winter comes around. I have the 80.04.28.00.3a bios is it good? Is there a better bios out there? Thank you for your help.


In theory the max limits in AB should be reasonably safe, although you shouldn't need them maxed. For example 200 power limit was enough to run 1680Mhz core with pll left at 0.
The 3a bios is a good one.


----------



## rkl1985

Hey guys! I am almost totally sold on buying one of these cards next month around the 14th when I get paid, my Gigabyte 560Ti SOC just isn't cutting it anymore since I got one of the Korean 2560x1440p monitors. It hangs in there pretty well but I really want my full 60fps or as close to as possible in the newer games I play. plus I have an upgrade itch to scratch anyways.

I was really wanting one of the Asus Dcu II 680's but I am afraid the triple slot design might not clear my cases lower hdd cage, it would be close though. Plus the TOP cards are not being sold anymore and the regular model is almost at reference clocks, boo! Soooo The Lightning looks great, it's over my budget but I dont upgrade often so I can justify it, and if games ever do catch up to the hardware the card is a beast and I can overclock it some and get a little more lifespan out of it. I really don't plan to overclock it too much out the box, it should be plenty already, really like the looks, its big and will match my system great.

Just open to others opinions, will be for my sig rig, should fit no problem, no fan in the side panel so clearance should be good, still debating the Asus triple slot, it is quite a bit cheaper and I honestly don't need such an over built card but it may not fit, can't find any pics of one in my case or talk about a similar setup.


----------



## HALA MADRID

But what is pll voltage? Why would we have the option to increase it to 50 if it does nothing beneficial? Are you saying that I can leave 93 and 100 on clock and memory and switch aux to 0 and I would not crash?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HALA MADRID*
> 
> But what is pll voltage? Why would we have the option to increase it to 50 if it does nothing beneficial? Are you saying that I can leave 93 and 100 on clock and memory and switch aux to 0 and I would not crash?


I actually had a max overclock of 1455mhz with all 3 voltages maxed. Then, for the hell of it after someone's suggestion, I tried out some runs with the PLL at -50mv. I actually increased my max overclock by 6mhz to 1461mhz, haha. Temps hit the same max too so it wasn't cooler temps that helped. So, bottom line is _lowering_ it actually helped me. I have no idea what it does on this card.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rkl1985*
> 
> Hey guys! I am almost totally sold on buying one of these cards next month around the 14th when I get paid, my Gigabyte 560Ti SOC just isn't cutting it anymore since I got one of the Korean 2560x1440p monitors. It hangs in there pretty well but I really want my full 60fps or as close to as possible in the newer games I play. plus I have an upgrade itch to scratch anyways.
> 
> I was really wanting one of the Asus Dcu II 680's but I am afraid the triple slot design might not clear my cases lower hdd cage, it would be close though. Plus the TOP cards are not being sold anymore and the regular model is almost at reference clocks, boo! Soooo The Lightning looks great, it's over my budget but I dont upgrade often so I can justify it, and if games ever do catch up to the hardware the card is a beast and I can overclock it some and get a little more lifespan out of it. I really don't plan to overclock it too much out the box, it should be plenty already, really like the looks, its big and will match my system great.
> 
> Just open to others opinions, will be for my sig rig, should fit no problem, no fan in the side panel so clearance should be good, still debating the Asus triple slot, it is quite a bit cheaper and I honestly don't need such an over built card but it may not fit, can't find any pics of one in my case or talk about a similar setup.


If you're looking to justify getting one of these, then just look at the sheet of max oveclocks in the first post. I'm not saying you'll get one that does 1400mhz for sure, but there is a good chance. The one pic I saw of your case made it look like the card will fit, unless the case was modded in the pic I saw. But yeah you may want a card that overclocks and stays cool if you're going to be playing at that resolution. Might as go with the dual-slot cooler, it's just as good, if not better, than the DCu II. And in addition to the better cooler, you get to join our awesome Owner's club


----------



## HALA MADRID

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I actually had a max overclock of 1455mhz with all 3 voltages maxed. Then, for the hell of it after someone's suggestion, I tried out some runs with the PLL at -50mv. I actually increased my max overclock by 6mhz to 1461mhz, haha. Temps hit the same max too so it wasn't cooler temps that helped. So, bottom line is _lowering_ it actually helped me. I have no idea what it does on this card.
> 
> Well then I won't bother. I'll just leave it at 50. Besides even with all the voltage sliders maxed, the card still runs cooler than reference designs and with only 55% manual fan so yeah. And since ln2 bios has no problems at 70 degrees celcius, I think that I have a beast of a card that will only get better with new drivers and AB.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HALA MADRID*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I actually had a max overclock of 1455mhz with all 3 voltages maxed. Then, for the hell of it after someone's suggestion, I tried out some runs with the PLL at -50mv. I actually increased my max overclock by 6mhz to 1461mhz, haha. Temps hit the same max too so it wasn't cooler temps that helped. So, bottom line is _lowering_ it actually helped me. I have no idea what it does on this card.
> 
> 
> 
> Well then I won't bother. I'll just leave it at 50. Besides even with all the voltage sliders maxed, the card still runs cooler than reference designs and with only 55% manual fan so yeah. And since ln2 bios has no problems at 70 degrees celcius, I think that I have a beast of a card that will only get better with new drivers and AB.
Click to expand...

It does run damn cool and can go over 70C no problem, so you got a great card no matter what







Just out of curiosity though, what clocks can you hit when the voltages are maxed?


----------



## HALA MADRID

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> It does run damn cool and can go over 70C no problem, so you got a great card no matter what
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just out of curiosity though, what clocks can you hit when the voltages are maxed?


Well stable, I think around 1375 or something around there and memory around 7100. I'm not sure though. I crashed at 1401 core and at 7200 memory I was getting artifacts, so I backed like 30-40 on clock and 100 something on memory, ran unigine 2 hours, saw no artifacts or crashes and said to myself well I'm sure that I could up the clocks some more and still be stable, but 10-15 on core clock and 50 on memory does not change anything than 0.4 or 0.5 on unigine so I just left it at 1362 and 7050.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HALA MADRID*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> It does run damn cool and can go over 70C no problem, so you got a great card no matter what
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just out of curiosity though, what clocks can you hit when the voltages are maxed?
> 
> 
> 
> Well stable, I think around 1375 or something around there and memory around 7100. I'm not sure though. I crashed at 1401 core and at 7200 memory I was getting artifacts, so I backed like 30-40 on clock and 100 something on memory, ran unigine 2 hours, saw no artifacts or crashes and said to myself well I'm sure that I could up the clocks some more and still be stable, but 10-15 on core clock and 50 on memory does not change anything than 0.4 or 0.5 on unigine so I just left it at 1362 and 7050.
Click to expand...

You ran 1375mhz/7100mhz in Heaven? That's definitely great. You could probably do close to 1400mhz in 3dMark11 then, since most people crash in Heaven before 3dMark11 will. Great card for sure


----------



## famich

I will try that "0 PLL trick " of yours .... I have almost completed 3DM at 1430MHz , we ll see - apart from that I am happy with the card


----------



## rmhavy

So say the software is saying one voltage and it's really less with the mm. That means I have the crappy bios I assume. Is there anything I can do?


----------



## famich

It s the first time I read that ... did you measure the VGPU at the proper point / closest to the PCIE / ?


----------



## BeerPowered

They need to hurry up and release the GTX 680 Lightning Extreme 4GB. I know its rumored to release in the fall, but I can't wait.


----------



## Pansyfaust

Allo all. So been tinkering away with my lightning for a bit. I started off the day seeing how far my default bios could squeeze out of my memory. So I started incrementally increasing voltage whenever I got "driver stopped responding" messages. Long story short, bad and great news...
firstly the bad: It was an epic disappointment for me :/ My card when I've got the core oc'ed to 1304 mhz was only able to add 90mhz on the memory with the memory slider at 100mv







. Anything more and it keeps crashing in heaven. And I know the memory voltage is not unlocked like the core voltage so at default the mm reads 1.617 and with 100mv added it reads 1.719 max recorded....

Needless to say I was bleak; for such an awesome card i though what a cruelness the silicon gods forced upon me.

So I thought "let me try the Ln2 bios for ****s and giggles" So i tried the same settings as with the default bios (made sure I had the 1304mhz core the same with the same volts as in default bios and set power limit to 300 %).... and put 100mv on the mem and 100 mem clock.... it passed heaven ....so I increased by 20mhz.....passed heaven again.....increased by 50mhz....passed heaven again..... weirdly at 345-350 mhz it seemed to run out of puff and would not budge from that setting....so I just moved the clock to 360 and it finished a heaven run fine....and I have been able to OC the memory to 450mhz so far







. So not bleak at all







Has this situation happened with anyone at all? ****ty mem oc in default bios, quite nice OC in ln 2 bios?

Got nearly 2963 score in heaven with everything high and tessalation at normal with no AA and 4 x anisotropy....
pics or ****


----------



## famich

LN 2 BIOS gives 1.202 V at the default settings , do not remember how much it makes in reality on the MM








So far, so good, try to match the higher GPU and MEM clock.

OT.: just now I ve had a look at EVGA US and EU websites: they re selling their Classy for exact the same price in the USA and in EU , which makes a huge difference









And apart from the EVGA marketing, which I render as a very good one, MSI did much much better job with Lightning








Only their "imouth " could be bigger


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rmhavy*
> 
> So say the software is saying one voltage and it's really less with the mm. That means I have the crappy bios I assume. Is there anything I can do?


Software is supposed to be innaccurate, that's normal. What's your MM reading?

P.S.- As far as we know, there is no "crappy" BIOS yet. I don't think anyone's gotten a locked down card yet.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Pansyfaust*
> 
> Allo all. So been tinkering away with my lightning for a bit. I started off the day seeing how far my default bios could squeeze out of my memory. So I started incrementally increasing voltage whenever I got "driver stopped responding" messages. Long story short, bad and great news...
> firstly the bad: It was an epic disappointment for me :/ My card when I've got the core oc'ed to 1304 mhz was only able to add 90mhz on the memory with the memory slider at 100mv
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Anything more and it keeps crashing in heaven. And I know the memory voltage is not unlocked like the core voltage so at default the mm reads 1.617 and with 100mv added it reads 1.719 max recorded....
> 
> Needless to say I was bleak; for such an awesome card i though what a cruelness the silicon gods forced upon me.
> 
> So I thought "let me try the Ln2 bios for ****s and giggles" So i tried the same settings as with the default bios (made sure I had the 1304mhz core the same with the same volts as in default bios and set power limit to 300 %).... and put 100mv on the mem and 100 mem clock.... it passed heaven ....so I increased by 20mhz.....passed heaven again.....increased by 50mhz....passed heaven again..... weirdly at 345-350 mhz it seemed to run out of puff and would not budge from that setting....so I just moved the clock to 360 and it finished a heaven run fine....and I have been able to OC the memory to 450mhz so far
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . So not bleak at all
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Has this situation happened with anyone at all? ****ty mem oc in default bios, quite nice OC in ln 2 bios?
> 
> Got nearly 2963 score in heaven with everything high and tessalation at normal with no AA and 4 x anisotropy....
> pics or ****


Nice work. Yeah I don't even think I've booted on the default BIOS yet. When you're testing for your card's max overclocks, there's really no reason to try on the default BIOS since the LN2 BIOS will always be higher. That's quite a big difference on the memory though, going from +90mhz to +450mhz. What is the stock memory voltage on the default and LN2 BIOS? I know the core voltage has about 50mv difference.

Edit: So this seems to be happening more and more often, and it's getting a little annoying

----
It's only cosmetic, it doesn't actually change the voltage, but still. I re-installed Afterburner, and haven't used The Edit on this install yet. It seems to happen when the voltage is changed to something other than the default +0mv, and then something else is maximized in front of Afterburner, like the internet or a game. I know it's happened to a bunch of people, but did anyone end up finding a fix for it?


----------



## Pansyfaust

Thanks man








There is only one default mem voltage across the memory on both bios'es. I checked both with a MM and recorded a stock value of 1.617 V on them both and ~1.719 V max recorded. I have no idea why the mem oc was horrible using the default bios (maybe the power % had something to do with it?!).
Reason I wanted to use the default bios as that way I could have 2 recorded settings (one bios for gaming; default bios and clocks) then the ln2 bios I wanted to use for benches. Basically I just wanted to know the limits for each bios.

I think I will go back to the default bios and do more testing, although even when I started overclocking the memory I was struck by low values causing hang ups. Like at + 30 on the mem clock I needed 20mv. Then when I tried to OC further at +35 it would not complete a heaven run. So bump the voltage up + 30mv. Completed run at +35 clock. Then I tried +40 clock and heaven wont complete. So bump up the voltage to 40mv and it completed. This happened all the way through to 100mv and +90 mem clock. Whenever I increased the mem clock I needed to increase the volts for heaven to complete a run.

This was not the case with the ln2 bios. I stopped at 450 mem clock as I have not had time to do more, but will see what I can get later.


----------



## Pansyfaust

Never had that issue dph. Must be irritating







Hope it comes right bud.


----------



## rmhavy

Is it normal to be getting only 65-70% gpu power?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rmhavy*
> 
> Is it normal to be getting only 65-70% gpu power?


That sounds about right. When I game I usually see around 60% I think. Haven't looked in a while though since you don't exactly have to worry about hitting the Power limit with these


----------



## Mr.Pie

unboxing thread of one of the new Aquacomputer blocks











more here:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1299284/unboxing-ac-aquagrafx-full-waterblock-for-msi-680-lightning/0_30

enjoy your blocks for those that got them


----------



## Jessekin32

Just recently picked up one of these bad boys, and plan on picking up another soon. Any chance anyone can help me get started on OCing these beasts? I've OC'd by 7970's in the past, but they were stupid easy, I've never actually tried OCing anything like this before.

What steps can I take to get the best possible OC for stable gaming? What are some things I should do within MSI Afterburner to get things started? I've already got my unlocked voltage control ready (durrr







) So I just need to know what I've gotta do to get this OC ball rollin'!

Thanks in advanced!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Jessekin32*
> 
> Just recently picked up one of these bad boys, and plan on picking up another soon. Any chance anyone can help me get started on OCing these beasts? I've OC'd by 7970's in the past, but they were stupid easy, I've never actually tried OCing anything like this before.
> 
> What steps can I take to get the best possible OC for stable gaming? What are some things I should do within MSI Afterburner to get things started? I've already got my unlocked voltage control ready (durrr
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) So I just need to know what I've gotta do to get this OC ball rollin'!
> 
> Thanks in advanced!


Well I would see how you do at +93mv before going beyond that. Both of my 2 that only did 1330mhz-1340mhz with +93mv absolutely hated any more voltage, but the one that did 1430mhz actually took more voltage quite well.

OC'ing should be relatively similar to the 7970. Find your max core with a particular voltage, then bump it up for more mhz. Or just skip right to +93mv and see what the card can really do







(on the LN2 BIOS of course). Heaven should give you a decent idea of what you can expect to be stable in most games.

But if you're used to OC'ing the 7970, then I must warn you... When looking at the graph in Afterburner showing your temps- it's not an error, they really are that low


----------



## famich

Indeed, these Lightnings got a very decent cooler !


----------



## renzkuken1

Ownership Proof










3dMark11 Screenshot



1401 / 6698

Unigine Heaven Screenshot



1385 / 7114


----------



## Mr.Pie

full block








credits to GenoOCAU










link to thread for more pictures
http://www.overclock.net/t/1299284/unboxing-ac-aquagrafx-full-waterblock-for-msi-680-lightning/0_30#post_18037744


----------



## hammerforged

Theres two Lighting P/N Now:

Normal Lightning

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693

PE Edition (Lower Clock speed and Price)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127698

Similar to what they did with the 7970s.


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> Theres two Lighting P/N Now:
> Normal Lightning
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693
> PE Edition (Lower Clock speed and Price)
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127698
> Similar to what they did with the 7970s.


is there any difference? If there isn't I expect that the Lightning bios can be flashed on and if the PCB's are the same the lightning block will/should fit as well


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> Theres two Lighting P/N Now:
> Normal Lightning
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693
> PE Edition (Lower Clock speed and Price)
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127698
> Similar to what they did with the 7970s.
> 
> 
> 
> is there any difference? If there isn't I expect that the Lightning bios can be flashed on and if the PCB's are the same the lightning block will/should fit as well
Click to expand...

Interested in this too. If the hardware is the same, anyone who knows how to flash a BIOS is going to be saving 50 bucks









PS- The Lightning _Power Edition_ is the slower/cheaper one? That seems a bit misleading for those who aren't well informed and want to make a decision between the Lightning and the Lightning Power Edition. Obviously if you're buying _any_ kind of Lightning you should be slightly well-informed to begin with, but still, seems backwards to me


----------



## K2mil

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> Ownership Proof
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 3dMark11 Screenshot
> 
> 1401 / 6698
> Unigine Heaven Screenshot
> 
> 1385 / 7114


I seams low for 680 GTX Lightningin 3DMark with that overclock


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> I seams low for 680 GTX Lightningin 3DMark with that overclock


Sort of hard to get a comparison on that score, it's in 2650X1440, but no AA or tesselation. I've run it in 2650X1440, but I max the other stuff out and I'm in SLI, and I don't even remember what my score was. It takes some juice to max H3 out in 2650X1440, I do remember that.


----------



## xoleras

Anyone else get waterblocks? Got mine yesterday.


----------



## K2mil

Getting my 680L today in mail. I was so excited I got a new case Corsair 650D
I wonder how long will it take me to do solid cable management.


----------



## Jessekin32

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well I would see how you do at +93mv before going beyond that. Both of my 2 that only did 1330mhz-1340mhz with +93mv absolutely hated any more voltage, but the one that did 1430mhz actually took more voltage quite well.
> OC'ing should be relatively similar to the 7970. Find your max core with a particular voltage, then bump it up for more mhz. Or just skip right to +93mv and see what the card can really do
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (on the LN2 BIOS of course). Heaven should give you a decent idea of what you can expect to be stable in most games.
> But if you're used to OC'ing the 7970, then I must warn you... When looking at the graph in Afterburner showing your temps- it's not an error, they really are that low


Hahaha, yeah, I'm blown away at how cool this thing is. I believe i found a semi stable sweet spot with it for now, (only have about 5 attempts with this card) and thats + 68mV, +150 on the core, and +450 on the memory. I haven't done too much stress testing yet, I only set the clocks last night, and then played BF3 for a few minutes. I think I need a nice solid gaming session to figure out for sure or not if its stable with that relatively low Vcore.


----------



## famich

Michaelw , please, update me with my last 1430 run,


----------



## Jessekin32

Should I be using "Force constant voltage"? Cause I have been...


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Jessekin32*
> 
> Should I be using "Force constant voltage"? Cause I have been...


It will just force the voltage at whats ever its set to. Making for higher idle temps but maybe increased stability.

Good for benching runs but I wouldnt do that for everyday use.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Interested in this too. If the hardware is the same, anyone who knows how to flash a BIOS is going to be saving 50 bucks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> PS- The Lightning _Power Edition_ is the slower/cheaper one? That seems a bit misleading for those who aren't well informed and want to make a decision between the Lightning and the Lightning Power Edition. Obviously if you're buying _any_ kind of Lightning you should be slightly well-informed to begin with, but still, seems backwards to me


I don't think it's a lightning, just the Power Edition, in the photos looks like the 'lightning' on the PCB (above pci-e) is covered up so probably didn't get the lightning name. It is the same PCB & everything else if the pictures are right, so the bios is probably the only difference.


----------



## Jessekin32

How are people able to take they Vcore over 100mV (93mV)????? I REALLY want to take this thing past 1300MHz, and I need more voltage to do so D:


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

You have to hack Afterburner with the ArtMoney hex address editor AFAIK.

You said you were at +150 on the core, that's already past 1300, did you mean past 1400?


----------



## Pansyfaust

So this is the best I am able to do on the core on 3dmark 11: 1402 Mhz. , memory is 450 mhz OC for an effective clock of 6912Mhz.



Highest heaven bench I am able to do is 1377mhz and also a 450 memory OC.

I still think I can take the memory higher but its a very hot night and I dont want to push it like i've been doing most of the day!

thats my card, glad I was able to break the 1400mhz level in a bench


----------



## BeerPowered

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I don't think it's a lightning, just the Power Edition, in the photos looks like the 'lightning' on the PCB (above pci-e) is covered up so probably didn't get the lightning name. It is the same PCB & everything else if the pictures are right, so the bios is probably the only difference.


It isn't a lightning you are correct. You can see the box art in the Newegg pictures which clearly label it as a power edition.

http://event.msi.com/vga/2012/series-comparison/


----------



## pwnzilla61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Anyone else get waterblocks? Got mine yesterday.


yupp, same here. Waiting on all my sleeves, cables, fittings, and the sort before I install.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Jessekin32*
> 
> How are people able to take they Vcore over 100mV (93mV)????? I REALLY want to take this thing past 1300MHz, and I need more voltage to do so D:


Yeah there's a way. And I think you mean 1400mhz. But if you got 1352mhz stable at only +68mv then I'm pretty sure you can do close to 1400 with +93mv, and probably definitely do it with +112mv.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Michaelw , please, update me with my last 1430 run,


Excellent









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Interested in this too. If the hardware is the same, anyone who knows how to flash a BIOS is going to be saving 50 bucks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> PS- The Lightning _Power Edition_ is the slower/cheaper one? That seems a bit misleading for those who aren't well informed and want to make a decision between the Lightning and the Lightning Power Edition. Obviously if you're buying _any_ kind of Lightning you should be slightly well-informed to begin with, but still, seems backwards to me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think it's a lightning, just the Power Edition, in the photos looks like the 'lightning' on the PCB (above pci-e) is covered up so probably didn't get the lightning name. It is the same PCB & everything else if the pictures are right, so the bios is probably the only difference.
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks. Just saw the cooler in the pic. Should have looked at the page a little closer.


----------



## Jessekin32

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> You have to hack Afterburner with the ArtMoney hex address editor AFAIK.
> You said you were at +150 on the core, that's already past 1300, did you mean past 1400?


I did say I was at it, but I never tested it for stability. I did, and it didn't do so well xD The highest I can get for good stability is like 1310. I want to take it higher









I'm just hoping I can get something figured out, because I really want to take this thing higher than just 1300MHz :/
I really hope I don't have a dud card, cause I've seen a lot of the cards have 100% ASIC, and mine has 95.5%. Really good compared to other 680's, but is that a bad ASIC for a Lightning card?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Jessekin32*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> You have to hack Afterburner with the ArtMoney hex address editor AFAIK.
> You said you were at +150 on the core, that's already past 1300, did you mean past 1400?
> 
> 
> 
> I did say I was at it, but I never tested it for stability. I did, and it didn't do so well xD The highest I can get for good stability is like 1310. I want to take it higher
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm just hoping I can get something figured out, because I really want to take this thing higher than just 1300MHz :/
> I really hope I don't have a dud card, cause I've seen a lot of the cards have 100% ASIC, and mine has 95.5%. Really good compared to other 680's, but is that a bad ASIC for a Lightning card?
Click to expand...

As far as I know, ASIC reading for Nvidia cards is completely unreliable.

But yeah it's possible you have a dud. I had a card that only did 1320mhz and even using the hack didn't help. I'd get green artifacts at any core voltage over +112mv. Sucks, but duds are out there.


----------



## renzkuken1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Sort of hard to get a comparison on that score, it's in 2650X1440, but no AA or tesselation. I've run it in 2650X1440, but I max the other stuff out and I'm in SLI, and I don't even remember what my score was. It takes some juice to max H3 out in 2650X1440, I do remember that.


What about for 3dmark11 why is that so low?

I'm fair sure it's in 1080p setting for that one.

Any tips?


----------



## renzkuken1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ethan319*
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, mine doesn't perform as good as other Lightnings.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Overclocked to
> Core: 1313 Mhz
> Mem: 7000 Mhz


How am i getting worse scores with mine at an OC of:



Core: 1380 Mhz
Mem: 7100 Mhz[/quote]

ALso why does my +mv slider go from +93mv down to +85mv whenever i press apply? :/


----------



## Nessuno89

hello guys

I have a little over a month these cards

but I have problems with the bios LN2
scores are low in comparison to other
then I see that the use of the cards does not go 99%
there is something wrong

http://i.imgur.com/VOX7g.jpg (SLI OFF)

then the bench(3d mark 2011) with the bios LN2 make me stutter \ drop fps

which does not happen with the stock bios

sorry for my english


----------



## Pansyfaust

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> How am i getting worse scores with mine at an OC of:
> 
> Core: 1380 Mhz
> Mem: 7100 Mhz


ALso why does my +mv slider go from +93mv down to +85mv whenever i press apply? :/[/quote]

Slide it all the way to 100mv and it will drop back to 93....as for the score being so low, try the bench with tessellation on normal not extreme....


----------



## renzkuken1

Also i just tested by 3dmark11 clocks....why is this the only difference in my stock ln2 bios and then overclocked???

STOCK



OVERCLOCKED

1401/3506



Why the tiny increase in score?









I just ran another 3dmark11 without raising my (mV slider) and this is what i got....



That's at:

1340/3506.......i'm so confused... I thought more voltage meant better clocks and benchmarks lol


----------



## dph314

No mystery there. Your GPU usage is quite a bit lower than it should be. Do you have v-sync enabled in the Nvidia Control Panel?


----------



## renzkuken1

Oh wow that helped heaps!!! Boosted my graphics score 1000 without voltage. Will try with voltage now.
Any other options i need to change?


----------



## Nessuno89

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> No mystery there. Your GPU usage is quite a bit lower than it should be. Do you have v-sync enabled in the Nvidia Control Panel?


No, v-sync disable in the Nvidia Control Panel...

do other tests and if you do not solve

RMA


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> Oh wow that helped heaps!!! Boosted my graphics score 1000 without voltage. Will try with voltage now.
> Any other options i need to change?


Excellent, good to hear. I think that should be the only NCP setting that makes a difference, as far as I know. Power Management Mode set to 'Prefer Maximum Performance' is what some people recommend, but leaving it on 'Adaptive' has never affected anything negatively for me, and it lowers temps a little since the card can downclock.


----------



## renzkuken1

Here is what i am getting using max voltage control.
1401/6912



Does that look like a 1400+ score? :/


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> Here is what i am getting using max voltage control.
> 1401/6912
> 
> 
> 
> Does that look like a 1400+ score? :/


Definitely not. With those clocks your GPU Score should be over 12,000. Something is affecting GPU usage


----------



## Pansyfaust

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> Here is what i am getting using max voltage control.
> 1401/6912
> 
> Does that look like a 1400+ score? :/


Ye that does'nt look right. With my core at 1402 and mem at 6912 I'm getting 12421 graphics score. Are you doing it on the extreme preset?


----------



## renzkuken1

Nah i'm doing it on the normal preset.
Anyone else have this issue and know how to fix it?

Would me doing it on my 2560x1440p screen have anything to do with my **** scores for 3dmark?
I do choose the 720p performance option and benchmark only. Any one that can resolve this would be amazing.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> Nah i'm doing it on the normal preset.
> Anyone else have this issue and know how to fix it?
> 
> Would me doing it on my 2560x1440p screen have anything to do with my **** scores for 3dmark?
> I do choose the 720p performance option and benchmark only. Any one that can resolve this would be amazing.


Your card would still run the benchmark in 720p.

Clean driver install is what I recommend.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Are you running in stretched mode vs centered? I think you can pick up a little by running it stretched.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nessuno89*
> 
> hello guys
> I have a little over a month these cards
> but I have problems with the bios LN2
> scores are low in comparison to other
> then I see that the use of the cards does not go 99%
> there is something wrong
> http://i.imgur.com/VOX7g.jpg (SLI OFF)
> then the bench(3d mark 2011) with the bios LN2 make me stutter \ drop fps
> which does not happen with the stock bios
> sorry for my english


I can't see all of your AB results, but it looks like GPU 2 has 0 Utilization. Your SLI isn't working. Do you have SLI enabled in the Nvidia control panel, have the bridge installed, have the PCI-E power cable connected, and have the PCI-E slot enabled on your MB?

I don't think it's a problem with your card unless it's just dead, you might try swapping cards and see if you can get it to run in the other slot.


----------



## Sevada88

Could this card run on 660watt? 3770k, 16GB ram.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Your card would still run the benchmark in 720p.
> Clean driver install is what I recommend.


Yeah, I d do the same
BTW, thanks dph314... but I think that s the end of the way for me







on air and without the V boost .Anyway, I m happy -
Ibought ASUS GTX 680 first week after the release- did 1215 max, then it wend dead /R I P /
RMA- bought EVGA , was worse -max 1175 ! Sold it and than the Lightning came .. so .. happy chappy here


----------



## K2mil

Hello Guys My 680 L arrive with the new LN2 .A3 BIOS. Fist impression this thing is a beast compare to my 670 PE which I thought is a big card (and now on its way back to vendor). To the point.... I haven't test it a whole lot because I got a new corsair 650D case to accommodate the card most of the time I spend o cable management (and listening to my wife what kind of mess I did..boxes, tools, more boxes).

I move the voltage all the way up I gave me a value of +93mv

Here is a question I left power limit at 100% should it be increased while over clocking and if yes is there any good value to start with?

The core I add +200 so my frequency jumped up to 1402 MHz

I only Run 3Dmark 11 P preset Test completed my GPU Score was somewhere at ~ 12500
The benchmark run really nice but two times I got like a green flare that lasted no longer than a blink of an eye.
What should I do to eliminate that problem?


----------



## Sporadic E

Just got my Lightning installed today. I will be OCing and benching it soon. What a monster card. I am going from SLI GTX 570s to this. Here are the screens:





Can't wait to see what this card can do.

Es


----------



## qwaz

Got my Lightning now for a week or so, but i must say i'm very disappointed with its overclock results. Paying extra for cards with special quality components and settings basically, but getting less than what probably a normal gtx 680 would do









My card does around 1325-1335MHz on the gpu (which is not super bad but my goal of 1350MHz will simply crash over and over) and MAX 6500MHz on the memory(6600MHz works but will give crappy performance in Heaven, plus very very subtle artifacts after a while in GW2) with bios1 with;

93+ mV on the core
+0 aux
+0 memory
133% Power Limit

Been trying everything to get it higher but it simply won't be stable. My memory absolutely hates ANY extra voltage at all and will make it artifact even quicker, even playing with aux voltage doesn't seem to do anything. But then i got some hope again because someone mentioned not being able to do much on bios 1, but bios2 was a world of difference.
Didn't really wanted to toy with that since i bought this card for gaming and not benchmarking at all, but i decided to give it a shot. After all, (my personal goal of) 1350/6900-7000 was not that hard to achieve for most of you.

Bios 2;

Basically nothing changes at all, even putting the Power Limit on 300% and everything else on max (+50mV on the core though) will not make much difference.
My Memory just flat won't go any further than 6600 without giving artifacts, even with more voltage and the higher power limit. Tried everything basically, even giving it - voltage but without succes.
And what's weird as well; +300% Power Limit alone (so without extra voltage) just does nothing at all for either memory or the GPU clocks. The GPU just needs at least that +50mV to not crash on 1325MHz.

The core i haven't tried much higher since i thought +25MHz won't be that much of a difference, i just need the memory to go higher.
I knew i should have kept that other card that did 1325 on the core with +50mV and 6900MHz on the memory without any extra voltage at all (bios1)... too bad the box was opened, that's why i sent it back for a new one.

*So guys, is this normal or do i just have a crappy card?*
3th MSI for me that just doesn't overclock well at all (had 2x 6950's), think i'll be looking at a different brand next time.


----------



## Nessuno89

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> I can't see all of your AB results, but it looks like GPU 2 has 0 Utilization. Your SLI isn't working. Do you have SLI enabled in the Nvidia control panel, have the bridge installed, have the PCI-E power cable connected, and have the PCI-E slot enabled on your MB?
> I don't think it's a problem with your card unless it's just dead, you might try swapping cards and see if you can get it to run in the other slot.


no ... SLI works but I have disabled it!

Scores are low on the bench with bios ln2
the use of the gpu bios ln2 is low and the fps drop \ stutter
I formatted it yesterday .... but the problem remains.


----------



## Nessuno89

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwaz*
> 
> Got my Lightning now for a week or so, but i must say i'm very disappointed with its overclock results. Paying extra for cards with special quality components and settings basically, but getting less than what probably a normal gtx 680 would do
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My card does around 1325-1335MHz on the gpu (which is not super bad but my goal of 1350MHz will simply crash over and over) and MAX 6500MHz on the memory(6600MHz works but will give crappy performance in Heaven, plus very very subtle artifacts after a while in GW2) with bios1 with;
> 93+ mV on the core
> +0 aux
> +0 memory
> 133% Power Limit
> Been trying everything to get it higher but it simply won't be stable. My memory absolutely hates ANY extra voltage at all and will make it artifact even quicker, even playing with aux voltage doesn't seem to do anything. But then i got some hope again because someone mentioned not being able to do much on bios 1, but bios2 was a world of difference.
> Didn't really wanted to toy with that since i bought this card for gaming and not benchmarking at all, but i decided to give it a shot. After all, (my personal goal of) 1350/6900-7000 was not that hard to achieve for most of you.
> Bios 2;
> Basically nothing changes at all, even putting the Power Limit on 300% and everything else on max (+50mV on the core though) will not make much difference.
> My Memory just flat won't go any further than 6600 without giving artifacts, even with more voltage and the higher power limit. Tried everything basically, even giving it - voltage but without succes.
> And what's weird as well; +300% Power Limit alone (so without extra voltage) just does nothing at all for either memory or the GPU clocks. The GPU just needs at least that +50mV to not crash on 1325MHz.
> The core i haven't tried much higher since i thought +25MHz won't be that much of a difference, i just need the memory to go higher.
> I knew i should have kept that other card that did 1325 on the core with +50mV and 6900MHz on the memory without any extra voltage at all (bios1)... too bad the box was opened, that's why i sent it back for a new one.
> *So guys, is this normal or do i just have a crappy card?*
> 3th MSI for me that just doesn't overclock well at all (had 2x 6950's), think i'll be looking at a different brand next time.


Quote


----------



## Endergemini

I see a lot of people posting their overclocks that are purely for maximum benchmark performance, but I would like to see what people are able to do with everyday gaming overclocks that hit that nice performance/noise sweet spot. Just got my card in recently and am still toying around and getting used to Afterburner. From my very brief time playing with overclocks, it seemed that I was reaching a point where it was downclocking to almost default boost speeds and to that 70c threshold with not too much of an OC. I was just using Kombustor to quickly test, will download the other programs once I get a moment.


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> Here is what i am getting using max voltage control.
> 1401/6912
> 
> Does that look like a 1400+ score? :/


So no one has asked what is your CPU and it's clock. I'm thinking that is the problem.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I wanted to post this for dph, a 1402 SLI run of 3D Mark 11.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4253607


----------



## renzkuken1

My CPU is i5 3570k overclocked to 4.5ghz


----------



## xoleras

Gnarly, are you going to WC your lightnings? I'm slowly assembling my WC build with my lightning blocks , can't wait.


----------



## K2mil

Guys how important is power limit and what the best value for 1402 MHz OC ??


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Gnarly, are you going to WC your lightnings? I'm slowly assembling my WC build with my lightning blocks , can't wait.


You know, I love the looks of those blocks, but I only run these things benching hard once in a blue moon. Most of the time I'm just cruising along.

That, and the PCI-E slot spacing is non-standard on this mobo, so the SLI cooling bridge that everybody else uses wouldn't work. But I admit I was tempted to just email Sidewinder and have them set me up with a full on water cooling system, something I could have everything I need to do the whole shebang at one go.

I see he got stiffed on some of the order, I might do it yet.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> Here is a question I left power limit at 100% should it be increased while over clocking and if yes is there any good value to start with?
> 
> The core I add +200 so my frequency jumped up to 1402 MHz
> 
> I only Run 3Dmark 11 P preset Test completed my GPU Score was somewhere at ~ 12500
> The benchmark run really nice but two times I got like a green flare that lasted no longer than a blink of an eye.
> What should I do to eliminate that problem?


I always put the Power Target up to maybe 150 or 200%, just to give it some room. But yeah you'll only approach 100% power usage when heavily over-volting (like around +143mv), so, you could just leave it at 100% and be fine for normal overclocks, or throw it all the way up to 300% for the hell of it. You should only see around 65% power usage with normal overclocks.

1402mhz, congrats. Was that with +93mv? I had little green artifacts when my card was getting more voltage than it liked apparently. I had a bad overclocker and it didn't like the voltage past a certain point or it would give me green artifacts like that, even if temps were fine.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwaz*
> 
> Got my Lightning now for a week or so, but i must say i'm very disappointed with its overclock results. Paying extra for cards with special quality components and settings basically, but getting less than what probably a normal gtx 680 would do
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My card does around 1325-1335MHz on the gpu (which is not super bad but my goal of 1350MHz will simply crash over and over) and MAX 6500MHz on the memory(6600MHz works but will give crappy performance in Heaven, plus very very subtle artifacts after a while in GW2) with bios1 with;
> 
> 93+ mV on the core
> +0 aux
> +0 memory
> 133% Power Limit
> 
> Been trying everything to get it higher but it simply won't be stable. My memory absolutely hates ANY extra voltage at all and will make it artifact even quicker, even playing with aux voltage doesn't seem to do anything. But then i got some hope again because someone mentioned not being able to do much on bios 1, but bios2 was a world of difference.
> Didn't really wanted to toy with that since i bought this card for gaming and not benchmarking at all, but i decided to give it a shot. After all, (my personal goal of) 1350/6900-7000 was not that hard to achieve for most of you.
> 
> Bios 2;
> 
> Basically nothing changes at all, even putting the Power Limit on 300% and everything else on max (+50mV on the core though) will not make much difference.
> My Memory just flat won't go any further than 6600 without giving artifacts, even with more voltage and the higher power limit. Tried everything basically, even giving it - voltage but without succes.
> And what's weird as well; +300% Power Limit alone (so without extra voltage) just does nothing at all for either memory or the GPU clocks. The GPU just needs at least that +50mV to not crash on 1325MHz.
> 
> The core i haven't tried much higher since i thought +25MHz won't be that much of a difference, i just need the memory to go higher.
> I knew i should have kept that other card that did 1325 on the core with +50mV and 6900MHz on the memory without any extra voltage at all (bios1)... too bad the box was opened, that's why i sent it back for a new one.
> 
> *So guys, is this normal or do i just have a crappy card?*
> 3th MSI for me that just doesn't overclock well at all (had 2x 6950's), think i'll be looking at a different brand next time.


Just raising the Power Target shouldn't really do anything, since these cards don't hit 100% very easily. Only raising the voltage should make a difference. And the LN2 BIOS should have made a difference since the stock voltage is about 50mv higher. Only getting around 1335mhz is a possibility with these cards, but try the LN2 BIOS and the core voltage at +93mv before you conclude that that's all the card can reach.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> I wanted to post this for dph, a 1402 SLI run of 3D Mark 11.
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4253607


Wow


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> Guys how important is power limit


I always just turn it up all the way up.

Quote:


> and what the best value for 1402 MHz OC ??


You just have to start moving the sliders up a little, run the benchmark of choice until it crashes, then tweak some more and try again. I probably had dozens to hundreds of crashes getting the stuff to all work. It's a pain in the rear, that's why I don't really do much benchmarking. I do a little now and then, but I run really conservative clocks/voltages most all of the time.

And get a pencil and paper to write the settings down. I'd run something and crash and have to guess what I had that didn't work. Takes twice as long.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Wow


LOL, you're the one who told me to just go for the top GPU clocks in 3DMark11 and see what it'd do. I tried 1410 and got a full on driver crash/freeze up, so that's it. But I have officially run SLI at 1400+









And I look back on when I first started messing with them and AB 2.2.2, I was happy at 1306 clocks SLI (and that's still what I run for daily driver stuff), now I'm almost 100MHz past that.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Wow
> 
> 
> 
> LOL, you're the one who told me to just go for the top GPU clocks in 3DMark11 and see what it'd do. I tried 1410 and got a full on driver crash/freeze up, so that's it. But I have officially run SLI at 1400+
Click to expand...

That's awesome. I'm tempted to send you my 3930k just to see what you'd run.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's awesome. I'm tempted to send you my 3930k just to see what you'd run.


Lord no... I'm really not the guy you want doing any testing. I just shotgun a jillion settings until something sticks, but I'm basically clueless and I think very lucky.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's awesome. I'm tempted to send you my 3930k just to see what you'd run.
> 
> 
> 
> Lord no... I'm really not the guy you want doing any testing. I just shotgun a jillion settings until something sticks, but I'm basically clueless and I think very lucky.
Click to expand...

K no problem. Send one of your Lightnings this way


----------



## K2mil

Hi guys I run some test and i got some screen shots. Now don't pay attention to hardware monitor, screen shots where taken after the test i just switched the tabs in IE and selected the profiles i used if any of you request me to take a screen shot right after benchmark let me know but i guarantee these are honest results and true scores.

The green artifacts @1402 MHz where gone as soon as i increased the power limit over 250%
All the settings where randomly chosen by me fallowing my instinct and end up finishing the 3dmark 11 on P preset without any crash, driver error or the devil himself the BSOD
Again I'm open on suggestions regarding what can i tweek I didn't touch memory for now is there a huge benefit in doing so ??

I'm open on advices Thank YOU


680L 1402 MHz










680L 1350 MHz


680L 1302 MHz


----------



## dph314

Well, you're on the LN2 BIOS and have the core voltage all the way up.

There's only one thing left to do if you want more mhz....


----------



## K2mil

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well, you're on the LN2 BIOS and have the core voltage all the way up.
> There's only one thing left to do if you want more mhz....


I believe you think about increasing that core slider...what else can i do really ?? the mV slider wont move any more....


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well, you're on the LN2 BIOS and have the core voltage all the way up.
> There's only one thing left to do if you want more mhz....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I believe you think about increasing that core slider...what else can i do really ?? the mV slider wont move any more....
Click to expand...

I mean increasing the core _voltage_ slider, past +93mv. You seem to have a good card, I bet it would respond well to more voltage. I'll find my post with the instructions if you promise not to blow up your card


----------



## K2mil

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I mean increasing the core _voltage_ slider, past +93mv. You seem to have a good card, I bet it would respond well to more voltage. I'll find my post with the instructions if you promise not to blow up your card


That would be great. I won't try it right away but will look into it. Also I would appreciate if you could tip me with settings to be safe on air I don't have any Water System And its little to hot now in Chicago so my temps are probably higher ~5C. I have arctic silver TIM Should i re apply ??


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> My CPU is i5 3570k overclocked to 4.5ghz


1. can you run it higher?
2.Do you have other things running such as AV? Seems something is using your CPU, or perhaps your vtt voltage is to low and slowing things down.
3. Memory speed?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I mean increasing the core _voltage_ slider, past +93mv. You seem to have a good card, I bet it would respond well to more voltage. I'll find my post with the instructions if you promise not to blow up your card
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That would be great. I won't try it right away but will look into it. Also I would appreciate if you could tip me with settings to be safe on air I don't have any Water System And its little to hot now in Chicago so my temps are probably higher ~5C. I have arctic silver TIM Should i re apply ??
Click to expand...

http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/2170#post_17931038 - proceed with caution

On air it just depends what your temps are. Like I went up to +143mv for 3dMark11 and temps only got up to high 60C's, because the Graphics Tests are so short. VRM temp I think was around 50C. So, I definitely wouldn't run a game at that high of a voltage obviously, but for quick benches I don't see anything wrong if temps only get into the 60C's. I would say 75-80C would be the max temp to hit to prevent degredation but I'm not positive.


----------



## Nessuno89

this 3d mark 2011 I did it with a gtx 680 @ default


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nessuno89*
> 
> this 3d mark 2011 I did it with a gtx 680 @ default
> 
> [URL=http://i.imgur.com/IoBXq.png]http://i.imgur.com/IoBXq.png[/URL] [/ IMG] From what I see around my score is low! then the use of the gpu is not normal. This happens with both cards, try one by one. I have the Rampage IV Formula x79 with the latest bios 2105 In the bios I put Gen2, but nothing changes! On the web many people have stability issues with the bios 2105 If ever I downgrade to 1404 it was extremely stable and see if that solves anything.[/QUOTE]
> 
> I saw no difference between 1404 and 2105. Switching between GEN2 and GEN3 shouldn't really do anything unless you use the Registry hack for PCIe 3.0 support. But yeah have you tried doing a clean install of the latest 306.02 beta drivers? Like a complete and manual uninstall using one of the guides on here?


----------



## Raf Leung

can anyone tell me the cooling of this card ?how is it? is this a better cooling than the evga gtx 680 dual fans?thanks


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Raf Leung*
> 
> can anyone tell me the cooling of this card ?how is it? is this a better cooling than the evga gtx 680 dual fans?thanks


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> You know, I love the looks of those blocks, but I only run these things benching hard once in a blue moon. Most of the time I'm just cruising along.
> That, and the PCI-E slot spacing is non-standard on this mobo, so the SLI cooling bridge that everybody else uses wouldn't work. But I admit I was tempted to just email Sidewinder and have them set me up with a full on water cooling system, something I could have everything I need to do the whole shebang at one go.
> I see he got stiffed on some of the order, I might do it yet.


just PM/Email Gary @sidewinders if you're interested









Yeah; we had like 6 people drop out on our original order.....still not as bad as when a few years back people said they wanted deltas (200people) and after Gary ordered them only 12 turned out to actually pay/order.









Come on guys







Lets support one of OCN's favorite watercooling shop


----------



## Nessuno89

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I saw no difference between 1404 and 2105. Switching between GEN2 and GEN3 shouldn't really do anything unless you use the Registry hack for PCIe 3.0 support. But yeah have you tried doing a clean install of the latest 306.02 beta drivers? Like a complete and manual uninstall using one of the guides on here?


no, I did not use the patch to enable the 3.0
it does not change anything between gen3 and gen2 I tried

You've done a clean install of windows and put the latest drivers 306.02


----------



## Raf Leung

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> just PM/Email Gary @sidewinders if you're interested
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah; we had like 6 people drop out on our original order.....still not as bad as when a few years back people said they wanted deltas (200people) and after Gary ordered them only 12 turned out to actually pay/order.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Come on guys
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lets support one of OCN's favorite watercooling shop


what do u mean bud?i want to know hows the card cooling and i might get one of those after i return the broken evga 680


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Raf Leung*
> 
> what do u mean bud?i want to know hows the card cooling and i might get one of those after i return the broken evga 680


I said you're always welcome to PM/email me or Gary if you're interested in a block.
Just stating that 6 people never turned up for payment/ordering and as a result Sidewinders has a surplus of these "limited" edition blocks


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> just PM/Email Gary @sidewinders if you're interested
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah; we had like 6 people drop out on our original order.....still not as bad as when a few years back people said they wanted deltas (200people) and after Gary ordered them only 12 turned out to actually pay/order.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Come on guys
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lets support one of OCN's favorite watercooling shop


Time to WC it up gnarlycharlie









Anyway, I've yet to buy a lot of my WC parts, so i'll try to get some stuff from him to support the cause. I need a bridge for SLI anyway.


----------



## GenoOCAU

I realised none of my results were up because you guys require a piece of paper with my username next to the graphics card, so here it is.









Best result: Here 1492 core/+566 mem with a universal waterblock.

I plan on doing some more testing now my loop has run in with the 680L AC waterblock on, which is showing a massive improvement on the previous block.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/2170#post_17931038 - proceed with caution
> On air it just depends what your temps are. Like I went up to +143mv for 3dMark11 and temps only got up to high 60C's, because the Graphics Tests are so short. VRM temp I think was around 50C. So, I definitely wouldn't run a game at that high of a voltage obviously, but for quick benches I don't see anything wrong if temps only get into the 60C's. I would say 75-80C would be the max temp to hit to prevent degredation but I'm not positive.


Once you edit for more voltage can you either undo the changes or uninstall AB and reinstall to the default settings of AB or is it a permanent change to the bios of the card itself..


----------



## Nessuno89

I tried to 1320mhz with the bios first ... so the bench does not stutterano \ drop








http://i.imgur.com/ZwCkB.png

Can you tell me if the score and normal?

instead with the bios LN2 I stutterano \ drop the bench and accordingly the result is lowest.

Do you know why?

thanks


----------



## K2mil

Whats your LN2 BIOS Version ??


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Raf Leung*
> 
> can anyone tell me the cooling of this card ?how is it? is this a better cooling than the evga gtx 680 dual fans?thanks


This card runs amazingly cool. When running Heaven, which keeps the card at a full 99% load the entire couple minutes, I had the fans at 100% and at 1350/6800 I had a max temp of 51C. So, with fans even on the default profile you can get excellent temps with hardly any noise at all. So...yes, great cooling, better than any EVGA one **looks over at the Classified and smiles**








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nessuno89*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I saw no difference between 1404 and 2105. Switching between GEN2 and GEN3 shouldn't really do anything unless you use the Registry hack for PCIe 3.0 support. But yeah have you tried doing a clean install of the latest 306.02 beta drivers? Like a complete and manual uninstall using one of the guides on here?
> 
> 
> 
> no, I did not use the patch to enable the 3.0
> it does not change anything between gen3 and gen2 I tried
> 
> You've done a clean install of windows and put the latest drivers 306.02
Click to expand...

Do you mean that _you've_ done a clean Windows install and have 306.02 installed? If so, then, I'm sure you probably already checked, but make sure v-sync is off in the Nvidia Control Panel. Then, see if other programs don't get full use. Do games and the Heaven benchmark run the GPU at 99% usage or are they just like 3dMark11?

Also, the patch for PCIe 3.0 didn't work for me neither. Once you get this usage thing fixed, I have a guide to do the 3.0 hack manually, which works a lot better than the patch which didn't for me.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> I realised none of my results were up because you guys require a piece of paper with my username next to the graphics card, so here it is.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Best result: Here 1492 core/+566 mem with a universal waterblock.
> 
> I plan on doing some more testing now my loop has run in with the 680L AC waterblock on, which is showing a massive improvement on the previous block.


What a run man, what a run. I wish I had a watercooling setup. Congrats







Now do that hack in Afterburner and get that core over 1500mhz!!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/2170#post_17931038 - proceed with caution
> On air it just depends what your temps are. Like I went up to +143mv for 3dMark11 and temps only got up to high 60C's, because the Graphics Tests are so short. VRM temp I think was around 50C. So, I definitely wouldn't run a game at that high of a voltage obviously, but for quick benches I don't see anything wrong if temps only get into the 60C's. I would say 75-80C would be the max temp to hit to prevent degredation but I'm not positive.
> 
> 
> 
> Once you edit for more voltage can you either undo the changes or uninstall AB and reinstall to the default settings of AB or is it a permanent change to the bios of the card itself..
Click to expand...

All you have to do is close ArtMoney and then click Reset in Afterburner and the editing is undone. No reinstalling necessary. The edit changes values in memory, nothing permanent.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nessuno89*
> 
> I tried to 1320mhz with the bios first ... so the bench does not stutterano \ drop
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://i.imgur.com/ZwCkB.png
> 
> Can you tell me if the score and normal?
> 
> instead with the bios LN2 I stutterano \ drop the bench and accordingly the result is lowest.
> 
> Do you know why?
> 
> thanks


That score is definitely low for those clocks. It's because you're not getting full GPU usage on either card. Pretty wierd that people having these problems all of the sudden. Aside from the suggestions already made, I have no clue what else to do


----------



## NickLe

Joining the club.

I haven't started overclocking yet.
Just getting comfortable with it.








Like taking a girl out on the first date, taking my time.(<--- what a joke, in reality I always tried to steal bases hoping for home, if I could.)


----------



## K2mil

Look at your ssd just hanging out there there is a nice clean solution to it I used look here


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I made a little bracket to hang mine under the 5 1/4" bays, this pic is old, there are two SSDs hanging under there now.


----------



## K2mil

Love these 680 L in SLI


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> Love these 680 L in SLI


They are a killer









Charlie, not sure if you mentioned it before or not but what kind of case is that? 650D?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

550D, the mid-tower version.


----------



## Pansyfaust

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> I made a little bracket to hang mine under the 5 1/4" bays, this pic is old, there are two SSDs hanging under there now.


----------



## fastpcman12

so newegg is selling gtx 680 lighting for 579.99 after rebate with borderlands 2?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=KRB

i can sell borderland 2 for about $40-$50 on ebay/amazon. so a msi lightning gtx 680 for aobut $530? SIGN ME UP !









and don't forget about 3% cashback from fatwallet.

highly tempted to sell my gtx 670 slis and get 2 of these. should i???


----------



## Neo Zuko

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fastpcman12*
> 
> so newegg is selling gtx 680 lighting for 579.99 after rebate with borderlands 2?
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=KRB
> i can sell borderland 2 for about $40-$50 on ebay/amazon. so a msi lightning gtx 680 for aobut $530? SIGN ME UP !
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and don't forget about 3% cashback from fatwallet.
> highly tempted to sell my gtx 670 slis and get 2 of these. should i???


I like it better when it was 550 delivered after rebate.


----------



## Menthol

dph314,
Thanks so much, what do you do for 2 cards in sli or is this possible, I promise I won't smoke them. I want to go lightly tell I feel comfortable and my blocks show up, just ordered 2 from sidewinder. Been waiting to compete my loops, not that that will guarantee any higher clocks but will guarantee a quieter system. I'll submit some pics as proof of ownership after I get the blocks on and hopefully higher benchmarks. So far can complete 3D11 with one card at 1370 sli at 1325 without a lot of experimenting.
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4253716


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fastpcman12*
> 
> so newegg is selling gtx 680 lighting for 579.99 after rebate with borderlands 2?
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=KRB
> 
> i can sell borderland 2 for about $40-$50 on ebay/amazon. so a msi lightning gtx 680 for aobut $530? SIGN ME UP !
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and don't forget about 3% cashback from fatwallet.
> 
> highly tempted to sell my gtx 670 slis and get 2 of these. should i???


For that deal I definitely would.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> dph314,
> Thanks so much, what do you do for 2 cards in sli or is this possible, I promise I won't smoke them. I want to go lightly tell I feel comfortable and my blocks show up, just ordered 2 from sidewinder. Been waiting to compete my loops, not that that will guarantee any higher clocks but will guarantee a quieter system. I'll submit some pics as proof of ownership after I get the blocks on and hopefully higher benchmarks. So far can complete 3D11 with one card at 1370 sli at 1325 without a lot of experimenting.
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4253716


I actually haven't tried editing voltages in SLI to two different levels yet, but it's possible to do in unedited Afterburner so there's got to be some way that you can use the edit to give the cards 2 different voltages. But giving them the same voltage is easy, just do the same thing as if you had one card, or select the Sync option in Afterburner.

I'll have to try giving the cards 2 different voltages. Maybe there's another address ArtMoney can find that holds the second card's voltage value when they're different.


----------



## CalinTM

Can anyone post some pictures with Aida64 latest version in the Sensor tab, please ?


----------



## renzkuken1

So i worked out why i was getting a ****e score in 3dmark11 with my card overclocked at 1401/3550

I had it testing via a 2560 x 1440p monitor so i swapped my monitor back to my old 1600 x 1050 monitor and the score jumped up 2000.....
here is a pic. Anyone know why this would have happened?



Also still waiting to be added to the overclock spreadsheet mike









Overclocked to:

1402/7298


----------



## eR1k

I just received my 680 lightning, which is very exciting for me because it is Phase Change cooled







. However, the ln2 bios is corrupt after flashing but the regular bios still works fine. Is there a way for me to take a second try at flashing the ln2 bios, without incidentely ruining the regular one I am using now?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *eR1k*
> 
> I just received my 680 lightning, which is very exciting for me because it is Phase Change cooled
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . However, the ln2 bios is corrupt after flashing but the regular bios still works fine. Is there a way for me to take a second try at flashing the ln2 bios, without incidentely ruining the regular one I am using now?


What did it say when you got the error?

Do you have your old video card that you can use to boot so you can re-flash?

Good Lord that is a sexy setup. I see 1600mhz in the near future if you can get that LN2 BIOS working.


----------



## eR1k

I did not get an error, but once I rebooted after flashing it would show a distorted image and after that it would no longer send out a signal to my monitor. Is it possible to attempt flashing whilst using the integrated HD4000 on ivy?


----------



## dph314

Did you use one of the BIOS files from the original post? What BIOS did it come with?


----------



## eR1k

I downloaded the old ln2 bios from the first page, I did not check which version was initially installed. I do not think it was the unlocked version, because my multimeter only showed 1.2v on the gpu.

Edit: I tried the new ln2 bios from the first page, and now, everything works fine again. Just tried 1.53 vgpu, which was no problem for the phase unit









Also, what is the max recommended VRM temperature?


----------



## renzkuken1

Where the hell do i get artmoney to adjust voltage higher than 93mv...its asking me to buy it and it costs 25 bucks.... eph that.
What else can i use?


----------



## NickLe

@K2mil
About the SSD's just hanging out... they are having a smoke break
What it is is... I have 4 of them stacked on top of each other... I have a bracket that fits 2 that came with the HAF X, but I took 'em off of it cause:
I have a front fan pulling air in and a twist tied fan pushing air to the GFX, but there is a drive cage in between the two that decimates a good air flow.
So I am trying to have no obstruction in between albeit even though its minimal...
The second reason the power supply has a 4 port sata power cable so I have all 4 daisy chained on the one power line, since they are so low in power, I think that 4 SSD on one is good.
The SSD bracket fits one right side up and the other upside down... one bracket two SSD.
But then the power line has to be contorted to fit one way and the other opposite, having two is okay but then having four on one, daisy chained, doesn't work.
I am anal about certain things too, and making my case look clean is important but airflow and cooler temperatures are just a wee bit higher in the priority.
Lol, I don't think it came out that I liked your attention to detail, thanks for the suggestion.


----------



## K2mil

Guys I Know Its off topicHere is what i posted on Intel Forum but could you make any sugestions:

"Hello
I purchased an Intel 330 SSD 60 GB. The main reason I did so was to replace my
OCZ Vertex 3 SSD that was unreliable. I decided that I will go with Intel brand
SSD for my operating system disk and ocz as my spare gaming, program disk. Well
I started getting the bad freezes its very random I would leave my pc on and
when I got to work I couldn't connect remotely to it. After I got back home I discovered
that its frozen. Everything would be on but the disk led on my case would not
blink no I/O device would work. Only thing left was hard reset. In even viewer
there was a critical error associated to unexpected shutdown kernel power 41.
There was no other error that would refer to the freeze. The other day
everything was fine I was able to connect remotely while at work, I got back
home everything was fine. I wanted to play some when I double click on the icon
system froze. I got mad I thought maybe it's my Geforce 680 GTX but I have like
850W PSU so can't be. I had all the Intel Drivers Installed including RST and Management.
As someone suggested I uninstalled the RST driver and will see if there is any
issues from now on."

Please dont be mad


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

You might try posting your problem in the SSD forum as well, if it's an SSD related problem, the mod there is pretty sharp on the whole SSD thing.


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> Where the hell do i get artmoney to adjust voltage higher than 93mv...its asking me to buy it and it costs 25 bucks.... eph that.
> What else can i use?


Here


----------



## eR1k

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I see 1600mhz in the near future if you can get that LN2 BIOS working.


I just made a short video showing that my Lightning card is running at 1600mhz GPU and 3800mhz memory while playing Guild Wars 2. Great card


----------



## FtW 420

Some great overclocks coming through in here! I'll have to try the 680 on the single stage after seeing eR1k's results, unloaded temps on the ss would be just about right to avoid coldbugging but I wasn't sure if it could handle the 680 under load.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *eR1k*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I see 1600mhz in the near future if you can get that LN2 BIOS working.
> 
> 
> 
> I just made a short video showing that my Lightning card is running at 1600mhz GPU and 3800mhz memory while playing Guild Wars 2. Great card
Click to expand...

I guess I should have said 1700mhz









Excellent video







. Another successful edit. Now you have to run 3dMark11 so that someone can finally give FtW420 some competition.

So....wanna let me borrow that phase unit?







I want to see what my 1461mhz @ 1.4v card can do on it.


----------



## Vaerwind

Hey guys,
My previous attempts yielded a wall of 1252 without using the voltage slider on the LN2 bios. I want to give it another shot with some extra juice but I don't have access to a digital multimeter. What's a safe offset to run the core voltage at? I noticed that it goes up to +93 and people have been using memory editors to surpass that. Does that mean +93 is safe 24/7?

I don't want to push any limits. Just looking for a 1300-1350 24/7 clock if I can get it.

Should I even think about changing the memory voltage or that other (PLL, i think?) voltage?

-Vaerwind


----------



## dph314

+93mv will probably let you get to 1300mhz. I doubt a few hours a day of gaming with this voltage will show any noticeable degrading before you upgrade in 2 or 3 years, but it's under warranty for 3 years anyways, so, yeah I don't think it should be something to worry about. But people going over +93mv with the edit don't really use it for gaming or 24/7 OCs, just benches (hopefully).

AUX voltage did nothing for me, but you can try it. I actually got a higher overclock on the core with the AUX voltage at -50mv rather than maxed, thanks to Scorpion suggesting it. Mem voltage will help the memory overclock, gave me a much higher memory overclock with the +100mv.

Just use Afterburner within it's limits (unedited) for gaming, and if temps are fine then the card should be fine as well.


----------



## famich

I m gamin @LN2 BIOS at 1342MHz -1.224 for the time being, still on air man fan at 60% gives me max temp around
56-58 C.Sweet..
I d like to try that Artmoney hack just for fun of it..


----------



## FtW 420

Saw this posted on another forum today, hope it was a fluke & something didn't change in the newer lightnings
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Xtreme Addict;195124*
> I got today my 680 Lightning retail, 1.1v on ln2 bios (new revision). When I flash it with old ln2 bios I have artefacts even in bios lol. Something changed but rev. on PCB is the same in theory. So no OC this weekend...


----------



## cowie

I was just reading that myself.


----------



## dph314

Oh great. Maybe they _did_ change something that won't let the card take a BIOS flash. Wonderful.

Yeah that better be a dud card, or else the first group of Lightnings just went waaay up in price on eBay.


----------



## Menthol

I bought a new card at Fry's earlier this week
Came with: 80.04.28.00.39 and 80.04.28.00.3A
Flashed to bios without fan spin up at start without problem.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> I bought a new card at Fry's earlier this week
> Came with: 80.04.28.00.39 and 80.04.28.00.3A
> Flashed to bios without fan spin up at start without problem.


But is the card getting the voltage that it should be? What's you overclock looking like after the BIOS flash?
Maybe the card you bought was sitting there for a little while, and the freshly-shipped ones just recently getting to retailers are the gimped ones. Either way I hope you got a 'real' Lightning.


----------



## renzkuken1

I'm getting so pissed off~~!

I can't even open the stupid process in artmoney pro (i payed a few bucks to get it....)

It says cant open msi afterburner process.

I'm struggling so hard to get it open in a memory editor to increase the voltage past +93mv....

Any help much appreciated. Oh and michaelm can you please add me to the spreadsheet on page 1.

Cheers


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> I'm getting so pissed off~~!
> I can't even open the stupid process in artmoney pro (i payed a few bucks to get it....)
> It says cant open msi afterburner process.
> I'm struggling so hard to get it open in a memory editor to increase the voltage past +93mv....
> Any help much appreciated. Oh and michaelm can you please add me to the spreadsheet on page 1.
> Cheers


I never actually used artmoney, although I was planning to try & had this page saved for some instruction. Previous pages had more instructions. http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/1680_20


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> I'm getting so pissed off~~!
> 
> I can't even open the stupid process in artmoney pro (i payed a few bucks to get it....)
> 
> It says cant open msi afterburner process.
> 
> I'm struggling so hard to get it open in a memory editor to increase the voltage past +93mv....
> 
> Any help much appreciated. Oh and michaelm can you please add me to the spreadsheet on page 1.
> 
> Cheers


Quote:


> -Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
> -Open Afterburner 2.2.3
> -Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
> -Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
> -Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
> -Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
> -Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
> -Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
> -Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
> -Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
> -Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
> BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltages in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card


-http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/2170#post_17931038

These are the directions where I get specific, because I remember having problems as well so I put in most of the things that I was doing wrong but eventually got some help with it with from everyone. You should not have had to pay anything. It sounds like you're skipping the step that says "right-click and choose 'Run as Administrator'". If you don't do that then it won't work. Do everything word for word and you should be all set.

Sorry you had to pay for it though. Don't be afraid to ask questions. I know I'm not, ha. But yeah follow those and you should be set.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> But is the card getting the voltage that it should be? What's you overclock looking like after the BIOS flash?
> Maybe the card you bought was sitting there for a little while, and the freshly-shipped ones just recently getting to retailers are the gimped ones. Either way I hope you got a 'real' Lightning.


Who's to say how long they had it or when it was manufactured, nether one of mine will bench past 1350 by themselves or 1325 in sli at 1.35 volts, got blocks today, maybe i'll benchmark them separately and maybe not, gettin kind of tired of overclocking and locking up and going again. I will take a break and try soon.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> But is the card getting the voltage that it should be? What's you overclock looking like after the BIOS flash?
> Maybe the card you bought was sitting there for a little while, and the freshly-shipped ones just recently getting to retailers are the gimped ones. Either way I hope you got a 'real' Lightning.
> 
> 
> 
> Who's to say how long they had it or when it was manufactured, nether one of mine will bench past 1350 by themselves or 1325 in sli at 1.35 volts, got blocks today, maybe i'll benchmark them separately and maybe not, gettin kind of tired of overclocking and locking up and going again. I will take a break and try soon.
Click to expand...

Get the 3A BIOS, it doesn't make you reset every crash









Water will definitely help. Maybe 1350mhz in SLI? Which is something I wish I could do







Damn my other card.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> I bought a new card at Fry's earlier this week
> Came with: 80.04.28.00.39 and 80.04.28.00.3A
> Flashed to bios without fan spin up at start without problem.


I got the card for 1 month now with the exactly same versions of BIOS, so it might really have been there for a while...


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Get the 3A BIOS, it doesn't make you reset every crash
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Water will definitely help. Maybe 1350mhz in SLI? Which is something I wish I could do
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Damn my other card.


Yep, if I bought another one, it d be the same, I bet....


----------



## xoleras

Operation water cooled MSI lightning 680s commences over the next 2 weeks









Gonna take my time and do my WC build right! Its my first! I'm seriously looking forward to doing benchmarks with max voltage without having to use 100% fans. 1402mhz is nice but 1402 mhz at whisper quiet settings .. even better!


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Operation water cooled MSI lightning 680s commences over the next 2 weeks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Gonna take my time and do my WC build right! Its my first! I'm seriously looking forward to doing benchmarks with max voltage without having to use 100% fans. 1402mhz is nice but 1402 mhz at whisper quiet settings .. even better!


don't forget a build log or pictures









and report your temps and new OC's of course


----------



## xoleras

Oh I will!

Question for you if you know! I'm torn between going with a quiet build with a RX360 and 1500ish rpm fans versus a black ice GTX 360 rad with better fans - and with a fan controller to manipulate fan speed.

Is it possible to get high rpm fans with a Black Ice rad and maintain a quiet build (with a fan controller mind you). I'm pretty torn right now. I don't want a noisy system but I also want max performance, so i'm trying to find the perfect balance between the two!


----------



## Sporadic E

I have my card for a few days now and I did some playing around with it Friday night. I have the 80.04.28.00.3A LN2 BIOS. I have not tried to flash it because I wanted to see what this on can do do. Without the hack I made 1300 core and did not play with the mem. I hacked it using the java editor with a 125 voltage (didnt know how high I should go on air so this seemed like a safe number) and made 1360 core. Played with the mem and got 6912 with 30 (again air and seemed like safe number) on the mem voltage. Temps where 68 for a maxed out Heaven run (see screen shot for details) which to me did not seem like a bad temp with the fans only going maybe 45% max. I have a couple of questions. How do you save the core voltage value? I saved the profile in afterburner but after a reboot the core voltage went back to 93 max. Do I have to do the java hack everytime I want to use the card with these values? That would suck. Also, what max voltage would be considered safe for 24/7 OC? I plan on doing some max out testing to see where the card can go but I would like to run the 1360/6912 or better 24/7 if that is safe. Again that wont happen if I cant save the core voltage value somehow. Here is the screen of the Heaven run.




Es


----------



## xoleras

The hex edit? That is much better suited to real LN2, I don't believe anyone on air should use it ever personally......1.4V or higher is really high. Insanely high, even. Afterburner allows you up to 1.37V .

Secondly, there is a limitation with afterburner, you have to re-apply voltages after reboot. A new version of afterburner may fix that.


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Oh I will!
> Question for you if you know! I'm torn between going with a quiet build with a RX360 and 1500ish rpm fans versus a black ice GTX 360 rad with better fans - and with a fan controller to manipulate fan speed.
> Is it possible to get high rpm fans with a Black Ice rad and maintain a quiet build (with a fan controller mind you). I'm pretty torn right now. I don't want a noisy system but I also want max performance, so i'm trying to find the perfect balance between the two!


hmmm
Yes to your question....restriction is very high in the "GTX" series rads. They've got a super high FPI and do need high RPM fans to shine.
In the end; its up to you of course









I went with a RX480 myself instead of a GTX 480 rad.


----------



## K2mil

hello Guys I was playing crysis 2 for good 2h on my LN2 Bios stock and suddenly ma game turned into rainbow I don't know how to describe it but it was multi color everywhere. I had to exit it and everything was great I do have to mention that the card was in upper 60 C and it was supper humid that day in Chicago. Could that be temps or maybe latest beta driver?? then I played again for another 2 hours and it was fine.


----------



## wutang61

I'm rolling the 306 beta and I've noticed some decreased stability 1402 isn't a stable clock anymore. 1377 seems to be my new stable clock. Also since AIDA64 has been updated I tend to get red screens out of no where. 60c temps low clock 945~MHz. I have turned it off and will do some more testing to see if the problem persists but so far it seems to have cured it. I'm a little disappointed that the 306 drivers caused me to lose clocks. Maybe this issue will be fixed in a final release.

Anyone else have trouble with Aida or instability at a overclock once 306 was installed?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Get the 3A BIOS, it doesn't make you reset every crash
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Water will definitely help. Maybe 1350mhz in SLI? Which is something I wish I could do
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Damn my other card.


These blocks are fantastic, 2 Lightnings in sli first 3D11 run at 1350 core 1728 on Ram, both cores at 39 degree's, very promising.
If you are thinking about getting these blocks I would say jump on these they are just great.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4286623

3DM11 - 20443

Now to up my CPU past 5.0 and GPU???


----------



## xoleras

Menthol, how many items do you have in your loop? 40C in a benchmark run is pretty darn good, I'm hoping I can get something similar with 2 GPUs and 1 CPU in a loop.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Operation water cooled MSI lightning 680s commences over the next 2 weeks


Good God xoleras, I *cannot* wait to see you Graphics score once you get them under water







With your Lightnings, you won't have to upgrade until the 800-series, ha.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sporadic E*
> 
> I have my card for a few days now and I did some playing around with it Friday night. I have the 80.04.28.00.3A LN2 BIOS. I have not tried to flash it because I wanted to see what this on can do do. Without the hack I made 1300 core and did not play with the mem. I hacked it using the java editor with a 125 voltage (didnt know how high I should go on air so this seemed like a safe number) and made 1360 core.


If you have the 3A BIOS then you don't have to flash, the 3A is pretty much the best BIOS we have. And yeah like xoleras said, the hack shouldn't be used for gaming at all. I don't think people need to spend hours pumping over 1.4v into their card just for ~50 more mhz and an extra 2fps. But for quick benches, temps can stay pretty low, like 3dMark11 with its short Graphics Tests. I had the voltage up to +151mv for a couple runs and I still kept core temp in the 60's and VRM temp in the 50's. So if temps don't have time to climb, then you probably don't have to worry too much about a quick +1.4v run, but not if you can't keep temps relatively low, and never for gaming.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> I'm rolling the 306 beta and I've noticed some decreased stability 1402 isn't a stable clock anymore. 1377 seems to be my new stable clock. Also since AIDA64 has been updated I tend to get red screens out of no where. 60c temps low clock 945~MHz. I have turned it off and will do some more testing to see if the problem persists but so far it seems to have cured it. I'm a little disappointed that the 306 drivers caused me to lose clocks. Maybe this issue will be fixed in a final release.
> 
> Anyone else have trouble with Aida or instability at a overclock once 306 was installed?


I may have a similar problem with 306. In Arkham City in SLI at 1290mhz, my lower card needed +93mv to be stable, but it _was_ stable. Then today I crashed for the first time. Not sure if it was just a coincidence that it was shortly after I switched over to 306 and it just took a while for that overclock to show itself as unstable, or if it was the new driver.


----------



## pwnzilla61

I am using a coolgate 360 with ap 15's dead quite.


----------



## pwnzilla61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Oh I will!
> Question for you if you know! I'm torn between going with a quiet build with a RX360 and 1500ish rpm fans versus a black ice GTX 360 rad with better fans - and with a fan controller to manipulate fan speed.
> Is it possible to get high rpm fans with a Black Ice rad and maintain a quiet build (with a fan controller mind you). I'm pretty torn right now. I don't want a noisy system but I also want max performance, so i'm trying to find the perfect balance between the two!


I am using a coolgate 360 with ap 15's dead quite.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Menthol, how many items do you have in your loop? 40C in a benchmark run is pretty darn good, I'm hoping I can get something similar with 2 GPUs and 1 CPU in a loop.


I have 2 loops, a RX360, push pull on my CPU,with the XSPC 750 bay pump, res. a RX480 push pull mother board blocks to my GPU's in series with an EK D5 pump 140 res, combo. 7/16 tubing.
I have a Case Labs Magnum TH10 so I have the space for Rads in just about any configuration.


----------



## Jessekin32

So after about 45 minutes of BF3, my card crashes yet again... I can't even get 1300MHz stable with this damn card. I'm livid that a card like this can't even out perform my friends EVGA FTW+ card...

+93mV on the core,
+100mV Memory
+50mV Aux
Power limit at 300%
+100 Core
+425 Memory
Fan auto.

Would having my memory that high affect the stability overall for my card? Affecting my core stability?


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Jessekin32*
> 
> So after about 45 minutes of BF3, my card crashes yet again... I can't even get 1300MHz stable with this damn card. I'm livid that a card like this can't even out perform my friends EVGA FTW+ card...
> +93mV on the core,
> +100mV Memory
> +50mV Aux
> Power limit at 300%
> +100 Core
> +425 Memory
> Fan auto.
> Would having my memory that high affect the stability overall for my card? Affecting my core stability?


When the lightning first came out the reviews mentioned how the memory did not OC as well as others. Yes unstable memory will affect your OC.


----------



## froloz

Hi guys,

i can run my card at 1380core and around 7100 memory speed. heaven score with max setting at 1080p is 1421. Driver used is 304.48

My question is why in Afterburner 2.2.3 i can only increase my power limit to 133%. Can anyone help me? i can post some screenshot after i get home from work. Thank you


----------



## Pansyfaust

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *froloz*
> 
> Hi guys,
> i can run my card at 1380core and around 7100 memory speed. heaven score with max setting at 1080p is 1421. Driver used is 304.48
> My question is why in Afterburner 2.2.3 i can only increase my power limit to 133%. Can anyone help me? i can post some screenshot after i get home from work. Thank you


You must be on the default bios and not the LN2 bios...


----------



## froloz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Pansyfaust*
> 
> You must be on the default bios and not the LN2 bios...


Hm i think im using LN2 bios as shown in gpuz and afterburner.


----------



## famich

Did u try the BIOS switch on the side of the card ?


----------



## froloz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Did u try the BIOS switch on the side of the card ?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Pansyfaust*
> 
> You must be on the default bios and not the LN2 bios...


Right now im running very stabil core 1390 and memory 1720. However power limit is only maximum 133%. Bios version is as in GPU-z. Just want to know why its not 300%. Its running at most 70 degrees celcius at 60% fan speed. And im sure im using LN2

3D mark score at http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4291164 . my Heaven score is 1421 max setting at 1080p . Ithink the score is good enough already

The link is here http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/968/forforum.png



Uploaded with ImageShack.us


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> When the lightning first came out the reviews mentioned how the memory did not OC as well as others. Yes unstable memory will affect your OC.


I also noticed that lowering the power limit to something less than 300 helped me, around 220, 225. Could just be my imagination.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Get the 3A BIOS, it doesn't make you reset every crash
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Water will definitely help. Maybe 1350mhz in SLI? Which is something I wish I could do
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Damn my other card.


Using Artmoney I can raise the voltage and clock either card to 1400. but in SLI and using Artmoney to raise the voltage I end up with the Red Screen of death. On driver 306.02, haven't tried any other drivers since a fresh install of windows. Back on the 3A bios now that I don't have to listen to the fans spin anymore. I never used the pcie lane switches on my ROG boards before now, they are one of my favorite functions now.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *froloz*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Did u try the BIOS switch on the side of the card ?
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Pansyfaust*
> 
> You must be on the default bios and not the LN2 bios...
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Right now im running very stabil core 1390 and memory 1720. However power limit is only maximum 133%. Bios version is as in GPU-z. Just want to know why its not 300%. Its running at most 70 degrees celcius at 60% fan speed. And im sure im using LN2
> 
> 3D mark score at http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4291164 . my Heaven score is 1421 max setting at 1080p . Ithink the score is good enough already
> 
> The link is here http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/968/forforum.png
> 
> 
> 
> Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Click to expand...

You definitely have the right 3A LN2 BIOS showing, but GPU-Z is saying your default clock is 1111mhz, and it should be saying 1202mhz. And a +155mhz offset gives you 1397mhz core, which means a stock clock of 1242mhz







You look like you're on the default BIOS and it Boosts to 1242mhz, but GPU-Z is showing the LN2 BIOS. Is this another one of the potentially gimped cards? Maybe they changed the Power % in the 3A BIOS, try flashing to the 3A one from the original post in this thread and see if that helps.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *froloz*
> 
> Right now im running very stabil core 1390 and memory 1720. However power limit is only maximum 133%. Bios version is as in GPU-z. Just want to know why its not 300%. Its running at most 70 degrees celcius at 60% fan speed. And im sure im using LN2
> 3D mark score at http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4291164 . my Heaven score is 1421 max setting at 1080p . Ithink the score is good enough already
> The link is here http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/968/forforum.png
> 
> Uploaded with ImageShack.us


That isn't the LN2 BIOS. Just flash over it with the BIOS files from page 1 of this thread. That is the non LN2 BIOS.


----------



## Sporadic E

Almost 1400 core on non hacked voltage? That dosent seem right. Then again maybe my card sucks. I can only get 1330 core without hacking the voltage. Once I do the hack I can get up to 1400. Seems a little odd that the card can go that high without hacking AB.

Es


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> That isn't the LN2 BIOS. Just flash over it with the BIOS files from page 1 of this thread. That is the non LN2 BIOS.


The BIOS version in his GPU-Z is exactly the same though. This mean that MSI is releasing cards now with a 3A LN2 BIOS that is locked to 133% Power %?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sporadic E*
> 
> Almost 1400 core on non hacked voltage? That dosent seem right. Then again maybe my card sucks. I can only get 1330 core without hacking the voltage. Once I do the hack I can get up to 1400. Seems a little odd that the card can go that high without hacking AB.
> 
> Es


My one does 1430mhz/7100mhz without the hack, the other will only get up to 1340mhz core without it. So, there's a wide range of cards out there.


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *froloz*
> 
> Hi guys,
> i can run my card at 1380core and around 7100 memory speed. heaven score with max setting at 1080p is 1421. Driver used is 304.48
> My question is why in Afterburner 2.2.3 i can only increase my power limit to 133%. Can anyone help me? i can post some screenshot after i get home from work. Thank you


Is the MSI logo lit up on the back of your card?


----------



## froloz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You definitely have the right 3A LN2 BIOS showing, but GPU-Z is saying your default clock is 1111mhz, and it should be saying 1202mhz. And a +155mhz offset gives you 1397mhz core, which means a stock clock of 1242mhz
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You look like you're on the default BIOS and it Boosts to 1242mhz, but GPU-Z is showing the LN2 BIOS. Is this another one of the potentially gimped cards? Maybe they changed the Power % in the 3A BIOS, try flashing to the 3A one from the original post in this thread and see if that helps.


Have u seen another card like this? Just got it 5 days ago
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> That isn't the LN2 BIOS. Just flash over it with the BIOS files from page 1 of this thread. That is the non LN2 BIOS.


How about my card OC speed is it good and the same as others? If it is good i dont really want to bother about it. However, if i flash to older bios and hacking the voltage will it go to 1500 on air? haha

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> Is the MSI logo lit up on the back of your card?


Yes the led at the back of msi logo is working.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sporadic E*
> 
> Almost 1400 core on non hacked voltage? That dosent seem right. Then again maybe my card sucks. I can only get 1330 core without hacking the voltage. Once I do the hack I can get up to 1400. Seems a little odd that the card can go that high without hacking AB.
> Es


Yeah make me wonder too how high it can go


----------



## dph314

That's a great overclock, but it should be saying 300% Power limit with that BIOS. It probably won't throttle at all though, because even when I had a huge +150mv offset on the core, I was only hitting around 100-105%, so, but yeah It would be interesting to hook a DMM up to that thing to see what voltage it's getting. But no, I've never seen a 133% Power limit on the 3A BIOS.


----------



## froloz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's a great overclock, but it should be saying 300% Power limit with that BIOS. It probably won't throttle at all though, because even when I had a huge +150mv offset on the core, I was only hitting around 100-105%, so, but yeah It would be interesting to hook a DMM up to that thing to see what voltage it's getting. But no, I've never seen a 133% Power limit on the 3A BIOS.


I did monitor the gpu-z under heaven and BF3 play and the card never throttle under full load. Hm im not good at using DMM(never used one) haha but i can try to buy a cheap one and see how it goes


----------



## Menthol

Has anyone tried there cards without the GPU Reactor, if so did it affect your overclovking or stability in anyway. That is my only complaint, it interferes with the slot above, I would not sacrifice performance by removing it tho.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *froloz*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's a great overclock, but it should be saying 300% Power limit with that BIOS. It probably won't throttle at all though, because even when I had a huge +150mv offset on the core, I was only hitting around 100-105%, so, but yeah It would be interesting to hook a DMM up to that thing to see what voltage it's getting. But no, I've never seen a 133% Power limit on the 3A BIOS.
> 
> 
> 
> I did monitor the gpu-z under heaven and BF3 play and the card never throttle under full load. Hm im not good at using DMM(never used one) haha but i can try to buy a cheap one and see how it goes
Click to expand...

If you flash to the 3A BIOS from the original post and you then have a 300% Power % then you'll be good. The overclock you're getting sounds like you have the same voltage as the rest of us, as you're right around the average overclock. But flashing takes 2 seconds so I'd give it a try, and it should give you the 300%. Directions for that are also in the OP.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> The BIOS version in his GPU-Z is exactly the same though. This mean that MSI is releasing cards now with a 3A LN2 BIOS that is locked to 133% Power %?
> .


Both the LN2 and non LN2 BIOS that is shipping now is version 3A, I think MSI germany has it on their website for download. I downloaded it from there a while back
and both BIOS files were version 3A, while the original BIOS had differing versions for LN2 and non LN2


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Has anyone tried there cards without the GPU Reactor, if so did it affect your overclovking or stability in anyway. That is my only complaint, it interferes with the slot above, I would not sacrifice performance by removing it tho.


I did leave the gpu reactor off while benching water cooled, it didn't make any difference for benchies at least.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> The BIOS version in his GPU-Z is exactly the same though. This mean that MSI is releasing cards now with a 3A LN2 BIOS that is locked to 133% Power %?
> .
> 
> 
> 
> Both the LN2 and non LN2 BIOS that is shipping now is version 3A, I think MSI germany has it on their website for download. I downloaded it from there a while back
> and both BIOS files were version 3A, while the original BIOS had differing versions for LN2 and non LN2
Click to expand...

Ah. Thanks









Well froloz, I guess you didn't flip the switch to the right afterall (do so while the computer is completely off)


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Both the LN2 and non LN2 BIOS that is shipping now is version 3A, I think MSI germany has it on their website for download. I downloaded it from there a while back
> and both BIOS files were version 3A, while the original BIOS had differing versions for LN2 and non LN2


Nope , I had the same version of "regular " and LN2 BIOS , LN2 only ending with 3A -see my older posts, I have uploaded the BIOS ses as well..


----------



## froloz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Both the LN2 and non LN2 BIOS that is shipping now is version 3A, I think MSI germany has it on their website for download. I downloaded it from there a while back
> and both BIOS files were version 3A, while the original BIOS had differing versions for LN2 and non LN2


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Ah. Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Well froloz, I guess you didn't flip the switch to the right afterall (do so while the computer is completely off)


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Nope , I had the same version of "regular " and LN2 BIOS , LN2 only ending with 3A -see my older posts, I have uploaded the BIOS ses as well..


Guys im sure im at the right selector switch. i took a screenshot for u at my default switch link below. That one is 133% power limit and see the bios version as well. It is not 3A.

Default Bios


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2857/defaultbios.png

LN2 Bios



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/968/forforum.png

So the question still the same why my LN2 3A BIOS only allow 133% power limit not 300%? If possible i want to know why before i flash to new bios. Tq.


----------



## xoleras

Maybe you have a used card and someone overwrote the BIOS. Shrug. It happens especially if you buy from newegg. I've had 3 gpu's from newegg arrive on my doorstep obviously used, I could see tamperings and seals removed. Just overwrite it.


----------



## dph314

Yeah flashing is pretty easy. And it should be the first step for troubleshooting this. Use the 3A BIOS from the OP and you should be good.


----------



## NickLe

Hey guys I finally took the plunge and oc the beast with potential...
Questions: my gpuz is looking a bit funky with the numbers and since it was my first time oc I just wanted to make sure I am doing it right.
I did not check the box for "Force constant voltage" in afterburner. Should I?
What clocks are safe for 24/7 for gaming and web surfing. I keep my rig running 24/7 never shutting down except for restarts when need be.
I am on 306.02 drivers.

Thanks to all who have started this and who's knowledge I have implemented.


----------



## NickLe

and 3d mark...


----------



## NickLe

I have hyper threading off.
I wanted to add the gpuz also but I forgot to maximize,
so here it is...
by the way if anyone lives in Canada I would really check out Memory Express .com
I got the card for $523 when I send away for the $25 mail in rebate it will be $498 and I got the Borderlands 2 Coupon, hopefully selling it will get me something like $35- $45.
$463-$453
How? you may ask.
Well They are selling their card for $629.99
I went to shopbot.ca or pricebat.ca (I can't remeber which one) I plugged Msi Gtx Lightning 680 I found the results someone at the time was selling it for $545. Mem Exp has a 25% price beat guarantee of the difference. The diff was $85 25% of that is 21.25 so give or take the final sale price... $523.
It is my one stop shop for everything cause who can beat the price diff... I love deals and love to pay less for more








any how back to business...


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Yes NickLe, we are very fortunate to have access to that store as a walk in to buy computer stuff instead of ordering online. If there is a problem with any products, we can easliy go back and exchange it no problem. I also like the IPR they offer, top notch.









Congrats on your new Lightning too, great card!


----------



## NickLe

Thanks man.








I waited 3 years for an upgrade on gpu, from gtx 285 tri-sli, I was pretty glad to get one card to rule 'em all.
Less power, less noise, less sli-exclusive headache.
More fluidity, more money savings on electric bill, better overall experience.
Now if only I can get to hook me up with tomorrow's 649 #.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *froloz*
> 
> Guys im sure im at the right selector switch. i took a screenshot for u at my default switch link below. That one is 133% power limit and see the bios version as well. It is not 3A.
> Default Bios
> 
> Uploaded with ImageShack.us
> http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2857/defaultbios.png
> LN2 Bios
> 
> Uploaded with ImageShack.us
> http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/968/forforum.png
> So the question still the same why my LN2 3A BIOS only allow 133% power limit not 300%? If possible i want to know why before i flash to new bios. Tq.


very strange, see mine...


----------



## NickLe

Hi Famich same anomaly with my default clock and gpu clock?
maybe both our cards were dropped as a babies


----------



## famich

No, see for yourself... PWTGT 300 on mine !


----------



## alancsalt

He means Froloz, quoted in your post back a bit...


----------



## famich

allright, I ve misundertood that ..


----------



## K2mil

Hello guys thin the video you can see the problem I'm Having




My card overclocks well up to 1402 MHz and everything is fine. When I play a crysis 2 game after some amount of time 1-2h this happens

There was a guy who rma 3 cards because he had similar issue but ended up finding out that it was his ssd not Gpu look here

Now il Running this game on intel 330 ssd plese look at video and comment I really hope is the ssd because I will go crazy if its a GPU


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Loved that thread. "Kepler is screwed" "Kepler boost is screwed" "Oh, it wasn't the card".

Hope you get it lined out, I have to admit I would have never suspected the SSD either.


----------



## exploiteddna

*hey guys, sorry i havent updated the spreadsheet in 2 weeks ive been slammed recently with tons of papers i have due. anyways, there have been about 280 posts since i last was in the thread and i dont have the time to read through all of them looking for OC updates to add to the spreadsheet. If you posted your info in the past two weeks, give or take, and i have not updated your info, please repost your info for me using the following guidelines. From now on all spreadsheet submissions need to follow this format so it is easy for me to skim through and find which posts contain submissions. Thanks







*

_Please make all submissions in a post by itself. Please include ONLY the following in submission posts. if you want to comment on your achievement or whatever, make a second post. Submission posts should begin with your submission information (as outlined below), and end with an image of your validation screenshot!_

If anyone needs something to be updated, please post your info for me in the following format:
*
UPDATE

Username: **********************
Max Core OC: ************************
Max Memory OC: *************************
**Insert validation screenshot (according to instructions in OP) here**

If someone needs to be added to the spreadsheet for the first time, please post you info in this format: (same as above, but title it with "NEW", instead of "UPDATE")
*
NEW

Username: **********************
Max Core OC: ************************
Max Memory OC: *************************
**Insert validation screenshot (according to instructions in OP) here**


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> Hello guys thin the video you can see the problem I'm Having
> 
> 
> 
> My card overclocks well up to 1402 MHz and everything is fine. When I play a crysis 2 game after some amount of time 1-2h this happens
> There was a guy who rma 3 cards because he had similar issue but ended up finding out that it was his ssd not Gpu look here
> Now il Running this game on intel 330 ssd plese look at video and comment I really hope is the ssd because I will go crazy if its a GPU


Artifacts mean your overclock is too high or your airflow/fan profile is not aggressive enough. IMHO If you're overvolting you need 70% manual fan minimum with great case airflow. Having a non aggressive fan profile will make your temps rise over time leading to instability. Also, your overclock may just be too high - personally I find overvolting by 100mV for .3 more fps in a game to not be worth it, just my .02.......Case in point, my metro 2033 benchmark fps rises by 1-2 frames going from 1302mhz to 1412.


----------



## Sporadic E

*NEW*

Sporadic E
Still working on stable max OC



Es


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Artifacts mean your overclock is too high or your airflow/fan profile is not aggressive enough. IMHO If you're overvolting you need 70% manual fan minimum with great case airflow. Having a non aggressive fan profile will make your temps rise over time leading to instability. Also, your overclock may just be too high - personally I find overvolting by 100mV for .3 more fps in a game to not be worth it, just my .02.......Case in point, my metro 2033 benchmark fps rises by 1-2 frames going from 1302mhz to 1412.


I definitely second that ! Overclocking @1401 MHz on air is not good/ healthy / etc ... I m running 1350MHz at 1,227 24/7 but with 60% manual fan, if you want to run 1400MHz, go and buy and rig the WC block on your card .


----------



## famich

Update -overlock

Username: famich
GPU 1430 MHz
Memory 471 MHZ


----------



## dph314

Nice card







Almost exactly like mine at that voltage. It should respond well to more voltage, unlike some.


----------



## NickLe

username: Nickle
Max OC GPU: 1356
Max OC RAM: 6884


----------



## K2mil

The card was running stock at 1202 sorry I didn't make that clear I just re installed crisis 2 on my Hdd and I have same issue what else could I try ???


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

What are your temps when it happens?


----------



## K2mil

It happen random temps don't exead 63c and fan is set up on custom curve sound of fan does not bother me. I put crisis on had and it happened way faster than on hdd is it ram or should I try something else ??


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> It happen random temps don't exead 63c and fan is set up on custom curve sound of fan does not bother me. I put crisis on had and it happened way faster than on hdd is it ram or should I try something else ??


This only happens when playing Crysis 2, or other games as well?

If it happens on both the HDD and SSD then you might want to RMA it. If you can test it out in another computer, like a friend's or something, just to double-check, then that'll tell you for sure whether it's the card or not. But yeah if it happens on both drives then I would say there's nothing left to do but RMA it. Sucks having to RMA such a good card. Trust me, I know


----------



## renzkuken1

NEW

Username: Renzkuken1

3DMark11

Max Core OC: 1401
Max Memory OC: 3557

Heaven

Max Core OC: 1385
Max Memory OC: 3557


----------



## renzkuken1

What i would like to know is why i can't reach my best clocks again and how come i get green artifacts when i run lower clocks than i was in my screenshots?
Should i RMA?


----------



## Silvaren

Oh god something went wrong when i was flashing bios i need help right now







I followed your guide it flashed bios and it said update is completed then i restarted my pc but i see dots and weird lines and other things everywhere. I cant even look at my screen. Why did this happen ? Can anyone help me please ?


----------



## Menthol

I believe there were concerns earlier in this thread that some were going to damage there cards overvolting to much and then wanting to RMA there cards, there is always the potential for bios flashing to go wrong or overvolting to damage cards. You should make sure your system is not overclocked or at default settings before flashing a bios. You should be able to recover by re flashing the bios though and killing hardware is a known risk that overclockers take all the time, if your not willing to take the risk you shouldn't be doing it. These cards, even the ones that can only meet specs are still very good performers, anything above that is icing. I also had high hopes of getting the golden card, but it didn't happen


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sporadic E*
> 
> *NEW*
> Sporadic E
> Still working on stable max OC
> Es


Done









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Update -overlock
> Username: famich
> GPU 1430 MHz
> Memory 471 MHZ


Done









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NickLe*
> 
> username: Nickle
> Max OC GPU: 1356
> Max OC RAM: 6884


Done









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> NEW
> Username: Renzkuken1
> 3DMark11
> Max Core OC: 1401
> Max Memory OC: 3557
> Heaven
> Max Core OC: 1385
> Max Memory OC: 3557


Done


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You definitely have the right 3A LN2 BIOS showing, but GPU-Z is saying your default clock is 1111mhz, and it should be saying 1202mhz. And a +155mhz offset gives you 1397mhz core, which means a stock clock of 1242mhz
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You look like you're on the default BIOS and it Boosts to 1242mhz, but GPU-Z is showing the LN2 BIOS. Is this another one of the potentially gimped cards? Maybe they changed the Power % in the 3A BIOS, try flashing to the 3A one from the original post in this thread and see if that helps.


it looks like there are two different 3A BIOSs now. 80.04.09.00.3A and this newer one, which he has, is 80.04.28.00.3A


----------



## Silvaren

Thanks for your comments but i didnt do anything wrong and i also didnt damage my card. It is just bios that is not working with my card and i dont really know why it happens. Anyways, new bios worked for me so i managed to fixed that issue.

80.04.09.00.3A is working fine as soon as i flash to 80.04.09.00.F8 it starts bugging again. If file is not corrupted then does it mean msi did something to avoid using old bios ?

Also with 3A i cant give more than +93 core voltage. Power limit is fine i can move it to %300 but even if i pull voltage slider to +100 it just goes back down to +93 as soon as i click on apply.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Silvaren*
> 
> Also with 3A i cant give more than +93 core voltage. Power limit is fine i can move it to %300 but even if i pull voltage slider to +100 it just goes back down to +93 as soon as i click on apply.


That's just a bug in the Afterburner, I think. It'll reduce the core voltage every time you hit apply, and +93 is all you can get without hacking AB.


----------



## Silvaren

Well seems like 1372mhz oc on core and +500 on memory seems to be my limit. Is it bad for a lightning ?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Silvaren*
> 
> Well seems like 1372mhz oc on core and +500 on memory seems to be my limit. Is it bad for a lightning ?


Noway, that's good man!

If you get 1350Mhz or up on the Lightning, that is great imo. Plus you have a great memory OC to boot!


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Noway, that's good man!
> If you get 1350Mhz or up on the Lightning, that is great imo. Plus you have a great memory OC to boot!


agreed. my last one could do 1380 core but only 6800 mem.. that extra 200mhz effective can mae a huge diference in some 3d benches.. got a new one coming just shipped from the egg .. fingers crossed


----------



## Menthol

I'm sorry I didn't mean to single you out or anyone, I am the worst of all, I too was in a race to get the golden cards that you see others talk about and I had to come back down to reality, a 100 to 150 mhz overclock is a good card.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Username: GenoOCAU
Max OC GPU: 1490
Max OC RAM: +557










Gotten more but only got a 3dmark 11 result not AB screenshot 1492 core / +566 mem !


----------



## dph314

Awesome







Was that with the unedited +93mv?


----------



## GenoOCAU

It was +114 in AB, max read on a MM was JUST under 1.40v for all the 1490+ runs. I honestly don't feel comfortable putting more in as I want this card to last a while! From memory the best I did was 1480 with +93, so the extra volts helped but not a great deal!


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Username: GenoOCAU
> Max OC GPU: 1490
> Max OC RAM: +557
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Gotten more but only got a 3dmark 11 result not AB screenshot 1492 core / +566 mem !


awesome.
do me a favor and repost your information in the proper format (as described in the OP), please.

If anyone needs something to be updated, please post your info for me in the following format:
*
UPDATE

Username: **********************
Max Core OC: ************************
Max Memory OC: *************************
**Insert validation screenshot (according to instructions below) here**

If someone needs to be added to the spreadsheet for the first time, please post you info in this format: (same as above, but title it with "NEW", instead of "UPDATE")
*
NEW

Username: **********************
Max Core OC: ************************
Max Memory OC: *************************
**Insert validation screenshot (according to instructions below) here**

thanks


----------



## GenoOCAU

UPDATE

Username: GenoOCAU
Max Core OC: 1490
Max Memory OC: +557


----------



## exploiteddna

same problem with your memory clock. ill look at your ss and calculate your effective memory clock
reporting your offset doesnt tell me much


----------



## exploiteddna

Hey guys, Ive added a new column to all three individual sheets of the overall spreadsheet, entitled "Cooling Solution". I have given you guys access to edit the spreadsheet, but only the "Cooling Solution" column on each of the sheets. So, please follow this link, find your name on each of the sheets (select different sheets by clicking the three different tabs at the bottom left of the spreadsheet), and add whichever one of the following applies to you _(please use ALL CAPS on spreadsheet)_:


AIR
WATER
DICE
LN2

This should go without saying, but *PLEASE ONLY EDIT THE COOLING FOR YOUR OWN ENTRY*


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michealrw*
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Update -overlock
> Username: famich
> GPU 1430 MHz
> Memory 471 MHZ
> 
> 
> 
> Done
Click to expand...

It was good enough for you a day ago why are you being such a pain?









Im finally up there, YAY!!


----------



## Menthol




----------



## GenoOCAU

Awesome result methanol!


----------



## Menthol

Thanks I got it up a little higher, 1380 on core 6840 mem at 1.42 volts I tried 1400 on the core but locked up on the combined test, I love to benchmark early in the morning. I will try again, not sure if it's the GPU's or my CPU overclock that's failing on the combined test.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> It was good enough for you a day ago why are you being such a pain?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Im finally up there, YAY!!


i talked to famich via pm about his submission


----------



## Neo Zuko

If I water cool, should I bother leaving on the gpu reactor?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Neo Zuko*
> 
> If I water cool, should I bother leaving on the gpu reactor?


I ended up putting mine back on because it looks cool







WC build is still in progress, taking my time









I hate case modding BTW


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I ended up putting mine back on because it looks cool
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WC build is still in progress, taking my time
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I hate case modding BTW


Hurry up man, I can't wait to see what your cards can do!


----------



## Silvaren

What the hell  How did you give more than +93v ? Can you tell me how to do it because with +93v i stucked at 1380 mhz and i really want to hit 1400


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Silvaren*
> 
> What the hell  How did you give more than +93v ? Can you tell me how to do it because with +93v i stucked at 1380 mhz and i really want to hit 1400


you'd really have to be on water or have super low ambients.....you could easily blow your VRMs.

You have to hack AB using a program that was posted ages ago....i can' remember the link to do so.


----------



## Silvaren

I dont think it would require so much to achieve 20mhz more. Is it really that risky ? My temperatures are fine they are always below 60c.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Silvaren*
> 
> I dont think it would require so much to achieve 20mhz more. Is it really that risky ? My temperatures are fine they are always below 60c.


http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/2500#post_18071218

Only good for quick bench runs. I've kept my card's core under 70C. and the VRMs under 60C and it's been fine. 3dMark11 is easy because the Graphics Tests are so short.

And of course...use carefully and at your own risk


----------



## renzkuken1

I am getting glitching and artifacting in skyrim on ultra settings with my gtx 680? Is this normal? :/


----------



## IronAge

1372 with +93mV and Power Limit 133 on non-LN2 Bios any good ?

How to unlock Aux and Memory Voltage in AB ?

1350 seems to work with 1.212-1,216.

You think power limit kicks in since it locks up @1382 under Heaven Benchmark ?!

Thanks for any comments.


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *IronAge*
> 
> 1372 with +93mV and Power Limit 133 on non-LN2 Bios any good ?
> *How to unlock Aux and Memory Voltage in AB ?*
> 1350 seems to work with 1.212-1,216.
> You think power limit kicks in since it locks up @1382 under Heaven Benchmark ?!
> Thanks for any comments.


Click the drop down arrow on the right edge of core voltage setting. mem and aux will drop down. Best suggestion is leave aux at 0, or (minus) -50.
I don't know just how much the power limit actually does.
Those are good clocks.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *IronAge*
> 
> 1372 with +93mV and Power Limit 133 on non-LN2 Bios any good ?
> 
> How to unlock Aux and Memory Voltage in AB ?
> 
> 1350 seems to work with 1.212-1,216.
> 
> You think power limit kicks in since it locks up @1382 under Heaven Benchmark ?!
> 
> Thanks for any comments.


Those are _great_ clocks







I can't wait to see what it hits on the LN2 BIOS with +93mv. Do tell after trying









No lock-ups happen because of the power limit, only throttling occurs (you'll see the core down-clock itself during the run). It has to be a crash caused from instability, which, judging from 1382mhz on the non-LN2 BIOS, it would seem pretty likely.

Heaven almost always crashes before 3dMark11, so if you do Heaven at 1372mhz then you could probably do close to 1390mhz in 3dMark11, and that's superbly high for the non-LN2 BIOS, so that's probably why you're crashing. Looking forward to your results on the LN2 BIOS









Also, I had the voltage up to +143mv when running 1460mhz and I was still only hitting ~110% Power %, so either way you don't have to worry about hitting the ceiling with that, but raising the Power % slider does seem to help stability for some one way or another.


----------



## Scorpion667

Has anyone degraded their GPU or memory yet? If so, at what voltage?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I can get almost 100Mhz better core clocks now than when I first got the cards, but I run them way off max for daily driving. I was never able to hit 7000 on the memory, even new, but have benched 3DM11 at over 1400 core in SLI the last couple of weeks with just AB 2.2.3 voltages.

The only thing I notice is the VRMs on card one are running quite a bit hotter than on the other, anybody know where to get that heat transfer tape or whatever that stuff is?


----------



## B rad

I have found that memory for me runs best @+90. If I go above +90 I have crashes. Limit used to be +550 with +110 on memory voltage. But so far I have run +580 @+90.


----------



## GenoOCAU

I've been concerned about degrading such an awesome piece of silicon, I literally will do 3-4 3d mark 11 runs on LN2 with +113mV then shutdown and go back to normal bios.

Been running it in games @ 1.3ghz core and +400 mem at stock normal bios voltages. I really don't like the idea of putting 1.3v though it for extended periods for such little fps gains even if the temps never exceed 50 degrees.


----------



## famich

You may have a point here, I ll try to tweak the std BIOS settings for me as well..


----------



## Gorki

Out of curiosity how much do these toys in SLI warm up case interior while overclocked vs stock clock? IMHO I like the cards but I'm more concerned about heat dissipation inside the case.








Thanks


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gorki*
> 
> Out of curiosity how much do these toys in SLI warm up case interior while overclocked vs stock clock? IMHO I like the cards but I'm more concerned about heat dissipation inside the case.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks


Made a difference for me. Before I got my H100, I had 2 of these in with my 2500k / Hyper-N 520 and they raised CPU temps about 5C. After completeing this current build though and getting the H100 pulling air in from outside the case, my temps are just as good as those with reference cards (exhausting air out the case). But stock vs. oc'd doesn't really make a difference for me, since even SLI at 1300/6800 stays in the 50C's


----------



## IronAge

Thanks @dph314 & @B rad - your replies and input are appreciated very much.


----------



## Scorpion667

Well, I'm stumped. Last night I tested memory OC in relation to benchmark scores (3dmark11):
Core was at 1313 throughout the tests.
+552 Offset Mem: 11899 GPU Score
+496 Offset Mem: 11899 GPU Score
+552 Offset Mem + 20 Offset Vmem: 11900 GPU Score.

No artifacts at any of those settings.

What do you guys make of this? If scores were lower yeah we can assume the ECC is kicking in, but seeing how Mem bottlenecked these are, it should yield a small performance boost.


----------



## Fabulist

Hello guys, nice work everyone.

Maybe someone can help me with this: I flashed a reference 680 with the LN2 bios successfully; however under load the GPU's clock falls down and comes up again instantly, creating massive stuttering in games -> 324, 446, 966, 1097 to default to boost MHz.

I am using MSI Afterburner 2.2.3, maybe someone can help me out this because I have been looking for hours and I ended up with nothing.

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to enlighten me.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Fabulist*
> 
> Hello guys, nice work everyone.
> Maybe someone can help me with this: I flashed a reference 680 with the LN2 bios successfully; however under load the GPU's clock falls down and comes up again instantly, creating massive stuttering in games -> 324, 446, 966, 1097 to default to boost MHz.
> I am using MSI Afterburner 2.2.3, maybe someone can help me out this because I have been looking for hours and I ended up with nothing.
> Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to enlighten me.


If this was happening to me, I'd flash back to your original bios or another reference 1.21v bios.

Your current modded bios isn't working for you.


----------



## Fabulist

Is this final and absolute?

Should I not try the "Newer" LN2 bios or something?

How come I read people with reference cards having no problem with this bios, could it be my fault or could it be something is wrong with the card?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Fabulist*
> 
> Is this final and absolute?
> Should I not try the "Newer" LN2 bios or something?
> How come I read people with reference cards having no problem with this bios, could it be my fault or could it be something is wrong with the card?


Me and another guy both had an Asus DCII 680 and we used a modded LN2 bios on it. He said his games/benches ran fine, mine stuttered like crazy.

Could be system component related maybe.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I don't think all reference cards can use it, only the ones with the same CHILXXXX chip onboard IIRC. Sorry, can't remember the exact chip name.

CHIL 8318 seems to be it.


----------



## Fabulist

Well that sucks big time, I do have a very good bios mod from Saltius, but I would like the extra voltage too.

Can anyone suggest to me a bios that will give me access to the extra voltage, as well as unlocked fan speed and a bit more power limit?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I think that's the roadblock. The CHIL 8318 allows software voltage control where the "stock" chip doesn't, as I understand it. And I'm certainly far from an expert here. The documentation for AB 2.2.3 also mentions the uP6262 voltage regulator, so there's evidently some hardware requirements on the cards that has to be met for software voltage control to be used.


----------



## dookiepower

Hey guys! Long time lurker and first time poster here on overclock.net! I'm super excited to say I'll be joining the club this week. Going to put my order in on Thursday for two of these bad boys and a M5E! Part of a new build, that I've been looking forward to for a while. Super excited to get some cards that can overclock as my old 6870's are crap at overclocking. I'm hoping to squeeze 1300+ on each of them, is that too much to hope for on an sli setup? What real world temps should i be expecting for an sli of these bad boys? Have a Haf X and an h100, so the airflow should be pretty nice. Again, super excited for the cards and to join the owners club!


----------



## famich

Hello and welcome , I think that 1300MHz @ SLI is the safe bet with the Lightnings


----------



## Scorpion667

Man, I'll probably jump on the 780 bandwagon first day if it has voltage control.

My card is odd. On stock volts BIOS1 it only does 1248Mhz
Maxed Volts on BIOS1 1313Mhz.
Maxed volts LN2 1357Mhz.

All I ever wanted was 1300Mhz on stock v =(

I might just run it maxed 24/7, would be fun to see how long till it degrades.


----------



## famich

1300MHz on stock is a pretty hefty overclock , most "regular " GTX680 do 1200-1250 MHz with 1.175 V overvolting, so what you want is not easy.
Not every card is the same , some need more "juice", that cannot be helped .

Try to put +18mV offset and +60MHz offset and see ...


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> 1300MHz on stock is a pretty hefty overclock , most "regular " GTX680 do 1200-1250 MHz with 1.175 V overvolting, so what you want is not easy.
> Not every card is the same , some need more "juice", that cannot be helped .
> Try to put +18mV offset and +60MHz offset and see ...


Oh I know, I know. It's not a bad card, I've seen worse =P

I usually have it running 1300/7114 with +78mv on the core and stock volts on memory.

Is anyone running LN2 BIOS 24/7?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dookiepower*
> 
> Hey guys! Long time lurker and first time poster here on overclock.net! I'm super excited to say I'll be joining the club this week. Going to put my order in on Thursday for two of these bad boys and a M5E! Part of a new build, that I've been looking forward to for a while. Super excited to get some cards that can overclock as my old 6870's are crap at overclocking. I'm hoping to squeeze 1300+ on each of them, is that too much to hope for on an sli setup? What real world temps should i be expecting for an sli of these bad boys? Have a Haf X and an h100, so the airflow should be pretty nice. Again, super excited for the cards and to join the owners club!


1300mhz in SLI is entirely probable, yeah. As you can see from mine, you'll have to test the cards and put the better one on top, as there's probably going to be one that does a good amount better than the other. Comes in handy when I only want to use one card for a particular game









But yeah temps in SLI aren't bad at all, especially if you have decent fans in your HAF-X, particularly the side-panel one that blows right on the cards. I've ran +93mv in SLI before, and I think I have my fan curve to hit 100% around 64C, just to keep them nice and cool since I usually have headphones on anyways. I've literally never seen either one of my cards hit 70C. Whether in SLI or 3dMark11 runs at 1460mhz/7300mhz (granted 3dMark11 is short, but thats still a lot of mhz/volts), never been in the 70C's before.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> 1300MHz on stock is a pretty hefty overclock , most "regular " GTX680 do 1200-1250 MHz with 1.175 V overvolting, so what you want is not easy.
> Not every card is the same , some need more "juice", that cannot be helped .
> Try to put +18mV offset and +60MHz offset and see ...
> 
> 
> 
> Is anyone running LN2 BIOS 24/7?
Click to expand...

I have since the day I got them. I use stock clocks most of the time since these in SLI is more than enough at stock speeds. But the top card is the better one so I usually undervolt it to -50mv core voltage before gaming instead of opening the side panel and switching BIOSs everytime I want a good overclock. It's been stable in every game at the stock 1202mhz at -50mv, so I'm going to start testing the next increment soon.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I got over 1300 in SLI with AB 2.2.2, got over 1400 in SLI (3DMark11 only) with AB 2.2.3. 1300 is my daily driver clock, +400 mem, LN2 BIOS in AB 2.2.2.

So if you get some good ones, 1300 SLI is certainly possible.


----------



## dookiepower

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 1300mhz in SLI is entirely probable, yeah. As you can see from mine, you'll have to test the cards and put the better one on top, as there's probably going to be one that does a good amount better than the other. Comes in handy when I only want to use one card for a particular game
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But yeah temps in SLI aren't bad at all, especially if you have decent fans in your HAF-X, particularly the side-panel one that blows right on the cards. I've ran +93mv in SLI before, and I think I have my fan curve to hit 100% around 64C, just to keep them nice and cool since I usually have headphones on anyways. I've literally never seen either one of my cards hit 70C. Whether in SLI or 3dMark11 runs at 1460mhz/7300mhz (granted 3dMark11 is short, but thats still a lot of mhz/volts), never been in the 70C's before.
> I have since the day I got them. I use stock clocks most of the time since these in SLI is more than enough at stock speeds. But the top card is the better one so I usually undervolt it to -50mv core voltage before gaming instead of opening the side panel and switching BIOSs everytime I want a good overclock. It's been stable in every game at the stock 1202mhz at -50mv, so I'm going to start testing the next increment soon.


Hey dph314, thanks for the response, I'm looking forward to running the cards in the Haf-X. Is there a replacement side fan that you would recommend? I'm excited to see which card ends up doing better, luckily that should be pretty easy as my mobo has the pcie dip switches to turn off the cards to bench each separately, or would you still recommend that I place each card in the top pcie slot for optimal results? Thanks I appreciate it!


----------



## dph314

As long as it's in one of the x16 PCIe slots then there shouldn't be a difference.

And any fan is better than the stock ones in the HAF-X. When I switched from the stock side-panel fan to an Aerocool Shark (I'm sure there's better ones out there, I just like these, pretty decent price and they move a lot of air), GPU temps dropped 5-6C. While you're at it I would swap out the exhaust fan too, since you'll need to move a lot of hot air that these dump into the case.


----------



## D749

I have 2 Asus GTX 680 DCII Tops running @ 1300 boost stable on air. I really wish they'd release a 4GB Lightning with voltage control. I'd ditch my DCII Tops for that.


----------



## Killbuzzjrad

I haven't been on this thread in a while but how is everyone that bought one of those water blocks liking them so far?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

I want to pass this info along:

http://www.ekwb.com/news/262/19/MSI-N680GTX-Lightning-to-get-FC-water-block/

New EK block is being made for the Lightning 680, should be epic performance. This EK style block worked great on my Asus DCii 680.


----------



## Scorpion667

What are you guys using to stress test for 24/7 clocks?
I normally use Heaven, but I feel as some games can run higher clocks then what is Heaven stable.

I used to like GPU Tool but opening this program causes an instant red screen of death, it's a shame as I love that program.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> What are you guys using to stress test for 24/7 clocks?
> I normally use Heaven, but I feel as some games can run higher clocks then what is Heaven stable.
> I used to like GPU Tool but opening this program causes an instant red screen of death, it's a shame as I love that program.


I use about 30 minutes of looping Heaven. 50 runs of Crysis 1 Benchmark max settings, and a few runs of 3dmark Vantage to check for gpu stability.


----------



## IronAge

I use Heaven with tesselation @ extreme and AA/AF @ max.


----------



## Neo Zuko

I have the Aqua Computer blocks, they have to be nicer than the EK blocks right?


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Neo Zuko*
> 
> I have the Aqua Computer blocks, they have to be nicer than the EK blocks right?


EK blocks are flakey, from what I understand. I think that's the first time I've ever used that term literally


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Killbuzzjrad*
> 
> I haven't been on this thread in a while but how is everyone that bought one of those water blocks liking them so far?


Working great. Very easy install.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> EK blocks are flakey, from what I understand. I think that's the first time I've ever used that term literally


Wasn't that just one production run or are they still like that? I haven't bought any full cover blocks for a while, none of my older EK nickel blocks ever flaked.


----------



## Fabulist

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> I think that's the roadblock. The CHIL 8318 allows software voltage control where the "stock" chip doesn't, as I understand it. And I'm certainly far from an expert here. The documentation for AB 2.2.3 also mentions the uP6262 voltage regulator, so there's evidently some hardware requirements on the cards that has to be met for software voltage control to be used.


Well judging from the fact nobody else replied on this, I guess there is nothing that can be done - that is really disappointing.

In any case, thanks for letting me know guys.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

That's sort of the big deal about the premium cards, I think the Asus DC II and Galaxy SOC also use the chips needed for software voltage control, everybody else has to do a hardware mod with soldering connections on the cards. I think EVGA uses a another method of voltage control on their cards, but I'm not sure there's much you can do with a reference card without a soldering iron.


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> EK blocks are flakey, from what I understand. I think that's the first time I've ever used that term literally


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Wasn't that just one production run or are they still like that? I haven't bought any full cover blocks for a while, none of my older EK nickel blocks ever flaked.


*AVOID EK* like the plague.
Plating fiasco aka. nickelgate, blaming water, PT Nuke and anything but their plating for their bad practices
Not to mention their customer service which sucks.

undoubtedly there would be people that have had good experiences; but I cannot in my conscience recommend EK anymore.
You can read my sig for details of my situation that has prompted me to do so as well as statements from Sidewinders on RRTech.

Careful; RRTech has some NSFW content so i advise reading these at home or somewhere where you won't get shouted at by your boss/teacher ;p

http://www.realredraider.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=47970
http://www.realredraider.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=58257

Edit: For the record; EK EN plating (their new plating process) has still flaked for some people. More information can be seen in the "Nickel flaking" thread in the WC section.


----------



## exploiteddna

well i got my new card in today and have done some quick testing and it seems to be a better card than my first one. My first card could do 1315/6800 on the LN2 bios without any voltage adjustment. This card does 1326/7012 on LN2 bios without any voltage adjustments. So, the core OC is about the same (~11mhz more), but the memory OC is a LOT better which is important in some of the 3d benchies.


----------



## FtW 420

Nice! I Did it come with the unlocked bios or are the stores selling out of the original stock?


----------



## Scorpion667

I just took some voltage readings out of curiosity, posting my notes for those who do not have a DMM available:

Warning: the formatting is terrible, these were just notes to myself
==============================
= *680 Lightning DMM volt readouts*: =
==============================
*LN2 BIOS*
idle stock: 0.993v
idle max volt (+93mv): 1088
load stock:
-heaven avg 1.255v max 1.257v
-3dm11 avg 1.256-57v max 1.260v

_Note: first test in 3dmark11 always produced highest voltage spike (maybe good one to loop for stress testing? idk)_

==============================================
==============================================
==============================================
~
*BIOS1*
idle stock:994mv
idle max volt (+93mv): 1089
load stock:
-heaven avg 1.215 max 1217
-3dm11 avg 1.215 max 1.220

=============================================
=============================================
=============================================
LN2 BIOS 24/7 OC
+37 offset = 24/7 max (preference) Period. this is 1.3v
idle 1.032v
3dmark11: max volts 1.302v, avg 1.28v
heaven: max 1.298v, avg 1.296v

STABLE +111/+500 @ +37mv GPU/ +0mv Mem &&&&&&&&&&&&
(Translation: 1313/7012 @ 1.3v)
-can push higher on mem but meh
COD: MW2 avg 1.233v max 1.247v
=======================
-It was really boring but my friend Mary Jane was here to help


----------



## Scorpion667

delete


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Nice! I Did it come with the unlocked bios or are the stores selling out of the original stock?


it came with locked BIOS .. 80.04.29.00.3A (the similar version, 80.04.09.00.3A, is unlocked)
i flashed it to the F8 without any issues

with max 2.2.3 vcore im topping out at 1392/7012
havent messed with the aux or mem voltages so i may be able to squeeze out some more


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Nice! I Did it come with the unlocked bios or are the stores selling out of the original stock?
> 
> 
> 
> it came with locked BIOS .. 80.04.29.00.3A (the similar version, 80.04.09.00.3A, is unlocked)
> i flashed it to the F8 without any issues
> 
> with max 2.2.3 vcore im topping out at 1392/7012
> havent messed with the aux or mem voltages so i may be able to squeeze out some more
Click to expand...

Congrats on the better card







I'm really hoping I get a similar one to yours so that I can SLI higher clocks. I'm still waiting on the replacement for the one I sent in that was failing WU's on stock clocks. Status is still "Processing". I hope they don't end up doing a bunch of tests and the card folds fine







That card couldn't overclock for crap, hoping they replace it.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> it came with locked BIOS .. 80.04.29.00.3A (the similar version, 80.04.09.00.3A, is unlocked)
> i flashed it to the F8 without any issues
> with max 2.2.3 vcore im topping out at 1392/7012
> havent messed with the aux or mem voltages so i may be able to squeeze out some more


Nice, wasn't sure about the new cards after that post on the bot. Looks like he was pretty rough on his cards though.








I was just looking at the front page & realized my card came with a different bios, I don't see any mention of 80.04.28.00.3A, which was the original unlocked ln2 bios on the second one I got. The first was the 80.04.09.00.F8


----------



## dbterp

i dont care about the price premium, i would buy this in a second if it came in a 4gb. i love this card!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dbterp*
> 
> i dont care about the price premium, i would buy this in a second if it came in a 4gb. i love this card!


What are you using for a display that you don't want the 2GB card?


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Nice, wasn't sure about the new cards after that post on the bot. Looks like he was pretty rough on his cards though.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was just looking at the front page & realized my card came with a different bios, I don't see any mention of 80.04.28.00.3A, which was the original unlocked ln2 bios on the second one I got. The first was the 80.04.09.00.F8


yeah mine was definitely locked. Ill update the OP


----------



## elbubi

Hi Michael.

Thanks for the update. Just wanted to point out that BIOS 80.04.28.00.3A and 80.04.09.00.3A in OP are the exact same one, in fact I think I never saw a "true" 09.00.3A BIOS around.

Kind Regards!


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Hi Michael.
> Thanks for the update. Just wanted to point out that BIOS 80.04.28.00.3A and 80.04.09.00.3A in OP are the exact same one, in fact I thing I never saw a "true" 09.00.3A BIOS around.
> Kind Regards!


Thanks , elbubi , I got the 80.04.28.00.3A the card came with and it is good to know that ..


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Thanks , elbubi , I got the 80.04.28.00.3A the card came with and it is good to know that ..


In fact right now in mine's I'm using the ones you kindly uploaded


----------



## Idef1x

I just replaced my two 6950's with this bad boy coupled with the new AC block. The overclocking and performance is very nice, but each time I boot the comp, the core voltage is a little less than last time - around 6-7 mV I think. I am sorry if this has been brought up earlier, but I haven't come across it before. It's kind of annoying, that I have to set the voltage every time I boot.


----------



## wyssn

Hi,

Maybe someone can start a lightning BIOs compilation, here's mine.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> In fact right now in mine's I'm using the ones you kindly uploaded


You are welcome


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wyssn*
> 
> Hi,
> Maybe someone can start a lightning BIOs compilation, here's mine.


Elbubi has already made it, just upload your BIOS for him to add it over there.
It seems to me that your BIOS could be a really new one !


----------



## Scorpion667

Which BIOS is the one where the fans don't rev up on boot? I'm using 3A but it still does it


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Elbubi has already made it, just upload your BIOS for him to add it over there.
> It seems to me that your BIOS could be a really new one !


wyssn in this post you have the latest compilation of BIOS's => http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/2290#post_17990028

As famich said, it seems your normal BIOS is the newest around, is it voltage locked? It would be very useful if you upload your normal and LN2 bios files so we can add it to the compilation and they can be tested by experts.

@scorpion: Download the compilation and aply the "xxx*a*" BIOS (normal/ln2). 100% startup fan spin is removed on them









Regards!


----------



## CalinTM

Hey on what voltage can i have stable 1300 Mhz, on default BIOS(not LN2).

And how i should set the power limit for a overclock ? Please tell me.

Look at these pics.
http://i46.tinypic.com/34sgklv.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/2e1bu3r.jpg


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Which BIOS is the one where the fans don't rev up on boot? I'm using 3A but it still does it


I think all of the LN2 BIOS' have it, although 3A non LN2 doesn't have the fan spin up from what I remember


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Hey on what voltage can i have stable 1300 Mhz, on default BIOS(not LN2).
> 
> And how i should set the power limit for a overclock ? Please tell me.
> 
> Look at these pics.
> http://i46.tinypic.com/34sgklv.jpg
> http://i47.tinypic.com/2e1bu3r.jpg


You're on the non-LN2 BIOS in those pics, so +98mhz may not give you 1300mhz like you see in many of the pics here because in most pics people are using the LN2 BIOS, which has a stock clock of 1202mhz for everyone, unlike the first BIOS which is different for every card. You just have to find your stock Boost clock, set the core offset to whatever you need to add for it to be at 1300mhz, set the core voltage slider at +93mv, and start testing. Lower the voltage slider each time you pass your tests and you'll eventually find the lowest-needed voltage for that particular overclock







. Power % should just be set to 133% for the hell of it


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I think all of the LN2 BIOS' have it, although 3A non LN2 doesn't have the fan spin up from what I remember


3A _non LN2_ is "v80.04.28.00.39", at least in my case it indeed has fan spin up (which I hate btw). Still using it though









Regards!


----------



## jincuteguy

How do you unlock the voltage to go above 1.175v for GTx 680 Lightning? I switched the button on the card to the LN2 bios, but then nothing changed. I opened up Afterburner and the max limit for voltage is still 1.175 and the power limit is still 133% (not 200)? YOu can see that I have LN2 Bios in my AFterburner.


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jincuteguy*
> 
> How do you unlock the voltage to go above 1.175v for GTx 680 Lightning? I switched the button on the card to the LN2 bios, but then nothing changed. I opened up Afterburner and the max limit for voltage is still 1.175 and the power limit is still 133% (not 200)? YOu can see that I have LN2 Bios in my AFterburner.


Click settings then check unlock voltage control.


----------



## dbterp

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> What are you using for a display that you don't want the 2GB card?


a 1440p. i know 2gb is sufficient for almost every game out there, but i play skyrim cranked up with loads of texture mods. 2gb limits it.


----------



## HeadlessKnight

I've heard stories about the Lightning voltage lock regulations in newer revisions. Is that true?
Is it useless to get this card anymore for voltage unlocking?


----------



## FtW 420

Newer cards do have the voltage locked down, but flashing to one of the original unlocked bios' can open it back up.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HeadlessKnight*
> 
> I've heard stories about the Lightning voltage lock regulations in newer revisions. Is that true?
> Is it useless to get this card anymore for voltage unlocking?


It's useless unless you are up to flashing the BIOS
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> it came with locked BIOS .. 80.04.29.00.3A (the similar version, 80.04.09.00.3A, is unlocked)
> i flashed it to the F8 without any issues
> with max 2.2.3 vcore im topping out at 1392/7012
> havent messed with the aux or mem voltages so i may be able to squeeze out some more


----------



## jincuteguy

I already tried that, stil same thing, the power limit should be 200% max, but it's stil 133%. I got this card like couple days ago maybe Nvidia don't allow MSI to unlock voltages anymore.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jincuteguy*
> 
> I already tried that, stil same thing, the power limit should be 200% max, but it's stil 133%. I got this card like couple days ago maybe Nvidia don't allow MSI to unlock voltages anymore.


What bios versions did it come with?


----------



## Scorpion49

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> What bios versions did it come with?


Both my main and LN2 BIOS are the same version, both suck for overclocking. No 300% power target or voltage control past +18mv on LN2 mode, they seem to be identical. $600 paperweight compared to a reference version that can do the same thing, as I've read that people are not able to load the older BIOS into the new cards for some reason.


----------



## dph314

Oh no...

First we have to establish that the newer cards won't take the old BIOS. If that's true, then that REALLY blows. If they don't then maybe the hack will work still? Sucks that people will have to use the hack just to hit the +93mv that everyone else with older cards can do, but it might work.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion49*
> 
> Both my main and LN2 BIOS are the same version, both suck for overclocking. No 300% power target or voltage control past +18mv on LN2 mode, they seem to be identical. $600 paperweight compared to a reference version that can do the same thing, as I've read that people are not able to load the older BIOS into the new cards for some reason.


That is the same bios version I have that is voltage unlocked, & it will only go +18mV? Did that one come on the card or did you flash it?


----------



## Scorpion49

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> That is the same bios version I have that is voltage unlocked, & it will only go +18mV? Did that one come on the card or did you flash it?


Came on the card, I'm playing with it right now. Its been in the system for a week or two I just haven't had time to work with it much. I think I got the voltage unlocked by re-installing AB. I can set it up to +93mv now but it always reverts back to +18mv when I hit apply. FWIW, the memory goes to +100mv and the aux to +50mv just fine.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion49*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> That is the same bios version I have that is voltage unlocked, & it will only go +18mV? Did that one come on the card or did you flash it?
> 
> 
> 
> Came on the card, I'm playing with it right now. Its been in the system for a week or two I just haven't had time to work with it much. I think I got the voltage unlocked by re-installing AB. I can set it up to +93mv now but it always reverts back to +18mv when I hit apply. FWIW, the memory goes to +100mv and the aux to +50mv just fine.
Click to expand...

Flash to the unlocked 3A one from the OP anyways. Maybe MSI kept the version label the same but changed the max voltage. Flash and let us know


----------



## FtW 420

Just being weird, normally you set 100mV, hit apply & it's 93mV. Save as a profile & load at 93mV, when applied it's at 87mV. Normal to drop 6 or 7mV at a time when hitting the apply, but dropping 75mV is unusual...


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Just being weird, normally you set 100mV, hit apply & it's 93mV. Save as a profile & load at 93mV, when applied it's at 87mV. Normal to drop 6 or 7mV at a time when hitting the apply, but dropping 75mV is unusual...


Maybe this is the new Nvidia-compliant 3A BIOS version? Afterburner still goes up to +93mv because _it_ hasn't changed, but the card is BIOS-locked to +18mv?

Should be interesting to see what happens when he flashes to the 3A from the OP.


----------



## jincuteguy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> What bios versions did it come with?


80.04.28.00.3A


----------



## Scorpion49

Ok, so on a whim I driver-swept the 304.79's and changed to the 306.02 and now it works fine.

Also helped my score a little bit from here: P9919

To here: P10061

Running +135/+300 right now as it was an easy slap-in now that the voltage wants to bump up, I will try for more later. Boost clock is maxing out at 1350mhz. 1364mhz in GW2.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jincuteguy*
> 
> 80.04.28.00.3A


Same as Scorpion49's card above, I have the same bios version that I've run up to 1.6V into. Scorpion is testing now & has it working right, maybe try a clean driver install & make sure voltage is unlocked in afterburner settings.


----------



## Scorpion49

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Same as Scorpion49's card above, I have the same bios version that I've run up to 1.6V into. Scorpion is testing now & has it working right, maybe try a clean driver install & make sure voltage is unlocked in afterburner settings.


Okay, so both BIOS are identical and there is no change from LN2 mode to regular that I can tell other than it says "LN2" on AB. If it still disables thermal throttling I don't know, but it is limited to 133%. I may try flashing the LN2 side to the old version.


----------



## jincuteguy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Same as Scorpion49's card above, I have the same bios version that I've run up to 1.6V into. Scorpion is testing now & has it working right, maybe try a clean driver install & make sure voltage is unlocked in afterburner settings.


But the power limit still max out at 133% though. Like I just don't get it, is it because of the newer AB 2.2.3 that disable it?


----------



## dph314

Could be the same label but something in the BIOS is tweaked. Flash that LN2 BIOS Scorpion







The one from the OP


----------



## Silvaren

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion49*
> 
> Okay, so both BIOS are identical and there is no change from LN2 mode to regular that I can tell other than it says "LN2" on AB. If it still disables thermal throttling I don't know, but it is limited to 133%. I may try flashing the LN2 side to the old version.


Any updates ? I had similar issues with my card so i am wondering how it worked for you


----------



## famich

Would be too bad if they changed something -but what ? CHIL voltage regulator possibly or something else ?

BTW 1382 @ stock BIOS- not bad


----------



## IronAge

Somebody claimed that only the first 5000 pcs will have unlimited voltage regulation - seems to come true.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *IronAge*
> 
> Somebody claimed that only the first 5000 pcs will have unlimited voltage regulation - seems to come true.


pcb's?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Would be too bad if they changed something -but what ? CHIL voltage regulator possibly or something else ?
> 
> BTW 1382 @ stock BIOS- not bad


That is _damn_ awesome. LN2 BIOS results please









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *IronAge*
> 
> Somebody claimed that only the first 5000 pcs will have unlimited voltage regulation - seems to come true.


If they only changed the BIOS we should be good. Waiting for someone with a newer card to flash to the unlocked 3A one though, from the OP. Any luck with the flash Scorpion?


----------



## Scorpion49

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That is _damn_ awesome. LN2 BIOS results please
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If they only changed the BIOS we should be good. Waiting for someone with a newer card to flash to the unlocked 3A one though, from the OP. Any luck with the flash Scorpion?


I just havent had a chance yet, busy packing some components I sold to ship out. I will get around to it today though!


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Waiting for someone with a newer card to flash to the unlocked 3A one though, from the OP.


It appears michaelrw (thread OP) just got a locked BIOS version and successfully flased it to an unlocked BIOS, but the F8 - not the 3A.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Nice! I Did it come with the unlocked bios or are the stores selling out of the original stock?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> it came with locked BIOS .. 80.04.29.00.3A (the similar version, 80.04.09.00.3A, is unlocked)
> i flashed it to the F8 without any issues


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> yeah mine was definitely locked. Ill update the OP


----------



## Scorpion49

Okay, flashed to F8 and it works fine, now unlocked, power stays at +93 and I have 300% on the power target. Plugged in a quick +150/+350 and it ran heaven fine at ~66*C on auto fan (max boost 1350mhz). Going to see how far I can push it later, I want to switch my PSU cables so its using 2x 8 pin in stead of the daisy-chained one.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion49*
> 
> Okay, flashed to F8 and it works fine, now unlocked, power stays at +93 and I have 300% on the power target. Plugged in a quick +150/+350 and it ran heaven fine at ~66*C on auto fan (max boost 1350mhz). Going to see how far I can push it later, I want to switch my PSU cables so its using 2x 8 pin in stead of the daisy-chained one.


----------



## dph314

Awesome, glad it worked out








I was getting nervous for a second there. I must have missed Michael's locked-card-flash, because I just remembered someone a few pages back saying they had a bunch of problems after flashing a new card to the unlocked BIOS. Got my replacement card shipping from MSI soon, definitely didn't want it to be un-unlockable!

*Update*

Username- dph314
Max core clock- 1480mhz
Max memory clock- 7200mhz
---

On air, and still not over 70C








I should see what score I get with my CPU at 5Ghz and with HT enabled. The highest single 680 on air on The Bot is a Lightning (go figure







), and it's at a Graphics Score of only 12,800. But he has a Physics score of 16,700. My highest is 16,500. I wonder if the difference between the 2 scores for us is enough to give me the edge


----------



## Scorpion667

Update your sig dummy!
I see lowering the Mem clock helped with the core one quite a bit! What was the GPU PLL at?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Awesome, glad it worked out
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was getting nervous for a second there. I must have missed Michael's locked-card-flash, because I just remembered someone a few pages back saying they had a bunch of problems after flashing a new card to the unlocked BIOS. Got my replacement card shipping from MSI soon, definitely didn't want it to be un-unlockable!
> 
> *Update*
> Username- dph314
> Max core clock- 1480mhz
> Max memory clock- 7200mhz
> ---
> 
> On air, and still not over 70C
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I should see what score I get with my CPU at 5Ghz and with HT enabled. The highest single 680 on air on The Bot is a Lightning (go figure
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ), and it's at a Graphics Score of only 12,800. But he has a Physics score of 16,700. My highest is 16,500. I wonder if the difference between the 2 scores for us is enough to give me the edge


You gotta crack 25K Graphics in SLI to be cool!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Update your sig dummy!
> I see lowering the Mem clock helped with the core one quite a bit! What was the GPU PLL at?


I didn't mess around as much as I could. At those clocks, bumping the memory voltage might have stabalized it, but I kept it at the same voltage and just dropped the clock instead. I was only playing around with the core clock/voltage mostly. But PLL was at +60mv.

Edit- Sig and Photo Album updated









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> You gotta crack 25K Graphics in SLI to be cool!


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Hi Michael.
> Thanks for the update. Just wanted to point out that BIOS 80.04.28.00.3A and 80.04.09.00.3A in OP are the exact same one, in fact I think I never saw a "true" 09.00.3A BIOS around.
> Kind Regards!


youre correct, at least partly. the 800409003A was actually 800428003A. hwoever, I know i have seen a "true" 09.00.3A .. killbuzzjrad has a copy of it im pretty sure. I will contact him again and get him to send me a copy. Thanks for pointing this out to me, I have removed the link in the OP


----------



## dVeLoPe

if i buy one of these in X amount of time will it be unlocked without having to flash? if i brick my card from the flash will they replace it????


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> if i buy one of these in X amount of time will it be unlocked without having to flash? if i brick my card from the flash will they replace it????


It's a toss-up now, seeing as a couple here already got locked cards. But I was nervous about flashing for the first time, but it's really not as hard as it used to be. You can only brick your card if something happens during the 1 second it takes to do, so just keep the computer at stock clocks and nothing should go wrong








One line of text in a command window and a second or 2 later it's done. Literally easy as hell and a .001% chance of something bad happening if you have the right BIOS from the OP.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> if i buy one of these in X amount of time will it be unlocked without having to flash? if i brick my card from the flash will they replace it????


Whether it comes locked or unlocked depends if the place you get it from has some of the older stock or not, newer locked cards are showing up so it's a coin toss right now.
Hard to say if a bricked flash is OK for RMA, if they just quick test probably, if they actually check out why it isn't working maybe not. But a bricked flash can be fixed, you just need an extra card to be able to get display & reflash it.


----------



## dVeLoPe

well i hav aspare 7600gt or something very old that i could use if anything went wrong if thats the case but i dont want to bite the bullet and then my volts are locked like my evga 680


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> well i hav aspare 7600gt or something very old that i could use if anything went wrong if thats the case but i dont want to bite the bullet and then my volts are locked like my evga 680


If you have an old card to boot with then you are double-good. Zero risk









Nothing should happen though. It's easy and quick. You'll see what I mean after your first time. I was the same way but there's really nothing to it at all.
(Edit- Wow, that sounds like my Dad's first attempt at a sex-talk with me







)


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> If you have an old card to boot with then you are double-good. Zero risk
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nothing should happen though. It's easy and quick. You'll see what I mean after your first time. I was the same way but there's really nothing to it at all.
> (Edit- Wow, that sounds like my Dad's first attempt at a sex-talk with me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


This ^, I've flashed gpu bios' probably 100 times or more, the only time I've had a bad flash was trying to flash the wrong bios & with a second gpu it was an easy fix. It's less scary than updating a mobo bios.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jincuteguy*
> 
> But the power limit still max out at 133% though. Like I just don't get it, is it because of the newer AB 2.2.3 that disable it?


yes my new one had max of 133% too. then i flashed to the original LN2 BIOS, the 80.04.09.00.F8, and it is now at 300% max and "full" voltage control

Edit: i see that you did that already and everything is working as expected


----------



## famich

I think you can try "my" unlocked BIOS 28.00.3A as well- it s newer and will not give you the need for the hard reboot after the failed overclock...


----------



## D749

Received an email from MSI - a 4GB Lightning is not planned.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Received an email from MSI - a 4GB Lightning is not planned.


NICE!!!
No but seriously, can I see a screenshot of that email?
Seems unusual, then again MSI royally pissed Nvidia off with the software voltage control, they might be limiting their GPU stock as a result.


----------



## wyssn

Hi Guys,

here's what I've done,

1) uninstall AB 2.2.3 + settings removed.
2) uninstall all nvidia drivers and cleaned up using driver sweeper
3) powered off, flick switch to LN2 bios
4) boot and reinstall latest drivers + AB 2.2.3











BTW, TS, 80.04.47.00.*18* is a normal BIOS. Apologies for not being clear enough in my previous post.

80.04.47.00.*19* is a Locked LN2 BIOS as showned above.


----------



## dookiepower

Hey guys! Can I please be added to the list please!!


----------



## elbubi

wyssn flash 3A LN2 Bios and see what happens, but please do backup your normal/ln2 bioses first, and if you are kind enough to upload them we'll be very grateful.


----------



## famich

At my place it looks that they still got the unlocked Lightnings / Czech Republic, EU /








They do advertise that - it d be only logical me being able to snatch oneof the third or so batch of them a mere month or 5 weeks ago..

The turnover of such HW is here lower than in the U.S.


----------



## elbubi

*OT*: Famich, how did you manage to take your 2600k at 5ghz at only v1.368? Please share the secret









Kind Regards as always!


----------



## Davitz

I just ordered 2 MSI GTX 680 Lightning's from my local store, i'll be sure to post pics and validate when i get em in my rig :'D

Super excited to have 2 of these absolute beasts on the way!


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> *OT*: Famich, how did you manage to take your 2600k at 5ghz at only v1.368? Please share the secret
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Kind Regards as always!


To run a chip at high clocks/low voltage you either have to get lucky buying a great chip, keep buying & testing chips until you find a great chip, or get the temps down (depending on the chip, temps may have to go down a lot).


----------



## famich

Hi, it is simple - I have tested around 8 of them and had luck- 1 German overclocker sold me this one







I got it runnin actually at 1.376 to be on the safe side , but 1.368 was stable, albeit only on P8P67 DL-- Sabertooth needs more juice.

Same to you , elbubi, and thanks for the frienly environment here.
Better than on tthe German forums, really.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> To run a chip at high clocks/low voltage you either have to get lucky buying a great chip, keep buying & testing chips until you find a great chip, or get the temps down (depending on the chip, temps may have to go down a lot).


Nothing more to say, you re right


----------



## cowie

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=4410753#post4410753
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Unwinder*
> Sad news, due to NVIDIA pressure MSI will be releasing 2.2.4 with capped core voltage control for 680 Lightnings. So I don't recommend Lightning owners to upgrade.
> 
> Personally I'm really mad with such decision.


Dont shoot the messenger


----------



## Arthur Hucksake

I actually agree with nVidia here.

If you were victim of the fiasco where manufacturers shipping non reference 5xxs and the mV was off so crashed, you could get why nVidia is taking measures to even things across the board.

It's not nice for us who like to play and tinker, but it's a sound business move.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arthur Hucksake*
> 
> I actually agree with nVidia here.
> If you were victim of the fiasco where manufacturers shipping non reference 5xxs and the mV was off so crashed, you could get why nVidia is taking measures to even things across the board.
> It's not nice for us who like to play and tinker, but it's a sound business move.


Fiasco?

For every agreement there's an equal and opposite disagreement? lol.

Those who care can keep 2.2.3 and older drivers then....can't they?


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arthur Hucksake*
> 
> I actually agree with nVidia here.
> If you were victim of the fiasco where manufacturers shipping non reference 5xxs and the mV was off so crashed, you could get why nVidia is taking measures to even things across the board.
> It's not nice for us who like to play and tinker, but it's a sound business move.


wait....
so you're tell us overclockers on an overclocking forum where the majority of us void our warranties and do crazy stuff with our hardware to agree that Nvidia is correct in locking us down?









blasphemy!


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

So the classified and and DCii 680s are the only ones left to have unlocked voltage?

Sad day here and I'd be angry too if I had Lightnings

Atleast you can just use the older Afterbruner, have to look at the bright side right?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> So the classified and and DCii 680s are the only ones left to have unlocked voltage?
> Sad day here and I'd be angry too if I had Lightnings
> Atleast you can just use the older Afterbruner, have to look at the bright side right?


Nice setup you got Mr. TS, that's a lot of volts on that 3960x, is it a C1 or C2 steeping. I assume that's for short runs of benchmarking. Very good 3DM11 with that 690. What timings, volts, do you use on your Gt's for 2400 mhz.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Nice setup you got Mr. TS, that's a lot of volts on that 3960x, is it a C1 or C2 steeping. I assume that's for short runs of benchmarking. Very good 3DM11 with that 690. What timings, volts, do you use on your Gt's for 2400 mhz.


Thanks for the compliments.









My chip is a C1. For future reference, you can just look at cpuz and see the stepping part. C1 is stepping 6, C2 is stepping 7.

Yeah, I go to 5.1-5.15GHz for just bench runs when ambients are lowish. Then back to 4.7GHz she goes. I use 1.2v VCCSA and 1.7v on the ram for 2400MHz cas 9. Most of the time I run it at 2133MHz 1.5v.


----------



## dph314

This is rediculous.

So I take it new driver versions will wipe out compatibility with AB 2.2.3 and that's how they'll force 2.2.4 on everyone?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> This is rediculous.
> So I take it new driver versions will wipe out compatibility with AB 2.2.3 and that's how they'll force 2.2.4 on everyone?


Big brother looking out for us because they know what we need better than we do.Is this part of Paul Ryan's economic plan.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> This is rediculous.
> So I take it new driver versions will wipe out compatibility with AB 2.2.3 and that's how they'll force 2.2.4 on everyone?


DO you think they dare to do such a nasty thing, I mean REALLY ?


----------



## dph314

Judging from how Nvidia flipped out on and threatened MSI already, I'd say it's definitely possible.


----------



## famich

I d like to see more information on this..


----------



## Eustia

Can anyone tell me how does the Aux voltage affect overclocking?


----------



## famich

As for me, not by much







I ll leave it most to 0 or tried even =50mV as suggested over here...


----------



## xoleras

Its whatever IMO. I'll just use afterburner 2.2.3. I don't really care about overclocking much these days outside of benchmarking, I usually cruise around 1300 (which I can do without additional voltage).

Who's forcing you to upgrade afterburner? I'll just happily use 2.2.3 which I have no issues with.

I don't like nvidia setting this precedent though, AMD doesn't restrict voltage in this manner. I'll keep this in mind whenever 8970 is released this Dec or next Jan, if nvidia keeps this up I may have to switch sides again. I don't really blame MSI as much as nvidia using draconian methods to restrict enthusiasts. I definitely DO NOT like this.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eustia*
> 
> Can anyone tell me how does the Aux voltage affect overclocking?


I've had it at -50mv and its helped sometimes to get a higher overclock on the core, and I've had it at +80mv and its helped sometimes as well. Weird, I know. Just try +50 and if that doesn't work then try -50.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Its whatever IMO. I'll just use afterburner 2.2.3. I don't really care about overclocking much these days outside of benchmarking, I usually cruise around 1300 (which I can do without additional voltage).
> 
> *Who's forcing you to upgrade afterburner? I'll just happily use 2.2.3 which I have no issues with.*
> 
> I don't like nvidia setting this precedent though, AMD doesn't restrict voltage in this manner. I'll keep this in mind whenever 8970 is released this Dec or next Jan, if nvidia keeps this up I may have to switch sides again. I don't really blame MSI as much as nvidia using draconian methods to restrict enthusiasts. I definitely DO NOT like this.


If new drivers have something to say about it then that may be how they get us. Unwinder will have something in 2.2.4 that makes it compatible with every driver after 306.23, meaning previous versions of AB won't work from here on out. You could still reinstall the 306 drivers to bench I suppose though. But yeah I'm the same way, top card can do 1350mhz without touching the voltage at all. But still, someone else described it best when they said it feels like a raping. Although Nvidia's fault and not MSI's, still feels like something is being taken from me and I don't like it







.


----------



## crapatguitar

hey guys, I plan on getting a little upgrade from my reference 7970 (poor overclocker, loud, coil whine, things like that) and I have my eyes set on the 680 lightning or the 680 directcu II. I do plan on overclocking a bit, but without added voltage to keep temperature cool and fan noise down. So I'm just wondering which of the two cards would be a better buy if I overclock on stock clocks and which one is quieter and cools better?


----------



## samoth777

I wonder if this bad news will affect those who are using different 680s with the Lightning Bios. I'm using a DCII with the lightning LN2 bios and i worry that itll force my volts back to 1.175


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *crapatguitar*
> 
> hey guys, I plan on getting a little upgrade from my reference 7970 (poor overclocker, loud, coil whine, things like that) and I have my eyes set on the 680 lightning or the 680 directcu II. I do plan on overclocking a bit, but without added voltage to keep temperature cool and fan noise down. So I'm just wondering which of the two cards would be a better buy if I overclock on stock clocks and which one is quieter and cools better?


I can't speak for the DCuII, but the Lightning has no problem staying cool. LN2 BIOS has a stock clock of 1202mhz which is already a decent speed, and you'll probably be able to hit closer to 1300mhz on a decent card with no-to-very-little voltage adjustment while still staying nice and quiet and in the low 60C's.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> I wonder if this bad news will affect those who are using different 680s with the Lightning Bios. I'm using a DCII with the lightning LN2 bios and i worry that itll force my volts back to 1.175


I'm sure it would affect your card as well. I mean, the only way to tell what card is in there is the BIOS I'm assuming, so, as far as future drivers and versions of Afterburner are concerned (assuming this all happens), I would think they would recognize your card as a Lightning just like any one of ours unfortunately.


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I can't speak for the DCuII, but the Lightning has no problem staying cool. LN2 BIOS has a stock clock of 1202mhz which is already a decent speed, and you'll probably be able to hit closer to 1300mhz on a decent card with no-to-very-little voltage adjustment while still staying nice and quiet and in the low 60C's.
> I'm sure it would affect your card as well. I mean, the only way to tell what card is in there is the BIOS I'm assuming, so, as far as future drivers and versions of Afterburner are concerned (assuming this all happens), I would think they would recognize your card as a Lightning just like any one of ours unfortunately.


argh! bad news indeed!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I can't speak for the DCuII, but the Lightning has no problem staying cool. LN2 BIOS has a stock clock of 1202mhz which is already a decent speed, and you'll probably be able to hit closer to 1300mhz on a decent card with no-to-very-little voltage adjustment while still staying nice and quiet and in the low 60C's.
> I'm sure it would affect your card as well. I mean, the only way to tell what card is in there is the BIOS I'm assuming, so, as far as future drivers and versions of Afterburner are concerned (assuming this all happens), I would think they would recognize your card as a Lightning just like any one of ours unfortunately.
> 
> 
> 
> argh! bad news indeed!
Click to expand...

If you decide to upgrade that 2500k you could always go with a Rampage IV Extreme and do the volt-mod.


----------



## Pansyfaust

So what? AB 2.2.4 is going to lock voltage adjustments on the 680 lightning?!


----------



## Pansyfaust

Seems they are







http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=4410753
Well, i wonder if we can return our cards as essentially we have bought a card that does not do what it said on the box....


----------



## Scorpion667

That's okay, AMD has proved they can stick to their release deadlines and deliver competitive GPU products.
It's not like we have no other place to go if Nvidia keep being d-bags with this locked voltage crap (here's to oping 780GTX will have adjustable voltage!).


----------



## dVeLoPe

wow wait really *** im about to sell my card to buy a lightning noo????


----------



## famich

Despite all that MSI has binned the Lightnings nicely , a lot of them incl. mine can run games @1300MHz and more on stock voltage and I m sure that community and /or Unwinder will come up with some kind of a nice solution to this...

Apart from that , to me it is an appalling move from the Nvidia side !


----------



## Pansyfaust

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Despite all that MSI has binned the Lightnings nicely , a lot of them incl. mine can run games @1300MHz and more on stock voltage and I m sure that community and /or Unwinder will come up with some kind of a nice solution to this...
> Apart from that , to me it is an appalling move from the Nvidia side !


Well on my Ln2 bios it needs about 18mv extra to get to 1300 :/. And thats already with +50mv over the standard 1.175V default max for the regular bios. So yeah, less than 1300mhz is not gonna cut it for such a premium price payed. Actually I wonder if we have any recourse to return the card as we essentially payed for things SAID ON THE BOX OF THE DAM PRODUCT (caps lock for angry face







) that we cannot use? Wonder what msi would do if all their lightnings came back to them? But with that, really bad form Nvidia. Obviously on a business front you want to avoid returning fried cards (that are probably out of warranty anyway!?!) but the damage done for your image to the extreme power user is tarnished now.


----------



## xoleras

The version doesn't expire because its an official version, so you can use it indefinitely. Just use AB 2.2.3. The performance difference from 1300-1400mhz in games is roughly 1 frame per second (and i've tested it in tons of games) so I honestly don't care either way. But I do get a big jump in 3dmark11 performance. Some people are just hilarious about getting that extra 20mhz though. I saw some guy in the galaxy thread return his card because it would "only" do 1285 MHz. Anyway...I find the whole thing hilarious because there's no real world games performance difference in games between even 1300-1400mhz.

With that said, I get it based on principle, something is promised and not delivered - so being upset is completely understandable. Don't misunderstand me, its a completely valid concern. I guess it just doesn't bother me because I'll simply not upgrade my afterburner -- Anyways, nvidia better not do this with their future high end SKUs ,i'm not paying 100$ more for voltage control when AMD offers it for free, and has comparable performance.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> The version doesn't expire because its an official version, so you can use it indefinitely. Just use AB 2.2.3. The performance difference from 1300-1400mhz in games is roughly 1 frame per second (and i've tested it in tons of games) so I honestly don't care either way. But I do get a big jump in 3dmark11 performance. Some people are just hilarious about getting that extra 20mhz though. I saw some guy in the galaxy thread return his card because it would "only" do 1285 MHz. Anyway...I find the whole thing hilarious because there's no real world games performance difference in games between even 1300-1400mhz.
> With that said, I get it based on principle, something is promised and not delivered - so being upset is completely understandable. Don't misunderstand me, its a completely valid concern. I guess it just doesn't bother me because I'll simply not upgrade my afterburner -- Anyways, nvidia better not do this with their future high end SKUs ,i'm not paying 100$ more for voltage control when AMD offers it for free, and has comparable performance.


True that. Can't let something you have no control over bother you too much. There are options.


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> True that. Can't let something you have no control over bother you too much. There are options.


unless Nvidia locks/restricts the drivers as well so you can only use the old drivers......or someone could "hack" the drivers or something


----------



## famich

I do agree completely with you on this, as stated before. There is one more concern , however, that Nvidia might cripple the voltage tweaking
through the next driver releases. I have read that the standard voltage control is in GTX 680 achieved by drivers .

Apart from that I m, too , running my games at 1300MHz at stock voltage.


----------



## elbubi

Famich I do really envy your luck getting golden chips!









Mine's need +68mv to get to 1300 core heaven stable







. At least I can reach 7000 on mems at +50mv, got 4 extra fps en heaven just with mem oc (1350pts vs 1225pts). Really surprised me how much of a performance increase mem oc represents in this card. I can settle down with 1300/7000 (was my goal when bought it), just wish I could achieve it without voltage tweaking so to avoid this nvidia/msi restriction hassle.

One little doubt I have, if I save my profile with +68mv, when I reaply it, it goes down to 62m. The only way to have +68mv aplied from start is to save a profile with +74mv so it goes down to +68mv when applied. Actual aplied offset seems to be replaced by target offset when profiles get saved.

Is that correct or am I misunderstanding something? Btw: using stock fan profile I get 69º core and 64º vrm on heaven, are those readings acceptable or must I use a more agressive custom profile? Like to keep it silent if possible...

I agree with you all about nvidia restriction and msi obsequious, it's definitely *wrong*, but most probably a workaround will be found (I wish so, if not I'll lose 100mhz on core and 1000Mhz on memory, my card does not overclock over 25mhz core and 100mhz memory without added voltage (it sucks, I know)). So, if the lockup is definitive, I'll lose that nearly 15% performance bunch I get from voltage tweaking this card, and taking into acount we all paid MSi for that voltage tweaking, I feel they are now "stealing" it from us. I would like to know how many of us would have bought the lightning if it had no voltage tweaking from scratch (5% perhaps?). I would personaly have gone for a reference if wanted to save, or for a CUII if wanted granted performance (in most cases they can reach 1300/7000 with no extra voltage added). Just my 2 cents...

Kind Regards and thanks in advance!


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Pansyfaust*
> 
> Well on my Ln2 bios it needs about 18mv extra to get to 1300 :/. And thats already with +50mv over the standard 1.175V default max for the regular bios. So yeah, less than 1300mhz is not gonna cut it for such a premium price payed. Actually I wonder if we have any recourse to return the card as we essentially payed for things SAID ON THE BOX OF THE DAM PRODUCT (caps lock for angry face
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) that we cannot use? Wonder what msi would do if all their lightnings came back to them? But with that, really bad form Nvidia. Obviously on a business front you want to avoid returning fried cards (that are probably out of warranty anyway!?!) but the damage done for your image to the extreme power user is tarnished now.


You should been here back when the gripe of the day was that unlocked voltage was never going to happen, some guys even returned cards because they were convinced that voltage control wouldn't happen.

Then AB 2.2.3 came out and it was pretty quiet around here for a bit.

I still run the OC profiles I had set up in AB 2.2.2, I only fire up 2.2.3 if I'm going to do a benchmark. I won't bother with 2.2.4.

I can see where guys would be bummed that Nvidia seems to be doing everything possible to piss off their customers, and if I bought a Lightning with a locked BIOS and now crippled AB, I'd be sending that sucker back with an angry letter and a copy of an AMD invoice. This is freaking ridiculous (there is no "e" in ridiculous, FWIW).

My only other thought on the matter is this: A LOT of cards got returned because they wouldn't hit some magical arbitrary clock figure. Nothing wrong with the cards. Nvidia might have seen that as a consequence of having an "overclockable" product and decided, "Here is the voltage and clocks you can run. Now just use the thing and be happy."


----------



## famich

You may have a point here, I have seen some freaks doing the same in Germany on the well known German OC forum








Ridiculous


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Famich I do really envy your luck getting golden chips!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mine's need +68mv to get to 1300 core heaven stable
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . At least I can reach 7000 on mems at +50mv, got 4 extra fps en heaven just with mem oc (1350pts vs 1225pts). Really surprised me how much of a performance increase mem oc represents in this card. I can settle down with 1300/7000 (was my goal when bought it), just wish I could achieve it without voltage tweaking so to avoid this nvidia/msi restriction hassle.
> One little doubt I have, if I save my profile with +68mv, when I reaply it, it goes down to 62m. The only way to have +68mv aplied from start is to save a profile with +74mv so it goes down to +68mv when applied. Actual aplied offset seems to be replaced by target offset when profiles get saved.
> Is that correct or am I misunderstanding something? Btw: using stock fan profile I get 69º core and 64º vrm on heaven, are those readings acceptable or must I use a more agressive custom profile? Like to keep it silent if possible...
> I agree with you all about nvidia restriction and msi obsequious, it's definitely *wrong*, but most probably a workaround will be found (I wish so, if not I'll lose 100mhz on core and 1000Mhz on memory, my card does not overclock over 25mhz core and 100mhz memory without added voltage (it sucks, I know)). So, if the lockup is definitive, I'll lose that nearly 15% performance bunch I get from voltage tweaking this card, and taking into acount we all paid MSi for that voltage tweaking, I feel they are now "stealing" it from us. I would like to know how many of us would have bought the lightning if it had no voltage tweaking from scratch (5% perhaps?). I would personaly have gone for a reference if wanted to save, or for a CUII if wanted granted performance (in most cases they can reach 1300/7000 with no extra voltage added). Just my 2 cents...
> Kind Regards and thanks in advance!


All you have to do is not upgrade afterburner. The official versions never expire, I still have a friend with an old 580 box using an ancient version of afterburner from early 2011 (and he overvolts his 580 with it).

It is really annoying that nvidia is doing this, I had 7970s prior to getting 680s and I have to say that they were way more hassle free for overclocking, and I feel that they scaled more (in terms of performance over stock) than the 680 does. For instance, the 7970 starts out slower than the 680 but when you overclock it to 1250 - it is definitely faster in some titles while being even in others (bf3, batman: AC). I really feel like nvidia pushed the GK104 to the limit out of the gate so that it could beat the stock 7970, perhaps this is why they're limiting voltage on it.

With that said, I love my 680L's yet I really dislike nvidia doing something like this. I dunno. If nvidia does this again in future products it might sway my decision to go AMD next time - as long as performance is comparable. I don't like the precedent they're setting, it is basically a "F YOU" to enthusiasts.


----------



## Pansyfaust

Well all i can say is that AB 2.2.3 will be a permanent feature on my pc







Till then I still have the card that MSI promised me. Up to and until the supposed new nvidia drivers dont work with the AB 2.2.3 will be the day I had my money stolen from me







Oh well, maybe Nvidia needs to get some bad rep before they figure "hey, whats the harm in allowing unlockable voltages? people who push the cards beyond 1.4V most likely have already used exotic cooling and have voided the warranty, Hands clean". It just tells me they are not confident in their product.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Pansyfaust*
> 
> Well all i can say is that AB 2.2.3 will be a permanent feature on my pc
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Till then I still have the card that MSI promised me. Up to and until the supposed new nvidia drivers dont work with the AB 2.2.3 will be the day I had my money stolen from me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh well, maybe Nvidia needs to get some bad rep before they figure "hey, whats the harm in allowing unlockable voltages? people who push the cards beyond 1.4V most likely have already used exotic cooling and have voided the warranty, Hands clean". It just tells me they are not confident in their product.


'Normal' people can only get to 1.36v with their Lightning. Us that know how to use the hack are quite the minority. But I can't believe Nvidia is so strict on even 1.36v. The chip still stays pretty cool.

I would like to think that the 780 will not be as locked down as this one is. With the rumored amount of cores and clocks laid back a bit, maybe they won't be such Control Nazi's next round since they won't have to push it so far right out of the gate.


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 'Normal' people can only get to 1.36v with their Lightning.


How do you get 1.36v without the hack? I can only reach 1.30v (1.21 LN2 + 93 AB offset)

Kind Regards!


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> How do you get 1.36v without the hack? I can only reach 1.30v (1.21 LN2 + 93 AB offset)
> Kind Regards!


Flash your semi locked down LN2 bios with one in the first page of this thread.


----------



## dph314

Also, you're not going by the Afterburner voltage reading are you? Because it's not exactly accurate. So, yeah I'd check your BIOS version with the ones listed in the OP. If you have 300% Power Limit, then you have ~1.36v with +93mv regardless of the Afterburner reading.


----------



## famich

Exactly ! If you ll measure it with the multimeter, you ll see that you got 1.36 real.


----------



## elbubi

Thanks indeed for the replys boys, in fact I have the LN2 Unlocked BIOS (3A), but AB reads only 1.30 maxed out, I know it is not to be trusted but I did not think the difference was that much (0.06).

Happy with my humble 1300/7000 LN2 OC, still impresed on memory oc impact. Tested Crysis 2 Adrenaline Bench and results from memory oc are amazing. (core +68 mem +50 aux +0)





Wish I could hit 1350 with +93mv but its a no-go. I've seen some of you reaching 1300/1350 with no added voltage, and I have to use +68 just to get to 1300, damn you lucky bstrds







. Power limiter has nothing to do with it, hasn´t it? I'm using it at 150% right now cause it never pases the 80's...

Kind Regards!

BTW, AB v2.2.4 is out, go get it quickly!!!


----------



## dph314

Anyone tried it? Does it still support voltage control?


----------



## famich

Hi,

I have seen just a few guys even here to go that high- it is a Gauss graph, IMHO - just a handful of chips are that good- I remember having 2 dud HD 7970s and the best 7970 got smoked at a moderate overclock-









A silicon lottery,.









On a side note, I would like to know if Unwinder will come up with a solution how to edit the new AFB to be again "compatible "


----------



## K2mil

All this driver and AB stuff is crazy thay want us back to stone age :/


----------



## dph314

I don't think Unwinder will have any say about it. He does what MSI wants, and MSI does what Nvidia wants, unfortunately. So what's new with 2.2.4? It doesn't have triple over-voltage? I'm at work, can't open it on this computer.


----------



## famich

Hmm, he has actually hinted something today on the Guru3D forum: there just should only be some kind of binary database in 2 2 4, that the "power user" could edit.


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I don't think Unwinder will have any say about it. He does what MSI wants, and MSI does what Nvidia wants, unfortunately. So what's new with 2.2.4? It doesn't have triple over-voltage? I'm at work, can't open it on this computer.


Can't test it neither till tonight. Alexey said that at least in this version it is possible to unlock voltage control using some skills. His hands are tied in this matter I think, he is being payed by MSi so we cannot ask/expect him to "betray" them, but maybe he can enlighten us on which path to follow







. Regarding what famich said, here I quote it:
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Unwinder*
> it will be standard 1175mV, similar to all other 680 on the market. Advanced core voltage control of Lightning will be totally disabled, so it won't be different comparing to any other 680.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Unwinder*
> 2.2.4, which MSI is planning to release soon, is 2.2.3 binary with edited MSI hardware database. So it is be possible for power users to edit the profiles to disable standard NVIDIA voltage control and unlock direct unlimited voltage control via PWM. Not sure if MSI will require to add some additional locks to future versions.


I would not like to bring UW any trouble by quoting this, I really apreciate his hard and skilled work (he even had to pospone his holidays for us 680 lightning users!)
Kind Regards!


----------



## xoleras

Oh nice. So we can kinda accidentally edit a profile to get voltage. Doesn't sound so bad afterall.


----------



## xoleras

Elbubi: afterburner does not report proper voltage. You only get proper voltage with a DMM tester. The voltage is generally .75 to 100mV higher than whatAB reports.


----------



## dph314

Well, as long as there's a way to unlock it, that's good. There's always the hack as a backup. One way or another though, at least it will still be possible.


----------



## famich

OK, but someone has to tell us HOW to do it . And it could/should be him..


----------



## hammerforged

I havent been following for awhile but still interested in whats going on. So is there a new AB out that is trying to lock voltage back down?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> I havent been following for awhile but still interested in whats going on. So is there a new AB out that is trying to lock voltage back down?


Yeah. Unwinder said that it will completely remove the over-volting option so that the Lightnings will be like every other 680 on the market (1.175v), but there is a way for "power-users" to edit some profiles to get around the restriction. So I guess it's not a total loss.


----------



## xoleras

Hammerforged, your WC build is beautiful, awesome work! I'm slowly working towards mine!

Question : is the 360 in the bottom of the TJ-07 pretty hassle free? Can you add one without tons of case modding?


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yeah. Unwinder said that it will completely remove the over-volting option so that the Lightnings will be like every other 680 on the market (1.175v), but there is a way for "power-users" to edit some profiles to get around the restriction. So I guess it's not a total loss.


Yeah, hopefully people will still be able to run the old AB. I know previously theyve made it so that the old edition expires after awhile.

It sould like its Nvidia slapping MSI around and MSI is complying but not so much that it pisses off all the lighning owners who want voltage. Hopefully everything works out for the best. I miss mine sometimes. Hopefully we can look forward to voltage on high end kepler gtx 780. Also just remember its Nvidia thats forcing MSI's hand, they wouldnt be doing this if they didnt have to.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Hammerforged, your WC build is beautiful, awesome work! I'm slowly working towards mine!
> Question : is the 360 in the bottom of the TJ-07 pretty hassle free? Can you add one without tons of case modding?


Thanks man! Its certianly addicting to say the least. Im sure yours will look awesome with those beautiful lightning blocks.

Its actually a 480mm rad in the bottom and just a 240mm up top. The top rad was a pain and I honestly probably dont need it but its there







The bottom rad is just mounted to some cheap XSPC rad stands that work really well. Your runnig the cosmos 2 right? There should be a lot of room to play with in there hopefully. Just let me know if you have any other questions man.


----------



## hammerforged

Afterburner 2.2.4 Download

http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/afterburner_2_2_4_ready_for_download.html


----------



## K2mil

Quote:


> Some black magic for 680 Lightning owners:
> 
> On 2.2.4 you may edit Lightning hardware profile files (.\Profiles\VEN_10DE&DEV_1180....cfg) and add the following lines there:
> 
> [Settings]
> VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
> VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
> VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1
> 
> Those lines disable NVIDIA's capped voltage control module, enable voltage control via direct access to CHL8318 and select offset voltage control mode for it.
> 
> Note: each card profile must be edited for SLI configs.
> 
> Alexey Nicolaychuk aka Unwinder, RivaTuner creator


source

All Right Unwinder:thumb:


----------



## dph314

Awesome. Go Unwinder









But why do this then? What's the point of making voltage control simply a slight inconvenience now? Anyone who gets a Lightning is obviously somewhat "in-the-know". So this little profile edit will be nothing for most owners. I'm glad this is what is going on, but how is Nvidia appeased by this?


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Awesome. Go Unwinder
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But why do this then? What's the point of making voltage control simply a slight inconvenience now? Anyone who gets a Lightning is obviously somewhat "in-the-know". So this little profile edit will be nothing for most owners. I'm glad this is what is going on, but how is Nvidia appeased by this?


It makes sure Nvidia is not responsible for any harm or damage from overclocking and probably has something to do with warranty. I'd say theres a pretty good reason that voltage is locked especially after all the trouble theyve gone through to keep it that way









By making it so that the user actually has to mod something they can put it all back on the user. Same way with the Asus GTX 680 TOP.


----------



## famich

You got the point, I bet it s like that- but- the main thing is that we got our control back even after the new driver release in the future


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Awesome. Go Unwinder
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But why do this then? What's the point of making voltage control simply a slight inconvenience now? Anyone who gets a Lightning is obviously somewhat "in-the-know". So this little profile edit will be nothing for most owners. I'm glad this is what is going on, but how is Nvidia appeased by this?


To appease nvidia who are (by all accounts) being really stupid about over voltage. It makes sense for reference cards, but the lightning can handle it just fine.

Probably some idiot suits at nvidia who have no technical knowledge - probably marketers or something.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Awesome. Go Unwinder
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But why do this then? What's the point of making voltage control simply a slight inconvenience now? Anyone who gets a Lightning is obviously somewhat "in-the-know". So this little profile edit will be nothing for most owners. I'm glad this is what is going on, but how is Nvidia appeased by this?
> 
> 
> 
> To appease nvidia who are (by all accounts) being really stupid about over voltage. It makes sense for reference cards, but the lightning can handle it just fine.
> 
> Probably some idiot suits at nvidia who have no technical knowledge - probably marketers or something.
Click to expand...

True. Very true. But I mean- Unwinder releases 2.2.3 with voltage control and Nvidia gets pissed. So Unwinder releases 2.2.4 with voltage control through a small profile edit...and Nvidia is happy now? What's the difference of whether or not there's a small profile edit or not? MSI will still replace a dead card I'm sure, and there's no way to tell whether or not someone edited a file in Afterburner.


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> True. Very true. But I mean- Unwinder releases 2.2.3 with voltage control and Nvidia gets pissed. So Unwinder releases 2.2.4 with voltage control through a small profile edit...and Nvidia is happy now? What's the difference of whether or not there's a small profile edit or not? MSI will still replace a dead card I'm sure, and there's no way to tell whether or not someone edited a file in Afterburner.


its that msi has now just shut up nv by the edit.

NV: waaaa no more vt for 680

MSI: ok shut up we got rid of it

nv........


----------



## Silvaren

I tried to flash my bios to F8 again but no it doesnt work. It still gives me screen errors like there are dots and lines everywhere. So i had to flash it back to 80.04.28.00.3A. You guys are talking about 1.375v max voltage without changing anything but all i see is 1.296V max voltage with this bios. I really want to hit 1400 mhz so i need some help here.

1) 80.04.28.00.3A is this a normal bios or ln2 ?
2) What max voltage do you see ?
3) Is there a simple and safe way to increase voltage more than Afterburner's limit ?

Thanks...


----------



## gavbon

i have a 680 lightening

but seems to crap out @ 1350mhz clock

anyone got a copy of MSI Afterburner Extreme that works with these cards?

or anyone know how to unlock the voltage a bit further?


----------



## Silvaren

Yeah lol i am having same issue here







welcome to my world !

Well hopefully someone will help us then i can beat my AMD fanboy friend and be happy


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Silvaren*
> 
> Yeah lol i am having same issue here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> welcome to my world !
> Well hopefully someone will help us then i can beat my AMD fanboy friend and be happy


just realised, new afterburner is being stroppy

trying to edit the file and add this

VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

but keeps saying access denied, any way around that?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Silvaren*
> 
> I tried to flash my bios to F8 again but no it doesnt work. It still gives me screen errors like there are dots and lines everywhere. So i had to flash it back to 80.04.28.00.3A. You guys are talking about 1.375v max voltage without changing anything but all i see is 1.296V max voltage with this bios. I really want to hit 1400 mhz so i need some help here.
> 1) 80.04.28.00.3A is this a normal bios or ln2 ?
> 2) What max voltage do you see ?
> 3) Is there a simple and safe way to increase voltage more than Afterburner's limit ?
> Thanks...


Is that measured with DMM? No software will read the correct voltage, if AB says 1.296 it probably is closer to 1.37V + real.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> i have a 680 lightening
> but seems to crap out @ 1350mhz clock
> anyone got a copy of MSI Afterburner Extreme that works with these cards?
> or anyone know how to unlock the voltage a bit further?


Read up on the artmoney hack, instructions are in this thread somewhere, be careful with it.
AB extreme won't be getting leaked like it used to, each copy is custom for the guy who gets it so MSI can see exactly who leaked it if it does get leaked.


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Is that measured with DMM? No software will read the correct voltage, if AB says 1.296 it probably is closer to 1.37V + real.
> Read up on the artmoney hack, instructions are in this thread somewhere, be careful with it.
> AB extreme won't be getting leaked like it used to, each copy is custom for the guy who gets it so MSI can see exactly who leaked it if it does get leaked.


thanks for that, sorted the file out









any idea how to get hold of a copy? or who i would need to speak to?

if i can get a copy, ill be ordering a 2nd for SLI, and waterblocks

but no point if i cant push them any further


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> thanks for that, sorted the file out
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> any idea how to get hold of a copy? or who i would need to speak to?
> if i can get a copy, ill be ordering a 2nd for SLI, and waterblocks
> but no point if i cant push them any further


It is pretty much limited to extreme cooling, for air & water not much chance.


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> just realised, new afterburner is being stroppy
> trying to edit the file and add this
> VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
> VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
> VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1
> but keeps saying access denied, any way around that?


cut & paste "VEN_10DE&DEV_1180....cfg" on desktop
make the change and put it back in the original folder


----------



## Menthol

So before I try 2.2.4 if you modify the profile setting as stated is the voltage unlocked to the same amount as 2.2.3, or is it higher and you don't need to use ArtMoney to raise it higher? If it doesn't do something better/different than 2.2.3, what would be the reason to change except our unstoppable need to try everything to get that extra mhz.


----------



## DADDYDC650

I dislike how I have to apply my OC settings via MSI AB each time I restart my PC. Is there any way around this?


----------



## Silvaren

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> So before I try 2.2.4 if you modify the profile setting as stated is the voltage unlocked to the same amount as 2.2.3, or is it higher and you don't need to use ArtMoney to raise it higher? If it doesn't do something better/different than 2.2.3, what would be the reason to change except our unstoppable need to try everything to get that extra mhz.


I tried it and no it doesnt work like that. Adding those settings into 2.2.3 profile didnt effect anything but it works perfectly fine with 2.2.4


----------



## Silvaren

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Is that measured with DMM? No software will read the correct voltage, if AB says 1.296 it probably is closer to 1.37V + real.
> Read up on the artmoney hack, instructions are in this thread somewhere, be careful with it.
> AB extreme won't be getting leaked like it used to, each copy is custom for the guy who gets it so MSI can see exactly who leaked it if it does get leaked.


It is measured with DMM. Ab shows it as 1.2 and it is 1.296 on DMM.

How can we get AB Extreme ? Can you pm me about that please ?


----------



## gavbon

added the line

but 3d mark 11 crashes when i put max voltage, but even a modest clock of +120 on the core, and +120 on the memory

driving me nuts lol


----------



## GenoOCAU

Can't we all just boycott 2.2.4 and stick with our triple voltage 2.2.3 versions? If so should we all just firewall protocol block AB to be able to use the net as a preventative measure?


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Can't we all just boycott 2.2.4 and stick with our triple voltage 2.2.3 versions? If so should we all just firewall protocol block AB to be able to use the net as a preventative measure?


if i cant continue to overclock my lightening like a baws

i will just sell it and buy another model, only reason i paid the extra £40 premium for this card tbh


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Silvaren*
> 
> It is measured with DMM. Ab shows it as 1.2 and it is 1.296 on DMM.


You need to flash to the unlocked 3A from the first post. Then you should be getting ~1.36v with 2.2.3 at +93mv. And I would just use the hack if you really think the card can handle it instead of trying for AB Extreme.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> added the line
> 
> but 3d mark 11 crashes when i put max voltage, but even a modest clock of +120 on the core, and +120 on the memory
> 
> driving me nuts lol


You on the LN2 BIOS? And what version is it?

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Can't we all just boycott 2.2.4 and stick with our triple voltage 2.2.3 versions? If so should we all just firewall protocol block AB to be able to use the net as a preventative measure?


I have no idea what that means







But whatever works. Plus since the unlocked BIOS is already out here, we could probably use the hack with any version of Afterburner, since these cards aren't BIOS-limited like many other ones.


----------



## samoth777

I wonder if this news will mean the termination of the LN2 bios. Will it just be 1.175v on both bioses? That would be rather annoying.


----------



## elbubi

GenoOCAU: There's no need to boycott AB 2.2.4 since Unwinder has provided us a trick to make our Lightnings voltage moddable by it.

Samoth: LN2 Bios will continue to behave as intended, at least by now







. Just out of curiosity, what is the max stable oc you could achieve with your DCII?

Kind Regards!


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You need to flash to the unlocked 3A from the first post. Then you should be getting ~1.36v with 2.2.3 at +93mv. And I would just use the hack if you really think the card can handle it instead of trying for AB Extreme.
> You on the LN2 BIOS? And what version is it?
> I have no idea what that means
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But whatever works. Plus since the unlocked BIOS is already out here, we could probably use the hack with any version of Afterburner, since these cards aren't BIOS-limited like many other ones.


on the LN2 bios yeah

on the latest version on the front page of this thread

can you tell me how to do the AB hack so i can unlock higher voltages?


----------



## White Ice

"dph314" Thanks man, i worked it out finally thanks to you. Damn limit of 2 PM,s a day i had to say thanks here!







Sorry i only got 2 PM limit. Umm yes i have unlocked Bios, the card i have now isn't great i did have a golden chip but i sold it to a mate on my forum.. It did 1365mhz stock with AB 2.2.2.. If i still had that card i could have gone 1500mhz now.. Oh well







Im buying 4 lightnings to run 4 way SLI so i will see what the best card can do...









Hey while im here, what mhz clock does your Lightning do / bench on LN2 bios with untouched +0mV ???


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> GenoOCAU: There's no need to boycott AB 2.2.4 since Unwinder has provided us a trick to make our Lightnings voltage moddable by it.
> Samoth: LN2 Bios will continue to behave as intended, at least by now
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Just out of curiosity, what is the max stable oc you could achieve with your DCII?
> Kind Regards!


Ah thats great! Cause I'm actually using the LN2 bios on my DCII heheh.

Heaven 3.0

Stock cooler: 1315mhz +450 on RAM
Water: 1331mhz +450 RAM

BF3

Stock cooler: 1320mhz +450 RAM
Water: 1335mhz +450 RAM

I could get great clocks I'm sure if I use Hotwire. But i'm not willing to fork over that much cash just to get a RIVE or a MVE. I'd rather go SLI.


----------



## elbubi

Great clocks you got there with ln2 stock voltage, the DC2T is really a good card, thanks for the info!

Btw, using 2.2.4 with profile mod and it works like a charm...


----------



## xoleras

Auto fan while over volting?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> on the LN2 bios yeah
> on the latest version on the front page of this thread
> can you tell me how to do the AB hack so i can unlock higher voltages?


Is there any particular reason you would do this, are you part of a benchmarking team or something? I wouldn't advise messing with it because it

1) doesn't help games performance
2) increases heat output tremendously
3) higher than 1.4V is pure madness, only reserved for those that are doing LN2 benchmarking IMO
4) kepler architecture changes GPU clockspeed depending on the application, MOST games don't even push the card past 1202mhz on the LN2 BIOS because its already capped at 60 fps.

Most of my games run at vsync and barely stress my cards. A stock MSI lightning gets nearly 1.375V, that by itself is pretty darn high, very much past kepler specs. I'm just curious, I dunno, this is all my opinion though - I recognize that some competetive benchmarkers may want to go with a higher voltage - but I should reiterate that going past 1.4V you need better cooling. And you don't do that type of voltage 24/7.


----------



## samoth777

just got 2.2.4 after burner. it says i'm on 1.212v when gaming on BF3. What is the "real" volt figure of 1.212v?


----------



## White Ice

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> just got 2.2.4 after burner. it says i'm on 1.212v when gaming on BF3. What is the "real" volt figure of 1.212v?


Around 1.25-1.26v hardware usually. Grab a cheap DMM..


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Auto fan while over volting?


haha yes yes







. It does not go over 65 core / 63 vrm, so I'll live with that temps cause its so damn quiet on auto fan... Do you think those temps are not safe?

Regards!


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> haha yes yes
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . It does not goes over 65 core / 63 vrm, so I'll live with that temps cause its so damn quiet on auto fan... Do you think those temps are not safe?
> Regards!


Naw, sounds good man! I'm using SLI though so my temps creep up (on the top card) steadily with auto fan


----------



## famich

With SLI you might really need the watercooling


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You need to flash to the unlocked 3A from the first post. Then you should be getting ~1.36v with 2.2.3 at +93mv. And I would just use the hack if you really think the card can handle it instead of trying for AB Extreme.
> You on the LN2 BIOS? And what version is it?
> I have no idea what that means
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But whatever works. Plus since the unlocked BIOS is already out here, we could probably use the hack with any version of Afterburner, since these cards aren't BIOS-limited like many other ones.
> 
> 
> 
> on the LN2 bios yeah
> 
> on the latest version on the front page of this thread
> 
> can you tell me how to do the AB hack so i can unlock higher voltages?
Click to expand...

Make sure your temps are staying at safe levels. And make sure you follow these instructions carefully.

I know this is the type of site where people want to do this kind of stuff, even if it doesn't mean a trophy in a Pro competition. I know I get nothing out of it except the thrill in and of itself. That's the only reason I keep posting the directions for the hack, because I know it's fun, albeit a bit dangerous (adds to the excitement of course







). But, again, just watch temps and be careful









-Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
-Open Afterburner 2.2.3
-Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
-Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
-Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
-Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
-Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
-Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
-Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
-Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
-Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltages in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *White Ice*
> 
> "dph314" Thanks man, i worked it out finally thanks to you. Damn limit of 2 PM,s a day i had to say thanks here!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry i only got 2 PM limit. Umm yes i have unlocked Bios, the card i have now isn't great i did have a golden chip but i sold it to a mate on my forum.. It did 1365mhz stock with AB 2.2.2.. If i still had that card i could have gone 1500mhz now.. Oh well
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Im buying 4 lightnings to run 4 way SLI so i will see what the best card can do...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hey while im here, what mhz clock does your Lightning do / bench on LN2 bios with untouched +0mV ???


Glad it worked out







Mine did 1350mhz/7000mhz with +0mv


----------



## famich

Stock @LN2BIOS , albeit without any big mem tweaking



BTW- tried the edited AFB 2.2.4 and it seemed to me that it gave a slightly lower voltage /measured on MM / could be just by me...dunno


----------



## dph314

I wish I still had my 1380mhz card from back in the pre-2.2.3 days









Somehow stopped working before 2.2.3 was released, but it did 1380mhz/6000mhz or 1374mhz/7100mhz on stock voltage. Ah well, at least this last one was a pretty fitting replacement.


----------



## famich

Maybe it died on purpose in anticipation what would come next after the AFB 2 2 3 release from your side







Seriously: a pity -maybe a 1500MHz chip


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Maybe it died on purpose in anticipation what would come next after the AFB 2 2 3 release from your side
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Seriously: a pity -maybe a 1500MHz chip


It definitely would be 1500mhz. The one I have now did 1350mhz on stock voltage and look what I got it up to. So the one that did 1380mhz on stock volts I could've probably got up to.... makes me wanna


----------



## Rube

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> cut & paste "VEN_10DE&DEV_1180....cfg" on desktop
> make the change and put it back in the original folder


I cant find the file to make changes. What folder is it in?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rube*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> cut & paste "VEN_10DE&DEV_1180....cfg" on desktop
> make the change and put it back in the original folder
> 
> 
> 
> I cant find the file to make changes. What folder is it in?
Click to expand...

My Computer -> C:/ -> Program Files (x86) -> MSI Afterburner -> Profiles
Quote:


> Unwinder:
> add the following lines there-
> 
> [Settings]
> VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
> VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
> VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1


If you can't edit the file, right-click the config file and go to 'Properties', then the 'Security' tab, then click on your User name for your PC and click 'Edit'. Then click your User name again and check the box that says 'Full Control' and click 'Apply'. This should give you full privaleges to edit the file. Edit both config files if there are 2 there, each card's file needs to be edited if you have 2.


----------



## dookiepower

Hey guys! just got my lightning's up and running in sli, I am loving them, but I also have a few questions. Flipped them over to the ln2 bios and I've noticed that in 3dmark the power usage % does not go over 76%, is this normal? I've also been having stability issues in heaven, seems that if I touch the core at all it won't complete heaven. It runs fine when everything is set at stock but if I move it at all it doesn't seem happy and just locks up..
Overall though these cards are beauties, in sli I haven't seen one go over 63C, so it looks as though there is definetley enough thermal headroom, but they just lock up when I rev them up at all. Any help would be great, thanks guys.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dookiepower*
> 
> Hey guys! just got my lightning's up and running in sli, I am loving them, but I also have a few questions. Flipped them over to the ln2 bios and I've noticed that in 3dmark the power usage % does not go over 76%, is this normal? I've also been having stability issues in heaven, seems that if I touch the core at all it won't complete heaven. It runs fine when everything is set at stock but if I move it at all it doesn't seem happy and just locks up..
> Overall though these cards are beauties, in sli I haven't seen one go over 63C, so it looks as though there is definetley enough thermal headroom, but they just lock up when I rev them up at all. Any help would be great, thanks guys.


Sounds like that LN2 BIOS is skimping out on the voltage. What BIOS version does GPU-Z say when you boot them up on the LN2?

And yes ~76% is normal.


----------



## dookiepower

it's running 80.04.28.00.3A in the lN2 BIOS, is that the locked or unlocked?


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dookiepower*
> 
> it's running 80.04.28.00.3A in the lN2 BIOS, is that the locked or unlocked?


That is the number of an "unlocked" BIOS, even though, MSi can release a "locked" BIOS with the same number as the unlock bios just to confuse. Compare it hash code with the one I am uploading (truly 800428003A unlocked BIOS). If it's the same, your good to go, if not, flash to this version.

v80.04.28.00.3A.zip 55k .zip file


Kind Regards!


----------



## dookiepower

I'm currently trying to flash my cards to the unlocked bios I get to the CMD box and to the point where the guide at the front of this post says to type
" nvflash -4 -5 -6 680L_UnlockedBIOS.ROM" and it comes back with an error "cannot open file 680L_UnlockedBIOS.rom" What am I doing wrong that is making it throw this error?

Thanks for the help.


----------



## dph314

Assuming you have both NVflash and the BIOS file on your C:, the directions have to be adjusted to reflect the exact name of the BIOS file. The "680L_UnlockedBIOS.rom" should be replaced with whatever the name of the .rom file is you're flashing.

Also, run the CMD window by right-clicking on it and going to "Run as administrator", just to be sure it's not that. I know this is a common cause of an error when using ArtMoney for the hack, so, can't hurt to get into the habit of running things with "Run as admin" when doing these types of things


----------



## dookiepower

Alright, I'm all flashed up to the unlocked bios, gonna start to run some benches and see if that's an improvement. Thanks a lot for the help guys it has been very valuable and I appreciate it!

EDIT: do you guys have any suggestions on stability issues? Been getting a few rsod's and still having big time heaven stability issues. I'm not trying to boost too much as it is sli and one card could be better than the other.. Having trouble keeping anything right near 1300 stable, and that's with no mem oc..

Thanks.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Did you flash the new BIOS to both cards?


----------



## dookiepower

Yep, did it to both cards, they both read the new LN2 BIOS in GPU-Z. All the benches run fine at stock settings but once I move anything up it seems to run into stability issues.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dookiepower*
> 
> Yep, did it to both cards, they both read the new LN2 BIOS in GPU-Z. All the benches run fine at stock settings but once I move anything up it seems to run into stability issues.


You mean you crash at 1300mhz when both cards are at +93mv? Do you have both cards' voltages increased to +93mv?

If you _do_ have both set, then you may have a bad card. I would test each one individually, see what each one can hit on its own, and then put the better card on top, so that you can get a good overclock when you want to use one card for a game. Plus, individual testing will give you an idea of what SLI overclock you can get, since you'll be held back by the lower overclocker.


----------



## dookiepower

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You mean you crash at 1300mhz when both cards are at +93mv? Do you have both cards' voltages increased to +93mv?
> If you _do_ have both set, then you may have a bad card. I would test each one individually, see what each one can hit on its own, and then put the better card on top, so that you can get a good overclock when you want to use one card for a game. Plus, individual testing will give you an idea of what SLI overclock you can get, since you'll be held back by the lower overclocker.


Yep both cards were at +93mv, I just completely wiped the drivers and I'm re installing them now, should I use 2.23 or 2.24? I have both on a flash drive so I can use whichever one seems to do better.

As for testing each card, I have the M5E which has the pcie dip switches to turn off the pcie slots, should i just use those or would it be better to manually mount each card in the top slot for individual testing?


----------



## Frozenoblivion

I regret getting AMD now...
Stupid drivers.


----------



## JohnnyChuttz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Frozenoblivion*
> 
> I regret getting AMD now...
> Stupid drivers.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dookiepower*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You mean you crash at 1300mhz when both cards are at +93mv? Do you have both cards' voltages increased to +93mv?
> If you _do_ have both set, then you may have a bad card. I would test each one individually, see what each one can hit on its own, and then put the better card on top, so that you can get a good overclock when you want to use one card for a game. Plus, individual testing will give you an idea of what SLI overclock you can get, since you'll be held back by the lower overclocker.
> 
> 
> 
> Yep both cards were at +93mv, I just completely wiped the drivers and I'm re installing them now, should I use 2.23 or 2.24? I have both on a flash drive so I can use whichever one seems to do better.
> 
> As for testing each card, I have the M5E which has the pcie dip switches to turn off the pcie slots, should i just use those or would it be better to manually mount each card in the top slot for individual testing?
Click to expand...

I would think it's easier to just have the better card on top so all you have to do is enable/disable SLI with the Nvidia Control Panel anytime you want to.

But yeah I would test the cards individually to see if you have a really great card. Who knows...the one might hit 1400mhz and the other only 1280 and that could be the reason why you can't do 1300mhz SLI.


----------



## dookiepower

I'm running them both individually now, and it looks like the card I'm running now is running out of puff at 1350, it's stable in kombustor and 3dmark but not in Heaven. Will report back once I find out about the other card.

Is it safe to run them in sli at different clock speeds? Ie: can I clock them separately due to their needs and then run them in sli or would that not work?


----------



## MrMarauder

Anyone notice this card? It's the 680 Power Edition. Looks like a slightly lowered clocked Lightning for less money. Maybe it started off as a Lightning and couldn't make it.


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Make sure your temps are staying at safe levels. And make sure you follow these instructions carefully.
> I know this is the type of site where people want to do this kind of stuff, even if it doesn't mean a trophy in a Pro competition. I know I get nothing out of it except the thrill in and of itself. That's the only reason I keep posting the directions for the hack, because I know it's fun, albeit a bit dangerous (adds to the excitement of course
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ). But, again, just watch temps and be careful
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
> -Open Afterburner 2.2.3
> -Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
> -Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
> -Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
> -Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
> -Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
> -Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
> -Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
> -Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
> -Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
> BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltages in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card
> Glad it worked out
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mine did 1350mhz/7000mhz with +0mv


thanks for that mate

what would be a suitable to get more out of the card, but not too extreme to enter as a value for the offset?


----------



## White Ice

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> Anyone notice this card? It's the 680 Power Edition. Looks like a slightly lowered clocked Lightning for less money. Maybe it started off as a Lightning and couldn't make it.


Yeah funny you bring that up actually. I just bought another 680 Lightning here in Australia and i expected for it to have the new crappy locked bios but what i also noticed is that the card actually came up in software saying "MSI gtx680 Power edition" I flashed to the unlocked LN2 bios and the card could barely do 1300mhz @+0mV and crashed running 1320mhz @ +93mV and it had full voltage as seen with DMM.. :s Hahaha what a fail..

I think your spot on in saying that it is one of the cards that couldn't make it. So if uz have the original Lightning id be holding onto it if i were you. I might have to scrap my wanting 4 Lightnings because the chance of me getting 4 good chips are slim to none now.... I bought 4 Lightnings the second they were released and all of them could do 1360-1370 out of the box LN2 position with AB 2.2.2.. Wish i never sold them.


----------



## famich

I bought mine 6 weeks ago , runs OK , it looks that newer ones are locked/downgraded etc / this Power Edition ../


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> thanks for that mate
> 
> what would be a suitable to get more out of the card, but not too extreme to enter as a value for the offset?


As long as temps are fine you shouldn't have a problem going up to around +118mv, which didn't increase temps _too_ much more for me. Should really only use it for some quick bench runs though and stop raising it when temps start getting into the mid 70C's.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *White Ice*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> Anyone notice this card? It's the 680 Power Edition. Looks like a slightly lowered clocked Lightning for less money. Maybe it started off as a Lightning and couldn't make it.
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah funny you bring that up actually. I just bought another 680 Lightning here in Australia and i expected for it to have the new crappy locked bios but what i also noticed is that the card actually came up in software saying "MSI gtx680 Power edition" I flashed to the unlocked LN2 bios and the card could barely do 1300mhz @+0mV and crashed running 1320mhz @ +93mV and it had full voltage as seen with DMM.. :s Hahaha what a fail..
> 
> I think your spot on in saying that it is one of the cards that couldn't make it. So if uz have the original Lightning id be holding onto it if i were you. I might have to scrap my wanting 4 Lightnings because the chance of me getting 4 good chips are slim to none now.... I bought 4 Lightnings the second they were released and all of them could do 1360-1370 out of the box LN2 position with AB 2.2.2.. Wish i never sold them.
Click to expand...

That's rediculous. I'd return it right away and ask for a _real_ Lightning.

And you said you almost hit 1300mhz with +0mv, but can only hit 1320mhz with +93mv and the DMM shows 1.36v? Yeah, that's bad. Unusually small gain. I'd return it.


----------



## famich

dph314, I ve tried the old unlocked F8 BIOS- so far 1362MHz 3DM11 through with the default voltage- do you think it might be different from the newer 3A that I ve had from the beginning ?


----------



## midway22

Evening guys

Im grabbing a lightning tomorrow.

Is there any way to stop that "dust removal" from kicking on at boot?


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *midway22*
> 
> Evening guys
> Im grabbing a lightning tomorrow.
> Is there any way to stop that "dust removal" from kicking on at boot?


Out of curiosity, why would you not want that? I've paid close attention to mine, and it actually performs excellent. After two months, there's little dust collected in the heatsink.

That said, the newer BIOS that was released is supposed to tone down the start up spin at boot.


----------



## midway22

Well im coming from a 580gtx windforce which is extremely silent and my rig has more than enough dust filters in it to do the job.

Speaking of which does the lighting vent sideways or backwards?


----------



## MrMarauder

A lot of the exhaust is vented out the sides.


----------



## justasomeone

Just picked up my 680 lightning!

Sorry I didn't read through all the pages.

Can someone tell me quickly how I can get the best out of my card?

Drivers? Bios version? All the good stuff!

Thanks


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> dph314, I ve tried the old unlocked F8 BIOS- so far 1362MHz 3DM11 through with the default voltage- do you think it might be different from the newer 3A that I ve had from the beginning ?


I reach the exact same clocks with the 3 dif. LN2 BIOS availables. Switched back to 110a tough, couldn't stand de 3A 100% fan spin at startup.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *justasomeone*
> 
> Just picked up my 680 lightning!
> Sorry I didn't read through all the pages.
> Can someone tell me quickly how I can get the best out of my card?
> Drivers? Bios version? All the good stuff!
> Thanks


Page 1 has all the "vital" info.
Drivers: 306.23
BIOS version: Normal => v80.04.28.00.39 // LN2 => v80.04.28.00.3A
AB: v2.2.3

Kind Regards


----------



## dookiepower

Hey there! Congrats on the card, I just got two this week so I'm new as well. Go ahead and open up Gpu-z with the LN2 BIOS switch on, and see which LN2 BIOS you have, if you have one of the locked ones you can easily flash it to the old unlocked BIOS at the front of this thread.

As per getting the most out of your card its the silicon lottery, some are better than others, just start benching and using afterburner to see what you can get. That is all I'm doing at the moment, if anyone else has any better or more experience suggestions chime in!

I'm running the newest WHQL drivers, been having some problems but I know a lot of other guys around here are having great success with their lightnings!
Again Congrats on the card!


----------



## justasomeone

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Page 1 has all the "vital" info.
> Drivers: 306.23
> BIOS version: Normal => v80.04.28.00.39 // LN2 => v80.04.28.00.3A
> AB: v2.2.3
> Kind Regards


THANK YOU!! Just what I needed.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dookiepower*
> 
> Hey there! Congrats on the card, I just got two this week so I'm new as well. Go ahead and open up Gpu-z with the LN2 BIOS switch on, and see which LN2 BIOS you have, if you have one of the locked ones you can easily flash it to the old unlocked BIOS at the front of this thread.
> As per getting the most out of your card its the silicon lottery, some are better than others, just start benching and using afterburner to see what you can get. That is all I'm doing at the moment, if anyone else has any better or more experience suggestions chime in!
> I'm running the newest WHQL drivers, been having some problems but I know a lot of other guys around here are having great success with their lightnings!
> Again Congrats on the card!


Thanks for the tip! I'm going to play around with it and see what I can achieve.


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *justasomeone*
> 
> THANK YOU!! Just what I needed.


You're welcome!

Here I attach you both better normal and ln2 bios'es (102 being the normal and 111 the ln2)

Lightning 680.zip 111k .zip file


Kind Regards!


----------



## B rad

I have what may be a stupid question. How do you save your original bios?
GPU-Z Can't do it.


----------



## Rube

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> My Computer -> C:/ -> Program Files (x86) -> MSI Afterburner -> Profiles
> If you can't edit the file, right-click the config file and go to 'Properties', then the 'Security' tab, then click on your User name for your PC and click 'Edit'. Then click your User name again and check the box that says 'Full Control' and click 'Apply'. This should give you full privaleges to edit the file. Edit both config files if there are 2 there, each card's file needs to be edited if you have 2.


Well I did as your guide instructed, played Rage for about 1 hour at 1350 MHz on Ln2 bios so I assume it worked like a charm!! I dont have a meter so I dont know what voltage its going up to. Thanks for your help.


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> I have what may be a stupid question. How do you save your original bios?
> GPU-Z Can't do it.


"nvflash --save desiredfilename.rom"


----------



## dph314

Yeah NVflash never let me save mine either. I never did though as someone else uploaded the one I had, so I could just download it if I ever needed to flash back.

Anyways...came home from work to find a brand new Lightning sitting on my porch!







The RMA went through, thank God. Not that I lied or anything, I mean, it _was_ failing WU's on stock clocks, that was really true. But, I'll admit, since it was my really bad overclocker, I was more than happy when it started failing WU's and I had a valid reason to return it







I was just nervous that they'd run it through a bunch of games and synthetics and take it upon themself to decide there was nothing wrong with the card. Didn't happen though and they did do a swap, checked serial numbers.

But, the model numbers are different.....

"Model Number In- 602-V283-02S" "Model Number Out- 912-V283-009" Haven't put it in the computer yet, am going to now. But the PCB says Lightning on it, so, yeah, we'll see what happens. Will post an update soon....


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> "nvflash --save desiredfilename.rom"


boot into bootable floppy/usb with nvflash on it,
"nvflash -b desiredname.rom"
enter

yes? (or does that --save syntax work too?)


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> "nvflash --save desiredfilename.rom"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> boot into bootable floppy/usb with nvflash on it,
> "nvflash -b desiredname.rom"
> enter
> 
> yes? (or does that --save syntax work too?)
Click to expand...

I have to save my BIOS this time, new card came with a wierd-ass one. So, is that how you save with NVflash? I've always gotten an error when I try to save mine. Could you type out some more detailed steps on how to go about booting to the flash drive with NVflash on it? I have it saved on a flash drive, just need to know where to go from there


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> yes? (or does that --save syntax work too?)


Yep, it works perfectly fine on win version of nvflash








(http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2133/NVFlash_5.118_for_Windows.html)



Ps: "-b" works fine also, it's the same as "--save", but doing it inside win cmd saves you the hassle of booting from a flash native dos enviroment.

Regards!


----------



## alancsalt

Open folder "USB flash tool for NVIDIA GPU's +Fermi BIOS guide" after downloading it in .zip
Has all needed tools in it.

(Getting bit outdated, but what I've been using...maybe add the new version of nvflash yourself ...)

Open folder "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool" See SP27213.exe

Instal to your PC. It will instal itself in a folder called "USBDriveFormatTool". Open it.

Have a flash drive plugged in ready to use. Click on HPUSBFW.EXE

Choose "Create a DOS startup disk" using files from ... Browse to "USB flash tool for NVIDIA GPU's +Fermi BIOS guide"

Select "USB image w7" and Start. This takes ages.

Copy "USB flash tool for NVIDIA GPU's +Fermi BIOS guide/nvflash" folder contents to the usb

Restart and in motherboard bios make the usb drive the first in your boot order list.

It will say Windows Millenium and below that c: prompt

Type c:nvflash -b backup.rom

Restart, change boot order back, etc....as needed.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> snip
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> snip
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Thanks guys







Saving now...

Michael, new BIOS for the OP-

---
80.04.47.00.19. Definitely not a good LN2 one to have I would think. Stock clock is 1111mhz. Afterburner let me set the voltage at +93mv and apply it, it didn't shoot down to +18mv or anything like that. But I don't have a DMM to see if the card is getting it or not. Probably not at 1.36v since it probably has a lower stock voltage. Not sure what it is though. Flashing to the unlocked 3A now and going to do some testing.


----------



## elbubi

Please if you can upload your normal/ln2 bios so we can add them to bios compilation. Looking forward to seeing your results!


----------



## White Ice

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Thanks guys
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Saving now...
> 
> Michael, new BIOS for the OP-
> 
> ---
> 80.04.47.00.19. Definitely not a good LN2 one to have I would think. Stock clock is 1111mhz. Afterburner let me set the voltage at +93mv and apply it, it didn't shoot down to +18mv or anything like that. But I don't have a DMM to see if the card is getting it or not. Probably not at 1.36v since it probably has a lower stock voltage. Not sure what it is though. Flashing to the unlocked 3A now and going to do some testing.


Yeah let us know how the new card goes man. The new one i bought the other day that has a rubbish chip in it had a funny new bios also that stated "power edition" Not lightning even though the card is a 680 Lightning.. :S Let me know how it runs as soon as you know...









I need more lightnings but will need to buy them used now so i can get ones that can at least do 1400mhz and i won't find any new ones that can, 1/100 chance! lol So ill be looking for a while.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Please if you can upload your normal/ln2 bios so we can add them to bios compilation. Looking forward to seeing your results!


Will do.

Well this card sucks. Did 1270mhz on stock voltage, so I thought it looked promising. Since the +93mv usually got me around 70mhz more, I figured it wasn't a great card, but decent. But it won't pass at 1350mhz even at +131mv









Haven't gone higher yet, but yeah, this is definitely not a winner.

680L_Locked19.zip 57k .zip file
 (blows)

I guess we have to say goodbye to very well-binned chips








Thanks a lot Nvidia.


----------



## White Ice

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Will do.
> Well this card sucks. Did 1270mhz on stock voltage, so I thought it looked promising. Since the +93mv usually got me around 70mhz more, I figured it wasn't a great card, but decent. But it won't pass at 1350mhz even at +131mv
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Haven't gone higher yet, but yeah, this is definitely not a winner.
> 
> 680L_Locked19.zip 57k .zip file
> (blows)
> I guess we have to say goodbye to very well-binned chips
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks a lot Nvidia.


Yep! I knew that was what was going on and when I seen my Lightning come up as "power edition" I suspected wat was going on. New batches are mediocre chips and I was lucky to get a decent one of those which still falls far short of the originals! Yeah thanks to Nvidia! Only way now is to buy a used gpu with proven ability! Ima lookin, but it's not gonna be successful..


----------



## dph314

I'm going to sell these and check the market threads for anyone selling theirs.

This one seems to do fine on the stock volts, no crashing during folding or anything like that like the last one (unfortunately), so, no reason to RMA. Guess I'll have to take the hit selling it used if I decide to buy a proven performer.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> You're welcome!
> Here I attach you both better normal and ln2 bios'es (102 being the normal and 111 the ln2)
> 
> Lightning 680.zip 111k .zip file
> 
> Kind Regards!


Hi, elbubi, what kind of LN2 BIOS is the 110 one ..? Haven t seen it around, just the old F8 and "mine " 3A







you re being an BIOS expert , I m asking you..


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> boot into bootable floppy/usb with nvflash on it,
> "nvflash -b desiredname.rom"
> enter
> yes? (or does that --save syntax work too?)


Yes , it works with the newer NVFlash ..


----------



## White Ice

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I'm going to sell these and check the market threads for anyone selling theirs.
> This one seems to do fine on the stock volts, no crashing during folding or anything like that like the last one (unfortunately), so, no reason to RMA. Guess I'll have to take the hit selling it used if I decide to buy a proven performer.


Already sold mine. It's a real shame Nvidia has stuffed such a great card!!







. No point RMAing it anyway coz you would most likely get the same thing again.. The original batch lightnings were killer!







. Someone feel free to sell me one, I'll pay new cost price.. Lol


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *White Ice*
> 
> Yep! I knew that was what was going on and when I seen my Lightning come up as "power edition" I suspected wat was going on. New batches are mediocre chips and I was lucky to get a decent one of those which still falls far short of the originals! Yeah thanks to Nvidia! Only way now is to buy a used gpu with proven ability! Ima lookin, but it's not gonna be successful..


Quote:


> The other week we got a chance to look at the MSI GTX 670 Power Edition which is the little brother to the GTX 680 Lightning we're looking at today, so it will be interesting to see how the two models compare against each other.
> Read more at http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4791/msi_geforce_gtx_680_lightning_2gb_video_card_review/index.html#tyt0XslWYEQ2bq4r.99


What thuh? No 680 Power Edition listed? http://event.msi.com/vga/power_edition/nv.htm


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I'm going to sell these and check the market threads for anyone selling theirs.
> This one seems to do fine on the stock volts, no crashing during folding or anything like that like the last one (unfortunately), so, no reason to RMA. Guess I'll have to take the hit selling it used if I decide to buy a proven performer.


A very interesting and foreseeable info... the first batches are usually the best on CPU/GPU s - but with the GTX 680 I ve not seen it- I mean with the vanilla ones .. when it came out , I had rushed to buy one of the first batch in my country, but it had proven to be a measle OCer/ max 1215 MHz @ boost /.

SO I bought EVGA and it was even worse /max 1185MHz !!/ . that has been sold and I ve bought ZOTAC -that one was the best so far/1290MHz stable / But with the Lightnings it is the same story - they needed to bin the chips to be that good to stand up to the specs.
With the capped up voltage control now it is another story. Yes, "thanks " NVIDIA §§§


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Hi, elbubi, what kind of LN2 BIOS is the 110 one ..? Haven t seen it around, just the old F8 and "mine " 3A
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> you re being an BIOS expert , I m asking you..


Hi Famich.

110 is the original unlocked "v80.04.09.00.F8", while 110a shares the same bios number but its internal coding is different (it sets 30% fan startup instead of 100%, I grab it from here, its the one I'm using right now), 111 is the "v80.04.28.00.3A" you are using now. I've achieved the exact same clocks with them, so at least in my case they have the same oc capablities.) 140 is "v80.04.47.00.19" which indeed has capped clocks/voltages.

I upload all 4 of them in case you want to fiddle whit it.

Edit: Attachment removed

Regards!









Ps: *thanks* dph314 for uploading your new bios! If you ever switch the card to normal bios please save your original one and let me check if its a newer one also. Regards!


----------



## famich

Thanks, elbubi








tried to open the file, there s just 1 BIOS in .. maybe a wrong file..?


----------



## Neo Zuko

So I bought one at launch and planned to buy another one next year to SLI, already have the two waterblocks, and so what, they suck now cus they are not launch cards??


----------



## Imprezzion

Guys, i'm getting mine next week as I got fed up by my ASUS DC2O's crappy OC ability (with a 1.212v BIOS it still hit just 1202Mhz max before crashing).

But ehm, how migh can I jack up the voltage with the standard cooler in a extremely well ventilated case?

Dun care about fan noise so 80-100% fanspeed is fine by me.. About +120-+150mV? Unlocked ofcourse?


----------



## hammerforged

Theres a pretty nice used lightning in the Marketplace yall are missing out on. 1400mhz


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Thanks, elbubi
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> tried to open the file, there s just 1 BIOS in .. maybe a wrong file..?


Sorry, my bad! When I get back home I'll upload them again! Regards!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> Theres a pretty nice used lightning in the Marketplace yall are missing out on. 1400mhz


PM'd him







What a killer SLI that would make with my current top card. His example of 1.4Ghz is a couple minutes of Sleeping Dogs with the graphics settings turned down though, so, I'm not sure how good of a stability example Sleeping Dogs is since it crashes for me every half-hour so I don't even bother overclocking when playing it. So, going to see what that card does for a Heaven run as a better idea of what it can do before making the buy.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Imprezzion*
> 
> Guys, i'm getting mine next week as I got fed up by my ASUS DC2O's crappy OC ability (with a 1.212v BIOS it still hit just 1202Mhz max before crashing).
> 
> But ehm, how migh can I jack up the voltage with the standard cooler in a extremely well ventilated case?
> 
> Dun care about fan noise so 80-100% fanspeed is fine by me.. About +120-+150mV? Unlocked ofcourse?


Flash to the unlocked 3A BIOS from the OP and find the directions a few pages back for the Afterburner hack


----------



## Davitz

If all goes well ill have pics of my lightning sli up today


----------



## NickLe

Hi, wise men of Lightning club owners.
I wanted to do a mild overclock and wanted to know what is acceptable 24/7.
I have single card:
core voltage +25
memory voltage +30
aux voltage +0
power limit 300%
core clock +98 = 1300
memory clock +450 = 6912
Now these numbers aren't my limit. I just want to go this high for 24/7.
unigine heaven:
1920x1200
score 1289
temp gpu max 66c
temp vrm max 69c
(fan auto- I like it quite.)

Thanks in advance.

I finally know what trolling a thread means, I think, 'cause I am on this thread all day every day to see whats up and what's new.
Oh yeah I called MSI to ask what was up with the whole volting the lightning and the guy said "umm, hang on let me get your email address so I can send you afterburner." I thought I was getting the engineer edition








But this is what he sent:

Dear all,

Users can also edit the .cfg file in the Afterburner folder. I added instructions here:
http://service.msicomputer.com/html/popup/TechSup/formviewer.asp?esoformid=3026

Dear All,

If you encounter customers with voltage adjustment limitation using Afterburner 2.2.4 it is because we were forced by nVidia to do so.
http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4410624&postcount=67

Please kindly ask the customer to revert back to 2.2.3.


----------



## NickLe




----------



## elbubi

RELOADED!







Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Hi Famich.
> 110 is the original unlocked "v80.04.09.00.F8", while 110a shares the same bios number but its internal coding is different (it sets 30% fan startup instead of 100%, I grab it from here, its the one I'm using right now), 111 is the "v80.04.28.00.3A" you are using now. I've achieved the exact same clocks with them, so at least in my case they have the same oc capablities.) 140 is "v80.04.47.00.19" which indeed has capped clocks/voltages.
> I upload all 4 of them in case you want to fiddle whit it.
> Edit: Attachment removed
> Regards!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ps: *thanks* dph314 for uploading your new bios! If you ever switch the card to normal bios please save your original one and let me check if its a newer one also. Regards!


 680Lightning_LN2BIOSES.zip 222k .zip file


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> PM'd him
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What a killer SLI that would make with my current top card. His example of 1.4Ghz is a couple minutes of Sleeping Dogs with the graphics settings turned down though, so, I'm not sure how good of a stability example Sleeping Dogs is since it crashes for me every half-hour so I don't even bother overclocking when playing it. So, going to see what that card does for a Heaven run as a better idea of what it can do before making the buy.
> Flash to the unlocked 3A BIOS from the OP and find the directions a few pages back for the Afterburner hack


with that bios and the afterburner hack you can up the volts on the DCII?

scratch that. misread.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NickLe*
> 
> snip


Welcome to the club. Yeah 2.2.3 can be used at the moment, or the simple config edit can be done for 2.2.4.

Well your temps will stay in the 60C's after more voltage/mhz if you increase the fan speed. From what I've read and personal experience, keeping the card below 70C will let it live a much longer life than you'll need it for. Just make sure to increase the fan speed when going closer to +93mv and you'll be fine. It's not like it really matters anyways though, unless you decide to keep the card longer than 3 years, which few on this site do. Because the warranty is 3 years, you should be fine no matter what until your next upgrade.


----------



## NickLe

Thanks dph314.
Have you noticed overclocking your cpu make a difference on gaming?
I know you have to since you are in SLI but in single card on 1920x1200?


----------



## StreekG

Hey guys, how do i flash the BIOS on GPU 2, as i have 2 lightnings but only want to flash the second card as it has the incorrect bios somehow from MSI.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Hey guys, how do i flash the BIOS on GPU 2, as i have 2 lightnings but only want to flash the second card as it has the incorrect bios somehow from MSI.


Pull the card out of the computer you don't want to flash, that's the best way. You could use this command to see what cards you have listed in nvlfash: "nvflash --list"

Then flash the appropriate card.

My motherboard has pci-E switches that can turn on and off that pci lane, so it's easier for me. I'm not sure if you have this feature on your motherboard.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NickLe*
> 
> Thanks dph314.
> Have you noticed overclocking your cpu make a difference on gaming?
> I know you have to since you are in SLI but in single card on 1920x1200?


Never gamed at that resolution before. But SLI does need a decent overclock for some games. BF3 being one of them. But yeah as long as no cores are maxing out then I don't think overclocking the CPU would make much more of a different in games. Maybe benchmarks though.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Hey guys, how do i flash the BIOS on GPU 2, as i have 2 lightnings but only want to flash the second card as it has the incorrect bios somehow from MSI.


An easy way I've used the past couple times is just to put '--index=1' in the line in the OP. So to flash the second card, type in 'nvflash --index=1 -4 -5 -6 _filename_.rom'


----------



## StreekG

Hey guys,

Flash successful, my second Lightning had a problem in which it was shipped with the wrong BIOS. It was showing up as a GTX 680 Power Edition, and running lower clock speeds.
I contacted an MSI rep who was very helpful and told me that the BIOS version i'm running shouldn't even be compatible with the card.

So i ended up flashing both the cards to F8 and i'm happy now.

MY next question, how do i overclock and test the second card seperately, as i have the highest stable clock on my first card, i want to do the same with the second and test if before i connect the SLI and overclock them together


----------



## famich

AFAIK MSI Afterbuerner lets you to steer both cards separately, you just have to untick the option " synchronise settings for similar graphic processors " in the config menu


----------



## Menthol

3930k at 5100mhz, 2 680 Lightnings at 1420 core 1.445 volts my personal best

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4458466


----------



## Menthol

Single card


----------



## elbubi

Nice Scores!!!


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Nice Scores!!!


Thanks, one more run today


----------



## DJRamses

Hi @ all..

Greetings from Germany.
I am a lucky Lightning-user.







I read this thread realy often. I thank you for realy nice AB hack. Here my Score in 3DMark 11:


----------



## NickLe

Hi guys,
I'm trying to back up my original bios so I can then load the f8 version.
But gpu-z bios save feature comes back with an error "bios reading not supported on this device."
Help would be much appreciated.
Thanks


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NickLe*
> 
> Hi guys,
> I'm trying to back up my original bios so I can then load the f8 version.
> But gpu-z bios save feature comes back with an error "bios reading not supported on this device."
> Help would be much appreciated.
> Thanks


If you look further back in this thread 200 pages or so you will find a link to a GPUZ version that can save your bios file. There is also a link to a Zotac Firestorm version that can save your bios file and flash your bios within windows, works great, I have used both.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Hi @ all..
> Greetings from Germany.
> I am a lucky Lightning-user.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I read this thread realy often. I thank you for realy nice AB hack. Here my Score in 3DMark 11:


Very nice from Germany


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NickLe*
> 
> Hi guys,
> I'm trying to back up my original bios so I can then load the f8 version.
> But gpu-z bios save feature comes back with an error "bios reading not supported on this device."
> Help would be much appreciated.
> Thanks


http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/2850#post_18202337


----------



## rmhavy

Hey whats happening guys? So I have had my lightning for a month now, and I am encountering some issues while gaming. When I run benchmarks like heaven, the gpu usage is pegged at 99%, but when I game "crysis 2/BF3" my gpu usage is all over the place causing severe stuttering. It was not doing this when I first got the card, and I have tried all the available drivers to no avail. Nothing has changed in terms of updates, or software/hardware. Not sure what is going on, and I know if I RMA the card i'll prob get the turd version. Any ideas?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> 3930k at 5100mhz, 2 680 Lightnings at 1420 core 1.445 volts my personal best
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4458466


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Hi @ all..
> 
> Greetings from Germany.
> I am a lucky Lightning-user.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I read this thread realy often. I thank you for realy nice AB hack. Here my Score in 3DMark 11:


Awesome scores guys








Making me want to throw a block on mine to push it over 1.5Ghz










Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NickLe*
> 
> Hi guys,
> I'm trying to back up my original bios so I can then load the f8 version.
> But gpu-z bios save feature comes back with an error "bios reading not supported on this device."
> Help would be much appreciated.
> Thanks


I just use NVflash to save mine. You have to use it to flash anyways (well, you don't _have_ to, but it's easy).


----------



## Menthol

1500, on one card only but I had to lower my memory frequency and got a lower score and close to 1.6 volts I was a little worried if my card would survive


----------



## DJRamses

Yes,
I use a full-waterblock on my Lightning. (look at my rig)
And my Radiators (a 480 and a 240er ) are standing outside. At 1,5 Ghz and running Unigine 3.0, the Gpu goes not over 30 - 33 °C . You can see it here:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1258815/rock-heaven-your-hardest-all-kepler-users/360#post_18214371

Winter is the best time to bench








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> 
> 1500, on one card only but I had to lower my memory frequency and got a lower score and close to 1.6 volts I was a little worried if my card would survive


1,6V wow...








1,41 -1,43 needs my card.


----------



## dph314

Yeah 1.6v is a ton. I only need 1.42v for 1480/7200, on air


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> 
> 1500, on one card only but I had to lower my memory frequency and got a lower score and close to 1.6 volts I was a little worried if my card would survive


1.6 volt might be a little rough for the GPU, but I noticed something else. You graphics score is really low? You should be reaching a graphics score around 14000 and you are not even at 12000?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> 
> 1500, on one card only but I had to lower my memory frequency and got a lower score and close to 1.6 volts I was a little worried if my card would survive
> 
> 
> 
> 1.6 volt might be a little rough for the GPU, but I noticed something else. You graphics score is really low? You should be reaching a graphics score around 14000 and you are not even at 12000?
Click to expand...

Yeah just took a closer look and realized that the core clock wasn't running at 1500mhz for the graphics tests. Look closely at the Afterburner graph. Clock looks like it was all over the place for the graphics tests for some reason.


----------



## Menthol

Ya it was rough, I was benching this morning and just went for 1500mhz, I believe it was down clocking do to the voltage, as it was also fluctuating with the core speed, maybe the vrm temps or just to much voltage, or something, I don't usually abuse my hardware like that, I am sure if I go at it in a logical approach it will do better. I'll figure it out next time.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Really weird graphics scores on those 1500mhz runs.. mine does 13500 graphics score all day long at 1490mhz @ 116mV.


----------



## justasomeone

Hi, why is my phys score so low compared to other peoples?

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4453114

1350/7000mhz

People with similar clocks get 12,000 P score


----------



## samoth777

guys im considering this card and i want to water cool it. thing is i have a universal block, and it doesnt cover ram and vrms. do you think its a good idea?


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *justasomeone*
> 
> Hi, why is my phys score so low compared to other peoples?
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4453114
> 1350/7000mhz
> People with similar clocks get 12,000 P score


What is your system memory speed?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *justasomeone*
> 
> Hi, why is my phys score so low compared to other peoples?
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4453114
> 1350/7000mhz
> People with similar clocks get 12,000 P score
> 
> 
> 
> What is your system memory speed?
Click to expand...

Quote:


> Module 1 4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 667 MHz
> Module 2 4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 667 MHz


Ouch. That's why it's so low.

When I went from 1600mhz to 2133mhz, I saw almost 1000pt increase in my Physics score. Saw another 1000 or so when I went from dual-channel to quad (4 sticks).

Having your RAM that slow will have a big impact on synthetic bench scores. I'd look into overclocking it, or seeing if you can find a deal on some faster RAM









Shouldn't affect gaming at all though, I don't think. I see no difference so I just keep my RAM at 1600mhz most of the time unless doing a run.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *justasomeone*
> 
> Hi, why is my phys score so low compared to other peoples?
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4453114
> 1350/7000mhz
> People with similar clocks get 12,000 P score


An Ivy Bridge will get 11k-11.5k if it is overclocked, mine gets around 11.5 or so. SB scores lower..... You score sounds about right for SB, although you can increase it by increasing memory speed or overclocking it further.


----------



## justasomeone

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> What is your system memory speed?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Ouch. That's why it's so low.
> When I went from 1600mhz to 2133mhz, I saw almost 1000pt increase in my Physics score. Saw another 1000 or so when I went from dual-channel to quad (4 sticks).
> Having your RAM that slow will have a big impact on synthetic bench scores. I'd look into overclocking it, or seeing if you can find a deal on some faster RAM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Shouldn't affect gaming at all though, I don't think. I see no difference so I just keep my RAM at 1600mhz most of the time unless doing a run.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> An Ivy Bridge will get 11k-11.5k if it is overclocked, mine gets around 11.5 or so. SB scores lower..... You score sounds about right for SB, although you can increase it by increasing memory speed or overclocking it further.


Hmm that is weird.. I'm sure before I set my memory to 1600 dual. I got the low profile corsair vengeance, I remember when I first ran them they were under clocked and I set them to 1600 in bios.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/196/77750101521193507150761.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/a/img585/117/11132814.png

Am I doing something wrong?









I don't know why it's showing

Module 1 4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 667 MHz
Module 2 4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 667 MHz


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *justasomeone*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> What is your system memory speed?
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Ouch. That's why it's so low.
> When I went from 1600mhz to 2133mhz, I saw almost 1000pt increase in my Physics score. Saw another 1000 or so when I went from dual-channel to quad (4 sticks).
> Having your RAM that slow will have a big impact on synthetic bench scores. I'd look into overclocking it, or seeing if you can find a deal on some faster RAM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Shouldn't affect gaming at all though, I don't think. I see no difference so I just keep my RAM at 1600mhz most of the time unless doing a run.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> An Ivy Bridge will get 11k-11.5k if it is overclocked, mine gets around 11.5 or so. SB scores lower..... You score sounds about right for SB, although you can increase it by increasing memory speed or overclocking it further.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Hmm that is weird.. I'm sure before I set my memory to 1600 dual. I got the low profile corsair vengeance, I remember when I first ran them they were under clocked and I set them to 1600 in bios.
> 
> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/196/77750101521193507150761.jpg/
> 
> http://imageshack.us/a/img585/117/11132814.png
> 
> Am I doing something wrong?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know why it's showing
> 
> Module 1 4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 667 MHz
> Module 2 4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 667 MHz
Click to expand...

Ah, seems to read mine wrong too. Must have never noticed before. Says the stock speed for mine even though it was at 2133mhz.

Well, either way, you'll see an improvement going from 1600mhz to 2133. And from going dual-channel to quad.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *justasomeone*
> 
> Hmm that is weird.. I'm sure before I set my memory to 1600 dual. I got the low profile corsair vengeance, I remember when I first ran them they were under clocked and I set them to 1600 in bios.
> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/196/77750101521193507150761.jpg/
> http://imageshack.us/a/img585/117/11132814.png
> Am I doing something wrong?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know why it's showing
> Module 1 4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 667 MHz
> Module 2 4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 667 MHz


Is that Futuremark Info reading it wrong?


----------



## dph314

Yeah it must be. Just noticed it reads mine wrong too. Reads the stock speed even when it's overclocked.


----------



## Davitz

[Edit// added heaven benchmark results]

Hey guys, just got my sig rig up and running and I noticed that i'm not getting quite as much performance as I expected out of my setup.

IE in WoW full fully maxed settings, vsync off, triple buffering off, refresh rate set to 120hz in nvidia control panel and in game i'm only at 45-50fps in org (of course area 52 is a mega populated horde dominant server so I don't expect to be rocking 120fps there at peak times) and outside of org im averaging maybe 74-90 fps. I know there were quite a few vast improvements made to the graphics engine since patch 5.0 but jeez upon 4.0 release my 955be @ 4ghz and 6850 crossfire was giving me similar fps (albeit on a lower population server) but crazy cpu load aside, when i'm alone in a area im getting roughly the same fps showing as my old setup although it feels MUCH smoother and more responsive than previous setups at the same reported fps values.

CPU load is at 25% at peak time in org and it's properly boosting to 4.6ghz upon wow launch.
Afterburner is showing both cards receiving load and SLI IS being recognized by WoW and utilized. Load fluctuates per card between 25 and 60% (it juggles the load between the cards, it'll jump from 25/60 to like 50/30 etc) i'm not sure if that's an indication of throttling or what for the lightnings.

Also, when streaming in org im stuck at around 20-34 fps (50%cpu load) which is just crazy for this setup no matter what settings I try with xsplit and around 54-100 else where in very low pop zones.

Could it be that wow just isn't stressing the cards much or the system and it's throttling back?

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks


----------



## dboythagr8

So what's the verdict on these? I'm currently back on my Lightning Xtreme 580 SLI setup...curious about these. Are they worth it?


----------



## Davitz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dboythagr8*
> 
> So what's the verdict on these? I'm currently back on my Lightning Xtreme 580 SLI setup...curious about these. Are they worth it?


If you run afterburner 2.2.3 and the ln2 bios, yes







some have oc'd to 1400+hz core and 7300+hz mem


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Davitz*
> 
> [Edit// added heaven benchmark results]
> 
> Hey guys, just got my sig rig up and running and I noticed that i'm not getting quite as much performance as I expected out of my setup.
> 
> IE in WoW full fully maxed settings, vsync off, triple buffering off, refresh rate set to 120hz in nvidia control panel and in game i'm only at 45-50fps in org (of course area 52 is a mega populated horde dominant server so I don't expect to be rocking 120fps there at peak times) and outside of org im averaging maybe 74-90 fps. I know there were quite a few vast improvements made to the graphics engine since patch 5.0 but jeez upon 4.0 release my 955be @ 4ghz and 6850 crossfire was giving me similar fps (albeit on a lower population server) but crazy cpu load aside, when i'm alone in a area im getting roughly the same fps showing as my old setup although it feels MUCH smoother and more responsive than previous setups at the same reported fps values.
> 
> CPU load is at 25% at peak time in org and it's properly boosting to 4.6ghz upon wow launch.
> Afterburner is showing both cards receiving load and SLI IS being recognized by WoW and utilized. Load fluctuates per card between 25 and 60% (it juggles the load between the cards, it'll jump from 25/60 to like 50/30 etc) i'm not sure if that's an indication of throttling or what for the lightnings.
> 
> Also, when streaming in org im stuck at around 20-34 fps (50%cpu load) which is just crazy for this setup no matter what settings I try with xsplit and around 54-100 else where in very low pop zones.
> 
> Could it be that wow just isn't stressing the cards much or the system and it's throttling back?
> 
> Please let me know what you think.
> 
> Thanks


Is that Heaven run with the cards at stock? Forgot what I run stock or overclocked, been a while since I've run Heaven. Someone else might be able to jump in and let you know if that score is average. But for WoW...how's your internet connection? Never was a Warcraft fan so I'm not sure if there's a single-player mode, but if you have a game like BF3 for instance, try single and multiplayer mode in that and look at the usage difference. I get ~70% max usage on each card in SLI during a multiplayer match, but in singleplayer they're at 99% the entire time. With no CPU cores maxing out during either, I can only conclude it's something to do with playing over the network that is causing the lower usage.

Try a single-player game and see if you get full SLI usage.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Davitz*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dboythagr8*
> 
> So what's the verdict on these? I'm currently back on my Lightning Xtreme 580 SLI setup...curious about these. Are they worth it?
> 
> 
> 
> If you run afterburner 2.2.3 and the ln2 bios, yes
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> some have oc'd to 1400+hz core and 7300+hz mem
Click to expand...

Indeed









*But*...the odds of getting one of those cards now is significantly lower than when we all got them on release day and got 1340mhz before we even had voltage control. Many now will only hit low 1300's, like my latest. Obviously golden ones are still out there, but I think the binning process has lowered the bar since the cards started coming at 1111mhz like my latest one, instead of the 1202mhz on the unlocked LN2 BIOS back before this latest fiasco with Nvidia.

Bottom line is this is still the best card on the market- the ONLY one that doesn't throttle at 70C, the ONLY one that allows for 100% fan speed, one of the few you can crank the voltage up to ANYTHING you want, and arguably the best cooler on the market as well. So, still a great buy, don't get me wrong, but I think the days of every few buyers getting a 1400mhz card on the stock +93mv are over.

I read an AMD-related thread the other day and was amazed. They were all temperature-limited at only ~1200mhz and ~1.1v. Even 7970 Lightning's have trouble getting much higher than 1300mhz. It's pretty amazing how cool these chips run. I remember doing Heaven runs at over 1350/7000 with ~1.3v and only hitting low 60C's.


----------



## Davitz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Is that Heaven run with the cards at stock? Forgot what I run stock or overclocked, been a while since I've run Heaven. Someone else might be able to jump in and let you know if that score is average. But for WoW...how's your internet connection? Never was a Warcraft fan so I'm not sure if there's a single-player mode, but if you have a game like BF3 for instance, try single and multiplayer mode in that and look at the usage difference. I get ~70% max usage on each card in SLI during a multiplayer match, but in singleplayer they're at 99% the entire time. With no CPU cores maxing out during either, I can only conclude it's something to do with playing over the network that is causing the lower usage.
> Try a single-player game and see if you get full SLI usage.


Heaven was at stock

just did a comparison on wow between my laptop and my rig Laptop is i7 2630qm / 3gb 560ti
same settings (Full ultra, x8 multisampling graphics absolutely maxed) and the laptop recorded 12fps, turned around and logged on the desktop near instantly after (<3 ssd's) and i was sitting at 39fps with the same population density or a little more.

I removed one card and fps was roughly cut in half, put the card back in, fps restored. So im thinking its just because there's something like 100 people in org atm lol cause now outside the gates im at 120-144fps


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Anybody else running the SLI pixel clock patcher to enable 120Hz refresh on the 2560X1440 monitors in SLI?

Sweet mod!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Anybody else running the SLI pixel clock patcher to enable 120Hz refresh on the 2560X1440 monitors in SLI?
> 
> Sweet mod!


Never heard of it. 120hz on 1440p?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Anybody else running the SLI pixel clock patcher to enable 120Hz refresh on the 2560X1440 monitors in SLI?
> Sweet mod!


Details!


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Yep!


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Details!


It's one of those things where I'll get banned if I give the details.

You need one of the Catleap 2B monitors to even start, so if you have one of those shoot me a PM and I'll tell you how to proceed. If you have a monitor that 120Hz refresh capable and not 2560X1440 size, then you probably won't need it.


----------



## Davitz

anyone know how to fix microstutter?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Davitz*
> 
> anyone know how to fix microstutter?


I really think you're rig has some problems that's causing the microstutter and low scores in Heaven 3 and the GPU-Z readings you're getting. It's BIOS or drivers or something isn't quite right, I got 111+ FPS in Heaven with the same settings you posted on a very similar rig.


----------



## saint19

Hi guys.

Somebody have a few tips for overclock this baby at max on air? I'm trying to get some good overclock but the GPU isn't stable above 1270/1602 and the max voltage that I can add is +100 in both Core and Memory.

I see the "switch" but I'm not sure how to use it since have 3 different positions.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *saint19*
> 
> Hi guys.
> 
> Somebody have a few tips for overclock this baby at max on air? I'm trying to get some good overclock but the GPU isn't stable above 1270/1602 and the max voltage that I can add is +100 in both Core and Memory.
> 
> I see the "switch" but I'm not sure how to use it since have 3 different positions.


Switch has 2 positions, even though there's 3 dots. Default BIOS is to the left when looking at the card in your computer, LN2 BIOS is to the right. Switch to the LN2 BIOS (right) *when the computer is completely powered down*, then turn it on. And let us know what BIOS GPU-Z says you have.


----------



## Davitz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> I really think you're rig has some problems that's causing the microstutter and low scores in Heaven 3 and the GPU-Z readings you're getting. It's BIOS or drivers or something isn't quite right, I got 111+ FPS in Heaven with the same settings you posted on a very similar rig.


with stock cards?

Running latest drivers, fresh install of everything. micro stutter isn't all the time it''s only in two different occasions (eye of the storm battle ground and well of eternity 5 man) all others work fine and im averaging over 160fps in 5 man dungeons :\

I don't know if it's just sli not scaling correctly or if it's some settings in game. Cause my old crossfire setup did the same before i fixed it, just can't remember how i fixed it.


----------



## dph314

I think that Heaven score is about average for 680 SLI at 1200/6000. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember getting a little over 60fps with Heaven maxed on one card highly OC'd. So, with SLI-scaling and the cards being stock, I think that's about right.

And by micro-stuttering, do you really mean micro-stuttering, or just low GPU-usage? There's a difference. Low-usage you _might_ be able to do something about. Micro-stutter, although much better on the 600-series, is uncurable.


----------



## Davitz

yeah it's random visual stuttering like it's missing a frame or two every few seconds.

doesn't do it all the time though only in a certain battle ground and one dungeon o-o. besides that stutter i'm LOVING the smoothness and the performance







When your minimum fps in a 5 man is more than your monitor's refresh rate (120hz) it's all goood. even when it stutters i get 85+fps in a 40 man battleground.


----------



## bahadirkazan

Hey guys. I had flashing mine LN2 bios 19 to 3A.. And Power Limit from +130 to +300, and voltage 1.175 to 1.215.. But I don't set my core voltage. Im using AB 2.2.4 and 306.23 WHQL driver.


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bahadirkazan*
> 
> Hey guys. I had flashing mine LN2 bios 19 to 3A.. And Power Limit from +130 to +300, and voltage 1.175 to 1.215.. But I don't set my core voltage. Im using AB 2.2.4 and 306.23 WHQL driver.


Use 2.2.3 version => http://download3.msi.com/files/downloads/uti_exe/vga/MSIAfterburnerSetup223.zip


----------



## Interhead

HELP msi GTX 680 lightning

I flashed mine LN2 bios from 80.04.47.00.19 to 80.04.09.00.F8
The card is in LN2 mode
from cmd running admin
from c: i put in " nvflash --protectoff "

and " nvflash -4 -5 -6 80.04.09.00.F8.rom "
it said somthing about pci not the same or somthing...and I press Y
flash finnished,reboted.

Now my screen is flickering, almost imposseble to se enything.
try switch on card in other posission but that just makes black screen..

GPU-Z show 80.04.09.00.F8(P2002-0000) after flash.
Divice ID 10DE-1180

can i flash try to flash it with 80.04.28.00.3A.rom

what did go wrong...

Afraid to do more damage so screen vill go complitely black so no flash is poseible.


----------



## famich

That something might have been important -) did you back up your BIOS ? It s always good to have the original BIOS at hand.
If you got trouble, try to hook up and old PICE VGA card and flash in the DOS mode and type nvflash --list- it will show both adapters e.g. the old VGA and the Lightning .

Lightning will be mp i1- eg. the second one in a row. Flash back the original BIOS .


----------



## elbubi

I'll first try to flash to original BIOS (.19 in your case) to see if it solves the issues, then retry with 3A (btw, no need to "protectoff", just nvflahsh -4 -5 -6 biosfile.rom)

Good Luck!

Ps: I uploaded your original bios en case you hadn't backed it up.

v80.04.47.00.19.zip 56k .zip file


----------



## Interhead

Thanx for reply.
No back up from org bios i am afraid.
Try to flash with 80.04.28.00.3A.rom
and restart. Now the screen was black.
I can get in to bios and there the screen is fine?
Saved bios F10, and wait for long time suddenly pc started and everything looks ok
GPU-z show Bios version 80.04.28.00.3A 
Gpu clock 1006Mhz
Default clock 1202 Mhz??
max volt with afterburneron + 93 core mesuered with multimeter is 1.38 v
+0 volt core mesure 1,27v on multimeter

so my card is now unlocked ??

MSI kombuster show wrong reading 1.212v in both cases

problem solved i think. got scared there for a moment...

Back to overclocking ;-)

GPU-Z screen shot
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/85605343/new%20bios.png


----------



## elbubi

Good to hear you solved it! Kind regards and good luck with your OC experience


----------



## Interhead

thanx elbubi

So what is the difference from the 80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked)LN2
and the 80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked) bios..
the 3A show (LN2) in Afterburner 2.2.3


----------



## Interhead

Geeks3D GPU Caps Viewer gives more acurate info.
but not correct volt reading acording to multimeter..


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Interhead*
> 
> thanx elbubi
> So what is the difference from the 80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked)LN2
> and the 80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked) bios..
> the 3A show (LN2) in Afterburner 2.2.3


Main noted difference is that you don't have to do a hard reset every time you hit an oc wall cause it gives driver crash and let windows recover the situacion without rebooting.


----------



## Interhead

Did some testing

P1220 3dmark 11 GPU 1366Mhz at +93/1,38V on meter 444Mhz on memory 65 celsius max
3930K 4,8Ghz ram 1900Mhz


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Interhead*
> 
> Did some testing
> 
> P1220 3dmark 11 GPU 1366Mhz at +93/1,38V on meter 444Mhz on memory 65 celsius max
> 3930K 4,8Ghz ram 1900Mhz
> 
> Reboot of pc takes verry long time after i got the 3A bios is that normal`?


Nice OC









What part of the reboot does the computer hang at? Shutting down or loading up Windows?


----------



## trippinonprozac

Is it normal for a hard lock if overclocking fails on the lightnings?

Even if I increase 5 mhz over what is stable at any given voltage I get a hard lock and have to reset.

VERY tedious when trying to find stable clocks!


----------



## bahadirkazan

Hi again friends. I'm using .3A bios on LN2. And my max. voltage on AB 2.2.3 1.308 or 1.310 when I started 3DMark 11 X.. Why my voltage don't go 1.350v or higher value ?


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *trippinonprozac*
> 
> Is it normal for a hard lock if overclocking fails on the lightnings?
> Even if I increase 5 mhz over what is stable at any given voltage I get a hard lock and have to reset.
> VERY tedious when trying to find stable clocks!


Try to look up what BIOS you are on- it might be the F8 version that requires that, try the 3A version , that does not require the hard reboot after the failed overclock.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bahadirkazan*
> 
> Hi again friends. I'm using .3A bios on LN2. And my max. voltage on AB 2.2.3 1.308 or 1.310 when I started 3DMark 11 X.. Why my voltage don't go 1.350v or higher value ?


It goes up, you have to measure it with the MM


----------



## bahadirkazan

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> It goes up, you have to measure it with the MM


Sorry but what u mean with MM ? I don't understand







)


----------



## Pansyfaust

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bahadirkazan*
> 
> Sorry but what u mean with MM ? I don't understand
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


MultiMeter


----------



## Interhead

Cold start takes 90 sek before bios postes after that 10 sek for windows to start. 30sek start before i flashed 3a bios..
that is to long time whats up

Problem fixed it was the USB connected to the motherboard. Changed to other pins, and now boot problem is gone:thumb:


----------



## TheAssassin

Just got my Lightning. Do I need AB 2.2.3 in order to go beyond default voltage limit or can I use 2.2.4?


----------



## Interhead

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Just got my Lightning. Do I need AB 2.2.3 in order to go beyond default voltage limit or can I use 2.2.4?


ab 2.2.3 and check your bios is with gpu-z and compare it on side 1 on forum to se if it is unlocked...


----------



## trippinonprozac

So last night I uninstalled AB 2.2.4 as I had lost my voltage control for mem and aux back to 2.2.3. Since doing so I now have no core voltage control at all?

When it asked me about keeping my settings if I was going to reinstall again I said yes. I have since uninstalled 2.2.3 and gone back to 2.2.4 but the problem persists??

I am guessing a reg key or something was corrupt. Ill uninstall tonight and remove all reg setting and folders to fix.

On a brighter note I am up to 1335mhz stable on stock LN2 bios voltage. This was with +350mhz mem too.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bahadirkazan*
> 
> Sorry but what u mean with MM ? I don't understand
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


You need the little leads that came with the video card so you can attach a digital multimeter to accurately read the voltage.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Just got my Lightning. Do I need AB 2.2.3 in order to go beyond default voltage limit or can I use 2.2.4?


with AB 2 2 4 you have to do the config edit, search a few pages back, it s all there ..


----------



## mfranco702

Im finally Joining this club!!!


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Congrats! Here's hoping you get some righteous numbers from it.


----------



## saint19

Offtopic: Why mfranco702 had to pay taxes and those stuffs, and me, that I bought the GPU on newegg don't paid that?

PD: I'm not from the USA, so, I don't know how is the taxes thing there....and yeah, I added $85 USD to the shipping from Miami to my country...


----------



## mfranco702

That's because I decided to buy it in the store, Nevada taxes is 8.1%. I could've bought it online and save the taxes, but honestly couldn't wait 2 or 3 days until arrival.


----------



## Interhead

Paid 800 $ for mine GTX 680 Lightning in Norway..


----------



## TheAssassin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> with AB 2 2 4 you have to do the config edit, search a few pages back, it s all there ..


Do I really need to use 2.2.4? Does it offer anyt other stability changes or any additional features?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Do I really need to use 2.2.4? Does it offer anyt other stability changes or any additional features?


It's a crippled version of 2.2.3

If I want max benchmarks, I run 2.2.3. If I want to run a nice, stable OC that always comes up with the same core voltage, I run 2.2.2. I have 2.2.2 set to launch on startup, minimized. I'm not even going to put 2.2.4 on my machine.


----------



## TheAssassin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> It's a crippled version of 2.2.3
> If I want max benchmarks, I run 2.2.3. If I want to run a nice, stable OC that always comes up with the same core voltage, I run 2.2.2. I have 2.2.2 set to launch on startup, minimized. I'm not even going to put 2.2.4 on my machine.


Why do you run 2.2.2 over 2.2.3 for a conservative OC?

Edit: 2.2.3 doesn't load the same voltage for an OC every launch?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Why do you run 2.2.2 over 2.2.3 for a conservative OC?
> Edit: 2.2.3 doesn't load the same voltage for an OC every launch?


Right, I find 2.2.3 a little more of a hassle for normal operation and I really don't need it for 1300Mhz SLI. I still have 2.2.3 on the machine if I feel the need to whip it out


----------



## StreekG

Right so 2.2.3 always lowers the voltage on my computer, is it actually lowering though??

I am thinking to install 2.2.2 again, my 1st card OC max is 1355mhz, my 2nd card is maxed out at 1317Mhz .
So in SLI i have them both running at the second cards max. Would i lose my stability at this speed if i change to 2.2.2

Also i am wondering, i hate the look of my GPU Reactor, i have a black and green them with my assassin board and black cables + green lighting.
Would i lose stability by removing both my GPU reactors?

My plan is to cover the holes on the backplate in which the blue LEDS shine though, and remove the GPU reactors.


----------



## Imprezzion

Mine just got in today to replace my crappy clocking ASUS GTX680 DC2O..

Haven't taken pics of it yet so that'll come later.

First thing I did when it first booted was flick the switch and flash the unlocked F8 BIOS.
This resulted in artefacts all over and the BIOS was unusable. I flashed the newer unlocked 3A BIOS and that works fine. Did give me a scare with the level of artefacting it gave with the F8 BIOS... Got both of them from the OP here but..

Ehm yeah, with MSI AB 2.2.3 I got control of the voltage up to +93mV which gives 1.308v idle and a nice load voltage of 1.279-1.283v.

This is enough to run 1350Mhz core perfectly stable in Heaven, even with everything maxed incl Tesselation and AA, combined with 7200Mhz VRAM.

Temps get up to about 55-60c with a custom profile (fanspeed is around 50% at that temp) so I can handle more..

Simple question. Can I GET more? I want more voltage for gods sake...
VRM's and Core hardly ever reach 60c so I want mooooooooooooore.

What more can I do to get more voltage. Like the +300mV limit I read about in MSI AB.

I wanna see if I can get 1400Mhz 24/7 stable cause with this voltage 1375Mhz crashes within the minute in Heaven.

Havent tested 1350Mhz in long term gamign with BF3 yet which is VERY harsh on your overclocks so I will try that now.


----------



## NickLe

@streekg

I have a g1 also and the green led interfered with the blue theme from other led's.
I just unplugged the little plug on the northbridge on my g1.
If that works for you, then you don't have to go through the hassle of removing the reactors...


----------



## StreekG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NickLe*
> 
> @streekg
> I have a g1 also and the green led interfered with the blue theme from other led's.
> I just unplugged the little plug on the northbridge on my g1.
> If that works for you, then you don't have to go through the hassle of removing the reactors...


Thanks, but i want to stop the Blue from the graphics card from interfering with the green.
As my theme is green.


----------



## offshell

I'm thinking of picking up 2 or 3 of these cards pretty soon, but I'm curious if there's been any talk or rumor of the 4gb version? I kind of wanted to directly replace the 580 Lightning Xtreme 3gb cards I'm running now.


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *offshell*
> 
> I'm thinking of picking up 2 or 3 of these cards pretty soon, but I'm curious if there's been any talk or rumor of the 4gb version? I kind of wanted to directly replace the 580 Lightning Xtreme 3gb cards I'm running now.


Also curious about this. Would consider picking this card up if it was 4gb.


----------



## trippinonprozac

Just finished some benching with my lightning.

First time I have been able to since moving to x79. How does this look so far?


----------



## StreekG

Hey guys i just spent time replacing the stock thermal compound on GPU number 1 as its above number 2 getting its heat.

Look at the factory job on the thermal compound, terrible.










After a clean


----------



## NickLe

Thats cool just threw my two cent in.
Man that is a terrible job.
I wonder how come they throw so much tim on there.
Supposedly they know not to, but yet they do, I wonder if makes a diff with the tim they use. or is it only aftermarket one's that don't need so much.
I've seen the same basic amount on all my gfx cards i've replaced tim on.
3xgtx 285's.
let us know how the temps fare after the reapplication.
And what tim are you using.
Thanks.


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *offshell*
> 
> I'm thinking of picking up 2 or 3 of these cards pretty soon, but I'm curious if there's been any talk or rumor of the 4gb version? I kind of wanted to directly replace the 580 Lightning Xtreme 3gb cards I'm running now.
> 
> 
> 
> Also curious about this. Would consider picking this card up if it was 4gb.
Click to expand...

I want a 4GB but MSI stated via email they have no plans to make one. Who knows if they'll stick to that but I'm not keeping my hopes up.

The Goods :: http://pc.thedigitalfoundry.com


----------



## Imprezzion

Still want a BIOS that goes higher then 1.3v...


----------



## gavbon

just a quick question

im running 3dmark 11 benches atm

i have 2 x 680 lighting's, and i see some of the amazing clocks on here

but mine seem to only do +140 clock on the LN2 bios without 3d mark crashing ( im using the first ever bios and both cards are running it )

ive put the juice up to full on AB 2.2.3

is there anything else i can do currently where i can get alot more out of them?


----------



## Imprezzion

Mine also does exactly +140. That's the end of her







+160 is semi-stable but crashes in BF3.


----------



## Interhead

How do i get in to this list ??
Users with Msi GTX680 Lightning GeForce 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card...


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> just a quick question
> im running 3dmark 11 benches atm
> i have 2 x 680 lighting's, and i see some of the amazing clocks on here
> but mine seem to only do +140 clock on the LN2 bios without 3d mark crashing ( im using the first ever bios and both cards are running it )
> ive put the juice up to full on AB 2.2.3
> is there anything else i can do currently where i can get alot more out of them?


Art money hack can allow you to add more voltage.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/2170#post_17931038


----------



## TheBenson

Is there a difference between the N680 GTX and the GTX 680 lightning other than the starting clock?


----------



## TheAssassin

Anyone know how the GTX 580 Lightning Xtreme 3gb stacks up to the 680 Lightning?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheBenson*
> 
> Is there a difference between the N680 GTX and the GTX 680 lightning other than the starting clock?


Different PCB, the lightning has more phases & stronger power delivery, voltage control, the ln2 bios on the lightning has looser OCP/OVP than reference bios, & TF4 cooler instead of the reference cooler.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Anyone know how the GTX 580 Lightning Xtreme 3gb stacks up to the 680 Lightning?


580 is still a strong card, although it really doesn't keep up with a 680. 680 Lightning has 2Gb of vram vs. 3Gb on the 580 xtreme, so memory latency would be a bit better on the 680 Lightning, generally better unless you need the extra memory.


----------



## devillightning1

Quite late to the club, but whatever









My 24/7 OC


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> just a quick question
> im running 3dmark 11 benches atm
> i have 2 x 680 lighting's, and i see some of the amazing clocks on here
> but mine seem to only do +140 clock on the LN2 bios without 3d mark crashing ( im using the first ever bios and both cards are running it )
> ive put the juice up to full on AB 2.2.3
> is there anything else i can do currently where i can get alot more out of them?


Actually that is good for 2 cards in sli, they will never clock as high as a single card


----------



## Davitz

are there any black water blocks for the lightning yet?


----------



## offshell

I was looking around a bit last night and saw this http://www.ekwb.com/news/262/19/MSI-N680GTX-Lightning-to-get-FC-water-block/. I think I saw end of September somewhere, so it should be soon.


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Davitz*
> 
> are there any black water blocks for the lightning yet?


Aqua Computer has a full block out already. http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/aqcofucogpub.html


----------



## bluntman420

Hey guys, I'm a little late also. I currently have 2 gtx680 lightnings. They will both run 1350mhz on the core seperately but will only do 1302mhz in sli. Now im happy enough with those clocks and am pulling 20000 performance in 3dmark11. That's with a 3930k at 4.4ghz. My question is about afterburner. I have unlocked voltage control for both cards and have them both set the same.+100 core +400ram. They both have their own profile also. My problem is after every restart afterburner seems to keep dropping the voltage and i have to manually increase it back to +100mv(which then drops to +93mv). Why does this happen? And is their anyway to keep it at +100mv or even +93mv? Thanks guys!


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bluntman420*
> 
> Hey guys, I'm a little late also. I currently have 2 gtx680 lightnings. They will both run 1350mhz on the core seperately but will only do 1302mhz in sli. Now im happy enough with those clocks and am pulling 20000 performance in 3dmark11. That's with a 3930k at 4.4ghz. My question is about afterburner. I have unlocked voltage control for both cards and have them both set the same.+100 core +400ram. They both have their own profile also. My problem is after every restart afterburner seems to keep dropping the voltage and i have to manually increase it back to +100mv(which then drops to +93mv). Why does this happen? And is their anyway to keep it at +100mv or even +93mv? Thanks guys!


http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4417467&postcount=92


----------



## Davitz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *offshell*
> 
> I was looking around a bit last night and saw this http://www.ekwb.com/news/262/19/MSI-N680GTX-Lightning-to-get-FC-water-block/. I think I saw end of September somewhere, so it should be soon.


ah, awesome thanks


----------



## elbubi

Hi had a strange finding today (at least for me)

F1 2012 in-game benchmark is more rough than any other bench/game I tried. ie: I've been stable with 1300/7000 @+68mv in +30 runs of Heaven, 3DM11, and playing Crysis 2, Darksiders 2, Trine 2 and Max Payne 3, but for F1 2012 bench with all maxed out (except vsync, of course) I had to raise it to +87mv in order to prevent it from crashing. Really unexpected...


----------



## KUSTOMIZER

Hi Guys,

Awesome thread you have going on here.

I am a very proud yet dissapointed owner of 2 x GTX 680 lightnings. As I am only get very slight overclocks(compared to the usual around here)

Can someone please help me figure out what I am missing.

Both cards are on LN2 BIOS(Unlocked, downloaded from this forum)
Both cards overclock to +90mhz on the core and +450 on the mem. I used afterburner 2.2.4, and I have since gone back to 2.2.3.
Both cards do not read any more than 1.2v. And this is the problem. I am sure that they will clock alot further if i could just adjust the voltage a little.

When i rolled back to afterburner 2.2.4, i did not save previous settings. So i thought that maybe it would then give me voltage control.

Also I am running these cards on a R3E, did any of you have problems with the x58 board and these cards?

Any help will be much appreciated! Lets see what we can get out of these puppies!


----------



## KUSTOMIZER

Also my settings seem completely locked.

GPU-Z reports 1201 on the core, and 1,2120V. No matter what i do in afterburner.

What do you guys think is up?


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KUSTOMIZER*
> 
> Hi Guys,
> Awesome thread you have going on here.
> I am a very proud yet dissapointed owner of 2 x GTX 680 lightnings. As I am only get very slight overclocks(compared to the usual around here)
> Can someone please help me figure out what I am missing.
> Both cards are on LN2 BIOS(Unlocked, downloaded from this forum)
> Both cards overclock to +90mhz on the core and +450 on the mem. I used afterburner 2.2.4, and I have since gone back to 2.2.3.
> Both cards do not read any more than 1.2v. And this is the problem. I am sure that they will clock alot further if i could just adjust the voltage a little.
> When i rolled back to afterburner 2.2.4, i did not save previous settings. So i thought that maybe it would then give me voltage control.
> Also I am running these cards on a R3E, did any of you have problems with the x58 board and these cards?
> Any help will be much appreciated! Lets see what we can get out of these puppies!


You have to use a DMM to know what the voltage is. Software does not read any 600 series cards correctly.


----------



## techenth

Hey guys, I've just ordered this amazing card and wondering if my cpu will handle two of these. I'm running my 950 at 4.0ghz nowadays. Also one other question, is it ok to use one of my 6 to 8 pin power connectors for one of the 8 pin slots ?


----------



## mfranco702

Is there a signature for this club????


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *techenth*
> 
> Hey guys, I've just ordered this amazing card and wondering if my cpu will handle two of these. I'm running my 950 at 4.0ghz nowadays. Also one other question, is it ok to use one of my 6 to 8 pin power connectors for one of the 8 pin slots ?


Your cpu is enough to push two 680 Lightnings.

But I'd suggest to get your *uncore* up to around 3600-3866MHz to push the cards even more to thier full potential.

The 6 to 8 pin connector should do fine, I see no problems there.


----------



## bluntman420

@KUSTOMIZER

You have to unlock the voltages for both cards through afterburner. Also you need to add code to your .cfg for EACH card.

[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

Once you do this you will be able to set core voltage to +93mv which should give you around 1.3v. ALSO, make sure to uncheck the synchronize setting in afterburner. Good luck!


----------



## StreekG

Hey guys i added a bit more stealth to my Lightnings by painting the cover of the GPU reactor.


----------



## KUSTOMIZER

@bluntman.

Thanks a mill for the advice. Let me see if that helps......

Why disable synchronize settings? Does it cause issues with overclocking in SLi?


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Hey guys i added a bit more stealth to my Lightnings by painting the cover of the GPU reactor.


Congrats on the painting, it looks gooood. Did the re-tim lowered down your temps? Regards!


----------



## StreekG

Thanks









Yes re-tim did help, but it really only made a difference once i did both cards because the bottom cards temps were affecting the top card, not the result i expected but i lost 2-3 degrees each card.


----------



## KUSTOMIZER

also do you guys measure your overclocks based on where the core turbo speed goes or the actual core clock???


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KUSTOMIZER*
> 
> also do you guys measure your overclocks based on where the core turbo speed goes or the actual core clock???


Based on what Afterburner says.


----------



## bluntman420

@KUSTOMIZER

It did for me. Afterburner is a little bugged, after you restart the voltages for the 2 cards are not set properly. So after a reboot just open afterburner and set them each to +100mv. It should drop to +93mv. With synchronize set, i kept getting crashes.But with it disabled as long as i remember to reset voltages i dont have any crashes at all.


----------



## Poyri

I just bought my GTX680 lightning and decide to flash unlock bios. I did every thing said on page 1 and flashed unlock bios. But when i reboot the system i see this

I flashed orijinal bios and now everything is alright. İs there something wrong i did when i flashing rom or is there a way that to fix this.


----------



## famich

What kind of unlocked BIOS did you flash ? F8 or 3A ?


----------



## B rad

@ POYRI
Did have selector switch in LN2 position?


----------



## jcamp6336

Some of the posts in this thread have lead me to believe that new Lightnings no longer overclock good. Is this true?


----------



## eR1k

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jcamp6336*
> 
> Some of the posts in this thread have lead me to believe that new Lightnings no longer overclock good. Is this true?


If you do the statistics you will notice that the samplesize is too low, so it is impossible to accurately conclude whether a significant difference in overclocking potential exists between older versus new Lightnings. What would you consider to be new Lightnings?


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *eR1k*
> 
> If you do the statistics you will notice that the samplesize is too low, so it is impossible to accurately conclude whether a significant difference in overclocking potential exists between older versus new Lightnings. What would you consider to be new Lightnings?


think he means the ones shipped with the newer bios

some amazing clocks on here, but even i only seem to hit +145-150 max without 3d mark 11 crashing on the old LN2bios (flashed from the new one btw )

considering getting 2 blocks for mine, but will putting them under water really make that much difference?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> think he means the ones shipped with the newer bios
> some amazing clocks on here, but even i only seem to hit +145-150 max without 3d mark 11 crashing on the old LN2bios (flashed from the new one btw )
> considering getting 2 blocks for mine, but will putting them under water really make that much difference?


Only if you increase voltage


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Only if you increase voltage


think it would be possible to hit 200+ with a voltage increase under water?


----------



## eR1k

Hard to say, only one way to find out


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *eR1k*
> 
> Hard to say, only one way to find out


tempted









but £200+ worth of blocks for an extra 25mhz on the clock seems a bit pointless lol


----------



## pfinch

Hi!
My new GTX 680 Lightning arrived yesterday.

I instantly flashed the LN2 Bios to the F8 and downgraded AB to 2.2.3.

What should i do now?
Power Limit 300%? All 3 voltages at max?

Thanks for your answers


----------



## eR1k

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> Power Limit 300%? All 3 voltages at max?
> Thanks for your answers


You can safely put the power limit on 300%, however putting all voltages on maximum is a bad idea. I suggest you read through this thread first, before you start overclocking.


----------



## pfinch

Thank you for the answer!

What does Power Limit 300%? Auto-OC depending on the temperature?

The F8 BIOS should disable the Keplar throttling at 76°, right?


----------



## hammerforged

Looks like you guys are the new king of the hill.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1312005/evga-new-680-classified-has-no-evbot-plug/0_20#post_18277875


----------



## famich

Yes, it looks that Nvidia sucks big time









Playing with customers and AIBs at the same time ..


----------



## bern43

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!



Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Hey guys i added a bit more stealth to my Lightnings by painting the cover of the GPU reactor.






StreekG. I'm guessing you took the reactors off before painting? What paint did you end up using? Considering picking up one of these and would likely want to paint over the blue also.


----------



## TheAssassin

I noticed some waves going across my screen whenever I am sitting at the menu in any game I play. Not sure if they are in game also because they are not visible. Any ideas on what that is? I think it has to do with my 1440 x 900 monitor. I will be getting a 2560 x 1400 monitor soon though.


----------



## Bruennis

I will soon be the owner of a 680 Lightning







Praying that these cards can still be voltage adjusted...???


----------



## xoleras

Yes, it can. You may have to flash your BIOS possibly, but you'll be fine. Haven't heard of anyone having issues with over volting.


----------



## NBAasDOGG

Soon i will post some GXT680 DC2T Hotwire at 1500mhz









Still waiting for my 10K ohm trimmer....


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> I will soon be the owner of a 680 Lightning
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Praying that these cards can still be voltage adjusted...???


Ordered mine last night too. My 670 is doing fine, but for some reason having a new case sitting in my living room is causing me to buy things I don't really need.


----------



## Bruennis

It seems the Lightning 680 is now the ONLY 680 capable of overvolting (Correct me if I am wrong). I want 1300MHz+


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> It seems the Lightning 680 is now the ONLY 680 capable of overvolting (Correct me if I am wrong). I want 1300MHz+


You can overvolt a DCII card using VGA hotwire. Needs soldering though.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> You can overvolt a DCII card using VGA hotwire. Needs soldering though.


And an asus maximus motherboard


----------



## driftingforlife

Yea, A RIVE or a MVE.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

So what's the deal with the EK blocks anyway? Thought they were supposed to be available by the end of September and that's the only way I'd switch to 680 Lightnings is if I was able to get EK blocks for them...


----------



## IronAge

I just installed my second GTX680 Lightning - got it last week - not running SLI tho.

(my first one is within the first 5000)

It came with the locked LN2 Bios so before trying anything i flashed it with unlocked LN2 Bios 80.04.09.00.F8

80.04.09.00.F8 gave me artifacts even before the OS/GPU driver being loaded at power up/post screen.

So i have flashed 80.04.28.00.3A - it posts boots ok into windows.

AB 2.2.3 gives me +93 maximum vGPU offset which results in about 1.277-1.281 vGPU under load.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *IronAge*
> 
> I just installed my second GTX680 Lightning - got it last week - not running SLI tho.
> (my first one is within the first 5000)
> It came with the locked LN2 Bios so before trying anything i flashed it with unlocked LN2 Bios 80.04.09.00.F8
> 80.04.09.00.F8 gave me artifacts even before the OS/GPU driver being loaded at power up/post screen.
> So i have flashed 80.04.28.00.3A - it posts boots ok into windows.
> AB 2.2.3 gives me +93 maximum vGPU offset which results in about 1.277-1.281 vGPU under load.


What are your clocks at maximum vGPU?


----------



## IronAge

I have not maxed out vGPU on the first one. it runs 1hour+ through heaven @ 1.402MHz. with 1.281.

The newer one which i had to flash with the 80.04.28.00.3A unlocked LN2 Bios seems to max out @1.372 MHz 1.281.

For vGPU 1.281 i have to set offset +93 - it won't let me go higher.


----------



## hammerforged

You guys might want to read this:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1312524/bsn-nvidia-response-to-gtx-series-voltage-control/0_20


----------



## Bruennis

So newer unlocked bios has smaller vGPU headroom? 1.372GHz is still a great overclock for the Lightning 680 yes? No?


----------



## HeadlessKnight

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> So newer unlocked bios has smaller vGPU headroom? 1.372GHz is still a great overclock for the Lightning 680 yes? No?


That's definitely an above average OC.


----------



## TheAssassin

I didn't plan on overclocking my card yet but I'm thinking about flashing and seeing what I can get out of it.


----------



## IronAge

Yeah just flash LN2 unlocked Bios .. when you got artifacts you may switch back to normal boot with that ...

Switch back to LN2 when your system is running and re-flash your previously backed up LN2 Bios or another one.

Due to the switch and the dual bios its no big deal at all.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *IronAge*
> 
> I have not maxed out vGPU on the first one. it runs 1hour+ through heaven @ 1.402MHz. with 1.281.
> The newer one which i had to flash with the 80.04.28.00.3A unlocked LN2 Bios seems to max out @1.372 MHz 1.281.
> For vGPU 1.281 i have to set offset +93 - it won't let me go higher.


Nobody else can get higher than +93, that's all there is unless you do the Art Money hack on AB 2.2.3


----------



## IronAge

Wont let me go higher than 1.281with Bios 80.04.28.00.3A









On the locked LN2 Bios its way less though +93 has been applied.

With Bios 80.04.09.00.F8 on the older one i may get higher vGPU ... so it depends on the Bios.

Unfortunately 80.04.09.00.F8 won't work with the one i bought recently.


----------



## crapatguitar

hey guys, just got my lightning couple days ago, just to check in if my card is behaving normally, during a 3dmark11 run my boost clock absolutely will not go past 1176 with no clock modification, from my understanding of the boost clock, the gpu will usually boost itself past the rated speed depending on temperature and power usage, my temperature does not go past 55c during the run, just wondering if that is normal for a lightning? Also when I start overclocking on the locked LN2 bios the TDP goes up to 108%. So far with the locked bios and +93mv on the core, I managed to get core up to 1311 bf3 and 3dmark11 stable, not the greatest clocking lightning but hell of a lot better than my old 7970







.
Other than that the card is freaking amazing. Any info about the first two issues would be appreciated


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> So what's the deal with the EK blocks anyway? Thought they were supposed to be available by the end of September and that's the only way I'd switch to 680 Lightnings is if I was able to get EK blocks for them...


why would you want to get a subpar block from a *lying cheating company* like EK?

There is a block available already for the lightning......Aquacomputers specifically made one after I asked them to and generated enough interest. You can grab them from sidewinderscomputers


----------



## StreekG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> StreekG. I'm guessing you took the reactors off before painting? What paint did you end up using? Considering picking up one of these and would likely want to paint over the blue also.


Yep i removed the reactor cover first and I just used a gloss black spray, i would've used a matt finish paint if i had some lying around however.
It was just plastic paint that i had for some car parts that i sprayed black, so it was heat resistant.


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> why would you want to get a subpar block from a *lying cheating company* like EK?
> There is a block available already for the lightning......Aquacomputers specifically made one after I asked them to and generated enough interest. You can grab them from sidewinderscomputers


not everyone wants to import a block with $40's worth of shipping tho?


----------



## pfinch

What does the unlocked LN2 Bios exactly?
Raising Power Limit to 300% and...?

I'm still only able to increase the voltage to max 100mv ...

whats the difference?


----------



## GenoOCAU

Got my second lightning + ac block going today, thought id share my 3dmark 11 score with the two.

Both cards were at 1446mhz/7098mhz on a 2700k @ 5278mhz, all on water. Spat out a P19861 score. Going to try for more tomorrow morning when my room isnt a sauna!


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> not everyone wants to import a block with $40's worth of shipping tho?


you can grab them from the EU as well.

I'm not sure if Aquatuning has them but getting direct from Aquacomputers will also do the trick









edit: they do. You might have to wait for some stock though

http://shop.aquacomputer.de/product_info.php?language=en&products_id=2936

http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Aqua-Computer-AquagraFX-for-GTX-680-Lightning-G14_33416.html

http://www.aquatuning.us/product_info.php/info/p14136_Aquacomputer-aquagraFX-for-GTX-680-Lightning-G1-4.html/XTCsid/jgda8puqa71ve3cnrof10r8qq7


----------



## Davitz

I just wish the aqua tuning ones were available in black ): otherwise i'd be all over them and getting my wc loop plans started.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> why would you want to get a subpar block from a *lying cheating company* like EK?
> There is a block available already for the lightning......Aquacomputers specifically made one after I asked them to and generated enough interest. You can grab them from sidewinderscomputers


Yeah I saw that but its only in copper. I'd really like an EK block just to match all of my other blocks...


----------



## IronAge

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> not everyone wants to import a block with $40's worth of shipping tho?


Well then try here when its available:

http://www.aquatuning.de/product_info.php/info/p14136_Aquacomputer-aquagraFX-for-GTX-680-Lightning-G1-4.html

UPS Standard to UK for 2KG about 12€


----------



## techenth

Can someone please explain the LN2 and normal bios difference to me ? (Late-bios') I'm so confused right now

Also it would be great if someone linked me to an overclocking guide for this beast. I didn't quite get what TDP does. Can i have it at max at all times? I have a 1000W PSU and my system probably uses 400-500W tops.
I've connected 8-pins directly from my PSU. Did not use 6-8 pin converters.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *techenth*
> 
> Can someone please explain the LN2 and normal bios difference to me ? (Late-bios') I'm so confused right now
> Also it would be great if someone linked me to an overclocking guide for this beast. I didn't quite get what TDP does. Can i have it at max at all times? I have a 1000W PSU and my system probably uses 400-500W tops.


(In addition) What are the differences between the old and new unlocked LN2 bioses 80.04.09.00.F8 and 80.04.28.00.3A?


----------



## techenth

Just tried out the bioses. I had the BIOS ending with 19. Flashed to F8 and it was broken. Flashed back to my backup (19 bios) and now tried 3A. I can set 300% TDP.
If you flash your 19 BIOS to F8 you are gonna have a bad time. One guy from couple of pages back posted a photo of his monitor taken from his phone, screen was just messy. I had the same issue. 3A is fine tho.


----------



## IronAge

80.04.28.00.3A gives less vGPU headroom than 80.04.09.00.F8

I had to use .3A to unlock my recently bought one since 80.04.09.00.F8 given artifacts.

@normal Bios i get higher boost clock rate with a lower power target

+68 vGPU power target 100% gpu clock +100 > boost @ 1302 MHz under heavy load with ungine heaven.

power target increased to 133% & higher vGPU offset & same clock offset > boost @ 1276

weird - isn't it ?


----------



## TheAssassin

How do I flash to a specific BIOS? If I do the steps listed on page 1, how does it know what BIOS I am trying to flash to?


----------



## techenth

open up cmd get to c:\ directory type nvflash -4 -5 -6 myyfilename.rom


----------



## TheAssassin

So if I was going to use F8 it would be " nvflash -4 -5 -6 680L_80.04.09.00.F8.rom "?


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> So if I was going to use F8 it would be " nvflash -4 -5 -6 680L_80.04.09.00.F8.rom "?


Should flashing with Nvflash be done while in windows as admin or in dos?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Got my second lightning + ac block going today, thought id share my 3dmark 11 score with the two.
> Both cards were at 1446mhz/7098mhz on a 2700k @ 5278mhz, all on water. Spat out a P19861 score. Going to try for more tomorrow morning when my room isnt a sauna!


Congrats that is very high clocks for 2 cards in sli,


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Should flashing with Nvflash be done while in windows as admin or in dos?


You can use a bootable dos usb, or you can do it from Windows with elevated command prompt.... whichever you are more familiar with.


----------



## TheAssassin

Is it supposed to named " nvflash -4 -5 -6 680L_80.04.09.00.F8.rom " or "nvflash -4 -5 -6 80.04.09.00.F8.rom" ?


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Is it supposed to named " nvflash -4 -5 -6 680L_80.04.09.00.F8.rom " or "nvflash -4 -5 -6 80.04.09.00.F8.rom" ?


Whatever the name of the *.rom is.


----------



## Davitz

Listing for the EK lightning blocks just went up. So... EK and nickel....good or bad on these new blocks?

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/blocks/vga-blocks/fc-geforce/geforce-gtx-6x0-series/ek-fc680-lightning-acetal-nickel.html


----------



## jcamp6336

So without flashing the bios, these cards wont overclock higher than any other Non ref. 680? I was going to try the Lightning after seeing not so great OCs on some galaxy SOC Whites.(1296mhz max 3dmark) But im thinking that this may not be much better at all, unless of course i flash the bios for overvoltage, which i am not completely opposed to. '

But i definitely favor the looks of the Galaxy White Edition for my build.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Davitz*
> 
> Listing for the EK lightning blocks just went up. So... EK and nickel....good or bad on these new blocks?
> http://www.ekwb.com/shop/blocks/vga-blocks/fc-geforce/geforce-gtx-6x0-series/ek-fc680-lightning-acetal-nickel.html


No pics yet I see. Was hoping for an acrylic version...


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jcamp6336*
> 
> So without flashing the bios, these cards wont overclock higher than any other Non ref. 680? I was going to try the Lightning after seeing not so great OCs on some galaxy SOC Whites.(1296mhz max 3dmark) But im thinking that this may not be much better at all, unless of course i flash the bios for overvoltage, which i am not completely opposed to. '
> But i definitely favor the looks of the Galaxy White Edition for my build.


The last batch of Lightning comes with the new BIOS from Nvidia, that prevents raising of the voltage . You have to flash
the old unlocked BIOS to be able to ramp up the V


----------



## StreekG

Hey guys,

I don't know why, but for some reason with F8 bios on my Lightnings, whenever the cards are unstable from OC, during my tests, rather than getting the message about the display driver dropping out, the monitor goes black and says 'no signal'
Then i have to restart the computer, is this normal?


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Davitz*
> 
> Listing for the EK lightning blocks just went up. So... EK and nickel....good or bad on these new blocks?
> http://www.ekwb.com/shop/blocks/vga-blocks/fc-geforce/geforce-gtx-6x0-series/ek-fc680-lightning-acetal-nickel.html


bad








I've openly admitted before that I would strongly recommend staying away from EK and thats what I shall do.

But final choice is yours


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Hey guys,
> I don't know why, but for some reason with F8 bios on my Lightnings, whenever the cards are unstable from OC, during my tests, rather than getting the message about the display driver dropping out, the monitor goes black and says 'no signal'
> Then i have to restart the computer, is this normal?


Normal.

non-LN2 bios I hear just resets the driver and you can continue.

My Asus 680 didn't do that, but my gtx 690 will reset the driver if the clocks are unstable. But when I go the restart the computer, the Windows log off screen will freeze and I have to do a hard reset.


----------



## StreekG

Thanks for clearing that up.

Next question, i have core voltage, mem voltage, and aux voltage all set to max and so far my best stable OC with both cards in SLI is 1312mhz...
Are the voltages ok or should i lower them?

With my first card i could get it to 1355 but card 2 doesn't OC as well.
Afterburner shows while im in 3Dmark 11 max voltages of 1.306


----------



## snitchkilla11

JUST INSTALLED MY NEW TWINS..THEY SOME BAD *****ES!!!!
HAVENTOVERCLOCKED BUT TEY BOOST TO 1226MHZ OUTA THE BOX


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> 
> JUST INSTALLED MY NEW TWINS..THEY SOME BAD *****ES!!!!
> HAVENTOVERCLOCKED BUT TEY BOOST TO 1226MHZ OUTA THE BOX


Nice, mine is sitting in its box until next week. Keep us posted as to what your overclock is. Also curious what bios your card came with. Are most of the newer cards coming with a 19 bios now? Seems like people have had trouble flashing those to the F8 unlocked.


----------



## elbubi

Good News:
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Unwinder*
> Yes. Rounding error of VID on GTX680 Lightning is already fixed in current build.


http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4424503&postcount=20


----------



## StreekG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Good News:
> http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4424503&postcount=20


Yep but as soon as you apply unwinders code to over volt the lightning again for version 2.2.4, the rounding errer returns... can't win...


----------



## mfranco702

I wonder if I can run two of those with a Corsair GS800W


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mfranco702*
> 
> I wonder if I can run two of those with a Corsair GS800W


Way more than enough psu power.


----------



## StreekG

Agreed, i've seen a few 1000w PSU get tested in reviews with 4 GPUs.

800 is more than enough


----------



## snitchkilla11

A quality 750 be good.if your overvolting overclocking I would go with a 850 to be safe..depending on your setup.


----------



## techenth

80.04.47.00.18

can someone please share this rom ? I've accidentally overwrote it.


----------



## Bruennis

Lightning arrives in a matter of minutes to hours









Can't wait to join team green


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Yep but as soon as you apply unwinders code to over volt the lightning again for version 2.2.4, the rounding errer returns... can't win...


I guess not, he knows I have a 680lightning when answering it would be fixed in future versions. It will be fixed in future 2.3.0 as he said (fingers crossed)


----------



## NBAasDOGG

Finally today my 10k ohm trimmer will arive, so soon a DCII top at 1500, mauahahahhahahahah


----------



## gavbon

think ive got a dog of a card

voltage +93, all mem/aux voltages maxed out

+160 core and +500 mem on the old LN2 bios

and i got artifacts in 3d mark 11, and crashes

is that pityful?


----------



## snitchkilla11

my cards do that out of the box..no voltage or nl2 switch


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> my cards do that out of the box..no voltage or nl2 switch


so what you think then?

i can use the voltage hack and get them both running +160 3d mark stable in SLI

does adding waterblocks actually do anything? will i get higher speeds? or what?


----------



## B rad

Maxing mem and aux is not the best solution. Memory on mine goes higher with +50 than +100. Aux might be more effective at +0 or -50.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i dunno but i wouldnt spend that kinda cash for blocks to make them only a couple degrees cooler..the cards are probly the coolest 680s iv had and i had 4 different models.. finally happy with the lightnings and will keep them for a while.. i bought mine when they first came out and they boost to 1228 outa the box with no overclock..i just read that msi was cought overvolting the new 670 660 power edition makeing them powerful but dangerous at the same time...look it up


----------



## snitchkilla11

i dont touch my memory that much as it only gains an extra frame for all that extra power.. try and keep memory at stock


----------



## Bruennis

Lightning has struck. I could not wait to install the card and run some 3DMark 11 and Heaven. Non-LN2 bios is version 80.04.28.00.39 and LN2 bios is 80.04.28.00.3A. Should I even bother flashing to F8 considering the only difference is greater vGPU headroom? The card boosts to 1202MHz with the memory running at 1502MHz. Stock for stock, this card scores ~1000 points higher than the Lightning 7970 that I previously owned on performance preset.

*P10011*
*X3627*






Pictures were taken with iPhone 4 so please ignore quality


----------



## Bruennis

Asic quality of 100% ???? Should I be excited?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

^^^

No. Means nothing to be honest.


----------



## SimpleTech

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Asic quality of 100% ???? Should I be excited?
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/1075623/width/500/height/1000


Most Kepler cards have an ASIC value of 100%. My MSI GTX 670 OC is 100% but craps out in overclocking.









On a side note, I got a MSI GTX 680 Lightning a few hours ago in the mail after RMAing my MSI 7970 OC.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Kepler does better than Tahiti on 3DMark11 but Tahiti generally wins in Heaven....


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SimpleTech*
> 
> Most Kepler cards have an ASIC value of 100%. My MSI GTX 670 OC is 100% but craps out in overclocking.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On a side note, I got a MSI GTX 680 Lightning a few hours ago in the mail after RMAing my MSI 7970 OC.


What bios did yours come with (non-LN2 and LN2)? I've had terrible luck with flagship cards for this generation. Have RMAd a Sapphire 7970 OC, Gigabyte 7970, Lightning 7970, and a Gigabyte 680 Super Overclock. I have a feeling this one is it


----------



## SimpleTech

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> What bios did yours come with (non-LN2 and LN2)? I've had terrible luck with flagship cards for this generation. Have RMAd a Sapphire 7970 OC, Gigabyte 7970, Lightning 7970, and a Gigabyte 680 Super Overclock. I have a feeling this one is it


Haven't tested it yet. Will see what it is later tonight or tomorrow.

Edit: Whoops. They sent me a 7970 Lightning. Odd that they put it in a GTX 680 Lightning packaging.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SimpleTech*
> 
> Haven't tested it yet. Will see what it is later tonight or tomorrow.
> Edit: Whoops. They sent me a 7970 Lightning. Odd that they put it in a GTX 680 Lightning packaging.


WTH x2 I'd be pissed. You paid $600 for a $500 card


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

How did that happen???


----------



## SimpleTech

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> How did that happen???


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> WTH x2 I'd be pissed. You paid $600 for a $500 card


Don't worry guys. I sent in a 7970 OC. So in hindsight, that was a pretty good deal IMO. The only drawback is that the DVI ports on this card are single-link meaning I can't use it on my CrossOver monitor.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Single most idiotic thing I've seen on a video card is MSI's choice of connectors on the 7970 Lightning. Makes the card nearly useless honestly, regardless of how great the rest of it is...


----------



## Davitz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Single most idiotic thing I've seen on a video card is MSI's choice of connectors on the 7970 Lightning. Makes the card nearly useless honestly, regardless of how great the rest of it is...


Agreed, no Dual Link DVI means i'll never buy one. Makes my VG236H useless :\


----------



## snitchkilla11

dont mean to go off post but i was going to buy a galaxy soc just to bench but that had 3 mini hdmi and a dispaly port..but the white pcb is so so so sexy.. it would match my case


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Lightning has struck. I could not wait to install the card and run some 3DMark 11 and Heaven. Non-LN2 bios is version 80.04.28.00.39 and LN2 bios is 80.04.28.00.3A. Should I even bother flashing to F8 considering the only difference is greater vGPU headroom?


I've used the 3A and F8 BIOSes and they have the same vGPU boost in AB 2.2.3 and my over clocks were pretty much identical on both.


----------



## Davitz

as far as these blocks go, would it be okay to put vinyl on the exterior just for aesthetics? I don't believe it would hurt anything, just wondering.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/aqcofucogpub.html


----------



## snitchkilla11

thank nvidia for that voltage block bull ****..nvidia could do what ever they want and people would still buy there products cause they are quality products like intel..no offense but no matter what nvidia does with future cards.i still wouldnt buy amd.. i will never buy zotac either..i must have been high to buy the 2 cards i had before my lightnings. i only bought them cause i didnt wana wait another week and save the extra cash for quality cards and fell into the 4gb card bull****.. in my opinion the 2gb blow the 4s away in overclocking and streight raw power. i dunno if zotac got all the garbage chips and put a garbage cooler on a garbage pcb on top of garbage memory next to the garbage tim they use..


----------



## Lass3

Just got mine one week ago, very nice card so far.

It came with LN2 BIOS 80.04.28.00.3A, Power limit goes to 300% with Afterburner 2.2.4, and +100 mV max on GPU and MEM, Aux +50 mV.

So far im running 1305 / 3610 rock solid atm with +50 on both GPU and MEM with 200% Power Limit. Havent had too much time to play around yet.

One thing i find strange tho, is that GPUZ reports my clocks wrong:










But ingame OSD from Afterburner reports it correct, 1305 on GPU and 3610 on memory..

My scores for 3Dmark 2011 is ~P11000 with rig in sig and Heaven all maxed in 1080p is ~1400

ASIC 94.3% but i guess this means nothing.

Do i need Afterburner 2.2.3 to apply higher voltage? Because no matter how much i raise the vGPU, it stays at 1.212v in 3D - I havent got a multimeter right now, so i can't check. But i will get one soon


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> Just got mine one week ago, very nice card so far.
> It came with LN2 BIOS 80.04.28.00.3A, Power limit goes to 300% with Afterburner 2.2.4, and +100 mV max on GPU and MEM, Aux +50 mV.
> So far im running 1305 / 3610 rock solid atm with +50 on both GPU and MEM with 200% Power Limit. Havent had too much time to play around yet.
> One thing i find strange tho, is that GPUZ reports my clocks wrong:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But ingame OSD from Afterburner reports it correct, 1305 on GPU and 3610 on memory..
> My scores for 3Dmark 2011 is ~P11000 with rig in sig and Heaven all maxed in 1080p is ~1400
> ASIC 94.3% but i guess this means nothing.
> Do i need Afterburner 2.2.3 to apply higher voltage? Because no matter how much i raise the vGPU, it stays at 1.212v in 3D - I havent got a multimeter right now, so i can't check. But i will get one soon


Multi meter is only way to read voltage, GPU-z does not read LN2 clocks correctly. AB does though. IF you use AB 2.2.4 you need to apply the hack listed in this thread. I use AB 2.2.3 and the artmoney hack to apply even more voltage


----------



## gavbon

red screen of death on 3d mark 11

whats the cause? and how can i fix it


----------



## Lass3

It's only the first screen in GPUZ that reads it wrong, if i change to tab 2 (sensors) it shows 1305 MHz like AB does. Yeah, I will try with a MM when i get it in a few days


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> red screen of death on 3d mark 11
> whats the cause? and how can i fix it


Seems that RSOD is related to monitoring software. AID, GPU-Z, GPU TWEAK (gpu-z with in gpu tweak) Multiple gpu monitoring programs running simultaneously.


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> Seems that RSOD is related to monitoring software. AID, GPU-Z, GPU TWEAK (gpu-z with in gpu tweak) Multiple gpu monitoring programs running simultaneously.


unless its running in the background

i dont open them before i run 3dmark11

if i uninstall them it should solve the problem?


----------



## B rad

I have not had this issue. I am thinking something in the background could be causing it. Have to figure out what it is. So yes I would think un installing any program in question would fix issue.
Seems there are a lot of threads on the RSOD issue.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

I used Asus GPU Tweak instead of Afterburner on my gtx680 just for testing, and using GPU Tweak gave me the dreaded RSOD. Everything was fine with Afterburner as usual.


----------



## gavbon

i only use MSI AB 2.2.3

i ran the cards @ stock with 200% power target

no red screen

so my question is, can it be caused by pushing the card to far?


----------



## CalinTM

Ok, right now i've started to OC my card in a serious way and with patience.

I've reached 1307Mhz with 1.255V and PLL +10 and passed Heaven Benchmark

Here is the picture:








http://i47.tinypic.com/mu75zp.jpg

Heaven:








http://i47.tinypic.com/1060is1.jpg

And the strange thing is that i can reach for example 1283Mhz with just 1.21V and for the extra 24Mhz to get it stable without crashes, i need to rise the voltage to 1.255-1.26V :|

1283:








http://i49.tinypic.com/25u5k3k.jpg

Can i see some templates with 1300Mhz, i bet my card is junk at overclocking and other people can reach 1300 with much smaller voltage ?


----------



## pfinch

With the F8 BIOS i'm able to use TripleOverVoltage with AB 2.2.4 without the 3 Profile-adds.
I don't understand this behaviour


----------



## Bruennis

After a night of testing







with no voltage modification; my maximum core clock is 1316MHz. I repeat that is with no overvolting done. Core voltage, memory voltage, and aux voltage in MSI Afterburner are all at their default +0. Power limit is set to 200%. The memory clock is currently at 1624MHz (6494MHz effective) and climbing. I am patiently and carefully overclocking. Will post some benches once I've found stable maximum for memory without any voltage mod.

Is 1316MHz considered a decent core overclock with no overvolting?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

^^^

Yes, anything over 1300MHz at stock voltage for a gtx 680 is awesome.

Congrats on a very good card!









My Asus DCii 680 was stable @1338MHz with no voltage modding. Was a pretty sweet card aswell.


----------



## gavbon

need some advice really

will adding waterblocks to my 680's make a difference on putting more on the core and being stable?

dont want to spend £200 on blocks and them not budge further than on air


----------



## Menthol

I have only gotten the RSOD when using ArtMoney and pushing past it's limits.


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> I have only gotten the RSOD when using ArtMoney and pushing past it's limits.


i was also using that


----------



## B rad

RSOD also from overheating (over 70) Evga forums


----------



## pfinch

do you guys still have the rounding-bug after each restart with ab2.2.4 (+3 profile settings)?


----------



## gavbon

tho could someone answer my question

will waterblocks push my clocks higher?


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> tho could someone answer my question
> will waterblocks push my clocks higher?


Depending on your whole cooling systems efficiency and ambient temps, the answer is yes. The colder the better. For me before water blocks 1440 was my limit (temps starting to get high) and would crash. With blocks I have passed 1500 with higher voltage and lower temps.


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> Depending on your whole cooling systems efficiency and ambient temps, the answer is yes. The colder the better. For me before water blocks 1440 was my limit (temps starting to get high) and would crash. With blocks I have passed 1500 with higher voltage and lower temps.


nice one

im 1350 stable max in SLI atm

i have a 360mm rad, and a 240mm rad with good fans, my CPU is going under phase, so will only be W/Cing my GPU's

hopefully i should be able to push 1400mhz right?


----------



## Imprezzion

Hmm. After reading all your clocks, mine is pretty average at best then..

I'm on the stock air cooler with a bit more aggresive fan profile and running the 3A LN2 BIOS (F8 gave me artifacts??).

Max I can achieve with voltage maxed out (1.287-1.291v under load) is 1340Mhz core and 1825Mhz VRAM.

1340Mhz with that much voltage is pretty sad i assume...

Temps hardly ever exceed 60c tho.


----------



## CalinTM

Seems you have the same **** card at overclocking at mine too.


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Imprezzion*
> 
> Hmm. After reading all your clocks, mine is pretty average at best then..
> I'm on the stock air cooler with a bit more aggresive fan profile and running the 3A LN2 BIOS (F8 gave me artifacts??).
> Max I can achieve with voltage maxed out (1.287-1.291v under load) is 1340Mhz core and 1825Mhz VRAM.
> 1340Mhz with that much voltage is pretty sad i assume...
> Temps hardly ever exceed 60c tho.


Could be mem speed. Try dropping mem to stock then see how far you can push the core.


----------



## Lass3

Yes high mem speed can affect GPU OC


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> ^^^
> Yes, anything over 1300MHz at stock voltage for a gtx 680 is awesome.
> Congrats on a very good card!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My Asus DCii 680 was stable @1338MHz with no voltage modding. Was a pretty sweet card aswell.


Wow... 1338MHz on stock voltage is awesome and here I am prancing about 1316MHz on stock voltage. I have a feeling that with some adjustment to the core voltage I can reach 1400MHz or possibly higher on the core. My core and memory maximum on stock voltage (1.214 V @ load) appears to be 1316MHz on the core core and 1645MHz (6580MHz effective) on the memory. The best part is; the GPU and VRM temperature does not exceed 53 degrees Celsius







I have a Gigabyte 7950 that can push 1280MHz / 1800MHz / 1.3 V and at these specs it runs a lot warmer not to mention louder.

Lightning 680 @ 1316MHz / 1645MHz / 1.214 V (Stock load voltage)
*P10577*


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> ^^^
> Yes, anything over 1300MHz at stock voltage for a gtx 680 is awesome.
> Congrats on a very good card!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My Asus DCii 680 was stable @1338MHz with no voltage modding. Was a pretty sweet card aswell.
> 
> 
> 
> Wow... 1338MHz on stock voltage is awesome and here I am prancing about 1316MHz on stock voltage. I have a feeling that with some adjustment to the core voltage I can reach 1400MHz or possibly higher on the core. My core and memory maximum on stock voltage (1.214 V @ load) appears to be 1316MHz on the core core and 1645MHz (6580MHz effective) on the memory. The best part is; the GPU and VRM temperature does not exceed 53 degrees Celsius
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have a Gigabyte 7950 that can push 1280MHz / 1800MHz / 1.3 V and at these specs it runs a lot warmer not to mention louder.
> 
> Lightning 680 @ 1316MHz / 1645MHz / 1.214 V (Stock load voltage)
> *P10577*
Click to expand...

A "graphics score" in 3dmark11 112xx seems to be very low for a 1316mhz setup. I got 122xx on default voltage with only 2mhz more. Did you allow it to boost over tdp?

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4235203

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> A "graphics score" in 3dmark11 112xx seems to be very low for a 1316mhz setup. I got 122xx on default voltage with only 2mhz more. Did you allow it to boost over tdp?
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4235203
> Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2


Hmmm... maybe other 680 users with similar specifications can shed some light on this. You're running a 2600K @ ~5.4GHz with 4 extra threads and your 680 memory is also clocked 150MHz faster. Maybe all that is why? Bench was done using driver 306.23. Which driver did you use? Definitely interesting









This is what it scores at bone stock (1202MHz / 1502MHz / 306.23)
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4584504

Score is very similar to the Gigabyte 680 Super Overclock (1215MHz / 1502MHz / 306.23) I just finished refunding. I'm thinking it's perfectly normal


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Hmmm... maybe other 680 users with similar specifications can shed some light on this. You're running a 2600K @ ~5.4GHz with 4 extra threads and your 680 memory is also clocked 150MHz faster. Maybe all that is why? Bench was done using driver 306.23. Which driver did you use? Definitely interesting
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is what it scores at bone stock (1202MHz / 1502MHz / 306.23)
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4584504
> Score is very similar to the Gigabyte 680 Super Overclock (1215MHz / 1502MHz / 306.23) I just finished refunding. I'm thinking it's perfectly normal


Your score seems about right to me.


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Hmmm... maybe other 680 users with similar specifications can shed some light on this. You're running a 2600K @ ~5.4GHz with 4 extra threads and your 680 memory is also clocked 150MHz faster. Maybe all that is why? Bench was done using driver 306.23. Which driver did you use? Definitely interesting
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is what it scores at bone stock (1202MHz / 1502MHz / 306.23)
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4584504
> Score is very similar to the Gigabyte 680 Super Overclock (1215MHz / 1502MHz / 306.23) I just finished refunding. I'm thinking it's perfectly normal


I am only mentioning the graphics score. Your graphics-score is about what I got on default clocks (1202) on my card, and you clocked yours to 1316mhz. Maybe your card isnt boosting or hit the limit while benching.

My computer is overclocked a bit so you cant really compare the other scores.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> I am only mentioning the graphics score. Your graphics-score is about what I got on default clocks (1202) on my card, and you clocked yours to 1316mhz. Maybe your card isnt boosting or hit the limit while benching.
> My computer is overclocked a bit so you cant really compare the other scores.


I'm thinking the graphics score is normal ??? Can someone in here run an instance of 3DMark 11 at 1316MHz/1645MHz or something close to these speed using driver 306.23 and report back ???

In the meantime, VR-Zone overclocked their Lightning 680 sample to 1427MHz/1728MHz using driver 304.79 and scored 3865 on extreme preset. Here is the shot: 

And here is my extreme graphics score using driver 306.23 with 680 Lightning @ 1392MHz/1693MHz


----------



## gavbon

better drivers will give you better scores

period


----------



## CalinTM

I can't pass on LN2 at vcore +70 for 1300Mhz, and you on +80 reach 14xxMhz

I start to think, that i got a card that was RMA'ed by some person.


----------



## Gorki

Any word when would 4GB Lightning be released? I bet price will be quite higher as well...


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gorki*
> 
> Any word when would 4GB Lightning be released? I bet price will be quite higher as well...


Sorry but word is there will not be one. http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/2700#post_18155494
If that information is correct. Seen similar information posted other places also.


----------



## Lass3

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gorki*
> 
> Any word when would 4GB Lightning be released? I bet price will be quite higher as well...


Arent you running 1920x1200? If yes, why do you need 4GB?


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> I'm thinking the graphics score is normal ??? Can someone in here run an instance of 3DMark 11 at 1316MHz/1645MHz or something close to these speed using driver 306.23 and report back ???
> In the meantime, VR-Zone overclocked their Lightning 680 sample to 1427MHz/1728MHz using driver 304.79 and scored 3865 on extreme preset. Here is the shot:
> And here is my extreme graphics score using driver 306.23 with 680 Lightning @ 1392MHz/1693MHz


I am home again, and did a few tests to solve it. My computer is overclocked, but its my 24/7 spec, so I dont think it really matter for the graphics scores. I used your gpu frequency but just saw afterwards that my memory are running a bit faster default, so that can make a little difference.

GPU 1392 MHz - MEM 1740 MHz
Performance - Graphics score 12760 [LINK]- [SCREENSHOT]

GPU 1392 MHz - MEM 1740 MHz
Xtreme - Graphics score 3881 [LINK]- [SCREENSHOT]

Default - not clocked up. GPU 1202 MHz
Performance - Graphics score 11108 [LINK]- [SCREENSHOT]

I am using the latest FM drivers.


----------



## Gorki

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> Arent you running 1920x1200? If yes, why do you need 4GB?


Yes I am. I don't need it now. I'm trying to reconsider should I go for 2gb version now or wait for 4gb since I'm planning on buying bigger monitor 27 inch at least or even more @ Q1 2013 so future proof investment would be nice


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> I am home again, and did a few tests to solve it. My computer is overclocked, but its my 24/7 spec, so I dont think it really matter for the graphics scores. I used your gpu frequency but just saw afterwards that my memory are running a bit faster default, so that can make a little difference.
> GPU 1392 MHz - MEM 1740 MHz
> Performance - Graphics score 12760 [LINK]- [SCREENSHOT]
> GPU 1392 MHz - MEM 1740 MHz
> Xtreme - Graphics score 3881 [LINK]- [SCREENSHOT]
> Default - not clocked up. GPU 1202 MHz
> Performance - Graphics score 11108 [LINK]- [SCREENSHOT]
> I am using the latest FM drivers.


Strange... Our extreme graphic scores are similar at 1392MHz/1693MHz VS 1392MHz/1740MHz but on performance preset you score almost 1000 points higher in graphics ??? Perhaps extreme preset is more GPU dependent and performance preset is not ???


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Strange... Our extreme graphic scores are similar at 1392MHz/1693MHz VS 1392MHz/1740MHz but on performance preset you score almost 1000 points higher in graphics ??? Perhaps extreme preset is more GPU dependent and performance preset is not ???


No idea. I can see that I scored 50 points above you in the xtreme preset. I dont know if that 50 points are the 50MHz on memory. But you are right, it seems that the leap is much bigger in the performance test.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> No idea. I can see that I scored 50 points above you in the xtreme preset. I dont know if that 50 points are the 50MHz on memory. But you are right, it seems that the leap is much bigger in the performance test.


My guess is extreme preset graphic score is more graphic card dependent considering visual settings are of higher detail. Performance preset graphic score may possibly be influenced by the CPU. I honestly don't know


----------



## DJRamses

It is not new.
The scoring at 3DMark 11 calculates so:

Performance Preset = 75 % of GPU Perfomance + 25 % CPU Performance= 3DMark Score

Exeteme Preset = 95% GPU Perfomance + 5 %CPU Performance= 3DMark Score

Vantage do the same


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> It is not new.
> The scoring at 3DMark 11 calculates so:
> Performance Preset = 75 % of GPU Perfomance + 25 % CPU Performance= 3DMark Score
> Exeteme Preset = 95% GPU Perfomance + 5 %CPU Performance= 3DMark Score
> Vantage do the same


How is the graphics score calculated though?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> My guess is extreme preset graphic score is more graphic card dependent considering visual settings are of higher detail. Performance preset graphic score may possibly be influenced by the CPU. I honestly don't know


qwwwizx's Gigabyte 680 Super Overclock at same stock clocks and at identical overclock with memory ~50MHz higher scores 600-1000 points higher in graphics using the same driver with the discrepancies being his faster i7 @ 5.0GHz and his faster memory.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> How is the graphics score calculated though?


You mean the exactly way to calculate the points?


----------



## elbubi

Hi guys.

I'm finding an issues which I just don't understand. I've found my stable OC to be +63mv/125mhz core +50mv/500Mhz memory +0aux. That profile have been rock solid en 100+ runs of heaven,3d11, etc, etc. But 3 days ago it started crashing everywhere, now I'm not stable at those speeds at even +93mv, it seems it doesn't like oc'ing anymore, so I have to use it at stock ln2 profile.

I haven't change drivers, nor bios, nor ab version (2.2.4 + trick). Is it possible that it has deteriorated SO quickly? Never used artmoney, the most I've pushed it has been +93mv core +70mv memory +20mv aux (1350/7200).

Really worried about this... :S

Kind Regards and thanks in advance.


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Hi guys.
> I'm finding an issues which I just don't understand. I've found my stable OC to be +63mv/125mhz core +50mv/500Mhz memory +0aux. That profile have been rock solid en 100+ runs of heaven,3d11, etc, etc. But 3 days ago it started crashing everywhere, now I'm not stable at those speeds at even +93mv, it seems it doesn't like oc'ing anymore, so I have to use it at stock ln2 profile.
> I haven't change drivers, nor bios, nor ab version (2.2.4 + trick). Is it possible that it has deteriorated SO quickly? Never used artmoney, the most I've pushed it has been +93mv core +70mv memory +20mv aux (1350/7200).
> Really worried about this... :S
> Kind Regards and thanks in advance.


My .02 would be less voltage on memory, Worth giving a try. I have found my 2 Lightnings do not like a lot of voltage on memory.
Then of course this could be Nvidia's reason for not wanting voltage control. I doubt it though.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> I'm thinking the graphics score is normal ??? Can someone in here run an instance of 3DMark 11 at 1316MHz/1645MHz or something close to these speed using driver 306.23 and report back ???
> In the meantime, VR-Zone overclocked their Lightning 680 sample to 1427MHz/1728MHz using driver 304.79 and scored 3865 on extreme preset. Here is the shot:
> And here is my extreme graphics score using driver 306.23 with 680 Lightning @ 1392MHz/1693MHz


Gave 3d11 a run at about your clocks (1313/1645), used a 2600k at 4.6 with HT off, so should be close or a bit under what the 3570 can do at 4.6Ghz.
I did do better on the gpu score with the same driver, system memory is faster but shouldn't be too much difference in the gpu score. Not sure why you are low at those clocks...


----------



## snitchkilla11

I guess I'm just lucky..streight outa the box speeds on both my cards


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> I guess I'm just lucky..streight outa the box speeds on both my cards


Why use Precision?

And, you got 2 cards that boost to the same speed on the non-LN2? That's pretty cool. I honestly don't know what my cards boost to, since I've been on LN2 BIOS since Day 1. I plan on getting the 780 on release day so I don't really care if my Lightnings are on the LN2 voltages 24/7, especially with dynamic/offset voltage (thanks for that _one_ thing Nvidia.)


----------



## Gobsz

Hey guys, I have a question regarding SLi with the lightning....I have bought one(verified pic to come!) and I would like to know which mobo to get to run SLi on. My current choice is the maximus V formula,though I have read that sli will run x8/x8 where as on the extreme it will run x16/16. Is it worth investing in the extreme for x16/x16?

Many thanks:thumb:


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Why use Precision?
> And, you got 2 cards that boost to the same speed on the non-LN2? That's pretty cool. I honestly don't know what my cards boost to, since I've been on LN2 BIOS since Day 1. I plan on getting the 780 on release day so I don't really care if my Lightnings are on the LN2 voltages 24/7, especially with dynamic/offset voltage (thanks for that _one_ thing Nvidia.)


I got here one more vanilla GTX 680 ready for eventual SLI - I got tired of 400-500 EUro video cards







there are better things in this world to spend money on


----------



## snitchkilla11

No ln2.. both out of the box... I installed afterburner.just took a quick picture to show my friend that my lightnings weren't garbage..and boy did I prove him wrong.my cards stock beat his max oc on his evga sc+ cards.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Mine were off the back of a truck..half price sale..couldn't pass it up..il sell them when the 7 searies cards come out and still make a profit.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Gave 3d11 a run at about your clocks (1313/1645), used a 2600k at 4.6 with HT off, so should be close or a bit under what the 3570 can do at 4.6Ghz.
> I did do better on the gpu score with the same driver, system memory is faster but shouldn't be too much difference in the gpu score. Not sure why you are low at those clocks...


This is bothering me now. How the flip did you and qwwwizx manage 800-1000 points higher in graphics while running identical clocks and same drivers?


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> My .02 would be less voltage on memory, Worth giving a try. I have found my 2 Lightnings do not like a lot of voltage on memory.
> Then of course this could be Nvidia's reason for not wanting voltage control. I doubt it though.


Thanks for the hint B rad. I've already tried with no mem oc/ov at all, but still no go, it crashes even at +93/1300 when it was stable at +74/1325. Really don't kwow what is going on here...


----------



## B rad

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Thanks for the hint B rad. I've already tried with no mem oc/ov at all, but still no go, it crashes even at +93/1300 when it was stable at +74/1325. Really don't kwow what is going on here...


Well maybe the drivers messed up or your PSU is dying.


----------



## dVeLoPe

i dont have a lightning but regardless of card i believe the issue and solution should be the same..

when i first got my card i was able to run it at about 1250+ then over time it would start to crash here and their so ive had to lower the overclock.

now my question is i know that when the driver says nvidia kernal has stopped responding and has recovered that means my overclock is too high...

but how about when the game DOESNT crash or the driver stopped responding error doesnt show up but it DOES revert back to STOCK CLOCKS...

is that becase of too high overclock as well or just a driver bug??


----------



## pfinch

why does my AB 2.2.4 still rounds the Corevoltage after each reboot? I thought thats fixed


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> Well maybe the drivers messed up or your PSU is dying.


I will try reinstalling drivers, but I smell gpu deterioration here







.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> why does my AB 2.2.4 still rounds the Corevoltage after each reboot? I thought thats fixed


Unwinder said it will be fixed in next release (2.3.0)


----------



## pfinch

Okay, thank you


----------



## dVeLoPe

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dVeLoPe*
> 
> i dont have a lightning but regardless of card i believe the issue and solution should be the same..
> when i first got my card i was able to run it at about 1250+ then over time it would start to crash here and their so ive had to lower the overclock.
> now my question is i know that when the driver says nvidia kernal has stopped responding and has recovered that means my overclock is too high...
> but how about when the game DOESNT crash or the driver stopped responding error doesnt show up but it DOES revert back to STOCK CLOCKS...
> is that becase of too high overclock as well or just a driver bug??


ANYONE? caps


----------



## snitchkilla11

its your overclock to high...personally i think its nvidia putting a cap on the overclock...mine does it when i go over 1400mhz..my temps are fine so i dunno ***... i just think its nvidia saying no thats to much performance for our cards as there would be no reason to upgrade to our 780 when it comes out!!!!lol j/k..sucks everything on will be voltage locked..so i hope our cards will go up in value insted of down!!! but that would never happen


----------



## snitchkilla11

wow they blur out w.t.f.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Thanks for the hint B rad. I've already tried with no mem oc/ov at all, but still no go, it crashes even at +93/1300 when it was stable at +74/1325. Really don't kwow what is going on here...


When I was doing benchmarking, I had several crashes in a row and I got to the point where I couldn't run anything. Just opening 3D Mark 11 would make it crash.

I uninstalled AB, both 2.2.2 and 2.2.3 and did a clean re-install of my drivers and AB. And that did the trick, I can OC just as good as I could when the cards were new. Well, better since AB 2.2.3 wasn't out when I bought the cards.

I think the repeated crashes corrupt the drivers, but AB was sort of funky so I re did it, too.

I bought these cards the first day they went on sale at Newegg. Some shipping mixups set me back a bit, but I've been running them about as long as anybody and the highest OCs I ever had were the last ones I did. But I don't run max volts 24/7 and I don't do any more benches, I'm pretty certain I've gone about as far as possible on these cards, so no need to keep running them that hard.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> its your overclock to high...personally i think its nvidia putting a cap on the overclock...mine does it when i go over 1400mhz..my temps are fine so i dunno ***... i just think its nvidia saying no thats to much performance for our cards as there would be no reason to upgrade to our 780 when it comes out!!!!lol j/k..sucks everything on will be voltage locked..so i hope our cards will go up in value insted of down!!! but that would never happen


Man, everything has an OC limit. CPUs don't all OC to 5.8GHz, so it doesn't bother me that mine won't, either. Guys buy a dozen CPUs to find the one that'll OC the best.

So maybe a couple of guys have hit 1500MHz with their GTX 680, and mine won't do it. I don't think that's Nvidia putting any lock on the clocks. They've locked the voltage to the point where it takes a lot of hassle to get past what AB 2.2.3 will let you do, but some chips just won't do it.

I do think the earlier 680 Lightnings had better chips for OCing, but a whole lot of them still never saw 1400MHz. You gotta remember, the stock reference card clock is what, like 1050 with boost to 1120 or something (I don't remember the actual numbers, it's been a while)? And it sucks that you can't do better than 1400? Hell, I wish I could do 1600, but I've seen the numbers guys have put up literally since day one and I realize that 1400 is still a pretty stout OC for a 680.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i said it as a joke..


----------



## GenoOCAU

Well this was my best effort a couple of days ago, didn't bother going higher as theres no competition in 3dmark 11's worldwide results with a 2700k








.
AC waterblocks kept these below 47degrees during the runs.

P19942 - 2x GTX680 Lightning 1458 core/7130 memory - i7 2700k @ 5304mhz (51x104) all under water.

Screenshot


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

For comparison, this is what I get with a 3770K @ 4.6GHZ and the cards at 1402/6958 on air. I never could get any OC love on my memory, never once broke 7000 without artifacts.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4253607

25K+ graphics FTW


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Man, everything has an OC limit. CPUs don't all OC to 5.8GHz, so it doesn't bother me that mine won't, either. Guys buy a dozen CPUs to find the one that'll OC the best.
> So maybe a couple of guys have hit 1500MHz with their GTX 680, and mine won't do it. I don't think that's Nvidia putting any lock on the clocks. They've locked the voltage to the point where it takes a lot of hassle to get past what AB 2.2.3 will let you do, but some chips just won't do it.
> I do think the earlier 680 Lightnings had better chips for OCing, but a whole lot of them still never saw 1400MHz. You gotta remember, the stock reference card clock is what, like 1050 with boost to 1120 or something (I don't remember the actual numbers, it's been a while)? And it sucks that you can't do better than 1400? Hell, I wish I could do 1600, but I've seen the numbers guys have put up literally since day one and I realize that 1400 is still a pretty stout OC for a 680.


Well put Narly, hell we would all like to be the one in million but if we get decent clocks we should be satisfied. And my experience has been the same as yours, I have good cards but not great cards and when they won't overclock I reinstall drivers and AB and it's as good as ever, I thought I damaged them several times with 1.5 to 1.6 voltes, which I have only did a few times for short runs and like you I don't think I'll get any more out of them and they run as good as day 1.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Just the average OC-ing 680 Lightning with voltage control would be a nice upgrade for me. My 7970's are fair clockers but still only get about 20,500 GPU score in 3dmark11 which is good but not great...


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Just the average OC-ing 680 Lightning with voltage control would be a nice upgrade for me. My 7970's are fair clockers but still only get about 20,500 GPU score in 3dmark11 which is good but not great...


You should read this review particularly the page I have linked below

*1280MHz/1860MHz 7970 vs. 1392MHz/1765MHz 680*
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/30/msi_geforce_gtx_680_lightning_overclocking_redux/5

In the game tests administered by HARDOCP at one of the the highest single monitor resolution and at the most common (1920x1080); the Lightning 680 stomps all over the 7970. Both cards in the review are golden cards in my book however an unlocked good-clocking Lightning 680 in my opinion and from my experience is without equal *Puts on flame suit*. I am not knocking the 7970 in any way, shape, or form as I've had 3 7970s and the highest clocking one was the Lightning 7970 that was capable of 1210-1225MHz/1700MHz (Core clock depended on game and/or benchmark) and even that card would have gotten pummeled by the Lightning 680 that I have now running @ 1372MHz/1771MHz(7084MHz effective).

*HardOCP:* "It even went head to head with one of our fastest overclocked AMD Radeon HD 7970's and swept the floor with it."


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Yeah, I know its better, but only with unlocked voltage. I'd already have gotten two of them for my sig rig but don't really feel like going to the trouble of dismantling my loop and rebuilding for a fairly small performance boost. Plus I don't really like the look of either of the 680 Lightning blocks available...


----------



## bioboss

Hello everyone!

I also possess lightning gtx 680 and I flash the bios with the old bios which eventually F8.

I use msi afterburner 2.2.3 and my bios is unlocked.

until the all is well and I can stabilize the graphics card to 100 core and 500 voltage with 20 memory

But as soon as I exceed the 30 voltage I have a red screen benchmark.

50 or 93 with the same voltage ...

I have a version completely aida 64 days and I do not use anything other than msi afterburner and core temperature in the background (for processor temperature).

I read that it could also come from the power limit to 300 ..

Should I put it to 200? what is the solution?

Thank you so much in advance for the time you take to answer me.

Stef cordially.


----------



## SpartanJet

Has anyone received a good overclocking MSI Lightning 680 GTX from newegg within the last few weeks? I've received 5 of them in total the worst of them wouldn't even overclock by 20 at stock volts wile the rest vary between 30-60 at best all tested in a single card config(with similar results in the LN2 bios). I think they keep recycling the ones people return for poor overclocking. It's also odd that every one from newegg still has the 3A LN2 bios that defaults to 1202 unlike amazon which is now shipping the "newer" cards that are clocked at 1111 in LN2.

I wanted to run a quad SLI system with a good overclocking card but it seems like I have horrible silicon luck.


----------



## hammerforged

Check your PSU voltage output. It seems very out that you would get 5 cards that are all turds.


----------



## pfinch

do i need the gpu reactor cover? because i need the top x4 slot for my soundcard :/


----------



## Tabinhu

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> do i need the gpu reactor cover? because i need the top x4 slot for my soundcard :/


No

Sent from my GT-I9070 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SpartanJet*
> 
> Has anyone received a good overclocking MSI Lightning 680 GTX from newegg within the last few weeks? I've received 5 of them in total the worst of them wouldn't even overclock by 20 at stock volts wile the rest vary between 30-60 at best all tested in a single card config(with similar results in the LN2 bios). I think they keep recycling the ones people return for poor overclocking. It's also odd that every one from newegg still has the 3A LN2 bios that defaults to 1202 unlike amazon which is now shipping the "newer" cards that are clocked at 1111 in LN2.
> I wanted to run a quad SLI system with a good overclocking card but it seems like I have horrible silicon luck.


Received mine last Friday and I would say that mine is a decent overclocker. Right now it is sitting at 1316MHz/1645MHz on stock voltage. With voltage modification, it can reach 1372MHz/1771MHz. The highest core clock that I've reached so far is 1411MHz but required backing off the memory to 1688MHz.


----------



## bioboss

Hello and excuse me disturb you but still no answers about my worries red screen?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bioboss*
> 
> Hello and excuse me disturb you but still no answers about my worries red screen?


Wish I could help, I've never had a red screen so can't really say what causes it.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bioboss*
> 
> Hello and excuse me disturb you but still no answers about my worries red screen?


I've had red screen from too much voltage, but not when air or water cooled & it was a lot of voltage. What temperature is the card loading at?
Some people flashing the F8 bios have had things go kinda buggy, maybe try the 3A bios if you can't resolve it.


----------



## bioboss

Hi, my card never exceeds 65 degrees in games.

I had the bios 3A before and I also had problems red screen ..

I do not know what to do.

I'm stuck at a maximum of 1333 7000mghz and boost memory ...


----------



## snitchkilla11

dude that sucks bad..mine are new and mine both boost to 1228..with out the ln2 switch on..


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> When I was doing benchmarking, I had several crashes in a row and I got to the point where I couldn't run anything. Just opening 3D Mark 11 would make it crash.
> I uninstalled AB, both 2.2.2 and 2.2.3 and did a clean re-install of my drivers and AB. And that did the trick, I can OC just as good as I could when the cards were new. Well, better since AB 2.2.3 wasn't out when I bought the cards.
> I think the repeated crashes corrupt the drivers, but AB was sort of funky so I re did it, too.
> I bought these cards the first day they went on sale at Newegg. Some shipping mixups set me back a bit, but I've been running them about as long as anybody and the highest OCs I ever had were the last ones I did. But I don't run max volts 24/7 and I don't do any more benches, I'm pretty certain I've gone about as far as possible on these cards, so no need to keep running them that hard.


Thanks for your hint Charlie. Unfortunately, I've uninstalled/installed drivers, reverted back to 2.2.3, and still having crashes with oc values that were 100% stable a few weeks ago. I really think the card broke in some way. I bought it in usa and I'm now in Argentina, very painful to do an RMA process from here, I'll have to use it stock...

Kind regards!


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> , reverted back to 2.2.3,


Don't just revert. Wipe it out and fresh re-install 2.2.3


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bioboss*
> 
> Hi, my card never exceeds 65 degrees in games.
> I had the bios 3A before and I also had problems red screen ..
> I do not know what to do.
> I'm stuck at a maximum of 1333 7000mghz and boost memory ...


Temps are OK & that isn't much voltage. Do you leave any programs open in the background that try to read the gpu bios? I have read that people can get red screen issues leaving aida64 open, or multiple gpu apps (like afterburner & trixx simultaneously).
Maybe try a fresh reboot without starting up any monitoring apps, set clocks with AB, close AB & run to see if it works better.


----------



## Bruennis

You guys think a 750 watt power supply (Corsair TX750M) is sufficient to run SLI Lightning 680 @ 1300MHz+/1700MHz+, 3570K @ 4.6GHz, 9 case fans (Includes CPU cooler fans), an SSD and a mechanical drive, and a CD drive??? Or should I move up to one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151110

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341045


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

^^^

You would only need a quality 650w max for that.

So yeah, a TX750 is more than enough.


----------



## Poyri

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Poyri*
> 
> I just bought my GTX680 lightning and decide to flash unlock bios. I did every thing said on page 1 and flashed unlock bios. But when i reboot the system i see this
> 
> I flashed orijinal bios and now everything is alright. İs there something wrong i did when i flashing rom or is there a way that to fix this.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> What kind of unlocked BIOS did you flash ? F8 or 3A ?


F8
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *B rad*
> 
> @ POYRI
> Did have selector switch in LN2 position?


Yes, ı switch ln2.

Few days ago i flash 3A bios and it worked.

Max boot clock is 1375 and %100 asic qualty. first i thought card would see 1400mhz but it stock at 1375.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Poyri*
> 
> F8
> Yes, ı switch ln2.
> Few days ago i flash 3A bios and it worked.
> Max boot clock is 1375 and %100 asic qualty. first i thought card would see 1400mhz but it stock at 1375.


Mine came with bios 3A but I've tried F8 and there is no difference in voltage and overclocking headroom.


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> You guys think a 750 watt power supply (Corsair TX750M) is sufficient to run SLI Lightning 680 @ 1300MHz+/1700MHz+, 3570K @ 4.6GHz, 9 case fans (Includes CPU cooler fans), an SSD and a mechanical drive, and a CD drive??? Or should I move up to one of these:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151110
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341045


You system will use less than 600w, but if you are going to OC / Bench with them, I would go for something bigger. You might not need it, but when things gets hot and you are close to the limits bigger will be better.


----------



## jcamp6336

Decided to try a lightning out, mine will be here in a few hours ill let yall know how that goes.


----------



## Arnoud87

Just registered.. ^^
Ordered my card sunday for 500 euro's......... I sold my 580's for 400 .......... so i lost my 580's and another 100 euro's...
I like to unbox videocards







, and get bored pretty quick with hardware....

however, just got my 680 lightning today. Got nothing to brag unfortunately.

- A3 Bios > max 1250mhz : voltage stock.. i got the worst overclocker out of the whole forum here! (A8 bios was artifacts)
- memory > max 7200mhz

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4617890

Really like its zero percent noise and temperature max 60 degrees C.







.
580 SLI was a disaster.. the heat is very annoying (and dry air), really like 1 card .. games run smoother too!

Heaven 53 fps







8X aa and maxed out 1080p / 580 sli was 66 fps ...
It still scares me i dont hear my PC anymore when i game


----------



## jcamp6336

ill have it up and running in a few hours


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Just registered.. ^^
> Ordered my card sunday for 500 euro's......... I sold my 580's for 400 .......... so i lost my 580's and another 100 euro's...
> I like to unbox videocards
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> , and get bored pretty quick with hardware....
> however, just got my 680 lightning today. Got nothing to brag unfortunately.
> - A3 Bios > max 1250mhz : voltage stock.. i got the worst overclocker out of the whole forum here! (A8 bios was artifacts)
> - memory > max 7200mhz
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4617890
> Really like its zero percent noise and temperature max 60 degrees C.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 580 SLI was a disaster.. the heat is very annoying (and dry air), really like 1 card .. games run smoother too!
> Heaven 53 fps
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 8X aa and maxed out 1080p / 580 sli was 66 fps ...
> It still scares me i dont hear my PC anymore when i game


What was your stock boost on the non-LN2 bios?


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jcamp6336*
> 
> 
> ill have it up and running in a few hours


lol, than im asleep for a while, gets night here


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> What was your stock boost on the non-LN2 bios?


dunno, stock LN2 is 1202 Mhz doesnt matter what you do it wil always stuck on 1202 mhz (A3 bios).
on that bios youll get 1,21V on stock.

But doesnt matter if i do -100 mv or +100 mv......... still get 1250mhz max.. my chip is real bad.

I never tried stock bioses, why would I, the LN2 bios push the card more so you get better results with lower clocks. Stock bios would do weird jumps in clocks. The LN2 bios keeps the MHZ equal


----------



## bioboss

hello!
So I actually cut all the time to test the benchmark gtx 680.

AIDA64 not, nor gpuz or fraps or trixx ect ....

But still this red screen ...

I am despairing.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> You system will use less than 600w, but if you are going to OC / Bench with them, I would go for something bigger. You might not need it, but when things gets hot and you are close to the limits bigger will be better.


not true my sli setup with 9 fans uses about 700watts thats with an oc cpu.. 750 is fine


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GnarlyCharlie*
> 
> Don't just revert. Wipe it out and fresh re-install 2.2.3


Did exactly that Charlie, wipe out then re-install. No go


----------



## TheAssassin

Where are you guys finding the voltage? I don't see it in GPU-Z.


----------



## jcamp6336

having a problem with 3dMark11. I turned Vsync off on the nvidia settings but the fps is still capped at 60.0?? Did the test on my 670 and it worked fine. I put the lightning in, clean installed the driver and it wont go above 60fps.

Any ideas?

FYI this is only in 3dmark, tried bf3 and got up to 90 fps


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jcamp6336*
> 
> having a problem with 3dMark11. I turned Vsync off on the nvidia settings but the fps is still capped at 60.0?? Did the test on my 670 and it worked fine. I put the lightning in, clean installed the driver and it wont go above 60fps.
> Any ideas?
> FYI this is only in 3dmark, tried bf3 and got up to 90 fps


What's your graphics score?


----------



## jcamp6336

10349 at stock settings

Pscore 9980


----------



## jcamp6336

switched the Scaling mode to stretched and now it works.

Ill let you guys know how the benching went, so far im at 1320mhz stable on 3dmark11 with stock bios/voltage


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jcamp6336*
> 
> 10349 at stock settings
> Pscore 9980


That's completely normal. Mine scores 10,500-10,600 stock and has the same frame rate lock 'issue' during 3DMark 11. Not necessarily an issue but you get the point. If it games and overclocks fine, I wouldn't worry about it,


----------



## jcamp6336

jcamp6336

Max core OC: 1385mhz
Max mem OC 3308mhz


----------



## jcamp6336

just received this card today, haven't tried pushing it any further, gonna give those fans a break for a while









Needless to say im damn impressed, kicks the snot out of the 3 Galaxy SOC Whites i tried. They couldnt even break 1300.

FYI this is all on the stock bios and voltage, seems too good to be true considering what others have been saying about the newer cards.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jcamp6336*
> 
> just received this card today, haven't tried pushing it any further, gonna give those fans a break for a while
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Needless to say im damn impressed, kicks the snot out of the 3 Galaxy SOC Whites i tried. They couldnt even break 1300.
> FYI this is all on the stock bios and voltage, seems too good to be true considering what others have been saying about the newer cards.


the soc galaxy cards were that bad??..i thought they clocked higher then the lightnings?


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jcamp6336*
> 
> jcamp6336
> Max core OC: 1385mhz
> Max mem OC 3308mhz


I DO NOT understand how some of you are getting higher graphics score at those clocks. My 1372/1779(3558) results are in my sig. Is it because I am on the LN2 bios? Can you run an instance on extreme if possible? Or run an instance of Heaven with everything maxed out (1920x1080) at those same clocks?


----------



## jcamp6336

This was at 1359mhz, highest i could get it without too much tinkering. Will have more time tomorrow.


----------



## Arnoud87

BTW, i lost my 2 original bioses.
Can someone upload please the .47 non LN2 bios? And also the corresponding locked ln2 bios? These are the brandnew reference shipped bioses.
I Accidently lost them both by flashing F8 and A3. where which i got horrible results with.... i have to try other bioses
1250mhz max is not good imo. I got problems with F8 and A3 doesnt seem to work well

Jcamp can you upload your bioses? i see you using your stock bioses, i need them bad. I got faulthy ones now
greetz

Ithink about sending my 680 Lightning back because of the horrible results i got with it, seems like its not responding on voltage adjustments, it just wont do anything. Man I just hate my lightning this way, can't stand it people with reference cheap 680's get better results


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> I DO NOT understand how some of you are getting higher graphics score at those clocks. My 1372/1779(3558) results are in my sig. Is it because I am on the LN2 bios? Can you run an instance on extreme if possible? Or run an instance of Heaven with everything maxed out (1920x1080) at those same clocks?


Thats because they run on LN2 A3 bios which forces the clock speeds instead of swinging it.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> BTW, i lost my 2 original bioses.
> Can someone upload please the .47 non LN2 bios? And also the corresponding locked ln2 bios? These are the brandnew reference shipped bioses.
> I Accidently lost them both by flashing F8 and A3. where which i got horrible results with.... i have to try other bioses
> 1250mhz max is not good imo. I got problems with F8 and A3 doesnt seem to work well
> Jcamp can you upload your bioses? i see you using your stock bioses, i need them bad. I got faulthy ones now
> greetz
> Ithink about sending my 680 Lightning back because of the horrible results i got with it, seems like its not responding on voltage adjustments, it just wont do anything. Man I just hate my lightning this way, can't stand it people with reference cheap 680's get better results


I ve had always the idea that RMA is just for the faulty card, not for the card that does not meet your overclocking expctations








People like you make the vendors to switch the retour cards to other people, so you might get that retour card yourself







.
Not speaking about ethics - you buy a product , not the OC value of it, that s never guaranteed-
and one more thing : ALWAYS backup your BIOS first before flashing a new one!!


----------



## chropose

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shempio*
> 
> Nothing is guaranteed, but I can run mine 24/7 at 1350 on the stock bios with voltage at .65
> Reason I don't run it on the LN2 bios is I was getting lock downs when playing crysis 2 due to a *memory leak* my card has on LN2.
> But yeah 1300 seems pretty easy so far for many users and this card cools like no other.


I'm sorry, noob question here. What is memory leak?

Thank you.


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> I ve had always the idea that RMA is just for the faulty card, not for the card that does not meet your overclocking expctations
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> People like you make the vendors to switch the retour cards to other people, so you might get that retour card yourself
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> Not speaking about ethics - you buy a product , not the OC value of it, that s never guaranteed-
> and one more thing : ALWAYS backup your BIOS first before flashing a new one!!


In our country you can return products within 8 days and get your money back without a hassle.
Its not about getting another 680 Lightning and not about a Rma either.

So I can call them and say 'i send the card because its not my thing, send me 2 670's i pay some extra money' and done.
ye the bios thing was because I couldn't save originals, but nonetheless I got my right to send the product back because of the 8 day law.


----------



## famich

Allright, so let us hope you are going to get some decent 670 "clockers"..


----------



## Arnoud87

Can somoeone upload these please
80.04.47.00.18 (non-LN2)
80.04.47.00.19 (locked LN2)

need the original bioses
ty


----------



## jcamp6336

I'll try when I get home tonight


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *chropose*
> 
> I'm sorry, noob question here. What is memory leak?
> Thank you.


My understanding, when your system/GPU allocates memory to a task, and it is not released when the task is finished. This means less and less memory is available as previously allocated mem is not getting freed up. Software can have this problem too like CS4 Photoshop, working on big images, I have to save, close, and restart the app to free up mem every couple of hours.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> GPU 1392 MHz - MEM 1740 MHz
> Performance - Graphics score 12760 [LINK]- [SCREENSHOT]
> GPU 1392 MHz - MEM 1740 MHz
> Xtreme - Graphics score 3881 [LINK]- [SCREENSHOT]
> Default - not clocked up. GPU 1202 MHz
> Performance - Graphics score 11108 [LINK]- [SCREENSHOT]
> I am using the latest FM drivers.


Qwwwizx - Did you run these samples on stretched or centered? If stretched then I think I've solved my graphic score dilemma









This is at 1372MHz/1777MHz on stretched mode
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4621441


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *White Ice*
> 
> Yep! I knew that was what was going on and when I seen my Lightning come up as "power edition" I suspected wat was going on. New batches are mediocre chips and I was lucky to get a decent one of those which still falls far short of the originals! Yeah thanks to Nvidia! Only way now is to buy a used gpu with proven ability! Ima lookin, but it's not gonna be successful..


This message was wat i was looking for.
Seems like the new chips from today are real bad!


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> This message was wat i was looking for.
> Seems like the new chips from today are real bad!


Chance is the big factor at play here. I received mine this past Friday and it overclocks just fine. It's still a fast card at stock. Ran the game Sleeping Dogs at stock clocks and at 1372MHz/1777MHz and there is about a ~10 fps difference says the in-game benchmark.


----------



## Arnoud87

Mine is so new i had to order it! That new is mine,
however i could find the 19 bios here and the card couldnt even reach 1200mhz!!!! lol omg

so i bet 1250mhz is not that bad when i use 3A.
I think 1250 is not that bad after all.... however im the king in the worst lightning worldwide


----------



## dph314

There's many new ones out there that _only_ hit 1250mhz, yes. That's still good though. I mean, I think we got spoiled by all the early Lightnings where 1300mhz was considered super-low. Like look at the 7970s, even the 7970 Lightning. It's considered an amazing overclock when they get 1250mhz because even the TFIV cooler can't keep it from burning up. And I can run my 680 at 1400mhz and not even break 70C, so, even though it sucks that the new 680 Lightnings aren't as good as they once were, we should still consider ourselves lucky that we have the best card out there


----------



## Arnoud87

yer, thats true.
In that case its worth the 500 euro..

But I tought i was the one with the worst core on the planet. lol.

IN BF3 its faster than my 580 sli was for sure, because of the 0% microstutter.
And when i put my ear in the 680 i dont even hear a damn sound lol.

Still a DAMNNNNN FFS shame nvidia ruins it for us, would nice if we could see cards running at 1,5ghz on air


----------



## Bruennis

*http://www.overclock.net/t/1258755/overclocking-and-benchmarking-gtx-670-vs-gtx-680*

^Takes a 1358/1702 GTX 670 to match a GTX 680 @ 1293/1602.

*http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/23/msi_geforce_gtx_680_lightning_video_card_review/9*

^Takes a 1280MHz/1860 7970 to match a GTX 680 @ 1293/1537

Those are heavy overclocks on the 670 and 7970 not to mention rare. I've had 3 7970s and that includes a 7970 Lightning and NONE of them could reach 1280/1860. Highest was 1210/1700 on the Lightning 7970 but my point is; a 680 at 1250-1300MHz is still a monster of a card.


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> *http://www.overclock.net/t/1258755/overclocking-and-benchmarking-gtx-670-vs-gtx-680*
> ^Takes a 1358/1702 GTX 670 to match a GTX 680 @ 1293/1602.
> *http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/23/msi_geforce_gtx_680_lightning_video_card_review/9*
> ^Takes a 1280MHz/1860 7970 to match a GTX 680 @ 1293/1537
> Those are heavy overclocks on the 670 and 7970 not to mention rare. I've had 3 7970s and that includes a 7970 Lightning and NONE of them could reach 1280/1860. Highest was 1210/1700 on the Lightning 7970 but my point is; a 680 at 1250-1300MHz is still a monster of a card.


I had a single XFX R7970 Black Edition when they just came out. I cooled it with EK FC7900.

Stock XFX R7970 bios results:
GPU 1,3v; MEM 1,7v; GPU 1.348Mhz; GPU MEM 1.724Mhz.
P11217 http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2811148

With ASUS OC bios results:
GPU 1,4v; MEM 1,75v; GPU 1.407Mhz; GPU MEM 1.743Mhz.
P11582 http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2880724


I benched with default driver settings and 3dmark 11 settings to be able to compare with all my earlier nvidia results. That mean that there is no cheats with tesselation or anything else. Now compare that to my GTX680 and it is obvious that the AMD card is left in the dust 

I know that the drivers I used are several generations old, but how much improvements had been done since that?


----------



## Arnoud87

Nice to read my card isn't a piece of trash =).

I was able to do 3dmark 11 on 1270 mhz and 8008 MHZ memory.
Couldn´t understand why it ran on 8000mhz without crashing the hell out of it

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4614696

nonetheless, 7200 mhz is stable
Now i can get 1300 on my core with AB 223


----------



## Arnoud87

Just installed afterburner 223.. instead of using 224..
and guess whatt .. i can go higher than 1250mhz.. that was 1250mhz on stock voltage

Afterburner 224 locks your voltage! pff FFS nvidia

http://imageshack.us/f/189/heavenf.jpg/

end with 1293 mhz.. for me thats a great overclock!


----------



## IronAge

My first one runs 1402 @ vGPU 1.281 under Ungine Heaven several loops.


----------



## Arnoud87

thats pretty high for a 680 chip ... only few do that


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *IronAge*
> 
> My first one runs 1402 @ vGPU 1.281 under Ungine Heaven several loops.


And the memory clock? Heaven score?


----------



## IronAge

How do i get a Scoreboard in Heaven ... it just keeps looping







... have not spend much time with it and never tried to OC VRAM.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *IronAge*
> 
> How do i get a Scoreboard in Heaven ... it just keeps looping
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ... have not spend much time with it and never tried to OC VRAM.


Press F9 to begin benchmark


----------



## techenth

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Can somoeone upload these please
> 80.04.47.00.18 (non-LN2)
> 80.04.47.00.19 (locked LN2)
> need the original bioses
> ty


Would you please share if you find em?


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *techenth*
> 
> Would you please share if you find em?


I will, MSI will send them to someone on a forum which i have contact with,

I gave my serial number of the box so ill get it any time soon.

/ BTW

http://imageshack.us/f/441/metro203320120929120904.jpg/
Metro 2033 all maxed out but no 4xAA No DOF and no physx

75 fps.. pretty crazy score imo 13% faster than GTX 480 in SLI.. ^^
with 4x AA 55 fps!

with dof and physx on also.. it gave 34 fps ! not bad at all


----------



## IronAge

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Can somoeone upload these please
> 80.04.47.00.18 (non-LN2)
> 80.04.47.00.19 (locked LN2)
> need the original bioses
> ty


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *techenth*
> 
> Would you please share if you find em?


I have got these ones on my second card - which is already sold.

I have only saved the LN2 Bios ... but there you go:

http://www43.zippyshare.com/v/42132722/file.html

i will ask the buyer to save the non LN2 Bios and mail it to me.


----------



## Arnoud87

ok thnx.
Does anyone knows how to get more than +100mv in afterburner? My cards are cold but need more voltage.

is there a Vcore switch on the backside of the backplate? Which needs to get removed or something?
I saw posts here with people running on a hacked Aafter burner with +300 support.

I really have to try +120 to see what it does, my card is like freezing in my antec 1200.. really need some modified AB....

This is what i mean >>
http://www.guru3d.com/miraserver/images/2012/msi-light-ab/Image4.png

I need a slider which can all the way up to +200
im sure i can crank my chip up to 1400mhz or something.

can someone please explain how to hack the Afterburner to remove any resitriction so i can do my benchmarks on realtime base


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> ok thnx.
> Does anyone knows how to get more than +100mv in afterburner? My cards are cold but need more voltage.
> is there a Vcore switch on the backside of the backplate? Which needs to get removed or something?
> I saw posts here with people running on a hacked Aafter burner with +300 support.
> I really have to try +120 to see what it does, my card is like freezing in my antec 1200.. really need some modified AB....


Lightning 600 series has no switches besides the bios switch anymore. It isn't easy to get a modified AB anymore, they just don't leak out like they used to.
A few people here have used the artmoney hack, qwwwizx did a great guide for it here https://sites.google.com/site/qwwwizx/home/gtx-680
It would be good to have a multi meter on as well to see what the card is really getting & do small bumps.
Be careful when using the hack for more voltage, not just for the life of the card but it is a hack & I read somewhere game servers might see it as a cheat. I would suggest it as a benching tweak & not a 24/7 thing. Good luck!


----------



## qwwwizx

I just used the artmoney hack again - this time with latest whql driver. I am cooling the GPU with a generic EK VGA block and I took my computer to the window to suck in some cold fresh air (ambient 8c).

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4628011


GPU 1476MHz! (for some reason GPU-Z cant show my GPU frequencies in idle, so look at the graph in the right)


----------



## StreekG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> ok thnx.
> Does anyone knows how to get more than +100mv in afterburner? My cards are cold but need more voltage.
> is there a Vcore switch on the backside of the backplate? Which needs to get removed or something?
> I saw posts here with people running on a hacked Aafter burner with +300 support.
> I really have to try +120 to see what it does, my card is like freezing in my antec 1200.. really need some modified AB....
> This is what i mean >>
> http://www.guru3d.com/miraserver/images/2012/msi-light-ab/Image4.png
> I need a slider which can all the way up to +200
> im sure i can crank my chip up to 1400mhz or something.
> can someone please explain how to hack the Afterburner to remove any resitriction so i can do my benchmarks on realtime base


With the LN2 BIOS activated and +100 (+93 on 2.2.3) I'm sure your card is going over 1.3V
LN2 Bios has a higher default voltage so you are getting more than just +100mv.
Are you on water?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> With the LN2 BIOS activated and +100 (+93 on 2.2.3) I'm sure your card is going over 1.3V
> LN2 Bios has a higher default voltage so you are getting more than just +100mv.
> Are you on water?


Yes, the ln2 bios at +100 maxes at about 1.37V actual.

Arnoud87 I know the AB you mean, but people aren't modding AB themselves & the extreme version isn't easy to get. If you aren't into extreme cooling & benching chances of getting a copy are not good, there is no public download & nobody leaks it anymore.


----------



## CrazyElf

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> There's many new ones out there that _only_ hit 1250mhz, yes. That's still good though. I mean, I think we got spoiled by all the early Lightnings where 1300mhz was considered super-low. Like look at the 7970s, even the 7970 Lightning. It's considered an amazing overclock when they get 1250mhz because even the TFIV cooler can't keep it from burning up. And I can run my 680 at 1400mhz and not even break 70C, so, even though it sucks that the new 680 Lightnings aren't as good as they once were, we should still consider ourselves lucky that we have the best card out there


I wonder if there is an optimal point in each generation of GPU for these non-reference cards, where on-average you have the best chance of getting really good overclocks.

Hmm ... it seems the ones that got the Lightnings around the time that the voltage unlock in Afterburner became available got the best Lightnings; if not the best 680s all around.


----------



## Arnoud87

BTW< suddenly my card doesn't seem to response on the voltage control in afterburner anymore.... I use 222.
Is this a bug? Or is there some Nvidia software in the windows background preventing anything?

This is realy weird i was on 1320 mhz on A3 and now it wont work even at 1270 mhz :S... didn't install anything else.
This was at +100 in LN2 unlocked.
Max temp i reach is like 55 degrees.
I try to remove it and try 223 and than back to 222....

BTW i go try remove any crap from AB222 so i can set my VCore slider to sky limits, really dont 't like this Nvidia limit BS. when im home i go edit the damn program, gotta try if i can get past +100... really need more power under these low temps.


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> BTW< suddenly my card doesn't seem to response on the voltage control in afterburner anymore.... I use 222.
> Is this a bug? Or is there some Nvidia software in the windows background preventing anything?
> This is realy weird i was on 1320 mhz on A3 and now it wont work even at 1270 mhz :S... didn't install anything else.
> This was at +100 in LN2 unlocked.
> Max temp i reach is like 55 degrees.
> I try to remove it and try 223 and than back to 222....
> BTW i go try remove any crap from AB222 so i can set my VCore slider to sky limits, really dont 't like this Nvidia limit BS. when im home i go edit the damn program, gotta try if i can get past +100... really need more power under these low temps.


AB 2.2.2 doesn't support voltage control. You need to use 2.2.3, or 2.2.4 with the changes mentioned in the first post.


----------



## Arnoud87

okay







.
BTW here the original bios 19

Just came from MSI
http://www5.zippyshare.com/v/12328105/file.html

This sould be added in start post!!
These files are straight from MSI

Could be very handy if you lost your bios


----------



## techenth

Thank you. Do you have the 18 bios aswell?

That includes both thank you !


----------



## TheAssassin

Is that an unlocked-LN2 BIOS?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CrazyElf*
> 
> I wonder if there is an optimal point in each generation of GPU for these non-reference cards, where on-average you have the best chance of getting really good overclocks.
> Hmm ... it seems the ones that got the Lightnings around the time that the voltage unlock in Afterburner became available got the best Lightnings; if not the best 680s all around.


I think the guys who got the first batch and maybe for a bit after that got the best cards, and you didn't start seeing the high clocks until AB 2.2.3 hit.


----------



## NBAasDOGG

GTX680 DC2T with hotwire mod:

1406 on the core and 7455 on memory.
1.412v on multimeter and max temp is 56 C.

When i put the resistor arournd 1Ohm voltage gets to 1.5 but it will already fail at 1430mhz, so its pretty a **** chip









3dmark 11 soon!


----------



## Arnoud87

1,4Ghz is crazy, and I don't think 1,4v is bad either... i ran at 1,28 and is chip is like 66 degrees at max / 1291mhz, thats what i call a bad chip







.
Since I need to up voltage 0,07V to obtain 39 mhz more thats just wack.

I always got bad luck with chips... even my i5 needs 1,5V to run at 3.9Ghz.
I take my luck with other things


----------



## Tyn1

Well, I've just received my Lightning 680 today and it seems to have the 80.04.28.00.39 Bios (Locked?), and using the stock bios setting I've been able to hit 1301 Boost and 1702 Memory using just power limit set to 133% and Core +125, Memory +400. It seems pretty stable using 3dmark 11 (11163 Graphics score), but I've been hearing some coil whine that seems to happen only in 3dmark 11 and games. Might be my PSU (HX750), but has anyone else had coil whine with their lightnings? Otherwise, I've been pretty happy with my results.

Edit: Well, Heaven was pretty blunt with me and told me what was up very fast. It wasn't stable at 1301 @+125 Core and 6800 @+400 Mem, so I knocked it down to 1250 Boost @ +75 Core and 6600 @ +300 Mem, which I'm more than happy with. Heaven seems to not induce as much coil whine as 3dmark11 for some strange reason. Overall my Heaven score @ Max settings 1920 x 1080 was 1330 @ 52.8 FPS. About 7 whole FPS more than my previous 7970s


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tyn1*
> 
> Well, I've just received my Lightning 680 today and it seems to have the 80.04.28.00.39 Bios (Locked?),:


if you want to unlock your card to get the full 1,28V operating you need the 3A bios and afterburner 223 (NOT 224 OR older!!!)

Flash it with 3A bios first







!
http://speedy.sh/Vx574/3A.rom (same thing as start post)
Maybe you get 1,4Ghz with luck.
u need 2 heaven runs without stops to be sure of stability, sometimes ram goes artifacting just after a few minutes

i get 54,4 with 1291/+550 (1,28V)
in heaven on ur settings. Does heaven 1 hour without problems.

Amyway any 680 at 1250mhz or higher is good, 680 is allready on its very close max potential


----------



## Tyn1

Thanks for the bios, appreciate it. Will be doing the flash once I take off my side panel and find out what's the cause of coil whine, otherwise VERY happy with card. Gets a bit loud at startup though.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tyn1*
> 
> Thanks for the bios, appreciate it. Will be doing the flash once I take off my side panel and find out what's the cause of coil whine, otherwise VERY happy with card. Gets a bit loud at startup though.


The 3A bios doesn't have the 100% fan at start up, got to love that


----------



## Arnoud87

Really dont like the whole startup process of the Lightning, i think its very lame, especially in a Antec 1200 with dust filters all over the place.
If i power my PC up I dont want any annoying fans boosting.
Nothing to do about it


----------



## elbubi

BIOS 3A indeed has 100% fan spin at startup, the only one that has 30% fan spin at startup is 101a/110a. I uploaded them several times in this thread, otherwise you can fin them at msi germany 680 lightning web. The only downside of this BIOS is that you'll face a hard lock when facing an OC instability, the rest is just as good as 3A.

Regards!


----------



## Menthol

Sorry I misspoke I have been on water for so long I guess I forgot.


----------



## snitchkilla11

hey if it isnt broke dont fix it...if you dont know what your doing..dont do it!!!!!! you card is fast enough at 1300 mhz..what do u want 2 more fps!


----------



## Lass3

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> The 3A bios doesn't have the 100% fan at start up, got to love that


Yes, it does









I would love an option to turn it off without reflashing...


----------



## Tyn1

Does anyone have coil whine problems with their Lightnings?


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tyn1*
> 
> Does anyone have coil whine problems with their Lightnings?


No cooil whine with the 680 and 7970 Lightning.


----------



## Tyn1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> No cooil whine with the 680 and 7970 Lightning.


Hmm, that sounds about right. I figured that maybe I hadn't connected some cords right so I shut down my PC and fiddled around with the PCI-E 8 pins and the slots they went into along with the main power cable itself and now it sounds like it's gone or at least significantly less noticeable. Perhaps the cables weren't connected properly and the PSU or GPU wasn't getting clean power. Thanks though









Edit: Well, it doesn't seem to buzz in games anymore, but 3dmark11 still makes coils whine. Hrm.


----------



## dph314

http://www.overclock.net/t/1315674/free-20-in-origin-code

Just want to help out all my fellow Lightning bretheren. Want to make sure everyone here saw that thread. Free games!
Here's a link to the post with a list of all the games the code works on- http://www.overclock.net/t/1315674/free-20-in-origin-code/330#post_18358810

Enjoy


----------



## Arnoud87

yes my card does nice at 1300mhz in heaven now.







.
3dmark does perfect at 1330 mhz. at 1340 artifacts


----------



## Lass3

No coilwhine here, there's a little (very little) in some game menus/intros where fps exceeds 1000 but its nothing like my old 7970, it screamed like a little baby even in games, very annoying


----------



## Bruennis

Bro, I had a Sapphire 7970 and its whine was unbearable. Had wife speculating...


----------



## Arnoud87

Could be power supply, the ripple noise. And idd even i hear annoying noise from 680 in certain mega high fps... like 3dmark 2003. No wonder this is normal.
Even on a Silverstone Strider 1200W Gold Evo which i have have special anti coil whine cables.


----------



## Arnoud87

I gonna get to try my hands on the Afterburner Extreme version here in The Netherlands, yeye i know i have to call MSI and so on.. I hope they can give me the sample if i give my Serial number so its blocked for any RMA's







.

Whats max safe temp for it? And what voltage would u guys recomend? 1,4? max.
Wonder what kind of voltage is safe despite the temps.

Or maybe its a bad idea at all to go above 1,28 ??
I think the design is made to go up 1,28v.
I overclock since 1997. never had any problems at all, even not with that old stuff not even ment for overclocking.

I just got a reply back from a dutch forum that says just call MSI and explain what you want..
So how you guys think about my idea?


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> I gonna get to try my hands on the Afterburner Extreme version here in The Netherlands, yeye i know i have to call MSI and so on.. I hope they can give me the sample if i give my Serial number so its blocked for any RMA's
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> Whats max safe temp for it? And what voltage would u guys recomend? 1,4? max.
> Wonder what kind of voltage is safe despite the temps.
> Or maybe its a bad idea at all to go above 1,28 ??
> I think the design is made to go up 1,28v.
> I overclock since 1997. never had any problems at all, even not with that old stuff not even ment for overclocking.
> I just got a reply back from a dutch forum that says just call MSI and explain what you want..
> So how you guys think about my idea?


Safe voltage on air will be Nvidia stock voltage. MSI raised that a bit and thats what MSI allow and finds safe. Since the twinfrozed cools better than reference cooler it might be ok. Be aware that MSI OC cards is feeded with more voltage than MSI AB reads out - like 0.06v, so when you see 1.21v in MSI AB it might be 1.28v, plug a multimeter to find out A German website addressed that problem related to a 660Ti test and MSI replied that it benefits overclockers which is correct, but it also mean that the GPU voltage from default are raised above Nvidia limits. I would stick to reference voltage when gaming and push it to 1.4Xv when benching.

Link about the GTX660 and GTX670Ti, the 680 Lightning should have the same benefit.

http://www.tomshardware.de/MSI-GTX660Ti-Overvolting,testberichte-241108-6.html


----------



## Lass3

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Could be power supply, the ripple noise. And idd even i hear annoying noise from 680 in certain mega high fps... like 3dmark 2003. No wonder this is normal.
> Even on a Silverstone Strider 1200W Gold Evo which i have have special anti coil whine cables.


Nah it wasnt the PSU









Could easily hear the whine came from my 7970

I hear alot of ppl with 7950/7970 have this problem especially with high fps like in game menus and intros / old games / benchmarks


----------



## Arnoud87

I call MSI tomorrow looking forward to it







, bet I get it, dont think regular people would call, especially not in this small country. Someone from forum also had it from them


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> I just used the artmoney hack again - this time with latest whql driver. I am cooling the GPU with a generic EK VGA block and I took my computer to the window to suck in some cold fresh air (ambient 8c).
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4628011
> 
> 
> GPU 1476MHz! (for some reason GPU-Z cant show my GPU frequencies in idle, so look at the graph in the right)


How is my score so much lower? I got 13,050 Graphics Score at 1480/7200 (CPU @ 5Ghz)









Awesome score by the way


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> How is my score so much lower? I got 13,050 Graphics Score at 1480/7200
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Awesome score by the way


Are you running 3DMark 11 on stretched or centered? Stretched nets a slightly higher graphic score


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> How is my score so much lower? I got 13,050 Graphics Score at 1480/7200
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Awesome score by the way
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are you running 3DMark 11 on stretched or centered? Stretched nets a slightly higher graphic score
Click to expand...

Always stretched, yep









No throttling either, that I can see. When the memory is clocked too high and throttles but doesn't crash, like that ECC or something, I forgot what it's called, but when that happens with the memory, do you just lose performance or can you actually see it downclocking itself? Is it possible that is what's happening?


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> How is my score so much lower? I got 13,050 Graphics Score at 1480/7200
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Awesome score by the way
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are you running 3DMark 11 on stretched or centered? Stretched nets a slightly higher graphic score
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Always stretched, yep
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No throttling either, that I can see. When the memory is clocked too high and throttles but doesn't crash, like that ECC or something, I forgot what it's called, but when that happens with the memory, do you just lose performance or can you actually see it downclocking itself? Is it possible that is what's happening?
Click to expand...

I dont know. You are close, so maybe you run something in the background that suck some of the juice. I use the latest wjql drivers on default settings. Did you put powertarget high enough?

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> How is my score so much lower? I got 13,050 Graphics Score at 1480/7200
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Awesome score by the way
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are you running 3DMark 11 on stretched or centered? Stretched nets a slightly higher graphic score
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Always stretched, yep
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No throttling either, that I can see. When the memory is clocked too high and throttles but doesn't crash, like that ECC or something, I forgot what it's called, but when that happens with the memory, do you just lose performance or can you actually see it downclocking itself? Is it possible that is what's happening?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I dont know. You are close, so maybe you run something in the background that suck some of the juice. I use the latest wjql drivers on default settings. Did you put powertarget high enough?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

Oh yes. Even at over 1.4v I only hit around 100% Power usage, and I always put the slider around 150-200% just for the hell of it. And I always make sure I close everything I can before a bench run. GPU usage is always at 0% for a good few seconds before I run any benches so I can make sure there's not a program running in the background fluctuating the usage.

I think the last time I ran 1480/7200 I was using the 304.xx betas. Do the latest WHQL drivers really add ~500pts to GPU Score?


----------



## D749

I own (2) ASUS GTX680-DC2T-2GD5 in SLI (check my sig. for hardware). Both cards boost to 1300 MHz and are rock solid (gaming, Furmark, 3DMark, etc.). I'd like to buy a 3rd DC2T but they're too big to run 3-way SLI on air. While I'm not against WCing (3) DC2Ts I upgrade pretty regularly.

Reading this thread every couple of days I'm tempted to sell them and buy (3) GTX 680 Lightnings. My expectation would be that all (3) Lightnings would run 1300 MHz boost on air. I would then consider WCing them all. What do you think?

Thanks.


----------



## dph314

If you would get a third Asus' and watercool them, why get 3 Lightnings just to do the same if you already have 2 of the 3 Asus'? Just for the overvoltage, or do you have a RIVE motherboard?


----------



## Bosniac

Sup guys haven't checked thread since months. Question, I noticed that if I OC my card and play a certain few games (BF3, Crysis 2), the game will lockup and screen goes black, and I can hear the game still normally. Or sometimes it will lock up with a stuck audio buzzing noise. Like I said only a few games. Happens quite frequently now. Any ideas or similar issues? Heat is fine on GPU and returning OC to stock causes it less to crash.


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> If you would get a third Asus' and watercool them, why get 3 Lightnings just to do the same if you already have 2 of the 3 Asus'? Just for the overvoltage, or do you have a RIVE motherboard?


I have a RIVE but I don't really feel like modding my cards to that extent (e.g., soldering). Also, from what I understand there are only enough ports on the RIVE to support 2 cards. Being able to push the voltage past stock w/o soldering is one reason and the other is that I could run all 3 Lightnings as soon as I get them on air. It's not possible to run 3 DC2T on air.


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Sup guys haven't checked thread since months. Question, I noticed that if I OC my card and play a certain few games (BF3, Crysis 2), the game will lockup and screen goes black, and I can hear the game still normally. Or sometimes it will lock up with a stuck audio buzzing noise. Like I said only a few games. Happens quite frequently now. Any ideas or similar issues? Heat is fine on GPU and returning OC to stock causes it less to crash.


Maybe GPU degradation, or power supply issues. I had same problems with faulthy PSU once. especially the noise that sticks is a sign.

/
Just called MSI + mailed .. but they didnt know anything about existence of Afterburner Extreme, -_-.. so i get the normal afterburner link instead LOL.

Nice support (not), So i can use artmoney to hack afterburner 224 or someone here who can send me the unlocked program







?
I can go to 2Volts anyway but such much of a hassle with 2 programs running the same time


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> I can go to 2Volts anyway but such much of a hassle with 2 programs running the same time


2 Volts? Make sure you video tape it when you do pls.


----------



## Arnoud87

haha like i would even come close to that







... was just for the record.
Its more about a notch more instead of twice rofl..

I overclock since the nineties, ye i know about maximums, my first overclock was 16 years back btw







voodoo days







.
Also had the 580 Lightning, still runs.
Im really not that regular guy buying a 680 Lightning and attempts overclocks and crying for more in his first day overclocking =)

Overclocked like 30 videocards in past, never any problem at all. even when i was 10-12 years old i did overclock videocards, always liked free performance, and now the Lightning is there with that awsome custom PCB why the hell would i stick to a newbie limit, for me doesn't makes any sense at all.

Even grandma can use afterburner from MSI's website, you know what I mean







. Impossible to like that idea


----------



## Bruennis

$80-$100 price drop

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693

I paid $608


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> $80-$100 price drop
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693
> I paid $608


Makes you wonder how close the next generation is...


----------



## Arnoud87

Had full control over AB voltage







with a nice kiss my ass hack

Fun to play with, tho
Works nice on 3A bios.

But overvolting didnt work allready maxed out at 1,3ghz..... is really maxed out.
I can add voltages up to 1,4v but doesn't do anything

I can pm link if you want to try urself







. Make sure you aint got blue artifacts allready........... only freezings up means not enough voltage


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> I have a RIVE but I don't really feel like modding my cards to that extent (e.g., soldering). Also, from what I understand there are only enough ports on the RIVE to support 2 cards. Being able to push the voltage past stock w/o soldering is one reason and the other is that I could run all 3 Lightnings as soon as I get them on air. It's not possible to run 3 DC2T on air.


You do need to remember that the GPU reactor interferes with the pcie slot above the card, I removed the cover over the GPU reactors on my two cards to clear the water fitting on my M/B block for the top card, for the second card I removed the cover over the reactor and the metal cover on my x-fi sound card so they would clear. I don't believe you need the reactors for every day use but if you want to overclock msi must have put them on there for a reason. I am not sure that if you go 3 way sli if the reactor interferes with the card directly above it.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Oh yes. Even at over 1.4v I only hit around 100% Power usage, and I always put the slider around 150-200% just for the hell of it. And I always make sure I close everything I can before a bench run. GPU usage is always at 0% for a good few seconds before I run any benches so I can make sure there's not a program running in the background fluctuating the usage.
> I think the last time I ran 1480/7200 I was using the 304.xx betas. Do the latest WHQL drivers really add ~500pts to GPU Score?


dph,
I am right where you are with bench scores, have been trying to reach a little higher with no luck, the new drivers have not given me any higher scores, your memory goes higher than either of my cards though.


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> $80-$100 price drop
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693
> I paid $608


So glad I didn't order 3 yesterday. Thanks!


----------



## Arnoud87

I think you only need the reactor for 1,5V or something


----------



## jcamp6336

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> $80-$100 price drop
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693
> I paid $608


I wonder if this is because of the overvoltage restrictions nvidia put on the cards now? I wouldn't be surprised if these lower priced cards meet new nvidia requirements and therefore don't clock as high


----------



## Bruennis

Another ~$50 drop and I'm picking up a second


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Oh yes. Even at over 1.4v I only hit around 100% Power usage, and I always put the slider around 150-200% just for the hell of it. And I always make sure I close everything I can before a bench run. GPU usage is always at 0% for a good few seconds before I run any benches so I can make sure there's not a program running in the background fluctuating the usage.
> I think the last time I ran 1480/7200 I was using the 304.xx betas. Do the latest WHQL drivers really add ~500pts to GPU Score?


I dont think it will add another 500pts, actually I didnt see the latest driver improve anything. My Powertarget reach like 180-185 at the frequence of 1474Mhz and 1.375v. You should put the powertarget at max, to see if that makes a difference.

I scored higher than your score at only 1438MHz http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4485720 -
screenshot, and that was with the FM approved driver, so something is wrong with your system.

/qwwwizx


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jcamp6336*
> 
> I wonder if this is because of the overvoltage restrictions nvidia put on the cards now? I wouldn't be surprised if these lower priced cards meet new nvidia requirements and therefore don't clock as high


I hope this isn't the case as I'm debating jumping in. I just wish Amazon would lower their price on the cards.


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> You do need to remember that the GPU reactor interferes with the pcie slot above the card, I removed the cover over the GPU reactors on my two cards to clear the water fitting on my M/B block for the top card, for the second card I removed the cover over the reactor and the metal cover on my x-fi sound card so they would clear. I don't believe you need the reactors for every day use but if you want to overclock msi must have put them on there for a reason. I am not sure that if you go 3 way sli if the reactor interferes with the card directly above it.


I was going to skip using the Reactor as I heard it really wasn't necessary. That being said the RIVE board does provide a lot of space.


----------



## Tyn1

Got my AB 2.2.3 to overvolt to max on default .39 Bios @ +93mV Core to 1.259V (is this about 1.32V on a multimeter?) and +10 Mem/AUX voltages. Results were spectacular to say the least: +161 Core Clock to 1350 MHz, +400 Mem to 6800Mhz, and Temps at 63C at load. On a safer clock (+43mV to ~1.22V or 1.28 on a multi I'm guessing), I had a still impressive overclock @ +125Mhz Core, +400Mhz Mem and +0 AUX/Mem Voltages. I think I'll stick with the +43V overclock for now and do some fiddling with LN2 when I've fully enjoyed gaming with this beast of a card. More fun to tweak than a 7970 by FAR!!


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> I own (2) ASUS GTX680-DC2T-2GD5 in SLI (check my sig. for hardware). Both cards boost to 1300 MHz and are rock solid (gaming, Furmark, 3DMark, etc.). I'd like to buy a 3rd DC2T but they're too big to run 3-way SLI on air. While I'm not against WCing (3) DC2Ts I upgrade pretty regularly.
> Reading this thread every couple of days I'm tempted to sell them and buy (3) GTX 680 Lightnings. My expectation would be that all (3) Lightnings would run 1300 MHz boost on air. I would then consider WCing them all. What do you think?
> Thanks.


they are 499.99 on newegg..they are beast!!!! and they look gangster and sexy at the same time!!!


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Makes you wonder how close the next generation is...


i think there dropping the prices as new cards shipped come locked?? i seen this today and was tempted to return mine and get some cash back?? but both my cards reach 1375 on sli with out volts non ln2..so im pretty happy and am not risking getting a beater of a card....


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Another ~$50 drop and I'm picking up a second


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Another ~$50 drop and I'm picking up a second
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i highly doubt that we will see another 50 dollar drop any time soon...well maby black friday or when the 7 searies come out...so buy now!!!! buy buy buy...your card is very lonely and needs a friend!!!


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> they are 499.99 on newegg..they are beast!!!! and they look gangster and sexy at the same time!!!


$499 for one. If I order 3 I don't get the other 2 rebates.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> You do need to remember that the GPU reactor interferes with the pcie slot above the card, I removed the cover over the GPU reactors on my two cards to clear the water fitting on my M/B block for the top card, for the second card I removed the cover over the reactor and the metal cover on my x-fi sound card so they would clear. I don't believe you need the reactors for every day use but if you want to overclock msi must have put them on there for a reason. I am not sure that if you go 3 way sli if the reactor interferes with the card directly above it.


Reactor isn't really needed for everyday, I have benched up to 1450 - 1500Mhz core without the reactor on. I have done all my maxed out runs with the reactor on so not sure if it actually makes a difference at 1600Mhz +.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Had full control over AB voltage
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> with a nice kiss my ass hack
> Fun to play with, tho
> Works nice on 3A bios.
> But overvolting didnt work allready maxed out at 1,3ghz..... is really maxed out.
> I can add voltages up to 1,4v but doesn't do anything
> I can pm link if you want to try urself
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Make sure you aint got blue artifacts allready........... only freezings up means not enough voltage


Need to try cold next, loading at sub zero temps will get higher clocks & allow more voltage again.

Price cuts are awesome, kinda makes me wish I had patience when buying new toys...


----------



## jcamp6336

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i think there dropping the prices as new cards shipped come locked?? i seen this today and was tempted to return mine and get some cash back?? but both my cards reach 1375 on sli with out volts non ln2..so im pretty happy and am not risking getting a beater of a card....


Same with mine, can reach 1385 on stock bios. Just got it last wednesday

but we did pay the $600.00


----------



## TheAssassin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jcamp6336*
> 
> I wonder if this is because of the overvoltage restrictions nvidia put on the cards now? I wouldn't be surprised if these lower priced cards meet new nvidia requirements and therefore don't clock as high


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jcamp6336*
> 
> Same with mine, can reach 1385 on stock bios. Just got it last wednesday
> but we did pay the $600.00


i would do it all over again...worth every penny. and i had several 680s and none came close to the raw performance and how cold the cards kept in sli..compared to the blower.what was about 20c hotter in sli then the lightnings..


----------



## jcamp6336

yeah this is without a doubt the best card ive ever owned in all respects


----------



## Bruennis

All hail the king of current video cards.

I came from 3 7970s


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> All hail the king of current video cards.
> I came from 3 7970s


Love my 680 Lightnings, but as a bencher I still have to stand up for the 7970. Even frozen at 1600Mhz + the 680 can't quite keep up in most benches.

That's benching for hwbot though, can't speak for gamers, the experience can be much different.


----------



## TheBenson

Looks like the price on newegg is back to $599, but the $40 rebate is still available.


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheBenson*
> 
> Looks like the price on newegg is back to $599, but the $40 rebate is still available.


Damn it. I knew I should have ordered them last night!


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Damn it. I knew I should have ordered them last night!


$559 after rebate. They are still cheaper than previously; $580 (After rebate)


----------



## Arnoud87

I paid 500 euros







.. hail the euro, also the max i would spend on a GPU. Price keeps the same Im not afraid of any release soon of the 110 chip


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Damn it. I knew I should have ordered them last night!
> 
> 
> 
> $559 after rebate. They are still cheaper than previously; $580 (After rebate)
Click to expand...

$559 for one perhaps. The rebate is one time per household. I just should have ordered the 3 I threw in my cart last night. Oh we'll.

The Goods :: http://pc.thedigitalfoundry.com


----------



## gavbon

ordering 2 blocks on thursday, time to get these bad boys under water!!!


----------



## D749

Turns out it was a 24 hour sale.

The Goods :: http://pc.thedigitalfoundry.com


----------



## Arnoud87

OMg.. i cant get afterburner on 1302 mhz.. it hangs on 1293.... how is this possible? For some reason it skips 1,3.. i need exactly 1302.. like it was. because 1306 will artfact







And i want 1300mhz







precise


----------



## bern43

So I finally had a chance to play with my Lightning. First some results/background all on the 1st bios, which was 80.04.28.00.39. This is all with the most recent NVIDIA drivers (306.97).

ASIC Quality - 72.1
Stock Boost - 1189
Max Stable core overclock - 1267. Memory with this setting is stable up to +225. Any higher than that and I get artifacts in 3dmark11. Strangely, no artifacts with memory up to +250 in Heaven.
When exiting Heaven I get a tiny bit of coil whine, at least that's what I'm guessing it is.

So overall, not the greatest card, but not too bad.

Now the strange part. Tried to switch over to the LN2 bios to do some additional testing and Windows will not recognize the card. NVIDIA Inspector comes up blank. GPU-Z has the card as an NVIDIA but none of the information from the card comes up except the bios, which is 80.04.2800.3A.

Any ideas what's going on here?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

I think I had to reinstall the drivers when I switched BIOS, but it's been a while.


----------



## snitchkilla11

can someone answer me this..i can overclock my cards like crazy in afterburner and run 3dmark and haven..but when i go to play a game..even with a mild oc i crash???


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> can someone answer me this..i can overclock my cards like crazy in afterburner and run 3dmark and haven..but when i go to play a game..even with a mild oc i crash???


The only settings guaranteed to run "everything" are the stock ones. You can run a higher overclock in 3DMark11 than you can in Heaven benchmark. GTA4 and BF3 are both tough customers that can crash overclocks that work for other games. It all comes down to whichever game/app you have that is the most demanding. If you overclock for that, then you have your personal 24/7 OC.

Benching, I tune to whatever that benchmark will take.


----------



## D749

If you use the following trick on a NEW Lightning GTX 680 do you still need to flash an unlocked BIOS?
Quote:


> Some black magic for 680 Lightning owners:
> 
> On 2.2.4 you may edit Lightning hardware profile files (.\Profiles\VEN_10DE&DEV_1180....cfg) and add the following lines there:
> 
> [Settings]
> VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
> VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
> VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1
> 
> Those lines disable NVIDIA's capped voltage control module, enable voltage control via direct access to CHL8318 and select offset voltage control mode for it.
> 
> Note: each card profile must be edited for SLI configs.


Thanks.


----------



## NBAasDOGG

I have a little problem with my hotwire mod.

Why my card fails above 1.4v? Even at stock stetting.
I got a stable 1401/7454 at 1.4 volts, but 1.5 volt is an instant fail, even when i am on 60C


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NBAasDOGG*
> 
> I have a little problem with my hotwire mod.
> Why my card fails above 1.4v? Even at stock stetting.
> I got a stable 1401/7454 at 1.4 volts, but 1.5 volt is an instant fail, even when i am on 60C


VRMs could be getting into the danger zone temperature and locking your card up. Or possibly your chip can't take the voltage.


----------



## exploiteddna

Hey guys, I apologize for having been behind schedule in updating the spreadsheet!
As my busy life prevents me from skimming through the pages of the thread to check for new submissions, please PM me with a direct link to your submission post.
(to copy the link of your post, right-click the " post # " in the top right of your post [i.e.- where it says "post # xxxx of xxxx"], then choose 'copy link location')

Since I receive emails when i receive new PMs, I will automatically know when i need to update the sheet.

So, everything is the same as before, except now just copy the link to your submission post and send it to me in a friendly PM








Thanks guys!

PS - I have updated the OP with this change of protocol


----------



## NBAasDOGG

Do you think a better cooling for the VRM will do the job, sir?
At 1.4v the GPU stays under 53C afther playing 1 hour Battlefield 3.
BTW, i am also using a bios from MVtech, wish disables the throttle problemen at high voltages, but still fails at 1.42 and more.

Any ideas to dissable all protections with the hotwire mod, or at least to make the card run higher than 1.4v. I am not scared of explosieves


----------



## bern43

Is it normal for this card to have some minor coil whine during the credits screen in Heaven? Frames hit something like 4000 for those few seconds and I get a slight whine. Also got it for a few seconds during the Windows Experience Index. My 670 didn't do this.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> If you use the following trick on a NEW Lightning GTX 680 do you still need to flash an unlocked BIOS?
> Thanks.


i honestly dont know. i just dont use anything other than afterburner 2.2.3.
your best bet is to ask someone who uses 2.2.4 and can test with a "locked" bios

i know you want to figure this out before you go buy some of these cards, but im just curious what you have against flashing to an unlocked bios? It is a very simple procedure that should never go wrong if you do everything exactly like youre supposed to. You can always re-flash to the original bios if you need to send your card back for warranty purposes


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> i honestly dont know. i just dont use anything other than afterburner 2.2.3.
> your best bet is to ask someone who uses 2.2.4 and can test with a "locked" bios
> i know you want to figure this out before you go buy some of these cards, but im just curious what you have against flashing to an unlocked bios? It is a very simple procedure that should never go wrong if you do everything exactly like youre supposed to. You can always re-flash to the original bios if you need to send your card back for warranty purposes


Thanks for getting back to me. I have nothing against flashing. I just don't fully understand what I need to do. Question time.









(1) Can I flash the LN2 BIOS from non-LN2 mode? Last time I flashed a video card BIOS video cards didn't have switches for the BIOS.









(2) If I flash the LN2 BIOS to 80.04.09.00.F8 all I need is AB 2.2.3 to modify the card voltage?

(3) What happens if I flash the LN2 BIOS to 80.04.09.00.F8 and want to use AB 2.4.4? Is this possible?


----------



## famich

1: The best way is to flash from DOS , that way you cannot go wrong..

2:Yes

3:In this way you need to edit the .cfg file- you ll find the way how to do it here at the beginning of this thread..


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> 1: The best way is to flash from DOS , that way you cannot go wrong..
> 2:Yes
> 3:In this way you need to edit the .cfg file- you ll find the way how to do it here at the beginning of this thread..


Thanks. I'm fine flashing from DOS. However, can I flash the LN2 BIOS from the non-LN2 mode? What I mean is can I flip the BIOS switch to stock and still flash the LN2 BIOS?


----------



## gavbon

Does anyone know which of the 2 unlocked LN2 bios'es is better and more stable for overclocking?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Thanks. I'm fine flashing from DOS. However, can I flash the LN2 BIOS from the non-LN2 mode? What I mean is can I flip the BIOS switch to stock and still flash the LN2 BIOS?


Yes, one of my 680s has both ln2 bios' 3A & F8 on it instead of a stock bios.

edit: if you mean flash a new bios to the 2nd bios chip with the switch in position for the first (stock) bios chip, no. Whichever position the switch is in, is the bios that gets flashed.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> Does anyone know which of the 2 unlocked LN2 bios'es is better and more stable for overclocking?


I thought they were both about the same for overclocking, the driver recovery in 3A can be handy so I generally go with that.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> Does anyone know which of the 2 unlocked LN2 bios'es is better and more stable for overclocking?


My sample came with 80.04.28.00.3A but I've tried bios 80.04.09.00.F8 only to find that there is no difference whatsoever in overclocking and voltage headroom.


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> edit: if you mean flash a new bios to the 2nd bios chip with the switch in position for the first (stock) bios chip, no. Whichever position the switch is in, is the bios that gets flashed.


Yes, that's what I mean - thanks. So if something goes wrong (e.g., complete screen corruption) with the LN2 flash, while in LN2 mode (switch set to LN2), how does one fix this?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Yes, that's what I mean - thanks. So if something goes wrong (e.g., complete screen corruption) with the LN2 flash, while in LN2 mode (switch set to LN2), how does one fix this?


Then you get a different gpu to see the monitor, & flash the corrupt bios with the index command added.


----------



## exploiteddna

Exactly what FtW said above. If for some reason you screwed up the flash, you would be able to fix it as long as you have a backup card (doesn't have to be another 680L). We would be able to walk you through the steps on how to do it








Also, I know some people suggest flashing from DOS. That is perfectly fine. However, the latest nvflash versions allow you to flash from a cmd prompt inside of windows. Ever since nvflash got this ability, I have never flashed from DOS proper, and I find it much more simple than having to make a bootable USB or bootable disc with nvflash in it. Good luck, and if you're unsure on anything just ask


----------



## exploiteddna

Edit: double post


----------



## Vivi_ZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Yes, that's what I mean - thanks. So if something goes wrong (e.g., complete screen corruption) with the LN2 flash, while in LN2 mode (switch set to LN2), how does one fix this?


you can also boot on the working bios, then flip the switch before you flash the corrupt side


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Thanks. I'm fine flashing from DOS. However, can I flash the LN2 BIOS from the non-LN2 mode? What I mean is can I flip the BIOS switch to stock and still flash the LN2 BIOS?


No, you have to switch to the LN2 BIOS and THEN flash - you got 2 "BIOS slots " BIOS chips - you have to overwrite the correct one..

LOL, hey , you can do whatever you want- basically , as written already here , you got
2 BIOS chips ...


----------



## Psykoboy2

Will be installing this card tomorrow night with my new build. Any kind of first-timer tips I should know or do after or during installation? Might be a stupid question as I am kind of new to this, but I just want to cover all my bases.


----------



## bern43

So does anyone else get coil whine on the Heaven credit scene?


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> So does anyone else get coil whine on the Heaven credit scene?


Yes, I notice a pipsqueak of a whine during credit scene. You'll be fine


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Yes, I notice a pipsqueak of a whine during credit scene. You'll be fine


Thanks. Also seem to get it a tiny tiny bit during 3Dmark11. Guess its normal.


----------



## Lass3

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> So does anyone else get coil whine on the Heaven credit scene?


Yes, i do too.

Nothing compared to my old 7970 tho.. It had massive coilwhine, even in games.


----------



## D749

Damn this thread.







I just ordered 3 GTX 680 Lightnings from Newegg. Time to sell my two GTX 680 DC2 Tops.

The Goods :: http://pc.thedigitalfoundry.com


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Damn this thread.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just ordered 3 GTX 680 Lightnings from Newegg. Time to sell my two GTX 680 DC2 Tops.
> The Goods :: http://pc.thedigitalfoundry.com


The best GTX 680 in the world. You won't regret it


----------



## Tyn1

Can anyone walk me through how to flash? I'm a complete idiot and every video I find on Youtube seems to be detailing some rom for tablets...

And a quick question: is it possible to flip the bios switch while Windows is all booted up and should I have it on the LN2 bios when trying to flash to 3A?


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tyn1*
> 
> Can anyone walk me through how to flash? I'm a complete idiot and every video I find on Youtube seems to be detailing some rom for tablets...
> And a quick question: is it possible to flip the bios switch while Windows is all booted up and should I have it on the LN2 bios when trying to flash to 3A?


don't know about your 2nd question but heres a flashing tutorial I made a while back: http://www.overclock.net/nvidia/828837-mr-pies-nvidia-bios-flashing-guide.html


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tyn1*
> 
> Can anyone walk me through how to flash? I'm a complete idiot and every video I find on Youtube seems to be detailing some rom for tablets...
> And a quick question: is it possible to flip the bios switch while Windows is all booted up and should I have it on the LN2 bios when trying to flash to 3A?


Flashing is VERY easy. Firstly, you'll want to download the target bios. Ensure that you are on LN2 bios by checking in GPU-Z or MSI Afterburner. Download nvflash and extract its content to the C drive. Also, put the target bios in C drive. Be sure to rename target bios to something simple that you can remember like "F8bios" or "3Abios". Hit start button, type "cmd", right click on cmd icon and run as administrator. In the cmd screen, type "nvflash -b backup.rom" as this will make a copy of your current LN2 bios should something happen after the flash you can flash back to the factory bios. Type "nvflash -4 -5 -6 BIOSname.rom. Wait for it to finish. Reboot and enjoy!

You can also do it with an msdos usb drive


----------



## NBAasDOGG

GTX680 DC2 TOP is alot better than Lightning when you do some hotwire mod, like me









Got a stable 1407 at 1.4v


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NBAasDOGG*
> 
> GTX680 DC2 TOP is alot better than Lightning when you do some hotwire mod, like me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Got a stable 1407 at 1.4v


Some Lightnings do this with software









Plus I can only imagine how many have bricked their cards attempting this modification


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NBAasDOGG*
> 
> GTX680 DC2 TOP is alot better than Lightning when you do some hotwire mod, like me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Got a stable 1407 at 1.4v


Check my overclock and some other s -they did better than me.. and you


----------



## dph314

I'd rather have software voltage control rather than taking a chance at messing something up with a hardmod
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Oh yes. Even at over 1.4v I only hit around 100% Power usage, and I always put the slider around 150-200% just for the hell of it. And I always make sure I close everything I can before a bench run. GPU usage is always at 0% for a good few seconds before I run any benches so I can make sure there's not a program running in the background fluctuating the usage.
> I think the last time I ran 1480/7200 I was using the 304.xx betas. Do the latest WHQL drivers really add ~500pts to GPU Score?
> 
> 
> 
> I dont think it will add another 500pts, actually I didnt see the latest driver improve anything. My Powertarget reach like 180-185 at the frequence of 1474Mhz and 1.375v. You should put the powertarget at max, to see if that makes a difference.
> 
> I scored higher than your score at only 1438MHz http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4485720 -
> screenshot, and that was with the FM approved driver, so something is wrong with your system.
> 
> /qwwwizx
Click to expand...

Your Power % hit 180%?? Look at the pic I have in my photo album for my best run. 1480/7200. It was barely getting over 100%. I don't know where there would be a problem. And I've always had similar scores to mostly everyone else at lower clocks since I can remember, so, not sure why higher-clocked run is so different. You can see in the pic there wasn't any throttling though. You sure you get 180% Power usage?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Psykoboy2*
> 
> Will be installing this card tomorrow night with my new build. Any kind of first-timer tips I should know or do after or during installation? Might be a stupid question as I am kind of new to this, but I just want to cover all my bases.


Just throw it in and reinstall the drivers. You'll have to again when you switch to the LN2 BIOS for the first time (flip the switch to the right on the card *when the computer is completely shut down*). Then, just grab Afterburner 2.2.3 after reading up on a basic overclocking guide and you're good to go. Reading through this thread also helps, will give you a good idea of what to expect and also tips/problems others have already come across.


----------



## Lass3

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NBAasDOGG*
> 
> GTX680 DC2 TOP is alot better than Lightning when you do some hotwire mod, like me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Got a stable 1407 at 1.4v


Uhm, i can run 1480 with 1.35v on my Lightning 100% stable with no artifacts







And 1300 with stock voltage..


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NBAasDOGG*
> 
> GTX680 DC2 TOP is alot better than Lightning when you do some hotwire mod, like me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Got a stable 1407 at 1.4v


I'm sure you're right. I have a RIVE but (1) I have no interest in modify my video cards as I turn around and sell fairly often to upgrade and (2) from what I understand you can only hotwire a maximum of two cards on the RIVE. I'd like to run 3 or more. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this last point. I've never been able to find a definitive answer.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *NBAasDOGG*
> 
> GTX680 DC2 TOP is alot better than Lightning when you do some hotwire mod, like me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Got a stable 1407 at 1.4v
> 
> 
> 
> Uhm, i can run 1480 with 1.35v on my Lightning 100% stable with no artifacts
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And 1300 with stock voltage..
Click to expand...

Damn. Awesome card. I can run 1350mhz at stock voltage but I need 1.42v for 1480/7200, although I don't know what I'd need if I kept the memory at the stock speed. What is your memory overclock when running 1480mhz core @ 1.35v?


----------



## Bruennis

Is that 1350MHz on LN2 bios with voltage maxed out?


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I'd rather have software voltage control rather than taking a chance at messing something up with a hardmod
> Your Power % hit 180%?? Look at the pic I have in my photo album for my best run. 1480/7200. It was barely getting over 100%. I don't know where there would be a problem. And I've always had similar scores to mostly everyone else at lower clocks since I can remember, so, not sure why higher-clocked run is so different. You can see in the pic there wasn't any throttling though. You sure you get 180% Power usage?
> .


I reach 184% at 1.375v and 1478MHz. Did you try AB 2.2.4? I think there are some bugs in 2.2.3 that might be the issue.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> I reach 184% at 1.375v and 1478MHz. Did you try AB 2.2.4? I think there are some bugs in 2.2.3 that might be the issue.


1478MHz









/Bows down in the presence of greatness


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Hi there !! New member coming from Czech.
I wil try sum overclocking and post some benchmark results.


----------



## NBAasDOGG

Look at this thing









Made by my self and it works perfect, btw it's my first time soldering, so you got to be a chimpanzee to brick your card









Look at the pics









At 1.8K Ohms i get around 1.4 volt wish gives me a stable 1402/7474, but i can try more.
For some reason the card fails above 1.42, even at stock, so maybe VRM's gets to hot or something.

Are you lighning guys use water to overclock around 1450 and more?

DC2T is good for porn but bad overclocker


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NBAasDOGG*
> 
> Look at this thing
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Made by my self and it works perfect, btw it's my first time soldering, so you got to be a chimpanzee to brick your card
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Look at the pics
> 
> 
> 
> 
> At 1.8K Ohms i get around 1.4 volt wish gives me a stable 1402/7474, but i can try more.
> For some reason the card fails above 1.42, even at stock, so maybe VRM's gets to hot or something.
> Are you lighning guys use water to overclock around 1450 and more?
> DC2T is good for porn but bad overclocker


Nice, I like the connector that lets you just plug in the VR, good touch!
Failing over 1.42 could just be heat/volts, water should let you get a bit further. Even at -40° my card wouldn't let me go higher than 1.58V or I got redscreen going on.
On air at stock voltage I got 1383 core, with water managed barely 1400. Then AB 2.2.3 came & did 1455 on water with the +100mV. Never did see how it clocked on air with more volts.


----------



## dph314

My 1480/7200 was on air. But only used it for 3dMark11, I know it would never stay cool long enough during Heaven to run that speed. But yeah I can't imagine what my card would do with a badass custom loop installed.


----------



## NBAasDOGG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JaBR23KiX*
> 
> 
> Hi there !! New member coming from Czech.
> I wil try sum overclocking and post some benchmark results.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Nice, I like the connector that lets you just plug in the VR, good touch!
> Failing over 1.42 could just be heat/volts, water should let you get a bit further. Even at -40° my card wouldn't let me go higher than 1.58V or I got redscreen going on.
> On air at stock voltage I got 1383 core, with water managed barely 1400. Then AB 2.2.3 came & did 1455 on water with the +100mV. Never did see how it clocked on air with more volts.


Thanks for the answer.
OMG, i got so scared when i saw red screen the first time at 1.5v, i thought my card went BOOOOOOOOM

Gonna try LN2 very soon.
I am working in a laboratory for my study, i got LN2 for free


----------



## JaBR23KiX

There is my first little overclock at this time. i73930K runs at 4.7GhZ[. I do not know how to do it full screen shot with cpu screen in full load. I think i need a second monitor. And i have it but no more place at the desk








I have both lightnings at LN2 Bios with defaul from factory. I have first 5000 pcs series So they come unlocked.



There is a result from 3Dmark 11 on extreme profile





Can some users give me some guidance how to get better results ? I read this topic for two days and still not get a full overview on overvoltage my gpu's and core and mem clocks. I will be grateful for coments etc. My english is not wery good but i love this forum so much. In my country is not nothing like these awesome sites.

Greetings from Czech to all from overclock.net


----------



## NBAasDOGG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> My 1480/7200 was on air. But only used it for 3dMark11, I know it would never stay cool long enough during Heaven to run that speed. But yeah I can't imagine what my card would do with a badass custom loop installed.


I think you got a great sillicon right there, huh?

1480 on air is awsome.


----------



## NBAasDOGG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JaBR23KiX*
> 
> There is my first little overclock at this time. i73930K runs at 4.7GhZ[. I do not know how to do it full screen shot with cpu screen in full load. I think i need a second monitor. And i have it but no more place at the desk
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have both lightnings at LN2 Bios with defaul from factory. I have first 5000 pcs series So they come unlocked.


Nice!


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> My 1480/7200 was on air. But only used it for 3dMark11, I know it would never stay cool long enough during Heaven to run that speed. But yeah I can't imagine what my card would do with a badass custom loop installed.


That is probably the max my card would do on air, your card was like my cards twin.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NBAasDOGG*
> 
> Thanks for the answer.
> OMG, i got so scared when i saw red screen the first time at 1.5v, i thought my card went BOOOOOOOOM
> Gonna try LN2 very soon.
> I am working in a laboratory for my study, i got LN2 for free


Free ln2 is a bonus! The 680 Lightning is a bit quirky frozen, when colder than around -45° it can bug out when switching pstates. So if it is a bit too cold the driver will crash about every 10 seconds when it switches to low power state, either have to lock the p0 state or keep the card around -40 (careful pouring near the end of the benchmark so it doesn't drop too much when it is unloaded).


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Many thanx M8. Now i am finally get some extra juice from my CPU !!
I still not get some good results and now i find sone offset overvoltage guide from RAJA on ASUS ROG and squeeze this with my Asus RIVE and NOCTUA NH-D14 on it. More graphics benchmarks will come with this cpu setting.
Peace man.



edit :
MMmmmmm. Cpu runs great at 4.9. Temp 68 celsius. Both graphics has great temps too but i cannot get more from this setup. Pc freezing after one minute in heaven benchmark.
Please leave some comments here. What can i do better ?


----------



## Lass3

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Damn. Awesome card. I can run 1350mhz at stock voltage but I need 1.42v for 1480/7200, although I don't know what I'd need if I kept the memory at the stock speed. What is your memory overclock when running 1480mhz core @ 1.35v?


I ran 1750, didnt try higher back then. Daily i just run 1300 with no added voltage and 1800 on mem.

The whole problem with Afterburner 2.2.3 lowering the GPU voltage with every restart is very annoying. Stopping me from running max OC 24/7 - Because IF i forgot to raise the voltage after some restarts, i would crash in games.

So i just use AB 2.2.4 now at 1300/1800.

I'm still a little dissapointed that it says "UNLOCKED DIGITAL POWER" on the box, but its actually not. I need to use an old afterburner AND raise the voltage manually every reboot?

But still the best GTX 680 out there imo. And im not going back to 7970 thats for sure..


----------



## snitchkilla11

im picking up a lightning 7970 just for ****s and giggles..plus for 300..il bench it and resell it..unless the 7970s are that bad?


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Here there are some latest results in 3DMARK 11





when i try more clocks or voltage pc went freeze.


----------



## NBAasDOGG

I have a little question to all...

What kind of speeds are you guys using for 24/7?
And what are your temps under BF3 for exsample? (Pls mention your cooing, air/water)

Thanks


----------



## snitchkilla11

yall can run bf3 with a stable overclock?? please tell me how you do it..i cannot for the life of me


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> yall can run bf3 with a stable overclock?? please tell me how you do it..i cannot for the life of me


Best advise I can give you is crank the core voltage set the memory at 7000 (+500) and set the core to +100. Run heaven full max for a few hours. If you come back and find it hasn't crashed or no artifacting you should be stable.

If that's not stable try +50 and walk it up from there with the method above memory clock is important on these cards due to the fail bus width. It would be better to lose a little core for a memory gain.

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> im picking up a lightning 7970 just for ****s and giggles..plus for 300..il bench it and resell it..unless the 7970s are that bad?


Mainly drivers. I went through 2 different cards (lightnings) that didn't clock for shat or whined so bad it was stupid.

I've read that the drivers are much better now but the hardware accel screen tearing with Firefox was the main reason I tossed the platform.

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> Best advise I can give you is crank the core voltage set the memory at 7000 (+500) and set the core to +100. Run heaven full max for a few hours. If you come back and find it hasn't crashed or no artifacting you should be stable.
> If that's not stable try +50 and walk it up from there with the method above memory clock is important on these cards due to the fail bus width. It would be better to lose a little core for a memory gain.
> Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


i can run haven at 1390 stable..but as soon as i run bf3 at even 50+ on my stock settings i get a crash..my question was were people running oc in bf3.


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

So I currently own a GTX 680 SC Signature Edition, and with the max voltage (1.175v) I can reach around 1125 MHz stock (~1185 MHz boost). I've read that the MSI Lightnings are the best GTX 680s money can buy, but with Nvidia putting a voltage lock on all cards, is it still worth considering upgrading to the Lightning version? I purchased my Signature for about $470, and the Lightnings are still going for around $600 on Newegg ($550 with rebate "card").


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> So I currently own a GTX 680 SC Signature Edition, and with the max voltage (1.175v) I can reach around 1125 MHz stock (~1185 MHz boost). I've read that the MSI Lightnings are the best GTX 680s money can buy, but with Nvidia putting a voltage lock on all cards, is it still worth considering upgrading to the Lightning version? I purchased my Signature for about $470, and the Lightnings are still going for around $600 on Newegg ($550 with rebate "card").


you can flash the bios and unlock the voltage..so yes it is very worth it!!


----------



## odin2free

So basically it does not matter if you get a card that does not have the bios switch for unlocked voltage tweak?
That's what it sounds like I'm pretty excited soon will
Be building a rig with this card.. It will be an experience and a half ( WC this puppy custom plates from one of our own)

Excited tis card all the reviews and everything else is a very powerful card and only gets better
Msi you strike my bank account heavy but so worth it


----------



## snitchkilla11

yes they are worth every penny..both my cards came 1228mhz out of the box..not to shabby and oc to almost 1400..with out unlocked voltage or ln2..i am going to wait to unlock..really there is no need..but if your into benching.this is the card for you


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> you can flash the bios and unlock the voltage..so yes it is very worth it!!


I didn't see the unlocked BIOS for the Lightning in the "GTX 680/670 Unlocked Voltage Bios" thread. Are all currently produced Lightnings (and other GTX 680s) voltage locked to 1.175 like I had been hearing about? I thought the Lightnings had a secondary BIOS switch that unlocked them into an LN2 profile with a higher voltage, has then also been changed recently? Sorry for all the questions, but I have interest in overclocking my card to the highest possible on air, so want to know if its worth spending the extra for the Lightning edition.


----------



## snitchkilla11

both voltages have been locked on the newer cards..if you look on the first page of the thread there are links to nvflash and the bios you want..but i cant tell you if its worth it or not..are you happy with your cards performance? do you do alot of benching? do you like bragging rights?..the performance gains will be about 5-8 fps give or take in games..but some games dont like oc..if you could sell your card or possibly take it back and pay the extra for a lightning.yes but if your selling your card for a loss and have to pay over 100 to buy one..i would hold off.but i got 2 great cards and they will go above 1400 with vcore unlocked.im sure cause they go 1390 in haven stock volts


----------



## Lass3

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> im picking up a lightning 7970 just for ****s and giggles..plus for 300..il bench it and resell it..unless the 7970s are that bad?


I came from 7970. ****loads of coilwhine and bad drivers made me switch to GTX 680.

GTX 680 is much better in my book. It just works.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> I came from 7970. ****loads of coilwhine and bad drivers made me switch to GTX 680.
> GTX 680 is much better in my book. It just works.


i understand the coilwhine on the refrence cards..but its a lightning card.and at 300..so im sure i could sell it back at that.im just very curious as i have never tested a 7970.its just to sexy to pass up.even tho they look exactly the same as my lightnings


----------



## p3gaz_001

i'mma join this thread!!


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NBAasDOGG*
> 
> I have a little question to all...
> What kind of speeds are you guys using for 24/7?
> And what are your temps under BF3 for exsample? (Pls mention your cooing, air/water)
> Thanks


Hi. I try this with my settings for you. I never must overclocked my two lightnings for playing BF3. Run great at maximum in 2560x1440. With no issues of course. This is my stabble overclock for any game or benchmark. I use only air cooling in my case. Cosmos 2 with lightnings have pretty good cooling .


----------



## bern43

Started testing my second card and it has the correct 3A bios (80.04.28.00.3A) but Afterburner is not showing a 300% power limit and GPU-Z is not showing the higher stock volts being applied when I run a loop of Heaven. I've tried reinstalling my drivers but it didn't do anything. My first card had this exact same bios but showed the 300% and higher volts. Any help on this?????


----------



## StreekG

May be a stupid question but is the second card on its LN2 BIOS?


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> May be a stupid question but is the second card on its LN2 BIOS?


Testing the cards separately so it's on the LN2 bios. Just tried to re-install AB 2.2.3 and still nothing is unlocked. I'm at a loss, really strange.


----------



## wutang61

Sorry If this has been stated but what's the "best" bios for these? I have one of the first cards out so I can almost bet I have the 1st revision.

Keep what I got or is there something a little better? I would like to ditch the total black screen system lockup on a display driver crash

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> Sorry If this has been stated but what's the "best" bios for these? I have one of the first cards out so I can almost bet I have the 1st revision.
> Keep what I got or is there something a little better? I would like to ditch the total black screen system lockup on a display driver crash
> Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


You have the F8 bios, the 3A bios is pretty much the same but the driver can recover after crash.


----------



## bern43

So I just flashed my card to the 3A bios listed in the first post and now its showing the 300% power limit and higher default voltage. Both bios versions had the same number. Strange. So if you get what appears to be a bios that should be unlocked based on the bios number but isn't try flashing.


----------



## TheAssassin

Anybody ever use TweakForce drivers?


----------



## Arnoud87

Lots of the later joiners really ignore reading post #1...with questions like, my bios is locked, how to flash, etc.
And to use AB 224 you need to add strings in ur hardware profile to get +83 effective, so read post 1 for info.

And you really dont need hardmods to bypass the limits of +100 AB for voltage, but you just need to hack it, and thats not for people new with overclocking.
I ran my 680 Lightning on 1,5V + on air (+200 vcore AB 224). for 30 sec to check some things, works fine. Useless on air anyway.
Good to know there are really NO limits with the lightning if you know more about it.

Artficats is often just a limit of the core, and crashing with no reason often results in not enough volts.
+80 on air really is enough, tho.. thats 1,37V realtime.

Mine is maxed out at 1293mhz, bad chip even at low degrees it cant keep up.
Everything at 1250+ is good anyway, biggest limiting factor is the slow 256-bit memory controller on the 680.


----------



## Kastun

Hey guys! I ve bought this amazing card several days ago, so i resulted in 1293|6800. No so fast as i wanted but nothing to do. What gives me setting power limit up to 300%. Does it help me to overclock more? Thanks!


----------



## famich

Agree, that "F8-3A" difference and some other things are really very nicely covered on the 1st page, so, everybody is kindly requested to look up everything there before posting same questions over and over again...

BTW my card came originally with the 3A unlocked BIOS - its a good one, could run almost 1440 MHz
on air without the AFB hack. For the "real " life is 1205 -1300 MHz more than enough, believe me.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kastun*
> 
> Hey guys! I ve bought this amazing card several days ago, so i resulted in 1293|6800. No so fast as i wanted but nothing to do. What gives me setting power limit up to 300%. Does it help me to overclock more? Thanks!


Switch the card over to the LN2 BIOS (switch to the right, and only when the computer is completely off), and flash to the 3A BIOS from the first post. People are getting the exact same 'BIOS version' as the unlocked ones, but theirs is still locked down. So people just have flash to the unlocked one if they notice less than a 300% Power %.

I still want to know why mine is showing ~100% at 1480/7200 @ 1.42v while other people have had less voltage yet almost double the power usage. Is it confirmed to be a 2.2.3 error?


----------



## Kastun

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Switch the card over to the LN2 BIOS (switch to the right, and only when the computer is completely off), and flash to the 3A BIOS from the first post. People are getting the exact same 'BIOS version' as the unlocked ones, but theirs is still locked down. So people just have flash to the unlocked one if they notice less than a 300% Power %.
> 
> I still want to know why mine is showing ~100% at 1480/7200 @ 1.42v while other people have had less voltage yet almost double the power usage. Is it confirmed to be a 2.2.3 error?


Yeah, I know. I ve already had 3A version of BIOS. Now I ve just moved to old F8. If I set my power limit to 300% (now it is 160%) shall i get more overkclocking ability?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kastun*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Switch the card over to the LN2 BIOS (switch to the right, and only when the computer is completely off), and flash to the 3A BIOS from the first post. People are getting the exact same 'BIOS version' as the unlocked ones, but theirs is still locked down. So people just have flash to the unlocked one if they notice less than a 300% Power %.
> 
> I still want to know why mine is showing ~100% at 1480/7200 @ 1.42v while other people have had less voltage yet almost double the power usage. Is it confirmed to be a 2.2.3 error?
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, I know. I ve already had 3A version of BIOS. Now I ve just moved to old F8. If I set my power limit to 300% (now it is 160%) shall i get more overkclocking ability?
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. raising It just prevents the card from throttling. If the Power % reaches the limit the core clock will throttle to remain within the Power limit. Apparently Afterburner 2.2.3 reads power usage wrong. So setting the Power slider at anything 200% or over is high enough on air to allow the card to stay at its speed without throttling. It won't help stability though, although a few have said different Power % values do make a small difference, but it could just be that other factors were in play and were responsible.


----------



## Kastun

*dph314*
I see, thanks. Now I have not yet changed core voltage in AB from 0. AB allows me to set it up to 100. Shall I get more overclocking stability from setting it to 100?


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Lots of the later joiners really ignore reading post #1...with questions like, my bios is locked, how to flash, etc.
> And to use AB 224 you need to add strings in ur hardware profile to get +83 effective, so read post 1 for info.
> And you really dont need hardmods to bypass the limits of +100 AB for voltage, but you just need to hack it, and thats not for people new with overclocking.
> I ran my 680 Lightning on 1,5V + on air (+200 vcore AB 224). for 30 sec to check some things, works fine. Useless on air anyway.
> Good to know there are really NO limits with the lightning if you know more about it.
> Artficats is often just a limit of the core, and crashing with no reason often results in not enough volts.
> +80 on air really is enough, tho.. thats 1,37V realtime.
> Mine is maxed out at 1293mhz, bad chip even at low degrees it cant keep up.
> Everything at 1250+ is good anyway, biggest limiting factor is the slow 256-bit memory controller on the 680.


To the extent this is directed to me at all, I read the first post in detail. It doesn't mention anything about a locked 3A bios with the same bios number as the unlocked. That seems to be a relatively new development.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kastun*
> 
> *dph314*
> I see, thanks. Now I have not yet changed core voltage in AB from 0. AB allows me to set it up to 100. Shall I get more overclocking stability from setting it to 100?


Definitely. Voltage is the primary variable, Temps too, to a lesser extent though. So just make sure they don't get too high while raising the voltage.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

God I've had 680 Lightnings on the brain for like a month! Would cost a ton though with blocks and the new stuff will be out within 6 months anyway, Dang it, what to do???


----------



## Newbie2009

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> God I've had 680 Lightnings on the brain for like a month! Would cost a ton though with blocks and the new stuff will be out within 6 months anyway, Dang it, what to do???


With no voltage control I don't see the point in putting blocks on em

Oh there voltage control, nvm


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> God I've had 680 Lightnings on the brain for like a month! Would cost a ton though with blocks and the new stuff will be out within 6 months anyway, Dang it, what to do???


Didn't stop me.







My GTX 680 Lightnings arrived today. The DCII Tops, in the back, are up on eBay.


----------



## snitchkilla11

ohhhhhh ohhhh.i just messed myself..can i please have a wetnap!!!


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> God I've had 680 Lightnings on the brain for like a month! Would cost a ton though with blocks and the new stuff will be out within 6 months anyway, Dang it, what to do???


Went through the same thought process. I just went with the 2 Lightnings and some blocks from Aquacomputer. My 670PE will be sold soon. The blocks look great. Sidewinder should have a few left.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i cant see wasting almost 300 on blocks when the cards allready surpass 1350 on air. and the games i like to play i cannot run a stable overclock anyway..but yes it will look so good!!!!!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> God I've had 680 Lightnings on the brain for like a month! Would cost a ton though with blocks and the new stuff will be out within 6 months anyway, Dang it, what to do???


The choice here is quite clear... I say 2 thumbs up
















You can sell whatever you buy on eBay when the next series gets closer. It's not like if you buy a pair of Lightnings, you're out $1200. You'll get most of that back when you sell them. So go for it!

Plus...just imagine what mine would do under water...







=


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Hi Lightnings owners and fans. I really want to be a member too.
So here it is my tickets to join









NEW

Username: JaBR23KiX
Max Core OC: 1287mhz I hope i get a better stabiled numbers soon.
Max Memory OC: 6840 mhz

80.04.09.00.F7 (non-LN2)
80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked LN2)

There is my 3rd pair from MSI family. I never used another brand in my pc for graphics.







Greetings from Czech to all. Peace


----------



## Addsome

Hey, I just got a MSI GTX 680 Lightning the other day. Right now im looking to just keep it at stock settings and will OC later on. My bios versions are the following:
80.04.28.00.39 (non-LN2)
80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2)

Should I flash my bios or do I have a good version? Also, which bios is good to keep the card running at stock settings. I dont want to OC ATM since I really dont need it and just want to know which bios to use at stock. Thanks guys.


----------



## snitchkilla11

if it isnt broke dont fix it!! i run my sli stock as its overkill for any games now and in the next year or so.but if your into benching and bragging rights.unlock them mother suckers and see what they can do!!


----------



## Addsome

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> if it isnt broke dont fix it!! i run my sli stock as its overkill for any games now and in the next year or so.but if your into benching and bragging rights.unlock them mother suckers and see what they can do!!


I really dont need to OC. I just need to know which bios is best for running the card at stock. The normal bios or LN2? Should I flash myne or are they fine?


----------



## snitchkilla11

normal bios for stock.they are fine if your just gaming with no oc


----------



## dph314

I wish I had 'overkill'







. Not the case with a 120hz monitor.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i got 120hz...really; not a huge deal.i really dont notice a huge difference.but then again i sold my 60hz so i cant go back and check an see


----------



## TheAssassin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Addsome*
> 
> Hey, I just got a MSI GTX 680 Lightning the other day. Right now im looking to just keep it at stock settings and will OC later on. My bios versions are the following:
> 80.04.28.00.39 (non-LN2)
> 80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2)
> Should I flash my bios or do I have a good version? Also, which bios is good to keep the card running at stock settings. I dont want to OC ATM since I really dont need it and just want to know which bios to use at stock. Thanks guys.


If it wasn't for your post, I would have never known my card was already an unlocked card (3A) and I would have flashed my bios for nothing. You had the exact same bios as I do.


----------



## Addsome

Is the 80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked LN2) bios any better than the 80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2)?


----------



## dph314

3A is better because every crash doesn't force a hard reset. All you have to do is reset Afterburner's overclock and close it, then re-open it and re-apply the overclock and you're good to go. When the driver crashes from an overclock, you don't have to do a reset, but Afterburner will revert to stock clocks even though it's still showing the overclock you previously applied. So, I'd get the 3A. After a crash, reset clocks, close, and re-open AB and you're good to go.


----------



## Addsome

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 3A is better because every crash doesn't force a hard reset. All you have to do is reset Afterburner's overclock and close it, then re-open it and re-apply the overclock and you're good to go. When the driver crashes from an overclock, you don't have to do a reset, but Afterburner will revert to stock clocks even though it's still showing the overclock you previously applied. So, I'd get the 3A. After a crash, reset clocks, close, and re-open AB and you're good to go.


Good thing my card already came with the 3A


----------



## Addsome

What temps are you getting under load? My max was 60C playing planetside 2. Is that normal? I have a HAF 932 Case with nice airflow and a COOLER MASTER Hyper 212.


----------



## dph314

Are you talking with stock clocks/voltage on the LN2 BIOS? And also with the default fan profile in Afterburner? That's normal, yeah. Maybe a bit high for stock, but it also depends on your room temperature. But it sounds average more or less though, yeah.


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Didn't stop me.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My GTX 680 Lightnings arrived today. The DCII Tops, in the back, are up on eBay.


You keep in mind that 2GB is not enough for 3 screens? BF 3 uses up to 1,8GB for DM maps.. for just 1 screen 1920x1080.
If I buy my next card in 2013 , should be a minium of 3-4GB, and thats for 1 monior.

Crazy setup, tho.. hehe 3 cards w.t.fff


----------



## Addsome

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Are you talking with stock clocks/voltage on the LN2 BIOS? And also with the default fan profile in Afterburner? That's normal, yeah. Maybe a bit high for stock, but it also depends on your room temperature. But it sounds average more or less though, yeah.


Ya im running stock everything on non-ln2 bios.


----------



## Lass3

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i got 120hz...really; not a huge deal.i really dont notice a huge difference.but then again i sold my 60hz so i cant go back and check an see


I think there's a big difference, especially in first person shooters. But 60 Hz is fine for me untill they put out some 16:10 120/144+ Hz monitors with good colors.


----------



## Arnoud87

As far as I could go.

On 50% fan speed
+93 mv core
+10 mv AUX
+ 0 memory
+ 500 Mhz memory

1306Mhz

55,1 FPS maxed oud Heaven 3.0
65 degrees celcius.

AUX seems to work to get +13 Mhz stable. 1300Mhz passed







nice!


----------



## DJRamses

Hey Guys..
There is a new Beta driver online:
310.33 - BETA

Link


----------



## bern43

Does anyone else's card have a ramping up period? I'm totally stable at 1254 but for the first few seconds the card starts at 1241. Is this normal. My second card just starts up at the 1254 and stays there when I run Heaven.


----------



## TheBenson

Cards are back down to $479.99 and $484.99 on Newegg and Tigerdirect.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JaBR23KiX*
> 
> Hi Lightnings owners and fans. I really want to be a member too.
> So here it is my tickets to join
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NEW
> Username: JaBR23KiX
> Max Core OC: 1287mhz I hope i get a better stabiled numbers soon.
> Max Memory OC: 6840 mhz
> 80.04.09.00.F7 (non-LN2)
> 80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked LN2)
> There is my 3rd pair from MSI family. I never used another brand in my pc for graphics.
> 
> 
> 
> Greetings from Czech to all. Peace


awesome, nice work! thanks for the PM! you have been added


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Addsome*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Are you talking with stock clocks/voltage on the LN2 BIOS? And also with the default fan profile in Afterburner? That's normal, yeah. Maybe a bit high for stock, but it also depends on your room temperature. But it sounds average more or less though, yeah.
> 
> 
> 
> Ya im running stock everything on non-ln2 bios.
Click to expand...

I think 60C is slightly above average for stock clocks on the non-LN2 BIOS. But again, depends on room temp. And Afterburner's stock fan profile isn't exactly aggressive.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Hey Guys..
> There is a new Beta driver online:
> 310.33 - BETA
> 
> Link


Doesn't look like there's much in the notes that I'll benefit from, unfortunately.


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> You keep in mind that 2GB is not enough for 3 screens? BF 3 uses up to 1,8GB for DM maps.. for just 1 screen 1920x1080.
> If I buy my next card in 2013 , should be a minium of 3-4GB, and thats for 1 monior.
> Crazy setup, tho.. hehe 3 cards w.t.fff


BF3 is notorious for retaining textures in VRAM and not releasing them, resulting in ineffective memory consumption. It's not that it needs it, it just doesn't handle it well.


----------



## Kastun

Hey guys! Where can i change AUX setting? I dont see this parametr in AB 2.2.4


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kastun*
> 
> Hey guys! Where can i change AUX setting? I dont see this parametr in AB 2.2.4


to the right of the Core Voltage slider is a arrow. klick on the arrow.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> im picking up a lightning 7970 just for ****s and giggles..plus for 300..il bench it and resell it..unless the 7970s are that bad?


7970s aren't bad at all. Good overclocking samples will give good overclocking 680 Lightnings a run for their money. I had the 7970 Lightning before picking up the 680 Lightning and it was a decent overclocker (1210/1700) and at these clocks it was VERY close in performance to the 680 @ 1372/1771. My Matrix 7970 Platinum arrives tomorrow afternoon and I'm hoping for 1300/1800. At these clocks it would best my 680 Lightning. I will share some comparative results tomorrow


----------



## owikhan

I have 80.04.09.00.F7 Bios now what should i do for Unlockable Bios?


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Go to the first page in this topic. There is a lot of information about this.
There is a guide for flashing bios and download. But if you a newbie in this do not flash withtout person who know how to do that. Or try some you tube tutorial ?

Edit :

You have a right bios. I mean unlocked from factory. U r lucky. Try to swith to ln 2 when pc is turn off. In front of a card is a little switch buton. Turn in right side. And use afterburner 2.2.3.
Power limit with ln2 bios is to 300. If u see this you are in.


----------



## owikhan

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JaBR23KiX*
> 
> Go to the first page in this topic. There is a lot of information about this.
> There is a guide for flashing bios and download. But if you a newbie in this do not flash withtout person who know how to do that. Or try some you tube tutorial ?
> Edit :
> You have a right bios. I mean unlocked from factory. U r lucky. Try to swith to ln 2 when pc is turn off. In front of a card is a little switch buton. Turn in right side. And use afterburner 2.2.3.
> Power limit with ln2 bios is to 300. If u see this you are in.


Yes thanks now in Afterburner 2.2.3 power limit is 300 showing and my bios is now 80.04.09.00.F8 Unlockable.
my pc is staible on 4.8GHZ @2200Mhz ram and i5 3570K Asrock Extreme 6
now how i OC my GPU in afterburner 2.2.3


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> 7970s aren't bad at all. Good overclocking samples will give good overclocking 680 Lightnings a run for their money. I had the 7970 Lightning before picking up the 680 Lightning and it was a decent overclocker (1210/1700) and at these clocks it was VERY close in performance to the 680 @ 1372/1771. My Matrix 7970 Platinum arrives tomorrow afternoon and I'm hoping for 1300/1800. At these clocks it would best my 680 Lightning. I will share some comparative results tomorrow


Hmm, maybe in Unigine and assorted benchmarks, but in games a nicely overclocked GTX 680 @1300MHz will give any 7970 RUN for HER money ... see some reviews


----------



## JaBR23KiX

For the first. U do not to quote my text if you reply right after the same post.
Try these my settings in this thread:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/3430#post_18435110

Basic is go up with little steps. On the core around 5-10. On the mems around maybe 50 ?
When i try move with voltage up i have a still same voltage of default ln2 bios.
1.21v. Some better user must help you with overvoltage. My setup run great with no more volts. Check the screen of afb in thread what i send


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Hmm, maybe in Unigine and assorted benchmarks, but in games a nicely overclocked GTX 680 @1300MHz will give any 7970 RUN for HER money ... see some reviews


Agreed









Care to post some game / synthetic benchmarks (AVP, Metro 2033, Heaven, 3DMark 11, Shogun 2, Crysis 2, Sleeping Dogs, etc.) results here: http://www.overclock.net/t/1317282/gtx-680-or-amd-7970/40#post_18440904

I will follow up with the same tests with same settings tomorrow night when the card arrives. Use your maximum clocks. Should provide some valuable and updated comparative 680 vs. 7970 results for provided thread and for people still on the fence.


----------



## perkeleprkl

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Hmm, maybe in Unigine and assorted benchmarks, but in games a nicely overclocked GTX 680 @1300MHz will give any 7970 RUN for HER money ... see some reviews


Muropaketti did some testing, 680 lightning vs 7970 matrix platinum.

Original link: http://muropaketti.com/artikkelit/naytonohjaimet/asus-rog-matrix-hd-7970-platinum-vs-msi-n680gtx-lightning
Translated: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=fi&sl=fi&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmuropaketti.com%2Fartikkelit%2Fnaytonohjaimet%2Fasus-rog-matrix-hd-7970-platinum-vs-msi-n680gtx-lightning

Finnish site and the translated version is pretty bad.



2560x1440, 306.97 and 12.11 drivers were used.

More pics stock vs stock. Is it ok to post them here? All pictures © Muropaketti


Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


----------



## psyside

Ughh, the Lightning is getting raped


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *perkeleprkl*
> 
> Muropaketti did some testing, 680 lightning vs 7970 matrix platinum.
> Original link: http://muropaketti.com/artikkelit/naytonohjaimet/asus-rog-matrix-hd-7970-platinum-vs-msi-n680gtx-lightning
> Translated: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=fi&sl=fi&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmuropaketti.com%2Fartikkelit%2Fnaytonohjaimet%2Fasus-rog-matrix-hd-7970-platinum-vs-msi-n680gtx-lightning
> Finnish site and the translated version is pretty bad.
> 
> 2560x1440, 306.97 and 12.11 drivers were used.
> More pics stock vs stock. Is it ok to post them here? All pictures © Muropaketti
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


AMD owns in that resolution: 2560x1440.
Step down to Full HD and see things change.


----------



## TheAssassin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> 7970s aren't bad at all. Good overclocking samples will give good overclocking 680 Lightnings a run for their money. I had the 7970 Lightning before picking up the 680 Lightning and it was a decent overclocker (1210/1700) and at these clocks it was VERY close in performance to the 680 @ 1372/1771. My Matrix 7970 Platinum arrives tomorrow afternoon and I'm hoping for 1300/1800. At these clocks it would best my 680 Lightning. I will share some comparative results tomorrow


Where did you buy your platinum 7970? I may want to get one lol.


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Where did you buy your platinum 7970? I may want to get one lol.


These cards sell out quick. I bought mine this morning on Newegg for $499 with the the NEVER SETTLE bundle. Amazon also has them for $499

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B0099I7CLO/ref=aw_d_ol?qid=1351107467&sr=8-1


----------



## TheAssassin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> These cards sell out quick. I bought mine this morning on Newegg for $499 with the the NEVER SETTLE bundle. Amazon also has them for $499
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B0099I7CLO/ref=aw_d_ol?qid=1351107467&sr=8-1


Didn't realize the one on newegg was a platinum last week. I guess I will wait for a 680 version.


----------



## perkeleprkl

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> AMD owns in that resolution: 2560x1440.
> Step down to Full HD and see things change.


I wouldnt bet on it. I know amd has an edge over nvidia at that resolution, but even at 1080p they would be even. My point being with the current drivers even lightnings cant beat a decent clocking 7970. Not a fanboy, 680 sli owner.







Only 2 things led me to choose 680's over 7970's, them being 3D and sli support.


----------



## dph314

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-DispayPort-PCI-Express-N680GTX-LIGHTNING/dp/B008D1JKF4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351111207&sr=8-1&keywords=680+lightning

*489.99* on Amazon after $20 mail-in rebate
















Go get 'em guys, only 15 left


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Awesome pricing! Damn the fact that I just spent $700 on photography equipment!


----------



## elbubi

EDIT: Sorry! Please delete!


----------



## Lass3

I came from 7970. Its an okay chip, but i wouldnt change my 680 Lightning for any 7970. It just works. I had several issues with my 7970 especially in older/not so popular games. Fx. Amnesia i got huge fps drops and GTA 4 was unplayable at high settings because of fps drops below 30. This aint happening on my Lightning. It just works flawlessly. Besides that, i had severe coilwhine in all intros/game menus, and still an annoying whine when playing games. On two different cards.

On top of this both my 7970 couldnt do 1200 MHz stable. And my GTX can do 1480/1750 stable at 1.35v. It's way faster in all the games i play. Especially BF3







Even at my 24/7 settings in sig. (stock gpu voltage)

For (most) benchmarks, im sure a highly clocked 7970 would be nice, but why compare with a 1342 MHz 680 when most Lightning do 1450+ at maxed voltages? And in 1920x1080/1200 it would be different numbers


----------



## dph314

It's been out for a bit. Have to edit the config file to adjust the voltage.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> I came from 7970. Its an okay chip, but i wouldnt change my 680 Lightning for any 7970. It just works. I had several issues with my 7970 especially in older/not so popular games. Fx. Amnesia i got huge fps drops and GTA 4 was unplayable at high settings because of fps drops below 30. This aint happening on my Lightning. It just works flawlessly. Besides that, i had severe coilwhine in all intros/game menus, and still an annoying whine when playing games. On two different cards.
> 
> On top of this both my 7970 couldnt do 1200 MHz stable. And my GTX can do 1480/1750 stable at 1.35v. It's way faster in all the games i play. Especially BF3
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Even at my 24/7 settings in sig. (stock gpu voltage)
> 
> For (most) benchmarks, im sure a highly clocked 7970 would be nice, but why compare with a 1342 MHz 680 when most Lightning do 1450+ at maxed voltages? And in 1920x1080/1200 it would be different numbers


One of the first things I did when I got my first Lightning that did 1380mhz was throw Amnesia on and play with 128 SSAO samples







It didn't look much different, I must admit, but just the fact that I was able to run it smoothly with that kind of setting made me all warm and fuzzy inside.

But yeah, "most Lightnings do 1450mhz+" isn't the case anymore, unfortunately. But they do still murder any 7970 out there









1480 @ 1.35v....damn. I still can't get over that. You sure it's on air?


----------



## elbubi

Sorry! My bad! I got confused with 2.3.0


----------



## Neo Zuko

Just picked up a second 680 lightning to go with my two AC blocks 

$490 delivered after rebate from new egg


----------



## gotendbz1

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4666989
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4747877

same exact score with the new beta 310.33 as with the whlq drivers.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i seen no performance difference in drivers either..i think it set panic to nvidia cause amd took the spotlight again.on top of the cheaper price they are offering 3 awsome games with purchase with 7900 cards and a 20% off coupon for moh warfighter..just the games alone make it def worth the price..but i am never getting swindled into buying an amd card again. but then again.i can see nvidia next gen locking any oc capabilities on there cards..voltage lock..whats next..


----------



## TheBenson

I'm trying to decide between getting two 7970 lightnings or two 680 lightnings. I was all set and ready for the 680 because it was more powerful, had physx, better connection options, and I'm familiar with Nvidia having always gone Nvidia in the past. Then AMD came out with the new drivers that boosted performance and a great 3 game coupon I could keep or sell, plus it was the cheaper option. Now the 680's dropped in price and cost the same as the 7970 versions so I'm stuck wondering again.


----------



## K2mil

GOT My Lightning Replaced RMA from MSI finally. Will check the bios now

- OK the stock bios was just numbers stock Kboost1202 MHZ

- LN2 BIOS is 80.04.00.28.3A (P2002-0000) stock Kboost 1202 MHZ

And power limit goes only until 133%

Again just got my replacment card from MSI Today

PS ADD SOME PICTURES TO PROF OWNERSHIP


----------



## K2mil

Since my new VGA BIOS IS LOCKED whats better to flash 3A or F8
THANKS and since my card was RMA it lost $50 value it took MSI 3WEEKS to replace it o boy


----------



## snitchkilla11

Nvidia just released drivers also..but the 3 game coupon..also I would wait as MSI is releasing a 7970 lightning boost edition.with higher clocks then the stock lightning.I guess they trying to compete with the matrix


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> Since my new VGA BIOS IS LOCKED whats better to flash 3A or F8
> THANKS and since my card was RMA it lost $50 value it took MSI 3WEEKS to replace it o boy


I'd use the 3A since it doesn't require a hard-reset every time your overclock fails.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Can someone point me in the direction of the 3a bios.. tired of haveing to hard reset.


----------



## StreekG

It's in the first post


----------



## snitchkilla11

Duh me!!!!


----------



## psyside

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheBenson*
> 
> I'm trying to decide between getting two 7970 lightnings or two 680 lightnings.


----------



## TheBenson

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *psyside*


I'm only interested in the lightning series as I will be getting the Mpower board and Averix mpower ram because I like the black and yellow color scheme so much. I know the Matrix is the new hot thing, but I just find the lightnings to be the absolute prettiest cards in the market imo.


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Ciao. I want to flash to 3A bios too. But when i have 2 cards can i flash them in one step both together ?
Or i must do that gradually one card after one.
Sorry for noob question. I expect professional answer








Many thx for reply.
Peace


----------



## magiwizard

Im joining the club but problem right now is I had the thing running at 1386 core / +450 on the mem stable (did 5 heaven runs and played some AVP)

Today it crashed like a son of a ***** and then it started making loud electricity noise (coil whine?) but its not so audiable after closing the case so i was like huh? and then for some odd reason my ASIC quality went from being 100% to now being 78.5% which I believe to be quite low for a lightning.....

I received it on the 14th so I can still try to RMA to memoryexpress.com but their customer service is pretty much the worst on the planet and will refuse RMA / exchanges because they are dicks...

Other option is to RMA to MSI which would seem to be a **** choice as well from what I've been hearing from people and they tend to give it back to you with the locked bios and flashing it will void warranty... mine came with the 3a unlocked bios.......

P.S. did a clean install to see if that would do any good since I had lots of hardware chances on the comp without one and it did nothing.

As for overclocks its still being stable so far at 1350 / +400 mem going to test stability slowly again and climb up as far as it rocks i guess....

Any suggestions guys?


----------



## snitchkilla11

God I hate triple slot cards..galaxy has single slot 680 in the works. Hopefully it gets released in the us


----------



## gavbon

i hope Nvidia will sort something out soon in the way of a driver

AMD's latest drivers have put 7970's @ 1200mhz within touching distance of our lightnings


----------



## Lass3

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> i hope Nvidia will sort something out soon in the way of a driver
> AMD's latest drivers have put 7970's @ 1200mhz within touching distance of our lightnings


Maybe, i would love to see some image comparisons tho. Woundnt be surprised if AMD lowered some settings in order to optain more fps.







Did their new driver fix coilwhine too? haha


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gavbon*
> 
> i hope Nvidia will sort something out soon in the way of a driver
> AMD's latest drivers have put 7970's @ 1200mhz within touching distance of our lightnings


Touching distance? 7970s and even 7950s with Catalyst 12.11 have us trailing.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/57413-amd-12-11-never-settle-driver-performance-17.html
*Rather, the 12.11s offer an across-the-board performance increase that pushes the HD 7970 GHz Edition right past the GTX 680*

I would say that it's been this way since Catalyst 12.7 beta. Even with the best Kepler card - the Lightning GTX 680 @ 1311MHz/1747MHz Nvidia's flagship is still getting edged out by the 7970 @ 1250MHz/1670MHz. In some games, 'edged out' is putting it lightly. Spanked would be more fitting.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/msi-n680gtx-lightning_7.html

The world awaits a response from Nvidia...


----------



## Lass3

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Touching distance? 7970s and even 7950s with Catalyst 12.11 have us trailing.
> http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/57413-amd-12-11-never-settle-driver-performance-17.html
> *Rather, the 12.11s offer an across-the-board performance increase that pushes the HD 7970 GHz Edition right past the GTX 680*
> I would say that it's been this way since Catalyst 12.7 beta. Even with the best Kepler card - the Lightning GTX 680 @ 1311MHz/1747MHz Nvidia's flagship is still getting edged out by the 7970 @ 1250MHz/1670MHz. In some games, 'edged out' is putting it lightly. Spanked would be more fitting.
> http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/msi-n680gtx-lightning_7.html
> The world awaits a response from Nvidia...


I love how low OC they used on the Lightning compared to the 7970. 1250 MHz on a 7970 is pretty much max and the Lightning is 200-250 MHz from what it can do.

AMDs driver/game support still sucks compared to Nvidia. So who cares about some random numbers. You prob. do since you bought a 7970. But i wouldnt trade my 680 for any 7970 card thats for sure







Been there, and not going back for some time now. Why would i when my card run all games flawlessly? I changed to GTX 680 because i wasnt satisfied with my 7970s. (Yes i had two, first one died but both had same issues, actually the 2nd had even more coilwhine...) Lots of this is prob. due to ****ty drivers..

Coilwhine, artifacts, bugged shadows, bad gpu usage, 2D flickering when scrolling/browsing.. When i used my HDMI -> TV, i couldnt get the start menu away. Big and small problems, that pissed me off and made me switch in the end. FPS aint everything.

On my Lightning i have had ZERO problems so far. 3 months out. Best card i have ever owned. The only downside is the lack of GPU voltage support in newer AB.

*The Nvidia-based solutions are somewhat better in terms of bottom frame rate, though* (From your Link) Minimum fps is whats most important in my book, and even on a low OCed Lightning like that..

I still wonder why you are writing that stuff in a 680 owners thread, i guess you want to piss people off


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> *I love how low OC they used on the Lightning compared to the 7970*. 1250 MHz on a 7970 is pretty much max and the Lightning is 200-250 MHz from what it can do.
> AMDs driver/game support still sucks compared to Nvidia. So who cares about some random numbers. You prob. do since you bought a 7970. But i wouldnt trade my 680 for any 7970 card thats for sure
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Been there, and not going back for some time now. Why would i when my card run all games flawlessly? I changed to GTX 680 because i wasnt satisfied with my 7970s. (Yes i had two, first one died but both had same issues, actually the 2nd had even more coilwhine...)
> Coilwhine, artifacts, bugged shadows, bad gpu usage, 2D flickering when scrolling/browsing.. FPS aint everything.
> *On my Lightning i have had ZERO problems so far.* 3 months out. Best card i have ever owned. *The only downside is the lack of GPU voltage support in newer AB.*
> The Nvidia-based solutions are somewhat better in terms of bottom frame rate, though (From your Link) Minimum fps is whats most important in my book, and even on a low OCed Lightning like that..
> I still wonder why you are writing that stuff in a 680 owners thread, i guess you want to piss people off


Everything bold I concur, the rest is subjective. Before 12.11, it was debatable as they were pretty close in performance. Now, I'm not so sure anymore. I wouldn't bet on the 680.

Care to post some game / synthetic benchmarks (AVP, Metro 2033, Heaven, 3DMark 11, Shogun 2, Crysis 2, Sleeping Dogs, etc.) results here: http://www.overclock.net/t/1317282/gtx-680-or-amd-7970/40#post_18440904

I will follow up with the same tests with same settings. Use your maximum clocks. Should provide some valuable and updated comparative 680 vs. 7970 results for provided thread and for people still on the fence.

*Oh yes, I had a 680 Lightning and 1311/1747 is close to what one can expect out of these nowadays. Mine maxed out at 1372/1771 with all voltage options maxed. An extra 50-60MHz is going to net you what? 1, 2, maybe less than 1 extra frame. An extra 200-250MHz is a pipe dream.


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Touching distance? 7970s and even 7950s with Catalyst 12.11 have us trailing.
> http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/57413-amd-12-11-never-settle-driver-performance-17.html
> *Rather, the 12.11s offer an across-the-board performance increase that pushes the HD 7970 GHz Edition right past the GTX 680*
> I would say that it's been this way since Catalyst 12.7 beta. Even with the best Kepler card - the Lightning GTX 680 @ 1311MHz/1747MHz Nvidia's flagship is still getting edged out by the 7970 @ 1250MHz/1670MHz. In some games, 'edged out' is putting it lightly. Spanked would be more fitting.
> http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/msi-n680gtx-lightning_7.html
> The world awaits a response from Nvidia...


would hardly call it "spanking", only taken AMD about a year to improve the performance

not to mention Nvidia has been finding ways to cripple their cards lol, goes to show

i get 1340mhz on stock voltage, where as my mate has just popped his 7970 VRM running a 1200mhz overclock on his 24/7

nvidia will release a driver in the next month or 2, they have no other choice tbh if they want people to keep buying their cards. But one thing is for sure

ild never trade my 680's for 7970's, last 7950 i owned went back for an RMA after 9 days lol


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> 
> 
> Im joining the club but problem right now is I had the thing running at 1386 core / +450 on the mem stable (did 5 heaven runs and played some AVP)
> 
> Today it crashed like a son of a ***** and then it started making loud electricity noise (coil whine?) but its not so audiable after closing the case so i was like huh? and then for some odd reason my ASIC quality went from being 100% to now being 78.5% which I believe to be quite low for a lightning.....


The lower ASIC quality might be because you have used the older version of gpu-z before, and now you read it out with the latest version of gpu-. The latest show completely different numbers. btw my card has an asic quality of 7x% too and it clocks really good.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2


----------



## bern43

Yeah, I've found that the ASIC quality doesn't always match up to the clockability of a card. My 670 had a 98% and it was just an average clocker.


----------



## dph314

ASIC means absolutely nothing on these cards I've been told. After seeing people with both low and high percentages clock to right around the same speeds, I'm tempted to believe it as well.

As another example, my awesome 1480/7200 chip has a rating of 95%, and the 'average' one that barely does 1340mhz is 100%. Higher ASIC rating means lower default voltage and higher overclocking on air, yet the lower-rated of my 2 cards can run the stock speed at a much lower voltage and overclock way higher on the stock voltage than the higher-rated one.

I put zero faith in that ASIC rating.


----------



## perkeleprkl

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> ASIC means absolutely nothing on these cards I've been told. After seeing people with both low and high percentages clock to right around the same speeds, I'm tempted to believe it as well.
> As another example, my awesome 1480/7200 chip has a rating of 95%, and the 'average' one that barely does 1340mhz is 100%. Higher ASIC rating means lower default voltage and higher overclocking on air, yet the lower-rated of my 2 cards can run the stock speed at a much lower voltage and overclock way higher on the stock voltage than the higher-rated one.
> I put zero faith in that ASIC rating.


New gpu-z will read asic quality correctly. Version is 0.6.5 if i remember correctly. My vanilla 680's dropped from 100 and 95 to 76 and 71%. The one with higher asic clocks about 40mhz higher.


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *perkeleprkl*
> 
> New gpu-z will read asic quality correctly. Version is 0.6.5 if i remember correctly. My vanilla 680's dropped from 100 and 95 to 76 and 71%. The one with higher asic clocks about 40mhz higher.


This

Theres still way too many factors that come into play to put too much worth into it.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *perkeleprkl*
> 
> New gpu-z will read asic quality correctly. Version is 0.6.5 if i remember correctly. My vanilla 680's dropped from 100 and 95 to 76 and 71%. The one with higher asic clocks about 40mhz higher.
> 
> 
> 
> This
> 
> Theres still way too many factors that come into play to put too much worth into it.
Click to expand...

True. Still cool that it might give an accurate reading now though.

So I upgraded and now my awesome card is 72% and my average card is 77%. What is considered a "low" rating? Because if 72% is considered low then I have no doubt this reading is accurate, since it says lower ratings are better for overclocking on water/LN2 and I have no doubt that my 1480mhz card would kill if under water. But the so-so card is at 77%. Thoughts?


----------



## GenoOCAU

1492 card is 79.4%
1482 card is 84.2%

Havnt played around much but most ive gamed at without pushing is 1400mhz on both, best 3dmark 11 was with both @ 1460ish.


----------



## K2mil

guys i use op guide to flash my locked bios to unlocked one but im getting this error in the cmd

nvflash unable to setup nvflash driver <0x00000002>

*TO MR OP

I read somewhere that you are busy like all of us but here what you have to do PAL

First of all like i said before i got my replacement 680 GTX L from MSI couple of days ago it came with the ln2 bios 3A version that was locked so you should update the thing that the latest batches come with the same number as unlocked bios but are locked. So the newbie users dont panik ( go Hispanic lol)

Secound the NV flash that you provide download link is giving above error with the latest nvidia drivers 310.33 beta to solve that problem you have to go to TPU website (techpower up) and download lates version here*

then everything else is fine good job i will rep you

The flash of the locked A3 bios to A3 unlocked was sucesful now my card is free again and we are about to have a long night

I still play crysis 2 mp so if you wanna play with me find me 'k2mil'

I dont drink much but today I alowed myself to have some JW Black Label for kids under 18 and 21 dont nv flash while drinkng 'DNVFWD'


----------



## magiwizard

It seems to be fine now since my clocks still settle around 1380 / +450 and no issues yet, going to be going water soon hoping that will help since going higher on the clocks is totally viable until the temps kill the overclock, the card pushes clocks like a beast until temps rise.

side note.... lightning waterblocks are so bloody expensive -_- is there actually a point to go full coverage block over universal block? (other than esthetics)... the vrms and memory are doing fine its the core that is heating like a mofo...


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> is there actually a point to go full coverage block over universal block? (other than esthetics)... the vrms and memory are doing fine its the core that is heating like a mofo...


No wonder if you put 1,37V on the core, a normal GTX 680 would get 100+ degrees on those voltages.

Anything 1250mhz or higher is crazy anyway, and memory bottleneck is the biggest problem, the cip needs 300+GBPS transfer for 10-15% more speed..... just thrown in the toilet by Nvidia's great 256 bit design.

I dont see any spectaculair difference from 1250mhz or 1450.

Im glad when GK110 comes, 680 really chokes itself. 192GBPS is nice for a 580, even than its the least u want.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> It seems to be fine now since my clocks still settle around 1380 / +450 and no issues yet, going to be going water soon hoping that will help since going higher on the clocks is totally viable until the temps kill the overclock, the card pushes clocks like a beast until temps rise.
> side note.... lightning waterblocks are so bloody expensive -_- is there actually a point to go full coverage block over universal block? (other than esthetics)... the vrms and memory are doing fine its the core that is heating like a mofo...


Until you up the volts then the VRMs get warm, but a universal block and a fan would be as good just not as pretty


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

So I finally decided to pull the trigger on a GTX 680 Lightning. I've heard that Nvidia locked all the voltages on the newly manufactured cards from this series, but the BIOS update to unlock them is fairly simple correct? I see the directions are on the first page of this thread, so there shouldn't be any issues. Compared to a GTX 680 OC Signature I previously owned (was able to get the boost clock to about 1175 core/ 6500 mem), would the OC done on the Lighting provide a noticeable improvement in gaming and benchmarks?


----------



## snitchkilla11

yes in benchmarks..no in gameing but maby a couple of frames..also the card stays alot cooler


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> So I finally decided to pull the trigger on a GTX 680 Lightning. I've heard that Nvidia locked all the voltages on the newly manufactured cards from this series, but the BIOS update to unlock them is fairly simple correct? I see the directions are on the first page of this thread, so there shouldn't be any issues. Compared to a GTX 680 OC Signature I previously owned (was able to get the boost clock to about 1175 core/ 6500 mem), would the OC done on the Lighting provide a noticeable improvement in gaming and benchmarks?


Depends what it hits. New ones aren't all hitting 1400mhz+ like the new ones when they were first released did and after they got voltage control. I don't think you'll see many doing ~1350mhz on the stock voltage anymore, due to the less-stringent binning process now in place. But yes on games where you really need the power (there was a 99% load when you were at 1175mhz core), then you'll see a small increase, but not enough to make a previously-30fps-game playable. Every little bit helps though I suppose. And yes the flashing is easy as can be. Post any question here that may arise









So pretty much everyone has more experience with this than me, since I've had mine on the LN2 BIOS from day 1. I finally decided to check out the non-LN2. You don't have to reinstall drivers every time you switch from one to the other do you? I switched over for the first time, and even though the resolution is fine and the cards are recognized, the "Installing Device something-something" popped up when I rebooted and it was installing a Generic VGA driver. And the generic VGA driver installation failed. This mean I have to reinstall the drivers for the cards to be fully recognized and taking instructions from the drivers? Their recognized in Device Manager and by Afterburner.


----------



## Gregster

Hi Guys, I thought I would join the Lightning fan club. I previously had a EVGA reference 680 from day 1 of the 680 release and invested in a Lightning to go SLI for my 3 3D monitors. I was so impressed with the LTG, I sold the EVGA and bought another. My bridge was leaking on the second LTG, so I made my own link system with a few connecors









Great thread guys and I have been a keen follower of this for quite a while.


----------



## dph314

Ha. Turns out my awesome card boosts to 1202 on non-LN2. Coulda had the same speed at 1.175v this whole time







Another tid-bit, the inferior card boosts higher, to 1215mhz. Nice.

Better card only boosted to 1176mhz though during the GPU-Z render test, and then 1202mhz during 3dMark11? Both were full 99% loads...?


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Question regarding this card's overclocking potential. I know that the unlocked LN2 BIOS gives you the best chance at the highest clocks (since higher voltage is allowed), but would it be wise to use that BIOS if I plan on overclocking solely on air? For the max overclocks that you guys have experienced, how high did the fan have to be? How loud do these cards usually get compared to other 680s?


----------



## magiwizard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> No wonder if you put 1,37V on the core, a normal GTX 680 would get 100+ degrees on those voltages.
> Anything 1250mhz or higher is crazy anyway, and memory bottleneck is the biggest problem, the cip needs 300+GBPS transfer for 10-15% more speed..... just thrown in the toilet by Nvidia's great 256 bit design.
> I dont see any spectaculair difference from 1250mhz or 1450.
> Im glad when GK110 comes, 680 really chokes itself. 192GBPS is nice for a 580, even than its the least u want.


haha i agree on that one but im not at 1.37v. Those clocks are stable at 1.22v and any more voltage just overheats like a mofo, for curiosity I've gone above that and the core is stable until about 68 degrees+ suggesting that it will be fine if I can manage to get the card properly cooled. Once i get a better cooling option I'll try pushing 1.37 but until then its 1380 / +450


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> Question regarding this card's overclocking potential. I know that the unlocked LN2 BIOS gives you the best chance at the highest clocks (since higher voltage is allowed), but would it be wise to use that BIOS if I plan on overclocking solely on air? For the max overclocks that you guys have experienced, how high did the fan have to be? How loud do these cards usually get compared to other 680s?


LN2 BIOS is fine for air. I've used +93mv (highest Afterburner 2.2.3 overvolts without the hack) many times and the card stays in the 60C's with a decent custom fan curve.

And I think this card has a rather decent level of fan noise. It never bothered me to begin with though, because I can't hear it over the volume of the game or when I'm wearing headphones. You'll probably have to set the fan curve to be more aggressive than the default one if you plan on going near +93mv, or especially above, to keep the card nice and cool. But these things run so cool that it shouldn't be too loud at all.


----------



## mfranco702

I changed my original msi Lightning for the EVGA SC Signature 2 because it was $150 cheaper and thinking it would be the same in performance, it is in certain way since this EVGA boosts to 1215 MHz stock, the only real difference is the temps and noise. the dual fan design of the EVGA helps to cool it down but isn't even close to the Twin Frozr IV
Now the Lightning dropped to $499 and I'm thinking if I should get it back, but is it really worth it for the average gamer? I understand that in order to achieve great frequencies you need to mess up with the BIOS and play voltages but, I dont really wana do that, what do you guys recommend to do? does flashing your BIOS void the warranty?


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> LN2 BIOS is fine for air. I've used +93mv (highest Afterburner 2.2.3 overvolts without the hack) many times and the card stays in the 60C's with a decent custom fan curve.
> And I think this card has a rather decent level of fan noise. It never bothered me to begin with though, because I can't hear it over the volume of the game or when I'm wearing headphones. You'll probably have to set the fan curve to be more aggressive than the default one if you plan on going near +93mv, or especially above, to keep the card nice and cool. But these things run so cool that it shouldn't be too loud at all.


Thanks for your help. One more question. When you max the voltage to +93mv, what is your actual voltage reading at full load? I know all Nvidia 680s do locked max voltage of 1.175v, but I'm not familiar with the Afterburner method of voltage readings and adjustments on these new cards.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mfranco702*
> 
> I changed my original msi Lightning for the EVGA SC Signature 2 because it was $150 cheaper and thinking it would be the same in performance, it is in certain way since this EVGA boosts to 1215 MHz stock, the only real difference is the temps and noise. the dual fan design of the EVGA helps to cool it down but isn't even close to the Twin Frozr IV
> Now the Lightning dropped to $499 and I'm thinking if I should get it back, but is it really worth it for the average gamer? I understand that in order to achieve great frequencies you need to mess up with the BIOS and play voltages but, I dont really wana do that, what do you guys recommend to do? does flashing your BIOS void the warranty?


For you...it's definitely not worth it in regards solely to performance. If you don't plan on overclocking or overvolting, then there's no point in going from a 1215mhz stock speed card to a 1202mhz card. Unless you're really bothered by noise and the Lightning is much quieter. But if you want to overclock someday, which you should because it's free performance, then the Lightning may be for you if don't mind paying the premium for minimal gains (on air. Bigger gains will come from watercooling one of these bad boys).

But on a side note, flashing the BIOS and overvolting/overclocking with Afterburner is pretty damn easy, so don't let that be the only reason that turns you off from getting one.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> LN2 BIOS is fine for air. I've used +93mv (highest Afterburner 2.2.3 overvolts without the hack) many times and the card stays in the 60C's with a decent custom fan curve.
> And I think this card has a rather decent level of fan noise. It never bothered me to begin with though, because I can't hear it over the volume of the game or when I'm wearing headphones. You'll probably have to set the fan curve to be more aggressive than the default one if you plan on going near +93mv, or especially above, to keep the card nice and cool. But these things run so cool that it shouldn't be too loud at all.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for your help. One more question. When you max the voltage to +93mv, what is your actual voltage reading at full load? I know all Nvidia 680s do locked max voltage of 1.175v, but I'm not familiar with the Afterburner method of voltage readings and adjustments on these new cards.
Click to expand...

Afterburner and every other software will incorrectly read the voltage. The unlocked LN2 BIOS, the one in the OP that you'll have to flash to when you get your card, will have a stock voltage of 1.26v, with the +93mv offset in Afterburner bringing it up to roughly 1.36v.


----------



## gotendbz1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127693

$480 after MIR


----------



## snitchkilla11

ARE U F'ING KIDDING ME... they are 480 now!!!!!!


----------



## magiwizard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> ARE U F'ING KIDDING ME... they are 480 now!!!!!!


yea i know i got mine for 536 ---> 605 with tax like 2 weeks ago and now they're selling for 457.49 --- > 505 with tax if you price beat with memoryexpress so within 2 weeks my card depreciated 100$ lol (**** 13% sales tax in canada)... though im tempted to get another one..... not sure if I'll be waiting for the next series to come out  oh yea and 20$ mail in rebate.... so.... 485 taxes in for a lightning now lol


----------



## snitchkilla11

i could have bought 3!!!!!! minds well be buy one get one free..well almost


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i could have bought 3!!!!!! minds well be buy one get one free..well almost


You mean get 3 and do a little 'self-binning'? Or actually keep all 3? I'm not sure about the recent drivers improving performance for 3 or 4-card setups, but I do know that gains are much less after 2 cards. If you do plan on getting all 3, just out of curiosity, what kind of setup do you have display-wise? You should fill out your specs in the Rigbuilder


----------



## Arnoud87

For 3 you need at least a 3960x on 4,5Ghz or something. thats 3,6 Ghz of GTX 680 that CPU needs to feed.... lol my i5 Quad 760 at 3.9Ghz is the bare minimum for only 1!!! Still lacks like 8% performance of the GPU (in 3dmark), really can't feed that card when FPS go above 80-90 +-.

So 3 GTX 680's what the fak?


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> I love how low OC they used on the Lightning compared to the 7970. 1250 MHz on a 7970 is pretty much max and the Lightning is 200-250 MHz from what it can do.
> AMDs driver/game support still sucks compared to Nvidia. So who cares about some random numbers. You prob. do since you bought a 7970. But i wouldnt trade my 680 for any 7970 card thats for sure
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Been there, and not going back for some time now. Why would i when my card run all games flawlessly? I changed to GTX 680 because i wasnt satisfied with my 7970s. (Yes i had two, first one died but both had same issues, actually the 2nd had even more coilwhine...) Lots of this is prob. due to ****ty drivers..
> Coilwhine, artifacts, bugged shadows, bad gpu usage, 2D flickering when scrolling/browsing.. When i used my HDMI -> TV, i couldnt get the start menu away. Big and small problems, that pissed me off and made me switch in the end. FPS aint everything.
> On my Lightning i have had ZERO problems so far. 3 months out. Best card i have ever owned.


Yeah AMD has horrible drivers, read it everywhere how crap it is.
Nvidia's colour palet is also MUCH better. This ain't anything to do with drivers or settings!
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> On my Lightning i have had ZERO problems so far. 3 months out. Best card i have ever owned. The only downside is the lack of GPU voltage support in newer AB.


Read post 1, there is no downside in AB224.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> haha i agree on that one but im not at 1.37v. Those clocks are stable at 1.22v and any more voltage just overheats like a mofo, for curiosity I've gone above that and the core is stable until about 68 degrees+ suggesting that it will be fine if I can manage to get the card properly cooled. Once i get a better cooling option I'll try pushing 1.37 but until then its 1380 / +450


Mine gets like 65 degrees max, at max voltages in Antec 1200 fans on auto... 30-40% max. I need 55% fans for 1306 MHz, so i keep it +100 for lowest fan speed







.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Ha. Turns out my awesome card boosts to 1202 on non-LN2. Coulda had the same speed at 1.175v this whole time
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Another tid-bit, the inferior card boosts higher, to 1215mhz. Nice.
> Better card only boosted to 1176mhz though during the GPU-Z render test, and then 1202mhz during 3dMark11? Both were full 99% loads...?


I get 1215Mhz stock as well, but doesnt matter if you overclock, wont say anthing... I can even go 1225mhz on stock voltage but need s h i t loads of volts to get 70 mhz more







. So basically mine's craps out at 1225...
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> Hi Guys, I thought I would join the Lightning fan club. I previously had a EVGA reference 680 from day 1 of the 680 release and invested in a Lightning to go SLI for my 3 3D monitors. I was so impressed with the LTG, I sold the EVGA and bought another. My bridge was leaking on the second LTG, so I made my own link system with a few connecors
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great thread guys and I have been a keen follower of this for quite a while.


Nice! What overclocks you get? 1450? > water


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Hi.
I am flash bios to 3A from F8. Now i want to try what my lightnigs can do on LN2 bios without hardreset. But i have a problem. I use AFB 2.2.3. without hack and when i try to increase voltage to 100% and run benchmark i have a same stock LN2 voltage 1.21 max.
How can i get more volts ? I do not understand it.
How you guys do that with voltage around 1.3-1.4 ?
Please someone help me.
Cheers


----------



## famich

Hello, you have to measure the voltage directly with the multimeter - AFB reports the voltage wrong..


----------



## gavbon

Hmmm any idea on this guys

Single card = Fine with games

when i enable SLI through NVCP when i open games i get a red screen, alt f4 back to desktop like normal

any idea what the problem is?


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Hello, you have to measure the voltage directly with the multimeter - AFB reports the voltage wrong..


Hi. Many thx for reply. I have not multimeter. I do not use afb for measure, but gpu-z.
When i try to get more core clocks in afb and more voltage my pc was freezing. When i try only voltage to the max pc works fine.
On the first page of this thread says : LN2 BIOS is around 50mV higher than the standard BIOS.....
Standard BIOS = defaults to 1175mV with no overvoltage
LN2 BIOS = defaults to 1.21V with no overvoltage- what does it mean ?


----------



## qwwwizx

Had a little OC session more yesterday - in the window


http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4765554

Full throttle, 1489MHz on the core. Unfortunately I was a bit in a hurry, so I didnt get time to tune my CPU properly.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You mean get 3 and do a little 'self-binning'? Or actually keep all 3? I'm not sure about the recent drivers improving performance for 3 or 4-card setups, but I do know that gains are much less after 2 cards. If you do plan on getting all 3, just out of curiosity, what kind of setup do you have display-wise? You should fill out your specs in the Rigbuilder


oh i got an asus vg278h display..i just wanted 3 for bragging rights..as both of my cards clock higher without volts then some on here with volts..so what i allready have is overkill..i was just saying i would have def picked up 3 at that price.and kept all 3 cause i never had a trisli setup..just looks so sexy with the lightnings..


----------



## snitchkilla11

how do i make my rig show up in my posts..i went to rigbuilder and put all my stuff in there


----------



## snitchkilla11

nvm found it..


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Had a little OC session more yesterday - in the window
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4765554
> Full throttle, 1489MHz on the core. Unfortunately I was a bit in a hurry, so I didnt get time to tune my CPU properly.


Awsome score. I have both mine under water and the most I have been able to get is 13110 on the GPU







I managed to get P13111 though which I am pleased with. I will have to try my other card to see if that will do any better.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4776487

I had +220 on the volts and higher makes no difference. Do you just alter the core or do you do anything else? (hope you don't mind me being nosey)


----------



## pfinch

do i really need aux and mem voltage?! seems to be no difference for me..


----------



## wutang61

Wish I had the case room for another Waterloop. I'm at a glass ceiling at 1411 7050 at +93 on air. Gets 12,700~ graphics tho so can't really complain. It's within a 100 points of my 24/7 on my 480 sli setup and 300 from the absolute max.

Can't wait till I get a second card will be the tits once I flash it back to non gimp bios.

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## jcamp6336

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> GOT My Lightning Replaced RMA from MSI finally. Will check the bios now
> - OK the stock bios was just numbers stock Kboost1202 MHZ
> - LN2 BIOS is 80.04.00.28.3A (P2002-0000) stock Kboost 1202 MHZ
> And power limit goes only until 133%
> Again just got my replacment card from MSI Today
> PS ADD SOME PICTURES TO PROF OWNERSHIP


Nice looking rig man


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> do i really need aux and mem voltage?! seems to be no difference for me..


I have them both at plus fitty. I haven't noticed any stability gains but why not.

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## snitchkilla11

i would like everybodys opinion....should i flash my bios?? i never did it before so im kinda if its not broke dont fix it kinda guy.


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i would like everybodys opinion....should i flash my bios?? i never did it before so im kinda if its not broke dont fix it kinda guy.


Is it voltage locked? Or are you doing it to do it?

Cheap insurance is to buy a crap card for a backup in case of a bricked it oh ***** moment.

If it is locked do some extensive reading on flashing. When I flashed my 480's I was sweating bullets but it worked like a charm.

But a good rule of thumb is exactly that if it ain't broke don't fix it. Voltage lock = broke in my book.

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## snitchkilla11

ya they are both locked..my cards boost 1224 out of the box and i can oc them to about 1375...i kinda wana unlock them just to see how far i can take them..but i dont wana brick my card..i know they have the ln2 switch for another bios..so if something happens while im flashing..do i still have the other bios to fall back on to fix it?


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> ya they are both locked..my cards boost 1224 out of the box and i can oc them to about 1375...i kinda wana unlock them just to see how far i can take them..but i dont wana brick my card..i know they have the ln2 switch for another bios..so if something happens while im flashing..do i still have the other bios to fall back on to fix it?


Yes and no... The other bios will boot and the card will work but you can only flash the bios the card is currently on... If its on non ln2 bios you can't flash the ln2 bios.

Pick up a card for 20 bucks a 210 410 8600gt whatever and use that card while you flash the 680. Nv flash will confirm that it was successful and you won't get screwed. Also dos flashing is another option to avoid flashing errors.

Do your homework extensively get a solid bios file and get it done.

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## D749

While testing out 3 cards in SLI on air I think the cards got so close to one another the fans started to hit the adjacent board.







I already removed the Reactor modules. Has anyone else ran into this issue?

I came up with this until I put them under water...


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> While testing out 3 cards in SLI on air I think the cards got so close to one another the fans started to hit the adjacent board.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I already removed the Reactor modules. Has anyone else ran into this issue?
> I came up with this until I put them under water...


You haven't done rigbuilder and added the resulting list to your sig, so don't know which mobo you have, but guess some mobos have better PCIe spacing than others. For your mobo, water may have been the best solution


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> You haven't done rigbuilder and added the resulting list to your sig, so don't know which mobo you have, but guess some mobos have better PCIe spacing than others. For your mobo, water may have been the best solution


Done. Thanks.

The lack of space happens more towards the end were the power connectors are location. It makes sense since this part is the part isn't directly attached to the board and has the power cables weighing it down. Time to order some EK block.


----------



## D749

I switched all 3 of my new MSI cards to LN2 mode and they report 80.04.28.00.3A. Does this mean I'm good to go? I thought the unlocked BIOS was removed from these cards.


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> I switched all 3 of my new MSI cards to LN2 mode and they report 80.04.28.00.3A. Does this mean I'm good to go? I thought the unlocked BIOS was removed from these cards.


It sure does. I use that BIOS on my 2 LTGs and it is the unlocked BIOS. The F8 I had was a pain because any overclock crash resulted in a hard lock.


----------



## TaquitoDK

Hey guys hope you can help i'm getting an error while trying to flash my BIOS it says ( i/o error: cannot open file: 680l_unlockedbios.rom ) so what do i do in this situation? i've followed all the steps from start to finnish 3 times and i keep getting the same error ..


----------



## Gregster

Do you have display known file extensions ticked? you may have .rom.rom


----------



## TaquitoDK

i'm not sure? i'm pretty new to this stuff so if you could tell it to me in a noob way it would be nice


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> I switched all 3 of my new MSI cards to LN2 mode and they report 80.04.28.00.3A. Does this mean I'm good to go? I thought the unlocked BIOS was removed from these cards.


Check to see what your power limit is in AB when you're on the LN2 bios. If it's not 300 you will likely still need to flash to the unlocked 3A listed in the first post. My bios was 3A but was locked. Flashing solved the problem though.


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> Check to see what your power limit is in AB when you're on the LN2 bios. If it's not 300 you will likely still need to flash to the unlocked 3A listed in the first post. My bios was 3A but was locked. Flashing solved the problem though.


You had 80.04.28.00.3A and had to reflash? Or 80.04.29.00.3A which is locked? I have 80.04.28.00.3A.


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*


You had 80.04.28.00.3A and had to reflash? Or 80.04.29.00.3A which is locked? I have 80.04.28.00.3A.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> Check to see what your power limit is in AB when you're on the LN2 bios. If it's not 300 you will likely still need to flash to the unlocked 3A listed in the first post. My bios was 3A but was locked. Flashing solved the problem though.


Using AB 2.2.4 I can drag the slider to 300%. Is that what you mean?


----------



## Lass3

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> do i really need aux and mem voltage?! seems to be no difference for me..


Hard to say.. Aux voltage does nothing on my card. But memory voltage improves my mem speed with 100 mhz when maxed (+100mV)


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

When using these cards, is it best to still use MSI Afterburner 2.2.3 instead of 2.2.4? I've heard you can use 2.2.4 to adjust the voltage on these cards, but you have to go through some sort of software manipulation correct?


----------



## snitchkilla11

so what yall are saying is that its best to use an old crappy card to flash my cards??


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> When using these cards, is it best to still use MSI Afterburner 2.2.3 instead of 2.2.4? I've heard you can use 2.2.4 to adjust the voltage on these cards, but you have to go through some sort of software manipulation correct?


It's only 3 lines in one of the config files in the Afterburner folder. It's pretty easy. Just have to search either this thread of the internet for the 3 lines to copy and paste in there, so, up to you which version I suppose. I heard 2.2.4 correctly reads Power Usage though.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> Check to see what your power limit is in AB when you're on the LN2 bios. If it's not 300 you will likely still need to flash to the unlocked 3A listed in the first post. My bios was 3A but was locked. Flashing solved the problem though.
> 
> 
> 
> You had 80.04.28.00.3A and had to reflash? Or 80.04.29.00.3A which is locked? I have 80.04.28.00.3A.
Click to expand...

80.04.28.00.3A is the unlocked one. 80.04.29.00.3A is the locked one.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i would like everybodys opinion....should i flash my bios?? i never did it before so im kinda if its not broke dont fix it kinda guy.


Flashing nowadays is really easy on these. Much easier than I remember when I looked into flashing my 570s back before the 600-series. Fear not.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Had a little OC session more yesterday - in the window
> 
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4765554
> 
> Damn it. I get just over 13,000 at roughly the same clocks. I still want to know why my Graphics Score seems about 500pts lower than everyone else running ~1480/7200. I was on the same drivers as you as well.
> 
> Full throttle, 1489MHz on the core. Unfortunately I was a bit in a hurry, so I didnt get time to tune my CPU properly.


----------



## TheBenson

You need a crappy graphics card to flash the lightning? You can't just use Intel graphics 4000?


----------



## snitchkilla11

i have 2 cards? will that work and my cards boost to 1224? thats higher then the box says.is there a reason for that?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheBenson*
> 
> You need a crappy graphics card to flash the lightning? You can't just use Intel graphics 4000?


Absolutely not. He was just saying that worst-case scenario (something goes wrong during the flash, like computer turns off for some reason), it can be fixed by using another graphics card to boot from. But no, flashing is easy, the chance of something going wrong if you revert the whole computer to stock settings before the flash are 1 in a 1000 if you have the right BIOS.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i have 2 cards? will that work and my cards boost to 1224? thats higher then the box says.is there a reason for that?


You can flash each card individually. Just have SLI disabled, and use the 'index=1' command in the one line. So it would look like this if you wanted to flash the bottom card (top card is 0, which the flash defaults to so you don't have to enter the extra command for flashing the top card, only index=1 to specify the bottom card): nvflash index=1 -4 -5 -6 680L_UnlockedBIOS.rom


----------



## snitchkilla11

i kinda get what you mean but i guess i wont till im there..but i downloaded nvflash and i guess i need to pick a bios..i was thinking of 3A..and where do i download that bios? and nvflash do i want exe or sys file


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i kinda get what you mean but i guess i wont till im there..but i downloaded nvflash and i guess i need to pick a bios..i was thinking of 3A..and where do i download that bios? and nvflash do i want exe or sys file


I got the .exe, saved it on my C: folder, along with the unlocked 3A LN2 BIOS, which you can find in the first post of this thread. Save it in the C: folder, and either use the name that it has, or if you change it, make sure you type in whatever the file name is. If you save it as Unlocked_3A.rom, then you type that in when typing in the commands when flashing instead of the name the directions in the first post say to use. So for the directions in the first post, only thing you change is the filename of the .rom BIOS file, to whatever filename you save it as. Other than that, run the cmd window by right-clicking it when it pops up and going to "Run as admin" and follow the rest of the instructions word for word. Nothing will go wrong.


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> When using these cards, is it best to still use MSI Afterburner 2.2.3 instead of 2.2.4? I've heard you can use 2.2.4 to adjust the voltage on these cards, but you have to go through some sort of software manipulation correct?


Just adding a few lines in the msi config. It's in post 1 I believe

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## famich

OK, guys , who keep on asking, see the first pages of this thread .. it s all there









@dph314 - managed to get close to 1440 MHz on air / 1380 or so... / but it looks that s the end for me







I ll put her on WC , it ll be quieter and see what she can do §


----------



## snitchkilla11

The instructions aren't that thorough. Don't wana brick my 1200 dollar cards.


----------



## driftingforlife

I am playing with one atm (not mine, do not add me to the list)

http://hwbot.org/submission/2324830_
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> The instructions aren't that thorough. Don't wana brick my 1200 dollar cards.


Give me 20-30 mins and i will make a vid for you


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> The instructions aren't that thorough. Don't wana brick my 1200 dollar cards.


You can flash BOTH cards at once, but in the DOS environment. Bootable USB stick , NVFLASH / DOS version / and the unclocked BIOS
-both switches on both cards on LN2 position.

Boot to DOS - type nvflash --list / you will see BOTH cards listed /

type nvflash --index OR -i0 -4 -5 -6 ***.rom / this is the first card /

then nvflash -i1 -4 -5 -6 ***.rom / that ll be the second one /

reboot and done ...


----------



## driftingforlife

Old vid has gone.


----------



## TheBenson

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Its crap i know.


+rep


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> ya they are both locked..my cards boost 1224 out of the box and i can oc them to about 1375...i kinda wana unlock them just to see how far i can take them..but i dont wana brick my card..i know they have the ln2 switch for another bios..so if something happens while im flashing..do i still have the other bios to fall back on to fix it?


Snitch - If your cards can do 1375 without any voltage modification, I'd just keep them the way they are. Mine did 1371 with all voltage options maxed out so consider yourself lucky







. If you insist on upping voltages then just do 'em individually. Flashing with nvflash is extremely easy much more friendly than flashing Tahiti cards.


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bruennis*
> 
> Snitch - If your cards can do 1375 without any voltage modification, I'd just keep them the way they are. Mine did 1371 with all voltage options maxed out so consider yourself lucky
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . If you insist on upping voltages then just do 'em individually. Flashing with nvflash is extremely easy much more friendly than flashing Tahiti cards.


.

I would say why not using LN2, if temps are fine. No problem, I bet he can get 1450Mhz out of it at 1,35. Thats some serious kick ass performance.
But seems every 100 cards. 1 does +-1400


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> I am playing with one atm (not mine, do not add me to the list)
> 
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2324830_
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> The instructions aren't that thorough. Don't wana brick my 1200 dollar cards.
> 
> 
> 
> Give me 20-30 mins and i will make a vid for you
Click to expand...

Nice. I should really start entering some submissions, my one card would do pretty damn well. 2X GPUs...not so much, but still decent I suppose.

Excellent video by the way. Maybe we can get Michael to put that in the OP in place of the current instructions, just so people won't have as many questions. Not that there's anything wrong with questions, of course. I just mean they'll have less questions about a process that's already posted. Problems will always arise though, I know I've had my share.


----------



## driftingforlife

I might do a proper vid using my 1080p camera if one is wanted.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> I might do a proper vid using my 1080p camera if one is wanted.


Have the paid version of Fraps?


----------



## driftingforlife

I will use expression.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> I will use expression.


Sounds like a plan









PM Michael when it's done and he'll probably put it in the OP.


----------



## driftingforlife

New vid is done, uploading now.


----------



## snitchkilla11

nice


----------



## driftingforlife




----------



## snitchkilla11

i flashed my cards..my cards usto boost to 1228 with the unlock they boost to 1202..i added voltage and got about the same oc as i did with the locked bios? is it the new drivers from nvidia? or do i have to do an afterburner voltage hack?

update: i went back to afterburner 2.2.3 and i can get 1410 stable in sli..its up about 30mhz from before..so im pretty happy.im sure i can go higher as i only played around for about 15 mins..so overall im pretty excited about the unlock..thanks for all your help +1 for all that helped


----------



## Arnoud87

I Just ran Heaven 3.0 on 1320/ and 8Ghz! for the memory.. works well but needs 100% fan speed







.. i did 0% extra voltage on mem ........... 57,8 fps. Seems like mem needs cold under 55 degrees.

How to open saved heaven scores?


----------



## snitchkilla11

So these cards have the triple voltage?


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> So these cards have the triple voltage?


What is your memory clock with your core at 1410MHz? Are your voltage options all maxed out?

1410 is a very respectable core overclock but from my experience, raising the memory clock nets better performance since Kepler is bandwidth limited. My sample at 1392/1693 was slightly slower than at 1372/1771.


----------



## Arnoud87

I run memory now at 256,6GBPS at 8004mhz and 0% overvoltage on BF3.. seems to run great .. need to rn some while to be sure..,.
funny too see it doesnt insant crash...


----------



## snitchkilla11

I didn't know if it was the same as the 7970 lightning. Where you can add voltage to memory and to the core.


----------



## pfinch

whats the highest memclock?


----------



## Arnoud87

Euh.. im running BF3 now for like 40 minutes on 8004mhz! with 0% extra voltage ... fan speed 60%.
Now im in map strike at karkand.. runs great too









mem keeps 45 degrees. 60% fan speed, I think it craps out at 50 degrees only when i keep fan speed on very low 30-40% it would give artifacts in 2 minutes or so

Cant go further.. max settings = ~1000 mem extra, wish it could go up more.
No artifacts, only crazy fps.

memory 33% overclock .. more people who can go that high?


----------



## ZiggysRig

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Euh.. im running BF3 now for like 40 minutes on 8004mhz! with 0% extra voltage ... fan speed 60%.
> Now im in map strike at karkand.. runs great too
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mem keeps 45 degrees. 60% fan speed, I think it craps out at 50 degrees only when i keep fan speed on very low 30-40% it would give artifacts in 2 minutes or so
> Cant go further.. max settings = ~1000 mem extra, wish it could go up more.
> No artifacts, only crazy fps.
> memory 33% overclock .. more people who can go that high?


7800mhz memory for one of my GTX Windforce 670's, anything higher is unstable. The other 670 can do about the same.


----------



## Arnoud87

Nice







. Seems like mines runs stable now in BF3 for 90 minutes wihout extra voltage, but just 2 min back had artifact when temp was 47 degrees of mem! Seems temps help a lot! I got a great caseflow, tho







.

I think best temps are 40-44 max,

been now on 2 full hours on 8000mhz works great








http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4803076


----------



## Lass3

Anyone here using 2.2.4 with enabled voltage?

If yes, does the voltage fall with every reboot/poweroff like it did in 2.2.3.

I had to manually raise voltage after each boot to be at max voltage..


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> Anyone here using 2.2.4 with enabled voltage?
> If yes, does the voltage fall with every reboot/poweroff like it did in 2.2.3.
> I had to manually raise voltage after each boot to be at max voltage..


I got the same problem


----------



## NBAasDOGG

K
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Nice
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Seems like mines runs stable now in BF3 for 90 minutes wihout extra voltage, but just 2 min back had artifact when temp was 47 degrees of mem! Seems temps help a lot! I got a great caseflow, tho
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> I think best temps are 40-44 max,
> been now on 2 full hours on 8000mhz works great
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4803076


You got some sillicon lotery right there.
8000mhz on the memery is crazy









I have also noticed that core speed doesn't give much performance in games.
But memory does.
In BF3 my GTX680 only did 5 fps more from 1202mhz to 1407mhz.
But memory to 7452mhz gave me some 8 fps+.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i just tested my first card and im happy to say it hit 8000mhz on the memory!!!!







i had no idea that on afterburner it had memory voltage adjustment also..but everytime i add an oc the voltage bar lowers..is it a bug in 2.2.3? is anybody useing 2.2.4?


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i just tested my first card and im happy to say it hit 8000mhz on the memory!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i had no idea that on afterburner it had memory voltage adjustment also..but everytime i add an oc the voltage bar lowers..is it a bug in 2.2.3? is anybody useing 2.2.4?


1410MHz on the core and 2000MHz on the memory?


----------



## snitchkilla11

no..lol i wish..i get 1410 with no mem oc..or 8000 with 0 to the core...just a quick oc.. i dont really have the time this week as work is so crazy with this hurricane that ripped thrue my area and left everyone but me with out power!!!hehe i guess im just lucky

update...nvm about the 8000mhz memory..the base clock downclocked it self to keep stable..downclocked to 800mhz..so you loose performance at that speed


----------



## snitchkilla11

i just put my second card in..and started to oc...added voltage then BAM!!!!!!!!!! all blue screen..my pci slots started lighting up and my board would not post...called asus and they were so fast to rma the darn thing its not funny..i was kinda dissapointed they didnt even try and troubleshoot the problem..so i took matters into my own hands and put the card in the 2 slot and got it to post for a sec..set back to defaults...and wala!!!!! back up and running!!!! thank the lord and baby jesus!!!!








very weird that happend..it tripped my surge pertector and kept turning my pc on and off..


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

My Lightning finally came in the mail earlier today, and I'm happy to say that I have the 3A unlocked LN2 BIOS! I know everyone has said that updating the BIOS is very easy, but its nice to not even have to go through the process. I'm assuming with Afterburner 2.2.4 (and the config edits) I should have no problem with voltage control or voltage resets after driver crashes?


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> My Lightning finally came in the mail earlier today, and I'm happy to say that I have the 3A unlocked LN2 BIOS! I know everyone has said that updating the BIOS is very easy, but its nice to not even have to go through the process. I'm assuming with Afterburner 2.2.4 (and the config edits) I should have no problem with voltage control or voltage resets after driver crashes?


personally i got a higher oc in 2.2.3 then .4..any body else oc higher in the old afterburner?


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> personally i got a higher oc in 2.2.3 then .4..any body else oc higher in the old afterburner?


I have used both and noticed no difference. Both seem the same for me.


----------



## magiwizard

just ordered watercooling supplies *_*

Will have a high performance universal block (Supremacy don't judge... its copper and its the highest performer D: and should also be much better on the core than a full coverage block ) on the core and 20 thermal tape on heatsink things with a high power fan on the other mem / VRMs

Will post back next week (or whenever it arrives) with results....

side note... i hate the waiting game.


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

So I attempted to overclock using Afterburner 2.2.4 and the config edit, and it didn't matter if I maxed out the voltage, I couldn't run 1320 core/6800 mem. I know, that is a very high clock, and I was more so just doing it to see how high I could reach with this card. My problem is that it doesn't appear the config edit worked for that version of Afterburner, so I reverted to the 2.2.3 version. My question is, how do I get an accurate voltage reading? I'm currently using GPU-Z, but no matter what voltage I give it, the program always seems to read 1.175v, which is the max voltage locked by most cards. I have the 3A unlocked LN2 BIOS version, so why am I still having these voltage issues and not being able to get an accurate voltage reading?


----------



## driftingforlife

At +100 the voltage is about 1.35v.


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> So I attempted to overclock using Afterburner 2.2.4 and the config edit, and it didn't matter if I maxed out the voltage, I couldn't run 1320 core/6800 mem. I know, that is a very high clock, and I was more so just doing it to see how high I could reach with this card. My problem is that it doesn't appear the config edit worked for that version of Afterburner, so I reverted to the 2.2.3 version. My question is, how do I get an accurate voltage reading? I'm currently using GPU-Z, but no matter what voltage I give it, the program always seems to read 1.175v, which is the max voltage locked by most cards. I have the 3A unlocked LN2 BIOS version, so why am I still having these voltage issues and not being able to get an accurate voltage reading?


I actually just found the solution. Let this be a heads up to future Lightning purchasers, even if your BIOS reads as the modern unlocked LN2 version (80.04.28.00.3A), it can still be a LOCKED version. It appears that MSI may have updated their 80.04.28.00.3A BIOSes, which are usually acknowledged as the unlocked version in these forums ,so that they are now locked as well. I finally noticed because in MSI Afterburner, my max power draw could only be set to 133%. Once I flashed the BIOS to the unlocked version on the front page, my max was set at %300. Looks like I'm going to be able to overclock this sucker hard after all!


----------



## Arnoud87

They want you to think the bios is unlocked.

yet another 8000mhz mem run at +0 voltage... +100 or +50 gives same score btw








http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4806041.

Need fans really maxed out, BF3 runs great. Heaven some artifacts after awhile.

Unfortunately, I got a bit of a CPU bottleneck


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> They want you to think the bios is unlocked.
> 
> yet another 8000mhz mem run at +0 voltage... +100 or +50 gives same score btw
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4806041.
> 
> Need fans really maxed out, BF3 runs great. Heaven some artifacts after awhile.
> 
> Unfortunately, I got a bit of a CPU bottleneck


What's your score with the memory at, say, 7500mhz? You sure you're not losing performance at 8000mhz from the ECC or whatever kicking in?


----------



## DJRamses

New Afterburner 2.2.5 is out


----------



## Arnoud87

Hope that annoying bug with voltage backwards after pc restart is gone, MSI gets worse and WORSe seems


----------



## wadec22

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> New Afterburner 2.2.5 is out


I'm on 2.2.3 still. If I go to 2.2.5 will I have to edit a config?


----------



## Arnoud87

225 is stil as useless as 223 and 224. Still buggy


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

I'm a little disappointed with the overclocking ability so far. Even with max voltage, I can't get 1250 MHz core with ~1300 MHz boost clock. Since I've heard that you get better core overclocking with higher memory clocks, I pushed my memory to +400 to get ~6800 MHz. Any pointers you guys can give me? Do I just have a bad card? I've read through most of this thread, and people seem to be able to get anywhere from 1250-1300 MHz core clock easily on these things with unlocked voltages.


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> I'm a little disappointed with the overclocking ability so far. Even with max voltage, I can't get 1250 MHz core with ~1300 MHz boost clock. Since I've heard that you get better core overclocking with higher memory clocks, I pushed my memory to +400 to get ~6800 MHz. Any pointers you guys can give me? Do I just have a bad card? I've read through most of this thread, and people seem to be able to get anywhere from 1250-1300 MHz core clock easily on these things with unlocked voltages.


Just realized GPU-Z doesn't even read the clocks correctly, so I was actually overclocking the card WAY more than I thought. I'm going to try to focus on just the readings in Afterburner (2.2.3), and see if I can get better stability.


----------



## driftingforlife

^you want to use the OSD to look at the clocks.


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

What's a safe voltage for these cards on air? I'm able to get through about 1-2 passes of Heaven Benchmark with a 1293 MHz core and 7000 MHz memory clock at +62 mv on Afterburner. I know +100 mv gets to about 1.37 v, but I'm worried about getting too close to that number for fear of excess heat and potential GPU degradation.

(Update): Even with max voltage set to +100 mv, I'm not able to reach 1293MHz core/ 6800MHz memory stable. My fan profile is set so that my max speed reaches 70% in the benchmark, and my highest temperature is between ~58-63 degrees. I'm going to start slightly dropping my core and memory speeds, while maintaining the max voltage, to see what my max overclock is at max voltage.


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Just finished hours of runs on Heaven Benchmark with max voltage (+100 mV) and 1280 MHz core/ 6800 MHz memory. It appears that it is the highest overclock I can get on this card with max voltage. That seems pretty bad correct? Most individuals have barely had to even adjust the LN2 BIOS voltage and they're getting 1300 MHz core easily. Is it possible that Nvidia's recent beta drivers are causing less overclocking potential for these cards? I obviously don't want to run max voltage on this card if I dont' have to, so I will be decreasing the voltage to see what my lowest voltage can be on the aforementioned clock settings. Any pointers would be much appreciated.


----------



## TheBenson

You guy know if using a 6 to 8 pin extension allows for the 8 pin lightning to pull enough power from the PSU or do I need a purely 8 pin extension?

I have a couple black NZXT extensions that I could use, but not sure if they would work.

Cable looks like this


----------



## K2mil

Can somone else confirm that lates Afterburner is buggy ??


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> Just finished hours of runs on Heaven Benchmark with max voltage (+100 mV) and 1280 MHz core/ 6800 MHz memory. It appears that it is the highest overclock I can get on this card with max voltage. That seems pretty bad correct? Most individuals have barely had to even adjust the LN2 BIOS voltage and they're getting 1300 MHz core easily. Is it possible that Nvidia's recent beta drivers are causing less overclocking potential for these cards? I obviously don't want to run max voltage on this card if I dont' have to, so I will be decreasing the voltage to see what my lowest voltage can be on the aforementioned clock settings. Any pointers would be much appreciated.


~1280mhz is about the "new" average, sadly. Earlier cards were binned better it seems, even though the default LN2 BIOS clock remains 1202mhz. But yeah you got a locked card which means it wasn't one of the early ones. So, you don't have a 'bad' card by relative standards, you have a now-'average' card.

And the memory overclock being increased _lowers_ the stable core overclock, not raises it. So you might be able to squeeze a few mhz more out of the core if you lower the memory overclock


----------



## snitchkilla11

i wana see proof of your 8000mhz memory oc..along with you core clock.i can oc mine to 8000mhz but my core clock lowers to around 800mhz.


----------



## PCModderMike

My Lightning shipped and is on the way


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Is max voltage (+100 mV) ok for regular gaming? It appear the max clocks I can get on max voltage are 1280/6800, and any voltage lower than that brings artifacts. It seems like a LOT of voltage for such a "modest" overclock, but if I can't even run those clocks while gaming, I might as well not even overclock and play the games on the default 1202 MHz clock, which kind of defeats the purpose of purchasing this card.


----------



## stansfield

This thread is huge and it's hard finding the information I need. I am thinking of purchasing this card and was wondering if someone could help.

1. Is there a guide of sorts on overclocking this particular card?
2. What is safe 24/7 voltage on these ?


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *stansfield*
> 
> This thread is huge and it's hard finding the information I need. I am thinking of purchasing this card and was wondering if someone could help.
> 1. Is there a guide of sorts on overclocking this particular card?
> 2. What is safe 24/7 voltage on these ?


I just got my cards so others will be better able to talk about voltage. But for an overclocking guide I'd use SeanPoe's GTX 670 Overclock Master-Guide. It doesn't go into voltage increasing, but gives a really good overview of how to start.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1265110/the-gtx-670-overclocking-master-guide


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *stansfield*
> 
> This thread is huge and it's hard finding the information I need. I am thinking of purchasing this card and was wondering if someone could help.
> 
> 1. Is there a guide of sorts on overclocking this particular card?
> 2. What is safe 24/7 voltage on these ?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *stansfield*
> 
> This thread is huge and it's hard finding the information I need. I am thinking of purchasing this card and was wondering if someone could help.
> 1. Is there a guide of sorts on overclocking this particular card?
> 2. What is safe 24/7 voltage on these ?
> 
> 
> 
> I just got my cards so others will be better able to talk about voltage. But for an overclocking guide I'd use SeanPoe's GTX 670 Overclock Master-Guide. It doesn't go into voltage increasing, but gives a really good overview of how to start.
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1265110/the-gtx-670-overclocking-master-guide
Click to expand...

Yeah that's a good start if you want to go over all the basics. Voltage control and temperature monitoring is something you have to know about though with the Lightning, and also that they don't throttle so watching temperatures is up to you. Just go about overclocking the Lightning the same way the guide says to overclock a reference card, but when you crash, you can increase the voltage instead of being out of luck







Get Afterburner 2.2.3 and good luck. Just keep temps relatively low, in the 70Cs, which isn't hard.

You'll have to flash your card to the unlocked LN2 BIOS too I'm sure. There's a video on the other page on how to do it. It's pretty easy.


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

A little update on my overclocking. At max voltage on the core, memory, and aux, so far the best clock is +60 core (1254 MHz), +350 memory (~6600 MHz), power target +300%. When benchmarking, my GPU load is 99%, temperatures around 60 degrees (highest fan around 70%), but I noticed that my power percentage shown in Afterburner was only about 60%. Is the power percentage suppose to read that low?


----------



## bahadirkazan

My LN2 .3A bios doesn't work stable.. Why ?


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> A little update on my overclocking. At max voltage on the core, memory, and aux, so far the best clock is +60 core (1254 MHz), +350 memory (~6600 MHz), power target +300%. When benchmarking, my GPU load is 99%, temperatures around 60 degrees (highest fan around 70%), but I noticed that my power percentage shown in Afterburner was only about 60%. Is the power percentage suppose to read that low?


No wonder u get a bad clock on 70% and 60 degrees is real bad, means you got 0% air flow so tha card sucks its hot air back again and back again. 680 should get get 40-50 degrees on 70% fan speed.
I dont understand why people like you buy this Lightning card and got zero percent airflow...

If you got a fast car you need some good wheels too,
/

http://imageshack.us/f/109/heavenx.jpg/
this is on 1306/7800. Did 5 heaven runs on it / Fan speed 65%

I can get 8000mhz too but but need fan speed crazy high and only BF3 runs on it,
Ran BF3 for 3 hours on 8000mhz, says enough! But fan speed on 100% is bs







.

And yea, anything above like 6700mhz is pretty high allready since 6000mhz is allready pretty maxed out


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> No wonder u get a bad clock on 70% and 60 degrees is real bad, means you got 0% air flow so tha card sucks its hot air back again and back again. 680 should get get 40-50 degrees on 70% fan speed
> /
> http://imageshack.us/f/109/heavenx.jpg/
> this is on 1306/7800. Did 5 heaven runs on it
> I can get 8000mhz too but only in BF3, heaven craps out on it in 1 minute


I don't understand your thought process. How is keeping my GPU temperatures around 60 degrees, and on my auto fan setting having the highest speed reach 70% (on my custom fan profile) an issue? Could you elaborate please? I wanted to also point out that my case is a Corsair Obsidian 550D, which uses sound dampening technology, which I've heard does an above average job on cooling even with the lower ventilation it provides.


----------



## Arnoud87

Just my thought on a card with big fans, you need Antec 1200 or something like that, to get 20 degrees lower or something compared to real bad cases, That case is not ment for open air coolers, to max it out.

if you get on 70% 60 degrees than its something bad... not on auto/ thats what I read in ur post 70% on 60 degrees.

To get MAX clock speeds potential you need MAX airflow as wel.
I dont know about average cooling but for me thats like wayyyyy too low, I need the best airflow in my case there is.

And anything 1200+ isnt noticeable anyway. And the REFERENCE GTX 680's makes annoying noise and some wont even past 1060mhz!!!! even a lot. SO the Lightning worth every piece of money anywayz.
So maney people complain about reference 680's lots clock just over 50mhz or so...

And I would run 24/7 on my 1,37V .. because why the heck not? If it brakes I RMA it. And never had any issues with my 580 Lightning too. That ran +200, non stop


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i wana see proof of your 8000mhz memory oc..along with you core clock.i can oc mine to 8000mhz but my core clock lowers to around 800mhz.


http://imageshack.us/f/7/80000r.jpg/

BAM! +1000
+0 on voltage







.

But needs about 44 degrees to keep stable,

And 8200mhz, yeah artifacts in 3 sec







.. but still works, lmao..
http://imageshack.us/f/717/1100xh.jpg/

BTW really nice too play Crysis 1 with 16xQ!! on 1 CARD!! thats like *** bbq!


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Just my thought on a card with big fans, you need Antec 1200 or something like that, to get 20 degrees lower or something compared to real bad cases, That case is not ment for open air coolers, to max it out.
> if you get on 70% 60 degrees than its something bad... not on auto/ thats what I read in ur post 70% on 60 degrees.
> To get MAX clock speeds potential you need MAX airflow as wel.
> I dont know about average cooling but for me thats like wayyyyy too low, I need the best airflow in my case there is.
> And anything 1200+ isnt noticeable anyway. And the REFERENCE GTX 680's makes annoying noise and some wont even past 1060mhz!!!! even a lot. SO the Lightning worth every piece of money anywayz.
> So maney people complain about reference 680's lots clock just over 50mhz or so...
> And I would run 24/7 on my 1,37V .. because why the heck not? If it brakes I RMA it. And never had any issues with my 580 Lightning too. That ran +200, non stop


I understand that these cards need to keep cool to really show their potential, and I understand you don't want to have a sub-standard cooling case in that regard, but my GPU temperatures never go over 60 degrees. How would that be seen as an issue? My fan profile is pretty generous, so when my GPU temperatures get around 60 degrees, I have my GPU fans bump up to 70%. That fan speed maintains my GPU temperatures at 60 degrees, and it NEVER goes higher than that. Wouldn't that be seen as a good thing?


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

As a matter of fact, I just removed the side panel on the case that has the sound-dampening material, added another corsair 120mm high performance fan, and my GPU temperatures went down 10 degrees! My temps now stabilize around 50 degrees.


----------



## TheBenson

Got my lightning today, so far highest clock I have gotten to pass a unigenie run is 1306MHz core 3416MHz mem

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4822806


----------



## stansfield

Thank you Bern and DPH. Just ordered the lightning today, now I'm looking for a good universal water block. Right now I have the Raystorm picked out, any recommendations over that?


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *stansfield*
> 
> Thank you Bern and DPH. Just ordered the lightning today, now I'm looking for a good universal water block. Right now I have the Raystorm picked out, any recommendations over that?


Yea, the the full cover block.

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/blocks/vga-blocks/fc-geforce/geforce-gtx-6x0-series/ek-fc680-lightning-acetal-nickel.html


----------



## GenoOCAU

EK nickel... lols, get the AC waterblock. My two are amazing - Clickme


----------



## bahadirkazan

*Hey guys. I need 3A bios; but the version must have 1215 mhz boost clock, gives stable fps on 3d mark 11 X and on AB power limit +300... Who has this 3A bios version ?? Plz reply guys. I need it..







*


----------



## Arnoud87

read post 1, allllll of it


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> As a matter of fact, I just removed the side panel on the case that has the sound-dampening material, added another corsair 120mm high performance fan, and my GPU temperatures went down 10 degrees! My temps now stabilize around 50 degrees.


lower temp higher fps, at those fan speed u mention i get like 40 degrees, thats how important air flow is, if I would get like 10-degrees more i would loose 1200mhz in memory speeds and 50mhz core


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> http://imageshack.us/f/7/80000r.jpg/
> BAM! +1000
> +0 on voltage
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> But needs about 44 degrees to keep stable,
> And 8200mhz, yeah artifacts in 3 sec
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .. but still works, lmao..
> http://imageshack.us/f/717/1100xh.jpg/
> BTW really nice too play Crysis 1 with 16xQ!! on 1 CARD!! thats like *** bbq!


Try to have ab running in backround then show us your 2000 ram clock working


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> Try to have ab running in backround then show us your 2000 ram clock working


Im not at home right now, but i can make a youtube video tomorrow.
I run heaven on it while im filming


----------



## bahadirkazan

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> read post 1, allllll of it


No, 3A bios on post 1 it work unstable..


----------



## Arnoud87

Try F8, or search for 80.04.09.00.3A


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Im not at home right now, but i can make a youtube video tomorrow.
> I run heaven on it while im filming


LOL i dont need a vid(would be cool)just a ss of ab with 2000 action


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> EK nickel... lols, get the AC waterblock. My two are amazing - Clickme


There hasn't been any issues with EK's Nickel blocks in quite some time....I ordered the EK 680 Lightning block myself, going to be here today.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> EK nickel... lols, get the AC waterblock. My two are amazing - Clickme


Agree first block for lightning, excellent quality, excellent block, Sidewinder has fantastic service


----------



## alancsalt

I've got EK blocks on a few cards, but those new circles? I don't think so, just from the looks....


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> I've got EK blocks on a few cards, but those new circles? I don't think so, just from the looks....


I've held out for as long as I could...not a real big CSQ fan either. All my other EK blocks are the older gen. But since I'm already using EK, I want to keep it similar. I dunno might sound weird, but didn't really wanna mix EK and another brand...


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> LOL i dont need a vid(would be cool)just a ss of ab with 2000 action


If you check my screenshots you allready see AB running??


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> If you check my screenshots you allready see AB running??


Maybe he means a bench using those clocks, with the clocks showing?


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Agree first block for lightning, excellent quality, excellent block, Sidewinder has fantastic service


Im planning to buy AQ block as well, here in EU from Germany, of course


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> I've got EK blocks on a few cards, but those new circles? I don't think so, just from the looks....


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> I've held out for as long as I could...not a real big CSQ fan either. All my other EK blocks are the older gen. But since I'm already using EK, I want to keep it similar. I dunno might sound weird, but didn't really wanna mix EK and another brand...


each to their own of course









But if I were you; don't buy anymore EK blocks









they haven't done any favors for the community by lying and brushing everything underneath the carpet like it never happened......


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Im planning to buy AQ block as well, here in EU from Germany, of course


I hope you have more luck than me getting them. I ordered mine on the 1st October for a 12th October delivery. I recieved an email on the 12th saying that they would be delayed for 7-10 days. 10 days later I got an email saying they would be delyaed for 10-14 days. I canceled my order and got the EK blocks instead. Very pleased with them and temps on GPU/VRM/Mem is excellent. I am not saying one is better than the other, just hopefully you will have better luck getting your blocks than I had


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> each to their own of course
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But if I were you; don't buy anymore EK blocks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *they haven't done any favors for the community by lying and brushing everything underneath the carpet like it never happened......*


Yea that is not cool







Well I've already got two of the Supremacy CPU blocks, and I've owned two of the Nickel/Acetal blocks for some of my older 570's....those have all done me good. But I can understand the resentment from others who have not been as fortunate.


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> I hope you have more luck than me getting them. I ordered mine on the 1st October for a 12th October delivery. I recieved an email on the 12th saying that they would be delayed for 7-10 days. 10 days later I got an email saying they would be delyaed for 10-14 days. I canceled my order and got the EK blocks instead. Very pleased with them and temps on GPU/VRM/Mem is excellent. I am not saying one is better than the other, just hopefully you will have better luck getting your blocks than I had


buying direct from Aquacomputers is sometimes a PITA as the use DHL.....I would be patient if I were you








IMHO

i'd take quality that takes more time compared to instant gratification where failure through EK though has been reduced still exists and their appalling customer service which I haven't seen evidence of change...../


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> buying direct from Aquacomputers is sometimes a PITA as the use DHL.....I would be patient if I were you
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IMHO
> i'd take quality that takes more time compared to instant gratification where failure through EK though has been reduced still exists and their appalling customer service which I haven't seen evidence of change...../


I understand your way of thinking and I would have been the same but my first experience of buying AquaGFX blocks didn't go to well and I bought from Aquatuning in the UK. When I sent them an email asking if the blocks were going to be delivered, I got a rude reply....I don't hold Aquacomputers responsible at all but I got my stroppy head on and ordered direct from EK and recieved them the next day. 2 hours later, they were in my system and working a treat. I seriously would have prefered the AquaGFX blocks though but my impatience and being spoken to like that put me off.


----------



## Rube

Thinking about adding another 680 lightning (total, 2-way sli) and wanted to check with you guys if my seasoinic 650x can handle the task? i7-3770k @ 4.6, 4x2gigs @1866, 2 ssd,1 7200 hd, 3 fans, closed loop water cooler, dvd drive.

Thanks guys


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rube*
> 
> Thinking about adding another 680 lightning (total, 2-way sli) and wanted to check with you guys if my seasoinic 650x can handle the task? i7-3770k @ 4.6, 4x2gigs @1866, 2 ssd,1 7200 hd, 3 fans, closed loop water cooler, dvd drive.
> Thanks guys


I run a Power monitor showing what is being used from the wall and running my 3930K @ 4.6 (1.34V), 2*LTGs, 3 HDDs, 1 SSD and 16GB of 2133ram @ 1.65V and a custom water loop (8 fans, 1 D5 pump) was showing spikes of 850W (no OC on the GPUs). I would look for a bigger PSU to be safe


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rube*
> 
> Thinking about adding another 680 lightning (total, 2-way sli) and wanted to check with you guys if my seasoinic 650x can handle the task? i7-3770k @ 4.6, 4x2gigs @1866, 2 ssd,1 7200 hd, 3 fans, closed loop water cooler, dvd drive.
> Thanks guys


More than enough psu power for what you have proposed.


----------



## Arnoud87

double


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> LOL i dont need a vid(would be cool)just a ss of ab with 2000 action


http://imageshack.us/f/607/8000h.jpg/ and yeah I wouldnt run 8000mhz because i need 100% fan speed 7800 is nice for 65%

And 7800
http://imageshack.us/f/705/15758739.png/.

Ran 7800Mhz now for some hours on 65% without a hitch.
! Check how nice the mem is temped to 44 degrees thats some KICKASS memory


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rube*
> 
> Thinking about adding another 680 lightning (total, 2-way sli) and wanted to check with you guys if my seasoinic 650x can handle the task? i7-3770k @ 4.6, 4x2gigs @1866, 2 ssd,1 7200 hd, 3 fans, closed loop water cooler, dvd drive.
> Thanks guys


thats a great 650 but if you plan to add volts and overclock..i would def buy at least a good quality 750. or an 850 just for the hell of it.and there not that much more money.i think overclocked they run about 250 300maby.. on top of what else you have in your rig...


----------



## Arnoud87

Quality is important since a lot of like 800w power supplies wouldt even do 600w on the 12v.
Theres even a 1200w cant do something like 800w







.

Really watch out before buying a PSU.

I would recom Silverstone Strider 850, their PSU's run even above specs







. I got the 1200w Strider Gold.
Always go GOLD at least or platinum


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> thats a great 650 but if you plan to add volts and overclock..i would def buy at least a good quality 750. or an 850 just for the hell of it.and there not that much more money.i think overclocked they run about 250 300maby.. on top of what else you have in your rig...


He should not buy an 850w unit for just the hell of it.

His 650w unit is more than enough for two 1400MHz( if should get lucky ) Lightning 680s and a 3770k period.

I run my 3960x with my gtx 690 off of a 650w that is virtually the same psu. A gtx 690 is two gtx 680s on one pcb incase you didn't know. Now maxing the slider in afterburner in the voltage won't push a Lightning to 300w, that's for sure. And a 3770k takes like 100w. Maybe a tad more with a 4.7GHz OC.

Here's my 3dmark11 score with my current set up:



Computer would have just shut down during that bench if 650w wasn't enough. And I'm sure I can run a 550w with my rig if I needed to, as along that it was a good quality unit.


----------



## Gregster

I am far from knowledgable on PSUs and will list the difference in my overclocks.

3930K @ 5.0 (1.495V) 2*680 @ +180MV = 1150W from the wall. I listed my specs for no overclock and I am aware that the 3930K uses more watts than the 3770K but it doesn't leave much headroom if he wished to try over volting.


----------



## stansfield

I read a review where a lightning power draw is up to 400watts


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> I am far from knowledgable on PSUs and will list the difference in my overclocks.
> 3930K @ 5.0 (1.495V) 2*680 @ +180V = 1150W from the wall. I listed my specs for no overclock and I am aware that the 3930K uses more watts than the 3770K but it doesn't leave much headroom if he wished to try over volting.


See the volts through my 3960x in that screen?

These psu questions should be asked in the psu section:

http://www.overclock.net/f/31/power-supplies


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> See the volts through my 3960x in that screen?
> These psu questions should be asked in the psu section:
> http://www.overclock.net/f/31/power-supplies


Yep and nice OC on that CPU









I agree that question should be in the PSU section and I did say I know nothing about PSUs. I was just giving my wall readings and that may have given Rube who asked the question a rough idea of what he needed.


----------



## snitchkilla11

lol a 690 uses way less power then 2 lightning 680s..you apperantly dont know what your talking about.


----------



## Gregster

690 = 300 watt at stock
680 LTG = 170 watt at stock


----------



## D749

Everything in my signature (e.g,. monitors, speakers, etc.) is run from a single APC SMT2200 UPS. According to the UPS my load is 1000 watts (+/- 100 watts) when benchmarking. I'm currently running the card at the stock LN2 setting. You're fine with a 1000 watt PSU for two cards. Three are also fine unless you plan to push them hard. I plan to upgrade to a the newer Seasonic Platinum when it comes out but I run a lot of fans, a couple of pumps, etc.


----------



## snitchkilla11

the tweak town review says it uses over 400 watts maxed out under load..for one card!!! they idle at 192..i have an 850 and i crash with high overclocks.but i have lots of goodies in my system..im upgrading to a 1000 asap.. after i can sell my sabertooth and get my mpower board. voltage meter allways tells the truth.this is no 690.these are 2 beast that need alot of power.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> the tweak town review says it uses over 400 watts maxed out under load..for one card!!! they idle at 192..i have an 850 and i crash with high overclocks.but i have lots of goodies in my system..im upgrading to a 1000 asap.. after i can sell my sabertooth and get my mpower board. voltage meter allways tells the truth.this is no 690.these are 2 beast that need alot of power.


over 400 watts?

That's including the whole system, including a 4.7Ghz 3960x:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4791/msi_geforce_gtx_680_lightning_2gb_video_card_review/index3.html

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4791/msi_geforce_gtx_680_lightning_2gb_video_card_review/index17.html


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> the tweak town review says it uses over 400 watts maxed out under load..for one card!!! they idle at 192..i have an 850 and i crash with high overclocks.but i have lots of goodies in my system..im upgrading to a 1000 asap.. after i can sell my sabertooth and get my mpower board. voltage meter allways tells the truth.this is no 690.these are 2 beast that need alot of power.


I took my findings from the spec of where I bought the card. I don't make it wrong or right. What I do know is, I had a 750W PSU and when I tried for some over volting of the cards (+140MV) on a 4.6Ghz CPU (1.34V), I got the RSOD. I invested in a 1050 XFX Black edition and no problems with +200MV.

I just did a bench and checked the wall readings with +150V on both cards and the CPU @ 4.6Ghz (1.34V) and results were spikes of over 860W with genraly around 810W usage. This includes 1 monitor and 2.1 speakers.


----------



## snitchkilla11

hey fellows here is a treat...crysis 3 beta codes..it works im downloading in orgin right as we speak!!!!!!! go here asap

http://www.overclock.net/t/1323028/free-crysis-3-alpha-keys


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> hey fellows here is a treat...crysis 3 beta codes..it works im downloading in orgin right as we speak!!!!!!! go here asap
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1323028/free-crysis-3-alpha-keys


Top Man cheers







Now downloading.


----------



## TheBenson

Got a pair of cable extensions for my lightning







Now I just need to get the Z77 Mpower board and the Mpower ram and my color scheme should be complete.


----------



## snitchkilla11

its gpu hungry..my lightnings are on there knees on max settings.or just coded poorly like ususal


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> He should not buy an 850w unit for just the hell of it.
> His 650w unit is more than enough for two 1400MHz( if should get lucky ) Lightning 680s and a 3770k period.
> I run my 3960x with my gtx 690 off of a 650w that is virtually the same psu. A gtx 690 is two gtx 680s on one pcb incase you didn't know. Now maxing the slider in afterburner in the voltage won't push a Lightning to 300w, that's for sure. And a 3770k takes like 100w. Maybe a tad more with a 4.7GHz OC.
> Here's my 3dmark11 score with my current set up:
> 
> Computer would have just shut down during that bench if 650w wasn't enough. And I'm sure I can run a 550w with my rig if I needed to, as along that it was a good quality unit.


Just tested this, put the 680L on it's own psu with the power meter & gave 3d11 a run at +100mV 1400Mhz core. Pulled 281W from the wall.


















Have to try this when frozen next & see how much it can really pull with clocks & voltage maxed, wonder if it can even come close to max OCed gtx 580.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Thanks for posting FTW.









I'd rep you, but you know!


----------



## snitchkilla11

thats 560 for sli....so that gives him 90 watts for the rest of his rig! it could have been 4something with the whole rig..but them cards will push 300 watts each like i stated before..its just not enough juice with a 650..with refrence cards it would be fine.


----------



## FtW 420

Factoring in 80% efficiency it probably puts closer to 230W load on the PSU there, & not everything will load it that high. It was pulling less most of the time, the 281 watts was the spot about 3/4 of the way in gt1 where it spikes up for a second.
A good 650W with a 3770k & 2 x 680 should be OK for a daily machine & normal 24/7 overclocks.


----------



## furyn9

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheBenson*
> 
> Got a pair of cable extensions for my lightning
> 
> 
> 
> Now I just need to get the Z77 Mpower board and the Mpower ram and my color scheme should be complete.


Awesome


----------



## GenoOCAU

My 2x 680 lightnings at ~1440mhz and cpu at 4.8ghz pulled over 900watt at the wall, this is including 2x mcp35x pumps and 9 fans though.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> hey fellows here is a treat...crysis 3 beta codes..it works im downloading in orgin right as we speak!!!!!!! go here asap
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1323028/free-crysis-3-alpha-keys


Damn to late no more keys


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Factoring in 80% efficiency it probably puts closer to 230W load on the PSU there, & not everything will load it that high. It was pulling less most of the time, the 281 watts was the spot about 3/4 of the way in gt1 where it spikes up for a second.
> A good 650W with a 3770k & 2 x 680 should be OK for a daily machine & normal 24/7 overclocks.


FTW, should the power that is supplied thru the pcie slot be added to that, or am I off base


----------



## snitchkilla11

im either getting an mpower tommorow or an h100 with some good fans.i cant decide what to spend my cash on this month


----------



## Rube

All this input is really helpful....I did ask for advice here as you guys are experienced 680 lightning users.

Beta codes.....gone.......NOOOOO!!!!!! The wait continues.....


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> FTW, should the power that is supplied thru the pcie slot be added to that, or am I off base


Didn't think of that, the mobo & everything but the gpu was powered from one PSU, Just the 2 x pci-e plugs running off the second PSU. I'll throw in the 2nd lightning & just test the single psu with 2 x 680, I'm running a 2600k right now but should be similar power draw to a 3770k for a whole system test.

Edit: It was a bit of a shocker, went to try with 2600k at 4.5Ghz, 2 x 680L at 1400/1752, +100mV. Got a full rig shutdown in gt1, 1080W showing on the meter. Tried cards completely stock volts & clocks (ln2 bios), pulls 756w from the wall.
OCed +100 on the core & +499 mem (1307/1752), no added volts, 820w from the wall. Added 50mV with same clock, 900w from the wall.
Only extras attached to the mobo are 2 case fans & 1 ssd. Cooling is externally powered.


----------



## exploiteddna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> *I read somewhere that you are busy like all of us but here what you have to do PAL*


lol
first of all, i dont have to do anything, PAL.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> First of all like i said before i got my replacement 680 GTX L from MSI couple of days ago it came with the ln2 bios 3A version that was locked so you should update the thing that the latest batches come with the same number as unlocked bios but are locked. So the newbie users dont panik ( go Hispanic lol)
> Secound the NV flash that you provide download link is giving above error with the latest nvidia drivers 310.33 beta to solve that problem you have to go to TPU website (techpower up) and download lates version here [/B]
> then everything else is fine good job i will rep you
> The flash of the locked A3 bios to A3 unlocked was sucesful now my card is free again and we are about to have a long night
> I still play crysis 2 mp so if you wanna play with me find me 'k2mil'
> I dont drink much but today I alowed myself to have some JW Black Label for kids under 18 and 21 dont nv flash while drinkng 'DNVFWD'


secondly, dont get so angry.. its just a forum..there are a lot more important things in life than a gtx680 lightning so dont take things so seriously. be glad that this forum exists and take advantage of the information and resources that it does offer, rather than focus on what you think is wrong.

thirdly, its not my responsibility to change the version of nvflash (that im kindly hosting on my own google account) anytime a new beta driver comes out that doesnt agree with it. Speaking of google, im sure you can find your own version of nvflash that works with 310.33. Further, I've never had any problems with the version that is posted and i use it all the time. When it stops working for me, I'll look into posting a different version. Maybe its an operator error from too much scotch?

Last but not least, if you have some BIOS information for me that needs to be updated in the OP, how about you send me a PM and let me know (instead of acting like an entitled pr!ck). I dont personally test every single card to compare BIOS numbers and card properties. We rely on the community here to share the information they get from their own experience. Then someone sends me a PM because they know I dont always have the time to read every single post in this thread (as has been stated several times and in various parts of the thread). Then I update the OP with the information. It's not rocket science.


----------



## bahadirkazan

Hey guys. I need *80.04.09.00.3A LN2 bios.* Who can help me about this ?


----------



## Gregster

It is surprising the power difference going from no overclocks to even just small overclocks.


----------



## snitchkilla11

does any body need a crysis 3 beta code? pm me i have one left


----------



## Bruennis

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> does any body need a crysis 3 beta code? pm me i have one left


ME


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bahadirkazan*
> 
> Hey guys. I need *80.04.09.00.3A LN2 bios.* Who can help me about this ?


I think ELBubi has posted this unlocked BIOS some time ago and if I am not mistaken, it came from the German MSI site..


----------



## K2mil

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *michaelrw*
> 
> lol
> first of all, i dont have to do anything, PAL.
> secondly, dont get so angry.. its just a forum..there are a lot more important things in life than a gtx680 lightning so dont take things so seriously.


Hey Dude I didnt mean to sound rude or Angry I'm 27 and now married and I take advantage of life trust me. Next time I PM










Just want to make sure new folks wont get confused with this BIOS stuff


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bahadirkazan*
> 
> Hey guys. I need *80.04.09.00.3A LN2 bios.* Who can help me about this ?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> I thnik ELBubi hast posted this unlocked BIOS some time ago and if I am not mistaken, it came from the German MSI site..


Once again, here I upload a BIOS compilation where you can fin de unlocked "3A" file.

Kind

680LightningBIOSes.zip 500k .zip file
Regards.


----------



## famich

Thanks , El Bubi and hello


----------



## Arnoud87

[email protected] !! still that afterburner problem with the Vcore switching back every windows restart, really starting to hate MSI for some reason, this is as worse as it can get.

I also really try to figger how stupid some people are in this forum, they all ignore reading post 1, thats the basic u start with in a forum, someone took weeks to write it and people just come here to ignore it, its a good idea to avoid noobs for asking bioses!!!

So dont upload any bios for them, if peopple are that stupid they sure wont figger how overclocking works if they wont even read a DAMN thing

BTW
80.04.47.00.19 (locked LN2 This is locked LN2
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Once again, here I upload a BIOS compilation where you can fin de unlocked "3A" file.
> Kind
> 
> 680LightningBIOSes.zip 500k .zip file
> Regards.


Man, dont share it, give them some crap locked bios


----------



## Neo Zuko

Both my 680 lightning cards were made in June, does that mean I have the good bios?? Said something like xxx-xxxx-xxxx1206xxxx in the SN

Bought one at Launch and one just the other week, both from newegg.


----------



## driftingforlife

Switch to LN2 mode and find out.


----------



## Neo Zuko

Mmm I will when I get that SSD boot drive in, I'm in the middle of a rebuild. I have a Samsung 840 Pro on the way.


----------



## snitchkilla11

hey where do i get the 3a bios!!! lol


----------



## TheAssassin

What's a BIOS?


----------



## snitchkilla11

the bios is where you plug your powersupply into!! now please rep me for my knoledge


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> [email protected] !! still that afterburner problem with the Vcore switching back every windows restart, really starting to hate MSI for some reason, this is as worse as it can get.


It's been a long time now since Unwinder stated that issue will be fixed in AB v2.3.0 (not 2.2.4 nor 2.2.5 nor any subversion prior 2.3.0)
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Unwinder*
> v2.3.0 development has been finished, it will be submitted to MSI for internal previewing and testing in the next couple days. Changes list includes:
> • Fixed rounding error in VID generation for offset voltage control mode for CHL8318 voltage generators


It's very annoying, it's true, but the solution is coming!


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> the bios is where you plug your powersupply into!! now please rep me for my knoledge


LOL.

The BIOS is the code that interfaces between the hardware and OS/drivers. It stands for Binary Input/Output System.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i think he said it as a joke..well i hope he did


----------



## Gregster

I thought I would show how pleased with my LTGs I am with nice clocks on 3dmark11


















http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4801037


----------



## LambFx

Hello all! Tell me please, how can I unlock max limits voltage in MSI AB ? I have gtx 680 Lightning, bios version 80.04.28.00.3A (i flash that bios), I'm edit \Profiles\VEN_10DE&DEV_1180....cfg) and add:

[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

After that i increased max limit voltage from 1.212 to 1.312(its good) bun i want more =) Help me please to unlock max possible limit voltage !


----------



## driftingforlife

At +100 with the unlocked LN2 BIOS the voltage is really 1.35v-1.36v.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Getting my mpower board tommorow. Selling my sabertooth to get it.


----------



## LambFx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> At +100 with the unlocked LN2 BIOS the voltage is really 1.35v-1.36v.


multimetr indicators or MSI AB?


----------



## driftingforlife

Multi meter. They way AB works with the voltage control chip is different to normal so it is not accurate.


----------



## LambFx

*driftingforlife* so its max voltage witch i can get? But on that screen ([email protected] Mhz vgpu=1.408) http://img.maryno.net/images/8a81fe0e48669cb811fc12e0c28e15f0/a90e1042442b6ed70497d239222678a1.jpeg voltage more that 1.312 and max limit core voltage msi ab many more than +100. You know how to get that? )


----------



## driftingforlife

I want to find out how to get more my self apart from the memory hack and Vmods.


----------



## TheBenson

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> At +100 with the unlocked LN2 BIOS the voltage is really 1.35v-1.36v.


Is that in 2.2.4/5 or 2.2.3? Wasn't 2.2.3 different.

How safe is 1.36 volts if your temps are still below 60c?


----------



## driftingforlife

2.2.3. If it under 60c your fine. I have been benching with the voltage on air the whole time.


----------



## Arnoud87

You can even run 1,45v without problems if you keep fan speed on 100%..... you need some hack for ab, tho.. if card gets too much volts it locks (freeze) or shows black dots artifacts. Watercooling is a pre

i can do 70mhz more on core with another +50vcore.. worthless, but works. I tried it 1 time was enough

1,37v is the sweet spot. and wont damage the 680 card, i like 60-65% fan speed when it strikes 50-60 degrees. Keeps the mem a lot cooler, gives me another +400 mhz on the mem.

The 680 likes to stay 50/60 degrees max


----------



## LambFx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> you need some hack for ab


How?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *LambFx*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> you need some hack for ab
> 
> 
> 
> How?
Click to expand...

Well boys, it's been a while since these were posted hasn't it?









Reminder, as always, USE AT OWN RISK.

Make sure your temps are staying at safe levels. And make sure you follow these instructions carefully.

-Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
-Open Afterburner 2.2.3
-Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
-Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
-Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
-Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
-Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
-Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
-Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
-Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
-Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
*BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltage sliders in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card*


----------



## gavbon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Getting my mpower board tommorow. Selling my sabertooth to get it.


why oh why? lol


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well boys, it's been a while since these were posted hasn't it?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Reminder, as always, USE AT OWN RISK.
> Make sure your temps are staying at safe levels. And make sure you follow these instructions carefully.
> ]


Ye, wasn't posted in this thread, yet
This is the adress you need to work it
00449000.

But keep temps 50 degrees celcius or something on air +150 is really the limit if fan speed is 100%.
Dont expect any usefull result....... its only good for some short benchies.. something like +50mhz is the max you can get on air.. you probably only get a **** load of heat on your gpu.


----------



## LambFx

*dph314* amazing! BIG thanks you!! That's work! But i can't use it for 24/7 its only for benchmarks :\


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well boys, it's been a while since these were posted hasn't it?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Reminder, as always, USE AT OWN RISK.
> Make sure your temps are staying at safe levels. And make sure you follow these instructions carefully.
> ]
> 
> 
> 
> Ye, wasn't posted in this thread, yet
> This is the adress you need to work it
> 00449000.
> 
> But keep temps 50 degrees celcius or something on air +150 is really the limit if fan speed is 100%.
> Dont expect any usefull result....... its only good for some short benchies.. something like +50mhz is the max you can get on air.. you probably only get a **** load of heat on your gpu.
Click to expand...

Indeed only good for benches, completely impractical for gaming. And you really nailed the +50mhz that you said- I got 1430mhz with unhacked 2.2.3 and then with bringing up the voltage with the hack as far as I felt safe doing (+162mv), I was able to gain exactly 50mhz more, ha. Good estimate indeed









But no, the directions have been posted in this thread, multiple times. I copy and pasted that last post from a post I wrote over 2 months ago. I can't take all the credit though, as shamefulanomoly discovered this hack, and multiple people in the thread helped me with small hiccups I had. I just took everything I got from everyone else and broke it down into very specific steps so that there would be as few questions as possible.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *LambFx*
> 
> *dph314* amazing! BIG thanks you!! That's work! But i can't use it for 24/7 its only for benchmarks :\


Thank you. Like I said above, I can't take all the credit though. But yeah only for benches. And keep temps under 80C. 80C is fine if you don't plan on keeping the card for everyday use for the next decade. If you plan to upgrade every series that's released then 80C is fine in my book.


----------



## driftingforlife

+ rep anyway. I might have to look into this extreme version of AB if I get my own lighting at some point.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> + rep anyway. I might have to look into this extreme version of AB if I get my own lighting at some point.


You could. But if you plan on getting it just for a few days of benches then the hack would probably be the better way to go, instead of going through all the trouble for AB Extreme. I've heard that people get the exact same results/stability from the hack as they do with AB Extreme, so, if you get comfortable enough to where it only takes you a few seconds to do the hack then that's probably your best bet.

Thank you for the rep


----------



## driftingforlife

It might not be as hard for me to get an extreme version. When under LN2 using AB will be easier and faster. Won't matter unless I get my own lightning anyway


----------



## Lass3

Yes it is ~1.36v maxed on LN2 BIOS measured with MM and im below 65 degrees with auto fan at 1450 MHz.. Fan is ~60% under load here.

But I'm running 1300 MHz at stock vcore. Voltage still lowers with every reboot.. Its pretty useless. I dont wanna set my voltages every time i reboot my machine. If i forget it, it might crash in 3D.. Dont know why the hell this bug isnt fixed yet?

MSI -> FIX THIS GOD DAMNIT...


----------



## driftingforlife

Its being fixed in AB 2.3.0


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> Yes it is ~1.36v maxed on LN2 BIOS measured with MM and im below 65 degrees with auto fan at 1450 MHz.. Fan is ~60% under load here.
> 
> But I'm running 1300 MHz at stock vcore. Voltage still lowers with every reboot.. Its pretty useless. I dont wanna set my voltages every time i reboot my machine. If i forget it, it might crash in 3D.. Dont know why the hell this bug isnt fixed yet?
> 
> MSI -> FIX THIS GOD DAMNIT...


1450mhz @ 1.36v and only need 60% fan speed for 65C? Damn. Not bad, not bad at all


----------



## magiwizard

so liquid cooling installed.... for some reason my 680 now does not even want to clock to 1370.... thats with the liquid cooling keeping it under 40 degrees..... and i could hit 1400 on air before nothing has changed other than lower temps.... *** is happening to my card lol


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> so liquid cooling installed.... for some reason my 680 now does not even want to clock to 1370.... thats with the liquid cooling keeping it under 40 degrees..... and i could hit 1400 on air before nothing has changed other than lower temps.... *** is happening to my card lol


Strange indeed sir, strange indeed. But, did you by any chance upgrade the version of Afterburner you're using? 2.2.4 doesn't allow for 1.36v on an unlocked LN2 BIOS unless you edit the one config file.


----------



## magiwizard

it is indeed interesting so i took things into my own hands and reinstalled afterburner and drivers and things turned out fine, 1411mhz max clock it seems since my VRMs are soaring in temps lol.... maybe full cover would have done better after all lmao but under 40 on the gpu at all times

so... looking into better vrm and mem cooling very soon lol


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> it is indeed interesting so i took things into my own hands and reinstalled afterburner and drivers and things turned out fine, 1411mhz max clock it seems since my VRMs are soaring in temps lol.... maybe full cover would have done better after all lmao but under 40 on the gpu at all times
> 
> so... looking into better vrm and mem cooling very soon lol


If I was going to go through the trouble of setting up a loop, I would definitely spend the little bit more to get the full-cover block. But yeah what are VRM temps? Mine were always in the 50C's even at 1.42v and I'm on air.


----------



## snitchkilla11

got my mpower today along with an 3770k..time to retire my 3570k and sabertooth..it looks so good with 2 lightnings onboard


----------



## snitchkilla11

shes a bit messy but im in the middle of setting her back up.!!. so far so good


----------



## Menthol

Thanks to qwwwizx this makes the hack much simpler, even though I have blocks on both my Lightnings I find no need at all to overclock my cards for normal use-gaming, only overclock for benching, 2 680's on one monitor have plenty of power so I prefer stability for normal use and overvolt/clock until they scream for mercy during bench runs.

https://sites.google.com/site/qwwwizx/home/gtx-680


----------



## snitchkilla11

I have a very searous question.and don't comment unless you know what your talking about..is 850 enough watts for 2 lightnings 3770k 7 high performance 140mm fans and usual stuff like hard drive.lights exc..


----------



## GenoOCAU

It is unless you're able to overclock the cards more then 1400mhz. If you can get both above 1400mhz then no you need more.

Had a 2700k @ 5.0ghz and both lightnings at 1420mhz and it pulled over 900w from the wall.


----------



## Scorpion49

What driver have you guys had the best success at with these bad boys? I used to be able to get up to 1415mhz when I was using 306.23 but now on 307+ I can barely make +125 and it still crashes a lot. I don't really want to go back to the 306 though because it breaks several of my games with surround.


----------



## GenoOCAU

304.79 has proved the best for me overclock wise. Tried all new drivers and always go back to them.


----------



## Scorpion49

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> 304.79 has proved the best for me overclock wise. Tried all new drivers and always go back to them.


Thanks I guess I'll give that one a go. I was able to OC much higher before the newest set of drivers, undoubtedly Nvidia enforcing its "green light" agenda one way or another. I'm pretty sure this will be my last green team card.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Yes both cards can clock over 1400mhz. I had them to 1410 then I had a power down. Scared the crap out of me..now I know why..I need at least 1000w.. u think I should just go 1200?.if I would have known I wouldn't have bought e h100 and my corsair [email protected]#$#@!!!!! But the mpower and I7 are way better then the sabertooth and 3570k..by far.


----------



## magiwizard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> If I was going to go through the trouble of setting up a loop, I would definitely spend the little bit more to get the full-cover block. But yeah what are VRM temps? Mine were always in the 50C's even at 1.42v and I'm on air.


problem with full cover block is that it doesn't actually cool the gpu as well as a universal block... vrms are about 80 even with the extra heatsinks but im guessing if i redirect a fan and grab some more heat sinks it should work, mem is arround 60 - 70 under load which is a bit streched for my tastes so ill either get the full cover block or more heatsinks...

gpu is always under 40 even at full load, 36-38 seems to be the max it ever gets


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> If I was going to go through the trouble of setting up a loop, I would definitely spend the little bit more to get the full-cover block. But yeah what are VRM temps? Mine were always in the 50C's even at 1.42v and I'm on air.
> 
> 
> 
> problem with full cover block is that it doesn't actually cool the gpu as well as a universal block... vrms are about 80 even with the extra heatsinks but im guessing if i redirect a fan and grab some more heat sinks it should work, mem is arround 60 - 70 under load which is a bit streched for my tastes so ill either get the full cover block or more heatsinks...
> 
> gpu is always under 40 even at full load, 36-38 seems to be the max it ever gets
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. Yeah a fan would help a lot. I replaced the stock HAF X side-panel fan with a AeroCool Shark 140mm and it brought all 3 temps down almost 10 degrees each.


----------



## GenoOCAU

I was in the same situation snitch, ended up getting a 1200watt to have ample headroom. It's better to be safe then sorry imo! At stock clocks and voltage these cards are pretty power efficient, but after 1400 MHz with 93+mV they start slurping down the power!


----------



## snitchkilla11

Ya I'm pretty poed cause I could have bought a 1250 ocz zx for 40 more then my zx 850...but live and learn. From now on every thing I buy will be big!!!. I figured every thing now and in the future would be power efficient and 850 would be plenty...man was I wrong


----------



## famich

Yep, I bought the Seasonic Gold 1250W as well, to be on the safe side...


----------



## dph314

I got a 1200w back when I had reference 680s because I didn't want to have to upgrade the PSU for a while, so good thing I did because shortly after the PSU purchase I decided to get Lightnings


----------



## qwwwizx

you never hear people complain about their investment in something that was too powerful. I went with an enermax maxrevo 1500w last year and thats for a single card setup.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion49*
> 
> Thanks I guess I'll give that one a go. I was able to OC much higher before the newest set of drivers, undoubtedly Nvidia enforcing its "green light" agenda one way or another. I'm pretty sure this will be my last green team card.


What do the drivers do than? I see no difference in the overclock with different drivers.
But I just got this card for a month or so...........


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> you never hear people complain about their investment in something that was too powerful. I went with an enermax maxrevo 1500w last year and thats for a single card setup.
> Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2


more Watt is always a good idea .. 1500w means its most efficient at 750 w.
I got a SilverStone Strider 1200w Evo myself. FOr only 1 GFX and CPU.. but 92% efficiency at 50%.. thats just nice


----------



## snitchkilla11

Is the new corsair 1200w worth the expensive price?


----------



## qwwwizx

Just had a quick power test using 3dmark11

Includes:

Asus Maximus IV,
I7-2600K,
Corsair Dominator 7-9-6-24-1T @ 1866,
6x140mm fans,
2x120mm fans,
corsair memory fans,
waterpump 18w,
120GB SSD.
Silverstone 750 Gold PSU (maxrevo is in my chiller rig at the moment)
Gigabyte GTX680 Super Overclock
Measured at the wall-plug.

*No overclock* P9805
i7 - 2600K (37x, 36x, 35x, 35x 100Mhz) - default settings
GTX680 LN2 bios (- Mhz) - default settings
idle power consumption: 137w
max power consumption: 330w

*CPU overclocked a bit* P10280
i7 - 2600K (52x, 51x, 50x, 50x 100Mhz) - vcore 1.46v
GTX680 LN2 bios (- Mhz) - default settings
idle power consumption: 150w
max power consumption: 405w

*CPU and GPU overclocked a bit* P12390
i7 - 2600K (52x, 51x, 50x, 50x 100Mhz) - vcore 1.46v
GTX680 LN2 bios (1398Mhz) - vgpu 1.335v, gpumem 7336
idle power consumption: 163w
max power consumption: 465w

*CPU overclocked a lot and GPU stock* P9768
i7 - 2600K (54x, 54x, 54x, 54x 100.2Mhz) - vcore 1.62v
GTX680 LN2 bios (- Mhz) - default settings
idle power consumption: 181w
max power consumption: 488w

*CPU overclocked a lot and GPU overclocked a bit* P12502
i7 - 2600K (54x, 54x, 54x, 54x 100.2Mhz) - vcore 1.62v
GTX680 LN2 bios (1398Mhz) - vgpu 1.355v, gpumem 7336
idle power consumption: 181w
max power consumption: 555w

Its hot in my living room, so I didnt want to take any chances pushing stuff further today. Single GPU rigs should work out with a 650w PSU.

Next will be to bring this
*CPU overclocked a lot and GPU overclocked a lot* P13106
i7 - 2600K (52x, 52x, 52x, 52x 103.9Mhz) - vcore 1.61v
GTX680 LN2 bios (1489Mhz) - vgpu 1.41v, gpumem 7336
idle power consumption: ???w
max power consumption: ???w

*Conclusion:*
750w should be more than enough in SLI rigs, unless overclocking is a must.


----------



## Arnoud87

hehe







nice overview


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Just had a quick power test using 3dmark11
> 
> Includes:
> 
> .....
> 
> 750w should be more than enough in SLI rigs, unless overclocking is a must.


Very informative. Thanks for posting







+rep for sure


----------



## DJRamses

I ve making a test with my System:

3Dmark 11 
(some nvidia Quallity settings was enabled)
GTX 680 lightning @ 1515Mhz /7112Mhz
Rampage Extreme III with i7 980 @ 4910Mhz
Ram @ 2134Mhz
4 x HDD´s Raid
2 x SSD
3 x 140 Fans @ very low Power
1 waterpump
max. idle Power = 281 watts
max. Power = 605 watts

A short Test with 1530Mhz on my Lightning push to 627 watts.


----------



## gotendbz1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> I ve making a test with my System:
> 3Dmark 11
> (some nvidia Quallity settings was enabled)
> GTX 680 lightning @ 1515Mhz /7112Mhz
> Rampage Extreme III with i7 980 @ 4910Mhz
> Ram @ 2134Mhz
> 4 x HDD´s Raid
> 2 x SSD
> 3 x 140 Fans @ very low Power
> 1 waterpump
> max. idle Power = 281 watts
> max. Power = 605 watts
> A short Test with 1530Mhz on my Lightning push to 627 watts.


what voltage was the gpu at for this run?


----------



## DJRamses

The highest Value on my MM was 1,46V .


----------



## gotendbz1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> The highest Value on my MM was 1,46V .


did you do the art money hack or just max out slider in AB, that a great oc.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gotendbz1*
> 
> did you do the art money hack or just max out slider in AB, that a great oc.


I use the Art Money hack and a great cooling..


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gotendbz1*
> 
> did you do the art money hack or just max out slider in AB, that a great oc.


Would have been the hack as AB does not go over 1.36v.

Ninja'd


----------



## DADDYDC650

Have you folks used the EVGA OC Scanner's "Furry-Tessy Donut" stress test? Wow! I thought I was fully stable (Heaven, 3DMark, BF3 ect.) on LN2 BIOS @ 1350-1400. Nope! Turns out that I'm fully stable at around 1260/7.1Ghz using stock volts since raising the voltage would shoot the temps up higher than I'm comfortable with while running the OC Scanner Furry-Tessy Donut stress test.


----------



## HeadlessKnight

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> Have you folks used the EVGA OC Scanner's "Furry-Tessy Donut" stress test? Wow! I thought I was fully stable (Heaven, 3DMark, BF3 ect.) on LN2 BIOS @ 1350-1400. Nope! Turns out that I'm fully stable at around 1260/7.1Ghz using stock volts since raising the voltage would shoot the temps up higher than I'm comfortable with while running the OC Scanner Furry-Tessy Donut stress test.


Since GTX 500 series. Nvidia cards downclock during extreme stress tests to prevent hardware damage.
Therefore -unfortunately- OCCT, Furmark or EVGA OC Scanner are extremely useless now.
With GTX 400 series it was pretty accurate though. once my old GTX 470 get artifacts with my OCs. it crashes within a few minutes of gaming and benchmarking.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HeadlessKnight*
> 
> Since GTX 500 series. Nvidia cards downclock during extreme stress tests to prevent hardware damage.
> Therefore -unfortunately- OCCT, Furmark or EVGA OC Scanner are extremely useless now.
> 
> With GTX 400 series it was pretty accurate though. once my old GTX 470 get artifacts with my OCs. it crashes within a few minutes of gaming and benchmarking.


I never tried any of them since 200 series, furmark was completely useless for gtx 285s, never tried it with 400 series but got even more useless (if possible) with 500 series.
Someone was telling me it worked better with 600 series but never tried it myself.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HeadlessKnight*
> 
> Since GTX 500 series. Nvidia cards downclock during extreme stress tests to prevent hardware damage.
> Therefore -unfortunately- OCCT, Furmark or EVGA OC Scanner are extremely useless now.
> With GTX 400 series it was pretty accurate though. once my old GTX 470 get artifacts with my OCs. it crashes within a few minutes of gaming and benchmarking.


My card never downclocked. OC Scanner simply detected artifacts. Brutal stress test.


----------



## EVGA-JacobF

OC Scanner is designed to maintain optimal GPU loading to prevent downclocking but still be relevant for artifact scanning...

With that being said, nothing is perfect, so I would still recommend testing other applications also.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *EVGA-JacobF*
> 
> OC Scanner is designed to maintain optimal GPU loading to prevent downclocking but still be relevant for artifact scanning...
> With that being said, nothing is perfect, so I would still recommend testing other applications also.


If my card is stable @ 1350-1400 in every stress test and game than OC scanner, should I downclock to an OC Scanner stable speed?


----------



## magiwizard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> If my card is stable @ 1350-1400 in every stress test and game than OC scanner, should I downclock to an OC Scanner stable speed?


You shouldn't need to overclock your card unless its for extreme conditions i.e. benchmarking

simple gaming should do fine with stock clocks or a mild overclock, I overclock quite a bit harder because this is what i run on



*ignore the sims crap on the shelf that belongs to my fiancee -_- but point is what does your stock 680 lightning not run to your liking lol 1250 is in most cases more than enough for gaming / other applictions

oh and here's some random pics while im at it


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> You shouldn't need to overclock your card unless its for extreme conditions i.e. benchmarking
> simple gaming should do fine with stock clocks or a mild overclock, I overclock quite a bit harder because this is what i run on
> 
> *ignore the sims crap on the shelf that belongs to my fiancee -_- but point is what does your stock 680 lightning not run to your liking lol 1250 is in most cases more than enough for gaming / other applictions
> oh and here's some random pics while im at it


I shouldn't need to overclock my Lightning? Blasphemy!!!

BTW, awesome rig.


----------



## magiwizard

thanks XD but yeah each benchmark is different I would go for a 2 hr run with your most played games or most used apps for the real stability test


----------



## D749

Currently I've removed my Reactors to make room for 3-way SLI. When I was looking at a picture of the Reactors online I noticed they looked like this:



However, mine aren't powered via a cable and instead look like this:



What's going on?


----------



## hammerforged

Check out the version numbers (bottom right on the PCB, white letters)

The one in the photo is 1.1 and yours is 2.0

I wouldnt worry about it at all. They've just found a better way to do it.


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hammerforged*
> 
> Check out the version numbers (bottom right on the PCB, white letters)
> The one in the photo is 1.1 and yours is 2.0
> I wouldnt worry about it at all. They've just found a better way to do it.


Ah, ok. Thanks.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Weird I have 2 of the first 5000 lightnings released and theyre both Ver 2.0 reactors..

Maybe the sample cards had 1.1, retail had 2.0.


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> I ve making a test with my System:
> 3Dmark 11
> (some nvidia Quallity settings was enabled)
> GTX 680 lightning @ 1515Mhz /7112Mhz
> Rampage Extreme III with i7 980 @ 4910Mhz
> Ram @ 2134Mhz
> 4 x HDD´s Raid
> 2 x SSD
> 3 x 140 Fans @ very low Power
> 1 waterpump
> max. idle Power = 281 watts
> max. Power = 605 watts
> A short Test with 1530Mhz on my Lightning push to 627 watts.


Thats a pretty good overclock. Is it on sub-zero cooling?


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Ah, ok. Thanks.


Maby one is the 7970 lightning

And can some one with sli lightnings get an accurate wattage reading. If one is around 650 two would be over 950 maby 1000


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Maby one is the 7970 lightning
> And can some one with sli lightnings get an accurate wattage reading. If one is around 650 two would be over 950 maby 1000


I believe FtW 420.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I'll throw in the 2nd lightning & just test the single psu with 2 x 680, I'm running a 2600k right now but should be similar power draw to a 3770k for a whole system test.
> Edit: It was a bit of a shocker, went to try with 2600k at 4.5Ghz, 2 x 680L at 1400/1752, +100mV. Got a full rig shutdown in gt1, 1080W showing on the meter. Tried cards completely stock volts & clocks (ln2 bios), pulls 756w from the wall.
> OCed +100 on the core & +499 mem (1307/1752), no added volts, 820w from the wall. Added 50mV with same clock, 900w from the wall.
> Only extras attached to the mobo are 2 case fans & 1 ssd. Cooling is externally powered.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Thats a pretty good overclock. Is it on sub-zero cooling?


No..
it is very simple, but very effectiv. The Radiators (1x240 and 1x480) are standig outside. We here in Germany have autumn/ winter. Temps outside are (at moment) between 6 and 8 °C . My Idle Temp (GPU)now is 8 -10°C.
If freezing outside, temps how -5°C or colder are possible.








Max. Temp in benchmarks how Unigine .... not over 15 - 20°C at 1500Mhz. or more


----------



## snitchkilla11

I just wana be sure I'm not throwing away over 300 on a new psu before I pull the trigger. I allready spent 700 this week on some new things for my rig... I have ocd and every thing needs to match..MSI made a nice setup for the lightnings..now only if MSi had a matching case.


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Thats a pretty good overclock. Is it on sub-zero cooling?
> 
> 
> 
> No..
> it is very simple, but very effectiv. The Radiators (1x240 and 1x480) are standig outside. We here in Germany have autumn/ winter. Temps outside are (at moment) between 6 and 8 °C . My Idle Temp (GPU)now is 8 -10°C.
> If freezing outside, temps how -5°C or colder are possible.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Max. Temp in benchmarks how Unigine .... not over 15 - 20°C at 1500Mhz. or more
Click to expand...

Cool. i would love to have my rads outside too. When it gets really cold you might have some condencing issues though.

When I bench, I put my computer in the open kitchen window, to get some 5-10c air on the rad. I live in Denmark, Copenhagen where we have similar temperatures.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Gregster

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=23066128&postcount=1953

That is what a 680 LTG on cascade cooling can do


















8 Pack has a peach of a card


----------



## DJRamses

For condencing , i ´ve a little reason:

I use a cheap 120mm rad with fan. This is fixed at the side of my Case and plugged at the Coolingsystem too. He cools the roomair very down and blow it in the Case.
And the condecing to cling at the rad. How a air conditioner...








No condencing in Case


----------



## Arnoud87

I wonder how much a memory overclock is of a impact compared to just core.......... 3dmark 11 is wayy too outdated.
With a 30% mem overclock I get SLI GTX 580 scores in other benchies







.. crysis 2 oid... also skyrim runs insane on 8x aa ultra.
Vcore didnt do much for me. Got it at 1,306.

Also heard from someone 1200mhz vs 1400mhz is minimal because the mem necks performance hard.. for some good overal high quality AA gaming an high res.
Curious how muc overal 200mhz more mem would make of a difference in something not 3dmark 11 > but BF3 and so on.


----------



## DJRamses

Look at the Bios of the LTG. It is a locked Version.....


----------



## Gregster

He uses ABX...


----------



## DJRamses

I think... i must contact MSI


----------



## Gregster

You just need to prove you are an accomplished overclocker with things like stats on HWbot.


----------



## pfinch

if i remove the gpu reactor..what will happen?


----------



## driftingforlife

Nothing.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> You just need to prove you are an accomplished overclocker with things like stats on HWbot.


Oh, that is no problem. I submitting often some scores. At Winter a little bit more..








Have You a Link for Contact MSI ... ?


----------



## hammerforged

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> if i remove the gpu reactor..what will happen?


Nuclear Fallout









Nothing. Only for LN2 benchers.


----------



## pfinch

nothing? so the gpu reactor is only marketing-gimmick?


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Oh, that is no problem. I submitting often some scores. At Winter a little bit more..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Have You a Link for Contact MSI ... ?


http://hwbot.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47952

Hope that helps


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> nothing? so the gpu reactor is only marketing-gimmick?


It is only made for when under LN2 and get above 1600mhz.


----------



## TheBenson

It has to do with minimizing ripple from your power supply in my understanding. Not really something a critical component as pretty much all other GPUs do not offer the same feature, but not completely meaningless so to speak.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> http://hwbot.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47952
> Hope that helps


Yes...
Thanks


----------



## Valenz

I miss my lightning , by far the best card i've owned so far. :-( maybe I will pickup another one being so cheap now.


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheBenson*
> 
> It has to do with minimizing ripple from your power supply in my understanding. Not really something a critical component as pretty much all other GPUs do not offer the same feature, but not completely meaningless so to speak.


At least a good power supply with perfect ripple is important, some dude on a forum had 3x 7970 and all went RMA because of his horrible power supply...
Power supplies def. need to be state of the art when you want a ROCK stable system.
I also had a system with Black spots on mainbard because of unbalance via crappy power supply....


----------



## pfinch

LN2-Bios is the left Switch (looking from the front side), right?


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> LN2-Bios is the left Switch (looking from the front side), right?


Yes. It will tell you in afterburner also


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> LN2-Bios is the left Switch (looking from the front side), right?


Yes Afterburner tells you, next to the card model, if you're using the LN2 BIOS. When looking at your card in the computer (cooler on bottom and back of PCB on top, and the display ports are to your left) the switch to the _right_ is the LN2 BIOS.

Also, always make sure the computer is completely powered down when switching.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Does adjusting voltage in your mb bios for your gpu work better then afterburner?


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Does adjusting voltage in your mb bios for your gpu work better then afterburner?


You can't alter GPU voltage at the MOBO BIOS. It has to be done with overclocking software (Afterburner/PrecisionX etc etc).


----------



## xoleras

Day 1 lightning owner here, whats up guys? So whats new with the lightning? Still enjoying the heck outta my pair.

Did they ever implement the locked BIOS as rumored?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Day 1 lightning owner here, whats up guys? So whats new with the lightning? Still enjoying the heck outta my pair.
> 
> Did they ever implement the locked BIOS as rumored?


Welcome back xoleras!









Yep, they're all locked. MSI is even keeping the BIOS label the same as the unlocked version, but locking it down (someone got the unlocked 3A BIOS but still had to flash to the one from the OP for 300% Power Target and voltage adjustment iirc a bunch of pages back).

I finally switched mine over to the non-LN2 BIOS to see what they're like. 1480mhz one boosts to 1202mhz, ha. Could have been running that at 1.175v this whole time







. Don't matter though, upgrading next series anyways.

Other than that, lot of new members, and awesomely high overclocks are still popping up here and there with ArtMoney.


----------



## furyn9

It is an old game but a good one , is free Bioshock 1 , I'm downloading mine right know
http://www.gamefly.com/Download-BioShock/150930/


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *furyn9*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It is an old game but a good one , is free Bioshock 1 , I'm downloading mine right know
> http://www.gamefly.com/Download-BioShock/150930/


That has its own thread.. http://www.overclock.net/t/1325086/gamefly-bioshock-for-pc-0-free/10#post_18557853


----------



## snitchkilla11

they need a cc..forget that!


----------



## stansfield

Many moons ago (my brain is fuzzy it's been so long ago) tom did a write up and extensively researched OC'ing vid cards. It seems most the speed comes from overclocking the memory vs gpu. Of course today's cards are light years from the cards tested at that time. I would be interested to see priority of mem being overclocked over gpu to see performance comparison of other way around. I don't know how much headroom the mem has on these for oc. Once I get my comp built I'll prob look in to this.

got my lightning a couple days ago. definitely a massive thing of beauty


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Welcome back xoleras!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yep, they're all locked. MSI is even keeping the BIOS label the same as the unlocked version, but locking it down (someone got the unlocked 3A BIOS but still had to flash to the one from the OP for 300% Power Target and voltage adjustment iirc a bunch of pages back).
> I finally switched mine over to the non-LN2 BIOS to see what they're like. 1480mhz one boosts to 1202mhz, ha. Could have been running that at 1.175v this whole time
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Don't matter though, upgrading next series anyways.
> Other than that, lot of new members, and awesomely high overclocks are still popping up here and there with ArtMoney.


My "1440" boosts to 1228 , if I remember correctly- interesting...

And no, I m going to add the Zotac GTX 680 and run SLI for some time / if needed / - BTW cheers to all..


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *stansfield*
> 
> Many moons ago (my brain is fuzzy it's been so long ago) tom did a write up and extensively researched OC'ing vid cards. It seems most the speed comes from overclocking the memory vs gpu. Of course today's cards are light years from the cards tested at that time. I would be interested to see priority of mem being overclocked over gpu to see performance comparison of other way around. I don't know how much headroom the mem has on these for oc. Once I get my comp built I'll prob look in to this.
> got my lightning a couple days ago. definitely a massive thing of beauty


I found certain games/benchs like one or the other but generally both. In Heaven and BF3 for instance, it works better with a good memory overclock and 3DMark11 works better with a good GPU core overclock.

My only gripe is the 256bit memory bus at my resoloution. 2 7950s at 5760*1080 can get better fps than me on BF3







I knew this when I bought my rig but wasn't expecting the new AMD drivers to give that kind of boost in performance.

If anyone is interested, I did a benchmark with one LTG and one ref EVGA on air a while ago (before buying another LTG). I did the benchs in 3D surround and just surround for comparison.


----------



## Arnoud87

seems liek my 7800Mhz run needs 100% fan speed in order to keep cool enoughh whehehehehe what a damn noise.
Only needs arround 45 degrees, pretty strange that it can run so much higher if its 5 degrees lower.. its a 7ghz vs 7,8 vs 5 degrees or so


----------



## maestrobg

hi everyone i am new proud owner of lightning

these are my max clocks on default BIOS...

gpu +130 mem +520

3dmark11: 11880 p



3dmarkvantage 42693 p



unigine heaven 2540 p


----------



## maestrobg

as you see my bios version is 80.04.47.00.18

on the first page of this thread i saw that is NON LN2 BIOS.... and my question is: Can I flash LN 2 BIOS with tutorial you gave on first page of this thread?


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> as you see my bios version is 80.04.47.00.18
> on the first page of this thread i saw that is NON LN2 BIOS.... and my question is: Can I flash LN 2 BIOS with tutorial you gave on first page of this thread?


You should be able to. I've flashed both my cards using those instructions as they both had locked 3A bios. Just follow the instructions and you should be fine. You could run your system at stock if you're overclocked to be safe.

I finally had a chance to set-up and test my second card. Here's the highest I can go on the LN2 bios without any extra voltage. I'm happy with 1280. Seems like I got a decent card.


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Does adjusting voltage in your mb bios for your gpu work better then afterburner?


Im guessing that option applies to the integrated GPU in the processor, I might be wrong though.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Just bought myself another lightning! Guess lightning is going to strike my house twice! Bought one off of Amazon for $373 in "used, like new" condition. Hope it's a decent overclocker.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i hope so too..it most likely got returned for the fact that it isnt..


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i hope so too..it most likely got returned for the fact that it isnt..


Maybe so. I've also read from a bunch of folks who have purchased "used, like new" items from Amazon that they are most likely brand new except the retail boxes have issues with them (banged up box, writing on it). Even if it's only a decent overclocker, an extra 50-100Mhz isn't going to make a difference in gaming but I WILL notice the extra $100+ in my pocket.


----------



## maestrobg

hi, i tried to flash my Non LN2 bios with a3 and it was succesfull... but whnen i tried to flash with f8 bios, my screen started flickering....

i read already that some users here had the same problem too...

a3 works great....

and my succesfull clocks with a3 are gpu +155 mem +580

on default bios was gpu +130 mem+520

are theese clocks good, average or bad?

1. 3dmak11 12082 p



2. 3dmarkvantage 43135 p



3, unigine heaven 2.5 2583 p


----------



## snitchkilla11

oh im 100% with you..at stock speeds they are better then most cards..you def came out on top of that deal!


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> oh im 100% with you..at stock speeds they are better then most cards..you def came out on top of that deal!


I thought popped into my head. Maybe it was returned because the original buyer couldn't figure out how to OC since it's voltage locked. Only one way to find out....


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> I thought popped into my head. Maybe it was returned because the original buyer couldn't figure out how to OC since it's voltage locked. Only one way to find out....


Or someone told the previous buyer of the new 12.11 beta driver from AMD craze and he had to switch asap.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Or someone told the previous buyer of the new 12.11 beta driver from AMD craze and he had to switch asap.


I thought about switching myself. I can't bring myself to sell my current 680 Lightning for a 7970. Might as well have lightning strike newbz twice this winter instead.


----------



## maestrobg

will someone tell me if this result is good or not?

on LN2 bios gpu +155 mem +580

??


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> hi, i tried to flash my Non LN2 bios with a3 and it was succesfull... but whnen i tried to flash with f8 bios, my screen started flickering....
> i read already that some users here had the same problem too...
> a3 works great....
> and my succesfull clocks with a3 are gpu +155 mem +580
> on default bios was gpu +130 mem+520
> are theese clocks good, average or bad?
> 1. 3dmak11 12082 p
> 
> 2. 3dmarkvantage 43135 p
> 
> 3, unigine heaven 2.5 2583 p


Very good clocks. You have an effective core clock of 1357Mhz and a 1792 effective memory clock. A friend bought a 680 on my recommendation and could only get +130 core and +450 memory.


----------



## maestrobg

new beta driver and better result in 3dmarkvantage 43466 p


----------



## DJRamses

Yes, the beta-driver and Vantage works fine..


----------



## dph314

Good indeed. I guarentee not many references are running that speed, definitely not as cool either. so, yep, good card.

Yes, about 12.11... I'm all for it, for the fact that it should give Nvidia a nice kick in the ass and we'll all benefit from that next series. Hopefully Nvidia won't take them so lightly. I can't help but feel though that it's the same situation with Nvidia and AMD as it is with Intel and AMD. Nvidia isn't taking huge leaps between series' performance because they don't have to with the current competition, and don't feel the need to cannibalize the previous gen.

So, I don't think we'll ever see either company pull ahead by a wide margin.


----------



## helidan

Guys, quick question about the 680L.

After powering up the PC or after the system resumes from sleep does it take a while for the blue LED's down by the fans to illuminate?

Mine take around 20-30 seconds before they come on.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *helidan*
> 
> Guys, quick question about the 680L.
> 
> After powering up the PC or after the system resumes from sleep does it take a while for the blue LED's down by the fans to illuminate?
> 
> Mine take around 20-30 seconds before they come on.


Mine go on instantly. But as long as everything is working you should be fine. Might just be the way yours works for some reason.
Is there a delay with the display coming up as well? Is the card working, it's just the LEDs that delay?


----------



## helidan

Everything seems to be ok, no delay in the display coming up. The LED's seem to illuminate when the fans start to spin in the proper direction, the card does this dust removal thing for around 30 seconds during which the fans reverse direction. Just wondering if the LED's indicate the fans are working in the correct direction.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *helidan*
> 
> Everything seems to be ok, no delay in the display coming up. The LED's seem to illuminate when the fans start to spin in the proper direction, the card does this dust removal thing for around 30 seconds during which the fans reverse direction. Just wondering if the LED's indicate the fans are working in the correct direction.


Yeah the card does the dust-removal spin for 30 seconds when the computer is turned on, not when coming out of sleep though, but either way my LEDs turn on the second I hit the power button. Maybe it's your BIOS? Not sure if the newer default BIOSs could be causing the delay with the LEDs. Does it happen when you boot using the LN2 BIOS as well? Did you try flashing to the unlocked 3A LN2 BIOS from the OP yet? I've heard more than 1 person say they've had problems with the unlocked F8 BIOS from the OP, so I would definitely go with the 3A if you have to flash, it's better anyways (doesn't force a hard-reset when crashing from an unstable OC).


----------



## helidan

Not tried the LN2 BIOS yet, correct me if I'm wrong but changing to LN2 requires a re-install of the GPU drivers?? I understand the system has to be fully powered down before changing over.

TBH, I'm not that fussed about the LED's, it's not like they're not working at all. Of course if the card starts to show any additional issues then we'll have to consider a possible RMA.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *helidan*
> 
> Not tried the LN2 BIOS yet, correct me if I'm wrong but changing to LN2 requires a re-install of the GPU drivers?? I understand the system has to be fully powered down before changing over.
> 
> TBH, I'm not that fussed about the LED's, it's not like they're not working at all. Of course if the card starts to show any additional issues then we'll have to consider a possible RMA.


You should have to reinstall them when you switch over to the LN2 BIOS for the first time, yeah. You don't have to do a clean install though, since it's the same driver version. Just run the drivers file and let it reinstall over your current installation (assuming it's the same driver version). And yes, computer off when flipping the switch.

Trying out the LN2 BIOS is always worth a shot though, if for nothing more than to see what your card is capable of. I couldn't wait more than a few minutes with a new graphics card before I take its training wheels off and push it full throttle


----------



## mfranco702

Im stuck here.... 1340 MHz, 3460 memory 1.21V, I need more juice, any ideas?


----------



## maestrobg

i have flashed ln2 bios... now i have core voltage in AB +93mv.... how i can get +143 mv? or more?


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> i have flashed ln2 bios... now i have core voltage in AB +93mv.... how i can get +143 mv? or more?


https://sites.google.com/site/qwwwizx/home/gtx-680

Qwwwizx did a very simple guide but please keep an eye on temps (especially if you are on air cooling).


----------



## maestrobg

ok what voltage is safe to add in artmoney with air cooling?


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> ok what voltage is safe to add in artmoney with air cooling?


With a single GPU, I added 180.


----------



## maestrobg

i did all according to qwizzz hack... and:

I put several numbers in artmoney... 100, 150, 200...

and drag sliders of power limit, memory voltage and aux to the right.... set core clock to 160.... and start 3 dmark 11..

IT CRASHES EVERY TIME AT FIRST SECOND WHEN IT STARTS????

WHY??

with +100 mv without hack, i have stable +155 for gpu clock..!!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> i did all according to qwizzz hack... and:
> 
> I put several numbers in artmoney... 100, 150, 200...
> 
> and drag sliders of power limit, memory voltage and aux to the right.... set core clock to 160.... and start 3 dmark 11..
> 
> IT CRASHES EVERY TIME AT FIRST SECOND WHEN IT STARTS????
> 
> WHY??
> 
> with +100 mv without hack, i have stable +155 for gpu clock..!!


Are the offsets you're entering in ArtMoney actually showing to the right of the voltage slider in Afterburner?


----------



## maestrobg

i made mistake when edit cfg file in afterburner... now i can make it...

when i set +200 in artmoney i can get +175 for gpu clock, and no more! is it ok?

without hack i can make +155...

only +20 more with volt hack??


----------



## magiwizard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> i made mistake when edit cfg file in afterburner... now i can make it...
> when i set +200 in artmoney i can get +175 for gpu clock, and no more! is it ok?
> without hack i can make +155...
> only +20 more with volt hack??


it means that your gpu is at where it can go, the extra voltage will only add 10-50mhz depending on the card since you're already at 1.31~ with unlocked ln2 bios so your card isn't going to go any further.

try water cooling if you want to push clocks further other than that thats where your card wants to be, what are your temps? if its a temp problem then water cooling will help (higher the clocks the lower the temp requirement for stability)


----------



## maestrobg

my temps arent high... about 60c in full load at core voltage 1.31 v....

and one question more: all sliders - power limit, aux , and memory voltage should be on their max values? or i can get better result with their mid values?


----------



## Gregster

Try for something like

Power target +200
Core +200
Mem +575

Mem +100
Aux +50

and whatever you are comfortable with volts.

I have mine under water and temps have never gone over 55C on core/mem/vrms but I am at my GPUs limits. Water helped me get a 13K single card score though on 3DMark11


----------



## maestrobg

tesing is finished

i tried over artmoney these voltages +150, +175, +180 and + 200mv...( 1.4v max )

maximum clocks before voltage hack were +155 gpu and +580 mem...

maximum clocks after voltage hack are +170 gpu and +580 mem...

that clock i get at 1.38 v...( + 180 mv in artmoney.... )

at higher volts card can achieve even +180 gpu clock and passes all tests but with lower results than with +170 gpu... CARD IS THROTTLING AM I RIGHT??

ok.... these are my results with max clocks +170 gpu and +580 mem...

1. 3dmark11 12217 p



2. 3dmarkvantage 43635 p



3. unigine heaven 2624 p



what do you think ?


----------



## Gregster

^^ nice scores and each chip is a lottery regardless of what volys go through it. Under water, I would say you could go higher but not by much.

Try a run with your power target at 190 and see if your score improves


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> tesing is finished


you can do better ...try in this way

select the "k-boost" option from evga precision
reboot ... you will see that your card is fixed to max 3D frequency and the core voltage is steady

now don't use evga precision but afterburner and artmoney

when you're done, deselect "k-boost" and reboot


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> you can do better ...try in this way
> select the "k-boost" option from evga precision
> reboot ... you will see that your card is fixed to max 3D frequency and the core voltage is steady
> now don't use evga precision but afterburner and artmoney
> when you're done, deselect "k-boost" and reboot


Does this not work the same way as "force constant voltage" on Afterburner or am I missing something?


----------



## Deano12345

I've got a family member bringing one of these back from the States in a few weeks, I think its time to finally retire the 5850 (







). Looks like I have a bit of reading to do ! Just wondering though, I've seen temp results for standard cards in SLI and the temps dont seem to bad, I presume its the same (if not better) with these Lightnings ? (I only ask cause I could pick up a second one fairly cheap over here)


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> Does this not work the same way as "force constant voltage" on Afterburner or am I missing something?


no ...
without "k-boost" option: core voltage is dynamic (0,992~1,212 + offset) , same for the frequencies
with "k-boost" ,you obtain core voltage fixed ( 1,212+offset) and max 3D frequencies all the time

try


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> no ...
> without "k-boost" option: core voltage is dynamic (0,992~1,212 + offset) , same for the frequencies
> with "k-boost" ,you obtain core voltage fixed ( 1,212+offset) and max 3D frequencies all the time
> try


Ok Cheers I thought with using art money it was already forcing the voltage to what was set in art money, say +150 was 1.2620V as my clocks are 1.2120V with the +100. I will give it a try and see if it improves my score. Cheers for the tip


----------



## maestrobg

i listen to you and i activate k-boost option in evga precision, reboot...

then i used artmoney and AB....

I tried multiple voltage values( +150,+175,+180,+190,+200,+210) and multiple power limit values ( 190%, 200 %, 250 %, 275 % and 300 % ) ....

and WHENEVER I TRIED TO RAISE GPU CLOCK OVER +170, 3DMARK11 CRASHES....

I think that +170 gpu clock is maximum for my card, i dont know....

what do you say?


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> i listen to you and i activate k-boost option in evga precision, reboot...
> then i used artmoney and AB....
> I tried multiple voltage values( +150,+175,+180,+190,+200,+210) and multiple power limit values ( 190%, 200 %, 250 %, 275 % and 300 % ) ....
> and WHENEVER I TRIED TO RAISE GPU CLOCK OVER +170, 3DMARK11 CRASHES....
> I think that +170 gpu clock is maximum for my card, i dont know....
> what do you say?


What for a Bios has your Card? F8?

And how crash 3DMark11?


----------



## maestrobg

no f8... i tried f8 and start to flickering... i have A3 bios and works fine...

3dmark11 stop working and back me to desktop....on frequencies higher than +170 for gpu.. no matter which voltage od power limit i choose...


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> no f8... i tried f8 and start to flickering... i have A3 bios and works fine...
> 3dmark11 stop working and back me to desktop....on frequencies higher than +170 for gpu.. no matter which voltage od power limit i choose...


Okay,
I have make a Test on my system. +170 runs perfeclty with only +8 Voltage value.

now try following:

Set Core Clock on +30 and run 3Dmark 11. Power can you set to 200. All other settings leave you to default. No changes on voltages or memory offsets.
If 3Dmark 11 runs perfectly, set the CoreClock to 40 and run 3DMArk 11.. and so on.
If 3DMark crashes, set the Voltage to 20 and go on with overclock in steps with +10 and then 3Dmark runs.

so can you testing, what your LTG needs....

Sorry, my bad english...
I am learning by doing..


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> I've got a family member bringing one of these back from the States in a few weeks, I think its time to finally retire the 5850 (
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ). Looks like I have a bit of reading to do ! Just wondering though, I've seen temp results for standard cards in SLI and the temps dont seem to bad, I presume its the same (if not better) with these Lightnings ? (I only ask cause I could pick up a second one fairly cheap over here)


yes in sli these cards are beast!!! and mine never go over 60.but i have great airflow in my case.best cards i ever owned


----------



## maestrobg

i listened your advices and tonight finished last test session

slowly i started to overclock in small increments of 10mhz and 20 mv.....

at 1.4v ( +200mv in artmoney ) i succesfully get +180 for gpu and + 700 for mem!!!!!!!!

these clocks are mine maximum clocks!

here are results:

1. 3dmark11 12292 p



2. 3dmarkvantage AN INSANE 44438 P !!!!



3. unigine heaven 2.5 2660 p


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> yes in sli these cards are beast!!! and mine never go over 60.but i have great airflow in my case.best cards i ever owned


Yeah after looking up some SLI reviews, I'd have to agree







although my temps won't nearly be as good since the cards will be sandwiched together, and the 800D is not the best case for air cooled cards in the first place. Actually, since I'm not 100% sure about it, would I even need a physX card with the 2x680's ? (currently have a 285 for it, running alongside my 5850)


----------



## owikhan

i should update my BIOS of my GTX 680?if yes then please tell me


----------



## maestrobg

new better score with new version of 3dmark11...

12772 p graphics score....


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> i listened your advices and tonight finished last test session
> slowly i started to overclock in small increments of 10mhz and 20 mv.....
> at 1.4v ( +200mv in artmoney ) i succesfully get +180 for gpu and + 700 for mem!!!!!!!!
> these clocks are mine maximum clocks!
> here are results:


I need that wallpaper so bad







.

nice, i ge max 1350/8000 in Heaven 3







.. but i dont like to put +200 on it







, so for once its a lot fun to make some benefits of the 2x 8-pin potential







.
IN BF3 i could run 1372 mhz..... BUT artifacts.. but it runs







. heheh.
I cant get past 1306 without Art Money.

Anyway....... even 1280mhz is 20% more than the 1060mhz


----------



## PCModderMike

I'm loving this card so far! Sitting here next to a 690, it really puts into perspective how large it is.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> Yeah after looking up some SLI reviews, I'd have to agree
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> although my temps won't nearly be as good since the cards will be sandwiched together, and the 800D is not the best case for air cooled cards in the first place. Actually, since I'm not 100% sure about it, would I even need a physX card with the 2x680's ? (currently have a 285 for it, running alongside my 5850)


Lol your kidding right?. I have no problems running metro or batman.Alice exc. But unless u have 144hz panel. There is no need


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> I'm loving this card so far! Sitting here next to a 690, it really puts into perspective how large it is.


Wow!!! I'm speachless..MSI could have really made this card one of a kind.but with nvidia bs. I also wish we got a 17 phase card like the red team did.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Wow!!! I'm speachless..MSI could have really made this card one of a kind.but with nvidia bs. I also wish we got a 17 phase card like the red team did.


Yea with Nvidia stepping in and flexing their muscle....really put a damper on this card. It's still very impressive though IMO.


----------



## helidan

Another quick question guys, sorry for being a pain!!

When in LN2 BIOS are all of the power phase LED's supposed to remain lit even when the card is idle?

I'll probably try flashing the unlocked BIOS in a couple of days, hope it goes well!!


----------



## DJRamses

A new beta driver is out...

310.54

@ maestrobg

fine! it works and you have find your settings..


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> A new beta driver is out...
> 310.54
> @ maestrobg
> fine! it works and you have find your settings..


Gota love performance drivers.


----------



## DJRamses

bad news...








this driver has no more performance as 310,33

I hoped nvidia is working at a answer for the AMD magic-driver....







but... no!


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> bad news...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this driver has no more performance as 310,33
> I hoped nvidia is working at a answer for the AMD magic-driver....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> but... no!


So far, good news for me







I couldn't use 310.33 without hard locks/freezing but these are great (touch wood). Upto 16% in BF3 performance is a welcome addition although I am bored as hell with BF3 now


----------



## Lass3

Yeah, im waiting till next WHQL, i actually dropped in performance with last BETA compared to current WHQL. Dont even bother to try the new one... Its not because im lacking performance anyway..

But i really hope Nvidia is releasing a WHQL Performance driver soon. Its needed.


----------



## Zero4549

I just picked up a lightning off someone on this forum and I've got a block coming in from sidewinders.

So... Should I even bother with normal bios or just toss it straight into LN2 the first time? Switching requires driver re install, yes?


----------



## SimpleTech

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Switching requires driver re install, yes?


Windows will detect it as a new card and re-install the driver. So you shouldn't have to do anything other than restart your computer when it tells you.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SimpleTech*
> 
> Windows will detect it as a new card and re-install the driver. So you shouldn't have to do anything other than restart your computer when it tells you.


I've completely disabled automatic driver installations due to legacy hardware compatibility issues.

At any rate, back to the original question: Is there any point to even trying the normal BIOS, or should I just slap it into LN2 before I even install it?


----------



## driftingforlife

Put it strait to LN2 and flash to the 3A BIOS.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Put it strait to LN2 and flash to the 3A BIOS.


I like this guys thinking. This 3A BIOS is available on the OP right?


----------



## driftingforlife

Yeap, it's on the OP. The card i am borrowing has not even seen the stock BIOS


----------



## maestrobg

newest beta driver and higher score... 12 787 for graphics


----------



## DJRamses

At 1515Mhz i have no more Grafic - score.

13000 graphic Score with new Driver:


13333 graphic score with 310.33


But, i wanna make some (Re)tests this week....


----------



## Scorpion667

Yo I don't get what Nvidia was fussing about, I've been running mine at +50MV (Ln2) since shortly after I got it (August 9th) and it overclocks the same with no issues. Has anyone actually degraded or killed one of these puppies from overvolting?


----------



## maestrobg

Dj Ramses what cooling do you have on lightning? clocks for gpu are impressive +300 for gpu????

ok now i see it is on water


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> Dj Ramses what cooling do you have on lightning? clocks for gpu are impressive +300 for gpu????
> 
> ok now i see it is on water


I was just going to ask him, ha. Man, 1515mhz @ 35C. That's impressive indeed








Good run DJ


----------



## DJRamses

Yes it water..








And the Rad is standing outside on balcony. We in Germany call it : balcony-mod.









Thanks dph314


----------



## Zero4549

Thanks guys. I'll stick it in LN2 mode. Make sure it works (since I'm getting it used), and if it's not an "unlocked" bios, I'll flash it. Sounds easy enough.

Dunno how many people have the full coverage block for these puppies so perhaps I'll be able to put up some nice OC figures


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Thanks guys. I'll stick it in LN2 mode. Make sure it works (since I'm getting it used), and if it's not an "unlocked" bios, I'll flash it. Sounds easy enough.
> 
> Dunno how many people have the full coverage block for these puppies so perhaps I'll be able to put up some nice OC figures


You almost definitely have the locked LN2 BIOS, if you just bought the card. So you'll have to flash. And it isn't hard at all. Literally takes 15 seconds. The locked LN2 ones are stuck at 1.175v just like reference 680s, so you might not get a good overclock until after flashing.

And yes, not _too_ many blocks out there, but there's enough to give you some competition







I would love to set up a loop someday. I may do that instead of upgrading right away to the 700-series, since these two Lightnings are more than enough power than I'll need for a while, especially if Nvidia steps it up driver-wise in response to 12.11. But yeah, I'm stuck at 1480mhz in 3dMark11 until I set that loop up. I look forward to your 1500mhz+ run


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You almost definitely have the locked LN2 BIOS, if you just bought the card. So you'll have to flash. And it isn't hard at all. Literally takes 15 seconds. The locked LN2 ones are stuck at 1.175v just like reference 680s, so you might not get a good overclock until after flashing.
> And yes, not _too_ many blocks out there, but there's enough to give you some competition
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I would love to set up a loop someday. I may do that instead of upgrading right away to the 700-series, since these two Lightnings are more than enough power than I'll need for a while, especially if Nvidia steps it up driver-wise in response to 12.11. But yeah, I'm stuck at 1480mhz in 3dMark11 until I set that loop up. I look forward to your 1500mhz+ run


My 295 overclocks pretty freaking high. One of the few "golden cards" of it's production run. Hopefully I can get lucky again.

Anyway, the lightning I ordered is from another user here on OCN, so it's not a brand new card. Not sure how long the previous owner had it for, so I guess we'll see what BIOS comes with it.









In other news, Sidewinder Computers never sent me a confirmation for my waterblock order, and it's still showing up in my cart... might have to call them about that.


----------



## mfranco702

Okay. I edited the .cfg file and now Im getting 1.306V without using artmoney, i can boost so far to +176 and +500 Memory, but mi biggest concern is the temp, AB registered 79C max temp with that voltage, I dont wanna know what will my temperature be with 1.4V and even more clock speed.

My maximum clock speed was 1376 MHz. with 1.306V is that acceptable or is it below the average?

I have 11790 marks sin 3DMark11 but I havent Overclocked my Processor yet to 5300 MHz.







, Should I stop there based on my temps or can I go any further? does anyone know what temp is the max safe for this monsters on air?


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Thanks guys. I'll stick it in LN2 mode. Make sure it works (since I'm getting it used), and if it's not an "unlocked" bios, I'll flash it. Sounds easy enough.
> Dunno how many people have the full coverage block for these puppies so perhaps I'll be able to put up some nice OC figures


I'll be installing my block in the next couple days....hoping to get some good clocks out of this thing as well.










Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You almost definitely have the locked LN2 BIOS, if you just bought the card. So you'll have to flash. And it isn't hard at all. Literally takes 15 seconds. The locked LN2 ones are stuck at 1.175v just like reference 680s, so you might not get a good overclock until after flashing.
> And yes, not _too_ many blocks out there, but there's enough to give you some competition
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I would love to set up a loop someday. I may do that instead of upgrading right away to the 700-series, since these two Lightnings are more than enough power than I'll need for a while, especially if Nvidia steps it up driver-wise in response to 12.11. But yeah, I'm stuck at 1480mhz in 3dMark11 until I set that loop up. I look forward to your 1500mhz+ run


You're Lightning's are beast....no way I would upgrade to the 700 series if I were you, like you said they should be plenty of power for a long time coming. Also just wanted to say, I've seen you around this thread as a regular, and your posts are very helpful, so thanks for that.


----------



## CoD511

Hey guys, any help on where I can find 80.04.09.00.3A to download? I've tried the two other unlocked LN2 BIOS but F8 caused artifacting and I just get a black screen when booting into Windows with 80.04.28.00.3A (drivers cleaned away and freshly installed, yes). Cheers for any help.

Sad story behind this, I had a card from the batch of the first 5000 and it overclocked decently but I took off the reactor on the back when putting these guys in SLI, I decided to re-attach it and re-benchmark with some new RAM and forcing a higher voltage on the GPU but I must have slipped the reactor in wrong by accident and easy as that, broken card







MSI RMA were lax about it but I got a new card back, not a fixed old one.

EDIT: Excellent, browsing through a lot of files and doing a lot of flashing and this 80.04.28.00.3A is seemingly working fine now, still wouldn't mind having the above elusive file as backup!


----------



## helidan

Tried flashing the 3A BIOS using the guide at the start of the thread and I'm getting a warning (Firmware image PCI subsystem ID does not match adapter firmware PCI subsystem ID).

Is it ok to proceed with flashing or have I missed something important??


----------



## alabrand

Will the BIOS mentioned in the OP (The BIOS you use when flashing mentioned in the little tutorial) work well with new editions of the MSI GTX 680 Lightning?


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *helidan*
> 
> Tried flashing the 3A BIOS using the guide at the start of the thread and I'm getting a warning (Firmware image PCI subsystem ID does not match adapter firmware PCI subsystem ID).
> Is it ok to proceed with flashing or have I missed something important??


What is the current BIOS on your card?

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alabrand*
> 
> Will the BIOS mentioned in the OP (The BIOS you use when flashing mentioned in the little tutorial) work well with new editions of the MSI GTX 680 Lightning?


I recently purchased my second LTG and flashed it to the F8 bios which caused pretty colours all over the screen. After reflashing to the 80.04.28.00.3A BIOS, it has been excellent. I wouldn't flash to the F8 if I was buying now.


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> I'll be installing my block in the next couple days....hoping to get some good clocks out of this thing as well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You're Lightning's are beast....no way I would upgrade to the 700 series if I were you, like you said they should be plenty of power for a long time coming. Also just wanted to say, I've seen you around this thread as a regular, and your posts are very helpful, so thanks for that.


I have 2 of these LTG blocks from EK and fantastic temps all over. I added some prolimatech PK-3 to each of the phase capacitors and temps are superb. I have put 1.5V through and the highest temps I have seen is 52C on anything (core/ram/vrms). on normal operation, it runs around 40C. My ambients are 23C.

My only advice is if you use the bridge, be carefull. One of mine wouldn't sit well and after 3 reseats and fluid leaking, I gave up and made my own link system for SLI. The other bridge is fine though, so hopefully just a one off. (O rings looked good and I couldn't see anything visibly wrong with the bridge).

It will show quickly if you have a problem but I am sure I was just unlucky









When under water, give it some









Edit:

It is quite apparent that the 7970 is faster than the normal 680 but the cards we have are not normal 680s...We have the best 680s out


----------



## helidan

Current BIOS is 80.04.47.00.19 (Locked LN2)


----------



## Zero4549

Is there any consensus regarding which lightning block is better? (between the EK block and the one for sake on Sidewinders, any any other I may not know about)

My order at sidewinders apparently didn't go through so I need to re-order, so I can go with either option I guess.


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *helidan*
> 
> Current BIOS is 80.04.47.00.19 (Locked LN2)


You should be fine flashing the 3A BIOS. If you have problems, you can switch to normal BIOS and flash back. Just make sure you save your currnet BIOS for security.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Is there any consensus regarding which lightning block is better? (between the EK block and the one for sake on Sidewinders, any any other I may not know about)
> My order at sidewinders apparently didn't go through so I need to re-order, so I can go with either option I guess.


I ordered the Aqua blocks but after 6 weeks and still not turning up, I got fed up and canceled and went for the EK blocks. I think the Aqua blocks look sweet but temp wise, you won't notice.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> I have 2 of these LTG blocks from EK and fantastic temps all over. I added some prolimatech PK-3 to each of the phase capacitors and temps are superb. I have put 1.5V through and the highest temps I have seen is 52C on anything (core/ram/vrms). on normal operation, it runs around 40C. My ambients are 23C.
> My only advice is if you use the bridge, be carefull. One of mine wouldn't sit well and after 3 reseats and fluid leaking, I gave up and made my own link system for SLI. The other bridge is fine though, so hopefully just a one off. (O rings looked good and I couldn't see anything visibly wrong with the bridge).
> It will show quickly if you have a problem but I am sure I was just unlucky
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> When under water, give it some
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Edit:
> It is quite apparent that the 7970 is faster than the normal 680 but the cards we have are not normal 680s...We have the best 680s out


Thanks for the info....only running one card for now though, for now








Also nice rig you've got, I checked out your pics....just curious though, how come you removed the MSI cover from the back of the cards? The one that goes over the smaller PCB, sorry can't think of what they actually call it off the top of my head.


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Thanks for the info....only running one card for now though, for now
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also nice rig you've got, I checked out your pics....just curious though, how come you removed the MSI cover from the back of the cards? The one that goes over the smaller PCB, sorry can't think of what they actually call it off the top of my head.


Cheers









I removed the reactors because they are ugly







I much prefer it without those bits of plastic on.

Edit:

Very nice build with the EVGA 670s. My build looks slightly different now and I should update the photos. I have the 2 scythe fans on the bottom 240 rad underneath in push. I was creating negative airflow how I had them and it has dropped temps 5C across the water parts now. The top fans I have as pull but would have prefered them inside the case but I can't fit the 3rd fan on the 360 so put them on the top.


----------



## PCModderMike

Oh OK, well cool.









EDIT: And thanks....670's are long gone now though. Prepping the Lightning to go in.


----------



## helidan

Successful 3A BIOS flash, many thanks for the info.


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *helidan*
> 
> Successful 3A BIOS flash, many thanks for the info.


Cool. A reinstall of drivers after restart and have fun









Thanks for the rep


----------



## helidan

Yep, drivers reinstalled, giving the new 310.54 beta a whirl.

Will see how we get on with these.


----------



## Gregster

I am on the 310.54 and they seem fine. I have not done any testing of note except for BF3 and I benched Operation Swordbreaker with the 306.97 WHQL drivers prior to going with these and I got a 2 fps boost on minimums but averages stayed the same and max fps had decreased by 7fps.

No sign of the 16% increase in performance


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You almost definitely have the locked LN2 BIOS, if you just bought the card. So you'll have to flash. And it isn't hard at all. Literally takes 15 seconds. The locked LN2 ones are stuck at 1.175v just like reference 680s, so you might not get a good overclock until after flashing.
> And yes, not _too_ many blocks out there, but there's enough to give you some competition
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I would love to set up a loop someday. I may do that instead of upgrading right away to the 700-series, since these two Lightnings are more than enough power than I'll need for a while, especially if Nvidia steps it up driver-wise in response to 12.11. But yeah, I'm stuck at 1480mhz in 3dMark11 until I set that loop up. I look forward to your 1500mhz+ run
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You're Lightning's are beast....no way I would upgrade to the 700 series if I were you, like you said they should be plenty of power for a long time coming. Also just wanted to say, I've seen you around this thread as a regular, and your posts are very helpful, so thanks for that.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I know I had a ton of questions when I was figuring all of this stuff out when I first got the card and I received all the help I needed, so I feel it's only right to try and help as many others as I can in return, hopefully paying the thread back for what I've taken from it


----------



## helidan

I'll ask again guys, are all of the power phase LED's supposed to remain lit constantly when in LN2 BIOS?

I've done a quick Heaven run with 310.54 and I think I've gained a few FPS, but definitely nowhere near 16%!!

Now that I'm using the unlocked BIOS I'll be doing a bit of benching over the next few days, I'll post back with the results from my card.

BTW, what might be considered an everyday 24/7 OC on the Lightning on standard air cooling??


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *helidan*
> 
> I'll ask again guys, are all of the power phase LED's supposed to remain lit constantly when in LN2 BIOS?
> I've done a quick Heaven run with 310.54 and I think I've gained a few FPS, but definitely nowhere near 16%!!
> Now that I'm using the unlocked BIOS I'll be doing a bit of benching over the next few days, I'll post back with the results from my card.
> BTW, what might be considered an everyday 24/7 OC on the Lightning on standard air cooling??


Both my lightnings stay lit, so that is a yes









My 24/7 OC on air was +120 core and +420 on the mem. Power target 300%. +93voltage +100 mem volt +50 aux. A very nice boost to fps. On water, I run +150 core +500mem for 24/7 stable gaming.

Remember though that each chip is different, some better some poorer.

Run a few loops of heaven I found the best (6 loops) and then jump into gaming. BF3 is a great test for stability.


----------



## helidan

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> Both my lightnings stay lit, so that is a yes
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My 24/7 OC on air was +120 core and +420 on the mem. Power target 300%. +93voltage +100 mem volt +50 aux. A very nice boost to fps. On water, I run +150 core +500mem for 24/7 stable gaming.
> Remember though that each chip is different, some better some poorer.
> Run a few loops of heaven I found the best (6 loops) and then jump into gaming. BF3 is a great test for stability.


Thanks again!!

Blue LED's are ruining my red and black themed interior (Asus ROG based system)!!!









Anyway, I'll give your 24/7 settings a try, seem like a good starting point. What temps are we looking at staying under?


----------



## Gregster

Glad to help









70C is the max I would want. I love the blue led's with the red led's on my ROG board









Report back on how you get on please.


----------



## Lass3

What are the conclusion on the new BETA 310.54? Better than current WHQL? I don't trust nVidias own numbers anymore...


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Thanks. I know I had a ton of questions when I was figuring all of this stuff out when I first got the card and I received all the help I needed, so I feel it's only right to try and help as many others as I can in return, hopefully paying the thread back for what I've taken from it


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> What are the conclusion on the new BETA 310.54? Better than current WHQL? I don't trust nVidias own numbers anymore...


I got about 15-20fps more in blackops 2.


----------



## CL3P20

Are there any extreme coolers that would like to test benefits of memory OCP modification?


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CL3P20*
> 
> Are there any extreme coolers that would like to test benefits of memory OCP modification?


I also would like to know the outcome of this.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CL3P20*
> 
> Are there any extreme coolers that would like to test benefits of memory OCP modification?


Are you talking about the contents of this thread? -> http://www.overclock.net/t/1321511/gtx-680-lightning-vgpu-mod

Not an extreme cooler here, but just curious as to what your asking about would do, and what can be done with the .zip file you posted in that thread.


----------



## mfranco702

Does anyone think 1385 Mhz (+190 core clock) is good for 1.31V? That is the max I can reach with that voltage. my memory is at 3506 Mhz. That I think it can go a little higher.
my temp is 78C running 3DMark11 Performance benchmark, do you recommend go any higher in Volts? I'm cooling with stock air fan 100% . please some advice.


----------



## CL3P20

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *CL3P20*
> 
> Are there any extreme coolers that would like to test benefits of memory OCP modification?
> 
> 
> 
> Are you talking about the contents of this thread? -> http://www.overclock.net/t/1321511/gtx-680-lightning-vgpu-mod
> 
> Not an extreme cooler here, but just curious as to what your asking about would do, and what can be done with the .zip file you posted in that thread.
Click to expand...

No not talking about that thread... which was referring to a possible OCP mod for extreme users by flashing the CHiL firmware [such as GTX480]. I confirmed with MSI sources that this is not needed with Lightning series, so long as you use LN BIOS. MSI has set OCP limit to 1000A for GPUv ... effectively 'removing' OCP for the core.

What I am asking in this thread is "who wants to test memory OCP mod for extreme mem voltage/speed?"


----------



## stansfield

I know a few posts back power supplies and power requirements were being discussed. I haven't bought a power supply yet for my new build. Will a seasonic x-850 handle two of these in sli and CPU oc? I believe that PS is rated up to a 1000 watts. I would like to use it as it dimensions are standard size.

Thanks for any help.


----------



## snitchkilla11

me personaly am kicking my self in the azz for buying an 850..its rated to 930 but i still cant oc both my cards in sli past 1430mhz or i get a powerdown.


----------



## stansfield

Did you try plugging directly into the wall or switching outlets ? It's definitely your PS?


----------



## alancsalt

Definitely his PS...
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I'll throw in the 2nd lightning & just test the single psu with 2 x 680, I'm running a 2600k right now but should be similar power draw to a 3770k for a whole system test.
> Edit: It was a bit of a shocker, went to try with 2600k at 4.5Ghz, 2 x 680L at 1400/1752, +100mV. Got a full rig shutdown in gt1, 1080W showing on the meter. Tried cards completely stock volts & clocks (ln2 bios), pulls 756w from the wall.
> OCed +100 on the core & +499 mem (1307/1752), no added volts, 820w from the wall. Added 50mV with same clock, 900w from the wall.
> Only extras attached to the mobo are 2 case fans & 1 ssd. Cooling is externally powered.


----------



## magiwizard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> me personaly am kicking my self in the azz for buying an 850..its rated to 930 but i still cant oc both my cards in sli past 1430mhz or i get a powerdown.


My one overclocked LTG and rest of the system draws 700~ at load (11 fans + liquid cooling + lighting)


----------



## snitchkilla11

Yes I know for a fact..first I thought I blew out my PCI slots in my board.lol but I later attached my wattage meter and anything over about 930 it powers down..I could have gotten the 1000w for 10 dollars more or 1250 for 30 more..but I had 2 670s at the time..any body need an 850w psu!!!!. J/k. But def buying a 1250..not makeleing that mistake again..I think 1000 would cut it too close with my rig. Micro center owes me some cash.thank god for there price protection guarantee..there 3770k is 229.99!!!! I payed 289 last week.


----------



## Deano12345

And here was me thinking I'd be fine on my HX850







Although I probably wont need to overvolt mine, so hopefully I'll be alright.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Are you talking about the contents of this thread? -> http://www.overclock.net/t/1321511/gtx-680-lightning-vgpu-mod
> Not an extreme cooler here, but just curious as to what your asking about would do, and what can be done with the .zip file you posted in that thread.


It is a nice HowTo.








But if a LTG User use a Vmod poor LTG realy Powerful, you need the MOA Bios for the LTG.


----------



## Gregster

I would like to know has anybody tried adjusting the memory voltage and does it make any difference?


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> And here was me thinking I'd be fine on my HX850
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Although I probably wont need to overvolt mine, so hopefully I'll be alright.


Ya you will be fine.as long as you don't add to much to them..


----------



## DJRamses

So Guys...
I am testing the new driver 310.54.... and the weather outside is coooool









New score in 3DMark 11:


----------



## Gregster

^^ Nice score


----------



## maestrobg

+330 gpu congratulations

and now one simple question:

I noticed that no matter if I set power limit on 200 % or 300 %, clocks are stable at +180 for gpu and +700 for mem !!! and my question is: what is the purpose of 300 % power limit if I get the same clocks as at power limit 200 % ???


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> +330 gpu congratulations
> and now one simple question:
> I noticed that no matter if I set power limit on 200 % or 300 %, clocks are stable at +180 for gpu and +700 for mem !!! and my question is: what is the purpose of 300 % power limit if I get the same clocks as at power limit 200 % ???


http://www.overclock.net/t/1265110/the-gtx-670-overclocking-master-guide

This guy does a fantastic job of explaining how the power target works. (I would end up confusing you lol).

Fantastic guide also


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *maestrobg*
> 
> +330 gpu congratulations
> and now one simple question:
> I noticed that no matter if I set power limit on 200 % or 300 %, clocks are stable at +180 for gpu and +700 for mem !!! and my question is: what is the purpose of 300 % power limit if I get the same clocks as at power limit 200 % ???


Big numbers are sexy


----------



## maestrobg

ok explain that to me wit couple of words?


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> . Now run a complete run of the Heaven benchmark. Now check GPU-Z for the maximum recorded core clock. This number is your Max Boost.
> 
> Power Percent and Power Target:
> The Power Percent is the percent of TDP (Thermal design power) the card is running at. So if the card's TDP is rated at 170W and the card is running at a Power Percent of 117%, that means it's drawing 17% more watts of power than TDP, or 199W. The Power Target on the other hand, is a user defined number that tells the GPU how much over TDP it can go. For example, if you were to set the Power Target to 109% then the card would be able to run about 9% over TDP. However, there does seem to be some additional headroom involved, so realistically, a 109% Power Target would allow the card to go up to around 115% Power Percent. Like i mentioned above in the Kepler Boost section, Kepler Boost is also throttled down based on Power Percent. If the GPU is set at 100% Power Target, then the card will only be allowed to draw enough power to boost up to ~100% of TDP, anymore than that and the card will start to throttle the Kepler Boost value by 13Mhz increments in-order to stay below this number. If you were to then set the Power Target to a higher value, then the GPU could boost a little higher until it either reaches its maximum Kepler Boost or it reaches this new Power Target.


----------



## Lass3

If i run Heaven for 2-3 hours, its like my FPS drops 100%.. No matter what driver i use.

I get ~1450 score at 1080p all maxed. After 2-3 hours of "burn in" at those settings, i get 750. My 3D clocks are exactly the same..

Anyone else get this problem? After a restart, performance is back to normal.

What is this?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> So Guys...
> I am testing the new driver 310.54.... and the weather outside is coooool
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> New score in 3DMark 11:


Good Lord. 1529mhz @ 37C....I gotta set up a loop with the rad outside like that (I live in Buffalo, so I'll have half the year to bench







).

Makes 'ya wonder... Nvidia's whole Greenlight program... seems like these chips may have been locked down to an unusually low voltage (1.175v). They don't seem to be as sensitive to overvolting as some people think. I mean, if they were so sensitive, how come no Lightnings have fried yet? Even with semi-extreme cooling such as yours (almost 1.5v at only 37C), you'd think the chip would start degrading super-quick with that much voltage regardless of temps if there was any truth to the assumption that these chips have already been pushed to their limits. Aside from you, myself and most (if not all) people here have gone up to 1.36v and beyond multiple times since June, and we still have yet to see anyone come out and say they've lost a notable amount of mhz on their overclock (not including instability caused from various driver updates). Lightnings have only been out about 5 months, but still, that seems long enough for the possibility they'd back up the belief that these chips are more sensitive to increased voltage, or at least more-so than any other series. So, I don't know, just thinking out loud I suppose. But I think we'd see some fried/degrading ones by now if it was true these chips were less capable. I know it's the 'Lightning' version, but aside from the custom PCB, it's still the same chip. I would think of all the different variations of 680s out there, Lightnings would have a substantial fail-rate, higher than locked-down 680s, but nope








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> If i run Heaven for 2-3 hours, its like my FPS drops 100%.. No matter what driver i use.
> 
> I get ~1450 score at 1080p all maxed. After 2-3 hours of "burn in" at those settings, i get 750. My 3D clocks are exactly the same..
> 
> Anyone else get this problem? After a restart, performance is back to normal.
> 
> What is this?


Does VRAM usage in Afterburner go up substantially when comparing the first run to one done after 2-3 hours?


----------



## driftingforlife

I am hoping to get a version of AB extreme soon. Also got a 2nd lighting coming.


----------



## mfranco702

Soooo. I guess my card is throttling since I have reached a max temp of 85C in 3DMark11, I have notice that I wont go any higher than 1398Mhz, it passes the test but cant pass 1398 mHz with +205 Mhz offset in AB. im currently doing 1.33V.

Do you thing benching outside in the backyard with cold weather will give me better results or isnt recommended? I did last year with my GTX 580 and temp dropped 20C.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mfranco702*
> 
> Soooo. I guess my card is throttling since I have reached a max temp of 85C in 3DMark11, I have notice that I wont go any higher than 1398Mhz, it passes the test but cant pass 1398 mHz with +205 Mhz offset in AB. im currently doing 1.33V.
> 
> Do you thing benching outside in the backyard with cold weather will give me better results or isnt recommended? I did last year with my GTX 580 and temp dropped 20C.


Lower temp by that amount will most definitely result in a better overclock. Just make sure it doesn't rain









Card should not throttle on the LN2 BIOS. Do you have the 3A one from the OP? And is the core clock actually going down, or do you just mean that regardless of what you set the core offset to in Afterburner it won't go past 1398mhz? Could be the Power Target. Do you have that set to 300%?


----------



## DJRamses

@ dph314
Yesss.... do that.







set the rad outside. It is the cheapest way to have very low temps at high clocks and push up any benchmark scores.









I think , you are right. At the Time of 480 or 580 Lightnings, there was built in selectetd GPU´s. At the GTX680 lightnings i am not so safe. I want to help some LTG users to overclock their Cards, but i had so many read about very bad Lightnings. This can never be a selected chip! One user couldn´t his card overclock at 1280Mhz without push the Core Voltage to min. 40mv (@LN 2 mode) No chance. He send his Card back to the Distributor. Perhaps we should wait a little Time... perhaps there is only a very bad charge of Chips underway...who know it...


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Lower temp by that amount will most definitely result in a better overclock. Just make sure it doesn't rain
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Card should not throttle on the LN2 BIOS. Do you have the 3A one from the OP? And is the core clock actually going down, or do you just mean that regardless of what you set the core offset to in Afterburner it won't go past 1398mhz? Could be the Power Target. Do you have that set to 300%?


Thank you for the response. Yes power target is 300% my LN2 BIOS is 80.04.09.00.f8, What is what makes your video card crash? not enough voltage, high temperature or both, I managed to reach 1411 Mhz and almost passed 3DMak11, crashed just before finishing the last test i was using 1.34V. but im thinking if high temp would make my card crash? i really want to try 1.41V, I know theres room for more juice in my puppy but not with those temps.

Also I don't know if anyone else, when the card crashes has to reboot, mine crashes and the monitor goes black, then I have to reset my system. it doesn't go back to the desktop, is this normal or just me?


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> @ dph314
> Yesss.... do that.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> set the rad outside. It is the cheapest way to have very low temps at high clocks and push up any benchmark scores.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think , you are right. At the Time of 480 or 580 Lightnings, there was built in selectetd GPU´s. At the GTX680 lightnings i am not so safe. I want to help some LTG users to overclock their Cards, but i had so many read about very bad Lightnings. This can never be a selected chip! One user couldn´t his card overclock at 1280Mhz without push the Core Voltage to min. 40mv (@LN 2 mode) No chance. He send his Card back to the Distributor. Perhaps we should wait a little Time... perhaps there is only a very bad charge of Chips underway...who know it...


Mine is on stock air, I think 1400 MHz isnt bad for just air, fans at max speed, it feels like is about to take off.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mfranco702*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Lower temp by that amount will most definitely result in a better overclock. Just make sure it doesn't rain
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Card should not throttle on the LN2 BIOS. Do you have the 3A one from the OP? And is the core clock actually going down, or do you just mean that regardless of what you set the core offset to in Afterburner it won't go past 1398mhz? Could be the Power Target. Do you have that set to 300%?
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you for the response. Yes power target is 300% my LN2 BIOS is 80.04.09.00.f8, What is what makes your video card crash? not enough voltage, high temperature or both, I managed to reach 1411 Mhz and almost passed 3DMak11, crashed just before finishing the last test i was using 1.34V. but im thinking if high temp would make my card crash? i really want to try 1.41V, I know theres room for more juice in my puppy but not with those temps.
> 
> Also I don't know if anyone else, when the card crashes has to reboot, mine crashes and the monitor goes black, then I have to reset my system. it doesn't go back to the desktop, is this normal or just me?
Click to expand...

You'll definitely have better luck with the 3A BIOS from the first post of this thread. On top of having reportedly less problems from users, it doesn't require you to restart the computer every crash







Try that BIOS and you might alleviate your problem. And temps make your overclock unstable, in a way. Having an overclock at 70C crash, might not crash at 60C. And low voltage as well, raising it will help. If you have room, flash to the 3A and try 1.36v (+93mv), assuming temps aren't in the 80C's already.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> If i run Heaven for 2-3 hours, its like my FPS drops 100%.. No matter what driver i use.
> I get ~1450 score at 1080p all maxed. After 2-3 hours of "burn in" at those settings, i get 750. My 3D clocks are exactly the same..
> Anyone else get this problem? After a restart, performance is back to normal.
> What is this?


First thought: "memory leak" - ram not being released after being allocated?


----------



## mfranco702

thanks I think im gonna benchmark outside and see how far can I go with this BIOS at least my temps will drop and hopefully click higher. then rry the other BIOS.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Can anyone tell me the command using nvflash to flash my 2nd 680 Lightning in SLI? I don't want to uninstall my first 680 Lightning just to be able to do so. TY in advance.


----------



## NickLe

nvflash -i1 -4 -5 -6 gtx680.rom

in that you see the -i1 if you change that to -i0 thats card 1 your primary and if you have a second card -i1 and if you have a third it would be -i2.
Good luck.

ps what ever your rom is named, the gtx680.rom is just an example.


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> Can anyone tell me the command using nvflash to flash my 2nd 680 Lightning in SLI? I don't want to uninstall my first 680 Lightning just to be able to do so. TY in advance.


It always auto asks to flash the 2nd card in nvflash.

just use your nvflash command than it says WANNA FLASH CARD 1? say no
than it says card 2?? than do yes.

You dont have to use special commands


----------



## DADDYDC650

+ reps to both of you fine folks.

Question, does 106fps in Heaven benchmark sound right for both my cards running at 1300/6.9Ghz?


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> So Guys...
> I am testing the new driver 310.54.... and the weather outside is coooool
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> New score in 3DMark 11:


Most impressive!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> + reps to both of you fine folks.
> 
> Question, is 106fps in Heaven benchmark sound right for both my cards running at 1300/6.9Ghz?


Yep. About right indeed. I remember getting around 104-105fps running both of mine around 1290mhz/6800mhz. That was a few driver versions ago though, and with a second card that wouldn't go over 1290mhz in SLI for the life of me. But, yeah, either way, 106fps sounds about right for that. Haven't ran Heaven in a while.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yep. About right indeed. I remember getting around 104-105fps running both of mine around 1290mhz/6800mhz. That was a few driver versions ago though, and with a second card that wouldn't go over 1290mhz in SLI for the life of me. But, yeah, either way, 106fps sounds about right for that. Haven't ran Heaven in a while.


+rep. Forgot to mention that my heaven settings were 1080p maxed out no vsync.


----------



## owikhan

I have 80.04.09.00.F8(P2002-0000) Bios.
Should i update or not.

In MSI AFTER BURNER i get max 100 Core Voltage(mV)


----------



## NickLe

does your power limit go to 300%? If you're wondering if you have an unlocked bios or not... set Your card to ln2 bios(the switch on your card move from left-default position to right... only do it when your computer is powered down) restart and reboot again since windows needs to reinstall the drivers for your video card. check afterburner it should read ln2 bios and then your power limit. I f you can move the slider to 300% your voltage to 100% the bios you have is the unlocked version.
there are advantages of switching to the unlocked version of 3A... no restart if an overclock fails... there is also an unlocked version of the bios that is available from the German official msi site which is the same as 3A version except it doesn't do the 100% reverse fan spin up at reboot, it just spins up normally at I think 30%.

good luck


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> So Guys...
> I am testing the new driver 310.54.... and the weather outside is coooool
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> New score in 3DMark 11:


Its a nice overclock







- but you are still behind in score







. I had my computer outside for half an hour and archieved this a month a go. It was raining a bit, so I had to hurry 



My GPU was at 1489MHz and memory at 2x3663Mhz (you cant rely on GPU-Z when I am on xtreme bios). CPU was clocked to 5.4GHz.


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Ya you will be fine.as long as you don't add to much to them..


Literally plan for the 2600K and the 2 680s at stock volts, so here's hoping ! In other news, this time 2 weeks, I'll be a proud owner of my first card. Bouncing around with excitement


----------



## Nvidiafermi

After I get Flash in to A3 and downgrade to AB 2.2.3


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Yo I don't get what Nvidia was fussing about, I've been running mine at +50MV (Ln2) since shortly after I got it (August 9th) and it overclocks the same with no issues. Has anyone actually degraded or killed one of these puppies from overvolting?


Not even on 1,6 V...... no one


----------



## Gregster

Maybe the refresh will be higher voltage cards and NV don't want us clocking past that with the 'older' cards. New 780 is supposed to be 15%-25% faster (not much).

All rumors and nothing to back it up.


----------



## PCModderMike

All these benchies being posted makes me really want to get my card up and running!








Block installed, about to go in!


----------



## Arnoud87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> Maybe the refresh will be higher voltage cards and NV don't want us clocking past that with the 'older' cards. New 780 is supposed to be 15%-25% faster (not much).
> All rumors and nothing to back it up.


the 780 is allready out (13 NOV) for pro market, 2880 cuda's. (The Tesla K20)
there are no rumors, just facts... its gonna be a HELL of a card, when its released for gamers.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Its a nice overclock
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - but you are still behind in score
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . I had my computer outside for half an hour and archieved this a month a go. It was raining a bit, so I had to hurry
> 
> My GPU was at 1489MHz and memory at 2x3663Mhz (you cant rely on GPU-Z when I am on xtreme bios). CPU was clocked to 5.4GHz.


Nice Score !









You have a newer and better System. Cpu and your Rams running very good and fast. Very good timings too. Thats the fact, your have more Points.

But, you can be safe...
I give you a answer


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> the 780 is allready out (13 NOV) for pro market, 2880 cuda's. (The Tesla K20)
> there are no rumors, just facts... its gonna be a HELL of a card, when its released for gamers.


You refer to the K20

http://semiaccurate.com/2012/11/02/nvidia-tesla-k20-specs-gives-hints-about-28nm-yields/

But I was talking about the GK114 or whatever it is to be named.

http://semiaccurate.com/2012/10/12/what-is-going-on-with-nvidias-gk114/


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Not even on 1,6 V...... no one


You might not be able to see it before it is too late. I have done so much overclocking over the time, but never really noticed any slow degrading. Usually things just burn up really fast and can not run stable at all (even on default clocks) or it will last forever (at least the years I usually keep it).

I have read about people that mention their clocks cant go as high as they used to, but I believe they are wrong. Lots of people think their systems degrades slowly because they cant remember the exact values that needed to be taken into account. Lots of things affect high clocks like ambient temperatures, thermal paste and the way it is applied, ventilation (open/closed chassis), bios versions, drivers, power usages by other devices etc. Comparing and diagnosing from memory isnt really doing it. So what you archieve today, might not be what you archieve on the exact same system tomorrow, but that does not mean that you system is degraded.

I havent my self experienced any dead GTX680 but a friend of mine have fried some ATI 6970 cards, a 2600K that couldnt run stable at all anymore and a lot of other stuff. I think the magic of killing is to give to push more voltage.


----------



## Zero4549

My card and aquagrafx block arrived. Can't install them yet though. The "green" coolant I ordered is nearly black by comparison to what it should be. And of course, green was only a backup choice to begin with since they were sold out of acid.



Sadface.jpg


----------



## qwwwizx

zero4549: If its for some weeks only, you can just use demineralized water. It wont miscolour your tubes or anything.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> All these benchies being posted makes me really want to get my card up and running!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Block installed, about to go in!


Beautiful! Welcome to the club. Can't wait to see the numbers you put up on that list in the OP. Don't beat my 1480mhz by _too_ much









I'm waiting for winter to _really_ hit here before I go for 1.5Ghz. Temps during the day are already down to the 40F's. Only a matter of time...


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Beautiful! Welcome to the club. Can't wait to see the numbers you put up on that list in the OP. Don't beat my 1480mhz by _too_ much
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm waiting for winter to _really_ hit here before I go for 1.5Ghz. Temps during the day are already down to the 40F's. Only a matter of time...

















thanks! Not sure about beating you, I would love to hit just what you have!


----------



## StreekG

Hey guys,

Just wondering does anyone need to plug in an extra molex to the motherboard running these in SLI?
Would i get more power running into them and possible better OC?
I have a molex socket above the first card, and one at the bottom of the board facing down








I plugged an extra molex to the bottom one.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Beautiful! Welcome to the club. Can't wait to see the numbers you put up on that list in the OP. Don't beat my 1480mhz by _too_ much
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm waiting for winter to _really_ hit here before I go for 1.5Ghz. Temps during the day are already down to the 40F's. Only a matter of time...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> thanks! Not sure about beating you, I would love to hit just what you have!
Click to expand...

It was a lot harder than I like to admit. Did a little self-binning. I had to make up for the very first one I had, bought on Day 1. It did 1373mhz on the stock voltage. I say that in the past tense because it stopped working. I was careful but I don't know if it was my fault or not; it stopped working right around the time I took the back-plate off to fit it under my NH-D14. So, if something happened when taking the plate off or if it touched the Noctua (which had electrical tape around the clips, so...?), I'm not sure. But yeah, the voltage from unedited 2.2.3 gave the card I have now an extra 80mhz from the stock voltage, up to 1430mhz. So, add 80mhz to that first card I had, and damn. Would've had a 1450mhz @ +93mv card. Probably would've hit 1500mhz with that one by now if I still had it. And with a block and custom loop set up and the rad out the window like DJ has...God, I don't even want to _think_ about what that now-dead card could've done









Anyways, yeah, that's why I was determined to get another good one. I had some extra money at the time, and didn't see too many great ones for sale at the time with proof of an overclock, so it went towards binning instead of a SSD. Ah well, I'll get that SSD someday. Want to set up a loop though like you have. Very jealous of people with nice loops.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Hey guys,
> 
> Just wondering does anyone need to plug in an extra molex to the motherboard running these in SLI?
> Would i get more power running into them and possible better OC?
> I have a molex socket above the first card, and one at the bottom of the board facing down
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I plugged an extra molex to the bottom one.


I never plugged into the extra power inputs in mine and SLI is running great. Had the voltage up to 1.4v on both cards a couple times and they got enough power as far as _I_ could tell. But yeah I'm sure someone else knows more than I do. No idea about a more stable overclock from it.


----------



## Arnoud87

Sick waterblock!

See a lot of people wanna run @ 1,4 1,5 Ghz but i think memory is a LOT more important after 1200mhz core. Anyone allready ran at 8ghz + ? because memory needs low temps for sure.

In BF3 I notice crazy performance hits when I only increase mem with 1000mhz.

I'd rather loose some core than memory speed, And 3dmark 11 is just outdated


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Sick waterblock!
> 
> See a lot of people wanna run @ 1,4 1,5 Ghz but i think memory is a LOT more important after 1200mhz core. Anyone allready ran at 8ghz + ? because memory needs low temps for sure.
> 
> In BF3 I notice crazy performance hits when I only increase mem with 1000mhz.
> 
> I'd rather loose some core than memory speed, And 3dmark 11 is just outdated


I'm not sure if my memory temperature showing in Afterburner is accurate or not. I would assume so though. But yeah it's always been in the low/mid 50C's, even when the voltage is at +120mv @ 7300mhz. What kind of memory temps do you see when running 8000mhz?


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> It was a lot harder than I like to admit. Did a little self-binning. I had to make up for the very first one I had, bought on Day 1. It did 1373mhz on the stock voltage. I say that in the past tense because it stopped working. I was careful but I don't know if it was my fault or not; it stopped working right around the time I took the back-plate off to fit it under my NH-D14. So, if something happened when taking the plate off or if it touched the Noctua (which had electrical tape around the clips, so...?), I'm not sure. But yeah, the voltage from unedited 2.2.3 gave the card I have now an extra 80mhz from the stock voltage, up to 1430mhz. So, add 80mhz to that first card I had, and damn. Would've had a 1450mhz @ +93mv card. Probably would've hit 1500mhz with that one by now if I still had it. And with a block and custom loop set up and the rad out the window like DJ has...God, I don't even want to _think_ about what that now-dead card could've done
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anyways, yeah, that's why I was determined to get another good one. I had some extra money at the time, and didn't see too many great ones for sale at the time with proof of an overclock, so it went towards binning instead of a SSD. Ah well, I'll get that SSD someday. Want to set up a loop though like you have. Very jealous of people with nice loops.
> I never plugged into the extra power inputs in mine and SLI is running great. Had the voltage up to 1.4v on both cards a couple times and they got enough power as far as _I_ could tell. But yeah I'm sure someone else knows more than I do. No idea about a more stable overclock from it.


Wow wish I had the dedication, and more importantly funds to sort through and bin my card. Sorry to hear about that first card, sounds like a golden chip. I will say I love building custom loops for cooling my components, but with all the money I spent on my loop, I could have myself another Lightning and probably getting close to a 2011 setup.







So it's a balance for now....I do have that future build in mind still, with no limitations on the parts and the loop.








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Sick waterblock!
> See a lot of people wanna run @ 1,4 1,5 Ghz but i think memory is a LOT more important after 1200mhz core. Anyone allready ran at 8ghz + ? because memory needs low temps for sure.
> In BF3 I notice crazy performance hits when I only increase mem with 1000mhz.
> I'd rather loose some core than memory speed, And 3dmark 11 is just outdated


I will keep this in mind. BF3 is like my most played game at the moment, so I want the best performance possible for it.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Hey guys,
> Just wondering does anyone need to plug in an extra molex to the motherboard running these in SLI?
> Would i get more power running into them and possible better OC?
> I have a molex socket above the first card, and one at the bottom of the board facing down
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I plugged an extra molex to the bottom one.


The main idea of the molex plug was in case multi gpu setups try to pull too much power from the pci-e slots. In x58 days a few people running 3 or 4 card setups on the x58 classified melted part of the 24pin ATX, so manufacturers started adding the molex or sata connector to supply the extra power if needed.
Not really needed for sli, but I usually plug it in for 3 or 4 card benching.


----------



## snitchkilla11

why does the z77 mpower have the extra 6 pin?..i just ordered my 1250 watt psu so i will have the extra pci plugs to try it..its gota be there for a reason..my board only supports sli..and the lightnings need lots of power


----------



## CL3P20

it just provides cleaner more robust power supply for PCI-E voltage lanes.. its not a necessity. It may be of use if your running 3x GPU's that do not have external PCI-E connections... but I highly doubt it will 'make or break' a single GPU or SLI/Xfire setup.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i understand its for cleaner power draw..but its used just like you said when you are in quad sli or tri..but built on a sli board? i guess i will have to wait till next week to test it for myself..your probably right but you never know!


----------



## dph314

So has it ever been known to increase stability overclock-wise?


----------



## snitchkilla11

im dieing to find out..lol


----------



## DADDYDC650

Lightning struck my house, twice!


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> So has it ever been known to increase stability overclock-wise?


I have tried it with GTX 580 SLI on Rampage Extreme - IMHO no difference, but for two cards only..


----------



## CL3P20

tried on my X58OC with three cards.. didnt do a damn thing..so just popped in 3x 5770's on the Z77 Mpower.. no difference in clocks or anything with or without.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> I have tried it with GTX 580 SLI on Rampage Extreme - IMHO no difference, but for two cards only..


How about has it ever hurt to have the extra power plugged in?


----------



## CL3P20

I see no difference.. i have 3x 5770's folding on the Mpower right now.. clocks the same.

I guess.. think of it 1 of 2 ways...

1. its insurance to have it plugged in.. extra power dont hurt

2. its another connection to your mobo from a PSU that could go 'pop' and take out more hardware...

I keep a spare rail plugged into mine.. and prefer to think of it as #1 in this case..







..


----------



## driftingforlife

Its not there for better OCing. It is there so when running 3-4 cards the mobo does not draw to much power from the 24-pin. Its was started because when people used 3-4 GTX480's on EVGA X58 boards it would melt the 24-pin.


----------



## owikhan

is it fine flash on 3A latest bios?


----------



## snitchkilla11

well what about when you put two lightnings in the picture. oc to 1500mhz? my cards will do on air 1420 and some change.but my powersupply will turn off if i go any higher cause of not enough wattage.


----------



## driftingforlife

2 very OCed 680 don't even scratch on 4 480's power usage wise.


----------



## DJRamses

Those were the last words from capitain of Titanic:
Full speed aheed and lets f**k the iceberg









3°C outside and i give my Lightning a little more...



So.. i hope my Sandy-E comes next month...


----------



## snitchkilla11

lol thats crazy!!!! i wish i wish i wish..i could put my cards under water..i know i have great chips but im getting married next month and all our cash is tied up into that bs!!!! but i hope it come back ten fold..then my wish will come true! im still working on getting a bigger psu this week so i can see what they can do on air.


----------



## DJRamses

You get married? Fine!!







Wish you all luck.... realy!

Here want many users push up their Lightning to or over 1500Mhz. It is no Problem with a Lightning. Perhaps i ve some tips:

Think ever this little warning:
*1500Mhz or more is a little Hell for the small chip.
A 100 percently cooling is the most significant of all!
But a cool chip can be damaged too!!*

I give me self, strictly rules at benching:
I only run 1500 or more if my watertemp very low (min. 3 or 4 °C) lower is better!
I look to that the Temp not rise over 45°C !
I dont try high oc my card hours-long. 2 or 3 trys and then i make a longer pause. It spares the Hardware.
I look to ever on my multimeter!!!

For 3Dmark11 :
i run graphic test 1, then escape and look how is the temp of my card! rising over 45°C , i end the bench or clock the card lower.
The graphic test 1 in 3DMark 11 needs the most voltage. Any other Test needs 0,01 - 0,03 less. (physics needs only CPU, not GPU Power)
I know the chip tolerates higher temps. but 1500Mhz or ist not a "normal using". And very cool water is not LN2!
Damaged hardware smarts!!


----------



## stansfield

Couple of questions. One, has anyone used coollabratory's liquid metal ultra on these with their waterblock's yet? I can only find the ultra at sidewinder. Two, I really want the aquacomputer block, but can only find it at sidewinder. Is there still ordering issues with them?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Those were the last words from capitain of Titanic:
> Full speed aheed and lets f**k the iceberg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 3°C outside and i give my Lightning a little more...
> 
> 
> 
> So.. i hope my Sandy-E comes next month...


All I can say is...damn. Can I send you my Lightning to bench if you promise to send it back?









I only need +164mv for 1480mhz/7200mhz, and that's on air. I'd _love_ to see what it could do on your setup. Maybe someday. Do you think you could do me a favor and take some pics of your loop? And the rad outside and everything?

By the way, you have the best avatar ever


----------



## snitchkilla11

yes pics please!!!


----------



## GenoOCAU

Im coming for your 3dmark 11 scores


----------



## FtW 420

Challenge accepted!


----------



## Fooom

Hi guys, i have a 750w silverstone strider 80+gold psu. Will that be enough for gtx 680 lightning sli? I have i5-3570k @ 4.4Ghz, 1 tb hdd, 1 2tb hdd, 1 64gb ssd,


----------



## mfranco702

I think it would be enough as long as you dont overclock them, Snitchkilla was having issues with an OCZ 850W with both cards Overclocked.
I ran a 680 SLI setup with my Corsair GS800 with no problems at all.

Silverstone makes very efficient power supplies, you should be fine.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> All I can say is...damn. Can I send you my Lightning to bench if you promise to send it back?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I only need +164mv for 1480mhz/7200mhz, and that's on air. I'd _love_ to see what it could do on your setup. Maybe someday. Do you think you could do me a favor and take some pics of your loop? And the rad outside and everything?
> By the way, you have the best avatar ever


That is a long way for your Card..









The max voltage at the last run was 1,503V at the graphic test 1. All other tests runs between 1,480-1,489V. And it is okay, i wanna make some Pics today. You were see it is very easy and simple. But appearance is not important for me. The Rad and the fan must only to bring high performance! The rad stands all day at autumn and winter and all weather outside. At night if i go sleep, i never bring the rad back into the room.
i tell you more, if i have made the pics.

If i have my Sandy-E, we can make a little benchsession....







My Gulftown is near the end. I dont wanna give him still more power. The max. Clock at 3Dmark11 under watercooling is 5Ghz. But it must freeze outside.
A very short run with 1600Mhz at my lightning was succesfully. But dont know if i run a full run of 3DMark11. Waiting for freeze..


----------



## DJRamses

Has anyone testing the new Afterburner 2.3.0?

Make a Test:

Artmoney Hack doesnt work with this Version!!!!


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Has anyone testing the new Afterburner 2.3.0?
> Make a Test:
> Artmoney Hack doesnt work with this Version!!!!


ArtMoney hack halfway works on 2.2.5, just discovered this last night....can only go as high as +200mV. Going to roll back to 2.2.3 and see if I can go higher like you have.


----------



## DJRamses

At me, the idle Voltage is over 1,01 Volts. I am back to 2.2.3 and the idle voltage is back to 0,987 Volts.


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Im coming for your 3dmark 11 scores


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Challenge accepted!


Nice guys and hopefully, I will be joining that kind of setup next year


----------



## dph314

Damn, look at all them Lightnings in FTW's pic. Glad I wasn't the only one to do a little self-binning







Hope you get a great one. I only found one good one out of 3 or 4.

Yeah, that sucks DJ. Unwinder must have become wise to what we were doing here finally. At least 2.2.3 will always be out there. But now I doubt we'll have a similar method to this for the next series. Maybe MSI will lock the voltage with hardware to make overvoltage impossible regardless of any AB version or hacking







(well, unless you hard mod, which I know I'm not attempting).


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Damn, look at all them Lightnings in FTW's pic. Glad I wasn't the only one to do a little self-binning
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hope you get a great one. I only found one good one out of 3 or 4.
> Yeah, that sucks DJ. Unwinder must have become wise to what we were doing here finally. At least 2.2.3 will always be out there. But now I doubt we'll have a similar method to this for the next series. Maybe MSI will lock the voltage with hardware to make overvoltage impossible regardless of any AB version or hacking
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (well, unless you hard mod, which I know I'm not attempting).


FTW needs 5 points in the 3DMark11 thread







Joking aside though, I will be trying different cooling options next year. Deffo LN2 is a priority and will be going to a comp to see how the big boys get on.


----------



## DJRamses

I ve found a Way to overvolt with AB 2.3.0.
Let me make some Tests. Artmoney should works. I found the new Hex-adress...
I will to confirm if it works realy.
The first Test running with 1,38V succesfully ...


----------



## snitchkilla11

I searously doubt MSI will totally lock us out..they could have this gen..MSI is known for voltage. Bit I may join the red side next genf nvidia keeps up this garbage


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> I searously doubt MSI will totally lock us out..they could have this gen..MSI is known for voltage. Bit I may join the red side next genf nvidia keeps up this garbage


Nvidia saws on his own limb who sitting there...


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> I searously doubt MSI will totally lock us out..they could have this gen..MSI is known for voltage. Bit I may join the red side next genf nvidia keeps up this garbage


The cards were made before Nvidia cracked the whip. The first few thousand Lightnings had the unlocked LN2 BIOS and 2.2.3 allowed for voltage up to 1.36v. Then the BIOSs started getting locked, then Afterburner 2.2.4 and after discontinued even the +93mv that we had (aside from the edit of the config file). But that edit of the config file could have just been thrown in for everyone buying the Lightnings and being promised voltage control. MSI might, right from the get-go next series, not advertise overvoltage support. That way they don't owe anyone anything that was 'promised on the box', and therefore won't have to give us a loophole so we don't throw eggs at MSI headquarters and return our overpriced unadjustable-voltage cards. Of course I'm hoping this doesn't happen, but just saying... If MSI plans right from the beginning of production on not allowing voltage control, because of recent claims from Nvidia to not cover RMAs, then the 780 Lightning will be manufactured with a set (and low) voltage in mind right from the beginning instead of what happened with the 680 Lightning.

(Damn. Just typing the words "780 Lightning" is getting me excited. I *PRAY* they have overvoltage support








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> I ve found a Way to overvolt with AB 2.3.0.
> Let me make some Tests. Artmoney should works. I found the new Hex-adress...
> I will to confirm if it works realy.
> The first Test running with 1,38V succesfully ...


So it's just using the same methods, but the addresses are different? Did Unwinder really think we wouldn't find the addresses


----------



## DJRamses

I think, MSI dont make a next GTX 7xx Lightning. They wrote "unlocked Digital Bios" and then..... Nothing unlocked.... no overvoltage.
I think the new gen. of Nvida have no overclock (perhaps a little overclock in a very small window) and overvolting. If nvidia do this bearing further navigates

My Tests with the AB 2.3.0 should be succesfully. 1,48V...... it works!
But we have high Temps outside... high oc...little riskly


----------



## DADDYDC650

From Unwinder, "Sadly and traditionally with each new version launch I have to spend some time on commenting new rumors and misinformation on MSI 680 Lightning series:No, there is no additional pressure from NVIDIA side. No, there are no additional Kepler related voltage control locks in new version. No, there are no changes in idle voltage for this cards.And finally, no, I didn't became wise to what some users were doing with memory hacking tools like ArtMoney on 680 Lightning series cards. I knew about hacking voltage limits on 680 Lightning AB since the very first day and see no problems with it as soon as no modified AB versions are distributed. There are zero protections in new version against it, the only reason that 2.2.3 hacks were working on 2.2.4 and 2.2.5 was the fact that those were minor software upgrades with the same 2.2.3 binaries with changes only into the database. New compiled code require new runtime patching and someone with brains inside the head to teach you to crack new version. So those who imagined themselves "kewl haxorz" after editing application memory by someone's else insturctions and expected fixed offsets to work always should learn some basics instead of spreading the rumors."

http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4457968&postcount=15


----------



## famich

Understandably, this guy knows what he s doing...







@dph 314 :: seeing so many cards "binned " here I must count myself lucky to buy this one card
in early August .

It brings me close to 1440 MHz on air







Did not attempt that ARtMoney hack , this is enough for me . But I ll be looking forward to seeing what you guys will be doing with that SS


----------



## MSIalex

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> The cards were made before Nvidia cracked the whip. The first few thousand Lightnings had the unlocked LN2 BIOS and 2.2.3 allowed for voltage up to 1.36v. Then the BIOSs started getting locked, then Afterburner 2.2.4 and after discontinued even the +93mv that we had (aside from the edit of the config file). But that edit of the config file could have just been thrown in for everyone buying the Lightnings and being promised voltage control. MSI might, right from the get-go next series, not advertise overvoltage support. That way they don't owe anyone anything that was 'promised on the box', and therefore won't have to give us a loophole so we don't throw eggs at MSI headquarters and return our overpriced unadjustable-voltage cards. Of course I'm hoping this doesn't happen, but just saying... If MSI plans right from the beginning of production on not allowing voltage control, because of recent claims from Nvidia to not cover RMAs, then the 780 Lightning will be manufactured with a set (and low) voltage in mind right from the beginning instead of what happened with the 680 Lightning.
> (Damn. Just typing the words "780 Lightning" is getting me excited. I *PRAY* they have overvoltage support
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So it's just using the same methods, but the addresses are different? Did Unwinder really think we wouldn't find the addresses


If it was only as easy as you make it out to be, there would be no issues selling any product of any kind in the world, ever.

As for your thoughts on Unwinder, if he didn't care he would've just stopped development of AB and then you guys can have fun with the other utilities...


----------



## DJRamses

Yes.. but I am willing to own, i had a first thinking nvidia push up the pressure... sorry!

thats why i made a closer look to the AB 2.3.0.
Here the solution:

On c:\Program Files (x86)\MSI Afterburner\Profiles\ edit the VEN_10DE&DEV_1180....cfg. We all know it:

add this lines:
_[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1_

After starting AB2.3.0, AB wants a new start of your PC again. If you have restart your Maschine, AB adds some new Lines in the cfg file. Thats okay.
At Artmoney is all be old! But...
the new Hexaddress for overvoltage in Artmoney is: *0044C208*

And then...


----------



## snitchkilla11

I may be wrong but I think nvidia locked the voltage of these cards cause seeing clocks over 1400 and higher on Kepler . When the 780 comes out it will be 20 percent faster then last gen..do the math.no one would have to upgrade unless Bvram I s an issue.these cards can handle the power and not heard of one dieing cause of it. I think this gen will be locked and not next.every one would jump ship if they had no control over there cards. I mean its red vs green..and red has been showing a lot lately .


----------



## Lass3

Why did Nvidia force companys to lock the voltage in the first place?

Is the voltage on Kepler chips already high? I've ran 1.36v (+93mV) since i got mine 4 months ago.. Works perfect and temps are below 70 at 1400/1800 in games. This makes me think.. Why force companys to lock the voltage?

As far as i know, 7xx series gonna be Kepler architecture too. So to get those 15-25% more performance compared to GTX 680 would require more voltage.. Right..

Maybe a 680 with unlocked voltage could actually compete with GTX 780? Maybe more CUDA cores but... You get the point

Another thing is.. We need a serious WHQL performance driver soon. I was shocked to see 7970GE beat 680 in Black Ops II. COD has always been a Nvidia title. Same with BF3.. 7970GE beats 680, even in games, 680 won few months ago. Nvidias driver department must be sleeping? Or have some ppl actually compared the image quality lately?


----------



## XbeaTX

@DJRamses
the new string seems to work.... can you check with a multimeter if it is real?
thanks


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> @DJRamses
> the new string seems to work.... can you check with a multimeter if it is real?
> thanks


At a short test with 3DMark 11 , i had 1,48V on my Multimeter...









But i will do some Tests more...


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> At a short test with 3DMark 11 , i had 1,48V on my Multimeter...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But i will do some Tests more...


Need a new Multimeter. Question, how much voltage would +50 give me on LN2 using your cfg edits on afterburner 2.3?


----------



## DJRamses

Core Voltage : +50 @ AB 2.3.0:
With render test from GPuz , I have 1,268V and at running 3DMark 11 : 1,288 -1,291V

My mm goes only wrong if the Battery empty.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Core Voltage : +50 @ AB 2.3.0:
> With render test from GPuz , I have 1,268V and at running 3DMark 11 : 1,288 -1,291V


+rep! Thanks for posting the cgf edits as well.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> +rep! Thanks for posting the cgf edits as well.


Oh..
Thank you...


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MSIalex*
> 
> If it was only as easy as you make it out to be, there would be no issues selling any product of any kind in the world, ever.
> 
> As for your thoughts on Unwinder, if he didn't care he would've just stopped development of AB and then you guys can have fun with the other utilities...


What do you mean _if he didn't care_? I didn't mean he doesn't care about us.

I'm confused on the whole situation now, if you wouldn't mind clearing it up







-> So MSI advertises the triple overvoltage, and then releases 2.2.3. Then they start locking the BIOSs. And now they support Unwinder releasing Afterburner versions with known ways of editing/hacking it. Why not just go one way or the other-> Completely lock the cards, or keep releasing Afterburner with the triple overvoltage from 2.2.3 without having to edit anything? And if they're allowing the edit and don't seem to mind it, why lock down the cards and force people to flash the BIOS to overvolt the locked ones?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lass3*
> 
> Why did Nvidia force companys to lock the voltage in the first place?
> 
> Is the voltage on Kepler chips already high? I've ran 1.36v (+93mV) since i got mine 4 months ago.. Works perfect and temps are below 70 at 1400/1800 in games. This makes me think.. Why force companys to lock the voltage?
> 
> As far as i know, 7xx series gonna be Kepler architecture too. So to get those 15-25% more performance compared to GTX 680 would require more voltage.. Right..
> 
> Maybe a 680 with unlocked voltage could actually compete with GTX 780? Maybe more CUDA cores but... You get the point
> 
> Another thing is.. We need a serious WHQL performance driver soon. I was shocked to see 7970GE beat 680 in Black Ops II. COD has always been a Nvidia title. Same with BF3.. 7970GE beats 680, even in games, 680 won few months ago. Nvidias driver department must be sleeping? Or have some ppl actually compared the image quality lately?


Well, they didn't force them. From what I've gathered they're just making the companies handle the RMAs if they allow overvoltage, Nvidia won't cover them unless they die at 1.175v.

And maybe AMD just had a bad driver team up until now. Nvidia might've given the 600-series most of the performance the chip is capable of right from the beginning, and it took AMD months to get on par with how good Nvidia's are. That's what I think anyways. AMD must have found some real winners to work on 12.11 and finally got it right.


----------



## elbubi

Unwinder is a bit upset with al this "conspiracy" theory (http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=371238), personally I don't mind all this crap from MSi, I'm glad he is still providing us support to fully enjoy our babies!


----------



## dph314

Well yeah, me too. Maybe an impulsive statement, sure







. I should have never assumed he didn't know about something I've never seen him comment on, but who gets that mad over an innocent sentence just made for conversation? And so there's not a higher idle voltage in 2.3.0 like DJ _accidentally thought_ there is, so he gets pissed because he said he's got a problem? He could have stated it better, sure. But still. And I make an assumption on the 700-series, which everyone on here does in multiple threads, and there's a problem with it? Speculating. Jeez. God forbid I make an innocent assumption (which it was clearly, and in no way a declarative statement posing as a fact). So sorry it caused his blood pressure to rise. I am sorry, seriously







. But I had no idea his definition of "rumors" was posting a problem so that others could investigate and help (albeit in a rather blunt manner, telling people not to install it was harsh, but his words aren't the Holy Gospel everyone's going to follow). And I had no idea he couldn't just say "but I do know about ArtMoney" instead of going into a fit about it.

I wonder who started all the rumors he's talking about? I hope it wasn't directed at me. I'll explain myself just in case it was though.- _'No, there is no additional pressure from NVIDIA side'_- I never said there was any pressure of any kind, I've known for quite some time the partners can do whatever they want as long as they cover RMAs, _No, there are no additional Kepler related voltage control locks in new version_- who said there would be additional ones? Someone had a problem, and they figured it out with some help. And I speculated about the 700-series having additional ones, but that had nothing to do with the already-in-place measures there since 2.2.4, _No, there are no changes in idle voltage for this cards_- DJ states he has a higher idle voltage after updating Afterburner, and that's spreading a rumor? That's not posting about problems so people can help, like _all_ of us do?, _no, I didn't became wise to what some users were doing with memory hacking tools like ArtMoney on 680 Lightning series cards_- So I finally read a comment about ArtMoney from him. Great, now I know he knows about it. A wild assumption I made, I know. I already apologized for it. _editing application memory by someone's else insturctions and expected fixed offsets to work always should learn some basics instead of spreading the rumors_- Everyone in here except for shamefulanomoly is using someone else's directions on how to do it. Not sure if he expects everyone to develop their own method?

I wonder who was spreading rumors by stating their opinions as fact and claiming a reliable source? Because like tons of others have done at one point or another, I was speculating, and not even on the 600-series at that. 'Additional methods' on the as-of-yet imaginary 780 Lightning. So, not sure what he's so pissed about. Sorry again though. Not sure how many times to apologize.


----------



## DJRamses

With rumor, he means my post with idle Voltage. That was not a rumor. That shows mm after install and restart .
I make fresh install on a other clean System.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> With rumor, he means my post with idle Voltage. That was not a rumor. That shows mm after install and restart .
> I make fresh install on a other clean System.


It wasn't a rumor _or_ false information, that's what I'm saying. When someone gets a bug or something like that. they don't know what's causing it at first. Posting about it is the only way to work it out. Saying not to install it was a bit ahead of yourself, but it isn't going to stop anyone from getting it after your bug is solved and it comes to light that it in fact wasn't Afterburner's fault. So...yeah, not sure what the big deal was.


----------



## DJRamses

This I admit is true. To say "dont install", was incorrect for my part.
But i wanna know with the "higher" voltages at idle. I will test it to resolve that.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> This I admit is true. To say "dont install", was incorrect for my part.
> But i wanna know with the "higher" voltages at idle. I will test it.


Well if there were no other changes made, then I don't know. What does the MM say when you have 2.2.3 open?


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well if there were no other changes made, then I don't know. What does the MM say when you have 2.2.3 open?


MM still at 0,975 - 0,981. The MM is always on and have it very good in my field of view.


----------



## FtW 420

I hope there is still a gtx780 whether it allows software voltage or not, as long as it has the more robust PWM the soldering iron can always make voltage control. Software is easier for sure though (on labor & warranty).


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well if there were no other changes made, then I don't know. What does the MM say when you have 2.2.3 open?
> 
> 
> 
> MM still at 0,975 - 0,981. The MM is always on and have it very good in my field of view.
Click to expand...

If the MM is correct, that's all that matters. Software doesn't get voltages right, so you're fine


----------



## Zero4549

Just finished testing my lightning, flashing it to 3a BIOS, and putting it under water.

So now what?

What Afterburner version should I be using? I've been running Afterburner 2.2.0 since, frankly, there haven't been any changes made since then that matter for my old 295/560ti, so I'm assuming that needs to be updated, but I believe the newest versions do not work for overclocking the lightning, right?

I remember hearing about needing a hack for voltage control or something, whats that all about?

Anything else I should know? Perhaps a way to confirm that DX11 is now properly working since my old card was dx10?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Just finished testing my lightning, flashing it to 3a BIOS, and putting it under water.
> 
> So now what?
> 
> What Afterburner version should I be using? I've been running Afterburner 2.2.0 since, frankly, there haven't been any changes made since then that matter for my old 295/560ti, so I'm assuming that needs to be updated, but I believe the newest versions do not work for overclocking the lightning, right?
> 
> I remember hearing about needing a hack for voltage control or something, whats that all about?
> 
> Anything else I should know? Perhaps a way to confirm that DX11 is now properly working since my old card was dx10?


Upgrade to 2.2.3, that'll give you +93mv = 1.36v on the 3A. Then this is the hack directions for going over +93mv-

-Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
-Open Afterburner 2.2.3
-Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
-Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
-Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
-Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
-Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
-Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
-Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
-Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
-Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltage sliders in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card

For DirectX, you should just be able to type dxdiag in the Search box after clicking the Windows Start icon, and see what it lists for DirectX Version. Just checked and mine says 11. It comes with Windows 7 so you should have 11 as well


----------



## snitchkilla11

wow i didnt realise how much of a pain in the azz artmoney hack was. is it a good or bad idea to run the hack on air?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> wow i didnt realise how much of a pain in the azz artmoney hack was. is it a good or bad idea to run the hack on air?


It gets pretty easy after you do it a few times.

It's best to only do it for quick bench runs, I would never use it for gaming, especially on air. But yeah when I ran it I could stay in the 60C's all the way up to +163mv, but that was with the window open and a fan blowing freezing air into the case for a 3dMark11 run. So, just have to watch temps is all, as with any overclock.


----------



## stansfield

I have been following this thread for awhile. I have this card sitting with the rest of my stuff waiting on my water kit and cpu for build. After reading about hacking etc for a feature that was the highlight of the card I think I'm going to return it toward 2 670's. At first on card release AB couldn't adjust the voltage, then it was released for voltage control, now all this...I'm over it.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I hope there is still a gtx780 whether it allows software voltage or not, as long as it has the more robust PWM the soldering iron can always make voltage control. Software is easier for sure though (on labor & warranty).


And a wider memory bus would help


----------



## MSIalex

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I wonder who started all the rumors he's talking about? I hope it wasn't directed at me. I'll explain myself just in case it was though.- _'No, there is no additional pressure from NVIDIA side'_- I never said there was any pressure of any kind, I've known for quite some time the partners can do whatever they want as long as they cover RMAs, _No, there are no additional Kepler related voltage control locks in new version_- who said there would be additional ones? Someone had a problem, and they figured it out with some help. And I speculated about the 700-series having additional ones, but that had nothing to do with the already-in-place measures there since 2.2.4, _No, there are no changes in idle voltage for this cards_- DJ states he has a higher idle voltage after updating Afterburner, and that's spreading a rumor? That's not posting about problems so people can help, like _all_ of us do?, _no, I didn't became wise to what some users were doing with memory hacking tools like ArtMoney on 680 Lightning series cards_- So I finally read a comment about ArtMoney from him. Great, now I know he knows about it. A wild assumption I made, I know. I already apologized for it. _editing application memory by someone's else insturctions and expected fixed offsets to work always should learn some basics instead of spreading the rumors_- Everyone in here except for shamefulanomoly is using someone else's directions on how to do it. Not sure if he expects everyone to develop their own method?
> I wonder who was spreading rumors by stating their opinions as fact and claiming a reliable source? Because like tons of others have done at one point or another, I was speculating, and not even on the 600-series at that. 'Additional methods' on the as-of-yet imaginary 780 Lightning. So, not sure what he's so pissed about. Sorry again though. Not sure how many times to apologize.


It's not you but yours is the last in a long thread of posts..

Long story short, people take media reports, dissects and analyze and interpret to match a conspiracy theory, and then present it as fact.

I don't think people actually understand the process of how this whole thing works... and understandably, if you want to blame MSI for somehow screwing this up, so be it, but there's so much more to this than just "advertise a feature that is not available".

And part of the problem of forums, is the movement of speculation into the realm of fact...

As for Afterburner, a lot of questions are really, well,... discussions HERE with zero feedback or input from the creator. If you've created something and seen it picked apart into pieces by random people on the web, you will know how that feels.


----------



## snitchkilla11

the moral to the story is..you cannot make people happy.people going to hate no matter what.they dont own the card..but guess what ..they hatein. i bought a 7970. now i regreat it. but your card still sucks .lol people still going to hate..with or with out voltage..i still would have picked my cards.they are stay very cool in sli and oc like a gorilla in heat..still the best kepler card to date..in my opinion anyway..and also the best looking card by far!!!


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Upgrade to 2.2.3, that'll give you +93mv = 1.36v on the 3A. Then this is the hack directions for going over +93mv-
> -Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
> -Open Afterburner 2.2.3
> -Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
> -Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
> -Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
> -Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
> -Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
> -Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
> -Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
> -Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
> -Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
> BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltage sliders in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card
> For DirectX, you should just be able to type dxdiag in the Search box after clicking the Windows Start icon, and see what it lists for DirectX Version. Just checked and mine says 11. It comes with Windows 7 so you should have 11 as well


Thanks pal.

So just to confirm, you need to do all these steps to "hack" afterburner... every single time you want to overclock with voltages past 1.36? Or is it just needed for saving a profile, which can then be loaded later without having to redo the hack?

I obviously haven't gotten a good feel for how this card clocks and draws power yet, so maybe I just wont ever need to go past 1.36 for gaming, in which case that's fine I guess. Otherwise though, that's a huge PITA! I usually switch profiles 2-3 times a day in Afterburner.

As for Dx11, I understand what you're saying, and that's what I thought as well. Thing is, when I was testing my card I loaded up a couple games which I know support Dx11, only to find the dx11 option in the settings grayed out.

I don't know if this is because my previous card was only DX10 and the game hasn't "realized" I upgraded yet (I need to reinstall or w/e) or if something is blocking Dx11 functionality / reporting on the driver / windows level.

Both GPUZ and dxdiag report DX11.


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> And a wider memory bus would help


+1

I get a tidy return at 5760*1080 but 2*7950s stomp on me at that resoloution because of the 256bit memory bus. I will be getting 2*780s if they up the memory bus.


----------



## mfranco702

Hi guys Im wondering if someone has the same issue; I installed XP and Windows doesnt recognize my video card, this is weird, video is coming out from my lightning as I type but after installing the proper drivers and restarting, I cant change to 1920 x 1080p resolution, Nvidia control panel isnt available, theres a yellow exclamation mark in device manager, happens in both BIOS's LN2 and regular.

was anyone able to instal XP and run this card with no problems?





any help would be appreciated.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *stansfield*
> 
> I have been following this thread for awhile. I have this card sitting with the rest of my stuff waiting on my water kit and cpu for build. After reading about hacking etc for a feature that was the highlight of the card I think I'm going to return it toward 2 670's. At first on card release AB couldn't adjust the voltage, then it was released for voltage control, now all this...I'm over it.


No, you don't have to hack to overvolt. Only past a certain point. You can go up the +93mv from Afterburner 2.2.3 if you have the unlocked LN2 BIOS up to around 1.36v and the default up to around 1.32v I believe. Beyond the +93mv you need the hack. So it's not so bad, I'd definitely keep it.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Thanks pal.
> 
> So just to confirm, you need to do all these steps to "hack" afterburner... every single time you want to overclock with voltages past 1.36? Or is it just needed for saving a profile, which can then be loaded later without having to redo the hack?
> 
> I obviously haven't gotten a good feel for how this card clocks and draws power yet, so maybe I just wont ever need to go past 1.36 for gaming, in which case that's fine I guess. Otherwise though, that's a huge PITA! I usually switch profiles 2-3 times a day in Afterburner.
> 
> As for Dx11, I understand what you're saying, and that's what I thought as well. Thing is, when I was testing my card I loaded up a couple games which I know support Dx11, only to find the dx11 option in the settings grayed out.
> 
> I don't know if this is because my previous card was only DX10 and the game hasn't "realized" I upgraded yet (I need to reinstall or w/e) or if something is blocking Dx11 functionality / reporting on the driver / windows level.
> 
> Both GPUZ and dxdiag report DX11.


Yeah I don't know about saving profiles with it, never tried to. I wouldn't use more than for just quick bench runs, especially if you plan on keeping it for a while. Haven't seen any degrade yet though, so that's reassuring.

I would just try to reinstall the drivers, that's probably your best bet. I forgot if you said you did that already or not, but if you already tried that then maybe reinstalling the game as well might help. Say 'Yes' if it asks you if you want to install anything related to DirectX after the game installs.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mfranco702*
> 
> Hi guys Im wondering if someone has the same issue; I installed XP and Windows doesnt recognize my video card, this is weird, video is coming out from my lightning as I type but after installing the proper drivers and restarting, I cant change to 1920 x 1080p resolution, Nvidia control panel isnt available, theres a yellow exclamation mark in device manager, happens in both BIOS's LN2 and regular.
> was anyone able to instal XP and run this card with no problems?
> 
> 
> any help would be appreciated.


XP Installs drivers fine for me, looks like you need to install drivers for your motherboard chipsets first, then If I remember you may have to let windows update run to install the latest WDMI driver.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> No, you don't have to hack to overvolt. Only past a certain point. You can go up the +93mv from Afterburner 2.2.3 if you have the unlocked LN2 BIOS up to around 1.36v and the default up to around 1.32v I believe. Beyond the +93mv you need the hack. So it's not so bad, I'd definitely keep it.
> Yeah I don't know about saving profiles with it, never tried to. I wouldn't use more than for just quick bench runs, especially if you plan on keeping it for a while. Haven't seen any degrade yet though, so that's reassuring.
> I would just try to reinstall the drivers, that's probably your best bet. I forgot if you said you did that already or not, but if you already tried that then maybe reinstalling the game as well might help. Say 'Yes' if it asks you if you want to install anything related to DirectX after the game installs.


Yeah I tried drivers already. I'll completely strip them with driver sweeper and go into the registry and such and see if that works.

If not, I agree with you, its probably just the games themselves in need of a re install.


----------



## pfinch

rounding bug still exists with 2.3 .... ***??


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> rounding bug still exists with 2.3 .... ***??


What for a bug ?


----------



## pfinch

after every restart the core voltage drops


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> after every restart the core voltage drops


I dont know about this..... sorry


----------



## Arnoud87

Does memory voltage work on the locked bios? I need +30 for mem and do not need any voltage adds on the core.

/ah// I see it wont work.... seems like 3A gives a lot more memory juice too without adding (+0)


----------



## snitchkilla11

Imthinking about getting the sparkle 1250 watt psu? It's on sale for 150. To buy or not to buy? Any responses would be great.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Imthinking about getting the sparkle 1250 watt psu? It's on sale for 150. To buy or not to buy? Any responses would be great.


Go for it. Nice price and it would be a nice upgrade compared to your crappy OCZ.


----------



## Derek1387

Thinking about switching over from a 7970 lightning to the 680 lightning.... not pleased that the 7970 lightning doesnt have dual link DVI and i had to order a $120 adapter to make it work, that only works half the time....

anybody buy EK make a waterblock for it?


----------



## snitchkilla11

Believe it or not I am very pleased with my ocz.. I seen it run 930 watts before it powered down. If the sparkle woesnt so cheap I would be dropping 250 on the 1250 ocz psu. I just want some opinions before I buy one tonight


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Derek1387*
> 
> Thinking about switching over from a 7970 lightning to the 680 lightning.... not pleased that the 7970 lightning doesnt have dual link DVI and i had to order a $120 adapter to make it work, that only works half the time....
> anybody buy EK make a waterblock for it?


I bought 2 EK waterblocks and they are sweet. With ambient temps of 23/24c, Max temps I have seen with volts at +280 is 52C.

My only dislike was one of the bridges that came with the blocks had a defect which caused a leak. Easy to sort still


----------



## DADDYDC650

Can anyone else confirm RANDOM down clocking with 2 680 Lightning's in SLI while running Heaven using the latest Nvidia BETA drivers only?


----------



## DJRamses

Hallo Guys...









So, i made a long night of testing and searches. I can not repeat, that my Idle voltage of GPU climb to 1.01V after installing Afterburner 2.3.0. I dont know what happend at the first install of Afterburner 2.3.0! But i ve not lied.
Still it is Time to say officielly "Sorry" for made a hasty conclusion.

Now, what was the reason ?

I think, java caused the higher idle voltage.(Only a suspicion and though) If i start a java aplication, the voltage climbs to 1,207V (multimeter).

Here without java app:


Here with java app:


and here without afterburner :


This "problem" is not unknown. somewhere i ve read it.....









Till this point and a long Night, i must say, Afterburner 2.3.0 runs good. Oc with artmoney runs too..








The next days should be very cold outside... time to run fullspeed..


----------



## Deano12345

Don't suppose someone still has the box off their Lightning and would be willing to measure it for me ? Mines getting collected in a few days, but I just need to know the size of the box to let my aunt know


----------



## driftingforlife

44cm x 28cm x 9cm


----------



## famich

1,37 V with ARt Money hack /+108 mV / Unigine Heaven Extreme at 1406 MHz through - not bad







But on air my temps were getting to and above 70C - I really do need WC ..


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> 1,37 V with ARt Money hack /+108 mV / Unigine Heaven Extreme at 1406 MHz through - not bad
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But on air my temps were getting to and above 70C - I really do need WC ..


Excellent run







What do you run in 3dMark11 at that voltage? And since the tests are quick you shouldn't be getting anywhere near 70C, so you'll be able to give it more voltage for 3dMark11 runs. My 1480mhz run only had time to get up to 68C, and I'm stuck with stock cooling.


----------



## snitchkilla11

ok i have my final results from upgrading my psu.. in sli 1445mhz..stable. single card 1460mhz. temps 71c in sli top card bottom card 63c ..and the other card i couldnt get to clock past 1420mhz. but afterburner kept dropping my voltage..i may just try the artmoney hack since now i have to power to back it up.


----------



## stansfield

Yeah I decided to keep the card. I reduced my water kit order some since I probably won't push this card much.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> ok i have my final results from upgrading my psu.. in sli 1445mhz..stable. single card 1460mhz. temps 71c in sli top card bottom card 63c ..and the other card i couldnt get to clock past 1420mhz. but afterburner kept dropping my voltage..i may just try the artmoney hack since now i have to power to back it up.


That's awesome. You got 2 great cards there. Congrats on the PSU. I expect some big numbers to be put up for your verification pics for the OP


----------



## snitchkilla11

yes i will have pics today or tommorow for varification..im running into problems oc my new ram.so stability issues on the memory side im trying to resolve..i think im kinda upset at myself for spending 100 on some corsairplatinum 1866 ram that didnt oc as easy and as far as i expected..i may just return it and buy the 16gb kit of the mpower 2400 ram for 129.99..just seems like a much better deal and speeds that are tested to run on my mpower board. 3dmark almost makes a full run but then i get the memory error.


----------



## snitchkilla11

and i dunno if anybody can help me resolve this problem..the last oc session i had before..i had a powerdown and my sabertooth pci slots stopped working..but now just about every time i enable sli or disable i loose connection to my monitor then i have to reinstall drivers all over again?? but this happens about every time i do this


----------



## DJRamses

I dont wanna make a new Thread for this...

something to read


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> 44cm x 28cm x 9cm


Thank you good sir !


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> yes i will have pics today or tommorow for varification..im running into problems oc my new ram.so stability issues on the memory side im trying to resolve..i think im kinda upset at myself for spending 100 on some corsairplatinum 1866 ram that didnt oc as easy and as far as i expected..i may just return it and buy the 16gb kit of the mpower 2400 ram for 129.99..just seems like a much better deal and speeds that are tested to run on my mpower board. 3dmark almost makes a full run but then i get the memory error.


Another problem. That sucks. Well, all I can recommend in that department is the Samsung 30nm Low-Profile RAM. It's been great so far. Overclocks pretty well, and at a decent voltage.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> and i dunno if anybody can help me resolve this problem..the last oc session i had before..i had a powerdown and my sabertooth pci slots stopped working..but now just about every time i enable sli or disable i loose connection to my monitor then i have to reinstall drivers all over again?? but this happens about every time i do this


That's happened to me on once or twice, no where near as often as every single time though. Does it only happen with the new beta's? What if you revert back to the last stable drivers? A couple points in a bench run every now and then isn't worth the hassle of having to reinstall drivers every single time you switch in and out of SLI. I would just revert back to the last stable version that plays well with all of your games and that doesn't cause a reinstall everytime you turn SLI on and off.


----------



## snitchkilla11

It was the last 2 maby 3 drivers and still the same.. I seen the Sammy ram but looks are a big thing. I.my just get the mpower ram as its pretty good price for the speed and 16gb


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Is a 750w psu enough for one of these cards? I currently have my eye on the Corsair HX750, but was thinking of maybe considering the HX850 to make sure I have than enough power to run this card at max OC. The HX850 is currently $30 more expensive, hoping it gets even less expensive with a Black Friday promotion.


----------



## stansfield

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> Is a 750w psu enough for one of these cards? I currently have my eye on the Corsair HX750, but was thinking of maybe considering the HX850 to make sure I have than enough power to run this card at max OC. The HX850 is currently $30 more expensive, hoping it gets even less expensive with a Black Friday promotion.


One word, Seasonic. I'm pretty sure the seasonic x-850 is on price point with most top competitors. I'll never buy another brand. It's rated up to 1000w. Corsair still isn't a bad buy if you can get it cheaper. But to answer your question a 750 should handle a single lightning.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> Is a 750w psu enough for one of these cards? I currently have my eye on the Corsair HX750, but was thinking of maybe considering the HX850 to make sure I have than enough power to run this card at max OC. The HX850 is currently $30 more expensive, hoping it gets even less expensive with a Black Friday promotion.


yes 750 is plenty i could run 2 on 850..with a pretty hefty oc..had to upgrade to a 1250 cause i wanted the extra power.i was pulling 930 from the wall in sli..didnt wana stress my psu so much while running some benches


----------



## wutang61

having this issue. both cards are the first un-locked bios for ln2 card 1 is running a higher voltage the the bottom. Also not seeing the cards ramp-up to full voltage under load. One card may hit 1.306 in AB the other will be at 1.28~ or the cards won't touch 1.3 at all and one will sit at 1.28 and the other at 1.26. This is instant crash. Only way I see this is my keyboard's LCD.

Nvidia control panel settings are "prefer max performance"

I just installed my second lightning today and my old card ramps fine and performs flawlessly. Haven't done testing with the new card solo. Seems almost like a driver issue?

Any ideas? Or am I alone in the madness?


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> having this issue. both cards are the first un-locked bios for ln2 card 1 is running a higher voltage the the bottom. Also not seeing the cards ramp-up to full voltage under load. One card may hit 1.306 in AB the other will be at 1.28~ or the cards won't touch 1.3 at all and one will sit at 1.28 and the other at 1.26. This is instant crash. Only way I see this is my keyboard's LCD.
> Nvidia control panel settings are "prefer max performance"
> I just installed my second lightning today and my old card ramps fine and performs flawlessly. Haven't done testing with the new card solo. Seems almost like a driver issue?
> Any ideas? Or am I alone in the madness?


the cards have different asic quality. The card with lower asic quality use higher voltage (and consume more power) and require more cooling. If you get instant crash, your PSU might be insufficient for the overclocking you are trying to do.


----------



## famich

Unigine 1411MHz through @ ArtMoney Volt boost


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Unigine 1411MHz through @ ArtMoney Volt boost


That's a great run, nice memory overclock as well. What was the max temp at the end of the run? Do you have room to keep goin' up?


----------



## DJRamses

Hi all...

How promised: The Pics of my outside Rad.

How i say, it looks not fine, but it have a high efficiency. The fans are now the cheapest on market.

For 3€ apiece , they do there Job since 3 Years outside.Every day and night! Every Weather! Here a pic at raining:

A little freeze outside is enough to have very low temp to make benches with high clocks!


For power cares a universal PSU for notebooks/laptop.You see, it running at 22Volts!


about to eleminate condencing, a old rad outside the Case functioned as a Air-conditioner. temps inside the Case at 5 - 8°C are not rarely.


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Him all...
> How promised: The Pics of my outside Rad.
> How i say, it looks not fine, but it have a high efficiency. The fans are now the cheapest on market.
> 
> For 3€ apiece , they do there Job since 3 Years outside.Every day and night! Every Weather! Here a pic at raining:
> 
> A little freeze outside is enough to have very low temp to make benches with high clocks!
> 
> For power cares a universal PSU for notebooks/laptop.You see, it running at 22Volts!
> 
> about to eleminate condencing, a old rad outside the Case functioned as a Air-conditioner. temps inside the Case at 5 - 8°C are not rarely.


Its really cool and I like you airconditioner concept. Other components might also benefit from the cold air inside the case, like non-watercooled memory chips, vrm chips etc.. Cheap but extremely effective cooling. If I lived in a house, I would make a similar setup.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Its really cool and I like you airconditioner concept. Other components might also benefit from the cold air inside the case, like non-watercooled memory chips, vrm chips etc.. Cheap but extremely effective cooling. If I lived in a house, I would make a similar setup.


Yes, and if you see, you dont need expensive Materials. Except perhaps the pump. She must pump the water a long way. I use a Eheim 12V (here a newer model) She works very trusted. In my last arpartment she must pump a way of 14m + 3 x waterblocks+ 1x 480 and 1x 240 rads.


----------



## kieran13

i got one of the MST GTX 680 that has those new limits. does that mean even if i use LN2 bios it will still throttle


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> i got one of the MST GTX 680 that has those new limits. does that mean even if i use LN2 bios it will still throttle


please tell us, which bios Version you have. start GPUz....


----------



## kieran13

bios version 80.04.47.00.19 also i mean throttle the GPU clock after 70C that throttle


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> bios version 80.04.47.00.19


oops... i ve reading bad things about this Version. It have a boost, OCP ....everything what a locked Bios needs.









Okay, look at the Startpost of this thread. You can find some unlocked Biosfiles and howto´s to flash your card. I dont know which Version of unlocked Bios runs succesfully on your Card.


----------



## kieran13

thats depressing lol


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's a great run, nice memory overclock as well. What was the max temp at the end of the run? Do you have room to keep goin' up?


There was 71-2 C on the GPU at the end, ambient was around 19 C , I believe... thanks and cheers


----------



## Gregster

Nice and simple cooling DJ







I see it works a treat and a damn site cheaper than a chiller. I have been looking at the chillers and very expensive but you have given me another idea


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> thats depressing lol


Not at all. Flash to this BIOS though (80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2)) as my newer card caused massive artifacting when I put the F8 BIOS on it. As soon as I added that 3A BIOS, it works sweet as and allows the +100MV in AB 2.2.3 (not sure on the 2.3.0 AB).


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> Nice and simple cooling DJ
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I see it works a treat and a damn site cheaper than a chiller. I have been looking at the chillers and very expensive but you have given me another idea


And if you have realy low temps outside, no chiller can you give this performance. Only downside it works best on autumn and winter.
Sometime i wish , i live at the Arktis...


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> And if you have realy low temps outside, no chiller can you give this performance. Only downside it works best on autumn and winter.
> Sometime i wish , i live at the Arktis...


Just save up all your benching for the winter time







I have been sitting inside freezing with the door open doing some bench testing and temps are great (but not for the wife)


----------



## DJRamses

in my last apartment my wife was not pleased, if the winter was comming...








The balkony door open for the tubes.
Today we have a new and bigger apartment. I have my own office with own balkony...


----------



## kieran13

im getting this error error cannot open file 680L_unlockedbios.rom


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> i get this error when trying to update nvflash -4 -5 -6 680L_UnlockedBIOS.rom


writeprotect error?


----------



## kieran13

nope not that


----------



## kieran13

also the error is cannot open file 680L_unlockedbios.rom i did a edit before


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> im getting this error error cannot open file 680L_unlockedbios.rom


Do you have view known extension types on?

http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows-vista/Show-or-hide-file-name-extensions

I always rename a bios to something simple like 680new.rom and save the old bios to oldbios.rom. Far simpler and less chance of making a mistake whilst typing. Also make sure the BIOS is in the same folder as Nvflash.

I use a memory stick for simplicity or use the root of a drive like D:


----------



## kieran13

i copied pasted from the instructions on first page to avoid misstakes


----------



## kieran13

umm my screen has all these lines on it help me


----------



## famich

Next time it will be a breeze for you..


----------



## kieran13

ok i restored my bios from the backup i had thank god i did a backup now can some one tell me why my screen had lines and colors through it


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> umm my screen has all these lines on it help me


What bios did you use and you did flash it to the LN2 bios?


----------



## kieran13

yer i flash it to the LN2 and i used this one https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByaqIKti5kitbkxERjVhYVlqbzQ/edit


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> thats depressing lol


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> Not at all. Flash to this BIOS though (80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2)) as my newer card caused massive artifacting when I put the F8 BIOS on it. As soon as I added that 3A BIOS, it works sweet as and allows the +100MV in AB 2.2.3 (not sure on the 2.3.0 AB).


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> yer i flash it to the LN2 and i used this one https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByaqIKti5kitbkxERjVhYVlqbzQ/edit


I did tell you not to use the F8 BIOS. Try again bud but use the 3A BIOS this time


----------



## kieran13

ok it worked yay now time to OC


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> ok it worked yay now time to OC


Have fun and give 3DMark11 a good test







I use Afterburner 2.2.3 for overclocking, as I am too lazy to alter the config files in 2.2.4 or 2.3.0


----------



## kieran13

im using afterburner 2.3.0 working great


----------



## famich

But you have to edit the .cfg file to be able to unlock the voltage boost . Try AFB 2.2.3 as suggested

/Unwinder had to cap the PWTGT and voltage in AFB 224 and 230 / .

Do some search here and you ll find out that I am right..


----------



## DJRamses

I am back to 2.2.3 too....


----------



## kieran13

i can up my voltage by 100ma thats all i need


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> i can up my voltage by 100ma thats all i need


till you want more next Time...


----------



## kieran13

so far my oc is core is at 1293 with +62mV and mem is at +400 no extra volts ive passed heaven benchmark and 3dmark11

temps were 61c @ 83% fan speed

*SCORE*
P10709 3DMarks
*GRAPHICS SCORE*
11069
*PHYSICS SCORE*
10413
*COMBINED SCORE*
8915

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5029763


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> so far my oc is core is at 1923 with +62mV and mem is at +400 no extra volts ive passed heaven benchmark and 3dmark11
> temps were 61c @ 83% fan speed
> *SCORE*
> P10709 3DMarks
> *GRAPHICS SCORE*
> 11069
> *PHYSICS SCORE*
> 10413
> *COMBINED SCORE*
> 8915
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5029763


1923mhz with only +63mv??







Using LN2???
that is near worldrecord...

I think you typed a wrong value


----------



## wutang61

So far with my sli setup.










20k was my pipe dream goal and I smashed that with ease. Ill try for more later on.

power draw is redic. i pull a grand from the wall in 3dmark.

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## Gregster

^^ Nice score







I was pulling 1150 from the wall when I was going for it massively with +240Mv on both GPUs and 1.495V (5Ghz) 3930K. Crazy power needs but that is with 7 fans a water pump and 3 monitors.


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> ^^ Nice score
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was pulling 1150 from the wall when I was going for it massively with +240Mv on both GPUs and 1.495V (5Ghz) 3930K. Crazy power needs but that is with 7 fans a water pump and 3 monitors.


i wish i had a 5ghz 3930. mine takes 1.5 just to see 4.8


----------



## Gregster

I do wish I could overclock the memory also







Temps are nice and low and would like to add a little more to the volts. Art Money is great though, so not complaining.


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> i wish i had a 5ghz 3930. mine takes 1.5 just to see 4.8


Sorry going to rub it in a little and I have 5Ghz stable with 1.48V. In previous years, I have lucked out on the chip lottery but with my 2 slightly above average LTG 680s and a good CPU, I done well this round


----------



## snitchkilla11

what drivers are everyone useing? im haveing problems with the new beta


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> what drivers are everyone useing? im haveing problems with the new beta


You re not alone.

At benching i use 306.47. The last Beta ... i testing at Black ops II.


----------



## snitchkilla11

no im searouly going crazy over it..im about to load the drivers from my disc.lol i just wanted to see what everyone is running.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> You re not alone.
> At benching i use 306.47. The last Beta ... i testing at Black ops II.


306.47 works best for my rig. I get down clocking and stuttering with the BETA drivers.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> 306.47 works best for my rig. I get down clocking and stuttering with the BETA drivers.


But the beta 310.33 is good for Vantage benching... you get 2000 points more at graphic scrore with a little but legal trick:

Here is a score without tweak: (310.33)


and here with tweak310.33)


Lightning was not overclocked!

Both tests are with same CPU and Mem settings.


----------



## Gregster

Legal trick? explain please


----------



## snitchkilla11

Ok I'm going to roll back thanks.


----------



## sockpirate

Will taking off the GPU reactor affect the board in any way ? I think it is tacky and ugly.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i think he change the resolution a bit


----------



## snitchkilla11

you can take it off..its only for extreme benching ln2


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> Will taking off the GPU reactor affect the board in any way ? I think it is tacky and ugly.


I took both mine off and just have the PCB attatched (click my sig) I thought it also looks tacky and I have noticed no difference with them off.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i have no one to show my rig off to so here you go..with the new psu ram and some sp120s. i hate the purple in my psu..but i couldnt pass it up for the price.and it came with a 100 dollar sparkle giftcard???? what am i going to do with that!!! any body wana trade for it.lol ..any cheap way of chaning the plugs out? besides spray paint


----------



## Gregster

^^ Looks good with the white switch case







Nice build


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i have no one to show my rig off to so here you go..with the new psu ram and some sp120s. i hate the purple in my psu..but i couldnt pass it up for the price.and it came with a 100 dollar sparkle giftcard???? what am i going to do with that!!! any body wana trade for it.lol ..any cheap way of chaning the plugs out? besides spray paint


Sweet rig! Awesome having two 680 Lightning's isn't it?

BTW, purple is cool!


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> But the beta 310.33 is good for Vantage benching... you get 2000 points more at graphic scrore with a little but legal trick:
> Here is a score without tweak: (310.33)
> 
> and here with tweak310.33)
> 
> Lightning was not overclocked!
> Both tests are with same CPU and Mem settings.


Don't think I've tried 310.33... might have to. Do you get any down clocking in SLI?


----------



## snitchkilla11

the white case i wish was black now!!!!! but thanks guys..that makes me feel good about my investment!!! and the lightnings are great...i would rather have these then 2 690s any day im going to try and take my setup out to my garage tonight if my wife gets home from work at a decient hour tonight. its getting really cold here and wana try out in the cold. i.have 2 kids to chase down all day otherwise it be done


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> Don't think I've tried 310.33... might have to. Do you get any down clocking in SLI?


i get downclocking in games.


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> Don't think I've tried 310.33... might have to. Do you get any down clocking in SLI?


I get random freezes. Desktop/browsing/gaming, makes no odds as it will just freeze my computer at any stage with these.


----------



## DJRamses

Since beta 310.33 nvidia user can change manually the LOD in all API´s. So you can change it for benching. I ve change the LOD with nvidia inspector to +3.000 and voila .. 2000 points more in Vantage.








If you set the LOD in nvidiainspector, you must set transparency supersampling to "2x Sparse Grid Supersampling!!" If it works you see a "very washed Screen" in Vantage

In 3Dmark11 it doesnt work. Ungine works, but i ve no more points till now........


----------



## snitchkilla11

ohhhhhhhh.how do you figure this stuff out!


----------



## Gregster

That would kinda feel like cheating to me. I know AMD users can lower the tesselation in Heaven via CCC but hope they wouldn't.


----------



## DJRamses

In 3Dmark 01, 03, 05 and PCMark 05 is positive LOD allowed and every use that. Why not in Vantage? If there disallow in Vantage, i think they must disallow in all Benches..... I think, this will be a hard work.


----------



## DADDYDC650

What score are you folks getting with two 680 Lightnings in SLI running Heaven benchmark? Max settings @ 1080p with no vsync. I get 106fps.


----------



## rav3rix

hi everybody
i am newbie

i wanna ask about my gtx 680 lightning
in default bios i can't overclock my gtx until 80 MHz
if i try it, n it will crash
n i was try using AB 2.3 and 2.2.3 and the result always same

and my score in 3dmark11 just 96xx (very low)

please!! help/teach me to overclocked my gtx 680 ??


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rav3rix*
> 
> hi everybody
> i am newbie
> i wanna ask about my gtx 680 lightning
> in default bios i can't overclock my gtx until 80 MHz
> if i try it, n it will crash
> n i was try using AB 2.3 and 2.2.3 and the result always same
> and my score in 3dmark11 just 96xx (very low)
> please!! help/teach me to overclocked my gtx 680 ??


Look and read the startpost of this thread here..

but i ve one question:
what have you for a system? Board ,Cpu and Ram?

i mean , 96xx is very low


----------



## rav3rix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Look and read the startpost of this thread here..
> but i ve one question:
> what have you for a system? Board ,Cpu and Ram?
> i mean , 96xx is very low


this is my system :
cpu : i7 3770k (3.5 - 3.9 GHz)
board : msi z77 mpower
ram : gskill F3-2400C10Q-16GTX
PSU : Seasonic X850 gold
VGA : GTX680 lightning

can you help whats wrong with my system?


----------



## snitchkilla11

what bios do you have? go into afterburner and check


----------



## rav3rix

this is my bios 80.04.47.00.18

and i always try to overclock until +80MHz with AB
but always crash.


----------



## snitchkilla11

ya unlock that sucker!


----------



## rav3rix

how ?


----------



## kieran13

haha yeh mistype


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rav3rix*
> 
> how ?


go to the first page of the thread..it will give you instructions on how to do it..very simple really


----------



## snitchkilla11

theres a video on the thread exactly how to do it..i forget what page its on though


----------



## rav3rix

yeah
i was finish flash my LN2 bios

btw
am i must flash too my default bios or not ?


----------



## kieran13

what are the max safe temps foe the GPU MEM VRM
also what is aux voltage


----------



## owikhan

LN2 Bios CORE VOLTAGE MV+93,POWER LIMIT300,CORE CLOCK MHZ 192,MEMOR CLOCK MHZ 525,MEMORY VOLTAGE +50,AUX VOLTAGE+0
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5036780


----------



## kieran13

Hmm with the 80.04.28.00.3A bios my games seem to skip/stutter a small amount anyone else with this issue


----------



## owikhan

i have same bios but i have no issue in any game


----------



## kieran13

might try running everything stock with the bios

edit: maybe my OC was not stable for BF3


----------



## owikhan

How much you OC your processer?
with same bios and @4.9GHZ i5 3570K BF3,Call of duty black ops2,working flawlessly no problem


----------



## kieran13

its in my sig







4.6Ghz


----------



## kieran13

round 2 @ OC is going well epic im at +110 Core Clock stock voltage and pass heaven i decided to roll back from the latest beta drivers


----------



## wutang61

anyone have overclocking issues with the latest beta in sli? i cant hit 1306 in heaven in sli but both cards in solo mode will pass at 1398 3 times over.

whats the best driver out there for this? its annoying as hell to me.


----------



## snitchkilla11

yes..major problems in sli for me also


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> yes..major problems in sli for me also


glad to see im not alone. its annoying the piss out of me.


----------



## snitchkilla11

yes i went thrue hours of aggrivation yesturday..so i rolled back drivers


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> yes i went thrue hours of aggrivation yesturday..so i rolled back drivers


what version did you settle on that fixed it?


----------



## snitchkilla11

306.47 so far so good.


----------



## kieran13

306.97 drivers work best for my single card i ran heaven and played 30mins of BF3 at 1920x1200 Ultra of course with no issue i will be doing more stability test but for now that will do its 5am also im on stock LN2 bios voltage. (bios version 80.04.28.00.3A)


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> 306.47 so far so good.


Do you prefer that version of the 306.97? Why?


----------



## snitchkilla11

i been haveing problems with enabeling sli and disableing sli..where when i did i would have to reinstall driver again. also haven and 3dmark crashing on clocks that i passed before. but im going to test a few more just to make sure


----------



## Justin Bieber

Hey guy's I just bought a 680 lightning and I can't unlock the voltage. I've read through this thread looking for an answer and can't seem to find one. I switched it to LN2 mode, and the bios is 80.04.28.00.3A (from what I've read is an unlocked one). First I tried AB 2.2.3 and I couldn't unlock the voltage. Also the power limit is maxed at 133%. Next I tried AB 2.3 with the config edit and the voltage is still locked at 1.175 and the power limit locked at 133%. What am I missing here? Also I'm using 310.33 drivers. Thanks in advance for any help!


----------



## snitchkilla11

msi is shipping all locked cards on all bios..just redownload the 3a bios from the thread and unlock it...omg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its justin bieber!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol


----------



## Menthol

Do the new cards still have 2 bios's


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Do the new cards still have 2 bios's


Ya.

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## Justin Bieber

Thanks snitchkilla, works fine now








This is great as I have been quite depressed in recent days after Selena Gomez and I broke up.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Justin Bieber*
> 
> Thanks snitchkilla, works fine now
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is great as I have been quite depressed in recent days after Selena Gomez and I broke up.


Don't trip off of Selena. Your 680 Lightning will always be there for you to cheer you up bud.


----------



## dph314

Yes every new card will have to be flashed regardless of what version LN2 BIOS you have if you want voltage control, because even the 3A has been locked, yet retains the same label on new cards. The true 3A BIOS is in the OP.


----------



## snitchkilla11

ya your 680 wont cheat or lie to you!!!


----------



## kieran13

found a small problem no wonder i cant clock past 1300Mhz no matter whta i do if i set voltage to +100 voltage still remains 1.21


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> msi is shipping all locked cards on all bios..just redownload the 3a bios from the thread and unlock it...omg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its justin bieber!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol


And who is Justin Bieber ? Honestly, I do not know him.. should I..?


----------



## kieran13

ive overclocked my MSI 680 as far as it will go which is not very far







+110 Core and +100mv core everything else stock. my 680 sucks


----------



## wutang61

Anyone seeing low gpu usage in bf3? My cards (2 sli) only run up to about 85% max at the spawn screen and once spawned only run 60's-mid 70's usage. I'm actually matching my 480's right now in avg fps.

This combined with the horrible clocking of the cards once in sli is just wonderful... 1400mhz each card no problem together 1300 won't even happen.

I'm using the latest beta. 310.xx I've tried rolling back to 306.79 with no improvement.

Anyone else seeing this issue?

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## owikhan

@kieran13 Bro did you check with new drivers?and also check with your Locked bios if same result then i think its time claim from MSI.


----------



## kieran13

im using my LN2 bios which i flashed to the 3a bios and new beta drivers cause issues for me


----------



## famich

So what is you max overclock with 1.36-1.37 V ?


----------



## kieran13

core volts dont go higher then 1.28


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> core volts dont go higher then 1.28


Software or multimeter as the LN2 BIOS with +100 does 1.37v


----------



## kieran13

software


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> software


Never to massure VCore over Software at the Lightnings. Only Multimeter is exactly! If you have 1,31V at software monitor, can it be 1,40 on a Multimeter.
Be carefull!


----------



## Arnoud87

Man man, I get so tired of that MSI Voltage bug in Afterburner
is it fixed allready or is there some new beta version?


----------



## snitchkilla11

Yes go to Walmart and buy one for 30 bucks..better safe then sorry.. and I think nvidia will feel some kinda way if MSI does get it fixed. I'm 100% sure MSI is aware of this.


----------



## kieran13

well my problems just got worse did a clean install of me OS and now the voltage wont go above 1.21 and if i set the core voltage to +100 it still stays at 1.21 **** me nothing but trouble with this card


----------



## DJRamses

Yes, at weekend i need my MM more... because it should freezing outside..... Benchtime!!


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> well my problems just got worse did a clean install of me OS and now the voltage wont go above 1.21 and if i set the core voltage to +100 it still stays at 1.21 **** me nothing but trouble with this card


What for a software shows 1,21V?


----------



## kieran13

msi afterburner i cant even OC +80mhz on the core no matter how high i set the voltage


----------



## DJRamses

VEN_10DE&DEV_1.........cfg edited?


----------



## kieran13

where is the cfg


----------



## DJRamses

c:\Program Files (x86)\MSI Afterburner\Profiles\

open with editor and add follow lines:

[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1
[I2C_BUS_04_DEV_46]
Offset00=69 00 00 5F FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset10=50 E8 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 5F FF FF FF FF FF
Offset20=00 00 35 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset30=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset40=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset50=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset60=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset70=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 0A 28 55 FF FF FF 80 D6
Offset80=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 19 03 E8 FC 06 08 08 08
Offset90=65 FF FF FF FF FF 0B 09 F8 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetA0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetB0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetC0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetD0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetE0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetF0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
[I2C_BUS_04_DEV_30]
Offset00=FF 00 00 00 01 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset10=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset20=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset30=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset40=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset50=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset60=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset70=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset80=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
Offset90=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetA0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetB0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetC0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetD0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetE0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
OffsetF0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF

I think Ab wants a restart....if Ab starts...


----------



## kieran13

when i go to save keeps saying the file is open in another program when its not


----------



## DJRamses

Afterburner open? in Bckground?

Copy the cfg to another Place and edit it there... then copy it back

or try it to edit it in safe mode........


----------



## kieran13

do i add those lines ontop of what already in there or do just add them in


----------



## kieran13

yay 1.31voltage love you bro


----------



## DJRamses

At me, it was add it. You can it set on top... works too...


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> yay 1.31voltage love you bro


OC needs ever patience..


----------



## kieran13

im already hard at it







also what is AUX voltage


----------



## DJRamses

anyway be careful without multimeter.... !

any Voltages massure over software are wrong!

AUX = VRM-Power. At high clocks (and i mean high clocks) it can be help to stability.


----------



## kieran13

dont think i can do to much damage with +100mv


----------



## DJRamses

Look everytime to your Temps.. and i think thats all right.
Some Cards were damaged with lesser voltage....


----------



## kieran13

i got my fan speed setup like a boss never seen it go past 65c under 3dmark11


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> i got my fan speed setup like a boss never seen it go past 65c under 3dmark11


Thats right.
Nobody wants a damaged Lightning









Lower Temps and not hourslong to speed at high Voltage = a longer Life for the electrical components....


----------



## kieran13

i could run these fans @ 100% still quite compared to my EVGA Superclock cooler


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Can we use Afterburner 2.3.0 with the config file edit and properly overvolt these cards? I remember people saying version 2.2.3 had rounding errors on set voltages, and 2.2.4 is obviously a more outdated version.


----------



## kieran13

since i edited the config i can do +100mv so yes you can you 2.3.0


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> since i edited the config i can do +100mv so yes you can you 2.3.0


Is your power limit and everything where it should be like previous versions with the config edit? Thanks for your quick response, I didn't read about many people using the latest Afterburner to OC the Lightnings, so I was worried it wasn't an option.


----------



## kieran13

ive got my power limit at 300% also im on days off so i sit in front of PC all day/nite


----------



## rav3rix

hey i was flash my bios
n i get score in 3dmark 11208
is my score normal ??

but can't overclock over 120 MHz
i stuck in 120 MHz

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5049196


----------



## kieran13

im also stuck @ +120mhz on the core


----------



## rav3rix

yeah
n i dont know whats problem of this card
n i hope someone can help us to solve it


----------



## kieran13

proly the new batch of cards


----------



## rav3rix

whats is that ?

sorry i'm newbie


----------



## kieran13

new msi cards not as good as the old ones


----------



## Justin Bieber

I can't get past 122mhz on the core. Seems typical of the latest batch of cards. My memory however overclocks quite well.What is your guys' ASIC quality?


----------



## kieran13

im at +400 on mem


----------



## rav3rix

yeah maybe

but for my memory clock
i can get 550MHz


----------



## Davitz

well, my Lightnings in SLI are going under water this week







I'll post pics when the loop is complete


----------



## snitchkilla11

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5050908

i dunno whats going on with these drivers lately but they suck bad! and thats oc to 1405mhz..im really getting fed up ..im only running like 70% useage ...what the F..im about to break some shat!!!!!


----------



## RampageRogers

GTX 680 Lightning are lesser binning now,reviewer alway get cherry picked card that why there get higher clock.My first lightning can do 1400/1900 on AB 2.2.3 +100 mv core but my second lightning can only do 1330/1900 +100 mv.The first 5000 lightning seem like have better binning,before AB 2.2.3 is released,with ln2 bios there are hitting 1300++,with AB 2.2.3 there are hitting 1400++.

You are consider lucky if you can hit 1300++ with +100 mv,if you purchase the lightning after the first batch.I have read the whole thread,people are getting lower and lower clock.Hope Msi will release the extreme edition with better binning and oc capability.


----------



## kieran13

i got 1320mhz so im happy and 400 on the mem


----------



## Deano12345

So I know have my card, well it's still in the states but my aunt said the two that were there had both been returns...so who here bought mine and brought it back


----------



## PCModderMike

I could break over 1400MHz on 306.97 drivers....but on the beta 310.61 just won't go as high anymore








Cell phone pic, used ArtMoney to get to +200mV to reach this.


----------



## kieran13

new beta drivers cause me to fail heaven


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> new beta drivers cause me to fail heaven


Heaven is also where I had to lower my clocks the most or it will crash.


----------



## kieran13

i can push 1350 in heaven but i like to back off slightly that way i know its rock solid so i took mine to 1320


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5050908
> i dunno whats going on with these drivers lately but they suck bad! and thats oc to 1405mhz..im really getting fed up ..im only running like 70% useage ...what the F..im about to break some shat!!!!!


Your Physx score is way low for some reason


----------



## PCModderMike

Is he brings the speed of his RAM up, that will help improve the Physx score.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Im at 1866mhz ram. My cards are only running 70% I tried the last few drivers and nothing's changed!!!!


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Im at 1866mhz ram. My cards are only running 70% I tried the last few drivers and nothing's changed!!!!


They are probably rated for 1866? But according to your score they are only running at 1333? Unless I'm reading that wrong....But have you verified through the BIOS the speed they're running at. Also when you're seeing the 70%....are you sure that's the GPU usage and not the TDP usage? Not trying to insult you, just inquiring to get a clear idea here, so don't take me questioning you the wrong way.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Yes they are running at speed. And yes im looking at useage. Tdp is under 70%. I think its driver related?


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Yes they are running at speed. And yes im looking at useage. Tdp is under 70%. I think its driver related?


Hmm I'm still puzzled somewhat by how my card runs and it's TDP usage. It's running as it should, GPU usage is 98-99% under full load, scores are what they should be. But when I set the slider bar for the power limit all the way up to 300% in afterburner, how come it doesn't even come close to that when under load? I guess I'm asking that to anyone who can answer that, or shed some light on that for me... thanks.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Ya same here. It's driving me crazy. But the power limit slider is kinda weird or buggy. If I slide to 300% my oc of 1430mhz became unstable.but if I leave it around 200 I'm good. Same thing with my fan speed. If I go over 68 on fan speed il get a crash with them clocks


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Ya same here. It's driving me crazy. But the power limit slider is kinda weird or buggy. If I slide to 300% my oc of 1430mhz became unstable.but if I leave it around 200 I'm good. Same thing with my fan speed. If I go over 68 on fan speed il get a crash with them clocks


I have wondered this myself.







Maybe I should try lowering mine a little and see if I can go higher with the core. I just figured maxed out would be best.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Im running 2.2.3 but ya try and keep it around 200 and take fans off auto and put fans at 65%. Then give that a whirl


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Im running 2.2.3 but ya try and keep it around 200 and take fans off auto and put fans at 65%. Then give that a whirl


Cool, will do. I don't use fans though...that's my waterblock in my avatar.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Headslap


----------



## CrazyElf

Hmm ... it looks like the new gen of cards is overclocking less and less. And it's not just a few people.

I wonder if the ASIC % on the newer cards has dropped or something else has changed?


----------



## snitchkilla11

its cause the nvidia voltage lock..so why pay the premium for binned chips when you cant push them. some people want to push them but im sure most people just buy the card for looks and the cooler..im very happy i bought my cards when i did.otherwise id probably be pretty upset seeing all these high clocks of over 1400mhz and others cant even clock over 1300mhz..i really feel for you guys.


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

From what I see, EVERY Lightning boosts to ~1202 MHz on unlocked LN2 BIOS by default. With all the talk of the latest versions not being binned as well as earlier models, which leads to much lower OC potential, is it even still worth purchasing these cards over other high end 680s? I'd like to get at least 1300 MHz on the core and anywhere from +400-500 MHz on the memory, but if I can't even potentially reach those numbers, would there even really be a reason to OC the card? For stability, would I lose much noticeable performance in gaming if I just left it on the default unlocked LN2 BIOS and played using the ~1202 MHz clock?


----------



## snitchkilla11

in some games i cannot run the cards overclocked much anyways..i allways run in sli so i dunno about single card. but really its not going to make a difference..maby 5fps give or take a few..but with one 680 you can play any game maxed out with very playable frames. even at 1008mhz refrence card speed. i would say yes its worth it now that they are 499. refrence cards 1008 vs 1202..mine boosted to 1228mhz but when i flashed it it went down to 1202. since i unlocked it with 100mv i can get an extra 100mhz.. stock card did 1350 give or take. now i can push it to about 1460 given i fix the problem of them running under load!!


----------



## Justin Bieber

I just got a brand new lightning it does 1320 core, 7000 mem rock solid. I'm pretty happy with that, especially since I got it for $450 http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=73224

If it could do 1400mhz that would be cool but I wouldnt run that for games anyways. ASIC is 79%. If you are considering it grizzly I would say its definitely worth getting a lightning, you will still get the OC numbers you are looking for.

PS: the 1320mhz is just the number im reading in gpu-z. if the default is 1202mhz, and ive OC'd by 122, that gives me 1324. So does it not boost clocks when in LN2 mode? The boost clock is bugged and only reads 1059. So I'm not sure if im actually getting a higher max clock under load.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Your Physx score is way low for some reason


He has HT disabled on the 3770k, needs to enable for better physics.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Justin Bieber*
> 
> I just got a brand new lightning it does 1320 core, 7000 mem rock solid. I'm pretty happy with that, especially since I got it for $450 http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=73224
> If it could do 1400mhz that would be cool but I wouldnt run that for games anyways. ASIC is 79%. If you are considering it grizzly I would say its definitely worth getting a lightning, you will still get the OC numbers you are looking for.
> PS: the 1320mhz is just the number im reading in gpu-z. if the default is 1202mhz, and ive OC'd by 122, that gives me 1324. So does it not boost clocks when in LN2 mode? The boost clock is bugged and only reads 1059. So I'm not sure if im actually getting a higher max clock under load.


Leave afterburner or gpu-z (on the sensor tab) open on the desktop to see what the max clocks are while boosted under load. Good price for the lightning!


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Justin Bieber*
> 
> I just got a brand new lightning it does 1320 core, 7000 mem rock solid. I'm pretty happy with that, especially since I got it for $450 http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=73224
> If it could do 1400mhz that would be cool but I wouldnt run that for games anyways. ASIC is 79%. If you are considering it grizzly I would say its definitely worth getting a lightning, you will still get the OC numbers you are looking for.
> PS: the 1320mhz is just the number im reading in gpu-z. if the default is 1202mhz, and ive OC'd by 122, that gives me 1324. So does it not boost clocks when in LN2 mode? The boost clock is bugged and only reads 1059. So I'm not sure if im actually getting a higher max clock under load.


From what I've read, GPUz doesn't read the clocks correctly on the LN2 BIOS, so you would have to use the monitoring programs on Afterburner to get the correct readings.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i use kombuster to see clocks,load and tpd..i really need to figue this out..now im only running like 60% load


----------



## TheBenson

Moved over to the Mpower board and RAM, installed Windows 8 onto a fresh Kingston SSD and gave my lightning a run in 3dmark 11 at my best stable OC so far.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> They are probably rated for 1866? But according to your score they are only running at 1333? Unless I'm reading that wrong....But have you verified through the BIOS the speed they're running at. Also when you're seeing the 70%....are you sure that's the GPU usage and not the TDP usage? Not trying to insult you, just inquiring to get a clear idea here, so don't take me questioning you the wrong way.


I think systeminfo reads the jedec specs of the memory, it always says 1333 or 1600mhz no matter what the memory speed is.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheBenson*
> 
> Moved over to the Mpower board and RAM, installed Windows 8 onto a fresh Kingston SSD and gave my lightning a run in 3dmark 11 at my best stable OC so far.


What was the win7 physics score? Looks like physics takes a pretty good hit in win 8.


----------



## TheBenson

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I think systeminfo reads the jedec specs of the memory, it always says 1333 or 1600mhz no matter what the memory speed is.
> What was the win7 physics score? Looks like physics takes a pretty good hit in win 8.




This is my most recent Win7 3dmark 11 run.


----------



## IlIfadeIlI

Are we sure that they are getting binned lower? Could the latest drivers have any effect on overclocks making the cards more unstable? Also of course the ones who got crappier binned cards will come on and complain while the ones who didn't usually wouldnt.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheBenson*
> 
> 
> This is my most recent Win7 3dmark 11 run.


Ah benched at stock clocks, I was thinking 4.5Ghz like in your sig. Doesn't really look like much difference in physics then, I was looking at a 3960x physics score the other day that was really low in win8, might not have been win8's fault...


----------



## TheBenson

Both those benches were made at 4.5ghz. If you were looking at the real temp monitor that only says 3550 because of some weird thing with turbo boost. Under any real load my machine runs at 4.5ghz, monitored by CPU-Z. Real temp always read my CPU at weird speeds if it was doing anything other than idling or under a noticeable load.


----------



## FtW 420

What is the system memory running at? At 4.5Ghz the physics should be able to improve, which avexir kit do you have?


----------



## TheBenson

Just the 1600mhz, not any of the high end 2000+ stuff


----------



## wutang61

Each driver release clock speeds seem to fall. Also a strange thing I have noticed is the offset clock being different...

100+ offset on the core is 1302 on 301.42

100+ offset on the core is 1293 on 310.61.

Strange.

Both of my cards will do 1401 (on 301.42) and 1398 (on 310.61) note this is the SAME +200 offset. In sli I lose over 100mhz.... 1293 is all they got on the latest 310 driver.

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## owikhan

let me try today with both drivers and see if any difference then i ill update you too


----------



## DJRamses

A new (beta) driver is out. 310.64!

read there:
NVIDIA GeForce 310.64 Beta Spotted in the Wild


----------



## kieran13

looks like only for far cry 3


----------



## GenoOCAU

Got the SB-E on phase, dropped this last night after 2 runs then stopped for dinner








Both cards were 1462mhz core 7082 mem.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Also did a single card run on my 1492 card. I've gotten some confidence from you all putting so many volts through your cards to get 1500mhz core, set art money to +135mV ~ 1.411v on multi and it passed 3dmark 11 at 1502mhz.

Big pic *here* with afterburner clocks.


----------



## snitchkilla11

what drivers are you running?


----------



## GenoOCAU

304.79 bud, had issues with most others.


----------



## snitchkilla11

you have no idea..my cards in sli only running like 60%..i cannot seem to fix it. im downloading them now..hopefully can fix my problem...i didnt try back that far cause the problems just started happening the last few driver betas


----------



## GenoOCAU

Good luck mate, ive tried a couple of the beta releases at the moment and had weird results. Rolled back to 304.79 every time and had them run flawlessly. You may have to create a SLIprofile for some games due to the age of the drivers but after that they're perfect


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Also did a single card run on my 1492 card. I've gotten some confidence from you all putting so many volts through your cards to get 1500mhz core, set art money to +135mV ~ 1.411v on multi and it passed 3dmark 11 at 1502mhz.
> 
> Big pic *here* with afterburner clocks.


Damn. Excellent run









I'd keep going. Many on here, including myself, have gone well beyond 1.4v and have been fine. That's not to say you should do it on a regular basis. But I think the fear of these chips being able to handle anything over 1.175v is gone.

Be safe, as always, obviously. Just saying, no one treading into +1.4v territory has seen any degredation or anything.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Also did a single card run on my 1492 card. I've gotten some confidence from you all putting so many volts through your cards to get 1500mhz core, set art money to +135mV ~ 1.411v on multi and it passed 3dmark 11 at 1502mhz.
> Big pic *here* with afterburner clocks.


With the new beta driver and at 135mv at Artmoney , i dont have 1,411V on mm ! Will make a Test with the 304 driver.
But my first run at 1500, i need 1,38 - 1,41 V. At 1515 was the max value 1,46V and at 1555Mhz was it 1,48-1,49. (for very short time max.1,501)
I think with every new driver you have other offsets.


----------



## famich

Would it be possible that they have implemented some sort of brake into the new drivers ? I think yes...


----------



## snitchkilla11

im not worried about games im worried about when i do a run in 3dmark 11 at 1400+mhz in sli i dont get 100percent useage and my scores are low.


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Would it be possible that they have implemented some sort of brake into the new drivers ? I think yes...


I'm thinking that exactly. Each driver clocks fall

performance does increase but a loss of clock speed has happened to me since 301.42

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> im not worried about games im worried about when i do a run in 3dmark 11 at 1400+mhz in sli i dont get 100percent useage and my scores are low.


I'm jelly. My cards are a fail at clocking in sli. I mean it takes me +93 for a 90mhz bump in clock...

Seriously considering exchanging my new 680 for another.

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## snitchkilla11

i cant get my cards to run full load!!!! they hang around 60% im searously about to trade this dude on craigslist for his 2 7970 lightnings. im trying 306.23 then the drivers that came on disc..and if no fix then see ya later


----------



## wutang61

I'm just stumped overall. Both cards seem to clock very well outside sli. In sli they don't clock for crap.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i searously tried every driver released for the gtx 680..none fix my problems!!!!


----------



## Fooom

Hey guys! im currently using the F8 bios, if i flash 3A will my card overclock better? And what program do i need to download in order to change my voltage? Currently im on 1.212v


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Fooom*
> 
> Hey guys! im currently using the F8 bios, if i flash 3A will my card overclock better? And what program do i need to download in order to change my voltage? Currently im on 1.212v


F8 is unlocked. if you flash to 3A can it be, your card get errors.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Would it be possible that they have implemented some sort of brake into the new drivers ? I think yes...


I think the newer drivers are just broken. Nvidia must have hired the guy who used to make drivers for AMD, I'm using a 7970 right now since I can't get to desktop with any nvidia card in my daily win7.
This is the second time this has happened with the last few driver releases, last time I had to do a full windows reinstall to fix it. But it was a benching OS, I really didn't want to wipe the daily.


----------



## snitchkilla11

what is better 3a or f8? i have 3a


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> what is better 3a or f8? i have 3a


I never noticed a difference in overclocking, I usually just use 3A for the driver recovery, easier than reaching for the reset if it crashes.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I never noticed a difference in overclocking, I usually just use 3A for the driver recovery, easier than reaching for the reset if it crashes.


That's exactly why I chose the 3A, constantly restarting on a crash was killing me.


----------



## DJRamses

Yep...
F8 makes hard reset if oc wrong.

So..
with the Vantage tweak, (i post it some post earlier) (LOD set In NVinspector) In HWbot is a thread about this.
It is a legal Trick....

Read here!


----------



## snitchkilla11

ok thanks


----------



## sockpirate

How do you know if you are in the LN2 bios or not ?


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> How do you know if you are in the LN2 bios or not ?


MSi Afterburner show it....








MSI GTX680Lightning (LN2)


----------



## snitchkilla11

afterburner wont show my other gpu working..sli is enabled in control panel?


----------



## sockpirate

Ok i have a slight problem, i get a red screen right after windows loads up when i am in the regular BIOS.

I switched to the LN2 bios and everything works perfectly. Do i have a bad regular bios? Can that be fixed by flashing ?

EDIT: I dont think it was the drivers because everything is working fine on the ln2 bios.

Using drivers 306.97 and was surprised to see that my ln2 bios is 80.04.09.00.f8

LN2 bios works like a charm but this is what i get when im switched to the regular BIOS.


----------



## oicwutudidthar

Should I get a 680 lightning or 7970 matrix for 2560x1440?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> Ok i have a slight problem, i get a red screen right after windows loads up when i am in the regular BIOS.
> I switched to the LN2 bios and everything works perfectly. Do i have a bad regular bios? Can that be fixed by flashing ?
> EDIT: I dont think it was the drivers because everything is working fine on the ln2 bios.
> Using drivers 306.97 and was surprised to see that my ln2 bios is 80.04.09.00.f8
> LN2 bios works like a charm but this is what i get when im switched to the regular BIOS.


For me red screen was usually too much voltage or not enough cooling. Is it booting in with an overclock (afterburner applying OC on startup checked)?
I did have this issue with a z77 gd80 motherboard, the F8 bios would boot up & blackscreen or redscreen right after the windows loading logo. 3A bios worked fine in that board though.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *oicwutudidthar*
> 
> Should I get a 680 lightning or 7970 matrix for 2560x1440?


I'm not a gamer so can't really say for sure, most people with higher resolution go for the higher vram cards (680L 2Gb, 7970 3Gb). I still like my 680 lightnings but it's hard to beat 7970 performance.


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> For me red screen was usually too much voltage or not enough cooling. Is it booting in with an overclock (afterburner applying OC on startup checked)?
> I did have this issue with a z77 gd80 motherboard, the F8 bios would boot up & blackscreen or redscreen right after the windows loading logo. 3A bios worked fine in that board though.
> I'm not a gamer so can't really say for sure, most people with higher resolution go for the higher vram cards (680L 2Gb, 7970 3Gb). I still like my 680 lightnings but it's hard to beat 7970 performance.


No MSI isnt even set to start up with windows and that option is not checked either.

Hmmm it is booting up and the fans are blaring , but after windows loading logo like you said it goes straight to that red screen. Can i flash the regular bios to fix it ? What should i do ? I am at a loss, but happy the LN2 bios is working fine.


----------



## FtW 420

I just used the 3a ln2 bios, didn't really look for an F8 fix. I got rid of the normal bios, my cards have both 3A & F8 flashed into the 2 bios'. Wanted to be prepared for benching.


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I just used the 3a ln2 bios, didn't really look for an F8 fix. I got rid of the normal bios, my cards have both 3A & F8 flashed into the 2 bios'. Wanted to be prepared for benching.


Well how do i go about flashing the normal BIOS anyway seeing as i cant even boot into windows with that bios ?

Now with the latest beta drivers i am no longer getting that dramatic red screen when trying to use bios1, the screen is just staying black.


----------



## Fooom

My other LTG is coming tomorrow, Is it required to have both card's version the same?

Thanks for the reply Ramsey


----------



## FtW 420

Actually that is where I am with the nvidia driver in my daily OS, but not just the 680, any nvidia card just gets blackscreen when the driver loads, safe mode is fine. Can't even uninstall & clean out the old driver & reinstall, still haven't found a way to get an nvidia card to work & don't want to reinstall this OS.

Pretty weird compared to a few years back, I have to use an AMD card because of terrible nvidia drivers right now.


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Actually that is where I am with the nvidia driver in my daily OS, but not just the 680, any nvidia card just gets blackscreen when the driver loads, safe mode is fine. Can't even uninstall & clean out the old driver & reinstall, still haven't found a way to get an nvidia card to work & don't want to reinstall this OS.
> Pretty weird compared to a few years back, I have to use an AMD card because of terrible nvidia drivers right now.


Well like i said LN2 works fine, but now just getting the black screen with the normal bios. Safe mode the card works fine on either bios.

When i try to use the normal non ln2 bios this flashes on the screen almost right when the rig powers on


----------



## sockpirate

Are the steps for flashing in the OP for flashing bios1 ?


----------



## FtW 420

As long as the switch is set to bios 1, that is the one that will get the flash.


----------



## SeekerZA

@sockpirate i got myself a lightning a few days ago and flashed it due to limitations.







But i found the reason why i got red screens on my LN2 Bios was because of my screen software that started up with windows. Magictune For my samsung screen. Ended up sacrifysing it for the greater good( oh well to software calibrating, screen buttons sucks!) but that fixed my red screen issue. Hope it helps!

I am a new member here and finnally the proud owner of a GTX680 Lightning. Can you please tell me the overclocks use run for 24/7 usage and gaming? currently i'm running it with 1306 on the core (LN2 Bios) according to kombuster with a Voltage BuuuumP


----------



## Fooom

Guys, is it ok if i use EVGA precision X? Or afterburner to maximize overclocking?


----------



## wutang61

Afterburner... For one reason. Overvoltage.


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> @sockpirate i got myself a lightning a few days ago and flashed it due to limitations.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But i found the reason why i got red screens on my LN2 Bios was because of my screen software that started up with windows. Magictune For my samsung screen. Ended up sacrifysing it for the greater good( oh well to software calibrating, screen buttons sucks!) but that fixed my red screen issue. Hope it helps!
> I am a new member here and finnally the proud owner of a GTX680 Lightning. Can you please tell me the overclocks use run for 24/7 usage and gaming? currently i'm running it with 1306 on the core (LN2 Bios) according to kombuster with a Voltage BuuuumP


Kombuster isn't a good way to test stability. Heaven full max for about 30mins to an hour is a good start point. If it passes that play some stressful games. If it doesn't crash your good.

And a 24/7 overclock isn't possible on these cards they down volt and under clock.

Even if you "prefer max performance" globally in the control panel the only thing that will stay overclocked is the memory and your voltage will run at peak 24/7. The core will run 1202 until "boost" is needed.


----------



## Gregster

Not sure if anyone else has noticed this but when I try overvolting now, anytime I try and run 3DMark11, it red screens straight away or just crashes? Not sure if they have nobbled these new drivers and even if you go back to older drivers I get the same. I even put a LTG on a different PSU in case this was the problem.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> Not sure if anyone else has noticed this but when I try overvolting now, anytime I try and run 3DMark11, it red screens straight away or just crashes? Not sure if they have nobbled these new drivers and even if you go back to older drivers I get the same. I even put a LTG on a different PSU in case this was the problem.


You tried a few older driver versions and it still happened? Do you do a completely clean install of the drivers each switch? Did you change anything else that might be causing it, like started using a different version of Afterburner? This happens even when keeping the stock clocks and just change the voltage?


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Just successfully completed a few runs of Heaven Benchmark 3.0 with my new Lightning, at max voltage (+100 mV), +110 core, and +500 memory I'm getting ~1306 MHz core, 1712 MHz memory speeds. I tried to push it to +150 on the core, but had a driver crash, so this appears to be the best overclock I'm going to get (good enough for me). It does appear that the newer cards aren't overclocking as well as the older ones pre-Nvidia lock. Does anyone know if increasing the Aux or memory voltages would increase my overall stability, or should I just leave it at their default settings?


----------



## Gregster

Yer I switched to the older gen drivers in search of my number one spot back in the 3DMark11 thread. Maybe because I overclocked my CPU to 5.2Ghz, this was the cause and further testing will confirm. I posted here hoping someone else was hgaving the same issues since switching to and from the new betas.

Maybe I have messed up but also I don't buy into this chip degredation but maybe I am wrong.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> 
> Yer I switched to the older gen drivers in search of my number one spot back in the 3DMark11 thread. Maybe because I overclocked my CPU to 5.2Ghz, this was the cause and further testing will confirm. I posted here hoping someone else was hgaving the same issues since switching to and from the new betas.
> 
> Maybe I have messed up but also I don't buy into this chip degradation but maybe I am wrong.


Ah, the CPU maybe? I was getting the red screen right after loading Windows, before I even had a chance to overclock my Lightnings (don't have Afterburner set to open on start-up). I've had unstable instances of overclocking my CPU before, wouldn't get into Windows. But I never had my screen go red from an unstable CPU overclock when loading Windows before I got my Lightnings. So, maybe the red screen is related to when you're using a Lightning and get a CPU instability crash? Only thing I can think of, because I got the red screen before even touching my Lightnings, and never got the red screen from a CPU overclock before getting my Lightnings.


----------



## Gregster

Deffo a strange one and I will dig a little deeper. I will be putting XP on a drive to bench 3DMark06 and I will see if it is still doing it. Hopefully I have not killed one or both of my cards


----------



## kieran13

anyone know why my cards keeps downclocking to like its stock LN2 bios clocks it only ramps up to my OC when i need it but that can cause choppy gameplay in BF3 some times my clock drops to 800mhz

edit: ok this is strange if i use auto fan speed my BF3 run fine


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gregster*
> Yer I switched to the older gen drivers in search of my number one spot back in the 3DMark11 thread.


Im waiting for you!


----------



## snitchkilla11

stupid garbage..i cant figure it out..im about to do a fresh install of windows 7 to see if that helps!!!! but guys im getting married tommorow!!!! im scared to death.lol j/k..wish me lots of money so i can put some searous water in my system!


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> stupid garbage..i cant figure it out..im about to do a fresh install of windows 7 to see if that helps!!!! but guys im getting married tommorow!!!! im scared to death.lol j/k..wish me lots of money so i can put some searous water in my system!


Congrats man, and good luck! I would love to see your rig go under water.


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> anyone know why my cards keeps downclocking to like its stock LN2 bios clocks it only ramps up to my OC when i need it but that can cause choppy gameplay in BF3 some times my clock drops to 800mhz
> 
> edit: ok this is strange if i use auto fan speed my BF3 run fine


FIX: nvidia control panel set bf3 to "prefer max performance" fixes bullcrap 800mhz issue.

Had the same problem.

Sent from my toaster with the 4g's and the wifis


----------



## kieran13

already tried that dont work sorry








how ever the new beta drivers were the cause so i rolled back


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kieran13*
> 
> already tried that dont work sorry
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> how ever the new beta drivers were the cause so i rolled back


which ones are you using now?


----------



## dph314

I've been using the modded TweakForce 310.54 drivers the past week or so and everything's been great, not one problem and full utilization- http://tweakforce.com/modules.php?name=Downloads

Unless you need the 310.6x beta's for Planetside 2, Hitman Absolution, or Far Cry 3, which you probably don't since you said you rolled back. So, yeah if you're on 306.xx you might want to try the TweakForce 310.54's, they help a lot of people having problems, it's a 50/50 shot.


----------



## Gregster

Just an update to my problem. I think the new drivers were causing my issue. I ran driver sweeper to clear all of the old Nvidia drivers and reinstalled the 306.23 and can clock them both up with no probs....Still can't get my number one spot back though grrrrrr








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Im waiting for you!


You are safe for now from me Sir....For now


----------



## GenoOCAU

Did you better on either of your old scores?


----------



## Gregster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Did you better on either of your old scores?


No bud







I feel I will give it a go when the temps are minus outside, so I can give it some. I was around 200 short of my best. Upping the voltage made no difference and gave me less score when I put a higher clock on.

I will give it a shot when very cold but I feel you are safe from me







I don't think I have much if any left in the tank.


----------



## MrMarauder

I had issues overclocking with the new 310.63 drivers. Also had performance issues in BF3. Rolled back to 306.23 and voila! No more issues.

On a side note, the Lightning is back up to $600 on Newegg. Kinda a surprise there.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> I had issues overclocking with the new 310.63 drivers. Also had performance issues in BF3. Rolled back to 306.23 and voila! No more issues.
> On a side note, the Lightning is back up to $600 on Newegg. Kinda a surprise there.


Wonder why the price is back to $600. Makes me feel like a thief for buying one for $373. Running both my cards at 1306/7.1Ghz using LN2 +25v. Loving it!


----------



## IlIfadeIlI

I think it's just temporary. It's still $500 on Amazon. I've seen discounted prices on other products run out over the weekend and they dont reapply the discount until Monday. I don't know if they do it on purpose to see if anyone would buy it at full price or if it's an oversight. Regardless I'd be surprised if it's not back to $500 by Monday afternoon.


----------



## Fooom

Guys! Hi, i just flashed my 2nd LTG with the F8 bios but when i checked the Device manager, it says Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)..


----------



## RampageRogers

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Fooom*
> 
> Guys! Hi, i just flashed my 2nd LTG with the F8 bios but when i checked the Device manager, it says Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)..


Flash the 3A bios if F8 doesn't work.Why flashed to F8 bios since 3A give you soft reset after crush.


----------



## snitchkilla11

3a is the best i believe


----------



## dph314

3A is much better, if only for the not having to do a hard reset every crash. But also because F8 has reportedly had many issues.

So, just out of curiosity...I don't like to think about it too often, because my credit card grows legs and runs away every time I do, but the day of the 780 is swiftly approaching. Just out of curiosity...what do most people plan on doing? And those with great overclocks on theirs especially. Still plan on going after the 780 right away or are you going to hold onto the Lightnings for a bit?


----------



## DJRamses

It is f***ing cold outside..









[img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/11er6dqcg.jpg]


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 3A is much better, if only for the not having to do a hard reset every crash. But also because F8 has reportedly had many issues.
> 
> So, just out of curiosity...I don't like to think about it too often, because my credit card grows legs and runs away every time I do, but the day of the 780 is swiftly approaching. Just out of curiosity...what do most people plan on doing? And those with great overclocks on theirs especially. Still plan on going after the 780 right away or are you going to hold onto the Lightnings for a bit?


depending on the performance gain..and games coming out..if i need more then 2gb of vram for 1080p on new games then yes..if not i may hold on to mine..i allready get over 100-150 fps on all games maxed out


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> So, just out of curiosity...I don't like to think about it too often, because my credit card grows legs and runs away every time I do, but the day of the 780 is swiftly approaching. Just out of curiosity...what do most people plan on doing? And those with great overclocks on theirs especially. Still plan on going after the 780 right away or are you going to hold onto the Lightnings for a bit?


I can game stable as a rock at 1400 SLI while keeping temps in check, I cant see a 780 with no voltage unlock making me sell up. Esp when its not going to be, for instance a 50% performance jump from one 680 to a 780.

I don't game at 1440p so memory bandwidth wouldn't be a deciding factor on the new gen either.

Seems like overclocking is coming to a bit of an end with the potential for NV voltage lock + BGA cpu/motherboards. So between awesome clocking 680's and a crazy clocking 3960x I think ill sit pretty for a couple years for consoles to catch up to current GPU power.


----------



## magiwizard

bah more runs testing new drivers and such....

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5111650

was the best i could get with the new beta drivers.... need to take comp outside for some cold runs


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> I can game stable as a rock at 1400 SLI while keeping temps in check, I cant see a 780 with no voltage unlock making me sell up. Esp when its not going to be, for instance a 50% performance jump from one 680 to a 780.
> I don't game at 1440p so memory bandwidth wouldn't be a deciding factor on the new gen either.
> Seems like overclocking is coming to a bit of an end with the potential for NV voltage lock + BGA cpu/motherboards. So between awesome clocking 680's and a crazy clocking 3960x I think ill sit pretty for a couple years for consoles to catch up to current GPU power.


Same here, I game now Far Cry 3 on air at 1350 at 1,29 V , but I have already ordered the same AQ WC blok you got








If I could run 1400 on water stable, I will not upgrade, especially if the 780 will be locked out.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 3A is much better, if only for the not having to do a hard reset every crash. But also because F8 has reportedly had many issues.
> 
> So, just out of curiosity...I don't like to think about it too often, because my credit card grows legs and runs away every time I do, but the day of the 780 is swiftly approaching. Just out of curiosity...what do most people plan on doing? And those with great overclocks on theirs especially. Still plan on going after the 780 right away or are you going to hold onto the Lightnings for a bit?


I can't afford to be upgrading right away. I'll definitely be hanging onto my 680 Lightning. Also since I've invested in the water block and the custom loop, even more reason for me to hang onto it. What I probably would wanna do is eventually get a second Lightning, I'm even thinking about going ahead and getting the block now that way I don't have any trouble finding one in the future when they become scarce. Maybe you can sell me one of yours when you upgrade.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> It is f***ing cold outside..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/11er6dqcg.jpg]


Holy hell. Nice run. I don't wanna say keep going, but, well yeah, keep going
 








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 3A is much better, if only for the not having to do a hard reset every crash. But also because F8 has reportedly had many issues.
> 
> So, just out of curiosity...I don't like to think about it too often, because my credit card grows legs and runs away every time I do, but the day of the 780 is swiftly approaching. Just out of curiosity...what do most people plan on doing? And those with great overclocks on theirs especially. Still plan on going after the 780 right away or are you going to hold onto the Lightnings for a bit?
> 
> 
> 
> depending on the performance gain..and games coming out..if i need more then 2gb of vram for 1080p on new games then yes..if not i may hold on to mine..i allready get over 100-150 fps on all games maxed out
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm the same way, may stay at 1080p for a bit. Only game I ever really saw Afterburner say I maxed VRAM usage was Crysis 2 with MalDoHD4 mod (looks amazing by the way







)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> So, just out of curiosity...I don't like to think about it too often, because my credit card grows legs and runs away every time I do, but the day of the 780 is swiftly approaching. Just out of curiosity...what do most people plan on doing? And those with great overclocks on theirs especially. Still plan on going after the 780 right away or are you going to hold onto the Lightnings for a bit?
> 
> 
> 
> I can game stable as a rock at 1400 SLI while keeping temps in check, I cant see a 780 with no voltage unlock making me sell up. Esp when its not going to be, for instance a 50% performance jump from one 680 to a 780.
> 
> I don't game at 1440p so memory bandwidth wouldn't be a deciding factor on the new gen either.
> 
> Seems like overclocking is coming to a bit of an end with the potential for NV voltage lock + BGA cpu/motherboards. So between awesome clocking 680's and a crazy clocking 3960x I think ill sit pretty for a couple years for consoles to catch up to current GPU power.
Click to expand...

I don't know what Nvidia plans on doing, but yeah I'm going to keep mine for a while too I think. Wait and see how the 700-series plays out, what the non-reference cards have as far as voltage control, etc. But BGA is only affecting OEM's and factory-built. LGA will still be available to the enthusiast-level.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> bah more runs testing new drivers and such....
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5111650
> 
> was the best i could get with the new beta drivers.... need to take comp outside for some cold runs


Not bad at all. Once you get a chance you should fill out the RigBuilder







Also, what voltage/clocks were you at for that run?

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> I can game stable as a rock at 1400 SLI while keeping temps in check, I cant see a 780 with no voltage unlock making me sell up. Esp when its not going to be, for instance a 50% performance jump from one 680 to a 780.
> I don't game at 1440p so memory bandwidth wouldn't be a deciding factor on the new gen either.
> Seems like overclocking is coming to a bit of an end with the potential for NV voltage lock + BGA cpu/motherboards. So between awesome clocking 680's and a crazy clocking 3960x I think ill sit pretty for a couple years for consoles to catch up to current GPU power.
> 
> 
> 
> Same here, I game now Far Cry 3 on air at 1350 at 1,29 V , but I have already ordered the same AQ WC blok you got
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If I could run 1400 on water stable, I will not upgrade, especially if the 780 will be locked out.
Click to expand...

Far Cry 3 is insane! It's beating up my 3930k even at 4.6Ghz. Anything less and my Lightning's get bottlenecked. I can get full-usage on them at 4.6Ghz though, and only need stock boost speed of 1215mhz for 105fps min's. But yeah, that game is beautiful and runs great but definitely demanding as hell. Good to see Ubisoft taking advantage of our i7's and 680's









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 3A is much better, if only for the not having to do a hard reset every crash. But also because F8 has reportedly had many issues.
> 
> So, just out of curiosity...I don't like to think about it too often, because my credit card grows legs and runs away every time I do, but the day of the 780 is swiftly approaching. Just out of curiosity...what do most people plan on doing? And those with great overclocks on theirs especially. Still plan on going after the 780 right away or are you going to hold onto the Lightnings for a bit?
> 
> 
> 
> I can't afford to be upgrading right away. I'll definitely be hanging onto my 680 Lightning. Also since I've invested in the water block and the custom loop, even more reason for me to hang onto it. What I probably would wanna do is eventually get a second Lightning, I'm even thinking about going ahead and getting the block now that way I don't have any trouble finding one in the future when they become scarce. Maybe you can sell me one of yours when you upgrade.
Click to expand...

I can't either, that's why I'm hoping I have the will-power, and people help convince me, to stick with my Lightnings, ha. It would be much cheaper to set up a loop for mine than to drop +$1,000 on a pair of 780's, so I just need to be strong and resist. If I can't, I'll definitely ask you if you're interested. One is amazing, I'd love to see it on water so I'll let you know if I cave


----------



## magiwizard

@ dph I'm running at 1.31v, +195 core (1398), and +500 mem (7000)

When its dry and cold enough I'ma go do an artmoney run outside and see where that gets me


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> @ dph I'm running at 1.31v, +195 core (1398), and +500 mem (7000)
> 
> When its dry and cold enough I'ma go do an artmoney run outside and see where that gets me


Nice. You got a great card. Sounds like it might be better than my good one, does 1430mhz on the +93mv unedited. Looking forward to your outdoor run


----------



## DJRamses

I ve made a Test over the Weekend with 3A Bios. I had any issues to get the card over 1530Mhz. Dont Know why...
I must realy give more Voltage Offset to run 1530Mhz. I had flash back to F8. Any Setting runs succesful.
But , yeah, your right... F8 and his hard-reset sucks...









dph314:
I want more, but my sys is to lame. To many points are lost...


----------



## magiwizard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Nice. You got a great card. Sounds like it might be better than my good one, does 1430mhz on the +93mv unedited. Looking forward to your outdoor run


its wierd as my basement gets gradually colder my clocks go up and don't require as much voltage... outdoor run will have to wait looks like it'll still be wet and not as cold as I like it for the next week according to Mr. Weatherman. Already got the glycol mix in the system looking forward to when it does get -10 ish

EDIT: oh and rig is up


----------



## DJRamses

Here is a short Preview of the new 3DMark bench from Futuremark:

http://www.techpowerup.com/176535/Futuremark-Releases-New-Trailer-and-Screenshots-of-3DMark-Game-Test-quot-Fire-Strike-quot-.html


----------



## stansfield

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CrazyElf*
> 
> Hmm ... it looks like the new gen of cards is overclocking less and less. And it's not just a few people.
> I wonder if the ASIC % on the newer cards has dropped or something else has changed?


I'm having this same problem. I had a stable OC memory offset of +730 and I tried to OC my core then my heaven numbers fell. I'll post my screen shots after work. My card was using 100 percent power on that men overclock. I think I have more headroom and my card just isn't taking the power. It tops out about 70%


----------



## snitchkilla11

how is farcry 3?? is it worth getting or waiting for a better price then 60..im getting sick of cod zombies allready so i need a new game to play!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> how is farcry 3?? is it worth getting or waiting for a better price then 60..im getting sick of cod zombies allready so i need a new game to play!


Get it! Amazing game. It's kicking around my 3930k, and puts a nice load on the 680s. I usually get 118fps maxed out (118 is my framerate cap), but drops down to 105fps due to one of my CPU cores hitting a full load. I'm at 4.6Ghz, but don't want to raise the voltage anymore for this game for just an extra ~5-10fps in spots. 105fps min's is fine with me







Great game to take advantage of i7's and 680's for those who have them









I just posted some pics in the Far Cry 3 thread, because someone didn't believe the framerate I was getting. Here they are-


----------



## PCModderMike

That's awesome!


----------



## stansfield

I have no clue whats going on. My card won't utilize more power. The only time it hit 100% was with a 3dmark11 run with a memory offset of 730 and 0 on core. Thermal wise I haven't even been able to push this card.


----------



## snitchkilla11

so the graphics are that good?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> so the graphics are that good?


Great, yes. And ~118fps (my framerate cap) with all the settings maxed- DX11, 8x MSAA, HBAO, everything else on Very High or Ultra (some settings only go up to Very High). Runs great across all 6 cores, though more-so on the 3rd core, hence the very small framerate dips below 118fps, because the GPUs rarely hit a full load so it must be that damn core bottle-necking them every now and then. SLI works great as well. Excellent game all-around. Amazing how Arkham City can be so busted even after being out so long and Far Cry 3 runs great across all 6 cores and both GPUs with a perfect load and no skipping. Good job Ubisoft.

The benchmark I saw used a 3770k, with and without Hyper-Threading, and with HT actually had almost 3fps higher, so I think I'll give HT a try tomorrow and see how it goes.


----------



## GenoOCAU

You have your HT disabled on the 3930k dph?


----------



## Fooom

Great post guys! Im learning a lot on this thread. I have a question. I have LTG on sli and i can't get 100% gpu usage, does that mean i still have more headroom for OC? im running at 1293mhz and 6204 mem. I5 3570k @4.4mhz. My max load temp on my first card is 65c with those settings.


----------



## SeekerZA

What can i use to stress for stable OC? I'm on air with following settings:

Core 1345

Core Volt: +93
Power Limit: 300
Core Clock: +144
Memory Clock(Mhz): +150
Fan Speed(%): 65

My problem is i always have to open Black Ops 2 , go through menu ,then continue. . PROCESS in short. What else is good to See if OC is stable? I Cant seem to push my core that notch higher since my volts cant go any further









For the Mem clock, what are you guys able to push with out volts on mem??


----------



## Fooom

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> What can i use to stress for stable OC? I'm on air with following settings:
> Core 1345
> Core Volt: +93
> Power Limit: 300
> Core Clock: +144
> Memory Clock(Mhz): +150
> Fan Speed(%): 65
> My problem is i always have to open Black Ops 2 , go through menu ,then continue. . PROCESS in short. What else is good to See if OC is stable? I Cant seem to push my core that notch higher since my volts cant go any further
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For the Mem clock, what are you guys able to push with out volts on mem??


Download heaven 3.0 at unigine.com. my settings are 100mhz core clock and 400mhz mem clock.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> You have your HT disabled on the 3930k dph?


Yeah I've had it off for a while now, since I haven't done any bench runs lately and very few games, in my experience with the ones I've tried, actually benefit in a noticeable way with HT on. So, yeah I do fine with it off, so, never really wanted to turn it on for a game yet. Why, do you usually leave it on? Does it help more often than not?


----------



## Deano12345

Completely forgot to post that I got my card, I'll get a pic for verification after I'm done testing out these 310.70 drivers


----------



## DJRamses

A new driver is out again: 310.70

http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/53752


----------



## PCModderMike

Again, wow....I think they're scrambling to pull it together.
EDIT: And yea give some better performance for Far Cry 3 users.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Again, wow....I think they're scrambling to pull it together.
> EDIT: And yea give some better performance for Far Cry 3 users.


Yep. Most of the recent releases have been for specific games, for Day 1 support and big improvements








About to install the new 310.70. Looks like the SLI profile is working wonders for FC3.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Not sure *** Nvidia is doing but I just installed the latest drivers (310.70) straight from their website and I'm getting massive down clocking in games with my 2 680 Lightnings. MIght have to return my newest Lightning just so I won't have to bother with this crap.


----------



## DJRamses

AMD enhanced the performance and Nvidia clocked down..... Crazy!


----------



## Fooom

Same here, i installed the new driver and my 2nd card is downclocking..


----------



## Derek1387

So...convince me to trade my 7970 Lightning for a 680 Lightning....

MY biggest issue right now is that I run a 2560x1440 monitor, so that worries me with the limited memory bandwidth

Any input guys?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Derek1387*
> 
> So...convince me to trade my 7970 Lightning for a 680 Lightning....
> MY biggest issue right now is that I run a 2560x1440 monitor, so that worries me with the limited memory bandwidth
> Any input guys?


Convince you... with PHYSX!
I haven't seen issues with my 680 lightning on the catleap but I'm not a gamer. I'd consider the trade though.


----------



## sockpirate

Ok so i have not modded afterburner to unlock even more voltage but, this card cant do 1300mhz even with +100mv and +300 on the power limit, i crash like 20 seconds into heaven on stock heaven settings. Is it common to require more than +100mv to reach a stable 1300mhz ?

Been lurking this thread a while and you guys seem to know these cards well. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

EDIT: Using the f8 LN2 bios.

Sock


----------



## bluntman420

I've had massive downclocking since the last few betas. Far cry 3 sucks in sli for me. I've tried all the fixes. What actually did fix it for me was to turn off sli. Starting to think the extra $600 for sli gtx680 wasn't even worth it.


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bluntman420*
> 
> I've had massive downclocking since the last few betas. Far cry 3 sucks in sli for me. I've tried all the fixes. What actually did fix it for me was to turn off sli. Starting to think the extra $600 for sli gtx680 wasn't even worth it.


Probably only worth it on multiple displays. Or High res panels.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> Ok so i have not modded afterburner to unlock even more voltage but, this card cant do 1300mhz even with +100mv and +300 on the power limit, i crash like 20 seconds into heaven on stock heaven settings. Is it common to require more than +100mv to reach a stable 1300mhz ?
> Been lurking this thread a while and you guys seem to know these cards well. Any guidance would be much appreciated.
> EDIT: Using the f8 LN2 bios.
> Sock


I do with LN2 BIOS, at +300 and voltage slider all way up to 100mv ( which when i click apply, goes down to 93mv??) am able to hit 1345 on my core, using 2.2.3 and zero voltage hacks. And i force my fan to 65% which isnt too loud. Which BIOS are you on? i got my card last week and everyday i itch to overclock it but going to try and keep it in till My Lighting goes under water. So to some it up, i changed my BIOS from the Latest one MSI ships with to the Unlocked 3A and it works! Still scratching my head with those of you who get over 1400 on core by just adjusting the mv slider and no voltage hack?? Do tell!
i recommend you flash to the A3 unlocked bios. Oh and i'm using the nvdia 306.xx. not the BETA release


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> @ dph I'm running at 1.31v, +195 core (1398), and +500 mem (7000)
> When its dry and cold enough I'ma go do an artmoney run outside and see where that gets me


how do you get your volts to run @1.31v? i see mine going to just below 1.3 but never 1.3 with my slider all the way up. Using 2.2.3 and zero volt mod.


----------



## driftingforlife

The software reading is WRONG. +100mv = 1.36v. With +100mv the card I have does 1360mhz. With +60mv the mem does 1950mhz .


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> @ dph I'm running at 1.31v, +195 core (1398), and +500 mem (7000)
> When its dry and cold enough I'ma go do an artmoney run outside and see where that gets me
> 
> 
> 
> how do you get your volts to run @1.31v? i see mine going to just below 1.3 but never 1.3 with my slider all the way up. Using 2.2.3 and zero volt mod.
Click to expand...

Yes, software reading is inaccurate. And make sure you have the 3A LN2 BIOS from the OP for +93mv to equal 1.36v.


----------



## Arnoud87

I am preying for an afterburner without voltage bugs


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yes, software reading is inaccurate. And make sure you have the 3A LN2 BIOS from the OP for +93mv to equal 1.36v.


im using f8 and when using osd in game i am seeing my voltage at 1.2 is that wrong also?

Is 3a better than f8 when going for max oc ?

edit:LOL Lightnings are back to 600 bucks on the egg!

edit: switched to 3a and still no luck although it is nice i do not have to hard reset like f8. 300 power and 100mv still not enough to get me through heaven with a +100 on the core. Suggestions ?

Should i just do the voltage hack ?

Also is anyone getting crashing with the new beta drivers? Been getting crashes in bf3. Might roll back but i kinda wanna play far cry 3.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Ive been running Farcry 3 flawlessly on 680 SLI with 304.79 drivers with the SLI profile added. Still not convinced with new drivers with them scoring 1000 less points in 3dmark 11 etc. FPS is solid and so are clocks.

Can't see myself moving from 304.79 drivers if I can keep updating SLI profiles.


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Ive been running Farcry 3 flawlessly on 680 SLI with 304.79 drivers with the SLI profile added. Still not convinced with new drivers with them scoring 1000 less points in 3dmark 11 etc. FPS is solid and so are clocks.
> Can't see myself moving from 304.79 drivers if I can keep updating SLI profiles.


I see hmm maybe if i keep get crashes i will roll back to 304.79, right now i rolled back to 310.64 from 310.70.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Actually even though its running great, ive just noticed after an hour my utilization on both GPU's is on average floating around 50%... might have to try out the new drivers after all









The lack of utilization might explain gpu temps only hitting 31deg lmao..


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Actually even though its running great, ive just noticed after an hour my utilization on both GPU's is on average floating around 50%... might have to try out the new drivers after all
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The lack of utilization might explain gpu temps only hitting 31deg lmao..


I am not 100% sure, haven't done a real full comparison but with the newer drivers the clock frequency and voltage downclocks during benching which I don't remember it doing on earlier drivers and LN2 bios. I believe several people have reported this in this thread already. Has anyone verified that


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> I am not 100% sure, haven't done a real full comparison but with the newer drivers the clock frequency and voltage downclocks during benching which I don't remember it doing on earlier drivers and LN2 bios. I believe several people have reported this in this thread already. Has anyone verified that


do people mean the down-clocks occur from the standard 1200 clock or occur from their above 1200 Overclocks? I have never seen a downclock occur in games like black ops 2 or bf3, although in games that require less horsepower, like Demon Souls i have seen clocks drop until a more intense area is reach.


----------



## snitchkilla11

far cry 3 is running good for me..hitman is also..picked up both off a kid who bought a few amd cards and got them for 20 bucks for both..i believe far cry is bandwith hungry so i oc my memory and seen performance gains.if anybody wants the 20% off moh pm me..someone can have it..i allready own it


----------



## IlIfadeIlI

So i was completely WRONG and the card is STILL $600 on Newegg and jumped to $530 on Amazon! I wonder how long before it drops back down to $500. Do you think it has anything to do with bins?


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *IlIfadeIlI*
> 
> So i was completely WRONG and the card is STILL $600 on Newegg and jumped to $530 on Amazon! I wonder how long before it drops back down to $500. Do you think it has anything to do with bins?


Its just a crappy sale strategy i think, newegg knows people will pay 600.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Just installed 310.70 drivers via express install, didn't uninstall anything and getting 95% average utilization on both gpu's. Farcry 3 is running far far better after seeing both drivers back to back.


----------



## Gules

First off I want to start by saying hello to everyone, I have several questions that I would like answered if possible. I purchased a 680 lightning from newegg (rma'd my last lightning 680 within a week). I'm a little worried about overclocking since I haven't ever overclocked a GPU, only CPU. I'm not very experienced but I'd like to push this card as much as it can go on air (stable of course). Would anyone mind helping me out? I've read lots of the replies in this thread and they are pushing numbers my old 680 would never even touch.

I previously overclocked my rma'd 680... got to the point where it could barely hit 80 on offset and 80 on memory. The fans stopped working properly, the card would go to 71c on 100% fan speed after 10 minutes of BF3 gameplay. Thing is when I first got the card it was running fine until I started to venture into overclocking. Is it possible that I may have been the cause of the issue? From what I read its very hard to overheat this card. At any rate, it was rma'd due to faulty cooling, I now received a new card with unlocked ln2 bios (same as my previous card, I guess its all luck?) Guys, it would make a great xmas present to have a successful overclock and a nice boost in my dx11 games.

System specs: i7 920 @ 3.6ghz, 8gb gskill ram, x85 msi mobo, 1000 watt thermaltake psu, v8 coolermaster heatsink.

My assumption was that you would first overclock every 20mhz, run a benchmarking program or play bf3 or any intense dx11 game, if stable repeat the process until you crash then go back and reduce 5mhz. Now do I go to memory do the same or should I up the voltage and continue on the core? Ambient temperature is 71c, however that is near my case and monitor which I assume gives off a little more heat than other places in the area next to me. I understand this is probably such a repetitive question but I'd like to get into hardcore overclocking at some point and thought this site is the best place to start for advice.

Thanks for any help that is provided, its much appreciated!!!


----------



## Wooojciech1983

Just bought my 680 Lightning and found a few problems:
1. I can't overvolt my card on the unlocked LN2 Bios. My LN2 Bios was locked so I flashed it to an unlocked one - A3. It was succesfull, I got 300% power target and 1.21V on 1202MHz boost. I installed Afterburner 2.2.3 from Guru3D and still changing the voltage slider does not affect the Vcore. At least according to the GPU-Z. I saved a log to a file during benching and it still shows 1.21V after applying +50mV offset. What software do You guys use to monitor the Vcore? Afterburner does not show it.
2. My fans are spinning at 50% during booting of the system. They slow down to 30% after going to Windows but this is annoying. How to fix it?
3. I tested my card in second slot of my Sabertooth Z77. I just think it looks nicer in that slot because there is more space between the CPU cooler and the card. In that slot it is running at x8. In the first slot it would be at x16. Does x8 limit the performance or OC or there should be no difference?


----------



## driftingforlife

1. Don't look at software voltage, it reads it wrong on the lightning +100mv = 1.36v
2. It does that, nothing you can do.
3. Will be fine.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yes, software reading is inaccurate. And make sure you have the 3A LN2 BIOS from the OP for +93mv to equal 1.36v.
> 
> 
> 
> im using f8 and when using osd in game i am seeing my voltage at 1.2 is that wrong also?
> 
> Is 3a better than f8 when going for max oc ?
> 
> edit:LOL Lightnings are back to 600 bucks on the egg!
> 
> edit: switched to 3a and still no luck although it is nice i do not have to hard reset like f8. 300 power and 100mv still not enough to get me through heaven with a +100 on the core. Suggestions ?
> 
> Should i just do the voltage hack ?
> 
> Also is anyone getting crashing with the new beta drivers? Been getting crashes in bf3. Might roll back but i kinda wanna play far cry 3.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's why I always recommend the 3A, not having to restart the computer is great. The hack is really only good for benching, since you probably don't want to increase the voltage/temps that high just for a very small increase in fps.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gules*
> 
> First off I want to start by saying hello to everyone, I have several questions that I would like answered if possible. I purchased a 680 lightning from newegg (rma'd my last lightning 680 within a week). I'm a little worried about overclocking since I haven't ever overclocked a GPU, only CPU. I'm not very experienced but I'd like to push this card as much as it can go on air (stable of course). Would anyone mind helping me out? I've read lots of the replies in this thread and they are pushing numbers my old 680 would never even touch.
> 
> I previously overclocked my rma'd 680... got to the point where it could barely hit 80 on offset and 80 on memory. The fans stopped working properly, the card would go to 71c on 100% fan speed after 10 minutes of BF3 gameplay. Thing is when I first got the card it was running fine until I started to venture into overclocking. Is it possible that I may have been the cause of the issue? From what I read its very hard to overheat this card. At any rate, it was rma'd due to faulty cooling, I now received a new card with unlocked ln2 bios (same as my previous card, I guess its all luck?) Guys, it would make a great xmas present to have a successful overclock and a nice boost in my dx11 games.
> 
> System specs: i7 920 @ 3.6ghz, 8gb gskill ram, x85 msi mobo, 1000 watt thermaltake psu, v8 coolermaster heatsink.
> 
> My assumption was that you would first overclock every 20mhz, run a benchmarking program or play bf3 or any intense dx11 game, if stable repeat the process until you crash then go back and reduce 5mhz. Now do I go to memory do the same or should I up the voltage and continue on the core? Ambient temperature is 71c, however that is near my case and monitor which I assume gives off a little more heat than other places in the area next to me. I understand this is probably such a repetitive question but I'd like to get into hardcore overclocking at some point and thought this site is the best place to start for advice.
> 
> Thanks for any help that is provided, its much appreciated!!!


There's a few 680 overclocking guides on here that might help. Most of the info would be relevant for the Lightning. This card definitely isn't easy to get to 70C, so you shouldn't have to worry about temps when gaming on any voltage below +118mv, if you don't mind some fan noise. I would just stick with the +93mv or below for gaming though. Heaven, BF3, and 3dMark11 are all good tests for stability. Passing all 3 will mean you're probably stable in most other games.


----------



## koniu777

Hi everyone, can anyone please post a good link to Nvflash and the unlocked 3a bios, the one on the front page is not working. Thx


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *koniu777*
> 
> Hi everyone, can anyone please post a good link to Nvflash and the unlocked 3a bios, the one on the front page is not working. Thx


Read the Startpost of this thread here... there is all you need...









edit:
oops sorry... to fast!


----------



## koniu777

ok guys, I flashed the 3a unlocked bios on my lightning. Im pretty sure I did it right, cause I can get the power limit up to 300 where before i couldn't do that, but now when i try to raise the gpu voltage by +50 or +100 the voltage just stays the same at 1.21.

Starting to think that the newest Lightnings are hard locked when it comes to voltage, i got mine yestarday from Fys and there is no voltage control even with the unlocked bios


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *koniu777*
> 
> Hi everyone, can anyone please post a good link to Nvflash and the unlocked 3a bios, the one on the front page is not working. Thx


working fine for me.


----------



## koniu777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> working fine for me.


lol got it working with the newest beta afterburner and the hack lines in cfg file


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *koniu777*
> 
> ok guys, I flashed the 3a unlocked bios on my lightning. Im pretty sure I did it right, cause I can get the power limit up to 300 where before i couldn't do that, but now when i try to raise the gpu voltage by +50 or +100 the voltage just stays the same at 1.21.
> 
> Starting to think that the newest Lightnings are hard locked when it comes to voltage, i got mine yestarday from Fys and there is no voltage control even with the unlocked bios


You using Afterburner 2.2.3, or editing the config file if using a later version?
Also, software reading is inaccurate. But voltage displayed should still rise, even though it's not actually the voltage the card is at. But yeah, mine is usually 50mv lower than what I have it set at, so if it's the same for you then 1.21v software reading would be 1.26v, like you should be getting. If it's not raising along with the slider setting, then you might not have version 2.2.3.

Edit:
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *koniu777*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> working fine for me.
> 
> 
> 
> lol got it working with the newest beta afterburner and the hack lines in cfg file
Click to expand...


----------



## ImKse

Just got my 680 lightning today, was able to get it to 1385mhz stable in 3dmark11 using the f8 ln2 bios (using win 7 64bit)









Is there any way I can increase the voltage higher than +100mv? Msi afterburner OSD shows the card at 1.28v while the program says its running at 1.31, but I'm sure if I can give it a little more voltage I can hit 1400mhz


----------



## famich

See this thread info about the Art Money hack .. but be careful with your temps.. dph314 has posted the thorough instructions twice here


----------



## Wooojciech1983

I am really curious how does ASIC score correlates with the OC on Lightning. Does higher ASIC score means higher OC or it does not really matter on air. Maybe You guys can add Your ASIC score together with the 3DMark11 score so we can get to the conclusion. What do You think?


----------



## Lightning680

I have a problem with my new msi gtx-680 lightning card.
It seems something i can't get my mind on to fix this, that is why i came here to ask help.

A few times a day the fans go spinning real hard, without reason.
Normal during surfing etc. the fan speed from videocard is about 1140 rpm, and gpu temperature is about 39 degrees celsius.

Then suddenly the fans spins up to 3350 rpm and then slows down back to 1140 rpm, while the temperature is not changing.

The cpu and videocard are both not overclocked.
I have tried several drivers, from nvidia site and msi site
I have bios version 80.04.47.00.41 in videocard

My system specs are:

PSU corsair 850 watts
CPU : i7 2600K
MOBO: Asus p8z68-v pro
Mem : 2x 4GB Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8

I have made a screenshot, red arrow is gpu temperature, and yellow arrow is fan rpm speed

Maybe someone knows what is going on with the card.


----------



## DJRamses

And Now, you can see, i told the truth....
my rad and the Fans.. every weather outside:

[img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/dscf25202kjou5.jpg]

Idle Temp of LTG: 3°C









let it snow..... let it snow..... let it snow........


----------



## stansfield

Ok, since I have had time to mess around with the card a few things.

1. Yes, voltage control is inconsistent with afterburner 2.2.3. Sometimes I will start it after a gaming crash and it read -83 for core voltage.

2. Can you use art money for AB 2.2.3 or only newer versions? I tried using it and I don't see the 00449000 value. Maybe I'm looking for the wrong address?

3. My gpu max clock offset is 150 and 730 offset for memory. Temperature wise it's not pushed nor is power. Long term gaming stability I run +600 offset on mem. Without more voltage I can't push the gpu.

In regards to testing overclocks. I used heaven and prime95 and thought I had a solid system afterwards tuning out CPU, gpu, and mem. I started battlefield 3 and it was completely unstable. It seems heaven will run on settings maxed out and is less picky with hardware settings.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> And Now, you can see, i told the truth....
> my rad and the Fans.. every weather outside:
> [img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/dscf25202kjou5.jpg]
> Idle Temp of LTG: 3°C
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> let it snow..... let it snow..... let it snow........


Best picture ever, wish it snowed here!!


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> And Now, you can see, i told the truth....
> my rad and the Fans.. every weather outside:
> [img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/dscf25202kjou5.jpg]
> Idle Temp of LTG: 3°C
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> let it snow..... let it snow..... let it snow........


You're a mad man! LOL....that's awesome.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> You're a mad man! LOL....that's awesome.


Yes..








perhaps a little.
But this is a little evidence what the cheapest fans can do. the fans at the pic do they job 3 jears outside. Only all 3 - 4 mounth i clean the rad. Not more..


----------



## Kimir

Hello everyone,
I'm a new owner of a MSI GTX680 Lightning (gonna have a second one next week if nothing goes wrong) and I started to read a little this thread.
First thing I did is check my bios rev. and add the tweak lines in AB2.3 and good news, my card has the 80.04.28.00.3A as LN2 bios. But weird thing is I can't put more than 133% power limit.
Any clue why?


----------



## nucllear

HI everyone!
I have a question for owners MSI GTX 680 Lighting (SLI)
When I play game hitman absolution on maximum settings graphic (High/Ultra) at 1920x1200 MSAA 8x , I did not have enough graphics memory!
this is normal?


----------



## BigJoeGrizzly

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Hello everyone,
> I'm a new owner of a MSI GTX680 Lightning (gonna have a second one next week if nothing goes wrong) and I started to read a little this thread.
> First thing I did is check my bios rev. and add the tweak lines in AB2.3 and good news, my card has the 80.04.28.00.3A as LN2 bios. But weird thing is I can't put more than 133% power limit.
> Any clue why?


All the newer 3A LN2 BIOSes are now locked. You're still going to have to update to the unlocked 3A BIOS version found on the OP of the first page.


----------



## Kimir

Ah that's explain everything, thanks for the info. I'm going to do that then, got 11034 with 3dmark11 already, I'm gonna love that card.
And that silence


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nucllear*
> 
> HI everyone!
> I have a question for owners MSI GTX 680 Lighting (SLI)
> When I play game hitman absolution on maximum settings graphic (High/Ultra) at 1920x1200 MSAA 8x , I did not have enough graphics memory!
> this is normal?


Wow, memory maxed out.







I wonder if that's reporting correctly? Does the game act like it's run out of memory, like it's glitching and laggy?


----------



## nucllear




----------



## Lightning680

Nobody ?


----------



## nucllear

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Wow, memory maxed out.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I wonder if that's reporting correctly? Does the game act like it's run out of memory, like it's glitching and laggy?


After crossing 2000 MB it's laggy :/
But when I change seting on MSAA X4 I can play without laggy... (Memory GPU at 1600-1800 MB)


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigJoeGrizzly*
> 
> All the newer 3A LN2 BIOSes are now locked. You're still going to have to update to the unlocked 3A BIOS version found on the OP of the first page.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Ah that's explain everything, thanks for the info. I'm going to do that then, got 11034 with 3dmark11 already, I'm gonna love that card.
> And that silence


Well, it wasn't that, I actually do have an unlocked bios, exactly the same as per the file on 1st page.
The issue was coming from the profile file to edit. There was already a [setting] part so it wasn't reading the second added one.
Now it works, more 3Dmark11


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nucllear*
> 
> After crossing 2000 MB it's laggy :/
> But when I change seting on MSAA X4 I can play without laggy... (Memory GPU at 1600-1800 MB)


i was getting about 1700-1800 maxed out in 1080p..def suprised..but the game looks pretty good.


----------



## Whimsical

I humbly request entrance into this fine establishment











ignore the GPU-Z clocks, apparently it doesn't read my stuff right. Ah well.

I'll edit later with a picture of my card.


----------



## DJRamses

It is a little bit cold outside....









[img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/dscf25211hirn6.jpg]

[img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/dscf25243fyrmo.jpg]

[img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/dscf25252rqq0s.jpg]


----------



## sockpirate

For the people getting down-throttling, i noticed it was happening in far cry 3 but only in the "cut scenes" right after that the card shoots back to the 1200 boost.


----------



## Ningeal

Hey guys,

I recently have built my first gaming pc - haven't done any OC whatsoever before. Decided it's about time, searched through the interwebz for guide and now I think I have a basic understanding.
Started to OC my card yesterday but the results weren't quite satisfying, though on a side note, it was done with the 80.04.28.00.3A BIOS (haven't flashed it yet). I got like +75 core clock and +100 memory clock stable @ 133% power limit in Heaven, but this can't rely be its potential, right?

So prior to my other question, I want to know if my understanding of OCing is correct:
Basically start off by setting the power limit to xxx%, then adjust the core clock by 50 (or something around there) the first time, run a intensive benchmark. If it's stable, increase the core clock by 25 (or something aorund there), run a benchmark again and check whether it's stable. If yes, repeat and if not, increase memory clock. Then do it all over again but now with core clock increases / decreases of +1 to +5. Is this correct?

Then I'd like to know, what are the "best" settings for Heaven? For my first OC, I thought go extreme (@ my resolution of 1920x1080) to stress my card as much as possible. Is that correct?

Thanks a lot for your advices.


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ningeal*
> 
> Hey guys,
> I recently have built my first gaming pc - haven't done any OC whatsoever before. Decided it's about time, searched through the interwebz for guide and now I think I have a basic understanding.
> Started to OC my card yesterday but the results weren't quite satisfying, though on a side note, it was done with the 80.04.28.00.3A BIOS (haven't flashed it yet). I got like +75 core clock and +100 memory clock stable @ 133% power limit in Heaven, but this can't rely be its potential, right?
> So prior to my other question, I want to know if my understanding of OCing is correct:
> Basically start off by setting the power limit to xxx%, then adjust the core clock by 50 (or something around there) the first time, run a intensive benchmark. If it's stable, increase the core clock by 25 (or something aorund there), run a benchmark again and check whether it's stable. If yes, repeat and if not, increase memory clock. Then do it all over again but now with core clock increases / decreases of +1 to +5. Is this correct?
> Then I'd like to know, what are the "best" settings for Heaven? For my first OC, I thought go extreme (@ my resolution of 1920x1080) to stress my card as much as possible. Is that correct?
> Thanks a lot for your advices.


You have the right idea mate.


----------



## famich

1450MHz @3DM11

for the database : nick famich core 1450 MHz memory 3783 Mhz

http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=3dm1450wcyqod6.jpg


----------



## snitchkilla11

any body running win 8? im about to buy a copy..should i wait or go for it?


----------



## Wooojciech1983

1398 MHz boost clock


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> It is a little bit cold outside....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/dscf25211hirn6.jpg]
> [img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/dscf25243fyrmo.jpg]
> [img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/dscf25252rqq0s.jpg]


You're not worried about the condensation?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Wooojciech1983*
> 
> 1398 MHz boost clock


Nice score.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> You're not worried about the condensation?
> .


No. It was my fault.over the night, ive forgotten to switch off the external pump and fans at rad outside.
PC was off. And if the PC is off, the "air-condition" dont work.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> No. It was my fault.over the night, ive forgotten to switch off the external pump and fans at rad outside.
> PC was off. And if the PC is off, the "air-condition" dont work.


Oh ok, cool. Or should I say, cold!


----------



## Gules

Have bios version 80.04.28.00.3a and power limit is maxing out at 133%, I was under the impression that it was at 300% on ln2 bios?


----------



## snitchkilla11

they come shipped now with all bios locked..go to the first page and redownload 3a and nvflash and follow the directions..first page of the thread


----------



## Gules

Will do, was a little confused because my previous card which was rma'd had same bios and it was already unlocked, hence the confusion. Thanks.


----------



## snitchkilla11

just picked up a logitech g510 from bestbuy for 80 bucks..and for all you benchers and testers..this is a great keyboard..it displays fps cpu core temps exc..great overall keyboard for the price


----------



## Gules

When I try to flash bios it gives me an error saying:

I/O ERROR: Cannot open file: 680L_Unlocked.rom

Followed all the steps as mentioned by the thread. Can anyone help?


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gules*
> 
> When I try to flash bios it gives me an error saying:
> I/O ERROR: Cannot open file: 680L_Unlocked.rom
> Followed all the steps as mentioned by the thread. Can anyone help?


you have to type in the name of the rom as it is. rename the rom to something and type that in where needed, i had the same problem, was trying to read a rom that didnt exist.


----------



## sockpirate

Also, to anyone who uses the voltage hack, is it safe to push +99mv through these guys? I am just trying to get a rough idea as to when to stop upping the volts. I am talking about the hacked Afterburner.


----------



## Gules

Is running all three voltage at max on a constant basis going to damage the card? I play BF3 everyday for several hours and was wondering if it would cause permanent damage.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gules*
> 
> Is running all three voltage at max on a constant basis going to damage the card? I play BF3 everyday for several hours and was wondering if it would cause permanent damage.


If you were watercooled, then it would be safe. On air, I wouldn't.


----------



## Gules

Okay well I think I found a stable OC. Running 1346/7208 with core being at +25 and aux at +10.

Is that suitable for everyday intense long hour gaming?


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gules*
> 
> Okay well I think I found a stable OC. Running 1346/7208 with core being at +25 and aux at +10.
> Is that suitable for everyday intense long hour gaming?


why dont i see an aux slider?


----------



## snitchkilla11

hit the little upside triangle next to the voltage core mem fan sliders on the right side


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> hit the little upside triangle next to the voltage core mem fan sliders on the right side


Oh wow, thanks, what is the relevance of aux voltage? Thus far i have only messed with the core voltage, here is what i got with 300% power limit, +25mv, and +107 on the core.



I will tackle the memory next, but dont really have much experience with GPU OCing, i am using the voltage hack and unlock 3a bios. Why the different volt readings between Afterburner and GPU-Z?
Some insight would be very welcome, the pic is after a run in Heaven.


----------



## snitchkilla11

afterburner doesnt post voltage correctly..it sucks bad but what ever voltage your useing and you card is unlocked ..its being applied. and the aux adds another 50mh on top of the 93mh if im correct.i only get like an extra 10mhz maby a little more when i add the extra 50mh.thats when i get into temp issues with my cards..and they are in sli so its warmer..you covered up the best part of your backround.lol


----------



## Gules

Odd, I'm running OSD for BF3 and my core clock is occasionally going below my 1346, I've seen it in the 400's at one point. Whenever this happens I get frame lag. Not sure how to fix it. Anyone have any ideas?


----------



## Davitz

Cripes, just got my lightnings in blocks and got the loop up and running. Neither card is OC'd and i'm having them blackscreen when gaming because they're getting too hot or something is going wrong. GPU reactor is not installed, switches are on normal BIOS. Loop is operating properly and there are no restrictions or problems with the loop. (flow goes through gpu's before cpu and my cpu temps are excellent)

Tech that did the work (while I was working) said that the gpu temps were at 40 while running prime 95 on blend simultaneously running passmark (iirc).

I'm kind of thinking that there is either a large air pocket in the gpu blocks and fluid is bypassing and going through the link and not into the blocks but i'm not entirely sure. Took it back to him and he took the blocks apart checked em out and said everything looked fine. Put em back together and is testing it 24h again.

It blackscreened playing wow giving a no dvi signal and then soft reset the system. wasn't even doing anything real intensive on wow either.

Anyone have any ideas what could be the issue with my lightnings?


----------



## busta rhymes

Hi guys i am getting my Lightning in a couple of days and i have a question to the bios flashing.

I have read everything about the locked bios and everything... now i would like to know wich are the *newest* bios that i should flash on both normal bios and ln2 *so i dont loose my waranty!!!* i dont want to flash anything that is not msi aproved.

Could someone please post the two apropriate bioses that i can use please? It would realy be nice supplying the direct links to the files to 
*
Like i said i dont want to loose my waranty flashing something that isnt aprooved by msi or anything. Thanks in advance for the help guys.*


----------



## nucllear

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> I was getting about 1700-1800 maxed out in 1080p..def suprised..but the game looks pretty good.


I agree with you, this game looks pretty good








thanks


----------



## Davitz

Never mind about my issue above. It's been fixed







must have been a stubborn air bubble causing havoc.

Running unigine heaven with everything maxed the cards did not exceed 37c i'm happy


----------



## Lightning680

I have a problem with my new msi gtx-680 lightning card.
It seems something i can't get my mind on to fix this, that is why i came here to ask help.

A few times a day the fans go spinning real hard, without reason.
Normal during surfing etc. the fan speed from videocard is about 1140 rpm, and gpu temperature is about 39 degrees celsius.

Then suddenly the fans spins up to 3350 rpm and then slows down back to 1140 rpm, while the temperature is not changing.

The cpu and videocard are both not overclocked.
I have tried several drivers, from nvidia site and msi site
I have bios version 80.04.47.00.41 in videocard

My system specs are:

PSU corsair 850 watts
CPU : i7 2600K
MOBO: Asus p8z68-v pro
Mem : 2x 4GB Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8

I have made a screenshot, red arrow is gpu temperature, and yellow arrow is fan rpm speed

Maybe someone knows what is going on with the card.


----------



## Wooojciech1983

This should never happen. I haven't seen anything like this on my card. I think your card is defective and You should RMA it.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *busta rhymes*
> 
> Hi guys i am getting my Lightning in a couple of days and i have a question to the bios flashing.
> I have read everything about the locked bios and everything... now i would like to know wich are the *newest* bios that i should flash on both normal bios and ln2 *so i dont loose my waranty!!!* i dont want to flash anything that is not msi aproved.
> Could someone please post the two apropriate bioses that i can use please? It would realy be nice supplying the direct links to the files to
> *
> Like i said i dont want to loose my waranty flashing something that isnt aprooved by msi or anything. Thanks in advance for the help guys.*


no it wont void the warrenty..i use the 3a bios..i think its the best cause when you have a driver crash you dont have to hard reset you computer.just follow the directions on the first page of the post and you will be fine.i think its best just to flash the ln2 bios and keep the other one clean for just normal every day stuff..use the ln2 for benching and achieving high oc


----------



## Victor_Mizer

Is the 680 lightning a good choice for 1440p? Just kind of wondering because I bought a new monitor and I plan to build soon, I also wanted to go Nvidia this time around. However, A bunch of people talk about vram limits with 1440p, so maybe the 3gb 7970 is better option? kind of unsure what to do.


----------



## snitchkilla11

im the long run i think of..will you have the card for the long run? if so nvidia will allways support there driver..amd not so much..if you update your cards every gen then go with what will work better..2vs3gb of ram at 1440p is the same..some games will use more then 2gb of vram..hitman uses over 2gb at that resolution and skyrim does with mods..who knows about next years games..you can buy a lightning 7970 and that card is a beast also..


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Victor_Mizer*
> 
> Is the 680 lightning a good choice for 1440p? Just kind of wondering because I bought a new monitor and I plan to build soon, I also wanted to go Nvidia this time around. However, A bunch of people talk about vram limits with 1440p, so maybe the 3gb 7970 is better option? kind of unsure what to do.


Careful if you buy a 7000 series AMD card as some don't have DVI-D output, 7970 Lightning is one that doesn't, you may have yo buy an expensive active displayport to DVI-D adapter. Nvidia also has 4GB cards, so there are many choices that will work.


----------



## snitchkilla11

???they have2 dvi and 4 mini display ports


----------



## PCModderMike

He didn't mean they don't have a DVI port at all, but that the DVI output it does have is not dual link. So it only supports up to 2048x1536 unless you buy an expensive adapter, because it's single link. That's why I didn't go with the 7970 Lightning, because I game at 1440p. The 680 Lightning has dual link DVI which supports higher resolutions up to 2560x1600.

This review explains it better than I can. Click me.


----------



## busta rhymes

Just for overclocking starts...

What are safe to say overclock settings that every 680 Lightning should be able to run on Air for starters?
I do not have much overclocking expirience yet. So some starter settings would be very helpfull from you guys.

Also what is better, afterburner or evga precision x?


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *busta rhymes*
> 
> Just for overclocking starts...
> What are safe to say overclock settings that every 680 Lightning should be able to run on Air for starters?
> I do not have much overclocking expirience yet. So some starter settings would be very helpfull from you guys.
> Also what is better, afterburner or evga precision x?


The 1200 boost is what all lightnings are guaranteed to run i think.


----------



## busta rhymes

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> The 1200 boost is what all lightnings are guaranteed to run i think.


So what i understood in this thread is to just put the bios switch to ln2 and i have my 1200 mhz set standard is that correct?


----------



## gkolarov

Not exactly, you shoud have 1202~1204Mhz core clock with both bioses by default (no manual overclocking needed). With LN2 bios you should be able to rise the core voltage, whitch will help you to manual overclock the GPU.

I was trying to manually overclock my card with both bioses and noticed that the card overclocks equally !!!!! No matter with which bios i am clocking the card reaches 1333 for the core and 7000 for the memory !!!! My bioses are:
default = 80.04.47.00.18
LN2 = 80.04.47.00.19

I am using MSI Afterburner 2.2.3 and Nvidia drivers 306.97 . The max core voltage is 1.271V (peak value), MSI Afterburner during tests shows 2.242~2.252V

Is there something wrong with my card ?


----------



## busta rhymes

Hmmm on msi card it says that the card is clocked with 1110 mhz...
Do you mean boost at 1200?

What i understood is that the ln2 bios clocks the card at max turbo clock at all times... no throtteling down and so on...

Is that correct what i understood? Maybe someone can explain nicely for me once mor  It is hard fighting through all these posts...
The first post should be updated with some more information. That would be very nice.


----------



## famich

GTX 680 run default and then boost depending on the power target setting and the quality of the chip , eg. the boost is not the same on all cards..
LN 2 BIOS runs at 1202 MHz -so no boost .

From there on you are free to rise the V and try your overclock. BTW I think the first page in OK .


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gkolarov*
> 
> Not exactly, you shoud have 1202~1204Mhz core clock with both bioses by default (no manual overclocking needed). With LN2 bios you should be able to rise the core voltage, whitch will help you to manual overclock the GPU.
> I was trying to manually overclock my card with both bioses and noticed that the card overclocks equally !!!!! No matter with which bios i am clocking the card reaches 1333 for the core and 7000 for the memory !!!! My bioses are:
> default = 80.04.47.00.18
> LN2 = 80.04.47.00.19
> I am using MSI Afterburner 2.2.3 and Nvidia drivers 306.97 . The max core voltage is 1.271V (peak value), MSI Afterburner during tests shows 2.242~2.252V
> Is there something wrong with my card ?


See the first page , you are on the locked LN2 BIOS and you need to flash to the old unlocked 3A one


----------



## SeekerZA

I unlocked my LN2 moment i worked around pushin core, jumps were'nt BIG enough. I too ended up with around 1333 on core with EXACT same drivers. Maybe its the drivers thats holding back? i pushed my power slide and mv all way up and still cant get stable higher than 1333 on core. Didnt worry too much with memory though. Wish to be able to run about 1400 on core for 24/7 use! Main Goal.


----------



## Wooojciech1983

With AB 2.2.3 I can max my voltage offset to +100mV. I have read that modyfing AB can increase this voltage offset more but I can't find the instructions how to do it. Can You please point me to them?


----------



## gkolarov

I do not see real difference between the two bioses, the only way to change the things is to flash the LN2 BIOS with the unlocked "3A".


----------



## gkolarov

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Wooojciech1983*
> 
> With AB 2.2.3 I can max my voltage offset to +100mV. I have read that modyfing AB can increase this voltage offset more but I can't find the instructions how to do it. Can You please point me to them?


Upgrade to 2.2.3, that'll give you +93mv = 1.36v on the 3A. Then this is the hack directions for going over +93mv-

-Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
-Open Afterburner 2.2.3
-Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
-Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
-Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
-Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
-Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
-Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
-Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
-Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
-Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltage sliders in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card


----------



## magiwizard

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5185605

so i finally got arround to doing an artmoney run at 14.1v and +260 core +450 mem it was a slight jump over my last run... still waiting for good temps outside to do the outside run


----------



## PCModderMike

Great score magiwizard.

I have had no success with any of the beta drivers recently, was testing out 310.70 last night but ended up going back to 306.97. Is this common and anyone else have the same experiences? Started off with weird clock drops while gaming....I think I saw someone else report that as well. Even on stock clocks, just running around like normal I would see a sudden drop in the clock down to 810 and of course a good lag in the game. Was really annoying, but then the entire game crashed. So I gave up on BF3 and went into Crysis 2...no clock drop, but didn't take long before that crashed too. Again, back on 306.97, running normal now and just like it should. I dunno....guess I just wanted to /rant.


----------



## Ningeal

I think I'm too stupid to overclock.









I have AB opened with my stock speeds (Core Voltage: +0, Power Limit: 100%, Core Clock: +0, Memory Clock: +0).

I only increase my core clock by 50 and hit apply. Run Heaven @ default (or extreme?) settings and see if artifacts occur or it can run smoothly.
Now add another like +25 the core clock and repeat, right until now?

If it crashes, do I decrease my core clock by smaller steps (-1 to -5) and leave the rest at stock *OR* do I keep my +75MHZ core clock but increase something else instead? If it's the second option, what do I increase? And when do I increase core voltage and power limit - can I just crank it up to the max from the beginning so I only need to work on core / memory clock speeds?

I have read so many posts on OC'ig but none have helped me, sorry for being dumb.


----------



## PCModderMike

It's not stupid to ask questions, not at all. Everyone has got to start somewhere. Personally, I open AB, push the voltage as high as it will go, which is +100, take the power limit to +200%...and then I start trying to overclock the core. Just take it to a nice round number of +100. Leave the memory stock. Run Heaven, make sure it passes, if it does pass, then go a little higher with the core, up to +110. If it doesn't pass, then drop down to +90. Run Heaven again, it if passes, then go back up to +95, and try Heaven again, it if passes again, then I would call the overclock on the core good and stick with that. But of course if it does not pass then again go back to +90 and that would be the stable overclock for the core.
This is all an example of course. I started with the core around +150, benched with Heaven, found it wasn't stable, then dropped in increments of +10 until I was stable at +130, then once I passed Heaven at +130 I went back up +5, ran Heaven again and it passed, so my max OC for Heaven has been +135. I can go higher for 3DMark11, but my rock solid overclock on the core is +135.
Once you feel you've reached the max on the core, then start with the memory, going through the same process.


----------



## Ningeal

Thank you for the quick reply. I will try immediately. But one question remains for now, do I run Heaven with its default settings or should I crank up all the settings?


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ningeal*
> 
> Thank you for the quick reply. I will try immediately. But one question remains for now, do I run Heaven with its default settings or should I crank up all the settings?


Sure no problem. That's completely up to you, benching on default or custom settings will have the same effect, they both will stress the system to the point of letting you know whether or not it's stable.


----------



## Ningeal

+REP'd you. There's one strange thing though: when I have applied my core clock changes and start Heaven (not the benchmark itself), it crashes. Then I just run it again and it starts normally so I can benchmark. Now I'm not sure whether my changes are dismissed or not, when it does run. In AB my changes have not been resetted, though.

Edit:
Here's what confuses me: I apply changes to the core clock, start Heaven and it crashes. Start Heaven again without any problems (which make me wonder, whether my apllied changes really were applied or not) and run the benchmark which passes.
Now I test the exact same settings with MSI Kombustor and it crashes after 10 seconds showing this error: 

I will edit the Heaven error message later.
Heaven error message after every applied core clock change when starting Heaven:


----------



## PCModderMike

If Heaven crashes, or any benchmark does, because of an unstable overclock it will not reset the settings you have applied in AB. You have to go back into AB and adjust then test again.


----------



## Ningeal

Strangely, my score decreases constantly with each core clock increase. This is another reason why I wonder, wehter my changes are applied.


----------



## PCModderMike

What are your settings so far? Also what driver are you using? And what version of AB?
Do you have GPUZ on your system? If not...go get it.
Open GPUZ and click on the Sensors Tab

Then where GPU Core Clock is listed, click on the little black arrow pointing down and select "Show Highest Reading"

What is your max clock when benching?


----------



## Ningeal

I started off with +100 mV, 200% power limit and +100 MHz core clock.

Like I said, starting Heaven the first time (when you press run), resulted in a crash. Starting it immediately afterwards, I can run the benchmark until the end. First attempt got me 129.0 FPS average and a score of 3249 (default settings).

My driver version is 306.97, 2.30 for Afterburner.

Max core clock: 1293.4 MHz.


----------



## PCModderMike

Soyou press run to start Heaven, it crashes, and then you have to press run a second time and it will complete? Or it will crash and then auto restart itself? Does this happen with any other benchmarks, like 3Dmark11?


----------



## Ningeal

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> So you press run to start Heaven, it crashes, and then you have to press run a second time and it will complete?


Yes, exactly. It does _not_ restart itself. I have to do it manually.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Does this happen with any other benchmarks, like 3Dmark11?


Has not happened to me yet AFAIK. But tbh, I have run 3DMark11 only once.


----------



## Menthol

I seem to be able to clock higher stably on drivers 306.97 or earlier., benching on the later drivers don't work as well, for me at least don't know about anyone else


----------



## PCModderMike

Same for me, I went back to 306.97 last night.


----------



## gkolarov

Yesterday i changed the LN2 BIOS of my card (80.04.47.00.19) with 80.04.28.00.3A and began new overclock session







In Unigine Heaven 3 i reached stable core of 1385Mhz (without memory overclock) with Core Clock + 93 and AUX Clock + 40. Without core clock and rising voltages the memory goes to 4000Mhz (8000) , but when tryed simultaneous core and memory clock the stable clocks were 1359/7600 :


3DMark11

Yesterday i asked MSI support why there is no difference in overclocking between the default BIOS (80.04.47.00.18) and the LN2 BIOS (80.04.47.00.19) and they answered me:
"Regarding your concern,it's normal that the two bios are same in core clock,but the LN2 bios has extended the limitation of OCP and add the function of APS."
What does OCP and ASP means ?


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gkolarov*
> 
> Yesterday i changed the LN2 BIOS of my card (80.04.47.00.19) with 80.04.28.00.3A and began new overclock session
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In Unigine Heaven 3 i reached stable core of 1385Mhz (without memory overclock) with Core Clock + 93 and AUX Clock + 40. Without core clock and rising voltages the memory goes to 4000Mhz (8000) , but when tryed simultaneous core and memory clock the stable clocks were 1359/7600 :
> 
> 3DMark11
> Yesterday i asked MSI support why there is no difference in overclocking between the default BIOS (80.04.47.00.18) and the LN2 BIOS (80.04.47.00.19) and they answered me:
> "Regarding your concern,it's normal that the two bios are same in core clock,but the LN2 bios has extended the limitation of OCP and add the function of APS."
> What does OCP and ASP means ?


Very Nice there, never tried the aux yet but would any of use recommend that high for 24/7 OC? i'm wanting more than 1333.


----------



## gkolarov

I don't know, but the voltages in 3DMark11 max goes to 1.365V (core clock is + 81), i believe if core clock is at max (+93) it will go to 1.375V max in 3DMark11. I am measuring with digital multimeter, because the software shows max 1.275V. I am not sure is 1.375V still save voltage for the core? I found that with 3A BIOS 1300Mhz is easy possible without rising any voltages. I have found what OCP and ASP means:
OCP = Over current protection
ASP = APS (Active Phase Switching) APS is Active Phase Switching is complete function to Control Power Demand , helps to stabilize the voltages


----------



## sockpirate

Still tinkering,
+100mv(93) , power limit 300, aux +50, core +160, mem +405
cpu @ 4.8 1.355v
unlocked 3a bios, with 310.70 beta drivers
Afterburner 2.2.3 no voltage hack



With voltage hack i think i can take these to a stable 1400 with about +25-30mv.


----------



## oicwutudidthar

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> Still tinkering,
> +100mv(93) , power limit 300, aux +50, core +160, mem +405
> cpu @ 4.8 1.355v
> unlocked 3a bios, with 310.70 beta bios
> Afterburner 2.2.3 no voltage hack
> 
> With voltage hack i think i can take these to a stable 1400 with about +25-30mv.


Did you use the art money hack?


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *oicwutudidthar*
> 
> Did you use the art money hack?


He's only at +93 for the voltage, the art money hack is not required to get that high.


----------



## sockpirate

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!



Quote:


> Originally Posted by *oicwutudidthar*
> 
> Did you use the art money hack?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> He's only at +93 for the voltage, the art money hack is not required to get that high.






Nope, no art money hack or edited AB profile. I may edit the AB profile to up the volts a bit more, but honestly my goal was just a measly +100 on the core and +200 on the memory. So i am pretty pleased with this, i plan on tweaking a bit more. Will keep ya guys updated.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> Nope, no art money hack or edited AB profile. I may edit the AB profile to up the volts a bit more, but honestly my goal was just a measly +100 on the core and +200 on the memory. So i am pretty pleased with this, i plan on tweaking a bit more. Will keep ya guys updated.


Yea that's a nice overclock on the core...the highest I can get stable with Heaven is +135 on the core....if I'm running 3DMark11 it'll run at +150.


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Yea that's a nice overclock on the core...the highest I can get stable with Heaven is +135 on the core....if I'm running 3DMark11 it'll run at +150.


I see so heaven is more stressful than 3dm11? Im kinda new to GPU stressing. Can find sandy sweet spots in minutes though ha ha.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> I see so heaven is more stressful than 3dm11? Im kinda new to GPU stressing. Can find sandy sweet spots in minutes though ha ha.


Yea in general Heaven is a real good way to test if your overclock is stable. It stresses all parts of the system really well. Whatever overclock I can find stable in Heaven, that's what I consider my rock solid 24/7 overclock.


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Yea in general Heaven is a real good way to test if your overclock is stable. It stresses all parts of the system really well. Whatever overclock I can find stable in Heaven, that's what I consider my rock solid 24/7 overclock.


Good to know!


----------



## Gules

What amount of voltage can you run for everday BF3 gaming? Right now I have a 1333/7000 with 25 on core, 20 on memory, 20 on aux. I wish I can push the core more but not sure how I can achieve it without water cooling.


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gules*
> 
> What amount of voltage can you run for everday BF3 gaming? Right now I have a 1333/7000 with 25 on core, 20 on memory, 20 on aux. I wish I can push the core more but not sure how I can achieve it without water cooling.


That definitely seems fine, if your temps are good then you are re golden.


----------



## gkolarov

Is BIOS 80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2), from the first page of this topic released by MSI ?


----------



## owikhan

Yes these are unlocked bios.


----------



## gkolarov

Great, because, i wrote to MSI support and asked them about the warranty of the lightning card if the LN2 BIOS is reflashed and they answered me that "If you reflash the bios which is not released by MSI, to any damage it will not under the warrant.".


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gkolarov*
> 
> Great, because, i wrote to MSI support and asked them about the warranty of the lightning card if the LN2 BIOS is reflashed and they answered me that "If you reflash the bios which is not released by MSI, to any damage it will not under the warrant.".


Yeah the 3A from the OP was released by MSI and is unedited. So, you'll be fine


----------



## DJRamses

I ve made new Score:
[img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/13242nyqju.jpg]

only optimized RAM and use the new beta driver 310.70.
And i used the 3A Bios. 3A makes over 1515Mhz or 1530Mhz "sometimes" hard-Resets too. But it runs good.


----------



## snitchkilla11

totally off subject..samsung 840 pro...fast!!!!!!


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> totally off subject..samsung 840 pro...fast!!!!!!


Haha we like fast in here


----------



## famich

I d never ever buy SSD from Samsung, I had Samsung Wave phone, died very fast during the FW update . Samsung replied that they "do not honor this as RMA "
I hate this company


----------



## kevindd992002

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> I d never ever buy SSD from Samsung, I had Samsung Wave phone, died very fast during the FW update . Samsung replied that they "do not honor this as RMA "
> I hate this company


Better reasearch how reliable Samsung SSDs are. They're one of the best. The SSD industry is different from the cellphone industry.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> I ve made new Score:
> [img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/13242nyqju.jpg]
> only optimized RAM and use the new beta driver 310.70.
> And i used the 3A Bios. 3A makes over 1515Mhz or 1530Mhz "sometimes" hard-Resets too. But it runs good.


How did you get your mv soo high?? is that the art money hack? btw i too am on 3A. What settings do you run 24/7?
I've ran a few benchmarks loops recently and WOW! does Heaven smash my core, heaven crashes but i can run 3dmark 11 through on same core and mem settings. core was around 1356 if i remember correctly and mem i had plus 350 in afterburner 2.3.3. Need more mv on core! looking for higher 24/7 OC.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> I ve made new Score:
> [img=http://www.abload.de/thumb/13242nyqju.jpg]
> only optimized RAM and use the new beta driver 310.70.
> And i used the 3A Bios. 3A makes over 1515Mhz or 1530Mhz "sometimes" hard-Resets too. But it runs good.


That is one fine run DJ, that cold weather must be why you can clock like that. But very good regardless what weather, what voltage on memory and AUX


----------



## snitchkilla11

Since when did MSI start makeing gtx 680 power edition cards?!!!!. I guess MSI must bin there chips. Looks just like a lightning..lower clocks.even has the lightning backplate. *** IS GOING ON!


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Since when did MSI start makeing gtx 680 power edition cards?!!!!. I guess MSI must bin there chips. Looks just like a lightning..lower clocks.even has the lightning backplate. *** IS GOING ON!


Its normal.

On release for the top end card it goes REF > TF > PE > Lighting.


----------



## snitchkilla11

I never seen one till today. I know the 7970 has one well 3 .power GHz boost. I thought 680 was just lightning and maby an extreme 4gb version.blew my mind. What's the diff between the two? Other then clocks


----------



## driftingforlife

PCB design and BIOS I think.


----------



## DJRamses

*SeekerZA:*
Yes, this run was with artmoney hack. Today i dont need artmoney. Today i ve AB xtreme..







24/7 Settings? Graphics runs only Stock. Perhapy a little higher clock for gaming.
System is between 3,8 or 4,1 Ghz (gaming) or Stock if i only use internet.

*Menthol:*
I dont clock over 1500, if the Card have10 °C or more at idle. Wanna safe the electrical components..








The Vram is the bad thing of my Lightning. Over +670 i have errors or artefacts(unigine Heaven). Higher Voltage for RAMs does not work. Dont know why.
At this run i ve give the Vram +80 offset.








I ve a MOA Bios for testing here. But i must it edit via Hexeditor to run it at stock. Because MOA Bioses need a hard Vmod and min -15°C to run it. I dont wanna make a hardmod.
I think i test it at the weekend. Perhaps have this bios a better Vram-configuration..... i hope...
Yes, the cold weather is perfectly to bench...


----------



## johnbean

Welcome. Please help with my gtx 680 lighting. On standard clocks (1200 boost), reaches in 3 d mark 11 only 10,400 points graphics. After the BIOS ln2 oc stable work only on 1290 and reached only 10,800 points graphics. Why so little card is powerful and makes the weak oc? Thank you and best regards


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> totally off subject..samsung 840 pro...fast!!!!!!


+1


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> *SeekerZA:*
> Yes, this run was with artmoney hack. Today i dont need artmoney. Today i ve AB xtreme..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 24/7 Settings? Graphics runs only Stock. Perhapy a little higher clock for gaming.
> System is between 3,8 or 4,1 Ghz (gaming) or Stock if i only use internet.
> *Menthol:*
> I dont clock over 1500, if the Card have10 °C or more at idle. Wanna safe the electrical components..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Vram is the bad thing of my Lightning. Over +670 i have errors or artefacts(unigine Heaven). Higher Voltage for RAMs does not work. Dont know why.
> At this run i ve give the Vram +80 offset.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I ve a MOA Bios for testing here. But i must it edit via Hexeditor to run it at stock. Because MOA Bioses need a hard Vmod and min -15°C to run it. I dont wanna make a hardmod.
> I think i test it at the weekend. Perhaps have this bios a better Vram-configuration..... i hope...
> Yes, the cold weather is perfectly to bench...


I don't have the cold weather to help, I can't clock my memory that high, I also have the ABX but no special bios, if you get that straightened out please let me know how it goes.


----------



## saint19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Since when did MSI start makeing gtx 680 power edition cards?!!!!. I guess MSI must bin there chips. Looks just like a lightning..lower clocks.even has the lightning backplate. *** IS GOING ON!


Lightning is Lightning, the PE GPUs doesn't have the "dual BIOS" for LN2 and normal conditions...


----------



## snitchkilla11

Ohhh.. I bet people sporting pe are claiming lightning. They look identical. I dunno why MSI has to do that. Change the color to blue.!! I now have to rma either my psu or one of my cards cause I was getting coil whine last nite. I have to get someone else to give me a second opinion cause my hearing is shot..


----------



## CL3P20

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *saint19*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Since when did MSI start makeing gtx 680 power edition cards?!!!!. I guess MSI must bin there chips. Looks just like a lightning..lower clocks.even has the lightning backplate. *** IS GOING ON!
> 
> 
> 
> Lightning is Lightning, the PE GPUs doesn't have the "dual BIOS" for LN2 and normal conditions...
Click to expand...

Thats partially incorrect. Power Edition GPU's do infact have Dual BIOS.. just not LN BIOS [which software patches OCP to 1000A]


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> I don't have the cold weather to help, I can't clock my memory that high, I also have the ABX but no special bios, if you get that straightened out please let me know how it goes.


I am editing the Moa Bios.Thats not so easy. The Hexdata are very diffrent to the 3A or F8. If you wanna start the moa bios, without Vmod, you get a RSoD, if the nvidia driver loads.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> I am editing the Moa Bios.Thats not so easy. The Hexdata are very diffrent to the 3A or F8. If you wanna start the moa bios, without Vmod, you get a RSoD, if the nvidia driver loads.


Man am I familiar with the RSOD, trying to find max overclock, just a little to much voltage and all I see is RED, I have learned a lot this time around


----------



## Derek1387

Anyone know how this card does on Far Cry 3 on a 2560x1440 monitor? Trying to decide between swapping out my 7970 lightning for one of these.


----------



## Victor_Mizer

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Derek1387*
> 
> Anyone know how this card does on Far Cry 3 on a 2560x1440 monitor? Trying to decide between swapping out my 7970 lightning for one of these.


You already have a 7970 lightning why would you want to swap to a 680 gtx? Both are fairly similar cards, 7970 has a more vram for that 1440p res. Seems pointless to switch to the other...


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Victor_Mizer*
> 
> You already have a 7970 lightning why would you want to swap to a 680 gtx? Both are fairly similar cards, 7970 has a more vram for that 1440p res. Seems pointless to switch to the other...


The 7970 L does not have a duel link DVI connector so the max res it can do is 1200p.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Derek1387*
> 
> Anyone know how this card does on Far Cry 3 on a 2560x1440 monitor? Trying to decide between swapping out my 7970 lightning for one of these.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> The 7970 L does not have a duel link DVI connector so the max res it can do is 1200p.


The 7970L would need a mini displayport to dual link adapter for 2560 x 1440, I'd get one & stick with the 7970.


----------



## Derek1387

I have the converter so I can run mini dp to dvi for full res.

I just didn't know if the 680 was better or not, that's why I asked.

Thanks for the info all


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Derek1387*
> 
> I have the converter so I can run mini dp to dvi for full res.
> 
> I just didn't know if the 680 was better or not, that's why I asked.
> 
> Thanks for the info all


What do you run as your gaming OC? If you got a poor 7970, and want to take a stab at getting a good 680 Lightning, you'd be in great shape if you did, as it takes a lot of voltage to warm these guys up.

And as for Far Cry 3, it seems like a large portion of the problems people report having in the FC3 performance thread are posted by AMD users. Many also say, even if not having major problems, that it's quite choppy most of the time. Even though it's a Gaming Evolved title, Nvidia cards seem to be doing much better at the moment, but that's not to say that it won't be fixed by a future driver. Just saying at the moment that it seems to be running way better on Kepler.

But, I don't think it'd be worth getting a 680 just to see a slight improvement in one game. So unless you can get a great price for your 7970 and find a cheap 680L on sale on Newegg, or you _really_ want the best Far Cry 3 experience, I'd stick with the 7970. Can't go too wrong either way though


----------



## snitchkilla11

if you wait 2 months il be glad to sell you my lightnings....lol j/k.finally back up and running..another upgrade cycle!!!. got some 2400mhz platinums/samsung 840 pro/ocz zx 1250w psu the sparkle i bought had coil whine!/corsair af140s/logitech g510 keyboard/steel searies pad/ and i wana ask yall about headsets..i want a good wireless..im thinking either the corsair 2000 or the logitech 930??? any body had any exp with either????
also should i upgrade to windows 8?? i finally got a legit copy of win 7 so i can upgrade for cheap,


----------



## Derek1387

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> What do you run as your gaming OC? If you got a poor 7970, and want to take a stab at getting a good 680 Lightning, you'd be in great shape if you did, as it takes a lot of voltage to warm these guys up.
> And as for Far Cry 3, it seems like a large portion of the problems people report having in the FC3 performance thread are posted by AMD users. Many also say, even if not having major problems, that it's quite choppy most of the time. Even though it's a Gaming Evolved title, Nvidia cards seem to be doing much better at the moment, but that's not to say that it won't be fixed by a future driver. Just saying at the moment that it seems to be running way better on Kepler.
> But, I don't think it'd be worth getting a 680 just to see a slight improvement in one game. So unless you can get a great price for your 7970 and find a cheap 680L on sale on Newegg, or you _really_ want the best Far Cry 3 experience, I'd stick with the 7970. Can't go too wrong either way though


I actually havent OC'd mine at all.... havent neded to, but i think this game is going to need it. Only getting 30-35 FPS on 2560x1440 maxed out.


----------



## Fooom

Hey guys, i have 2 680 lightnings and i tried to use the default settings on my card yesterday, but i have a problem.. my temp on my first card went 70c+.. with the same fan settings on my OC settings. My full load on my OC settings is only 65c.. is this a bug?


----------



## p3gaz_001

hey people, i'd like to ask, if i get two universal gpu blocks for my two lightning what do i dave to use to cool vrms?? any ideas?? thanks for the answers.


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> hey people, i'd like to ask, if i get two universal gpu blocks for my two lightning what do i dave to use to cool vrms?? any ideas?? thanks for the answers.


Why not use full cover blocks?


----------



## p3gaz_001

cause it's a pain when is time to sell it.


----------



## magiwizard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> cause it's a pain when is time to sell it.


i use universal blocks atm and it hasnt caused me any problems just get some heatsinks for vrms and mem and make sure you have good airflow in your case


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> cause it's a pain when is time to sell it.
> 
> 
> 
> i use universal blocks atm and it hasnt caused me any problems just get some heatsinks for vrms and mem and make sure you have good airflow in your case
Click to expand...

You mean passive heatskinks on those golden capacitors? Btw i have no airflow since my computer is sitting on a bench table...

This is it ---> http://db.tt/9sLVdIzb


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> You mean passive heatskinks on those golden capacitors? Btw i have no airflow since my computer is sitting on a bench table...
> This is it ---> http://db.tt/9sLVdIzb


You lose the air spill from an air cooler when you water cool. That spill used to cool your chipset around the cpu, hence benchers that use their test benches for benching usually mount at least one fan to help keep the chipset cool. (Also if extreme cooling, to reduce condensation.)


----------



## snitchkilla11

i like the bench..if i didnt have sutch a bad cat i would have one..the last time i had my side off my case.my cat started useing my gpus as a scratch post..go figure right!!!!


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> You lose the air spill from an air cooler when you water cool. That spill used to cool your chipset around the cpu, hence benchers that use their test benches for benching usually mount at least one fan to help keep the chipset cool. (Also if extreme cooling, to reduce condensation.)


meh.. i would have loved to avoid other fans to be honest .... and at the same time i didn't want to buy full cover blocks... at this point seems that i have no chance, or i get the full cover or i get some other fan if i use universal blocks ...


----------



## magiwizard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> meh.. i would have loved to avoid other fans to be honest .... and at the same time i didn't want to buy full cover blocks... at this point seems that i have no chance, or i get the full cover or i get some other fan if i use universal blocks ...


Personal preference I would just buy some better fans for your case, your board wont be that screwed without the spill from your cpu heatsink plus rads will also help with airflow (pulling air out of case) as long as you have good intakes you should be fine


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> You mean passive heatskinks on those golden capacitors? Btw i have no airflow since my computer is sitting on a bench table...
> This is it ---> http://db.tt/9sLVdIzb


WOW!! Looks AMAZING!! Do tell how that specific soundcard performs?? I'm getting mine within a month after i do my custom loop with the LIGHTNING in Is that the one with built in headphone amp and that nice looking remote that you attach to sound card?? I LIKE! okey waay off topic but i just really want to hear anything and everything of that soundcard. Which headphones are the perfect fit for it? i was thinking of getting a analog 5.1 surround headset but still cant seem to find a Nice fit.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> Personal preference I would just buy some better fans for your case, your board wont be that screwed without the spill from your cpu heatsink plus rads will also help with airflow (pulling air out of case) as long as you have good intakes you should be fine


Doesn't have a case. He has a test bench, that he would rather not add fans to......



Purty, aint it?


----------



## Bosniac

Hey is everyone still using AB 2.3 or newer when OC'ing?


----------



## gkolarov

I am using 2.2.3


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> Personal preference I would just buy some better fans for your case, your board wont be that screwed without the spill from your cpu heatsink plus rads will also help with airflow (pulling air out of case) as long as you have good intakes you should be fine


in the past i had universal blocks on these cards, sold it cause i was thinking to get full covers, i fall back when i started reading news about the kepler refresh that it may be out on early 2013, so i thinked that was not necessary spend 200€ for full blocks.... but now, it seems that i may buy again two universal blocks, in the past i used two 120 mm fans on the vrm parts, but i was not so happy by the sound produced by the 120mm fans and the appearance of the fans on vga, it looked like and half watercooled vga ...
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> WOW!! Looks AMAZING!! Do tell how that specific soundcard performs?? I'm getting mine within a month after i do my custom loop with the LIGHTNING in Is that the one with built in headphone amp and that nice looking remote that you attach to sound card?? I LIKE! okey waay off topic but i just really want to hear anything and everything of that soundcard. Which headphones are the perfect fit for it? i was thinking of getting a analog 5.1 surround headset but still cant seem to find a Nice fit.


thanks mate









the card is good enough, but the mic really sucks, seriously, the cable is not long enough to keep the mic device away from speakers. for the rest is a really good card, nice thing it got an earphone amplifier wich works like a sharm!, i often use the card with Sennheiser OCX880, sharp sound and deep bass, no distortion!!! Amazing!, i just wonder what can come out with a serious pair of heaphones /OT
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Doesn't have a case. He has a test bench, that he would rather not add fans to......
> 
> Purty, aint it?


what do "purty" means?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Bosniac*
> 
> Hey is everyone still using AB 2.3 or newer when OC'ing?


i do use AB 2.3


----------



## alancsalt

pretty


----------



## snitchkilla11

What speed denominator platinums u running? Have you tried oc them yet? I had the 1866mhz and could only get 2000mhz out of them.then I sold them for the 2400mhz..haven't tried to oc them yet but I'm sure they will.well I hope.


----------



## saint19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gkolarov*
> 
> I am using 2.2.3


I also use 2.3...


----------



## snitchkilla11

2.3


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> What speed denominator platinums u running? Have you tried oc them yet? I had the 1866mhz and could only get 2000mhz out of them.then I sold them for the 2400mhz..haven't tried to oc them yet but I'm sure they will.well I hope.


i'm running 2400mhz @ 1.58v 9.11.11 21 2T

but i haven't tried any other oc on these
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> pretty


oh thanks a lot


----------



## saint19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> i'm running 2400mhz @ 1.58v 9.11.11 21 2T
> but i haven't tried any other oc on these
> oh thanks a lot


Ty a higher overclock, I'm pretty sure that those Platinum can do something better that 2400MHz....


----------



## DADDYDC650

Just installed the latest beta driver (310.70). Down blocking is even worse in Heaven benchmark. No issues with 306.97 drivers. I'm not waiting around for Nvidia to release another set of proper drivers. Time to sell 1 of my 680 Lightnings....


----------



## LionS7

I have issue with every version of 310 driver, even with 310.70 whql. In some games the 3D frequency of my GTX680 Lightning drops with the fps of course. There is no problem with 306.97 driver, only with every version of 310.

Some help pls.


----------



## SeekerZA

New Nvidia Drivers out. FINALLY!! Looking to hear how the overclocks on your LIGHTNING's do people. Let me know


----------



## sockpirate

So i keep getting crashes like games stop responding and artifact crashes, more voltage?


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> So i keep getting crashes like games stop responding and artifact crashes, more voltage?


Artifacts sounds like memory OC too high. But with game crashes i had that with battlefield 3, i just left my aux and mem voltage at 10 and vore mv at 100 percent(93mv) and power slider full. My fan speeds i left at 70percent when gaming. And i still get temps of around 60C to 62C in battlefield. . Its been quite hot in Cape Town lately sigh and its because of this heat that i want to put GPU under water for better temps


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> Just installed the latest beta driver (310.70). Down blocking is even worse in Heaven benchmark. No issues with 306.97 drivers. I'm not waiting around for Nvidia to release another set of proper drivers. Time to sell 1 of my 680 Lightnings....


Now why would you do that...every card has been haveing problems right now. Don't sell cause haven is downclocking. Wait for the new version of it before you make a decision like that


----------



## sockpirate

Well i reverted back to the 306 drivers ad no crashing, i think something is up with 310.


----------



## snitchkilla11

The thing is they are beta drivers.. and they work better in blackop2 fc3 and hitman..just cause haven or 3dmark scores are down doesn't make your cards worse..its just a benchmark.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> The thing is they are beta drivers.. and they work better in blackop2 fc3 and hitman..just cause haven or 3dmark scores are down doesn't make your cards worse..its just a benchmark.


The Beta is finished, They put it up in normal download section. Why else would it be released a few days or weeks after the final beta was released? Got me thinking. But ill give it a go later and see for myself


----------



## snitchkilla11

They released the wHQL yesturday. I'm going to reinstall them to check also. I was haveing lots of problems after running modded drivers so I did a fresh install of windows on a brand new 840..problem solved. As for haven and 3dmark I haven't tested cause everything runs great. I know what my cards can do overclocked so that is not a problem for me..I can't wait till the new 3dmark12 is released to the public. As it says my drivers aren't supported since I got my cards.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> They released the wHQL yesturday. I'm going to reinstall them to check also. I was haveing lots of problems after running modded drivers so I did a fresh install of windows on a brand new 840..problem solved. As for haven and 3dmark I haven't tested cause everything runs great. I know what my cards can do overclocked so that is not a problem for me..I can't wait till the new 3dmark12 is released to the public. As it says my drivers aren't supported since I got my cards.


I'm starting to move away from testing with Heaven myself. I used to depend on it to find a rock solid overclock, but I've found I can always overclock higher in my games and 3DMark11. So what's the point of testing with Heaven if it's the one app where I have to run a lower overclock. What's the word on 3Dmark12? How long has that been in development?


----------



## Moozoren

Hey guys im pretty new here but i wanted to find a forum where ppl got same interest, i got some good score in 3Dmark with the 680 Lightnings, they are pretty beast even on ACooling.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5264328

Toobad my i5 2500k wont go over 4.8ghz on air.


----------



## snitchkilla11

I thought the new 3dmark was coming out with windows 8. But I guess its not ready.should be soon. They should call it 3dmark13


----------



## Moozoren

yeye i did it with cores running 1359mhz

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5264969?key=iU0rn7joyI6UhrCNK3e0mQ


----------



## LionS7

So, there is a problem only with GTX680 Lightning with 310.70 ?
like I said so - drop of frequency on the card in 3D. Core frequency. In some games, and I didn't manage to fix that problem.

Proposals ?


----------



## gkolarov

What is your CPU? Maybe the CPU is slow for the GPU?


----------



## LionS7

No no, Im with i7-3930K @4500Mhz. I have tried 304, 306. Evething is ok with them. I have issue only with 310. From 310.33 to 310.70 official.


----------



## snitchkilla11

The new drivers add performance so you may want to try a better oc. But I don't have any problems with my lightnings with 310.70 I get almost 100% usually 97-98%


----------



## LionS7

I use my card on 1320/7000 for 24/7...so that is not the problem...The odd thing is that I see the drop in some games like Battlefield 3, but others like Batman Arkham City, Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2 are fine


----------



## gkolarov

The FSP are dropping and the GPU load is droping (less then 100%) and the game is becoming unplayable ? The graphic is getting too slow, because the GPU can work faster, but it doesn't working faster. And there is no clear reason for that ! The temperatures are normal, no artifacts on the screen, no trottling etc....

I experience this kind of behavior from my Lightning in almost every game, but my CPU is slower than yours - Q9550. That is why i belive the reason is in my CPU - it is slow and can not feed the GPU with data, so the GPU is taking short rests








Another explanation: the reason could be in that specific game, games are programs and if they are not written well - they do not perform well ! Of course some kind of a driver could also be guilty for such behavior - not only graphical drivers; for example - chipset driver (VGA->PCI-E->CPU->RAM), sound driver etc.


----------



## Phishy714

Hey guys - I am hoping someone can help me out with a problem I am having with my 680 lightnings in SLI..

Basically, when playing just about any game, (BF3, FC3, even WoW) the core clock on both cards fluctuates like crazy - along with temps.

I have MSI afterburner going with a simple +100 on the cores (no over voltage) both under water - don't exceed 45C.

I have the on screen display and the core mhz on the cards keeps going from 1293 to under 900, back up to 1200 and down - and keeps doing this whether I am in graphics intensive scenes or not. The temps are also CONSTANTLY fluctuating around 39-45C... constantly moving up and down its really weird. Looking at the actual graphs, it looks like a heartbeat monitor - just without the consistency of one.

I currently have MSI 2.2.3, but the same thing happens with 2.3.0 as well. I have cleaned and reinstalled drivers (multiple ones from beta to current to past ones). Only thing I haven't done is reinstalled W7, though I don't know that going that route is going to change anything. I have tested both cards by themselves and they work great without any problems - I can actually OC them to around 1390 individually with some voltage added full stable, but when in SLI, nothing I have done seems to stop this constant fluctuation and no matter how much voltage I give them, I cannot get past a simple +100 on the core (to like 1293). This fluctuation is what I think is causing alot of the recent crashes I have experienced in game - where as I had none before.

The only thing I have done differently is that I recently switched to a Silverstone Raven 02 case. Any ideas?

Below are my specs:

2500k @ 4.5
Maximus V Formula
8gb Corsair @ 1866mhz
SeaSonic X 850w psu


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> Hey guys - I am hoping someone can help me out with a problem I am having with my 680 lightnings in SLI..
> Basically, when playing just about any game, (BF3, FC3, even WoW) the core clock on both cards fluctuates like crazy - along with temps.
> I have MSI afterburner going with a simple +100 on the cores (no over voltage) both under water - don't exceed 45C.
> I have the on screen display and the core mhz on the cards keeps going from 1293 to under 900, back up to 1200 and down - and keeps doing this whether I am in graphics intensive scenes or not. The temps are also CONSTANTLY fluctuating around 39-45C... constantly moving up and down its really weird. Looking at the actual graphs, it looks like a heartbeat monitor - just without the consistency of one.
> I currently have MSI 2.2.3, but the same thing happens with 2.3.0 as well. I have cleaned and reinstalled drivers (multiple ones from beta to current to past ones). Only thing I haven't done is reinstalled W7, though I don't know that going that route is going to change anything. I have tested both cards by themselves and they work great without any problems - I can actually OC them to around 1390 individually with some voltage added full stable, but when in SLI, nothing I have done seems to stop this constant fluctuation and no matter how much voltage I give them, I cannot get past a simple +100 on the core (to like 1293). This fluctuation is what I think is causing alot of the recent crashes I have experienced in game - where as I had none before.
> The only thing I have done differently is that I recently switched to a Silverstone Raven 02 case. Any ideas?
> Below are my specs:
> 2500k @ 4.5
> Maximus V Formula
> 8gb Corsair @ 1866mhz
> SeaSonic X 850w psu


I'm having a similar issue with my 2 680 Lightnings. I have no issues with 306.97 but if I run the last couple of beta's as well as the newest official driver, I get random downlocking even with a small OC of 35Mhz. Weird thing is, one of my cards do not down clock at all running the latest beta's and official driver if I have it installed by itself. When I install my other card and run it by itself, I get a little bit of down clocking with the latest beta's and official drivers. Again, no problems when I have 306.97 installed. Last of all, if I have both cards installed along with the 310.70, they both start to down clock like crazy!


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> I'm having a similar issue with my 2 680 Lightnings. I have no issues with 306.97 but if I run the last couple of beta's as well as the newest official driver, I get random downlocking even with a small OC of 35Mhz. Weird thing is, one of my cards do not down clock at all running the latest beta's and official driver if I have it installed by itself. When I install my other card and run it by itself, I get a little bit of down clocking with the latest beta's and official drivers. Again, no problems when I have 306.97 installed. Last of all, if I have both cards installed along with the 310.70, they both start to down clock like crazy!


I think this is an issue with scaling ?


----------



## SeekerZA

I can confirm that the current the official released drivers are downclocking during gameplay. Not a nice experience when you deep in the battlefield . Sucks! i have tried changed setting in nvidia control panel to maximum performance with regards to some power option and that has made . . . . ZERO difference. Whats strange is that it downclocks to below 1200mhz core and i'm on the LN2 BIOS. i think i saw 900 at a time


----------



## Fooom

Guys, please i need help. Even if i set my fans to manual 100%fans, my gpu temp is still going 70c.. i have gtx 680 ltg in sli LN2 and 3A bios.. core clock only +80 and mem +200...


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Fooom*
> 
> Guys, please i need help. Even if i set my fans to manual 100%fans, my gpu temp is still going 70c.. i have gtx 680 ltg in sli LN2 and 3A bios.. core clock only +80 and mem +200...


I would check the TIM. How is your airflow as well ?


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> I'm having a similar issue with my 2 680 Lightnings. I have no issues with 306.97 but if I run the last couple of beta's as well as the newest official driver, I get random downlocking even with a small OC of 35Mhz. Weird thing is, one of my cards do not down clock at all running the latest beta's and official driver if I have it installed by itself. When I install my other card and run it by itself, I get a little bit of down clocking with the latest beta's and official drivers. Again, no problems when I have 306.97 installed. Last of all, if I have both cards installed along with the 310.70, they both start to down clock like crazy!


I'm glad that I am not the only one experiencing this issue, though at the same time, it sucks its happening to you and others.

Anyone have any idea whats going on here? If this was an issue with all 680's, there would definitely be some sort of outcry toward Nvidia - so it sounds like an isolated issue @ 680 lightning's. Think maybe we should post this on their forums?


----------



## sockpirate

I am not experiencing this, seems SLI users are.


----------



## supermi

I had similar issues with my quad sli 680 classifieds on the last 2 BETA's (though the 310.70) betas seem solid for me... HORRIBLE gpu usage in BF3 and MOH but no more of the low 3d clocks...

I have a buddy with quad sli 670's who had the same issue ...

This all seems to come down to some nasty driver stuff...

Good luck, maybe try a clean install?


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> I had similar issues with my quad sli 680 classifieds on the last 2 BETA's (though the 310.70) betas seem solid for me... HORRIBLE gpu usage in BF3 and MOH but no more of the low 3d clocks...
> I have a buddy with quad sli 670's who had the same issue ...
> This all seems to come down to some nasty driver stuff...
> Good luck, maybe try a clean install?


I've already tried manually uninstalling the drivers according to the guide found here as well as installing windows 7 on a fresh partition. Same issue. Like I explained before, 1 of my cards running alone does not down clock at all with the newest drivers but my other card does down clock at random when running alone. I was thinking that the card that's down clocking with the latest drivers might be defective but then if I install the last official drivers (306.97), I get NO down clocking at all. If the card was defective, wouldn't it ALWAYS down clock no matter the driver?


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> If the card was defective, wouldn't it ALWAYS down clock no matter the driver?


Exactly - I don't think our cards are defective, as much as the newer drivers have done something to them. We will see what happens - I have opened up a topic on the MSI website.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> Exactly - I don't think our cards are defective, as much as the newer drivers have done something to them. We will see what happens - I have opened up a topic on the MSI website.


I'm messing with my 1 680 Lightning that down clocks when running the newest driver. I switched back to stock Lightning BIOS, uninstalled the drivers, rebooted, reinstalled the drivers, rebooted and then ran heaven benchmark. No more down clocking.... I'm going to do the exact process after I switch back to the LN2 BIOS.


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> I'm messing with my 1 680 Lightning that down clocks when running the newest driver. I switched back to stock Lightning BIOS, uninstalled the drivers, rebooted, reinstalled the drivers, rebooted and then ran heaven benchmark. No more down clocking.... I'm going to do the exact process after I switch back to the LN2 BIOS.


Awesome, let me know. Definitely interested to see whats making these downclock so much.


----------



## snitchkilla11

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> I had similar issues with my quad sli 680 classifieds on the last 2 BETA's (though the 310.70) betas seem solid for me... HORRIBLE gpu usage in BF3 and MOH but no more of the low 3d clocks...
> I have a buddy with quad sli 670's who had the same issue ...
> This all seems to come down to some nasty driver stuff...
> Good luck, maybe try a clean install?


upload some pics of them bad boys!!!!

the only problem i am having is with afterburner..when i go into kombuster and i have sli enabled it only shows one gpus useage at 100 and the other one is nothing..but if i use precision x it works fine in sli and both use 98-100% any body else haveing this or can comment on how to fix it?


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> upload some pics of them bad boys!!!!
> the only problem i am having is with afterburner..when i go into kombuster and i have sli enabled it only shows one gpus useage at 100 and the other one is nothing..but if i use precision x it works fine in sli and both use 98-100% any body else haveing this or can comment on how to fix it?


So you don't have ANY down clocking in Heaven with the latest official drivers with your SLI setup?


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> Awesome, let me know. Definitely interested to see whats making these downclock so much.


Card still down clocked. I'm going to sell 1 of my cards on Friday and I plan on returning my newest Lightning after Christmas. These issues along, lack of strong SLI support in a lot of games I play and the BS Nvidia and MSI has put us through in regards to voltage control has turned me off on this card. The GTX 780 is only a few months away...


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> Card still down clocked. I'm going to sell 1 of my cards on Friday and I plan on returning my newest Lightning after Christmas. These issues along, lack of strong SLI support in a lot of games I play and the BS Nvidia and MSI has put us through in regards to voltage control has turned me off on this card. The GTX 780 is only a few months away...


Understood - definitely a pain. While I do feel that what Nvidia and MSI has put us through is bull, I still find that overall, SLI is much more stable than Xfire. Either way, I honestly don't think the voltage restrictions will change on upcoming Nvidia cards AT ALL. I mean, they are still selling a ton of cards, moreso than AMD atm I think - so there is no reason for them to go back on the voltage locks unless the community as a whole speaks up with their wallets and stops buying their products.


----------



## Fooom

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> I would check the TIM. How is your airflow as well ?


thanks for the reply. My airflow is fine, it's not like this before.. and what is TIM? Sorry im a noob.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Fooom*
> 
> thanks for the reply. My airflow is fine, it's not like this before.. and what is TIM? Sorry im a noob.


Thermal Interface Material - the paste or heatpad between processing unit/other heat source and cooler.


----------



## Fooom

Now im getting RED SCREEN.. Please help. Im getting red screen when i enable SLI, Disabled theres no problem..


----------



## snitchkilla11

the gtx 780 will almost likely be voltage locked..and about a 15-20 percent increse in performance..so unless its a massive upgrade i think im sticking with my lightnings for a bit..they will play any game with massive framerates..plus im not selling them for next to nothing when the 7 searies comes out.. i payed alot for my cards and they will hit 1460mhz... so thats about a gtx 780.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> the gtx 780 will almost likely be voltage locked..and about a 15-20 percent increse in performance..so unless its a massive upgrade i think im sticking with my lightnings for a bit..they will play any game with massive framerates..plus im not selling them for next to nothing when the 7 searies comes out.. i payed alot for my cards and they will hit 1460mhz... so thats about a gtx 780.


The 680 Lightning's are great cards but the GTX 780's will be about 15 percent faster before overclocking them and will come with more VRAM. I can get close to $900 for both of my cards now which is great considering I paid $1000 for both.


----------



## snitchkilla11

to who..i will sell mine right now!!!! i only payed 825 off some dude on craigslist who had a box full of new ones..and the galaxy soc white pcb they were 400 each..but he charged me 25 to come to my house so i could test them before i payed.. i would like to get at least 700 for mine when i decide to sell them cause they clock really good.if the 700 searies has 3-4gb or vram and a higher membus of over 300 i think i will pick up a pair and sell mine..but its a kepler refresh so i doubt anything like that will happen


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> to who..i will sell mine right now!!!! i only payed 825 off some dude on craigslist who had a box full of new ones..and the galaxy soc white pcb they were 400 each..but he charged me 25 to come to my house so i could test them before i payed.. i would like to get at least 700 for mine when i decide to sell them cause they clock really good.if the 700 searies has 3-4gb or vram and a higher membus of over 300 i think i will pick up a pair and sell mine..but its a kepler refresh so i doubt anything like that will happen


Craigslist. It's a popular card in my area I guess. I have until January 21st to return my 2nd card to Amazon for a refund so I'll be ready for the 780GTX.


----------



## snitchkilla11

lightning is popular everywherel..its the best 680 you can buy..hands down


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> lightning is popular everywherel..its the best 680 you can buy..hands down


It sure is the best 680 on the market. I'm really going to be sad to see them go but I always succumb to the latest and greatest. I don't have to return my newest Lightning (the one that down clocks) until January 31st so I'll be a part of this exclusive club until then.


----------



## ajresendez

just got mine in today. having some trouble with the oc though. I downloaded the old F8 bios and have afterburner 2.3.0.

This is what im getting, am I missing something?


Temps seem way high and I cant seem to get anywhere near some of the oc's I see on here without getting artifacts about 5 minutes in.


----------



## stansfield

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> The 680 Lightning's are great cards but the GTX 780's will be about 15 percent faster before overclocking them and will come with more VRAM. I can get close to $900 for both of my cards now which is great considering I paid $1000 for both.


Sure if you are selling to the young and dumb. ;-).


----------



## peskolos

Hello guys,
I just try today to overclock my 680 Lightning to +140 gpu core and +250 memory using the AB v2.3.0.
But when i'm running 3DMark11 nvidia driver (310.70) crushes out.... Any suggestions? I think is not very high overclock for this card... or my card does not overclock well?

I'm using .3A LN2 unlocked bios.


----------



## Moozoren

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *peskolos*
> 
> Hello guys,
> I just try today to overclock my 680 Lightning to +140 gpu core and +250 memory using the AB v2.3.0.
> But when i'm running 3DMark11 nvidia driver (310.70) crushes out.... Any suggestions? I think is not very high overclock for this card... or my card does not overclock well?
> I'm using .3A LN2 unlocked bios.


Try to lower your core clock, my rule is that start as high as you think might go, and lower it by 15 or 10 each time it fails.


----------



## Moozoren

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ajresendez*
> 
> just got mine in today. having some trouble with the oc though. I downloaded the old F8 bios and have afterburner 2.3.0.
> This is what im getting, am I missing something?
> 
> Temps seem way high and I cant seem to get anywhere near some of the oc's I see on here without getting artifacts about 5 minutes in.


how close are the card to other components that make heat?

Have the fans some room to blow the hot air out?


----------



## peskolos

Thnx *Moozoren* for your answer. I think i'm stable only @1320 at unigine








Also, i notice that the GPU Voltage does not increase if i set Core Voltage to +100, it stays at 1.2120 all time. Is this wrong?


----------



## gkolarov

Yes, it is not normal, when I set the core voltage to +93 (the maximum value when i hit apply button) and test with Unigine Heaven 3 or 3DMark11 the core voltage goes to 1.365V , measured with Digital multimeter. The values that MSI AB shows are not correct, do not trust them. Use multimeter to measure the voltages directly from the card.


----------



## peskolos

And at GPU-Z core voltage is incorrect?



I'm not happy with my overclocking results....









Is there any way to pass 1320?


----------



## doomsdaybg

Hi i have some problem with voltage, im on LN2 bios (80.04.28.00.3A) but on load and +99 coreV in cpuz show 1.1750 V (max) with AB 2.3, where is problem.


----------



## saint19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *doomsdaybg*
> 
> Hi i have some problem with voltage, im on LN2 bios (80.04.28.00.3A) but on load and +99 coreV in cpuz show 1.1750 V (max) with AB 2.3, where is problem.


Don't trust in the AB read, that read isn't good. Use a multimeter and the voltage read points.


----------



## Fooom

Hey guys, im having some temperature problems with my first card, before with default settings i get below 60c at full load. Then i was using my card with OC settings. +100clock and +300 mem. Full load was below 70c. Just now i decided to use the default clock settings again and same fan settings. But my temperature is going up to 70c+ now.. What seems to be the problem? I already did a fresh install of the drivers and still the same.. Both cards are on LN2 3a Bios, driver version 310.70. Using evga precision.


----------



## Arnoud87

70+ is certainly a bad thing


----------



## Arnoud87

Im glad when GK110 comes, i get sick and tired of manually changing volts in AB it keeps dropping down.

I dont even use the overclock function anymore


----------



## snitchkilla11

same here .i just run stock and im not worried about what my card can do anymore...it runs games and keeps cool..and looks sexy as all hell..be happy...if you payed 600 for your card reciently..im sorry ...cause the newer cards dont clock nearly as high as the older ones..but if you payed 500..it still clocks higher then any 500 dollar card..so be happy with what you got...and the voltage situation..go to lowes or home depot and buy a 20 dollar multimeter.


----------



## DADDYDC650

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Im glad when GK110 comes, i get sick and tired of manually changing volts in AB it keeps dropping down.
> I dont even use the overclock function anymore


I feel the same way in regards to voltage control. I'm tired of doing everything manually. MSI AB guru Unwinder doesn't even own a 680 Lightning anymore.


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> I feel the same way in regards to voltage control. I'm tired of doing everything manually. MSI AB guru Unwinder doesn't even own a 680 Lightning anymore.


omg what keeps causing this anyways!?

I noticed it after I moved my setup over to a new case - the settings are not saved, and every time I look, the +voltage I have added on afterburner is lower and lower. I have to manually keep resetting it to what I put originally. VERY annoying and honestly, this change is probably what is causing all the fluctuations in mhz..


----------



## saint19

So.

With all those "problems" I feel like is better the 7970 Lightning...is that?


----------



## GenoOCAU

I still love my 680L's as they will possibly be the last with software voltage the way things are going.

I honestly dont need to o/c them for any games that are currently out meaning I have +200 mhz headroom on both cores and +500 mhz on memory if and when I need it - this really isnt a bad thing at all.

Let me know when Crysis 3 comes out if you guys are all indifferent about double clicking on ab.exe and moving a couple sliders.


----------



## bluntman420

Unwinder was suppose to fix the voltage problem dropping after every reboot on AB 2.3.0.

Clearly he did not. I would like to know who is testing this software before release because obviously they don't know jack.


----------



## Menthol

Unwinder has done an awesome job, MSI has the only unlocked card without some kind of mod, cables attached. There is no need to overclock these cards except for benchmarking. 310 drivers don't play nice with my cards during overclocking. Neither of my cards are spectacular cards but with water blocks and a rad in a bucket of ice I can get 1500+ 0n core and 1842 on mem in sli. I see nothing to complain about. I'm not done with these cards yet, I think they have more left in them


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> I still love my 680L's as they will possibly be the last with software voltage the way things are going.
> I honestly dont need to o/c them for any games that are currently out meaning I have +200 mhz headroom on both cores and +500 mhz on memory if and when I need it - this really isnt a bad thing at all.
> Let me know when Crysis 3 comes out if you guys are all indifferent about double clicking on ab.exe and moving a couple sliders.


Exactly Geno, nice build you have, just checked your thread, very nice


----------



## ACEDDAUQS

Anyone with a 2560x1440 monitor.

How well does this card run on one? As a single card set up.

Thanks.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ACEDDAUQS*
> 
> Anyone with a 2560x1440 monitor.
> How well does this card run on one? As a single card set up.
> Thanks.


Any game in particular you are interested in knowing about? I've been playing a lot of Battlefield 3, Crysis 2, and Metro 2033 lately. All run great at 1440p even with the settings cranked to the max.

Also if anyone has been thinking about buying a water cooling block for their Lightning....I'm selling my EK block soon and will post the for sale thread later.


----------



## Perpetual Death

Hey all, i just got my lightning last week and loving it so far, but i can't help but feel disappointed by the overclocking. I've been lurking around this thread, and downloaded the proper BIOS but every time i go past 90 on the core, i crash. On heaven it'll do it almost instantly, but in game it takes a little longer.

I also noticed that even with +100mv and 300% power limit, the power % doesn't even hit 80.

Overclocking aside, the card performs great in games.


----------



## ACEDDAUQS

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Any game in particular you are interested in knowing about? I've been playing a lot of Battlefield 3, Crysis 2, and Metro 2033 lately. All run great at 1440p even with the settings cranked to the max.
> Also if anyone has been thinking about buying a water cooling block for their Lightning....I'm selling my EK block soon and will post the for sale thread later.


All of the above, plus Far Cry, Skyrim, Max Payne etc.


----------



## p3gaz_001

edit


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *ACEDDAUQS*
> 
> Anyone with a 2560x1440 monitor.
> How well does this card run on one? As a single card set up.
> Thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> Also if anyone has been thinking about buying a water cooling block for their Lightning....I'm selling my EK block soon and will post the for sale thread later.
Click to expand...

Interested on the ek block if it's the full cover...


----------



## ajresendez

Well I got mine to +90 on the core and only went up to +300 on the memory. It's doing a lot better than the asus and evga cards I had previously. I guess I'm happy with that though I still wish I could have hit some of the clocks you guys with the early revisions got.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> I'm interested in the ek block, is that the fc?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Interested on the ek block if it's the full cover...


It is the full cover block. This one right here - click me. But I'm only selling to those in the US48, sorry.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Fooom*
> 
> Hey guys, im having some temperature problems with my first card, before with default settings i get below 60c at full load. Then i was using my card with OC settings. +100clock and +300 mem. Full load was below 70c. Just now i decided to use the default clock settings again and same fan settings. But my temperature is going up to 70c+ now.. What seems to be the problem? I already did a fresh install of the drivers and still the same.. Both cards are on LN2 3a Bios, driver version 310.70. Using evga precision.


Hmm, I can't tell if you're using auto fan or not but if you are (while overclocking) -- in my opinion you shouldn't be using auto. Overclocking a GPU is not different than overclocking a CPU, higher voltage means more aggressive cooling; in my case I can overclock my cards to 1402MHz but can only do so at high manual fan speeds, otherwise I crash during benchmarks.. I can't understand whether you're using SLI or not, but having one card get hotter (generally the top card) is normal. Further, different chips can vary in temps as well depending on the grade of silicon even if not using SLI. Two different cards can have different temps depending on chip leakage (higher leakage is better for overclocking, but it may get 3-4c warmer)

Long story short, with overclocking on a GPU you must use manual fan, or the temps will get high from the over voltage. You don't treat a GPU differently than a CPU when overclocking -- Higher volts means better cooling, or in this case, faster manual fan settings may be necessary.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Fooom*
> 
> Hey guys, im having some temperature problems with my first card, before with default settings i get below 60c at full load. Then i was using my card with OC settings. +100clock and +300 mem. Full load was below 70c. Just now i decided to use the default clock settings again and same fan settings. But my temperature is going up to 70c+ now.. What seems to be the problem? I already did a fresh install of the drivers and still the same.. Both cards are on LN2 3a Bios, driver version 310.70. Using evga precision.
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> First, I can't tell if you're using auto fan or not but if you are (while overclocking) that is madness. Overclocking a GPU is not different than overclocking a CPU, higher clockspeed means more aggressive cooling. I can't understand whether you're using SLI or not, but having one card get hotter (generally the top card) is normal. Further, different chips can vary in temps as well depending on the grade of silicon even if not using SLI. Two different cards can have different temps depending on chip leakage (higher leakage is better for overclocking, but it may get 3-4c warmer)
> Long story short, with overclocking on a GPU you must use manual fan, or the temps will get high from the over voltage. You don't treat a GPU differently than a CPU when overclocking -- Higher volts means better cooling, or in this case, faster manual fan settings may be necessary.
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...

That's a good valid point xoleras. But I think Fooom was more interested in figuring out why when he was done with his overclocking and returned his clock speeds to default settings, why were his temps still reaching the same temperature as the overclock settings. But I think you and me both wouldlike some clarification from his post eh? But I do think he is aware that there is a temperature increase when overclocking.

EDIT: reading over it again, he said he went back to default clocks, and his temps were actually higher than when testing with an overclock. So to you Fooom, maybe you accidentally have your fans not set to auto, and they are at a real low manual speed?


----------



## bluntman420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Unwinder has done an awesome job, MSI has the only unlocked card without some kind of mod, cables attached. There is no need to overclock these cards except for benchmarking. 310 drivers don't play nice with my cards during overclocking. Neither of my cards are spectacular cards but with water blocks and a rad in a bucket of ice I can get 1500+ 0n core and 1842 on mem in sli. I see nothing to complain about. I'm not done with these cards yet, I think they have more left in them


Nothing against Unwinder, the folks at MSI should have tested this software and noticed the issue still exists, thats all.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Exactly Geno, nice build you have, just checked your thread, very nice


Cheers menthol, the build has been a long time coming. Knew what I wanted ever since I first laid eyes on the first vapochill!


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Wating:thumb:


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Wating:thumb:


Congrats, how long are you going to me "wating" ?


----------



## famich

On a side note : I have been away again from here for some time and I can t believe what I am reading ..
there s constant whining on and off about Unwinder, GTX 680, GTX 680Lightnings etc etc.

Wake up and see - Lightning , as mentioned before, is the only unlocked GTX 680 without the EV Bots, wiremods etc.
Unwinder did a great job and got p...d off by some whiners here as I recall.

I got just one Lightning, it runs OK. I can understand that some people hoped for more, happened to most of us IMHO. But thats the "silicon lottery ", there is NO guarantee for obtaining a good chip in your card.


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> It is the full cover block. This one right here - click me. But I'm only selling to those in the US48, sorry.


ou... so sorry


----------



## saint19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> On a side note : I have been away again from here for some time and I can t believe what I am reading ..
> there s constant whining on and off about Unwinder, GTX 680, GTX 680Lightnings etc etc.
> Wake up and see - Lightning , as mentioned before, is the only unlocked GTX 680 without the EV Bots, wiremods etc.
> Unwinder did a great job and got p...d off by some whiners here as I recall.
> I got just one Lightning, it runs OK. I can understand that some people hoped for more, happened to most of us IMHO. But thats the "silicon lottery ", there is NO guarantee for obtaining a good chip in your card.


That's totally true, in fact I bought the Lightning just for Overclocking...run test and rise up some places in hwbot, but wasn't luck. I tested the GPU in air and only can do 1300 core clock in air.

I'm happy with the GPU, but if you don't want be disappointing, just go and look for the pro overclockers guy that sell the golden GPUs for twice the price.


----------



## ajresendez

okay so success! i downloaded the 2.2.3 afterburner and was able to get my OC to 1300mhz+







on the core, which was my target none of my previous cards could do this. It seems that the 2.2.3 has the ability to let the card run at higher volts than the new one so thats probably what did it. Can anyone recommend a good fan profile? I don't have one yet.


----------



## Zero4549

So.... randomly a bunch of random unrelated BSODs. Now every time my computer boots, the blue LEDs on the lightning flash a couple times and then a random number of them turn off completely after a random number of seconds - monitor displays "no signal".

It's trending towards less and less time before the screen goes black, sometimes before even reaching BIOS.

This a known issue of some sort or am I just boned?


----------



## Wohlrajh

Hi guys !

I have a problem with my GTX680 Lightning, I started a thread there : http://www.overclock.net/t/1340139/overclocking-problem-with-my-gtx680-lightning

Can somebody help me about this ?

I'm really lost, I tried everything but I think there is something strange as I also couldn't OC my GTX580.. So I'm not sure it's my 680 which is faulty..

Thanks in advance


----------



## magiwizard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> It is the full cover block. This one right here - click me. But I'm only selling to those in the US48, sorry.


If you're willing to sell to canada (like litterally 5 hr away from the border) let me know

I really want to test the difference between full cover vs my current setup


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> I'm glad that I am not the only one experiencing this issue, though at the same time, it sucks its happening to you and others.
> Anyone have any idea whats going on here? If this was an issue with all 680's, there would definitely be some sort of outcry toward Nvidia - so it sounds like an isolated issue @ 680 lightning's. Think maybe we should post this on their forums?


I have a same issue like you. In AC my cards work around 60% and fps is bad.
Core frequency jump up and down too. That sux. I not pay for two lightnings for poor gaming experience. Only few new games run great on max settings. Bf3. Alan wake. Hitman absolution. Black ops 2. Nvidia have a bad times right now. *** ??!!


----------



## bytefrward

Hi
I'm new here on the forum and I'm here to ask for your help.

Then what happens is the following.
I have two gtx 680 in sli lightning, only yesterday I tried to flash the bios to put the plate corresponding to the first 5000 lightnings. what happened was that the computer now detects no plates. the only way to boot is with onboard graphical or else with an old graphics card.

Already tried with nvflash on windows and does not give.
already tried with a bootable pen, and also does not give too-

honestly I think the graphics card died.

Any suggestions? I need your help.

The system is this:

asus maximus formula v wc
i5 3570K wc
2X gtx 680 lightning wc
windows 8

sorry for bad english. im portuguese


----------



## snitchkilla11

Reinstall drivers. That should fix it


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> If you're willing to sell to canada (like litterally 5 hr away from the border) let me know
> I really want to test the difference between full cover vs my current setup


I'll keep that in mind


----------



## bytefrward

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> Reinstall drivers. That should fix it


i can't, because the graphics card are undetected.
any some help pls?


----------



## saint19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bytefrward*
> 
> i can't, because the graphics card are undetected.
> any some help pls?


Both of them? Try with one and after install the other...


----------



## peskolos

ok, guys i solved my problems using AB v2.2.3. Here are my results:

Heaven

3960Χ @ stock
GTX 680 Core Speed @*1372MHz* Mem Speed @ *1952MHz* ( Mem Voltage +10 & AUX +10)
Extreme Presets



3DMark11
*P12264*
3960X @4800MHz
Lightning Core Speed @ *1372MHz* Mem speed @ *1928MHz*



_But i have an issue with my physics score...._


----------



## Creator

Does anyone have a LN2 bios that defaults to 1300-1350 core?

Also, to the above, that's a ridiculous memory speed. Mine craps out at ~6800 or so. My core is good up to ~1410, but Kepler needs the memory bandwidth more than core clock.


----------



## Menthol

Ya what voltage settings are you using to get your memory so high. That's crazy


----------



## shilka

I know this is not a MSI GTX 680 lightning card so its a little off topic sory about that

But you might find it a good read

http://www.overclock.net/t/1339638/what-a-gtx-680-can-do


----------



## snitchkilla11

yall downloaded catzilla 3dguru new benchmark utility..its good!


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> yall downloaded catzilla 3dguru new benchmark utility..its good!


Wouldnt start on my system for whatever reason. just shows the diagnostic info with a black screen and the timer doesnt count down.

Works on my GF's rig, but its not even worth using on it. Old hardware.


----------



## snitchkilla11

yes if you download the link streight from 3dguru it works..if u go to the 1.4 version it dont start up


----------



## MightyUnit

Hi guys, I am new to this thread and have NOT read it in its entirety, sorry.

I just received my 680 Lightning in the mail and I have a few questions. *I understand my LN2 bios is locked bc it is 80.04.28.00.3A. After flashing the 80.04.09.00.F8 bios I will now have a vcore limit of 1.212v, is that correct?* If that is correct it is of course no where near the >1.3v that the first 5000 cards were allowed... is there no softmod to get me up to there?

As is my card only wants to boost up to 1250mhz with 1.212v.









Thank you all


----------



## snitchkilla11

if you open afterburner on the right side there will be an upside down triangle...if you click it it will give you more voltage to aux and memory


----------



## MightyUnit

Oh I know about that... I had been using AB 2.3 but just barely now tried AB 2.2.3 and voila, I now see the vcore hit >1.3v! woot


----------



## MightyUnit

May I also ask when I go to raise the vcore with +100mv is it common that after hitting "apply" it drops to +93mv?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MightyUnit*
> 
> May I also ask when I go to raise the vcore with +100mv is it common that after hitting "apply" it drops to +93mv?


Yes, that what it does


----------



## ManOfC

Hmm, I was interested in Nvidia for the first time in several upon several of years. I was wanting the gtx 680 series, even though the AMD HD Radeon 7xxxx series seems better at computing, and eye infinity (multiple monitors?) but now I am backing off. I like the lightning, due to several circumstances and more important stuff this year I could not purchase a new card to get me upgraded from my AMD HD 6770, not worried though. I did a lot of digging and saw went back to researching amd and Nividia to find out the asus 680 I was interested in while more powerful than the Msi's lightning or so, does not have a better heatsink/fan set up?

The thermal DirectCuII is is a second generation cooling system correct? I like cooling of a pc build and it extended to graphic cards. I am more interested in the lightning because of it's fourth generation cooling system, and therefore I want one, and will continue saving for one next month and onward. But wait... wait.. wait... Why should I do this now!?!??! it makes no sense when the Nividea GTX 7xx series releases next year in march, and with my continued saving, wait until, non references releases and see how they fare against the previous generation, including the next generation lightning series -.-. I think I am skipping kelper all together.


----------



## snitchkilla11

if your waiting for the next best thing..you will never buy one..just get one you like and enjoy the heck out of it..the 680 will last quite a few years and is a very powerful card...the 780 is going to be a kepler refresh. so nothing major and minimal gains most likely


----------



## bytefrward

yes, i already try, and nothnig.
more ideas?


----------



## bytefrward

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *saint19*
> 
> Both of them? Try with one and after install the other...


yes, i already try, but nothing working
more ideas?


----------



## ManOfC

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> if your waiting for the next best thing..you will never buy one..just get one you like and enjoy the heck out of it..the 680 will last quite a few years and is a very powerful card...the 780 is going to be a kepler refresh. so nothing major and minimal gains most likely


so how 6770 is actually a 5770 just a little updated? this is what the 780 will be? See I look online and hear about GK110, or GK114 and depnding on how amd uses they may have to release the GK114 instead? I read a lot but it was mainly speculation and rumors. I mean 15-30% improvement, is that not a reason to wait? I mean I can buy kelper when I can, but after seeing the new series come out i rather wait. I understand though, but if I am waiting on the next best thing... I will definitely spend it on a nividia GTX 6xx or 7xx series card, but never know if I change my mind about it and go with amd, (not likely). If I say i'll get a GTX card I will get it there is nothing more to say, but I will keep any eye out on kelper and maxwell as it is called i think.


----------



## snitchkilla11

the gk 110 will not be a geforce card...i dunno why everyone thinks nvidia is keeping this monster of a secret from the public...there marketing is very smart and each gen will just be barely an upgrade..just like intel..15-20%...there not going to give us a gk110 thats twice the performance of there best card....if they did...best believe it would be twice the price..at least...but you are kinda late to the party for the 680...if you have a card that can hold you out for about 4 months..wait..if not..just get a 680.


----------



## MightyUnit

anyone else having issues with 310.70 drivers?


----------



## Creator

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MightyUnit*
> 
> May I also ask when I go to raise the vcore with +100mv is it common that after hitting "apply" it drops to +93mv?


I've had it glitch and go to +1600 which almost made me have a heart attack. I don't know why it happens rarely for me, but it did cause me to black screen hard lock (maybe over voltage protection kicked in?). That's why I want a bios that just defaults to 1300-1350 core so I don't have to touch MSI AB again.


----------



## MightyUnit

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Creator*
> 
> I've had it glitch and go to +1600 which almost made me have a heart attack. I don't know why it happens rarely for me, but it did cause me to black screen hard lock (maybe over voltage protection kicked in?). That's why I want a bios that just defaults to 1300-1350 core so I don't have to touch MSI AB again.


Whoa... that is really weird! I would like a bios that gave me 1.35v or so. Nvidia Green Light is really for shame IMHO.









Anyway 310.70 drivers give me odd issues with boost clocks and vcore. Are others experiencing this as well? **I do apologize if these issues have already been covered**


----------



## magiwizard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> the gk 110 will not be a geforce card...i dunno why everyone thinks nvidia is keeping this monster of a secret from the public...there marketing is very smart and each gen will just be barely an upgrade..just like intel..15-20%...there not going to give us a gk110 thats twice the performance of there best card....if they did...best believe it would be twice the price..at least...but you are kinda late to the party for the 680...if you have a card that can hold you out for about 4 months..wait..if not..just get a 680.


i would say a lot more than 4 months that would be for the 8970 if you want to go team red.

The 680 lightning is the only 680 that allows overvolting thus more overclocking headroom, if you overclock 1350 mhz+ that gets you near 780 performance presumably (15%~ give or take or even more depending on your card). Thus being the reason that Nvidia does not allow you to overvolt 680s.

All in all I would take up the 680 now if you want to enjoy it for the next few years, the kepler refresh isnt going to be of much interest (i.e. gtx 4xx -> gtx 5xx fermi refresh) didnt do much but if you REALLY want to hold out then wait for the 8xx cards they will actually be a LARGE improvement over the kepler cards assuming AMD doesn't fall flat on their ass and drop out of the competition.


----------



## bluntman420

Anyone with issues on 310.70, have you tried changing the profile settings in nvidia control panel? I have changed the setting "Power Management Mode" to prefer maximum performance for each game and it has helped a lot to keep the clocks and voltages stable.(They still fluctuate slightly, but not nearly as much as without this change). I left the global profile the same so the cards still downclock on desktop.


----------



## ajresendez

My card clocks up to 1.28 volts during full load at times is that ok? My fan profile keeps the temps right below 70. Alos is there a guide on how to take the cooler of the card so I can re apply tim myself since the manufacturers tend to put way too much tim?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bluntman420*
> 
> Anyone with issues on 310.70, have you tried changing the profile settings in nvidia control panel? I have changed the setting "Power Management Mode" to prefer maximum performance for each game and it has helped a lot to keep the clocks and voltages stable.(They still fluctuate slightly, but not nearly as much as without this change). I left the global profile the same so the cards still downclock on desktop.


Yes also Vertical synk to off and single display performance mode if you use only one monitor


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ajresendez*
> 
> My card clocks up to 1.28 volts during full load at times is that ok? My fan profile keeps the temps right below 70. Alos is there a guide on how to take the cooler of the card so I can re apply tim myself since the manufacturers tend to put way too much tim?


Voltage is fine if temps are OK.
It is very easy to remove heat sink. The 4 screws around the GPU, the ones with the springs. No need to remove back plate to re-apply TIM.
Best thing you can do for your cards temps is use a good TIM. I recommend cleaning the GPU and Heatsink with alcohol or Arctic cleaner, I prefer Prolimatech PK-1 or PK-3, PK-1 is by far the easiest to use, and as good or better than any other TIM available. But any good TIM applied correctly will be better than factory applied.


----------



## Arnoud87

After enough Far cry 3 and BF3.. i gonna sell my 680 Lightning for 400 euros







....
I m also pissed off about afterburner with that voltage bug and the 780 is arround the corner also...

Think its a good time to sell this card now.....


----------



## snitchkilla11

yes i was reading somewhere that after the next few gen cards come out..the dedicated gpu can boot up a computer and there will be no need for the cpu...but its the same on the cpu side...the integrated gpu will be alot more powerful and most people wouldnt need a dedicated for gaming..i guess only time will tell...i wish nvidia and intel teamed up and made some bad azz shizit and quit playing around and show us what they can really do.!!!! il pay the premium.


----------



## Arnoud87

whehe, I would pay for that 1000 euro CPU.GPU combo







.
Would be nice. But thats not hwo this world works yet, unfortunately.

But I got the money for the 680 Lightning now, im SO glad I sold it and MSI afterburner, screw you with your annoying voltage bugs !!

Also, i think the 680 is kinda slow for what you pay for it!

I go wait for GK110, new rumors say its 50% faster than the 680, till than... ill stick to the 8800GTX and UT2004 lolz. Maybe in the meanwhile i buy 7950Crossfire and sell it 2 months later







, also curious about AMD crossfire


----------



## snitchkilla11

ya you will be back...trust me amd isnt better then nvidia..and i will bet anything gk110 will not be released as a geforce product


----------



## Menthol

Been benching some recently.
Can't get my memory clocked high enough or could improve my score's


----------



## MightyUnit

Concerning issues with 310.70 I have personally made some headway. Last night I realized that while I was having issues with 310.70 I was using the LN2 bios. This led to me to switch back the the stock bios and then re install 310.70 drivers (I had reverted back to 306.97 previously to alleviate the issues I was having with 310.70). After doing this I found the issues I had been experiencing previously with 310.70 were no longer an issue (sporadic gpu clock and vcore levels as well screen flickering on my non gaming displays). **Keep in mind I have had a limited amount of time to confirm my success.**

The last thing I did was to use kgb to set the stock bios vcore to a max of 1.21250v. This nets me the same vcore as the unlocked LN2. For now I will be testing my 680 Lightning like this and see what happens.

FWIW my 680 is not a special clocker. It requires 1.36v to hit 1350mhz. The memory though does clock to 7GHz.


----------



## PCModderMike

I'm noticing the odd GPU clock issues on 310.70 as well, running the LN2 BIOS, I'll be in game and all of the sudden the clock will drop for a brief second. It's really annoying. It didn't do that on 306.97 though....so I was going to role back. But are you saying you think it's not a driver issue? But a BIOS issue? @MightUnit?


----------



## MightyUnit

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> I'm noticing the odd GPU clock issues on 310.70 as well, running the LN2 BIOS, I'll be in game and all of the sudden the clock will drop for a brief second. It's really annoying. It didn't do that on 306.97 though....so I was going to role back. But are you saying you think it's not a driver issue? But a BIOS issue? @MightUnit?


Yes Indeed. IMHO it would be worth giving a shot if I was you.


----------



## PCModderMike

OK I'll play around with it some more.


----------



## bahadirkazan

I can't get higher clocks and values on LN2 bios. Max. voltage is 1.310 I guess.. How I can remove this voltage limit guys ?


----------



## MightyUnit

is that 1.310v read from a DMM or AB? With my 680L AB shows 1.304v and my Digital Multi-meter show ~1.36v or so.


----------



## driftingforlife

Shall I make a voltage table that can be added to the OP as I have a MM?

etc.

AB setting 1= 1.24v
AB setting 2= 1.26v


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Shall I make a voltage table that can be added to the OP as I have a MM?
> etc.
> AB setting 1= 1.24v
> AB setting 2= 1.26v


Would be nice


----------



## driftingforlife

I shall get on it.


----------



## Arnoud87

Back again...680 Lightning sold. Why? >

- 256 bit bottlenecking was pretty enormous
- 2gb = cheap
- low ROPS
- basically it was a 660 series card
- extreme bad performance for the price. (similar cards here are much lower in price)
- Afterburner bugs with voltage dropdowns every restart (Damn went me crazy when I forget to back it up when the game crashed because I forgot to change)
- The MSI coolers are terrible and XXXXL size for NO reason, + get loud at 55 percent!! had gigabyte as well but thats like 5 times more quiet with much smaller coolers thanks to vapor chamber
- was not even cherry picked. (what the hell MSI????)

BTW this was my 2nd Lightning and also my last one, after a while I think the cards are pretty bad for what you pay for or you need to go LN2.
Also was my 2nd card from MSI that overclocked like crap.

Basically I wait for GK110 or something like that...


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Back again...680 Lightning sold. Why? >
> - 256 bit bottlenecking was pretty enormous
> - 2gb = cheap
> - low ROPS
> - basically it was a 660 series card
> - extreme bad performance for the price. (similar cards here are much lower in price)
> - Afterburner bugs with voltage dropdowns every restart (Damn went me crazy when I forget to back it up when the game crashed because I forgot to change)
> - The MSI coolers are terrible and XXXXL size for NO reason, + get loud at 55 percent!! had gigabyte as well but thats like 5 times more quiet with much smaller coolers thanks to vapor chamber
> - was not even cherry picked. (what the hell MSI????)
> BTW this was my 2nd Lightning and also my last one, after a while I think the cards are pretty bad for what you pay for or you need to go LN2.
> Also was my 2nd card from MSI that overclocked like crap.
> Basically I wait for GK110 or something like that...


No need to take a poop in this thread though.


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Back again...680 Lightning sold. Why? >
> - 256 bit bottlenecking was pretty enormous
> - 2gb = cheap
> - low ROPS
> - basically it was a 660 series card
> - extreme bad performance for the price. (similar cards here are much lower in price)
> - Afterburner bugs with voltage dropdowns every restart (Damn went me crazy when I forget to back it up when the game crashed because I forgot to change)
> - The MSI coolers are terrible and XXXXL size for NO reason, + get loud at 55 percent!! had gigabyte as well but thats like 5 times more quiet with much smaller coolers thanks to vapor chamber
> - was not even cherry picked. (what the hell MSI????)
> BTW this was my 2nd Lightning and also my last one, after a while I think the cards are pretty bad for what you pay for or you need to go LN2.
> Also was my 2nd card from MSI that overclocked like crap.
> Basically I wait for GK110 or something like that...


Funny. the MSI cooler is the best I have used. I have benched 2 GigaByte cards and they were crap.

Also Voltage table:

AB 2.2.3, 3A LN2 BIOS.

Stock - 1.250
+6 - 1.258
+12 - 1.263
+18 - 1.273
+25 - 1.280
+31 - 1.285
+37 - 1.295
+43 - 1.300
+50 - 1.308
+56 - 1.313
+62 - 1.319
+68 - 1.325
+75 - 1.332
+81 - 1.338
+87 - 1.345
+93 - 1.356


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Funny. the MSI cooler is the best I have used. I have benched 2 GigaByte cards and they were crap.
> Also Voltage table:
> AB 2.2.3, 3A LN2 BIOS.
> Stock - 1.250
> +6 - 1.258
> +12 - 1.263
> +18 - 1.273
> +25 - 1.280
> +31 - 1.285
> +37 - 1.295
> +43 - 1.300
> +50 - 1.308
> +56 - 1.313
> +62 - 1.319
> +68 - 1.325
> +75 - 1.332
> +81 - 1.338
> +87 - 1.345
> +93 - 1.356


I've owned 4 Gigabyte cards in the past as well...they were 500 series....but still I've found the MSI cooler to be superior as well.
Also thanks for the table. +rep


----------



## doomsdaybg

The cooling of MSI GTX 680 Lightning is amazing!
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> AB 2.2.3, 3A LN2 BIOS.
> Stock - 1.250
> +6 - 1.258
> +12 - 1.263
> +18 - 1.273
> +25 - 1.280
> +31 - 1.285
> +37 - 1.295
> +43 - 1.300
> +50 - 1.308
> +56 - 1.313
> +62 - 1.319
> +68 - 1.325
> +75 - 1.332
> +81 - 1.338
> +87 - 1.345
> +93 - 1.356


Thanks for V table, its very helpful


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arnoud87*
> 
> Back again...680 Lightning sold. Why? >
> - 256 bit bottlenecking was pretty enormous
> - 2gb = cheap
> - low ROPS
> - basically it was a 660 series card
> - extreme bad performance for the price. (similar cards here are much lower in price)
> - Afterburner bugs with voltage dropdowns every restart (Damn went me crazy when I forget to back it up when the game crashed because I forgot to change)
> - The MSI coolers are terrible and XXXXL size for NO reason, + get loud at 55 percent!! had gigabyte as well but thats like 5 times more quiet with much smaller coolers thanks to vapor chamber
> - was not even cherry picked. (what the hell MSI????)
> BTW this was my 2nd Lightning and also my last one, after a while I think the cards are pretty bad for what you pay for or you need to go LN2.
> Also was my 2nd card from MSI that overclocked like crap.
> Basically I wait for GK110 or something like that...


No need for trolling here , my boy ! The problem is you , not MSI, 2Gb etc etc...
The OC is the thing of luck as well , the famed "silicon lottery ".

Go have a nice time somewhere, give it a break !


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Hey, how to enable ultra fast boot W8 with this card?

UEFI GOP

My bios:



update? wich one?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Hey, how to enable ultra fast boot W8 with this card?
> 
> UEFI GOP
> 
> My bios:
> 
> update? wich one?


What motherboard do you have? Motherboard needs to support it as well.

Also, as far as I know, the 3A BIOS does not support Ultra Fast Boot. Unless MSI released an updated BIOS recently.
You'd have to email MSI and get a modded BIOS.

Here's a thread http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1725316 with some info in it, but as of the end of that thread, still not much to do except get a BIOS from someone, as far as I read of it. If someone feels like emailing MSI to mod the 3A BIOS then we could all share it


----------



## CalinTM

In idle, how many VRM LED's you have active ?

4 LED's ? 3 on the start, and one a little further on the PCB ?


----------



## Menthol

MSI has new bios for compatibility, I have no idea if that is what it is for


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> MSI has new bios for compatibility, I have no idea if that is what it is for


You mean they released a new BIOS, but you don't know what it's for? Well, either way, if they do release a new one that supports Ultra Fast Boot, it won't be the unlocked 3A BIOS that we all use. Someone would have to email it to MSI and see if they'll mod it, or wait for someone that knows how to do it.


----------



## Menthol

I would not change from the 3A bios either, that would change what these cards are all about. Something about motherboard compatibility. Why would anyone care about a couple seconds in boot up anyway

SI N680GTX Lightning Legacy Bios For LN2
Description N/A Version 1.40
Type BIOS Release Date 2012-10-17
Download n680gtx_lightning_ln2_bios.zip File Size 0.46 MB

Note This bios is used to solve motherboard compatible issue. If your card is Hybrid bios and face this issue, please update your BIOS.
If you want to flash your graphic card to this bios, please shift your bios switch to right, and change this bios file name to xxx.rom.

MSI N680GTX Lightning Legacy Bios
Description N/A Version 1.30
Type BIOS Release Date 2012-10-17
Download n680gtx_lightning_bios.zip File Size 0.46 MB

Note This bios is used to solve motherboard compatible issue. If your card is Hybrid bios and face this issue, please update your BIOS.
If you want to flash your graphic card to this bios, please shift your bios switch to right, and change this bios file name to xxx.rom.


----------



## ajresendez

How do I go from the F8 bios to 3A kind of gettin tired of the voltage getting knocked down everytime I restart.


----------



## CalinTM

Cmon tell me how many VRM led's are light up in idle ?


----------



## General123

I hopefully will be joining this as soon as I can sale my 670


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Cmon tell me how many VRM led's are light up in idle ?


Hmm like 11 LED on LN2 bios at idle:


----------



## CalinTM

Without LN2, please in idle.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Without LN2, please in idle.


Non-LN2 BIOS (F7), both of my cards are sitting with 5 LEDs lit.


----------



## snitchkilla11

i got 4 lit on idle


----------



## gotendbz1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i got 4 lit on idle


same here 4 lit at idle with non-ln2


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ajresendez*
> 
> How do I go from the F8 bios to 3A kind of gettin tired of the voltage getting knocked down everytime I restart.


You have to flash the new BIOS /3A/


----------



## driftingforlife

Got a 2nd lighting to play with today


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Got a 2nd lighting to play with today


Hope it's a good one. Flash and go to town on it


----------



## Jamesc

Hello,

I am trying to overclock my card but after a while im getting these opengl errors. This happens also when I play borderlands.
i thought this was only a small overclock? Power Management mode is set to performance mode.



Im am using the 3A bios switched to non ln2. AB 2.3.0 and driver 310.70.

Here is a screen with my AB settings:



Running Core clock set to +40 works fine.


----------



## MightyUnit

You need AB 2.2.3


----------



## General123

Okay guys I am ordering one in a few days, so all I need to do is flash the F8 bios over the bios #2 On the card and ab 2.2.3 and I will have voltage control?


----------



## doomsdaybg

Yes, but i think 80.04.28.00.3A bios is better choice.


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *doomsdaybg*
> 
> Yes, but i think 80.04.28.00.3A bios is better choice.


Okay easy enough thank you


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *General123*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *doomsdaybg*
> 
> Yes, but i think 80.04.28.00.3A bios is better choice.
> 
> 
> 
> Okay easy enough thank you
Click to expand...

Definitely 3A. I don't know of anyone that has had more luck using the F8 BIOS over the 3A. So, definitely go with the 3A because it doesn't force a hard reset every time you crash from OC instability









And yes, 2.2.3 will give you +93mv on either unlocked BIOS. I've been using the non-LN2 BIOS as of late because I don't really need the 1.36v of the LN2 BIOS too often. Get the F7 unlocked non-LN2 BIOS as well, and you can game with that when you don't need all the extra voltage. You can add the +93mv if needed, and you'll be up to 1.31v on the non-LN2, as opposed to 1.36v on the LN2. I can hit ~1380mhz with 1.31v, so I game with that and leave the 3A BIOS for benching.

Hope you get a great card. Good luck


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Definitely 3A. I don't know of anyone that has had more luck using the F8 BIOS over the 3A. So, definitely go with the 3A because it doesn't force a hard reset every time you crash from OC instability
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And yes, 2.2.3 will give you +93mv on either unlocked BIOS. I've been using the non-LN2 BIOS as of late because I don't really need the 1.36v of the LN2 BIOS too often. Get the F7 unlocked non-LN2 BIOS as well, and you can game with that when you don't need all the extra voltage. You can add the +93mv if needed, and you'll be up to 1.31v on the non-LN2, as opposed to 1.36v on the LN2. I can hit ~1380mhz with 1.31v, so I game with that and leave the 3A BIOS for benching.
> Hope you get a great card. Good luck


Great info much appreciated


----------



## MightyUnit

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> ...Get the F7 unlocked non-LN2 BIOS as well...


May I ask if F7 is in anyway better than 80.04.28.00.39 that my card came with? Thank you


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MightyUnit*
> 
> May I ask if F7 is in anyway better than 80.04.28.00.39 that my card came with? Thank you


If I read the front page right, that bios does not allow control over 1.175v.(correct me if I am wrong please)


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Definitely 3A. I don't know of anyone that has had more luck using the F8 BIOS over the 3A. So, definitely go with the 3A because it doesn't force a hard reset every time you crash from OC instability
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And yes, 2.2.3 will give you +93mv on either unlocked BIOS. I've been using the non-LN2 BIOS as of late because I don't really need the 1.36v of the LN2 BIOS too often. Get the F7 unlocked non-LN2 BIOS as well, and you can game with that when you don't need all the extra voltage. You can add the +93mv if needed, and you'll be up to 1.31v on the non-LN2, as opposed to 1.36v on the LN2. I can hit ~1380mhz with 1.31v, so I game with that and leave the 3A BIOS for benching.
> Hope you get a great card. Good luck


Whats your afterburner settings to game at that core? volts? , mem ? aux? i game at 1333 on core on LN2 and 7880mem. Wonder which will benefit more, core or mem OC


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Whats your afterburner settings to game at that core? volts? , mem ? aux? i game at 1333 on core on LN2 and 7880mem. Wonder which will benefit more, core or mem OC


7880?! Defiantly memory. I have found much bigger increase on my 670 going from 7408 memory over stock compared to going to 1330 core over stock.


----------



## snitchkilla11

memory for me...i think thats the only bottleneck of the 6 searies cards..i only use like 100mhz to the core and as much mem as i can depending on the program.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MightyUnit*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> ...Get the F7 unlocked non-LN2 BIOS as well...
> 
> 
> 
> May I ask if F7 is in anyway better than 80.04.28.00.39 that my card came with? Thank you
Click to expand...

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *General123*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *MightyUnit*
> 
> May I ask if F7 is in anyway better than 80.04.28.00.39 that my card came with? Thank you
> 
> 
> 
> If I read the front page right, that bios does not allow control over 1.175v.(correct me if I am wrong please)
Click to expand...

Correct. F7 is an unlocked non-LN2 BIOS. Default and max voltage is 50mv less than the LN2 BIOS (1.21v and 1.31v, respectively). I leave my cards at stock for most games, so I'd rather have 1.21v going through them than 1.26v, because the boost speed on my cards on the non-LN2 is 1202mhz and 1215mhz, so no reason to use the LN2 BIOS for it's stock speeds yet with more voltage









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Definitely 3A. I don't know of anyone that has had more luck using the F8 BIOS over the 3A. So, definitely go with the 3A because it doesn't force a hard reset every time you crash from OC instability
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And yes, 2.2.3 will give you +93mv on either unlocked BIOS. I've been using the non-LN2 BIOS as of late because I don't really need the 1.36v of the LN2 BIOS too often. Get the F7 unlocked non-LN2 BIOS as well, and you can game with that when you don't need all the extra voltage. You can add the +93mv if needed, and you'll be up to 1.31v on the non-LN2, as opposed to 1.36v on the LN2. I can hit ~1380mhz with 1.31v, so I game with that and leave the 3A BIOS for benching.
> Hope you get a great card. Good luck
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Whats your afterburner settings to game at that core? volts? , mem ? aux? i game at 1333 on core on LN2 and 7880mem. Wonder which will benefit more, core or mem OC
Click to expand...

7880mhz memory speed? Damn. You sure you don't lose performance when going that high? You've ran benchmarks to confirm? If error-correction kicks in, you'll actually lose performance instead of gaining it when raising the memory speed. Doesn't necessarily have to crash either, so, it's not obvious, you'd have to test to be sure. I have 7200mhz in my sig for the one Lightning, but I can actually go higher. It's just that at anything over 7200mhz, my score drops more than the margin of error would be, so, yeah.
What do you have the memory voltage at, +100mv?









When using one card (my better one), at that 1380mhz core speed on the F7 BIOS, my core offset is at +180mhz I believe. I haven't set it at that in a while because I've been using SLI at stock clocks with Far Cry 3 for a while now, and I'm pretty sure 310.70 changed the offset slightly, but around +180mhz for 1380mhz core, since my stock clock on the F7 is same as LN2 BIOS, 1202mhz. For 1380mhz on the non-LN2, I need +93mv core voltage, or 1.31v. Memory voltage depends on what I'm doing with it. I can run +400mhz with only +10mv on the memory.

I've been under the impression that if you're not hitting a full load on the core, overclocking it will not yield much benefit. Memory is a bit different, since I've seen almost everyone see a performance increase when overclocking it. So, I think you should see more of a benefit going with the higher memory overclock _if_ you're not hitting a full load on the core. I would check out those speeds though, to make sure ECC isn't kicking in. It doesn't necessarily have to crash, you'll just lose performance. So I'd double-check


----------



## SeekerZA

Core volts 93mv
power limit 300
core clock 133
mem clock- 540 ( Giving a total of 7088) My bad, clearly i was zoned out lnight
fan speed- i put it at 70 when gaming

mem volt-10
aux voltage-10

in game: core hits 1333 and mem 3544


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i got 4 lit on idle


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gotendbz1*
> 
> same here 4 lit at idle with non-ln2


I got 5 LED on idle. Why you say you got 4 ? You didn't saw the one hidden between the backplate ?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> i got 4 lit on idle
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *gotendbz1*
> 
> same here 4 lit at idle with non-ln2
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I got 5 LED on idle. Why you say you got 4 ? You didn't saw the one hidden between the backplate ?
Click to expand...

Yep, I got 5 as well.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Core volts 93mv
> power limit 300
> core clock 133
> mem clock- 540 ( Giving a total of 7088) My bad, clearly i was zoned out lnight
> fan speed- i put it at 70 when gaming
> 
> mem volt-10
> aux voltage-10
> 
> in game: core hits 1333 and mem 3544


Ahhh, 7088mhz. Makes sense now, easy mistake








I actually believed it though because someone else on here really did have his memory clock somewhere up there. So, if one person can do it...


----------



## Rakhasa

Will be joining this club..soon. I hope.


----------



## CryptiK

Got one of these yesterday, locked LN2 bios model. Quite unimpressed with the card, 1267 MHz max game stable on LN2 bios without any extra voltage. 1280 is not stable even with +50mv. Temps head into the 50's with 100% fan with low 20's *C ambient temps. I thought these cards were supposed to be binned? However there's many vanilla reference cards outclocking mine.


----------



## FtW 420

Some overclock better, some worse.With cpus & gpus it's always like playing the lottery.

Also, is that the boosted clock speed? The clocks shown in gpu-z main tab can be different than the actual speed, kepler's boost makes everything weird. Have to leave AB or a gpu-z sensor tab open too see it.


----------



## CryptiK

I know its a lottery but still its a dedicated overclocking card designed from the ground up for overclocking, why put POS GPU's on it?

My card does do +900 ram on +20mv game stable (still on air, block is on its way) so that's something.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Got one of these yesterday, *locked LN2 bios model*. Quite unimpressed with the card, *1267 MHz max game stable on LN2 bios without any extra voltage*. *1280 is not stable even with +50mv.* Temps head into the 50's with 100% fan with low 20's *C ambient temps. I thought these cards were supposed to be binned? However there's many vanilla reference cards outclocking mine.


Now, by what you said in the bold parts... Did you flash to the 3A? Because the 'locked' BIOS doesn't respond to any voltage increase, regardless of being able to adjust/apply the slider.

You would get more than 13mhz from a +50mv increase with the 3A BIOS (I hope).


----------



## CryptiK

Yeah I flashed with 3A, 1267 is as far as it's going I think.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Yeah I flashed with 3A, 1267 is as far as it's going I think.


1267mhz with stock voltage, but with +50mv on the core you're not stable at even 1280mhz?

Are you using Afterburner 2.2.3?

Edit: Sorry, just saw you're using 2.3.0. Did you do the config edit?


----------



## CryptiK

No no, I can only go +30 MHz with stock voltage normal BIOS. Sits at 1215 MHz at the highest. Going to +40 MHz (boost = 1228) will crash very fast.

With the LN2 BIOS 3A and no added voltage (+0 mv) it does 1267 MHz max in games. Adding 50-100 mv does not change this limit, that's all it's capable of. Interestingly it will do 1254 with -37mv. Not a chance of going over 1267 regardless of voltage though, it crashes in seconds. It has many drops to lower frequency when gaming like this though even with power slider at an appropriate level and power % sitting around 60-80%. It causes slowdowns in the FPS making it unplayable.

I haven't done anything to afterburner at all. I'm using v2.3.0 - what is the config edit? What's it do?


----------



## ajresendez

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> No no, I can only go +30 MHz with stock voltage normal BIOS. Sits at 1215 MHz at the highest. Going to +40 MHz (boost = 1228) will crash very fast.
> With the LN2 BIOS 3A and no added voltage (+0 mv) it does 1267 MHz max in games. Adding 50-100 mv does not change this limit, that's all it's capable of. Interestingly it will do 1254 with -37mv. Not a chance of going over 1267 regardless of voltage though, it crashes in seconds. It has many drops to lower frequency when gaming like this though even with power slider at an appropriate level and power % sitting around 60-80%. It causes slowdowns in the FPS making it unplayable.
> I haven't done anything to afterburner at all. I'm using v2.3.0 - what is the config edit? What's it do?


use LN2 bios and download the 2.2.3 msi afterburner it will make a difference.


----------



## Rakhasa

Some questions from a newb OCer of GPUs.

1) Do I have to open up Afterburner every startup for the OC to set in?
2) What increments do I increase Core Clock / Mem Clock by, and do I add them / test them separately, if so which do I begin with?
3) After finding the max stable clocks, what increments of vcore do I increase by?

Thanks, I don't have the card yet, just doing some prereading


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ajresendez*
> 
> use LN2 bios and download the 2.2.3 msi afterburner it will make a difference.


*** tried this now its running 1241 stock volts and 1320 at +93mv. What is going on?

EDIT - the voltage is quite high, 1.21v with DMM at stock (0mv) in LN2 mode, +50mv = 1.26v and +93mv is 1.35v. I didnt check v2.3.0 with DMM perhaps it doesnt apply higher than ~1.21v ?

HOwever in LN2 mode the core/mem speed is still always dropping making benchmarks and games jerky and score poorly. Is anyone else experiencing this? Normal mode works fine and holds at boost speed right through.

Whats better, a card that does high core or high mem? My card will do +900 mem (7600 effective) game stable at +20mv and scores do benefit in benches going this high. Just testing now but wondering if someone has already done this to see which gives larger gains? ie: card at 1350 core / 7000 mem or card at 1250 core and 7600 mem


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> *** tried this now its running 1267 stock volts and 1333 at +93mv. What is going on?


You surelly skiped the part to edit file to unlock lightning voltage control on AB versions after v2.2.3
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Unwinder*
> Edit Lightning hardware profile files (\MSI Afterburner\Profiles\VEN_10DE&DEV_1180....cfg) and add the following lines there:
> 
> [Settings]
> VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
> VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
> VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1
> 
> Those lines disable NVIDIA's capped voltage control module, enable voltage control via direct access to CHL8318 and select offset voltage control mode for it.
> 
> Note: each card profile must be edited for SLI configs.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *ajresendez*
> 
> use LN2 bios and download the 2.2.3 msi afterburner it will make a difference.
> 
> 
> 
> *** tried this now its running 1241 stock volts and 1320 at +93mv. What is going on?
> 
> EDIT - the voltage is quite high, 1.21v with DMM at stock (0mv) in LN2 mode, +50mv = 1.26v and +93mv is 1.35v. I didnt check v2.3.0 with DMM perhaps it doesnt apply higher than ~1.21v ?
Click to expand...

1320mhz! Problem solved









Afterburner 2.2.3 was the last Afterburner version that allowed for native voltage control. With subsequent versions, the lines of code posted by elbubi must be copied and pasted into the config file before it'll be able to affect the voltage. So most just get 2.2.3.

I _knew_ your situation sounded wierd







Glad you don't actually have such a bad card afterall.

Stock on the unlocked 3A should be ~1.26v, and ~1.36v with +93mv . Yes, 2.3.0 doesn't adjust the voltage the same way 2.2.3 does until you do that config edit.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rakhasa*
> 
> Some questions from a newb OCer of GPUs.
> 
> 1) Do I have to open up Afterburner every startup for the OC to set in?
> 2) What increments do I increase Core Clock / Mem Clock by, and do I add them / test them separately, if so which do I begin with?
> 3) After finding the max stable clocks, what increments of vcore do I increase by?
> 
> Thanks, I don't have the card yet, just doing some prereading


Never hurts to do some research ahead of time.

1) You can check 'Apply OC at system start-up' on the main interface, below the profiles. And save a profile.
2) That's up to you, as far as the increment. I'd start by +50mhz the first time, and if that's stable then go up by 10 or 15. And it's a good idea to do the core and memory separate _and_ together. Some games you need a higher core, sometimes memory. And one max OC will affect the other (lower max stable core clock with a high memory OC). So, find max core at a specific voltage, then put it back to stock and test memory, then test both at the same time raising one at a time, finding the highest combo OC. That way you have a max OC for every situation (when you need a high core, when you need a high mem, when you want a combo of both). Do this for a few voltages (stock, +50mv, and +93mv) and now you've got multiple methods of attack at multiple voltages depending on the particular game








3) This is up to you. If you're crashing at a clock(s), you can raise the voltage to get a little higher. I just said find your max overclocks at +0mv, +50mv, and +93mv as an example, so that you have an overclock for different situations, but you could very well take the time to find overclocks for even smaller increments (oh and don't forget about the memory voltage too)


----------



## gotendbz1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> I got 5 LED on idle. Why you say you got 4 ? You didn't saw the one hidden between the backplate ?


are you counting the one under the gpu reactor?


----------



## CryptiK

Played some with v2.2.3 - still not a great clocker, needs >1.30v for 1320+ core

That said, mem seems strong on this one. Did some testing with kombustor which seems to load mem harder than games, see below stable for over 20mins when I stopped it.

+855 mem (7720 MHz effective) at stock mem voltage. Core needs +18mv (1.25v real @ DMM) for 1254 stable

What's better higher clocking core or higher clocking mem? I though these cards were more mem bandwidth limited and core was less important in terms of actual performance.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Played some with v2.2.3 - still not a great clocker, needs >1.30v for 1320+ core
> 
> That said, mem seems strong on this one. Did some testing with kombustor which seems to load mem harder than games, see below stable for over 20mins when I stopped it.
> 
> +855 mem (7720 MHz effective) at stock mem voltage. Core needs +18mv (1.25v real @ DMM) for 1254 stable
> 
> What's better higher clocking core or higher clocking mem? I though these cards were more mem bandwidth limited and core was less important in terms of actual performance.


It's not terrible. I've had one that was even worse.

Kombuster doesn't really help when testing stability. It's good for testing temperatures. But for stability, use Heaven and in-game testing. Kombuster doesn't crash often for me but in games it will in 2 seconds.

What did you have the mem voltage at for +855mhz? Well, either way, I'd test in-game, it's probably not stable.

Memory OC will probably get better results, unless you're stuck at a full load on the core constantly.


----------



## CryptiK

+855 mem was at stock voltage.

I found kombuster showed my +900 mem was not stable artifacting immediately but I could game at that no problem. Also running heaven/gaming/kombuser etc +855 (7720 effective) is totally solid.


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Also running heaven/gaming/kombuser etc +855 (7720 effective) is totally solid.


Then you have one hell of card


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> +855 mem was at stock voltage.
> 
> I found kombuster showed my +900 mem was not stable artifacting immediately but I could game at that no problem. Also running heaven/gaming/kombuser etc +855 (7720 effective) is totally solid.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Also running heaven/gaming/kombuser etc +855 (7720 effective) is totally solid.
> 
> 
> 
> Then you have one hell of card
Click to expand...

I'd say so. Damn! Can you do a stock 3dMark11 run and a run with just the memory overclocked +855mhz, just to see the difference in graphics scores?









Yeah I don't know. I could run Kombuster for temps, but games would crash at the same clock, so I don't often use it for stability. The games you're actually going to be using the OC for seem like the best test to me







. Also, Heaven is a pretty good indicator. It seems like if I have an OC that's stable in Heaven, it's stable in most games. Except BF3, which seems to be a few mhz lower than Heaven for stability.


----------



## CryptiK

Thanks but TBH I'm still kinda disappointed it doesn't have a great core









Here's 3DM11 comparisons you asked for. ~300 points difference.

Stock



+855 mem


----------



## Lukas026

Hey there

i am going to join the club in about 3 days and i would like to ask you some questions ?

I already did some research on overclocking this baby (3A BIOS and AB 2.2.3 FTW), but I am wondering,
is it safe to max all settings if needed ? I mean can I use +93mv core, +100mv mem and +50mv AUX and 300 % power target for gaming and doing normal day stuff ? Lets say i can oc the card with atributes mentioned above to something like 1300 / 7000. Is there any danger when I would be playing say BF3 for 5 hours in a row ? Ofc looking on temps all the time.

Oh and on that topic comes my second question - what temperatures can you measure in Afterburner and also what are max safe temps for core / mem / AUX etc. ? I am coming from ASUS Matrix 580 Platinum and I could read core / mem / power and board temps in GPU Tweak monitor so I am asking.

Thank you for the answers


----------



## famich

I would say you had better test your chip/mem first and you are going to see how the card goes.

IMHO try to run games etc. on LN2 BIOS at the stock voltage , 93mV for 24/7 especially on air
is too much and not really needed.


----------



## MightyUnit

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lukas026*
> 
> Hey there
> i am going to join the club in about 3 days and i would like to ask you some questions ?
> I already did some research on overclocking this baby (3A BIOS and AB 2.2.3 FTW), but I am wondering,
> is it safe to max all settings if needed ? I mean can I use +93mv core, +100mv mem and +50mv AUX and 300 % power target for gaming and doing normal day stuff ? Lets say i can oc the card with atributes mentioned above to something like 1300 / 7000. Is there any danger when I would be playing say BF3 for 5 hours in a row ? Ofc looking on temps all the time.
> Oh and on that topic comes my second question - what temperatures can you measure in Afterburner and also what are max safe temps for core / mem / AUX etc. ? I am coming from ASUS Matrix 580 Platinum and I could read core / mem / power and board temps in GPU Tweak monitor so I am asking.
> Thank you for the answers


I run mine maxxed. My gpu temp stays low even with the added voltage. My max temp is around 60C with a custom fan profile that is running at about 55% for that temp. All in all I do not see an issue running max vcore as my temps are great.


----------



## Lukas026

thanks for the replies...keep them coming

but I was more concerned about mem and aux temps ? any info on that ? also what AB allows to monitor ?


----------



## Menthol

Core, mem, vrm temps


----------



## Brenton

Hi all,

Just built a new system over the holidays with these GPU's and I love them!

Case: Cooler Master Haf-X
Motherboard: Asus Z77 Sabertooth
Pocessor: Intel core i7 3770k (@4.7)
Ram: 16gb(2x8) Crucial Ballistix Elite 1866 (9,9,9,27)
CPU Cooling: Corsair H-100
Graphics Cards: (2x) MSI GTX680 Lightning (sli)
Power Supply: Corsair 1200AX
SSD's: (2x) OCZ Vector 256gb (raid0)
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1tb

The gear, pre-build:


Some Initial Benchmarks:


This seems like a great site with some very helpful people!


----------



## rescure

Hi all.
i'm going to buy this card.
i don't find any bench about my problem so can you answer me?
my question is: with 310.70 the msi 680 lightning at stock core 1110Mhz what fps do in game?(1920x1080p) like far cry 3, bf3, ac3,skyrim and other games you have?

thank you very much!!!


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Brenton*
> 
> Hi all,
> Just built a new system over the holidays with these GPU's and I love them!
> Case: Cooler Master Haf-X
> Motherboard: Asus Z77 Sabertooth
> Pocessor: Intel core i7 3770k (@4.7)
> Ram: 16gb(2x8) Crucial Ballistix Elite 1866 (9,9,9,27)
> CPU Cooling: Corsair H-100
> Graphics Cards: (2x) MSI GTX680 Lightning (sli)
> Power Supply: Corsair 1200AX
> SSD's: (2x) OCZ Vector 256gb (raid0)
> HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1tb
> This seems like a great site with some very helpful people!


Great score, i was disappointed at my graphics score on 3Dmark11, I'm even more now lol
What are the clock speed you are running at?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Brenton*
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> Just built a new system over the holidays with these GPU's and I love them!
> 
> Case: Cooler Master Haf-X
> Motherboard: Asus Z77 Sabertooth
> Pocessor: Intel core i7 3770k (@4.7)
> Ram: 16gb(2x8) Crucial Ballistix Elite 1866 (9,9,9,27)
> CPU Cooling: Corsair H-100
> Graphics Cards: (2x) MSI GTX680 Lightning (sli)
> Power Supply: Corsair 1200AX
> SSD's: (2x) OCZ Vector 256gb (raid0)
> HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1tb
> 
> The gear, pre-build:
> 
> Some Initial Benchmarks:
> 
> This seems like a great site with some very helpful people!


Awesome build







I'll tell you one thing, you definitely made the right decision with those GPUs









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rescure*
> 
> Hi all.
> i'm going to buy this card.
> i don't find any bench about my problem so can you answer me?
> my question is: with 310.70 the msi 680 lightning at stock core 1110Mhz what fps do in game?(1920x1080p) like far cry 3, bf3, ac3,skyrim and other games you have?
> 
> thank you very much!!!


You will be able to run any game out there at max settings on 1080p







Fear not. I can't speak for all of them, but I got most of those games and they run beautifully with one Lightning, even at the stock speed.


----------



## rescure

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Awesome build
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll tell you one thing, you definitely made the right decision with those GPUs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You will be able to run any game out there at max settings on 1080p
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fear not. I can't speak for all of them, but I got most of those games and they run beautifully with one Lightning, even at the stock speed.


yeah i know... but i wanna know also fps at stock speed, just for curiosity and the fps could be the thing that will convince me to buy this card


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rescure*
> 
> yeah i know... but i wanna know also fps at stock speed, just for curiosity and the fps could be the thing that will convince me to buy this card


Well there are a TON of reviews of this card for those games, maybe not with those drivers since this card has been out for a decent time, but they are there.

Alas, I will not be joining this club until Monday.. deals fell through once again to sell my 670, but I have another one lined up and I know he actually wants this card.


----------



## rescure

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *General123*
> 
> Well there are a TON of reviews of this card for those games, maybe not with those drivers since this card has been out for a decent time, but they are there.
> Alas, I will not be joining this club until Monday.. deals fell through once again to sell my 670, but I have another one lined up and I know he actually wants this card.


"my question is: with 310.70 the msi 680 lightning at stock core 1110Mhz what fps do in game?(1920x1080p) like far cry 3, bf3, ac3,skyrim and other games you have?"








i looked 50 rewiews of this card but all with old drivers.(and we all well know that new drivers are good for 680...)
so, please, could you tell me?


----------



## saint19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rescure*
> 
> "my question is: with 310.70 the msi 680 lightning at stock core 1110Mhz what fps do in game?(1920x1080p) like far cry 3, bf3, ac3,skyrim and other games you have?"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i looked 50 rewiews of this card but all with old drivers.(and we all well know that new drivers are good for 680...)
> so, please, could you tell me?


I can tell you but until night, I'm working now...


----------



## rescure

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *saint19*
> 
> I can tell you but until night, I'm working now...


yeah,yeah no problem







good working!


----------



## asleaker

I build a new rig with two 680's just before christmas and i have been benchmarking a lot the two last weeks on only on stock clocks. It seems that one of my card is broken. It's default boost speed on stock bios is 1228 mhz which I think is awesome until every game and benchmark crashes. When i downtuned the core 26 mhz i found it stable but i do not want a broken card which I have to tune down before it works. I have just sent my card back within the 45 days of free returning (komplett.no). My other card is default at 1189 boost speed.
mmh, now after joining this forum i am now afraid that this have something to do with the f.. 310.70 drivers? I have also seen that the SLI configuration is very unstable in games. Benchmark programs seems stable. When I do benchmark in heaven 3.0 i got 3759 points with these settings( 2000 p with single card).


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *asleaker*
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> I build a new rig with two 680's just before christmas and i have been benchmarking a lot the two last weeks on only on stock clocks. It seems that one of my card is broken. It's default boost speed on stock bios is 1228 mhz which I think is awesome until every game and benchmark crashes. When i downtuned the core 26 mhz i found it stable but i do not want a broken card which I have to tune down before it works. I have just sent my card back within the 45 days of free returning (komplett.no). My other card is default at 1189 boost speed.
> mmh, now after joining this forum i am now afraid that this have something to do with the f.. 310.70 drivers? I have also seen that the SLI configuration is very unstable in games. Benchmark programs seems stable. When I do benchmark in heaven 3.0 i got 3759 points with these settings( 2000 p with single card).


No, you where correct for sending the card back. If a card is not stable at stock then something is for sure wrong with it.


----------



## asleaker

I did this benchmark 10 minutes ago with FRAPS

settings:
1920 x 1080
nvidia 310.70 drivers
Battlefield 3
Talah Market 24 player (scavenger)
ULTRA SETTINGS
Stock settings: 1189 mhz @ boost speed

results:
Frames, 14825,
Time (ms),180000
Min,56
Max, 111
Avg, 82.361

I usually play BF3 with decreased ULTRA settings: "2 x MSAA, Motion blur off and effects on medium", because visuality increases alot. Then I got around 100 fps in avg. with one card.


----------



## gpvecchi

Hallo everybody, I'm waiting for delivery of a Lightning, so I registered this thread...
If I understand, there are 3 different LN2 bioses with unlocked voltage (80.04.09.00.F8, 80.04.28.00.3A and 80.04.09.00.3A).
The newest should be the second one right?
Thanks everybody!


----------



## asleaker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *General123*
> 
> No, you where correct for sending the card back. If a card is not stable at stock then something is for sure wrong with it.


Thanks alot for quick answer!! That was reliefing. I see forward to get my new second card.


----------



## asleaker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rescure*
> 
> Hi all.
> i'm going to buy this card.
> i don't find any bench about my problem so can you answer me?
> my question is: with 310.70 the msi 680 lightning at stock core 1110Mhz what fps do in game?(1920x1080p) like far cry 3, bf3, ac3,skyrim and other games you have?
> thank you very much!!!


I did this benchmark 10 minutes ago with FRAPS

settings:
1920 x 1080
nvidia 310.70 drivers
Battlefield 3
Talah Market 24 player (scavenger)
ULTRA SETTINGS
Stock settings: 1189 mhz @ boost speed

results:
Frames, 14825,
Time (ms),180000
Min,56
Max, 111
Avg, 82.361

I usually play BF3 with decreased ULTRA settings: "2 x MSAA, Motion blur off and effects on medium", because visuality increases alot. Then I got around 100 fps in avg. with one card.


----------



## rescure

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *asleaker*
> 
> I did this benchmark 10 minutes ago with FRAPS
> settings:
> 1920 x 1080
> nvidia 310.70 drivers
> Battlefield 3
> Talah Market 24 player (scavenger)
> ULTRA SETTINGS
> Stock settings: 1189 mhz @ boost speed
> results:
> Frames, 14825,
> Time (ms),180000
> Min,56
> Max, 111
> Avg, 82.361
> I usually play BF3 with decreased ULTRA settings: "2 x MSAA, Motion blur off and effects on medium", because visuality increases alot. Then I got around 100 fps in avg. with one card.


that's awesome... tank you very much!! but the MSAA was on 4x? if it was it's just amazing... i'll buy this card!! :O


----------



## asleaker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rescure*
> 
> that's awesome... tank you very much!! but the MSAA was on 4x? if it was it's just amazing... i'll buy this card!! :O


yes! Msaa was 4x when i benchmarked. The settings was ultra(everything maxed), I just mention what I usually play with. I remember that I did the same benchmark at alboraz mountain 64 player and then I got 77 fps in average. Its pretty good .


----------



## rescure

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *asleaker*
> 
> yes! Msaa was 4x when i benchmarked. The settings was ultra(everything maxed), I just mention what I usually play with. I remember that I did the same benchmark at alboraz mountain 64 player and then I got 77 fps in average. Its pretty good .


tha's epicness.
i ordered all the pc now, tomorrow i'll go to withdraw it.
specs:
CPU: I5 3550 stock ivy bridge
MOBO: MSI Z77-G45
RAM: PATRIOT BLACK MAMBA 2X4GB @1866MHZ
PSU: THERMATAKE GOLD 650W MODULARE (80+ GOLD)
VGA: MSI GTX 680 LIGHTNING
SSD: SAMSUNG 840 120GB
HDD: WD CAVIAR GREEN 1TB
CASE: CM HAF 932
MONITOR: VE248H
TASTIERA: ROCCAT ISKU
MOUSE: LOGITECH G500
MOUSEPAD:STEELSERIES 4HD
SPEAKER: LOGITECH Z323

thanks to have help me to do the choice


----------



## asleaker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rescure*
> 
> tha's epicness.
> i ordered all the pc now, tomorrow i'll go to withdraw it.
> specs:
> CPU: I5 3550 stock ivy bridge
> MOBO: MSI Z77-G45
> RAM: PATRIOT BLACK MAMBA 2X4GB @1866MHZ
> PSU: THERMATAKE GOLD 650W MODULARE (80+ GOLD)
> VGA: MSI GTX 680 LIGHTNING
> SSD: SAMSUNG 840 120GB
> HDD: WD CAVIAR GREEN 1TB
> CASE: CM HAF 932
> MONITOR: VE248H
> TASTIERA: ROCCAT ISKU
> MOUSE: LOGITECH G500
> MOUSEPAD:STEELSERIES 4HD
> SPEAKER: LOGITECH Z323
> thanks to have help me to do the choice


I am just glad helping with your choice. You got a decent rig with that SPEC. have a nice time playing new games at high FPS.


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rescure*
> 
> tha's epicness.
> i ordered all the pc now, tomorrow i'll go to withdraw it.
> specs:
> CPU: I5 3550 stock ivy bridge
> MOBO: MSI Z77-G45
> RAM: PATRIOT BLACK MAMBA 2X4GB @1866MHZ
> PSU: THERMATAKE GOLD 650W MODULARE (80+ GOLD)
> VGA: MSI GTX 680 LIGHTNING
> SSD: SAMSUNG 840 120GB
> HDD: WD CAVIAR GREEN 1TB
> CASE: CM HAF 932
> MONITOR: VE248H
> TASTIERA: ROCCAT ISKU
> MOUSE: LOGITECH G500
> MOUSEPAD:STEELSERIES 4HD
> SPEAKER: LOGITECH Z323
> thanks to have help me to do the choice


Everything looks good! I would just upgrade the CPU to the 3570k so that it could be overclocked, change the PSU is possible to something like a SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold, but that one should work fine as well, and go for a faster HDD as that one is quite slow if you want to record fraps videos to it or something else along those lines. I would recommend a caviar black or a seagate barracuda, or a equivalent 7200rpm drive. But everything else looks great


----------



## snitchkilla11

get a samsung 830 or the 840 pro..the reg 840 is kinda mehhhh..i would skip it and get the 830 for the same price..and get a wd black hdd insted of the green


----------



## Mr.Pie

quick question guys;

whats the going price for a brand new 680L? I've been moving away from gaming and I don't need it


----------



## King Who Dat

My 680L is on the way ! I'll be submitting proof and overclocks asap. I've heard some terrible news, that MSI is locking these cards down now. Is that true ???


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *King Who Dat*
> 
> My 680L is on the way ! I'll be submitting proof and overclocks asap. I've heard some terrible news, that MSI is locking these cards down now. Is that true ???


Was true long long ago, but all you do is flashed the old bios' onto the card, takes under 10min to do.


----------



## snitchkilla11

well they sell for 499 new on newegg but if its new from you..you may get 400-450 just cause its not from a retailer.


----------



## CryptiK

Yeah 100-50 under full retail seems reasonable for a new unused card private sale.

I took my problematic card back (came with F8 bios on LN2 mode that artifacted badly in 2D mode - had to flash 3A onto it myself to fix it) and swapped it out with another. It was better, managed 1241/+700 core game stable stock and with bios unlocked with KGB giving 1.24v load was 1267/+700 heaven/BF3 stable. I considered my options then picked up a second lightning, this one is a keeper. 1280/+750 heaven/BF3 stable and very close to 1293 stable at same voltage. When my water block arrives I'm pretty sure it will do 1293/+700 rock solid @ 1.24v. Temps now are at ~63*C core/~65*C mem/67*C vrm loaded with ~30degC ambient summer temp and that was with 65% fan (loud!). Testing this card on air reminded me why I watercool









With 2 nice cards here though its tempting to just drop them both in and run them stock and enjoy crazy FPS in every game I play.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

My Core Voltage don't go up +100, what i do?


----------



## driftingforlife

Got some scores from last nights SS session.

http://hwbot.org/submission/2341335_

http://hwbot.org/submission/2341337_

http://hwbot.org/submission/2341339_

http://hwbot.org/submission/2341342_

http://hwbot.org/submission/2341348_

http://hwbot.org/submission/2341349_


----------



## CryptiK

.........................................................


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Got some scores from last nights SS session.
> 
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341335_
> 
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341337_
> 
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341339_
> 
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341342_
> 
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341348_
> 
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341349_


Awesome setup you got there.

Why not use the hack for a higher score from the Lightning? Can't make everything out on this crappy monitor at work, but I noticed the voltage was only at +93mv.


----------



## driftingforlife

Not my cards and I should hopefully get a AB extreme soon, waiting for the UK MSI guy to come back from TW.


----------



## snitchkilla11

awwww..snap...you going to share????


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> awwww..snap...you going to share????


You can't







it's under NDA.


----------



## CL3P20

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Not my cards and I should hopefully get a AB extreme soon, waiting for the UK MSI guy to come back from TW.


There are places and folks around here to get that from too ...


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CL3P20*
> 
> There are places and folks around here to get that from too ...


Yes but I want to get my own version and I have to be careful as I know the MSI UK guys and I and staff at Team GB.


----------



## snitchkilla11

where do i sign to get one? i understand they want a nda cause of the damage it can cause..but i really wana see what my cards can do...and maby all the bugs are ironed out in abx


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> where do i sign to get one?


You have to contact a local MSI rep.


----------



## snitchkilla11

ok but is it released to the public if i want one..or is it you know somebody that knows somebody kinda thing?


----------



## General123

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *snitchkilla11*
> 
> ok but is it released to the public if i want one..or is it you know somebody that knows somebody kinda thing?


This:
Quote:


> To get your own Coded version of MSI afterburner you need to Contact your local MSI rep with proof that you know what your doing with sub zero cooling. Such as HWbot links and pics.
> 
> You also must sign NDA to say you wont distribute it which is impossible anyway as it has your name on it and they would know if you leaked it. It also signs away all warranty claims.


----------



## Kimir

Ok then, I was really pissed that I could not get any better results on 3Dmark11 and today, somehow my score drop from average 17300-17700 to ~15k so I said **** off to 310.70 and put back 306.97...

And the first try with my "daily safe OC" was finaly reaching my expectation : P19429.
By daily safe OC it's just +110 at core clock and +450 at mem clock, now the moar overclocked version... meh

Not that better : P19875, but well physics score is lower, I will try more.



a lil a picture for the record.


----------



## snitchkilla11

ok gotya..i may have to wait it out till all my parts come in first..thatnks bro..rep ya for the info


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Got some scores from last nights SS session.
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341335_
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341337_
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341339_
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341342_
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341348_
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2341349_


Drifting my friend that is an amazing frequency on the memory, I have not been able to get memory that high on my cards. Great scores, I am sure you have just started on some top scores.
Good work


----------



## driftingforlife

Thanks

For some reason my CPU score for the single card vantage is about 1500 lower than it should be so I still have room to improve there.

The 2 cards i have one does 1950 and the other does 2000.

I should have a 680 waterblock soon for a watercooled 7970 Lightning vs GTX680 Lightning and am going to push further.


----------



## CalinTM

For the OC to be stable i need to OC the memory too at the same time as the core ? Or i OC the cpu core then the memory ?!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> For the OC to be stable i need to OC the memory too at the same time as the core ? Or i OC the cpu core then the memory ?!


What do you mean exactly? Are you talking about overclocking the CPU and the Lightning at the same time? Or are you referring to the Lightning's core and memory clocks?


----------



## CalinTM

The cards mem clocks. But doesn't matter anymore. A nasty thing is that afterburner doesn't let me to put a fixed core clock, for example 1250mhz, he puts 1257, or bigger.

Also is normal in games my card uses his max nvidia stock voltage, 1.175V ?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> The cards mem clocks. But doesn't matter anymore. A nasty thing is that afterburner doesn't let me to put a fixed core clock, for example 1250mhz, he puts 1257, or bigger.
> 
> Also is normal in games my card uses his max nvidia stock voltage, 1.175V ?


Well, first of all, Afterburner does not read the voltage correctly. Neither does GPU-Z, if you're using that too. Only way to know for sure is a multi-meter, but you can do the math yourself to get a rough estimate. Stock voltage on the unlocked 3A LN2 BIOS is about 1.26v. With +93mv set in Afterburner, it's about 1.36v. So, you can figure out what the voltage is for each offset. Also, I've noticed that Afterburner displays the voltage consistently at about 50mv less than what it actually is. Like when I'm at the stock LN2 voltage, it'll say 1.21v (really 1.26v). And when I'm at +93mv it displays 1.31v (really at 1.36v). So, yeah you can figure it out that way. But if you're seeing 1.175v then you're probably on the non-LN2 BIOS. That one will only show 1.175v, but I believe it shows 1.21v on a multi-meter, if I recall correctly.

And yeah, same thing happened with me when I went to the 310.70 driver. Messed the offset up in Afterburner a little. No biggie


----------



## CalinTM

So the actually voltage isn't nvidia's stock 1.175V ? You sure about this ? So it's 0.035 bigger than the actually stock one ?
Don't have OC, normal bios. I was just wondering if it's normal in games is showing 1.175V all the time...

You know that even multimeters have erros, sometimes much bigger than software readings.
And my idle (normal bios) voltage is 0.986V, also is normal ?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> So the actually voltage isn't nvidia's stock 1.175V ? You sure about this ? So it's 0.035 bigger than the actually stock one ?
> Don't have OC, normal bios. I was just wondering if it's normal in games is showing 1.175V all the time...
> 
> You know that even multimeters have erros, sometimes much bigger than software readings.
> And my idle (normal bios) voltage is 0.986V, also is normal ?


Lightnings are special







No 1.175v for us. But it depends what BIOS you have. You're on the normal one which may be at 1.175v, but if you turn the computer off, and switch to the LN2 BIOS and tell me what it is, then I can let you know if you have to flash it.

That looks about right for idle. I haven't turned on voltage monitoring in Afterburner in a while because I know what it is from the offset I put it at, but yeah it's normal.


----------



## p3gaz_001

My two lightnings can go over 1.23v

No modded bios.


----------



## Gobsz

Please add me to the list!

I have a slight problem though, when I switch the bios into LN2, the gpu is not detected, afterburner says cannot detect Nvidia gpu????


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Try 2.3.0 Version.

Btw where is UEFI GOP Bios LN2?


----------



## HALA MADRID

Happy new year guys. Long time no see. I have some questions and I would prefer knowledgeable people to help me(as in, I don't want to receive false information) sorry if rude. I bought 3dMark11 on steam for 5$ when it was on sale, and I did some benchmarking and I've now observed something strange. My physics score went down when the lightning was overclocked as opposed to when it was not. Also, my i5-3570k is at stock and I have anti-virus and internet running in the background so maybe one of these is the cause, if not then what gives? Also, in these benchmarks, what tests do the gpu and cpu do?Are some gpu only like 1,2,3,4, physics cpu only and then the combined test both? Finally, if I want to pass unto other forms of cooling for the gpu, what options do I have and do they require maintenance bc if they do, that ain't for me as I've never opened my computer to clean it yet since I've put it together. Here are some pictures and links for the tests.

Not overclocked http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5458272?loginkey=SCVCiDfCQlgXC0b0qpWXUw
Overclocked http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5458294?loginkey=XR28SXP9sbvzAHk-HGouMw 

Two final questions. Is my graphics score (on air cooling) k bc i've seen people say that 12000 is beast for one gpu and I have no idea what is considered bad,average,good, awesome etc for 3dmark11. Finally, My GPU is on the x.16 pcie 3.0 right now, but I want to install my CPU cooler thats been sitting in a box for months and I think that I may have to move it to a x8 pcie 3.0 lane since the cooler is humongous (http://i44.tinypic.com/2en2dk0.jpg, i mean look at that monster); or I could remove the reactor from the GPU; anyway, I'm still scared it's going to bend my mobo (sigh, I knew I should of bought a closed loop for the cpu). Thanks.


----------



## f0rteOC

Anyone with the GTX 680 Lightning can join the Twin Frozr IV Owners Club


----------



## StreekG

Hey guys, i've been quiet for a while since upgrading to these lightnings, fixing the incorrect bios on one of them, and living with Afterburner 2.2.3 and the voltage drops everytime i restart the computer.
I see the version is now up to 2.3.0
I will take a stab and guess that i still cannnot overvolt my car with the latest version, and to keep with 2.2.3?


----------



## suchy101

Hi guys, first time poster here.

Got a few questions. I will start with a huge problem I have with my setup - I bought the card along with the EK waterblock. The damn thing leaks on the contact with this flipping FC-LINK thingy. I have drained the loop, took it apart, resettled, filled about 20 times to no avail. I do have both seals in place and I thought I knew what I was doing ... can anyone comment on that. Had to ditch it for the time being and go straight in to the ports creating a piping abomination to get the downward facing port connect to a top mounted rad in my case. Does not look pretty.

Second thing is temps - what core temps do you guys get on water. Preliminary tests show @ 1.271V core @1346 it hits 74 deg with Furmark after 20 mins. Games about 10 deg less. A bit high I think for a WC? Idles nicely in upper 20's so I think the block seats OK on the core. Previously I had MD 5870 in this loop and it was hitting upper 50's tops.

The other thing is BIOS and voltages. To my surprise it came with the 3A BIOS for LN2. As I understand it 3A is what I what for get overvolt. The problem is with the voltage control cranked all the way up (+100mV) it hits 1.271. I am using Afterburner 2.3.0 with the edited config files to enable voltage control.

Question is - how do I go 1.30V and beyond ? I thought the 3A LN2 BIOS start as 1.31V or so.

Best Regards.


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HALA MADRID*
> 
> Happy new year guys. Long time no see. I have some questions and I would prefer knowledgeable people to help me(as in, I don't want to receive false information) sorry if rude. I bought 3dMark11 on steam for 5$ when it was on sale, and I did some benchmarking and I've now observed something strange. My physics score went down when the lightning was overclocked as opposed to when it was not. Also, my i5-3570k is at stock and I have anti-virus and internet running in the background so maybe one of these is the cause, if not then what gives? Also, in these benchmarks, what tests do the gpu and cpu do?Are some gpu only like 1,2,3,4, physics cpu only and then the combined test both? Finally, if I want to pass unto other forms of cooling for the gpu, what options do I have and do they require maintenance bc if they do, that ain't for me as I've never opened my computer to clean it yet since I've put it together. Here are some pictures and links for the tests.
> Not overclocked http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5458272?loginkey=SCVCiDfCQlgXC0b0qpWXUw
> Overclocked http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5458294?loginkey=XR28SXP9sbvzAHk-HGouMw
> Two final questions. Is my graphics score (on air cooling) k bc i've seen people say that 12000 is beast for one gpu and I have no idea what is considered bad,average,good, awesome etc for 3dmark11. Finally, My GPU is on the x.16 pcie 3.0 right now, but I want to install my CPU cooler thats been sitting in a box for months and I think that I may have to move it to a x8 pcie 3.0 lane since the cooler is humongous (http://i44.tinypic.com/2en2dk0.jpg, i mean look at that monster); or I could remove the reactor from the GPU; anyway, I'm still scared it's going to bend my mobo (sigh, I knew I should of bought a closed loop for the cpu). Thanks.


10268 for a GTX680 ??? .... i think is a bit low.

i got 10221 with an overclocked GTX670 ...


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

^^^^

Compare the graphics score, not the total.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> My two lightnings can go over 1.23v
> 
> No modded bios.


You're measuring with a DMM? Because software isn't reliable. As long as you flashed to the 3A in the OP though, then yes, you can go as high as you want









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gobsz*
> 
> 
> 
> Please add me to the list!
> 
> I have a slight problem though, when I switch the bios into LN2, the gpu is not detected, afterburner says cannot detect Nvidia gpu????


I had to reinstall the drivers when switching to the other BIOS for the first time. Power down, switch to the LN2, reinstall drivers and you'll be good to go. Just run the installer, no need to do a clean install if it's the same driver.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Try 2.3.0 Version.
> 
> Btw where is UEFI GOP Bios LN2?


http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=163242.0 <--- Good info here, and the Lightning is mentioned.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HALA MADRID*
> 
> Happy new year guys. Long time no see. I have some questions and I would prefer knowledgeable people to help me(as in, I don't want to receive false information) sorry if rude. I bought 3dMark11 on steam for 5$ when it was on sale, and I did some benchmarking and I've now observed something strange. My physics score went down when the lightning was overclocked as opposed to when it was not. Also, my i5-3570k is at stock and I have anti-virus and internet running in the background so maybe one of these is the cause, if not then what gives? Also, in these benchmarks, what tests do the gpu and cpu do?Are some gpu only like 1,2,3,4, physics cpu only and then the combined test both? Finally, if I want to pass unto other forms of cooling for the gpu, what options do I have and do they require maintenance bc if they do, that ain't for me as I've never opened my computer to clean it yet since I've put it together. Here are some pictures and links for the tests.
> 
> Two final questions. Is my graphics score (on air cooling) k bc i've seen people say that 12000 is beast for one gpu and I have no idea what is considered bad,average,good, awesome etc for 3dmark11. Finally, My GPU is on the x.16 pcie 3.0 right now, but I want to install my CPU cooler thats been sitting in a box for months and I think that I may have to move it to a x8 pcie 3.0 lane since the cooler is humongous (http://i44.tinypic.com/2en2dk0.jpg, i mean look at that monster); or I could remove the reactor from the GPU; anyway, I'm still scared it's going to bend my mobo (sigh, I knew I should of bought a closed loop for the cpu). Thanks.


Yes, that's how the tests stress the hardware. I'd close the internet and anti-virus before running it. And if you don't want to do a whole loop yourself, you could always do 'The Mod'- http://www.overclock.net/t/1203528/official-nvidia-gpu-mod-club-aka-the-mod Or try this one- http://www.overclock.net/t/1201657/arctic-cooling-accelero-hybrid-air-water-gpu-cooler not sure about performance though, don't know how much of an improvement it would be over the Lightning's stock cooler.

Also, no, a x8 3.0 slot should not make a difference on performance at all. And for what it's worth, I went from a NH=D14 to my H100 because of the size of it and having SLI and have been very satisfied









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Hey guys, i've been quiet for a while since upgrading to these lightnings, fixing the incorrect bios on one of them, and living with Afterburner 2.2.3 and the voltage drops everytime i restart the computer.
> I see the version is now up to 2.3.0
> I will take a stab and guess that i still cannnot overvolt my car with the latest version, and to keep with 2.2.3?


If switching to 2.3.0, all you have to do is edit the config file, and you'll have voltage control like 2.2.3. I'll search for the lines to paste in the config file and put them here in a sec.

Edit: Directions here- http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/2810#post_18192321
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *suchy101*
> 
> Hi guys, first time poster here.
> 
> Got a few questions. I will start with a huge problem I have with my setup - I bought the card along with the EK waterblock. The damn thing leaks on the contact with this flipping FC-LINK thingy. I have drained the loop, took it apart, resettled, filled about 20 times to no avail. I do have both seals in place and I thought I knew what I was doing ... can anyone comment on that. Had to ditch it for the time being and go straight in to the ports creating a piping abomination to get the downward facing port connect to a top mounted rad in my case. Does not look pretty.
> 
> Second thing is temps - what core temps do you guys get on water. Preliminary tests show @ 1.271V core @1346 it hits 74 deg with Furmark after 20 mins. Games about 10 deg less. A bit high I think for a WC? Idles nicely in upper 20's so I think the block seats OK on the core. Previously I had MD 5870 in this loop and it was hitting upper 50's tops.
> 
> The other thing is BIOS and voltages. To my surprise it came with the 3A BIOS for LN2. As I understand it 3A is what I what for get overvolt. The problem is with the voltage control cranked all the way up (+100mV) it hits 1.271. I am using Afterburner 2.3.0 with the edited config files to enable voltage control.
> 
> Question is - how do I go 1.30V and beyond ? I thought the 3A LN2 BIOS start as 1.31V or so.
> 
> Best Regards.


The reading in Afterburner isn't accurate, assuming that's what you're going off of. It may have come with the 3A BIOS, but it could still be locked. People have gotten BIOSs as of late with the exact same label as the 3A, but it's locked down. The only way to be sure is to flash to the 3A from the OP


----------



## Lukas026

hey guys

is there some point in using AB 2.3.0 over 2.2.3 ? I mean 2.2.3 can do voltage changes right away and AB 2.3.0 can do it AFTER editing config file right ? I wil be trying my new lightning baby in next days and I would like to use "use setting on startup" for my final OC.

thank you for answers


----------



## suchy101

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> The reading in Afterburner isn't accurate, assuming that's what you're going off of. It may have come with the 3A BIOS, but it could still be locked. People have gotten BIOSs as of late with the exact same label as the 3A, but it's locked down. The only way to be sure is to flash to the 3A from the OP


Right, have checked with a multimeter, it is 1.37V or so. Which begs the question - how could it be with unlocked bios. Do you think someone flashed it in store trying to bin cards?

Well with this voltage it seems I am maxing at 1346 core. Not great.

Edit, also when I overclock the memory (say +500 with a slight bump i volts) my power usage goes well over 100% (around 112%) and core volts drop. Is that right ?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *suchy101*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> The reading in Afterburner isn't accurate, assuming that's what you're going off of. It may have come with the 3A BIOS, but it could still be locked. People have gotten BIOSs as of late with the exact same label as the 3A, but it's locked down. The only way to be sure is to flash to the 3A from the OP
> 
> 
> 
> Right, have checked with a multimeter, it is 1.37V or so. Which begs the question - how could it be with unlocked bios. Do you think someone flashed it in store trying to bin cards?
> 
> Well with this voltage it seems I am maxing at 1346 core. Not great.
> 
> Edit, also when I overclock the memory (say +500 with a slight bump i volts) my power usage goes well over 100% (around 112%) and core volts drop. Is that right ?
Click to expand...

Yeah the card could've been flashed and then returned. Or it could just be one of the originals that came with the unlocked BIOS and was returned.

And yes, that's how the Afterburner graph is. But yeah, I wouldn't say your card isn't great. 1346/7000 is a hell of a card


----------



## suchy101

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yeah the card could've been flashed and then returned. Or it could just be one of the originals that came with the unlocked BIOS and was returned.
> And yes, that's how the Afterburner graph is. But yeah, I wouldn't say your card isn't great. 1346/7000 is a hell of a card


Thanks.

ANother one. Done some benching, started playing games now. Planetside 2 to be specific. The core clock fluctuates constantly creating hickups in the game. This was not happening when benching (furmark/heaven) What gives ?


----------



## f0rteOC

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *suchy101*
> 
> Thanks.
> ANother one. Done some benching, started playing games now. Planetside 2 to be specific. The core clock fluctuates constantly creating hickups in the game. This was not happening when benching (furmark/heaven) What gives ?


Probably the boost clock.


----------



## CalinTM

In 3d mark 11 for 3770k 4.5ghz and 680 lighting, a score of P10800 is legit, and ok ?


----------



## CryptiK

Not pushing it, still on air, cpu on daily OC.


----------



## Lukas026

bump for my last post above. realy need advice









can I use "load settings on startup" incl. voltage / fan profile etc. in AB 2.2.3 with my lightning or I need edited AB 2.3.0 ?

thanks


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Ty!

I asked here for UEFI GOP with my s/n: http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=165083.0


----------



## StreekG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> If switching to 2.3.0, all you have to do is edit the config file, and you'll have voltage control like 2.2.3. I'll search for the lines to paste in the config file and put them here in a sec.
> Edit: Directions here- http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/2810#post_18192321


Will i get voltage drops the same as with 2.2.3. or actually i am running 2.2.4 with the edited lines as you posted to me, but get voltage drops gradually


----------



## CalinTM

How to flash the LN2 bios with the 3A one ? Tried the first page tutorial, and i came up with this error....

http://i49.tinypic.com/j7rxnk.jpg

And on the msi site, what's that 1.30 and 1.40 bios files ?


----------



## CryptiK

Flash unlocked 3A bios onto LN2 chip using nvflash









Does anyone know the location (offset/columns when using hex editor) of the max boost clock (not normal boost clock displayed in GPU-Z this doesn't really do much) in the kepler BIOS?

Thanks


----------



## CalinTM

EDIT

Now works, flashed to 3A bios, that tutorial missed some essential thing, you need to rename the 3A bios file, then to flash it....you should update...


----------



## CryptiK

Final version custom air bios. I have 2 higher clock water bioses too for when my block gets here









100% Power target increased to 250w (power slider can stay on 100% now still have 9% TDP to spare)
Max board power still 300w
Base clock: 1202
Boost clock: 1267
Max boost clock: 1280
Mem freq: 1856 (3712 or 7424 Effective)
vgpu: 1,2125v (1,24v real measured with DMM)

testing with kombustor to verify max boost and TDP


----------



## Caich

I'm having problems changing the Voltage on my card. When i increase the voltage in afterburner, the voltage does not change. I'm using the 80.04.28.00.3A bios, and my voltage maxes out at 1.212, and all overclocks past 1250Mhz crash.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Final version custom air bios. I have 2 higher clock water bioses too for when my block gets here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 100% Power target increased to 250w (power slider can stay on 100% now still have 9% TDP to spare)
> Max board power still 300w
> Base clock: 1202
> Boost clock: 1267
> Max boost clock: 1280
> Mem freq: 1856 (3712 or 7424 Effective)
> vgpu: 1,2125v (1,24v real measured with DMM)
> 
> testing with kombustor to verify max boost and TDP


That's awesome









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Caich*
> 
> I'm having problems changing the Voltage on my card. When i increase the voltage in afterburner, the voltage does not change. I'm using the 80.04.28.00.3A bios, and my voltage maxes out at 1.212, and all overclocks past 1250Mhz crash.


Did you flash to the 3A BIOS that you have or did it come with the card?

And are you using Afterburner 2.2.3?


----------



## King Who Dat

Dang fed ex is screwing me. GIMME MY 680L !!


----------



## wutang61

with all the support for these cards im surprised no one has modified afterburner to allow higher voltage control. like a home brew afterburner extreme


----------



## StreekG

Hey guys,

I read somewhere that reducing my power limit from 300 could give me a higher OC stability, anyone shed some light?


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Hey guys,
> I read somewhere that reducing my power limit from 300 could give me a higher OC stability, anyone shed some light?


I had someone suggest I try that, saying the power limit was _too high_ if it's at 300. But I didn't see any benefit from lowering it, and in fact it did make my overclock less stable and I could not get as high.


----------



## Caich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's awesome
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Did you flash to the 3A BIOS that you have or did it come with the card?
> And are you using Afterburner 2.2.3?


I flashed to that bios and I am using afterburner 2.3.3


----------



## Kimir

Shame on Nvidia, tried the new 310.90 driver, read couple of posts saying it fixes the stuttering, still the same for me in 3Dmark11, less worst in BF3 but noticeable and the 306.97 was better, rolling back again.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Where i can download 2.3.3?

I found only 2.3.0.


----------



## Kimir

This is a typo, he probably meant 2.2.3.

BTW, yeah P20056!


----------



## Nighthawk7397

Username: Nighthawk7397
Max Core OC: I havent oc yet
Max Memory OC: Not yet

2013-01-07 18.02.20.jpg 1377k .jpg file


2013-01-07 18.01.52.jpg 130k .jpg file


2013-01-07 18.04.34.jpg 1380k .jpg file


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> I had someone suggest I try that, saying the power limit was _too high_ if it's at 300. But I didn't see any benefit from lowering it, and in fact it did make my overclock less stable and I could not get as high.


With 7970s I got better overclocks with less power limit (+20 unstable, +5 was fine at the same clocks), not sure if too much affects the 680s or not. I was using less than 300 to bench the card at 1600mhz + core though.


----------



## p3gaz_001

how do you ppl see this?

http://i.imgur.com/TT394.jpg


----------



## re5pect

Hi, help me please!!!!
I have 680 lightning under water and cant get it to go over 0.93mV in AB 2.23 ( have tried 2.3 as well)
I have tried F8 and A3 bios its beter on A3 as its doin something. with F8 didnt go over 1.212mV now it showing 1.283 max
My clocks +158 and + 600 temps are 41c max
What is wrong?


----------



## re5pect

Can you guys please tell me what switch position is ln2 bios and what standard?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> Hi, help me please!!!!
> I have 680 lightning under water and cant get it to go over 0.93mV in AB 2.23 ( have tried 2.3 as well)
> I have tried F8 and A3 bios its beter on A3 as its doin something. with F8 didnt go over 1.212mV now it showing 1.283 max
> My clocks +158 and + 600 temps are 41c max
> What is wrong?


This is read with a DMM or the Afterburner graph?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> Can you guys please tell me what switch position is ln2 bios and what standard?


When the card is in your computer and you're looking at it (GPU Reactor facing up), the LN2 BIOS is with the switch to the right, Default BIOS is to the left. Make sure the computer is completely powered down when moving the switch


----------



## FtW 420

Switch towards the bracket is normal, towards the power connectors is Ln2. Are you checking voltage with a multimeter? Software doesn't do to well for it, if it clocks higher it should be doing something.


----------



## re5pect

I HAWENT YET CHECKED VOLTS WITH MULTIMETER BUT i WILL. MY PROBLEM IS THAT ALL OF YOU GUYS CAN SLIDE ADJUSTER TO OVER 100mV AND I CAN ONLY GO YO 100 NAD IT JUMPING DOWN TO 93 ANY WAY.#


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> I HAWENT YET CHECKED VOLTS WITH MULTIMETER BUT i WILL. MY PROBLEM IS THAT ALL OF YOU GUYS CAN SLIDE ADJUSTER TO OVER 100mV AND I CAN ONLY GO YO 100 NAD IT JUMPING DOWN TO 93 ANY WAY.#


wow. caps. and grammar. and spelling.

its a memory hack. artmoney. always endless voltage increases.

and 93 is max afterburner will go. 100 reverts to 93.


----------



## p3gaz_001

update...

http://i.imgur.com/rzuQj.jpg


----------



## re5pect

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> wow. caps. and grammar. and spelling.
> its a memory hack. artmoney. always endless voltage increases.
> and 93 is max afterburner will go. 100 reverts to 93.


??? dont understand ???? sorry for caps, grammar and spellimg was after 6h of fighting with it


----------



## re5pect

its a memory hack. artmoney. always endless voltage increases ???
what thats means ?


----------



## driftingforlife

artmoney is a bit of software that captures MSI afterburn memory files and it allows you to change the value for voltage so you can go past 100.


----------



## p3gaz_001

http://i.imgur.com/4EqiE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DNQtd.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ubzT9.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/A6xma.jpg
[http://i.imgur.com/6mShJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/e21M3.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2fgOh.jpg



graphic card is on stock cooling.


----------



## Kimir

May I ask why are you using two sli bridge?








Great core clock boost you've got there, time to increase the memory one now


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> May I ask why are you using two sli bridge?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great core clock boost you've got there, time to increase the memory one now


there is not a reason for that, i prefer using two sli bridges instead of one

i'm working on memory clocks


----------



## CryptiK

Had to return my first lightning and had bought a second, got first cards RMA back today. Its a little better, 1280 everything stable @ 1.245-1.255v load, almost 1293 everything stable at this voltage, might do it on water. However it has freak mem. +908 everything stable at stock mem voltage.

Test in kombustor for quick ballpark. Starts to artifact at +950, fine at +925..........this is testing +908



So I tried gaming at +900 thinking it would crash. It didn't. Even turned fan to auto to heat it up and it was still stable:



So that's 1956 Mhz or 7824 MHz effective and 250 GB/s


----------



## re5pect

Can anyone help me with this artmoney software, any torturial to hack afterburner?


----------



## MightyUnit

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> Can anyone help me with this artmoney software, any torturial to hack afterburner?


I am sorry I cannot help yo with that except to say that a few hundred pages ago Artmoney was discussed and explained. Perhaps look at post #1665

I just wanted ask why it is that you want to exceed ~1.37v on your lightning? is your card WC'd?


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> Can anyone help me with this artmoney software, any torturial to hack afterburner?


you should read this thread if u wanna hack msi ab!

http://www.hwmaster.com/forum/thread-ufficiale-msi-n680gtx-lightning-t6446.html


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Had to return my first lightning and had bought a second, got first cards RMA back today. Its a little better, 1280 everything stable @ 1.245-1.255v load, almost 1293 everything stable at this voltage, might do it on water. However it has freak mem. +908 everything stable at stock mem voltage.
> 
> Test in kombustor for quick ballpark. Starts to artifact at +950, fine at +925..........this is testing +908
> 
> So I tried gaming at +900 thinking it would crash. It didn't. Even turned fan to auto to heat it up and it was still stable:
> 
> So that's 1956 Mhz or 7824 MHz effective and 250 GB/s


That's awesome. I can't make out much on this crappy work monitor, what do you set the memory voltage at for 7800mhz? +100mv, or are you using the hack?

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> Can anyone help me with this artmoney software, any torturial to hack afterburner?


Yeah it's pretty pointless for games unless you're water-cooled. Bench runs it's fine for to a point if you're on air, but not much past 1.37v.


----------



## re5pect

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MightyUnit*
> 
> I am sorry I cannot help yo with that except to say that a few hundred pages ago Artmoney was discussed and explained.
> I just wanted ask why it is that you want to exceed ~1.37v on your lightning? is your card WC'd?


Yes its under water and max i can increase my voltage now is 93mV just enough for stable 1356/7221


----------



## re5pect

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> Yes its under water and max i can increase my voltage now is 93mV just enough for stable 1356/7221


at temp 41 under gpu burn in for 1h


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> at temp 41 under gpu burn in for 1h


di you saw what i've posted for you?


----------



## re5pect

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> di you saw what i've posted for you?


I dont speak Spanish


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> di you saw what i've posted for you?
> 
> 
> 
> I dont speak Spanish
Click to expand...

Make sure your temps are staying at safe levels. And make sure you follow these instructions carefully.

-Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
-Open Afterburner 2.2.3
-Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
-Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
-Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
-Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
-Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
-Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
-Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
-Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
-Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltage sliders in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> I dont speak Spanish


so what? that's not even spanish but italian....
i know google traductor su**s but if you really need something you'll find a way to get it, sounds like then you don't need any help.

thanks for the advice anyway.


----------



## re5pect

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Make sure your temps are staying at safe levels. And make sure you follow these instructions carefully.
> -Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
> -Open Afterburner 2.2.3
> -Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
> -Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
> -Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
> -Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
> -Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
> -Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
> -Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
> -Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
> -Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
> BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltage sliders in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card


THANK YOU SOO MUCH IT IS oc TIME now!!! will post my score soon.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> THANK YOU SOO MUCH IT IS oc TIME now!!! will post my score soon.


Looking forward to the results









I wasn't going to bother posting the directions again, and then...you said you were watercooling







I'd love to put mine under water someday. But I know I'm going to cave once the 700-series comes out and get a 780 or two, and then there goes my money for another 6-8 months. Ah well.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> I dont speak Spanish


It's Italian, use google translate and paste the link in. Great site those guys really know their stuff.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's awesome. I can't make out much on this crappy work monitor, what do you set the memory voltage at for 7800mhz? +100mv, or are you using the hack?
> Yeah it's pretty pointless for games unless you're water-cooled. Bench runs it's fine for to a point if you're on air, but not much past 1.37v.


That's just it, stock voltage, no tricks. The mem/mem controller on this one is very strong, easily the best I've tested yet.

dph - your card running 1480 MHz is aircooled???? What voltage does that take and is it game stable or max bench? Have you happened to do an ASIC quality test with GPUz?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> dph - your card running 1480 MHz is aircooled???? What voltage does that take and is it game stable or max bench? Have you happened to do an ASIC quality test with GPUz?


That 1480mhz is a 3dMark11 run on the stock cooler, yes







Would _love_ to see what this card could do under water. Pic of the run is in my Benchmark photo album. Max temp of 70C







(3dMark11's short GPU tests + Buffalo winter). Had the voltage up to 1.42v for that run. I don't dare try that in games. Max clock I use in games is 1400mhz, for when SLI doesn't work as it should and I have to use one card. With +93mv on the core, I'm stable at ~1400mhz or a bit more in games.


----------



## sherlock

The Reactor & Backplate is .5 Slot width right? Could some Lightning owner with a large air cooler (D14/14PE) post a picture of their Rig? I got a 14PE and my 16X slot is the *2nd PCI slot* so I am wondering if I can fit a Lightning in without the reactor touching the Fan Clip.


----------



## FtW 420

I have a lightning in the z77 ud3h with a d14, there is enough room for the reactor & cover.


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I have a lightning in the z77 ud3h with a d14, there is enough room for the reactor & cover.


Thanks, getting my card tomorrow, ofc pics are coming.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sherlock*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I have a lightning in the z77 ud3h with a d14, there is enough room for the reactor & cover.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks, getting my card tomorrow, ofc pics are coming.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the green side









Don't forget to flash to the 3A and grab Afterburner 2.2.3, or config edit subsequent versions.


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Welcome to the green side
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Don't forget to flash to the 3A and grab Afterburner 2.2.3, or config edit subsequent versions.


Welcome *back* to the green side







(had a 670, switched to a 7950 when I got my 1440p, found out Vram was no issue/stutters, now coming back)

I downloaded AB 2.2.3, will flash to 3A and ramp up the OC sometime in the future but probably will stay stock for the first few weeks.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That 1480mhz is a 3dMark11 run on the stock cooler, yes
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Would _love_ to see what this card could do under water. Pic of the run is in my Benchmark photo album. Max temp of 70C
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (3dMark11's short GPU tests + Buffalo winter). Had the voltage up to 1.42v for that run. I don't dare try that in games. Max clock I use in games is 1400mhz, for when SLI doesn't work as it should and I have to use one card. With +93mv on the core, I'm stable at ~1400mhz or a bit more in games.


That's a gem of a card you have there nice find. Was it one of the first 5000? Do you know ASIC quality? (I'm just curious is all, each card I've tried had successively higher ASIC% and each card has clocked a little better than the last).

So, ~1400 game stable at 1.36-1.37v and 1480 bench stable @ 1.42v, pretty badass. What's it do on ~1.25v do you know?


----------



## Atrix

Hi Guys,

I'm french , Sorry for my Bad English









I have the same problem ( just i want overclock) ... When i want up , just 20mhz my core clock ( i try with my vcore +10, +50, +100 ) and i use kombustor , just 1 min after open gl error ....

In my countries nobody have this problem..









Thank u for your help !!









My Configuration :

I5 2500k : 4.2 ghz
Sli 680 lightning stock
Msi Mpower
Avexir Mpower 4x4go Cl9
Akasa Venom Power 1000w

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Jamesc*
> 
> Hello,
> I am trying to overclock my card but after a while im getting these opengl errors. This happens also when I play borderlands.
> i thought this was only a small overclock? Power Management mode is set to performance mode.


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Atrix*
> 
> Hi Guys,
> 
> I'm french , Sorry for my Bad English
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have the same problem ( just i want overclock) ... When i want up , just 20mhz my core clock ( i try with my vcore +10, +50, +100 ) and i use kombustor , just 1 min after open gl error ....
> 
> In my countries nobody have this problem..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank u for your help !!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My Configuration :
> 
> I5 2500k : 4.2 ghz
> Sli 680 lightning stock
> Msi Mpower
> Avexir Mpower 4x4go Cl9
> Akasa Venom Power 1000w
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Jamesc*
> 
> Hello,
> I am trying to overclock my card but after a while im getting these opengl errors. This happens also when I play borderlands.
> i thought this was only a small overclock? Power Management mode is set to performance mode.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I often had that msg and in my case my cards were running at stock speed. What drivers are you using?
Click to expand...


----------



## CryptiK

I can replicate that error but only way to do it is run a Kombustor stability test (not GPU burn in there's stability tests as well) with an unstable overclock. Have to tested each card individually? Chances are one is not stable. There could be a driver or power or other issue of course, but check each card on its own first.


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> I can replicate that error but only way to do it is run a Kombustor stability test (not GPU burn in there's stability tests as well) with an unstable overclock. Have to tested each card individually? Chances are one is not stable. There could be a driver or power or other issue of course, but check each card on its own first.


maybe it was my psu, since on power up was not able to spin my two dcc 1 plus, i've changed the psu two weeks ago ... i haven't got that problem anymore....


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That 1480mhz is a 3dMark11 run on the stock cooler, yes
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Would _love_ to see what this card could do under water. Pic of the run is in my Benchmark photo album. Max temp of 70C
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (3dMark11's short GPU tests + Buffalo winter). Had the voltage up to 1.42v for that run. I don't dare try that in games. Max clock I use in games is 1400mhz, for when SLI doesn't work as it should and I have to use one card. With +93mv on the core, I'm stable at ~1400mhz or a bit more in games.
> 
> 
> 
> That's a gem of a card you have there nice find. Was it one of the first 5000? Do you know ASIC quality? (I'm just curious is all, each card I've tried had successively higher ASIC% and each card has clocked a little better than the last).
> 
> So, ~1400 game stable at 1.36-1.37v and 1480 bench stable @ 1.42v, pretty badass. What's it do on ~1.25v do you know?
Click to expand...

Actually, no, not one of the first 5000. Had to flash the BIOS on this one like everyone else, so there's still hope out there









Sadly, this card did cost me more than $600, because I had to buy 3 cards to finally get this good one. I would sell the previous card as used on eBay though, truthfully answering any questions anyone had. So, someone gets a used card (used for a day







) in perfect shape for less than a new one, and I get most of my money back to try again. Win-win









This card does 1350mhz/6800mhz on the stock voltage. ASIC quality is 73%. Stable in every game at 1400/7000 while staying under 70C. I kept trying for this card out of spite, because I had one of the original 5000 that did 1372mhz/7000mhz on the stock voltage, before AB 2.2.3 was even released to the public. Man I'd kill for voltage control on that card, it was even better than the one I have now. But it stopped working before 2.2.3's release unfortunately. All I did was take the GPU Reactor off to fit it under my NH-D14. Did that and it wouldn't work. It didn't come into contact with the NH-D14 or anything like that, so, I have no idea what happened. But I was so disappointed that I had a golden chip slip away that I decided I wouldn't stop trying until I had another one.


----------



## CryptiK

Nice going, I;m on my 4th card







Each has been better than the last but this one only does ~1267/+925 on stock voltage. Game/everything stable at 1280/+900 at 1.25v load which is where it's going to stay I think unless when my block arrives the lower temps allow higher clocks. Your current and first card sound amazingly good you got lucky! Both times! Sad to hear the first one died, wonder if the caps discharged and damaged something when you removed the reactor board? You certainly can't complain about this one though, it well above average. I'm not trying again, I'll ;ove with this one until next gen and reassess at that point. I have 2 lightnings here so I could run SLI but I watercool and dislike fan noise so that makes SLI an expensive exercise that I don't really 'need' to undertake given the fact I only game on a 60Hz 30" WFP and have mostly >60 FPS in games with a single card.

What do you guys think about the 700 series and the 30-50+ % performance gain rumours?

edit - got my mem over +1000 or 4011MHz (8022 MHz effective). 256.8 GB/s. Not Calling this stable, just saying it can pass kombustor for a few mins at +10mv. Game stable at +900 at stock voltage, tested extensively yesterday.



Turned the CPU up to 4.4GHz, Core = 1359 MHz / Mem = +900

3DM11 = P11932

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5511085


----------



## ajresendez

Okay guys so my oc is +150 or 1300/+450 on the mem gets to about 72c at full load while gaming with my custom fan profile. Are those safe temps?

I'm thinking about takin of the cooler so I can reapply Tim and get the temps down a bit more also.


----------



## Nikola-Tesla

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> All I did was take the GPU Reactor off to fit it under my NH-D14. Did that and it wouldn't work. It didn't come into contact with the NH-D14 or anything like that, so, I have no idea what happened.


I had to remove gpu reactor cover due to all ram slots on RIVE occupied, and remove a second one because of pci-e sound card sandwiched between two 16x slots.
I left reactors untouched because your posts few months ago. For now they're both safely covered with thin antistatic piece of plastic just in case.


----------



## re5pect

Hi, I must have worst gtx680 Lightning ever!!!!! under water cant go over 189 core and 659 memory, what you guys recomend for mem voltage and AUX voltage?


----------



## FtW 420

Ln2 bios? +189 core should have you close to 1400Mhz core boosted, +659 on the memory is pretty good too (one of my cards can do that, other doesn't like mem that high).


----------



## Brenton

Hi,

Finally had time and downloaded afterburner 2.2.3. Did some quick benches on my sli lightnings:


----------



## jamonymo

hi i am new hear, i have just got my 680 lightning , can some one tell me even no in afterburner itb lets me bump up the voltage to +100 is it even doing anythink as it still reads at 1.175 in afterburner and gpu z,this is in the normal bios

also when you switch to ln2 bios do u have to do a fresh instal on drivers as they are not reconised even no they are instaled from when i was in normal bios mode


----------



## re5pect

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Ln2 bios? +189 core should have you close to 1400Mhz core boosted, +659 on the memory is pretty good too (one of my cards can do that, other doesn't like mem that high).


on water with 4,2V ????? I think its crap


----------



## snitchkilla11

what do you think someone would charge for a lightning that did 1450mhz ..on air??? just curious


----------



## ajresendez

Don't know you got one?


----------



## snitchkilla11

ya one..the other is a pinch slower..a friend also has a good chip and he want to sell it..he asked me what he could sell his for and i figured i would ask what yall would pay for one?


----------



## sherlock

Just got my card & installed,count me in.




Currently running stock 1189/6000, 306.79(read that 310 WHQL is troublesome right now), AB 2.2.3 & stock Bios(will flash LN2 and OC soon)

Mark11 Run with stock Lightning, stock i7-3770K, 2X 4G Samsung ULV at 2133 10-10-10-28 1T 1.5V


Heaven with stock Lightning



So far this card is excellent, the only issue I have is that MSI's UPC sticker on the box is impossible to peal off in one piece thus I'll have to give up on my $20 MIR unless I scissor the box apart.


----------



## bahadirkazan

Hi friends.







I need 3A bios with no voltage limit. I have 3A bios on first page but its already have voltage limit.







If anyone have perfect 3A bios please send me..


----------



## driftingforlife

The one on the front page is the unlocked one. Its afterburn that is the limit.


----------



## Olafthewimpy

Had this card for a while, nabbed a 12000+ score with this clock so I'm feeling good









I'll edit post later with a real validation screenshot, just achieved this this morning with new CPU.


----------



## Lukas026

Hey there again

so I finally got my Lightning baby home with all other components and I started a little bit OC'ing









flashed 3A, installed AB 2.2.3 and began

atm i found max stable core clock at +155 with +93mv and power limit at 300 %

now i will move to memory. any ideas which programs should I use for testing memory OC ?

for core I found maxxed Unigine Heaven 3.0 is pretty good...

btw I let it run during night so I am sure +155 is stable for more than 6 hours of UH 3.O

thanks for help


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bahadirkazan*
> 
> Hi friends.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I need 3A bios with no voltage limit. I have 3A bios on first page but its already have voltage limit.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If anyone have perfect 3A bios please send me..


Get Afterburner 2.2.3, it is the one that give you unlocked voltage.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sherlock*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *bahadirkazan*
> 
> Hi friends.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I need 3A bios with no voltage limit. I have 3A bios on first page but its already have voltage limit.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If anyone have perfect 3A bios please send me..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Get Afterburner 2.2.3, it is the one that give you unlocked voltage.
Click to expand...

Yep, 2.2.3 for over-volting. Later versions need to be edited to allow voltage control. It only takes a sec to copy/paste the edit though if you don't want to use 2.2.3.


----------



## gpvecchi

Hallo guys, finally I fitted my Lightning!
Just some infos, please...
My LN2 bios is the latest unlocked one, so it's OK...
I could update non-LN2 bios with latest version, does it worth?
As I use latest Afterburner I should copy the strings in first post to unlock overvoltage as in 2.2.3 version, right?
Thank you very much from a noob...


----------



## bahadirkazan

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yep, 2.2.3 for over-volting. Later versions need to be edited to allow voltage control. It only takes a sec to copy/paste the edit though if you don't want to use 2.2.3.


I'm using 3A bios on LN2 and using AB 2.2.3 but he gives me max. 1.310V, not higher..


----------



## Lukas026

guys realy need an advice on the memory overclocking:

it seems like I can push at +860 on memory without crash but for example in unigine heaven it runs great for about 5 min and than out of nowhere my power usage drops from 90 % to 70 %, GPU temps and usage also drops and FPS goes down. what does that mean ? that the self error checking on ddr5 come up ? or anything else ? also what do you recommend for memory overclocking ?

I can't find any useful thread









also what do you think about testing stabilty with msi kombustor ? I mean is it any good for core oc or mem oc ?

thank you and I hope I will get some answers

PS: I am pretty sure my top core clock is +155. now i need to find memory sweet spot. how the hell should I do that : I realy dont like starring on monitor looking for one bad texture or pixel


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bahadirkazan*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yep, 2.2.3 for over-volting. Later versions need to be edited to allow voltage control. It only takes a sec to copy/paste the edit though if you don't want to use 2.2.3.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm using 3A bios on LN2 and using AB 2.2.3 but he gives me max. 1.310V, not higher..
Click to expand...

That is 1.36v. Afterburner reads voltage inaccurately, but if yours is anything like mine, it consistently shows 50mv less than what it's actually at. So if Afterburner is showing you 1.31v, it's really 1.36v









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lukas026*
> 
> guys realy need an advice on the memory overclocking:
> 
> it seems like I can push at +860 on memory without crash but for example in unigine heaven it runs great for about 5 min and than out of nowhere my power usage drops from 90 % to 70 %, GPU temps and usage also drops and FPS goes down. what does that mean ? that the self error checking on ddr5 come up ? or anything else ? also what do you recommend for memory overclocking ?
> 
> I can't find any useful thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> also what do you think about testing stabilty with msi kombustor ? I mean is it any good for core oc or mem oc ?
> 
> thank you and I hope I will get some answers
> 
> PS: I am pretty sure my top core clock is +155. now i need to find memory sweet spot. how the hell should I do that : I realy dont like starring on monitor looking for one bad texture or pixel


That kind of sounds like the ECC is kicking in. Clock the memory too high and error correction kicks in and throttles it. It won't crash, you'll just get less performance, which sounds like exactly what is happening to you.

I'm just guessing, I don't even know if the LN2 BIOS has ECC or not. But it sure sounds like that's what's happening. Just give the memory voltage a little boost and see if that helps. If not, then you just have to lower the overclock.

Testing with Kombuster is great for testing temperatures, because Kombuster will get your card hotter than any game will. But for actual stability I prefer testing with the actual games I'll be using the overclock with


----------



## Lukas026

thanks for info

bad thing is I am looking for the sweet spot and its rather hard to find on memory. sometimes it happens after 5 min in heaven, sometimes after 20. also it seems it didnt do anything in far cry 3. if mem is +865 far cry crash. if +860 it runs and I can't be sure if texture flicker is mem artefact or ingame issue from ubisoft.

atm I am try memtestG80 and memtestCL from [email protected] utility site. anyone have exp with it ?

seems like memtest80 can max use 1278mb and also "some" module 20 is giving me errors. any info ?

and with memtestCL it can use up to 1908mb (runnning it atm with 800mhz mem so i am waiting for results)

thanks


----------



## SoDaR2013

Hello everyone! I just stumbled across this quality thread earlier on and I figured I would post my MSI 680 Lightning adventure here. Just nabbed one of these cards this week and followed the OP instructions to unlock it etc. Managed to get it stable at 1350MHz/7008MHz which I am very pleased with. Just one minor niggle, I seem to get a little bit of judder (or slight FPS drops) in 3DMark11, it seems to be a bit random but it can affect the overall score a little bit. Anyone have any idea what this could be and how to remedy it? I'm thinking I need a fresh re-install of the OS because if I run 3DM11 the moment I boot up the juddering is none existent but if I run it later on (20-30min) it comes back again. It's a weird one, I'm hoping it's just a program making it have a mare from time to time because Heaven and all my games seem to be completely free of this.

Anyways, here is my screenshot:



Loving these 680 Lightning cards!


----------



## gpvecchi

There's something wrong...
80.04.28.00.3A LN2 bios with AB 2.3.0 modded with 1st page string.
I may just raise up to 1.089V & I don't have the Power limiter slider; I tried with 2.2.3 and that's the same...
I checked my bios backup with the one you provided and there are difference...
Any help, please?


----------



## kosch

Hi

I have tried searching this thread but its rather massive and difficult to get the result I want.

Has anyone else gone from a 580 GTX Lightning 1.5GB to a 680 Lightning 2GB and noticed any difference in performance?

I've been trying to find comparisons and reviews for this but havent dug up anything yet.


----------



## SoDaR2013

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kosch*
> 
> Has anyone else gone from a 580 GTX Lightning 1.5GB to a 680 Lightning 2GB and noticed any difference in performance?


I'm not sure if this helps but a work colleague recently went from his MSI 580 Lightning to a GTX 670. He has overclocked the 670 to 1137MHz Boost. He seems to be very happy and enjoying the performance over the 580 he had. He also did OC the 580 quite a bit with the LN2 BIOS. His CPU is a 2500k.


----------



## gpvecchi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> There's something wrong...
> 80.04.28.00.3A LN2 bios with AB 2.3.0 modded with 1st page string.
> I may just raise up to 1.089V & I don't have the Power limiter slider; I tried with 2.2.3 and that's the same...
> I checked my bios backup with the one you provided and there are difference...
> Any help, please?


Ok, I found the problem with Poweer Limiter slider, it was an old skin...
Now, why I can't get over 133%? It seems that I'm still locked...


----------



## jamonymo

yes i have just upgraded 580 lightning for the 680 lightning and yes there is about a 10 to 20 fps increase in performance and the new twin frozer cooler 5 is less noisy nand the new gpu seems cooler as well also the memery overclocks very well , also pcb back plate was a great feature


----------



## jamonymo

hi i am new here


----------



## jamonymo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> Ok, I found the problem with Poweer Limiter slider, it was an old skin...
> Now, why I can't get over 133%? It seems that I'm still locked...


go into afterburner settings its there to get it back on the main bit u need to go into the skins againj there are too big sking one with the power setting inside afterurner and one that puts it out side with your core clock slider


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> Ok, I found the problem with Poweer Limiter slider, it was an old skin...
> Now, why I can't get over 133%? It seems that I'm still locked...


If modding 2.3 don't work just use AB 2.2.3.


----------



## gpvecchi

Thanks, I found the problem...
My stock bios was 3A, but it was locked! I flashed the one in first page and it worked!
Now, wich one is the latest unlocked non-LN2?
Thank you!


----------



## SoDaR2013

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> Thanks, I found the problem...
> My stock bios was 3A, but it was locked! I flashed the one in first page and it worked!
> Now, wich one is the latest unlocked non-LN2?
> Thank you!


http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/127308/MSI.GTX680.2048.120608.html

Think this is the unlocked non-LN2 BIOS your looking for. If it isn't (pretty sure it is though) then there is another one with the same version (80.04.09.00.F7) in the database to try. Hope that helps.


----------



## jamonymo

just got afterburner 2.2.3 and the voltage change works yes , this is on non ln2 bios
on afterburner 2.3.0 i could only get +60 on the core i mmessed about for days and al i needed to do was use v 2.2.3 thank good i can change volt

i will see what my card can fully do tomoro

also my ln2 bios were the same as the unlocked one 3a but the voltage would not change i am guessing now i am using afterburner 2.2.3 it will change as the non ln2 bios can change it was all crappy afterburner 2.3.0


----------



## Olafthewimpy

Latest 3DMark. Currently still the highest for my hardware combo. Go me


----------



## Lukas026

hey guys

i realy need some help with my post about page ago...so bump .)

what program / setting to use for finding memory sweet spot ?

ty


----------



## TheAssassin

Anybody know how the 580 Lightning Xtreme stacks up to the 680L? It seems as if the 580 would last a lot longer due to it having 3 gigs and a 384-but mem bus.


----------



## gpvecchi

Thanks!
I'd suggest to correct in first page that 80.04.28.00.3A LN2 bios could be locked or unlocked....


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Olafthewimpy*
> 
> Latest 3DMark. Currently still the highest for my hardware combo. Go me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/1224265/width/500/height/1000


Awesome well done. What card did you have before the 680?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lukas026*
> 
> hey guys
> 
> i realy need some help with my post about page ago...so bump .)
> 
> what program / setting to use for finding memory sweet spot ?
> 
> ty


I use a few. Kombustor to find absolute max, so bump it up +50 at a time until it starts to artifact (might lock then crash to desktop if you go too far). So I find the max it will pass kombustor at. I drop that by 25-50 or so then jump in BF3. Game awhile, if no issues jump in BF2. It's weird both seem to use different engines and BF2 artifacts with huge unmissable polygons whereas BF3 seems to flicker and lose definition in textures and shadow/smoke. Farcry is also apparently good. A couple of heaven runs and if it will do hours of all that no problems, I call it stable.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Anybody know how the 580 Lightning Xtreme stacks up to the 680L? It seems as if the 580 would last a lot longer due to it having 3 gigs and a 384-but mem bus.


Hard call, the 680 will be able to give you FPS that the 580 can't but the 580 if not too out of it's depth processing wise will be able to handle more screen real estate or more aggressive AA settings.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> Thanks!
> I'd suggest to correct in first page that 80.04.28.00.3A LN2 bios could be locked or unlocked....


Yep, 3A has 2 flavours locked and unlocked. The one from the front page is unlocked.


----------



## jamonymo

still have not oc my cpu as i will wait untill my new heatsink comes

also my card does this easy i wonder how far the core will go


----------



## gotendbz1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jamonymo*
> 
> still have not oc my cpu as i will wait untill my new heatsink comes
> 
> also my card does this easy i wonder how far the core will go


go moar or go home.


----------



## jamonymo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gotendbz1*
> 
> go moar or go home.


blow me if you are desperate for more, only joking


----------



## jamonymo

cant oc my cpu yet i will keep updating higher clock though out the day


----------



## jamonymo

geting higher slowly


----------



## jamonymo

i was runing fraps in my beches will that decrease my score


----------



## dph314

It definitely doesn't help. You want as few programs running in the background as possible.

I still don't see that voltage slider all the way up...


----------



## gotendbz1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jamonymo*
> 
> geting higher slowly


Throw the voltage slider to 100 and put core to +150 and see if u stable. You should be good at those clocks.


----------



## jamonymo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gotendbz1*
> 
> Throw the voltage slider to 100 and put core to +150 and see if u stable. You should be good at those clocks.


will do soon it wont damage it that high will it


----------



## jamonymo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gotendbz1*
> 
> Throw the voltage slider to 100 and put core to +150 and see if u stable. You should be good at those clocks.


also when i get my better heatsink and oc my i7 3770k cpu to 4.6 gz how much will my 3dmark 11 score jump


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jamonymo*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *gotendbz1*
> 
> Throw the voltage slider to 100 and put core to +150 and see if u stable. You should be good at those clocks.
> 
> 
> 
> will do soon it wont damage it that high will it
Click to expand...

Definitely not. Just make sure temps stay in the 70C's and you'll be fine


----------



## Bone Enterprise

Hello all, registered just to give my experience on what I went through last night when flashing the BIOS(s) listed in the OP in case anyone else goes through the scenario I did.

I got my first GTX Lightning about three months ago (which was a non-LN2 based card going by the BIOS revisions here,) and have constantly had problems with driver crashes while in the middle of games yadda, yadda etc, etc. so I RMA'd the card which took about a month for it to return.

This Tuesday the card came back in, so I returned to this thread to find out that I had received a locked LN2 card this time around, EXCELLENT!

My cards original BIOS was *80.04.47.00.19*, so I followed the instructions to the 'T' and got ready to flash the *80.04.09.00.F8* BIOS as that was the one referenced to use by reading the directions listed, backed up my original BIOS, flashed the *80.04.09.00.F8* and then rebooted.

My windows splash screen was riddled with artifacts all over the place (the look you would get if a capacitor had failed or was beginning to fail on a card,) windows loaded and it got worse as it began its auto install drivers since it detected a hardware change, since I was able to somewhat see by moving my mouse around to refresh the screen enough to make out icons, I performed a full clean install of drivers before I restarted do to the "re-"installation" of the video card drivers.

Upon reboot, I was met with the same artifact ridden windows splash screen, but this time was taken to a 16 color 640x480 resolution desktop that could not be changed to anything higher, and even more artifacts than before as the system settled, I managed to return to here and re-download the *80.04.09.00.F8* BIOS thinking I may have a corrupt download, flashed it again and rebooted, and the same issue occurred. I then returned to this site once more, downloaded the *80.04.28.00.3A* BIOS, flashed it and rebooted, and all my problems went away miraculously and so far have not had any issues with artifacts at this time.

So if you come here and flash the *80.04.09.00.F8* BIOS and get crazy amounts of artifacts when booting, flash the *80.04.28.00.3A* BIOS instead and all issues should go away, I know I defiantly had a pucked butt when that was the first thing I saw after flashing the "new" BIOS to my freshly RMA'd card.

*TL;DR*: Was originally running *80.04.47.00.19* BIOS, flashed *80.04.09.00.F8* BIOS card arctifacted like it was failing after first reboot, flashed the *80.04.28.00.3A* BIOS and it fixed the issue.

Now its time to start tweaking my over clock settings when I get home from work this evening.


----------



## dph314

Yep, lot of people have been having problems with the F8. Maybe I'll PM Michael when I get a chance and ask him if he could edit the OP when he has a sec. F8 has been nothing but problems on the newer cards.

Thanks for the info though, and welcome to the thread/site


----------



## jamonymo

crashed with +150 i turned the mem to +0 will work up the mem next


----------



## Bedo

I think this is the best I can do


----------



## jamonymo

sorry hear is gpu-z showing max clocks as in other post it did not


----------



## Olafthewimpy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Awesome well done. What card did you have before the 680?


hehe.

A GTX 550ti.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Hey,

I have a question.

My lightning idle temp with 30% fann speed are:
GPU: 24C
Memory: 36C
VRM: 37C

But when i go 100% fann speed idle, it stay in the same temp.


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Hey,
> 
> I have a question.
> 
> My lightning idle temp with 30% fann speed are:
> GPU: 24C
> Memory: 36C
> VRM: 37C
> 
> But when i go 100% fann speed idle, it stay in the same temp.


The the lowest you can go with you ambient temperature.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> The the lowest you can go with you ambient temperature.


But here is 22C. Maybe is the ambient temperature of my case?


----------



## driftingforlife

You can't get the exact ambient, its always a few degrees difference.


----------



## jamonymo

stock clock with LucidLogix Virtu MVP amazing


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jamonymo*
> 
> stock clock with LucidLogix Virtu MVP amazing


13.6k at stock clocks, holy hell.

So is the performance in games increased a ton as well? I heard that it sometimes messes up gaming performance.

What system do you have? Can you fill in your Rig Builder?


----------



## jamonymo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 13.6k at stock clocks, holy hell.
> 
> So is the performance in games increased a ton as well? I heard that it sometimes messes up gaming performance.
> 
> What system do you have? Can you fill in your Rig Builder?


i will fil my specs of my new build in 10 mins just eating , look what it does to Heaven Benchmark

just istaled it i heard it improves some game by a tiny bit but its bugy and can decrease some games fps ,have not tried it in games my selfe


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jamonymo*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 13.6k at stock clocks, holy hell.
> 
> So is the performance in games increased a ton as well? I heard that it sometimes messes up gaming performance.
> 
> What system do you have? Can you fill in your Rig Builder?
> 
> 
> 
> i will fil my specs of my new build in 10 mins just eating , look what it does to Heaven Benchmark
> 
> just istaled it i heard it improves some game by a tiny bit but its bugy and can decrease some games fps ,have not tried it in games my selfe
Click to expand...

Nice. Get in the Heaven threads!
http://www.overclock.net/t/1258815/rock-heaven-your-hardest-all-kepler-users
http://www.overclock.net/t/1235557/official-top-30-heaven-benchmark-3-0-scores


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jamonymo*
> 
> stock clock with LucidLogix Virtu MVP amazing


Lucid Virtu MVP benchmark is cheat.










Disable lucid and do again.


----------



## jamonymo

i am not cheating if u can read look at my othrt bench post u will no its a test , its not cheating i can test it out if i want to who r u god dont bother comenting on any other of my posts unless u dont call me **** cheat


----------



## jamonymo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Nice. Get in the Heaven threads!
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1258815/rock-heaven-your-hardest-all-kepler-users
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1235557/official-top-30-heaven-benchmark-3-0-scores


i have filed in my rig now


----------



## Olafthewimpy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jamonymo*
> 
> i am not cheating if u can read look at my othrt bench post u will no its a test , its not cheating i can test it out if i want to who r u god dont bother comenting on any other of my posts unless u dont call me **** cheat


lucid virtu is a cheat lol. Bench at stock without it enabled.


----------



## dph314

Rock-solid in Hitman at 1424mhz/7000mhz @ +106mv with a max temp of 63C







I love this card (drops are from dying, and at the end, quitting)


But has anyone noticed that, not sure if it's the new drivers or what, but you have to do a reset before the game that crashed will work again? I been at stock clocks since FC3 came out, because I just used SLI with stock clocks for that game and didn't play anything besides it up until a couple days ago. But I have to use one card for Hitman and AC3 that I just started, and when I crash from an OC, I can't open the game again until I do a reset. Is that how it is with the new drivers now or something?


----------



## FtW 420

Lol, lucid enabled would be a cheat in the 'official' score threads, futuremark & hwbot but not really cheating just to post a score to show what it does. Might be an idea to post a lucid disabled score with it to compare the 2 & for other guys to compare their scores to.


----------



## snitchkilla11

its not cheating if you are saying its your score with lucid...its not like you were hideing it...all good bro..but thats crazy how your score went up that high..i never tried myself..but def going to check in game performance.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Lol, lucid enabled would be a cheat in the 'official' score threads, futuremark & hwbot but not really cheating just to post a score to show what it does. Might be an idea to post a lucid disabled score with it to compare the 2 & for other guys to compare their scores to.


Yeah I forgot to say, your scores won't exactly be added to the Top 30









Just to post and compare though, would be interesting to see the improvement it makes against some of the high rollers there. But yes, don't pass it off as official submission in the Heaven thread.


----------



## jamonymo

yes i will do a side by side score lvmpv enabled and diabled tomoro , there is a lot of earlier post with out it in my benchmark reults u can tell it gives them a healthy boost , i just instaled it on my last posts just to see what it can do , i think it is not worth using in games

look sorry 4 being rude but people slaging me of for cheating when i clearly said it was enabled in the test, i also said i hve posted legit benchmarks with out it on the pages before

i no i am new hear and dont want a ban so i will try no to use bad words on hear ,

peace love and oc


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jamonymo*
> 
> yes i will do a side by side score lvmpv enabled and diabled tomoro , there is a lot of earlier post with out it in my benchmark reults u can tell it gives them a healthy boost , i just instaled it on my last posts just to see what it can do , i think it is not worth using in games
> 
> look sorry 4 being rude but people slaging me of for cheating when i clearly said it was enabled in the test, i also said i hve posted legit benchmarks with out it on the pages before
> 
> i no i am new hear and dont want a ban so i will try no to use bad words on hear ,
> 
> peace love and oc


I don't think they were actually _accusing_ you of cheating. They were simply making a statement that it's cheating as far as the unspoken rules of competition here goes. There's a difference









But don't worry. I think it was just a simple misunderstanding. Everyone saw you post you were using it, so no worries


----------



## gotendbz1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I don't think they were actually _accusing_ you of cheating. They were simply making a statement that it's cheating as far as the unspoken rules of competition here goes. There's a difference
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But don't worry. I think it was just a simple misunderstanding. Everyone saw you post you were using it, so no worries


if you ain't cheating you aint trying bro.


----------



## jamonymo

has any one heard any think about the gtx 780 release dates , will it be in march ?


----------



## CryptiK

I would say August at CEBIT, W1zzard from TPU stated that was when we'd likely see it and he doesn't usually 'speculate'.


----------



## Olafthewimpy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yep, lot of people have been having problems with the F8. Maybe I'll PM Michael when I get a chance and ask him if he could edit the OP when he has a sec. F8 has been nothing but problems on the newer cards.
> 
> Thanks for the info though, and welcome to the thread/site


Here's something interesting:

I have been running the F8 LN2 BIOS for months with no issue, achieved my score earlier in this thread with it actually. I completely reassembled my computer today, put the car back in, and immediately started having AWFUL issues. First my computer would not recognize a VGA adapter, giving me the LONG SHORT SHORT ami POST beeps, then when that was remedied Windows did not recognize the card, when that was remedied, Afterburner did not have my clocks, after I reset my max overclocks, 3DMark artifacted instantly and crashed hard.

Maybe I should try the 3A


----------



## CryptiK

The F8 LN2 bios and F7 non LN2 bios both cause my card to artifact like a mofo even at POST and the windows loading screen. 3A has been solid and although my card came with the 18 non LN2 bios I've modded and have been using the 39 non LN2 bios and it's good.


----------



## Olafthewimpy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> The F8 LN2 bios and F7 non LN2 bios both cause my card to artifact like a mofo even at POST and the windows loading screen. 3A has been solid and although my card came with the 18 non LN2 bios I've modded and have been using the 39 non LN2 bios and it's good.


See, what I found that was strange with mine is that it came with a BIOS that registered in afterburner as LN2, but even with 2.2.3 it was locked. First I flashed F8 and had it for the longest time there, but as soon as I reassembled the computer, F8 totally wigged out. Just flashed 3A and retweaked everything, looks stable at my previous clocks so yay.


----------



## KEL888

As anyone fit 2 GTX680 lightnings in a CM scout 2 ?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Olafthewimpy*
> 
> See, what I found that was strange with mine is that it came with a BIOS that registered in afterburner as LN2, but even with 2.2.3 it was locked. First I flashed F8 and had it for the longest time there, but as soon as I reassembled the computer, F8 totally wigged out. Just flashed 3A and retweaked everything, looks stable at my previous clocks so yay.


3A comes on some newer cards, but it's locked. They have to be flashed to the one from the OP, like you did









Yeah very few people have the F8 without problems. I had a card that F8 came on (it was one of the older ones), but I flashed it to the 3A just because my 2nd card needed to be flashed, so while I was at it I just went with 3A on both of them.

I don't think .39 is that bad. I had it for a while as my non-LN2. But I recently switched to F7 and have been fine.

But, my question from the other page, did anyone notice they have to restart the computer now before they can play a game that crashed? I haven't overclocked in a while, since before the .54's I believe. And now with .90 I crash from an overclock on the 3A, and I don't have to do a hard reset or anything, but the game won't open again afterwards until I restart the computer. When did this start?


----------



## jamonymo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 3A comes on some newer cards, but it's locked. They have to be flashed to the one from the OP, like you did
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah very few people have the F8 without problems. I had a card that F8 came on (it was one of the older ones), but I flashed it to the 3A just because my 2nd card needed to be flashed, so while I was at it I just went with 3A on both of them.
> 
> I don't think .39 is that bad. I had it for a while as my non-LN2. But I recently switched to F7 and have been fine.
> 
> But, my question from the other page, did anyone notice they have to restart the computer now before they can play a game that crashed? I haven't overclocked in a while, since before the .54's I believe. And now with .90 I crash from an overclock on the 3A, and I don't have to do a hard reset or anything, but the game won't open again afterwards until I restart the computer. When did this start?


mine just came with 3a dont no if it was locked , but my normal bios are unlocked with ab 2.2.3


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 3A comes on some newer cards, but it's locked. They have to be flashed to the one from the OP, like you did
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah very few people have the F8 without problems. I had a card that F8 came on (it was one of the older ones), but I flashed it to the 3A just because my 2nd card needed to be flashed, so while I was at it I just went with 3A on both of them.
> 
> I don't think .39 is that bad. I had it for a while as my non-LN2. But I recently switched to F7 and have been fine.
> 
> But, my question from the other page, did anyone notice they have to restart the computer now before they can play a game that crashed? I haven't overclocked in a while, since before the .54's I believe. And now with .90 I crash from an overclock on the 3A, and I don't have to do a hard reset or anything, but the game won't open again afterwards until I restart the computer. When did this start?


There has been mention of a Windows update last week causing issues with Nvidia's drivers, I think mostly browsers locking up but it could be a update or new driver, or a combination of the 2, Nvidia is supposedly working on that issue with Microsoft, I don't know if that is your issue or not. I have had issues overclocking my Lighting's with all the 310 drivers, can't overclock as high and the clocks and volts will fluctuate or throttle even though the temps are below 45c.


----------



## Phishy714

I have a quick problem..

Got a new 680 lightning recently which works fine in the normal bios. However, the LN2 bios is not working at all or corrupted or something. Basically, the system boots up fine when I have it set to normal bios, but when I flip the switch to the LN2 bios, I get an Error Code 62 (Installation of the PCH Runtime Services) on my Asus Maximus V Formula and doesn't boot at all - just hangs and doesn't post. This ONLY happens when I set this particular card to the LN2 bios and try to boot.

Therefore, I think its probably corrupted and was looking to flash the unlocked LN2 bios on it. However, since the computer doesn't POST or anything, I can't access the motherboard bios or boot from USB or anything. I haven't tried putting the card in a second slot, with another gpu in the first slot, but how do I flash bios on the secondary GPU if that happens to work?

If the system is not able to boot up at all if that card is plugged in anywhere and set to LN2 bios, then my only option of unlocking this one is to flash the normal bios to the LN2 unlocked one. Is there anything wrong or anything different between the two settings that would keep me from successfully using an unlocked LN2 bios in place of the normal one?

ThankS!


----------



## CryptiK

Easy, boot up with the normal working BIOS. When you're in windows, flick the switch over to the LN2 BIOS and using the windows version of nvflash, flash the known good 3A onto it.

I have done this with mine, it wont kill the card, works fine.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Easy, boot up with the normal working BIOS. When you're in windows, flick the switch over to the LN2 BIOS and using the windows version of nvflash, flash the known good 3A onto it.
> 
> I have done this with mine, it wont kill the card, works fine.


So you can flip that switch while in Windows and it works? It registers in GPU-Z and stuff like that that it's on that BIOS instead of the one it booted up on? Interesting







Anyone else ever tried this?

I was just going to say, to Phishy, to use another card to boot from and put the Lightning in the second slot. All you have to do is add a '-1' to the line in the OP that flashes the card. It would look like this- nvflash -1 -4 -5 -6 RomName.rom (first slot is Card 0 and second is Card 1). So...you could do that, or if you don't have another card to boot from, just flash the 3A BIOS to that side of the switch, if you're really anxious to use it, and just stick with one BIOS until you can get another card to boot with.


----------



## Phishy714

Thanks for the help guys.

I was able to get another card to boot from and flash the lightning's bios. It then booted up just fine on that flashed bios.

The interesting part is that according to Nvflash, there was no bios at all on that second slot.. and there were a few other values that seemed weird.

However, this card was boosting up to 1304 from stock on the normal bios.. so I am eager to see how far I can push it. Its also good to know that you are able to flip the switch while in windows. I have always read and heard that's a one way trip to a bricked card - but I guess its one of those things that no one has ever actually confirmed it cause they were scared to try it lol.

Thanks again guys!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> Thanks for the help guys.
> 
> I was able to get another card to boot from and flash the lightning's bios. It then booted up just fine on that flashed bios.
> 
> The interesting part is that according to Nvflash, there was no bios at all on that second slot.. and there were a few other values that seemed weird.
> 
> However, this card was boosting up to 1304 from stock on the normal bios.. so I am eager to see how far I can push it. Its also good to know that you are able to flip the switch while in windows. I have always read and heard that's a one way trip to a bricked card - but I guess its one of those things that no one has ever actually confirmed it cause they were scared to try it lol.
> 
> Thanks again guys!


First boost I've seen over 1300mhz. Damn. Overclock that bad boy on the 3A. Don't even bother starting out slow. Just throw the voltage slider all the way up to +93mv, set the core at +220mhz, and let it ride








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> There has been mention of a Windows update last week causing issues with Nvidia's drivers, I think mostly browsers locking up but it could be a update or new driver, or a combination of the 2, Nvidia is supposedly working on that issue with Microsoft, I don't know if that is your issue or not. I have had issues overclocking my Lighting's with all the 310 drivers, can't overclock as high and the clocks and volts will fluctuate or throttle even though the temps are below 45c.


I think I may be suffering from something related to that issue. Could be the website, I don't know, but when I click on a thread on the home page that I've been to before, it jumps to random parts of the thread instead of the beginning or the first unread post like it always did. Or clicking on Unread Posts brings me to my last post in the thread even though I've read many posts after it. So, don't know if it's OCN or the browser bug. Clearing the browsing data seems to temporarily solve the issue though.


----------



## Phishy714

Holy mother...

Just did a few runs on Heaven Benchmark.. Started at +150 and it did it with no problems.
Did +200 and passed 3 runs through it..
Did +250 and passed 3 runs.
+275 passed 2 passes and crashed on the third.

Holy crap might have a golden chip on my hands. Almost 1475 mhz boost. But, there is no point to run it that high 24/7 so I'll back off a bit hehe.


----------



## ajresendez

Wow very nice. What are your temps like?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> Holy mother...
> 
> Just did a few runs on Heaven Benchmark.. Started at +150 and it did it with no problems.
> Did +200 and passed 3 runs through it..
> Did +250 and passed 3 runs.
> +275 passed 2 passes and crashed on the third.
> 
> Holy crap might have a golden chip on my hands. Almost 1475 mhz boost. But, there is no point to run it that high 24/7 so I'll back off a bit hehe.


Nice card indeed. This was with the +93mv I would assume?

You got a golden chip alright. What was the clock at for +250mhz? I can pass 3dMark11 with the +93mv limit at 1430mhz, Heaven is always a few mhz lower for me. But yeah, sounds like your card is a bit better than mine. Keep the fan at 100% too don't forget









How's the memory? Equally awesome?


----------



## jamonymo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> Holy mother...
> 
> Just did a few runs on Heaven Benchmark.. Started at +150 and it did it with no problems.
> Did +200 and passed 3 runs through it..
> Did +250 and passed 3 runs.
> +275 passed 2 passes and crashed on the third.
> 
> Holy crap might have a golden chip on my hands. Almost 1475 mhz boost. But, there is no point to run it that high 24/7 so I'll back off a bit hehe.


can you pleas take some screen shots of your clocks , screen shot gpu-z afterburner and your benchmark results please so we can al have fun looking at them thanks


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> So you can flip that switch while in Windows and it works? It registers in GPU-Z and stuff like that that it's on that BIOS instead of the one it booted up on? Interesting
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone else ever tried this?
> 
> I was just going to say, to Phishy, to use another card to boot from and put the Lightning in the second slot. All you have to do is add a '-1' to the line in the OP that flashes the card. It would look like this- nvflash -1 -4 -5 -6 RomName.rom (first slot is Card 0 and second is Card 1). So...you could do that, or if you don't have another card to boot from, just flash the 3A BIOS to that side of the switch, if you're really anxious to use it, and just stick with one BIOS until you can get another card to boot with.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> Thanks for the help guys.
> 
> I was able to get another card to boot from and flash the lightning's bios. It then booted up just fine on that flashed bios.
> 
> The interesting part is that according to Nvflash, there was no bios at all on that second slot.. and there were a few other values that seemed weird.
> 
> However, this card was boosting up to 1304 from stock on the normal bios.. so I am eager to see how far I can push it. Its also good to know that you are able to flip the switch while in windows. I have always read and heard that's a one way trip to a bricked card - but I guess its one of those things that no one has ever actually confirmed it cause they were scared to try it lol.
> 
> Thanks again guys!


Interesting, my first card was not a first 5000 card but had the unlocked F8 bios flashed onto the LN2 bios. It artifacted lots though even loading windows, I thought my card was bricked. Flashed the 3A over it and it was fine.

So without adjusting anything in afterburner it was boosting 1304 on its own stock?

Yeah, people had said power right off to do it. I thought BIOS is really only usually read during boot or P state transitions, let it idle and flicked the switch over and flashed the other BIOS, flicked it back and flashed the primary bios, rebooted and both were done. I've done it multiple times now. I didn't check with GPUZ if the details changed though, I have a feeling it wouldn't reflect the change.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> Holy mother...
> 
> Just did a few runs on Heaven Benchmark.. Started at +150 and it did it with no problems.
> Did +200 and passed 3 runs through it..
> Did +250 and passed 3 runs.
> +275 passed 2 passes and crashed on the third.
> 
> Holy crap might have a golden chip on my hands. Almost 1475 mhz boost. But, there is no point to run it that high 24/7 so I'll back off a bit hehe.


Damn that's insane. As asked before that's at +93mv on the LN2 bios?


----------



## Lukas026

ok guys want to share some info about my OC progress atm

as I stated earlier i found out my max GAME stable (FC 3 / BF 3 / Skyrim) core clock at 155 mhz with +93 mv

as for memory I found out that using GPU Tool from TPU is great and still working as it should. so I dont have to stare at monitor and programm find errors for me. with that app (run it for 1hour) I found out that my max memory clock without getting errors is +770 mhz. and my opinion that is totaly great







also I tried this setting in some games and its stable !

now I have to put this together and find stable clocks when using both values. i think I will continue using and FC 3 and GPU Tool for testing. I will post back when I find some sweet spot...

Anyway thanks for the help you gave me









See ya


----------



## gpvecchi

Guys, may anyone post a good fan profile for Afterburner?


----------



## Phishy714

Sorry for the delay - Yes, it is with +93mv on the 3A LN2 bios linked on the first page that I was able to get those results.

I have the dwood mod on my 680 lightning, so temps never go about 50C - freaking awesome. I will have some links shortly.

****edit****

Alright so I am not too sure what happened.. I had to re-seat my card cause I forgot to connect something and basically couldn't get at it without taking the card out.

Now, I am not able to do +275 at all - crashes right away. Even 250 is iffy, crashing sometimes in the second pass through and sometimes in the first. +245 is fully stable though, so that is what I am sticking with as my max core.

The memory I was able to do +260, but I'm not really sure if that's good or not. Anyways here's the link the to 3dmark score, my CPU is holding back this score from being much higher:

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5557078

and here is a pic:


----------



## CryptiK

That's weird did you touch the PCI-E pins with your fingers or something? You could try pulling the card and cleaning them off with isopropyl alcohol. Still a killer core clock though. Mem is ok, my theory of golden GPU not so golden mem is holding! My mem does +1000 which possibly makes up for my core maxing out at 1380


----------



## LionS7

Can anyone tell me why Nvidia PCI-E 3.0 patch for X79 doesn't work for GTX680 Lightning ? Im using Sabertooth X79 + 3930K.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *LionS7*
> 
> Can anyone tell me why Nvidia PCI-E 3.0 patch for X79 doesn't work for GTX680 Lightning ? Im using Sabertooth X79 + 3930K.


Install the gpu driver, restart, then install the patch, then restart. Then you should have pci-3.0 indicated by gpuz. You'll have to install the patch everytime you install or reinstall a driver.


----------



## LionS7

Yes, Im doing the same think. Nothing...still 2.0.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> Sorry for the delay - Yes, it is with +93mv on the 3A LN2 bios linked on the first page that I was able to get those results.
> 
> I have the dwood mod on my 680 lightning, so temps never go about 50C - freaking awesome. I will have some links shortly.
> 
> ****edit****
> 
> Alright so I am not too sure what happened.. I had to re-seat my card cause I forgot to connect something and basically couldn't get at it without taking the card out.
> 
> Now, I am not able to do +275 at all - crashes right away. Even 250 is iffy, crashing sometimes in the second pass through and sometimes in the first. +245 is fully stable though, so that is what I am sticking with as my max core.
> 
> The memory I was able to do +260, but I'm not really sure if that's good or not. Anyways here's the link the to 3dmark score, my CPU is holding back this score from being much higher:
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5557078
> 
> and here is a pic:


It could just mean that you were never stable to begin with. You didn't do a ton of runs before taking the card out to reach something and then trying again, so, maybe it was never completely stable to begin with? Or maybe temps were slightly lower on the first set of runs than they are now? Either way, great card







+260mhz on the memory is kind of average for the stock voltage, maybe slightly below. Did you play with the memory voltage at all yet though?

I barely get over 13,000 Graphics Score with 1480/7200. Not sure why mine seems on the low side, with yours almost being there with a slightly lower core and much lower memory.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> That's weird did you touch the PCI-E pins with your fingers or something? You could try pulling the card and cleaning them off with isopropyl alcohol. Still a killer core clock though. Mem is ok, my theory of golden GPU not so golden mem is holding! My mem does +1000 which possibly makes up for my core maxing out at 1380


8000mhz memory is insane. And on top of it, 1380mhz core is excellent as well. You should be extremely pleased with yours







I doubt even 1% of reference cards out there can come close to those clocks, and even if they could they'd throttle.


----------



## StoneyMetallica

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> Sorry for the delay - Yes, it is with +93mv on the 3A LN2 bios linked on the first page that I was able to get those results.
> 
> I have the dwood mod on my 680 lightning, so temps never go about 50C - freaking awesome. I will have some links shortly.
> 
> ****edit****
> 
> Alright so I am not too sure what happened.. I had to re-seat my card cause I forgot to connect something and basically couldn't get at it without taking the card out.
> 
> Now, I am not able to do +275 at all - crashes right away. Even 250 is iffy, crashing sometimes in the second pass through and sometimes in the first. +245 is fully stable though, so that is what I am sticking with as my max core.
> 
> The memory I was able to do +260, but I'm not really sure if that's good or not. Anyways here's the link the to 3dmark score, my CPU is holding back this score from being much higher:
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5557078
> 
> and here is a pic:


How did you get the Power Limit to go to 300 mine will only go to 133...


----------



## CryptiK

LN2 bios power limit = +300%

Normal bios power limit = +133%


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> It could just mean that you were never stable to begin with. You didn't do a ton of runs before taking the card out to reach something and then trying again, so, maybe it was never completely stable to begin with? Or maybe temps were slightly lower on the first set of runs than they are now? Either way, great card
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> +260mhz on the memory is kind of average for the stock voltage, maybe slightly below. Did you play with the memory voltage at all yet though?
> 
> I barely get over 13,000 Graphics Score with 1480/7200. Not sure why mine seems on the low side, with yours almost being there with a slightly lower core and much lower memory.
> 8000mhz memory is insane. And on top of it, 1380mhz core is excellent as well. You should be extremely pleased with yours
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I doubt even 1% of reference cards out there can come close to those clocks, and even if they could they'd throttle.


The sad part is that I did max out my memory voltage and AUX voltage when doing those runs.. I didn't realize that +260 wasn't very good.. hmm.. maybe its not actually increase mem voltage?


----------



## StoneyMetallica

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> LN2 bios power limit = +300%
> 
> Normal bios power limit = +133%


I have LN2 Bios and still Max for me is 133%

Here is my afterburner...


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StoneyMetallica*
> 
> I have LN2 Bios and still Max for me is 133%
> 
> Here is my afterburner...


Try afterburner 2.2.3, later version need to have config files changed to allow more control.


----------



## Hydroplane

Just ordered mine off the egg. For $10 more than a Vanilla 680 it was the best choice


----------



## StoneyMetallica

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Try afterburner 2.2.3, later version need to have config files changed to allow more control.


Ok just got 2.2.3 and same thing max is still 133%


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StoneyMetallica*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Try afterburner 2.2.3, later version need to have config files changed to allow more control.
> 
> 
> 
> Ok just got 2.2.3 and same thing max is still 133%
Click to expand...

You need to flash to the 3A BIOS from the first post. Even if your card came with the 3A, you still need to flash to it. The title seems to have been kept the same but they were locked down, so the 'unlocked' 3A is only possible with flashing.

Don't worry, it's easy


----------



## StoneyMetallica

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You need to flash to the 3A BIOS from the first post. Even if your card came with the 3A, you still need to flash to it.


How do I flash to the 3A Bios?


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StoneyMetallica*
> 
> How do I flash to the 3A Bios?


read the first page on this thread.


----------



## StoneyMetallica

I'm trying to flash them and I get this ERROR...


----------



## Hodgy1971

You will need to rename the bios file you downloaded to this 680L_UnlockedBIOS.rom.


----------



## Hodgy1971

Or watch this.


----------



## StoneyMetallica

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hodgy1971*
> 
> Or watch this.


Ok thanks I'm sure the video will help me out a lot!


----------



## CryptiK

The mod bios is probably still in the KGB folder and you are asking nvflash to look on C:\ for the file


----------



## CryptiK

My aquacomputer MSi GTX680 lightning block arrived today, thanks Gary @ Sidewinder for shipping out the item in the middle of a blizzard :up:

It really is a work of art. I'll let the pictures do the talking.







And this one just for fun after I mounted the card in the upper slot for the first time



And of course results (after full round of 1000 tkt BF3) @ 1293c/8002m





Full load ends up being ~40-42*C core, 35-37*C mem, 45-47*C VRM

Shaved about 30*C off each component and best of all as you can see in the shot above, mem is now fully stable at +1000 MHz (on stock mem voltage) giving 4001 Mhz or 8002 MHz effective and 256 GB/s bandwidth.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StoneyMetallica*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Hodgy1971*
> 
> Or watch this.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ok thanks I'm sure the video will help me out a lot!
Click to expand...

Make sure you put the nvflash files in your C:/, along with the BIOS file. Make sure you open nvflash by right-clicking it and going to 'Run as Admin'. And, of course, make sure you type in the name exactly as it appears. Name it something simple when saving it, like Unlocked3A.rom. You should be good after doing all of that and following the directions in the first post (except the part where you enter the filename. Enter what you named the file instead of typing the name used in the example, unless it's the same of course).

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> My aquacomputer MSi GTX680 lightning block arrived today, thanks Gary @ Sidewinder for shipping out the item in the middle of a blizzard :up:
> 
> It really is a work of art. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
> 
> And this one just for fun after I mounted the card in the upper slot for the first time
> 
> And of course results (after full round of 1000 tkt BF3) @ 1293c/8002m
> 
> Full load ends up being ~40-42*C core, 35-37*C mem, 45-47*C VRM
> 
> Shaved about 30*C off each component and best of all as you can see in the shot above, mem is now fully stable at +1000 MHz (on stock mem voltage) giving 4001 Mhz or 8002 MHz effective and 256 GB/s bandwidth.


Beautiful. That sounds...too good to be true. I mean, it's possible you got a card with the most perfect memory out of every Lightning out there, but +1000mhz on the stock voltage







I hope it's working fine and everything, just seems waaaaaaaay above even a golden chip. Oh well, maybe you got a platinum chip









I'd love to see what the memory can do once you start increasing the voltage. Plan on doing that soon? And is that the highest core you get with +93mv or is that at stock voltage too?


----------



## CryptiK

It's 100% legit running +1000Mhz. I've even flashed it to run that now so I don't need to use software as you can see below I just took a SS of GPUZ for you. You can also see the flat line at 4001 MHz in the AB monitor graph in the post above where I was gaming. I was surprised, I mean I've tested 4 lightnings now and this is by far the best in terms of mem and also has the best core of those I've tested (although nothing like the golden core chips like yours and the guy running 1475 above).

1293 MHz game/everything stable is with the bios flashed to 1.1875v giving ~1.24v loaded. I guess it's a decent clocker, just gets put to shame by the likes of yours.

When I was testing this on air it was stable +900 stock voltage, but took a bump of +10mv to get +1000 stable and I wasn't liking the temps so I backed off until my block arrived. It seems to do 4050 (8100) ok on stock voltage but given how much bandwidth it's pushing now it's probably at the point of diminishing returns. I am happy with it where it is I think, although I am curious.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> It's 100% legit running +1000Mhz. I've even flashed it to run that now so I don't need to use software as you can see below I just took a SS of GPUZ for you. You can also see the flat line at 4001 MHz in the AB monitor graph in the post above where I was gaming. I was surprised, I mean I've tested 4 lightnings now and this is by far the best in terms of mem and also has the best core of those I've tested (although nothing like the golden core chips like yours and the guy running 1475 above).
> 
> 1293 MHz game/everything stable is with the bios flashed to 1.1875v giving ~1.24v loaded. I guess it's a decent clocker, *just gets put to shame by the likes of yours*.
> 
> When I was testing this on air it was stable +900 stock voltage, but took a bump of +10mv to get +1000 stable and I wasn't liking the temps so I backed off until my block arrived. It seems to do 4050 (8100) ok on stock voltage but given how much bandwidth it's pushing now it's probably at the point of diminishing returns. I am happy with it where it is I think, although I am curious.


Hardly! You got a great one, no matter what anyone else's does. 1293mhz at 1.24v is great. You got a lot of room. Go up to +93mv and with your waterblock you'll probably be right around the 1430mhz I can get with that voltage. I only ran 1480mhz because I had the voltage up to 1.42v (roughly +162mv on the core). You could run that voltage easily and with the much lower temps you'd probably be right on par or surpass mine.

And no one can touch your memory, so, you got one of the best cards here. I would envy no one's card if I had yours









Edit: What the hell happened here? Is this the new .90 drivers? I only had my internet browser open, and then I hear the fans revving up. I'm like...what's going on. I look at Afterburner and see this-


Did a scan, don't have any viruses or malware or anything.


----------



## CryptiK

Thanks for the kind words. It's easy to have core envy when someone else's seems just that bit better than your own!

I am worried about GPU degradation running higher voltages for extended periods. I mean its a 28nm wafer running upwards of 1.30v must be pushing the limits of the silicon before electromigration and hot electron injection becomes and issue even with ~40*C temps. The VRM is up to supplying that much power no question, its just the silicon I am concerned about.

EDIT - what does your PLL measure at when loaded?

^No idea mine didn't do that on the 310.90's I was aircooled until this evening. It did switch to P0 state a couple times when opening things though just not on its own.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Thanks for the kind words. It's easy to have core envy when someone else's seems just that bit better than your own!
> 
> I am worried about GPU degradation running higher voltages for extended periods. I mean its a 28nm wafer running upwards of 1.30v must be pushing the limits of the silicon before electromigration and hot electron injection becomes and issue even with ~40*C temps. The VRM is up to supplying that much power no question, its just the silicon I am concerned about.
> 
> EDIT - what does your PLL measure at when loaded?
> 
> ^No idea mine didn't do that on the 310.90's I was aircooled until this evening. It did switch to P0 state a couple times when opening things though just not on its own.


Not sure, don't have a DMM.

Well, I've been running mine on the LN2 BIOS most of the 6 months I've had the card. I run the good card at 1.36v more and more often because I just got into a few games that hate SLI so I OC the hell out of the good one for the best framerate possible. Sometimes even run it at more than 1.36v. Like with a slight bump up to I believe the next increment is +99mv or something like that, I'm rock solid in Hitman at 1424mhz/7000mhz (max temp of 65C







). Been doing things like that for a while and I figure I might as well enjoy the card now since I know I won't have the will-power to resist when the 780 drops. So, I used to think exactly like you did, but then I figured, I paid all that money for this card. I'm going to enjoy it before it's too late.

Your decision makes sense though. I completely understand. And you have much more will-power and control than I do. Because every time I need one card now, I crank that bad boy. Good news though is no degradation yet


----------



## CryptiK

I know you're right in that way, every time I buy new tech my old tech is still in immaculate condition. I was running my 990X at 4Ghz @ stock vcore until recently and bumped it up to 4,4GHz/1.26v for that exact reason you mentioned - enjoy it now or it will be like all the others. Im not even pushing it truth be told and its on water too so it'll be around for awhile yet. Good news about no degreadation for you so far, if I crank mine up and run it hard I should at least be able to get past the 780 launch date!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> I know you're right in that way, every time I buy new tech my old tech is still in immaculate condition. I was running my 990X at 4Ghz @ stock vcore until recently and bumped it up to 4,4GHz/1.26v for that exact reason you mentioned - enjoy it now or it will be like all the others. Im not even pushing it truth be told and its on water too so it'll be around for awhile yet. Good news about no degreadation for you so far, if I crank mine up and run it hard I should at least be able to get past the 780 launch date!


You definitely will. Most of the people here are on air, and even including other models and references and everything, no one that I know of has reported any type of degradation. Obviously references probably never will, because of the locked voltage. But the Lightnings have been out since late June, voltage control shortly after, and I still have yet to hear of anyone experiencing any type of problems. New drivers have been said to lower stability for some, but even if that's true, that has nothing to do with the silicon itself.

Yeah I had to change my way of thinking. I kept my CPU, aside from initial benching when I first got it, at a low voltage with only a mild overclock because it was so expensive. After a month or two, I'm like...why not enjoy it? My H100 can keep temps in the 60s even in the most demanding games at 4.6Ghz, so why not? I have the Performance Plan through Intel as well, so, all the more reason to enjoy it. I _still_ probably won't get my $30-worth out of that Performance Plan since the chip will probably be fine till I upgrade, but it's still good to know I have the option









But yeah, if Kepler was extremely sensitive, we probably would have heard something by now. Some crazy voltages have been ran in this thread, a few upwards of +1.5v, and no one has said anything about any type of problem developing. So I'm just going to enjoy my card, and even if I lose a few mhz at some point (which I doubt), an upgrade will be right around the corner anyways. So, I plan on _mildly_ abusing my hardware to get the most out of what I paid for









Really looking forward to seeing what your card can do though. You don't plan on doing any benches maxed out just to see what it can do? Not to pressure you or anything


----------



## LionS7

I need 80.04.09.00.3A (unlocked LN2). Somebody please ?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *LionS7*
> 
> I need 80.04.09.00.3A (unlocked LN2). Somebody please ?


http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club#post_17666574


----------



## Phishy714

So.. uh.. you guys think of anything I am able to do about my memory? I put the voltage to the max and can only squeeze out +260 on it stable.. and apparently that's pretty bad lol. Any way to check that its ACTUALLY getting all that extra voltage?


----------



## driftingforlife

Have you tried it with less voltage?


----------



## CryptiK

You can also use a DMM in the test point to check what it's running at under load


----------



## Wooojciech1983

Please add me to the club. Here is my validation photo:





And my 3DMark11 score (1398 MHz Boost):



http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5162904


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Have you tried it with less voltage?


I have never tried less voltage, is that the trick, lol.
I have had 2 cards almost since release, I have ran both at 1.5 to 1.6 volts on the core for benching many times and have not noticed any difference in performance from purchase till today. Both on water of course. I use them day to day at stock volts and clocks as there is no need to overclock them during day to day use.
I should clarify that I am not recommending anyone else to use these voltages


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Wooojciech1983*
> 
> Please add me to the club. Here is my validation photo:
> 
> And my 3DMark11 score (1398 MHz Boost):
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5162904


Welcome








Just a tip. You should enable manual fan control in Afterburner and set it to 100% when running benches. Every degree lower helps stability. If you had the stock fan profile running for that run, then I wouldn't be surprised if you can break 1400mhz core when using a manual fan speed of 100%


----------



## jamonymo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> So.. uh.. you guys think of anything I am able to do about my memory? I put the voltage to the max and can only squeeze out +260 on it stable.. and apparently that's pretty bad lol. Any way to check that its ACTUALLY getting all that extra voltage?


yes i dont think its that good as mine does 400 with no voltage change and i am yet to push it to the limit so it could do 700 or 800 for all i no at this time,

what bios do u have as some people have said some versions are poor


----------



## jamonymo

what clock do u think on average for 24/7 gaming at stock volts in normal bios do u think my memery could run at thanks


----------



## jamonymo

i think the memery holds back the 680 from being much better


----------



## jamonymo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StoneyMetallica*
> 
> How did you get the Power Limit to go to 300 mine will only go to 133...


try clocking just the memery i think it would go much higher


----------



## CryptiK

Depends on your memory I've seen from +100 to +700 or so being the normal range. Yes the mem makes pretty big difference to scores and FPS in games, depends which game though core is also very important. I'm just not seeing huge gains from stock to OC in games, I blind tested myself the other night and couldnt identify if I was playing with it stock or OC. I am on a single 30" @ 2560x1600 so most of my framerates are 50+ anyway which would explain it. I had a second lightning for SLI but sold it as its just not needed and I know I'll jump on the 700 series so this late in the game didnt want to drop too much on the 600 series.


----------



## gkolarov

Hi, i have posted before my overclock resolts with flashed 3A LN2 bios (1359Mhz core, 7600Mhz mem). Resently i've changed the CPU (Q9550 -> I7 3770K). The case is the same as before (HAF X) and i wonder about the temps in idle. With Q9550 they were 31-33, now with 3770K they are 20-22 . 10 dergees difference, but how ? I have no reasonable explanation.


----------



## driftingforlife

Less heat output due to being half the size of your q9550 (45nm to 22nm). Down-clocks lower.


----------



## gkolarov

I think you are right, Q9550 was working on 1.365V and really when loaded the air comming from the case fans was hotter than now (3770K works on 1.160V) => 0.205V difference. In adition the Tpower I45 chipset was hotter than z77, which means that the temperature in the case was higher than it is now.


----------



## Hydroplane

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gkolarov*
> 
> Hi, i have posted before my overclock resolts with flashed 3A LN2 bios (1359Mhz core, 7600Mhz mem). Resently i've changed the CPU (Q9550 -> I7 3770K). The case is the same as before (HAF X) and i wonder about the temps in idle. With Q9550 they were 31-33, now with 3770K they are 20-22 . 10 dergees difference, but how ? I have no reasonable explanation.


I'm going to have the same CPU/GPU combination. How did the Q9550 run with the lightning? And yeah, it's not exactly a cool chip. 31C idle is 10C cooler than where I am.


----------



## p3gaz_001

Only cpu on liquid cooling.


----------



## pfinch

Bye Bye 680L

just bought 7970lightning boots edition... f*ck nvidia boost and afterburn rounding bug


----------



## Daredevil 720

Not trying to start a fight here, but I would like to know why people prefer 680 Lightnings over others.

Is there any specific reason, some feature that other 680s don't have? Or just bigger (statistically estimated) OC headroom?

If it's because of the voltage unlocked BIOS you can flash them with, can't you do the same with other manufacturers' cards too?


----------



## MightyUnit

The ability to OV the core (to 1.36v), memory and to a lesser extent aux power. It also has a great cooler.


----------



## Daredevil 720

BIOS modding on other manufacturers' cards allows up to 1.21 volts to the core and no memory OV, or am I wrong?

Also what is the warranty plan of MSI exactly? I read that you pay the shipping costs which are quite high if you live far away from them.


----------



## MightyUnit

AFAIK on all other 680s one can use kgb to reach 1.21v on the core... no mem OV either IIRC. The 680L has a dual bios which I like. One is "normal" 680 bios and the other is the "LN2" bios that allows for higher vcore.

I love buying MSI cards. I live in Canada and MSI has a few facilities here that I can RMA to. Heck, if I lived close enough I could personally go to their building for an RMA exchange. For me postage is ~$10 CAD to ship to MSI. They pay for return shipping.


----------



## Daredevil 720

Let me restate my concern about warranty.

Besides the shipping costs (which I think you pay with any manufacturer) does MSI charge you for the repair? My brother wanted to RMA an MSI 5870 Lightning with a broken fan blade and he told me the shipping costs plus the repair fee (about 40-50 euros) was just not worth it, so he stayed with a defective card.

Is that really the case or did my brother misunderstand the process?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pfinch*
> 
> Bye Bye 680L
> 
> just bought 7970lightning boots edition... f*ck nvidia boost and afterburn rounding bug


Nice, what max clocks are you getting out of the boost edition? Just curious how it compares to the original 7970 lightnings...
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Daredevil 720*
> 
> Not trying to start a fight here, but I would like to know why people prefer 680 Lightnings over others.
> 
> Is there any specific reason, some feature that other 680s don't have? Or just bigger (statistically estimated) OC headroom?
> 
> If it's because of the voltage unlocked BIOS you can flash them with, can't you do the same with other manufacturers' cards too?


Strong power delivery, good overclocking headroom, & ability to run much more voltage without hardmodding.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Only cpu on liquid cooling.
> 
> ...


Wow. Two awesome cards. What was the voltage at for each?


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Wow. Two awesome cards. What was the voltage at for each?


i think they were @ 1.35 v


----------



## Brenton

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> i think they were @ 1.35 v


Awesome!


----------



## p3gaz_001

thanks , but i don't think they are so special, i see people gaining 1500mhz on gpu / + 299 while my two seems not going further than +210, maybe they need to be liquid cooled... and i still have to work on gddr5 clocks since i haven't found yet their max clock


----------



## famich

Any Lightning going over 1400 MHz ist the special one, not all of them achieve that...
check up the OC table on the first side of this thread.


----------



## gkolarov

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5189077

In games:

Assassin's Creed 3 everything max at 1920x1080 usually runs with ~32-37 frames but sometimes drops to 23-25 frames. On some cinematics frames drop even more. If you lower some details will be fine for gaming


----------



## TheAssassin

I hit 1333 stable without added voltage so far on the core. Im sure it will be able to get over 1400mhz with a little voltage. BTW my card came with the unlocked LN2.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> I hit 1333 stable without added voltage so far on the core. Im sure it will be able to get over 1400mhz with a little voltage. BTW my card came with the unlocked LN2.


Just got it recently? Pretty lucky to get one of the original unlocked ones! Must have sat on the shelf without stock getting rotated.


----------



## TheAssassin

No I have had it since October but have not tried to overclock it till tonight.


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> Any Lightning going over 1400 MHz ist the special one, not all of them achieve that...
> check up the OC table on the first side of this thread.


The greatest card here hits 1433mhz in single mode, the other one 1411mhz and something i've noticed is that the 1433mhz card has a max fan speed of 3480rpm/100% and the second 3180rpm/100% and they are equipped with the same bios i would like to get the second card at same fan speed of the first maybe i'll pull out some mhz but how?

Btw i really love this cards!

If anyone out there is selling the ek fullcover let me know!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> No I have had it since October but have not tried to overclock it till tonight.


LoL same here... i've bought them like 3 months ago and tried oc on them just less than a week ago


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> The greatest card here hits 1433mhz in single mode, the other one 1411mhz and something i've noticed is that the 1433mhz card has a max fan speed of 3480rpm/100% and the second 3180rpm/100% and they are equipped with the same bios i would like to get the second card at same fan speed of the first maybe i'll pull out some mhz but how?
> 
> Btw i really love this cards!
> 
> If anyone out there is selling the ek fullcover let me know!
> LoL same here... i've bought them like 3 months ago and tried oc on them just less than a week ago


I think you're looking at the table wrong, theres quite a few that have done 1450-1500 mhz single card 3dmark 11 runs.


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> I think you're looking at the table wrong, theres quite a few that have done 1450-1500 mhz single card 3dmark 11 runs.


mmmh so? i said my gpu's aren't so special since they seems not to reach those clock so what is the point of your reply? i don't get it


----------



## CryptiK

I think he thought you were saying the best card in this thread does 1433. But you were actually saying your best card does 1433


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> I think he thought you were saying the best card in this thread does 1433. *But you were actually saying your best card does 1433*


correct


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> thanks , but i don't think they are so special, i see people gaining 1500mhz on gpu / + 299 while my two seems not going further than +210, maybe they need to be liquid cooled... and i still have to work on gddr5 clocks since i haven't found yet their max clock


Anyone doing around 1500mhz,, like myself, is using more than +93mv. You got _amazing_ cards if they do over 1400mhz without having to use more than the stock limit of +93mv. With some more voltage, you could probably surpass my 1480mhz one if it's winter where you live or you have them watercooled. You should be extremely happy you got 2 great ones







I could only manage to get one.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> I hit 1333 stable without added voltage so far on the core. Im sure it will be able to get over 1400mhz with a little voltage. BTW my card came with the unlocked LN2.


I know the BIOS might have said it's the 3A version, but it might be locked. Do you have a 300% Power Limit?


----------



## dph314

Sorry, double-post


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Anyone doing around 1500mhz,, like myself, is using more than +93mv. You got _amazing_ cards if they do over 1400mhz without having to use more than the stock limit of +93mv. With some more voltage, you could probably surpass my 1480mhz one if it's winter where you live or you have them watercooled. You should be extremely happy you got 2 great ones
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I could only manage to get one.
> I know the BIOS might have said it's the 3A version, but it might be locked. Do you have a 300% Power Limit?


here is winter, it has started do snow just an hour ago (already stopped), but is still very cold out there and i'd prefere having full blocks, but no bucks









btw maybe i did explain it clearly, for 1400mhz they need +143mv at least on 3dmark2011 but i actually don't know if that voltage is more than necessary .... using +150 i gained 1433mhz, the other card isn't so lucky .... but anyways i'm still happy since i was able to run 1400mhz on air wich is simply amazing for me







this with artmoney hack eh...









next time i run som benchies i'll make sure to plug my digital multimeter so if anyone ask i can clearly answer with precision.

so your cards are with stock cooler too?


----------



## TheAssassin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Anyone doing around 1500mhz,, like myself, is using more than +93mv. You got _amazing_ cards if they do over 1400mhz without having to use more than the stock limit of +93mv. With some more voltage, you could probably surpass my 1480mhz one if it's winter where you live or you have them watercooled. You should be extremely happy you got 2 great ones
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I could only manage to get one.
> I know the BIOS might have said it's the 3A version, but it might be locked. Do you have a 300% Power Limit?


Yes sir, I sure do. I almost made a mistake on flashing my card before checking my ln2 to make sure it wasn't already unlocked and sure enough it was unlocked. I was waiting till I got my 1440p ASUS monitor before I tried to overclock but I couldn't wait any longer to see how good my card could overclock.


----------



## re5pect

Hi, guys!
I have just stick in second gtx680 lightning and my windows wont instal drivers just crash all the time.
I have unpluged 2xhdd and some colling fans to lower watage use still nothing, cards working fine separately
my psu 950w and cpu 3770k + 2x hdd raid , watercooled
Any ideas? psu to small?


----------



## wutang61

ran my setup in extreme.


----------



## driftingforlife

Swap them around.


----------



## re5pect

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Swap them around.


who me?
my water loop need draining then, but why?


----------



## driftingforlife

Sometimes 2 cards won't work in a particular order. My 470s would not work one way round.


----------



## re5pect

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Sometimes 2 cards won't work in a particular order. My 470s would not work one way round.


still nothing , and what i have noticed is my hard drives randomly dissapering in bios when two cards are in.


----------



## re5pect

i have managed to instal 310.90 drivers as clean instal , but if try to switch sli on i got error an system hangs
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

????!!!!!?????


----------



## re5pect

MY SYSTEM IS WIN8 64X


----------



## re5pect

I have got gtx590 before then PSU is rather not an issue


----------



## re5pect

I have swithed physix to secondary gtx680 and then i enabled SLI without any problem







strange


----------



## re5pect

is that any good for standard clocks cpu and gpu?


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> 
> 
> is that any good for standard clocks cpu and gpu?


Could you run it again at these settings to compare(8XAA, 16X Antistrophy & Extreme Tesselation): Mine is run with stock CPU and GPU(1202/1500)



FYI it is recommended to run your Heaven at max setting 1080p to compare since most people run theirs that way.

p.s Oops I only have single card and you have SLI, does anyone know what's a typical 680 SLI scaling?


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> here is winter, it has started do snow just an hour ago (already stopped), but is still very cold out there and i'd prefere having full blocks, but no bucks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> btw maybe i did explain it clearly, for 1400mhz *they need +143mv at least on 3dmark2011* but i actually don't know if that voltage is more than necessary .... using +150 i gained 1433mhz, the other card isn't so lucky .... but anyways i'm still happy since i was able to run 1400mhz on air wich is simply amazing for me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this with artmoney hack eh...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> next time i run som benchies i'll make sure to plug my digital multimeter so if anyone ask i can clearly answer with precision.
> 
> so your cards are with stock cooler too?


How are you setting +143mv? Are you using the secret 'extreme' version of afterburner? Or using artmoney program?

Mine is maxing out ~1380-1390 with +93mv and +1000 mem


----------



## p3gaz_001

Uh secret extreme version of msi ab? Does that really exist?btw I've used the artmoney trick straight away, i did not even check what was the max clock withouth artmoney.


----------



## derfer

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> i have managed to instal 310.90 drivers as clean instal , but if try to switch sli on i got error an system hangs
> IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
> 
> ????!!!!!?????


That usually means you need to turn off high precision timer.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Uh secret extreme version of msi ab? Does that really exist?btw I've used the artmoney trick straight away, i did not even check what was the max clock withouth artmoney.


Yes it does exist, but you have to sign an NDA to get it from them and prove yourself as an extreme overclocker. So you used artmoney, ok. Would be good to know what youre actually getting with a DMM.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

EDIT - Might help if I recheck the first post!


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Yes it does exist, but you have to sign an NDA to get it from them and prove yourself as an extreme overclocker. So you used artmoney, ok. Would be good to know what youre actually getting with a DMM.


Yes, you also lose warranty, for someone who isn't serious about benchmarking it just isn't worthwhile.
It is basically the same as hardmodding a card for more voltage (just don't have to do the soldering).


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Glad I'm broke right now because I'd have two 680 Lightnings in my cart on Amazon right now if I had the funds!


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Uh secret extreme version of msi ab? Does that really exist?btw I've used the artmoney trick straight away, i did not even check what was the max clock withouth artmoney.


its not secret. its a totally unlocked version of afterburner. they don't make it available to the general public because you can set voltage till it pops. you have to contact msi directly and sign off all warrantys and "prove" you know what your doing with ln2


----------



## CryptiK

Playing BF3 @ 1398 MHz / +1000 mem @ +93mv



it locked eventually but it's 30*C in my study today, was rocking it for awhile at 1372 MHz after that. Not too bad.


----------



## FtW 420

Dude, killer memory on that card, nice find!


----------



## sockpirate

Using AB 2.2.3 no tweaks or hacks, how high can i put the memory voltage ? I think this is where my instability is in my OC.


----------



## CryptiK

FTW - thanks man yeah the mem on this card is insanely good, that's not quite the max and it's on default mem voltage too. Core's not too bad either.

sockpirate - not sure, its rated at 1.55v from what Ive read but I know very little about DDR5 especially regarding how robust it is with over voltage.


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> FTW - thanks man yeah the mem on this card is insanely good, that's not quite the max and it's on default mem voltage too. Core's not too bad either.
> 
> sockpirate - not sure, its rated at 1.55v from what Ive read but I know very little about DDR5 especially regarding how robust it is with over voltage.


Well i guess what im getting at is, can i safely use it at +100mV if temps are fine?


----------



## CryptiK

No idea, try it and let us all know how you go! lol

+100 is what something like 1.70v load since the lightnings Ive tested all have a ~40mv overvolt on the mem under load anyway based on their 1.55v spec (Ive measured 1.59v on 4 lightnings now without touching the mem voltage). Add another 100mv to that, it's about a 9,6% overvolt. That's not huge by most standards but I dont know how sensitive DDR5 is.


----------



## p3gaz_001

so guys is there a way via MSI to set two differents oc settings for two cards?

the (minor) problem i'm having right now is that i've managed to use 1306mhz for gaming, by setting +106 on MSI, the fact is that the second card with +106 added doesn't reach 1306, but hits 1280mhz, so each time i have to go on msi uncheck "syncronize similar gpus" and slide up the second card, this is allready annoyng, is there a walkaround to get two card at the same identical clock without being pissed off every time?









this is what i'm talking about :


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Uh secret extreme version of msi ab? Does that really exist?btw I've used the artmoney trick straight away, i did not even check what was the max clock withouth artmoney.


There's a go-getter







Diving right in. I like it








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Anyone doing around 1500mhz,, like myself, is using more than +93mv. You got _amazing_ cards if they do over 1400mhz without having to use more than the stock limit of +93mv. With some more voltage, you could probably surpass my 1480mhz one if it's winter where you live or you have them watercooled. You should be extremely happy you got 2 great ones
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I could only manage to get one.
> I know the BIOS might have said it's the 3A version, but it might be locked. Do you have a 300% Power Limit?
> 
> 
> 
> here is winter, it has started do snow just an hour ago (already stopped), but is still very cold out there and i'd prefere having full blocks, but no bucks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> btw maybe i did explain it clearly, for 1400mhz they need +143mv at least on 3dmark2011 but i actually don't know if that voltage is more than necessary .... using +150 i gained 1433mhz, the other card isn't so lucky .... but anyways i'm still happy since i was able to run 1400mhz on air wich is simply amazing for me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this with artmoney hack eh...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> next time i run som benchies i'll make sure to plug my digital multimeter so if anyone ask i can clearly answer with precision.
> 
> so your cards are with stock cooler too?
Click to expand...

Yeah, mine are on the stock cooler. I wish I had 2 good ones, but I definitely don't. My one good one makes up for it though I guess. Hitman is incredibly demanding, and I can run it at a constant 99% load at 1424/7000 with voltages at +99mv/+20mv and I get a max temp of 63C







(this is without the window open or anything like when benching, normal room temp of ~20-21C)

I think I'll sell my good one to Majin, because I know he's been wanting one of these since the beginning. I'll use my worse one for the last month or so before the 700-series comes out. Probably going to sell it in a month or two. So, yeah, Majin, let me know if you're interested in a card that does 1480mhz on air


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> There's a go-getter
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Diving right in. I like it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, mine are on the stock cooler. I wish I had 2 good ones, but I definitely don't. My one good one makes up for it though I guess. Hitman is incredibly demanding, and I can run it at a constant 99% load at 1424/7000 with voltages at +99mv/+20mv and I get a max temp of 63C
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (this is without the window open or anything like when benching, normal room temp of ~20-21C)
> 
> I think I'll sell my good one to Majin, because I know he's been wanting one of these since the beginning. I'll use my worse one for the last month or so before the 700-series comes out. Probably going to sell it in a month or two. So, yeah, Majin, let me know if you're interested in a card that does 1480mhz on air


LOL ... 1424 +99mv is a really great card mate







and temps are really good too! actually i don't know if is a good idea selling my two cards for those 700 ... cause if i do, i'd definetely going on 780 lightning







no moar custom cards!









---

can you help me out on my previous post?


----------



## CryptiK

Damn right 1424 @ +93 is awesome. Mine won't go over 1398 MHz @ +93


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> There's a go-getter
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Diving right in. I like it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, mine are on the stock cooler. I wish I had 2 good ones, but I definitely don't. My one good one makes up for it though I guess. Hitman is incredibly demanding, and I can run it at a constant 99% load at 1424/7000 with voltages at +99mv/+20mv and I get a max temp of 63C
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (this is without the window open or anything like when benching, normal room temp of ~20-21C)
> 
> I think I'll sell my good one to Majin, because I know he's been wanting one of these since the beginning. I'll use my worse one for the last month or so before the 700-series comes out. Probably going to sell it in a month or two. So, yeah, Majin, let me know if you're interested in a card that does 1480mhz on air
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LOL ... 1424 +99mv is a really great card mate
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and temps are really good too! actually i don't know if is a good idea selling my two cards for those 700 ... cause if i do, i'd definetely going on 780 lightning
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> no moar custom cards!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ---
> 
> can you help me out on my previous post?
Click to expand...

I'm not too sure actually. I'm not home at the moment to test, and I never really use the profiles so I don't know off-hand. But when you save a profile to the "1" slot, that's only for the one card, but when you go to settings and select Card 2, the profile is still there in Slot 1 I believe. So, you could just use Slot 1 for Card 1 and switch over to Card 2 and use Profile Slot 2 for that one. That way when you start up, click the "1" to load that profile for the first card, and select card 2 in the Settings, and click "2" for that card.

Other than that, not sure. You could keep both on the LN2 BIOS. Same Base Clock for them that way. Then you can keep the 'sync similar GPUs' checked and they'll both have the same overclock with the one saved Profile.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Damn right 1424 @ +93 is awesome. Mine won't go over 1398 MHz @ +93


Thanks. Yeah the other one sucks. Can't get it over 1340mhz with...I think I actually went slightly over +93mv. Maybe +99 I went up to. And I was still only stable at 1340mhz core. So, one sucks and one is good. I don't usually need to overclock in SLI anyways, so, I'm fine with one good one I suppose. Really jealous of you and xoleras and a few others that have 2 great cards though.


----------



## Hydroplane

Newegg dropped mine off a day early










This card is MASSIVE for a single GPU. It's longer than my 4870x2s.


$1500 dollars worth of GPUs. Too bad $1000 worth of them are dead. I hope this card lasts longer than those two did. Not that I intend to use it for a decade, but it could go into another machine or be sold when I upgrade to something else. Those 4870x2s will be going in the oven soon











Messy wiring solution. I have no idea where the 8 pin PCI cables are that came with my PSU, so I used the combination 6+2 and 6 pin. Had three of them since my PSU was originally designed for GTX 280 Tri SLI.


It fit PERFECTLY around my SATA ports. Just barely.



Gave it a run in Heaven, DirectX 11 no tesselation. Is this good for these settings? (Note this isn't my official Heaven run for the club)


At least Heaven isn't CPU limited


It's amazing how cool and quiet this card is. I can't hear it over my case fans. It's DEAD SILENT. Stays around 60C too.


I tried 1254/6110 on stock voltages. Heaven got about halfway through and crashed so looks like I'll need to load the old bios on there for some more volts.


----------



## dph314

Use 100% fan speed for benches, every degree helps.

And yes, you'll have much more luck with the 3:thumb:A


----------



## StreekG

Hey guys,

Can some people please post pics of the AB setup with their Lightnings?
I'm struggling to get a decent OC with SLI lightnings.

I want to see Core, AUX + Mem voltage.
Also Power limit, i heard lowering it from 300 can give me a better OC.

Card 1 so far on LN2 voltage i can get around 1355mhz
Card 2 i struggle to get +100 on the core clock.

I have +93 core voltage
-50 AUX
+30 mem voltage.

Overclocking these individually is a pain in the arse because AB 2.2.3 keeps lowering my core voltages on each startup...


----------



## Hydroplane

I'm wondering the same thing about afterburner saving the settings... btw StreekG where did you get those black 8 pin cables in your sig rig? I need a set of those for my Lightning.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Hey guys,
> 
> Can some people please post pics of the AB setup with their Lightnings?
> I'm struggling to get a decent OC with SLI lightnings.
> 
> I want to see Core, AUX + Mem voltage.
> Also Power limit, i heard lowering it from 300 can give me a better OC.
> 
> Card 1 so far on LN2 voltage i can get around 1355mhz
> Card 2 i struggle to get +100 on the core clock.
> 
> I have +93 core voltage
> -50 AUX
> +30 mem voltage.
> 
> Overclocking these individually is a pain in the arse because AB 2.2.3 keeps lowering my core voltages on each startup...


Were both cards flashed to the LN2 BIOS?
Did you sync the cards at those settings? If you did, you might have to un-sync them and drop that core clock on the top one to match the bottom (dropping voltage too, of course). Same issue with me. I have one good card and one not-so-great one. I don't OC in SLI often, but when I do, the bottom card needs a good bit of added voltage to hit 1300mhz, and the top one does 1300mhz on the stock voltage. So I set things up for both cards individually instead of sync'ing them because of their varying capability levels.

So, being in the same boat, having 2 cards with considerably different silicon, I'd just go to the 1st and 2nd card's settings individually. Run the max clocks/voltage you can hit on the 2nd card, and then set the top card accordingly to match. Top card will need less voltage than +93mv to hit the bottom card's max speed, so set them individually so you're not creating unnecessary heat.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hydroplane*
> 
> I'm wondering the same thing about afterburner saving the settings... btw StreekG where did you get those black 8 pin cables in your sig rig? I need a set of those for my Lightning.


Hey, a fellow Buffalonian. Nice to meet someone else suffering through this incredibly cold day with me. I think the high today was 0C







I would have went for the top spot on HWbot in the single-card 3dMark11 stock cooler category today, but it didn't stop snowing before I had to head out. Didn't wanna blow any flakes into this bad boy


----------



## StreekG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Were both cards flashed to the LN2 BIOS?
> Did you sync the cards at those settings? If you did, you might have to un-sync them and drop that core clock on the top one to match the bottom (dropping voltage too, of course). Same issue with me. I have one good card and one not-so-great one. I don't OC in SLI often, but when I do, the bottom card needs a good bit of added voltage to hit 1300mhz, and the top one does 1300mhz on the stock voltage. So I set things up for both cards individually instead of sync'ing them because of their varying capability levels.
> 
> So, being in the same boat, having 2 cards with considerably different silicon, I'd just go to the 1st and 2nd card's settings individually. Run the max clocks/voltage you can hit on the 2nd card, and then set the top card accordingly to match. Top card will need less voltage than +93mv to hit the bottom card's max speed, so set them individually so you're not creating unnecessary heat.


Yes i did flash both cards, although thinking about it now, i flashed the cards while the LN2 bios button was flicked over, does this matter? Should i have the cards set at normal bios, then flash, then flip the switch over to LN2? I am on 3A.

Hydroplane: Those are just Bitfenix Alchemy 8 pin PIC-E extentions, should be easy to get, i got them from a shop in Australia.


----------



## CryptiK

Why have you set -50 AUX voltage?


----------



## StreekG

Read up on a few forums users have reported better stability be reducing the AUX voltage
I seem to remember when i tried it, that it helped.


----------



## johnnyw

Seems like i wasnt very lucky with my lightning.

Got it few days ago and yesterday started to do some testing, it has locked bios versions and so on so far only 1.175v

At stock it has boost of 1228mhz with both bios versions & max it seems to get past benchmarks without artifacts/crashing are +85/1306mhz, ram i just throwed to +300 and havetn tested that more yet.

How much added voltage helps with overcloking these? Just wondering if its worth to flash unlocked bios.


----------



## MightyUnit

heck yes it is worth flashing.


----------



## MightyUnit

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Read up on a few forums users have reported better stability be reducing the AUX voltage
> I seem to remember when i tried it, that it helped.


FWIW I have mine at +50. Lowering it on my card decreases stability.


----------



## GenoOCAU

For my single 680L 3dmark 11 run at 1502mhz core I had AUX at -50mV.

Still not 100% sure if AUX does anything :S


----------



## CryptiK

Just did a quick test. Stock mine locks fast at a known unstable OC, -50mv is locks less fast, -100 it starts lightly artifacting before crashing to desktop. Haven't tried increasing it.


----------



## johnnyw

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MightyUnit*
> 
> heck yes it is worth flashing.


Ok, well need to consider it if it gets considerable boost to clocks with added volts. Im just not big fan of updating bios to gfx card, pretty bad memories from vbios flash gone wrong few years ago with GTX580 and after that havetn really dared to try it.

My card has these bios versions:

NonLN2 : 80.04.47.00.18

LN2 : 80.04.47.00.19


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Just did a quick test. Stock mine locks fast at a known unstable OC, -50mv is locks less fast, -100 it starts lightly artifacting before crashing to desktop. Haven't tried increasing it.


This is about aux voltage?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Yes i did flash both cards, although thinking about it now, i flashed the cards while the LN2 bios button was flicked over, does this matter? Should i have the cards set at normal bios, then flash, then flip the switch over to LN2? I am on 3A.


Yes, you want the switch to the right when flashing, so that you have the LN2 BIOS on one side of the switch and the normal one on the other.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Read up on a few forums users have reported better stability be reducing the AUX voltage
> I seem to remember when i tried it, that it helped.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> For my single 680L 3dmark 11 run at 1502mhz core I had AUX at -50mV.
> Still not 100% sure if AUX does anything :S


Yep. I also had it lowered for my max OC run. 1475mhz was my max stable, and with the same temps as that run, I lowered the Aux Voltage to -50mv and passed a run at 1480mhz. So, no clue why that is.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *johnnyw*
> 
> Seems like i wasnt very lucky with my lightning.
> Got it few days ago and yesterday started to do some testing, it has locked bios versions and so on so far only 1.175v
> At stock it has boost of 1228mhz with both bios versions & max it seems to get past benchmarks without artifacts/crashing are +85/1306mhz, ram i just throwed to +300 and havetn tested that more yet.
> How much added voltage helps with overcloking these? Just wondering if its worth to flash unlocked bios.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *johnnyw*
> 
> Ok, well need to consider it if it gets considerable boost to clocks with added volts. Im just not big fan of updating bios to gfx card, pretty bad memories from vbios flash gone wrong few years ago with GTX580 and after that havetn really dared to try it.
> My card has these bios versions:
> NonLN2 : 80.04.47.00.18
> LN2 : 80.04.47.00.19


Wasn't very lucky??? You got a great card. 1228mhz Boost is better than what both of mine do. People running 'stock voltage' on their LN2 BIOS are doing so at 1.26v, not 1.175v like you, because they have the unlocked 3A BIOS. As soon as you get that, you'll probably be able to do 1300mhz or more on the stock voltage. Flashing is easy, not like the 500-series. Literally takes 1 minute. Check the directions in the first post. You'll do fine and before you know it you'll be over 1300mhz with ease


----------



## ADSL

hi, i think i have a problem with this GPU, i opened a post, but now that i see this post i gonna put here my question, hope anyone can help me

My post:
Quote:


> Hi, first of all sorry for my bad english, i'm spanish
> 
> 2 days ago i buyed a MSI 680 lightning, then i changed it to LN2 bios and flashed the unlocked bios, then i saw that the fans goes crazy (100%) until reach windows, but thats not the problem, then i start to OC using MSI Afterburner, set voltage to +100, power +133 (i know, same as LN2 bios locked, cause i want to test first), and then i start to try core/mems, i reached 170/250 stable in 4 consecutive runs of Heaven, then i changed the bios again to stock cause of the fans, but then the problems start, i cant reach now even 100 of core, it crashes, even flashing again the unlocked LN2, my card its broken? i used driver sweeper and deleted the drivers each time i changed bios... I dont know what to do
> 
> I tried everything, changing core from 170 to 100, now there's nothing stable! , the problem its that i'm new with this graphic cards and his OC.. I come form a crossfire 5770..
> 
> my equip:
> 
> Nox 750w
> i5 [email protected]
> Asrock Z77 Extreme 4
> 8GB ram ripjaws
> 680 Lightning 310.90
> 
> Hope you guys can help me, thanks for all


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> This is about aux voltage?


Yes sorry should have said that. Seemed slightly more stable with -100 aux voltage, but not much.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ADSL*
> 
> hi, i think i have a problem with this GPU, i opened a post, but now that i see this post i gonna put here my question, hope anyone can help me
> 
> My post:
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, first of all sorry for my bad english, i'm spanish
> 
> 2 days ago i buyed a MSI 680 lightning, then i changed it to LN2 bios and flashed the unlocked bios, then i saw that the fans goes crazy (100%) until reach windows, but thats not the problem, then i start to OC using MSI Afterburner, set voltage to +100, power +133 (i know, same as LN2 bios locked, cause i want to test first), and then i start to try core/mems, i reached 170/250 stable in 4 consecutive runs of Heaven, then i changed the bios again to stock cause of the fans, but then the problems start, i cant reach now even 100 of core, it crashes, even flashing again the unlocked LN2, my card its broken? i used driver sweeper and deleted the drivers each time i changed bios... I dont know what to do
> I tried everything, changing core from 170 to 100, now there's nothing stable! , the problem its that i'm new with this graphic cards and his OC.. I come form a crossfire 5770..
> my equip:
> Nox 750w
> i5 [email protected]
> Asrock Z77 Extreme 4
> 8GB ram ripjaws
> 680 Lightning 310.90
> 
> Hope you guys can help me, thanks for all
Click to expand...

The fans spin at start-up to blow out dust, it's supposed to happen.

Congrats on the overclock, +170mhz on the core is pretty good. The reason you're crashing on the stock BIOS with that overclock now is because the voltage on the LN2 BIOS is higher than on the stock one. So, with less voltage, you'll get a lesser overclock. An offset on the LN2 BIOS might not be stable on the stock one.

Basically, you'll have different stability levels for each voltage level on each BIOS, because the 3A has a higher voltage.

Welcome to the Green side


----------



## ADSL

Yeah but when i change AGAIN to LN2 unlocked, does not matter, i cant do anything! it just crashes again.. And again.. And again... No matter what i do, i use Afterburner 2.3, does that matter?

If its not a problem, can anyone help me via MSN? XD, i'm so noob in this new OC system


----------



## dph314

It matters, yes. You need Afterburner 2.2.3.

2.3.0 requires a config file edit to adjust the voltage, so, unless you're set on 2.3.0, it's probably just easier for you to use 2.2.3









Is that what you were doing? Using 2.2.3 at first, then when you tried the LN2 BIOS the second time and you used 2.3.0? If so, that would explain the problem.


----------



## saint19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ADSL*
> 
> Yeah but when i change AGAIN to LN2 unlocked, does not matter, i cant do anything! it just crashes again.. And again.. And again... No matter what i do, i use Afterburner 2.3, does that matter?
> 
> If its not a problem, can anyone help me via MSN? XD, i'm so noob in this new OC system


Could you flash the LN2 BIOS again? Sounds like a problem with the BIOS more than GPU


----------



## ADSL

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> It matters, yes. You need Afterburner 2.2.3.
> 
> 2.3.0 requires a config file edit to adjust the voltage, so, unless you're set on 2.3.0, it's probably just easier for you to use 2.2.3
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is that what you were doing? Using 2.2.3 at first, then when you tried the LN2 BIOS the second time and you used 2.3.0? That would explain the problem.


Ok, i reinstalled 2.2.3, now, should i edit any file or something? i'm again on LN2 unlocked bios


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Yes sorry should have said that. Seemed slightly more stable with -100 aux voltage, but not much.


thanks for sharing this info









Air Cooling









GPU @ 1437Mhz +150mv 1.36v


----------



## ADSL

its strange, i'm on LN2 bios unlocked, with voltage control, but i cant put more than +100 voltage.. (93 in fact), why?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Yes sorry should have said that. Seemed slightly more stable with -100 aux voltage, but not much.
> 
> 
> 
> thanks for sharing this info
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Air Cooling
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GPU @ 1437Mhz +150mv 1.36v
Click to expand...

Awesome








Damn, I wonder why mine always seems lower. 1480/7250 and I would only get around 13,000-13,100 Graphics score.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ADSL*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> It matters, yes. You need Afterburner 2.2.3.
> 
> 2.3.0 requires a config file edit to adjust the voltage, so, unless you're set on 2.3.0, it's probably just easier for you to use 2.2.3
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is that what you were doing? Using 2.2.3 at first, then when you tried the LN2 BIOS the second time and you used 2.3.0? That would explain the problem.
> 
> 
> 
> Ok, i reinstalled 2.2.3, now, should i edit any file or something? i'm again on LN2 unlocked bios
Click to expand...

Nope. 2.2.3 requires no editing to adjust the voltage. As long as you have the 3A you're good.


----------



## ADSL

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Nope. 2.2.3 requires no editing to adjust the voltage. As long as you have the 3A you're good.


Then why i cant put more than 100mv? maybe thats why it crashes?, i'm not in 3A, i flashed *80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked LN2)*, should i flash the *80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2)* instead of F8?


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ADSL*
> 
> its strange, i'm on LN2 bios unlocked, with voltage control, but i cant put more than +100 voltage.. (93 in fact), why?


You need to use AB trick, is the only way to get +150
on msi.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Yes sorry should have said that. Seemed slightly more stable with -100 aux voltage, but not much.
> 
> 
> 
> thanks for sharing this info
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Air Cooling
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GPU @ 1437Mhz +150mv 1.36v
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Awesome
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Damn, I wonder why mine always seems lower. 1480/7250 and I would only get around 13,000-13,100 Graphics score.
Click to expand...

Eheh







if only i could lc my card maybe i'll be able to reach that 1450mhz!!! And i'm also waiting for my r4e rma to get back sheesh! :/


----------



## ADSL

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> You need to use AB trick, is the only way to get +150
> on msi.


AB trick? and whats that?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ADSL*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Nope. 2.2.3 requires no editing to adjust the voltage. As long as you have the 3A you're good.
> 
> 
> 
> Then why i cant put more than 100mv? maybe thats why it crashes?, i'm not in 3A, i flashed *80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked LN2)*, should i flash the *80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2)* instead of F8?
Click to expand...

+93mv is the stock limit. There's a hack to go higher, but temps really start to climb after around +118mv.

I'd flash to the 3A. Many people have reported problems with the F8, and if you aren't experiencing problems yet, you may down the road. Not sure what happened with the F8 as it was on many of the early Lightnings and now it's caused so many problems for people flashing to it. But I'd get the 3A just to be sure. No one's ever had a problem with it


----------



## ADSL

Finally!, now with 3A and +93Mv and Power 300, i reached an stable Core +160/ Mem +480


----------



## bahadirkazan

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> +93mv is the stock limit. There's a hack to go higher, but temps really start to climb after around +118mv.


Whats AB tricks on 3a bios brother? I wanna set my voltage to +150mV..


----------



## p3gaz_001

Sorry guys i meant to say am, wich is artmoney.. i'll write down how to use it later ok?


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Sorry guys i meant to say am, wich is artmoney.. i'll write down how to use it later ok?


Looking forward to this trick I have heard so much about. Thanks for your help in advance.


----------



## bahadirkazan

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Sorry guys i meant to say am, wich is artmoney.. i'll write down how to use it later ok?


Okay bro.


----------



## famich

There s a tutorial from dph 314 posted twice here down the road... just do some searching here in this thread


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Make sure your temps are staying at safe levels. And make sure you follow these instructions carefully.
> 
> -Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
> -Open Afterburner 2.2.3
> -Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
> -Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
> -Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
> -Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
> -Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
> -Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
> -Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
> -Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
> -Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
> BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltage sliders in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card


found it


----------



## p3gaz_001

well done









btw i'm not using 2.2.3 version but 2.3.0 + AM 7.40v


----------



## colforbin

Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
-Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney

What ia a good value to put here.....a little confused


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> well done
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> btw i'm not using 2.2.3 version but 2.3.0 + AM 7.40v


Nice. Yeah just a reminder to anyone reading that, that you need to do the config edit with 2.3.0









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colforbin*
> 
> Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
> -Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
> 
> What ia a good value to put here.....a little confused


A good value for the voltage? Well, small increments over what you already know is a safe level, that's for sure. Try +100mv the first time. Then if there's room to move up temperature-wise, go up in 6mv increments.


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Nice. Yeah just a reminder to anyone reading that, that you need to do the config edit with 2.3.0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A good value for the voltage? Well, small increments over what you already know is a safe level, that's for sure. Try +100mv the first time. Then if there's room to move up temperature-wise, go up in 6mv increments.


so the value I put in is 100? or is it Core = 00449100?


----------



## bahadirkazan

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*


Now ?


----------



## re5pect

Hi, I have problem again?!? SLI my GTX680L and have only 17700 in 3dmark that sounds crap, I have problem with voltage for two cards , if increased in AB 2.30 then only main card lifting voltage and secondary stay on factory setings, whats wrong? cant go more than 1300 core on standard voltage


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colforbin*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Nice. Yeah just a reminder to anyone reading that, that you need to do the config edit with 2.3.0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A good value for the voltage? Well, small increments over what you already know is a safe level, that's for sure. Try +100mv the first time. Then if there's room to move up temperature-wise, go up in 6mv increments.
> 
> 
> 
> so the value I put in is 100? or is it Core = 00449100?
Click to expand...

For the love of God do not enter 00449100 into the voltage value!!







I know it wouldn't set it at that, just kidding. Well actually, who knows, it might set it at 700mv though, that'd definitely be bad. Anyways, yeah you enter the voltage offset you want once you get to the step where you're entering the value. By 'value' I mean the voltage offset you want. Stock limit is +93, meaning +93mv, taking you from ~1.26v to ~1.36v. If you set the offset in ArtMoney at 120, that would be like having +120mv in Afterburner. So you'll be at ~1.38v.

You don't change the address itself. You're just changing the value of the address. You don't manually enter the 00449000 address, you find it through the Search and Filter steps, then move it to the right column and change the value of it









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bahadirkazan*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 
> 
> Now ?
Click to expand...

Refer to PM







Saw it before this post of yours, so I answered the PM first.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> Hi, I have problem again?!? SLI my GTX680L and have only 17700 in 3dmark that sounds crap, I have problem with voltage for two cards , if increased in AB 2.30 then only main card lifting voltage and secondary stay on factory setings, whats wrong? cant go more than 1300 core on standard voltage


17,700 Graphics Score, or overall?

For 2.3.0, you have to do the config file edit. And if you have two Lightnings, you need to copy/paste the lines of code into _both_ config files in that folder. I'm not on my desktop at the moment, so I can't take a pic of the folder, but for me (as well as you) there will be two files, a long string of letters and numbers, and each will need the copy/paste into them.

Just to make sure, you are setting both cards up individually right? I mean, assuming the two cards aren't very similar, like mine aren't, you probably don't have the 'Sync similar GPUs' option checked in the settings. So if you don't, you have to go into the Settings and select Card 2 and click Ok and then you'll be brought to the second card's sliders. Not sure how much experience you have, so, just checking


----------



## p3gaz_001

MSI Afterburner 2.3.0 and Voltages :

this is the method i use every time i need to bench on Windows 7 OS, and is 100% working

just follow step by step this few things and u guys you'll be fine!

this is what u need :

- download and install *MSI AB 2.3.0 version*

- download and install *Artmoney v7.40*, while installing, and asked choose .AMT



- download this .ATM pre-compiled table for voltages

- Be sure UAC is disabled

- Execute MSI AB First and don't touch anything, be sure msi is @ default settings



- Execute Artmoney

- On Artmoney "Select Process" select MSI AB, below is how it should look



- Find and load the Artmoney .AMT file (previously downloaded) , if you did right till now this is how it has to look



- Now go on "VALUE" and write down your desired voltage on GPU/MEM/AUX



- Go on MSI AB , bumb your power target to the max and press apply, after doing this you'll see that the voltages you've previously set on AM are now available on MSI AB



- you are good to go, you can now close Artmoney.

WINDOWS 8 USERS (NOT PERSONALLY TESTED)

is raccomanded to install Artmoney in windows test mode :

Open a command prompt as an administrator

- type bcdedit-set loadoptions DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
- hit enter
- type bcdedit-set TESTSIGNING ON
- hit enter
- reboot your system.
- Install ArtMoney install and run it.

Return to windows 8 normal operation :

- Open prompt command as an administrator
- type bcdedit-set loadoptions ENABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
- hit enter
- type bcdedit-set TESTSIGNING OFF
- hit enter
- Close the command prompt and reboot your sistem.

*WHAT TO KNOW* :

- *any setting you do, you must do it through AM, if you apply any setting from MSI AB with AM closed, all voltages will roll back to their max MSI default values*

Go easy with voltages if using stock cooler this is an hack and it can damage your precious HW, always keep an eye your on temperatures. That's all Have Fun!

Pegaz.


----------



## re5pect

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> For the love of God do not enter 00449100 into the voltage value!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I know it wouldn't set it at that, just kidding. Well actually, who knows, it might set it at 700mv though, that'd definitely be bad. Anyways, yeah you enter the voltage offset you want once you get to the step where you're entering the value. By 'value' I mean the voltage offset you want. Stock limit is +93, meaning +93mv, taking you from ~1.26v to ~1.36v. If you set the offset in ArtMoney at 120, that would be like having +120mv in Afterburner. So you'll be at ~1.38v.
> 
> You don't change the address itself. You're just changing the value of the address. You don't manually enter the 00449000 address, you find it through the Search and Filter steps, then move it to the right column and change the value of it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Refer to PM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Saw it before this post of yours, so I answered the PM first.
> 17,700 Graphics Score, or overall?
> 
> For 2.3.0, you have to do the config file edit. And if you have two Lightnings, you need to copy/paste the lines of code into _both_ config files in that folder. I'm not on my desktop at the moment, so I can't take a pic of the folder, but for me (as well as you) there will be two files, a long string of letters and numbers, and each will need the copy/paste into them.
> 
> Just to make sure, you are setting both cards up individually right? I mean, assuming the two cards aren't very similar, like mine aren't, you probably don't have the 'Sync similar GPUs' option checked in the settings. So if you don't, you have to go into the Settings and select Card 2 and click Ok and then you'll be brought to the second card's sliders. Not sure how much experience you have, so, just checking


17700 overal and 22000 only graphic, i have instal 2.23 now and will test. yes i have checked synd gpu option before


----------



## Arniebomba

Since this involves a Lightning bios, i thought i might as well give it a try over here because I cant figure this one out....

I am running two GTX680 TOP cards in SLi for some time now. A few months ago i sold one card thinking i wanted to go 2x690, but i didnt and bought a new 680Top card again.
The "old" cards were once provided with the unlocked LN2 bios. No problems with flashing what so ever and also no problems changing back to the original TOP bios.

Two days ago i flashed the bios of the two cards to the NEW LN2 bios (80.04.28.00.3A). Using the same USB stick as i used before, only with the new LN2 bios. It worked fine.
But..when i try to change the bios to ANY other bios file now, it gives me an error. I can see the GPU in the device manager, but it gives a "!". I cant work in Sli and GPU-Z shows one PCIe 16x3.0 and one 16x1.1. Also, when i start my pc, my screen will go blank and say "not connected" and then comes back and works fine..but only with one GPU and with all the mentioned issues..

I've tried installing about 5 different bios files now, including the original TOP bios. I've changed back and forward to different nVidia drivers. But nothing seems to work. The only way i can get back to a perfectly fine working setup, with no errors, no 2 sec blank screen and with SLi, is when i flash to the new LN2 bios wich i mentioned.

I also completely reinstalled Windos. No changes.
Updated the motherboard BIOS. At first i could select SLI setting, but when i apply them, the system freezed and after two attempts.. No changes and the same problems

Any input to figure this one out?

Specs:
3930K
2133 Doms
Rampage 4 Gene
All Watercooled


----------



## re5pect

I have changed drivers back to 306.97 and thats my score on SLI - 1320Mhz core and 6958Mhz Mem


----------



## re5pect

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5615488


----------



## re5pect

Any good??? What do you guys think?


----------



## twinfrozer4

what up everybody..just finally built my rig today..great to see how big of a thread there is for the lightning.i came to the right place. i got 2 in my system FINALLY..they been sitting on my shelf for the past 6 months waiting to be used..finally saved enough money to finally put them to good use!!


----------



## dph314

Great job Pegaz








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *re5pect*
> 
> Any good??? What do you guys think?


24,000 Graphics Score is excellent, especially for those clocks. Well, compared to what I would run at those clocks anyways









But yes, looking great.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *twinfrozer4*
> 
> what up everybody..just finally built my rig today..great to see how big of a thread there is for the lightning.i came to the right place. i got 2 in my system FINALLY..they been sitting on my shelf for the past 6 months waiting to be used..finally saved enough money to finally put them to good use!!


Nice. You might have ones that came with the 3A by default. Those older ones were great overclockers. Very interested in results


----------



## twinfrozer4

ya they are unlocked..i dont wana oc them just yet cause my case didnt come in yet and i put them together in an old case that isnt that great for cooling.. just wanted to make sure everthing worked properly.


----------



## Menthol

If your using ArtMoney to overvolt your cards, this makes it much easier, it like everything else has been posted in this thread before. Thanks to qwwwizxx

https://sites.google.com/site/qwwwizx/home/gtx-680

This thread is like the energizer bunny it just keeps going


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> If your using ArtMoney to overvolt your cards, this makes it much easier, it like everything else has been posted in this thread before. Thanks to qwwwizxx
> 
> https://sites.google.com/site/qwwwizx/home/gtx-680*This thread is like the energizer bunny it just keeps going*oing


Ha, true. Always new members with new questions.

And I hope to see everyone in the 780 Lightning thread. Well, if the voltage is unlocked again. Hack, edit, whatever. As long as I don't have to take a soldering iron to my $600+ GPU then I'm in


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> *Ha, true. Always new members with old questions.*
> 
> And I hope to see everyone in the 780 Lightning thread. Well, if the voltage is unlocked again. Hack, edit, whatever. As long as I don't have to take a soldering iron to my $600+ GPU then I'm in


Sorry dph had to fix that for you bud


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> *Ha, true. Always new members with old questions.*
> 
> And I hope to see everyone in the 780 Lightning thread. Well, if the voltage is unlocked again. Hack, edit, whatever. As long as I don't have to take a soldering iron to my $600+ GPU then I'm in
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry dph had to fix that for you bud
Click to expand...









True.

We were all new at some point though I guess. Searching for the answer in a thread this size might not be easy sometimes, if you get 1,000 results. So, yep, the old questions live on


----------



## twinfrozer4

if the 780 has 3gb-4gb and a higher mem then the bottlenecking 256 bit..then il be in the 780 thread..but i searously doubt there will be a lightning with the nvidia crap..or hopefully they will offer it at a lower 1year warrenty with voltage unlock


----------



## p3gaz_001

the 780 will not have 256bit bus width, rumors says 384 bit... this is the only thing quite sure, there's no point of doing a 780 with 256bit, again.


----------



## Hellish

Just got mine today as I am going back to single card, done with SLI for good selling off both 4GB EVGA 680's tmrw. (Have had 480 sli, 580 sli, 680 sli)

I had to take off the reactor cover in order to fit the card in the top slot as it touched the ram and heatsink on the RIVE and would fit with it on.

edit: blue screen on restart that instantly went away and then it started normaly :S?

edit: noise to temp ratio is 100x better then my ftw+


----------



## dph314

Definitely. TFIV is a great cooler. I don't think I'll be able to wait until the non-ref cards next series though, so I might just get a 780 or two on Day 1 and then sell them when the Lightnings come out, like I did with this series (assuming they have an adjustable voltage somehow). I'm sure a reference 780 will still be a pleasant upgrade from a 680 Lightning, even if it is a good overclocker.

I might have my lesser Lightning up on Amazon or eBay soon, as I can get away with only my really good one until the 700-series. So if anyone has a friend or anything that wants a good deal on decent one that's been taken great care of, PM me







I'm going to save the good one until closer to the 780's release.


----------



## twinfrozer4

what would a used one go for?? just curious....i know they are now 500 and lower..but they are worth every penny..even though i payed over 600 with tax and shipping..but if its one of the first cards and it overclocks good would that matter in the resale market?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *twinfrozer4*
> 
> what would a used one go for?? just curious....i know they are now 500 and lower..but they are worth every penny..even though i payed over 600 with tax and shipping..but if its one of the first cards and it overclocks good would that matter in the resale market?


I think people that know what they're doing ask more for used cards that overclock well, as they know people will pay the premium for knowing they aren't taking a chance on getting a poor overclocker. A Lightning that's of the first batch, released with the unlocked BIOS natively and overclocks like a beast, would definitely fetch a larger amount than the average used ones. I wouldn't doubt that a good older 680 Lightning would sell for even _more_ than the price of a new one, since again, the buyer would be paying for the peace of mind in knowing that they're not having to take a chance on what they want, and are instead assured they are getting it.

Mine would probably be sold for a decent amount less than what they're going for New. This is by no means among the worst cards I've seen so far. Some have a very difficult time reaching even 1300mhz with +93mv, or more (I've actually gotten one in my search for a really good one







). The one I'll sell soon hits right around 1320mhz most of the time with +93mv or slightly more. I'm sure it would do better under water, but it doesn't repond well to more voltage on the stock cooler. It does do well on the non-LN2 BIOS though, as it's Boost speed is pretty decent for a 680, 1215mhz, and stays exceptionally cool with a nice and quiet low fan speed. But I'd have to look on Amazon and eBay and see what the average used Lightning is going for and go from there.


----------



## CryptiK

yep, used usually ~50-100 lower than new, used but excellent overclocker 50-100 more than new. As dph said, it eliminates the need to take a chance and if you buy/sell a couple cards to get a better one yourself you spend that much on them anyway.


----------



## twinfrozer4

nice...cant wait to test mine out..my case is takeing forever to get here!!!!!


----------



## TheAssassin

I hit 1333MHz on stock voltage. With +93 on voltage, so far im at 1411MHz with air. Haven't played with the AUX voltage yet.


----------



## ajresendez

Sigh I must have crappy card. I have to use +93 for just 1335 won't go any higher.


----------



## CryptiK

You guys have seen this right? http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?&m=1758604&mpage=1

Seems nvidia state keplers are flaky and susceptible to degradation through electronmigration with voltages over their stock limit. Also of interest is that AIC's despite their misrepresentations, were not 'forced' to remove voltage control at all. They chose to but they made it seem like nvidia gave them no choice.
Quote:


> "Regarding overvoltaging above our max spec, we offer AICs two choices:
> 
> · Ensure the GPU stays within our operating specs and have a full warranty from NVIDIA.
> 
> · Allow the GPU to be manually operated outside specs in which case NVIDIA provides no warranty.
> 
> We prefer AICs ensure the GPU stays within spec and encourage this through warranty support, but it's ultimately up to the AIC what they want to do. Their choice does not affect allocation. And this has no bearing on the end user warranty provided by the AIC. It is simply a warranty between NVIDIA and the AIC. "


NVIDIA claiming premature kelper death with any overvoltage
Quote:


> Some of our best and most passionate customers have told us (though forums, partners and directly) that they are frustrated with our position on GPU Overvoltaging. So we feel that it is important to explain exactly what our position is and why we feel that it is important.
> 
> We love to see our chips run faster and we understand that our customers want to squeeze as much performance as possible out of their GPUs. However there is a physical limit to the amount of voltage that can be applied to a GPU before the silicon begins to degrade through electromigration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromigration). Essentially, excessive voltages on transistors can over time "evaporate" the metal in a key spot destroying or degrading the performance of the chip. Unfortunately, since the process happens over time it's not always immediately obvious when it's happening. Overvoltaging above our max spec does exactly this. It raises the operating voltage beyond our rated max and can erode the GPU silicon over time.
> 
> In contrast, GPU Boost always keeps the voltage below our max spec, even as it is raising and lowering the voltage dynamically. That way you get great performance and a guaranteed lifetime.
> So our policy is pretty simple:
> 
> We encourage users to go have fun with our GPUs. They are completely guaranteed and will perform great within the predefined limits.
> We also recommend that our board partners don't build in mechanisms that raise voltages beyond our max spec. We set it as high as possible within long term reliability limits.
> 
> The reason we have a limit on max voltage is very simply to prevent damage to the GPU chips. At NVIDIA we know that our customers want to push their GPUs to the limit. We are all for it, and as a matter of fact NVIDIA has always prioritized support for hardware enthusiasts by providing tools to access hardware settings and by supporting our board partners in creating overclocked enthusiast products. Leading up to the GeForce GTX 680 release for example, we worked closely with developers of 3rd party overclocking utilities to make sure they fully supported GeForce GTX 680 and GPU Boost on the day of launch.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> You guys have seen this right? http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?&m=1758604&mpage=1
> 
> Seems nvidia state keplers are flaky and susceptible to degradation through electronmigration with voltages over their stock limit. Also of interest is that AIC's despite their misrepresentations, were not 'forced' to remove voltage control at all. They chose to but they made it seem like nvidia gave them no choice.
> NVIDIA claiming premature kelper death with any overvoltage


Yep, we seen this a few months ago.


----------



## twinfrozer4

thats the difference between the refrence models and custom pcb...right???? is that the reason why evga turned there lifetime warrenty to just 3 years?


----------



## johnnyw

Few pics of my lightning rig


----------



## TheAssassin

where is your HDD and your optical drive cables? Can you just send me a picture of your cable management lol?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *johnnyw*
> 
> Few pics of my lightning rig
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


Nice Lightning, but I like that psu even more!


----------



## johnnyw

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> where is your HDD and your optical drive cables? Can you just send me a picture of your cable management lol?


HDD cables are behind mb tray and dont have optical installed atm, sata power connectors are well hidden behind that scythe himuro enclosure and ssd again is hidden under it









If you watch it closely you can see sata cables from that lowest hole at mb tray at left side of the himuro.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> You guys have seen this right? http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?&m=1758604&mpage=1
> 
> Seems nvidia state keplers are flaky and susceptible to degradation through electromigration with voltages over their stock limit. Also of interest is that AIC's despite their misrepresentations, were not 'forced' to remove voltage control at all. They chose to but they made it seem like nvidia gave them no choice.
> 
> *snipped*
> 
> NVIDIA claiming premature kepler death with any overvoltage
> 
> *snipped*


Not sure if that constitutes a real "choice". More like an offer that can't be refused.... As for the "explanation", I have no way of knowing the percentage of truthfulness in it. Not hearing about lots of failed cards in this thread, so I'll continue to take it all with a grain of salt.


----------



## DJRamses

Hi Guys








i wish you all a happy new year.









I love the winter:


----------



## GenoOCAU

What are you cooling the 980x with? Those volts are teh scary.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> What are you cooling the 980x with? Those volts are teh scary.


Look at this:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club/4370#post_18770488

It is a balcony mod

At Time we have -6°C outside
Idle Temp of CPU is -4°C
max Temp at Benchmark was 38°C. (RealTemp)


----------



## CryptiK

1580 core wow, what vgpu?


----------



## DJRamses

Multimeter shows 1,539V at the first graphic test of 3DMark11. This was the max of all Tests.
Max. Temp was 28 - 33 °C


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Hi Guys
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i wish you all a happy new year.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I love the winter:


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> What are you cooling the 980x with? Those volts are teh scary.


wow!! what voltage for 1580mhz???


----------



## Arniebomba

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arniebomba*
> 
> Since this involves a Lightning bios, i thought i might as well give it a try over here because I cant figure this one out....
> 
> I am running two GTX680 TOP cards in SLi for some time now. A few months ago i sold one card thinking i wanted to go 2x690, but i didnt and bought a new 680Top card again.
> The "old" cards were once provided with the unlocked LN2 bios. No problems with flashing what so ever and also no problems changing back to the original TOP bios.
> 
> Two days ago i flashed the bios of the two cards to the NEW LN2 bios (80.04.28.00.3A). Using the same USB stick as i used before, only with the new LN2 bios. It worked fine.
> But..when i try to change the bios to ANY other bios file now, it gives me an error. I can see the GPU in the device manager, but it gives a "!". I cant work in Sli and GPU-Z shows one PCIe 16x3.0 and one 16x1.1. Also, when i start my pc, my screen will go blank and say "not connected" and then comes back and works fine..but only with one GPU and with all the mentioned issues..
> 
> I've tried installing about 5 different bios files now, including the original TOP bios. I've changed back and forward to different nVidia drivers. But nothing seems to work. The only way i can get back to a perfectly fine working setup, with no errors, no 2 sec blank screen and with SLi, is when i flash to the new LN2 bios wich i mentioned.
> 
> I also completely reinstalled Windos. No changes.
> Updated the motherboard BIOS. At first i could select SLI setting, but when i apply them, the system freezed and after two attempts.. No changes and the same problems
> 
> Any input to figure this one out?
> 
> Specs:
> 3930K
> 2133 Doms
> Rampage 4 Gene
> All Watercooled


No one?


----------



## DJRamses

p3gaz_001:

Look at post 5127.

Here some tipps for 3DMark 11.

If you set a high LOD, Lightning need a little lower Voltage. I had made so many Tests with 3DMark11.

The best LOD ist a value between 0x00000019 and 0x00000021. Higher or lower LOD takes a lower Graphic-Score.
The max.LOD in Nvinspector you can choose is 3,000. You must edit manually with "0x000000XX".
This scores was i had testing:

LOD = Graphic-Score only!
1,000 = 12318
2,500 = 12798
2,975 = 12892
3,375 = 12984
3,750 = 12330
3,250 = 13011 <--









Testsystem
CPU = 4,85Ghz
Ram = 9-12-12-12-31 1T
Graka (GTX680Lightning) = 1450Mhz/ 7208


----------



## CryptiK

memory bandwidth vs core freq brief comparison

1280c/8000 Mem (+1000)



1306c/7000 Mem (+500)



Seems the extra 500Mhz (1GHz effective) mem contributes about the same in 3DM11 as an extra 26 MHz core freq.


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> p3gaz_001:
> 
> Look at post 5127.
> 
> Here some tipps for 3DMark 11.
> 
> If you set a high LOD, Lightning need a little lower Voltage. I had made so many Tests with 3DMark11.
> 
> The best LOD ist a value between 0x00000019 and 0x00000021. Higher or lower LOD takes a lower Graphic-Score.
> The max.LOD in Nvinspector you can choose is 3,000. You must edit manually with "0x000000XX".
> This scores was i had testing:
> 
> LOD = Graphic-Score only!
> 1,000 = 12318
> 2,500 = 12798
> 2,975 = 12892
> 3,375 = 12984
> 3,750 = 12330
> 3,250 = 13011 <--
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Testsystem
> CPU = 4,85Ghz
> Ram = 9-12-12-12-31 1T
> Graka (GTX680Lightning) = 1450Mhz/ 7208


thank you!!! what a crazy voltage there!!!


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> memory bandwidth vs core freq brief comparison
> 
> 1280c/8000 Mem (+1000)
> 
> 
> 
> 1306c/7000 Mem (+500)
> 
> 
> 
> Seems the extra 500Mhz (1GHz effective) mem contributes about the same in 3DM11 as an extra 26 MHz core freq.


oh yes... please what voltage for +1000 mem??


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> oh yes... please what voltage for +1000 mem??


Stock







It will do +1050 on stock voltage, I just run it at +1000 because it does it easily and I think 256 GB/s is probably enough bandwidth so the core is not limited.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Stock
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It will do +1050 on stock voltage, I just run it at +1000 because it does it easily and I think 256 GB/s is probably enough bandwidth so the core is not limited.


That's gotta be the best clocking gtx680 when it comes to memory. I'd be happy with that beast of a card just for the bandwidth capability.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Stock
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It will do +1050 on stock voltage, I just run it at +1000 because it does it easily and I think 256 GB/s is probably enough bandwidth so the core is not limited.
> 
> 
> 
> That's gotta be the best clocking gtx680 when it comes to memory. I'd be happy with that beast of a card just for the bandwidth capability.
Click to expand...

Indeed. That's what I said. No one can touch his memory, even though I've seen someone run 8000mhz before, it was never on the stock voltage.

So, cryptik, what does the memory run with +100mv?


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Indeed. That's what I said. No one can touch his memory, even though I've seen someone run 8000mhz before, it was never on the stock voltage.
> 
> So, cryptik, what does the memory run with +100mv?


Isn't that obvious?

OVER 9000MHZ!!!!


----------



## CryptiK

Yeah seems I got lucky with this one and the mem. I tried up to +100mv and it really makes no difference, I think I'm at the limit of the memory controller at +1050. The mem itself would go higher by the looks of it but no amount of voltage will get any more out of it.

Apparently the controller was what nvidia and AMD struggled with, even 6GHz was an achievement from what I read.


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> oh yes... please what voltage for +1000 mem??
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Stock
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It will do +1050 on stock voltage, I just run it at +1000 because it does it easily and I think 256 GB/s is probably enough bandwidth so the core is not limited.
Click to expand...

Stock?? Holy sheet 0.o


----------



## dph314

All these good cards floating around is making me want to take another stab at the lottery









**realizes he doesn't have the funds to be wasting on hardware he already has**


----------



## SeekerZA

Done some benching recently on air. Water to arrive soon.



@CryptiK How is your scores soo high? i've got a 2500k @4.8Ghz and your score walks all over mine. Though i couldn't get mem over 730, with a decent core. Had aux on +0 and mem on +10 atleast. What is recommended for aux for stability and good bench runs?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Done some benching recently on air. Water to arrive soon.
> 
> 
> 
> @CryptiK How is your scores soo high? i've got a 2500k @4.8Ghz and your score walks all over mine. Though i couldn't get mem over 730, with a decent core. Had aux on +0 and mem on +10 atleast. What is recommended for aux for stability and good bench runs?


Your Physix score is way lower, I don't know what you can do to increase it on a 2500k, disable any unneeded processes, increase CPU and Mem clocks, increase blk, your graphic score is OK.


----------



## SeekerZA

I set my physics to GTX680 in nvidia control panel. Maybe its the downclocking of my cpu because i do notice when i did a windowed mode run it would use 99% gpu usage but cpu remained at 1600MHz. Now and then it would jump to 4800MHz. Sigh, already found a downfall with offset voltage. Fixed voltage and All C states disabled is the way to go really. Will bench another time though


----------



## Menthol

In the benchmark all physix are run from cpu, you can also go to control panel, power options, performance, disable core parking, disable all unneeded processes, check on HWBOT for scores of similar systems to get an idea where you should be. If you check your graphic's score it is higher than the one you referenced


----------



## Hydroplane

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!



Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Hi Guys
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i wish you all a happy new year.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I love the winter:






1.75V on a 980, not even a 980x


----------



## twinfrozer4

didnt msi stop binning cards on the lightnings??? seems like every newer card can barely hit 1300mhz..so far i can get about 1360mhz on stock volts...temps being the problem.but my case still hasent came in yet!!! so hopefully i have some winners..cause im sure its my case flow holding them back


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Done some benching recently on air. Water to arrive soon.
> 
> @CryptiK How is your scores soo high? i've got a 2500k @4.8Ghz and your score walks all over mine. Though i couldn't get mem over 730, with a decent core. Had aux on +0 and mem on +10 atleast. What is recommended for aux for stability and good bench runs?


Physics tests in 3dMark11 is run on the CPU. Your Physics score is right around where mine was when I had my 2500k at 4.8Ghz. Yes, you should do a reboot before testing and close all non-essential processes in the Task Manager. Also reboot every few tests as 3dMark11's processes seem to keep building up in the background after running multiple tests, at least if I remember correctly (or, you can probably just close them through the Task Manager as well). Also, RAM plays a larger role in generic benches than games. I don't know how much you have or what speed it's running at, but as mrTOOshort and a few others helped me out with it, and RAM makes a relatively big difference. For example, my 3930k @ 5Ghz was showing up as getting about 16,500 in the Physics tests in everyone's results I was looking at, but I could only get up to 14,500 with mine at that speed. I think I had 2 sticks of 2GB 1600mhz RAM at the time (dual-channel). When I upgraded, I had 4 sticks of RAM, running quad-channel. Going from dual to quad-channel brought my Physics score up an entire 1,000 points. Then I overclocked the new RAM from 1600mhz to 2133mhz, and gained another 1,000 points. _Now_ I was up to par. So, whatever RAM you have, at least overclock it and you'll gain some points in the Physics department.

Graphics score seems about right. Mine is always lower than what other people are running, even though I'm using slightly _higher_ clocks. I haven't benched in a while, so I haven't tried yet, but aside from the standard -reboot, close all non-essential processes-, it was brought up by DJRamses that going into Inspector and adjusting the LOD makes a very noticeable difference. 700 points on the Graphics Score actually. Damn I gotta try that. Maybe that's why my score is always lower than most? A lot of people adjust the LOD? 1480mhz/7200mhz and I only run just over 13,000 Graphics Score. +700 points would bring me up quite a bit. I'll have to try the next time it stops snowing here







Got the below-freezing temps I want, but I can't get it to stop snowing.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Never knew about LOD in 3dmark 11, might have to break my person best scores again!









Thanks DJ!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Never knew about LOD in 3dmark 11, might have to break my person best scores again!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks DJ!


Oh great. Now I'm never gonna catch Geno


----------



## StreekG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Never knew about LOD in 3dmark 11, might have to break my person best scores again!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks DJ!


This goes for me also.


----------



## SeekerZA

Thanks for the tips. I'll try again soon but my ram, i cant overclock to save my life, that's the only thing that's not OC, haha not that much can be OC, I never restarted pc and done like 5runs after seeing mem can be OC quite nicely. Had to get excited

i never adjusted anything just hit performance and sit back, thumbs crossed hoping i dont see : nvidia display driver has stopped working. . . WORST. But i'm not going to worry with that nvidia inspecter. Benching for the fun. Damn people here have high scores and it always feels like i'm soo close, off by a 100 or a few more but every run i hardly see +/- 10 difference haha. Addition. SAD


----------



## CryptiK

Yeah hexcore and fast low latency ram I guess is the only difference. I have many kits of Eplida Hypers (Corsair Dominator 1866 CL7/2000 CL8) from back before ram turned to absolute crap, so it pumps. I am a bit of a ram fan I guess. Even at 4GHz on the CPU it scores 113XX in performance.

I actually get a bit of a kick out of how competitive my rig still is against guys that have upgraded multiple times since I did, even the IVY cpu's are just ahead unless they are up over 4.8GHz or so.


----------



## Lukas026

hey guys

so after some thinking I returned my lightning 680 (14 days return policy) and I got a new one from another vendor...

first of all i have to say that I found out that OCCT 3.1.0 is still one of the best tools for checking overclocks. yes it is more demanding than any game (power draw especially) but that's what are we looking for right ?







So i used this and maxed Heaven 2.5 for overall checking. Now to the card it self:

With the new one I found max stable clock +180 mhz with +93mv. it was heaven stable but i got artifacts in occt (1920x1200, error checking on, shade complexity 8). So i tuned it down and max artifact free is about 135 mhz only. So I though I had again some crappy card. But than I tried to find max artifact free clock with +0 mv. And here is where the magic happen: my card is completly stable with 115 mhz in both programs and also FC 3 and Skyrim. I think that nice for a card which is not from first 5000 cards.

After that I moved to memory: with overclocking memory OC only I found max heaven stable clock on +750. When I tried OCCT there was some errors again. So I tuned it down to 725 mhz and it was error free.

Than I went for applying both at the same time: and to my surprise my card is completly stable with no added voltage (+0 / +0 / +0) with clocks +115 / +725 !

I know its not the best but I think its good at these crappy times









I will finally post some pics and also some bench scores later.

Overall I think I will keep this card. Also temps are very good: with 40 % fan and clocks above, it max with 60 in FC3.

What do you guys think ?

Take care


----------



## CryptiK

+115 in the LN2 bios is what, 1320 MHz boost? That's very nice, mine tops out at 1293 at that voltage. Theyre great cards.


----------



## Lukas026

yy something about that maybe a little bit lower - 1318 mhz. Yeah they are great and there is no other tinkered version of 680 like this. Even EVGA Classified seems a little down compared to Lightnings.

I was realy surprised that card can handle both clocks at the same times. I said to me: fine it can do +115 on core with no voltage but I am sure it will crash when I add memory clocks to it. But than BAM and it stays stable and I was realy blown away. Performance wise +725 memory is maybe even better than the core clock.

I am realy happy


----------



## dph314

Definitely an excellent card, congrats. Oh, and psh, what's a Classified?









Edit: Uh oh... http://www.overclock.net/t/1351786/tpu-nvidia-to-name-gk110-based-consumer-graphics-card-geforce-titan/20#post_19100138


----------



## CryptiK

Oh and damn you, there's goes my +1000 mem OC on stock volts lol. Got a few errors with that test using full screen (2560x1600) shader comp 8. I'm dropping back to +900 which passes clean (so does 950 but I want to start low) and I'll do some testing.


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Definitely an excellent card, congrats. Oh, and psh, what's a Classified?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Edit: Uh oh... http://www.overclock.net/t/1351786/tpu-nvidia-to-name-gk110-based-consumer-graphics-card-geforce-titan/20#post_19100138


From same thread.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> More from SWE - maybe add to OP?
> *
> -All designs must follow reference design to the letter, similar to GTX 690
> 
> -There will be no custom aftermarket GK110 boards
> 
> -No MSI lightning GK110
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -I'm _seriously_ doubting voltage control based on above, but hope i'm wrong
> 
> -Retail price: 899.99$ USD


----------



## dph314

Yep. I saw that. Not as excited as I was now. $900 reference!?!? And no non-ref boards? Damn it Nvidia









Well, I think I'm still going to upgrade, if I can get the loot together. Looks like I'll be selling both soon, so, yeah I'll let whoever wants to know about them know when they're going up for sale, if anyone wants to PM me or what not about either of them.


----------



## Lukas026

oh god that looks like a beast









should i return lightning again and wait for this new GK110 ?

I can spend some more bucks tbh but I dont know if it is worth it. what do you guys think ?

And yes I also want to max out crysis 3


----------



## K2mil

we should be able to do good if not best in crysis 3


----------



## dph314

One 680 Lightning, let alone 2, should be more than enough for a long time at 1080p. I unfortunately don't have the money to waste, yet I can't help it







So, I think I'm going to take a chance on the 780. Just means someone else gives a home to the 680 Lightnings I've come to love over the past few months


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> One 680 Lightning, let alone 2, should be more than enough for a long time at 1080p. I unfortunately don't have the money to waste, yet I can't help it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So, I think I'm going to take a chance on the 780. Just means someone else gives a home to the 680 Lightnings I've come to love over the past few months


Hahaha you sound like an absolute slave to impulse with the above dph!! If I find a game that I cant play at 1400/7000 SLI then ill worry about upgrading.

What sort of monitor setup do you have DPH? 30" 1600p?


----------



## CryptiK

SLI 1400/7000 Geno? Damn nice cards, what voltage are you running? How's the quad rad handle the pair of cards? I have a quad doing CPU mobo and single card ATM but they don't run hot so I'm hopeful it can handle another. I *could* fit another single 120mm in the case........... You're in melbourne (noticed on OCAU) too I should invite myself over for a beer and check out that evil rig of yours









I was tempted to get SLI titans and watercool them when blocks come out but I just cant justify that kind of cash for a reference board. I have been hardmodding cards and mobos since back in the day and I've smoked a mosfet or 3, enough to say I don't think nvidia design much headroom into their VRM circuitry. You can see how these lightnings suck power like mad when you up the volts and clocks even a little. something like the GK110 deserves robust digital VRM but sadly we wont see it. I'm going to get a second lightning (I know, I just sold one) and another Aquacomputer block and run a SLI setup for the first time in years. That should hold me over until 800 series or so I think I'm only on a 30" monitor with no plans/desire to go bigger.


----------



## Hodgy1971

Oh nice Melbourne. I'm from Melbourne as well but living and working in China.


----------



## CryptiK

Oh really small world at times isnt it.


----------



## TheAssassin

Let me know when you want to let one of them go. I would be more than happy with a second lightning.


----------



## Lukas026

hey again

so after some evening benching I came up with another bunch of results

i found out that with OCCT 3.1 there is a slight difference in shader complexity presets in terms of finding errors. With shader complexity 8 it pushes harder or the core and with shader complexity 0 its harder on memory. After that finding I found out my max mem clock clock with default voltage is +700.

Also seems like my core is not so great at all. After some playing Far Cry 3 (on ultra - hell thats demanding game) I found stable clocks on core +90 mhz with default voltage.

In conclusion I managed to play all games now with +90 / + 700. Its not great at all but I still dont know if I should return my card and wait for 780 or just try my luck with another Lightning







Problem is I am not so sure I could find some better in this time, when almost all good ones are out.

What do you guys think ? I mean about testing with OCCT and also about what should I do with my card ?

Thanks

PS: FYI card is stable on much higher clocks in games like Skyrim / Witcher 2 but when it comes to pushing the card with games like BF 3 / FC 3 I have to do clocks above. I am looking for rock solid oc so I thing results from DX 11 games should be my priority.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> One 680 Lightning, let alone 2, should be more than enough for a long time at 1080p. I unfortunately don't have the money to waste, yet I can't help it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So, I think I'm going to take a chance on the 780. Just means someone else gives a home to the 680 Lightnings I've come to love over the past few months
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hahaha you sound like an absolute slave to impulse with the above dph!! If I find a game that I cant play at 1400/7000 SLI then ill worry about upgrading.
> 
> What sort of monitor setup do you have DPH? 30" 1600p?
Click to expand...

Slave I am







I've had this 3390k/680 SLI setup as-is for a bit now. The upgrade bug is starting to make my skin itch. I just hope I can find my credit card by the time the 780 is released, little bastard grew legs and ran out of the room.

No, I'm still on 1080p. I can't go back to 60hz, so I'm waiting for even a 1200p 120hz to upgrade. I know there's some Chinese ones out there, or ones you can OC, but I'd rather wait for a trusted company in the US. But there's a lot of games that really need SLI to even just get close to over 100fps when maxed out. Hitman isn't recognizing SLI so I need my one card at 1424/7000 just to get around 60fps average. Even SLI in Black Ops 2 running at over 100fps puts a 70-80% load on each card. So, what I'm trying to say basically is that even at 1080p you need a lot of horsepower to enjoy a 120hz monitor. Well, I know some people don't. But I don't like to compromise often so I want the game maxed out _and_ be able to get over 100fps. So, yes I'm only at 1080p, but even with a series like COD that's always been considered easy to run, if I had Black Ops 2 on one card I wouldn't be getting the framerate I want. So...I got the upgrade bug and it needs to be fed









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Let me know when you want to let one of them go. I would be more than happy with a second lightning.


Anyone interested can PM me. I know I won't be able to keep track of everyone that posted something in the thread, so it'd be better to just PM me if interested


----------



## CryptiK

with 70-80% load per card and unsatisfactory frame rates you need better optimized drivers but in lieu of that yes more horsepower will work. kinda.


----------



## asleaker

Can please help me??? I got low GPU usage when I play at big BF3 maps when SLI is enabled. Gpu usage drops down to 50/50 at worst and is fluctating between 50 -80 on each gpu. When I am playing at smalll maps i got 70 - 100 GPU usage. When SLI disabled(one card only) I got 95-100 % all the tim, and much more stable FPS.

FPS drops to around 60 at worst scenarios when I also got gpu usage at 50/50. I got nearly same FPS with 1 card at 100%.

I use HW monitor(i think) and I never reach mnore than 84% CPU usage in any of my 4 cores/8 threads. Therefore I have concluded that its not a CPU bottleneck - I really hope not!

My temps
< 60 degrees on both GPUS
<70 degrees on CPU

Have tried alot of different settings in nvidia controlpanel.

My spec is the following:
solution; 1920 x 1080
Nvidia driver: 310.90
EVGA Precision for tuning - have tried framerate controll
,also tried MSI Afterburner 2.3.0

2 x MSI GTX 680 2GB "Lightning" @ 1267 mhz SLI (LN2 bios), MSI Z77 MPower , i7-3770K @ 4,2 ghz., HyperX Beast 16GB @ 2400 mhz ,120hz Asus VG236H 23" 2ms, 1920*1080, 120GB SSD Intel 330 Series , Corsair HX 1050W PSU , Corsair H50 Hydro Series CPU , Windows 7 Home Premium ENG, 64bit , Corsair Carbide 500R Midi Tower White


----------



## SK019

Greetings, I have recently pursched Lightning, switched to LN2 bios and tried to flash but then got this warning:

"Warning! Firmware image PCI subsystem ID does not match adapter firmware PCI subsystem ID"

My bios is 80.04.47.00.19. I have tried to flash with *80.04.28.00.3A* (unlocked LN2).

My question is - is it safe to proceed?

Thanks in advance and please excuse my bad english.


----------



## asleaker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> Greetings, I have recently pursched Lightning, switched to LN2 bios and tried to flash but then got this warning:
> 
> "Warning! Firmware image PCI subsystem ID does not match adapter firmware PCI subsystem ID"
> 
> My bios is 80.04.47.00.19. I have tried to flash with *80.04.28.00.3A* (unlocked LN2).
> 
> My question is - is it safe to proceed?
> 
> Thanks in advance and please excuse my bad english.


Its safe to proceed. I have done similar for three 680 lightning. I have changed both stock and ln2 bios. If u have sli u can write index=0 or 1 after "nvflash". Gpu main = 0 and 2nd gpu is 1.


----------



## SK019

Thanks, that sounds encouraging.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> with 70-80% load per card and unsatisfactory frame rates you need better optimized drivers but in lieu of that yes more horsepower will work. kinda.


Oh no, no unsatisfactory framerates here. It's running at pretty much a constant 120fps, so, I'm just saying, for something like that, SLI is needed at 1080p. Without SLI, I'd only be getting about 60fps, which isn't enough. I just wanted to point out that since it takes a 80% load on each card to get 120fps, SLI on 1080p is necessary if I want to enjoy my 120hz monitor. Yeah, Black Ops 2 runs great, 100fps min's with AO, TXAA X4, everything else maxed. Could still look a little better, but oh well, for a COD it looks pretty decent


----------



## Hodgy1971

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> One 680 Lightning, let alone 2, should be more than enough for a long time at 1080p. I unfortunately don't have the money to waste, yet I can't help it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So, I think I'm going to take a chance on the 780. Just means someone else gives a home to the 680 Lightnings I've come to love over the past few months
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hahaha you sound like an absolute slave to impulse with the above dph!! If I find a game that I cant play at 1400/7000 SLI then ill worry about upgrading.
> 
> What sort of monitor setup do you have DPH? 30" 1600p?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Slave I am
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've had this 3390k/680 SLI setup as-is for a bit now. The upgrade bug is starting to make my skin itch. I just hope I can find my credit card by the time the 780 is released, little bastard grew legs and ran out of the room.
> 
> No, I'm still on 1080p. I can't go back to 60hz, so I'm waiting for even a 1200p 120hz to upgrade. I know there's some Chinese ones out there, or ones you can OC, but I'd rather wait for a trusted company in the US. But there's a lot of games that really need SLI to even just get close to over 100fps when maxed out. Hitman isn't recognizing SLI so I need my one card at 1424/7000 just to get around 60fps average. Even SLI in Black Ops 2 running at over 100fps puts a 70-80% load on each card. So, what I'm trying to say basically is that even at 1080p you need a lot of horsepower to enjoy a 120hz monitor. Well, I know some people don't. But I don't like to compromise often so I want the game maxed out _and_ be able to get over 100fps. So, yes I'm only at 1080p, but even with a series like COD that's always been considered easy to run, if I had Black Ops 2 on one card I wouldn't be getting the framerate I want. So...I got the upgrade bug and it needs to be fed
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Let me know when you want to let one of them go. I would be more than happy with a second lightning.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Anyone interested can PM me. I know I won't be able to keep track of everyone that posted something in the thread, so it'd be better to just PM me if interested
Click to expand...

Hmmm I can 180 fps in Black ops 2 with a single lightning. All maxed out.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2


----------



## sherlock

Alright, just flipped my Bios Switch, I think this is the 3A version everyone is talking about:



Do I need to flash to something else or is this the one?


----------



## asleaker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sherlock*
> 
> Alright, just flipped my Bios Switch, I think this is the 3A version everyone is talking about:
> 
> Do I need to flash to something else or is this the one?


You have done it right! nothing more do to - you are ready for overclocking - i prefer EVGA precision or MSI afterburner


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *asleaker*
> 
> You have done it right! nothing more do to - you are ready for overclocking - i prefer EVGA precision or MSI afterburner


I have MSI AB 2.2.3 so I am all set.


----------



## CryptiK

Theres a locked and unlocked version of the 3A bios, if your card is not old, its probably locked. see if you can OC much higher with it, or measure vgpu with a dmm, if its stock, grab the 3A from page 1


----------



## CryptiK

Well I ordered my second card today since I am not upgrading to Titan or the GTX780 if that comes out. This is one niiiiice, does 1280 MHz BF3 stable at 1.15v







with an ASIC of 82.5%. Mem does an easy +906 like the 1st card too so I'll have plenty of bandwidth to use with them (~250GB/s per card).

I never SLI'd my first pair of cards, but I did for the first time tonight and damn, smooth game play or what. Loving it. Annoyingly I have both cards at 8x PCI-E due to the fact the coolant lines for the primary card define where I can put the second card (still aircooled) but my second aquacomputer block and SLI connector is on its way should be here monday/tuesday next week and I can get them both on water.

These things kick ass


----------



## SeekerZA

How does the aqua block compare to the ek block? i have the ek block on order but cant get the aqua block unless sidewinder ships to SA


----------



## SK019

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> Greetings, I have recently pursched Lightning, switched to LN2 bios and tried to flash but then got this warning:
> 
> "Warning! Firmware image PCI subsystem ID does not match adapter firmware PCI subsystem ID"
> 
> My bios is 80.04.47.00.19. I have tried to flash with *80.04.28.00.3A* (unlocked LN2).
> 
> My question is - is it safe to proceed?
> 
> Thanks in advance and please excuse my bad english.


To quote myself...

I just did the bios flash and everything seems to be OK except this:



And is there a way to increase voltage past 1213 mV? I'm using Afterburner and Evga precision. Thanks.


----------



## SeekerZA

New run:



Link: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5671361


----------



## SK019

Just an update - *80.04.09.00.F8* doesn't work for me, artifacts all over the place.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hodgy1971*
> 
> Hmmm I can 180 fps in Black ops 2 with a single lightning. All maxed out.
> 
> Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2


Are you sure? Not trying to sound rude or anything, but I doubt that







. Tom's Hardware was on the 310.54's and was getting 74fps with a 670- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii-performance-benchmark,3357-6.html . No idea why they didn't test with a 680, and I know it's an older article, but I don't think a 680 would be getting double the framerate of a 670. I also don't think the 310.90 drivers, assuming you're using them, would add over a 100% boost on the highest settings. You sure they're all up? X4 TXAA, highest for textures is "Extra", have AO enabled, FXAA disabled because it does help the framerate but it's blurry. I get pretty much a constant 120-130fps, but that wouldn't be possible without SLI.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> Greetings, I have recently pursched Lightning, switched to LN2 bios and tried to flash but then got this warning:
> 
> "Warning! Firmware image PCI subsystem ID does not match adapter firmware PCI subsystem ID"
> 
> My bios is 80.04.47.00.19. I have tried to flash with *80.04.28.00.3A* (unlocked LN2).
> 
> My question is - is it safe to proceed?
> 
> Thanks in advance and please excuse my bad english.
> 
> 
> 
> To quote myself...
> 
> I just did the bios flash and everything seems to be OK except this:
> 
> 
> 
> And is there a way to increase voltage past 1213 mV? I'm using Afterburner and Evga precision. Thanks.
Click to expand...

They don't read the voltage accurately. Clocks neither. Refer to the Afterburner graphs for the clock speeds and if you flashed to the 3A from the OP, math for the voltage. Stock is 1.26v, So add your offset to that and you'll know the voltage









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> Just an update - *80.04.09.00.F8* doesn't work for me, artifacts all over the place.


Yeah the F8 doesn't work for anybody. Stick with the 3A and you'll be good.


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Theres a locked and unlocked version of the 3A bios, if your card is not old, its probably locked. see if you can OC much higher with it, or measure vgpu with a dmm, if its stock, grab the 3A from page 1


I see the unlocked 3A on first page is the one with 04.28 just like mine:
Quote:


> AFTER THE FIRST 5000, WE'VE SEEN THESE LN2 BIOSs FROM THE FACTORY:
> *80.04.28.00.3A* (unlocked LN2)
> *80.04.09.00.3A* (unlocked LN2)
> *80.04.47.00.19* (locked LN2)
> *80.04.29.00.3A* (locked LN2)
> *80.04.28.00.39* (non-LN2)
> *80.04.47.00.18* (non-LN2)


----------



## K2mil

So we got a new version of AB 2.3.1.

Source

Do we still need to do the voltage unlock hack ??


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> So we got a new version of AB 2.3.1.
> 
> Source
> 
> Do we still need to do the voltage unlock hack ??


Of course, MSi does not longer provide official support por kepler overvolt


----------



## supermi

@ DPH314 Definitely an excellent card, congrats. Oh, and psh, what's a Classified?

Hello guys it has been a while,

Well I do have 4 classifieds that seem happy at 1400mhz at I believe 1.26v (under water)







first batch of course bought at the same time.

Back when the gpu was binned and evbot was on it , I tried a few other classifieds made in the second batch still with evbot and they were NO where near as good as mine, well back to the lightnings LOL









great thread BTW, even though I do not have the lightning any more I still keep up with this thread and do not even know if a classified 680 thread like this exhists.

and on an unrelated note 4 680's at 1.30v at around 1420mhz and 7200 ram (think I can go higher of course even with 4gb) and 3930k at 5ghz 1.47v running off two 1000W corsair psu's tripped my 15A surge protector LOL ... I need to keep it at 1320mhz and 1.21v for now till I either run it off a 20A surge protector or each psu of seperate 15A surge protectors ...

Just wish BF3 liked 4 way sli









edit:
Just saw the links to the Titan rumors. Wow ok I think I am gonna sell off my classifieds and pick up 2 or perhaps 3 of those (depending on SLI connections and availability) well if anyone wants some classifieds which will go punch for punch with any top lightning here and have 4gb to boot let me know


----------



## joem83

Hey guys. Hello to all . I bought my gtx 68 lgt about a month ago. Had to RMA the first one because I was having black screen reboots . I re installed w7 all the drivers mobo nvidia .. same issue swaped it out for my old gtx 470 no issue. I had the crash happen in FC 3 , AC3 heaven benchmark after I left it running over night . So I RMA it. Now have my new one. Over clocks to 1420 on 3A ln2, but still same issue. Checked PSU with mmt getting 12v . Plus its a 1000 at PSU. My specs are. Evga x58 sli le , xion 1000w PSU, patriot and munshkin ram 18gigs i7 920 @ 4.0 GHz ,corsair h 100 , haf 932 ,Seagate 1tb HD. Msi Gtx 680 light.. Will upload pix soon...than in advnc


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> @ DPH314 Definitely an excellent card, congrats. Oh, and psh, what's a Classified?
> 
> Hello guys it has been a while,
> 
> Well I do have 4 classifieds that seem happy at 1400mhz at I believe 1.26v (under water)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> first batch of course bought at the same time.
> 
> Back when the gpu was binned and evbot was on it , I tried a few other classifieds made in the second batch still with evbot and they were NO where near as good as mine, well back to the lightnings LOL
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> great thread BTW, even though I do not have the lightning any more I still keep up with this thread and do not even know if a classified 680 thread like this exhists.
> 
> and on an unrelated note 4 680's at 1.30v at around 1420mhz and 7200 ram (think I can go higher of course even with 4gb) and 3930k at 5ghz 1.47v running off two 1000W corsair psu's tripped my 15A surge protector LOL ... I need to keep it at 1320mhz and 1.21v for now till I either run it off a 20A surge protector or each psu of seperate 15A surge protectors ...
> 
> Just wish BF3 liked 4 way sli


supermi! Welcome back







Well I see you've had a monster setup there. That's amazing. You had 4 Classifieds that all did 1400mhz at 1.26v? Wow. So, I'm a little confused by what you said though. You had the 4 good ones, then bought _more_ and they weren't that great so you went back to Lightnings? But then right after that you say you don't have Lightnings anymore.

Well, either way, that's awesome that you found 4 amazing Classifieds. I bet it's easier keeping them under 70C with water, obviously. But yes, thanks, I did end up finding a pretty decent card. Just wish it would stop snowing so I could do another bench run with the window next to the computer open and a fan blowing the below-0C air into the open case







But I'm selling them soon (getting ready for Titan) so I might not push them anymore to make sure they're in perfect shape for my buyer.

Good to hear from you again
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *joem83*
> 
> Hey guys. Hello to all . I bought my gtx 68 lgt about a month ago. Had to RMA the first one because I was having black screen reboots . I re installed w7 all the drivers mobo nvidia .. same issue swaped it out for my old gtx 470 no issue. I had the crash happen in FC 3 , AC3 heaven benchmark after I left it running over night . So I RMA it. Now have my new one. Over clocks to 1420 on 3A ln2, but still same issue. Checked PSU with mmt getting 12v . Plus its a 1000 at PSU. My specs are. Evga x58 sli le , xion 1000w PSU, patriot and munshkin ram 18gigs i7 920 @ 4.0 GHz ,corsair h 100 , haf 932 ,Seagate 1tb HD. Msi Gtx 680 light.. Will upload pix soon...than in advnc


So this black screen issue happened with 2 completely different Lightnings, but not the 470? And it only happens when you overclock, or at stock too? If it crashed at 1420mhz, you probably had the voltage up a bit. Maybe the PSU can't handle the system when the Lightning is OC'd. Overvolting adds a lot to power usage, as does increasing the clocks.


----------



## supermi

Yes I am BACK LOL

I got 4 classifieds and tested them on air individually and then picked up another 2 later before putting them under water just to see if I could get an even better one NOPE the originals which are I think sn# 041 , 043, 044, 045 turned out to be golden ...

So I got 4 universal blocks and some copper heatsinks and made the most monster build (good looking as well) I have seen i a while LOL

the cards took closer to 1.3v under air but under water in 4 way sli seem very happy at 1400mhz with 1.26v might even go lower but I have not checked ... with my crazy rad set up 1 gallon plus res and dual pump the gpu temps are mid 30's to low 40's (they are water cooled in series so the 4th gpu is about 3-4 deg C warmer than the first few ... even in summer at those clocks I doubt it will crack the low 50's if it even gets that warm LOL

BTW playing border lands 2 in surround 3d and seeing each card at 97% usage is AMAZING!!!!

BUT I think I wanna be part of that titan club so I am gonna find some buyer/buyers for these cards, they are AMAZING but I need the newest stuff LOL just moved from my galaxy s3 to the note 2 within a few months and will go to the S4 and Note 3 fairly soon as well ... it make me happy, what can I say hehehe


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Yes I am BACK LOL
> 
> I got 4 classifieds and tested them on air individually and then picked up another 2 later before putting them under water just to see if I could get an even better one NOPE the originals which are I think sn# 041 , 043, 044, 045 turned out to be golden ...
> 
> So I got 4 universal blocks and some copper heatsinks and made the most monster build (good looking as well) I have seen i a while LOL
> 
> the cards took closer to 1.3v under air but under water in 4 way sli seem very happy at 1400mhz with 1.26v might even go lower but I have not checked ... with my crazy rad set up 1 gallon plus res and dual pump the gpu temps are mid 30's to low 40's (they are water cooled in series so the 4th gpu is about 3-4 deg C warmer than the first few ... even in summer at those clocks I doubt it will crack the low 50's if it even gets that warm LOL
> 
> BTW playing border lands 2 in surround 3d and seeing each card at 97% usage is AMAZING!!!!
> 
> BUT I think I wanna be part of that titan club so I am gonna find some buyer/buyers for these cards, they are AMAZING but I need the newest stuff LOL just moved from my galaxy s3 to the note 2 within a few months and will go to the S4 and Note 3 fairly soon as well ... it make me happy, what can I say hehehe


Can we see some pics?









Yeah I'm keeping my S3 until the S4 comes out. So you get good scaling in 4-way SLI with most games, or just Borderlands 2?

If your PSUs can take more, I'd see how high you can _really_ go before selling them. Oh and don't forget to try to knock some of them AMD guys out of first place in the Heaven thread


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Can we see some pics?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah I'm keeping my S3 until the S4 comes out. So you get good scaling in 4-way SLI with most games, or just Borderlands 2?
> 
> If your PSUs can take more, I'd see how high you can _really_ go before selling them. Oh and don't forget to try to knock some of them AMD guys out of first place in the Heaven thread


I will take some pics later this afternoon









PSU's can take a fair bit more, I need to use 2 15a surge protectors as one trips within 30 seconds of loading over 1400mhz !!! That is ALOT of juice!!!

What settings do I need to run in heaven, I am happy to give it a shot, I have never really done benchmarking before ... I wonder if 7500mem and 1450 core in 4 way can kick some AMD butt?

Some games scale better than others boarderlands 2 is GREAT and on the other end of things BF3 is trouble, a friend of mine and myself use little tricks like changing res while in game to trick BF3 to using near 100% usage otherwise it wants to use, 50% though MOH runs with about 80-95% gpu usage with some dips into the 70's at times ... MOH fps fully maxed in surround 1080p x 3 gives me 90-130 fps again fully maxed. Max payne 3 also gives me 80's and 90's of gpu usage ... and heaven of course uses near 100%.

I actually just listed my classifieds on CL LOL, if I sell em I hope this romour of the titan is real LOL or i will


----------



## joem83

Ok so the cards crash on stock clocks well lightning stock anyways . Both of the cards cause this black screen reboot. It hapens in assasin c 3 the most. After I chekt my ram my overcloc. Still hapend. So i ran every game and bench i could find. Left some overnight , like unigen FC3 AC3 in that test they all rebooted when i woke up the next day. Btw i run a 27.5 inch hans g mntr 1920-1200 . Also get a lot of tearing with both cards. And yes on my gtx 470 no problems. Thanx for the help


----------



## joem83

my build


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Can we see some pics?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah I'm keeping my S3 until the S4 comes out. So you get good scaling in 4-way SLI with most games, or just Borderlands 2?
> 
> If your PSUs can take more, I'd see how high you can _really_ go before selling them. Oh and don't forget to try to knock some of them AMD guys out of first place in the Heaven thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I will take some pics later this afternoon
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> PSU's can take a fair bit more, I need to use 2 15a surge protectors as one trips within 30 seconds of loading over 1400mhz !!! That is ALOT of juice!!!
> 
> What settings do I need to run in heaven, I am happy to give it a shot, I have never really done benchmarking before ... I wonder if 7500mem and 1450 core in 4 way can kick some AMD butt?
> 
> Some games scale better than others boarderlands 2 is GREAT and on the other end of things BF3 is trouble, a friend of mine and myself use little tricks like changing res while in game to trick BF3 to using near 100% usage otherwise it wants to use, 50% though MOH runs with about 80-95% gpu usage with some dips into the 70's at times ... MOH fps fully maxed in surround 1080p x 3 gives me 90-130 fps again fully maxed. Max payne 3 also gives me 80's and 90's of gpu usage ... and heaven of course uses near 100%.
> 
> I actually just listed my classifieds on CL LOL, if I sell em I hope this romour of the titan is real LOL or i will
Click to expand...

http://www.overclock.net/t/1235557/official-top-30-heaven-benchmark-3-0-scores Settings are in the first post. You can do it







Never did any benching with a setup like _that_? Damn. You gotta show that thread what you can do









So, you only can go up to 1450mhz or that's as far as you want to go?


----------



## CryptiK

Damn 4 x classys that hit 1400 MHz at 1.26v, very impressive.

Its funny EVGA claims they are binned...............maybe as with the lightnings the first ones were, then when nvidia clamped down, they probably thought why bother people will be awestruck by the initial results and buy them hoping for the same. Less expense and they still sell units = profit.

There's reports of classys overclocking so badly, at least one will not go over stock clocks on stock voltage lol, how bad is that? Would be disappionted if that were me and I had just shelled out for a top tier OC card. You should find buyers no problem.

I'm running my 2 x lightnings at 1280/3911 MHz at 1.21v and they pack a punch, plenty for what I'm doing with 2560x1600 and I can (just) run them and my 990x off an 850w PSU (although I'm considering moving to a larger unit to increase headroom and reduce heat output).


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> So we got a new version of AB 2.3.1.
> 
> Source
> 
> Do we still need to do the voltage unlock hack ??


Sorry, I'm new over here and my lighting should be arriving anytime now. Is that voltage unlock hack for afterburner the one referred to on the 1st post?


----------



## joem83

Ok so the cards crash on stock clocks well lightning stock anyways . Both of the cards cause this black screen reboot. It hapens in assasin c 3 the most. After I chekt my ram my overcloc. Still hapend. So i ran every game and bench i could find. Left some overnight , like unigen FC3 AC3 in that test they all rebooted when i woke up the next day. Btw i run a 27.5 inch hans g mntr 1920-1200 . Also get a lot of tearing with both cards. And yes on my gtx 470 no problems. Thanx for the help


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> So we got a new version of AB 2.3.1.
> 
> Source
> 
> Do we still need to do the voltage unlock hack ??
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry, I'm new over here and my lighting should be arriving anytime now. Is that voltage unlock hack for afterburner the one referred to on the 1st post?
Click to expand...

I think k2mil is asking if we still need to do the config edit to adjust the voltage. If so then I'm sure you do, since we're not going to get native voltage control any time soon.

Welcome to the site and welcome to the club









But yeah the reference to Afterburner in the first post is for versions proceeding 2.2.3. If you want to use a later version than 2.2.3 because it has a fix for something you'd like to take advantage of, then you'll have to do that config file edit. I just use Afterburner 2.2.3 because I find there's nothing wrong with it as far as what I do with it.

So, using 2.2.3 or editing later versions with the copy/paste of the three lines of code will let you add up to +93mv to the core. If by 'voltage unlock hack' you're referring to _more_ than +93mv, then no, that is something completely different and not in the OP. That allows you any voltage you want, and is pretty dangerous if you're not paying attention to both the process in general, as well as temperatures afterwards.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *joem83*
> 
> Ok so the cards crash on stock clocks well lightning stock anyways . Both of the cards cause this black screen reboot. It hapens in assasin c 3 the most. After I chekt my ram my overcloc. Still hapend. So i ran every game and bench i could find. Left some overnight , like unigen FC3 AC3 in that test they all rebooted when i woke up the next day. Btw i run a 27.5 inch hans g mntr 1920-1200 . Also get a lot of tearing with both cards. And yes on my gtx 470 no problems. Thanx for the help


So...exact same system, and 2 Lightnings crash, but the 470 doesn't. Hmmm.... I don't know, I think it's the PSU for some reason. I'm sure someone can come up with a better diagnosis, but if not maybe you could try another PSU? Order one from a site like Newegg that'll easily let you return it and get a Corsair / Cooler Master or something along those lines and see how it goes.


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Sorry, I'm new over here and my lighting should be arriving anytime now. Is that voltage unlock hack for afterburner the one referred to on the 1st post?


It is easier than that. Just use MSI Afterburner version 2.2.3 and flash your LN2 Bios to 80.04.28.00.3A if it isn't that one. Ofc you can get a later version of Afterburner and modify it but I see no point as there are no feature you need in newer versions of MSI AB.


----------



## Hodgy1971

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Are you sure? Not trying to sound rude or anything, but I doubt that
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Tom's Hardware was on the 310.54's and was getting 74fps with a 670- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii-performance-benchmark,3357-6.html . No idea why they didn't test with a 680, and I know it's an older article, but I don't think a 680 would be getting double the framerate of a 670. I also don't think the 310.90 drivers, assuming you're using them, would add over a 100% boost on the highest settings. You sure they're all up? X4 TXAA, highest for textures is "Extra", have AO enabled, FXAA disabled because it does help the framerate but it's blurry. I get pretty much a constant 120-130fps, but that wouldn't be possible without SLI.


Np buddy,

I have read all of your posts in this thread and you have given some great information.









I will check again tonight what in game setting I have but I'm sure I have maxed it out.


----------



## setza

Thanks guys







Btw, once I flash my card and get into AB, should I just set all voltage sliders to max? If I undertood correctly they are just the max voltage the card can achieve and not the voltage itself.


----------



## StreekG

I did the config edit for the voltage on the 2.3.0 version, i had no issues with 2.2.3 but i figured with the config edit i can have the new features or whatever from 2.3.0

I did notice that you get +99 voltage now, not +93. If anyone is interested.
However you still get voltage drops from restarting afterburner, or restarting the computer.


----------



## joem83

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I think k2mil is asking if we still need to do the config edit to adjust the voltage. If so then I'm sure you do, since we're not going to get native voltage control any time soon.
> 
> Welcome to the site and welcome to the club
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But yeah the reference to Afterburner in the first post is for versions proceeding 2.2.3. If you want to use a later version than 2.2.3 because it has a fix for something you'd like to take advantage of, then you'll have to do that config file edit. I just use Afterburner 2.2.3 because I find there's nothing wrong with it as far as what I do with it.
> 
> So, using 2.2.3 or editing later versions with the copy/paste of the three lines of code will let you add up to +93mv to the core. If by 'voltage unlock hack' you're referring to _more_ than +93mv, then no, that is something completely different and not in the OP. That allows you any voltage you want, and is pretty dangerous if you're not paying attention to both the process in general, as well as temperatures afterwards.
> So...exact same system, and 2 Lightnings crash, but the 470 doesn't. Hmmm.... I don't know, I think it's the PSU for some reason. I'm sure someone can come up with a better diagnosis, but if not maybe you could try another PSU? Order one from a site like Newegg that'll easily let you return it and get a Corsair / Cooler Master or something along those lines and see how it goes.


Thanx for the help, i will try that. Ive read in other frms many people with the same problem , swaped out cards psu mobos, still it hapens. Does anyone hear had that hapen to them? Will post my 3d mark results on stock bios OC to 1372 . Can you guys tell me if its a good score?


----------



## joem83

Can you guys tell me if its a good score?
Had a much better score with the card that i RMA but the card only OC to 1350 on LN2 bios and the mem was horrible at OC in the other one. Does some one know why? I mean is this card damgd goods?


----------



## joem83

ln2 results , I was geting 11004 with the card I RMA @ 1354 core. Does anyone know why??


----------



## SK019

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> They don't read the voltage accurately. Clocks neither. Refer to the Afterburner graphs for the clock speeds and if you flashed to the 3A from the OP, math for the voltage. Stock is 1.26v, So add your offset to that and you'll know the voltage


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> the F8 doesn't work for anybody. Stick with the 3A and you'll be good.


Thanks mate.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *joem83*
> 
> Can you guys tell me if its a good score?
> Had a much better score with the card that i RMA but the card only OC to 1350 on LN2 bios and the mem was horrible at OC in the other one. Does some one know why? I mean is this card damgd goods?


1411 mhz is not damaged goods, seems very nice. if you clock the mem too far you get poorer scores, try with stock mem and work up. your physics and combined scores are really holding your score back.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hodgy1971*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Are you sure? Not trying to sound rude or anything, but I doubt that
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Tom's Hardware was on the 310.54's and was getting 74fps with a 670- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii-performance-benchmark,3357-6.html . No idea why they didn't test with a 680, and I know it's an older article, but I don't think a 680 would be getting double the framerate of a 670. I also don't think the 310.90 drivers, assuming you're using them, would add over a 100% boost on the highest settings. You sure they're all up? X4 TXAA, highest for textures is "Extra", have AO enabled, FXAA disabled because it does help the framerate but it's blurry. I get pretty much a constant 120-130fps, but that wouldn't be possible without SLI.
> 
> 
> 
> Np buddy,
> 
> I have read all of your posts in this thread and you have given some great information.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I will check again tonight what in game setting I have but I'm sure I have maxed it out.
Click to expand...

Yeah I double-checked as well. I don't have anything exceptionally demanding set in the drivers through Inspector or anything like that. And I checked the in-game settings, all of them are all the way up. Tom's used MSAA for their bench runs, I'm using TXAA. Tom's probably didn't use it because they wanted a fair comparison with the AMD cards, which makes sense obviously. But yeah I'm using TXAA, everything else maxed or enabled except FXAA. Have 120hz set in the settings but the framerate caps at 125fps, so I bounce between 115fps-125fps with a constant 75%-90% load on each card. Neither card hits 100% and no CPU cores are either, so, not sure why I don't get a constant 125fps. But yeah it's actually a pretty demanding game compared to the other ones. First COD I used SLI for









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Thanks guys
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Btw, once I flash my card and get into AB, should I just set all voltage sliders to max? If I undertood correctly they are just the max voltage the card can achieve and not the voltage itself.


The sliders are offsets adding voltage. You can set them all to the max if you want, to find your max overclock, but for gaming it's usually more practical to find some middle ground with the clocks and voltage so you're not putting so much voltage through the card 24/7.


----------



## Arniebomba

I still can use only ONE bios. And even that one doesnt work.


----------



## CryptiK

That's exactly what my screen looks like when I flash the F8 BIOS onto the card. However, its corrected when I flash to 3A LN2 or 18 or 39 non LN2 bioses. Not sure what to say there, the flash looks ok.......can you try another BIOS like non TOP or get another copy of the TOP bios incase yours has an issue?


----------



## Arniebomba

No. Thats the whole problem, it doesnt accept a onther bios


----------



## setza

Thanks. In another topic, I'm planning to water cool this card, and I wanted to know if it has any torx 6 screws to get the heatsink off like the reference one, because from what I see in pics it just has philips head screws. Anyone knows?


----------



## LionS7

GTX680 Lightning @ 1450/7000Mhz +93
i7-3930K @ 4900Mhz

I'm planning to buy watercooling system soon.


----------



## K2mil

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sherlock*
> 
> It is easier than that. Just use MSI Afterburner version 2.2.3 and flash your LN2 Bios to 80.04.28.00.3A if it isn't that one. Ofc you can get a later version of Afterburner and modify it but I see no point as there are no feature you need in newer versions of MSI AB.


I use latest after burner for recording videos and there are some updates regaring audio options that are not in 2.2.3 Thanks


----------



## XbeaTX

MSI Afterburner 2.3.1.amt

I updated the artmoney table for the latest version of afterburner


----------



## SK019

Are these results OK? These are my highest stable OC results.



3DMark

They seem a little low to me. Am I missing something? Are there any tricks to increase voltage a bit more?


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> Are these results OK? These are my highest stable OC results.
> 
> 
> 
> 3DMark
> 
> They seem a little low to me. Am I missing something? Are there any tricks to increase voltage a bit more?


Increase the power target, and I would recommend using AB instead of the asus utility.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> MSI Afterburner 2.3.1.amt
> 
> I updated the artmoney table for the latest version of afterburner


Nice









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> Are these results OK? These are my highest stable OC results.
> 
> 
> 
> 3DMark
> 
> They seem a little low to me. Am I missing something? Are there any tricks to increase voltage a bit more?


Yep you should definitely be using Afterburner 2.2.3. You'll probably have to flash the BIOS though if your LN2 BIOS doesn't have a 300% Power %. Don't worry though, it's easy. Directions are in the first post


----------



## CryptiK

Picked up my second Lightning, this one has an ASIC of 82.5% and a default voltage of 1.15v and its boosting 1241 out of the box. Mem seems fine at 3911 (7822) but when it gets up towards 70*C it begins to artifact at that speed (its fine, when the block goes on it wont go much if any over 40*C).

I havent clocked it alone yet but it was doing 1280 @ stock voltage (1.15v) stable through BF3.....seems like a good one. I will say though, I did some testing and I cant tell the difference between playing games stock or overclocked. Card one boost 1228 stock this new ones at 1241, and games are just butter even with stock mem. When I can figure out the relationship in the bios between voltage selected in the 2 voltage tables vs boost clocks I should be able to flash both so that they run stock voltage (card one 1.175v card 2 1.15v) and both boost to the same MHz ie: 1254 or 1267 with something moderate like +800 mem or so and leave them at that until sometime off in the future when I may actually need more power. As it is Ive never felt games so smooth, loving SLI









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Thanks. In another topic, I'm planning to water cool this card, and I wanted to know if it has any torx 6 screws to get the heatsink off like the reference one, because from what I see in pics it just has philips head screws. Anyone knows?


The cooler is held on with 4 x phillips head screws only

Then the backplate has many more. Just undo them all dont forget the ones from PCI bracket to plate. Try to not disturb tha backplate its got thermal pads under it too.


----------



## King Who Dat

Guys I need some help here. Please give me your thoughts on this overclock. I am running the factory bios, the 3A which is completely locked down I believe. I have been folding with the GPU under 100% load for about 24 hours now with no issues, so I believe it to be pretty stable. I have the power limit at 133, the core voltage at +25 and the core set at 1250. I bumped the memory up +300 and the mem voltage +25. What do I do ? Higher ? Scale back the volts to find the bare minimum ? This is my first kepler card. I am a bit wary of flashing the BIOS. Do I need to ? Did I get a decent card ?


----------



## CryptiK

Congrats on the lightning.

With the locked bios the voltage slider does nothing except force max stock VID when slid all the way up. You're basically running stock voltage there. 1250 is nice and better than many 680's out of the box. If you want more out of it yes you either need to flash to the unlocked 3A bios to you can adjust voltage, or hard mod it (easy mod with 100 ohm VR if you can solder to small things). The mem OC is moderate, and I doubt you need any voltage added for +300. Basics of overclocking are see how far you can go on stock voltage. Once you have found the max stable point, decide if you want to push further - if so add a little voltage and go from there until you are happy with it.


----------



## King Who Dat

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5686882 This is 1250mhz with the locked down bios. Looks like I may have a pretty good card. I guess I need to flash it and see what she's made of.


----------



## SK019

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Nice
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yep you should definitely be using Afterburner 2.2.3. You'll probably have to flash the BIOS though if your LN2 BIOS doesn't have a 300% Power %. Don't worry though, it's easy. Directions are in the first post


Why 2.2.3? I have flashed the bios already with the one from the first page (........3A unlocked). With Afterburner 2.2.4 I'm getting same results, what's the difference between those two?

I,m asking a lot of questions, I know, but I would really like to pull out maximum performance from this card - that is the main reason why I bought it. Thank you for your answers.


----------



## asleaker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Theres a locked and unlocked version of the 3A bios, if your card is not old, its probably locked. see if you can OC much higher with it, or measure vgpu with a dmm, if its stock, grab the 3A from page 1


Yes, but I think he has the right BIOS if u look at his posted image. I compared it with the 3A on the first page.


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> Why 2.2.3? I have flashed the bios already with the one from the first page (........3A unlocked). With Afterburner 2.2.4 I'm getting same results, what's the difference between those two?
> 
> I,m asking a lot of questions, I know, but I would really like to pull out maximum performance from this card - that is the main reason why I bought it. Thank you for your answers.


2.2.4 is locked. 2.2.3 isn't.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *asleaker*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Theres a locked and unlocked version of the 3A bios, if your card is not old, its probably locked. see if you can OC much higher with it, or measure vgpu with a dmm, if its stock, grab the 3A from page 1
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, but I think he has the right BIOS if u look at his posted image. I compared it with the 3A on the first page.
Click to expand...

The locked version of the 3A is what comes on a lot of cards. It has the same name as the one in the OP, but it isn't unlocked. You have to flash to the one from the OP if you don't have a 300% Power Limit in Afterburner 2.2.3. So King may have the locked version of the 3A, and will have to flash and then use 2.2.3 to raise the voltage. Awesome card king









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Nice
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yep you should definitely be using Afterburner 2.2.3. You'll probably have to flash the BIOS though if your LN2 BIOS doesn't have a 300% Power %. Don't worry though, it's easy. Directions are in the first post
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why 2.2.3? I have flashed the bios already with the one from the first page (........3A unlocked). With Afterburner 2.2.4 I'm getting same results, what's the difference between those two?
> 
> I,m asking a lot of questions, I know, but I would really like to pull out maximum performance from this card - that is the main reason why I bought it. Thank you for your answers.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about the questions







Yes, like drifting said, Afterburner 2.2.3 is the version you need to change the voltage. Later version are locked down, unless you edit the config file. If you don't want to bother, then you can just use 2.2.3 like I do.


----------



## asleaker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Yes I am BACK LOL
> 
> I got 4 classifieds and tested them on air individually and then picked up another 2 later before putting them under water just to see if I could get an even better one NOPE the originals which are I think sn# 041 , 043, 044, 045 turned out to be golden ...
> 
> So I got 4 universal blocks and some copper heatsinks and made the most monster build (good looking as well) I have seen i a while LOL
> 
> the cards took closer to 1.3v under air but under water in 4 way sli seem very happy at 1400mhz with 1.26v might even go lower but I have not checked ... with my crazy rad set up 1 gallon plus res and dual pump the gpu temps are mid 30's to low 40's (they are water cooled in series so the 4th gpu is about 3-4 deg C warmer than the first few ... even in summer at those clocks I doubt it will crack the low 50's if it even gets that warm LOL
> 
> BTW playing border lands 2 in surround 3d and seeing each card at 97% usage is AMAZING!!!!
> 
> BUT I think I wanna be part of that titan club so I am gonna find some buyer/buyers for these cards, they are AMAZING but I need the newest stuff LOL just moved from my galaxy s3 to the note 2 within a few months and will go to the S4 and Note 3 fairly soon as well ... it make me happy, what can I say hehehe


I love people who spend/waste their money on completely useless gadgets and desktop splanchnic Long live capitalisme!! I am one of them too but I didn'tt thougth anyone else used more than me - I live in the worlds richest country. I doubt u are?


----------



## SK019

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Don't worry about the questions
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, like drifting said, Afterburner 2.2.3 is the version you need to change the voltage. Later version are locked down, unless you edit the config file. If you don't want to bother, then you can just use 2.2.3 like I do.


I will then definitely try out 2.2.3. Thank you.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

The old LN2 unlocked bios have UEFI GOP support?
I'm using a sli lightning with uefi gop but i have locked voltages.


----------



## Arniebomba

This is what i get



When i flash to another bios, i dont get info at GPU-Z at all..


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> The old LN2 unlocked bios have UEFI GOP support?
> I'm using a sli lightning with uefi gop but i have locked voltages.


I haven't seen anyone post a modded version of the unlocked 3A to support it. Maybe on another forum though.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I haven't seen anyone post a modded version of the unlocked 3A to support it. Maybe on another forum though.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

But the bios linked in the first page support sli? I flashed my cards, now only one shows in nvidia control panel.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> But the bios linked in the first page support sli? I flashed my cards, now only one shows in nvidia control panel.


That's not good. Yeah I've been using SLI with the 3A BIOS on both of them for a while now. Nothing else changed since when they were both last working except the BIOS flash? You might have to reinstall the drivers after the new BIOS is done being flashed.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's not good. Yeah I've been using SLI with the 3A BIOS on both of them for a while now. Nothing else changed since when they were both last working except the BIOS flash? You might have to reinstall the drivers after the new BIOS is done being flashed.


I think i have 1 card in <5000 and other >5000.

I put back my old bios in the second card and it's working again. I gonna try the bios for >5000 cards now.

One work with 80.04.09.00.F8, and other with 80.04.28.00.3A.

And both work with a bios with UEFI GOP.


----------



## lEvilLL

Hi!

I'm new at overclocking, and in this forum, so i need a few tips








Here is my stable overclock so far.



Like you see, i have reach a good memory clock, without any artifacts, but, i can't put the clock over 95~100 without a crash, my temp's are ok.

I dont want to go any further than this anyway, 1295 is a hell of a core clock for me









But my question is, this is a safe 24/7 overclock? should i put lower voltages and decrease the offsets of core and memory? or leave as it is.

PS: Sorry for the english...


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Afterburner 2.3.1 have unlock power limite, don't need 2.2.3 more.
Power limit 300%.

Can someone confirm?


----------



## setza

If my experience with clocking other cards is correct, then you should lower the core voltage until it's at its lowest stable point.


----------



## lEvilLL

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> If my experience with clocking other cards is correct, then you should lower the core voltage until it's at its lowest stable point.


I will do this. Thanks for the help!

Is normal AB 2.2.3 decrease the core voltage in every "apply" ???







Ex: 100>93>87>81...


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *lEvilLL*
> 
> I will do this. Thanks for the help!
> 
> Is normal AB 2.2.3 decrease the core voltage in every "apply" ???
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ex: 100>93>87>81...


Yeah, it's a known bug in AB 2.2.3, that supposedly was fixed in later versions, but ppl say that once you do the voltage unlock in AB it returns.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's not good. Yeah I've been using SLI with the 3A BIOS on both of them for a while now. Nothing else changed since when they were both last working except the BIOS flash? You might have to reinstall the drivers after the new BIOS is done being flashed.
> 
> 
> 
> I think i have 1 card in <5000 and other >5000.
> 
> I put back my old bios in the second card and it's working again. I gonna try the bios for >5000 cards now.
> 
> One work with 80.04.09.00.F8, and other with 80.04.28.00.3A.
> 
> And both work with a bios with UEFI GOP.
Click to expand...

The F8 is working for you? Hmmm, you must be the first one









So the unlocked version of the 3A works with it? Nice.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> The F8 is working for you? Hmmm, you must be the first one
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So the unlocked version of the 3A works with it? Nice.


Nice.

And yes, my first gtx 680 lightning works perfectly with the F8.

The other only through 3A.

I have a question, 70A at 12V line is enough for an extreme overclock?
how much power limit to 70A?

Psu: xfx 850W Black edition.

XFX Black Edition 850w Rail Layout
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/power_supply/xfx_black_edition_850w_atx_psu/1

I have used this to unlock voltage too
[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

I want to hit as least 17k with my sli in 3mark11.

Btw my validation:

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/4u699/

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/aph9g/


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yeah NVflash never let me save mine either. I never did though as someone else uploaded the one I had, so I could just download it if I ever needed to flash back.
> 
> Anyways...came home from work to find a brand new Lightning sitting on my porch!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The RMA went through, thank God. Not that I lied or anything, I mean, it _was_ failing WU's on stock clocks, that was really true. But, I'll admit, since it was my really bad overclocker, I was more than happy when it started failing WU's and I had a valid reason to return it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was just nervous that they'd run it through a bunch of games and synthetics and take it upon themself to decide there was nothing wrong with the card. Didn't happen though and they did do a swap, checked serial numbers.
> 
> But, the model numbers are different.....
> 
> "Model Number In- 602-V283-02S" "Model Number Out- 912-V283-009" Haven't put it in the computer yet, am going to now. But the PCB says Lightning on it, so, yeah, we'll see what happens. Will post an update soon....


That's funny the RMA card they are shipping to me has the same serial: 912-V283-009
Do they give all the RMA cards they send out the same serial? Do you still have that card?

Thanks


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yeah NVflash never let me save mine either. I never did though as someone else uploaded the one I had, so I could just download it if I ever needed to flash back.
> 
> Anyways...came home from work to find a brand new Lightning sitting on my porch!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The RMA went through, thank God. Not that I lied or anything, I mean, it _was_ failing WU's on stock clocks, that was really true. But, I'll admit, since it was my really bad overclocker, I was more than happy when it started failing WU's and I had a valid reason to return it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was just nervous that they'd run it through a bunch of games and synthetics and take it upon themself to decide there was nothing wrong with the card. Didn't happen though and they did do a swap, checked serial numbers.
> 
> But, the model numbers are different.....
> 
> "Model Number In- 602-V283-02S" "Model Number Out- 912-V283-009" Haven't put it in the computer yet, am going to now. But the PCB says Lightning on it, so, yeah, we'll see what happens. Will post an update soon....
> 
> 
> 
> That's funny the RMA card they are shipping to me has the same serial: 912-V283-009
> Do they give all the RMA cards they send out the same serial? Do you still have that card?
> 
> Thanks
Click to expand...

That's the model number, not the serial number. Serial number looks like this-> 602-V283-02SB12061XXXXX. You shouldn't be receiving back a card with the same serial number.

The ones I ordered the day they came out were 912-V283-009, I just checked my registered products at the MSI site, registered them at the beginning of July.

I think the difference in model numbers from that post of mine you quoted is from the cards coming with a different BIOS maybe? Because I think that card I got back was locked down, had a locked BIOS instead of the unlocked 3A or F8. I don't remember exactly. Anyways, yeah if you bought the card recently, you'll get one back with the same model number probably, and I'm willing to bet with the same BIOS you got the last card with. Maybe unlocked, who knows.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> The F8 is working for you? Hmmm, you must be the first one
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So the unlocked version of the 3A works with it? Nice.
> 
> 
> 
> Nice.
> 
> And yes, my first gtx 680 lightning works perfectly with the F8.
> 
> The other only through 3A.
> 
> *I have a question, 70A at 12V line is enough for an extreme overclock?*
> how much power limit to 70A?
> 
> Psu: xfx 850W Black edition.
> 
> XFX Black Edition 850w Rail Layout
> http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/power_supply/xfx_black_edition_850w_atx_psu/1
> 
> I have used this to unlock voltage too
> [Settings]
> VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
> VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
> VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1
> 
> I want to hit as least 17k with my sli in 3mark11.
> Btw my validation:
> http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/4u699/
> http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/aph9g/
Click to expand...

Depending on the rest of your system, I would think you're fine. Just don't go SLI with your extreme overclock on that one


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Now i want 18k.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Can we see some pics?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah I'm keeping my S3 until the S4 comes out. So you get good scaling in 4-way SLI with most games, or just Borderlands 2?
> 
> If your PSUs can take more, I'd see how high you can _really_ go before selling them. Oh and don't forget to try to knock some of them AMD guys out of first place in the Heaven thread


Here are some pics

















Uploaded from my phone, some pics might not he rotated properly


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Here are some pics
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Uploaded from my phone, some pics might not he rotated properly


What is it with electrical tape? Rad?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now i want 18k.


Should be doable, what is the cpu & system memory running at? Physics score can easily go up another 1 or 2000 points.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Here are some pics
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> snipped
> 
> Uploaded from my phone, some pics might not he rotated properly


Classy! Looks beastly, I like it.


----------



## dph314

Looks great supermi. Amazing setup you got there.


----------



## joem83

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> 1411 mhz is not damaged goods, seems very nice. if you clock the mem too far you get poorer scores, try with stock mem and work up. your physics and combined scores are really holding your score back.


please guys I'm really worried about my score. I see people with same drivers same specs with same oc and they get 800 more points. With the same set up on my old RMA card and a 1350 oc I got 12+ on my GPU score. Btw that's the one that worries me the GPU score. If my 1000 wt xion PSU failing would that cause it. Than in advance . Also in my ln2 set up I ran the same oc that was stable a couple of days ago and + 212 on the core and now I had to drop it to +205 on the core


----------



## joem83

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *joem83*
> 
> 
> 
> ln2 results , I was geting 11004 with the card I RMA @ 1354 core. Does anyone know why??


results


----------



## joem83

P.s. don't know if its stretch or center. Out of my apt . Just open 3d mark and run. Is it set to center by default?


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Should be doable, what is the cpu & system memory running at? Physics score can easily go up another 1 or 2000 points.
> Classy! Looks beastly, I like it.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Looks great supermi. Amazing setup you got there.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> What is it with electrical tape? Rad?


Thanks guys!

Tape is part of a manly makeshift shroud for my third rad which cools the water leaving the cpu, vrm and mb before it goes to tye gpus and after that the dual rad setup









Btw do you guys think that new rumored titan card will be a decent upgrade for lightning and classy with evbot owners? I for example can game at 1400mhz and at least 7200mhz ram many of you are similar with the lightnings ... ?


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Should be doable, what is the cpu & system memory running at? Physics score can easily go up another 1 or 2000 points.
> Classy! Looks beastly, I like it.





Maybe offset ins't good to benchmark?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Should be doable, what is the cpu & system memory running at? Physics score can easily go up another 1 or 2000 points.
> Classy! Looks beastly, I like it.
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Looks great supermi. Amazing setup you got there.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> What is it with electrical tape? Rad?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks guys!
> 
> Tape is part of a manly makeshift shroud for my third rad which cools the water leaving the cpu, vrm and mb before it goes to tye gpus and after that the dual rad setup
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Btw *do you guys think that new rumored titan card will be a decent upgrade for lightning and classy with evbot owners?* I for example can game at 1400mhz and at least 7200mhz ram many of you are similar with the lightnings ... ?
Click to expand...

I think it will be, yes. Well, going from 2 1400mhz Lightnings to one Titan won't be much of an "upgrade", even if it does end up being 85% of the performance of a 690, because obviously, 2 Lightnings is more than 100% the performance of a 690. If anything it would just allow for a smoother framerate if someone experiences any microstutter in SLI, or games where SLI isn't supported or doesn't play nice. But going to _two_ Titans...now THAT would be quite the upgrade







. Having 4 of them....that would just be too much power for any one person to handle, I think Congress is actually passing a law on it


----------



## King Who Dat

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5698714

My best run so far. Still on the locked Bios.


----------



## joem83

problem solved! it was the scaling mode! Still have a weird issue when i left some games on over night, Far cry 3 , assassins c 3 my computer reboots. in assas 3 it happens almost always 15 m in to the game 1 hr into the game. still have no clue..Some of you slayed it was the psu. Anyways appreciate all the help ..many thanx in advance


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *joem83*
> 
> 
> problem solved! it was the scaling mode! Still have a weird issue when i left some games on over night, Far cry 3 , assassins c 3 my computer reboots. in assas 3 it happens almost always 15 m in to the game 1 hr into the game. still have no clue..Some of you slayed it was the psu. Anyways appreciate all the help ..many thanx in advance


How about with driver 306.97, 310 drivers are OK for me but they don't allow over clocking on these Lightnings very well.

Superpi
I like the tape, the whole build a best, it's about performance not a beauty contest, good to see your still around, I think the titan will be a hold over to keep from loosing customers to AMD 8790's and by Nvidia more time, but I know I won't be able to resist either


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Maybe offset ins't good to benchmark?


Could be, I never use offset so not sure how it affects things.
Just ran similar clocks for cpu & memory in the physics test.


----------



## mauricio150

Good morning,
I have my GTX 680 lightning with bios A3.rom, my AB is the version 2.2.4, already added the lines:
[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

But still unable to change the voltages of my GTX680!!
Altering the voltage in AB does not have any effect on the GTX680!
Why is this happening to me?
I'm going crazy!


----------



## SeekerZA

Most definitly is offset ,all my latest runs . my physics score was waaaay lower. . .Fixed OC is the way to go. But i'm loving th low temps on offset so far since my cpu is voltage hungry. . . around 1.488v to hit a mere 4.8Ghz (2500k)


----------



## K2mil

Hi all

After RMA my first 680L I didint really play with overclocking the new replacment card.
The card came with locked a3 bios...I flash the card with a3 bios from PO. I did the after burner hack but even slight voltage increase make my card show artifacts while in 3dmark 11. Did I just get bad chip or maybe should try with bios? here is my best score without increasing any voltage. Thanks in advance


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

That's a pretty impressive graphics score for stock voltage I'd say....


----------



## mauricio150

Can anyone help me?


----------



## CryptiK

use 2.2.3 = problem solved


----------



## SeekerZA

@FtW 420 how did you get your OC to idle at so low volts. . i mean below 1.00??? What setting have you tuned in BIOS?


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Could be, I never use offset so not sure how it affects things.
> Just ran similar clocks for cpu & memory in the physics test.












Let's back do fixed vcore here.

Edit-

No diferrence here.

Maybe my motherboard don't let it score more.

Or i'm doing something wrong.

Im with w8pro.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> Hi all
> 
> After RMA my first 680L I didint really play with overclocking the new replacment card.
> The card came with locked a3 bios...I flash the card with a3 bios from PO. I did the after burner hack but even slight voltage increase make my card show artifacts while in 3dmark 11. Did I just get bad chip or maybe should try with bios? here is my best score without increasing any voltage. Thanks in advance


You mean you increase the voltage, and nothing else, and it'll artifact? Or you increase clocks as well and it artifacts? Maybe you're not actually increasing the voltage and that's why it's having problems? I see you're using 2.3.0, so if by "hack" you mean the 3 lines of code, maybe you did it wrong and the voltage isn't increasing.

If you already are sure you have the BIOS from the first post, try Afterburner 2.2.3 and see if it gets rid of your problem. Then if it doesn't you know it's something else. But at least with 2.2.3 you know for sure it's increasing the voltage.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Most definitly is offset ,all my latest runs . my physics score was waaaay lower. . .Fixed OC is the way to go. But i'm loving th low temps on offset so far since my cpu is voltage hungry. . . around 1.488v to hit a mere 4.8Ghz (2500k)


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> @FtW 420 how did you get your OC to idle at so low volts. . i mean below 1.00??? What setting have you tuned in BIOS?


You mean CPU voltage? Just use Offset instead of Fixed. My 3930k idle voltage sits at .79v. Idle temp is like 2 degrees above room temp


----------



## Piotrasinski

Hi

Im heving problem with over voltage my gpu.It gows to 1.212 max, i have the unlocked bios and in 3dmark11 im getting 1350mhz but voltage stay the same:-/
Is there a simple answer??


----------



## Shperax

I have some questions since i'm new to the 600 series OCing

1. Is it possible to hurt your card with +300% Power limit and +100mv.(which is the max of the unlocked Bios)?

2. Can excess Voltage wreck the card before heat does from that voltage? (i'm used to OC ing Fermi cards where heat becomes a issue really fast)


----------



## Piotrasinski

No it is safe just keep checkig the temp and You should be fine.Mine temp never go above 70C but not on the normal fan speed of course im heving problem with over voltage my card it is showing the max of 1.212v. For some reason:-/ in msi kombustor


----------



## Arniebomba

This s the most active thread with a lot of info among you guys. But no one with the knowledge to figure this one out? Kinda stuck right now


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Piotrasinski*
> 
> Hi
> 
> Im heving problem with over voltage my gpu.It gows to 1.212 max, i have the unlocked bios and in 3dmark11 im getting 1350mhz but voltage stay the same:-/
> Is there a simple answer??


If you have the unlocked BIOS and are using Afterburner 2.2.3, then you are increasing the voltage. Software doesn't read the voltage correctly, so if you have the right BIOS and AB 2.2.3, then you'll see temps rise, guarenteed








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> I have some questions since i'm new to the 600 series OCing
> 
> 1. Is it possible to hurt your card with +300% Power limit and +100mv.(which is the max of the unlocked Bios)?
> 
> 2. Can excess Voltage wreck the card before heat does from that voltage? (i'm used to OC ing Fermi cards where heat becomes a issue really fast)


These cards stay pretty damn cool for a very long while. I remember my 570...I would set it to 950mhz @ 1.1v and do a 3dMark11 run and the card was into the mid-to-high 80C's. Now with my Lightnings, I can run 1430mhz @ 1.36v through it for a game at 99% load for an hour and only hit 63C. So, temps are much easier to combat than on Fermi, but as for the voltage...we've been told by Nvidia that the chips are very sensitive to voltage increases over 1.175v, yet of all the people here running _way_ more than 1.175v, we've had no one report that they've fried/killed one of these from stressing it too hard, and these have been out since late June (about 7 months).

So, it's really up to you how comfortable you feel overvolting it. But I say that if you don't need to, then don't. But if you have a demanding game, don't hold back either. The chip will more likely than not out-live the warranty anyways. I haven't been pushing mine because I usually use SLI at stock clocks. But when I need one card for a game, and push it, it's still as stable as the day I got it, and temps are just as amazing









Sorry arnie, no clue what's going on with that. If I had that problem, I'd be doing the same thing you are


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arniebomba*
> 
> This is the most active thread with a lot of info among you guys. But no one with the knowledge to figure this one out? Kinda stuck right now


Try F8 bios.

Are u flashing correct? LN2 and normal bios? if u flash ln2 with normal set u get this.


----------



## Arniebomba

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Try F8 bios.
> 
> Are u flashing correct? LN2 and normal bios? if u flash ln2 with normal set u get this.


Nothing seems to work


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Piotrasinski*
> 
> No it is safe just keep checkig the temp and You should be fine.Mine temp never go above 70C but not on the normal fan speed of course im heving problem with over voltage my card it is showing the max of 1.212v. For some reason:-/ in msi kombustor


Did you do the MSI afterburner Voltage hack so you can increase voltage to whatever you want explained somewhere on the 1st page. or just get 2.2.3 cause i don't think you need to mod that one. someone correct me if im wrong


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arniebomba*
> 
> I've tried the F8 bios with no succes.
> 
> Do you mean that if someone has a LN2 F7/8 bios and overrides it with the A3 bios, this problem occurs? Because i have had the F8 bios at the card before i flashed it to the A3 bios.


No heaps of people have done that and nothing goes wrong. I'm not sure what he's saying about flashing LN2 with normal BIOS. I've done that too and everything was fine.

Since you seem to have semi borked your card but 3A works, why do you want to go back to the DCT bios for? RMA would be unethical since you did this yourself, but couldn't you simply flash the cards with stock 3A or modify the 3A bios to give the clocks you want and call it a day?

I don't think anyone here can magically fix your card for you. You cross flashed another cards bios to your card, it now has issues going back to the stock bios. You are using the same prog we all use for flashing, the flashing process itself works fine, but now the card does not behave properly with the original bios flashed back on. It's actually a quite mild side effect from cross flashing a bios, it can leave cards completely ruined. At least yours still works.


----------



## Arniebomba

I know exaclty what you mean. And i appreciate the words.
I could offcourse stay with the A3 bios, though that bios will not work in SLI with any other bios. Even not if i flash my other card to the A3 bios.
Just like you, my other card can be flashed to any other bios with no problems.
My only thoughts now goes out to the SLI bridge chip. I've red that flashing a SLI setup could mess up the sli chip and i remember forgetting to take of the sli bridge once before i flashed (though still flashing with index --index=xx)


----------



## Piotrasinski

No i have not done the hack,yet but when im lovering down the voltage in msi kombustor its stil showing 1.212v .My AB version is 2.2.3.How should i chcek the voltage properly??and what is the best driver because my likes crah down 310.90


----------



## CryptiK

I flash mine with the SLI bridge in place - no problem. Same as you I used the -i0 and -i1 to designate each card. What happens if you flash say the galaxy SOC bios to your card then back to stock? Some other vendors card may work. What about flashing the stock non LN2 MSI Lightning bios onto the card then see how that works or do that then flash the DCT bios back again afterwards? It sounds like the changes are permanent but its worth a shot.

Did you say no other asus 680 bios works either, same artifacting effect"?

EDIT - do you know how to blind flash? Are you prepared to lose the card trying to fix it?


----------



## Arniebomba

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> I flash mine with the SLI bridge in place - no problem. Same as you I used the -i0 and -i1 to designate each card. What happens if you flash say the galaxy SOC bios to your card then back to stock? Some other vendors card may work. What about flashing the stock non LN2 MSI Lightning bios onto the card then see how that works or do that then flash the DCT bios back again afterwards? It sounds like the changes are permanent but its worth a shot.
> 
> Did you say no other asus 680 bios works either, same artifacting effect"?
> 
> EDIT - do you know how to blind flash? Are you prepared to lose the card trying to fix it?


EDIT: I just looked at GPU-z and saw some power tables missing:
]


----------



## K2mil

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You mean you increase the voltage, and nothing else, and it'll artifact? Or you increase clocks as well and it artifacts? Maybe you're not actually increasing the voltage and that's why it's having problems? I see you're using 2.3.0, so if by "hack" you mean the 3 lines of code, maybe you did it wrong and the voltage isn't increasing.
> 
> If you already are sure you have the BIOS from the first post, try Afterburner 2.2.3 and see if it gets rid of your problem. Then if it doesn't you know it's something else. But at least with 2.2.3 you know for sure it's increasing the voltage.


You got it, It shows green artifacts while in 3 d mark 11 when voltage is added without clocks increase. The AF hack... it works because the vcore jumps from 1.24 to 1.34 and yes I'm sure I flash it to the bios from Op A3 because my original one was locked even the power lever was locked at 133% if I'm remembering right regarding the afterburner I want to use the options that the latest edition gives me but I may try for a hell of it. what do u think ?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You mean you increase the voltage, and nothing else, and it'll artifact? Or you increase clocks as well and it artifacts? Maybe you're not actually increasing the voltage and that's why it's having problems? I see you're using 2.3.0, so if by "hack" you mean the 3 lines of code, maybe you did it wrong and the voltage isn't increasing.
> 
> If you already are sure you have the BIOS from the first post, try Afterburner 2.2.3 and see if it gets rid of your problem. Then if it doesn't you know it's something else. But at least with 2.2.3 you know for sure it's increasing the voltage.
> 
> 
> 
> You got it *shows green artifacts while in 3 d mark 11* when voltage is added *without clocks increase*. The AF hack... it works because the vcore jumps from 1.24 to 1.34 and yes I'm sure I flash it to the bios from Op A3 because my original one was locked even the power lever was locked at 133% if I'm remembering right regarding the afterburner I want to use the options that the latest edition gives me but I may try for a hell of it. what do u think ?
Click to expand...

I would think that's grounds for RMA, wouldn't you? Unless you're in a fernace and temps go out of whack immediately after even small voltage increases, any artifacts at stock clocks from slightly _raising_ the voltage shouldn't happen. But I don't know. All I can say is if it's giving you green artifacts at the stock clocks, I'd RMA. More voltage is supposed to increase stability, not decrease it. If temps are fine I don't know how a little more voltage at a stable stock clock speed could cause instability.


----------



## Piotrasinski

Where to conect the Digital Multimeter ??witch socket it is?? As i wont to check the voltage on the GPU

Thanx


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Piotrasinski*
> 
> Where to conect the Digital Multimeter ??witch socket it is?? As i wont to check the voltage on the GPU
> 
> Thanx


http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/55902-msi-gtx-680-lightning-review-2.html

If your card is facing down, the GPU is the one all the way to the right.


----------



## mauricio150

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mauricio150*
> 
> Good morning,
> I have my GTX 680 lightning with bios A3.rom, my AB is the version 2.2.4, already added the lines:
> [Settings]
> VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
> VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
> VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1
> 
> But still unable to change the voltages of my GTX680!!
> Altering the voltage in AB does not have any effect on the GTX680!
> Why is this happening to me?
> I'm going crazy!


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> use 2.2.3 = problem solved


I've used the 2.2.3 and continues without changing the voltages.


----------



## mauricio150

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mauricio150*
> 
> Good morning,
> I have my GTX 680 lightning with bios A3.rom, my AB is the version 2.2.4, already added the lines:
> [Settings]
> VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
> VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
> VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1
> 
> But still unable to change the voltages of my GTX680!!
> Altering the voltage in AB does not have any effect on the GTX680!
> Why is this happening to me?
> I'm going crazy!


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mauricio150*
> 
> I've used the 2.2.3 and continues without changing the voltages.


there any other way to change the voltages?


----------



## dph314

You flashed to the one from the OP, and have used 2.2.3, and you still can't adjust the voltage? What does the Afterburner graph say when you go to the monitor tab and select GPU1 Voltage (so it shows up on the graph)? I know it's inaccurate, but it still goes up from what it was at when you change it. If the change registers on the graph, then you're good.

Oh, and did you go into the Afterburner settings and select "Unlock voltage control" and "Unlock voltage monitoring"?


----------



## mauricio150

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You flashed to the one from the OP, and have used 2.2.3, and you still can't adjust the voltage? What does the Afterburner graph say when you go to the monitor tab and select GPU1 Voltage (so it shows up on the graph)? I know it's inaccurate, but it still goes up from what it was at when you change it. If the change registers on the graph, then you're good.
> 
> Oh, and did you go into the Afterburner settings and select "Unlock voltage control" and "Unlock voltage monitoring"?


see with your own eyes.

Configuration and bios I'm using:

Notepad with the profile of AB already changed:


AB without changing anything:

and now the AB with a maximum voltage:


No one notices when no alteration increase the voltage, with voltage source do the +100 mhz GPU with a maximum voltage +100 mhz GPU do the same as the previous.


----------



## Moozoren

So finally i got watercooling installed and now i run core at 1359 mhz and memory 7200mhz - 24/7 with max temps of 55C under full load.

Think i gonna try some benching soon. If people wanna se how it looks follow the link. http://bildr.no/view/1377522


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mauricio150*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You flashed to the one from the OP, and have used 2.2.3, and you still can't adjust the voltage? What does the Afterburner graph say when you go to the monitor tab and select GPU1 Voltage (so it shows up on the graph)? I know it's inaccurate, but it still goes up from what it was at when you change it. If the change registers on the graph, then you're good.
> 
> Oh, and did you go into the Afterburner settings and select "Unlock voltage control" and "Unlock voltage monitoring"?
> 
> 
> 
> see with your own eyes.
> 
> Configuration and bios I'm using:
> 
> Notepad with the profile of AB already changed:
> 
> AB without changing anything:
> 
> and now the AB with a maximum voltage:
> 
> No one notices when no alteration increase the voltage, with voltage source do the +100 mhz GPU with a maximum voltage +100 mhz GPU do the same as the previous.
Click to expand...

That's the idle voltage showing in GPU-Z. Go into the Afterburner Settings and under the monitoring tab select GPU1 Voltage, so that the voltage is showing on the Afterburner graph. Then do a 3dMark11 run with the voltage at stock and see what it goes up to on the graph. Then turn the core voltage slider all the way up and do another run. It should go up by about 100mv on the second run (even though it's not accurate, it'll still show the increase).

GPU-Z first of all doesn't report the voltage accurately either, but it's also showing the idle voltage in your pics, which will be the same in both pics since you don't have "Force constant voltage" checked in Afterburner.


----------



## mauricio150

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's the idle voltage showing in GPU-Z. Go into the Afterburner Settings and under the monitoring tab select GPU1 Voltage, so that the voltage is showing on the Afterburner graph. Then do a 3dMark11 run with the voltage at stock and see what it goes up to on the graph. Then turn the core voltage slider all the way up and do another run. It should go up by about 100mv on the second run (even though it's not accurate, it'll still show the increase).
> 
> GPU-Z first of all doesn't report the voltage accurately either, but it's also showing the idle voltage in your pics, which will be the same in both pics since you don't have "Force constant voltage" checked in Afterburner.


Already added the GPU voltage to Watch list.
And in 3Dmark is the same, the voltage is not changed because stability also not increased.
the voltage in afterburner not have any effect on the graphics card.





(Larger images on the way)


----------



## dph314

Well this sucks







. I don't know. I'll keep looking over it to see if I can spot something.

What about just completely uninstalling 2.2.4 and trying 2.2.3? Or did you already try that?


----------



## mauricio150

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well this sucks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . I don't know. I'll keep looking over it to see if I can spot something.
> 
> What about just completely uninstalling 2.2.4 and trying 2.2.3? Or did you already try that?


yes, already tried 2.2.3, 2.2.4 and 2.3.1


----------



## Arniebomba

Is it correct that the're two A3 bios'? Becasue i've downloaded two A3 bios files and one has a base clock of 1202 and the other of 1110Mhz. And i do mean A3 and not F8.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arniebomba*
> 
> Is it correct that the're two A3 bios'? Becasue i've downloaded two A3 bios files and one has a base clock of 1202 and the other of 1110Mhz. And i do mean A3 and not F8.


It's 3A, not A3. But yes, there's 2 versions of the BIOS that ends in 3A. The one uploaded to the first post of this thread is the unlocked one. There's many here that say they've gotten this same BIOS version on a card they bought, but it was locked down. So, while you could technically have the "3A" BIOS on your card, you might still be locked down until you flash to the "unlocked 3A" BIOS from the first post.

But before we started seeing the 80.04.28.00.3A BIOS coming on cards that are locked, there was the 80.04.2*9*.00.3A BIOS, which also ends in 3A and is locked.

So, basically, just make sure you flash to the one uploaded to the OP


----------



## Arniebomba

Yes i did uploaded that *3A* (tnx) bios. Though since i flashed to that bios at my DC2T card, i cant seem to flash to another bios except for (i just found out) the locked 3A bios.
I'm trying to find out what causes the card not to flash to any other bios except for these two


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Arniebomba*
> 
> Yes i did uploaded that *3A* (tnx) bios. Though since i flashed to that bios at my DC2T card, i cant seem to flash to another bios except for (i just found out) the locked 3A bios.
> I'm trying to find out what causes the card not to flash to any other bios except for these two


Yep, I been following that issue. Not sure how flashing the ROM would cause it to not take a subsequent flash, but I hope you figure it out soon. I've never had that issue before and have absolutely no clue on what the issue could be unfortunately. Sorry.

I would just try Google'ing issues that others have had with GPUs and BIOS flashes and see if any similar issues have happened to others, and if they found a fix.


----------



## Arniebomba

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yep, I been following that issue. Not sure how flashing the ROM would cause it to not take a subsequent flash, but I hope you figure it out soon. I've never had that issue before and have absolutely no clue on what the issue could be unfortunately. Sorry.
> 
> I would just try Google'ing issues that others have had with GPUs and BIOS flashes and see if any similar issues have happened to others, and if they found a fix.


You wont believe what i've been doing for the last three days now









I appreciate you trying to help me. I've placed my issue at a few boards. Hope someone has the answer


----------



## Shperax

dph314

You were right. messing around with it i can get it to 1400 stable

How does this power limit thing work though this is what happens to me
+93mv
+150 power limit ( anything higher and it crash)
+200 core
+500 mem
=stable 1395 clock

the guides i been reading been saying to just use 300 power limit right away
so i do that

+93mv
+300 power limit
+200 core
+500 mem
= instant crashes

i can only make it work at +300 power limit like this
+93mv
+300 power limit
+100 core
+500 mem
=stable 1295 clock

should i just be maxing everything and slowly bring the power limit up until it crash then back it off. Because thats not how anyone is saying to OC these cards. I'm used to not having to deal with this silly power limit stuff


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> dph314
> 
> You were right. messing around with it i can get it to 1400 stable
> 
> How does this power limit thing work though this is what happens to me
> +93mv
> +150 power limit ( anything higher and it crash)
> +200 core
> +500 mem
> =stable 1395 clock
> 
> the guides i been reading been saying to just use 300 power limit right away
> so i do that
> 
> +93mv
> +300 power limit
> +200 core
> +500 mem
> = instant crashes
> 
> i can only make it work at +300 power limit like this
> +93mv
> +300 power limit
> +100 core
> +500 mem
> =stable 1295 clock
> 
> should i just be maxing everything and slowly bring the power limit up until it crash then back it off. Because thats not how anyone is saying to OC these cards. I'm used to not having to deal with this silly power limit stuff


Wow, you got a great card









Yeah I've seen people saying a lower Power Limit helps with stability sometimes. Never knew what to make of it, as it's never really affected my card one way or another. But if it helps, then yeah, definitely keep it lower. As long as the card doesn't throttle due to the lower Power Limit, then I'd say you're fine.


----------



## setza

Hey guys, what is a "safe" voltage to use this cards 24/7 in games and such.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Hey guys, what is a "safe" voltage to use this cards 24/7 in games and such.


Opinions differ, but personally, I think if you can keep temps in the low 70C's, then there's nothing wrong with +93mv. We haven't had these cards long enough to know whether or not the life is actually shortened enough to be noticeable (as in taking _many_ years off the estimated life). I mean, running +93mv 24/7 could cut the lives of these things in half, but if it does and the card's lifetime goes from 12 years down to 6...that's what I mean by 'noticeably', as in very few people have their GPU 6 years (just approximate guesses for the sake of the example).

So, only having these for 7 months or so, we're not going to know for a while whether or not they noticeably degrade. What I can tell you with absolute certainty is that of everyone in this thread since late June, no one has fried or even degraded their card, and some damn crazy voltages have been run here.

Basically it's a personal preference, but the longer all of us go without any signs of degradation, the more I tell people to just sit back and enjoy the damn thing







I mean...you paid $600 and you're going to have this thing for a relatively short period of time. Much shorter than it's lifetime I'm sure. So we don't know for a fact +93mv is shaving years off it's life like there's no tomorrow, but either way, it's also not helping. So I just say- use it when you need it, but only when you can keep temps low.


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Opinions differ, but personally, I think if you can keep temps in the low 70C's, then there's nothing wrong with +93mv. We haven't had these cards long enough to know whether or not the life is actually shortened enough to be noticeable (as in taking _many_ years off the estimated life). I mean, running +93mv 24/7 could cut the lives of these things in half, but if it does and the card's lifetime goes from 12 years down to 6...that's what I mean by 'noticeably', as in very few people have their GPU 6 years (just approximate guesses for the sake of the example).
> 
> So, only having these for 7 months or so, we're not going to know for a while whether or not they noticeably degrade. What I can tell you with absolute certainty is that of everyone in this thread since late June, no one has fried or even degraded their card, and some damn crazy voltages have been run here.
> 
> Basically it's a personal preference, but the longer all of us go without any signs of degradation, the more I tell people to just sit back and enjoy the damn thing
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I mean...you paid $600 and you're going to have this thing for a relatively short period of time. Much shorter than it's lifetime I'm sure. So we don't know for a fact +93mv is shaving years off it's life like there's no tomorrow, but either way, it's also not helping. So I just say- use it when you need it, but only when you can keep temps low.


Thanks! I'll aim for a 1350 core clock, and if i can do it with lower voltage then i will stick with that. Temps won't be a problem since I will be using a waterblock with it, so it shouldn't pass 50C at all.

Btw, the only accurate way to check voltages is with a multimeter right?


----------



## dph314

Well, you can figure it out on your own through the Afterburner graph. I know stock is 1.26v and +93mv is 1.36v. But Afterburner shows 1.21v and 1.31v (respectively). So I know that my actual voltage is always 50mv higher than what Afterburner is showing.

Usually I just do the math myself though. Stock voltage is 1.26v on the unlocked 3A. So you know if you add +140mv, then you're at 1.4v, and so on... So, little bit of math and you're good









But yes, it's probably best, if you start to get really up into the more dangerous voltages, to use a multimeter.


----------



## setza

Wait, what? Why is 1,26v + 93mv 1,36v? Also, you could say that for the 3A bios afterburner always shows 50mv less?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Wait, what? Why is 1,26v + 93mv 1,36v? Also, you could say that for the 3A bios afterburner always shows 50mv less?


I don't know if it's like that for everyone, but the few times I've enabled the voltage to display in the Afterburner graph for the hell of it, it's been 50mv less than actual, for me anyways.

Yeah stock voltage is around 1.255v-to-1.265v. +93mv usually brings it to around 1.36v. So, I just use 1.26v and 1.36v I guess, as close estimates.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Let's back do fixed vcore here.
> 
> Edit-
> 
> No diferrence here.
> 
> Maybe my motherboard don't let it score more.
> 
> Or i'm doing something wrong.
> 
> Im with w8pro.


The win8 does make a difference. Now that it is getting more common I need to remember to look at the OS in links, win8 does tend to give lower bench scores than win7, that is probably it.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Wait, what? Why is 1,26v + 93mv 1,36v? Also, you could say that for the 3A bios afterburner always shows 50mv less?


Software voltage readings are like that for everything. Poke around the mobo with a multimeter & you will see that the actual voltages for vcore, vdimm, etc. can be very close (or far off for some things) but are rarely the same as what software reads. Gpus are no different.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> dph314
> 
> You were right. messing around with it i can get it to 1400 stable
> 
> How does this power limit thing work though this is what happens to me
> +93mv
> +150 power limit ( anything higher and it crash)
> +200 core
> +500 mem
> =stable 1395 clock
> 
> the guides i been reading been saying to just use 300 power limit right away
> so i do that
> 
> +93mv
> +300 power limit
> +200 core
> +500 mem
> = instant crashes
> 
> i can only make it work at +300 power limit like this
> +93mv
> +300 power limit
> +100 core
> +500 mem
> =stable 1295 clock
> 
> should i just be maxing everything and slowly bring the power limit up until it crash then back it off. Because thats not how anyone is saying to OC these cards. I'm used to not having to deal with this silly power limit stuff


Done a few runs this morning with your info. . when testing i use msi kombuster, i lower my core to 190 and mem same as yours and power limit 120% seems to give runs over 20seconds before crashing. Interesting stuff, i'll do a few 3d mark runs soon with your info and see. i Never once saw my core go to 1395 i think it was. . .WOW! Your memory can go higher though. benches i run at 700. What volts are you using in aux?


----------



## CryptiK

power limit raises the TDP at which the card throttles clocks to remain within the TDP envelope. Chances are at voltage like that you are hitting higher than you are aiming for momentarily and crashing as a result. If you load up kombustor or something similar (it doesnt work both cards when in SLI) and drop the power limit % to ~110% of what the card is using you'll see the core clocks begin to to throttle. ~89-90% TDP is when it starts. The logs may say 'max' was 1395 but I doubt its holding that speed if when you raise the power limit to prevent any throttling it instant crashes.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> If you have the unlocked BIOS and are using Afterburner 2.2.3, then you are increasing the voltage. Software doesn't read the voltage correctly, so if you have the right BIOS and AB 2.2.3, then you'll see temps rise, guarenteed
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These cards stay pretty damn cool for a very long while. I remember my 570...I would set it to 950mhz @ 1.1v and do a 3dMark11 run and the card was into the mid-to-high 80C's. Now with my Lightnings, I can run 1430mhz @ 1.36v through it for a game at 99% load for an hour and only hit 63C. So, temps are much easier to combat than on Fermi, but as for the voltage...we've been told by Nvidia that the chips are very sensitive to voltage increases over 1.175v, yet of all the people here running _way_ more than 1.175v, we've had no one report that they've fried/killed one of these from stressing it too hard, and these have been out since late June (about 7 months).
> 
> So, it's really up to you how comfortable you feel overvolting it. But I say that if you don't need to, then don't. But if you have a demanding game, don't hold back either. The chip will more likely than not out-live the warranty anyways. I haven't been pushing mine because I usually use SLI at stock clocks. But when I need one card for a game, and push it, it's still as stable as the day I got it, and temps are just as amazing
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry arnie, no clue what's going on with that. If I had that problem, I'd be doing the same thing you are


Yep, I just got my second card (actually my 5th but lets not go there) and running stock clocks they just cruise through everything. Bought Crysis2 yesterday for $9 and lowest FPS I've seen so far with everything maxed at 2560x1600 is 65 FPS. It's smooth as butter in everything. Cards boost to 1228 and 1241 respectively stock so they have plenty of power. But a single card yeah depending what your res and settings are and the game itself, might benefit from a little OC. Really though even single card I was seeing 5-7FPS from stock -> max OC so to me I was really questioning the need even then.


----------



## SeekerZA

So is it best to just leave power at 300% or should i fiddle and see? i just want higher core clocks for benching using the 3A unlocked BIOS , AB 2.2.3. However i Did not use that program to increase volts just yet ( artmoney program ). I'm sort of happy with my mem for benching but need more core! Sigh.Post some voltage and power settings i can use. . mainly power and aux volts for me to get higher core when benching. Thanks!


----------



## Shperax

So i have no idea why at the time +300% power was causing instability but it was and now its not. The best settings i could get for FPS in games was
Using the Metro 2033 frontline benchmark and Heaven 3.0

+93 mv
+300% power limit
+150 Core clock = 1347 (i can do 1400 at +177 but i found then i couldn't do as high Memory which made more FPS)
+600 memory (i could do 700 memory but i find backing this down 100 makes less issues will all my game library. and its only 1-2 FPS difference so its worth it just working with all games)

I'll post the heaven results later today after i been gaming 5+ hours on these settings.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> So i have no idea why at the time +300% power was causing instability but it was and now its not. The best settings i could get for FPS in games was
> Using the Metro 2033 frontline benchmark and Heaven 3.0
> 
> +93 mv
> +300% power limit
> +150 Core clock = 1347 (i can do 1400 at +177 but i found then i couldn't do as high Memory which made more FPS)
> +600 memory (i could do 700 memory but i find backing this down 100 makes less issues will all my game library. and its only 1-2 FPS difference so its worth it just working with all games)
> 
> I'll post the heaven results later today after i been gaming 5+ hours on these settings.


Gaming I run at 1333core and mem set at 590. Runs stable all games so far. Are you on air? And what settings you using when benching? I tried 1400 on core for a test run in kombuster but it crashed eventually. How much memory you set yours on when running core that high?


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Gaming I run at 1333core and mem set at 590. Runs stable all games so far. Are you on air? And what settings you using when benching? I tried 1400 on core for a test run in kombuster but it crashed eventually. How much memory you set yours on when running core that high?


Yes i'm on air. i use custom fan control. which is 2 dots. 0/0 dot and 100/100 dot. basically the fans run at 30% all the time even if the temp is lower and go up exactly with the heat so if its 60 temp fan speed is 60%. if i find it goes over 70c i'll change the second dot to 90/90 before i underclock anything due to heat
i have a haf x case with all aftermarket highest CFM fans i could buy
my room temp is always 67-70

at 1400 i can only run memory at 500 maximum
i use the latest furmark initially
if that passes over 3-5 minutes and stays under 70c
then i use metro 2033 bench max settings for 3 passes
if it passes all 3 without a crash
i use heaven(uningine) 3.0 max settings
if it passes that then it will almost never crash on a game

But like i said i find that a little lower core and higher memory makes more FPS

I found some instability on one of the new maps in BF3 and it fixed by lowering the Voltage to 87mv
no difference in other settings
My card never runs over 68c in furmark btw

still playing games from my library for testing.

@
87 mv
300 power
150 core (1347)
600 mem


----------



## CryptiK

Just modded the 18 non ln-2 bios my new card came with and flashed to my old card. stock voltage both cards..........

now both cards bf3. crysis2, bfbc2, heaven etc stable for hours at 1280/+700 on stock volts..........weird.


----------



## Shperax

Every time i restart my afterburner it goes down by itself in voltage. is that normal?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Just modded the 18 non ln-2 bios my new card came with and flashed to my old card. stock voltage both cards..........
> 
> now both cards bf3. crysis2, bfbc2, heaven etc stable for hours at 1280/+700 on stock volts..........weird.


You mean you gained stability from going to the 18 BIOS? What were you stable at before?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Just modded the 18 non ln-2 bios my new card came with and flashed to my old card. stock voltage both cards..........
> 
> now both cards bf3. crysis2, bfbc2, heaven etc stable for hours at 1280/+700 on stock volts..........weird.


You mean you switched to the 18 BIOS and now your overclock is higher? What was it before?


----------



## setza

What is the max voltage you can achieve with the locked ln2 bios or the non ln2?


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

What's the best SLI Heaven run you guys have managed with the Lightnings? I know Heaven generally favors AMD so I'm wondering how they compare to the Lightnings? Just did this run at not quite max clocks (1215/1733):



Heaven maxed out at 1080p...


----------



## StoneyMetallica

This might be a dumb question, but is there anyway to like "Lock" the core clocks so that they don't drop back down to the default clocks?
Cause in a few of my games the clocks stay at default.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> What is the max voltage you can achieve with the locked ln2 bios or the non ln2?


Locked...I think it's 1.175v, like all the other 680's. Maybe closer to 1.21v on a DMM. 1.21v is the max either way though.

For the unlocked non-LN2 BIOS, +93mv will give you ~1.31v-1.32v.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StoneyMetallica*
> 
> This might be a dumb question, but is there anyway to like "Lock" the core clocks so that they don't drop back down to the default clocks?
> Cause in a few of my games the clocks stay at default.


No dumb questions here, don't worry









No way to lock in your overclock I don't think, no. If you set 'Prefer Maximum Performance' in the driver settings for that game, then you'll stay at the full non-boost speed though. That can smooth the framerate out a bit when you get a game that isn't too demanding and the clock keeps dropping down to 800mhz and back up every second.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> What's the best SLI Heaven run you guys have managed with the Lightnings? I know Heaven generally favors AMD so I'm wondering how they compare to the Lightnings? Just did this run at not quite max clocks (1215/1733):
> 
> Heaven maxed out at 1080p...


I'll let someone else take this one for the moment. I didn't even reinstall Heaven since I switched over to Windows 8. Maybe I'll take my first stab at it on Win8 later on tonight or tomorrow.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StoneyMetallica*
> 
> This might be a dumb question, but is there anyway to like "Lock" the core clocks so that they don't drop back down to the default clocks?
> Cause in a few of my games the clocks stay at default.


Sounds like your not increasing your power limit. you can just put it at 300% or 133% if you have the normal bios
or i heard there was thermal limiters in these cards and if you get into the 70c's they will auto lower the voltage and clock down

No idea if the 2nd thing is true cause ive never been over 70c but i know it happens if you don't have your power limit high enough


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> Every time i restart my afterburner it goes down by itself in voltage. is that normal?


Yes it's a "rounding issue" but was never fixed in subsequent versions as NVIDIA layed the smackdown to everything.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> You mean you gained stability from going to the 18 BIOS? What were you stable at before?


Yes exactly, I was stable with 1254 on air on the first card at stock voltage with the shipping 39 bios. It's now on water, but water didn't gain me much when I was at max overclock. It was semi stable on air at 1293 (would crash after ~15mins in bf3) and water made that stable (although it'd still crash in BFBC2 after/during a long round). I find it hard to believe water alone gained me 1254 -> 1280 at stock volts. I even turned down my rad fans and played crysis at mid 40's on the core 95-99% load both cores and rock solid. Gamed BFBC2 for ~2-3 hours at those clock too, and 1293 used to crash when overclocked after a long round, never lasted 2 rounds. I will test bf3 today.

I just wish we could figure out the link between the lower voltages in the table and boost speed available. I want to be able to set stock voltage in the bios and set boost speed to what I want, but it doesnt work that way, we have to set voltage to max (1.212v) in the bios so it uses the top boost speed which _is_ controllable.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> What is the max voltage you can achieve with the locked ln2 bios or the non ln2?


1.304v for me when starting at 1.175v (bios), or 1.36v when starting at 1.212v (bios)

I have to retarget the 100% board power value though as the power slider does nothing to stop throttling when you crank the voltage and the TDP hits 89-90%

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> Sounds like your not increasing your power limit. you can just put it at 300% or 133% if you have the normal bios
> or i heard there was thermal limiters in these cards and if you get into the 70c's they will auto lower the voltage and clock down
> 
> No idea if the 2nd thing is true cause ive never been over 70c but i know it happens if you don't have your power limit high enough


I think he's saying the games dont even load the card enough to engage top clocks. I fired up the old BF2 and it had both cores at 8xx MHz then eventually one went up to 1110 the other stayed low. I think dph's suggestion of perfer max performance is all you could do there.


----------



## liquidmetal14

Gentlemen, I will soon own this card as I read tons on it. Matter of fact, I'm going with the slightly more expensive 4GB iteration. What are some good but not super power consuming OC's? I know enabling the LN2 bios tremendously increases power usage but something modest would be nice.

For example, the best OC you can get without overvolting and a modest OC overvolting but not something that's going to take my temps into the upper 70's. I'm trying to be specific as I don't want to go the highest possible because I don't really want to wear on the card too much. PM or anything in case I miss your post.


----------



## dph314

I think it's definitely possible the water added 26mhz to your overclock. I've seen even greater improvements, when going from the same voltage/clocks but to a lower temp. I'm willing to bet it added a decent amount to your max OC as well. Are you going to use ArtMoney now that your under water, see what that thing can _really_ do?








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *liquidmetal14*
> 
> Gentlemen, I will soon own this card as I read tons on it. Matter of fact, *I'm going with the slightly more expensive 4GB iteration*. What are some good but not super power consuming OC's? I know enabling the LN2 bios tremendously increases power usage but something modest would be nice.
> 
> For example, the best OC you can get without overvolting and a modest OC overvolting but not something that's going to take my temps into the upper 70's. I'm trying to be specific as I don't want to go the highest possible because I don't really want to wear on the card too much. PM or anything in case I miss your post.


......there's a 4GB version?

Well you're spending $500 on a beefed-up card, and you don't want to push it? If you plan on keeping it for 10 years, I can see where you're coming from but if not....have some fun









All depends on the card though. I got one that'll do 1250mhz on the stock voltage and one that'll do 1350mhz on the stock voltage. The better one is also stable at 1424mhz in most games and stays at 63C max temp. If you get a really good one, expect around 1350mhz without even touching the voltage. If you don't get that great of one, you might barely break 1300mhz with the voltage slider maxed. Beg the lottery gods to bless you


----------



## rankftw

Hey guys, first post here







. Been reading this thread ever since I got my 680 Lighting a couple of months ago and it's been a great help.

Since I got my card I have been using AB 2.2.3 since that was the last version that didn't require any modding to over volt my card but today I decided to upgrade to AB 2.3.1 and mod it. This new version of AB no longer has the voltage go down to +93 but instead it stays at +100. On 2.2.3 my max voltage according to AB graphs was 1.306 and now with the new version it goes to 1.313 and I am able to get slightly higher clocks than I was getting before.

If anyone else wants to bite the bullet and check this out that would be great.

The card that I bought came with bios 80.04.09.F8 so I am lead to believe that this was one of the first 5000 produced. The max stable core clock I can get on this is 1320mhz with +100mv and +300% power. Do you guys reckon I would get better clocks by changing to the newer unlocked LN2 bios or should I just stick with the one I've got? I'm still playing around with the memory but atm I've got it at 7000mhz with +30mv.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *liquidmetal14*
> 
> Gentlemen, I will soon own this card as I read tons on it. Matter of fact, I'm going with the slightly more expensive 4GB iteration. What are some good but not super power consuming OC's? I know enabling the LN2 bios tremendously increases power usage but something modest would be nice.
> 
> For example, the best OC you can get without overvolting and a modest OC overvolting but not something that's going to take my temps into the upper 70's. I'm trying to be specific as I don't want to go the highest possible because I don't really want to wear on the card too much. PM or anything in case I miss your post.


There is no 4GB Lightning AFAIK, theres the 4GB twin frozr is that what you mean? They aren't the same card. What res are you gaming at?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I think it's definitely possible the water added 26mhz to your overclock. I've seen even greater improvements, when going from the same voltage/clocks but to a lower temp. I'm willing to bet it added a decent amount to your max OC as well. Are you going to use ArtMoney now that your under water, see what that thing can _really_ do?


I'm not sure. Max OC on air at 1.212v bios (1.23-1.24v real) was 1280, on water, this stayed the same. 1293 became almost stable in all games but not quite. But now on stock vgpu, 1254 before to 1280 stable? I doubt it, but I can't be certain. I don't even know if 1280's the max I just tried it arbitrarily as I was certain it would crash .

LOL not sure, I don't need to crank them to have great FPS even stock they do everything fine in SLI.


----------



## dph314

Oh I know







Not saying they're insufficient for gaming, even at stock SLI kicks any game's ass. It's just fun finding their limits is all. Well, for me it is anyways. I just thought with the much better cooling in place, you might be able to hit some damn high overclocks now. Just curious is all









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rankftw*
> 
> Hey guys, first post here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Been reading this thread ever since I got my 680 Lighting a couple of months ago and it's been a great help.
> 
> Since I got my card I have been using AB 2.2.3 since that was the last version that didn't require any modding to over volt my card but today I decided to upgrade to AB 2.3.1 and mod it. This new version of AB no longer has the voltage go down to +93 but instead it stays at +100. On 2.2.3 my max voltage according to AB graphs was 1.306 and now with the new version it goes to 1.313 and I am able to get slightly higher clocks than I was getting before.
> 
> If anyone else wants to bite the bullet and check this out that would be great.
> 
> The card that I bought came with bios 80.04.09.F8 so I am lead to believe that this was one of the first 5000 produced. The max stable core clock I can get on this is 1320mhz with +100mv and +300% power. Do you guys reckon I would get better clocks by changing to the newer unlocked LN2 bios or should I just stick with the one I've got? I'm still playing around with the memory but atm I've got it at 7000mhz with +30mv.


It might have been flashed and then RMA'd, but yes it's also possible it sat on the back of the shelf and just happened to finally be sold after all this time. Either way, sounds like you got a great one memory-wise. Going with the 3A BIOS might not help much, as it's unlocked the same way the one you have now is. A lot of people have had problems with the F8, but if it's working for you then there's no reason to switch really. I had the F8 on mine for a while, just to try it out. Didn't have any problems with it but I switched back to the 3A. Same overclock on both BIOSs, so, you're good either way really.


----------



## TheAssassin

Wow the more I read what clocks people are getting with stock voltage and +93 I feel lucky. My card has run every game I have perfectly fine with a core of 1333MHz on stock voltage until last night when I played Planetside2. It played perfectly fine then the game would minimize to desktop and I would get a black screen as if the drivers crashed or something. I am using the 307.74 Quadro drivers which are great btw. So I decided to go back to factory clock and Planetside2 played just as good with no problems so I am just assuming it's a weakness in the driver since every other game is perfectly fine.

Edit: Just went back and checked my Powerlimit, had forgot to set it to 300% the whole time I have had this card overclocked.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> What's the best SLI Heaven run you guys have managed with the Lightnings? I know Heaven generally favors AMD so I'm wondering how they compare to the Lightnings? Just did this run at not quite max clocks (1215/1733):
> 
> 
> 
> Heaven maxed out at 1080p...


Anybody guys? Curious to see how the Lightnings run Heaven (I know Kepler kills Tahiti in 3dmark11 but haven't seen much on Heaven)...


----------



## liquidmetal14

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I think it's definitely possible the water added 26mhz to your overclock. I've seen even greater improvements, when going from the same voltage/clocks but to a lower temp. I'm willing to bet it added a decent amount to your max OC as well. Are you going to use ArtMoney now that your under water, see what that thing can _really_ do?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ......there's a 4GB version?
> 
> Well you're spending $500 on a beefed-up card, and you don't want to push it? If you plan on keeping it for 10 years, I can see where you're coming from but if not....have some fun
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All depends on the card though. I got one that'll do 1250mhz on the stock voltage and one that'll do 1350mhz on the stock voltage. The better one is also stable at 1424mhz in most games and stays at 63C max temp. If you get a really good one, expect around 1350mhz without even touching the voltage. If you don't get that great of one, you might barely break 1300mhz with the voltage slider maxed. Beg the lottery gods to bless you


I suppose I got it wrong but the 4GB version *HERE* isn't a lightning and does use Twin Frozr III cooling. Maybe I will stick with the 2GB version but I do a lot of 1080p and downsampling from higher resolutions.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> There is no 4GB Lightning AFAIK, theres the 4GB twin frozr is that what you mean? They aren't the same card. What res are you gaming at?


1080p and much higer resolutions via downsampling. The VRAM may come in handy in the 4GB version. The only downside to me on the Lightning is the 2GB VRAM but I haven't had too many issues even on my 6970 I have right now and that is a 2GB card.

Suggestions are welcome but it's a toss up but I'm slightly leaning to the Lightning 680 right now.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

AFAIK you won't ever need 4GB VRAM unless using multiple monitors in Nvidia surround. Go for the Lightnings for sure...


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Wow the more I read what clocks people are getting with stock voltage and +93 I feel lucky. My card has run every game I have perfectly fine with a core of 1333MHz on stock voltage until last night when I played Planetside2. It played perfectly fine then the game would minimize to desktop and I would get a black screen as if the drivers crashed or something. I am using the 307.74 Quadro drivers which are great btw. So I decided to go back to factory clock and Planetside2 played just as good with no problems so I am just assuming it's a weakness in the driver since every other game is perfectly fine.
> 
> Edit: Just went back and checked my Powerlimit, had forgot to set it to 300% the whole time I have had this card overclocked.


That is a phenomenal OC on stock vgpu. The drivers will affect it though the newer ones load the cards harder.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Anybody guys? Curious to see how the Lightnings run Heaven (I know Kepler kills Tahiti in 3dmark11 but haven't seen much on Heaven)...


Here's mine, 1080P settings maxed (but in 8x 8x PCI-E mode since I have one card on air the other on water, once both on water will be in correct slots and 16x 16x)


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Anybody guys? Curious to see how the Lightnings run Heaven (I know Kepler kills Tahiti in 3dmark11 but haven't seen much on Heaven)...


That's probably why it's mostly a 3dMark11 thread here, ha. I guess I could install it today. I haven't tried benching in many driver versions though, and some have reverted for higher scores. Performance game-wise has gotten a lot better and there's a few games I play in which support was added in the 310.xx family, so I'm not going to bother installing 306. or 304., but I'll take a stab at it on the current 310.90 313. drivers. Woo hoo! - http://www.overclock.net/t/1354420/guru3d-nvidia-313-95-beta-driver#post_19155373


----------



## Shperax

Well i had a full day of gaming yesterday
BF3
Crysis 1 and 2
Dead Space 2 ( can't wait for 3)
Metro 2033
AC3
Defiance
DMC
Borderlands 2
Planetside 2
+10-15 FPS increase depending on the games
windows 8 would give another 2-8 FPS but I'm still waiting for that to become more bug free before i swap back to it.

highest stable settings i could get were

+87 mv
+300% power
+150 Core (1345)
+600 mem

Tuesday i go back to work and mostly play MMO type games there so i can test it on those but i think there should be no changes.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's probably why it's mostly a 3dMark11 thread here, ha. I guess I could install it today. I haven't tried benching in many driver versions though, and some have reverted for higher scores. Performance game-wise has gotten a lot better and there's a few games I play in which support was added in the 310.xx family, so I'm not going to bother installing 306. or 304., but I'll take a stab at it on the current 310.90 313. drivers. Woo hoo! - http://www.overclock.net/t/1354420/guru3d-nvidia-313-95-beta-driver#post_19155373


New drivers! Yes....been waiting for them to move away from that 310.** series....going to give this a go as soon as I get home from work.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Anybody guys? Curious to see how the Lightnings run Heaven (I know Kepler kills Tahiti in 3dmark11 but haven't seen much on Heaven)...


Well not Lightnings, but I'll post a 1202-1215MHz gtx690 on the new Beta 313.95 for ya:


----------



## liquidmetal14

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> AFAIK you won't ever need 4GB VRAM unless using multiple monitors in Nvidia surround. Go for the Lightnings for sure...


Appreciate all the advice.

I'm actively looking for the best bang for buck and may have just found and even sweeter deal. I have a friend who works for a game developer who is willing to sell me 2 670's for 500 shipped. It's almost too hard to pass up.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *liquidmetal14*
> 
> Appreciate all the advice.
> 
> I'm actively looking for the best bang for buck and may have just found and even sweeter deal. I have a friend who works for a game developer who is willing to sell me 2 670's for 500 shipped. It's almost too hard to pass up.


Thats a great deal, I would definitely jump on those 670's at that price.

I've just done extensive reviews on 660Ti, 670, 680L & 7970. Id you want bang for your buck from the cards I've tested - 1080p (60hz) 660Ti hands down best bang for buck card. If at 1440P (60hz) a 670 or 7970 will serve you well.

It seems after reviewing all my results the 680L, for the price, is more suited for benchmarkers at this point in time with current drivers; there is a small return on Kepler overclocks on modern game titles. This is of course unless you can get a good clocker second hand.


----------



## CryptiK

A pair of 670's for 500, I'd jump on that for sure if I were you, not going to get better bang for buck than that.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Well not Lightnings, but I'll post a 1202-1215MHz gtx690 on the new Beta 313.95 for ya:
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/1258991/width/500/height/1000


Really nice score there, killing it with the GTX690. Was that with the CPU @ 5.2GHz also?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Really nice score there, killing it with the GTX690. Was that with the CPU @ 5.2GHz also?


Thanks man. CPU at 4.7GHz


----------



## liquidmetal14

Regarding the 2 670's, I asked the brand, condition and all that but this is a guy I highly trust who has sold me things in the past. We first met online and he happens to live in my old stomping ground in SoCal. I have no issue even sending him money in advance as he has sold me stuff and sent it out first even ahead of me paying him.

I would like to know if they are reference cards as I'm not sure if I will want to cool them with alternate cooling or just ride them for a year and the offload them in favor of 2 Titan GPU's or even the next 700 line of cards. Either way, you get nearly 690 levels of performance out of 2 670's so it's a very hard proposition to pass up.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's probably why it's mostly a 3dMark11 thread here, ha. I guess I could install it today. I haven't tried benching in many driver versions though, and some have reverted for higher scores. Performance game-wise has gotten a lot better and there's a few games I play in which support was added in the 310.xx family, so I'm not going to bother installing 306. or 304., but I'll take a stab at it on the current 310.90 313. drivers. Woo hoo! - http://www.overclock.net/t/1354420/guru3d-nvidia-313-95-beta-driver#post_19155373


Oh you can surpass a 690 with 670's if you get good clockers...

Yeah I figured since the Heaven thread is dominated by 7970's. That's OK, when I get my 680L's it'll be my goal to see what kind of Heaven score I can get on full water...


----------



## CryptiK

Just FYI those new beta drivers are awesome in BF3........sitting on 97-98% both cards and 90+ FPS @ 2560x1600


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> That's probably why it's mostly a 3dMark11 thread here, ha. I guess I could install it today. I haven't tried benching in many driver versions though, and some have reverted for higher scores. Performance game-wise has gotten a lot better and there's a few games I play in which support was added in the 310.xx family, so I'm not going to bother installing 306. or 304., but I'll take a stab at it on the current 310.90 313. drivers. Woo hoo! - http://www.overclock.net/t/1354420/guru3d-nvidia-313-95-beta-driver#post_19155373
> 
> 
> 
> Oh you can surpass a 690 with 670's if you get good clockers...
> 
> Yeah I figured since the Heaven thread is dominated by 7970's. That's OK, when I get my 680L's it'll be my goal to see what kind of Heaven score I can get on full water...
Click to expand...

I agree cryptic. Well, so far anyways. No more problem with the clocks sitting at the full non-boost speed of 1110mhz when idle







Also, switching in and out of SLI has been quick and smooth, unlike 310.90 when it would lock up sometimes or sit at a black screen for 20 seconds.

Just ran Heaven, seems it stays at a constant 99% load now, unlike the last time I ran it (which was a while ago I'll admit, and also on Win7) where usage would spike up and down real quickly in a few spots.
Anyways, here's what I did so far. Want to play some games now though so I'm going to take a break. Just was testing with the good card, SLI would take a bit longer and I want to try a game or two









*1424mhz/7100mhz, CoreV- +131, MemV- +50. Max temp- 64C*


Going up to the next core clock increment, 1437mhz, might get me that last 3/10's of a frame to break 60fps, but I'm going to take a benching break.


----------



## CryptiK

I'm not sure how this happened but I realized I had according to GPU-Z 310.70's for GPU1 and 310.90's for GPU2 

Anyway.......... installed 313.XX betas and ran heaven again. Ran really smooth.

*SLI GTX680 | 1267core @ stock vgpu | 7408 MHz @ stock vmem | 990x @ 4GHz*


----------



## JulioCesarSF

90.5% TDP. I don't know when i have to go up with Power Limit.
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5729109
Now i want 19k.








Tips?


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

God that graphics score is crazy.


----------



## liquidmetal14

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Oh you can surpass a 690 with 670's if you get good clockers...
> 
> Yeah I figured since the Heaven thread is dominated by 7970's. That's OK, when I get my 680L's it'll be my goal to see what kind of Heaven score I can get on full water...


Very nice. I'm hoping for the same performance on the 2 670's I'm getting. Maybe minus some percentage points.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 90.5% TDP. I don't know when i have to go up with Power Limit.
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5729109
> Now i want 19k.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tips?


Yeah that graphics score is nice. Mine always seems lower compared to others with similar clocks. Not sure why.

Increase the core voltages more. You got room temperature-wise, so, you could always raise the voltages more to get some higher overclocks. Might have to raise the Power % soon too if you do, in case you hit that ceiling.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

I discovered something.
The bios f8 is better than the A3 Management TDP.
While in f8 need to 94% TDP 3A need 100.6%.










What i do to get more then +100mv?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> I discovered something.
> The bios f8 is better than the A3 Management TDP.
> While in f8 need to 94% TDP 3A need 100.6%.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What i do to get more then +100mv?


I'll search for the directions, hold on one minute.

Yeah you got a ways to go as far as temperatures are concerned, so, just give them some more voltage and you'll be breaking 19k in no time









Here you go







Have some fun and break 19k, be careful though. It looks like a lot at first, but it only takes seconds once you get used to it. Also, the addresses might be different on yours, the ones I listed in these directions are for Afterburner 2.2.3.
Quote:


> Make sure your temps are staying at safe levels. And make sure you follow these instructions carefully.
> 
> -Download ArtMoney SE v7.39
> -Open Afterburner 2.2.3
> -Right-click ArtMoney and select Run as Admin, then click continue
> -Select Afterburner from the drop-down list in the center
> -Set the core voltage (or any voltage you want to 'edit') in Afterburner to a number other than +0 (just to help narrow results) and click Apply. For this example, we'll assume you set the core voltage to +31mv
> -Click Search in ArtMoney and enter 31 in the value box and then click OK, then click OK again
> -Change that same voltage in Afterburner to another number, we'll say +63mv, then click Apply
> -Click Filter in ArtMoney and change the Value box to the new voltage value you just applied in Afterburner and click OK, then OK again
> -Click the top arrow in ArtMoney to move the top value listed in the left column to the right column (If you did the search and filter correctly, then the addresses for each voltage you should have come up with depending what you were editing are- Core = 00449000, Memory = 00449030, Aux = 00449060)
> -Once you moved one of those into the right column, right-click it and go to Set Value, enter the voltage off-set you would like, then click OK, and notice that it's changed in ArtMoney
> -Now, change one of the clock speeds so that you are able to click the Apply button in Afterburner, and then click it. You will now see the edited voltage jump to the amount you entered in ArtMoney
> BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ENTER. Make sure the voltage sliders in Afterburner jumped to where they were supposed to before you put any type of load on the card


----------



## mauricio150

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mauricio150*
> 
> see with your own eyes.
> 
> Configuration and bios I'm using:
> 
> Notepad with the profile of AB already changed:
> 
> 
> AB without changing anything:
> 
> and now the AB with a maximum voltage:
> 
> 
> No one notices when no alteration increase the voltage, with voltage source do the +100 mhz GPU with a maximum voltage +100 mhz GPU do the same as the previous.


The problem is solved!!
It was the windows 8 that sucks!

Windows 7 POWER!!!


----------



## setza

As Gabe Newell stated, windows 8 is a catastrophe for games.


----------



## mauricio150

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> As Gabe Newell stated, windows 8 is a catastrophe for games.


But Gabe Newell exaggerates in speaking


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

WIn8 works good for me and I actually love the UI...


----------



## dph314

How was Win8 the problem? That's weird. I never had problems adjusting the voltage since I upgraded.

Games have been running way smoother for me on Win8. 70fps on Win8 looks like 120fps on Win7. I like 8 better in general too.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Did you get lower bench scores with Win8 than 7? I've heard FTW420 talking about bench scores going down slightly in Win8 but haven't noticed it yet. Have been re-benching over the weekend and nothing glaring so far...


----------



## dph314

If I did then it's imperceptible. That may be my fault though, as it's been a _long_ time since I've done any benching. I did a bit when I first got the new hardware, but it's been months since I've gotten anything new. So I just kind of sat back and enjoyed it for a while, just gaming every now and then.

Game-wise though, it's been great. Older game for my first example, I know. But Fallout 3 for instance...always crashed when I enabled any of the graphics effects under the 'Water' tab in the launcher. It was a wide-spread bug and the fix for everyone was simply to disable everything. Tried it on Win8, with everything enabled, and it hasn't crashed once.

I've had other similar little things like that with certain games. But for the most part, I noticed many are much smoother, mostly in SLI. Can't even tell I'm using 2 cards as opposed to one. I just like Win8 because everything in general seems to work better. But as for straight benchmark comparisons...I never did any. Was too excited to jump from Win7 that I didn't bother to test for comparison reasons. I might have some old pics of various runs, but even if I know what clocks they were ran at, there's no way to tell whether the performance difference was caused by going from Win7 to Win8 or the drivers, since I really don't plan on going back to whatever legacy drivers I ran the old runs at to compare. I'll do a Google for some Win7-Win8 testing and see if anything decent comes up, but I think the difference is less than 1% most of the time.

Edit- What I'm seeing so far is a gain in, or worst case scenario- even, performance. So, I don't know why synthetics would lose performance and almost every game would slightly gain some, but who knows.


----------



## FtW 420

I was trying a beta win8 which was pretty buggy, reading from those who compare win 7 to win 8 most do still say benchies are a bit better in win 7 (mostly testing 3d11 & vantage).

I don't have a retail win 8 so never tried that myself, & only looked at bench results & not gaming. Most win8 users seem perfectly happy with games from what I've seen.


----------



## Menthol

The new drivers sound promising, I need to get back to benching soon before next gen is here and this gen is old news.
hwbot version of Heaven seems to be the toughest benchmark on these cards for me, I did get the highest score on 2 680's on water cooling with my cards on heaven at the bot a while back but couldn't get first place with a single, maybe the new drivers will help, the top scores on 680's all have very high memory clocks, higher than I've been able to get, even though my core clocks were higher, memory clocks make a huge difference in benchmarks


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I was trying a beta win8 which was pretty buggy, reading from those who compare win 7 to win 8 most do still say benchies are a bit better in win 7 (mostly testing 3d11 & vantage).
> 
> I don't have a retail win 8 so never tried that myself, & only looked at bench results & not gaming. Most win8 users seem perfectly happy with games from what I've seen.


Ahh, thanks for the clarification. I thought I had just seen you state this not long ago...


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I was trying a beta win8 which was pretty buggy, reading from those who compare win 7 to win 8 most do still say benchies are a bit better in win 7 (mostly testing 3d11 & vantage).
> 
> I don't have a retail win 8 so never tried that myself, & only looked at bench results & not gaming. Most win8 users seem perfectly happy with games from what I've seen.


Gaming-wise, yes, been great so far. Those who game 95% of the time and just bench for fun should be quite happy when they upgrade


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Gaming-wise, yes, been great so far. Those who game 95% of the time and just bench for fun should be quite happy when they upgrade


Yes, going for bench scores I still use win xp a lot of the time. Better in some benches but definitely not the choice for most games.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Gaming-wise, yes, been great so far. Those who game 95% of the time and just bench for fun should be quite happy when they upgrade
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, going for bench scores I still use win xp a lot of the time. Better in some benches but definitely not the choice for most games.
Click to expand...

XP? Interesting. Benches get progressively worse with each OS?


----------



## setza

Back to windows 95 it seems


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> XP? Interesting. Benches get progressively worse with each OS?


Not all, & it depends on the card for some. 3dmark 01 does better in xp with all cards, with 03 amd does better in win7, nvidia does better in xp. DX 10/11 benches still have to run in a dx10 OS.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Back to windows 95 it seems


Not quite that far back, although I've never tested with the original DOOM, who knows. Win 98 was better.








Win XP is still the best for pretty much all 2d benching. Win 7 is a good all around OS, bloating it to make everything easier to work with makes everything easier to work with though, not necessarily faster or better.


----------



## jamonymo

can some one post afterburner config settings to unlock voltage please thanks


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jamonymo*
> 
> can some one post afterburner config settings to unlock voltage please thanks


It's in the OP


----------



## Lukas026

just out of curiosity whats your ASIC quality on 680 Lightnings ?

I am most interested in guys who have some nice chips (1400+ stable core)

thanks


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lukas026*
> 
> just out of curiosity whats your ASIC quality on 680 Lightnings ?
> 
> I am most interested in guys who have some nice chips (1400+ stable core)
> 
> thanks


My good one is 72% and my other one is 77%. And the good one is better by a long shot.


----------



## setza

Anyone knows where I might find a waterblock for the lightning since in frozencpu they just went out of stock?


----------



## SeekerZA

Performance PC's. i just ordered mine Recently


----------



## dph314

How's the new drivers working out for everyone? I haven't OC'd SLI in a while, so I don't know if stability has decreased at all. But the new drivers are great for me so far. No more idling at the base clock speed, so that's good. And 1320mhz/6900mhz SLI is killing Max Payne 3


----------



## Vaerwind

I haven't OC'd higher with the new drivers but I definitely got a noticeable boost in my most demanding games. I'm too poor to SLI these monsters









Also, as for ASIC quality. Mine is reading 99.5% with GPU-Z 75.8% with up-to-date GPU-Z and I was able to get 1352mhz with +74mV but that was done a while ago.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> How's the new drivers working out for everyone? I haven't OC'd SLI in a while, so I don't know if stability has decreased at all. But the new drivers are great for me so far. No more idling at the base clock speed, so that's good. And 1320mhz/6900mhz SLI is killing Max Payne 3


Working good for me as well. No more clock drops like the 310.** series....very pleased so far. Most noticeable improvement to me was Far Cry 3, especially coming from the 306.97 set.


----------



## setza

Aaaaaand is also sold out.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Aaaaaand is also sold out.


I'm not using my EK Lightning block at the moment....but I'm selling it along with the card shortly, so sorry don't wanna let go of it. On FCPU says stock should be back within 8 days at the most....can't just hold out until then?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Aaaaaand is also sold out.


Well there is 6 in stock here, but I don't think they ship outside of Canada.

http://www.dazmode.com/store/product/ek-fc680_msi_geforce_680_gtx_lightning/


----------



## setza

I hope frozencpu restocks soon, because I have a limited timeframe to order.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Lukas026*
> 
> just out of curiosity whats your ASIC quality on 680 Lightnings ?
> 
> I am most interested in guys who have some nice chips (1400+ stable core)
> 
> thanks


72.3% and 82.5%, higher asic card is significantly better at stock voltage but ive not overvolted it. worst card does 1398 @ +93

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> I haven't OC'd higher with the new drivers but I definitely got a noticeable boost in my most demanding games. I'm too poor to SLI these monsters
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also, as for ASIC quality. Mine is reading 99.5% with GPU-Z and I was able to get 1352mhz with +74mV but that was done a while ago.


sounds like youre using an old gpuz version, what does it read in 0.6.7?


----------



## Vaerwind

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> sounds like youre using an old gpuz version, what does it read in 0.6.7?


Aha you are very right. It was outdated. New ASIC is 75.8%


----------



## driftingforlife

ASIC 80.6%

Does 1370 with +93


----------



## Vaerwind

What are the differences between the 3A and the F8 bios? Are there any? Mine came with F8 and I'd be willing to give flashing a shot if it means a better OC


----------



## reggiesanchez

*** is asic


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reggiesanchez*
> 
> *** is asic


this:



means nothing imo.


----------



## setza

Umm... would the 2 GB be enough for a 3 monitor setup?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> How's the new drivers working out for everyone? I haven't OC'd SLI in a while, so I don't know if stability has decreased at all. But the new drivers are great for me so far. No more idling at the base clock speed, so that's good. And 1320mhz/6900mhz SLI is killing Max Payne 3


All good, no more stutter in any game. I haven't succeed to get the same 3Dmark11 score than with 306.97 (~19200-19300 when I was able to get 19800 to 20k) but in game it's fine, I'm not running at the benchmark clock anyway, not stable for BF3








I'm still at 1306mhz/7110mhz SLI with +50mv, didn't knew about the asic thingy, my cards show 79.2% and 76.6% respectively. At least they are near to each other.
I finally finished to download Crysis 3 MP Beta, weird thing happened. I maxed everything out, played a little (I mean died alot) and looked at the temp cause I was at about 60fps and this is the result:

the hell?! no SLI in Crysis 3 MP beta? !








The long high temp before is BF3 multiplayer.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> All good, no more stutter in any game. I haven't succeed to get the same 3Dmark11 score than with 306.97 (~19200-19300 when I was able to get 19800 to 20k) but in game it's fine, I'm not running at the benchmark clock anyway, not stable for BF3
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm still at 1306mhz/7110mhz SLI with +50mv, didn't knew about the asic thingy, my cards show 79.2% and 76.6% respectively. At least they are near to each other.
> I finally finished to download Crysis 3 MP Beta, weird thing happened. I maxed everything out, played a little (I mean died alot) and looked at the temp cause I was at about 60fps and this is the result: http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/1261979/width/500/height/1000
> the hell?! no SLI in Crysis 3 MP beta? !
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The long high temp before is BF3 multiplayer.


Is your 1306 core clock at +50mv with the LN2 bios?

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> What are the differences between the 3A and the F8 bios? Are there any? Mine came with F8 and I'd be willing to give flashing a shot if it means a better OC


No diff really (well there is at the code level but in reality, no) but teh F8 came on the original 5000 unlocked LN2 bios cards. Is yours one of these? If so hows it OC and what's your asic % ??


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Is your 1306 core clock at +50mv with the LN2 bios?


Yes with LN2 bios 3A on both card, I was doing 1298 default bios and not modified AB with my first card (the best one).

edit: oh god, launched GeForce experience and there is now a 313.96, release not is the same as 313.95.
troll Nvidia, will see tomorrow how is it.
nvm, took a look at geforece website, "If you installed January 28th's 313.95 beta successfully you do not need to download and install 313.96 beta; today's release merely updates the installer to rectify the issues experienced by some users."


----------



## JulioCesarSF

MSI Forum. I asked:

What is the max safe voltage and temperature?

Admin says:

There is no safe when it comes to overvolting or oc. As long as temps are fine there is nothing to worry. Just make sure you are only adding as much voltage as is really needed. If a small extra clockrate takes a lot more voltage than the oc steps before it's better to stop.

Also exceeding 1.175v will not noticeable degrade gpu. The shortening of lifetime reasonable overvolting can cause would mostly take affect when the card is long outdated.

Please note that you can't use GPU-Z for voltage monitoring! It will just display target voltages. 1.212v is not your current voltage at +75. For voltage monitoring use OSD of Afterburner 2.2.3 as anything after 2.2.3 will also just display target voltages.










What is ASIC and where i find it?

I found. 77%(F8 Bios) 73%(3A Bios)







What is this?
I need to find better bios.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> All good, no more stutter in any game. I haven't succeed to get the same 3Dmark11 score than with 306.97 (~19200-19300 when I was able to get 19800 to 20k) but in game it's fine, I'm not running at the benchmark clock anyway, not stable for BF3
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm still at 1306mhz/7110mhz SLI with +50mv, didn't knew about the asic thingy, my cards show 79.2% and 76.6% respectively. At least they are near to each other.
> I finally finished to download Crysis 3 MP Beta, weird thing happened. I maxed everything out, played a little (I mean died alot) and looked at the temp cause I was at about 60fps and this is the result:
> 
> the hell?! no SLI in Crysis 3 MP beta? !
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The long high temp before is BF3 multiplayer.


you need edit Crysis 3 profile with Nvidia Inspector, just add the exec of beta.


----------



## Kimir

Okey thanks. I saw something about using nvidia inspector for Crysis 3 MP on mycrysis forum, I guess it was about that, will do it tomorrow, good night.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Okey thanks. I saw something about using nvidia inspector for Crysis 3 MP on mycrysis forum, I guess it was about that, will do it tomorrow, good night.


good night too!







here now 01:00.


----------



## 1b0b1

Guys, my GPU is still on its factory settings, haven't touch anything with it. My problem is with micro-stuttering in all the games I've tested and on different Nvidia drivers: 306.97, 310.70, 310.90, even the latest 313 beta driver.

Any ideas ?


----------



## CryptiK

Microstuttering with a single GPU? First I've heard of that. Try a reseat in the PCI slot, clean reinstall of the drivers see how that goes.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Microstuttering with a single GPU? First I've heard of that. Try a reseat in the PCI slot, clean reinstall of the drivers see how that goes.


Might just be using that term referring to the game being messed up. I've had usage spiking all over the place and it kind of resembles micro-stuttering.


----------



## samoth777

hey guys would it be okay to use a universal gpu block with this bad boy? i want to reach something like 1400mhz for daily gaming


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> hey guys would it be okay to use a universal gpu block with this bad boy? i want to reach something like 1400mhz for daily gaming


FTW 420 used a universal block for his high bench runs on his gtx 680 Lightnings. I see no problem with it.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Might just be using that term referring to the game being messed up. I've had usage spiking all over the place and it kind of resembles micro-stuttering.


Mine was clock drops on the 310.** series of drivers that would appear to make the game micro stutter. Using the OSD from afterburner, every 30 seconds or so the clock on the card would drop to 800MHz, and in turn cause the game to lag and stutter. So it could be that also depending on what driver he's using.


----------



## p3gaz_001

http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/geforce_307_74_whql_driver_download.html


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/geforce_307_74_whql_driver_download.html


http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/nvidia-geforce-313-96-beta-drivers-released


----------



## p3gaz_001

no more beta on my system. thanks.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> no more beta on my system. thanks.


Cool, but you do realize what you linked was not for Kepler cards right?


This is the latest WHQL for Kepler http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/55121


----------



## p3gaz_001

yes i did but why do i see this?

" Performance Boost - Increases performance for GeForce 400/500/600 Series GPUs in several PC games vs. GeForce 301.42 WHQL-certified drivers. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:
GeForce GTX 680:

Up to 18% in Batman: Arkham City
Up to 15% in Dragon Age II
Up to 10% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Up to 60% in Total War: Shogun 2 (fixes performance issue with latest game patch)"

and here those guys are talking about the performances on their sys

or maybe i'm just stupid ...


----------



## Vaerwind

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> no more beta on my system. thanks.


Might I ask why?


----------



## 1b0b1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Mine was clock drops on the 310.** series of drivers that would appear to make the game micro stutter. Using the OSD from afterburner, every 30 seconds or so the clock on the card would drop to 800MHz, and in turn cause the game to lag and stutter. So it could be that also depending on what driver he's using.


Would you please check the threat that I started ? it contain all the logs which shows that the GPU isn't dropping a bit

http://www.overclock.net/t/1354756/battlefield-3-micro-stuttering-and-sluggish-gameplay


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Anyone knows where I might find a waterblock for the lightning since in frozencpu they just went out of stock?


here ya go:
http://www.aquatuning.us/product_info.php/info/p14136_Aquacomputer-aquagraFX-for-GTX-680-Lightning-G1-4.html


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> here ya go:
> http://www.aquatuning.us/product_info.php/info/p14136_Aquacomputer-aquagraFX-for-GTX-680-Lightning-G1-4.html


http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17369/ex-blc-1343/EK_MSI_GeForce_680_GTX_Lightning_VGA_Liquid_Cooling_Block_-_Acetal_Nickel_CSQ_EK-FC680_GTX_Lightning_-_AcetalNickel.html?id=3tAuvGau&mv_pc=198

When i ordered it take only 1 day to stock.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> yes i did but why do i see this?
> 
> " Performance Boost - Increases performance for GeForce 400/500/600 Series GPUs in several PC games vs. GeForce 301.42 WHQL-certified drivers. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:
> GeForce GTX 680:
> 
> Up to 18% in Batman: Arkham City
> Up to 15% in Dragon Age II
> Up to 10% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
> Up to 60% in Total War: Shogun 2 (fixes performance issue with latest game patch)"
> 
> and here those guys are talking about the performances on their sys
> 
> or maybe i'm just stupid ...


In that here you mention, Quote:
Originally Posted by maur0 View Post
good news is much faster than 310.90?
For the 6600 GT listed in your specs? Yeah, much faster considering 310.90 won't even work with that card

Just some confusion......


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *1b0b1*
> 
> Would you please check the threat that I started ? it contain all the logs which shows that the GPU isn't dropping a bit
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1354756/battlefield-3-micro-stuttering-and-sluggish-gameplay


Then how come OSD showed the clock dropping?


----------



## CryptiK

I ordered my first Aquacomputer block from Sidewinder, and my second from Aquatuning. Only thing that sucked about Aquatuning was UPS express 72 hour shipping. Took 5 days, told me would finally arrive tuesday and it never showed, called up at 4pm asking if it would be delivered and was told it was on the truck for delivery. 5pm came and went, checked tracking online and says "exception occurred left at UPS facility". I was like WTH, rang up, was told it was never loaded on the truck and was left all day at the facility. I said when wasn't it loaded on the truck, they said 2 days ago. Riiiight. So they promised me delivery by 9am the next day so I could go to work. Guess when it arrived? 5:20pm. Terrible experience, fedex are so much better but many companies you can't choose fedex when checking out.

I'll be fitting the second block today and testing both cards on water tonight, can't wait to have everything on water again.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Can't wait to see your results under water. I'm planning the same thing later this month (unless I get a wild hair to go with the Titan)...


----------



## setza

Thanks for the help guys, now I'm wondering which one should I order, the EK or the aqua one... lol. Know which one is better?


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Both are probably similar in terms of performance. Its really down to which one you like the looks of better. I'm going EK simply because all my other blocks are EK...


----------



## CryptiK

Aqua for sure.

Pics and result of my first one: are here


----------



## setza

Wow that are some nice results. I prefer the look of the aqua, so if frozen cpu doesn't restock soon (I'm ordering other stuff from them to update my loop), I'll just order the aqua from aquatuning.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Thanks for the help guys, now I'm wondering which one should I order, the EK or the aqua one... lol. Know which one is better?
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Both are probably similar in terms of performance. Its really down to which one you like the looks of better. I'm going EK simply because all my other blocks are EK...
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Yea they do perform very much the same. I loved the look of my EK block though.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

at Mike! I'm looking to join you soon man!


----------



## setza

I don't like that you have to buy an extra connector to get the top/bot ports on the new EK blocks.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Yeah, that definitely sucks, I agree. Does anybody know if the older FC Bridge works with the new blocks?


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Yeah, that definitely sucks, I agree. Does anybody know if the older FC Bridge works with the new blocks?


No they don't.


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Vaerwind*
> 
> Might I ask why?


bad experience.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> In that here you mention, Quote:
> Originally Posted by maur0 View Post
> good news is much faster than 310.90?
> For the 6600 GT listed in your specs? Yeah, much faster considering 310.90 won't even work with that card
> 
> Just some confusion......


read the others in the second page plz, and check their spechs.

and yes i'm still confused..


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Both are probably similar in terms of performance. Its really down to which one you like the looks of better. I'm going EK simply because all my other blocks are EK...


EK is easy to install too.







I install two blocks ins 30 minutes.


----------



## Kimir

Ya'll are tempting me with the temp you achieve on water


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Ya'll are tempting me with the temp you achieve on water












Water cooler so nice.


----------



## CryptiK

Second block installed, all back in the case leak testing:



Up and running











Temps are real nice, both cards mem/vrm almost identical, second cards core ~2*C hotter but its running slightly more voltage too. ~42-44*C core. 44*C mem, 50*C VRM after extended gaming.

The mem or mem controller on my new card was sensitive to heat, but I've now got both cards at +900 MHz (3911 MHz / 7822 MHz effective) running stable in games. 250 GB/s bandwidth, don't think they'll be bandwidth starved with that


----------



## p3gaz_001

very nice blocks there!!!!


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Water cooler so nice.


Well let's say I'm going for it, knowing I'm a noob at custom water loop, what would you suggest me for only watercooling the 2x Lightning?
I just got the corsair h100i, don't want to throw it away already lol.

Obviously, two fullcover block for lightning like "Aquacomputer aquagraFX" or "EK-FC680 GTX Lightning - Acetal+Nickel", they both look nice.
A reservoir+pump, if it can fit in the 5.25 bay I have left it would be good,
a rad 240mm or 280mm, 30mm tick (or moar) that can fit in the front of the fractal R4 if I move the hdd bay a little on the back, there should be enough space under the 2nd lightning,
then some tubing and fittings for the whole thing, right?

Any products suggestion, I'm in France so if you got some European shop in mind.









BTW, the new 3Dmark will be available next monday


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Second block installed, all back in the case leak testing:
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Up and running
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Temps are real nice, both cards mem/vrm almost identical, second cards core ~2*C hotter but its running slightly more voltage too. ~42-44*C core. 44*C mem, 50*C VRM after extended gaming.
> 
> The mem or mem controller on my new card was sensitive to heat, but I've now got both cards at +900 MHz (3911 MHz / 7822 MHz effective) running stable in games. 250 GB/s bandwidth, don't think they'll be bandwidth starved with that


Sexy


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Well let's say I'm going for it, knowing I'm a noob at custom water loop, what would you suggest me for only watercooling the 2x Lightning?
> I just got the corsair h100i, don't want to throw it away already lol.
> 
> Obviously, two fullcover block for lightning like "Aquacomputer aquagraFX" or "EK-FC680 GTX Lightning - Acetal+Nickel", they both look nice.
> A reservoir+pump, if it can fit in the 5.25 bay I have left it would be good,
> a rad 240mm or 280mm, 30mm tick (or moar) that can fit in the front of the fractal R4 if I move the hdd bay a little on the back, there should be enough space under the 2nd lightning,
> then some tubing and fittings for the whole thing, right?
> 
> Any products suggestion, I'm in France so if you got some European shop in mind.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BTW, the new 3Dmark will be available next monday


There are no 1 5.25 bay pump/reservoir combo. All of them take 2 5.25 bays.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> There are no 1 5.25 bay pump/reservoir combo. All of them take 2 5.25 bays.


Wrong, Here it is. Although i got me the dual bay recently. And also waiting on my ek block.
Single:
Koolance RP-401X2 Single 5.25" Reservoir for 1-2 PMP-400 Pumps
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=59_318_660&products_id=31143

Dual:
Koolance RP-452X2 Dual 5.25in Reservoir for 1-2 PMP-450/S Pumps, Rev.2.0
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=59_318_660&products_id=33234

Those using the ek block , are you able to put the backplate on again with the ek block installed?


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Second block installed, all back in the case leak testing:
> 
> 
> 
> Up and running
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Temps are real nice, both cards mem/vrm almost identical, second cards core ~2*C hotter but its running slightly more voltage too. ~42-44*C core. 44*C mem, 50*C VRM after extended gaming.
> 
> The mem or mem controller on my new card was sensitive to heat, but I've now got both cards at +900 MHz (3911 MHz / 7822 MHz effective) running stable in games. 250 GB/s bandwidth, don't think they'll be bandwidth starved with that


WOW!! Looks Really Nice! I Want, I want!


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Wrong, Here it is. Although i got me the dual bay recently. And also waiting on my ek block.
> Single:
> Koolance RP-401X2 Single 5.25" Reservoir for 1-2 PMP-400 Pumps
> http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=59_318_660&products_id=31143
> 
> Dual:
> Koolance RP-452X2 Dual 5.25in Reservoir for 1-2 PMP-450/S Pumps, Rev.2.0
> http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=59_318_660&products_id=33234
> 
> Those using the ek block , are you able to put the backplate on again with the ek block installed?


Yeah,
Saw some here


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Wrong, Here it is. Although i got me the dual bay recently. And also waiting on my ek block.
> -snip-
> 
> Those using the ek block , are you able to put the backplate on again with the ek block installed?


Yes you are able to put the backplate on.


----------



## setza

Lol I could never find the single ones... I got a dual and can't use my cd drive...


----------



## setza

Lol I could never find the single ones... I got a dual and can't use my cd drive...


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> Yes you are able to put the backplate on.


Thanks for confirming. What is the importance of the connector attached though? I don't recall that when purchasing the block, is ti only for sli use?


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Lol I could never find the single ones... I got a dual and can't use my cd drive...


There are only 2 single bay res i've seen but koolance has the best functionality. Series pumps for more head pressure , 2loops , ect. Quite a variety of setups to choose from


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Thanks for confirming. What is the importance of the connector attached though? I don't recall that when purchasing the block, is ti only for sli use?


That little connector is for gaining top and bot ports like any other waterblock has, but EK for some reason didn't put both on his new waterblocks, so you gotta buy that extra connector if you dont want to use 90 degree barbs.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> That little connector is for gaining top and bot ports like any other waterblock has, but EK for some reason didn't put both on his new waterblocks, so you gotta buy that extra connector if you dont want to use 90 degree barbs.


So i cant just use a compression fitting on it attached to the hose without a 90 degree?

Are theses the correct one's to use?

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17610/ex-blc-1377/EK_FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ_-_Acetal_EK-FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ.html?tl=g30c357s922#blank

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17611/ex-blc-1378/EK_FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ_-_Plexi_EK-FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ_-_Plexi.html?tl=g30c357s922

Lastly do i really need it if once i get my ek block?


----------



## Kimir

CryptiK, is it possible to see some pics with daylight?









And for everyone else on water, what tubing size and sli connector (if any) are you using?
As a first shot, looking only on product available on aquatuning, does this look correct :


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> So i cant just use a compression fitting on it attached to the hose without a 90 degree?
> 
> Are theses the correct one's to use?
> 
> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17610/ex-blc-1377/EK_FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ_-_Acetal_EK-FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ.html?tl=g30c357s922#blank
> 
> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17611/ex-blc-1378/EK_FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ_-_Plexi_EK-FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ_-_Plexi.html?tl=g30c357s922
> 
> Lastly do i really need it if once i get my ek block?


Yup those are the ones. It isn't necesary, i mean if you dont use it, then you will have the 2 ports facing to the bottom of the case, or with the bridge that comes with every block, facing to the outside. You could just use 2 90 degree fittings, but imo using that connector gives a better look.


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> CryptiK, is it possible to see some pics with daylight?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And for everyone else on water, what tubing size and sli connector (if any) are you using?
> As a first shot, looking only on product available on aquatuning, does this look correct :
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


There are some sli fittings that are adjustable, I would prefer those instead of a fixed one. Can't remember their name tho.


----------



## PCModderMike

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> [/SPOILER]
> 
> There are some sli fittings that are adjustable, I would prefer those instead of a fixed one. Can't remember their name tho.


You might be referring to the Koolance adjustable SLI connectors? Something like THIS.
I've used a few of them and they work great.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> [/SPOILER]
> 
> There are some sli fittings that are adjustable, I would prefer those instead of a fixed one. Can't remember their name tho.


More like this one then

edit : Ahah you got me PCModderMike


----------



## setza

Yup just like those


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> CryptiK, is it possible to see some pics with daylight?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And for everyone else on water, what tubing size and sli connector (if any) are you using?
> As a first shot, looking only on product available on aquatuning, does this look correct :


Its back under my desk now I'd have to haul it all out to get more pics. What are you after a better pic of exactly maybe I can use a lamp or something.

SLI Connector is the adjustable koolance one pictured above.
Tubing size is 7/16 ID black primoflex LRT using matte black bitspower 1/2" barbs, I was a little paranoid about leaks and this is a good way to make a good seal.1/2" tubing and1/2" compression fitting are normally used but 1/2" tubing can be hard to get tight bend radiuses with.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PCModderMike*
> 
> You might be referring to the Koolance adjustable SLI connectors? Something like THIS.
> I've used a few of them and they work great.


Yep that's the one I'm using, spans 3 slots easily. I originally bought the Aquacomputer twinconnect but it doesnt quite reach (I need to use slots 1 & 3 for 16x 16x PCI-E.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

So it looks like I'll have to get a CSQ FC Bridge as well if I go with the Lightnings....


----------



## CryptiK

If you wanted to run EK blocks then yeah you would unless you want to use fittings. Ive seen it done, looked good from an engineering/visual interest point of view, not sure on performance.


----------



## SeekerZA

lol, whats funny is this is first time i'm doing water and i've spent ALOT so far. Haven't evens got my stuff yet and i already see myself buying little more to have a more complete look. Here i really thought i'd have everything in one go. But all for better cooling and better clocks. . More memory yes please! Saw my vrm's and mem hitting well in 60's lastnight. It gets hot here and crysis 3 beta ( for free to try muti player now hey) is the only game which makes my cards core go high 60's almost 70 with fan going at 75percent!. I learnt the hardway that heat is a killer for gpu. Crysis specifically crashed how much times when it was as hot as lastnight here. Night before zero problems.

When applying the thermal pad over mem, vrm, do i cut for each piece or one long piece over all? ( Those using waterblocks )


----------



## GenoOCAU

I cut each piece, I guess its a matter of opinion though. Just played under 1 1/2 hours of Crysis 3 with my cards in sli 1350/7000 and peak GPU temp hit 44dec on LN2 bios.

Best blocks!


----------



## CryptiK

I used one long strip as its easier to cut and position. Thermal transfer is identical to cutting sections and the bits 'in between' aren't blocking airflow or anything. I used MX4 on the GPU and mem IC's

Geno - what voltage you running for 1350 core?


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> I used one long strip as its easier to cut and position. Thermal transfer is identical to cutting sections and the bits 'in between' aren't blocking airflow or anything. I used MX4 on the GPU and mem IC's
> 
> Geno - what voltage you running for 1350 core?


Aah crappy pants, i got the gelid gc extreme i think it's called. Think i'll go with the long strip method since it's waay easier


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> I cut each piece, I guess its a matter of opinion though. Just played under 1 1/2 hours of Crysis 3 with my cards in sli 1350/7000 and peak GPU temp hit 44dec on LN2 bios.
> 
> Best blocks!


I hope your refering to the ek blocks now







nevermind, saw the aqua in your build log


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Aah crappy pants, i got the gelid gc extreme i think it's called. Think i'll go with the long strip method since it's waay easier


So long as its non conductive or capacative it'll be fine. Oh, you going to be using an Aquacomputer block or EK? Aquacomputer uses paste on the mem, most others dont though so read the instructions and they'll say what to use.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> So long as its non conductive or capacative it'll be fine. Oh, you going to be using an Aquacomputer block or EK? Aquacomputer uses paste on the mem, most others dont though so read the instructions and they'll say what to use.


The EK block


----------



## CryptiK

It'll *probably* use supplied thermal pads on the mem then. It'll say when you get it.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Its back under my desk now I'd have to haul it all out to get more pics. What are you after a better pic of exactly maybe I can use a lamp or something.
> 
> SLI Connector is the adjustable koolance one pictured above.
> Tubing size is 7/16 ID black primoflex LRT using matte black bitspower 1/2" barbs, I was a little paranoid about leaks and this is a good way to make a good seal.1/2" tubing and1/2" compression fitting are normally used but 1/2" tubing can be hard to get tight bend radiuses with.
> Yep that's the one I'm using, spans 3 slots easily. I originally bought the Aquacomputer twinconnect but it doesnt quite reach (I need to use slots 1 & 3 for 16x 16x PCI-E.


I'm not looking for anything in particular, just want to see the whole setup with better light and things like fittings you used.
I've made a new shopping list, still using the same website but I'm not fixed to this one yet, here is the shopping cart
Don't know what the best between Alphacool and Primochill tubing.

About the EK block, check their website, there is pdf that are well made.


----------



## CryptiK

I cant comment on the Alphacool but the primochill tubing is really nice IMO. No markings, good bend radius, low permeability, good UV blocking.

I'll try take a pic over the weekend, kinda embarrassing showing pics of it incomplete, with unsleeved wiring etc







I listed the fittings used above for your reference.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> I cant comment on the Alphacool but the primochill tubing is really nice IMO. No markings, good bend radius, low permeability, good UV blocking.
> 
> I'll try take a pic over the weekend, kinda embarrassing showing pics of it incomplete, with unsleeved wiring etc
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I listed the fittings used above for your reference.


Don't be embarrassed to show an incomplete setup, it's a good thing to show the steps.








As for the fittings, I was talking about the angles, I guess a 45 for the top card, a 90 for the lower card and everything else straight should be good if I use a 5.25 bay for res plus pump and a 240 rad in the front of the case.

BTW I saw you asked at what voltage GenoOCAU was running his lightning @ 1350mhz, I'm running mine at this frequency (well it's written 1346 but...) at +75mV right now, the temp don't get higher than before (because the fan run faster I guess, but the noise is not higher lol). I didn't tried to lower it yet.


----------



## CryptiK

I guess you're right, I'll do what I can photowise over the wkend. I run all straight fittings and one 90* on the bottom card. Its a normal 90* not a rotary. Its pretty much impossible to position 45's and 90's where you want them unless they are rotaries, but I'm worried a rotary will leak and I actually like the smooth curves of the tubing making all the bends. There's a bit of a trend currently with making all the bends with fittings and just running straight lengths of tubing between, but I just think every connection and fitting is another possible leak, but the aesthetics bother me a little too. I keep it as simple as I can.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> I guess you're right, I'll do what I can photowise over the wkend. I run all straight fittings and one 90* on the bottom card. Its a normal 90* not a rotary. Its pretty much impossible to position 45's and 90's where you want them unless they are rotaries, but I'm worried a rotary will leak and I actually like the smooth curves of the tubing making all the bends. There's a bit of a trend currently with making all the bends with fittings and just running straight lengths of tubing between, but I just think every connection and fitting is another possible leak, but the aesthetics bother me a little too. I keep it as simple as I can.


Remind me of my first watercooling kit by Asetek, back to the P4 Prescott time, I had nightmare with those quick release plugs. After that I said to myself, no more watercooling but I tend to change my mind when I see the temp you can get and the insane look








I started back with Corsair H100i, it has is issue but it works fine by now.

About a year ago :

today :


Few things changed (but not the cable mess in the back), and maybe tomorrow the lightnings under water


----------



## setza

Nice looking rig man, btw did you just sleeve part of the cables or are those extensions?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Nice looking rig man, btw did you just sleeve part of the cables or are those extensions?


They are only extensions, I wanted everything sleeved but that platimax isn't fully modular







(and my bro came to me and said, "you see you should have took a corsair" >_>)
the back is a mess :


----------



## setza

Lol I know that feel. I could buy the sleeved cable set for my ax 850, but I would have to redo all the cable management and that makes me a sad panda. And do I see a logitech mouse or keyboard there?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Lol I know that feel. I could buy the sleeved cable set for my ax 850, but I would have to redo all the cable management and that makes me a sad panda. And do I see a logitech mouse or keyboard there?


Yeah Logitech G600 and G9x (not really using that one anymore) and Illuminated keyboard. Love that keyboard design, big drawback is the fact you can't use 3 key at the same time, but I got used to, 500h+ in BF3 might have helped me learning to switch from shift to space quickly lmao.
It's in my sig rig spec









edit : oh, and damn Logitech with the stupid gaming software, total crap!


----------



## Mast3rkill

Hey guys, I recently bought this card, so exited to change from a radeon 7870. Well I got the clock speed running at 1411mhz max oc gpu clock with 1.265-1.285v and the memory clock at 6984 because if I set the offset of AB to 500 I get artifacts on farcry 3. After that I think the gpu clock is really good and the voltage is not so high. I wanted to know if I can get some problems in the future? or If get normal temps I will have no problems. Im currently having 70-75 °celsius on gpu and 60-65 memory temp and 70 max vrm temp with fans at 100% and ambient temp of 30° degrees celsius.


----------



## Kimir

This temp seems normal, I got about the same but at lower core frequency, 1346mhz/7114mhz, an hour of BF3 result in 71°c for the core, 65°c mem and 68°c for the vrm temp. I'm trying to reduce the voltage by keeping this core frequency, actually I'm at +63mV (wrote 60 but when apply on AB, I got 63. Didn't checked the voltage with a multimeter).
You'r core clock speed is really great btw!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Hey guys, I recently bought this card, so exited to change from a radeon 7870. Well I got the clock speed running at 1411mhz max oc gpu clock with 1.265-1.285v and the memory clock at 6984 because if I set the offset of AB to 500 I get artifacts on farcry 3. After that I think the gpu clock is really good and the voltage is not so high. I wanted to know if I can get some problems in the future? or If get normal temps I will have no problems. Im currently having 70-75 °celsius on gpu and 60-65 memory temp and 70 max vrm temp with fans at 100% and ambient temp of 30° degrees celsius.


It was stated by an official MSI rep someone quoted a few pages back that if temps are kept low, like what your card seems to be at, then the degradation will not noticeably affect the card's life. I think he said something along the lines of my opinion I gave a few pages back- if you lower the card's estimated life even by _half_, that may bring it from 12 years down to 6, and how many plan on keeping their card for 6 years? So yes, cutting the life in half is an extreme estimate to begin with, especially since you're on the stock voltage, so you're definitely good.

By the way, awesome card! And welcome to the site/club/Green-side







Now over-volt that bad boy and see what it can _really_ do


----------



## Mast3rkill

Thanks to both answers, but now I have a problem, I was playing some games, not all of them. I started playing assasins creed III and then it crashed, I saw my voltage going up and down (I think is called offset) so it seems to going lower in someparts but with the same clock speed and this results in crashing or leaving Artifacts all over the place, can someone tell me please how to make the voltage stable and locked? Thanks


----------



## joem83

Don't know if this is a repost but I think you guys would enjoy this..
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/3dmark_windows_8_scheduled_launch_february_4


----------



## setza

I would laugh if my galaxy s3 gets a better score than my craptop.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Thanks to both answers, but now I have a problem, I was playing some games, not all of them. I started playing assasins creed III and then it crashed, I saw my voltage going up and down (I think is called offset) so it seems to going lower in someparts but with the same clock speed and this results in crashing or leaving Artifacts all over the place, can someone tell me please how to make the voltage stable and locked? Thanks


Are you on the LN2 BIOS? Well, that sounds like the dynamic voltage kicking in. What you can do is click "Settings" on the Afterburner interface and check the box next to "Force constant voltage", and that will force the maximum voltage you have set, including the offset, the entire time (just don't forget the reading in Afterburner is inaccurate, as all software is). Goes well with the setting in the Nvidia Control Panel, "Power Management Mode" set to "Prefer Maximum Performance", which will keep the clock speed at least at the base clock, instead of it dropping down to 800mhz every other second in a less demanding game. Sometimes it helps with a weaker game, makes it smoother by not having the clock all over the place every couple milliseconds. Just don't forget to set that for the specific program's profile, and not the 'Global' one, or else you'll be at full base clock speeds the entire time your PC is on









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *joem83*
> 
> Don't know if this is a repost but I think you guys would enjoy this..
> http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/3dmark_windows_8_scheduled_launch_february_4


Nice. Should be quite interesting indeed.


----------



## Mast3rkill

Thanks and yes, Im in LN2 Bios, recently I flashed my card to the older LN2 because of the voltage limitations, and Idk really why the voltage sometimes go lower, when I press the button "force constant voltage" its the same, I have to enable something else? Its strange, also I can only oc the voltage to +100mv


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *joem83*
> 
> Don't know if this is a repost but I think you guys would enjoy this..
> http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/3dmark_windows_8_scheduled_launch_february_4


Looking forward to it, & should be out on time, MSI & hwbot are already set to kick off a competition on release day. Should be much fun!

http://hwbot.org/news/9023_msi_3dmark_challenge_competition/


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Thanks and yes, Im in LN2 Bios, recently I flashed my card to the older LN2 because of the voltage limitations, and Idk really why the voltage sometimes go lower, when I press the button "force constant voltage" its the same, I have to enable something else? Its strange, also I can only oc the voltage to +100mv


Which driver are you using, skip the 310 drivers, 306.97 or maybe 313.96, haven't tested the 313 yet but 310's caused voltage and clocks to do that to me


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Looking forward to it, & should be out on time, MSI & hwbot are already set to kick off a competition on release day. Should be much fun!
> 
> http://hwbot.org/news/9023_msi_3dmark_challenge_competition/


Am I reading the rules correctly, you have to use a msi mainboard?


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Looking forward to it, & should be out on time, MSI & hwbot are already set to kick off a competition on release day. Should be much fun!
> 
> http://hwbot.org/news/9023_msi_3dmark_challenge_competition/
> 
> 
> 
> Am I reading the rules correctly, you have to use a msi mainboard?
Click to expand...

"Anyone using a MSI mainboards and graphics cards can compete in the most challenging DirectX 11 scene in 3DMark- Fire Strike."

Hmmm, translation not so great.....


----------



## Menthol

Anyway there will be a lot of benching going on and a lot of scores being posted on the bot not in the competition, all good fun


----------



## GenoOCAU

Does that mean anyone with a Lightning can compete? Not sure if my comprehension skills are failing here...


----------



## CryptiK

Small print: anyone with username containing 'Geno' or 'OCAU' is ineligible from competing. Sorry dude, looks like youre out









Seriously though, sounds like you need to be using MSI mobos


----------



## FtW 420

It's an MSI comp, usually for sponsored comps you have to use their brand motherboard, gigabyte always does the same.
It does get made fun of, most of the time the winner uses a higher end mobo than the mobo offered for a prize.

Looks like for the main comp you have to use an MSI Mpower mainboard & MSI graphics card.
There is a lucky draw among all contestants (usually excluding main comp winners) using any z77 MSI board & MSI gpu.


----------



## Mast3rkill

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Which driver are you using, skip the 310 drivers, 306.97 or maybe 313.96, haven't tested the 313 yet but 310's caused voltage and clocks to do that to me


Oh well Im using the 310.90 right now, maybe I should use 306 or 313, anyways Im still able to play to everything now at 1.250v 1346mhz max oc gpu clock, 6959mhz memory and good temps btw. I dont really know why I cant pass 7ghz of memory clock, I oc the voltage of the memory but It doesnt seem to make a difference at all


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Small print: anyone with username containing 'Geno' or 'OCAU' is ineligible from competing. Sorry dude, looks like youre out
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Seriously though, sounds like you need to be using MSI mobos


Awwww cmon now!! The only thing better then new hardware... is free new hardware! Plus I need an excuse to put 1.7v+ through this 3960x and 1.5v+ through my lightnings. So far I havnt found an excuse to use more then 1.55v on cpu or 1.4v on the lightnings. Need to do a death benchmark for a worthy cause lol..

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> It's an MSI comp, usually for sponsored comps you have to use their brand motherboard, gigabyte always does the same.
> It does get made fun of, most of the time the winner uses a higher end mobo than the mobo offered for a prize.
> 
> Looks like for the main comp you have to use an MSI Mpower mainboard & MSI graphics card.
> There is a lucky draw among all contestants (usually excluding main comp winners) using any z77 MSI board & MSI gpu.


Thats weird, on overclockers australia forum a month or so ago I participated in a Gigabyte 3dmark 11 comp and won a F2A85X-UP4 (AMD APU motherboard SIGH.) motherboard with no Gigabyte hardware through their rep on the forums.


----------



## CryptiK

Some more pics done in daylight as requested. I can still see so many things to do - re-do tubing, new low profile aluminium clamps, sleeve cabling etc, and parts are on there way now (smoked plexi serpentine top window, MM front plate in matte black, MM midplate in matte black etc) but it's getting there.


----------



## Kimir

You see there was nothing to be embarrassed of !
Indeed the lower card cable is eh, is that a 6 to 8 PCI-e?









What is the brand of the fittings? I like that logo on the 90°
I see you are using clamped fitting, I was looking only at compression ones, I think both are better than push-in in term of leak free.

BTW, I took some time and see how I could place my lower HDD cage to the alternative position, as can be seen on Fractal website but never seen any review showing it.
Here some pics


Got hard time trying to route the sleeved PCIe extension but there it is, I took some mesure to see if a 280 rad could fit, I removed both lower and higher plastic thingy required for the mid hdd cage.


So as expected I cannot put a rad larger than 30mm, but a 280 will fit (seen one with total height of 323mm) :


----------



## damstr

Alright so I'm in bit of a dilema. You can see my current specs my sig. I REALLY want this video card as I want to play Bioshock infinite, Crysis 3 and whatever new game comes out max settings @ 1920x1280. I feel this is the best single GPU card out at the moment since it can be overclocked so much with the unlocked bios (once flashed). Also I don't want SLI cards at the moment so it has to be a single card and a GTX 670 won't come close to this card when its running near 1400mhz.

My main concern is I'm worried about picking this card up and the new 7XX series cards being announced/released and the price drops. $499 on newegg certainly isn't though. Need something to play these games coming out.


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> Alright so I'm in bit of a dilema. You can see my current specs my sig. I REALLY want this video card as I want to play Bioshock infinite, Crysis 3 and whatever new game comes out max settings @ 1920x1280. I feel this is the best single GPU card out at the moment since it can be overclocked so much with the unlocked bios (once flashed). Also I don't want SLI cards at the moment so it has to be a single card and a GTX 670 won't come close to this card when its running near 1400mhz.
> 
> My main concern is I'm worried about picking this card up and the new 7XX series cards being announced/released and the price drops. $499 on newegg certainly isn't though. Need something to play these games coming out.


I wouldnt worry too much, since there are rumors both nvidia and ati next series are delayed until Q4. Just grab this card, you won't regret it


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> I wouldnt worry too much, since there are rumors both nvidia and ati next series are delayed until Q4. Just grab this card, you won't regret it


F it I just ordered it!


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> Alright so I'm in bit of a dilema. You can see my current specs my sig. I REALLY want this video card as I want to play Bioshock infinite, Crysis 3 and whatever new game comes out max settings @ 1920x1280. I feel this is the best single GPU card out at the moment since it can be overclocked so much with the unlocked bios (once flashed). Also I don't want SLI cards at the moment so it has to be a single card and a GTX 670 won't come close to this card when its running near 1400mhz.
> 
> My main concern is I'm worried about picking this card up and the new 7XX series cards being announced/released and the price drops. $499 on newegg certainly isn't though. Need something to play these games coming out.


#1- Yes, best single card on the market today








#2- Don't wait. You'll be waiting forever because there's always something around the corner. Just sell it when you upgrade, and you'll get 75% or more of your money back anyways


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> #1- Yes, best single card on the market today
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> #2- Don't wait. You'll be waiting forever because there's always something around the corner. Just sell it when you upgrade, and you'll get 75% or more of your money back anyways


Oh trust me I know this game all to well. I got 2 5970's when they came out and then 2 480's when they came out and sold both 5970's and one 480. haha

I'm excited to get this card although my 480 has gotten me 3 years and has been a great card.


----------



## Mast3rkill

Hey guys im here again and I just wanted to ask about the memory clock speed because I set the voltage of the memory to 100+ and tried to go 7000mhz effective (500+) and I cant because I get artifacts, its just something of my card or the memory voltage doesnt seems to make a difference? Sorry about my bad english btw.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Hey guys im here again and I just wanted to ask about the memory clock speed because I set the voltage of the memory to 100+ and tried to go 7000mhz effective (500+) and I cant because I get artifacts, its just something of my card or the memory voltage doesnt seems to make a difference? Sorry about my bad english btw.


I've seen many review before I got those card, and every time it seems like increasing the memory voltage didn't help achieve better memory OC. You better reduce until you get it stable


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> #1- Yes, best single card on the market today
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> #2- Don't wait. You'll be waiting forever because there's always something around the corner. Just sell it when you upgrade, and you'll get 75% or more of your money back anyways
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh trust me I know this game all to well. I got 2 5970's when they came out and then 2 480's when they came out and sold both 5970's and one 480. haha
> 
> I'm excited to get this card although my 480 has gotten me 3 years and has been a great card.
Click to expand...

Nice. I went from 570 SLI to reference 680 SLI, and it was a huge jump in performance. Then, I went to Lightnings, which was also a good step up, since I could only get SLI stable with the references at around 1255-1260mhz, and only about 300mhz on the memory.
Going to this card from a 480 will blow your mind. You should be excited









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Hey guys im here again and I just wanted to ask about the memory clock speed because I set the voltage of the memory to 100+ and tried to go 7000mhz effective (500+) and I cant because I get artifacts, its just something of my card or the memory voltage doesnt seems to make a difference? Sorry about my bad english btw.


You might want to try lowering the memory voltage and see if +500mhz is stable. I know that sounds weird, but if it's stable at a lower voltage, the added voltage might be bringing up the temperature to a point where it causes a crash.

But first of all, are using Afterburner 2.2.3? I saw a few pages back you said you flashed to the 3A from the first post of the thread, but I don't see what version of Afterburner you're using.


----------



## Mast3rkill

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> I've seen many review before I got those card, and every time it seems like increasing the memory voltage didn't help achieve better memory OC.


Yeah it seems not doing anything, not even increasing my memory temps. Btw which version of afterburner are you using at this moment? Because Im using 2.2.3, I cant "unlock" the voltage on 2.3.1 idk if I have to make a change in the cfg or something. Actually im still able to run the graphics card at 1398 (+´200) max oc gpu and +480 on the memory with the voltage arround 1.275 even if I set it to 93+


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Yeah it seems not doing anything, not even increasing my memory temps. Btw which version of afterburner are you using at this moment? Because Im using 2.2.3, I cant "unlock" the voltage on 2.3.1 idk if I have to make a change in the cfg or something. Actually im still able to run the graphics card at 1398 (+´200) max oc gpu and +480 on the memory with the voltage arround 1.275 even if I set it to 93+


For mem , either stick to 0mV or 10mV for most. I'm using 10mV and running 700 on mem. Going to push higher as i seem to get stable with a higher mem over a higher core. Before i had my core knocking at 1333 24/7 and mem around 600. At times , Crysis would crash. Dropped my core to 1320 i think it is, and already bumped mem a extra 100 Stable for long runs on Crysis. Why i mention Crysis 3 is because that game demolishes both core and mem of your highest OC you can push. . and i'm using Full HD.







oh and on LN2 mode hey using 2.2.3


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Some more pics done in daylight as requested. I can still see so many things to do - re-do tubing, new low profile aluminium clamps, sleeve cabling etc, and parts are on there way now (smoked plexi serpentine top window, MM front plate in matte black, MM midplate in matte black etc) but it's getting there.


Nice Pics. . though i Really wanted to use all those as my desktop background but it's going to look streched







Do take more pictures . . Normal angle, wide view so i can get Nice new desktop backgrounds. . . Preity Pleaaazeeee. .


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Nice. I went from 570 SLI to reference 680 SLI, and it was a huge jump in performance. Then, I went to Lightnings, which was also a good step up, since I could only get SLI stable with the references at around 1255-1260mhz, and only about 300mhz on the memory.
> Going to this card from a 480 will blow your mind. You should be excited


Anything I should know when flashing the MSI card to the unlocked bios? I plan on doing that pretty much right when I get it. As far as I know you need the latest afterburner (or is it just 2.2.3?) and to download the unlocked bios and flash right?


----------



## setza

Use AB 2.3.3 because it's unlocked. You can use later versions but you would have to edit a .cfg file.


----------



## Mast3rkill

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> For mem , either stick to 0mV or 10mV for most. I'm using 10mV and running 700 on mem. Going to push higher as i seem to get stable with a higher mem over a higher core. Before i had my core knocking at 1333 24/7 and mem around 600. At times , Crysis would crash. Dropped my core to 1320 i think it is, and already bumped mem a extra 100 Stable for long runs on Crysis. Why i mention Crysis 3 is because that game demolishes both core and mem of your highest OC you can push. . and i'm using Full HD.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> oh and on LN2 mode hey using 2.2.3


700 on the memory? oh well thats pretty nice actually, I can only push it to 485 or 495, my gpu core clock its at 1398 right now with the voltage at 1.285v its really strange because its set at +93. I can push it to 1411 as max but. 1450 its something I can do but my voltage just go up to 1.85, idk why.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Nice. I went from 570 SLI to reference 680 SLI, and it was a huge jump in performance. Then, I went to Lightnings, which was also a good step up, since I could only get SLI stable with the references at around 1255-1260mhz, and only about 300mhz on the memory.
> Going to this card from a 480 will blow your mind. You should be excited
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anything I should know when flashing the MSI card to the unlocked bios? I plan on doing that pretty much right when I get it. As far as I know you need the latest afterburner (or is it just 2.2.3?) and to download the unlocked bios and flash right?
Click to expand...

Flashing is easy, just have to follow the directions. Save your current BIOS, whatever it may be, first. And make sure in the one step you type in the same file name you saved the 3A BIOS as, if it's different from the example file name in the directions. And, run the command window as admin. Just two somewhat common problems I've seen some have. Other than that, it's pretty self-explanatory. Just flash, reset the PC, get Afterburner 2.2.3, and you're good


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Flashing is easy, just have to follow the directions. Save your current BIOS, whatever it may be, first. *And make sure in the one step you type in the same file name you saved the 3A BIOS as, if it's different from the example file name in the directions*. And, run the command window as admin. Just two somewhat common problems I've seen some have. Other than that, it's pretty self-explanatory. Just flash, reset the PC, get Afterburner 2.2.3, and you're good


Wait this is confusing what do you mean exactly? Maybe because I've never done it before. haha


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> Wait this is confusing what do you mean exactly? Maybe because I've never done it before. haha


In the directions it says type " nvflash -4 -5 -6 680L_UnlockedBIOS.rom "

He means instead of typing '680L_unlockedbios.rom' exactly as it is in the instructions, you type in the filename of the file you are flashing to.


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> Wait this is confusing what do you mean exactly? Maybe because I've never done it before. haha


Here is a video tutorial on flashing the lightning since it's your 1st time flashing. It will be a great help


----------



## setza

I just ordered the lightning block







*squeeeee!*


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> In the directions it says type " nvflash -4 -5 -6 680L_UnlockedBIOS.rom "
> 
> He means instead of typing '680L_unlockedbios.rom' exactly as it is in the instructions, you type in the filename of the file you are flashing to.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Here is a video tutorial on flashing the lightning since it's your 1st time flashing. It will be a great help


Thanks that will help a lot!


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> I just ordered the lightning block
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *squeeeee!*


Which one did you get the aqua or the EK?


----------



## setza

The EK from frozencpu. I would have prefered the aqua, but they aren't in stock in all US. (EK isnt either, but they should be in less than a week.)


----------



## damstr

What kind of clocks are you shooting for? Mid 1400's?


----------



## setza

Actually 1400 for everyday gaming, may do the artmoney hack and try to go further but just for benching.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Nice Pics. . though i Really wanted to use all those as my desktop background but it's going to look streched
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do take more pictures . . Normal angle, wide view so i can get Nice new desktop backgrounds. . . Preity Pleaaazeeee. .


Let me sort out my cabling, think I need another PSU as this one I have to use 6pin -> 8 pin adapters for one card, fix up the other bits etc then will post another pic. It's mostly done but will look a lot better once it is.


----------



## Olafthewimpy

Any confirmation as to whether 313.XX drivers fix voltage issues? Not enjoying this stability issue


----------



## CryptiK

What voltage issues? They're working well for me, killing it in BF3 and Crysis2 & 3 beta


----------



## Olafthewimpy

just strange vdroop under load. While running 3dmark/heaven it will jump around.


----------



## Andros7

So i'm very new to OC'ing.

Bought 2 lightning's and put them on SLi. LN2 profile (locked). I can't overclock on locked BIOS, won't go even +50 on CORE CLOCK. I tried to Max the voltages (Core Voltage +100, Power Limit +133 and Memory Clock +100), put the core clock +50 and memory clock +100....... and when i'm playing BF3 it starts to mess my game. Can't overclock at all.

Can someone help me? I won't flash the bios because i'm worried it might damage my cards, i live in Brazil, bought the cards on Amazon, so if something goes wrong i'm really screwed.

My system:
i7 960 (OC'ed to 4.0mhz)
12 GB RAM corsair dominator GT (OC to 2000Mhz)
Asus rampage III extreme Mobo
HD WD Velociraptor 750gb

I want to overclock at least +50 on core clock and +100 memory (running on SLi, it's giving me a lot of trouble)


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> So i'm very new to OC'ing.
> 
> Bought 2 lightning's and put them on SLi. LN2 profile *(locked).* . I can't overclock on locked BIOS, won't go even +50 on CORE CLOCK. I tried to Max the voltages (Core Voltage +100, Power Limit +133 and Memory Clock +100), put the core clock +50 and memory clock +100....... and when i'm playing BF3 it starts to mess my game. Can't overclock at all.
> 
> Can someone help *I won't flash the bios* because i'm worried it might damage my cards, i live in Brazil, bought the cards on Amazon, so if something goes wrong i'm really screwed.
> 
> My system:
> i7 960 (OC'ed to 4.0mhz)
> 12 GB RAM corsair dominator GT (OC to 2000Mhz)
> Asus rampage III extreme Mobo
> HD WD Velociraptor 750gb
> 
> I want to overclock at least +50 on core clock and +100 memory (running on SLi, it's giving me a lot of trouble)


Well, you're out of luck then. You're on the locked BIOS, so the voltage sliders do nothing. If you don't flash, they won't adjust the voltage, and you have to rely on what you can do on the stock voltage, which doesn't appear to be much.

Don't worry about flashing, it's easy. And even if something happens, you have the second one to boot from and can reflash the one that messed up. So either way, you'll be fine


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Olafthewimpy*
> 
> just strange vdroop under load. While running 3dmark/heaven it will jump around.


Its a load line fluctuation based on GPU load, the higher the load the higher the voltage. Fluctuations within a given range are totally normal. What kind of fluctuations are you seeing with your DMM?


----------



## wutang61

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> So i'm very new to OC'ing.
> 
> Bought 2 lightning's and put them on SLi. LN2 profile (locked). I can't overclock on locked BIOS, won't go even +50 on CORE CLOCK. I tried to Max the voltages (Core Voltage +100, Power Limit +133 and Memory Clock +100), put the core clock +50 and memory clock +100....... and when i'm playing BF3 it starts to mess my game. Can't overclock at all.
> 
> Can someone help me? I won't flash the bios because i'm worried it might damage my cards, i live in Brazil, bought the cards on Amazon, so if something goes wrong i'm really screwed.
> 
> My system:
> i7 960 (OC'ed to 4.0mhz)
> 12 GB RAM corsair dominator GT (OC to 2000Mhz)
> Asus rampage III extreme Mobo
> HD WD Velociraptor 750gb
> 
> I want to overclock at least +50 on core clock and +100 memory (running on SLi, it's giving me a lot of trouble)


Reset all your overclocks. Run stock. Follow the flash guide on page 1. You really have nothing to be comcerned about you have 2 cards each with 2 bios that's a large safety net.

The biggest issue is getting faulty bios for a failed flash. The unlocked 3a bios on the page is solid I used it to flash my 2nd card.

The difference between locked and unlocked is usually right around 100mhz.


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> So i'm very new to OC'ing.
> 
> Bought 2 lightning's and put them on SLi. LN2 profile (locked). I can't overclock on locked BIOS, won't go even +50 on CORE CLOCK. I tried to Max the voltages (Core Voltage +100, Power Limit +133 and Memory Clock +100), put the core clock +50 and memory clock +100....... and when i'm playing BF3 it starts to mess my game. Can't overclock at all.
> 
> Can someone help me? I won't flash the bios because i'm worried it might damage my cards, i live in Brazil, bought the cards on Amazon, so if something goes wrong i'm really screwed.
> 
> My system:
> i7 960 (OC'ed to 4.0mhz)
> 12 GB RAM corsair dominator GT (OC to 2000Mhz)
> Asus rampage III extreme Mobo
> HD WD Velociraptor 750gb
> 
> I want to overclock at least +50 on core clock and +100 memory (running on SLi, it's giving me a lot of trouble)


And you gave because of that 3 stars to the card? C'mon, you should have known they needed a good flashing. Once you do it you'll see how well they overclock


----------



## setza

Anyone knows what does aux voltage do? Because I have no idea and increasing it seems to do nothing.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Anyone knows what does aux voltage do? Because I have no idea and increasing it seems to do nothing.


No idea what it does but couple of pages ago it was written that reduce it (like - 50/-100) could improve stability. Since then I set it to - 50 and totally forget about it, still don't know if it help.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Aux is just an additional voltage to the core. All Lightnings unlock this option in AB (used it quite a bit with my old 7970 Lightnings)...


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> No idea what it does but couple of pages ago it was written that reduce it (like - 50/-100) could improve stability. Since then I set it to - 50 and totally forget about it, still don't know if it help.


Yep, I posted this a long time ago. It works for some cards, not all. It yielded an extra 15Mhz on the top end for me.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Aux is just an additional voltage to the core. All Lightnings unlock this option in AB (used it quite a bit with my old 7970 Lightnings)...


Its the phase locked loop voltage


----------



## Mast3rkill

Aux voltage its one of the features that let you oc the pll of the card (memory bus etc) so you can get more stability during extreme overclocks, Idk if actually works on this cards but well, something extra.

About the voltage problems of the drivers its something that is killing me because when I'm playing for example Farcry 3 and its loading the voltage goes up to 1.3v and when Im in-game the voltage drops instantly to 1.275-1.285v and if I push the card to 1430mhz on the gpu clock the voltage drops to 1.250v making this impossible.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> I don't like that you have to buy an extra connector to get the top/bot ports on the new EK blocks.


What exact "connector" do you need for the EK block?


----------



## setza

This
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17610/ex-blc-1377/EK_FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ_-_Acetal_EK-FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ.html?id=2eob6nip&mv_pc=155


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Aux voltage its one of the features that let you oc the pll of the card (memory bus etc) so you can get more stability during extreme overclocks, Idk if actually works on this cards but well, something extra.
> 
> About the voltage problems of the drivers its something that is killing me because when I'm playing for example Farcry 3 and its loading the voltage goes up to 1.3v and when Im in-game the voltage drops instantly to 1.275-1.285v and if I push the card to 1430mhz on the gpu clock the voltage drops to 1.250v making this impossible.


Are you measuring voltage with a DMM or through Afterburner? Because AB doesn't read it accurately. And maybe someone with a DMM can verify the way vDroop behaves on these cards, but if set the voltage to "Force constant voltage" and still crash, then I would think you're crashing simply because the OC is unstable, and not because there's some other problem.


----------



## joem83

Hey guys .. question my gpuz has the physx unchecked. I driver swept drivers reinstalled still
Happend then I download the physx by itself and it says that because of a network error it cannot install tried it in safe mode with the same results
Tried disabling my firewall and antivirus still it won't install . But when I check in the 3d options to give me the flash screen in games it says physx GPU.. and when installing the drivers it says that a newer or same version of pjysx is installed . Got any suggestions


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *joem83*
> 
> Hey guys .. question my gpuz has the physx unchecked. I driver swept drivers reinstalled still
> Happend then I download the physx by itself and it says that because of a network error it cannot install tried it in safe mode with the same results
> Tried disabling my firewall and antivirus still it won't install . But when I check in the 3d options to give me the flash screen in games it says physx GPU.. and when installing the drivers it says that a newer or same version of pjysx is installed . Got any suggestions


So when you try to play, say, Arkham City, does it actually tell you PhysX isn't available? Because if it said there's a new or current version already installed, maybe it's a GPU-Z error.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1329533/gtx-680-physx-not-showing-in-gpu-z/10 In this thread it ended up being a peripheral,so, check what you got connected too.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> I just ordered the lightning block
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *squeeeee!*


I guess I will trigger on buying the watercooling loop for my SLI Lightning too, I've seen my cards temp getting really hot in Crysis 3 Beta, 80°c and 70°c respectively when I'm usually ten degrees lower in BF3 and else.








Plus I had some throttling issue today, I was at ~70 fps and it started to lag, then I was stuck at ~20 fps, I had to restart the pc to get my fps back.


----------



## joem83

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> So when you try to play, say, Arkham City, does it actually tell you PhysX isn't available? Because if it said there's a new or current version already installed, maybe it's a GPU-Z error.
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1329533/gtx-680-physx-not-showing-in-gpu-z/10 In this thread it ended up being a peripheral,so, check what you got connected too.


Thanx , I read and check nothing. No it says GPU physx so it is working I guess I installed a different gpuz still the same. The real wierd thing is that I can't instal physx


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> I just ordered the lightning block
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *squeeeee!*
> 
> 
> 
> I guess I will trigger on buying the watercooling loop for my SLI Lightning too, I've seen my cards temp getting really hot in Crysis 3 Beta, 80°c and 70°c respectively when I'm usually ten degrees lower in BF3 and else.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Plus I had some throttling issue today, I was at ~70 fps and it started to lag, then I was stuck at ~20 fps, I had to restart the pc to get my fps back.
Click to expand...

80C? Damn. That's with what kind of voltage/overclock? I can run +100mv on both cards in SLI and its still hard for me to get temps up to 70.

and you throttled all the way down to 20fps? Or was it just the beta showing its performance issues?


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well, you're out of luck then. You're on the locked BIOS, so the voltage sliders do nothing. If you don't flash, they won't adjust the voltage, and you have to rely on what you can do on the stock voltage, which doesn't appear to be much.
> 
> Don't worry about flashing, it's easy. And even if something happens, you have the second one to boot from and can reflash the one that messed up. So either way, you'll be fine


Really?

Voltage sliders do nothing at all to me?? omg.... did'nt know that....all the reboots from failing overclocks for nothing then... haha

Will try flashing it then.. let's see how far it goes!

Do you think my system is ok for the cards?

Of course i plan to upgrade it, but i'm really waiting for ivy-bridge e!

Thanks so much for the advice


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wutang61*
> 
> Reset all your overclocks. Run stock. Follow the flash guide on page 1. You really have nothing to be comcerned about you have 2 cards each with 2 bios that's a large safety net.
> 
> The biggest issue is getting faulty bios for a failed flash. The unlocked 3a bios on the page is solid I used it to flash my 2nd card.
> 
> The difference between locked and unlocked is usually right around 100mhz.


Well, what can i say, u all want me to flash it, let's flash it!


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> And you gave because of that 3 stars to the card? C'mon, you should have known they needed a good flashing. Once you do it you'll see how well they overclock


Just today, they sent me an e-mail to rate it! So, i was really disappointed with the cards...

I will flash, then i will update my rate, ok? don't worry


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> I guess I will trigger on buying the watercooling loop for my SLI Lightning too, I've seen my cards temp getting really hot in Crysis 3 Beta, 80°c and 70°c respectively when I'm usually ten degrees lower in BF3 and else.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Plus I had some throttling issue today, I was at ~70 fps and it started to lag, then I was stuck at ~20 fps, I had to restart the pc to get my fps back.


You either have very bad case cooling, not a custom fan profile(which can take off 5-10c), or your OC is way up there. you should be able to stay under 70c all the way up to 1400 core.
Or you live in mexico with no A/C


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> So i'm very new to OC'ing.
> 
> Bought 2 lightning's and put them on SLi. LN2 profile (locked). I can't overclock on locked BIOS, won't go even +50 on CORE CLOCK. I tried to Max the voltages (Core Voltage +100, Power Limit +133 and Memory Clock +100), put the core clock +50 and memory clock +100....... and when i'm playing BF3 it starts to mess my game. Can't overclock at all.
> 
> Can someone help me? I won't flash the bios because i'm worried it might damage my cards, i live in Brazil, bought the cards on Amazon, so if something goes wrong i'm really screwed.
> 
> My system:
> i7 960 (OC'ed to 4.0mhz)
> 12 GB RAM corsair dominator GT (OC to 2000Mhz)
> Asus rampage III extreme Mobo
> HD WD Velociraptor 750gb
> 
> I want to overclock at least +50 on core clock and +100 memory (running on SLi, it's giving me a lot of trouble)


You should easily beable to do +25 core +500 mem on stock voltage
you should be more then pleased with that OC


----------



## Andros7

So i flashed the bios and for my surprise it went very, very bad...

I followed all the steps RIGHT and after the reboot the card went crazy, Fans went to MAX, lots of noise and did'nt stop!

The screen was ****ed up badly with scratches! And my resolution was very low too.... i reboot again after the "windows install", thought it would be right then, but no, it became worse....

I managed to flash it back to backup bios now.... it was a hell of a scary thing!!

downloaded all files, then nvflash -4 -5 -6 archive.rom

Y
Y

then reboot

It became like hell

What should i do now??


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> You should easily beable to do +25 core +500 mem on stock voltage
> you should be more then pleased with that OC


will try that!


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> So i flashed the bios and for my surprise it went very, very bad...
> 
> I followed all the steps RIGHT and after the reboot the card went crazy, Fans went to MAX, lots of noise and did'nt stop!
> 
> The screen was ****ed up badly with scratches! And my resolution was very low too.... i reboot again after the "windows install", thought it would be right then, but no, it became worse....
> 
> I managed to flash it back to backup bios now.... it was a hell of a scary thing!!
> 
> downloaded all files, then nvflash -4 -5 -6 archive.rom
> 
> Y
> Y
> 
> then reboot
> 
> It became like hell
> 
> What should i do now??


Where you in LN2 bios? Also did you replace in nvflash -4 -5 -6 archive.rom "archive".rom for the name of the rom you downloaded?


----------



## sherlock

Alright, I flipped my Bios switch and it seems like I have the unlocked LN2(3A), however my MSI AB(2.2.3) slider won't go past 133% to the the supposed 300%, what should I do?(Flash to F8?)


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sherlock*
> 
> Alright, I flipped my Bios switch and item seems like I have the unlocked LN2(3A), however my MSI AB(2.2.3) slider won't go past 133% to the the supposed 300%, what should I do?(Flash to F8?)
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


I heard there were locked versions of the unlocked bios... yeah kinda weird. If the unlock voltage control in AB is checked, and you have max 133%, then you just have to flash to the BIOS from the OP.


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> [/SPOILER]
> 
> I heard there were locked versions of the unlocked bios... yeah kinda weird. If the unlock voltage control in AB is checked, and you have max 133%, then you just have to flash to the BIOS from the OP.


Alright I downloaded both the unlocked 3A and unlocked F8 from page 1 along with newest version of NVFlash, will try the 3A first.


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Where you in LN2 bios? Also did you replace in nvflash -4 -5 -6 archive.rom "archive".rom for the name of the rom you downloaded?


yes and yes

80.04.09.00.F8.rom is the name of the file


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> yes and yes
> 
> 80.04.09.00.F8.rom is the name of the file


NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! F8 doesnt work for the latest cards, that's the problem. Download the 3A and try to reflash.


----------



## damstr

Wait so when I get my Lightning I don't flash using the bios from the first 5000 Lightnkngs I have to use the unlocked 3A bios?


----------



## setza

Yes, F8 won't work on all cards. There are few that work with F8. 3A is the way to go.


----------



## damstr

And for step 7 where it says. type " nvflash -4 -5 -6 680L_UnlockedBIOS.rom "

I would instead type " nvflash -4 -5 -6 80.04.28.00.3A.rom " right?


----------



## setza

Yup.


----------



## CryptiK

Type "whatever you named the 3A bios when you downloaded it.rom"


----------



## damstr

Thinking about doing a small custom loop just for my GPU. Would be easy to maintain and setup. I have room for another 240mm rad in the front of my case. What can the Lightnings do on water?


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

I would imagine they'd do quite well. Hope to find out for myself soon!


----------



## Andros7

Will do it now!
Thanks!


----------



## Andros7

Flashed it !! Went nice...all ok!!

But my OC`ing continues to suckck bad!

Moved all voltage to MAX , Core Clock +100 and memory +500 .... CRASH (BF3)

Went down the memory to +400 ... CRASH (BF3)

Moved the memory again +340... CRASH (BF3)

What should i do now???
Are my cards very very bad?

PS: I'm in SLi


----------



## setza

In SLI you will always get way lower clocks than with single cards. If you can, remove the second card and just clock the 1st the max you can to see how far it goes. Only way to know if you have good cards.

PS: You flashed both cards right?


----------



## Mast3rkill

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> Flashed it !! Went nice...all ok!!
> 
> But my OC`ing continues to suckck bad!
> 
> Moved all voltage to MAX , Core Clock +100 and memory +500 .... CRASH (BF3)
> 
> Went down the memory to +400 ... CRASH (BF3)
> 
> Moved the memory again +340... CRASH (BF3)
> 
> What should i do now???
> Are my cards very very bad?
> 
> PS: I'm in SLi


Which version of afterburner are you using? because if its different than 2.2.3 you have to modify one cfg to be able to oc the voltage.

And well after some testing now I'm able to play at

1385mhz max gpu clock at 1.275-85v (Afterburner) I dont have enough money to use a better tester (Very expensive in my country)
7020mhz effective memory clock
memory voltage +10
aux voltage (pll voltage) -50 I was like *** how really that works? And well, I saw it and really impressive
Max temps of 60-65° celsius memory temps 40-50 vrm temps 40-55 fan at 100% and ambient temperature arround 20-25° celsius.

Lowering the pll voltage let me oc a little more the memory but not the gpu clock as I cant get 1.3v(idk if afterburner inaccuracy) lower temps and better stability overall.


----------



## rankftw

I'm going to get a 2nd Lightning next week and may have a problem with my sound card due to the GPU reactor on top of the lower card. Is it ok to only remove the plastic dome and leave the PCB underneath attached?


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rankftw*
> 
> I'm going to get a 2nd Lightning next week and may have a problem with my sound card due to the GPU reactor on top of the lower card. Is it ok to only remove the plastic dome and leave the PCB underneath attached?


Yeah there is no problem.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rankftw*
> 
> I'm going to get a 2nd Lightning next week and may have a problem with my sound card due to the GPU reactor on top of the lower card. Is it ok to only remove the plastic dome and leave the PCB underneath attached?


I've been running that setup for months =P
The plastic cap looks cheap imo

BUT the PCB of the reactor still sticks out quite a bit you might have clearance issues.
You can take it out, it does not affect OC in my experience and from what I've read.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> Flashed it !! Went nice...all ok!!
> 
> But my OC`ing continues to suckck bad!
> 
> Moved all voltage to MAX , Core Clock +100 and memory +500 .... CRASH (BF3)
> 
> Went down the memory to +400 ... CRASH (BF3)
> 
> Moved the memory again +340... CRASH (BF3)
> 
> What should i do now???
> Are my cards very very bad?
> 
> PS: I'm in SLi


Don't start off with max voltages, quite a few people have done better with the aux voltage undervolted a bit. Too high voltage can make things unstable as easily as not enough voltage.
Even for 1800Mhz + memory, I bump the voltage to +10, I rarely touch the aux voltage at all.
Core voltage you can try the max & see what the core clocks can do, although bumping up the voltage as you increase the clocks & test is generally better to see what the card can do at what voltage.

Also, should test the cards separately to know what each can do, then overclock in sli using the weaker cards requirements.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> So i flashed the bios and for my surprise it went very, very bad...
> 
> I followed all the steps RIGHT and after the reboot the card went crazy, Fans went to MAX, lots of noise and did'nt stop!
> 
> The screen was ****ed up badly with scratches! And my resolution was very low too.... i reboot again after the "windows install", thought it would be right then, but no, it became worse....
> 
> I managed to flash it back to backup bios now.... it was a hell of a scary thing!!
> 
> downloaded all files, then nvflash -4 -5 -6 archive.rom
> 
> Y
> Y
> 
> then reboot
> 
> It became like hell
> 
> What should i do now??


You probably got the F8 bios and you have a newer card. Re flash with the 3A Bios from the link on the main page. it will work


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> Flashed it !! Went nice...all ok!!
> 
> But my OC`ing continues to suckck bad!
> 
> Moved all voltage to MAX , Core Clock +100 and memory +500 .... CRASH (BF3)
> 
> Went down the memory to +400 ... CRASH (BF3)
> 
> Moved the memory again +340... CRASH (BF3)
> 
> What should i do now???
> Are my cards very very bad?
> 
> PS: I'm in SLi


2.2.3


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> 80C? Damn. That's with what kind of voltage/overclock? I can run +100mv on both cards in SLI and its still hard for me to get temps up to 70.
> 
> and you throttled all the way down to 20fps? Or was it just the beta showing its performance issues?


I'm running at 1346 core with +75mV right now, tried to reduce voltage but +63mV isn't stable (only in Crysis 3). 80°c was a peak, around 75°c for the first card (and still 10°c lower the second card).
As for the throttle, I guess it's some kind of driver issue cause restart the pc and it's all good again.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> You either have very bad case cooling, not a custom fan profile(which can take off 5-10c), or your OC is way up there. you should be able to stay under 70c all the way up to 1400 core.
> Or you live in mexico with no A/C


You can see my case few pages ago, 2x140mm fan in front, one 140 on the back and the 2x120 on the h100i on top, could be worst... I already run a custom fan profile since day 1 (80°c -> 100% fan speed). Room temp was about 22°c and I'm not in Mexico but in France lol. As far as I know, all cards can't get 1400, I may have one of the 2 that could, but in SLI it's a no go.

note: I'm running Crysis 3 with everything maxed out btw, in BF3, everything is smooth at 70-71°c max.


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> 2.2.3


That


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> You probably got the F8 bios and you have a newer card. Re flash with the 3A Bios from the link on the main page. it will work


Yes!! Thx


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Don't start off with max voltages, quite a few people have done better with the aux voltage undervolted a bit. Too high voltage can make things unstable as easily as not enough voltage.
> Even for 1800Mhz + memory, I bump the voltage to +10, I rarely touch the aux voltage at all.
> Core voltage you can try the max & see what the core clocks can do, although bumping up the voltage as you increase the clocks & test is generally better to see what the card can do at what voltage.
> 
> Also, should test the cards separately to know what each can do, then overclock in sli using the weaker cards requirements.


OK i will be more patient from now... realized that i should try it from the beginning ! Thanksss


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> OK i will be more patient from now... realized that i should try it from the beginning ! Thanksss


Yeah just make sure you flash both cards, then you'll be good. Insert a '-1' in the one line to flash the second card if you have both installed. Disable SLI, and when typing that one line in the directions, type 'nvflash -1 -4 -5 -6 Unlocked_3a.rom' and it'll flash GPU2. (for "Unlocked_3a" use the filename you saved that BIOS as)

But you should put each card into the first slot and test them individually, so you can put the stronger card on top. That way when there's a game that SLI doesn't work well on, or at all, you have the better overclocker on top for it for single-card use.

Also, make sure you set both cards' clocks/voltages in Afterburner. Or have 'Sync similar GPUs' selected. I don't like using that though because my cards are pretty far apart performance-wise, so I don't like throwing all that extra voltage through my better card. I'll have the clocks on each card the same, but one card needs much more voltage for the same speed the other card can hit. (Top card can hit higher clocks on the stock voltage than the bottom one can with +93mv







)


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yeah just make sure you flash both cards, then you'll be good. Insert a '-1' in the one line to flash the second card if you have both installed. Disable SLI, and when typing that one line in the directions, type 'nvflash -1 -4 -5 -6 Unlocked_3a.rom' and it'll flash GPU2. (for "Unlocked_3a" use the filename you saved that BIOS as)
> 
> But you should put each card into the first slot and test them individually, so you can put the stronger card on top. That way when there's a game that SLI doesn't work well on, or at all, you have the better overclocker on top for it for single-card use.
> 
> Also, make sure you set both cards' clocks/voltages in Afterburner. Or have 'Sync similar GPUs' selected. I don't like using that though because my cards are pretty far apart performance-wise, so I don't like throwing all that extra voltage through my better card. I'll have the clocks on each card the same, but one card needs much more voltage for the same speed the other card can hit. (Top card can hit higher clocks on the stock voltage than the bottom one can with +93mv
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


Do i really need to flash both cards?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yeah just make sure you flash both cards, then you'll be good. Insert a '-1' in the one line to flash the second card if you have both installed. Disable SLI, and when typing that one line in the directions, type 'nvflash -1 -4 -5 -6 Unlocked_3a.rom' and it'll flash GPU2. (for "Unlocked_3a" use the filename you saved that BIOS as)
> 
> But you should put each card into the first slot and test them individually, so you can put the stronger card on top. That way when there's a game that SLI doesn't work well on, or at all, you have the better overclocker on top for it for single-card use.
> 
> Also, make sure you set both cards' clocks/voltages in Afterburner. Or have 'Sync similar GPUs' selected. I don't like using that though because my cards are pretty far apart performance-wise, so I don't like throwing all that extra voltage through my better card. I'll have the clocks on each card the same, but one card needs much more voltage for the same speed the other card can hit. (Top card can hit higher clocks on the stock voltage than the bottom one can with +93mv
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )
> 
> 
> 
> Do i really need to flash both cards?
Click to expand...

You really should. No reason not to. You'd be holding one back while the other is set free, so SLI would probably suffer. Unless you have a pair like mine, where I can leave the one on stock voltage and the other needs quite a bit voltage for the same overclock.

But I would. Only takes a second and then you can try each by itself to see which is better and put that one on top so you can overclock a lot when you have a game that you want/need to use one card for. A good example is Amnesia. It doesn't support SLI, but, ever played it with SSAO Samples set to 128? I have


----------



## GenoOCAU

Just a quick before-work run to see the new 3DMark, damn it looks nice







~! 3960x @ 5.3ghz, SLI 680 Lightnings @ 1437/7038










Full size pic


----------



## dph314

Not for me. I think I'm having SLI issues or something. I posted about my problem in the thread. Any idea what's going on?


----------



## Andros7

So, this is my config



Plus Memory Voltage +70

It's giving me good playing time BUT if i play more than 30 minutes, it starts to get checkered all over the place.... very annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What should i do to solve this???









(yes, im really noob at oc)


----------



## Kimir

Motherofgod you result GenoOCAU, like said zooterboy

Here is my first try with 1346/7114 (+75mV) : http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/21209

edit: holy f***, I think I clicked on the button to switch to the 2nd bios on my RIVE, I'm running with an old BIOS revision and OC that I had prior getting the H100i and stuff, lmao.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> So, this is my config
> 
> 
> 
> Plus Memory Voltage +70
> 
> It's giving me good playing time BUT if i play more than 30 minutes, it starts to get checkered all over the place.... very annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> What should i do to solve this???


Did you flash the second card to the 3A BIOS from the first post also?


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Did you flash the second card to the 3A BIOS from the first post also?


not yet!! do you think that is the problem??


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Did you flash the second card to the 3A BIOS from the first post also?
> 
> 
> 
> not yet!! do you think that is the problem??
Click to expand...

It's not helping, ha. If you're getting artifacts from an unstable overclock, then yes it will help. You're not adding voltage to the second card because it's still locked, so it might not take +100mhz on the stock voltage.

Even if you don't add voltage, it'll still oc better, because the stock voltage on locked cards is 1.175v, stock on the 3A BIOS is 1.26v.


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> It's not helping, ha. If you're getting artifacts from an unstable overclock, then yes it will help. You're not adding voltage to the second card because it's still locked, so it might not take +100mhz on the stock voltage.
> 
> Even if you don't add voltage, it'll still oc better, because the stock voltage on locked cards is 1.175v, stock on the 3A BIOS is 1.26v.


Im getting this error to flash the second card


----------



## dph314

Is SLI disabled?


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Is SLI disabled?


nope


----------



## dph314

Could be the problem. It should always be disabled when flashing


----------



## LionS7

Is it normal score for single GPU ?

313.96
GTX680 Lightning @ 1425/7000Mhz
i7-3930K @ 4800Mhz


----------



## dph314

Looks pretty good. Geno got less than double that with both of his clocked slightly higher (~15,800), so, yeah, seems pretty damn good.

I didn't even bother running single-card mode after SLI wouldn't work


----------



## rankftw

Whenever I try to flash my card with the 3A unlocked LN2 bios I get this error.



Any idea why?


----------



## dph314

Are the nvflash files in your c:?


----------



## rankftw

Yeah the files are right there along with nvflash.exe.


----------



## Kimir

Second* try, with 1372/7114 (+100mV) and my bios with correct revision and OC settings:
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/24642

Godamn it get really hot, 85°c on GPU1 and 73°c on GPU2 max, ordering the watercooling loop tomorrow !









[*] not really the second try, I had a weird issue, with 3DMark stopping unexpectedly, figured on guru that it was because of Fraps running, after exiting it, went all good.
Good night


----------



## haris525

Hey guys this is me haris again, I was one of the first original owner of this card. Unfortunately a few months ago I returned my lighting and bought the classified (don't plan to discuss the switch atm lol). Now fast forward to this year I just pulled a trigger on another one of these bad boys and want to fully unlock the card to its max potential. Here are a few key points I am looking at

1. Flash the card with the OLD 3A bios?
2. Use msi afterburner 2.2.3?
3. What are the water block options for this video card
4. I am using a seasonic platimax 860 power supply, will run single card for now but will upgrade to titan asap :O

I have a lot of experience flashing nvidia cards (flashed my gtx 680 classified to unlock 1.26v, flashed my gtx 660 to unlock 150% power target), please let me know if i am missing anything else.

Thank you for your time and please let me know anything else that I should be looking for (I primarily play bf3 at 1080p, with all ultra settings and 2xmaa)

Thank you guys


----------



## setza

1)Yes
2)Yes
3) There are 2 blocks, one from EK and another from Aquacomputer.
4) Is that even a question lol?

Titan will be SOOOOOO overkill for bf3 at 1080p, unless you run it at 120hz. Good buy with that lightning


----------



## haris525

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> 1)Yes
> 2)Yes
> 3) There are 2 blocks, one from EK and another from Aquacomputer.
> 4) Is that even a question lol?
> 
> Titan will be SOOOOOO overkill for bf3 at 1080p, unless you run it at 120hz. Good buy with that lightning


Thank you sir

lol and yes number 4 was more like what ppl think about running this card with that power supply. I will also look into the waterblocks as well. Thanks a ton again I appreciate it,


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *haris525*
> 
> Thank you sir
> 
> lol and yes number 4 was more like what ppl think about running this card with that power supply. I will also look into the waterblocks as well. Thanks a ton again I appreciate it,


Np, and i think you could easily run 2 lightnings with a 850w PSU. There will be absolutely no problems with one, unless the PSU dies on you, but lets hope that doesn't happen


----------



## GenoOCAU

I had two on a 875w PSU, overvolted and overclocked they drew 925w from the wall...


----------



## CryptiK

Yep 860w is fine, I was running SLI on an Antec 850w SG plus an OC and overvolted 990x without maxing it out. Just moved to an AX1200w but for headroom and silence more than need.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rankftw*
> 
> Whenever I try to flash my card with the 3A unlocked LN2 bios I get this error.
> 
> 
> 
> Any idea why?


Ive had that before, reboot and flash as the first thing I did fixed it.


----------



## Menthol

I am getting lower scores in the new 3DMARK in sli than single card any idea why, using the 313.96 driver and sli profile shows up


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> I am getting lower scores in the new 3DMARK in sli than single card any idea why, using the 313.96 driver and sli profile shows up


Same for everyone I think, if you check out the Fire Strike 3dMark threads. I think we've been sold a beta...


----------



## rankftw

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Yep 860w is fine, I was running SLI on an Antec 850w SG plus an OC and overvolted 990x without maxing it out. Just moved to an AX1200w but for headroom and silence more than need.
> Ive had that before, reboot and flash as the first thing I did fixed it.


I've tried on a fresh boot right away and I get the same error. I've also tried putting the files on another drive but the problem persists, any other ideas?


----------



## NamesLucky

Need alittle advice, I'm starting to piece together an egpu system for my laptop. You don't need to be familiar with this, all you need to know is that it requires the best single card solution, and that overclocking can be done just as easy as a desktop. I'm torn between using my current msi gtx 670 pe card or buying a gtx 680 lightning. My current gtx 670 is stable at 1398Mhz.....caveat... it's chilled liquid cooled and never sees positive celsius. In the egpu setup it would be back on air cooling, or possibly a modded H100. I don't suspect it will do 1398, but may do 1330ish. Also memory overclock on this card is very poor. If I were to buy a new gtx 680 lightning, flash ln bios on, then overclock it what kind of performance increase(or decrease) range am I looking at for games?

To put it shortly: msi gtx 670 pe @ 1330ish/tiny mem oc VS new msi gtx 680 lightning, what kind of performance gain will I see in *games* %fps wise. I've seen 1356 670 = 1298 680, how rare are the 1350 and 1400mhz lightnings out there?


----------



## damstr

What drivers would you recommend? Get my lightning today want to know if there are any drives I should stay away from or the latest one are ok.

Thanks!


----------



## jamonymo

i just use the newest beta drivers from nvidia,s website i am having no problems with them working great for single card set ups


----------



## jamonymo

my lightyning was new stock from msi 4 weeks ago shiped to the uk shop overclockers and it came with 3a bios, voltage will only change with afterburner 2.2.3 on both sets of bios


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> What drivers would you recommend? Get my lightning today want to know if there are any drives I should stay away from or the latest one are ok.
> 
> Thanks!


I hated the R310 family, but the new 313.95's seem to working great for me so far.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jamonymo*
> 
> my lightyning was new stock from msi 4 weeks ago shiped to the uk shop overclockers and it came with 3a bios, voltage will only change with afterburner 2.2.3 on both sets of bios


That's how it's supposed to be. If you use a later version than 2.2.3, you have to edit the config file to allow for voltage control.


----------



## Andros7

I'm having a big trouble here with my cards

Take a look at this PIC. this was DURING the game (BF3)

Core clock is down to 810 for a huge time on both cards... is this normal?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I hated the R310 family, but the new 313.95's seem to working great for me so far.


Totally agree with you.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Andros7*
> 
> I'm having a big trouble here with my cards
> 
> Take a look at this PIC. this was DURING the game (BF3)
> 
> Core clock is down to 810 for a huge time on both cards... is this normal?


Have you tried increasing the power limit further more and what are the temperature of the card(s)? And please, don't tell me you are in SLI with driver 310.90 ! Get the beta one already,310.70 and 310.90 are really bad for SLI.


----------



## dph314

I can't see usage. Could you detach the graph so the whole thing is showing?

I'm willing to bet that usage was probably pretty high if it was BF3 though, so, no, that's not normal. But if you could detach and post the whole graph, that'd be nice. Also try selecting 'Force Maximum Performance' for Power Management for BF3's profile in the Nvidia Control Panel.


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I can't see usage. Could you detach the graph so the whole thing is showing?
> 
> I'm willing to bet that usage was probably pretty high if it was BF3 though, so, no, that's not normal. But if you could detach and post the whole graph, that'd be nice. Also try selecting 'Force Maximum Performance' for Power Management for BF3's profile in the Nvidia Control Panel.


heres my log

HardwareMonitoring.txt 1531k .txt file


Take a look


----------



## Andros7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Totally agree with you.
> Have you tried increasing the power limit further more and what are the temperature of the card(s)? And please, don't tell me you are in SLI with driver 310.90 ! Get the beta one already,310.70 and 310.90 are really bad for SLI.


i just upgraded from 310.90 to the beta 313.9


----------



## r360r

Hey whats up guys? are all MSI GTX 680 lightnings flashable to the unlocked bios? I'm asking this cause I just recently bought it and I would like the ability to overclock this thing.


----------



## Andros7

You're my hero ! lol power management is the solution for core clock!


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Hey whats up guys? are all MSI GTX 680 lightnings flashable to the unlocked bios? I'm asking this cause I just recently bought it and I would like the ability to overclock this thing.


Pretty much yeah, if the F8 doesn't work, the 3A works most of the time.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Same for everyone I think, if you check out the Fire Strike 3dMark threads. I think we've been sold a beta...


Not the scores I see being posted, I have reinstalled drivers, 3DMARK, AB, reseated cards, swapped sli links trying to identify whats going on, I get good score with single card but in sli my score goes down terribly.


----------



## r360r

sounds good. thanks. Are both bios' on the first page? also can I get a link to a reliable youtube tutorial?


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> sounds good. thanks. Are both bios' on the first page? also can I get a link to a reliable youtube tutorial?


Yeah they are in the OP. Here is a tutorial, hope it helps


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! F8 doesnt work for the latest cards, that's the problem. Download the 3A and try to reflash.


Where might one acquire this said 3A bios?...i have a RMA card from MSI coming tomorrow and have a feeling it's going to be locked

NM...just found it


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> Where might one acquire this said 3A bios?...i have a RMA card from MSI coming tomorrow and have a feeling it's going to be locked


Its all in the OP, on the lightning BIOS list.


----------



## damstr

So I got my lightning today. Already stress testing. 1391mhz on the core nothing on the mem using furmark. +93. So far so good. Where should I be at on the mem?


----------



## r360r

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Yeah they are in the OP. Here is a tutorial, hope it helps


Gonna try this over the weekend. Seems stupid proof.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> So I got my lightning today. Already stress testing. 1391mhz on the core nothing on the mem using furmark. +93. So far so good. Where should I be at on the mem?


I think most can get +400 or more on the memory at stock voltage, some of the newer cards I've see in here have some pretty great memory clocks, just have to try yours & see how far it goes.


----------



## damstr

So I had my clocks in gpu-z set to 1400mhz on the core and I decided to play some metro for about 20 mins. I quit the game and see gpu-z is only reporting 1000mhz now. What happened? Afterburner says the max temp was 63c.


----------



## damstr

Definitely doing some very weird things. When I open GPU-Z and everything in afterburner is at default is says my gpu clock is only 1006mhz and that the default clock is 1206mhz. If I overclock to 1206mhz and run vantage it locks up and gives me a driver error. It only runs about 10 seconds into vantage I might add.

Not sure whats going on because its crashes at the default clocks of 1200mhz... Runs fine a 1000mhz though.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> Definitely doing some very weird things. When I open GPU-Z and everything in afterburner is at default is says my gpu clock is only 1006mhz and that the default clock is 1206mhz. If I overclock to 1206mhz and run vantage it locks up and gives me a driver error. It only runs about 10 seconds into vantage I might add.
> 
> Not sure whats going on because its crashes at the default clocks of 1200mhz... Runs fine a 1000mhz though.


Are you calculating in the boost clock? Gpu-z main tab does not show the boost clock, open 2 instances of gpu-z, set 1 to the sensor tab & on the other click the question mark beside the bus interface info, during the render test the sensor tab should show the actual clockspeed.
With my lightnings on the ln2 bios, completely stock clock under full load is 1200mhz.


----------



## driftingforlife

I just ordered a EK Lighting 680 block from OCUK. Going to do a 7970 L vs 680 L both watercooled.


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Are you calculating in the boost clock? Gpu-z main tab does not show the boost clock, open 2 instances of gpu-z, set 1 to the sensor tab & on the other click the question mark beside the bus interface info, during the render test the sensor tab should show the actual clockspeed.
> With my lightnings on the ln2 bios, completely stock clock under full load is 1200mhz.


Ah so when I applied +200 on the core I was really at 1400mhz then right?

Ill try that tonight thanks.


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Greetings from Czech gentlemans

Here are some new results from new 3D MARK

FIRE STRIKE:
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/71169

FIRE STRIKE EXTREME:
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/71960

ICE STORM:
http://www.3dmark.com/is/80020

CLOUD GATE:
http://www.3dmark.com/cg/72900


----------



## JulioCesarSF

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/103605?


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Yeaah. U beat me







My cards are only decent overclocked. Can you please add a photo from AFB with your settings ?


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JaBR23KiX*
> 
> Yeaah. U beat me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My cards are only decent overclocked. Can you please add a photo from AFB with your settings ?


24/7 overclock. I can game etc with with this one. I can push more to benchmark. i'm testing now other config to score more.


----------



## damstr

What exactly is the purpose of the power limit percentage? I see core voltage and that makes sense from overclocking in the past but this new stuff has way more things to change/adjust so I'm still getting used to it.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> What exactly is the purpose of the power limit percentage? I see core voltage and that makes sense from overclocking in the past but this new stuff has way more things to change/adjust so I'm still getting used to it.


To ensure not to run into TDP limit although never really exceeding 100% with a Lightning. 300% makes sure limit is virtually disabled. You can set any value above 100% you like if gpu does not run into that limit.


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 24/7 overclock. I can game etc with with this one. I can push more to benchmark. i'm testing now other config to score more.


Thx mate.

I try it now with this settings but i do not believe i get a some more points...it is so close to my settings. ***







)


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> What exactly is the purpose of the power limit percentage? I see core voltage and that makes sense from overclocking in the past but this new stuff has way more things to change/adjust so I'm still getting used to it.
> 
> 
> 
> To ensure not to run into TDP limit although never really exceeding 100% with a Lightning. 300% makes sure limit is virtually disabled. You can set any value above 100% you like if gpu does not run into that limit.
Click to expand...

I never realized how low 100% actually is. I mean, I've recently seen more than one person have throttling/down-clocking on the stock clocks when leaving the Power % at 100. It sucks that the stock settings cripple the card. I would think that the stock limit of 100% would allow for the card to run at it's max Boost without you having to over-...power? Hmm, that term works. Anyways, yeah, always throw it up to 132% on the non-LN2 BIOS or higher on the LN2 just to make sure you don't get any throttling.


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 24/7 overclock. I can game etc with with this one. I can push more to benchmark. i'm testing now other config to score more.


Ufff. Same settings and lower score. Where is a problem ??

Some throttling or what ??



http://www.3dmark.com/fs/75007


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/103605?


Check my core freq... Same on core as you but in 3d mark i have this :


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JaBR23KiX*
> 
> Ufff. Same settings and lower score. Where is a problem ??
> 
> Some throttling or what ??
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/fs/75007


Maybe the nvidia drivers?


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JaBR23KiX*
> 
> Ufff. Same settings and lower score. Where is a problem ??
> 
> Some throttling or what ??
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/fs/75007











I don't know why.

What is your settings to benchmark?

313.96 here.

New record:

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/75522

6855

Fire Strike Extreme.


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> To ensure not to run into TDP limit although never really exceeding 100% with a Lightning. 300% makes sure limit is virtually disabled. You can set any value above 100% you like if gpu does not run into that limit.


Ah ok that makes sense.

And when you overclock you just monitor whatever afterburner says when you are running a benchmark/game?

How does gpu boost affect your overclock. Like if you OC the core 100mhz which is technically 1300mhz does gpu boost kick in or no? I feel like it would be easier to disable it maybe.


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Maybe the nvidia drivers?


I have a same drivers. Newest beta


----------



## JaBR23KiX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know why.
> 
> What is your settings to benchmark?
> 
> 313.96 here.
> 
> New record:
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/fs/75522
> 
> 6855
> 
> Fire Strike Extreme.


Nice score mate. You got it right. Wait for me


----------



## Kimir

One from me, playing with CPU OC, first time I try higher than 4.6Ghz, damn it require so much more voltage at 4.8Ghz.
I'm so excited to receive the cooling water for the lightning, then gonna try 5Ghz. Soon™ (in 2 days max).


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> To ensure not to run into TDP limit although never really exceeding 100% with a Lightning. 300% makes sure limit is virtually disabled. You can set any value above 100% you like if gpu does not run into that limit.
> 
> 
> 
> Ah ok that makes sense.
> 
> And when you overclock you just monitor whatever afterburner says when you are running a benchmark/game?
> 
> How does gpu boost affect your overclock. Like if you OC the core 100mhz which is technically 1300mhz does gpu boost kick in or no? I feel like it would be easier to disable it maybe.
Click to expand...

Follow the Afterburner performance graph for any info, yes.

And when you overclock, you are adding to the Boost clock. You may still sit at your base clock speed, but when needed it boosts and if you have an offset added, it will clock that much higher than the original Boost speed.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> One from me, playing with CPU OC, first time I try higher than 4.6Ghz, *damn it require so much more voltage at 4.8Ghz*.
> I'm so excited to receive the cooling water for the lightning, then gonna try 5Ghz. Soon™ (in 2 days max).


Mine is the same way. I can do 4.6Ghz at a nice and cool 1.375v, but anything higher and it's massive voltage bumps. What did you have to bump your voltage from/to to get from 4.6 to 4.8?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Mine is the same way. I can do 4.6Ghz at a nice and cool 1.375v, but anything higher and it's massive voltage bumps. What did you have to bump your voltage from/to to get from 4.6 to 4.8?


Mine is not that good, maybe cause it's a C1 one.








I'm running at 4.6Ghz with 1.386v to 1.4v peak while at 4.8Ghz it goes from 1.448 to 1.464 with those settings:
46 = vcore offset +0.020, CPU LLC medium, CPU CC 140%.
48 = vcore offset +0.100, CPU LLC medium, CPU CC 170%.
If I reduce vcore offset to 0.090 or CPU CC to 160% I BSOD "A clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor within the allocated time interval." by testing with Prime 95 small FFT.

Also the temp are going over 80°c but my H100i is running with 2xSP120 that need to be used with resistance wire to regulate the fan speed, so 7v and 1600rpm max. Yet, it's good enough for BF3 at 4.6Ghz since it doesn't go higher than 71°c, oh and 76°c in Crysis 3.








I really want Corsair to update firmware and software! Yeah I was forced to downgrade from RSTe v3.5.1.1009 to RSTe v3.0.3011 (that mean no S.M.A.R.T reading atm) to not get a BSOD every 15 minutes as well lol.

I think I will need to go to 1.52+ vcore for 5Ghz, but I won't try untill the SLI lightning are watercooled, that will reduce the overall temp in the computer case plus putting one of the 120mm fan I have in spare to the CPU VRM. I will probably remove the 7v wire on the h100i fans and put the original ones on pull, just for the bench.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Mine is not that good, maybe cause it's a C1 one.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm running at 4.6Ghz with 1.386v to 1.4v peak while at 4.8Ghz it goes from 1.448 to 1.464 with those settings:
> 46 = vcore offset +0.020, CPU LLC medium, CPU CC 140%.
> 48 = vcore offset +0.100, CPU LLC medium, CPU CC 170%.
> If I reduce vcore offset to 0.090 or CPU CC to 160% I BSOD "A clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor within the allocated time interval." by testing with Prime 95 small FFT.
> 
> Also the temp are going over 80°c but my H100i is running with 2xSP120 that need to be used with resistance wire to regulate the fan speed, so 7v and 1600rpm max. Yet, it's good enough for BF3 at 4.6Ghz since it doesn't go higher than 71°c, oh and 76°c in Crysis 3.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I really want Corsair to update firmware and software! Yeah I was forced to downgrade from RSTe v3.5.1.1009 to RSTe v3.0.3011 (that mean no S.M.A.R.T reading atm) to not get a BSOD every 15 minutes as well lol.
> 
> I think I will need to go to 1.52+ vcore for 5Ghz, but I won't try untill the SLI lightning are watercooled, that will reduce the overall temp in the computer case plus putting one of the 120mm fan I have in spare to the CPU VRM. I will probably remove the 7v wire on the h100i fans and put the original ones on pull, just for the bench.


Good 3dmark score!
The c1 is no worse than the c2 3930k, the c1 is actually a better chip for benching, the c2s were found to degrade much easier when playing with the VTT voltage & memory.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Good 3dmark score!
> The c1 is no worse than the c2 3930k, the c1 is actually a better chip for benching, the c2s were found to degrade much easier when playing with the VTT voltage & memory.


Oh I didn't know that, thanks for the info!

Breaking personal record, today my Lightning seems to shine, no driver crash or black screen at +200 core and +600 mem!
FIRE STRIKE : 13004
And I'm off to bed now, 3h28, once again I'm going to bed at 3am+


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Oh I didn't know that, thanks for the info!
> 
> Breaking personal record, today my Lightning seems to shine, no driver crash or black screen at +200 core and +600 mem!
> FIRE STRIKE : 13004
> And I'm off to bed now, 3h28, once again I'm going to bed at 3am+


You got the same score as 2 gtx 670! Maybe that's because of 3dmark not liking sli, but still! Pretty impressive.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> You got the same score as 2 gtx 670! Maybe that's because of 3dmark not liking sli, but still! Pretty impressive.


Well that's strange, but not liking SLI, not really, here is a single card result: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/79088
So SLI is still almost twice, not liking the 680 maybe


----------



## setza

Nvm I read that completely wrong, thought I had seen gtx 670 on some results, seems it was 680. Your score is fine, even better than the one I saw.


----------



## alancsalt

Doesn't like Tri-SLi, but just SLI seems OK...


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Nvm I read that completely wrong, thought I had seen gtx 670 on some results, seems it was 680. Your score is fine, even better than the one I saw.


Ah okay, for now the highest I've seen is the one by GenoOCAU, getting near, but he runs with "3960x @ 5.3ghz, SLI 680 Lightnings @ 1437/7038 under water".


----------



## damstr

Just started my OC session for my lighting. Starting out +400 on the mem stock ln2 voltage and working my way up on the core.

@1280 right now using heaven to test stability

EDIT: Oh yeah for the fan how are you all controlling it? I took it off auto and set it to 75%. Kinda loud though do you all just manually set the fan speed before gaming or something?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> Just started my OC session for my lighting. Starting out +400 on the mem stock ln2 voltage and working my way up on the core.
> 
> @1280 right now using heaven to test stability
> 
> EDIT: Oh yeah for the fan how are you all controlling it? I took it off auto and set it to 75%. Kinda loud though do you all just manually set the fan speed before gaming or something?


For gaming you will want to set up a fan profile so it ramps up with temps. For benching & seeing the max clocks it will do, just set 100%.


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> For gaming you will want to set up a fan profile so it ramps up with temps. For benching & seeing the max clocks it will do, just set 100%.


So after some testing I was able to get 1333mhz stable on stock voltage and +400 on the mem. Temps in the heaven benchmark maxed out @ 1920x1080 temps got to around 57C. In Metro 2033 temps were around 55-54C.

I'm hoping to hit 1400mhz but honestly for now this to me seems like a pretty nice oc especially at stock voltage.


----------



## r360r

So I successfully flashed it. am I suppose to do anything on the bios switch to make it over clock better? right now the toggle switch is on the left side (if fans are pointing towards the ground)


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> So I successfully flashed it. am I suppose to do anything on the bios switch to make it over clock better? right now the toggle switch is on the left side (if fans are pointing towards the ground)


So you switched it back off the ln2 bios that you flashed the card in?


----------



## r360r

huh? I had 80.04.47.00.18. I just flashed it to 80.04.28.00.3A. I'm talking about the physical bios switch on the card itself.

Edit; On After burner it says LN2. Am I good to go?


----------



## CryptiK

you flashed the 3A unlocked LN2 bios over the original bios, as the bios switch was in the original position. Most of us flash the unlocked 3A bios over the locked LN2 bios, by switching the bios to LN2 before flashing. AB says LN2 now, because of the bios flash, not the switch position. It just switched between 2 physical chips on board.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Let's push more.
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/118167?












http://hwbot.org/submission/2353655_juliocesarsf_3dmark___fire_strike_2x_geforce_gtx_680_13195_marks
We need to send more.


----------



## damstr

I don't get it I can't run 3dmark or vantage. Both lock up my whole computer. Funny this is I can prime95 for hours and be fine and my gpu is stable in heaven and metro 2033...


----------



## damstr

Double post


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> I don't get it I can't run 3dmark or vantage. Both lock up my whole computer. Funny this is I can prime95 for hours and be fine and my gpu is stable in heaven and metro 2033...


What is the error?


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> What is the error?


Well for the new 3dmark as soon as it loads the first benchmark my screen goes black and I get the blue loading circle by my cursor. My mouse still works but I can't get out of the black screen. Have to restart.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Sounds like a bad 3dmark installation or a driver issue.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Sounds like a bad 3dmark installation or a driver issue.


Yes.

Try 313.96 drivers.

My hwbot profile: http://hwbot.org/user/juliocesarsf/


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Yes.
> 
> Try 313.96 drivers.
> 
> My hwbot profile: http://hwbot.org/user/juliocesarsf/


Those are the exact drivers I have installed. Ill look at it tonight again. Installed it from steam.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Yes.
> 
> Try 313.96 drivers.
> 
> My hwbot profile: http://hwbot.org/user/juliocesarsf/
> 
> 
> 
> Those are the exact drivers I have installed. Ill look at it tonight again. Installed it from steam.
Click to expand...

I can open it and run it fine, I just get incredibly low scores in SLI for whatever reason. Top card is 99% usage, bottom one stays at ~80%. And I got about 10% of the score that Geno got. He had a good overclock, but not _that_ good, ha. So, it's acting very weird for me as well.


----------



## r360r

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> you flashed the 3A unlocked LN2 bios over the original bios, as the bios switch was in the original position. Most of us flash the unlocked 3A bios over the locked LN2 bios, by switching the bios to LN2 before flashing. AB says LN2 now, because of the bios flash, not the switch position. It just switched between 2 physical chips on board.


LOL. Got it. good thing I backed up the original bios. Should I slide it to the right side and flash the original or does it even matter?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> you flashed the 3A unlocked LN2 bios over the original bios, as the bios switch was in the original position. Most of us flash the unlocked 3A bios over the locked LN2 bios, by switching the bios to LN2 before flashing. AB says LN2 now, because of the bios flash, not the switch position. It just switched between 2 physical chips on board.
> 
> 
> 
> LOL. Got it. good thing I backed up the original bios. Should I slide it to the right side and flash the original or does it even matter?
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter. But you should probably do it anyways so your card is normal, so when you sell it it's like every other one.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/88066









Fire Strike Extreme.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Let's push more.
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/118167?
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2353655_juliocesarsf_3dmark___fire_strike_2x_geforce_gtx_680_13195_marks
> 
> 
> We need to send more.


Put mine on it, until I get any better








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I can open it and run it fine, I just get incredibly low scores in SLI for whatever reason. Top card is 99% usage, bottom one stays at ~80%. And I got about 10% of the score that Geno got. He had a good overclock, but not _that_ good, ha. So, it's acting very weird for me as well.


That's weird, are your cards synced? just a thought.

BTW, I've got free Farcry 3, thanks OCZ !








After Assassin's Creed III and Borderland 2 with the Lightning (only one copy of each tho), next? Maybe Corsair with the H100i I got the same time as the vector


----------



## jyri1990

Can somoeone upload this bios:

80.04.47.00.19 (locked LN2)

I installed unlocked bios and accidently removed my original bios so if someone can upload it i will be thankful!


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jyri1990*
> 
> Can somoeone upload this bios:
> 
> 80.04.47.00.19 (locked LN2)
> 
> I installed unlocked bios and accidently removed my original bios so if someone can upload it i will be thankful!


Read here: http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=165766.0
http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=165766.0;attach=10785


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> That's weird, are your cards synced? just a thought.


I have them both at stock on the 3A, so both are 1202mhz/6000mhz. There's no reason that there should be an uneven load that I can see.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

7112 - Fire Strike Extreme

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/89409

13265 - Fire Strike

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/89811


----------



## Brenton

Got this.


----------



## DJRamses

I ve made some runs too:

Firestrike :


and the same in extreme:


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> and this found about the new flagship of Nvidia Geforce Titan:
> Asus Geforce Titan listed!
> ~900 Dollar


Has that been posted in the "News" section?


----------



## DJRamses

Oh sorry..
deleted


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Has that been posted in the "News" section?


I reposted the link in the Titan thread...


----------



## dph314

Could be a mistake, but yeah, as of now it looks like the 18th.


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Could be a mistake, but yeah, as of now it looks like the 18th.


I wish there were some concrete numbers as to what this thing could do. If its more powerful than a 690 ill buy it. Camp newegg just like I did when the 480s came out haha.


----------



## Mast3rkill

Hey can someone explain to me about the "artmoney hack" that some of you were talking about?


----------



## dph314

Yeah I'll be doing the same. F5'ing all the tech sites the night of the 17th. Just so happens I'm off on the 18th, so I can stay up all night!









(and I will be...







)
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Hey can someone explain to me about the "artmoney hack" that some of you were talking about?


I gotta go eat dinner. I'll find the directions afterwards if no one else posts them for you in the meantime


----------



## Mast3rkill

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yeah I'll be doing the same. F5'ing all the tech sites the night of the 17th. Just so happens I'm off on the 18th, so I can stay up all night!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (and I will be...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )
> I gotta go eat dinner. I'll find the directions afterwards if no one else posts them for you in the meantime


Thank you and also If I "hack" the voltage to 1.35v and I get good temps under 75°, will I have no problems with the life of the card itself?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Yeah I'll be doing the same. F5'ing all the tech sites the night of the 17th. Just so happens I'm off on the 18th, so I can stay up all night!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (and I will be...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )
> I gotta go eat dinner. I'll find the directions afterwards if no one else posts them for you in the meantime
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you and also If I "hack" the voltage to 1.35v and I get good temps under 75°, will I have no problems with the life of the card itself?
Click to expand...

Staying at 75C should keep the card healthy for the rest of the time you plan on using it, yes.

You don't need the hack to hit 1.35v. +93mv on the unlocked LN2 BIOS gives you roughly 1.36v.


----------



## r360r

before I go testing my OC's I want to know if my PSU can handle this and make sure I won't damage the card or my system.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Bvdd This is the system I built last firday.


----------



## Mast3rkill

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Staying at 75C should keep the card healthy for the rest of the time you plan on using it, yes.
> 
> You don't need the hack to hit 1.35v. +93mv on the unlocked LN2 BIOS gives you roughly 1.36v.


1.36v? wow, I dont think anyways that 1.38 or something can overheat the card much more than is right now (70° max at everygame) I mean, maybe 2° celsius right? I want 1.400 mhz stable, I can do it but if I run max payne or assasins creed III just crash


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> before I go testing my OC's I want to know if my PSU can handle this and make sure I won't damage the card or my system.
> 
> http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Bvdd This is the system I built last firday.


I wouldn't go over-volting it and the CPU at the same time through the roof. I mean, I'm just going by what Nvidia has listed for the minimum system power requirements for a reference. For a 680 it recommends 550W for the system, and at stock the Lightning is already over-volted well past the reference 1.175v.


----------



## r360r

Sup guys is this any good? also for whatever reason every time I set tessellation to extreme the program would just crash



just incase you can't read it
0
300
112
500
60


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Sup guys is this any good? also for whatever reason every time I set tessellation to extreme the program would just crash
> 
> 
> 
> just incase you can't read it
> 0
> 300
> 112
> 500
> 60


Seems pretty good pretty much same as me when I ran the benchmark at those settings. Have you tried going any higher on the OC? I was able to do +130 on the core at stock voltage. +140 need more voltage. Currently running the benchmark @+185 and +400 on the mem.


----------



## r360r

I did +135 (lol) and +125 but both crashed the app. I really want +135 but I don't know what to tweak to get it stable


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> I did +135 (lol) and +125 but both crashed the app. I really want +135 but I don't know what to tweak to get it stable


Just max out the core voltage. That way you know as you slowly start to overclock if it crashes its because you are hitting the gpus limit and should back off around 20mhz.

I'm still in the process of overclocking mine. I overclock really slowly. I started off at +100 on the core and +400 on the mem and started raising the gpu clock 15-20mhz at a time then play all my games and benchmarks and OC some more.

When I hit my gpu limit then I will work on raising the memory.

Also I have suggest making a user defined fan control setting. I have mine to hit 100% if the gpu passes 60c. So far my max temp has been 64c.


----------



## haris525

Hey Guys!!!!!!!!!.............Got my Lightning today!. first thing I did was flashed the LN2 bios to the old unlocked bios. Dloaded afterburner 2.2.3 and boom, we in bizz!!







Gpu was selected for the phys-x test, didnt realize that!!

Great card so far, max temp was 66C in vantage







, sorry about the grainy pics, 2 lazy to take the d90 out


----------



## r360r

Well I don't get it. I ran heaven again using the same stats I posted and it crashed the app. Then I ran 3dmark11 using +137 and it ran fine and no crashing. I figure I got nothing to lose, SO I booted up Sleeping Dogs (+135, +500) and that ran fine. Drove around the entire map (highway) and no random artifact popping up.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I wouldn't go over-volting it and the CPU at the same time through the roof. I mean, I'm just going by what Nvidia has listed for the minimum system power requirements for a reference. For a 680 it recommends 550W for the system, and at stock the Lightning is already over-volted well past the reference 1.175v.


Nooo, all cards stock 1.15v bios rises to 1.175v (software) when card is at max boost *but this is actually ~1.20-1.21v real when measured with a DMM.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Well I don't get it. I ran heaven again using the same stats I posted and it crashed the app. Then I ran 3dmark11 using +137 and it ran fine and no crashing. I figure I got nothing to lose, SO I booted up Sleeping Dogs (+135, +500) and that ran fine. Drove around the entire map (highway) and no random artifact popping up.


heaven is pretty stressful, perhaps its highlighting instability before the other tests?


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Still testing here. Let's see what my max settings is. Keep pushing GOGOGO:


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I wouldn't go over-volting it and the CPU at the same time through the roof. I mean, I'm just going by what Nvidia has listed for the minimum system power requirements for a reference. For a 680 it recommends 550W for the system, and at stock the Lightning is already over-volted well past the reference 1.175v.
> 
> 
> 
> Nooo, all cards stock 1.15v bios rises to 1.175v (software) when card is at max boost *but this is actually ~1.20-1.21v real when measured with a DMM.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was just going by what most people think







. I know those that have measured the references do in fact get higher than 1.175v. I was just saying that even going from stock reference to a stock unlocked Lightning is a voltage bump, let alone doing 1.36v or higher.


----------



## CryptiK

Ah yep vs the unlocked LN2 bios sure, the lightning has around 50mv more than stock bios or reference card.

I still haven't got around to clocking mine in SLI, haven't even flashed the LN2 bios to card no#2 yet hehe. I'm using the newer card as 1 and the older as 2, running 1.15v (stock) on 1 and 1.1625v on 2 for an easy 1241/7400 daily clocks. I couldn't (or rather didn't want to) OC them both until I had sorted out my PSU, as it was an Antec Signature 850w but didn't have 4 x 8-pin PCI-E cables so I was forced to use 6->8 pin adapters which limited one card to 225w. I have a Corsair AX1200 now so all is well, just been busy with work and gaming when I get a chance, but loving this pair and think I may just skip titan and the 700 series and keep saving for my house


----------



## dph314

Looking forward to your results after you finish flashing


----------



## SK019

I think my card has reached its limits:



It can reach +900 MHz on memory with stock voltage, but with the core is completly different story - it needs to be overvolted to the max to reach stable +175 MHz.

Any toughts or ideas?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> I think my card has reached its limits:
> 
> 
> 
> It can reach +900 MHz on memory with stock voltage, but with the core is completly different story - it needs to be overvolted to the max to reach stable +175 MHz.
> 
> Any toughts or ideas?


You're not watercooling are you? I can't see much on this horrible monitor I have at work, but I noticed the fan speed is on auto. You should switch over to the Afterburner fan profile and on top of that, set it to a static 100% for benching, for better stability.

Also, how are temps? +93mv is _not_ the voltage limit...


----------



## SK019

No watercooling. My temps are acceptable, 66 C maximum. How can i get core voltage to +100? This AB is buggy, I put it to +100 but it rolls back to +93. Thanks.


----------



## damstr

That
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> No watercooling. My temps are acceptable, 66 C maximum. How can i get core voltage to +100? This AB is buggy, I put it to +100 but it rolls back to +93. Thanks.


That's normal as mine does that too.
Did you max out the gpu clock first before you started OC'ing the mem?


----------



## SK019

This is the max, everything above crashes.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> This is the max, everything above crashes.


And Aux voltage?


----------



## SK019

My system gets very unsable when I play with that...


----------



## Mast3rkill

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> I think my card has reached its limits:
> 
> 
> 
> It can reach +900 MHz on memory with stock voltage, but with the core is completly different story - it needs to be overvolted to the max to reach stable +175 MHz.
> 
> Any toughts or ideas?


I think everyone wants to see a video of your almost idk, 8ghz memory clock? Running unigine

I got 57.1 fps at almost 7ghz memory and 1400mhz gpu clock


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> This is the max, everything above crashes.


So if you set your mem to stock the core can't go any higher. I'm at +185 on the core but my mem is only +400. When I hit my gpu limit then ill work on the mem.


----------



## SK019

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> I think everyone wants to see a video of your almost idk, 8ghz memory clock? Running unigine
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> What resolution and settings?
Click to expand...


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> My system gets very unsable when I play with that...


Regardless of temps, lower is always better. You should click that button to the right of the fan slider and enable the fan profile, then when you're benching, uncheck the button for auto fan (which uses the fan profile in AB's settings) and set a static speed of 100%. This will give you lower temps which will give you a few extra mhz for benching









Setting +100mv gives you +93mv, that's how Afterburner 2.2.3 is supposed to be. I just meant that there's a hack that allows for setting the voltage at whatever value you want. But yeah I would try that fan setting out. When I bench with one card I was running over 1400mhz and my max temp was only in the low-to-mid 50C's with 100% fan speed set.


----------



## Mast3rkill

Lol, well at 1920x1080 and everything maxed its ok I think. Oh also I recently saw that you were running at 1920x1200, forgot about that. Anyways I'll be really impressive about 8ghz memory


----------



## damstr

So how do I raise the voltage even higher? Right now my max heaven stable OC is +198 on the core and +400 on the mem.

I want to break 1400mhz and I need a little more power. Max temp is 61c so I still have some headroom.


----------



## Mast3rkill

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> So how do I raise the voltage even higher? Right now my max heaven stable OC is +198 on the core and +400 on the mem.
> 
> I want to break 1400mhz and I need a little more power. Max temp is 61c so I still have some headroom.


You have to use the Artmoney hack carefully

This will explain it A little more, I currently have +125 on the voltage, idk how much it is but I get good temps so I have no problems.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1308711/gigabyte-gtx680-super-overclock-software-voltage-hack

Also I don't know if its necessary to have AB 2.2.4, but I used it.


----------



## Kimir

Lightnings under water, Lightnings under water woohoo!!










Too bad the tube doesn't match the H100i one in terms of look, glossy/matt. I might change the 2 fractal 140mm fan in the front and or add one on the top, maybe soon™. I've got the space lol
The pump is no quiet at 12v but temp are about 50°c at the following bench frequencies, which I couldn't reach with stock cooling even at 100%.
At 7v it's relatively discret, good enough for movie playback and internet browsing (increase by 5-6°c under bench).

Best 3DMark score so far: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/105893
edit : new best score link updated.


----------



## r360r

Hmm. I think my card sucks at core clock speed but memory speed is pretty good. I'm testing at 650+ right now. But is it even worth to push it this far?


----------



## wiredg

I wonder if anyone can offer advice. I received a new 680-L about ten days ago. Using the factory default clock and voltage settings, it would crash during games. I got it stable by underclocking the core by about 100 MHz. I then switched to LN2, again using factory defaults, and it crashed during the video assessment part of the WinSat evaluation! I re-flashed LN2 with 80.04.28.00.3A, and it became stable (in games) at factory defaults. I have not run any synthetics yet. But the core clock will not take even a 20 MHz OC, no matter what I do with voltages. (I'm using AB 2.3.1. with the profile edit to make the sliders actually work.) I ran TDP up to 300%, increased core voltage offset to 100, played with aux/PLL voltage (up and down), and nothing worked. I'm just glad it's stable without underclocking now. It hits 1202 MHz under load, and 1.2090v (according to AB, so whatever real-world voltage that corresponds to), and never draws more than 40% TDP. Temps stay below 64C under load. Interestingly, it will take a nice mem OC: +700 works just fine on the re-flashed LN2 (have not yet tried mem OC on standard BIOS).

The system has been rock solid for a year. I have an i7-3930K OC'd moderately to 4.4 GHz, running on only 1.1300v VCore even with HT enabled. (I hate fan noise, so I never OC aggressively.) I have 16 GB DDR3-1600 running at 1860 MHz with timings of 1t-12-12-12-24-120-12 (tight as stock for 1600 MHz on this RAM) at only 1.5000v. And my old GTX 560-Ti (OEM) ran at 900 core and 2400 mem stable as can be with only 1.0500v. So the system's 875w PSU is hardly a PoS, and should easily power this card.

I have tried toggling PhysX between the CPU and GPU (the 3930K with HT enabled can handle parallel tasks well enough to do PhysX quite nicely); toggling CUDA processing on and off; toggling PCIe gen-3 support on and off in system BIOS, and using/not using the nVidia gen-3 support patch; clean-installing various nVidia drivers (306.97 whql and 313.96 beta work best for me); enabling/disabling HT in system BIOS; moving the card to a different slot; toggling HPET off and on; re-flashing the system BIOS with the new card installed; and re-installing Intel's chipset drivers with the new card installed. I went so far as to re-install Windows 7 with the new card installed (using the 'upgrade' option, not a clean install -- the card isn't worth *that* much bother).

Have I missed anything? Should I return this thing? I was so happy and excited when I ordered it, and now I am truly disappointed and feel ripped off. MSI markets it as an enthusiast's card, and it won't run properly at its default settings.


----------



## FtW 420

It generally is an enthusiasts card, kinda strange that it will take no overclock at all...
I usually get lightnings for every generation & they never let me down, I wouldn't be too happy with that either. Did you get it local or online? If it has to be underclocked to be stable on the stock bios at stock voltages, that would be grounds for exchange (kinda sucks if it has to be shipped & leave you without a card for a while, local not so bad).


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Lightnings under water, Lightnings under water woohoo!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Too bad the tube doesn't match the H100i one in terms of look, glossy/matt. I might change the 2 fractal 140mm fan in the front and or add one on the top, maybe soon™. I've got the space lol
> The pump is no quiet at 12v but temp are about 50°c at the following bench frequencies, which I couldn't reach with stock cooling even at 100%.
> At 7v it's relatively discret, good enough for movie playback and internet browsing (increase by 5-6°c under bench).
> 
> Looks as we have similar taste...yours maybe a bit more indulgent
> 
> 20130206_222855.jpg 2168k .jpg file


----------



## r360r

i'm happy here
http://i.imgur.com/IAzw9uB.jpg

I ran Heaven for a few hrs and it was good to go. Wish I could have got some more core clock. But w/e.


----------



## Naennon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Lightnings under water, Lightnings under water woohoo!!


well.. look at my rig








Corsair H100i and 680 watered

runs with 4500 on CPU and 1350 on 680

http://www.sysprofile.de/id86892


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> I wonder if anyone can offer advice. I received a new 680-L about ten days ago. Using the factory default clock and voltage settings, it would crash during games. I got it stable by underclocking the core by about 100 MHz. I then switched to LN2, again using factory defaults, and it crashed during the video assessment part of the WinSat evaluation! I re-flashed LN2 with 80.04.28.00.3A, and it became stable (in games) at factory defaults. I have not run any synthetics yet. But the core clock will not take even a 20 MHz OC, no matter what I do with voltages. (I'm using AB 2.3.1. with the profile edit to make the sliders actually work.) I ran TDP up to 300%, increased core voltage offset to 100, played with aux/PLL voltage (up and down), and nothing worked. I'm just glad it's stable without underclocking now. It hits 1202 MHz under load, and 1.2090v (according to AB, so whatever real-world voltage that corresponds to), and never draws more than 40% TDP. Temps stay below 64C under load. Interestingly, it will take a nice mem OC: +700 works just fine on the re-flashed LN2 (have not yet tried mem OC on standard BIOS).
> 
> The system has been rock solid for a year. I have an i7-3930K OC'd moderately to 4.4 GHz, running on only 1.1300v VCore even with HT enabled. (I hate fan noise, so I never OC aggressively.) I have 16 GB DDR3-1600 running at 1860 MHz with timings of 1t-12-12-12-24-120-12 (tight as stock for 1600 MHz on this RAM) at only 1.5000v. And my old GTX 560-Ti (OEM) ran at 900 core and 2400 mem stable as can be with only 1.0500v. So the system's 875w PSU is hardly a PoS, and should easily power this card.
> 
> I have tried toggling PhysX between the CPU and GPU (the 3930K with HT enabled can handle parallel tasks well enough to do PhysX quite nicely); toggling CUDA processing on and off; toggling PCIe gen-3 support on and off in system BIOS, and using/not using the nVidia gen-3 support patch; clean-installing various nVidia drivers (306.97 whql and 313.96 beta work best for me); enabling/disabling HT in system BIOS; moving the card to a different slot; toggling HPET off and on; re-flashing the system BIOS with the new card installed; and re-installing Intel's chipset drivers with the new card installed. I went so far as to re-install Windows 7 with the new card installed (using the 'upgrade' option, not a clean install -- the card isn't worth *that* much bother).
> 
> Have I missed anything? Should I return this thing? I was so happy and excited when I ordered it, and now I am truly disappointed and feel ripped off. MSI markets it as an enthusiast's card, and it won't run properly at its default settings.


RMA it. Definitely. Get another stab at the lottery









If it's crashing on the stock clocks, then I would return it. That's a completely valid reason, and since it's the worst overclocker that we've ever seen, you're actually lucky it's crashing on the stock clocks, because now you have a valid reason to return it. You didn't spend $500+ to have a card you have to downclock. Take the time to RMA and you'll get a better one back, maybe even a really good one.


----------



## CryptiK

If it wont run at default settings, and you are sure its not any other component causing the issue, RMA it. You don't pay top dollar to have the card not perform as advertised.


----------



## wiredg

I'm grateful for all the quick replies. I suppose I will stick with the 680L, despite my underwhelming first impression. Hundreds of users and fans can't be wrong







A minor hassle for me is that the i7 K and X series don't have on-board video, and I've already given my older card to a young relative for whom it's a bit of an upgrade. So I'll have to order a replacement and wait for it to arrive before sending the first one back for a refund.

I find it hard to believe that MSI allowed this GPU to leave the plant on a Lightning. It should have gone into a lower-spec model. I imagine that it passed whatever synthetic tests they have, with absolutely no OC headroom whatsoever, and they thought that was good enough for a Lightning. But we all know that games can at times throw so much at one's system, they can be a harder test (although the torture is not sustained as in a synthetic), so headroom is essential.

I'll report back when the new card arrives and I have a chance to evaluate it. Thanks again.


----------



## damstr

Well I tried the art money hack last night. First tried out +100 which was 1.31v I believe and then 1.41v which is +200. Got massive heat gains. I was running at about 1450mhz but and stable until my temps hit 78c and it throttled back to 1202mhz.

At one point I was also getting worse performance when I was overclock so I backed it down to what my max stable was before the art money hack which is 1398mhz and +400 on the mem. That gives me like a score of 1422 maxed out in heaven.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> I'm grateful for all the quick replies. I suppose I will stick with the 680L, despite my underwhelming first impression. Hundreds of users and fans can't be wrong
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A minor hassle for me is that the i7 K and X series don't have on-board video, and I've already given my older card to a young relative for whom it's a bit of an upgrade. So I'll have to order a replacement and wait for it to arrive before sending the first one back for a refund.
> 
> I find it hard to believe that MSI allowed this GPU to leave the plant on a Lightning. It should have gone into a lower-spec model. I imagine that it passed whatever synthetic tests they have, with absolutely no OC headroom whatsoever, and they thought that was good enough for a Lightning. But we all know that games can at times throw so much at one's system, they can be a harder test (although the torture is not sustained as in a synthetic), so headroom is essential.
> 
> I'll report back when the new card arrives and I have a chance to evaluate it. Thanks again.


It's definitely an amazing card, you were just extremely unlucky. Well, not as unlucky as you could've been if it ran fine on the stock clocks but wouldn't take a 20mhz OC. MSI only tests for 1202mhz, so they have no knowledge of a card that overclocks to 1350mhz on the stock voltage any more than they know about one that won't even take 20mhz. It's all the luck of the draw unfortunately. But it's good that yours crashes, that means you can RMA and get a better one. Not being able to overclock 20mhz isn't a valid RMA reason unfortunately, but crashing on the stock settings is. You'll be glad you waited and got a new one.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> Well I tried the art money hack last night. First tried out +100 which was 1.31v I believe and then 1.41v which is +200. Got massive heat gains. I was running at about 1450mhz but and stable until my temps hit 78c and it throttled back to 1202mhz.
> 
> At one point I was also getting worse performance when I was overclock so I backed it down to what my max stable was before the art money hack which is 1398mhz and +400 on the mem. That gives me like a score of 1422 maxed out in heaven.


+200mv? Yeah that's going a little high I would think. Unless it's winter by you or something where you can keep temps low enough.

You're not using the LN2 BIOS for benching? +100mv should've gotten you to 1.36v (actual, not according to Afterburner). Maybe you were getting a worse score because you were throttling because of the Power and temperature limits?

Edit: Yeah I just noticed you said you were throttling. Yeah use the 3A LN2 BIOS and you'll have some better luck. Just remember it's about 50mv higher at any given offset than the non-LN2 BIOS. So I wouldn't go jumping right into +200mv without being sure about temps.


----------



## driftingforlife

mmmmmmmm sexy lighting









Will show you temps in a bit, got a 480mm RAD all to it self


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> mmmmmmmm sexy lighting
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Will show you temps in a bit, got a 480mm RAD all to it self


WOW! A 480 just for the Card. . .Sounds just like i had in mind. NICE!


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> +200mv? Yeah that's going a little high I would think. Unless it's winter by you or something where you can keep temps low enough.
> 
> You're not using the LN2 BIOS for benching? +100mv should've gotten you to 1.36v (actual, not according to Afterburner). Maybe you were getting a worse score because you were throttling because of the Power and temperature limits?
> 
> Edit: Yeah I just noticed you said you were throttling. Yeah use the 3A LN2 BIOS and you'll have some better luck. Just remember it's about 50mv higher at any given offset than the non-LN2 BIOS. So I wouldn't go jumping right into +200mv without being sure about temps.


No I was on the LN2 bios. I haven't run the stock bios since I got the card except on the first start up.

I guess I was at 1.36v. I was reading from the sensor off GPU-Z for the voltage unless that's wrong as well. I'm on afterburner 2.2.3 and it doesn't show voltage. Actually now that I think about it I don't remember seeing it ever change from 1.21v from GPU-Z.

Would you have to start up art money every time you wanted that extra voltage or does it do it automatically after you set it the first time?

I'm not even going to worry about it honestly. That max I could get is maybe 50mhz more and I'm already sitting happy at 1400mhz @ the max stock LN2 bios voltage. haha


----------



## dph314

That's awesome if you can get 1400mhz without having to use Art Money. Yeah it's only good for benching anyways, so, even if you could set it up to work on start-up, I don't think you'd want to.

Yeah GPU-Z as well as Afterburner are both wrong when it comes to voltage. You just have to do the math yourself. 1.26v is the stock voltage on the 3A, so add the offset to figure out the voltage









@drifting- Awesome. Can't wait to see what you can hit with that 480 on it


----------



## driftingforlife

+93v, 1346 core, 1950 mem. Bit warm in my room atm and I have not beld it fully yet, just chucked it in







Just waiting for a copy of ABE to be done.


----------



## dph314

1346mhz is as high as it goes on +93mv, or you mean you're just going to take a break from testing for a bit until ABX arrives?


----------



## driftingforlife

That was the profile for the other card. This one does +93v 1370 core, 2000 mem. Was just doing a quick test. I have a copy of ABE coming from MSI, just waiting for it to be finished as I need it for this card and the 7970. I not going to use artmonkey as I have a copy coming.


----------



## dph314

Ah. Well, best of luck. I hope they take the added voltage well. One of mine does pretty decent obviously, but the other will do ~1320mhz with +93mv, and then even at +140mv it barely hits 1340mhz. So, hope yours kick some ass at +1.4v


----------



## CryptiK

I ran the free version of 3d mark

Clocks: 1358/3712 (havent pushed SLI setup further)
CPU: 990X @ 4.4Ghz / Ram @ 1866 C7



Also ran 3dm 11 at the same clocks


----------



## damstr

1398/3400 3Dmark run.


----------



## dph314

Damn. I don't know why SLI doesn't work for me. Am I the only one?









I run the new 3dMark and get 80% usage on one card and about 10% of the score that other people get when running SLI.


----------



## Menthol

Drftingforlife,
Good going, I use a 480 for my cards also, but you know that, The X version makes it all much simpler to over volt. My memory doesn't come close to what your cards can do and memory clocks make a huge difference in benchmarks, I am very interested in what scores you can achieve. Best of luck to you.

dph314,
Your not the only one, I have 2 hard drives with windows 7, one I have a lot of processes disabled, one is for everyday use, both with 313.96 drivers, my everyday drive doesn't play with sli and the new 3DMARK, score is embarrassing low, the other system works fine and I have scores in the upper end of 680's, which once again can't touch 7970's in benchmarks. I just made a run this morning on a drive with win 8 and got the highest score I've seen on 680's, Futuremark identifies my driver incorrect on win 8 for some reason but my graphic score is higher than on win 7 at a higher cpu clock, but physics score is lower, don't figure


----------



## damstr

I'm kinda hoping that when this titan comes out that prices on the lightnings drop quite a bit. Might just end up getting a Titan if it really is more powerful than a 690 and the fact that its a single GPU is even better. Not a fan of SLI setups.


----------



## Kimir

Today I decided to try 3DMark11 with the same frequencies as the new 3DMark, no luck, can't get past 1398 as before. But temps are way cooler now.


----------



## Kimir

Someone beated me on hwbot, damnit he did 14k!
I'm gone crazy and put the 3930k @ 5Ghz, I don't even bother try Prime, because the H100i is just not sufficient enough for that frequency, stable enough for 3DMark tho. Made a nice 13452 but that's far from the 14043 he did!
But then, figured that he has an unlocked AB, or Afterburner Extreme, whatever the name is... crazy boy running with +337 on vcore!

Well then, I'm still locked to the +100mV, do not want to do artmoney. "Contact your local MSI rep" is what I see everywhere if I want an AB extreme.
I headed to MSI France website and checked the contact information and ohohoh! They are at like, 15mins away from home and 5mins away from my work! I'm going to send them a mail and gonna pay a visit if they want lol.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Someone beated me on hwbot, damnit he did 14k!
> I'm gone crazy and put the 3930k @ 5Ghz, I don't even bother try Prime, because the H100i is just not sufficient enough for that frequency, stable enough for 3DMark tho. Made a nice 13452 but that's far from the 14043 he did!
> But then, figured that he has an unlocked AB, or Afterburner Extreme, whatever the name is... crazy boy running with +337 on vcore!
> 
> Well then, I'm still locked to the +100mV, do not want to do artmoney. "Contact your local MSI rep" is what I see everywhere if I want an AB extreme.
> I headed to MSI France website and checked the contact information and ohohoh! They are at like, 15mins away from home and 5mins away from my work! I'm going to send them a mail and gonna pay a visit if they want lol.


Might want to consider some custom water cooling. That is what I have done and 5ghz is my daily speed. H100i is nice but I would love you to join the 5ghz club full time







hehehe


----------



## Mast3rkill

I feel sad because I cant get more than +500 on the memory clock







do you guys do something else to get +700?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> I feel sad because I cant get more than +500 on the memory clock
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> do you guys do something else to get +700?


You can add voltage to the memory, but it's diminishing returns above +500 anyways imo. +500 is also a great overclock too, no need to feel bad about that.. I keep my gtx 690 at +500 when +600 is stable.


----------



## Nemessss

hi all

so i've got my 680's lightning











but they have the 80.04.28.00.3A bios for the LN2 bios, is the locked bios right? What bios do i need to o/c my card?

thx in adv!


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

^^^ Nice cards!

Even though you have the unlocked version, as in the right number scheme, you might need to still update to the Unlocked bios on the first page of this thread. In MSI afterburner, can you go up to %300 power limit on the LN2 bios?


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nemessss*
> 
> hi all
> 
> so i've got my 680's lightning
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> but they have the 80.04.28.00.3A bios for the LN2 bios, is the locked bios right? What bios do i need to o/c my card?
> 
> thx in adv!


I have that BIOS too and its fine, you can still OC with it, and it has the increased power limits and voltage adjustments all there









I'm getting my second Lightning soon and my cards will be a similar distance apart to yours, how are your temps ?


----------



## Nemessss

thx for your answer









only 133% with msi afterburner, i bet it's not good so


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nemessss*
> 
> thx for your answer
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> only 133% with msi afterburner, i bet it's not good so


You could either live with it or do something about it. Me, I'd flash this instance!


----------



## Nemessss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> I have that BIOS too and its fine, you can still OC with it, and it has the increased power limits and voltage adjustments all there
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm getting my second Lightning soon and my cards will be a similar distance apart to yours, how are your temps ?


between 55-60c on both during gaming sessions


----------



## Nemessss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> You could either live with it or do something about it. Me, I'd flash this instance!


Ok but which bios do i need for the 300% power limit?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Might want to consider some custom water cooling. That is what I have done and 5ghz is my daily speed. H100i is nice but I would love you to join the 5ghz club full time
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> hehehe


When I see the temp @ 4.8Ghz and the voltage required, I'd say I'm good enough for daily @ 4.6Ghz. If I consider getting the cpu to the loop, it will be like 120€ or so (a CPU block, a rad, fittings), maybe if I sell the H100i to my bro (or put it on the unsused yet 3450s with P8H77-V LE and my older ssds).


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nemessss*
> 
> Ok but which bios do i need for the 300% power limit?


Try the one on the first post of this thread that looks exactly as yours.

80.04.28.00.3A


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nemessss*
> 
> thx for your answer
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> only 133% with msi afterburner, i bet it's not good so


Which version of Afterburner ?


----------



## Nemessss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Try the one on the first post of this thread that looks exactly as yours.
> 
> 80.04.28.00.3A


Ok thx i'll try it tomorrow, so there are two 80.04.28.00.3A bios, one locked (mine) and the other one unlocked (first page)?


----------



## Nemessss

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> Which version of Afterburner ?


i use the latest build from guru3d Afterburner 2.3.1 http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/afterburner_download_msi.html


----------



## driftingforlife

Use 2.2.3.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Use 2.2.3.


He may use the 2.3.1 as well, especially if he need the newest fonction/fixes, the only thing he has to do is add the couple of lines in cfg file(s) like it's written in the first page.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nemessss*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Try the one on the first post of this thread that looks exactly as yours.
> 
> 80.04.28.00.3A
> 
> 
> 
> Ok thx i'll try it tomorrow, so there are two 80.04.28.00.3A bios, one locked (mine) and the other one unlocked (first page)?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's as of late been locked down, but the title has been kept the same. The unlocked version has been uploaded in the first post. Flash it to both cards, get Afterburner 2.2.3 (or later versions if there's a fix you'd like to take advantage of, but you'll have to do a quick edit of the config file before being able to adjust the voltage in versions after 2.2.3), and you're good to go









To flash the lower card, just disable SLI, and add a '-1' in the one line in nvflash, like so ---> 'nvflash -1 -4 -5 -6 _yourUnlocked3AfileName_.rom'


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Someone beated me on hwbot, damnit he did 14k!
> I'm gone crazy and put the 3930k @ 5Ghz, I don't even bother try Prime, because the H100i is just not sufficient enough for that frequency, stable enough for 3DMark tho. Made a nice 13452 but that's far from the 14043 he did!
> But then, figured that he has an unlocked AB, or Afterburner Extreme, whatever the name is... crazy boy running with +337 on vcore!
> 
> Well then, I'm still locked to the +100mV, do not want to do artmoney. "Contact your local MSI rep" is what I see everywhere if I want an AB extreme.
> I headed to MSI France website and checked the contact information and ohohoh! They are at like, 15mins away from home and 5mins away from my work! I'm going to send them a mail and gonna pay a visit if they want lol.


My 2 cards are not crazy clockers, they are fairly average, I need 1.5 to 1.6 volts to get a decent core clock (1450 to 1550), my memory is even worse, 1840 is the max no mater how much voltage, and memory overclocks seem to be what separates the top scores. If you have memory that clocks over 1900 you have a potential to get top bench scores. Of course I only overclock when running benchmarks, other than that they stay at stock clocks. the new 3dmark is even harder, I need the same voltage to reach 1450 / 1770. Run it on windows 8 and you will get higher scores, at lest I did


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> My 2 cards are not crazy clockers, they are fairly average, I need 1.5 to 1.6 volts to get a decent core clock (1450 to 1550), my memory is even worse, 1840 is the max no mater how much voltage, and memory overclocks seem to be what separates the top scores. If you have memory that clocks over 1900 you have a potential to get top bench scores. Of course I only overclock when running benchmarks, other than that they stay at stock clocks. the new 3dmark is even harder, I need the same voltage to reach 1450 / 1770. Run it on windows 8 and you will get higher scores, at lest I did


You're the crazy clocker!
I feel you on the memory, I can get good core clocks but memory can only hit 1800Mhz + on a good cold day, it's perfectly happy at 1752 (+500) but more than that gets iffy. The newer cards are getting some killer memory clocks.
Supposed to get to -2 here tonight so will freeze myself out in the garage for some 3dmark action with the cards air cooled.


----------



## Kimir

Yeah I saw your memory wasn't top notch, I can't get more than +720 on them no matter what as well (mem voltage is useless lol). For the core, paste +230, it's either I'm lucky it finishes the bench either I black screen and need to restart. Atleast I can get more than 200, 3DMark11 is a total no go after +190 on core. I need more voltage!!!








On daily I stick to 1346 core, 1778 mem, as for win8, I don't feel like it for now.
Gratz on 14k btw, the first on I see with 680!


----------



## damstr

It's been talked about on here before but not sure if there was an explanation or not but every time I restart my computer the voltage drops like 10mv. I don't know if its just a fluke in afterburner or if the voltage is actually dropping?

Not sure where I can accurately measure voltage via software since afterburner and GPU-z seem to be wrong...


----------



## FtW 420

Dropping 10mV with restarts or applying settings is normal (well, it's a bug & shouldn't be normal, but it happens).
There is no way to accurately see voltages in software, multimeter is really the only way. Not just gpu voltages either, cpu vcore, memory voltages, etc. Software/actual voltages can be very close in some cases, but it's pretty rare when software is the same as actual measured voltage.


----------



## Kimir

The 2.3.1 doesn't do the reduce bug, I put 100, it stay 100. Apply/restart are ok, edit your cfg and update your soft


----------



## CryptiK

*UPDATED SCORE*

197911 - Ice Storm - SLI MSI GTX680 Lightning 2gb @ 1371/7400 - i7 990x @ 4.67 ghz - 12gb Corsair @ 1866 mhz - Asus Rampage III Extreme - Water

34752 - Cloud Gate - SLI MSI GTX680 Lightning 2gb @ 1371/7400 - i7 990x @ 4.67 ghz - 12gb Corsair @ 1866 mhz - Asus Rampage III Extreme- Water

12608 - Fire Strike - SLI MSI GTX680 Lightning 2gb @ 1371/7400 - i7 990x @ 4.67 ghz - 12gb Corsair @ 1866 mhz - Asus Rampage III Extreme - Water

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/169648



3DM11 - SLI MSI GTX680 Lightning 2gb @ 1371/7400 - i7 990x @ 4.67 ghz - 12gb Corsair @ 1866 mhz - Asus Rampage III Extreme - Water

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5873218



3DM11 EXTREME - SLI MSI GTX680 Lightning 2gb @ 1371/7400 - i7 990x @ 4.67 ghz - 12gb Corsair @ 1866 mhz - Asus Rampage III Extreme - Water

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5873508


----------



## DJRamses

I ve mad some Tests with the new 3Dmark.

Firestorm:
Graphic Test 1 & 2 needs only 3 - 6 % CPU usage. high CPU Clocks takes no Effect! Takes all Cores.
Physics Test takes 80 - 92 % CPU usage. high CPU Clocks works fine. All Cores!

Combined Test:
Thats Crazy. It uses 11 - 18 % of CPU Power, but it dont work with HT. Also, at my Gulftown only 6 Cores are working in Combined Test!!.

The best driver for 3Dmark 2013 is the beta 313.96.

http://hwbot.org/submission/2355168_djramses_3dmark___fire_strike_extreme_geforce_gtx_680_4382_marks


----------



## CryptiK

1542Mhz, crazy! What voltage and cooling does that take?


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> 1542Mhz, crazy! What voltage and cooling does that take?


Watercooling and balcony mod.
Using AB extreme ... max Voltage was 1,49 or 1,51.. i dont know exactly at the Moment.


----------



## CryptiK

Ah cold air and plenty of voltage, nice


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> I ve mad some Tests with the new 3Dmark.
> 
> Firestorm:
> Graphic Test 1 & 2 needs only 3 - 6 % CPU usage. high CPU Clocks takes no Effect! Takes all Cores.
> Physics Test takes 80 - 92 % CPU usage. high CPU Clocks works fine. All Cores!
> 
> Combined Test:
> Thats Crazy. It uses 11 - 18 % of CPU Power, but it dont work with HT. Also, at my Gulftown only 6 Cores are working in Combined Test!!.
> 
> The best driver for 3Dmark 2013 is the beta 313.96.
> 
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2355168_djramses_3dmark___fire_strike_extreme_geforce_gtx_680_4382_marks


DJRamses,
Much respect to you, you rock that Gulftown, fantastic scores, always trying to play catchup to you


----------



## DJRamses

@ Menthol
Thank you very much.
Wanna take the first Place in extreme








But let me say:
My Voltages and overclockings looks sometimes Crazy. But i must say, i make so many Testings before i run the Benchmark.
I know what i do and i look strongly at my Temps at CPU and GPU.


----------



## Deano12345

Seeing Cryptik's scores makes me want my second Lightning now







Pretty happy with the stock clocked single card score though


----------



## JulioCesarSF

I did a clean install of windows and installed the driver .96. My sli no more than 95% usage. What do I do? Before, it used 99% for the benchmark.

*stock settings - no overclock.

Kombustor 93%.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Watercooling and balcony mod.
> Using AB extreme ... max Voltage was 1,49 or 1,51.. i dont know exactly at the Moment.


Nice score.

What is AB extreme?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Watercooling and balcony mod.
> Using AB extreme ... max Voltage was 1,49 or 1,51.. i dont know exactly at the Moment.


1524mhz on water is great, good work man!
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Nice score.
> 
> What is AB extreme?


Afterburner extreme, it's an unlocked afterburner with increased voltage & clock ranges. Not publicly available, pretty much have to be an established benchmarker & sign your warranty away for it.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> 1524mhz on water is great, good work man!
> Afterburner extreme, it's an unlocked afterburner with increased voltage & clock ranges. Not publicly available, pretty much have to be an established benchmarker & sign your warranty away for it.


I'm using max voltagem em aux too with 62C max. What i do to overclock more now?


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Someone beated me on hwbot, damnit he did 14k!
> I'm gone crazy and put the 3930k @ 5Ghz, I don't even bother try Prime, because the H100i is just not sufficient enough for that frequency, stable enough for 3DMark tho. Made a nice 13452 but that's far from the 14043 he did!
> But then, figured that he has an unlocked AB, or Afterburner Extreme, whatever the name is... crazy boy running with +337 on vcore!
> 
> Well then, I'm still locked to the +100mV, do not want to do artmoney. "Contact your local MSI rep" is what I see everywhere if I want an AB extreme.
> I headed to MSI France website and checked the contact information and ohohoh! They are at like, 15mins away from home and 5mins away from my work! I'm going to send them a mail and gonna pay a visit if they want lol.


haha I just sent a e-mail right now to MSI Brazil asking for AB Extreme too.


----------



## caper1

Hey I'm having some issues with my MSI N680GTX Lightning .. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated !

I just recently purchased Far Cry 3 and I'm now experiencing a crash (((black screen, audio still playing and a error saying "far cry 3 has stopped working))) about 20-30 mins into game play, its pretty consistent too.

My card is stock although I would like to OC in the future (ive read this guide http://www.overclock.net/t/1265110/the-gtx-670-overclocking-master-guide in an attempt to learn the ropes). I did not think OCing was necessary on the 680 for current top end gaming.

Do I need to OC my 680 (a little) to stop the FC3 crashing?
Do I need to under-clock my 680 to stop the crashing ( lol plz say no)

I do play with my settings maxed. I monitor GPU temp (under 70) and FPS ( around 60). Ive also turned down "some" settings and got the same results.
My MB has a performance mode in its BIOs which OC my cpu...pretty much like a turbo boost. I have this enabled.

This is my first PC build, so forgive me if I'm 50% ******ed lol... Its obvious I'm not an OC enthusiast and did not purchase this card to get any crazy high benchmark score, but i do read the results of peoples work and I think its awesome! I definitely respect the time and effort people have placed into pushing their system to get those crazy results ...but I'm a gamer. My goal was to get a kick ass card that would be great stock and further down the road would have the capability to OC to meet the gaming demands.

Any suggestions?

(Components)
MB ASUS|P8Z77-V PRO Z77
VGA MSI|N680GTX LIGHTNING GTX680
PSU CORSAIR | AX1200I 1200W RT
CPU INTEL|CORE I7 3770K 3.5G 8M R
SSD 240G|INTEL SSDSC2CT240A3K5 R
MEM 4Gx4|CORSAIR CMZ16GX3M4X1600C9
WATER COOLER CORSAIR| CWCH100 R
CASE CORSAIR OBSIDIAN 650D
OS WIN7 64BIT
HDD- 1 TB WD Black Caviar
Opt Drv- ASUS...


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *caper1*
> 
> Hey I'm having some issues with my MSI N680GTX Lightning .. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated !
> 
> I just recently purchased Far Cry 3 and I'm now experiencing a crash (((black screen, audio still playing and a error saying "far cry 3 has stopped working))) about 20-30 mins into game play, its pretty consistent too.
> 
> My card is stock although I would like to OC in the future (ive read this guide http://www.overclock.net/t/1265110/the-gtx-670-overclocking-master-guide in an attempt to learn the ropes). I did not think OCing was necessary on the 680 for current top end gaming.
> 
> Do I need to OC my 680 (a little) to stop the FC3 crashing?
> Do I need to under-clock my 680 to stop the crashing ( lol plz say no)
> 
> I do play with my settings maxed. I monitor GPU temp (under 70) and FPS ( around 60). Ive also turned down "some" settings and got the same results.
> My MB has a performance mode in its BIOs which OC my cpu...pretty much like a turbo boost. I have this enabled.
> 
> This is my first PC build, so forgive me if I'm 50% ******ed lol... Its obvious I'm not an OC enthusiast and did not purchase this card to get any crazy high benchmark score, but i do read the results of peoples work and I think its awesome! I definitely respect the time and effort people have placed into pushing their system to get those crazy results ...but I'm a gamer. My goal was to get a kick ass card that would be great stock and further down the road would have the capability to OC to meet the gaming demands.
> 
> Any suggestions?
> 
> (Components)
> MB ASUS|P8Z77-V PRO Z77
> VGA MSI|N680GTX LIGHTNING GTX680
> PSU CORSAIR | AX1200I 1200W RT
> CPU INTEL|CORE I7 3770K 3.5G 8M R
> SSD 240G|INTEL SSDSC2CT240A3K5 R
> MEM 4Gx4|CORSAIR CMZ16GX3M4X1600C9
> WATER COOLER CORSAIR| CWCH100 R
> CASE CORSAIR OBSIDIAN 650D
> OS WIN7 64BIT
> HDD- 1 TB WD Black Caviar
> Opt Drv- ASUS...


Driver?


----------



## caper1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Driver?


hey bud, I have Driver Version 310.70

Also just had and { Nvidia OPEN GL driver error code 3}

Bummer was enjoin the game play!,


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *caper1*
> 
> Hey I'm having some issues with my MSI N680GTX Lightning .. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated !
> 
> I just recently purchased Far Cry 3 and I'm now experiencing a crash (((black screen, audio still playing and a error saying "far cry 3 has stopped working))) about 20-30 mins into game play, its pretty consistent too.
> 
> My card is stock although I would like to OC in the future (ive read this guide http://www.overclock.net/t/1265110/the-gtx-670-overclocking-master-guide in an attempt to learn the ropes). I did not think OCing was necessary on the 680 for current top end gaming.
> 
> Do I need to OC my 680 (a little) to stop the FC3 crashing?
> Do I need to under-clock my 680 to stop the crashing ( lol plz say no)
> 
> I do play with my settings maxed. I monitor GPU temp (under 70) and FPS ( around 60). Ive also turned down "some" settings and got the same results.
> My MB has a performance mode in its BIOs which OC my cpu...pretty much like a turbo boost. I have this enabled.
> 
> This is my first PC build, so forgive me if I'm 50% ******ed lol... Its obvious I'm not an OC enthusiast and did not purchase this card to get any crazy high benchmark score, but i do read the results of peoples work and I think its awesome! I definitely respect the time and effort people have placed into pushing their system to get those crazy results ...but I'm a gamer. My goal was to get a kick ass card that would be great stock and further down the road would have the capability to OC to meet the gaming demands.
> 
> Any suggestions?
> 
> (Components)
> MB ASUS|P8Z77-V PRO Z77
> VGA MSI|N680GTX LIGHTNING GTX680
> PSU CORSAIR | AX1200I 1200W RT
> CPU INTEL|CORE I7 3770K 3.5G 8M R
> SSD 240G|INTEL SSDSC2CT240A3K5 R
> MEM 4Gx4|CORSAIR CMZ16GX3M4X1600C9
> WATER COOLER CORSAIR| CWCH100 R
> CASE CORSAIR OBSIDIAN 650D
> OS WIN7 64BIT
> HDD- 1 TB WD Black Caviar
> Opt Drv- ASUS...


If it only happens with one game, it's probably not the card or the system setup. I would think more about settings in the nVidia control panel, game settings, or drivers. You can try setting AA to application controlled and use the game controls for AA; turn off vsync in the game and use adaptive, or none, in the CP. If the game lets you cap the frame rate, try that. Adaptive power can mess with some games; you can set it to prefer max performance in each game profile, so that your card isn't running full bore watching videos. The 313.96 beta driver works well for me, and others on this forum have said the same. It sounds like you just have some tinkering with settings and maybe drivers to do here, unless you are getting crashes on all games. In that case one of the more experienced 680L users might have a suggestion.


----------



## alancsalt

Far Cry 3 is a tough game on some hardware combinations. Same sort of roulette GTA4 was.

Commonest recommendation to improve fps is to disable PostFX:
Quote:


> Start the game and set the video settings to custom. Close the game.
> Go to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Far Cry 3
> Open GamerProfile.xml with texteditor (notepade).
> Change Value PostFxQuality="false" and save file.
> WARNING: Use it for single-player only.


I have made my GamerProfile "read only", otherwise settings can revert. In game the options only allow low PostFX, while the above turns it off.

If you are seriously into this game you should check out: http://www.overclock.net/t/1329630/official-far-cry-3-discussion-performance-thread (even if the first post has not been updated since 310.7 drivers...)


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *caper1*
> 
> hey bud, I have Driver Version 310.70
> 
> Also just had and { Nvidia OPEN GL driver error code 3}
> 
> Bummer was enjoin the game play!,


Try 313.96 is the best now.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> I'm using max voltagem em aux too with 62C max. What i do to overclock more now?


Well in the mean-time, or if you don't get it, just use the ArtMoney edit in Afterburner. Directions have been posted multiple times. Just do a thread search for 'Be careful' and I'm sure you'll find them, ha


----------



## caper1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> If it only happens with one game, it's probably not the card or the system setup. I would think more about settings in the nVidia control panel, game settings, or drivers. You can try setting AA to application controlled and use the game controls for AA; turn off vsync in the game and use adaptive, or none, in the CP. If the game lets you cap the frame rate, try that. Adaptive power can mess with some games; you can set it to prefer max performance in each game profile, so that your card isn't running full bore watching videos. The 313.96 beta driver works well for me, and others on this forum have said the same. It sounds like you just have some tinkering with settings and maybe drivers to do here, unless you are getting crashes on all games. In that case one of the more experienced 680L users might have a suggestion.


Hey wiredg, thanks for the response!

Yea it seems to just be this game. At some points during game play ive had weird graphic errors, mountains would shoot up out of the ocean or jungle all around me...but would disappear depending on the angles I viewed them(haha thats my description, although im sure there's a technical term for this type of error). I play GW2 with settings maxed, although I don't think its as graphically demanding as FC3 , it runs fine.. I did have FPS dropping to 0 whilst rotating my camera in LA on the weekend.. that was weird lol.
I actually have never adjusted any of those settings on the nVidia cp, I've only used it for selecting displays and changing to sli ( on old cards) so maybe that will help!

I'm at work now, but Ill try yours suggestions out soon as I get back. Ill let ya know how it turns out, thanks again!


----------



## caper1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Far Cry 3 is a tough game on some hardware combinations. Same sort of roulette GTA4 was.
> 
> Commonest recommendation to improve fps is to disable PostFX:
> I have made my Gamer Profile "read only", otherwise settings can revert. In game the options only allow low PostFX, while the above turns it off.
> 
> If you are seriously into this game you should check out: http://www.overclock.net/t/1329630/official-far-cry-3-discussion-performance-thread (even if the first post has not been updated since 310.7 drivers...)


Hey thanks alancsalt!
Do I find the option to disable PostFX in the Nvidia CP? I would also like to follow your lead on the game pro read only... I think that might be tricky give I purchased the FC3 on steam, and it also uses uPlay... lol so i think have have 1 million profiles lol.

I will for sure check that link out and attempt to disable PostFX when I get back!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Try 313.96 is the best now.


Hey JulioCesarSF, thanks for responding! Seems like a few people are suggesting this driver. Is it a beta one? Ill grab it from Nvidia.


----------



## CryptiK

Mountains shooting up at you are corrupted polygons, ie: artifacts ie: card may be borked. If its doing this at stock clocks in a otherwise stable system sadly its RMA time.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *caper1*
> 
> Hey thanks alancsalt!
> Do I find the option to disable PostFX in the Nvidia CP? I would also like to follow your lead on the game pro read only...


Not in Nvidia CP.

Start the game and set the video settings to custom. Close the game.
Go to %USERPROFILE%\*Documents\My Games\Far Cry 3\GamerProfile.xml*
Open *GamerProfile.xml* with texteditor (notepad).
Change PostFxQuality value in GamerProfile.xml to PostFxQuality="false" and save file.
Set to "ReadOnly" in properties or it will revert to Low next time Video Options are opened in game.
One of the few things that improved frame rate... but artifacts... I'd install 313.97 beta drivers, select "custom install" and tick "clean install".


----------



## caper1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Not in Nvidia CP.
> 
> Start the game and set the video settings to custom. Close the game.
> Go to %USERPROFILE%\*Documents\My Games\Far Cry 3\GamerProfile.xml*
> Open *GamerProfile.xml* with texteditor (notepad).
> Change PostFxQuality value in GamerProfile.xml to PostFxQuality="false" and save file.
> Set to "ReadOnly" in properties or it will revert to Low next time Video Options are opened in game.
> One of the few things that improved frame rate... but artifacts... I'd install 313.97 beta drivers, select "custom install" and tick "clean install".


Awesome thanks, Ill check that out when I get home and let you know!


----------



## caper1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Mountains shooting up at you are corrupted polygons, ie: artifacts ie: card may be borked. If its doing this at stock clocks in a otherwise stable system sadly its RMA time.


Hey Cryptik,

That doesn't sound good! Is it bad Even if it only happened,well twice? And only on FC3 not any other games.. I ran the Heaven DX 11 bench mark with out any issues (stock clocks), if I hard corrupted polygons, would they show up during that test? Or are there any other tests I could run to ensure my card is functioning properly?

file:///E:/Programs/Heaven%20DX11%20Benchmark%203.0/unigine_20130210_2038.html


----------



## driftingforlife

I had corrupted polygons in FC3 while playing it, i think FC3 is very memory sensitive.


----------



## darkinners

Hi guys. I have one 680 lightning now (flashed ln2 bios)

Just ordered another one today, will arrive in few days.

So If I want to flash the new one to LN2 bios too.
Any way while I put them in SLI connection and just flash the 2nd card? Or flash both at the same time? without me take out the first card and put the newer lightning in the first PCI-E slot.

(just pure lazy reason)
Because my chassis is barely long enough for lightning , take out the card need to dissemble something which take maybe 15 mins to do.

Thanks!


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *darkinners*
> 
> Hi guys. I have one 680 lightning now (flashed ln2 bios)
> 
> Just ordered another one today, will arrive in few days.
> 
> So If I want to flash the new one to LN2 bios too.
> Any way while I put them in SLI connection and just flash the 2nd card? Or flash both at the same time? without me take out the first card and put the newer lightning in the first PCI-E slot.
> 
> (just pure lazy reason)
> Because my chassis is barely long enough for lightning , take out the card need to dissemble something which take maybe 15 mins to do.
> 
> Thanks!


You can flash with sli.

nvflash --list
nvflash --index=(number of card you want to flash) -4 -5 -6 ROM_name.rom










*--list* give a index number of all card installed.
*--index=* is the key to set what card you want to flash.

ps: if you want to flash under windows 8 64 bits you need nvflash v.5118


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Well in the mean-time, or if you don't get it, just use the ArtMoney edit in Afterburner. Directions have been posted multiple times. Just do a thread search for 'Be careful' and I'm sure you'll find them, ha


haha
I'm too lazy to use artmoney. I'll wait for contact from msi.


----------



## darkinners

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> You can flash with sli.
> 
> nvflash --list
> nvflash --index=(number of card you want to flash) -4 -5 -6 ROM_name.rom
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *--list* give a index number of all card installed.
> *--index=* is the key to set what card you want to flash.
> 
> ps: if you want to flash under windows 8 64 bits you need nvflash v.5118


Thank Julio! This saved me a lot of trouble







.
I will be flashing it under Windows 7 64bit ultimate. So I guess I don't need v.5118 right ?


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *caper1*
> 
> Hey thanks alancsalt!
> Do I find the option to disable PostFX in the Nvidia CP? I would also like to follow your lead on the game pro read only... I think that might be tricky give I purchased the FC3 on steam, and it also uses uPlay... lol so i think have have 1 million profiles lol.
> 
> I will for sure check that link out and attempt to disable PostFX when I get back!
> Hey JulioCesarSF, thanks for responding! Seems like a few people are suggesting this driver. Is it a beta one? Ill grab it from Nvidia.


Hey sorry you are having those issues man!

Basically try the newest beta drivers and perhaps even reinstall the game.

If that does not fix it and I have a feeling it may not it is likely the card.

Even though what others said about it is likely the game if it only happens in that game holds some weight. I would condition that by adding if it is only that game and many others have the same issues it is likely game or game/drivers issue.

Since that is not the case if a driver update and game reinstall or fix if on steam dont work likely the card. Every game stresses your card in different ways, many people for example have what they think is a very stable overclock but find one game that always crashes or gives artifacts, well that is card instability and you should not ever have that in any game at stock.

Hope you sort it out and play fc3 as it was meant to be played, artifact free


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *darkinners*
> 
> Thank Julio! This saved me a lot of trouble
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> I will be flashing it under Windows 7 64bit ultimate. So I guess I don't need v.5118 right ?


Yes you need. This is the only version i found that works with windows 64 bits.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Yes you need. This is the only version i found that works with windows 64 bits.


It is the one in the first page, can't really go wrong anyway.


----------



## Dinocookies

I hope someone can help me figure out whats going on. I just installed my 680 and when I oc it only 55mhz it crashes. I get this message The NVIDIA OpenGL driver lost connection with the display driver due to exceeding the Windows Time-Out limit and is unable to continue. Anyone know how to fix this?

Bios - 80.04.28.00.3A


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Dinocookies*
> 
> I hope someone can help me figure out whats going on. I just installed my 680 and when I oc it only 55mhz it crashes. I get this message The NVIDIA OpenGL driver lost connection with the display driver due to exceeding the Windows Time-Out limit and is unable to continue. Anyone know how to fix this?
> 
> Bios - 80.04.28.00.3A


It's a driver x windows problem not the card.

locate to the following registry settings:-

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\GraphicsDrivers

On the Edit menu, click New, and then select the following registry value from the drop-down menu:-

Select DWORD (32-bit) value/DWORD (64-bit) value (depending upon which version of OS you have.
Type TdrDelay as the Name and click Enter.
Double-click TdrDelay and add 8 for the Value data and click OK.
Once done,close the Registry Editor and reboot the system.

To read:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff569918(v=vs.85).aspx

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/389688/geforce-drivers/nvidia-statement-on-tdr-errors-display-driver-nvlddmkm-stopped-/


----------



## Dinocookies

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> It's a driver x windows problem not the card.
> 
> locate to the following registry settings:-
> 
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\GraphicsDrivers
> 
> On the Edit menu, click New, and then select the following registry value from the drop-down menu:-
> 
> Select DWORD (32-bit) value/DWORD (64-bit) value (depending upon which version of OS you have.
> Type TdrDelay as the Name and click Enter.
> Double-click TdrDelay and add 8 for the Value data and click OK.
> Once done,close the Registry Editor and reboot the system.
> 
> To read:
> 
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff569918(v=vs.85).aspx
> 
> https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/389688/geforce-drivers/nvidia-statement-on-tdr-errors-display-driver-nvlddmkm-stopped-/


Thanks for the quick reply, but When I go into the reg to create a new value I only have Dword 32-bit and qword 64-bit. I dont see a Dword 64-bit :/


----------



## caper1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Hey sorry you are having those issues man!
> 
> Basically try the newest beta drivers and perhaps even re-install the game.
> 
> If that does not fix it and I have a feeling it may not it is likely the card.
> 
> Even though what others said about it is likely the game if it only happens in that game holds some weight. I would condition that by adding if it is only that game and many others have the same issues it is likely game or game/drivers issue.
> 
> Since that is not the case if a driver update and game re-install or fix if on steam don't work likely the card. Every game stresses your card in different ways, many people for example have what they think is a very stable overclock but find one game that always crashes or gives artifacts, well that is card instability and you should not ever have that in any game at stock.
> 
> Hope you sort it out and play fc3 as it was meant to be played, artifact free


Hey supermi! Thanks for the reply. I just installed the 313.96 drivers as many helpful members suggested. Ill give it a shot shortly. Really hope it runs like a champ because returning sounds painful,if its even possible, I got the card months ago on New-egg! Fingers crossed that its good to go, if not I'll need to read up on warranties to see if i can send it back









Thanks to all who commented, this is an awesome, knowledgeable, friendly forum!


----------



## Dinocookies

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> It's a driver x windows problem not the card.
> 
> locate to the following registry settings:-
> 
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\GraphicsDrivers
> 
> On the Edit menu, click New, and then select the following registry value from the drop-down menu:-
> 
> Select DWORD (32-bit) value/DWORD (64-bit) value (depending upon which version of OS you have.
> Type TdrDelay as the Name and click Enter.
> Double-click TdrDelay and add 8 for the Value data and click OK.
> Once done,close the Registry Editor and reboot the system.
> 
> To read:
> 
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff569918(v=vs.85).aspx
> 
> https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/389688/geforce-drivers/nvidia-statement-on-tdr-errors-display-driver-nvlddmkm-stopped-/


I tried this and it still not working :/


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Dinocookies*
> 
> I tried this and it still not working :/


Are you using 313.96?


----------



## Dinocookies

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Are you using 313.96?


310.90 ill update them and get back to you.


----------



## Dinocookies

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Are you using 313.96?


I updated the drivers and its still giving me the same error.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Dinocookies*
> 
> I updated the drivers and its still giving me the same error.


Try this if windows 8:

http://www.eightforums.com/bsod-crashes-debugging/15449-windows-8-freezes-mouse-vanishes.html#post159415


----------



## Dinocookies

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Try this if windows 8:
> 
> http://www.eightforums.com/bsod-crashes-debugging/15449-windows-8-freezes-mouse-vanishes.html#post159415


I'm on windows 7 64bit


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Dinocookies*
> 
> I'm on windows 7 64bit


Ask Nvidia foruns.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> haha
> I'm too lazy to use artmoney. I'll wait for contact from msi.


Julio,
Take your time no hurry to over volt your cards and beat my scores buddy


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *caper1*
> 
> Hey supermi! Thanks for the reply. I just installed the 313.96 drivers as many helpful members suggested. Ill give it a shot shortly. Really hope it runs like a champ because returning sounds painful,if its even possible, I got the card months ago on New-egg! Fingers crossed that its good to go, if not I'll need to read up on warranties to see if i can send it back
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks to all who commented, this is an awesome, knowledgeable, friendly forum!


Purchased months ago probably will not allow you return to the store, but artifacting on stock clocks is enough to RMA with MSI.

I have done MANY RMA's with MANY companies and it is almost always smooth, I RMA'd a MB with them once 2 years ago and it was smooth (a tad bit slow) but smooth. I am sure others here can share tips for dealing with MSI.

In general be nice and polite and FIRM as you are entitled to get it fixed/replaced as it is not working (you will get a replacement not a repair but the replacement might itself be a refurbished on but it will still carry the original warranty!

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!


----------



## gkolarov

Here are my results with 1372/7800 :

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/124892


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Julio,
> Take your time no hurry to over volt your cards and beat my scores buddy


ok.









ArtMoney How to vídeo (i did):


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Lightnings under water, Lightnings under water woohoo!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Too bad the tube doesn't match the H100i one in terms of look, glossy/matt. I might change the 2 fractal 140mm fan in the front and or add one on the top, maybe soon™. I've got the space lol
> The pump is no quiet at 12v but temp are about 50°c at the following bench frequencies, which I couldn't reach with stock cooling even at 100%.
> At 7v it's relatively discret, good enough for movie playback and internet browsing (increase by 5-6°c under bench).
> 
> Best 3DMark score so far: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/105893
> edit : new best score link updated.


What are you using to connect the 2 blocks? I am about to put a block on my second Lightning and I've been looking at a few different sli connectors. I am using the same blocks BTW


----------



## Terzzi

Hey guys, I just bought 680 lightning and loving it! But now here is a problem. I flashed Ln2 bios and it is working properly but im not sure has it damaged my graphics card fan. I think it might have messed up bearing from my 2nd fan on card. Im not sure is ln2 bios the problem or something else. I suppose high end card should have fans that can deal much pressure so maybe my fan is just false? When I start up my rig my cards fans rev up really high and then changes the direction becouse of the dust removal so could that damage fans bearings? But now I messed up my older(locked) bios from card so I tought that maybe someone has older locked bios for my card so I can send my card back to warranty? Im currently running prefectly bios 80.04.28.00.3A so I think the card is made later than first 5000.

Srry about my bad english but I hope you understand and can bear with it


----------



## dph314

The spin-up when booting is completely normal. The card was designed to do that. Worry not







Why do you think the fan was damaged?


----------



## Terzzi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> The spin-up when booting is completely normal. The card was designed to do that. Worry not
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why do you think the fan was damaged?


One fan makes some noise and other fan doesn't. And difference in stock bios is that fan doesn't rev to maximum and then turn around. On original bios fan doesn't make much noise on booting so I don't think that it should spin fast as it does now in ln2 bios. Could fan damage itself by rev high and suddenly change direction?


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Terzzi*
> 
> One fan makes some noise and other fan doesn't. And difference in stock bios is that fan doesn't rev to maximum and then turn around. On original bios fan doesn't make much noise on booting so I don't think that it should spin fast as it does now in ln2 bios. Could fan damage itself by rev high and suddenly change direction?


Ah, I see. Yeah that's completely normal as well. Some BIOS's do the fan spin-up at start, and some don't. But either way...it's the same hardware. So if one was made to do it, they all were









Edit: Good job on the video Julio


----------



## Terzzi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Ah, I see. Yeah that's completely normal as well. Some BIOS's do the fan spin-up at start, and some don't. But either way...it's the same hardware. So if one was made to do it, they all were
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Edit: Good job on the video Julio


Okay, so some bios has high speed fan removal and some dont? So I think my fan is just faulty. Should I flash old bios back if I sent it to warranty or should I send it just the way it is now? If im going to sell card afterwards it would be nice to put original bios back on. If someone has older locked bios for card I would appreciate that.


----------



## Dinocookies

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Ask Nvidia foruns.


I tried there as well. I guess I'm just going to send it back and look at a different card :/


----------



## caper1

Hey guys!

Thanks to all who suggested I update to the 313.96! I've had no crashing issues since the update so hopefully that means my card is not faulty









I have noticed this weird glitching on the blood detail in game though , any ideas which setting this plays into? I can tinker around with each, I just wanted to see if you guys thought this was anything serious.

This is zoomed in using a camera, it looks the same at all distances. The yellow trace around the blood shines like a light in game. This does not happen randomly, all blood splatter in the grass looks this way.


FPS 50 avg, GPU TEMP 60'c, GPU 68-71 %, VRM 70'C..
My game settings are:
vsync -off
cpu max buffered frames- 4
dx - 11
msaa AA - 4
alpha to coverage- enhanced
SSAO- HBAO
FOV- 88.55

All the following are set to the highest option: Textures,ambient lighting,shadow,post fx, geometer, vegetation,terrain,water, environment.

The rest looks pretty good..



I noticed allot of you guys run these benchmark tests so I tried one out ... there where no visual errors( would they show if I had card problems?) and "I think" the score wasn't bad for a stock set up lol...



I'm pretty sure its a crime if I don't learn how to OC this card! soon enough

Cheers !


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> What are you using to connect the 2 blocks? I am about to put a block on my second Lightning and I've been looking at a few different sli connectors. I am using the same blocks BTW


It's this one Koolance Dual VID Connector, used also by Cryptik with the same block (thanks him)
Available in different colors, I've got it in silver, he has the black one:


PS : +1rep Julio for the great ArtMoney tuto, can't try it cause I'm having trouble with pump/res atm, damnit piece of c**p.
Also thinking about adding the cpu to the loop, so I czn OC to 4.8/5Ghz with no fear to the heat.
Thanks god, I still have my laptop


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Terzzi*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Ah, I see. Yeah that's completely normal as well. Some BIOS's do the fan spin-up at start, and some don't. But either way...it's the same hardware. So if one was made to do it, they all were
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Edit: Good job on the video Julio
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Okay, so some bios has high speed fan removal and some dont? So I think my fan is just faulty. Should I flash old bios back if I sent it to warranty or should I send it just the way it is now? If im going to sell card afterwards it would be nice to put original bios back on. If someone has older locked bios for card I would appreciate that.
Click to expand...

I would flash the card back to the BIOS it came with before you sell it, just in case you get a picky buyer that wants the card "as-is". Or if you're in communications with the buyer ahead of time, you could ask them maybe? Since they may be planning on flashing it anyways, going back to the locked BIOS may be counter-productive.

But yeah, some have the fan spin-up and some don't. I never paid attention to which ones do and don't, but that's how it is with some of them. Nothing to worry about really. It definitely will not hurt your fans' bearings.

And I'm sure between all of us here we have every BIOS saved that there is, so whichever one you need, if you didn't save it before flashing, I'm sure someone has it


----------



## MrMarauder

What's the general feeling about the new nVidia drivers. Anyone having any issues?


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

They always worked great for me when I was running SLI 580's. I had tons of issues with my 7970 drivers earlier on but they've been really good since 12.11.


----------



## MrMarauder

More specifically, the 310/313 drivers. I updated a while back to the 310.54 and had some issues, so I reverted back to 306.23. Since then they've released many 310.xx beta and non-beta drivers, including the new 313.96 drivers. I was curious what positive/negative experiences everyone had with them on their Lightning(s).


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> More specifically, the 310/313 drivers. I updated a while back to the 310.54 and had some issues, so I reverted back to 306.23. Since then they've released many 310.xx beta and non-beta drivers, including the new 313.96 drivers. I was curious what positive/negative experiences everyone had with them on their Lightning(s).


The new drivers have been pretty good in general for me, although before the 300 series drivers I had never corrupted an nvidia driver to the point it couldn't be repaired before, & had that a couple times with the pre-310 300 series drivers. Pretty much had to reinstall windows to get an nvidia card working again.
I do push my system harder than most though, so not sure if it was something completely on my end or not.


----------



## Terzzi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> I would flash the card back to the BIOS it came with before you sell it, just in case you get a picky buyer that wants the card "as-is". Or if you're in communications with the buyer ahead of time, you could ask them maybe? Since they may be planning on flashing it anyways, going back to the locked BIOS may be counter-productive.
> 
> But yeah, some have the fan spin-up and some don't. I never paid attention to which ones do and don't, but that's how it is with some of them. Nothing to worry about really. It definitely will not hurt your fans' bearings.
> 
> And I'm sure between all of us here we have every BIOS saved that there is, so whichever one you need, if you didn't save it before flashing, I'm sure someone has it


If someone could post here locked bios what was added after first 5000. I could flash it back to card and send it to service for fan exchange. Fan runs perfectly but I wouldn't mind if that noise wouldn't be there also. I also wonder why there is only unlocked bios available for download in here. Those bios files doesn't take up much space so if they could add these also.


----------



## darkinners

So today I received my second GTX 680 Lightning, very happy me trying to flash the new one to F8 unlocked LN2 bios for overclocking.

Followed all the procedure like I did with the first lightning, success!

So I reboot BAM !
Computer keep restarting and refuse to boot into windows.
Ok I go into Safe mode and reinstall the driver.
Next time I boot into windows , success!!

BUT
Both NV control panel and Afterburner can't see the new card!!
only GPU-Z can see it.

I noticed the bios written differently in GPU-Z
The first card is like

Bios Version: 80.04.09.00.F8 (P2002-0000)

The second card is like
Bios Version: 80.04.09.00.f8

So, there is no (P2002-0000) and the F is in lower case in the newly flashed GTX 680 Lighting.

In panic, I flashed back the backup bios, reboot
Everything back to normal. SLI enabled. Both card up and running.

This is the original LN2 bios version came with the card out of the box.


Anyone know what should I do to flash it to unlocked LN2 bios??Or which version I should be using?
Or this version is hard locked, there is nothing I can do about it?

Thanks!


----------



## driftingforlife

You should use the 3A BIOS.


----------



## darkinners

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> You should use the 3A BIOS.


woah!! it's working. Thanks man!


----------



## Terzzi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *darkinners*
> 
> woah!! it's working. Thanks man!


It seems that you are running same old ln2 bios than my card. Could u possibly send me that bios so I could flash it to my card and send it for maintenance? I can reply my email by private message if that is okay?


----------



## darkinners

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Terzzi*
> 
> It seems that you are running same old ln2 bios than my card. Could u possibly send me that bios so I could flash it to my card and send it for maintenance? I can reply my email by private message if that is okay?


Check your pm


----------



## Wooojciech1983

Does anybody know what GPU voltage will be reached when using ArtMoney hack with +150 on voltage slider, something around 1.4V or still less? How far did You try to put the core voltage slider with ArtMoney hack? And what is the maximum safe voltage for the core that will not degrade the GPU?


----------



## JulioCesarSF

3DMark tweak:

http://adrenaline.uol.com.br/forum/placas-de-video-e-monitores/448076-tutorial-3dmark-tweaks.html


----------



## caper1

Forgot to prove ownership .. My first build, don't judge the nest lol. She's definitely not pretty, but it works!











Board- ASUS|P8Z77-V PRO Z77
VGA- MSI 680GTX LIGHTNING
PSU -CORSAIR | AX1200I 1200W RT
CPU- INTEL|CORE I7 3770K 3.5G 8M R
MEM- 4Gx4|CORSAIR CMZ16GX3M4X1600C9
SSD -240G|INTEL SSDSC2CT240A3K5 R
HDD- 1 TB WD Black Caviar
COOLER- WATER COOLER CORSAIR| CWCH100 R
OS- WIN7 64BIT
CASE- CORSAIR OBSIDIAN 650D
Opt Drv- ASUS...
27" ASUS VK278


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 3DMark tweak:
> 
> http://adrenaline.uol.com.br/forum/placas-de-video-e-monitores/448076-tutorial-3dmark-tweaks.html


Great, could be even better in english!








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *caper1*
> 
> Forgot to prove ownership .. My first build, don't judge the nest lol. She's definitely not pretty, but it works!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Board- ASUS|P8Z77-V PRO Z77
> VGA- MSI 680GTX LIGHTNING
> PSU -CORSAIR | AX1200I 1200W RT
> CPU- INTEL|CORE I7 3770K 3.5G 8M R
> MEM- 4Gx4|CORSAIR CMZ16GX3M4X1600C9
> SSD -240G|INTEL SSDSC2CT240A3K5 R
> HDD- 1 TB WD Black Caviar
> COOLER- WATER COOLER CORSAIR| CWCH100 R
> OS- WIN7 64BIT
> CASE- CORSAIR OBSIDIAN 650D
> Opt Drv- ASUS...
> 27" ASUS VK278


Doesn't look pretty? it's damn good already, I've seen way much worse in terms of cable management and color pairing !


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Great, could be even better in english!


If you want i can post english version here, or create a topic, what is better?


----------



## Kimir

You should create a topic in the benchmark software and discussion








AND link it here :>


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> You should create a topic in the benchmark software and discussion
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AND link it here :>


here: http://www.overclock.net/t/1360415/guide-3dmark-tweaks/0_100


----------



## caper1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Great, could be even better in english!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Doesn't look pretty? it's damn good already, I've seen way much worse in terms of cable management and color pairing !


Hey thanks Kimir! Yeah im proud it lol, the case made it pretty easy to tuck wires away. I really like your setup, the white sleeves look deadly! Eventually (when i learn to OC) I'd like to be set up like yours actually... although I'd probably need a new case lol.. Duel cards, Liquid Cooled with the rad on the front, yeah that's my goal!!


----------



## HALA MADRID

Can you guys do some benchmarking with 1 lightning with the new unigine 4.0 at 1360mhz clock and 7100 memory cause i want to see if my card is running up to par/normally thanks.


----------



## elbubi

I think my card is deteriorating, now it crashes at *stock clocks/volts* in new Heaven 4.0.

Too bad I can't RMA it since I bought it in the states and I live in Argentina


----------



## Phishy714

For a while, I have been having problems with afterburner 2.2.3. The voltage doesn't seem to save, so every time I boot up, instead of the +93mv, I'll have a different number.. just seems random. Anyone know if the hack in 2.2.4 or 2.2.5 work to remedy this? Can anyone point me on how to do it and if there are any advantages?

Another quick question.. on my lightnings, the core clock constantly fluctuates when playing games. It never stays pegged at 1375mhz that I set it to.. instead the clocks on both cards go up and down during any game.. down to about 800kHz sometimes which causes alot of stuttering. Multiple drivers haven't changed anything.. running with a 2500k on a Maximus Formula. Going to do a reinstall tonight to see if it helps.

Should I have the two sli connections connected on the cards via two bridges?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> here: http://www.overclock.net/t/1360415/guide-3dmark-tweaks/0_100


Awesome, will try that when my system is up and running. +REP


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> For a while, I have been having problems with afterburner 2.2.3. The voltage doesn't seem to save, so every time I boot up, instead of the +93mv, I'll have a different number.. just seems random. Anyone know if the hack in 2.2.4 or 2.2.5 work to remedy this? Can anyone point me on how to do it and if there are any advantages?
> 
> Another quick question.. on my lightnings, the core clock constantly fluctuates when playing games. It never stays pegged at 1375mhz that I set it to.. instead the clocks on both cards go up and down during any game.. down to about 800kHz sometimes which causes alot of stuttering. Multiple drivers haven't changed anything.. running with a 2500k on a Maximus Formula. Going to do a reinstall tonight to see if it helps.
> 
> Should I have the two sli connections connected on the cards via two bridges?


First question- Yes, I've heard the versions after 2.2.3 do fix this bug, which is the reason many have decided to cease using 2.2.3. All you need to do is the config edit to allow for voltage control, and the hack works the same way as far as I know, just with different addresses for the values.

Even on the LN2 BIOS, clocks will fluctuate. If you set 'Prefer Maximum Performance' in the NVCP, then the clock won't drop below the base clock speed of 1202mhz. But with an overclock, the offset is added kind of like a boost speed. So it can still drop from the boost speed to the base clock when the load drops, no way around that. It's not a problem though, the speed is there when you need it, so it doesn't negatively affect performance. And during a bench you'll have your full boost speed, so, yeah I don't mind it at all.


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> First question- Yes, I've heard the versions after 2.2.3 do fix this bug, which is the reason many have decided to cease using 2.2.3. All you need to do is the config edit to allow for voltage control, and the hack works the same way as far as I know, just with different addresses for the values.
> 
> Even on the LN2 BIOS, clocks will fluctuate. If you set 'Prefer Maximum Performance' in the NVCP, then the clock won't drop below the base clock speed of 1202mhz. But with an overclock, the offset is added kind of like a boost speed. So it can still drop from the boost speed to the base clock when the load drops, no way around that. It's not a problem though, the speed is there when you need it, so it doesn't negatively affect performance. And during a bench you'll have your full boost speed, so, yeah I don't mind it at all.


Thanks for the response on this! Would you happen to know where I could find out how to do that hack on some of the later versions of AB? It gets old having to remember to up the voltages every time I turn the comp on, not to mention that when I forget to, I'll start a game only to have it crash 15 min later because of the lowered volts.

I have NVCP set to PREFER MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE on my end - and I do understand that the core clock would normally fluctuate slightly. I mean, when I do a Heaven Benchmark or 3dMark, the core and memory clocks stay pegged at 1375mhz. However, whenever I play a game, while I do expect them to move around a little bit, I am getting crazy things like one card dropping down to 800mhz for a few sec and then shooting back up.. then the other card will do it.. and the one will drop to 1100 ish.. And i believe this is why I am getting sooooo much stuttering during gameplay. Its different than microstutter, its almost like breaks in the screen, its very annoying. I'll be doing a full wipe and trying out W8 tonight (just cause I want to try it) and see if it persists. Hopefully not.


----------



## gpvecchi

Hey, have you read of 680 Lightning-L?
http://www.xxxx3d.com/news_story/msi_geforce_gtx_680_lightning_l_graphics_card.html
( I swapped a word in address with xxxx as I don't know if it's legit to post a link to another forum...)


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> Hey, have you read of 680 Lightning-L?
> http://www.xxxx3d.com/news_story/msi_geforce_gtx_680_lightning_l_graphics_card.html
> ( I swapped a word in address with xxxx as I don't know if it's legit to post a link to another forum...)


There is a topic about it here as well.

On a side note, I have a question for experienced watercooled lightning owners.
I plan to get the CPU into the custom loop I started with the 2 lightning and I have couple of option for the flow direction, I'm not sure which one would be the best.
The first option would be:
pump/res -> CPU -> 240rad -> GPUs -> 280rad -> back to pump/res
Second option, the invert :
pump/res -> 280rad -> GPUs -> 240rad -> CPU -> pump/res
Others option like :
pump/res -> 240rad -> CPU -> GPUs -> 280rad -> pump/res

The 240mm rad, replacing the H100i position on top, will have my actual Corsair SP120 fans and the 280mm I already have, located in front with the two 140mm fractal fans as intake.
Suggestions?


----------



## HALA MADRID

Heaven 4.0 crashes for me. Note its a program crash not a driver crash so my overclock is not the problem. It says Heaven has stopped working windows is looking for a solution. Any ideas as to what may be the problem?


----------



## gkolarov

Heaven 4 at 1333/7800


----------



## guinner16

Please excuse the noobness but I am a noob with all this stuff, and some of it doesn't make sense. However, with all my hobbies I like to jump in an go crazy. I am looking to pick up two titans soon, however I am assuming I won't be able to get 2 (or 1), and need a backup plan. that backup plan seems to be the MSI Lightning. My main concern is that the voltage on newer lightning has been locked, and they do not perform as well as the older ones. Is this simply a software/BIOS issue that can be fixed. Also, if it can be bypasses is this something a noob could do with relative ease or assistance. thanks for the help.


----------



## Kimir

It's extremely easy, you just need to flash the bios (preferably the LN2 one, keep the default one as a backup) with the unlocked 3A LN2 bios.
The tutorial is on the first page of this thread.


----------



## guinner16

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> It's extremely easy, you just need to flash the bios (preferably the LN2 one, keep the default one as a backup) with the unlocked 3A LN2 bios.
> The tutorial is on the first page of this thread.


Thanks for the help. I just wanted confirmation so I can nail down a backup plan.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *guinner16*
> 
> Thanks for the help. I just wanted confirmation so I can nail down a backup plan.


Yeah, it's better to get that kind of backup plan, especially when the Titan is more a speculation than truth, until an announcement from Nvidia.








New Intel CPU are also being leaked, for this year. Those plus Titan, you can already plan to renew an entire build


----------



## Toxsick

Hey guys can someone give me some info on wich the best psu should for SLI 680 lightnings OVERCLOCKED with the bios flash?
Wich psu would be the best for this?

thanks in advance.


----------



## Smakki

Hi guys atlast i have found my Lightning limits without AM and decided to sign on this forum!

3DMark11 http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5914772 Graphics Score 12874

Fire Strike http://www.3dmark.com/fs/158818 Graphics Score 8728

I got new monitor recently and i wonder why i get like 700 lower Graphics Score with that monitor?

OT: I dont see any pictures with opera on this forum, other sites work. Though no problem with fIrefox but i prefer opera


----------



## NamesLucky

Hey guys, I asked a question a few weeks ago, but never got a response. I've seen you guys find that a 670 @1359= [email protected], with this in mind, do you think it would be worth upgrading from a gtx 670 capable of 1333Mhz to a gtx 680 lightning. Also, my MSI 670 PE's mem cannot be overclocked very well (+150Mhz in AB). Do you guys think it's worth it upgrading to a 680 Lightning, would it grab me another 5-10% fps if I get a good overclocker? I will be cooling it via H100 using "The Mod".


----------



## twerk

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NamesLucky*
> 
> Hey guys, I asked a question a few weeks ago, but never got a response. I've seen you guys find that a 670 @1359= [email protected], with this in mind, do you think it would be worth upgrading from a gtx 670 capable of 1333Mhz to a gtx 680 lightning. Also, my MSI 670 PE's mem cannot be overclocked very well (+150Mhz in AB). Do you guys think it's worth it upgrading to a 680 Lightning, would it grab me another 5-10% fps if I get a good overclocker? I will be cooling it via H100 using "The Mod".


It wouldn't really be an upgrade, more of a sidegrade. It would be a waste of money.


----------



## NamesLucky

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AndyM95*
> 
> It wouldn't really be an upgrade, more of a sidegrade. It would be a waste of money.


Thanks, so probably not get 10% increase in framerate? I'm putting together a egpu system for my laptop, so a 10% increase may be worth it to me.


----------



## Toxsick

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NamesLucky*
> 
> Thanks, so probably not get 10% increase in framerate? I'm putting together a egpu system for my laptop, so a 10% increase may be worth it to me.


dont do it.
u can better wait for the 7xx series then..


----------



## twerk

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NamesLucky*
> 
> Thanks, so probably not get 10% increase in framerate? I'm putting together a egpu system for my laptop, so a 10% increase may be worth it to me.


10% if you're very lucky, is 10% really worth spending all that money for?


----------



## NamesLucky

Well, its not really ALL that money, I'm pretty confident in selling my current high OCer 670 for at least $300, so it's only about $150-200. Also, I just moved from a SLI desktop to this laptop egpu setup....with about $1000 extra in my pocket, so I can afford a little light spending if it can get me through to maxwell and thunderbolt ports in 2014. However, 10% is about what I would want out of my money, and I'm not sure I would get it. Thats why I asked you guys







thanks again for the input


----------



## Phishy714

also, what will 10% more frames do, exactly?

30fps -> 33fps
50 -> 55fps
100 -> 110fps

What would be the benefit? Crappy fps will remain crappy, you wouldn't notice any difference at all at higher fps. ALL of this assuming that you get a high overclocking 680.


----------



## NamesLucky

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> also, what will 10% more frames do, exactly?
> 
> 30fps -> 33fps
> 50 -> 55fps
> 100 -> 110fps
> 
> What would be the benefit? Crappy fps will remain crappy, you wouldn't notice any difference at all at higher fps. ALL of this assuming that you get a high overclocking 680.


Very true, great point. I guess it wouldn't help me for future games that can't play well on my setup.


----------



## darkinners

Ok first thing first.

Here is my submission to this prestige club












http://www.3dmark.com/fs/148347



Ok I have a little tip on lightning overclocking(probably many of you already knew about that)

It's the VRM temp and AUX voltage.

When I first got this lightning SLI setup.
I found the overclock ability on these cards are meh.
I couldn't get pass 1224 core on LN2 bios(the bios added 500mv voltage already!)

Everytime I went pass that. Heaven lock up. no matter how much voltage I added to it.

After few days. I looked the VRM temperature closely. they hit 70 degrees+ at extreme setting Unigine 4.0
Ok I try to lower the AUX voltage in AB by 50mv and create a user fan profile.

Profit!!

Seems keeping VRM under 60 degree have a great benefit for OCing .
My cards aren't any good (ASIC 72.9 and 73.1%)
But managed to OC to 1306 (pass 3Dmark and Unigine 4.0 extreme benchmark) stable.

By just lowering the AUX voltage and use custom fan profile.

I didn't even add the core voltage!

Didn't bother to find the MAX OC with core voltage.
Actually now I clock them back to default clock for daily use(They are just too fast for the games I play)


----------



## elbubi

Hello People.

One question for those who have experience on RMA:

After 6 month use my card is crashing at stock clocks/volts on Heaven 4/Valley/Htiman Abs/Sleeping Dogs/etc, I think it might got broken (tried diferent drivers, cleaning, etc, etc, etc).

I bought it from newegg in the states but I live in Argentina. Do I have to do the RMA process with newegg or with msi directly? Anyone nows if there is an international msi guarantee so to avoid sending the card back to the states?

Kind Regards and thanks in advance!


----------



## r360r

Well this is rather annoying. After installing heaven 4.0. My OC seems to be unstable (+100 core +725 memory). I dropped memory to +500 and it still wasn't able to finish


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Hello People.
> 
> One question for those who have experience on RMA:
> 
> After 6 month use my card is crashing at stock clocks/volts on Heaven 4/Valley/Htiman Abs/Sleeping Dogs/etc, I think it might got broken (tried diferent drivers, cleaning, etc, etc, etc).
> 
> I bought it from newegg in the states but I live in Argentina. Do I have to do the RMA process with newegg or with msi directly? Anyone nows if there is an international msi guarantee so to avoid sending the card back to the states?
> 
> Kind Regards and thanks in advance!


I believe you will need to go to msi


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *darkinners*
> 
> Ok first thing first.
> 
> Here is my submission to this prestige club
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ok I have a little tip on lightning overclocking(probably many of you already knew about that)
> 
> It's the VRM temp and AUX voltage.
> 
> When I first got this lightning SLI setup.
> I found the overclock ability on these cards are meh.
> I couldn't get pass 1224 core on LN2 bios(the bios added 500mv voltage already!)
> 
> Everytime I went pass that. Heaven lock up. no matter how much voltage I added to it.
> 
> After few days. I looked the VRM temperature closely. they hit 70 degrees+ at extreme setting Unigine 4.0
> Ok I try to lower the AUX voltage in AB by 50mv and create a user fan profile.
> 
> Profit!!
> 
> Seems keeping VRM under 60 degree have a great benefit for OCing .
> My cards aren't any good (ASIC 72.9 and 73.1%)
> But managed to OC to 1306 (pass 3Dmark and Unigine 4.0 extreme benchmark) stable.
> 
> By just lowering the AUX voltage and use custom fan profile.
> 
> I didn't even add the core voltage!
> 
> Didn't bother to find the MAX OC with core voltage.
> Actually now I clock them back to default clock for daily use(They are just too fast for the games I play)


I don't think your computer would be working right now if the BIOS added 500mv









But congrats on getting a decent pair afterall. Yeah you always want to set a custom and more aggressive fan profile than the default one. It goes for silence, not performance. And when benching you always want to set a static speed of 100% for the lowest temps, meaning best stability.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Hello People.
> 
> One question for those who have experience on RMA:
> 
> After 6 month use my card is crashing at stock clocks/volts on Heaven 4/Valley/Htiman Abs/Sleeping Dogs/etc, I think it might got broken (tried diferent drivers, cleaning, etc, etc, etc).
> 
> I bought it from newegg in the states but I live in Argentina. Do I have to do the RMA process with newegg or with msi directly? Anyone nows if there is an international msi guarantee so to avoid sending the card back to the states?
> 
> Kind Regards and thanks in advance!


Yeah after that long you definitely have to deal with MSI directly.


----------



## Ghostfox

Hi all, (sorry i'm italian and sorry in first for my english)

I have 1 problem and sorry for my question but i don't have see 588 page's of this thread..









I have standard MSI GTX680 Lightning.
Afterburner describe my bios is:
*MSI N680GTX Lightning (LN2) on GK104 GPU*
*Driver: 313.96*
*BIOS: 80.04.09.00.f8*
*My card need the new bios 3A or not?*

I try to overclock this card but i have very problem over UP 1267Mhz by AB OSD Server...
If i try to Put power limit in more position and core voltage same.. but i have crash and need to reset pc for black screen.
My OC whit L2N standard is only stable to +50Mhz andCORE MV and POWER LIMIT to zero.
Demoralized.

Anyone Help me please?








I'm very tired to test and find all same crash...

thank in advance brother's and re-sorry for my poor english (google translate help me?!)

bye,
Ghostfox


----------



## dph314

Does your Power % go up to 300%? Well, even if it does, I'd say get the 3A. You won't have to do a hard reset every time you crash from an unstable overclock.


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Does your Power % go up to 300%? Well, even if it does, I'd say get the 3A. You won't have to do a hard reset every time you crash from an unstable overclock.


I have the 3A bios on both my lightnings.. I still have to hard reset after a crash when benching...


----------



## Ghostfox

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Does your Power % go up to 300%? Well, even if it does, I'd say get the 3A. You won't have to do a hard reset every time you crash from an unstable overclock.


thanks in advance DPH, but unfortunately when I have a problem of instability me the screen goes black and I must restart.
Now i have upgrade my F8 to A3 today... tonight i leave my bed to testing new bios whit OC and Unigine 4 or new 3DMark.
do you have any advice for me?


----------



## gkolarov

Guys i need a little help with ArtMoney hack. I did everything right but my *****.amt file is wrong and i cannot load it in the artmoney program. Can someone give me a correct **********.amt file ? I am using ArtMoney 7.40


----------



## frequency10

Hi guys, i have a several questiona:

1) How i disarm my gtx 680 lightning? LOL the GPU reactor sticker warning makes me afraid... (something video?)

2) This GPU need the GPU Reactor to work?

3) If the GPU need the GPU Reactor, how make when i want install any GPU Block for water cooling?

Sorry for my bad english, i'm learning, thanks for all...


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ghostfox*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Does your Power % go up to 300%? Well, even if it does, I'd say get the 3A. You won't have to do a hard reset every time you crash from an unstable overclock.
> 
> 
> 
> thanks in advance DPH, but unfortunately when I have a problem of instability me the screen goes black and I must restart.
> Now i have upgrade my F8 to A3 today... tonight i leave my bed to testing new bios whit OC and Unigine 4 or new 3DMark.
> do you have any advice for me?
Click to expand...

I guess with the latest drivers, even with the 3A you have to do a hard reset? That sucks









Well, if that's true then you'll be fine with the F8 BIOS if it's not giving you any problems. The only ones that have had trouble with the F8 BIOS are the ones that flash to it. Those that have cards that came with it seem to be fine. As long as it's unlocked (300 Power %), then you're good. My advice would be to always keep the fan speed at 100% when benching, for the best temps/stability. If you really get a good overclocker on the +93mv limit, and temps are good, you could always keep going by doing the voltage hack, to go beyond +93mv.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *frequency10*
> 
> Hi guys, i have a several questiona:
> 
> 1) How i disarm my gtx 680 lightning? LOL the GPU reactor sticker warning makes me afraid... (something video?)
> 
> 2) This GPU need the GPU Reactor to work?
> 
> 3) If the GPU need the GPU Reactor, how make when i want install any GPU Block for water cooling?
> 
> Sorry for my bad english, i'm learning, thanks for all...


You don't need the Reactor installed. You can take it off if you'd like, and it shouldn't have any affect on your overclock. It's only for extreme overclocks with much higher voltages than you're going to be running on air or probably even water.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NamesLucky*
> 
> Hey guys, I asked a question a few weeks ago, but never got a response. I've seen you guys find that a 670 @1359= [email protected], with this in mind, do you think it would be worth upgrading from a gtx 670 capable of 1333Mhz to a gtx 680 lightning. Also, my MSI 670 PE's mem cannot be overclocked very well (+150Mhz in AB). Do you guys think it's worth it upgrading to a 680 Lightning, would it grab me another 5-10% fps if I get a good overclocker? I will be cooling it via H100 using "The Mod".


I say get the lightning only because you HAVE the cash to spare. . Unlocked voltage control . . Much higher mem voltages you'l hit than with you 670. Don't understand why everyone saying don't get it and then comparing slight percentage increases in games. There will be a increase. And that 5fps can make it or break it. Ask me i used to crawl on games with a very old card and i found around 30 to 45fps good still. If not for the games do it for the overclocking potential. Support the dude in getting the lighting. This is a lightning thread.


----------



## DJRamses

Hi Together...

Last Days i must overclock my bed.... had a big influenza...









I get many Questions via PM about getting Afterburner Extreme. I like it to help user to get the best OC or Scores in Benchmarks.Thats no Problem!
But with AB Extreme, i cant help.

Here the important Rules for getting AB Extreme:

You get AB Extreme only over MSI Support!
You must to prove, you have a long Time expert knowledge in overclocking. (show Links,Pics from Bot or other)
Important Point for MSI: DO YOU REALY KNOW ,WHAT YOU DO???
You need Wait-Time!
If MSI answer , you get a contract about dispensation with guarantee, if damaged the Card. And you to undertake, you NOT share the AB Extreme via Filesharing.
The Contract has 2 DIN-A 4 Sites.
THe AB Extreme is expired after 3 Month.

My english is bad, i know. But i hope you understand it. It is not a easy Way to get AB Extreme. But...
it is very easy Way to damaged your Lightning with AB Extreme.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Hi Together...
> 
> Last Days i must overclock my bed.... had a big influenza...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I get many Questions via PM about getting Afterburner Extreme. I like it to help user to get the best OC or Scores in Benchmarks.Thats no Problem!
> But with AB Extreme, i cant help.
> 
> Here the important Rules for getting AB Extreme:
> 
> You get AB Extreme only over MSI Support!
> You must to prove, you have a long Time expert knowledge in overclocking. (show Links,Pics from Bot or other)
> Important Point for MSI: DO YOU REALY KNOW ,WHAT YOU DO???
> You need Wait-Time!
> If MSI answer , you get a contract about dispensation with guarantee, if damaged the Card. And you to undertake, you NOT share the AB Extreme via Filesharing.
> The Contract has 2 DIN-A 4 Sites.
> THe AB Extreme is expired after 3 Month.
> 
> My english is bad, i know. But i hope you understand it. It is not a easy Way to get AB Extreme. But...
> it is very easy Way to damaged your Lightning with AB Extreme.


Thank you for mentioning that. I always thought it would be really nice to use that program. I still do think so but with such strict Points about loosing warrantee and the 3 month period i guess i'd take a pass.


----------



## DJRamses

The 3 Month period is the shortest Problem. It is very easy to bypass this..


----------



## CryptiK

Quick Unigine Valley bench - Extreme HD preset

990X @ 4.7GHz | 1346/3802


----------



## SeekerZA

I've got the ek waterblock for my lightning but i want to know should i put thermal compound ontop of thermal pad also before the block or just leave it like it is which is thermal below the thermal pad as instructed in the paper. Thanks


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Quick Unigine Valley bench - Extreme HD preset
> 
> 990X @ 4.7GHz | 1346/3802


Have you submitted it?

http://www.overclock.net/t/1360884/top-30-unigine-valley-benchmark-1-0


----------



## CryptiK

just did thanks


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> Nah because it's not itemized into single/dual etc it's only good for 17th overall so didn't bother.


Bottom of spreadsheet are tabs for - Top 30 Single Cards, Top 30 Dual Cards, Top 30 Triple Cards, Top 30 Quad Cards, Most GPUs Used, Percentage (Using each card)

Just in case it makes a difference...


----------



## Naennon

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> I've got the ek waterblock for my lightning but i want to know should i put thermal compound ontop of thermal pad also before the block or just leave it like it is which is thermal below the thermal pad as instructed in the paper. Thanks


http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1740358

hehe, got the EK too for my 680 Lightning....


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Naennon*
> 
> http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1740358
> 
> hehe, got the EK too for my 680 Lightning....


are you serious? Firstly that scared me as i've yet to put block under water. Now i see that still. Juuust Great!


----------



## Naennon

looks like that plate was alu and the cooler is pure copper so..








and/or his water wasn't only water...


----------



## squishy18

I get a I/O error cannot open file when trying to flash my BIOS. any help?
Nvrmind I got it


----------



## Ghostfox

Brothers of lightning ..
this my test is the maximum stability i have found whit Valley
Using AB 2.3.1 modified, 313.96 Beta Driver, +94MV +130core +300% power +300Memory clock Aux and MemoryMV zero...
(whit 3dmark11 or 13 i found stability on +150core and same other option)

... anyone have an advice for help me to go more OC core?









http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/594/valleyextremehd.jpg/


----------



## Ghostfox

My Video guide to FLASH BIOS from F8 to A3: 



*(see in fullHD on my channel)*









I hope it will be helpful

[




Ghostfox


----------



## Phishy714

woah, how exactly can you modify AB 2.3.1 to allow the voltage increase on lightnings?


----------



## Ghostfox

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> woah, how exactly can you modify AB 2.3.1 to allow the voltage increase on lightnings?


Hi Phishy,
I try this for good OC... don't modify the Voltage but leave a stop by afterburner to overclock:
On afterburner dir you have a > *profiles* directory
On this directory you have 1 file named: "*VEN_10DE&DEV_1180....cfg*"
Open This file whit notepad and insert on first this code:

[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

Save and exit.
Close and Restart AB.

Set CoreMV +93/94
Set Power to 300%
Set core to 130 and UP to start your bench... when you have found the limit and the card you present artifacts, return back to perfect clock and go to test memory..

I'm demoralized because i don't obtain more +150 on clock.. i see other lightning whit 210 core stable on air.. Anyone have advice for me please? Anyone use Artmoney to modify voltage?

Bye.


----------



## CryptiK

If I use AB 2.3.1 I do not see the power slider anymore. Is this normal? I must use 2.2.3 to see the power slider :/


----------



## Naennon

why the hell are u setting up 300% powertarget
100% in LN2 bios = 300W
150% = 450W
200% = 600W
300% = 900W

you will NEVER reach that!!!

max ever reached with +100 Mv, 1371 Core and testing powerlimit with furmark extrem burnin = 119% TDP
you will never ever need more that 125% powertarget


----------



## Ghostfox

Hi Naennon,
My power limit whitout 300%, crash anymode. I don't know why..








tomorrow i re-testing all whit 130% from you advice.. thanks in advance.


----------



## famich

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Naennon*
> 
> http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1740358
> 
> hehe, got the EK too for my 680 Lightning....


I have personally bought this one :
http://shop.aquacomputer.de/product_info.php?products_id=2936

Both my EK and this block are made from the copper, I have read that alu + copper should not be mixed in 1 loop, so, to be on the safe side....









But this block must have been really badly made ! Sorry for him !!


----------



## Kimir

Badly made, maybe not, seems like it's wrong coolant used.
I have the Aquacomputer one as well, will have the CPU block soon™ too. (2 weeks no pc, thanks god I have my old laptop)


----------



## SK019

Have you tried new Valley Benchmark? It looks amazing.


----------



## Brenton

Got this:


----------



## Ghostfox

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> Have you tried new Valley Benchmark? It looks amazing.


Why you use 2.2.3 AB and not 2.3.1?


----------



## wiredg

About 10 days ago I posted about my disappointment with a Lightning that one member called "the worst overclocker that we've ever seen" (post #5724). It required overvolting at stock freqs or underclocking at stock voltage. I ordered another and, when it arrived, sent the first one back to the merchant. I'm pleased to say that the new one seems perfectly normal. I won't be joining the overclockers' club here, but it is giving me a stable, steady boost clock of 1359 (+168), with mem clock at 3508 (+500). No dips, no downward spikes; nice and smooth and quiet.

It's not a natural overclocker; it takes an alarming amount of voltage: I'm seeing anywhere from 1.260 up to 1.304v under the heaviest loads (according to AB, anyway, for what that's worth). But temps are great: GPU has never gone above 63c and VRM has not yet reached 60c. Does anyone disagree with my view that voltage is not really destructive, and that so long as temps are good, there is nothing to worry about?

I'm very pleased with the stock cooler, and impressed by the overall build quality. I'm now glad I bought it. It's really quite impressive compared to the reference card. (But not so impressive compared to those here who are getting 1.4+ gHz on stock voltages -- so it all depends on your PoV) Anyway, I can definitely be called a Lightning fan now









FWIW, I find that -100mv on the Aux(PLL) and -50mv on the mem give a better clock freq and might be helping with temps.


----------



## Menthol

wiredg,
Glad to here you got a better card, these are the best 680's on the market


----------



## SK019

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ghostfox*
> 
> Why you use 2.2.3 AB and not 2.3.1?


Why are you asking?








Does 2.2.1 have some adventages over 2.2.3?


----------



## alancsalt

AFAIK Because they crippled 2.3.1 and you have to do a .cfg edit to make it work, while 2.2.3 works without editing?


----------



## juanjux

Hi guys,

I'm thinking about getting this card. Little story: I had two Sapphire 7970 Vapor-X Ghz edition with broke VRM1s. The first one came already with it busted, it would go to 110C in seconds under any load and then the GPU would throttle to 500mhz. I returned it to Amazon, and the second one worked perfectly for two days, stable and the temperature were never higher than 64C (GPU and VRMs) with moderate fan noise, but the third day the VRM1 started to act exactly like the first card one. I didn't even overclocked the second card, it died stock. Take a look at what I found when I unplugged the card for returning it:



That's burned thing is what separated the VRM1 cooler from the PCB... I love the smell of burned VRMs in the morning









The two 7970s had very close serial numbers so I think Sapphire got a really bad batch of VRM1's on their factory (plus awful to no quality control).

So as you can understand, I'm done with that Sapphire crap for life and I'm looking to a GTX 680 with quality components. This MSI and the ASUS seem to be the best options and I'm more inclined to buy this one for several reasons.

Now I wanted to ask some of you a favor, If If any of you have an i5 3570k, could you please test your card it with these conditions? (so I can get an idea of what performance I would get on my system):

- CPU not overclocked, just allow for the 4 cores to turbo to 3.8ghz
- GPU not overclocked

Then run 3dmark11 "performance" combined score and heaven benchmark 4 (all extreme) average FPS and tell me your result.

The 7970 Ghz that worker for two days would give me around 8800 in the 3dmark11 test and 35.5FPS in Heaven 4.0.

Thanks!


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> AFAIK Because they crippled 2.3.1 and you have to do a .cfg edit to make it work, while 2.2.3 works without editing?


While this is true, it's not a .cfg edit, it's going into the individual profile of your lightning and copy/paste a few lines.

In my experience, 2.3.1 is much more stable and doesn't cause my clocks to fluctuate at all.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> wiredg,
> Glad to here you got a better card, these are the best 680's on the market


Several members encouraged me to stick with it and hope for a better card. I'm glad I listened


----------



## NBAasDOGG

Hi gens. I have a little question for those who can help me with overclocking.
My card is running at 1392mhz 7500mhz on mem stable at 1.388v, but when i upper the voltage a little more it becomes unstable, actually i am trying to get 1400mhz+ all the time, but it looks like the card can't get more voltege on air. My temps are always under 55, but it still crashes when i upper the volgate at 1.4v+, even at 1380mhz.
Do you guys know anything about this?

Geforce Titan on the way, muahahahahaha!


----------



## r360r

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> I have the 3A bios on both my lightnings.. I still have to hard reset after a crash when benching...


Benching from heaven? just press windows key and log off. No need for a hard reboot. Unless I'm missing something

Edit: oh ya. I was gonna post this. So as previously stated my OC of +100 Core n +720 memory is unstable on heaven 4.0. But on 3.0 it worked like a champ. Over the weekend I screwed around with Heaven 4.0 and afterburner in hoping to find a stable OC. . . I found none. The only one that passed was stock settings. Can I RMA this thing or is Heaven 4.0 just screwed up?


----------



## zulk

Can you still tweak the voltages with the ln2 bios on the lightning and do they still overclock as well as the older batches


----------



## Dinocookies

Do you guys think I should send mine back for a replacement it? It crashes if I try to oc it 20mhz.


----------



## fantaziz

Hey guys !!!

I have two problems with my GTX 680 lightning









1: I don't know why but my physics score for 3D mark 11 are very low, as you can see in this screen !!











2: Yesterday I flashed the BIOS and now when I start my computer the Fans of the GTX 680 are running at 100%, only while starting the PC...(It's very annoying and noisy !!!!)









Please help me guys !!









Thanks


----------



## Kimir

Physics depend on CPU.
The fans running @100% at start up is normal,
Quote:


> The Lightning's fans are programmed to counter rotate at high speeds for about 30 seconds at system startup in order to remove any dust that's been accumulating on the heatsink fins. This "dust removal technology" is supposed to keep the Twin Frozr IV heatsink operating at peak thermal efficiency so temperatures don't deviate over the Lightning's lifetime.


----------



## fantaziz

Ok thx !!! But I know physix is only CPU is this score normal for my i7 2600k ?


----------



## Kimir

I don't know, my bro has a 2600k but he don't do bench (and won't let me see) but is your proc overclocked?
Seems correct from what I can see here. (5Ghz = ~10k physics)


----------



## fantaziz

The turbo boost is set to 3,80 GHz


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> The turbo boost is set to 3,80 GHz


Well, that score is decent then.
If you are on Air, you can go below 4.6Ghz with good cooling (such as Noctua NH-D14, CM 212+), after that point, water cooling is preferable, especially if you don't have a golden chip that work with extremely low voltage.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *famich*
> 
> I have personally bought this one :
> http://shop.aquacomputer.de/product_info.php?products_id=2936
> 
> Did you purchase your block from that site? If so how was the experience as far as dealing with a merchant across seas? I'm just curious because I can't find anywhere else that has them in stock.


----------



## fantaziz

Ok ! Thank for your help kimir









Now I have flashed my bios to the 80.04.28.00.3a one...

But I am a bit lost because I don't have much overclocking experience yet....









Here is what can I see in afterburner :



What are safe overclock settings that every 680 lightning should be able to run ? I just want to have the maximum performance, not push it beyond the limits









Thank for your help


----------



## Kimir

Safe overclock? there is no such thing








There is stable and unstable overclock, If your temp are ok, you can keep going until it get unstable.
First thing first, find what your card is capable of with no voltage tweak. Start by increasing core clock only, let's say 100 and run a bench (preferably Unigine Heaven, for me it always crashes first compared to 3DMark, so it's more close to what I can get for everyday use in games). If it passes, increase by 10, if it fail, decrease by 10. After you find the max oc w/o added voltage, do the mem same way. Then you can start increasing voltage, either you can go to the max 100mV and try to find the best core clock or you can do it by steps like 50mV, 75mV. Of course, put the fan at 100% while you bench.
I'm @ +150 core with +75mV and +550 on mem for everyday use, but I go way higher for benching, especially 3DMark Fire strike lol. You can already set a custom fan curve for daily use, default is not that great and you don't want to be @ 100% all the time lol. My temperatures were going crazy so I goes to water cooling anyway.


----------



## fantaziz

Kimir you're so much helpfull !!!

But what is the power target slide in Afterburner ??



And is it helpfull to tweak other voltage settings like memory voltage and aux voltage ?



Thanks


----------



## Kimir

Ah yeah, power limit, set it to 130-150 or more (doesn't matter, will never require that much anyway).
It's been "proven" that reducing the PLL to -100mV, you could achieve better overclock, memory voltage does not seems to be any useful by most of us, increasing/decreasing does not help (me) getting better memory frequency, you may try when you got your max mem oc.


----------



## fantaziz

PLL ? You mean aux voltage ?

Yeah I suck


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> PLL ? You mean aux voltage ?
> 
> Yeah I suck


Yes, the Aux sorry.







Quote:


> AB Version 2.0.0 release note
> - Voltage control layer has been seriously revamped to give additional freedom
> to extreme overclockers with new custom design MSI graphics cards. Now MSI
> Afterburner is able to control up to 3 voltages on custom design MSI Fermi
> and other future custom design MSI graphics cards. New adjustable voltages
> include memory voltage and special multi-purpose _auxiliary voltage feeding
> either memory bus (also known as VDDCI on AMD graphics cards) or PCIE bus
> and crystal (PEXVDD on NVIDIA graphics cards)_
> 
> Alexey Nicolaychuk aka Unwinder, RivaTuner creator


----------



## fantaziz

Okay ! What is your average framerate in Heaven benchmark ? I got 49 FPS without OC !! (directX 11, extreme tesselation, high shaders, anisotropy x16, Antialiasing x8, and 1920x1080 in full screen)


----------



## fantaziz

Anyway.... How many 680 have you got ? Does a SLI as a good investment ?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> Okay ! What is your average framerate in Heaven benchmark ? I got 49 FPS without OC !! (directX 11, extreme tesselation, high shaders, anisotropy x16, Antialiasing x8, and 1920x1080 in full screen)


Can't tell you, my pc is waiting for water cooling part right now, should have it all this Friday. Will be the 2nd week w/o my pc







Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> Anyway.... How many 680 have you got ? Does a SLI as a good investment ?


I've got two 680, I was with two 580 but one of them had a problem and after months of waiting, the shop "upgraded" my 580 SLI setup to the same price range of 680, so I choosed the MSI








I don't plan to get Titan or whatever is coming so, I'd say I'm happy with what I've got now (this is why I put everything on water cooling).


----------



## fantaziz

Okay ! But getting a second 680 is like 2x performance ? And which power supply do I need to run this SLI ? (are you french ?







)


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> Okay ! But getting a second 680 is like 2x performance ? And which power supply do I need to run this SLI ? (are you french ?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


No, you won't gain 2x the perf you've got with one. Check some review like this one by guru3d, some games really like SLI, some other don't.
As for the power supply, a 850w should be enough, but it's more about the amps of the rail(s).
I had an Enermax Platimax 850w (still have it, in spare), but it has 4 rails of 30A, and the 680 needs 38A (the 580 needed 42A, I had shutdown cause of that), so one rail ain't enough. Now with the Platimax 1000w with one single rail of 83A, it's no problem.
Yes I am French (see my Location







)


----------



## fantaziz

What is the best power supply for this SLI then ? Because 1000w is a bit too much no ? Maybe this one ?http://www.materiel.net/alimentation-pour-pc/antec-hcg-900w-62026.html (au fait je suis français aussi


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> Ok ! Thank for your help kimir
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now I have flashed my bios to the 80.04.28.00.3a one...
> 
> What are safe overclock settings that every 680 lightning should be able to run ? I just want to have the maximum performance, not push it beyond the limits
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank for your help


For me, "safe" = the voltage and temp I'm comfortable with for everyday use. I think most would agree. Make the OC fit the voltage and temp you are comfortable with. You can turn up voltage to +100 for benchmarking, to see what the gpu will do. But for everyday use, I choose a target voltage, meaning a target temp, and tweak until I get the core freq as high as I can, stable, at that target. For me, the target is +50mv, which yields about 1.240v under extreme load with excellent temps, all under 60c regardless of load. This worked out to +108 -- about 60mhz lower than my highest stable clock (+168), but by not pushing the core so hard I was able to push the mem another +200 to +700, so I got back a little of the lost performance. Everyone will have a different value for the voltage/temp they are comfortable with for everyday use. Choose the voltage and temp that *you* can live with, and make the OC fit.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> What is the best power supply for this SLI then ? Because 1000w is a bit too much no ? Maybe this one ?http://www.materiel.net/alimentation-pour-pc/antec-hcg-900w-62026.html (au fait je suis français aussi


yeah 1000w is overkill with 680, even OC'ed, see this topic.
I recommend you a modular one, 80+ Gold preferably, this one should be good if you are on budget and this one would be top the top notch. There is also the brand preference, I don't really like Antec








(woohoo, un frenchie







)

Totally agree with you wiredg, I'm more concern of the temp than the voltage tho.


----------



## fantaziz

My GTX 680 lighning can't handle more than +90 Core clock and +210 Memory Clock even at +100mV of core voltage...







Is it normal ?


----------



## SK019

Just did the artmoney hack to break 1400 MHz, and while benching with Unigine Valley everything works fine for about half of the bench (scene 8 - 9), but after that fps drop to 15-20. The bench finishes without crashing and artifacts, but with very poor score. Gpu usage, voltage, core and memory aren't showing any drops. Any ideas? I'm using stock cooler, 100 % fan speed, temps never go above 66 C.

Thanks in advance.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> My GTX 680 lighning can't handle more than +90 Core clock and +210 Memory Clock even at +100mV of core voltage...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is it normal ?


Which AB are you using? Did you move the bios switch to LN2?


----------



## juanjux

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> My GTX 680 lighning can't handle more than +90 Core clock and +210 Memory Clock even at +100mV of core voltage...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is it normal ?


I think it is. My new lightning needs +69mv to go +80clock. I've still to play with the memory but +300 seem to be stable (didn't try higher). I'll probably settle at 1280 because I'm not comfortable going much higher than the 1.28v it's currently using.

My ASIC = 77.5%. I think that these companies use the best binned chips for the early adopters so they do free marketing commenting how good the ASIC is and how much overclock and then after a time they use worse chips. It was the same with the Sapphire 7970 Ghz Vapor-X, the first ones (I had one) had a really good ASIC score for everybody on the forums, later (I also had one when the first one broke) people starting to get cards with ASIC in the lower 60 (my second one was a 65%).


----------



## fantaziz

SK019, I use the 80.04.28.00.3a bios (flashed it yesterday)

juanjux, .......this is not cool


----------



## Kimir

Just to be sure, you are using AB 2.3.1, did you edited your card profile, the cfg file?
see page 1 if you didn't (the Tweaking Afterburner 2.2.4).


----------



## dph314

Well guys, this has been one of the most fun threads I've been a part of in a long while. Finding out new things, new limits, seeing all the insane overclocks and scores... was all a blast. Instead of asking who will be upgrading to the 780 Lightning though, my question has been slightly altered due to recent events that I'm sure you're all aware of by now. The new question is - Who will be going with a _Titan_? Especially all of those of you with crazy overclockers. If Titan is really 50% better than a 680, while at stock on top of it, that means that even with a 1400mhz Lightning, Titan will still be roughly a 35% boost in performance. And that's not taking into account the crazy overclocks that I've seen the Titan hitting (as high as 40% on air...).

So, I fully plan on upgrading. Already sold one of my Lightnings, and will be selling the +1400mhz one soon too (PM me with an offer if you or anyone you know would like an awesome overclocker). So...anyone else here planning on putting their Lightning(s) on the market because of Big Kepler?


----------



## FtW 420

I plan on getting a Titan, & may sell off one of the 680 Lightnings. I always have to keep one for the collection though.


----------



## DJRamses

I dont think , i buy the first Titan on Market. I wait a little....


----------



## wiredg

I don't know. 50% better could be a marketing exaggeration. I'm with DJRamses; let's see how well the reality matches the marketing copywriters' promises. And even if it's true, it's not 50% more expensive; it's double the cost. I'd sooner get another 680L and run sli. It would perform at least as well, and cost the same. One Titan seems only to be better than two 680s in terms of power consumption, which I admit isn't nothing, but it doesn't motivate me to sell one card to afford another, when I can simply spend another €520 and get something perhaps even better.


----------



## FtW 420

With the 680s it was easy to wait for lightnings since the 680 wasn't as good as the 7970 at launch. Titan is looking to be better so will grab a reference early to play with, & see about a good non-reference if they come out. If there is a Titan Lightning, getting one of those then!


----------



## DJRamses

If MSI realy made a Lighting of Titan... I buy it !
The Titan have Performance... but the low Clocks....make me thinking. I want to see how high the Titan can OC.
6 VRM´s for a Chip with 2688 Cuda Cores? I let me surprising..
I


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> If MSI realy made a Lighting of Titan... I buy it !
> The Titan have Performance... but the low Clocks....make me thinking. I want to see how high the Titan can OC.
> 6 VRM´s for a Chip with 2688 Cuda Cores? I let me surprising..
> I


The way the boost is supposed to be tied to temperature more than power interests me, making me wonder just how well the card does when good & chilly.
A non-reference PCB like lightning would be great though, reference 7970 the VRM can just get cooking hot with extra volts & clocks, 7970 Lightning is much better there (never tried a ref. 680 to compare).


----------



## Phishy714

It really depends for me. If a highly overclocked TITAN comes within 10-15% of my lightnings at 1389mhz, I will get it and sell the lightings. Also pm me if you would be interested in a pair! I have great heatware! Lol.

But that would be the only time I would sell. It would allow me to go from a huge case to matx with possibility of sli later.


----------



## Kimir

Nop, I never plan to buy things that are not released yet. And blah the reference board.








Anyway, my last desktop PC was a P4 Prescott , P4P800 SE and ATI Radeon X850XT platinium all Asetek watercooled. (in between my actual desktop pc, I got the Dell laptop I'm using right now, since I'm waiting for watercooling parts to get home). I don't thing I will change anything anythime soon for now, will save few years and see if intel release 8 cores socket 2012 or w/e they are up to.


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> If MSI realy made a Lighting of Titan... I buy it !
> The Titan have Performance... but the low Clocks....make me thinking. I want to see how high the Titan can OC.
> 6 VRM´s for a Chip with 2688 Cuda Cores? I let me surprising..
> I
> 
> 
> 
> The way the boost is supposed to be tied to temperature more than power interests me, making me wonder just how well the card does when good & chilly.
> A non-reference PCB like lightning would be great though, reference 7970 the VRM can just get cooking hot with extra volts & clocks, 7970 Lightning is much better there (never tried a ref. 680 to compare).
Click to expand...

Interests me as well. But I'm wondering...will someone at a temperature of 15C get the same voltage/clocks as someone at 79C, if the Temp Target is set at 80C? Like I think that all they mean is it won't _go down_ if the temp is within range, but maybe it doesn't exactly go much _higher_ either.

I've heard a couple places say that the BIOS will be locking the cards at up to 1.2v depending on the partner, giving us a measly 38mv of overvoltage at most to play with. I'm hoping this can't be right, as Nvidia actually has the word "Overvoltage" on their site for the first time in a damn long while, and reviewers have been saying that comments from Nvidia were along the lines of "We gave you Titan because many of you enthusiasts wanted to have fun". So, I know someone can just edit the BIOS, but still, depends on what the hardware is locking the voltage at then at that point.

So...who knows. It's overclock on the stock voltage will turn it into an even bigger monster, but actually having more than 38mv to play with would make this beast worth every cent.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Interests me as well. But I'm wondering...will someone at a temperature of 15C get the same voltage/clocks as someone at 79C, if the Temp Target is set at 80C? Like I think that all they mean is it won't _go down_ if the temp is within range, but maybe it doesn't exactly go much _higher_ either.
> 
> I've heard a couple places say that the BIOS will be locking the cards at up to 1.2v depending on the partner, giving us a measly 38mv of overvoltage at most to play with. I'm hoping this can't be right, as Nvidia actually has the word "Overvoltage" on their site for the first time in a damn long while, and reviewers have been saying that comments from Nvidia were along the lines of "We gave you Titan because many of you enthusiasts wanted to have fun". So, I know someone can just edit the BIOS, but still, depends on what the hardware is locking the voltage at then at that point.
> 
> So...who knows. It's overclock on the stock voltage will turn it into an even bigger monster, but actually having more than 38mv to play with would make this beast worth every cent.


At 15°C it should do higher clocks than at 79°, almost every card behaves like that to some degree. Water didn't help 680s too much but it did make a small difference in clocks at the same voltage, colder yet made more difference (& allows more voltage).
Voltage can always be increased, but at that cost it does get scarier taking the soldering iron to a card. Also have to see how it would need to be modded, a simple VR isn't bad, VID modding would suck!


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> With the 680s it was easy to wait for lightnings since the 680 wasn't as good as the 7970 at launch. Titan is looking to be better so will grab a reference early to play with, & see about a good non-reference if they come out. If there is a Titan Lightning, getting one of those then!


I second that, reference to play with until we see what custom boards become available. Man the tables are about to turn on the bench scores, can't miss out on them.


----------



## fantaziz

The card overclocks really bad for me... I can go to +90 Core clock and + 200 Memory clock without voltage tweaking, but even if I put the Core voltage to +100mV it changes nothing I can't go higher than these values !







SAD !


----------



## fantaziz

Hey Kimir ! I really don't understand what's going on because I think my Physic score (CPU) is pretty low in 3DMark 11 (2x lower than yours) and 20% lower than it should be !!! Do you know a software where I can "benchmark my CPU" and compare it to others ?

Thanks


----------



## Kimir

I have a 3930k not a 2600k, you can't compare those on physics lol. Your physics seems correct from what you can see on 3DMark11 results of others.
See:
3.8Ghz ~ 9000 physics
4Ghz ~ 9500 physics
You need at least 5ghz to get near to 12k physics.
It's more weird about you OC capability of the lightning, did you edited the cfg? asked a page ago you might have skipped it.


----------



## fantaziz

Editing the Cfg is for bypass the voltage limitation right ? To go above the +100mV limit ?
Because many people can go to +180 Core Clock with only +50mV


----------



## fantaziz

So I think the voltage bypass is not necessary


----------



## DJRamses

Nice....

only 2 Titans kills 2 Asus Ares II (4 GPU)...
http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/2527/14883039.png


----------



## fantaziz

Isn't it ?


----------



## fantaziz

Nobody ?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> Editing the Cfg is for bypass the voltage limitation right ? To go above the +100mV limit ?
> Because many people can go to +180 Core Clock with only +50mV


yes that, and no one is the last pages can get 180 with only +50mV
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> So I think the voltage bypass is not necessary


It is absolutely necessary if you want to really overclock.
Without it, I can't get more than 1298Mhz with boost kickin' in.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Nice....
> 
> only 2 Titans kills 2 Asus Ares II (4 GPU)...
> http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/2527/14883039.png


meh, I can get 20k with my 680, I'm disappointed.


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> meh, I can get 20k with my 680, I'm disappointed.


Stock?

And i dont think you kill two Ares (4GPU) with 2 Stock GTX680 (Referenz)


----------



## fantaziz

I think there is somtething that I don't understand XD

You said you can Go to +150 Core Clock with +75mV Core voltage so the Voltage bypass is not needed (because the bypass is to go further than +100mV Core Voltage, right ?)


----------



## Smakki

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> I think there is somtething that I don't understand XD


You need to do the cfgedit to get the voltage slider bar work. Thats why you cant oc anymore with +100mv because you arent actually changing the voltage at all


----------



## fantaziz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Smakki*
> 
> You need to do the cfgedit to get the voltage slider bar work. Thats why you cant oc anymore with +100mv because you arent actually changing the voltage at all


Thank you Smaki I'm so stupid XD


----------



## fantaziz

How do I know if the bypass worked ?









And does it works with after burner 2.3.1 ?


----------



## alancsalt

fantaziz, please, if no one has posted after you, just edit new thoughts into your last post, otherwise you're kinda spamming the thread.


----------



## fantaziz

Ok sorry....









So, does the bypass works with after burner 2.3.1 ?

And how do I know if the bypass worked ?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> Ok sorry....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So, does the bypass works with after burner 2.3.1 ?
> 
> And how do I know if the bypass worked ?


Like I said few pages ago, see page 1 about afterburner 2.2.4 tweak, it's the same.
How to know? try higher OC, simply


----------



## fantaziz

Okay ! BTW do you know a good guide to overclock my i7 2600k ? Because there are too much options in the BIOS and I am a bit lost


----------



## Kimir

Quick search on the box above:
http://www.overclock.net/t/910467/the-ultimate-sandy-bridge-oc-guide-p67a-ud7-performance-review


----------



## fantaziz

I can't do with this guide because my BIOS is COMPLETLY different... Also I don't have a P67 chipset but a Z68 one
See my motherboard: http://fr.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68V/


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> It really depends for me. If a highly overclocked TITAN comes within 10-15% of my lightnings at 1389mhz, I will get it and sell the lightings. Also pm me if you would be interested in a pair! I have great heatware! Lol.
> 
> But that would be the only time I would sell. It would allow me to go from a huge case to matx with possibility of sli later.


You run those clocks 24/7? What voltage and for how long?


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> You run those clocks 24/7? What voltage and for how long?


24/7 yup.

I max out voltage on MSI AB - never really bothered to look at exactly how much they were using, but I can take a look when I get home. Under water, they never go above 60C

Unfortunately my cards don't do great on the memory. Highest I have been able to do is +400mhz - where as I have seen people regularly get +500.

At this point, I have to see how the TITAN's smoother frames do compared to the lightnings - my buddy is grabbing a TITAN so I will have to borrow that and bench it myself and all that good stuff. Kinda disappointed in the performance tbh, but we'll see.


----------



## DJRamses

Kingpin makes overkill with Titan:
http://kingpincooling.com/forum/showthread.php?p=24706#post24706

I ve no words....


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Kingpin makes overkill with Titan:
> http://kingpincooling.com/forum/showthread.php?p=24706#post24706
> 
> I ve no words....


Yep, now thats impressive, he blasted every record lol. Looking forward to results with H2O, cause you know LN2...


----------



## DJRamses

I think AMD dominated Time is over...







Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Yep, now thats impressive, he blasted every record lol. Looking forward to results with H2O, cause you know LN2...


Here is a asus under Air:
http://hwbot.org/submission/2359099_hokiealumnus_3dmark11___performance_geforce_gtx_titan_14623_marks


----------



## AngryCoder

NEW

Username: AngryCoder
Max Core OC: 1372 Mhz
Max Memory OC: 7298 Mhz effective



New guy here. Just really needed to post my results with this amazing card. So easy to work with.


----------



## DJRamses

oops..
i post so many Times here... and i am not a Lightning club owner...


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> I think AMD dominated Time is over...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here is a asus under Air:
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2359099_hokiealumnus_3dmark11___performance_geforce_gtx_titan_14623_marks


Hmm, not bad, I guess that monster in some kind of Lightning version and under water, could go up to 1200Mhz, but still, dat price tag








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> oops..
> i post so many Times here... and i am not a Lightning club owner...


If you mean you are not on the list on first page, it's doesn't seems to be updated anymore, so...


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AngryCoder*
> 
> NEW
> 
> Username: AngryCoder
> Max Core OC: 1372 Mhz
> Max Memory OC: 7298 Mhz effective
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> New guy here. Just really needed to post my results with this amazing card. So easy to work with.


Great score (well the graphic score, you are limited by CPU now







) and cool temps







ftw


----------



## Viktor5748

THANKS IN ADVANCE TO ANYONE WILLING TO TRY AND HELP ME ... This one's kinda long. I'm having a little trouble with my 2 x MSI GTX 680 Lightnings and I've tried everything I can think of and I've read like 200+ pages on this thread with no help... I just built my rig a week ago and I have 2 680 Lightnings in SLI running on (PCIe 3.0 x8/x8)... well, I've been trying to overclock them but I'm still a beginner... I flashed the LN2 Bios to the 3A unlocked Bios... I downloaded the latest Nvidia Drivers... I also downloaded the latest MSI Afterburner (and even tried 2.3.3 with no luck), CPU-Z, and GPU-Z.... I unlocked the voltage control, and voltage monitoring in "settings" in MSI AB.... I changed the two lines to unlock the Unofficial Overclock thing in the "Afterburner.cfg" file... and I started trying to Overclock it based off what others have done... I maxed out all the voltages, and the Power Limit as far as they would go, and I started at +190 Core Clock, and +525 Memory Clock and it worked fine and was stable... then I tried going up on the Core Clock until it was no longer stable and then backing off a little.... Well, My issue is... Even with combinations where the core clock is at +250 or even higher... The changes show up aross the GPU Clock row numbers on GPU-Z (dont think they're totally accurate) but on both GPU-Z AND AFTERBURNER the Sensor graphs are saying that I NEVER go over 1202MHz (or like 1201.9) no matter how far I overclock the CORE CLOCK on both of the Lightnings. (The Memory Overclocks show up in the sensor graphs KINDA accurate sometimes).. BUT once I up the CORE CLOCK to up past +275MHz or so its Immediatly UNSTABLE... but it STILL shows up at 1202MHz on the Sensor Graphs. I've been racking my brain on this for days.... Any answers or help or ideas would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!! I just want to have these core clock speeds everyone else is getting instead of being stuck at 1202MHz. and only being able to get results on the Memory side of the tracks. There's no reason that I can think of why it's stuck at 1202MHz and no higher, but can still get unstable if I try clock the Core too high even though it doesn't show up...

My Build Info should all be right here under this... - Viktor


----------



## DJRamses

For the startpost:
Username: DJRamses
Max. tested Clock: 1581Mhz 1598Mhz possible. Full run later!
Max Mem : 7328Mhz


----------



## Viktor5748

I dont think my rig showed up on the bottom of my last post, so just in case it didn't... Here it is. I built this a week ago off of Newegg

Cooler Master Storm Series Trooper
Intel Core i7-3770K Processor O.C.'d to 5.0GHz (100MHz x 50 @ I think like 1.43V)
ASRock Z77 OC Formula LGA 1155 E-ATX Motherboard
16GB (2 x 8GB) G.Skill Trident X DDR3-2400MHz RAM
Corsair Force Series GS 240GB SATA 6GB/s Solid State Drive
Western Digital WD Black 1TB 7,200RPM SATA 6GB/s Hard Disk Drive
Corsair Hydro Series H100i CPU Water Cooler
*2 x MSI GeForce GTX 680 Lightning Graphics Cards in SLI*
Corsair HX1050 1050Watt Modular Power Supply
LITE-ON Internal Blu-Ray Player / DVD+RW / CD+RW
Internet ran through Ethernet Cat5 to Onboard Ethernet (Dish Network DSL)

Vizio E500i-A1 50" LED Backlit LCD HDTV Flat Screen Television (Primary Monitor) (HDMI) (1920x1080 / 1080p 60Hz)
Acer 24" LED Flat Screen Monitor (Secondary Monitor) (HDMI) (1920x1080 / 1080p 60Hz)

Crap Keyboard / Mouse Combo & a XBOX 360 Controller


----------



## rankftw

I am using AB 2.3.1 and have it modded so I can up the voltage. It seems to be working fine for my GPU1 but doesn't work for my GPU2. Do I need to add any other lines to mod AB in order for it to work?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Viktor5748*
> 
> THANKS IN ADVANCE TO ANYONE WILLING TO TRY AND HELP ME ... This one's kinda long. I'm having a little trouble with my 2 x MSI GTX 680 Lightnings and I've tried everything I can think of and I've read like 200+ pages on this thread with no help... I just built my rig a week ago and I have 2 680 Lightnings in SLI running on (PCIe 3.0 x8/x8)... well, I've been trying to overclock them but I'm still a beginner... I flashed the LN2 Bios to the 3A unlocked Bios... I downloaded the latest Nvidia Drivers... I also downloaded the latest MSI Afterburner (and even tried 2.3.3 with no luck), CPU-Z, and GPU-Z.... I unlocked the voltage control, and voltage monitoring in "settings" in MSI AB.... I changed the two lines to unlock the Unofficial Overclock thing in the "Afterburner.cfg" file... and I started trying to Overclock it based off what others have done... I maxed out all the voltages, and the Power Limit as far as they would go, and I started at +190 Core Clock, and +525 Memory Clock and it worked fine and was stable... then I tried going up on the Core Clock until it was no longer stable and then backing off a little.... Well, My issue is... Even with combinations where the core clock is at +250 or even higher... The changes show up aross the GPU Clock row numbers on GPU-Z (dont think they're totally accurate) but on both GPU-Z AND AFTERBURNER the Sensor graphs are saying that I NEVER go over 1202MHz (or like 1201.9) no matter how far I overclock the CORE CLOCK on both of the Lightnings. (The Memory Overclocks show up in the sensor graphs KINDA accurate sometimes).. BUT once I up the CORE CLOCK to up past +275MHz or so its Immediatly UNSTABLE... but it STILL shows up at 1202MHz on the Sensor Graphs. I've been racking my brain on this for days.... Any answers or help or ideas would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!! I just want to have these core clock speeds everyone else is getting instead of being stuck at 1202MHz. and only being able to get results on the Memory side of the tracks. There's no reason that I can think of why it's stuck at 1202MHz and no higher, but can still get unstable if I try clock the Core too high even though it doesn't show up...
> 
> My Build Info should all be right here under this... - Viktor


+275 on the core? it's probably crashing, no 680 lightning is doing that on air with only the +100 voltage added. You can set whatever clocks you want & see them in gpu-z, but it is likely crashing as soon as the gpu goes into high power state.

I'm a bit disappoint in Titan, great card, but expensive & needs very heavy hardmodding to really see the benching potential.


----------



## Viktor5748

well at +275 Core clock on my Afterburner it's only putting it at GPU Core Clock 1281MHz and 1334 Boost Clock...OR SO IT SAYS!! But it still only maxes at 1202MHz on the Sensor Graphs. And it's not crashing at all... I can play real graphics intensive games and it doesn't crash. I think something's messed up somewhere... I'm a total NEWB when it comes to all this, so bare with me. I don't know what to do.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> +275 on the core? it's probably crashing, no 680 lightning is doing that on air with only the +100 voltage added. You can set whatever clocks you want & see them in gpu-z, but it is likely crashing as soon as the gpu goes into high power state.
> 
> *I'm a bit disappoint in Titan, great card, but expensive & needs very heavy hardmodding to really see the benching potential*.


I agree. So much so that I really am contemplating two or three 680 Lightnings instead...


----------



## FtW 420

On the ln2 bios gpu-z will normally show 1006/1502/1059 at stock, with boost it runs at 1201.9 core clock. As you add +100 it should boost to 1300 core clock & so on. If your card can get upwards of +200 with extra voltage it would be doing pretty good for air cooled.


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rankftw*
> 
> I am using AB 2.3.1 and have it modded so I can up the voltage. It seems to be working fine for my GPU1 but doesn't work for my GPU2. Do I need to add any other lines to mod AB in order for it to work?


You have to add the lines to BOTH profiles (one for each card)


----------



## Bosniac

Can someone modify my BIOS please? I have the F7 bios, and not sure if I should change the L2N or non L2N bios. In any case, I just want to increase my max core to 1320, and +400 memory. My card can OC to 1390 in L2N, but some games crash with MSi AB, so I Can't OC it.


----------



## Viktor5748

Why doesn't it show up on the graph when I go +100, or +200, or even +275... it still says 1201.9 Maxed out... and I notice NO difference at all in performance. (I know I might not notice any difference even if it IS working) That's what I can't figure out. When other overclockers post up their Sensor graphs from Aterburner it actually shows the Overclocked value on the graphs. Is there some step I missed to allow the core clock to be increased? Or is there something wrong with my cards? I really appreciate your replies. I'm getting pretty frustrated with this.


----------



## Viktor5748

The 3A Bios does allow Core Overclocking, doesn't it??


----------



## Menthol

Actually there are 2 3a bioses, one locked, the one on first page is unlocked, I would try uninstalling afterburner without saving profiles. reinstall and see if that helps, for ease of overvolting without adding anything in AB install 2.2.3 and give it another go.


----------



## Kimir

Either way, if you put some crazy core clock, it will end up crashing or throttle like hell and stick to 1202 max. Lucky you if you don't black screen and need to restart the pc like I do.


----------



## Gallien

Other than AB extreme and the less than ideal AB hack....How can I get past the 100+50 mv limit?


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> I agree. So much so that I really am contemplating two or three 680 Lightnings instead...


I'm shocked...*shocked*...to learn that the Titan might not live up to its marketing hype or the breathless reviews by "journalists" whose income depends on hardware makers' advertising dollars. Or that two 680s, which cost the same, perform 1.5x as well. *Shocked*, I tell you. Who could have foreseen this?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Gallien*
> 
> Other than AB extreme and the less than ideal AB hack....How can I get past the 100+50 mv limit?


Other than ABX or the artmoney hack, it's the soldering iron & a 100 ohm VR for full voltage control.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> I'm shocked...*shocked*...to learn that the Titan might not live up to its marketing hype or the breathless reviews by "journalists" whose income depends on hardware makers' advertising dollars. Or that two 680s, which cost the same, perform 1.5x as well. *Shocked*, I tell you. Who could have foreseen this?


It is still the new top dog single gpu. Without any modding it will beat a single 680, & beat the 7970 in all but a few benches.
I was hoping for more out of a $1000 gpu though. I don't mind doing some soldering to a new card, but to set new records with the Titan kingpin had to do some very serious modding. 4 solder points or something I'm OK with, 40 is a bit much.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Yeah, and its not exactly like Kingpin has to come up with the money for the hardware he's modding either...


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Yeah, and its not exactly like Kingpin has to come up with the money for the hardware he's modding either...


Exactly, & the more expensive a card gets the more scary it is taking the iron to it. I have killed one new card just having an off day with the soldering.
Looking at my post above I should clarify that the 7970 can beat the Titan in a few benchies still with Hwbot rules, default settings Titan should come out ahead (haven't seen all benchies to really know yet, can't judge just by kingpin results, it's Kingpin...).


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

I still think the 7970 fares favorably against the Titan, considering the fact that its a much smaller die GPU, its over a year old and its supposedly a less efficient architecture than Kepler. AMD may be onto something when they said they weren't worried about the 7970 being their highest performing video card for the rest of the year if this is the best Nvidia can come up with.

That said, the Titan is still unquestionably the single GPU king bringing the title back to Nvidia legitimately for the first time since the GTX 580 held it. Hoping to get my hands on a couple myself.


----------



## John Shepard

Hi everyone i am new here and i came looking for some overclocking advice.
Alright so i got a gtx 680 lightning a few months ago.After successfully flashing the locked ln2 bios to version 3A i decided to do some oc.
Unfortunately my card is not a good overclocker.
For days i've been playing with the settings trying to hit a stable 1400Mhz on the core but it doesn't seem possible.
I've got the voltage set at +250mv,mem voltage at +10,power at 300%,core is at +200Mhz,mem at +400Mhz.The temperatures are still acceptable(max 74c on the core,62c vrms,56c memory)
Now unigine 4 doesn't crash but i get artifacts and i've noticed the core throttling from 1398Mhz down 1320 or less.On the other hand 3d mark just crashes.
If i increase the voltage further it get no artifacts but the throttling still happens and the temps are just too much for me.(80c+ on the core)
Could it be that my psu doesn't deliver enough power to it? because according to afterburner when the throttling happens the power is at 100%-105%
I've got the card connected to a quality 650w psu(54a on single 12v rail) using an 8pin and a 6pin(adaptor that came with the card) But I've also got lot's of harddrives,fans and a very highly overlcoked i7 920 that pulls a lot of wattage witch doesn't leave me with much headroom on the gpu.

Any tips would be highly appreciated!


----------



## DJRamses

14K graphic score cracked..


----------



## fantaziz

Hey I did the voltage bypass with MSI afterburner 2.3.1, and it seems that voltage isn't changing.... Still locked to 1,212....

Need some help









EDIT: Finally fixed it... Removed and Installed it again.... x)


----------



## Smakki

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *John Shepard*
> 
> The temperatures are still *acceptable(max 74c* on the core,62c vrms,56c memory)
> Now unigine 4 doesn't crash but i get artifacts and i've noticed the core throttling from 1398Mhz down 1320 or less.


No its not acceptable, the card with throttle back after 70c


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Smakki*
> 
> No its not acceptable, the card with throttle back after 70c


Are you sure? mine didn't throttle even at 80°c on air


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Smakki*
> 
> No its not acceptable, the card with throttle back after 70c


No it won't with the LN2 bios!


----------



## damstr

I preordered a Titan but they don't seem like great overclockers. Might just get another Lightning. Thoughts? Only gaming at 1920x1080P.

Edit I just realized I could actually buy 2 more lightnings for the price I paid for the single Titan. Hmmmm


----------



## Smakki

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Phishy714*
> 
> No it won't with the LN2 bios!


Im sorry then, somehow missed that


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *damstr*
> 
> I preordered a Titan but they don't seem like great overclockers. Might just get another Lightning. Thoughts? Only gaming at 1920x1080P.
> 
> *Edit I just realized I could actually buy 2 more lightnings for the price I paid for the single Titan. Hmmmm*


Yep, that. The Titan price is totally crazy, and reference board... no thanks
Better wait and see for Lightning/ROG/Classified version.


----------



## CryptiK

no ROG/Classy versions apparently just the SC and Hydrocopper.


----------



## damstr

I thought I read somewhere that other manufactures wouldn't be able to allow voltage control or is that wrong?


----------



## Terzzi

It seems that my GTX680 wont come back anymore after maintenance... MSI dosnt anymore build those cards so they suggest new card for me.. Asus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 DirectCU II TOP. Good card but when I compare my 3Dmark fire strike result for that card there is in graphic score almost 1000points difference. Well maybe I get that Assus and try to sell it and get 2GPU graphic card...


----------



## Vaerwind

My Lightning is no longer overvolting past 1.212v when on the LN2 bios and I have no idea why.

Driver: 314.07
Bios: 80.04.09.00.F8 Unlocked LN2
Afterburner Version 2.3.0

The only thing I can think of is that I need to either update AB but I heard you need to change some files to unlock voltage control in the newer one or that I need to roll back my drivers.

Edit: It seems that I accidentally updated AB to 2.3.0. The thread's first post references a certain AB 2.2.3. Is AB 2.3 the locked one?

Yeah, that was the issue. I rolled back to AB 2.2.3 and got my overvoltage back.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> 14K graphic score cracked..


Dang, getting close to my ln2 clocks & graphics score man! How cold does that water chiller run?
Great work!


----------



## DJRamses

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Dang, getting close to my ln2 clocks & graphics score man! How cold does that water chiller run?
> Great work!


Not Chiller... Mother Nature..









Radis are outside at -5°C . (balcony Mod)
Idle Temp of Lightning : around 0°C.

Wanna make a new run to night..








with more cpu clock


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

What kind of scores are you guys seeing in the usual benches with SLI Lightnings under water? Anybody?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Dang, getting close to my ln2 clocks & graphics score man! How cold does that water chiller run?
> Great work!


I set in between you 2



But my Graphics score is lower


----------



## DJRamses

The "low" Physics Scoring damaged my graphic score. The Pointsystem is a little bit Crazy.
It is a Videocard Benchmark. But you loose any challenge if you have a low Physicsscore.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

My lackluster memory always kills my physics score...


----------



## uci2ci

Hi everyone

I just purchased the lightning. I got a couple of questions for the club.

Does msi support the new locked cards if the old ln2 bios is flashed? Failing that, Can it be reverted back to the locked bios without msi knowing?

What kind of OC potential does the "locked" card have?

Does unlocked OCing create much noise over the factory settings?

I value queitness more than extreme overclocking, and i must say i am extremely impressed with this card. I had a reference 670 that sounded like a leaf blower. I returned it and got the msi and i think it was well worth the 200 dollar price dif. I did notice however that this card coil whines a tad bit. I noticed it during the Windows Exprrience Index test, the Triangle of Death MSI Kombustor test, and the opening credits of Crysis 2 ( crytech, nvidia plug). Its most noticable during WEI. Is this normal for the MSI 680 ? I have read that the 7970 cards do it very often, but only come across a couple of examples for the 680 lightning in youtube vids, nothing else. Im wondering if i got a bad card.

I am a console gamer turned PC gamer, so i appreciate your patience if my questions are a tad noobinsh. Im typing on my phone so pardon any bad grammer as well

Thanks


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> What kind of scores are you guys seeing in the usual benches with SLI Lightnings under water? Anybody?


3930k & 2 x 680 lightning boostred to 1400 core scores about 21k for me in 3d11, I still have a lot of benching to do with the 680s .
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> The "low" Physics Scoring damaged my graphic score. The Pointsystem is a little bit Crazy.
> It is a Videocard Benchmark. But you loose any challenge if you have a low Physicsscore.


Dual channel on a triple channel rig, I know it has a pretty good effect on 2d scores, & probably has some effect on the physics score.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

If you get around to it FtW would you run through the Valley bench with dual 680 Lightnings?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> If you get around to it FtW would you run through the Valley bench with dual 680 Lightnings?


I'm hoping to bench the sli 680s & 3930 a bit tonight, still need a vantage score for the team comp at hwbot & can run valley while at it.


----------



## setza

Finally finished my new water cooled pc. Will try to hit 1400 today









Will posts pics in a bit.


----------



## Menthol

My best 3D11 sli was this



Vantage was this



I haven't benched with any latest drivers, not records but respectable I guess

Unigine Was this


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Finally finished my new water cooled pc. Will try to hit 1400 today
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Will posts pics in a bit.


Please run Valley 1.0, Heaven 4.0, 3dmark11 and Vantage if you get the chance. I'm thinking of going SLI 680 Lightnings under water and want to compare scores to my 7970's. I think they'll be close but I really just want to switch back to Nvidia for a while.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

How on earth did you get a 26k GPU score with two cards???


----------



## Menthol

It takes a lot of time and effort, many bsod's, rsod's, freeze's and reboots, trying every combination of voltage and frequency settings until you hit a good combination, many many average runs for one good one. Well it takes time effort and determination. hwbot version of Unigine Heaven is still the toughest bench for me.


----------



## setza

Here is a pic of my "new" rig.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> It takes a lot of time and effort, many bsod's, rsod's, freeze's and reboots, trying every combination of voltage and frequency settings until you hit a good combination, many many average runs for one good one. Well it takes time effort and determination. hwbot version of Unigine Heaven is still the toughest bench for me.


No, I mean what cooling?


----------



## setza

Heaven score with everything in stock (cpu and gpu) Btw, would anyone tell me at what presets should i run heaven?


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

I'd use the official benchmark thread settings for the most comparable numbers.


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> I'd use the official benchmark thread settings for the most comparable numbers.


Ohhh forgot about that, thanks!

Edit: Ummm, which were the default? I moved some things.


----------



## HALA MADRID

Hi guys. Can you provide the best guide for overclocking the lightning since it has 2 bioses and voltage and what not. I managed to pass 3dmark11 with +100 core and +500 memory with 0 voltage added. earlier I was running +150 and 550 with all voltages maxed. I really need an in depth guide to overclocking cause I suck at it pls ty.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

How do we think 2 1400+MHz Lightnings would compare to two Titans? Looking to possibly bin Lightnings to find a couple of 1400+MHz cards instead of going through the horrible process of trying to find Titans.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> How on earth did you get a 26k GPU score with two cards???


At that time I had a radiator in an ice chest chilling the water.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> How do we think 2 1400+MHz Lightnings would compare to two Titans? Looking to possibly bin Lightnings to find a couple of 1400+MHz cards instead of going through the horrible process of trying to find Titans.


My guess from the reviews, unless you can get more voltage thru an unlocked bios the Titans will be powerful cards that won't be as much fun to overclock, unless a Lightning model is produced sometime. It looks to me like Nvidia has a powerhouse that is begging to be overvolted to release that power but Nvidia has chapped it. It seems to be there new strategy to milk a release for all it's worth.


----------



## fantaziz

Hey ! I can't go over +150 Core Clock and +500 memory clock even at +100 Vcore because I get too many artifacts....But it doesn't crash ....

Is it normal ?


----------



## p3gaz_001

here's my Vantage









http://i.imgur.com/t9s7Ywp.jpg


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> here's my Vantage
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://i.imgur.com/t9s7Ywp.jpg


Ciao p3gaz_001,

Come va Amigo, great score there


----------



## Davitz

With Titan's release i've crunched some numbers and i don't think i'll be upgrading to titan gpus this summer. Instead i'll be purchasing a 900D, upgrading my loop by taking out one 240mm and adding two 480mm, moving to ivy extreme with a rampage extreme and possibly getting two more lightnings for quad sli (tri sli in games with one as dedicated physx / stream assist)

Thoughts?


----------



## jamonymo

can some one help me please i want to use the new afterburner but icant seem to do the config and get it to work with vcore change so i am stuck on the 2.2.3 version, with this version everytime i close and reopen it my vcore will go down on its own

please can some one show me the config changes i need to make as i tried with the info on page one but i still could not get it to change the voltage value when i uped it thanks


----------



## zethGAF

Guys, can I hang out here? I'm kind of bummed my 680 Twin Frozr III seems to have been discontinued









edit: I'll have to post my validation


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Ciao p3gaz_001,
> 
> Come va Amigo, great score there


thanks!!!









those are the last runs with x79 platform


----------



## NamesLucky

Well, I'm back on a Lightning bug again. I did the mod that allows a H100 to be attached to my gtx 670, at max volts it only hits 37C in heaven 4.0. I'm pretty limited by the voltage lock on 670s (and modded bios don't work well with power editions due to power limit throttling). Thus I'm back to thinking about Lightnings. I've asked before, and been told the increase may be not worth it, however I'd be going from a 670 with 1333 core, and only 6300 effective memory, to whatever a lightning can do on "close to" water cooling. I also have people lined up ready to buy my 670 so thats making the decision alittle easier









So my question to you guys is, whats the average clock/mem 24/7 stable on water? I'm seeing lots of 1400s/7000mem, are these stable 24/7? Also, if anyone is thinking of selling their lightnings to move towards titans, I'd appreciate a pm, and will pay higher for a good overclocker.


----------



## damstr

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NamesLucky*
> 
> Well, I'm back on a Lightning bug again. I did the mod that allows a H100 to be attached to my gtx 670, at max volts it only hits 37C in heaven 4.0. I'm pretty limited by the voltage lock on 670s (and modded bios don't work well with power editions due to power limit throttling). Thus I'm back to thinking about Lightnings. I've asked before, and been told the increase may be not worth it, however I'd be going from a 670 with 1333 core, and only 6300 effective memory, to whatever a lightning can do on "close to" water cooling. I also have people lined up ready to buy my 670 so thats making the decision alittle easier
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So my question to you guys is, whats the average clock/mem 24/7 stable on water? I'm seeing lots of 1400s/7000mem, are these stable 24/7? Also, if anyone is thinking of selling their lightnings to move towards titans, I'd appreciate a pm, and will pay higher for a good overclocker.


Sent you a PM.


----------



## DJRamses

I am testing a other (mod)Bios:

Tcharged.rom (80.04.47.00.42)

you read me, if i ready with some tests


----------



## NoGuru

I have a 680 Twin Frozer 4 Gig and looking to trade\ or a sale for a good clocker. Let me know what you have!


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Here is a pic of my "new" rig.


Nice!!!


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NamesLucky*
> 
> Well, I'm back on a Lightning bug again. I did the mod that allows a H100 to be attached to my gtx 670, at max volts it only hits 37C in heaven 4.0. I'm pretty limited by the voltage lock on 670s (and modded bios don't work well with power editions due to power limit throttling). Thus I'm back to thinking about Lightnings. I've asked before, and been told the increase may be not worth it, however I'd be going from a 670 with 1333 core, and only 6300 effective memory, to whatever a lightning can do on "close to" water cooling. I also have people lined up ready to buy my 670 so thats making the decision alittle easier
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So my question to you guys is, whats the average clock/mem 24/7 stable on water? I'm seeing lots of 1400s/7000mem, are these stable 24/7? Also, if anyone is thinking of selling their lightnings to move towards titans, I'd appreciate a pm, and will pay higher for a good overclocker.


'

1400 core isn't normal without pushing the voltage a little more than 93mv. Mine run 1241 stock volts in SLI (just to be one notch under 100% stable), one does 1254 the other 1280 stock voltage, with +93mv one does 1398 the other well over 1400 (didnt push it). Lightnings seem to mostly have good mem, Id say +500 is average. It'll be faster than your 670 and if you can afford it and dont want a 690 or Titan, go for it.


----------



## damstr

I must have a pretty good one because mine was doing 1333mhz on the stock volts.


----------



## Tbolo

I have never submitted my ownership validation so here it is(waiting on second water block):


----------



## Scorpion667

Which was the most stable driver for you guys? I understand some of the later ones reduced stability at high OC's?


----------



## uci2ci

Heaven 4.0, before (1202/3005) and after (1347/3506). Higher mem gives me purple artifacts that pop in and out in Heaven. I was testing these at 70% percent fan. This keeps Heaven temps locked at 58 +/- 2 for both VRM and GPU for a few runs. I bumped the core higher by 10 and it crashed during scene 26 (damn you!!!) requiring me to restart. Ok, so I backed the core clock down again. Here is the weird part. I foud out that I can run Heaven 4.0 on *stock fan profile* at 1337/3506 (just 10 shy of max) through atleast 5 runs. I played Crysis 2 for a couple of hours on the above speeds at stock fan with no problems as well. I would gladly run this overclock 24/7 with stock fan profile, but I am a bit worried because in Heaven my VRM temps would reach 70. What do you guys think, is it safe to just leave it like this and enjoy fast and silent at the same time?



Edit: Here are the 3dMark11 scores.
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/6024278


----------



## JulioCesarSF

MSI Afterburner 3.0.0 Beta 5
http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html


----------



## setza

Ok, so I reached 1430 stable in 3dmark 11 and 1390 in heaven 4.0. The problem now is my cpu, for some reason it wont oc to 4.5 GHz, even at 1.39 vcore it will crash. Any ideas?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> MSI Afterburner 3.0.0 Beta 5
> http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html


The trick to voltage work on this one as well?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Ok, so I reached 1430 stable in 3dmark 11 and 1390 in heaven 4.0. The problem now is my cpu, for some reason it wont oc to 4.5 GHz, even at 1.39 vcore it will crash. Any ideas?


What CPU are you using? (you should fill in the rigbuilder) If it's a 3930k, 1.4v is usual for 4.6Ghz.


----------



## setza

It's a 2600k, and I fixed the problem. It was the UEFI bios of gigabyte, had to flash it to F12. Now it's stable at 1.35, whereas in the other bios it wouldnt boot.


----------



## jfry94

hi guys, ive just started to overclock my lightning and ive got a core clock of 1308 without increasing any voltages is this a good start?
how do i carry on overclocking from here, i mean how do i go about overclocking further by increasing the voltages and how do i overclock the memory?

any tips would be awesome.


----------



## bhines5783

Need some help on an issue I've been having. My basic specs are as follows:

3570k (liquid cooled, oc'd to 4.2)
680 lightning
8gb RAM
800 watt psu
Asus Z77 mobo

Having issued with voltage spikes when gaming on my PC. I can see them in afterburner. When they happen sometimes my screen blacks out and comes back on with very slow frame rates. When I exit the game, I see the voltage spike and it says my nvidia driver crashed.(on 314.07) Other times my monitor black screens and never comes back. I had no problems with my previous video card(6970). I have even shutdown and tried it on the other bios switch. If I overclock at all, it will crash upon launch of planetside 2. Not over clocking, I can play for a bit and then it will crash. Temps are fine but my GPU usage hovers around 50% or below.

Anybody have any ideas on what the issue could be?

Thanks!

Edit: I upgraded my PSU after I started having the issues. I think it may be the card but I'm not ready to give up yet.


----------



## andresgriego

I read someone had better results overclocking the Lightning when the AUX voltage was set to -50mV. I can confirm this! I got 100MHz more out of my memory but it disn't seem to effect GPU clocks, as I wasn't able to go above +100 on stock voltage. Everything's running cooler now.


----------



## darkinners

I have a MSI GTX 680 SLI temp question for you all.

Recently I play crysis 3 the first card went incredibly hot.

my case and fan setup is like this (not my photo, borrow it somewhere on internet)


front intake fan : 2 Gelid Wing 12 @ 1200rpm
back intake fan 2 Gelid Wing 12 PL @ PWM push-pull with Corsair H70 radiator.
Top Exhaust fan 2 Gelid Wing 14 @ 1080 rpm

2 MSI GTX 680 Lightning with stock fans (custom profile in AB)

Room temperature around 17 degree Celsius

When I play Crysis 3, around 30mins to 1 hour.

The first card temp went up to maximum 71-73 degree Celsius @ 85% fan speed.
While the second card absolutely highest at around 55-57 degree Celsius @ MAX 50-55% fan speed.

WOW I know SLI setup usually with hotter primary card.
But the temp difference great like this? Is this normal?

I mean. the first went up to 73 degrees
the second only has 57 max temp.

16 degrees difference.

And it was 85% fan speed VS 55% fan speed.

Do you guys have any suggestion that I can improve this temps?

I checked the AB logs, both card are running MAX 99% GPU usage, so not caused by second card low GPU usage.
Also I close my chassis side board. not using side board is not an option though.

Thanks!


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *darkinners*
> 
> I have a MSI GTX 680 SLI temp question for you all.
> 
> Recently I play crysis 3 the first card went incredibly hot.
> 
> my case and fan setup is like this (not my photo, borrow it somewhere on internet)
> 
> 
> front intake fan : 2 Gelid Wing 12 @ 1200rpm
> back intake fan 2 Gelid Wing 12 PL @ PWM push-pull with Corsair H70 radiator.
> Top Exhaust fan 2 Gelid Wing 14 @ 1080 rpm
> 
> 2 MSI GTX 680 Lightning with stock fans (custom profile in AB)
> 
> Room temperature around 17 degree Celsius
> 
> When I play Crysis 3, around 30mins to 1 hour.
> 
> The first card temp went up to maximum 71-73 degree Celsius @ 85% fan speed.
> While the second card absolutely highest at around 55-57 degree Celsius @ MAX 50-55% fan speed.
> 
> WOW I know SLI setup usually with hotter primary card.
> But the temp difference great like this? Is this normal?
> 
> I mean. the first went up to 73 degrees
> the second only has 57 max temp.
> 
> 16 degrees difference.
> 
> And it was 85% fan speed VS 55% fan speed.
> 
> Do you guys have any suggestion that I can improve this temps?
> 
> I checked the AB logs, both card are running MAX 99% GPU usage, so not caused by second card low GPU usage.
> Also I close my chassis side board. not using side board is not an option though.
> 
> Thanks!


It's probably because the 1st card is sitting on top of the second, leaving little room for airflow and sucking the second card's hot air.


----------



## dr/owned

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *darkinners*
> 
> I have a MSI GTX 680 SLI temp question for you all.
> 
> I checked the AB logs, both card are running MAX 99% GPU usage, so not caused by second card low GPU usage.
> Also I close my chassis side board. not using side board is not an option though.
> 
> Thanks!


I would redo the thermal paste on the second card. You'd be amazed at how crappy of a job they do at the factory on video cards. Rubbing alcohol, some q-tips, and some cotton balls and you're good to go...nothing to it. Other than that the only suggestion I have is to get a case like the 932 that has a fan blowing right onto the graphics cards from the side panel.


----------



## darkinners

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> It's probably because the 1st card is sitting on top of the second, leaving little room for airflow and sucking the second card's hot air.


Yeah I realize that, if only running a single card, it wouldn't be a problem. Both card run quite cool for what they are.
Problem is when in SLI the top card suck all the hot air from bottom card, I am think if there is any solution for that? besides leave my chassis open(my place very dusty)
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> I would redo the thermal paste on the second card. You'd be amazed at how crappy of a job they do at the factory on video cards. Rubbing alcohol, some q-tips, and some cotton balls and you're good to go...nothing to it. Other than that the only suggestion I have is to get a case like the 932 that has a fan blowing right onto the graphics cards from the side panel.


I did re-do the TIM day one I got the cards.
I use Gelid GC-EX , great thermal paste. I use it basically on everything. Best one out there.
As I said above, it's not the card's issue, more like air flow issue. I am hoping SLI experts could give me some pointers on improving airflow.

I've heard great things about CM HAF but myself not really a fan of CM computer cases.
I am waiting Corsair 900D available in Hong Kong(should be soon) then I am going to upgrade to 900D, X79 MB and 2011 hex core CPU and WC my system

But for now, I would love to seek if there anything I can do to improve the temp.

Thanks for the advice anyway man.


----------



## Kimir

I've always had higher temp on the top card, it part of the deal of the SLI. The primary card always heat up more, it has nothing to do with airflow, I've tried when I had my first SLI configuration, 2x580 matrix. Open the case and blow cold air in the top card didn't helped much, always ended with 10 to 20°c in the worse case.
With water cooling on my pair of 680, it's about 2 to 5°c and in stock cooling it was about 10°c as well.
Their is a thing that might be of an influence too, the processor and vrm is next to the top card, that probably doesn't help.
And a fan on the side panel didn't helped when I tried it on the 580s, it was making thing worse since the fan is not the stock blower from nvidia, but likely to the Lightning, 2 fan blowing directly to the card and the air flow escape from the side of the card. So side panel fan counter graphic card fan, not a good thing.
Just my thoughts.


----------



## uci2ci

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bhines5783*
> 
> Need some help on an issue I've been having. My basic specs are as follows:
> 
> 3570k (liquid cooled, oc'd to 4.2)
> 680 lightning
> 8gb RAM
> 800 watt psu
> Asus Z77 mobo
> 
> Having issued with voltage spikes when gaming on my PC. I can see them in afterburner. When they happen sometimes my screen blacks out and comes back on with very slow frame rates. When I exit the game, I see the voltage spike and it says my nvidia driver crashed.(on 314.07) Other times my monitor black screens and never comes back. I had no problems with my previous video card(6970). I have even shutdown and tried it on the other bios switch. If I overclock at all, it will crash upon launch of planetside 2. Not over clocking, I can play for a bit and then it will crash. Temps are fine but my GPU usage hovers around 50% or below.
> 
> Anybody have any ideas on what the issue could be?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Edit: I upgraded my PSU after I started having the issues. I think it may be the card but I'm not ready to give up yet.


It may be driver related. Try uninstalling nvidia drivers and reinstalling them again. The voltage spikes are due to the driver crashing. I was scared when i saw them too







if that fails, try underclocking it and see if its stable. If thats the case, its probably a faulty card and warrants a return. Another thing to check, what does z-gpu report as the pci-e speed and lane for the card? Prior to updating the bioa on my sabertooth z77, it was being recognized as pci 1.1 8x. I updated the bios and it went to 3.0 8x. I then reseated the card and it went to the proper 3.0 16x. Just another thing to reconsider since yoy have the same mobo as me.

Btw, you should be able to get the 3570k to clock a good bit higher than what you have. Im running air cooled with the 212 Evo and i have mine clocked at 4.4.


----------



## bhines5783

Thanks for the quick response. I will take a look at it as soon as I get home. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers. Even used driver fusion to remove old versions. I will look at gpu-z. That is a possibility. Thanks again.


----------



## dr/owned

^^ Try reversing the cards and seeing if the secondary-now-primary gets hotter or not. That would definitively say whether it's airflow issue or not.

If it is airflow there's not much you can do besides watercooling or perhaps putting the second card in the 3rd PCI-e slot and using a longer SLI bridge, but I'm not sure that's a valid configuration. Hacking in a 90mm fan blowing between the cards might help as well.


----------



## heyskip

I'm a little late to the party but looking forward to joing the ranks of Lightning 680 owners.



EK blocks are on their way and keen to see how they clock. Never had much luck in the silicon lottery, maybe this time.

Hopefully its more of an upgrade than a sidegrade from my sli 590's. Quad was getting a little annoying. I was holding out for the GK110 for the last year and a bit, but Nvidia are kidding themselves @ $1000 plus.


----------



## dr/owned

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *heyskip*
> 
> I'm a little late to the party but looking forward to joing the ranks of Lightning 680 owners.
> 
> 
> 
> EK blocks are on their way and keen to see how they clock. Never had much luck in the silicon lottery, maybe this time.
> 
> Hopefully its more of an upgrade than a sidegrade from my sli 590's. Quad was getting a little annoying. I was holding out for the GK110 for the last year and a bit, but Nvidia are kidding themselves @ $1000 plus.


Same setup that I'm running (2x + EK blocks) *high five*.


----------



## heyskip

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> Same setup that I'm running (2x + EK blocks) *high five*.


Nice









Have you owned them long? Do they overclock well with the full cover block?


----------



## CryptiK

Congrats on the lightnings, looking forward to some results.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Anyone have a UEFI GOOP bios unlocked?


----------



## Rei86

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CryptiK*
> 
> no ROG/Classy versions apparently just the SC and Hydrocopper.


They aren't allowed to mod the PCB but coolers have been allowed.


----------



## K2mil

I'm really disappointed .... the first Lighting I got would go 1400 MHz pass 3dmarks and heaven like a champ but playing a game I did get lots of crashes and some weird artifacts on stock ln2 bios that happened in one game and I decided to RMA I just play that game at the time, now I think was a terrible mistake because I believe the game had some corrupted files. The RMA I got came with locked A3 Bios I flash it right away to the OP A3 Bios but whenever I raise the voltage in AB I get green artifacts all over 3dmark 11 should I try some other BIOS and where to get it ?? what do u guys think ??


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rei86*
> 
> They aren't allowed to mod the PCB but coolers have been allowed.


That's what I have read somewhere, but was not sure so I didn't mentioned it. It's a shame, long life to the Lightning!








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> I'm really disappointed .... the first Lighting I got would go 1400 MHz pass 3dmarks and heaven like a champ but playing a game I did get lots of crashes and some weird artifacts on stock ln2 bios that happened in one game and I decided to RMA I just play that game at the time, now I think was a terrible mistake because I believe the game had some corrupted files. The RMA I got came with locked A3 Bios I flash it right away to the OP A3 Bios but whenever I raise the voltage in AB I get green artifacts all over 3dmark 11 should I try some other BIOS and where to get it ?? what do u guys think ??


Did you checked if it was your card but reset to factory default or another card? If it's not your card, maybe you got a lower quality ASIC.


----------



## r360r

Sup guys. Am I suppose to configure Afterburner to get OC working? cause it doesnt seem like I can break +104 on core with the top two sliders maxed out. On stock I can do +104core +600memory


----------



## K2mil

Yeah its a new card and for sure its lower quality "overclocker" it had different sku to bad I lost my investment. The Titan is to expensive for me I'll guess I live with my poor oc lightening and wait until Maxwell generation.... games still play just fine anyways. But if someone have an idea what could i try with my card I'm open Thanks


----------



## selfdz87

hi guys...newbie here...
i just wanna ask..why my power limit stuck at 133% max only?
i cant overclock at all







:
i see at least 200% power limit adjustment b4 we can overclock...correct me if im wrong


----------



## Toxsick

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *selfdz87*
> 
> hi guys...newbie here...
> i just wanna ask..why my power limit stuck at 133% max only?
> i cant overclock at all
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> :
> i see at least 200% power limit adjustment b4 we can overclock...correct me if im wrong


you need the hacked bios flash
wich unlocks it


----------



## selfdz87

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Toxsick*
> 
> you need the hacked bios flash
> wich unlocks it


thanks for the reply bro









this is my current bios

*80.04.47.00.41*

do i need to flash again?


----------



## Toxsick

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *selfdz87*
> 
> thanks for the reply bro
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this is my current bios
> 
> *80.04.47.00.41*
> 
> do i need to flash again?


go first post there you can see it.
but i guess you need to yes.

FOR THE FIRST 5000 LIGHTNING 680s
80.04.09.00.F7 (non-LN2)
80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked LN2)

AFTER THE FIRST 5000, WE'VE SEEN THESE LN2 BIOSs FROM THE FACTORY:
80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2)
80.04.09.00.3A (unlocked LN2)
80.04.47.00.19 (locked LN2)
80.04.29.00.3A (locked LN2)
80.04.28.00.39 (non-LN2)
80.04.47.00.18 (non-LN2)

The first 5000 Lightning 680s that were made shipped with the two BIOSs that are mentioned above. However, apparently NVIDIA has now imposed a new limitation that prevents all other 680 Lightning cards from having voltage control, even with the new Afterburner 2.2.3. These newer 680 Lightnings still have two BIOSs (one regular, one LN2), but the LN2 BIOS is no longer "unlocked" to allow voltage control above 1.175. Thus, if your LN2 BIOS version is something other than 80.04.09.00.F8, you have one of the new restricted cards. If this is the case, you can flash your card's BIOS (while it is in LN2 mode) with the unlocked LN2 Mode BIOS file (BIOS version 80.04.09.00.F8). Download this BIOS file here.

To flash the BIOS, download the latest version of nvflash here.
extract the nvflash files to C:\
save the BIOS file to C:\
open elevated cmd window (hit start button, type "cmd", right click cmd icon, run as administrator)
change directory to C:\ (type " cd C:\ " )
OPTIONAL: type " nvflash --protectoff " then hit enter (turns off any error msg that may result from software write protection)
BACKUP ORIGINAL BIOS: Type " nvflash -b backup.rom " and a copy of your bios will be saved to the nvflash directory
type " nvflash -4 -5 -6 680L_UnlockedBIOS.rom "
wait for it to finish
reboot
OPTIONAL: reinstall drivers.


----------



## Chillie

Just purchased the 680 lighting last night (pretty stoked about it). Should have it sometime today. I assume the odds of the card already being unlocked is pretty much 0% these days. But, in order to gain control over all the power settings ect...I'll have to flash the bios to any LN-2 unlocked bios correct? Or I could get lucky with an unlocked bios? (switching from a twin frozr III 680 which could barely overclock but still a great card.)


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> Just purchased the 680 lighting last night (pretty stoked about it). Should have it sometime today. I assume the odds of the card already being unlocked is pretty much 0% these days. But, in order to gain control over all the power settings ect...I'll have to flash the bios to any LN-2 unlocked bios correct? Or I could get lucky with an unlocked bios? (switching from a twin frozr III 680 which could barely overclock but still a great card.)


You need to to put unlocked bios e hack Afterburner to get more voltage.


----------



## bhines5783

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *uci2ci*
> 
> It may be driver related. Try uninstalling nvidia drivers and reinstalling them again. The voltage spikes are due to the driver crashing. I was scared when i saw them too
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> if that fails, try underclocking it and see if its stable. If thats the case, its probably a faulty card and warrants a return. Another thing to check, what does z-gpu report as the pci-e speed and lane for the card? Prior to updating the bioa on my sabertooth z77, it was being recognized as pci 1.1 8x. I updated the bios and it went to 3.0 8x. I then reseated the card and it went to the proper 3.0 16x. Just another thing to reconsider since yoy have the same mobo as me.
> 
> Btw, you should be able to get the 3570k to clock a good bit higher than what you have. Im running air cooled with the 212 Evo and i have mine clocked at 4.4.


Finally was able to look at this. Uninstalled and reinstalled drivers. Still a no go. Looked at gpu-z. There is something strange there. It says "pci-e 3.0 x16 @ x4." What does this mean exactly? I plan on upgrading my bios later to see if this fixes the problem.


----------



## Chillie

Got my new fresh lighting outta the box...ran heavan w/ the new stock lighting.....crashed 2/2x.. Not completing the benchmark......pissed. Any suggestions?


----------



## dr/owned

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> Just purchased the 680 lighting last night (pretty stoked about it). Should have it sometime today. I assume the odds of the card already being unlocked is pretty much 0% these days. But, in order to gain control over all the power settings ect...I'll have to flash the bios to any LN-2 unlocked bios correct? Or I could get lucky with an unlocked bios? (switching from a twin frozr III 680 which could barely overclock but still a great card.)


http://www.evga.com/forums/fb.ashx?m=1758374

Techpowerup has 80.04.09.00.F8 in the vga bios database.


----------



## Chillie

Does anyone know why this my lighting will not run heaven 4.0? I have ran heaven about 5x every time it crashes in the same spot. I ran valley no problem. It also ways freezes and closes on the scene with the cannon.......So far im beyond disappointed with this card.


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> Does anyone know why this my lighting will not run heaven 4.0? I have ran heaven about 5x every time it crashes in the same spot. I ran valley no problem. It also ways freezes and closes on the scene with the cannon.......So far im beyond disappointed with this card.


probably a dud. it sucks, it happens. rma and get a new one.


----------



## Chillie

Balls....good thing i bought it through amazon....ill get the new tomorrow......


----------



## dr/owned

^^ Not really on topic, but I'll pay more money sometimes to get my goodies from Amazon over Newegg, because Amazon gives you a shipping label and issues a refund without any question.

My story with Newegg that soured me on them was when I bought a cooler and one of the screws snapped in half when I was tightening it down...wasn't even gorilla-handling it or anything. Their response was "it's damaged so we won't take it back". No Newegg, I wouldn't have damaged it if it wasn't defective in the first place.


----------



## Tbolo

Just an fyi to all the new peeps getting dud cards....I had a dud card and sent it back to msi and the one they sent me back is a beast. It is stable at 1300/ 7000 with no voltage bump. I flashed the ln2 bios and now I am 24/7 gaming stable at 1385/7200 and can bench at 1400/7200. Not to say every rma will be this good but thought I would mention it.


----------



## mglushed

Hi, I followed the instruction on first page, but after I installed the "old" unlocked BIOS, something went wrong and the screen got tore apart. I had to use a USB to boot to DOS and install the "new" unlocked BIOS. Is there something wrong with this "new" unlocked BIOS? Why did the OP tell to use the "old" but not "new" one?

So I got it installed, things seem ok, but the Core Voltage (mV) still only can hit 100 max. How do I increase it to 150 and more? I tried Art Money on AB 2.2.3, it worked, but not on the new AB 2.3.1.

I tried to push the Core Clock to 94, and Memory Clock to 147, things seem to run stably, but if I push it any higher, it crashes, I guess because of the lack of Core Voltage.



http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/6048121
Quote:


> P10418 with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680(1x) and Intel Core i7-3770K Processor


Is this a very low score? Or is it normal?


----------



## Chillie

So I know this may sounds like a dumb question but....is the LN2 bios the second bios stored on the lighting (the one you switch to for overclocking), and if so should that LN2 bios unlock your voltage control (i bought mine today my replacement will be here tomorrow) do you or do you not have to mod afterburner to gain voltage control with a newer model lighting? If anyone can explain in a short but informative manner that would be awesome.......Im new to the lightnings I just switched from a twin frozr III.......bit of a learning curve.


----------



## Phishy714

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> So I know this may sounds like a dumb question but....is the LN2 bios the second bios stored on the lighting (the one you switch to for overclocking), and if so should that LN2 bios unlock your voltage control (i bought mine today my replacement will be here tomorrow) do you or do you not have to mod afterburner to gain voltage control with a newer model lighting? If anyone can explain in a short but informative manner that would be awesome.......Im new to the lightnings I just switched from a twin frozr III.......bit of a learning curve.


the ln2 bios used to unlock voltage. newer cards don't have this unlocked voltage, so you will have to flash an old unlocked ln2 bios found on the front page onto your card.

The next step is to download afterburner 2.2.3 to be able to adjust the unlocked voltage, or you can mod the profile on a newer version of afterburner to be able to adjust it.


----------



## r360r

Glad someone else is having this problem. I'm doing an RMA on it right now with amazon. Should get it on friday.

Edit: Random thought. I can Run SLI with both crads over the weekend and see if I like the performance boost... Hmm


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

How do these cards do under water? I'm really considering picking up a pair.

What types of clocks can you expect? Voltage control sounds like it could be fun.


----------



## uci2ci

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> Does anyone know why this my lighting will not run heaven 4.0? I have ran heaven about 5x every time it crashes in the same spot. I ran valley no problem. It also ways freezes and closes on the scene with the cannon.......So far im beyond disappointed with this card.


What kind of a crash is it? Does it exit and go to desktop? Does it freeze the whole system? Does the screen go blank? Any error messages?

Id suggest you run on-screen display ( msi AB has it) and keep and eye on temps, voltage, etc etc while the heaven is running,

Unistalling and reinstalling drivers, heaven, dx11 is also a good thing to try.

Are you overclocking your cpu by any chance? If so, run everything stock and try the bench again


----------



## uci2ci

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mglushed*
> 
> Hi, I followed the instruction on first page, but after I installed the "old" unlocked BIOS, something went wrong and the screen got tore apart. I had to use a USB to boot to DOS and install the "new" unlocked BIOS. Is there something wrong with this "new" unlocked BIOS? Why did the OP tell to use the "old" but not "new" one?
> 
> So I got it installed, things seem ok, but the Core Voltage (mV) still only can hit 100 max. How do I increase it to 150 and more? I tried Art Money on AB 2.2.3, it worked, but not on the new AB 2.3.1.
> 
> I tried to push the Core Clock to 94, and Memory Clock to 147, things seem to run stably, but if I push it any higher, it crashes, I guess because of the lack of Core Voltage.
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/6048121
> Is this a very low score? Or is it normal?


Cant comment about the artmoney hack, but your score is resonable. I get in the low 12s for the graphics score, but mine is clocked 50 higher than yours.


----------



## r360r

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *uci2ci*
> 
> What kind of a crash is it? Does it exit and go to desktop? Does it freeze the whole system? Does the screen go blank? Any error messages?
> 
> Id suggest you run on-screen display ( msi AB has it) and keep and eye on temps, voltage, etc etc while the heaven is running,
> 
> Unistalling and reinstalling drivers, heaven, dx11 is also a good thing to try.
> 
> Are you overclocking your cpu by any chance? If so, run everything stock and try the bench again


for me it goes blank. I can press the windows button and the menu will pop up. But I can't do anything else besides log off or shutdown/restart

already tried installing and reinstalling. didn't work.

At stock its still pretty iffy if it can complete the bench test. AT my OC setting (stock voltage, 104 core n 500 core) it does the blank screen thing.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> for me it goes blank. I can press the windows button and the menu will pop up. But I can't do anything else besides log off or shutdown/restart
> 
> already tried installing and reinstalling. didn't work.
> 
> At stock its still pretty iffy if it can complete the bench test. AT my OC setting (stock voltage, 104 core n 500 core) it does the blank screen thing.


Using the F8 ln2 bios? That one does go blank screen on a crash & needs to restart the machine to get the desktop back, the 3A bios can recover from a crash so restarting isn't as necessary.


----------



## Chillie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Glad someone else is having this problem. I'm doing an RMA on it right now with amazon. Should get it on friday.
> 
> Edit: Random thought. I can Run SLI with both crads over the weekend and see if I like the performance boost... Hmm


How long have your had your cards?


----------



## uci2ci

I see. I just got ny card too and ive been reading this thread over the past few days. There have been a few issues like yours. Does it do it in both bios? If your temps are in check and you have updated to the latests drivers, then im inclined to says it is a dud like another poster said. Try this though, downclockbthe cards core by 100 or so and run the test. If it passes then its probably a badly binned chip that shouldnt have passed inspection.


----------



## r360r

@FtW 420 I'm using 3A. On Heaven 3.0 it did recover. Lower right popup said something about Nvidia drivers not responding. With 4.0 its just blank

@Chillie Got it Jan 24. Today was my last day to return to amazon without restocking fees. Oh I should say I only have ONE card

@uci2ci I'll try heaven 4.0 and downclock it like you said. Should I leave everything else stock? Give me 45mins I gotta do some IRL stuff

Edit. Ran it at -100core since posting this message. Everything else is stock. Didn't crash tand temp is at 55-56c.


----------



## Chillie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *uci2ci*
> 
> I see. I just got ny card too and ive been reading this thread over the past few days. There have been a few issues like yours. Does it do it in both bios? If your temps are in check and you have updated to the latests drivers, then im inclined to says it is a dud like another poster said. Try this though, downclockbthe cards core by 100 or so and run the test. If it passes then its probably a badly binned chip that shouldnt have passed inspection.


Only the locked bios gives me problems on all the factory settings. The stock bios runs games ok but not at the same quality as my twin frozr II 680. Also the stock bios cannot complete a benchmark unless it is valley. The LN2 locked bios that i have works pretty well w/ no issues with crashing unless im overclocking.


----------



## dph314

Anyone know why I'm stuck at full boost speed and Afterburner isn't showing GPU usage? I can set an offset on the core, and the clock immediately jumps to the boost speed with nothing open! I'm idling at 1300mhz right now. And usage stays at 0% even when I have a game or bench running. Seems to run fine. But I can't see usage, and I idle at full boost speed, not even just the base clock speed.


----------



## Chillie

I got my replacement lighting today. I tested both the bad card and the new in sli to confirm that the first card was bad......it is in fact a dud. I ll post some pics of new overclocking results soon.


----------



## uci2ci

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Anyone know why I'm stuck at full boost speed and Afterburner isn't showing GPU usage? I can set an offset on the core, and the clock immediately jumps to the boost speed with nothing open! I'm idling at 1300mhz right now. And usage stays at 0% even when I have a game or bench running. Seems to run fine. But I can't see usage, and I idle at full boost speed, not even just the base clock speed.


maximum performance setting in the nv control panel might be turned on


----------



## Chillie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *uci2ci*
> 
> What kind of a crash is it? Does it exit and go to desktop? Does it freeze the whole system? Does the screen go blank? Any error messages?
> 
> Id suggest you run on-screen display ( msi AB has it) and keep and eye on temps, voltage, etc etc while the heaven is running,
> 
> Unistalling and reinstalling drivers, heaven, dx11 is also a good thing to try.
> 
> Are you overclocking your cpu by any chance? If so, run everything stock and try the bench again


No error messages and it freezes and returned to the desktop. I did reinstall all the drivers ect.... However I returned it back to amazon and got a new one. I tried both the bad card and the new card in a sli setup....it ran like crap. like, drastically worse than my 560ti.... So the card I would say was a dud. My new one runs like a champ.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> No error messages and it freezes and returned to the desktop. I did reinstall all the drivers ect.... However I returned it back to amazon and got a new one. I tried both the bad card and the new card in a sli setup....it ran like crap. like, drastically worse than my 560ti.... So the card I would say was a dud. My new one runs like a champ.


Sounds like you got the one I sent back a couple of weeks ago


----------



## r360r

I got the replacement waiting at my house. Hopefully I can get +135 core on it >.< Stupid work ruining all the fun


----------



## Chillie

this whole overclocking obsession is also just sad.....hahaha look at us.


----------



## Zero4549

Just so you guys know, with the AquacComputer waterblock, even with the backplate installed, these things are long, heavy, and unsupported enough to bend until they break just under the force of gravity. Happened to mine twice before I figured it out and made a support. Never had a card do that before without some kind of outside influence.

I'd suggest anyone who has a lightning with (or perhaps even without) said waterblock consider making some sort of support, even if it's as simple as a chopstick under the card


----------



## r360r

well I'm this sucks. New card won't even run my OC

Also the weird part is that I didn't even have to flash the LN2 bios. Question are the tabs on the box suppose to be sealed? Cause both my Lightning boxes never had a sealing sticker

EDIT
New card is worst. **** MY LIFE!


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> well I'm this sucks. New card won't even run my OC
> 
> Also the weird part is that I didn't even have to flash the LN2 bios. Question are the tabs on the box suppose to be sealed? Cause both my Lightning boxes never had a sealing sticker


Uh... I got mine used, BUT it does have sticker peel marks, if you know what I mean.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> well I'm this sucks. New card won't even run my OC
> 
> Also the weird part is that I didn't even have to flash the LN2 bios. Question are the tabs on the box suppose to be sealed? Cause both my Lightning boxes never had a sealing sticker
> 
> EDIT
> New card is worst. **** MY LIFE!


Got both of mine new in store, no sealing stickers on the boxes.


----------



## r360r

Correct me if I'm wrong. But a 135core will give me 1337 right? for giggles I switch the bios via switch and did +36core and got this
http://i.imgur.com/jspowEX.jpg

Edit: Gonna roll the dice again. Amazon is sending me another card on tuesday. If that doesn't work out I'm just gonna keep the original. I mean the only time it crashes is on Heaven 4.0. Everywhere else its golden


----------



## FtW 420

+135 should give it 1337 core with boost.

That just doesn't look right.... maybe try changing the driver?


----------



## r360r

new card is no good. LN2 bios gave the right readings.....b4 it crashed. Would Changing drivers actually work? I mean I'm already on the latest one. If I go back and it somehow works... Wouldn't that just put me in a weird position to keep the lower driver when new ones come out?

Anyways I'm thinking of getting the 670FTW 4gb ver if the next replacement is bad. Unless they charge me restocking fee


----------



## FtW 420

Just thinking something might have bugged out the driver, I would try as driver reinstall at least (I usually install a different driver to test) before RMA.

What was the issue with the last card?


----------



## r360r

Original card was fine at stock voltage I'm able to get 104core 500memory. OC works well with Heaven 3.0. But on 4.0 it won't even pass benchmarking. It just dies. Plus I can't break the 104 barrier even with voltage tweaks. The new card won't even run that OC.

I'll try switching drivers but I don't know where to get it and I'm not sure what kind of process you want me to run with uninstalling the driver.

I was thinking place new card in uninstall ->reboot->install old drivers


----------



## FtW 420

I have had a couple nvidia driver corruptions that were a disaster, although if everything still works fine at stock it wouldn't be the same thing. Checking the clean install box should also do the trick, but it kinda sounds like you're just having bad luck in the silicon lottery with the 680.
I got a great 680 right off the bat, but have no luck in the 3770k silicon lottery...


----------



## uci2ci

My card that i bought from frys had seal stickers actually.

Regardless, there is probably an issue with your system other than the card. Besides driver issues, perhaps their is an issue with power delivery. What psu are you running? I say this because heaven 4.0 is as demanding as it gets and if a power supply is inadequate then it would rear its head during a heaven test.

If you have a friend with a decent system, maybe you can try the card in there and see if it runs.


----------



## r360r

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Bvdd


----------



## Toxsick




----------



## uci2ci

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Bvdd


Nice build

That psu should handle the gtx 680


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *uci2ci*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> Anyone know why I'm stuck at full boost speed and Afterburner isn't showing GPU usage? I can set an offset on the core, and the clock immediately jumps to the boost speed with nothing open! I'm idling at 1300mhz right now. And usage stays at 0% even when I have a game or bench running. Seems to run fine. But I can't see usage, and I idle at full boost speed, not even just the base clock speed.
> 
> 
> 
> maximum performance setting in the nv control panel might be turned on
Click to expand...

No it was off in the Global Profile, and no other apps were open. It was wierd. But I ended up throwing one of my Titans in and installed its new drivers and everything is working fine now. It's spanking my +1400mhz Lightning all over the place. Like 60% gain in Metro! ~50% in Sleeping Dogs. Miss the overclocking of the Lightning though.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> well I'm this sucks. New card won't even run my OC
> 
> Also the weird part is that I didn't even have to flash the LN2 bios. Question are the tabs on the box suppose to be sealed? Cause both my Lightning boxes never had a sealing sticker
> 
> EDIT
> New card is worst. **** MY LIFE!


It may have come with the 3A, but it could still be locked. There's a locked version coming on some of the newer cards, and you still have to flash to unlock the voltage. Do you have 300% Power %? Sorry, don't know if anyone asked you already or not.


----------



## r360r

@ph314 Yup both cards have 300% on the power slider.


----------



## NamesLucky

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> No it was off in the Global Profile, and no other apps were open. It was wierd. But I ended up throwing one of my Titans in and installed its new drivers and everything is working fine now. It's spanking my +1400mhz Lightning all over the place. Like 60% gain in Metro! ~50% in Sleeping Dogs. Miss the overclocking of the lightning though










that's not what the new owner of your lightning wants to hear, I want to hear about an underdog card putting up a good fight lol. However, Im am happy your titans are awesome and are a worthy upgrade from lightnings.


----------



## setza

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/6083870

My best score so far with an i7 2600k at 4.5 GHz. Is it any good?


----------



## SeekerZA

Recent run with following OC:

Core - 93
Core clock - 175
Memory clock - 813



Some numbers for All you lightning owners to try out on unlocked 3A BIOS


----------



## JulioCesarSF

My new record 3Dmark 11
http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/2603/3dmark11p19094.png


http://hwbot.org/submission/2362996_juliocesarsf_3dmark11___performance_2x_geforce_gtx_680_19094_marks


----------



## dph314

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NamesLucky*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *dph314*
> 
> No it was off in the Global Profile, and no other apps were open. It was wierd. But I ended up throwing one of my Titans in and installed its new drivers and everything is working fine now. It's spanking my +1400mhz Lightning all over the place. Like 60% gain in Metro! ~50% in Sleeping Dogs. Miss the overclocking of the lightning though
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> that's not what the new owner of your lightning wants to hear, I want to hear about an underdog card putting up a good fight lol. However, Im am happy your titans are awesome and are a worthy upgrade from lightnings.
Click to expand...

Reinstalling the drivers was probably what helped, so, you'll be fine, don't worry


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> My new record 3Dmark 11
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/2603/3dmark11p19094.png
> 
> 
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2362996_juliocesarsf_3dmark11___performance_2x_geforce_gtx_680_19094_marks


That remind me I should update my 3D11 submission on hwbot with my 20k score








Will do.... when my pc is ready, hopefully soon™.


----------



## FlamingMidget

Random question here guys. The blue LED's. Any way to turn them off or is it even possible to replace them with another color of sorts?


----------



## dr/owned

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FlamingMidget*
> 
> Random question here guys. The blue LED's. Any way to turn them off or is it even possible to replace them with another color of sorts?


Touch them with a soldering iron...that'll turn them off: permanetly


----------



## dr/owned

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> My new record 3Dmark 11
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/2603/3dmark11p19094.png
> 
> 
> http://hwbot.org/submission/2362996_juliocesarsf_3dmark11___performance_2x_geforce_gtx_680_19094_marks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That remind me I should update my 3D11 submission on hwbot with my 20k score
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Will do.... when my pc is ready, hopefully soon™.
Click to expand...

Oh boy you shouldn't have said that. Now I have to spend even more money to have the bigger e-peen









Realistically though I don't think I'll win without a 6-core, but I wasn't impressed by how outdated X79 is in terms of I/O.


----------



## FlamingMidget

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> Touch them with a soldering iron...that'll turn them off: permanetly


LOL I guess as a last resort I could do that. I'm just trying to run a black and red internal theme and the blue ....well it kinda kills that.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FlamingMidget*
> 
> Random question here guys. The blue LED's. Any way to turn them off or is it even possible to replace them with another color of sorts?


You could desolder them and replace them with either A - resisters or B - different color LEDs.

I'd call you absolutely insane if you did either option though.

A more sensible solution would be to just cover them with some black electrical tape if they bother you too much.


----------



## Chillie

one was a defective card so i figured i test it out and have a little fun with it.


----------



## uci2ci

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> one was a defective card so i figured i test it out and have a little fun with it.


Did you put the second card in the last slot on the MB?


----------



## Chillie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *uci2ci*
> 
> Did you put the second card in the last slot on the MB?


I had to it was the only way it would fit so i tried it out anyways.


----------



## uci2ci

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> I had to it was the only way it would fit so i tried it out anyways.


I have the same mb and im thinking of getting a second card. Why wouldnt it fit? if you mind me asking. Is it a length issue, as in the card is too long to fit in the case at the second slot, or is it because the card is too thick to go into the second slot?


----------



## TechSilver13

So what's better. Bios 3A or F8? Or is there really no difference?


----------



## Chillie

see my next post.


----------



## Chillie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *uci2ci*
> 
> I have the same mb and im thinking of getting a second card. Why wouldnt it fit? if you mind me asking. Is it a length issue, as in the card is too long to fit in the case at the second slot, or is it because the card is too thick to go into the second slot?


no problem man, honestly the cards are just toooooo thick to work in a 1 and 2 slot configuration. However if you remove that msi reactor thing on the back they mayyyyyyy fit bust just barely !!!!! (like so close i wouldn't want to do it because of cooling) Also the third slot as you can see in one of the pictures I posted, the card will not go into the pci-e slot correctly (doesnt click into place just enough for the comp to recognize it). However it may go in 100% if you remove the thermal armor.


----------



## TechSilver13

And I see people saying they get 1.34 volts I am getting 1.285-1.299. How can I squeeze a little more out of the card?


----------



## uci2ci

Dang, i was really about to pull the trigger on an sli lightning setup. I guess if i want sli, i should get a blower style card for the second slot. Im not even sure i can use the last slot because its so close to my psu. Thanks for the heads up


----------



## uci2ci

Sorry, double post


----------



## Chillie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *uci2ci*
> 
> Sorry, double post


no problem man it can be done though if you reallly want another lighting it will just bee verrrryyyy tight! also ive heard our mobo is not great for sli...might wanna read about that too.


----------



## TechSilver13

I had a sabertooth ski 670 pe setup and it was damn beast.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TechSilver13*
> 
> And I see people saying they get 1.34 volts I am getting 1.285-1.299. How can I squeeze a little more out of the card?


Where are you at for the voltage set in AB? With the ln2 bios, +100 should have it at about 1.36V (at least it was with earlier drivers, haven't checked recently).

You do need a multimeter to see the true voltage, no software will read voltage accurately.


----------



## uci2ci

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TechSilver13*
> 
> I had a sabertooth ski 670 pe setup and it was damn beast.


Nice

The z77 sabertooth? Did you have trouble with card spacing?


----------



## Chillie

ok so update. last week i order a 680 lighting.....it turned out to be dud......i got a new one from amazon.......its been working great until tonight. it just starting to do the same things that the old card was doing. it is crashing for no reason on a stock overclock....in heaven and battlefield 3....anyone else getting this?????? really annoying im thinking of returning it and switching to a new brand.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> ok so update. last week i order a 680 lighting.....it turned out to be dud......i got a new one from amazon.......its been working great until tonight. it just starting to do the same things that the old card was doing. it is crashing for no reason on a stock overclock....in heaven and battlefield 3....anyone else getting this?????? really annoying im thinking of returning it and switching to a new brand.


Can you be more specific than "an unstable game known for crashing without reason happens to be crashing"? Cause I mean... that doesn't really mean anything at all, other than Battlefield 3 is coded by brain-dead monkeys.


----------



## TechSilver13

Yes, I had the z77 sabertooth. I had zero spacing issues in SLI. There was enough room for another card between both of my cards. I have pics in my profile if you want to see.


----------



## Chillie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Can you be more specific than "an unstable game known for crashing without reason happens to be crashing"? Cause I mean... that doesn't really mean anything at all, other than Battlefield 3 is coded by brain-dead monkeys.


Well honestly its very hard to be more specific about the in game and benching crashes. But, if this help diagnose the issue for some reason my windows theme will randomly change to a less graphic intense one and an error message will appear (ill have to screenshot it next time). Also, the desktop will run a little jittery (including the screen saver).....very odd. But I changed my windows theme to the classic windows theme and when i open a window the window will appear to use the areo theme while the start bar will stay as the windows classic theme......I this is a very unclear description of my issue but i feel like it may be driver related. The regular every day uses like internet browsing appear to run smoother on the stock bios as opposed to the ln2. The LN2 bios seems to have a couple speed bumps without any overclocking. Any ideas?


----------



## YinKuza

I have this weird issue with my card/AB.
I run the A3 unlocked Bios version.

If i use any other version of afterburner than 2.2.3, e.g 2.3.1, the whole thing becomes unstable. Even with the same specifications as i used with 2.2.3. I start getting In-game errors, artifacts and what not.

Any solid answer to as why this is happening, or should i just stick to 2.2.3?


----------



## SeekerZA

The RAD dedicated to my Lightning:



Gaming OC:

Core - 1346MHz
Memory - 7516MHz


----------



## sockpirate

So decided to give the latest AB a try, 2.31 and well...it does not seem as relatively stable at all when compared with 2.23. I run a mild overclock of +105 on the core and +105 on the memory not running any voltage hack or edit to the msi config just +100mv on the core (+93mv when applied) , power limit 300, +100mv on the mem, and aux at +50. Have always used these setting with 2.23 and any time i have problems it seems to be driver related not my overclock. Has anyone also noticed the instability with 2.31? I just ended up reverting back to 2.23.

Also it seems sometimes the majority of my crashes stem from AB itself especially in games like Black Ops 2, when i run AB and the game crashes the game tends to re-open itself immediately upon a crash. Anyone else experience this?

EDIT: I guess i could set my AUX voltage to 0 ? I have been reading people have better stability with AUX set to 0 ?


----------



## xoleras

Hey guys, i've actually been using 2.2.3 forever on my lightnings - 2.2.4 did not support voltage offset.

Is this still the case with 2.3.1? I was under the impression that to over-voltage, you had to stick with 2.2.3. Or did that change?

Also: if you're experiencing crashes disable all onscreen overlays. They can cause crashes on some systems, especially the origin overlay. There are a few games where I have to disable the afterburner overlay as well.


----------



## sockpirate

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Hey guys, i've actually been using 2.2.3 forever on my lightnings - 2.2.4 did not support voltage offset.
> 
> Is this still the case with 2.3.1? I was under the impression that to over-voltage, you had to stick with 2.2.3. Or did that change?
> 
> Also: if you're experiencing crashes disable all onscreen overlays. They can cause crashes on some systems, especially the origin overlay. There are a few games where I have to disable the afterburner overlay as well.


Thank you i will check this out about the overlay crashes.

I have also been using 2.23 forever, i have also noticed not as stable even with the same settings. See my post above yours.


----------



## xoleras

Yeah, definitely give that a shot







The Origin ingame overlay especially - is notorious for causing crashes, that has been the biggest offender for me.


----------



## Brenton

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Hey guys, i've actually been using 2.2.3 forever on my lightnings - 2.2.4 did not support voltage offset.
> 
> Is this still the case with 2.3.1? I was under the impression that to over-voltage, you had to stick with 2.2.3. Or did that change?
> 
> Also: if you're experiencing crashes disable all onscreen overlays. They can cause crashes on some systems, especially the origin overlay. There are a few games where I have to disable the afterburner overlay as well.


2.3.1 works great and holds your volts and oc between reboots.

Gotta do this:

Go to: My Computer -> C:/ -> Program Files (x86) -> MSI Afterburner -> Profiles

Quote:
Unwinder:
add the following lines there-

[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

If you can't edit the file, right-click the config file and go to 'Properties', then the 'Security' tab, then click on your User name for your PC and click 'Edit'. Then click your User name again and check the box that says 'Full Control' and click 'Apply'. This should give you full privaleges to edit the file. Edit both config files if there are 2 there, each card's file needs to be edited if you have 2.
Edited by dph314 - 9/19/12 at 1:52pm

You must enter this for each GPU if you have more than one.


----------



## YinKuza

No version other than 2.2.3 works properly for me. I get graphic errors and artifacts and gfx card resets using other versions.


----------



## setza

I'm using the latest AB (2.3.1), and it works fine after the cfg edit. Running a 24/7 overclock of +155 core clock, +600 mem with +63 core voltage and mem voltage on stock. I can push it to +230 core with 100 core voltage.


----------



## uci2ci

^^ thats a nice chip you have their.

I ended up getting another 680 lightning for an sli config. I didnt really need it right now since i only have a 1080p monitor, but it was my plan all along to get another one later as an upgrade when new gen games came out. But after hearing that the sabertooth might have a problems with sli lightnings (space and overheating), i just had to try it out. Im happy to say that it works flawlessly. I have a c70 case with 3 intakes, 2 exhaust fans. The top card gets up to 73 and bottom card 63 after a couplenof heaven 4 runs at stock. OCed, 80 and 70 with a custom fan profile. Not bad really.

One thing i learned the hard way was that the f8 bios doesnt work on some of the newer cards. My new card has a "#1in germany" sticker where the 3 year warranty sticker was on my older card's packaging . Enabling sli with the f8 bios crashes my pc and afer it restarted, windows would come to a craaaaaaawl. Very strange behavior.

Im still debating whether or not i should have 2 680s at the moment. I get nice benchmark nunbers, but in games i see no difference. I thought i would see a big gains in crysis 3 atleast, but im starting to realize that crysis 3 has optimization problems that even an OCed sli 680s cant overcome.....Decisions decisions....


----------



## gl0ry

Been real itchy and thinking about going from my MSI GTX 570 to the 680 lightnings.

Would you guys say its a worthy buy? At this point I'm scared that the 700 series will come out and I will regret the purchase.. but I am a big overclocker and always love pushing the limit on these aftermarket cards.

I'm familiar with MSI cards and I know the lightning has killer oc potential. That being said, I need to flash the bios according to this thread, correct?


----------



## uci2ci

I think if you are itching for an upgrade, just get a 670 for now. You can get a referwnce one for less than 350 ( i bought one for 300). While i love the lightning, i understand your concern. I didnt really care about next gen since this was my first pc. Ill worry about it for my next build









That being said, the titan is a 1000 bux and frankly, not as impressive as its price suggests imho. The 780 will be faster than the 680, no doubt, but im guessing not by a wide margin. Im also sure the price isnt going to be very temptig either.


----------



## gl0ry

Yeah, I love the lightning.. was moments away from clicking buy.. but I just can't do it. My head is telling me to just wait another half a year for the 700 series.

To buy or not to buy ugh.


----------



## YinKuza

Not even the cfg config helped me being able to use 2.3.1. It helped a little but it just takes a little longer before it starts going bananas. Guess it's either the fact that i'm using Windows 8 and something in the config doesn't like that or whatever. Either way, guess i'll just have to stick to 2.2.3 since it works.


----------



## uci2ci

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *YinKuza*
> 
> Not even the cfg config helped me being able to use 2.3.1. It helped a little but it just takes a little longer before it starts going bananas. Guess it's either the fact that i'm using Windows 8 and something in the config doesn't like that or whatever. Either way, guess i'll just have to stick to 2.2.3 since it works.


I made the mistake of putting the code at the bottom of each cfg file the first time and it wasnt working, until I realized there is already a [Settings] header in each file. DOH! So dont do what i did









Also, you have to do it to every VEN_10DE&DEV_1180... file in the directory.

EDIT: maybe try running it in windows 7 compatibility too :/


----------



## YinKuza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *uci2ci*
> 
> I made the mistake of putting the code at the bottom of each cfg file the first time and it wasnt working, until I realized there is already a [Settings] header in each file. DOH! So dont do what i did
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also, you have to do it to every VEN_10DE&DEV_1180... file in the directory.


That's what i did, still didn't work.


----------



## gkolarov




----------



## gl0ry

I couldn't hold my patience anymore and I ordered one. Hope to have good results with it. I definitely plan to use AB 2.2.3 from the stuff I've read here.


----------



## SeekerZA

@gl0ry Good luck and hope your get one good clocker!


----------



## Chillie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> Been real itchy and thinking about going from my MSI GTX 570 to the 680 lightnings.
> 
> Would you guys say its a worthy buy? At this point I'm scared that the 700 series will come out and I will regret the purchase.. but I am a big overclocker and always love pushing the limit on these aftermarket cards.
> 
> I'm familiar with MSI cards and I know the lightning has killer oc potential. That being said, I need to flash the bios according to this thread, correct?


if you do decide to go with the lighting buy them from amazon. When I bought mine they had the best prices, I paid under 500 for mine.


----------



## Deano12345

I cant seem to find one of these for love nor money ! Really want a second for SLI. Dont suppose anyone here is getting rid of a card ?


----------



## Menthol

I have 3 cards, one is not a great overclocker, 2 do 1550 on chilled water, I am waiting on 2 7970's to arrive as i have played with the 680's since they were released so If the 7970's prove to be good cards I may be selling my 2 good cards, I installed the stock cooling back, although I have over volted and clocked them to no end, they still work as the day i purchased them I have blocks for them also, I plan on installing the one that doesn't overclock well in my son's pc. I had 2 Titans on preorder but cancelled when I seen that they basically all clocked the same and will play with the 7970's until msi releases the next high end Lightning.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> if you do decide to go with the lighting buy them from amazon. When I bought mine they had the best prices, I paid under 500 for mine.


Your posts almost made me not want to buy one. I've had a dud before from MSI with my 570 and their RMA is really poor.


----------



## Chillie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> Your posts almost made me not want to buy one. I've had a dud before from MSI with my 570 and their RMA is really poor.


I don't blame you at all but once I got one that was in working condition it was worth trouble.......if you plan to overclock.


----------



## Chillie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> Your posts almost made me not want to buy one. I've had a dud before from MSI with my 570 and their RMA is really poor.


Thats another reason to purchase through amazon they have great customer service and its very easy to get a replacement or money back.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> Thats another reason to purchase through amazon they have great customer service and its very easy to get a replacement or money back.


Yeah I'm aware, but I also get charged an extra 50 dollar because they tax NY... I got mine from new egg because it was overall cheaper, and they ship it from NJ which arrives here in one day. Neweggs RMA isn't that great either, but I really didn't want to pay another 50 dollars.

I'm pretty sure those cards are binned anyways, so most of them should be at least fairly good overclockers unless you get some faulty one.


----------



## gl0ry

What kind of overclocks were people getting @ 1.175v? The original post does not include the voltage numbers.

I'm having a difficult time finding what safe voltages are for the 600 series.


----------



## dr/owned

I know this has probably been asked a million times, but google isn't helping me and I can't read 6000 posts.

Is it possible anymore to get the voltage above 1.215 (multimeter actually reports a little bit higher)? From reading it sounds like on the driver level it blocks over-voltage, so it doesn't matter even if you run an older version of AB. I've got the unlocked ln2 bios because I can get +300% power. Also for me I can set +100 Core Voltage and it appies no problem without reverting to +93. I don't see how to increase memory voltage, but I assume that's the cfg mod that's posted above?


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> That remind me I should update my 3D11 submission on hwbot with my 20k score
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Will do.... when my pc is ready, hopefully soon™.


Very nice.

I hit 19.876 today, i'm tweaking more it to hit 20k.

You are using a x79 plataform, i'm using z77. It is not fair.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> I know this has probably been asked a million times, but google isn't helping me and I can't read 6000 posts.
> 
> Is it possible anymore to get the voltage above 1.215 (multimeter actually reports a little bit higher)? From reading it sounds like on the driver level it blocks over-voltage, so it doesn't matter even if you run an older version of AB. I've got the unlocked ln2 bios because I can get +300% power. Also for me I can set +100 Core Voltage and it appies no problem without reverting to +93. I don't see how to increase memory voltage, but I assume that's the cfg mod that's posted above?


Yes it is still possible even with the latest drivers. The driver doesn't block it out - you have to use the afterburner .cfg edit so that overvoltage is applied properly.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> What kind of overclocks were people getting @ 1.175v? The original post does not include the voltage numbers.
> 
> I'm having a difficult time finding what safe voltages are for the 600 series.


Safe voltage don't exist. You need to keep it with good temperature.
 






That's what i think.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> I know this has probably been asked a million times, but google isn't helping me and I can't read 6000 posts.
> 
> Is it possible anymore to get the voltage above 1.215 (multimeter actually reports a little bit higher)? From reading it sounds like on the driver level it blocks over-voltage, so it doesn't matter even if you run an older version of AB. I've got the unlocked ln2 bios because I can get +300% power. Also for me I can set +100 Core Voltage and it appies no problem without reverting to +93. I don't see how to increase memory voltage, but I assume that's the cfg mod that's posted above?


You can try this:


----------



## TheAssassin

Anybody have Arma 3 Alpha? What kind of frames are you getting? I have been playing with settings and on the autodetect settings I get about 30-45 fps with the latest beta driver.


----------



## gl0ry

Okay, so my purchases are always a little impulsive. Research was done but in a hastily manner. I'll need some of you to enlighten me. I am an overclocking enthusiast but I come from the 500 series which was pretty standard. Raise volts, raise clocks.. None of this boosting stuff.

Quesitons:

The newer Lightning is locked at 1.175v max voltage (130%) for their LN2 bios (680 reference limit) unless you unlock the bios to an older one?

The Lightning bios has disabled Kepler boost? I read this somewhere, but I can't find anything to back this claim up.

Afterburner 2.2.3 is the last release that allows "official "voltage modification on the Lightning?

Voltage modifications don't stay upon reboot?

What are most of you keeping your voltage at for 24/7 operation?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Safe voltage don't exist. You need to keep it with good temperature.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's what i think.


True and that's what MSI rep said, you can find the quote somewhere here.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Very nice.
> 
> I hit 19.876 today, i'm tweaking more it to hit 20k.
> 
> You are using a x79 plataform, i'm using z77. It is not fair.


Well, It was some time ago and no tweaking as well as not watercooled cards, you can see the date of the score on my sig.
I will receive the missing pieces (res/pump) for my custom waterloop tomorrow, then I will update driver and games (ordered Crysis 3 long ago... pc not working on the release date, shame!).
I might finally be able to try your tweaking guide too (works for 3DMark11?), hoping to get 14k with 3DMark fire strike. I think this weekend will be very short








Looking Arma III and waiting for Tomb Raider to be somewhat optimized, seriously, right now it's bad (not talking about TessFX, but lighting effects working in windowed mode only...)

I'm damn sick of using my laptop


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> Okay, so my purchases are always a little impulsive. Research was done but in a hastily manner. I'll need some of you to enlighten me. I am an overclocking enthusiast but I come from the 500 series which was pretty standard. Raise volts, raise clocks.. None of this boosting stuff.
> 
> Quesitons:
> 
> The newer Lightning is locked at 1.175v max voltage (130%) for their LN2 bios (680 reference limit) unless you unlock the bios to an older one?
> 
> The Lightning bios has disabled Kepler boost? I read this somewhere, but I can't find anything to back this claim up.
> 
> Afterburner 2.2.3 is the last release that allows "official "voltage modification on the Lightning?
> 
> Voltage modifications don't stay upon reboot?
> 
> What are most of you keeping your voltage at for 24/7 operation?


Yeah, you will not be able to overclock much until you flash it with unlocked bios (you will be able to move the voltage cursor, but it will do nothing). Boost is not disabled, don't know where you saw that.
AB 2.2.3 is the only one that can be used without the modification of the card(s) profile, yes.
Voltages mod stay after restart but it's somewhat glitchy, sometimes it's reduce from the value you've input. Like when you put 100 then click apply and get 93. This does not happen with 2.3.1, and the few lines to add is no big deal IMO.


----------



## trippinonprozac

Hey guys,

Just sold my 670ftws and moved to a pair of proven 1400mhz+ 680 Lightnings. Just wondering after reading some comments from guys in other threads about which driver and version of Afterburner is best for overclocking them?

They both have unlocked LN2 bioses but I read some stuff about throttling on the latest drivers...

Thanks in advance.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *trippinonprozac*
> 
> Hey guys,
> 
> Just sold my 670ftws and moved to a pair of proven 1400mhz+ 680 Lightnings. Just wondering after reading some comments from guys in other threads about which driver and version of Afterburner is best for overclocking them?
> 
> They both have unlocked LN2 bioses but I read some stuff about throttling on the latest drivers...
> 
> Thanks in advance.


IMO the best one is afterburner 2.3.1 with the .cfg edit. It works great for me even with overvoltage. You can use 2.2.3 as well.


----------



## trippinonprozac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> IMO the best one is afterburner 2.3.1 with the .cfg edit. It works great for me even with overvoltage. You can use 2.2.3 as well.


Any preferences in regards to drivers?


----------



## gl0ry

I was reading an overclocking overview and it sounds like they really tried to streamline the overclocks with the kepler? Sounds like you don't have direct control of the voltages, just a percentage since it boosts itself up and down.

How exactly does the throttle work. Does it downclock from your overclock or just downclock from the boost after you overclocked.

Sorry for asking so many questions, just want to get prepared for tomorrow


----------



## Vaerwind

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> I know this has probably been asked a million times, but google isn't helping me and I can't read 6000 posts.
> 
> Is it possible anymore to get the voltage above 1.215 (multimeter actually reports a little bit higher)? From reading it sounds like on the driver level it blocks over-voltage, so it doesn't matter even if you run an older version of AB. I've got the unlocked ln2 bios because I can get +300% power. Also for me I can set +100 Core Voltage and it appies no problem without reverting to +93. I don't see how to increase memory voltage, but I assume that's the cfg mod that's posted above?


Correct me if I'm wrong but the cfg mod is to get newer versions of AB to even give overvoltage ability. The LN2 bios is already at 1.212 volts iirc so your 1.215 doesn't look like it has any extra. I remember seeing AB reporting 1.3v + when I did some runs with +93 on valley. I'd be willing to bet you have a locked bios and/or AB version. Beyond that, when you get the bios/AB fixed then you can use ArtMoney to get even higher voltages by editing some memory addresses but I would never go near that myself.


----------



## dr/owned

^^ I have 80.04.09.00.F8 flashed to both cards. I recall reading AB locked the offset voltage to +100 after 2.2 or something.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> True and that's what MSI rep said, you can find the quote somewhere here.
> Well, It was some time ago and no tweaking as well as not watercooled cards, you can see the date of the score on my sig.
> I will receive the missing pieces (res/pump) for my custom waterloop tomorrow, then I will update driver and games (ordered Crysis 3 long ago... pc not working on the release date, shame!).
> I might finally be able to try your tweaking guide too (works for 3DMark11?), hoping to get 14k with 3DMark fire strike. I think this weekend will be very short
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Looking Arma III and waiting for Tomb Raider to be somewhat optimized, seriously, right now it's bad (not talking about TessFX, but lighting effects working in windowed mode only...)
> 
> I'm damn sick of using my laptop










Waiting for you results!!

You need to test all tweaks to see what works best for you!


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Waiting for you results!!
> 
> You need to test all tweaks to see what works best for you!










That is really the only way


----------



## gkolarov

I am very unhappy !!! My card shows artifacts







and can't load windows !!!! Yesterday while i was watching a movie the PC freezed and was totally unresponding. Reseted it with the reset button on the computer case and then the artifacts showed up on the black boot screen (where the system shows what is the CPU and how much ram memory has the system) . And the black color is not really black ! Also windows can't boot - restarts constantly and during windows booting process the artifacts are even more and the colors are wrong ! The situation is the same with the LN2 and non LN2 bioses. I am really dissapointed, because i bought this card recently (not even three months had passed till i bought it)


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gkolarov*
> 
> I am very unhappy !!! My card shows artifacts
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and can't load windows !!!! Yesterday while i was watching a movie the PC freezed and was totally unresponding. Reseted it with the reset button on the computer case and then the artifacts showed up on the black boot screen (where the system shows what is the CPU and how much ram memory has the system) . And the black color is not really black ! Also windows can't boot - restarts constantly and during windows booting process the artifacts are even more and the colors are wrong ! The situation is the same with the LN2 and non LN2 bioses. I am really dissapointed, because i bought this card recently (not even three months had passed till i bought it)


Sounds like the gpu memory is bad. I don't know, either way its a card that needs to be RMA.


----------



## Kosai

Is the GTX 680 Lightning really one of the best 680 models available? how does it compare to the 7970 Lightning variant?

And I mean with todays latest drivers in games such as BF3, Far Cry 3, and Tomb Raider etc....

Im really thinking about getting one since 7970 Lightnings are extremely rare to find now.


----------



## uci2ci

Came across a minor annoyance with my sli lightning setup. Since there is only one slot space between the two cards, the air blowing from the top cards creates turbulence in the the nooks and crannies of the bottom card, making either a fluttering sound or a a high pitched whine that gives me a headache. Placing the Reactor core on the bottom card lessens the effect, so does lifting the one of the cards up or down ever so slightly with your hands. it happens at fan speeds above 45. I'm thinking that the problem is probably exacerbated by the thermal armor of my asus board as well.


----------



## asleaker

I got my two lightnings around chrismas time and have been happy using my cards ln2 bios stable @ 1,212 volts and +60mhz, of course with the 3A unlocked bios.

Yesterday I installed afterburner 2.2.3 , the vcore +93 and +120 mhz (1320 mhz) and mem +300. New highscore for me in 3dmark X7570. Jippi.Will try some more OC in the upcoming weekend.

Should I try to force stable voltage?? I can't make it stable OC with Ln2 and bios 3A. It jumps up and down. is it okey? Have tried the "force stable voltage" setting in afterburner.. but nothing changes.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gkolarov*
> 
> I am very unhappy !!! My card shows artifacts
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and can't load windows !!!! Yesterday while i was watching a movie the PC freezed and was totally unresponding. Reseted it with the reset button on the computer case and then the artifacts showed up on the black boot screen (where the system shows what is the CPU and how much ram memory has the system) . And the black color is not really black ! Also windows can't boot - restarts constantly and during windows booting process the artifacts are even more and the colors are wrong ! The situation is the same with the LN2 and non LN2 bioses. I am really dissapointed, because i bought this card recently (not even three months had passed till i bought it)


Reset the bios on your motherboard to defaults, re-seat your video card in it's slot and give that a try


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *asleaker*
> 
> I got my two lightnings around chrismas time and have been happy using my cards ln2 bios stable @ 1,212 volts and +60mhz, of course with the 3A unlocked bios.
> 
> Yesterday I installed afterburner 2.2.3 , the vcore +93 and +120 mhz (1320 mhz) and mem +300. New highscore for me in 3dmark X7570. Jippi.Will try some more OC in the upcoming weekend.
> 
> Should I try to force stable voltage?? I can't make it stable OC with Ln2 and bios 3A. It jumps up and down. is it okey? Have tried the "force stable voltage" setting in afterburner.. but nothing changes.


It jumps up and down. It's normal. I don't like force voltagem option.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *asleaker*
> 
> I got my two lightnings around chrismas time and have been happy using my cards ln2 bios stable @ 1,212 volts and +60mhz, of course with the 3A unlocked bios.
> 
> Yesterday I installed afterburner 2.2.3 , the vcore +93 and +120 mhz (1320 mhz) and mem +300. New highscore for me in 3dmark X7570. Jippi.Will try some more OC in the upcoming weekend.
> 
> Should I try to force stable voltage?? I can't make it stable OC with Ln2 and bios 3A. It jumps up and down. is it okey? Have tried the "force stable voltage" setting in afterburner.. but nothing changes.


Which drivers are you using, 310. drivers did that to me, what are the temps when it it is happening


----------



## asleaker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Which drivers are you using, 310. drivers did that to me, what are the temps when it it is happening


Thanks. I am using the last drivers 314.07. Voltage increase on heavy load and vica versa when OC. Stock voltage is constant under load


----------



## asleaker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> It jumps up and down. It's normal. I don't like force voltagem option.


Okey, thank you.


----------



## gkolarov

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Reset the bios on your motherboard to defaults, re-seat your video card in it's slot and give that a try


I will definitely try this. I hope very much everything to be OK. Thanks for the advise


----------



## YinKuza

Returning my MSI Lightning for a new one in a couple of days since the fans sounds broken and it seems to run bad on the unlocked bios.

Hope the one i get in return will work smoothly as i really like this card.


----------



## gl0ry

Just got mine and installed it. Didn't move the switch to LN2 at the start. Just did that and wow, mine came with an unlocked LN2!

Edit: Or did it? The Bios on the LN2 is 80.04.28.00.3A which the first page says is an unlocked LN2. The highest power control I see in AB is 133%.


----------



## dr/owned

^^ Mine came with a fake unlocked version. Version was the same as yours 80.04.28.00.3A, but it's not unlocked.

Get 80.04.09.00.F8 and it'll be truly unlocked. I've attached it. Just rename it to .rom

ln2unlocked.txt 179k .txt file


Update from me is that I'm really getting 1.26V (have to use multimeter) under load now with AB 2.3.1 and 314 drivers (at +100 mV). Idles at 1.23V. I don't have the issue where it applies +93mV. I'm not playing a game that maxes my system, so it probably would go to higher voltage.


----------



## gl0ry

Thanks, Yeah I already flashed it. I figured it was a fake.. I can't believe they named it the same too.


----------



## dr/owned

Edit to my update: offset voltage slider doesn't seem to _do_ anything. -100 it's 1.26V, +100 it's 1.26V. If I try to apply anything greater than +88 it jumps to +100.

When I hit apply on +100 (from default) it temporarily blips the idle voltage from .997 to 1.1V but then after a few seconds it drops back.


----------



## gl0ry

I can't seem to get AB 2.3.1 to have the power % control even after adding

VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1


----------



## dr/owned

^^ I haven't done anything to my cfg from a fresh install of AB and it has +300% option.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> ^^ I haven't done anything to my cfg from a fresh install of AB and it has +300% option.


I get it with 2.2.3 but not with 2.3.1


----------



## dr/owned

^^ Try deleting the Afterburner folder and doing a reinstall. That'll wipe out all the CFG stuff.

Here's my entire install folder: http://www.datafilehost.com/download-2c5d4dad.html


----------



## srsparky32

if this card didnt have a yellow stripe i would have gotten it over my sig+ 680.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> ^^ Try deleting the Afterburner folder and doing a reinstall. That'll wipe out all the CFG stuff.
> 
> Here's my entire install folder: http://www.datafilehost.com/download-2c5d4dad.html


Nevermind, finally got it all working. Thanks, now for the overclocking fun!

I was using an MSI afterburner skin that didn't have power limit %


----------



## dr/owned

Update to my update to my update. Have to put:

[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

in the profile cfg in order for the offset voltage slide to do anything. Now getting 1.3V+ under load.


----------



## gl0ry

What is your best overclock so far dr? Do any of you ever mess with aux or memory voltages? I've never messed with those in the previous generation.


----------



## dr/owned

^^ Haven't had time to try overclocking these cards yet. Previous was running a 680 Ref + Non-Ref combo and it was nothing but trouble with the different clockspeeds and SLI...taking a loss of ~$60 to get rid of them. Seeing as both are soon to be underwater I'm just going to max the voltage sliders and call it a day


----------



## gl0ry

I've been messing with mine, 1320 core ran heaven for over an hour without any issues, but it fails OCCT.

I never consider an overclock 100% stable unless it shows 0 errors on OCCT. That program is so brutal man. In the 500 series it would underclock, but in the 600 they let it go full speed. Talking about thermals of 90C at 1.27v @ 100% fan speed...

Yeah I have to tone it down lol.

I'm still a bit confused at what exactly Power Limit does. I've looked it up and my general understanding is that it is a limit of how much power your card can get. I also read that it keeps your card from throttling the higher the % is..

Anyways I threw it at 300 for now and I haven't read anywhere that it's an unsafe setting. Someone please enlighten me


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Waiting for you results!!
> 
> You need to test all tweaks to see what works best for you!


The inspector tweak work great ! That's just a quick test :

I tried with CPU @ 5Ghz, only 100pts moar










Those Noiseblocker e-Loop fan, noiseless









No luck with 3DMark 11 yet, can't even get my "as usual" ~P19900, new NVdriver and updated 3Dmark doesn't seems to shine.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

THis is off topic but I am benching my 7970's in preperation for my 7970 vs Titan comparison and I think AMD has made some huge strides in 3dmark11. I remember back when the 680 Lightnings came out they were killing the 7970's in this bench but I just ran a single 7970 (1225MHz / 1754MHz) and got this score:



I don't remember my 7970's being anywhere close to that last summer. Refresh my memory guys, what do 680 Lightnings get in 3dmark11?


----------



## grunion

^^ Z77 board and you'd be well over 12k gpu.
My RIVE scores are the same way, -1k less at the same clock speeds.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> THis is off topic but I am benching my 7970's in preperation for my 7970 vs Titan comparison and I think AMD has made some huge strides in 3dmark11. I remember back when the 680 Lightnings came out they were killing the 7970's in this bench but I just ran a single 7970 (1225MHz / 1754MHz) and got this score:
> 
> 
> 
> I don't remember my 7970's being anywhere close to that last summer. Refresh my memory guys, what do 680 Lightnings get in 3dmark11?


On my first run on a single Lightning I just got 11503 and it's not on a crazy benching o/c, just a 24/7 stable o/c. (314.07 drivers)

Speaking of, My OCCT stable o/c so far is 1280mhz / 7204 mhz. Seems like I got pretty good memory on mine. I have yet to really test the memory, I just kind of set it and ran the stress test and everything passed. With 7200+ I don't really know if I care to try to crank it any higher. The core o/c is mediocre... I was hoping for 1350







I ran it at 1350 in heaven, but it had errors in OCCT, so I don't count that as a stable setting... maybe for benching though!

Honestly, coming from a 570 I didn't expect my scores to be that much greater, but it's really really surprising me so far. I had a score of 7200 back on my 570.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> THis is off topic but I am benching my 7970's in preperation for my 7970 vs Titan comparison and I think AMD has made some huge strides in 3dmark11. I remember back when the 680 Lightnings came out they were killing the 7970's in this bench but I just ran a single 7970 (1225MHz / 1754MHz) and got this score:
> 
> 
> 
> I don't remember my 7970's being anywhere close to that last summer. Refresh my memory guys, what do 680 Lightnings get in 3dmark11?


I don't remember my total score but it's in the 3dmark11 thread I think? I do remember that with SLI my graphics score was 24.6k or something like that. Can't remember what the total was though.


----------



## xoleras

Found it ! My CPU isn't SB-E though so my total and physics scores are way worse. I did get a good graphics score though.



From quite a while ago..


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Cool, thanks guys.


----------



## gl0ry

My scores, Benchmark stable @ 1359 / 7300. Might be able to push the memory a more, but this is starting to definitely cut close to my max for benches.


----------



## YBS1

I wonder if anyone can help me sort out an issue I've been having. I used to have core, memory and aux voltage adjustments available to me when 2.2.3 came out for my SLI Lightnings. Ever since I completed my new build though I only have core voltage available. It doesn't matter if I use 2.2.3 or 2.3.1 (with the config edit), only core voltage can be adjusted, no sliders for the other two, and no drop down box to make them visible.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *YBS1*
> 
> I wonder if anyone can help me sort out an issue I've been having. I used to have core, memory and aux voltage adjustments available to me when 2.2.3 came out for my SLI Lightnings. Ever since I completed my new build though I only have core voltage available. It doesn't matter if I use 2.2.3 or 2.3.1 (with the config edit), only core voltage can be adjusted, no sliders for the other two, and no drop down box to make them visible.


Make sure the skin setting is on default. I was missing stuff too earlier trying to find Power Limit %, but it ended up being the skin not showing it.


----------



## YBS1

Thanks, but that's not the issue here.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *YBS1*
> 
> I wonder if anyone can help me sort out an issue I've been having. I used to have core, memory and aux voltage adjustments available to me when 2.2.3 came out for my SLI Lightnings. Ever since I completed my new build though I only have core voltage available. It doesn't matter if I use 2.2.3 or 2.3.1 (with the config edit), only core voltage can be adjusted, no sliders for the other two, and no drop down box to make them visible.


Settings unlock voltage control should do it


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *YBS1*
> 
> Thanks, but that's not the issue here.


I would try uninstalling and be sure to select remove all configuration files. Then clean re-install it and see if that works.


----------



## YBS1

Thanks for the suggestions guys, but I have tried ever one of these and it's a no go. I have no idea unless it has something to do with going from Windows 7 to 8 (clean install), or maybe a registry setting it needs to display those additional sliders somehow got flipped off. Anyone have it working on Windows 8 btw?


----------



## YBS1

Also, just to confirm. Yes, both cards are flipped to the LN2 BIOS (Original 680 Lightnings, so unlocked release BIOS).


----------



## Chillie

I have flashed to the fully unlocked bios however when the computer boots w/ the fully unlocked LN2 bios the screen is so messed up with horizontal lines and totally wrong resolution.....could this be that i have newer card that is not compatible with the "awesome bios"...my default ln2 bios is 80.04.47.00.19 or is there a particular unlocked ln2 i need to be using?


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> I have flashed to the fully unlocked bios however when the computer boots w/ the fully unlocked LN2 bios the screen is so messed up with horizontal lines and totally wrong resolution.....could this be that i have newer card that is not compatible with the "awesome bios"...my default ln2 bios is 80.04.47.00.19 or is there a particular unlocked ln2 i need to be using?


You should be using .28.00.3A(check page 1), also the wrong resolution issue once windows recognized the GPU with new Bios, if not then flash again.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club


----------



## Chillie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sherlock*
> 
> You should be using .28.00.3A(check page 1), also the wrong resolution issue once windows recognized the GPU with new Bios, if not then flash again.
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club


you were right i was using the f8 bios. which after burner should i use in order to unlock all the voltage i can? im using 2.2.3 currently it still slides to 100 but then drops to 93 after i click apply


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *YBS1*
> 
> Also, just to confirm. Yes, both cards are flipped to the LN2 BIOS (Original 680 Lightnings, so unlocked release BIOS).


If someone who have the aux voltage and mem voltage working, would post this file, we might be able to see what option that make that feature available:

C:\Program Files (x86)\MSI Afterburner\Profiles\VEN_10DE&DEV_1180&SUBSYS_354D1458&REV_A1&

just open it, copy and paste all the content here!


----------



## dr/owned

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chillie*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *sherlock*
> 
> You should be using .28.00.3A(check page 1), also the wrong resolution issue once windows recognized the GPU with new Bios, if not then flash again.
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club
> 
> 
> 
> you were right i was using the f8 bios. which after burner should i use in order to unlock all the voltage i can? im using 2.2.3 currently it still slides to 100 but then drops to 93 after i click apply
Click to expand...

No problems here with 2.3.1, latest NV drivers, and f8 bios. (SLI) I'm not OC-ed right now but it also goes to +100mV as well, not +93. Aux and Mem voltage are also enabled for me.


----------



## driftingforlife

I have just arranged to buy the 2 680's I have been benching for a nice price next month. A real nice upgrade from my 470.


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> I have just arranged to buy the 2 680's I have been benching for a nice price next month. A real nice upgrade from my 470.


You just put me in touch with my jelly side...









But rising above that.....congratulations.


----------



## driftingforlife

Thanks







The only problem I will have is to source another EK lighting block (first world problems)


----------



## dr/owned

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The only problem I will have is to source another EK lighting block (first world problems)


It might have been me that bought the last 2 from FrozenCPU









You might not have wanted that batch though....both of them were missing the FC Links that were supposed to be included. Had to contact EK and get them to mail me them directly from Slovenia....good customer service though. I bet #32 who packed the box is getting reamed right now for his/her mistake.


----------



## 40.oz to freedom

Anyone know if the 670 lighting uses the same pcb as the 680 lighting?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *40.oz to freedom*
> 
> Anyone know if the 670 lighting uses the same pcb as the 680 lighting?


There's no 670 Lightning, the 670 PE doesn't look like the same PCB.


----------



## 40.oz to freedom

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> There's no 670 Lightning, the 670 PE doesn't look like the same PCB.


Didn't see it was a different name. anyway thanks was hoping grab a 670 pe and put a waterblock on it doesn't look like that happening.


----------



## trippinonprozac

Hey guys,

What is the average increase in what you can get out of a Lightning once you put it under water?

1 of my card has an ASIC of 73% and the other has 78.7%.


----------



## YBS1

I fixed my voltage problem, I can't really say for certain what tipped me off but I had a hunch from various things. Before I put together this LGA2011 system I was originally using my 1st Lightning as the master card, I used it as the slave card with this build. I swapped the cards back to the way they originally were....BINGO! Now I have core, mem, aux. No idea exactly what is different about the second card. It was one of the 1st 5000 I'm pretty sure, same original BIOS, etc. etc.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *trippinonprozac*
> 
> Hey guys,
> 
> What is the average increase in what you can get out of a Lightning once you put it under water?
> 
> 1 of my card has an ASIC of 73% and the other has 78.7%.


Personally, except 25°c lower temp, I can't seems to increase more than on stock air cooling.


----------



## dr/owned

Awww yeah:

http://postimage.org/

Kinda sad that the picture has more $$$ worth of electronics than a lot of people spend on their entire rig.


----------



## kickflipper1087

Hey all, just picked up one of these gfx cards and I love it so far! Just got into overclocking it the past couple days trying to find a sweet spot. Right now heres what I've got and I need an opinion if this is normal performance:

Intel i7-3770k @ 4.4Ghz
G.Skill Trident X 2 x 8GB (16GB RAM) @ 2400Mhz
MSI GTX 680 Lightning of course with Afterburner settings of +100 Core, +400 Memory, +100 Core Volt, + 150 power limit. F8 BIOS.

Does this look like a normal score with these settings in Unigine Heaven 4.0? They seem low to me but I don't have much experience with this benchmark, I'm just going by other peoples scores and doing approximations. Should I be scoring higher?



If you have any suggestions, I've been playing with sliders all night and I just want to hit a sweet spot and call it a day lol Let me know! Thanks guys


----------



## gl0ry

I got around ~54fps on my 24/7 oc and around ~56fps on my benchmark oc.

Your score definitely looks a bit low. Wonder if it's being throttled.


----------



## D749

I finally got around to slapping blocks on my Lightnings. I was going to sell the blocks and cards to purchase a few Titans but I've had the blocks for what seems like forever so I said screw it and just installed them. Now I'm eager to get the system up and running again.


----------



## driftingforlife




----------



## SeekerZA

Wow!! Understandable 2 Lightnings SLI but 3

Please Take Bigger Pictures and post it. New Wallpapers!!


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *40.oz to freedom*
> 
> Didn't see it was a different name. anyway thanks was hoping grab a 670 pe and put a waterblock on it doesn't look like that happening.


Yeah, I was pretty disappointed when I found out that no one made a full cover for the 670 pe.

You should express your interest here at EK.


----------



## dr/owned

@D749 .... did you find the instructions were .... wrong....

It seems you only need 5 screws to reinstall the backplate, not 8 as is shown in the picture? I don't see how the other holes (2 in the front and 2 at the back) have anything to thread to. Were we supposed to reuse any of the stock screws?

Oh and you don't want to use bubblewrap for your work surface...builds up static. Get yourself some closed cell foam (neoprene, volara, cross link polyethylene, etc) and it's much nicer. Screws will land on it and not roll anywhere or bounce.


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow!! Understandable 2 Lightnings SLI but 3
> 
> Please Take Bigger Pictures and post it. New Wallpapers!!


Big enough for you?









Big Image 1
Big Image 2


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> @D749 .... did you find the instructions were .... wrong....
> 
> It seems you only need 5 screws to reinstall the backplate, not 8 as is shown in the picture? I don't see how the other holes (2 in the front and 2 at the back) have anything to thread to. Were we supposed to reuse any of the stock screws?
> 
> Oh and you don't want to use bubblewrap for your work surface...builds up static. Get yourself some closed cell foam (neoprene, volara, cross link polyethylene, etc) and it's much nicer. Screws will land on it and not roll anywhere or bounce.


Unfortunately there are multiple errors in the instructions. None are that serious but EK should have updated the online insturctions. I thought about using nuts to install the remaining EK screws, which don't connect to the block, but in the end I didn't bother as everything was secure enough for my liking. I didn't reuse any of the stock screws.

I've been building computer for over 15 years and I've never had an issue with static electricity. I also don't use a wrist band. One just need to work smart (e.g., discharge yourself somehow before handling electronics) and if you do it doesn't really matter if you're working on carpet or anything else. That being said if using a wrist band isn't a bad idea at all.









The bubble wrap you see in the picture is just what the cards are sitting on. I generally work on a Modright mat.


----------



## driftingforlife

After I have got my HDDs for my server I *might* have to try 3-way if I can get another card and block.


----------



## heyskip

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> It might have been me that bought the last 2 from FrozenCPU
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You might not have wanted that batch though....both of them were missing the FC Links that were supposed to be included. Had to contact EK and get them to mail me them directly from Slovenia....good customer service though. I bet #32 who packed the box is getting reamed right now for his/her mistake.


Funny you say that. One of mine came without the FC Link and I ordered them straight from EK. They asked what inspection number was in the box but the person left that out as well. They probably just assumed it was #32 and reemed them again.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> @D749 .... did you find the instructions were .... wrong....
> 
> It seems you only need 5 screws to reinstall the backplate, not 8 as is shown in the picture? I don't see how the other holes (2 in the front and 2 at the back) have anything to thread to. Were we supposed to reuse any of the stock screws?
> 
> Oh and you don't want to use bubblewrap for your work surface...builds up static. Get yourself some closed cell foam (neoprene, volara, cross link polyethylene, etc) and it's much nicer. Screws will land on it and not roll anywhere or bounce.


EK instructions are generally pretty poor. There were multiple mistakes on the 590 instructions and no where near enough thermal pads.


----------



## SeekerZA

YES!!! Thanks , oh and i realised my standard screws from stock Lightning Heatsink did not fit block. have you too noticed that and used other screws?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Big enough for you?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Big Image 1
> Big Image 2


----------



## dr/owned

^^ I didn't use any of the stock screws they said to remove (except for the 1 stubby one between the dvi connectors). 4 of the short black ones attach the block to the gpu die and then 5 of the longer black ones attach the backplate to the block.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Big enough for you?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Big Image 1
> Big Image 2


Sexy setup. I've never found the urge to water cool video cards due to the additional cost and the fact that the blocks aren't universal.

I hope someday I have enough disposable income to do it though. It looks phenomenal.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D749*
> 
> Unfortunately there are multiple errors in the instructions. None are that serious but EK should have updated the online insturctions. I thought about using nuts to install the remaining EK screws, which don't connect to the block, but in the end I didn't bother as everything was secure enough for my liking. I didn't reuse any of the stock screws.
> 
> I've been building computer for over 15 years and I've never had an issue with static electricity. I also don't use a wrist band. One just need to work smart (e.g., discharge yourself somehow before handling electronics) and if you do it doesn't really matter if you're working on carpet or anything else. That being said if using a wrist band isn't a bad idea at all.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The bubble wrap you see in the picture is just what the cards are sitting on. I generally work on a Modright mat.


And in a Caselabs case, they are the best for building water cooled systems, endless possibilities, I can tell as I house my system in one also. I have the Aqua blocks on my 680's, they provided screws with nuts for the ends where the block doesn't cover. I have EK blocks ordered for my 7970 Lightnings.


----------



## xoleras

Whoa! question: what SLI bridge is good for those blocks menthol? Anyone else using the Aquacomputer Waterblocks for MSI lightning 680s in SLI? I actually bought them on release and just now i'm thinking of putting the blocks on







I've been procrastinating.

Anyway, what's the best SLI bridge to use for this?


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> YES!!! Thanks , oh and i realised my standard screws from stock Lightning Heatsink did not fit block. have you too noticed that and used other screws?


You're not suppose to use any of the stock screws once removed. Since the block does not align with all of the holes some holes will remain empty. If you want to fill them use the screws provided by EK and get some nuts to secure them. You just need to make sure not to tighten them down too much.


----------



## D749

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> Whoa! question: what SLI bridge is good for those blocks menthol? Anyone else using the Aquacomputer Waterblocks for MSI lightning 680s in SLI? I actually bought them on release and just now i'm thinking of putting the blocks on
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've been procrastinating.
> 
> Anyway, what's the best SLI bridge to use for this?


I used the bridge that came with my motherboard.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

I'm guessing he meant which SLI bridge for the blocks themselves. Obviously EK makes their own bridge for the FC680 Lightnings but I'm not sure what bridge you could use for the Aquacomputers. EK's bridge for their Titan blocks isn't out yet so I'm just using Bitspower crystal links to connect mine...


----------



## dr/owned

^^ Their bridges aren't product specific. Unless for some reason they decided to change the spacing between the in/out ports of the Titan block.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> I'm guessing he meant which SLI bridge for the blocks themselves. Obviously EK makes their own bridge for the FC680 Lightnings but I'm not sure what bridge you could use for the Aquacomputers. EK's bridge for their Titan blocks isn't out yet so I'm just using Bitspower crystal links to connect mine...


Thank you, yeah that's what I meant. I wonder if bitspower will work...I have another PC to throw the lightnings in, what better time to get them wet.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kickflipper1087*
> 
> Hey all, just picked up one of these gfx cards and I love it so far! Just got into overclocking it the past couple days trying to find a sweet spot. Right now heres what I've got and I need an opinion if this is normal performance:
> 
> 
> 
> Does this look like a normal score with these settings in Unigine Heaven 4.0? They seem low to me but I don't have much experience with this benchmark, I'm just going by other peoples scores and doing approximations. Should I be scoring higher?


I think you can tweak that a bit. I have a mediocre Lightning (asic=70.9), but using the same settings in Heaven, I get this:



At this resolution, my top stable boost clock is 1333. The fan noise is a bit much, and the heat more than I like, so I back off a bit for daily use.


----------



## SemperFidelis71

Hi guys...I just installed my new Lightning (MSI GTX 680) according to the instructions posted earlier in this thread....

My settings are as followed...btw...I flashed to the 80.04.28.00.3A.rom with AB 2.2.3

I ran Heaven with the settings below and it ran stable resulting in 2068 points smile.gif
I don't know if it matters but I am running Win 8/64

Core Voltage (mv) +93 (Defaults to 93 when I try to set it to 100)???
Memory Voltage +10 (Any less I and I crash in Heaven)
Aux Voltage -100 (lowered it)
Power Limit 175 (Is it enough)??
Core Clock(MHz) +100 (Seems to be my max) If I add 10 I crash mad.gif
Mem Clock +350 (Stable)
Fan 90%

Temps never go above 56 and GPUz says 1293.4 MHz with the above settings. Is that all my card can do???
Am I on the right track here???
HELP!!!


----------



## Menthol

Aqua makes a connector

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/twkitforgtx5.html

But I used these





I also have a 480 rad on the other side of the case with quick disconnects, when I bench the cards i disconnect the 480 and put my chiller in the loop.

I have ran it in dual and single loop setups, series and parallel. I can never make a decision on how to complete my setup. So it has become my bench inside a case.


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Aqua makes a connector
> 
> http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/twkitforgtx5.html
> 
> But I used these
> 
> I also have a 480 rad on the other side of the case with quick disconnects, when I bench the cards i disconnect the 480 and put my chiller in the loop.
> 
> I have ran it in dual and single loop setups, series and parallel. I can never make a decision on how to complete my setup. So it has become my bench inside a case.


Nice, thanks!

Do you have a build log anywhere? I have to figure out which parts i'm going to get for my loop. I procrastinate way too much


----------



## Menthol

No I didn't keep a log, I had an idea to begin with, then I joined a team on hwbot and started benching, entered a challenge and can't stop changing and benching, not addicted I just don't want to stop


----------



## kleinbird

Hey guys, I've been itching to pull the trigger on a Lightning for quite sometime but I've been patiently waiting it out to see if there will be any word on the 700 series release date. But I've still been shopping around and noticed that supply has been limited. Has MSI stopped production? Maybe because the 700 series is around the corner?


----------



## gl0ry

They went out of stock on newegg and amazon last weekend, which is when I bought one. I don't know if they'll have any more in stock. I would think that retailers wouldn't want to buy more of them when they have other 680s in stock. No word on 700 series yet. I'd be surprised if they came out before December though.


----------



## ManOfC

discontinued on new egg? doe snot seem they are getting anymore shipments of this one gentelmen (ouch) lmao.


----------



## gkolarov

What is the difference between Lightning and Power Edition ?


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gkolarov*
> 
> What is the difference between Lightning and Power Edition ?


the only change is the core and boost clock (1019MHz/1084MHz)


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gkolarov*
> 
> What is the difference between Lightning and Power Edition ?


You can flash the Lighting to an unlocked BIOS so you get voltage control.


----------



## kleinbird

Meaning we can't flash the unlocked BIOS of the Lightning to the Power Edition? Because if that is possible then wouldn't that be a worthy alternative to the Lightning if they are indeed not being made anymore?


----------



## gkolarov

Are there 2 bioses in Power Edition ?


----------



## kleinbird

Also, are there any other cards that offer the capabilities of the Lightning? Possibly versions of the 670 or other 680's? Just wondering because I don't think I have the patience to wait for the 700 series, especially if the rumors are true of a December release. Plus I don't have the coin for a Titan so that's definitely out.


----------



## driftingforlife

No you can't. The Lightning has a different Voltage Control chip to make overvolting possible.


----------



## kleinbird

I don't think so, but I was wondering if we can just flash the unlocked BIOS over the stock one that comes with the Power Edition. If the cards are built essentially the same then I don't see the harm in it...


----------



## kleinbird

Well, that's unfortunate but it totally makes sense. Otherwise everyone would save the money and buy the cheaper Power Edition and just flash it with the Lightning BIOS.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> No you can't. The Lightning has a different Voltage Control chip to make overvolting possible.


I've wondered this before but didn't know, thought they might be the same PCB without the ln2 bios. They look identical in the pics I've seen, but haven't seen any pics of the bare PCB to compare.


----------



## driftingforlife

Just finished my 7970 Lightning vs 680 Lightning.

http://www.team-greatbritain.com/msi-r7970-lightning-vs-msi-gtx680-lightning/


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Just finished my 7970 Lightning vs 680 Lightning.
> 
> http://www.team-greatbritain.com/msi-r7970-lightning-vs-msi-gtx680-lightning/


Nice work Drifting, 2000 mhz memory that is so sick


----------



## SemperFidelis71

WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!! Finally got my MSI 680 GTX Lightning STABLE!!!!!!

+138 Core Clock








+450 Memory Clock









Temps steady at 55 in Heaven

I had my Memory Voltage (mV) set to -100....slid that sucker to +0 and BAMCIS!!!!!!

Time to push the envelope....muahahahaha


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Didn't MSI just release the Lightning LE? Seems odd that they would discontinue the card so soon after that? Probably just a supply shortage...


----------



## gkolarov

On their site there is no more Lightning LE - http://bg.msi.com/product/vga/#?fp=GeForce 600 Series&sk=Geforce GTX 680 . In addition there is no more Lightning on sale. What is happening ? How to be sure in my 3 year warranty as there are no more lightnings ?


----------



## Fooom

Hey guys! Good day, i have MSi680 LTG on SLI and my first card is reaching 80c when playing crysis or tomb raider on ultra settings. Is this normal or is it too hot? And i didn't tweak it on Afterburner.

i5 3570k
cm storm stryker case

thanks


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gkolarov*
> 
> On their site there is no more Lightning LE - http://bg.msi.com/product/vga/#?fp=GeForce 600 Series&sk=Geforce GTX 680 . In addition there is no more Lightning on sale. What is happening ? How to be sure in my 3 year warranty as there are no more lightnings ?


Maybe they're going to bring out a Titanning?


----------



## gkolarov

Aham, Titanning for a cosmic price


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Nice work Drifting, 2000 mhz memory that is so sick


Thanks

I *should* be getting ABE very soon, just sent an email asking if it is done.

I still can't figure old why the mem sucks on both 7970s I had. Aw well its going tomorrow.


----------



## dr/owned

Prepare yourself for the best picture of the night:

(Backstory is I need to RMA my aircooled EVGA 680 because it crashes at stock clocks, problem is that I only have waterblocked 680's and don't want to put the fan cooler back on. So I said "eff it" and just did the loop with only the gpu. Reverse osmosis water. Put together in 5 minutes and filled in another 10. Quad radiator = overkill much? Didn't even bother using the built in psu...I'm an engr. so I used a spare one I had for these sorts of projects)

Hopefully it takes more than 2 weeks for algae to grow. Pump is running full blast.

Just cranked all the voltages to the max and am running 1400 / 3500. No idea if it'll go higher...that's just what I guesstimated to. Playing BF3 with 32x AA like a champ.


----------



## gl0ry

Congrats. You can probably crank up the memory another couple of hundred... but mostly just for benchmarking not 24/7 stability.

+500 is about right. I don't know if your core can really be stable for 24/7 even with the volts cranked up, but the fact you can even run it at that speed should mean that you can easily run it past 1300 for 24/7 settings.


----------



## Kimir

Put the aux to -50/-100 it will help for higher oc.
Dafuq with the temp, 50°c core with dat big rad outside the case, and the vrm temp lower. 
It's the other way around for me.


----------



## dr/owned

I think what I'm seeing is the limit for how fast the block can get heat off the components (mine is all nickel, yours is copper which probably makes a difference). Obviously an RX480 is way more than enough for a single GPU. Hell I was planning on running my cpu and 2 gpus off it.

(That screenshot might also have been with airbubbles still in the system, I'll get fresh one in a sec).

Right now it looks like + 225 core and + 500 memory is the limit. Past that it shatters like glass (only looking at 25 mhz increments).

Setting Aux to -100 and seeing what happens.

EDIT:

New screenshot, +250 seems ok with a few min of playing (it was crashing before with Aux = +100)


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Put the aux to -50/-100 it will help for higher oc.
> Dafuq with the temp, 50°c core with dat big rad outside the case, and the vrm temp lower.
> It's the other way around for me.


For Gaming and to get stable high clocks, which is better on aux? -50 or -100. Based on your experience


----------



## dr/owned

Edit: +250 still no go. Just crashed. Thank cripes for SSDs and being able to reboot in 15 seconds. Is Aux supposed to help memory then?


----------



## SeekerZA

What are your ambient temps like? I too run a quad to gpu:

My temps are max 49 during hot days here which are about 30Celcuis Ambient Temps and max around 46 normally. My VRM's get Warm should i say
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> Prepare yourself for the best picture of the night:
> 
> (Backstory is I need to RMA my aircooled EVGA 680 because it crashes at stock clocks, problem is that I only have waterblocked 680's and don't want to put the fan cooler back on. So I said "eff it" and just did the loop with only the gpu. Reverse osmosis water. Put together in 5 minutes and filled in another 10. Quad radiator = overkill much? Didn't even bother using the built in psu...I'm an engr. so I used a spare one I had for these sorts of projects)
> 
> Hopefully it takes more than 2 weeks for algae to grow. Pump is running full blast.
> 
> Just cranked all the voltages to the max and am running 1400 / 3500. No idea if it'll go higher...that's just what I guesstimated to. Playing BF3 with 32x AA like a champ.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Put the aux to -50/-100 it will help for higher oc.
> Dafuq with the temp, 50°c core with dat big rad outside the case, and the vrm temp lower.
> It's the other way around for me.


----------



## dr/owned

Ambient is 25C exactly right now. (Also keep in mind I'm only watercooling the gpu right now. CPU and 2nd 680 on the todo list. Just needed to get the one card working right now). Idle I'm getting 28C core, 30C memory, and 32C VRM.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gkolarov*
> 
> On their site there is no more Lightning LE - http://bg.msi.com/product/vga/#?fp=GeForce 600 Series&sk=Geforce GTX 680 . In addition there is no more Lightning on sale. What is happening ? How to be sure in my 3 year warranty as there are no more lightnings ?


The stock they have left has probably been reserved for RMA, should be OK as long as everyone doesn't go on a card killing spree.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Thanks
> 
> I *should* be getting ABE very soon, just sent an email asking if it is done.
> 
> I still can't figure old why the mem sucks on both 7970s I had. Aw well its going tomorrow.


One of my 680 lightnings does close to 2k memory, but the core isn't as good as on the other card. The other has better core speed, but the memory doesn't like to get pushed over 1800. My 7970L will do 1900 mem on air, but frozen doesn't want to pass 1800. Hard to win...
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> I think what I'm seeing is the limit for how fast the block can get heat off the components (mine is all nickel, yours is copper which probably makes a difference). Obviously an RX480 is way more than enough for a single GPU. Hell I was planning on running my cpu and 2 gpus off it.
> 
> (That screenshot might also have been with airbubbles still in the system, I'll get fresh one in a sec).
> 
> Right now it looks like + 225 core and + 500 memory is the limit. Past that it shatters like glass (only looking at 25 mhz increments).
> 
> Setting Aux to -100 and seeing what happens.
> 
> EDIT:
> 
> New screenshot, +250 seems ok with a few min of playing (it was crashing before with Aux = +100)


Very nice! Just about the same as what my better 680 Lightning can do with water in 3d11.


----------



## Motive

I just picked up my 680 Lightning today, and I've been browsing the bios files for the unlocked LN2 one, and I was curious if download a new/older bios voids your warranty?


----------



## dr/owned

^^ Highly doubtful they even have a method of knowing that the BIOS was reflashed. It's just an eeprom....simple stuff.


----------



## kickflipper1087

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> I think you can tweak that a bit. I have a mediocre Lightning (asic=70.9), but using the same settings in Heaven, I get this:
> 
> 
> 
> At this resolution, my top stable boost clock is 1333. The fan noise is a bit much, and the heat more than I like, so I back off a bit for daily use.


Thats a nice overclock you got, I crash if I push mine past +125 GPU clock, I have power up to +250% and +100mV, +600 Mem Core. Temps stay under 60c. I just reset the global settings in nVidia control panel to default and with this new overclock I have the following results. Pretty decent! What else can I do to possibly get a higher GPU clock though?


----------



## Kimir

Here is my result on Heaven with the same setting as you guys :


weirdly, when I run it on Extreme preset it screw it totally, like Valley bench, uses the GPU2 @ ~98% but GPU1 is not used, it stick to ~50-60% usage, huh!
edit: apparently, the newest nvidia drivers are baaad for SLI


----------



## kleinbird

Amazon has the Lightnings back in stock for $499... Wow, I'm tempted... Anyone think I'll be strapped by the VRAM though? I game on a 1440p monitor that OC's to 120Hz. I don't mind not using AA at that resolution.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Here is my result on Heaven with the same setting as you guys :


Looks like the 1400 neighborhood is about normal for a single Lightning @1920x1080. It's great that you get almost double that with SLI.

kickflipper, one thing that might improve the OC: set aux to -100mv or -50mv (try both, see which is better for you). But it is not really important if you can't go higher: the difference between 1454 and 1379 is measurable, but not *noticeable*


----------



## dr/owned

I'm confused....


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> I'm confused....


I can see why, score wouldn't be bad with extreme tessellation set, but that looks bad for moderate, I don't know...


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> I'm confused....


One possibility is that you've overclocked it too much. Taking an OC too far can degrade performance. Cache errors, mem errors, re-reads, re-writes, mean going nowhere incredibly fast.

But maybe it's just some settings not working with heaven. Have you run other gfx performance benchmarks? How did they turn out?


----------



## IIcx

Just picked up a couple MSI GTX 680 Lightnings to replace my old ATI 5970 thats starting to fail (video artifacts and random crashes when artifacts get bad). Came in today from Amazon. Also have a couple of EK blocks coming in from ebay. Made a 105 offer on them and got them down to 110 each; down from 113. Not much but something. Search for auction ID 380590538236 if your interested. 2 left.

Questions:
With EK blocks someone mentioned missing thermal pads. So what did you use to replace? Is there a thickness to order?

What thermal paste you guys slap on the GPU? Can it be conductive? Was thinking of ordering Phobya HeGrease Extreme.

Anyone watching voltages externally? I was thinking of something like "FrSky lipo voltage sensor". Looks cool, but connection not possible with wires meant to measure ground off the hot end of the last cell. It also consumes 15.5 mA. Not a load I want to put on a test point. Dang have to find something else.

I need to order a bridge. Thinking of the clear one to help with visual bubble removal. Wish the block was clear also. Also need to order some lower profile connectors for my optical drives so the last card will fit. Silverstone case vertical card solution has the SLI cards up against the optical drives. Rambling now.









Thanks for any input .








Scott


----------



## FtW 420

I don't know the 680 waterblock specifically, 0.5mm is the most common one I see on other EK blocks, & a couple use some 1.0mm as well.

For voltage monitoring the easiest way is a multimeter.


----------



## dr/owned

Watch of for 3 slot vs regular EK bridges. I've made bridge mistakes twice now. You NEED the 3 slot if you have a free expansion slot between your graphics cards (looking at the back of your case). Doesn't matter if there a pci-e x1 slot there or not....go by the back of the case.

No point in using conductive thermal paste. You can get non-conductive white stuff that performs just as well and is far safer.

It's .5mm pads on the memory and 1 mm on the VRMs. I got what I needed in the box without ordering extra.

I use a multimeter. Don't care after initial debugging what the voltage is....gaming it will be 1.368V and idle it's 1.098V.


----------



## wiredg

So after I found my maximum stable clock for my mediocre Lighting, it was time to find a good one for everyday use. I reduced the boost clock from 1333 to 1215, the mem clock from 3848 to 3787, and got temps all under or at 60c.

And *very* little sacrifice in performance. Previous Heaven score was 1454. Currently it's 1375. And that's with 120mhz less core freq and 60 less mem freq. Got around a 5c reduction in temps all around, and nice quiet fans. I'd say it's pretty well dialed in now.


----------



## driftingforlife

I got ABE, going to have a play with it tonight









Posting this for the new people that haven't seen it.

Voltage table:

AB 2.2.3, 3A LN2 BIOS.

Stock - 1.250
+6 - 1.258
+12 - 1.263
+18 - 1.273
+25 - 1.280
+31 - 1.285
+37 - 1.295
+43 - 1.300
+50 - 1.308
+56 - 1.313
+62 - 1.319
+68 - 1.325
+75 - 1.332
+81 - 1.338
+87 - 1.345
+93 - 1.356


----------



## Kimir

Tss, still no answer to my mail from MSI France rep about ABE...


----------



## driftingforlife

Have you done LN2 before with proof?

What voltage do you guys use under water?


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Have you done LN2 before with proof?
> 
> What voltage do you guys use under water?


Have you got the extreme version for voltage tweaking?


----------



## driftingforlife

Yes.

I thought about 1.45V.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Yes.
> 
> I thought about 1.45V.


Are you staying on water or using ln2? How's your temps then idle and load?


----------



## driftingforlife

Water.

Temps ide 22c load 36c-40c


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Water.
> 
> Temps ide 22c load 36c-40c


Wow! Nice. Mine is sitting at idle: 37 ( It's one those hot days today here) and load: i saw 50 already and got a shock. normally around 45. Have you played with voltages already? Did Artmoney not give you enough room for more core?


----------



## driftingforlife

The was at max OC at 1.36v. I haven't used ARTmonky as I had ABE coming.


----------



## dr/owned

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Water.
> 
> Temps ide 22c load 36c-40c


I'm going to have to pull my block off and make sure the thermal paste spread properly, because I get 45C under full load @ 25C ambient with it having a quad radiator all to itself (and I'm guessing we have the same block). It's really linear too...if my ambient temp goes down 1C my load temp goes down 1C.

With 22C idle is your ambient around 18C?


----------



## driftingforlife

No idea what my ambeit is sorry. I to have a QUAD rad just for it. I just tried heaven at 1.42v @1425 core 2000 mem. Ran at 46c. Going to see if it will do a vantage run now.


----------



## dr/owned

^^ OK our temperatures are more in line. Seeing as you're from the UK, I'm guessing your ambient is probably lower than mine (since you're probably more accustomed to cold temperatures than I am). Ya gotta get yourself a $5 clock/thermometer combo









Either you're lucky or I'm unlucky. I can't get higher than 1500 mem no matter what I do. I've never heard of ABE prior to your post. Does it let all the voltages run higher? As you probably know, with a waterblock there's a whole lot more headroom...I could probably go 1.45V or more and stay under 70C. But I'm a bit annoyed at not being able to check a box to download it....


----------



## driftingforlife

At 1.43ish. Yes it is an unlocked version of afterburn. Just crashed at 1.44ish 1475mhz.


----------



## kickflipper1087

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> Looks like the 1400 neighborhood is about normal for a single Lightning @1920x1080. It's great that you get almost double that with SLI.
> 
> kickflipper, one thing that might improve the OC: set aux to -100mv or -50mv (try both, see which is better for you). But it is not really important if you can't go higher: the difference between 1454 and 1379 is measurable, but not *noticeable*


Hey thanks for the suggestion, I just found that sneaky setting for AUX but it won't let me change it...if I change the slider up or down it just resets back to zero when I click Apply. Any ideas?


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kickflipper1087*
> 
> Hey thanks for the suggestion, I just found that sneaky setting for AUX but it won't let me change it...if I change the slider up or down it just resets back to zero when I click Apply. Any ideas?


Go to page one of this thread and follow the instructions for editing your AB profiles. It will allow all sliders in AB to work.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Have you done LN2 before with proof?
> 
> What voltage do you guys use under water?


Not ever with my own gear, I don't earn enough to risk to blow my rig. Anyway, they didn't even bother to reply, this isn't good (what if I have to contact them for warranty, heh).
I already had to contact Asus, answer within 3 days, Alphacool, answer withing 2 days and Koolance, as long as you contact them in working hours, they answer instantly (had a chit-chat of few email with them, lighting fast answers, love it).
I can do 1411Mhz core clock for bench like 3DMark but it's not stable for gaming or Heaven (well, Unigine bench is buggy right now in SLI with newest Nvdia driver, it uses on of the card only at half load), I guess with 10-20mV more it could be doable.
I find it more fun to try to get the highest OC stable enough for gaming a little, than just for a quick 3DMark run, tbh.








My cooling is not insane too, so with 28°c IDLE and 52°c after 3h of Crysis 3 (Geforce Experience set it to Very High on everything and 1x SMAA) with 18°c ambient raising to 21°c after the PC warmed the room lol.


----------



## MrMarauder

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Didn't MSI just release the Lightning LE? Seems odd that they would discontinue the card so soon after that? Probably just a supply shortage...


Any clarification on what exactly the Lightning LE is?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> Any clarification on what exactly the Lightning LE is?


It's supposed to be the 680 Lightning PCB with a lower base clock (LE for Light Edition?).

I've seen that Afterburner is now available in v3.0.0 in beta, I'm gonna try it when I get home, just because they "added French localization".








Will see if we can still edit the cfg


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> It's supposed to be the 680 Lightning PCB with a lower base clock (LE for Light Edition?).


I haven't heard of this, and can't find anything online about it, but maybe MSI now sees no reason to make 680 Lightnings after nvidia insisted on restricting overvolting on Kepler (raising the fear of electromigration, an old-fashioned concern that the Lightning is designed to avoid). Overvolting is the basic purpose of the Lightning series, after all. So why not just cap the Kepler cards at the PE level? Same great stock cooler, which is worth having. If there really is going to be a Lightning LE, then I'd imagine it's a PE with Lightning branding. Or perhaps they will discontinue the 680L and just stick with the PE for Kepler. I bet AMD is pleased with all this.


----------



## SeekerZA

Was using AB 2.2.3 until today. Installed 2.3.1 and edited the cfg line. How do i know if the volts are right for OC? my AB showed power limit of 300 already before the lines were added. And when it shows volts via Kombuster it says 1.212. Please indicate if i'm doing it right and that the volts are normal once lines have been edited


----------



## gkolarov

When you turn to LN2 bios the core voltage goes to 1.21V under full load. So yes, it is normal.


----------



## dr/owned

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Was using AB 2.2.3 until today. Installed 2.3.1 and edited the cfg line. How do i know if the volts are right for OC? my AB showed power limit of 300 already before the lines were added. And when it shows volts via Kombuster it says 1.212. Please indicate if i'm doing it right and that the volts are normal once lines have been edited


You need to use the accessory they give in the box that plugs into the back of the PCB and breaks out 2 wires for multimeter measurements (core is labeled on the PCB, but it's the one closest to the PCI-e connector). With LN2 AB will always report 1.212V but it may be higher on the hardware level. (Under full load with +100 it is actually 1.368V even though AB only reports 1.212V)


----------



## SeekerZA

Thanks for help.


----------



## jessew

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DADDYDC650*
> 
> I shouldn't need to overclock my Lightning? Blasphemy!!!
> 
> BTW, awesome rig.


----------



## jessew

I water cooled my 680 lightning now it go from 1150 megahertz sometimes down to 500 I don't know why usually I get around 1250 ever since I water cooled s*** changed anybody know why


----------



## jessew

I'm struggling with my lighting card I put in ek waterblock on and the megahertz fluctuates from 1200 to 600 and I'm only getting 43 frames second on furmark I use to stay at 1200 to 1250 and got 53 fraps with the stock cooler temperatures at 30 degrees Idol goes up to about 60 I'll take any advice I can get


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jessew*
> 
> I water cooled my 680 lightning now it go from 1150 megahertz sometimes down to 500 I don't know why usually I get around 1250 ever since I water cooled s*** changed anybody know why


Maybe you accidentally moved the BIOS select switch while handling it? Make sure it is set for LN2.

Freq is meant to settle down when there is not a heavy load. Nvidia CP has a power setting. I use adaptive in global, and maximum performance in each game or benchmark profile, although that is probably not necessary; with adaptive it will automatically increase under load.

Edit: I should have added that one reason to use max perf in game profiles is this warning from nvidia that some apps don't respond to the adaptive setting correctly.


----------



## gl0ry

Any of you running 314.14 beta drivers? I keep noticing some overclocking issues whenever I run this particular set of drivers. Clocks won't stay and some other odd issues with afterburner but as soon as I switch back to 314.07 they're fine.

Seems like it has something to do with the power limit. If I touch it, the clocks go back to normal, I touch it again, it under clocks.


----------



## Kimir

I'm using those beta and despite the poor results in bench and questionable perf in game, I don't have such clock issue.


----------



## ManOfC

Whats this news about a msi titan twin frozr V equipped card?

Or are they making MSI lighting gtx 680 with twin frzer V?


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> I have never submitted my ownership validation so here it is(waiting on second water block):


1 card is on lc and the other one is with stock cooler? why?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ManOfC*
> 
> Whats this news about a msi titan twin frozr V equipped card?
> 
> Or are they making MSI lighting gtx 680 with twin frzer V?


There will be no lightning titan, PCB modification isn't allowed so, if they name it lightning, it will no be what make a lightning what it is.


----------



## ManOfC

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> 1 card is on lc and the other one is with stock cooler? why?


He is waiting on a second water block.. I want to ask though you can not have stock fans and water cooling at the same time correct?


----------



## ManOfC

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> There will be no lightning titan, PCB modification isn't allowed so, if they name it lightning, it will no be what make a lightning what it is.


thought so.. so that twin V fan is what they are putting on the new 680's which are going to be lightning or a similar series?

Msi lightning 680 with TF V?


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ManOfC*
> 
> He is waiting on a second water block.. I want to ask though you can not have stock fans and water cooling at the same time correct?


mine was just a question, is that forbidden?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ManOfC*
> 
> He is waiting on a second water block.. I want to ask though you can not have stock fans and water cooling at the same time correct?


It is possible, some folks are using the stock heatplate (with the fan still attached) while using an all-in-one liquid cpu cooler on the gpu core, so it's a bit of a mix. Not on the lightning, but on reference cards. The lightning cooler & fans do have to come off for a liquid block (universal block can be used with the stock heatplate).


----------



## ManOfC

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> mine was just a question, is that forbidden?


No but it is obvious in the quote he said he is waiting on another to arrive.... just saying.


----------



## p3gaz_001

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ManOfC*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> mine was just a question, is that forbidden?
> 
> 
> 
> No but it is obvious in the quote he said he is waiting on another to arrive.... just saying.
Click to expand...

i did not see the quote, otherwise i wouldn't be asking.


----------



## Tbolo

http://postimage.org/

Kinda sad that the picture has more $$$ worth of electronics than a lot of people spend on their entire rig.[/quote]

I hear ya...bout dropped these 2 bad boys when I was taking out to the kitchen and thought to myself, I have about 14 hundo wrapped up in video;-)


----------



## CryptiK

Love how you have cutting edge electronics in front of a 'live simply' poster. Nice juxtaposition lol


----------



## Viktor5748

I have a question that I'd like to see if anyone can answer... I have 2 MSI GTX 680 Lightnings running in SLI and yesterday I took them out for cable management purposes and when I put them back in I switched them up (from top to bottom) and the one that used to be on top and is now on the bottom is now having a bunch of issues. The fans are running constantly at like 3,200RPM and I can't get them to go down no matter what I do... but if I go into the Nvidia control panel if I click on something that uses the graphics cards to do the fans will go back to idle for a couple seconds and jack way back up. ONLY THE ONE HAVING THE ISSUES IS RUNNING AT HIGH RPMS... The other one works flawlessly. The card with the issues also causes BSODs after the computer has been on for a few minutes and I try to open a game or something... somethimes the screen goes black and either stays black or occasionally it will come back on and say Nvidia drivers crashed and have re-opened or re-freshed or something (can't remember exactly what it said... then it will do it again in like 30 seconds... The computer started throwing random errors and shutting different programs and drivers down. It was saying at first that the graphics drivers were messing up... So I reinstalled the Nvidia drivers but it didn't fix it... I also reflashed the bios on it and switched the LN2 switch and that didn't fix it... The graphics card just is giving me all kinds of problems now... I ALSO tried switching it back to the top... but didn't fix the problems. If any of you have any ideas on what's going on or what to do I would be so appreciative!!! This computer is my baby and this is really frustrating me... Both cards worked fine for the last couple months... This card with the issues has always been a little less of a performer that the other... and it wouldn't take the same BIOS flash as the other card... and the LEDs on the back are a different tint of blue than the other card... I think it might be an older stock card... I bought both Brand New from Newegg a couple months ago or less... I'm just so lost... Please help me... Does anyone know what the RMA / Return policy is for the Lightnings from Newegg??? Or who I need to call? If someone can help me with this I will forever be in your debt! Sorry about the long post.


----------



## TechSilver13

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Viktor5748*
> 
> I have a question that I'd like to see if anyone can answer... I have 2 MSI GTX 680 Lightnings running in SLI and yesterday I took them out for cable management purposes and when I put them back in I switched them up (from top to bottom) and the one that used to be on top and is now on the bottom is now having a bunch of issues. The fans are running constantly at like 3,200RPM and I can't get them to go down no matter what I do... but if I go into the Nvidia control panel if I click on something that uses the graphics cards to do the fans will go back to idle for a couple seconds and jack way back up. ONLY THE ONE HAVING THE ISSUES IS RUNNING AT HIGH RPMS... The other one works flawlessly. The card with the issues also causes BSODs after the computer has been on for a few minutes and I try to open a game or something... somethimes the screen goes black and either stays black or occasionally it will come back on and say Nvidia drivers crashed and have re-opened or re-freshed or something (can't remember exactly what it said... then it will do it again in like 30 seconds... The computer started throwing random errors and shutting different programs and drivers down. It was saying at first that the graphics drivers were messing up... So I reinstalled the Nvidia drivers but it didn't fix it... I also reflashed the bios on it and switched the LN2 switch and that didn't fix it... The graphics card just is giving me all kinds of problems now... I ALSO tried switching it back to the top... but didn't fix the problems. If any of you have any ideas on what's going on or what to do I would be so appreciative!!! This computer is my baby and this is really frustrating me... Both cards worked fine for the last couple months... This card with the issues has always been a little less of a performer that the other... and it wouldn't take the same BIOS flash as the other card... and the LEDs on the back are a different tint of blue than the other card... I think it might be an older stock card... I bought both Brand New from Newegg a couple months ago or less... I'm just so lost... Please help me... Does anyone know what the RMA / Return policy is for the Lightnings from Newegg??? Or who I need to call? If someone can help me with this I will forever be in your debt! Sorry about the long post.


My advice is to RMA through MSIs website. Word of warning. I got a card back from MSI in its stock retail box taped up with shipping labels all over it. So don't be shocked if you get a dud card back do to bad shipping habits. It took about two weeks from the time I sent mine in until I got it back.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## sherlock

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!



Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Viktor5748*
> 
> I have a question that I'd like to see if anyone can answer... I have 2 MSI GTX 680 Lightnings running in SLI and yesterday I took them out for cable management purposes and when I put them back in I switched them up (from top to bottom) and the one that used to be on top and is now on the bottom is now having a bunch of issues. The fans are running constantly at like 3,200RPM and I can't get them to go down no matter what I do... but if I go into the Nvidia control panel if I click on something that uses the graphics cards to do the fans will go back to idle for a couple seconds and jack way back up. ONLY THE ONE HAVING THE ISSUES IS RUNNING AT HIGH RPMS... The other one works flawlessly. The card with the issues also causes BSODs after the computer has been on for a few minutes and I try to open a game or something... somethimes the screen goes black and either stays black or occasionally it will come back on and say Nvidia drivers crashed and have re-opened or re-freshed or something (can't remember exactly what it said... then it will do it again in like 30 seconds... The computer started throwing random errors and shutting different programs and drivers down. It was saying at first that the graphics drivers were messing up... So I reinstalled the Nvidia drivers but it didn't fix it... I also reflashed the bios on it and switched the LN2 switch and that didn't fix it... The graphics card just is giving me all kinds of problems now... I ALSO tried switching it back to the top... but didn't fix the problems. If any of you have any ideas on what's going on or what to do I would be so appreciative!!! This computer is my baby and this is really frustrating me... Both cards worked fine for the last couple months... This card with the issues has always been a little less of a performer that the other... and it wouldn't take the same BIOS flash as the other card... and the LEDs on the back are a different tint of blue than the other card... I think it might be an older stock card... I bought both Brand New from Newegg *a couple months* ago or less... I'm just so lost... Please help me... Does anyone know what the RMA / Return policy is for the Lightnings from Newegg??? Or who I need to call? If someone can help me with this I will forever be in your debt! Sorry about the long post.






I have RMAed two Graphic cards with Newegg, both replacements are brand new card with no sign of opening or usage. However since Newegg's Graphic card return window is only 1 month after invoice date you have missed your window. You will have to RMA through MSI.


----------



## dr/owned

So my best stable overclock is 1400/3475 with +100 core/memory and +0 aux (with the card having a quad radiator to itself still).

I guess I just got really crappy memory chips on my card.

I'm waiting for Mcmaster Carr to fulfill my Tygon order on Monday and then I'll drain the loop, install the 2nd card and do the CPU and whatnot.


----------



## gl0ry

I can't be the only person having issues with 314.14 and 314.21 beta drivers am I?

Here's a video of the issue. I've made a couple of threads, one on this forum and one on the official nvidia ones without much replies. The reply on OCN states that it happens to him as well... what about you guys?






Anytime I hit apply for a profile, change or no change, the Core Clock defaults to reference speed (1006mhz) and undervolts. I hit apply again and it goes back to my normal clock (1280) and voltage. I wouldn't care if when I booted up it were my clock, but it's always the 1006 default reference clocks unless I manually load the profile up every time.

I wanted to be clear that this happens on both LN2 bios and stock bios. Memory clock is completely unaffected.

Note: This never happens with 314.07 WHQL. When I used 314.14 this happened as well but there wasn't any real reason for me to use 314.14 so I just stuck with 314.07, but now that 314.21 is out there is a huge increase in performance for Tomb Raider and I'd like to use them, but this bug drives me absolutely crazy.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Did you try reinstalling AB?


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> So my best stable overclock is 1400/3475 with +100 core/memory and +0 aux (with the card having a quad radiator to itself still).
> 
> I guess I just got really crappy memory chips on my card.
> 
> I'm waiting for Mcmaster Carr to fulfill my Tygon order on Monday and then I'll drain the loop, install the 2nd card and do the CPU and whatnot.


Your core clock is Really nice. I'm only able to push 1346 on my core for gaming , 27/7 use. Also running a quad for it. Is your LN2 BIOS? What afterburner your running and whats your power limit, core volt set at to achieve that high 1400 on core?


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> I can't be the only person having issues with 314.14 and 314.21 beta drivers am I?
> 
> Here's a video of the issue. I've made a couple of threads, one on this forum and one on the official nvidia ones without much replies. The reply on OCN states that it happens to him as well... what about you guys?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anytime I hit apply for a profile, change or no change, the Core Clock defaults to reference speed (1006mhz) and undervolts. I hit apply again and it goes back to my normal clock (1280) and voltage. I wouldn't care if when I booted up it were my clock, but it's always the 1006 default reference clocks unless I manually load the profile up every time.
> 
> I wanted to be clear that this happens on both LN2 bios and stock bios. Memory clock is completely unaffected.
> 
> Note: This never happens with 314.07 WHQL. When I used 314.14 this happened as well but there wasn't any real reason for me to use 314.14 so I just stuck with 314.07, but now that 314.21 is out there is a huge increase in performance for Tomb Raider and I'd like to use them, but this bug drives me absolutely crazy.


That is definitely a bug you've came across. Though i'm using 314.07 WHQL driver and LN2 BIOS and experience no such problems. I have tomb raider but never got started on it. Will wait for the better driver to come out. How are your frames in the game? and which settings for 1 or 2 Lightnings?


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Did you try reinstalling AB?


Yeah I've done it all. It is 100% a driver issue. Have had a guy on OCN confirm it and a guy on nvidia forums. The minute I reinstall 314.07 it works properly again.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> That is definitely a bug you've came across. Though i'm using 314.07 WHQL driver and LN2 BIOS and experience no such problems. I have tomb raider but never got started on it. Will wait for the better driver to come out. How are your frames in the game? and which settings for 1 or 2 Lightnings?


With 314.07 the game is unstable and crashes to desktop a lot. General performance (with overclocking) using Ultra preset was around 65 fps. Ultimate preset (TessFX On) was about 45fps.

With 314.21, General performance (same overclocks) with Ultra preset was 106fps and with Ultimate preset was about 64 fps.

Huge Huge Huge boosts.... Biggest I've personally ever encountered in terms of driver boosts.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Try a different OC utility like Precision to exclude an AB issue. If others aren't having the issue but you are it seems unlikely to be the drivers...


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Try a different OC utility like Precision to exclude an AB issue. If others aren't having the issue but you are it seems unlikely to be the drivers...


All I know is that I have confirmation that the same thing occurs with EVGA Precision X. I don't have this issue with 314.07 WHQL only the two beta versions.


----------



## Kimir

You are definitely not the only one, I didn't notice it on 314.14, but I didn't played much with it.
I was trying 314.21 yesterday when Geforce experience popped up the update and it was horrible!
Was stuck at 1006 on one card then the second whenever it wanted, applying my OC sometime was working and sometime not.

I thought first it was AB 3.0 Beta but it was the driver. Crysis 3 was unplayable with frametime jumping like crazy.
I'm now back to 314.07 and it's fine, but I'm supposed to receive Tomb Raider today... That's not good. WTH Nvidia, 1 good driver and few bad next and story repeat again and again.


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> I can't be the only person having issues with 314.14 and 314.21 beta drivers am I?
> 
> Here's a video of the issue. I've made a couple of threads, one on this forum and one on the official nvidia ones without much replies. The reply on OCN states that it happens to him as well... what about you guys?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anytime I hit apply for a profile, change or no change, the Core Clock defaults to reference speed (1006mhz) and undervolts. I hit apply again and it goes back to my normal clock (1280) and voltage. I wouldn't care if when I booted up it were my clock, but it's always the 1006 default reference clocks unless I manually load the profile up every time.
> 
> I wanted to be clear that this happens on both LN2 bios and stock bios. Memory clock is completely unaffected.
> 
> Note: This never happens with 314.07 WHQL. When I used 314.14 this happened as well but there wasn't any real reason for me to use 314.14 so I just stuck with 314.07, but now that 314.21 is out there is a huge increase in performance for Tomb Raider and I'd like to use them, but this bug drives me absolutely crazy.


Mine is also stuck at 1006mhz.


----------



## Kimir

Nvidia is trying to stop us from oc'ing by putting ref clock by driver, silly them!








To bad for them, it's easy to notice when you don't have the reference card with stock clock.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> I can't be the only person having issues with 314.14 and 314.21 beta drivers am I?
> 
> Here's a video of the issue. I've made a couple of threads, one on this forum and one on the official nvidia ones without much replies. The reply on OCN states that it happens to him as well... what about you guys?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> edit


Does this affect your boost clock and voltage when the gpu is under a strain, like in benchmarks or games? Because all I see in the video is your idle clock or a light load clock changing (or so I assume, based on fan speed). If these drivers reduce idle freq, and don't affect boost freq, then that would be an improvement, not a bug.

If that's not the case, then perhaps selecting max performance for the global profile in nvidia CP might help?

Also, I see you are using AB 3 beta. Could this be a compat problem confined to the new nv drivers and this version of AB? Have you tried AB 2.3.1 with these nv drivers to see if that's the case? You said you re-installed AB, but have you tried the earlier version as well?


----------



## Kimir

See my previous post, it does happen in game, screwing the perf and it's not AB fault at all.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> See my previous post, it does happen in game, screwing the perf and it's not AB fault at all.


Doh! I suppose I could have read the page after


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Nvidia is trying to stop us from oc'ing by putting ref clock by driver, silly them!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> To bad for them, it's easy to notice when you don't have the reference card with stock clock.


So this is something that's going to happen even in the next WHQL? Any work around other than applying your clock on every boot.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> So this is something that's going to happen even in the next WHQL? Any work around other than applying your clock on every boot.


I hope not, or they will have user rage on their forum, me included ! And even by applying your OC everytime, Crysis 3 was unplayable, jittering like hell and frame time reported by AB was jumping like crazy.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

3DMark 11 nvidia drivers test:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1360415/guide-3dmark-tweaks/0_100

3DMark 13 tests soon.


----------



## qwwwizx

I just had a fun weekend with benching, single GTX 680 and i3770k on watercooling. I took the computer outside and the temperature there was just around the freezing point.




GPU-Z show wrong frequencies. I was on 1555Mhz on the firestrike test and 1515Mhz in the 3dmark11 test. My Radiator cant keep the water cool enough to run the CPU test if I go beyond 1515 in 3dmark11. I divide the loop in two the coming weekend and hopefully reach higher in both tests.

Still with all settings on default and no windows tweaks. Only MSI AB and Artmoney ;-)


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> 3DMark 11 nvidia drivers test:
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1360415/guide-3dmark-tweaks/0_100
> 
> 3DMark 13 tests soon.


Good stuff, I test drivers but never think to write down or save results, thanks for sharing!
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> I just had a fun weekend with benching, single GTX 680 and i3770k on watercooling. I took the computer outside and the temperature there was just around the freezing point.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GPU-Z show wrong frequencies. I was on 1555Mhz on the firestrike test and 1515Mhz in the 3dmark11 test. My Radiator cant keep the water cool enough to run the CPU test if I go beyond 1515 in 3dmark11. I divide the loop in two the coming weekend and hopefully reach higher in both tests.
> 
> Still with all settings on default and no windows tweaks. Only MSI AB and Artmoney ;-)


Good stuff here as well!
You, djramses & menthol are doing some pretty amazing things on water...


----------



## Kimir

D'oh ! 1500+mhz nice, I've tried Artmoney, 1450 was already requesting +200mV, it's not that the temp were high but I was just messing around.
Still need Nvidia to get their driver together anyway... I did like 10x 19800+ easy on 3DMark11 sometime back (306.97) and now I have hard time getting ~19600 (with artmoney).

Plus, today I received Tomb Raider and seriously, w/o the new driver it was horrible, poor perf and sli wasn't detected. It's all good with 314.21, but as expected, while running Crysis 3 I have major stutter. Not to mention the OC issue, explained few post ago...

all done with 306.97 (1398Mhz/1778Mhz no Artmoney or anything)


Spoiler: Warning: Image!







done with 313.95 to 314.21 (first one @ 1450Mhz/1862Mhz w/ artmoney)


Spoiler: Warning: Image!


----------



## steelsix

Got my 1st card in, decided to see what the gimped LN2 bios currently shipping can manage. I haven't messed with memory yet, mainly wanted to see what core could do on stock LN2 bios.

Crysis 3 does a nice work at crashing drivers with a bad OC so I used it to see what I could do with core. I maxed first two sliders was only able to get to +40 on core. Anything more resulted in driver crash:

nV drivers: 314.07
AB: 3.0 Beta 7
LN2 BIOS = 80.04.47.00.19 (new card/factory)

AB settings:
Core mV: +100
Power Limit: 133
Core Clock: +40



That seems pretty lame? I was considering not flashing LN2 bios and settling with what I could pull with AB, but 40mhz sucks, barely worth running Afterburner. I'll flash LN2 bios tonight and start again.


----------



## Kimir

Yeah flashing the card is an absolute need for overclocker.


----------



## steelsix

Very much so. I'm looking forward to doing around 1300 on two in SLI.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Nvidia has become so lame...


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steelsix*
> 
> Got my 1st card in, decided to see what the gimped LN2 bios currently shipping can manage. I haven't messed with memory yet, mainly wanted to see what core could do on stock LN2 bios.
> 
> Crysis 3 does a nice work at crashing drivers with a bad OC so I used it to see what I could do with core. I maxed first two sliders was only able to get to +40 on core. Anything more resulted in driver crash:
> 
> nV drivers: 314.07
> AB: 3.0 Beta 7
> LN2 BIOS = 80.04.47.00.19 (new card/factory)
> 
> AB settings:
> Core mV: +100
> Power Limit: 133
> Core Clock: +40
> 
> 
> 
> That seems pretty lame? I was considering not flashing LN2 bios and settling with what I could pull with AB, but 40mhz sucks, barely worth running Afterburner. I'll flash LN2 bios tonight and start again.


The locked LN2 BIOS is not gimped. It works well -- in some ways better than the unlocked one on the later cards for which it's designed. The unlocked BIOS will only let you throw more voltage at the core, and run TDP up to 300%, which is not helpful in normal use.

If you really need +100mv on core to get a boost clock of 1215 with no mem OC, then I doubt flashing will take you much further, although, honestly, I don't mean to discourage you from trying.

I'm using the original LN2 BIOS exclusively now. I can get 1215 mhz on boost and +600 on mem with no added core voltage, while backing off the mem voltage by 50mv. This is great for temps in C3. And performance is excellent; see below:



My 680L has an asic score of only 70.9, so the unlocked BIOS doesn't give me any better clocks -- just more heat and more fan noise. In both cases, the boost clock maxes at 1333 mhz, but it's a little cooler and quieter with the shipped BIOS.

I'm finding that the locked BIOS consistently gives me the same boost clock at lower voltages than the unlocked one. Now, this could be due to some flaw in AB where it reports voltages differently depending on BIOS version (a variable "inaccuracy offset", let's say), but I've seen no evidence of that. AB should be good enough for comparisons, even if it's not reporting the true voltage, and it should be consistent unless you change your version of AB.

So yeah, I'm realy starting to prefer the LN2 BIOS that came with the card.


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> The locked LN2 BIOS is not gimped. It works well -- in some ways better than the unlocked one on the later cards for which it's designed. The unlocked BIOS will only let you throw more voltage at the core, and run TDP up to 300%, which is not helpful in normal use.
> 
> If you really need +100mv on core to get a boost clock of 1215 with no mem OC, then I doubt flashing will take you much further, although, honestly, I don't mean to discourage you from trying.
> 
> I'm using the original LN2 BIOS exclusively now. I can get 1215 mhz on boost and +600 on mem with no added core voltage, while backing off the mem voltage by 50mv. This is great for temps in C3. And performance is excellent; see below:
> 
> 
> 
> My 680L has an asic score of only 70.9, so the unlocked BIOS doesn't give me any better clocks -- just more heat and more fan noise. In both cases, the boost clock maxes at 1333 mhz, but it's a little cooler and quieter with the shipped BIOS.
> 
> I'm finding that the locked BIOS consistently gives me the same boost clock at lower voltages than the unlocked one. Now, this could be due to some flaw in AB where it reports voltages differently depending on BIOS version (a variable "inaccuracy offset", let's say), but I've seen no evidence of that. AB should be good enough for comparisons, even if it's not reporting the true voltage, and it should be consistent unless you change your version of AB.
> 
> So yeah, I'm realy starting to prefer the LN2 BIOS that came with the card.


You just need to put it on water. Low asic score require more cooling and more voltage but overclocks really well. I got an asic score of 71 as well and I am doing 1555mhz on water.


----------



## rotary7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Nvidia has become so lame...


lol why?


----------



## phazers

How do you know what ASIC you have in procent callculations?

Thanks in advance.


----------



## steelsix

Right click on the GPU-Z title bar, select Read ASIC Quality.

Thanks for the input fellas, my ASIC is pretty low at 73%. Will flash later to see if 1300 is possible on air. Been a long time since I've flashed, I used to love messing with nibitor and nvflash


----------



## SeekerZA

Just checked mine and see it's 71.3%. That bad? I'm on water and running gaming OC core 1346 and mem 3786. Core cant handle more, or atleast i havent tried with AB 2.3.1. I was using older version since my card found its home. Flashed The unlocked 3A BIOS aswell and recently decided to use newer AB and add the lines for V. Turns out i got a higher stable core on my Gaming OC using the new AB.

Can anyone please explain the artmoney hack to me more clearly. I have seen a video posted in this forum but seemed a little complicated? I just dont fully understand.

Thanks!


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> You just need to put it on water. Low asic score require more cooling and more voltage but overclocks really well. I got an asic score of 71 as well and I am doing 1555mhz on water.


And you can run this 24/7 without the radiator fan screaming at you? I ask because I'm planning to get a 1440p monitor soon, and figured I'd need another 680L for SLI. But 1.5 ghz on the single Lightning would probably handle it well enough, saving me many euros.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rotary7*
> 
> lol why?


The cards are good, I think nvidia drivers have really started to suck since the 600 series cards & 300 series drivers came out though.
I have had a couple issues with AMD drivers that were fixable, not as terrible as I've heard AMD drivers can be.
Since the 300 series nvidia drivers, I've had a few unfixable driver issues, as bad or worse than anything I have heard about AMD gpu drivers in the past. I've been using nvidia gpus for years so had little experience with AMD before the 7970, but i have never had issues with nvidia drivers before the 300 series.
Not normally with daily stuff, but when pushing the clocks hard the newer drivers seem to self destruct & corrupt at random.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> And you can run this 24/7 without the radiator fan screaming at you? I ask because I'm planning to get a 1440p monitor soon, and figured I'd need another 680L for SLI. But 1.5 ghz on the single Lightning would probably handle it well enough, saving me many euros.


I don't think that would be 24/7, just for benching.


----------



## TechSilver13

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *rotary7*
> 
> lol why?
> 
> 
> 
> The cards are good, I think nvidia drivers have really started to suck since the 600 series cards & 300 series drivers came out though.
> I have had a couple issues with AMD drivers that were fixable, not as terrible as I've heard AMD drivers can be.
> Since the 300 series nvidia drivers, I've had a few unfixable driver issues, as bad or worse than anything I have heard about AMD gpu drivers in the past. I've been using nvidia gpus for years so had little experience with AMD before the 7970, but i have never had issues with nvidia drivers before the 300 series.
> Not normally with daily stuff, but when pushing the clocks hard the newer drivers seem to self destruct & corrupt at random.
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> And you can run this 24/7 without the radiator fan screaming at you? I ask because I'm planning to get a 1440p monitor soon, and figured I'd need another 680L for SLI. But 1.5 ghz on the single Lightning would probably handle it well enough, saving me many euros.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I don't think that would be 24/7, just for benching.
Click to expand...

The difference between 1.2ghz and 1.5ghz is no where mere sli speeds. You'll want and need a second one.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## steelsix

My card didn't like 80.04.09.00.F8. Bios screen was garbled, rebooted and flashed back to factory LN2. I think I read somewhere new versions have a different voltage controller or something? Flash was good.

Also, I'm wanting to buy my 2nd from Newegg, out of stock and reported discontinued. I know they do that and it's happned with this card before. Like many I'm now wondering if I should grab the downclocked $459 version. I'm mean hell, this one's at 73%, what's a downgrade? Funny if one scored better on that, measurement.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TechSilver13*
> 
> The difference between 1.2ghz and 1.5ghz is no where mere sli speeds. You'll want and need a second one.


But of course. Nothing is ever that easy


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steelsix*
> 
> My card didn't like 80.04.09.00.F8. Bios screen was garbled, rebooted and flashed back to factory LN2. I think I read somewhere new versions have a different voltage controller or something? Flash was good.


I have read here a few times that the --09.00.F8 BIOS works only on older cards. Flash with --28.00.3A if you have a newer one; it's linked on the first page of this thread.


----------



## Majin SSJ Eric

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rotary7*
> 
> lol why?


Because of the way they've locked down the overclocking since Kepler. I miss Fermi...


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Because of the way they've locked down the overclocking since Kepler. I miss Fermi...


So you having the same problems it too? Glad you tested it yourself.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Majin SSJ Eric*
> 
> Because of the way they've locked down the overclocking since Kepler. I miss Fermi...


I missed Fermi and the voltage unlock/ non-throttling so much that I resurrected my old 480 off the shelf. I know how you feel buddy.


----------



## qwwwizx

Benching only.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

My new 24/7 overclock, stable to game and benchmark:


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Can someone with a pair of these in sli run some 2560x1440 benchmarks for me? I am interested to see how a pair of heavily oced 680s do in sli at that res.


----------



## bhines5783

PlanetSide2_2013_03_21_23_22_04_776.jpg 1228k .jpg file


gpuz.gif 22k .gif file


When I play planetside 2 or any game for that matter, most of the time my gpu usage never gets over 40%. Here is a screenshot of planetside 2 and my gpu-z. I have a 3570k oc'ed to 4.2. Anybody see anything out of the ordinary?

Thanks!


----------



## trippinonprozac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bhines5783*
> 
> PlanetSide2_2013_03_21_23_22_04_776.jpg 1228k .jpg file
> 
> 
> gpuz.gif 22k .gif file
> 
> 
> When I play planetside 2 or any game for that matter, most of the time my gpu usage never gets over 40%. Here is a screenshot of planetside 2 and my gpu-z. I have a 3570k oc'ed to 4.2. Anybody see anything out of the ordinary?
> 
> Thanks!


vsync is on mate...


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> D'oh ! 1500+mhz nice, I've tried Artmoney, 1450 was already requesting +200mV, it's not that the temp were high but I was just messing around.
> Still need Nvidia to get their driver together anyway... I did like 10x 19800+ easy on 3DMark11 sometime back (306.97) and now I have hard time getting ~19600 (with artmoney).
> 
> Plus, today I received Tomb Raider and seriously, w/o the new driver it was horrible, poor perf and sli wasn't detected. It's all good with 314.21, but as expected, while running Crysis 3 I have major stutter. Not to mention the OC issue, explained few post ago...
> 
> all done with 306.97 (1398Mhz/1778Mhz no Artmoney or anything)
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Image!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> done with 313.95 to 314.21 (first one @ 1450Mhz/1862Mhz w/ artmoney)
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Image!


I can solve half of your problem. It seems that C3 does not respect app profile settings in NV CP. You need to set "prefer maximum performance" in NV CP globally. It sucks because this means your gpu and mem run full steam watching vids. I have only one card and use full max settings in both CP and game settings, and C3 is totally smooth.

As for the messed up settings in AB, having to restart it to get your OC, this goes back to the first whql Titan driver. It's something to accommodate Titan. Now, the Titan beta drivers are in line with the 600 series, but that accommodation carried over. I surmise this because I force installed the first Titan whql, 314.09, and it showed the same behaviour as --.14 and --.21, which are meant for both series cards. So you will just have to wait until the AB devs figure this one out.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> My new 24/7 overclock, stable to game and benchmark:


Nice OC on the core. What are your mem and aux settings?


----------



## Fooom

Hi guys i need help. Before i flashed my first card with the 3a bios and everything was fine. I added my 2nd card and flashed it with 3a and still fine. But now my 2nd card was running at 1.75v and 1228clock. My first card is at 1.25v and 1202clock. And sometimes my pc is going to safe mode and cant detect my vcards. Is it because i switched to windows 8? I checked gpuz and it says that only my first card is on LN2.

Im also running my vcards on stock ln2 clocks. Which is 1202 right?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> I can solve half of your problem. It seems that C3 does not respect app profile settings in NV CP. You need to set "prefer maximum performance" in NV CP globally. It sucks because this means your gpu and mem run full steam watching vids. I have only one card and use full max settings in both CP and game settings, and C3 is totally smooth.
> 
> As for the messed up settings in AB, having to restart it to get your OC, this goes back to the first whql Titan driver. It's something to accommodate Titan. Now, the Titan beta drivers are in line with the 600 series, but that accommodation carried over. I surmise this because I force installed the first Titan whql, 314.09, and it showed the same behaviour as --.14 and --.21, which are meant for both series cards. So you will just have to wait until the AB devs figure this one out.


I put back 314.21 since I'm playing Tomb Raider mostly since I received it, I will try with force max performance for Crysis 3, thanks for the input.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> I put back 314.21 since I'm playing Tomb Raider mostly since I received it, I will try with force max performance for Crysis 3, thanks for the input.


I played C3 with 314.21 and there was no problem so long as max perf was set globally. The AB thing irritated me so I've gone back to 314.07.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> I put back 314.21 since I'm playing Tomb Raider mostly since I received it, I will try with force max performance for Crysis 3, thanks for the input.


So how are you dealing with the clock issues?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> So how are you dealing with the clock issues?


I just put back that damn driver yesterday, I think I will have to apply the OC @ every start up. I can't let it work at 1006Mhz.


----------



## segamega

That's valid for gpu1 we put this in a text document

[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

Where these lines to prescribe for gpu2 (here's the catch)?
Sorry that I ask stupid questions


----------



## Kimir

When you have a second gpu, it creates another config file, put those lines on the both cfg.


----------



## segamega

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> When you have a second gpu, it creates another config file, put those lines on the both cfg.


Thank you very much for the tip, unlocked!









http://s05.radikal.ru/i178/1303/23/5a4103e8efa4.jpg


----------



## steelsix

I was waiting to see what Newegg was doing with stock status for a 2nd Lightning, still "discontinued." I grabbed a Power Edition. Just wanted to report that the Power Edition has all features of the Lightning, including working BIOS switch. MSI installed the downclocked BIOS on both settings. I flashed both using my Lightning BIOS(s). I decided to run new gen LN2 bios and no Afterburner. I have the unlocked LN2 saved for a rainy day though.

GPU-Z ASIC Quality:
Lightning - 73%
Power Edition - 71%

Pics:


----------



## Kimir

Lol they look completely alike. So only the bios has the clock reduced then. I'm waiting them to be available here, lightning are out of stock and those are not yet -_-
My brother want to change his 560 for 680...


----------



## steelsix

Yep, I even pulled the cooler on both for a look, everything the same.


----------



## shakurass

Just bought a Lightning:



I have been attempting to get a decent OC out of this thing and but even pushing +100 causes Heaven benchmark crashes with no memory OC. Is that normal? I have seen people pushing far greater core clocks than that using air, and I am on water. I have flashed the recommended BIOS and have tried to get the voltage unlock tweak to work but I do not seem to be having any luck with the config tweak.



Any thoughts? Maybe I should flash the BIOS back to the version it came with?

Max core temp gets to 63C with +50 on the core (+0 on memory) and seems to be semi stable with Heaven, I get the odd graphic glitch here and there but no CTD. With no overclock the temp gets to 40C in Heaven.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shakurass*
> 
> Just bought a Lightning:
> 
> 
> 
> I have been attempting to get a decent OC out of this thing and but even pushing +100 causes Heaven benchmark crashes with no memory OC. Is that normal? I have seen people pushing far greater core clocks than that using air, and I am on water. I have flashed the recommended BIOS and have tried to get the voltage unlock tweak to work but I do not seem to be having any luck with the config tweak.
> 
> 
> 
> Any thoughts? Maybe I should flash the BIOS back to the version it came with?
> 
> Max core temp gets to 63C with +50 on the core (+0 on memory) and seems to be semi stable with Heaven, I get the odd graphic glitch here and there but no CTD. With no overclock the temp gets to 40C in Heaven.


What is that bridge you got on your lightning? The bridge i got only allowed me to place fitting infront ,unlike yours where it sits top and bottom. Please point me out in the right direction through FrozenCPU. I want to get one through them. Will make things look much cleaner inside

With unlocked BIOS and same Nvdia drivers and afterburner as yours i am stable at higher oc in Heaven. Also on water. Really not sure what is wrong with your Lightning. First time i hear of something like that.


----------



## sinisster

Hi guys I just purchased a used GTX680 Lightning and I have a couple of questions for you guys. First, I purchased the card with the unlocked bios (80.04.09.00.F8) however I'm not sure if someone flashed this before, or if this is one of the first 5000 cards that shipped. Would I be able to tell by the serial number on the card if this is the original bios? Second here is what I've gotten stable so far(on air), does this seem right to you?

(LN2 Bios)
Driver 314.21
AB 3.00 Beta 7

Core Voltage - Remains Untouched for now
Power Limit 200%
Core Clock +90
Memory Clock +550


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> *What is that bridge you got on your lightning?* The bridge i got only allowed me to place fitting infront ,unlike yours where it sits top and bottom. Please point me out in the right direction through FrozenCPU. I want to get one through them. Will make things look much cleaner inside
> 
> With unlocked BIOS and same Nvdia drivers and afterburner as yours i am stable at higher oc in Heaven. Also on water. Really not sure what is wrong with your Lightning. First time i hear of something like that.


It's an *EK-FC Bridge Single CSQ*

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/blocks/vga-blocks/multiple-block-connectivity/fc-connection-parts/ek-fc-bridge-single.html

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17610/ex-blc-1377/EK_FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ_-_Acetal_EK-FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ.html


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shakurass*
> 
> Just bought a Lightning:
> 
> I have been attempting to get a decent OC out of this thing and but even pushing +100 causes Heaven benchmark crashes with no memory OC. Is that normal? I have seen people pushing far greater core clocks than that using air, and I am on water. I have flashed the recommended BIOS and have tried to get the voltage unlock tweak to work but I do not seem to be having any luck with the config tweak.


That's not unusual. AB might not be applying your voltages.

First, notice the little button to the right of the vore voltage slider. Click it and drop aux voltage to -100mv, and if that isn't good, try -50mv. Most find that -100 improves OC stability, some find that -50 is better for them.

Second, close AB; go to the AB directory and find your profiles (default path is C:\Program Files (x86)\MSI Afterburner\Profiles) and add these lines under [Settings] in the profile(s), so it looks like this:
[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

Restart AB, and everything should be good. On air I can get a stable boost freq of 1333 and a mem clock of 3703, with the same asic score. You should be able to do a bit better with wc, maybe not the same mem OC but definitely the same or better core with at least +250 -- +500 mem.


----------



## steelsix

Wiredg, where should the lines be added in the .cfg file, anywhere or before/after anything specific? Thanks..


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sinisster*
> 
> Hi guys I just purchased a used GTX680 Lightning and I have a couple of questions for you guys. First, I purchased the card with the unlocked bios (80.04.09.00.F8) however I'm not sure if someone flashed this before, or if this is one of the first 5000 cards that shipped. Would I be able to tell by the serial number on the card if this is the original bios? Second here is what I've gotten stable so far(on air), does this seem right to you?
> 
> (LN2 Bios)
> Driver 314.21
> AB 3.00 Beta 7
> 
> Core Voltage - Remains Untouched for now
> Power Limit 200%
> Core Clock +90
> Memory Clock +550


Sounds about right. That's the same type of OC I get. Just know that with those beta drivers your clock speeds will be buggy.






Not sure if nvidia intended for the drivers to do that, but both beta 314.xx drivers do that.


----------



## shakurass

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> It's an *EK-FC Bridge Single CSQ*
> 
> http://www.ekwb.com/shop/blocks/vga-blocks/multiple-block-connectivity/fc-connection-parts/ek-fc-bridge-single.html
> 
> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17610/ex-blc-1377/EK_FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ_-_Acetal_EK-FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ.html


This is correct. It is the old link system, EK have switched to a new system that sits on top of the graphics cards when you have multiples however as you can see I had need to put the fitting on the side. The bridge was cheaper and lower profile than two 90 degree rotary fittings.


----------



## shakurass

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> That's not unusual. AB might not be applying your voltages.
> 
> First, notice the little button to the right of the vore voltage slider. Click it and drop aux voltage to -100mv, and if that isn't good, try -50mv. Most find that -100 improves OC stability, some find that -50 is better for them.
> 
> Second, close AB; go to the AB directory and find your profiles (default path is C:\Program Files (x86)\MSI Afterburner\Profiles) and add these lines under [Settings] in the profile(s), so it looks like this:
> [Settings]
> VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
> VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
> VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1
> 
> Restart AB, and everything should be good. On air I can get a stable boost freq of 1333 and a mem clock of 3703, with the same asic score. You should be able to do a bit better with wc, maybe not the same mem OC but definitely the same or better core with at least +250 -- +500 mem.


Thanks for the reply! Here is the profile config I am using:

Code:



Code:


[I2C_BUS_04_DEV_30]
Offset00=FF 00 00 00 01 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset10=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset20=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset30=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset40=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset50=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset60=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset70=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset80=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset90=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetA0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetB0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetC0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetD0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetE0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetF0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
[Defaults]
Format=2
CoreVoltageBoost=0
MemoryVoltageBoost=0
AuxVoltageBoost=0
PowerLimit=100
CoreClkBoost=0
MemClkBoost=0
FanMode=1
FanSpeed=47
[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1
CaptureDefaults=0
[Startup]
Format=2
CoreVoltageBoost=0
MemoryVoltageBoost=0
AuxVoltageBoost=0
PowerLimit=100
CoreClkBoost=0
MemClkBoost=0
FanMode=1
FanSpeed=30
[I2C_BUS_04_DEV_46]
Offset00=69 00 00 5F FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset10=50 E8 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 5F FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset20=00 00 35 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset30=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset40=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset50=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset60=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
Offset70=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 0A 28 55 FF FF FF 80 D6 
Offset80=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 08 01 00 FD 01 08 08 08 
Offset90=65 FF FF FF FF FF 01 03 F8 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetA0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetB0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetC0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetD0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetE0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 
OffsetF0=FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF



With that profile config I still seem to be locked to +100 mV. It would explain a lot if the core voltages I am choosing aren't being applied, is there a way for me to check this? With the Aux power set to -100 mV I am able to get the Heaven benchmark to run at +150 MHz on the core with no CTD however there are frequent graphical glitches.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> It's an *EK-FC Bridge Single CSQ*
> 
> http://www.ekwb.com/shop/blocks/vga-blocks/multiple-block-connectivity/fc-connection-parts/ek-fc-bridge-single.html
> 
> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17610/ex-blc-1377/EK_FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ_-_Acetal_EK-FC_Bridge_Single_CSQ.html


Thank you! i will be adding that soon. I'm using red monsoon fittings throughout. Should i use bitspower blacks to connect on gpu for a all round black look?

thinking 2 of These:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/10037/ex-tub-606/Bitspower_Ultimate_G_14_Thread_12_ID_x_34_OD_Compression_Fitting_-_Matte_Black_BP-MBCPF-CC5.html?tl=g30c409s1609

Thoughts? or should i just use my red fittings? check build log for pictures


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shakurass*
> 
> With that profile config I still seem to be locked to +100 mV. It would explain a lot if the core voltages I am choosing aren't being applied, is there a way for me to check this? With the Aux power set to -100 mV I am able to get the Heaven benchmark to run at +150 MHz on the core with no CTD however there are frequent graphical glitches.


AFAIK, +100mv is the limit with AB. Graphical glitches mean that your OC is not actually stable at that voltage. You should back off a bit. You can recover some performance by OCing the memory. Try +120 or +130 and run the mem at +500, and see how that goes. If you get a boost freq of 1300 or a bit more, that's actually very good. Keep it in perspective; the reference card is 1006 base and 1058 boost.

Your voltage is being applied if you have the AB profile edit in place. +100mv just isn't enough to make your chosen core OC stable.

If you want to play with heavy-duty voltage -- which you might if you are water cooling -- then search this thread for "artmoney hack". With the stock air cooler, I wouldn't touch it. But if I had water cooling, I would definitely be tempted.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Thank you! i will be adding that soon. I'm using red monsoon fittings throughout. Should i use bitspower blacks to connect on gpu for a all round black look?
> 
> thinking 2 of These:
> 
> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/10037/ex-tub-606/Bitspower_Ultimate_G_14_Thread_12_ID_x_34_OD_Compression_Fitting_-_Matte_Black_BP-MBCPF-CC5.html?tl=g30c409s1609
> 
> Thoughts? or should i just use my red fittings? check build log for pictures


Yes, those would look nice. I use the same black fittings from them too, just rotary.

Your old ones look nice too, it's all preference what you want.


----------



## RoflcopterZA

Hi

I'm using the unlocked 3A bios on my 680 lightning, and have the core voltage set to +81 in afterburner 2.2.3

However, when afterburner is reset, the core voltage drops by about 10 each time

So, for eg, set to +81 now, close afterburner then open, it has changed to +72, then the next time +61 etc

Sorry for being newb, but why is this?


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *RoflcopterZA*
> 
> Hi
> 
> I'm using the unlocked 3A bios on my 680 lightning, and have the core voltage set to +81 in afterburner 2.2.3
> 
> However, when afterburner is reset, the core voltage drops by about 10 each time
> 
> So, for eg, set to +81 now, close afterburner then open, it has changed to +72, then the next time +61 etc
> 
> Sorry for being newb, but why is this?


Everyone has that problem with AB 2.2.3. Try 2.3.1 or later and apply the profile edit mentioned in my post above (post #6438) and on page one of this thread.


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Yes, those would look nice. I use the same black fittings from them too, just rotary.
> 
> Your old ones look nice too, it's all preference what you want.


I was thinking about the roratry's actually. It would make installation on that primochill advance tubing much more easier since that specific tubing is slightly larger than average. Would you Claim Leak Proof ? And confident enough to install all over? Even though i'm just looking for two to use on gpu. Can you post pic of the fitting by gpu? I would love to see what effect the extra height difference looks like compared to the standard non rotary fitting with tubing


----------



## sinisster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> Sounds about right. That's the same type of OC I get. Just know that with those beta drivers your clock speeds will be buggy.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure if nvidia intended for the drivers to do that, but both beta 314.xx drivers do that.


Yeah mine does the same thing however once you reboot its fine and stays that was once you leave AB untouched. This is as high as I could go with a CX600 Power Supply and I refuse to buy another one since this one is pretty good managing this overclock. Right now I've got 1293 on the core and 3557 on memory. I don't want to spend on a better power supply that might not yield better clock speeds...Right now this thing murders anything I throw at it. Go Lighting!!


----------



## shakurass

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> AFAIK, +100mv is the limit with AB. Graphical glitches mean that your OC is not actually stable at that voltage. You should back off a bit. You can recover some performance by OCing the memory. Try +120 or +130 and run the mem at +500, and see how that goes. If you get a boost freq of 1300 or a bit more, that's actually very good. Keep it in perspective; the reference card is 1006 base and 1058 boost.
> 
> Your voltage is being applied if you have the AB profile edit in place. +100mv just isn't enough to make your chosen core OC stable.
> 
> If you want to play with heavy-duty voltage -- which you might if you are water cooling -- then search this thread for "artmoney hack". With the stock air cooler, I wouldn't touch it. But if I had water cooling, I would definitely be tempted.


Any time I even touch the memory clock it results in things like this happening:



Point of interest: with memory clock at +0 I have been able to get the benchmarks to run no issues with:

Core Clock: +130
Core Voltage: +100
Aux Voltage: -100
Power Limit: 133
Memory Clock: +0


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shakurass*
> 
> Any time I even touch the memory clock it results in things like this happening:
> 
> 
> 
> Point of interest: with memory clock at +0 I have been able to get the benchmarks to run no issues with:
> 
> Core Clock: +130
> Core Voltage: +100
> Aux Voltage: -100
> Power Limit: 133
> Memory Clock: +0


I am familiar with that type of artifact. On my system, it's always caused by too little core voltage for the chosen core freq, or too much core freq for the chosen core voltage (same/same). I get flashing coloured shiny blobs when I push the mem too hard. On air, I've been able to get 1333 boost (+136 core) and 3843 mem (+840 mem) using +100 mv core and the stock mem voltage in Heaven, which I had considered stable, but I get the shiny blobs in Crysis 3, so I no longer consider it stable. Perhaps I just got stupidly lucky with the mem controller or sdram chips in my card. I have no problem with +700 mem in any app using stock mem voltage, or +600 using -50mv mem voltage, which I tend to use now. So I'm kind of prejudiced (or spoilt).

I have no idea why your card is so sensitive to mem OC. My first Lightning was a dud; it crashed on stock core freqs and I returned it. But the mem on that one OC'd decently too (+400 or so if I recall), so long as I underclocked or overvolted the gpu.

Most users here report that Lightning mem OC is good, maybe not as lucky as me with this current card, but all around quite good. Still, you have got a decent core OC. I just can't recall anyone saying that they couldn't OC the memory at all (correct me if I'm mistaken, folks). Unfortunately, I don't think being unable to overclock anything is grounds for RMA.

Now, if the stock mem freq were to cause artifacts at stock core freqs, you'd have a case. Do you think you could make it do that? Maybe on air?







Heh, OK, I'm slightly evil. But Hell, you paid a lot for your Lightning, and it is marketed as the best 680 out there (which it basically is). You deserve more than the stock mem freq for that cash outlay, imho. MSI would disagree with me here, of course. Overclocking is not guaranteed. But it certainly is implied in the marketing hype.


----------



## Ali Man

So I got my 680 Lightning yesterday in hopes to overclock it at least above 1346Mhz, but the best it does it 1333Mhz and that also after a lot of voltage pumped. Crashes each time on 1346 even at 1.306V. And all the time the temps were touching 60C. And this was all under water.

My other reference 680 does 1333 @ 1.212V without crashing. Have even benched once at 1346Mhz and temps never broke 43C.

Planning to get rid of this lightning.


----------



## sockpirate

So is it concluded that AUX Voltage decreases or increases OC potential ?


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ali Man*
> 
> So I got my 680 Lightning yesterday in hopes to overclock it at least above 1346Mhz, but the best it does it 1333Mhz and that also after a lot of voltage pumped. Crashes each time on 1346 even at 1.306V. And all the time the temps were touching 60C. And this was all under water.
> 
> My other reference 680 does 1333 @ 1.212V without crashing. Have even benched once at 1346Mhz and temps never broke 43C.
> 
> Planning to get rid of this lightning.


You are measuring with a DMM right?


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steelsix*
> 
> Yep, I even pulled the cooler on both for a look, everything the same.


Nice, they must have changed the design. I bet that an EK block would fit.


----------



## phazers

Hi all,

I've got an question that is going through my mind, about my power supply i've got an OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W. but I'm starting to think this power supply isn't powerfull enough based on the 12V 18A. i've heard somebody say in this thread that I need atleast 38A? is that correct? playing with the overclocking and such with voltage, on the memory for example @ 150mv, with artmoney, but get constant restart and display driver crash( well more a black screen crash)

Anyway, I'm thinking of buying a new one, based on the specifications, leaning towards an Corsair 760I but nothing is certain yet.


----------



## Ali Man

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> You are measuring with a DMM right?


Just through after burner.


----------



## driftingforlife

AB does not read it right.

Voltage table:

AB 2.2.3, 3A LN2 BIOS.

Stock - 1.250
+6 - 1.258
+12 - 1.263
+18 - 1.273
+25 - 1.280
+31 - 1.285
+37 - 1.295
+43 - 1.300
+50 - 1.308
+56 - 1.313
+62 - 1.319
+68 - 1.325
+75 - 1.332
+81 - 1.338
+87 - 1.345
+93 - 1.356


----------



## Ali Man

I'm using 8A, the one that came with it. Any difference?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ali Man*
> 
> I'm using 8A, the one that came with it. Any difference?


Yes, the one that came out is locked, exact same number but you won't be able to control voltage.


----------



## Ali Man

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Yes, the one that came out is locked, exact same number but you won't be able to control voltage.


It has dual bios man, one is voltage locked I.e. 7A, and the other is unlocked which is 8A. The volts do increase, but its not a good over clocker.


----------



## phazers

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *phazers*
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I've got an question that is going through my mind, about my power supply i've got an OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W. but I'm starting to think this power supply isn't powerfull enough based on the 12V 18A. i've heard somebody say in this thread that I need atleast 38A? is that correct? playing with the overclocking and such with voltage, on the memory for example @ 150mv, with artmoney, but get constant restart and display driver crash( well more a black screen crash)
> 
> Anyway, I'm thinking of buying a new one, based on the specifications, leaning towards an Corsair 760I but nothing is certain yet.


Nobody with any knowledge?

The specification sheet tells me this [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] what do I make of this? a total of: 72,5A? for the 12 lane? if so this should be more then enough for an lighting that comsumes about 38A max right?

I'm not so knowledgeable when it comes down to power supplys, not really my cup of tea. I know the corsair is good, but it's an expensive purchase.


----------



## phazers

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ali Man*
> 
> It has dual bios man, one is voltage locked I.e. 7A, and the other is unlocked which is 8A. The volts do increase, but its not a good over clocker.


Whats ur ASIC? mine is 70,3 and needs allot of juice for example, but gets hot easly ofc.


----------



## Ali Man

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *phazers*
> 
> Whats ur ASIC? mine is 70,3 and needs allot of juice for example, but gets hot easly ofc.


Of course, more juice means more heat which leads to less stability even under water.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ali Man*
> 
> It has dual bios man, one is voltage locked I.e. 7A, and the other is unlocked which is 8A. The volts do increase, but its not a good over clocker.


What do you mean by 8A? The 80.04.47.00.19 and 80.04.29.00.3A Lightning BIOS are locked LN2. They do supply more voltage than the default BIOS, but not as much as the unlocked ones. 80.04.28.00.3A is the most recent unlocked LN2. It will allow more voltage than the other two. That is, the slider in AB will correspond to a higher real-world voltage offset.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> AB does not read it right.
> 
> Voltage table:
> 
> AB 2.2.3, 3A LN2 BIOS.
> 
> Stock - 1.250
> +6 - 1.258
> +12 - 1.263
> +18 - 1.273
> +25 - 1.280
> +31 - 1.285
> +37 - 1.295
> +43 - 1.300
> +50 - 1.308
> +56 - 1.313
> +62 - 1.319
> +68 - 1.325
> +75 - 1.332
> +81 - 1.338
> +87 - 1.345
> +93 - 1.356


Thank you. I'm grateful for that.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *phazers*
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I've got an question that is going through my mind, about my power supply i've got an OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W. but I'm starting to think this power supply isn't powerfull enough based on the 12V 18A. i've heard somebody say in this thread that I need atleast 38A? is that correct? playing with the overclocking and such with voltage, on the memory for example @ 150mv, with artmoney, but get constant restart and display driver crash( well more a black screen crash)
> 
> Anyway, I'm thinking of buying a new one, based on the specifications, leaning towards an Corsair 760I but nothing is certain yet.


Everyone likes to blame the PSU. Try to refine your settings before spending heaps of money on a new one.

If I understand correctly, you're using +150mv on the memory? If so, you are seriously overvolting it. In my (admittedly limited) experience, stock or -50mv work best. I have never heard anyone say that going beyond +10mv on the mem gives any benefit. Try this and see if it helps: drop your aux to -100mv, and keep your mem at stock voltage.

550w is nvidia's published minimum for the reference 680. There will always be headroom in a spec like that. MSI does not say clearly whether the Lightning needs more. If it does, then forums would likely be full of people complaining that 600w is not enough for a single Lightning. However, it is kinda close to the minimum.


----------



## Ali Man

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> What do you mean by 8A? The 80.04.47.00.19 and 80.04.29.00.3A Lightning BIOS are locked LN2. They do supply more voltage than the default BIOS, but not as much as the unlocked ones. 80.04.28.00.3A is the most recent unlocked LN2. It will allow more voltage than the other two. That is, the slider in AB will correspond to a higher real-world voltage offset.


Sorry, I meant F7 and F8 bioses.


----------



## maestrobg

after some fine tuning, new clocks and new results









gpu +235 mhz
mem +800mhz

3dmark11: 12760 ( graphics score 13251 !!! )



3dmarkvantage: 48198 !!!


----------



## sockpirate

Does aux voltage increase or decrease stability ? when should it be used?


----------



## Ali Man

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sockpirate*
> 
> Does aux voltage increase or decrease stability ? when should it be used?


Aux Voltage is like a PLL Voltage and it does give a better chance at stability.


----------



## Ali Man

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *phazers*
> 
> Whats ur ASIC? mine is 70,3 and needs allot of juice for example, but gets hot easly ofc.


It says 81.6%


----------



## gl0ry

Any of you tru the new whql drivers yet? Curious if they fixed the core clock issues that were
Present in the 314 beta drivers. Not home at the moment


----------



## Darco19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> Any of you tru the new whql drivers yet? Curious if they fixed the core clock issues that were
> Present in the 314 beta drivers. Not home at the moment


No, I don't think they've properly fixed it in the 314.22 WHQL's. My Lightning on the 3A LN2 BIOS seem to get stuck at 1006mhz on the core at start-up. I am only able to 'fix' this so that it boosts as normal again, if I manually apply the OC by resetting AB and redoing all the voltage and clocks.

Note that this behavior didn't happen when I was running on the 310.70 drivers with +170 on the core, so it couldn't have been my card.

It just doesn't go any higher than 1006mhz if I do something in AB. I have tried completely re-installing the drivers, yet I need to manually apply the OC everytime after startup, if I am to keep the overclock. So right now, I just booted into windows with my usual +160 on the core clock, and had to reset AB and redo it all, just so I can stop my card from being stuck at 1006mhz.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Darco19*
> 
> No, I don't think they've properly fixed it in the 314.22 WHQL's. My Lightning on the 3A LN2 BIOS seem to get stuck at 1006mhz on the core at start-up. I am only able to 'fix' this so that it boosts as normal again, if I manually apply the OC by resetting AB and redoing all the voltage and clocks.
> 
> Note that this behavior didn't happen when I was running on the 310.70 drivers with +170 on the core, so it couldn't have been my card.
> 
> It just doesn't go any higher than 1006mhz if I do something in AB. I have tried completely re-installing the drivers, yet I need to manually apply the OC everytime after startup, if I am to keep the overclock. So right now, I just booted into windows with my usual +160 on the core clock, and had to reset AB and redo it all, just so I can stop my card from being stuck at 1006mhz.


That's the same exact behavior that was exhibited past 314.07... Im thinking its on purpose to prevent overclocks. All you need to do is hit apply and the clocks should go back to nomal but must be done every reboot... Pain in the butt






For reference


----------



## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> That's the same exact behavior that was exhibited past 314.07... Im thinking its on purpose to prevent overclocks. All you need to do is hit apply and the clocks should go back to nomal but must be done ever reboot... Pain in the butt


So this applies to all driver newer than 314.07? Because I am on 314.07 and my clocks are fine.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sherlock*
> 
> So this applies to all driver newer than 314.07? Because I am on 314.07 and my clocks are fine.


Yes. It keeps under clocking the Lightnings to 1006mhz Reference clock values and Voltages as far as I know. In the driver notes ever since 314.14 it stated they "fixed" a bug that allowed software to go over their voltage values.

I'm wondering if our bios's are causing our cards to conflict with the nvidia drivers and forcing under clocking every boot. People are very vague about this issue every time I ask. Makes me think only our Lightnings are affected, but I've had different people tell me theirs do the same thing.

My friend with a 670 states he never has this issue.

This was one of my fears. I've been holding off on the beta drivers because I hate having to hit apply every start up, but I guess I have no choice anymore.

Edit: I just tried without applying overclock at startup and we get our normal boost values. It has to do with applying an overclock.. i'll try to find a work around.


----------



## gl0ry

Looks like any time you apply an overclock at system start up (even if core voltage, power limit, and coreclock are untouched) it resets it to reference values. If you uncheck the Apply overclock at system startup, it gives you the normal out of box overclocked values.

Only solution I can see is to not have it overclock at start up and click a profile and hit apply every startup. It's the only way around it unfortunately.

Also, this driver doesn't allow you to go over their voltage limits. Highest value I get is 1.21v and the only reason we can get that is because of the BIOIS LN2 default voltage.


----------



## gl0ry

Only work around I can think of is manually overclocking via bios editor and flashing your card now. Seems like that is the best way to lock in a 24/7 overclock now is with bios editing. Nvidia drivers trying to limit software overclocking is a real pain







.

Only one I know that works for lightnings is Svet's. He's a moderator at the MSI forums. Unfortunately the tool isn't free. It is donation ware of 20 dollars.

http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=148273.0


----------



## gl0ry

Gotta love good old Bios overclocking. That certainly fixed everything!


----------



## Darco19

-delete-


----------



## Darco19

Yep, that is EXACTLY what happens to my Lightning on the 314.22's. It's annoying, because I have to redo everything in AB, and it doesn't seem to like more voltage either.
Due to this, I've reverted back to my 310.70's for now...


----------



## driftingforlife

Same here, 1006mhz, I have gone back a driver or two.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> Only work around I can think of is manually overclocking via bios editor and flashing your card now. Seems like that is the best way to lock in a 24/7 overclock now is with bios editing. Nvidia drivers trying to limit software overclocking is a real pain
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 
> Only one I know that works for lightnings is Svet's. He's a moderator at the MSI forums. Unfortunately the tool isn't free. It is donation ware of 20 dollars.
> 
> http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=148273.0


I was thinking the same, so I'm gonna try out with bios edit...
I'm watching the Titan owner club closely and they tweak bios like madness (trying to find the max without throttling)
Here is the presentation of the Bios Tweaker (dl link included), be careful if you play with it.








I'm sure you can find a tutorial to use it on your own


----------



## TheAssassin

What driver is causing the downclocking? I'm using 311.06 and don't have that problem. I played BF3 for about 10-15 minutes with my clock locked at 1411mhz at 119-130 fps till a german admin kicked me last night.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> I was thinking the same, so I'm gonna try out with bios edit...
> I'm watching the Titan owner club closely and they tweak bios like madness (trying to find the max without throttling)
> Here is the presentation of the Bios Tweaker (dl link included), be careful if you play with it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm sure you can find a tutorial to use it on your own


Dunno how good that program is, I tried an earlier version and it didn't work with Lightning BIOS. The MSI one was perfect though. Let you change everything and was idiot proof. Lets you change the power saving state to whatever mhz you want too. Also lets you completely turn off fan to 0% if you wanted.

Anyways I'm really happy with Bios overclocking. Now I don't have to worry about driver related clocks. Anyone here getting stuck with those clock issues, get used to it. It's been like that for 3 drivers (2 betas, 1 WHQL) and I think that it's on purpose to lock people out from overclocking.

Edit: I downloaded that one just to check it out, it seems like a good bios editor. Out of the two the MSI one is probably more idiot proof, but that one cost me 20 bucks, so yeah. If I had known I would have used this before hand, Oh well.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> What driver is causing the downclocking? I'm using 311.06 and don't have that problem. I played BF3 for about 10-15 minutes with my clock locked at 1411mhz at 119-130 fps till a german admin kicked me last night.


314.14, 314.21 and whql 314.22 are the problem, they are merged with Titan driver now and it seems to affect us.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> Dunno how good that program is, I tried an earlier version and it didn't work with Lightning BIOS. The MSI one was perfect though. Let you change everything and was idiot proof. Lets you change the power saving state to whatever mhz you want too. Also lets you completely turn off fan to 0% if you wanted.
> 
> Anyways I'm really happy with Bios overclocking. Now I don't have to worry about driver related clocks. Anyone here getting stuck with those clock issues, get used to it. It's been like that for 3 drivers (2 betas, 1 WHQL) and I think that it's on purpose to lock people out from overclocking.
> 
> Edit: I downloaded that one just to check it out, it seems like a good bios editor. Out of the two the MSI one is probably more idiot proof, but that one cost me 20 bucks, so yeah. If I had known I would have used this before hand, Oh well.


Just checked out Kepler BIOS Tweaker v1.25 but it seems we can't control the voltage over 1.21v so I won't try flashing my cards with my actual OC and no real control to voltage.

I don't really see the point for Nvidia to prevent end user to overclock, everyone will turn on the red team if they do so.
Intel tried to stop OC in the past by locking everything but now we have "K" serie that OC really well.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> 314.14, 314.21 and whql 314.22 are the problem, they are merged with Titan driver now and it seems to affect us.
> Just checked out Kepler BIOS Tweaker v1.25 but it seems we can't control the voltage over 1.21v so I won't try flashing my cards with my actual OC and no real control to voltage.
> 
> I don't really see the point for Nvidia to prevent end user to overclock, everyone will turn on the red team if they do so.
> Intel tried to stop OC in the past by locking everything but now we have "K" serie that OC really well.


1.21 is the maximum through bios regardless. It was a statement by Svet and I believe him.


----------



## Kimir

So you still have to use AB to add voltage?


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> So you still have to use AB to add voltage?


Yes, but you can't do that anymore with new drivers. Gone are the days of high overvolting for benchmark scores (unless you stick with 314.07 or lower forever). At this point the best you can really do is get a stable 24/7 overclock.


----------



## trippinonprozac

Just catching up on some reading and am I reading right that the lightning guys now cant over volt?

What have the new drivers done?


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *trippinonprozac*
> 
> Just catching up on some reading and am I reading right that the lightning guys now cant over volt?
> 
> What have the new drivers done?


MY gaming clocks are still holding so the over volts should definitely work


----------



## trippinonprozac

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> MY gaming clocks are still holding so the over volts should definitely work


Are you running above the 1.21v the bios specifies though?


----------



## Chomuco

314.14, 314.21 and whql 314.22 are the problem?? y 314.07 ??


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> Yes, but you can't do that anymore with new drivers. Gone are the days of high overvolting for benchmark scores (unless you stick with 314.07 or lower forever). At this point the best you can really do is get a stable 24/7 overclock.


If I don't put from +50mV (1306Mhz) to +100mV (1372Mhz) I'd rather stick to default 1202Mhz from LN2 bios.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> If I don't put from +50mV (1306Mhz) to +100mV (1372Mhz) I'd rather stick to default 1202Mhz from LN2 bios.


And 0 increase to memory? Suit yourself I guess. If you add anything to memory your clock will go down to 1006mhz from software overclocking.

Either way I don't really care anymore. I bios flashed and it solved all my issues. I have no fear of ever upgrading drivers again.


----------



## asusEdatioons

hello to everyone
i have Asus 680gtx Dc2 top.
I can not overclock (Now voltage 1.2) ( need 1.3 or 1.4 voltage )
How to unlock Voltage ?
hardmod bios File give me pls


----------



## qwwwizx

Just had a few runs with at ~1530mhz on gpu




On CPU and GPU on water.


----------



## Djacdk

Hello all

I'm sorry if this question has been asked, I tried to search the forums but didnt find it.

I'm going to be buying 2 680 Lightning's in a few days, and was wondering if its possible to switch off the blue LED's, since I'm going for a fiery orange theme in my next build.

Any help is greatly appreciated,

Djac.


----------



## stansfield

Sure. Put black electrical tape on the back plate. Anyways...soo is this card getting discontinued or what ? Newegg doesn't have them and they are hard to find.

I was eventually going to get a second lightning. If they discontinue these I guess I can get an msi 680 reference? Blocks are easier to get and a tad cheaper too. Just will be kinda weird not having a matching pair.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *asusEdatioons*
> 
> hello to everyone
> i have Asus 680gtx Dc2 top.
> I can not overclock (Now voltage 1.2) ( need 1.3 or 1.4 voltage )
> How to unlock Voltage ?
> hardmod bios File give me pls


This is the MSI lightning thread







Not the best place to ask for a mod bios for the Asus DCII


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *asusEdatioons*
> 
> hello to everyone
> i have Asus 680gtx Dc2 top.
> I can not overclock (Now voltage 1.2) ( need 1.3 or 1.4 voltage )
> How to unlock Voltage ?
> hardmod bios File give me pls


http://www.overclock.net/t/1286239/the-gtx-680-670-unlocked-voltage-discussion-thread


----------



## jukula

I got AB working with, whql 314.22. Download Startup Delayer program. Disable start with windows from AB. Make delayed startup for the AB with the Startup Delayer program. 1 second delay works fine for me


----------



## Kimir

If delaying the task can solve that then... I won't add a program to do that tho, control panel -> administrative tools -> tasks scheduler (or right click on computer Icon, manage then tasks scheduler) and then find AB and put a delay. Minimum is 30 seconds, well let's try.









edit: seems to be working, 2 reboot and it's fine. The problem remain when changing the OC profile tho.


----------



## Nikola-Tesla

Pair of lightnings, vanilla f8 non-LN2 BIOS, driver version 314.22, Afterburner ver. 2.2.3
moderate "gaming" overclock +50 core +450mem, (+62mV core, +60mV mem)

no problems so far

Edit: in my case Afterburner can be somehow delayed, I have _lots_ of sluggish processes at the system startup


----------



## jukula

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> If delaying the task can solve that then... I won't add a program to do that tho, control panel -> administrative tools -> tasks scheduler (or right click on computer Icon, manage then tasks scheduler) and then find AB and put a delay. Minimum is 30 seconds, well let's try.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> edit: seems to be working, 2 reboot and it's fine. The problem remain when changing the OC profile tho.


Cant get the oc profile to work either, like this. But with this its working perfectly fine... weird..


----------



## Kimir

Profile work fine at startup but if you change from one to another after you get what gl0ry showed us on his video.
Delay of 30sec is fine for me too, open hardware monitor is kinda show up (which is the latest thing loading for me).


----------



## sinisster

Anyone know if its possible to know what the original bios was on my card? I've having some issues overclocking on my previous bought used card and I'd like to know if this is one of the first 5000 cards or later flashed with my unlocked bios?


----------



## hermit1007

Hey guys my ln2 bios got bricked after trying to flash 80.04.09.00.F8. How should I recover it? What command do I need?

I have original bios.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hermit1007*
> 
> Hey guys my ln2 bios got bricked after trying to flash 80.04.09.00.F8. How should I recover it? What command do I need?
> 
> I have original bios.


How did you brick it? I'm genuinely curious.

I've flashed my card at least 14 times recently while trying to optimize voltage/clock settings.


----------



## hermit1007

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> How did you brick it? I'm genuinely curious.
> 
> I've flashed my card at least 14 times recently while trying to optimize voltage/clock settings.


Well hope I knew. Anyways I restored to original ln2(80.04.28.00.3a) with bootable USB.

I think this bios is voltage locked...even if I increase offset to +100mV the voltage stays at 1.212 just like it was on stock

Anyone know how can I get around it without flashing 80.04.09.00.F8.?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hermit1007*
> 
> Well hope I knew. Anyways I restored to original ln2(80.04.28.00.3a) with bootable USB.
> 
> I think this bios is voltage locked...even if I increase offset to +100mV the voltage stays at 1.212 just like it was on stock
> 
> Anyone know how can I get around it without flashing 80.04.09.00.F8.?


Use the unlocked 3A? (available in 1st page)


----------



## doulos1382

Hi everybody, i'm new around these forums please to meet you all, been following these forums since a long time, great center for general information about the industry of computar hardware. I am a new proud Owner of a GTx 680 Lightning and a MSI Mpower Z77 Mobo.

Now, i've come today to explain a urgent situation i just experienced a few days ago. Sorry for bringing this matter as my first post, and for distracting from previous subjects.

Well, my motherboard just fried, burned, blew off for no reason at all. A few days ago, i started the pc when this flashing light emerges from the motherboard and within, and a load of smoke and a smell of burn that penetrates deeply to your nose. This explosion (mini explosion, it's not something like blew the pc away) ocurred at the left side of the CPU heatsink, now, some caps or transistors i think, burned, luckily nor the CPU or the Memory Ram got damaged (i think), but the ssd and hdd did. Later i tried the my PSU on another pc, trying to find the cause of this incident.

When i tried the PSU, wich was a Seasonic X-750, on another PC, it burned my hdds also. So my question is, how can I know my GPU is alright? I tried on my older PC, and seems to be working fine. But i cant test on games, because my cpu is too old, a Core 2 Duo E8500 and 4GB ram 800 MHZ. I mean im able to play them but, their performance are slower of course.

I just want to know if my GPU is fine. I checked the status usin GPUZ and everything is alright to me.

Thx for answering in advance


----------



## driftingforlife

Run a GPU only app like Vally to see if its 100%. If it didn't get fried in the first place it should be fine.


----------



## gl0ry

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hermit1007*
> 
> Well hope I knew. Anyways I restored to original ln2(80.04.28.00.3a) with bootable USB.
> 
> I think this bios is voltage locked...even if I increase offset to +100mV the voltage stays at 1.212 just like it was on stock
> 
> Anyone know how can I get around it without flashing 80.04.09.00.F8.?


What drivers are you using? Anything past 314.07 won't let you adjust voltage higher than 1.212. Bios voltage only goes up to 1.212, anything higher requires software control (which nvidia has disabled past their 1.175).


----------



## hermit1007

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Use the unlocked 3A? (available in 1st page)


Using that at the moment. Still cannot change voltage(can move slider but doesn't really do anything)

I also tried 2.2.4 Afterburner mod. While it does allow me to change voltage, it keeps changing voltage offset everytime I re-run Afterburner and is in no way stable.


----------



## doulos1382

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Run a GPU only app like Vally to see if its 100%. If it didn't get fried in the first place it should be fine.


Thanks for your advice. excuse me what app is that? do you have a link? Is there other ways to do tests


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hermit1007*
> 
> Using that at the moment. Still cannot change voltage(can move slider but doesn't really do anything)
> 
> I also tried 2.2.4 Afterburner mod. While it does allow me to change voltage, it keeps changing voltage offset everytime I re-run Afterburner and is in no way stable.


Use AB 2.3.1 or later, with the profile edit explained on page one here; flash with 80.04.28.00.3A, linked on page one here; and use nvidia's 314.07 or earlier driver. You will be able to get over 1.350v and AB settings won't change.


----------



## samoth777

would a lightning at 1400mhz be near or at titan territory?


----------



## lacrossewacker

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> would a lightning at 1400mhz be near or at titan territory?


Don't have the exact results you wanted..but here's what i found

First picture on Left: Stock
Picture on the Right: OC'd to 1347/3506


Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!







Here's SLI (don't know settings, also Valley 1.0)


Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!







Versus Titan (gathering screenshots now)
Valley 1.0


Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!







Valey 1.0 SLI


Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *doulos1382*
> 
> Thanks for your advice. excuse me what app is that? do you have a link? Is there other ways to do tests


http://unigine.com/products/valley/

Driver 313.96

1400c/1800m, average mem OC


1400c/2000m, Best mem OC


----------



## hermit1007

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> Use AB 2.3.1 or later, with the profile edit explained on page one here; flash with 80.04.28.00.3A, linked on page one here; and use nvidia's 314.07 or earlier driver. You will be able to get over 1.350v and AB settings won't change.


Will try once I get back to home, but what does driver have to do with locked voltage?


----------



## bizerman

Hi. I flashed ln2 bios (80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked LN2)) my msi 680 gtx lighting. And I have poor voltage. in stock 1.185-1.195v and AB 2.2.3 max 1.285v.
what's wrong?


----------



## Kimir

Voltages reported by Afterburner or any other software are inaccurate.
You have a lightning? get a multimeter and use the voltage monitor connector on the rear of the card, you should have the cables to connect it included in the package.


----------



## driftingforlife

I know i keep posting this









Voltage table:

AB 2.2.3, 3A LN2 BIOS.

Stock - 1.250
+6 - 1.258
+12 - 1.263
+18 - 1.273
+25 - 1.280
+31 - 1.285
+37 - 1.295
+43 - 1.300
+50 - 1.308
+56 - 1.313
+62 - 1.319
+68 - 1.325
+75 - 1.332
+81 - 1.338
+87 - 1.345
+93 - 1.356


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> I know i keep posting this
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Voltage table:
> 
> AB 2.2.3, 3A LN2 BIOS.
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> Stock - 1.250
> +6 - 1.258
> +12 - 1.263
> +18 - 1.273
> +25 - 1.280
> +31 - 1.285
> +37 - 1.295
> +43 - 1.300
> +50 - 1.308
> +56 - 1.313
> +62 - 1.319
> +68 - 1.325
> +75 - 1.332
> +81 - 1.338
> +87 - 1.345
> +93 - 1.35
> 
> 
> 6


No one use search so you can keep posting it







(btw, on 2.3.1 and 3.0.0 beta, you can set to +100mV without having it lowered to +93 after applying).


----------



## driftingforlife

I know







, I have AB Extreme.


----------



## Kimir

Extreme one isn't fixed for that?


----------



## driftingforlife

I have the latest one, the voltage table was done a while ago.


----------



## jamonymo

i am using 314.22 Driver and normal bios not ln2 my clock are fine none of this 1006mhz crap also my voltage will go as high as 1.271 1.280


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hermit1007*
> 
> Will try once I get back to home, but what does driver have to do with locked voltage?


Nothing. It has to do with your other complaint, about the offsets not being applied consistently.


----------



## gkolarov

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *samoth777*
> 
> would a lightning at 1400mhz be near or at titan territory?


Not a chance. My personal oppinion is that MSI has lower quality control recently.


----------



## samoth777

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *lacrossewacker*
> 
> Don't have the exact results you wanted..but here's what i found
> 
> First picture on Left: Stock
> Picture on the Right: OC'd to 1347/3506
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here's SLI (don't know settings, also Valley 1.0)
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Versus Titan (gathering screenshots now)
> Valley 1.0
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Valey 1.0 SLI
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


first image was heaven, the rest were valley.

I give +rep to you for being helpful!


----------



## cowie

Not sure if you guys know or care but the latest ab is good to go for voltages again








From alex
Quote:


> Some more news on develepment. Pleasant surprize for N680GTX Lightning owners: I don't know how MSI solved this with NV, but in the latest database voltage control is fully unlocked again on MSI GTX6x0 Lightning, PE and Hawk series cards like it was in v2.2.3 prior to NV restriction.


----------



## Kimir

That's good news, thanks for sharing.


----------



## SeekerZA

WoW! Which version afterburner would that be? And has anyone tested it yet?


----------



## Edkiefer

next beta , 3.0 beta 8 , "should" be released monday , at least that is what was posted by Unwinder .


----------



## SenorPablo

Hey everybody, I have a question! In my afterburner I have my lightning set to +140 on the core, it should go to 1342 max clock in game like it has in the past but it only goes to 1332. I have the unlocked ln2 bios and latest drivers, anyone know what's wrong?

Also...Looking at buying a new lightning to SLI, but it's discontinued? The Power edition is literally the exact same thing minus the bios right? I could sli them with no problems?


----------



## Crysis1

SLI is possible with every GTX 680 but you should look for one which is running with the same quality and OC possibilitys - my both lightning are running @1.254/3.605 without overvolting and they are just cool (< 70) - its amazing


----------



## steelsix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> ...Also...Looking at buying a new lightning to SLI, but it's discontinued? The Power edition is literally the exact same thing minus the bios right? I could sli them with no problems?


Yes, I flashed my PE with bios from my Lightning, see my post on page 644.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cowie*
> 
> Not sure if you guys know or care but the latest ab is good to go for voltages again


Since the profile edit seems to work fine, I'm more interested in whether it includes a fix to apply offsets without re-starting AB when using the 314.14 -> .21 drivers.


----------



## Chomuco

Msi N680GTX Lightning @ LN2 :thumb:3Dmark 2011 a 1800Mhz core


----------



## Kimir

That's a hell of a good graphic score, too bad you are somewhat limited by the cpu








Almost 1800Mhz core clock


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> Msi N680GTX Lightning @ LN2 :thumb:3Dmark 2011 a 1800Mhz core


.
Bigger Pictures?


----------



## Chomuco

SLI Msi N680GTX Lightning @ LN2 :3Dmark 2011 a 1800Mhz core


----------



## Kimir

Ahah now that's serious with 3930k @ 5.6ghz







plus nice timing on those RAM.
Geez you did some pretty amazing stuff, +rep!


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> SLI Msi N680GTX Lightning @ LN2 :3Dmark 2011 a 1800Mhz core


Very nice!
You did those last year, took you long enough to post them here to drool over...

Good to see you here!


----------



## Crysis1

Afterburner 3.0 beta 8 ist on, take a look about Vcore-voltage


----------



## tabbycph

Voltage is still 100mV here with beta 8. and driver 314.22


----------



## Chomuco

rig !!! my

http://www.overclock.net/t/584302/ocn-water-cooling-club-and-picture-gallery/40380#post_19617692


----------



## Crysis1

Whats about the the core clocks with 314.22 - are they consistent or go down to basic 1.006 by changing?


----------



## SeekerZA

Changelog of beta 8?


----------



## cowie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Changelog of beta 8?


Remember its open beta agian so some bug and osd fixes/changes
Quote:


> MSI Afterburner 3.0.0 Beta 8 Download - Guru3D and MSI have been working hard on AfterBurner, today we release an updated this Beta revision of Afterburner, this application successfully secured the leading position on graphics card utilities.
> 
> Today we release an updated Beta revision of Afterburner, this application successfully secured the leading position on graphics card utilities. We're happy to see MSI Afterburner is leading the overclock applications. MSI Afterburner is ready, this version supports the control of NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan, if you get the card, you may want to try it.
> 
> Change list:
> •The OSD server is no longer an explicit part of Afterburner, now it is optional and separately installable component similar to Kombuster. Included in archive with Afterburner. Please don't forget to install OSD server(RTSSSetup500.exe)
> •Added new server distributive with NVIDIA FCAT overlay support.
> •Added some Graphics card support.


----------



## Deano12345

Seems like months of waiting/saving but I'm finally ordering my second card on Friday. Should be running SLi by this time next week. Cant. Wait.


----------



## steelsix

Liking AB 3.0.0 Beta 8 thus far. Was tired of Crysis 3 nV driver crash, not sure what helped, reinstall game or this AB, but I'm able to OC past 1200 in SLI now with mild voltage on new LN2 bios. Very smooth gameplay, may try more with this bios to see if flashing carries benefit.


----------



## Hodgy1971

So we can confirm AB 3.0.0 Beta 8 has unlocked volts without mods?


----------



## Crysis1




----------



## hermit1007

I have voltage locked card. Will try 3.0.0 beta 8 and report back.

EDIT : Nope voltage is still set at 1.212.


----------



## doomsdaybg

Yes voltage is locked in 3.0.0 beta 8.


----------



## wiredg

Beta 8 works fine for me. Using it with the 80.04.28.00.3A BIOS and 314.07 driver. Without the profile edit, I can increase (software reported) voltage as far as 1.315 @ +100mv on the slider, and the offsets do not drift.

I'm checking with hwinfo64, which seems to report GPU voltage closer to reality than AB. Also tested an OC (+1300 mhz) that would definitely crash at default voltage and it's running fine with +75 mv, as before with the profile edit. So it's clearly doing something. I like the way it applies offsets and keeps them.

I have not tried later drivers; the ones released after the Titan merge do not work well for me; and the latest one, 314.22, gives me a lot of little pauses in Crysis 3.


----------



## cowie

B8 works fine for voltage now 100% tested.
BUT b9 is out to fix some video/sounds recording issues


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steelsix*
> 
> Liking AB 3.0.0 Beta 8 thus far. Was tired of Crysis 3 nV driver crash, not sure what helped, reinstall game or this AB, but I'm able to OC past 1200 in SLI now with mild voltage on new LN2 bios. Very smooth gameplay, may try more with this bios to see if flashing carries benefit.


Only a 1 degree difference between your cards under load !? This bodes well for my overclocks when my second one arrives









Yeah I'm finding Beta 8 pretty good, liking the fact the voltage doesn't shift anymore for me too ! Reminded me to get the .22 drivers from NV too


----------



## steelsix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> Only a 1 degree difference between your cards under load !? This bodes well for my overclocks when my second one arrives


Yep decent mobo spacing along with card's cooler design and Cooler Master HAF XB case have yielded good results between cards.


----------



## doomsdaybg

MSI Afterburner 3.0.0 Beta 9
Quote:


> Change list:
> 
> Fixed VFW configuration issue.


----------



## Kimir

What was that VFW issue? (I didn't tried beta 8).
edit: nevermind, just the the complete release note saying it all


----------



## dizzyscure1

Where can you buy a GTX680 Lightning!!???? Everyone seems to be out of stock :/


----------



## doomsdaybg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dizzyscure1*
> 
> Where can you buy a GTX680 Lightning!!???? Everyone seems to be out of stock :/


From Amazon?


----------



## steelsix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dizzyscure1*
> 
> Where can you buy a GTX680 Lightning!!???? Everyone seems to be out of stock :/


Yea they're scarce, I grabbed a Power Edition for my 2nd one and flashed it with Lightning bios. Newegg's out of them too. Fry's seems to be stocking Lightning, no stores near you maybe someone around one can buy local and ship? Prices are jacked everywhere else..


----------



## driftingforlife

ETA on my second Lighting is Thursday


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steelsix*
> 
> Yep decent mobo spacing along with card's cooler design and Cooler Master HAF XB case have yielded good results between cards.


Yeah there defintley isn't the difference in temps on the top card that I was expecting, I guess every case is different though, and the 800D ain't exactly known for its air cooling prowess. I'll find out soon enough I guess


----------



## Chomuco

just the the complete ?..

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/msi-gtx-680-lightning-voltage-tweaking,1.html


----------



## proxraiden

can some one please direct me to where i can but the lightning under 550$!!?

the prices went crazy over night...

i have it here localy for over a 1000$!!!!


----------



## hermit1007

Strange, I just did clean reinstall of OS and suddenly overvoltaging works with latest AB and driver.

I assume the mod I did to previous 2.3.1 version somhow affected it, not sure


----------



## jessew

what is the difference between msi 680 power edition an msi 680 lightning? I have the lightning and I want to buy another one but it seems I can't find the other one that I have


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jessew*
> 
> what is the difference between msi 680 power edition an msi 680 lightning? I have the lightning and I want to buy another one but it seems I can't find the other one that I have


The PE doesn't have the lightning ln2 bios, & I have read that it uses a different voltage controller.


----------



## StoneyMetallica

I have these cards in SLI and I was wondering about running the fans at 100% 24/7.....Would it be bad for the cards?


----------



## Kimir

That would be bad for your ears. o_o


----------



## tabbycph

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hermit1007*
> 
> Strange, I just did clean reinstall of OS and suddenly overvoltaging works with latest AB and driver.
> 
> I assume the mod I did to previous 2.3.1 version somhow affected it, not sure


Can use use more than 100 mv ?


----------



## jamonymo

it works for me 2 also it works in the new Afterburner 2.3.1, i am on non ln2 bios and voltage goes up too 1.280


----------



## r360r

Installed Afterburner beta 9 and I can get +130 core +500 memory now. Before it was just +104/+500. Still can't get +135







(using 3A bios).

Anyways noticed that Unigens valley reports 133x but on afterburner its reporting 1320 on core. Is something screwed up? Also on HW monitor my voltage never goes up but on Afterburner I have it set at +50.


----------



## StoneyMetallica

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> That would be bad for your ears. o_o


It's actually not, because I recently placed my Desktop under my desk and I can barely even hear that my computer is on now so..........


----------



## steelsix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jessew*
> 
> what is the difference between msi 680 power edition an msi 680 lightning? I have the lightning and I want to buy another one but it seems I can't find the other one that I have


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> The PE doesn't have the lightning ln2 bios, & I have read that it uses a different voltage controller.


@ Jessie, I bought a PE hoping to pair it with a Lighting and am happy to report all is well. My Lightning scored a fairly low 73% ASIC quality, the PE scored a 71%. The PE had the default bios loaded on both A & B, yes it does have a working switch. I flashed its A & B with bios from my Lightning, running both on LN2 (non-unlocked). Here's them running Crysis 3 in SLI:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/steelsix/hehe_zps01cef9e0.jpg

I also read the PE has a different voltage controller, but all seems the same after the flash.


----------



## wiredg

I'm confused. According to this nvidia page: "NVIDIA GPUs are designed to operate reliably up to their maximum specified operating temperature. This maximum temperature varies by GPU, but is generally in the 105C range (refer to the nvidia.com product page for individual GPU specifications)."

OK, so let's go to the related nvidia product page. It claims that the GTX 680 max temp is 98C.

So then, why does the company prefer to throttle this chip at 70C? Obviously, we want to avoid the max temp, but why shy away from it by such a wide margin? There ought to be some headroom between 70C and 98C. Why isn't 80C or 85C a perfectly safe limit during hard use like gaming?


----------



## Kimir

LN2 bios doesn't throttle, one more reason to use it.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> LN2 bios doesn't throttle, one more reason to use it.


Yes, I know; but I'm wondering why nvidia clearly prefers thermal throttling to start at 70C when they also say that the 680 is meant to "operate reliably" (obviously not the same thing as "last forever") at 98C. There is quite a gap there, quite an inconsistency.


----------



## Thomoe

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> What drivers are you using? Anything past 314.07 won't let you adjust voltage higher than 1.212. Bios voltage only goes up to 1.212, anything higher requires software control (which nvidia has disabled past their 1.175).


I have tried everything...... flashing 3A bios, mod AB 2.2.4... NV314.07 and i cant get the voltage over 1.21

How do i do this and what am i missing in this OC... This is my first atempt to OC my Lighting and i cant get pass 1250 mhz


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Thomoe*
> 
> I have tried everything...... flashing 3A bios, mod AB 2.2.4... NV314.07 and i cant get the voltage over 1.21
> 
> How do i do this and what am i missing in this OC... This is my first atempt to OC my Lighting and i cant get pass 1250 mhz


Did you flash the bios from the first page of this thread?
Use AB 2.2.3 +100 (93) should be about 1.33 to 1.35 volts
The only way you will be able to read true voltage is with a DMMM, no monitoring program will read the increased voltage


----------



## SenorPablo

Thanks for the info, just got the 680 power edition and flashed the bios. I have a question though, I don't really see any gains in performance, I'm still getting 40 fps dips in Borderlands 2, Crysis 3 still runs like dirt (which I expected) but I mean 680 lightning's in sli, shouldn't the performance be a little better? I only get like like 10-15 plus fps on maps in BF3, I kind of expected a lot more performance out of two lightning.


----------



## rotary7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Thanks for the info, just got the 680 power edition and flashed the bios. I have a question though, I don't really see any gains in performance, I'm still getting 40 fps dips in Borderlands 2, Crysis 3 still runs like dirt (which I expected) but I mean 680 lightning's in sli, shouldn't the performance be a little better? I only get like like 10-15 plus fps on maps in BF3, I kind of expected a lot more performance out of two lightning.


thats weird, are you bottle necking on your CPU?


----------



## SenorPablo

I thought I was, I have a 2500k, I overclocked it today to 4.4 ghz and it didn't really make a difference.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> I'm confused. According to this nvidia page: "NVIDIA GPUs are designed to operate reliably up to their maximum specified operating temperature. This maximum temperature varies by GPU, but is generally in the 105C range (refer to the nvidia.com product page for individual GPU specifications)."
> 
> OK, so let's go to the related nvidia product page. It claims that the GTX 680 max temp is 98C.
> 
> So then, why does the company prefer to throttle this chip at 70C? Obviously, we want to avoid the max temp, but why shy away from it by such a wide margin? There ought to be some headroom between 70C and 98C. Why isn't 80C or 85C a perfectly safe limit during hard use like gaming?


Not 100% sure with this, but 105° is probably the thermal limit, going over this value has a high chance of damaging the gpu rapidly. Under 105° is considered safer since they are reasonably sure the gpu will not die in a matter of hours at that temp.
Although 105° is the max allowable temp, it isn't good for the gpu to be too hot, so they set a throttle point at 70° to help keep the card cooler, they are pretty sure that the majority of cards will live through their warranty period sticking at that value.
Between 70° & the 105° max won't kill the card, but it may be that nvidia's research has shown that a larger percentage of warranty claims will be made if the cards run at say 80° for extended periods.
Nvidia makes those calls based on the reference cards, the ln2 bios on the lightning not throttling was MSI's decision.

As far as overclocking goes, it has always been the cooler the better. 80°C may be called the safe temp for a gpu, that just means it won't die quickly, if it is considerably cooler it will overclock better.


----------



## Nikola-Tesla

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Thanks for the info, just got the 680 power edition and flashed the bios. I have a question though, I don't really see any gains in performance, I'm still getting 40 fps dips in Borderlands 2, Crysis 3 still runs like dirt (which I expected) but I mean 680 lightning's in sli, shouldn't the performance be a little better? I only get like like 10-15 plus fps on maps in BF3, I kind of expected a lot more performance out of two lightning.


40fps dips in BL2 are somehow related to big area of view (standing on top of a tower) it looks like a game optimization fault, not card fault.
C3 will get you 60fps (depending on settings) with 90+% GPU load

Only serious fail I've found was FarCry 3. Only 60-70% GPU utilization in sli with latest drivers and fps counter hovers above 30 in daylight.
That's again not VGA issue but driver issues, 2-3 iterations back it worked better for this game (90% util. both GPUs).
I was expecting drivers to get better, not worse, silly me.

What are your monitoring software readings under load?


----------



## Betsy601

cant wait for 2.2.3 to get released and this thread will explode!


----------



## SenorPablo

Honestly, in BL2 they're all over the place. I was suprised because a lot of the time GPU usage was between 30 and 80 percent mostly staying around 60 to 70 percent. I swear to god in game for Crysis 3 the gpu usage for each gpu only goes up to 60 percent. I wish I could force the GPU usage.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Thanks for the info, just got the 680 power edition and flashed the bios. I have a question though, I don't really see any gains in performance, I'm still getting 40 fps dips in Borderlands 2, Crysis 3 still runs like dirt (which I expected) but I mean 680 lightning's in sli, shouldn't the performance be a little better? I only get like like 10-15 plus fps on maps in BF3, I kind of expected a lot more performance out of two lightning.


Excuse the long post, but I think I can help. For me, C3 performance has been mostly a matter of the driver version and driver settings. I've got C3 running smooth on max settings (both game and CP settings) @1920x1080 using a single 680L. I have no lag or stuttering and I never see any high frametimes. My framerate fluctuates between 40-55 using a 120 hz monitor. With 2 Lightnings in SLI, I'd expect to see 60 all of the time.

This is what works for me: First, the 314.07 driver is the latest one that works well. Any newer driver involving the Titan merge just isn't as good, and 314.22 has been outright awful for me with C3. Second, turn off vsync in game settings and choose adaptive vsync in nv CP. Third, set "prefer maximum performance" *globally* in nv CP. Setting adaptive power in global and max perf in the C3 game profile did not work for me. Fourth, SMAA works best with C3 using the game settings, with "application controlled" for AA set in nv CP.

A lot of games perform better if you cap the framerate in game or use nv adaptive vsync. BLOPS2, for example, stutters like crazy (on my system) unless the framerate is capped at 60. Then it couldn't be smoother.

Many other factors can affect game performance. There is a lot of disk IO for example. Do you have an SSD? That will help. If you have an SSD primary and HDD for storage, use the HDD for the windows paging file. Yes it's slower, but a non-bootable storage disk has very low IO, so the net effect (for me at least) is better performance on a slower disk. That works especially well if you have 2 HDDs; use the non-bootable one for your paging file.

I have a 3930k, which is a beast, and it runs comfortably at 4.4ghz. But your SLI should more than make up the minor performance difference in CPUs. Try my suggestions and see if you can't get 60 fps consistently in C3. And if they don't improve things for you, definitely let me know.


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> Excuse the long post, but I think I can help. For me, C3 performance has been mostly a matter of the driver version and driver settings. I've got C3 running smooth on max settings (both game and CP settings) @1920x1080 using a single 680L. I have no lag or stuttering and I never see any high frametimes. My framerate fluctuates between 40-55 using a 120 hz monitor. With 2 Lightnings in SLI, I'd expect to see 60 all of the time.
> 
> This is what works for me: First, the 314.07 driver is the latest one that works well. Any newer driver involving the Titan merge just isn't as good, and 314.22 has been outright awful for me with C3. Second, turn off vsync in game settings and choose adaptive vsync in nv CP. Third, set "prefer maximum performance" *globally* in nv CP. Setting adaptive power in global and max perf in the C3 game profile did not work for me. Fourth, SMAA works best with C3 using the game settings, with "application controlled" for AA set in nv CP.
> 
> A lot of games perform better if you cap the framerate in game or use nv adaptive vsync. BLOPS2, for example, stutters like crazy (on my system) unless the framerate is capped at 60. Then it couldn't be smoother.
> 
> Many other factors can affect game performance. There is a lot of disk IO for example. Do you have an SSD? That will help. If you have an SSD primary and HDD for storage, use the HDD for the windows paging file. Yes it's slower, but a non-bootable storage disk has very low IO, so the net effect (for me at least) is better performance on a slower disk. That works especially well if you have 2 HDDs; use the non-bootable one for your paging file.
> 
> I have a 3930k, which is a beast, and it runs comfortably at 4.4ghz. But your SLI should more than make up the minor performance difference in CPUs. Try my suggestions and see if you can't get 60 fps consistently in C3. And if they don't improve things for you, definitely let me know.


Thanks for that, I like a lot of info, I tried out installing 314.07, didn't seem to do much and I also changed the nvidia settings and that didn't seem to do much either. And yes, I have an SSD, I'm going to try out the page file thing tomorrow, I'm tired right now gonna get some shut eye. Also, I tried out Battlefield 3 and I realized I'm getting solid 85+ percent gpu usage on both gpu's


----------



## mgrande465

Picking up a MSI Lightning GTX 680 soon!
I will join the thread when i get it!


----------



## TechSilver13

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mgrande465*
> 
> Picking up a MSI Lightning GTX 680 soon!
> I will join the thread when i get it!


Where are you buying it from? I havent seen them in stock in most online web sites.


----------



## secondthought

Add me


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Not 100% sure with this, but 105° is probably the thermal limit, going over this value has a high chance of damaging the gpu rapidly. Under 105° is considered safer since they are reasonably sure the gpu will not die in a matter of hours at that temp.
> 
> Although 105° is the max allowable temp, it isn't good for the gpu to be too hot, so they set a throttle point at 70° to help keep the card cooler, they are pretty sure that the majority of cards will live through their warranty period sticking at that value.
> 
> Between 70° & the 105° max won't kill the card, but it may be that nvidia's research has shown that a larger percentage of warranty claims will be made if the cards run at say 80° for extended periods.
> Nvidia makes those calls based on the reference cards, the ln2 bios on the lightning not throttling was MSI's decision.
> 
> As far as overclocking goes, it has always been the cooler the better. 80°C may be called the safe temp for a gpu, that just means it won't die quickly, if it is considerably cooler it will overclock better.


What you say makes sense to me, but I wish nvidia didn't make me feel guilty about letting my 680L hit 72-74 or so during an hour or two of game play each day. I mean, I know it's not going to kill the thing, but there is always that lingering doubt in the back of my mind


----------



## rotary7

on blocks i only see 50c


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rotary7*
> 
> on blocks i only see 50c


Wish I could join you there, but being a family man, I have financial priorities such that my rig comes in at around 40th place


----------



## steelsix

I just received word from MSI USA that Lightning has officially been discontinued. The Limited Edition version will soon be avail in US market.


----------



## AlphaBravo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steelsix*
> 
> I just received word from MSI USA that Lightning has officially been discontinued. The Limited Edition version will soon be avail in US market.


What is the Limited Edition?


----------



## Kimir

It's not "Limited edition", the L stand for light.
http://jp.msi.com/product/vga/N680GTX-Lightning-L.html

It's a shame they already discontinue it, there is no replacement at this price range yet >_>


----------



## AlphaBravo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> It's not "Limited edition", the L stand for light.
> http://jp.msi.com/product/vga/N680GTX-Lightning-L.html
> 
> It's a shame they already discontinue it, there is no replacement at this price range yet >_>


Looks like it's the same as this:
http://us.msi.com/product/vga/N680-PE-2GD5-OC.html


----------



## AlphaBravo

I was looking at reviews of the Lightning (I'm interested in finding a very quiet GPU), and I came across this review:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/msi-n680gtx-lightning_4.html#sect0

Does something seem wrong with the results they got here? Seems like other reviews found that the Lightning is actually a very quiet card. Or am I reading these results incorrectly?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AlphaBravo*
> 
> Looks like it's the same as this:
> http://us.msi.com/product/vga/N680-PE-2GD5-OC.html


Yes that's the one, they name it differently but it's the same.
Weirdly, this one appear only on NA and JP version of MSI website, not on global (and EU/France for me).


----------



## doulos1382

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steelsix*
> 
> I just received word from MSI USA that Lightning has officially been discontinued. The Limited Edition version will soon be avail in US market.


Wow that's a shame. MSI did a very custom GTX 680. That news, however, got me a little worried. See, several days ago, I posted, as my first post, asking for suggestions of gpu stress tools, because my PSU fried my mobo and my hdds and cpu, and i wanted to know if my gpu got damaged too.

So far, i have tested with furmark, occt, msi kombustor, 3dmark vantage and 3dmark11. And everything seem to be working fine.

But how can i be sure that my gpu wasnt damaged? Because that's the gpu i want.

I dont want a lower replacement. However, several members have posted how to flash the GTX 680 PE with the Bios of a Lightning though.

P.S: I checked with a PSU tester, the volts on the PCI-E rails of my damaged PSU (wich was a Seasonic x-750, what a shame for Seasonic) and it says 12.1 V. Is that alright? Do I need a more powerful PSU, because i already bought a Corsair AX760, and im worried i need more power. My CPU is a Core i7 3770k, it will be OC. and 32 gb ram.

Thanks in advance!


----------



## Kimir

That should be enough if you don't go sli.
And if your card is working don't be afraid that it could, possibly, maybe damaged. Either it's working, either it's burned.


----------



## carnivorous

Since I'm new to the overclocking world, i wanted to ask a question.

I'm using the latest afterburner with the latest drivers for my gtx680 lightning. i can push the core clock up to +100. after that, either the kernel crashes and restarts or the core clock drops to 700 immediately and stays there no matter what I do unless I reboot my PC.

Any help/explanation?

Thank you!


----------



## doulos1382

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> That should be enough if you don't go sli.
> And if your card is working don't be afraid that it could, possibly, maybe damaged. Either it's working, either it's burned.


Thanks for your reponse Kimir. That is what i thought. In fact I did a little overclocking on my Lightning and could reach a stable gpu core of 1201MHZ and a gpu boost of 1301 MHZ under furmark and kombustor.

The fallen mobo i had was a very cool Mpower Z77 from MSI









On the PSU subject, tha wattage power is really enough for an Overclocked 3770k right? In that Motherboard?

As a side question, when i was trying to overclock my Lightning. I set to max the Power Limit slider under MSI Afterburner. Also i set the GPU Boost Frequency or Core Clock to maximum without notice it.

When i tested MSI Kombustor, i obviously crashed the benchmark tool and my PC freezed. Does that sort of mistakes damaged the GPU? I just rebooted my PC, and restarted the overclocking process making small increments, and everything worked fine.

Cheers


----------



## setza

My latest stable 3dmark 11 run on my lightning. 1424 core/ 4001 mem. I need to change the cpu soon, my score suffers from it









http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/6362336


----------



## CtrlAltElite

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> My latest stable 3dmark 11 run on my lightning. 1424 core/ 4001 mem. I need to change the cpu soon, my score suffers from it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/6362336


Not a bad score at all. Dont think upgrading cpu is going to change a whole lot. Maybe in 3dmark11 but not in actual gaming and certain other benchmark programs


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> My latest stable 3dmark 11 run on my lightning. 1424 core/ 4001 mem. I need to change the cpu soon, my score suffers from it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/6362336


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CtrlAltElite*
> 
> Not a bad score at all. Dont think upgrading cpu is going to change a whole lot. Maybe in 3dmark11 but not in actual gaming and certain other benchmark programs


This. I'm all for upgrading to do better in benchmarks, but can't advise it for others unless they can make better use of the cpu in general.
You can spend close to $1000 on a 3930k & board to double that physics score, but if you don't do anything else that can take advantage of those 12 threads, you're spending close to $1000 on a physics score.
A 3770k costs less & doesn't need a board upgrade, but it's still the same argument to a lesser degree.

Could always OC that 2600k more if you are considering an upgrade anyway! Might have to upgrade cooling, but that 2600k can still score higher than it has so far.

5Ghz 2600k physics score


----------



## setza

The 2600k is already watercooled, but I lost the silicon lottery and got a bad chip. Wont oc higher than 4.5 without massive voltage increases.

Edit: I find it hard to believe a .5 GHz increase would make a 2000 point change.


----------



## qwwwizx

You need to push you ram to get better score. Low latencies and high memory clocks will up it a lot.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> You need to push you ram to get better score. Low latencies and high memory clocks will up it a lot.


That's an important point, but I would add that one needs to benchmark the CPU while doing that. RAM timings and freqs can degrade CPU performance when pushed too hard.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

I can't find blocks for these cards anywhere. Are they eol? It seems like they were selling.


----------



## Chomuco

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> I can't find blocks for these cards anywhere. Are they eol? It seems like they were selling.


http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?XTCsid=62f5a4616da281356bf14a6f466818d4&keywords=MSI+GTX+680+LIGHTNING


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> The 2600k is already watercooled, but I lost the silicon lottery and got a bad chip. Wont oc higher than 4.5 without massive voltage increases.
> 
> Edit: I find it hard to believe a .5 GHz increase would make a 2000 point change.


Memory tuning makes a good difference, as well as different versions of the benchmark & systeminfo.
That was a 5Ghz example, most sandy can get to about that (the mem timings would be hard for a lot of kits with sandy). My highest 2600k physics is over 14k with more cpu, & faster memory with tighter timings than I had there.


----------



## driftingforlife

Fitted the new card in under 50 mins


----------



## doulos1382

Hello people!

My N680GTX Lightning has a GPU-Z ASIC Quality of 77%

What does that means? As i posted recently i had an incident with my PC and several parts were damaged, but my gpu... so far.

I have been testing my Lightning with Furmark, OCCT and Kombustor, and everything seems to be normal. But my GPU-Z ASIC Quality number is a little low... or is that a good number?

How can i know for sure that my gpu won't break down later after some time of use. I am a little worried now that this GPU was discontinued









Thanks in advance..

Cheers


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *doulos1382*
> 
> Hello people!
> 
> My N680GTX Lightning has a GPU-Z ASIC Quality of 77%
> 
> What does that means? As i posted recently i had an incident with my PC and several parts were damaged, but my gpu... so far.
> 
> I have been testing my Lightning with Furmark, OCCT and Kombustor, and everything seems to be normal. But my GPU-Z ASIC Quality number is a little low... or is that a good number?
> 
> How can i know for sure that my gpu won't break down later after some time of use. I am a little worried now that this GPU was discontinued
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance..
> 
> Cheers


For pre-overclocked cards with good cooling its normal to get ASIC quality between 70-80%.


----------



## doulos1382

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> For pre-overclocked cards with good cooling its normal to get ASIC quality between 70-80%.


OK then, I could assume that there is nothing wrong with my gpu for now. However, is there a way to stress test the gpu to see if his longevity was affected?

What would you do?


----------



## CtrlAltElite

Please add me to the list of owners. Just got mine today.

BIOS Version: 80.04.28.00.37 (is the 37 a good or bad version?)

Note: Only turned up AB settings to show whats its allowing.


----------



## r360r

Why would you be added to the lightning version when you have a Power edition?


----------



## CtrlAltElite

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Why would you be added to the lightning version when you have a Power edition?


My mistake. Didn't know Lightning meant Power Edition. You don't have to add me than.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Why would you be added to the lightning version when you have a Power edition?


It is very similar to the lightning, same pcb, same cooler. The differences are in the bios (which can be flashed), & possibly the voltage controller.
This would still be the thread for him to ask questions, etc. The card is closer to a lightning than anything else.


----------



## CtrlAltElite

Because when I bought it, I thought I was buying a lightning card?

Im actually kinda pissed right now


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CtrlAltElite*
> 
> Because when I bought it, I thought I was buying a lightning card?
> 
> Im actually kinda pissed right now


The actual Lightnings have all but disappeared. You can try flashing one of the original bios' in the OP to the card, & if it gives you voltage control (afterburner 2.2.3, not sure if any newer versions support V control yet), it may as well be a lightning. The only difference would be the box it came in.


----------



## CtrlAltElite

any benefit to flashing the bios to "Lightning" per se


----------



## FtW 420

The Lightning ln2 bios does have extended OCP & OVP ranges, & stops any throttling. The main difference is the voltage control for overclocking, as long as your card has the same voltage controller it would allow some control.
It is a good card as it is, doesn't hurt to run it as it came & maybe try flashing when you just want to try getting more out of it. Be sure to save the original bios that is on it before flashing as well if you do!


----------



## doulos1382

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> It is very similar to the lightning, same pcb, same cooler. The differences are in the bios (which can be flashed), & possibly the voltage controller.
> This would still be the thread for him to ask questions, etc. The card is closer to a lightning than anything else.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> The Lightning ln2 bios does have extended OCP & OVP ranges, & stops any throttling. The main difference is the voltage control for overclocking, as long as your card has the same voltage controller it would allow some control.
> It is a good card as it is, doesn't hurt to run it as it came & maybe try flashing when you just want to try getting more out of it. Be sure to save the original bios that is on it before flashing as well if you do!


The voltage controller is trough software? If you flash the ln2 bios on the Power Edition 680, with the same as the Lightning, you enable the voltage controller?

Besides is it possible to flash the standard bios on the Power Edition (or the Lightning also) with the unlocked standard bios that came with the first batch of Lightnings? Where can i download that bios?


----------



## Menthol

Start at the first page of this thread, all instructions a bios there


----------



## CtrlAltElite

Followed instructions on bios flashing. But when I try and backup current bios on my PE card getting error "Unable to setup nvflash driver" downloaded both NVflash and 80.04.09.00.F8.rom files to c:\


----------



## Shperax

Is the only way to get more then +93 mv to do the memory hack on afterburner or is there another way


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CtrlAltElite*
> 
> Followed instructions on bios flashing. But when I try and backup current bios on my PE card getting error "Unable to setup nvflash driver" downloaded both NVflash and 80.04.09.00.F8.rom files to c:\


Use gpu-z latest version to save the bios, open gpu-z & click the green emblem beside the bios version to save.
Mostly in case you ever need to flash it back, if you save it, it is there if you need it.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> Is the only way to get more then +93 mv to do the memory hack on afterburner or is there another way


The Artmoney hack is the more common way, AB extreme does allow much higher voltage but it is hard to get a copy. You pretty much have to show MSI you are serious about benchmarking & have results to show that you are capable of making use of the software, then sign your warranty away to get it.
ABX is customized to each user now, so there is no sharing if someone ever wants an updated version. If one goes public, they can see exactly who leaked it, so no one leaks it anymore.


----------



## CtrlAltElite

Thanks for all the help so far. Saved original bios and going to try and get LN2. 2 questions before I do.
-If I have issues with this card down the road, can I flash back and MSI will honor the warranty?
-currently im able to get about +100mhz more from the clock, 250mhz memory. Voltage is letting me get about +62, anything more on any 3, I crash. So that seems to be about the max. Will I be able to get a lot more flashing to LN2?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CtrlAltElite*
> 
> Thanks for all the help so far. Saved original bios and going to try and get LN2. 2 questions before I do.
> -If I have issues with this card down the road, can I flash back and MSI will honor the warranty?
> -currently im able to get about +100mhz more from the clock, 250mhz memory. Voltage is letting me get about +62, anything more on any 3, I crash. So that seems to be about the max. Will I be able to get a lot more flashing to LN2?


If you are crashing due to high temps, the ln2 bios likely won't help. Crashing due to lack of voltage, then the ln2 bios should make a difference.
The ln2 bios starts off at 1202 core after boost, so that will be the low 3d clock under load with no overclock. Overclocking will just go up from there.


----------



## Shperax

With the thermal limiter gone whats the safe temp to stay under if you want your card to last a few years. some people say not to go above 70 but other cards i have had in the past lasted many many years in the 80's and 90's(gtx 580 and 480)


----------



## gkolarov

Above 70 degrees the original board GTX680 card will start to trottle, so it shouldn't pass 70. I don't know about the Lightning card, because I've never passed these degrees. Your GTX 680 Lightning card will not pass 70 in normal conditions. If it did so = you have applied too much voltage and/or have very low fan speed .


----------



## CtrlAltElite

Thanks to everyone for helping me. Was able to flash bios to LN2. Was up until 4am run tests and for the life of me I couldn't break what I was already getting with the original bios. GPUz was saying default clock was higher than GPU clock. 1006 vs 1206 i think. Was hundreds of points less on Valley with LN2 than what came with it. So I flashed back

+1 for those who helped.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> My latest stable 3dmark 11 run on my lightning. 1424 core/ 4001 mem. I need to change the cpu soon, my score suffers from it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/6362336


Let me show you what you will get if you buy a more powerful CPU. Mine is a 3930k @4.5ghz. So my physics score is a quite respectable 14712. But with a Lightning on air, my graphics score is 12051 and combined is 9914, only slightly higher than yours. Well, see the difference for yourself:



I think the conclusion here is, save your money. Maybe get a second 680L for SLI if you're not satisfied with what you've got.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

I just got one of the power editions that I ordered. Now this card is going to be fun to play with. I haven't flashed the ln2 bios yet but so far it seems to be stable at 1300mhz on the stock bios. Thats a good start. I hope that the other card works as well.

I can't wait to see what the ln2 bios will do. I also ordered a couple of blocks from ek.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> I just got one of the power editions that I ordered. Now this card is going to be fun to play with. I haven't flashed the ln2 bios yet but so far it seems to be stable at 1300mhz on the stock bios. Thats a good start. I hope that the other card works as well.
> 
> I can't wait to see what the ln2 bios will do. I also ordered a couple of blocks from ek.


1300 on the stock bios is better than all the lightnings I played with, really hope the other one is a good match! How does the memory oc?


----------



## Thomoe

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Thomoe*
> 
> I have tried everything...... flashing 3A bios, mod AB 2.2.4... NV314.07 and i cant get the voltage over 1.21
> 
> How do i do this and what am i missing in this OC... This is my first atempt to OC my Lighting and i cant get pass 1250 mhz


Ok.. I have trusted the software read of the voltage, i havent used a DMMM.. that i will try... Thanks...


----------



## CtrlAltElite

*Update: Been tinkering the last few days with this PE card. Flashed BIOS to LN2. Running all sorts of tests.

*LN2 vs PE bios:*

Stock PE: *3Dmark11 Score*: 9567 (2500K 4.7ghz)
*Valley Extreme Score: 1889*

LN2 Flash: *3DMark11 Score*: 10056 (2500k 4.7ghz) much greater increase than Valley
*Valley Extreme Score: 1997*

Overclocking: Found this card difficult to OC on LN2 bios. With either bios, there is A LOT of trial and error. With PE bios, I can bring my 3Dmark11 Score up near the LN2 bios score. In Valley I can exceed the LN2 score but not by much.

Here are 2 screenshots of 3DMark PE vs LN2
*
PE bios*



*LN2 bios*



*Conclusion:*
With all the tests ive ran, flashing bios to LN2 will net you around a 5% increase all around. I feel because this card whether PE or Lightning is OC so much already, its really hard to get stable at higher OC's. There's a lot of trial and error with OCing either BIOS that I feel its better to leave it where its at. For the increase in scores or FPS you may get, for me its to unstable and a lot of work to get these small increases. I do feel however, its best to flash to LN2 bios, because you do get a sizable increase. I have not done any real world gaming comparisons yet. This is all my experience the last 48 with this card and may change as time goes on. Others may find it easier.

Note- I remember reading that PE cards comes with a different controller than Lightning cards. I do not know this. Maybe this is why its hard for me to get any decent OC on Ln2 bios. Its has PE controller?

Just my noob .02


----------



## Spikemaul

Verification! Nice Nice!!

Hello everyone, I've been playing with this set up for the past couple weeks. LOVE IT!!!







I had to flash the LN2 bios with an unlocked one and have had a way better experience with it.







This thread has helped me out very much since I have read 95% of the posts. I have this card Folding while I'm not using it. Fold On!!


----------



## setza

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17369/ex-blc-1343/EK_MSI_GeForce_680_GTX_Lightning_VGA_Liquid_Cooling_Block_-_Acetal_Nickel_CSQ_EK-FC680_GTX_Lightning_-_AcetalNickel.html

The last one in stock that I've seen for a while. If you want one, I would recommend ordering asap since the lightnings were discontinued.


----------



## Spikemaul

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17369/ex-blc-1343/EK_MSI_GeForce_680_GTX_Lightning_VGA_Liquid_Cooling_Block_-_Acetal_Nickel_CSQ_EK-FC680_GTX_Lightning_-_AcetalNickel.html
> 
> The last one in stock that I've seen for a while. If you want one, I would recommend ordering asap since the lightnings were discontinued.


I know of one at a local shop.......just waiting to see if the price will drop on it.


----------



## SenorPablo

Hey guys, I got another question, I reinstalled the new driver and things are working better now especially in crysis 3, but I want to know there are times in games like BF3 where the fps will drop below 60 and go to 40, this usally coincides with low GPU usage, in a match or two of BF3 my fps will drop like this around 3 times but it will run usually above 80 fps. Is this okay? normal?


----------



## hermit1007

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Hey guys, I got another question, I reinstalled the new driver and things are working better now especially in crysis 3, but I want to know there are times in games like BF3 where the fps will drop below 60 and go to 40, this usally coincides with low GPU usage, in a match or two of BF3 my fps will drop like this around 3 times but it will run usually above 80 fps. Is this okay? normal?


Quite normal if you experience it in multiplayer


----------



## CrazyElf

Out of curiosity, if you flash the BIOS into a PE, do you effectively have a Lightning?

Or are there hardware differences between the two? Someone mentioned something about a "voltage controller" being different?


----------



## gotendbz1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CrazyElf*
> 
> Out of curiosity, if you flash the BIOS into a PE, do you effectively have a Lightning?
> 
> Or are there hardware differences between the two? Someone mentioned something about a "voltage controller" being different?


should be the same, think the pe version are just chips that binned lower than lightnings


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Spikemaul*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Verification! Nice Nice!!
> 
> Hello everyone, I've been playing with this set up for the past couple weeks. LOVE IT!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I had to flash the LN2 bios with an unlocked one and have had a way better experience with it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This thread has helped me out very much since I have read 95% of the posts. I have this card Folding while I'm not using it. Fold On!!


Gotta love that Motherboard. Was at micro center today buying new case fans and came across it.


----------



## CrazyElf

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gotendbz1*
> 
> should be the same, think the pe version are just chips that binned lower than lightnings


MSI denies right now that they have been binning their chips at all, except to meet specs for air overclock.

Hardware wise, looking at the pictures, it's hard to see any differences.


----------



## steelsix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gotendbz1*
> 
> should be the same, think the pe version are just chips that binned lower than lightnings


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CrazyElf*
> 
> MSI denies right now that they have been binning their chips at all, except to meet specs for air overclock.
> 
> Hardware wise, looking at the pictures, it's hard to see any differences.


I have both a new edition Lightning and PE version, have removed coolers and base plates to find all is the same including voltage controller. I flashed PE with Lightning bios(s), all is well.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Does the little reactor board really make much of a difference on air or water? I'm thinking of removing the one on my card to make room for my sound card.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Does the little reactor board really make much of a difference on air or water? I'm thinking of removing the one on my card to make room for my sound card.


The reactor board really doesn't make a difference, it had no affect whatsoever for me when overclocking.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Does the little reactor board really make much of a difference on air or water? I'm thinking of removing the one on my card to make room for my sound card.


What FtW 420 said, plus it seems to allow better air flow through the card, lowering vram and vrm temps a bit on air, for me anyway. Did not change my stable OCs in the slightest on LN2 (-25mv = 1202mhz; +0mv = 1249mhz; +75mv = 1333mhz). Probably more marketing hype than anything else. I don't miss it at all, although I kinda like how it looked.


----------



## colforbin

Getting ready to put my Lightning under water. I bought a used Aquagrapfx block that doesn't have any thermal tape for the VRMs. Can someone point in the right direction on where to buy some?


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colforbin*
> 
> Getting ready to put my Lightning under water. I bought a used Aquagrapfx block that doesn't have any thermal tape for the VRMs. Can someone point in the right direction on where to buy some?


Frozencpu or sidewinders have some. Just look for the length/thickness you need.


----------



## shakurass

Was finally able to get a half decent OC on my lightning. Tried flashing unlocked BIOS to LN2 but wasn't able to coax any stable overclocks out of it so I restored back to BIOS that came with my card. This is under an EK water block with no voltage tweaks since I am trying to go for a stable gaming overclock. I am able to get a slightly bigger OC with Valley, I am not sure why but it seems like heaven runs heavier. Maybe the tessellation?

Voltages you cannot see in pic:
Memory = +30
Aux = 0



Is it just me or does it seem like my core is a little low compared to other results in this thread that have skipped the voltage tweak? Or is +130 MHz at +100 mV good for a core overclock?


----------



## Chomuco

go !! http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2233/TechPowerUp_GPU-Z_v0.7.0_w_ASUS_ROG_Skin.html


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Whats the deal, are these eol?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Whats the deal, are these eol?


Looks that way, stock has disappeared & isn't getting replenished, same for the 7970 Lightnings.


----------



## TheAssassin

I don't see the power limit option in AB 3.0.0 beta 9. I had it in 2.2.3 so how do I unlock it?


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> I don't see the power limit option in AB 3.0.0 beta 9. I had it in 2.2.3 so how do I unlock it?


In the general settings....


----------



## XanderTheGoober

unfortunately the msi 680 lightnings are becoming harder and harder to find. however if you have been keeping up on this thread you will know to just look for the msi 680 power edition and flash the bios. the power edition maybe easier to find but for how long depends on how many people know and learn this to buy them for the same card as the lightning.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

i have a power edition and the lightning bought and flashed the bios on both and both behave identical now. i did an unboxing and comparison video between the 2 cards, the power edition even has the same pcb so its my general assumption they are the same card with different bios from the factory.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *AlphaBravo*
> 
> I was looking at reviews of the Lightning (I'm interested in finding a very quiet GPU), and I came across this review:
> 
> http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/msi-n680gtx-lightning_4.html#sect0
> 
> Does something seem wrong with the results they got here? Seems like other reviews found that the Lightning is actually a very quiet card. Or am I reading these results incorrectly?


i typically dont trust half of the reviews as for sound for 2 reasons. first reason is you can control fan speed and profiles as well in msi afterburner to control at what temps the fans will spin up, assuming you dont want to just set them to a certain percentage to just let them blow. second reason is because i usually am wearing a headset under operation at the computer. i will say this though. 2 of these cards in the same system between 55 and 100% the fan noise is quite audible.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

just for more eye candy if someone is looking for it


----------



## SeekerZA

How long before final release of MSI afterburner. Feels like forever


----------



## TheAssassin

I don't see the powerlimit option.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> 
> 
> I don't see the powerlimit option.


Hold your cursor over the triangle to the right of the voltage slider and click on it


----------



## CrazyElf

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steelsix*
> 
> I have both a new edition Lightning and PE version, have removed coolers and base plates to find all is the same including voltage controller. I flashed PE with Lightning bios(s), all is well.


Ok - thanks for confirming. It looks like then all that is needed is a BIOS flash.

It looks like here in Canada, even the PE's are getting hard to find. I think the entire line-up of these cards has been discontinued, even the PEs.


----------



## NickLe

Real deal lightning
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX40134
One left in Winnipeg, I had them ship ram to me once, just paid for shipping.
Maybe you can negotiate all that with them, is it worth the effort for the real deal?
Good luck.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CrazyElf*
> 
> Ok - thanks for confirming. It looks like then all that is needed is a BIOS flash.
> 
> It looks like here in Canada, even the PE's are getting hard to find. I think the entire line-up of these cards has been discontinued, even the PEs.


yes they are being discontinued. i did a direct comparison fo the 2 cards on my utube channel if you're interested. i bought the lightning when they first came out and a PE just a month ago and have them both in sli in a micro atx case.


----------



## CrazyElf

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> yes they are being discontinued. i did a direct comparison fo the 2 cards on my utube channel if you're interested. i bought the lightning when they first came out and a PE just a month ago and have them both in sli in a micro atx case.


I'd assume this:





Yeah it's odd. The cards do appear to be otherwise identical - odd about that sticker though; I wonder why they would cover it up.

Thanks NickLe btw for the link. It looks like this is the only retailer right now that sells them. Newegg, NCIX, Canada Computers and the others do not seem to have these any more. There's only 1 left it would seem as you have noted.

I'm going to be moving soon, so I'd best not order anything right now. Plus right now I'm leaning towards a 7970.


----------



## r360r

how well does the PE ver OC and is SLI even worth it?


----------



## TheAssassin

I clicked the arrow but I still don't have the powerlimit.


----------



## CYBER-SNIPA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> I clicked the arrow but I still don't have the powerlimit.


Voltage powerlimit may only be present in older versions of Afterburner. I believe that V2.2.3 has it? You can download it from here if you don't have that version anymore:-

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Afterburner-2.2.3-download-2952.html

Install it then try again!!!


----------



## TheAssassin

I updated from that version. I wanted a newer version of AB that supported the over voltage again.


----------



## Spikemaul

I'm using 3.0.0 Beta 9 with no problems and all the options......maybe give that a try.


----------



## TheAssassin

I just posted screenshots of beta 9. I don't see the power limit option anywhere.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> I just posted screenshots of beta 9. I don't see the power limit option anywhere.


The problem is that you are using the legacy skin. Go to settings/user interface and choose the default skin.


----------



## 2slick4u

add me


----------



## Chomuco

stock ! ? http://www.amazon.com/MSI-N680GTX-Lightning-GeForce-Graphic/dp/B005XY20S8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1363902319&sr=8-5&keywords=msi+gtx+680+lightning


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> stock ! ? http://www.amazon.com/MSI-N680GTX-Lightning-GeForce-Graphic/dp/B005XY20S8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1363902319&sr=8-5&keywords=msi+gtx+680+lightning


If you want to pay 800$ for a 680... go ahead.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *2slick4u*
> 
> 
> 
> add me


Nice build!!!


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> stock ! ? http://www.amazon.com/MSI-N680GTX-Lightning-GeForce-Graphic/dp/B005XY20S8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1363902319&sr=8-5&keywords=msi+gtx+680+lightning


They want 788 bucks! I would sell each of my Lightnings that do 1375/7000 on stock volts plus their blocks for that much!


----------



## hermit1007

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> They want 788 bucks! I would sell each of my Lightnings that do 1375/7000 on stock volts plus their blocks for that much!


Jesus you really drew yourself a golden chip, my Lightning had really hard time reaching there even with near 1.3v. Could hit only 1402 with maximum voltage in AB


----------



## 2slick4u

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> Nice build!!!


Thank you








You have a very nice build yourself, I like your color scheme!


----------



## Zero4549

Gotta RMA mine, its dying on me for no apparent reason.

Think they've still got some non-refurbished ones? Not likely I suspect :/


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hermit1007*
> 
> Jesus you really drew yourself a golden chip, my Lightning had really hard time reaching there even with near 1.3v. Could hit only 1402 with maximum voltage in AB


Actually I have 2 that will do 1375/7000 one just needs a little voltage bump







Lucked out on one that was an RMA and one I bought off of ebay that I knew what it could do. The one off of ebay does 1500 with some voltage pumping to it.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Gotta RMA mine, its dying on me for no apparent reason.
> 
> Think they've still got some non-refurbished ones? Not likely I suspect :/


My RMA is a golden chip! Hopefully you can be as lucky


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> My RMA is a golden chip! Hopefully you can be as lucky


Heres to hoping, thanks for the confidence boost


----------



## Smokey1445

Add me to the list. Here my sli 680 lightning cards.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Smokey1445*
> 
> Add me to the list. Here my sli 680 lightning cards.


Very Nice!!!


----------



## Zero4549

Just removed my dead lightning from the system, and put it's original cooler back on. Does anyone know what size thermal pads I need to order for my Alphacool WB when I get my new card in? The previous pad got all dusty and I don't really want to reuse it.


----------



## Chomuco

new card ....http://maxict.nl/product/3479217/msi-n680gtx-lightning?btwview=in&rs=hwinfo&utm_source=hardwareinfo&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=prijsvergelijker


----------



## NickLe

Hey guys, I just got a couple of 15% orgin.com coupon codes...
I had 3 used one for Battlefield 3 premium pack, which is usually 49.99, but they have a 50% sale going, which made it 24.99.
And I was able to apply the 15% off code, which made it 21.24...
Thats how I used it.
Now the code doesn't apply to pre-order (tried it bf4) and games released withing the past month.
So if anyone wants the 15% off code PM me.
I got 2, first come, first serve.
Good luck.
Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman TM.


----------



## Zero4549

So... I can't seem to process my RMA. The website won't accept my serial number, and the phone number they provide for such instances never picks up - I just get put on hold for 5 min and then voice mail, which never gets answered.

What do?!


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Ahh, its good to see that MSI hasn't changed.


----------



## Shperax

My lightning core clock OC's fairly average for 1.3v 1405 but i don't know whats going on with my mem clock it seems to go crazy high 7800 and i get no issues what so ever. i been playing games with it now for months. crysis 3, bf3, FFXIV. i've run valley like 30 times. No issues at all. does it hurt the card to keep memory that high?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> My lightning core clock OC's fairly average for 1.3v 1405 but i don't know whats going on with my mem clock it seems to go crazy high 7800 and i get no issues what so ever. i been playing games with it now for months. crysis 3, bf3, FFXIV. i've run valley like 30 times. No issues at all. does it hurt the card to keep memory that high?


I think you should sell that card to me it's definitely defective.
Or keep it because it's a killer card. If it doesn't artifact or bsod on you it won't hurt a thing


----------



## XanderTheGoober

20130427_000424.jpg 1644k .jpg file

twin 680 lightnings in the micro atx vulcan case. the temps with a minor overclock are bearable with a bit of fan noise


----------



## ibleedspeed

Did The Lightning get discontinued? I just got mine a month ago from Fry,s electronics but i see now they no longer have it on newegg. have not been by fry,s to see. Also did alex quit msi? I thought i heard something like that.


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ibleedspeed*
> 
> Did The Lightning get discontinued? I just got mine a month ago from Fry,s electronics but i see now they no longer have it on newegg. have not been by fry,s to see. Also did alex quit msi? I thought i heard something like that.


From what I know over here in Europe, the card is discontinued with only the stock that retailers have being sold off now. The Power Edition that's available over in the US seems to be having similar stock problems. Finding one used isn't too difficult though, quite a few people went to Titan when it released !


----------



## Zero4549

Does anyone have contact info for someone at MSI who can help me with my RMA? The online form keeps rejecting my S/N and the phone support that I'm supposed to use in cases like this is beyond useless

I've probably called 20 times over the last 2 days and still haven't got through to a human before being sent to *voice mail*(What kind of RMA department uses freaking voice mail?!)


----------



## doulos1382

Hi guys!

I've recently flashed my gpu with the ln2 3A bios.

When a fire up GPUZ this is what i get:



Those values marked in red, are they normail?

I am trying to overclock and i'm getting mediocre results

I just cant get beyond +50 in core clock on AB, even with the slider to max in core voltaje and Power Limit. Al I can get is a Core Clock of 1241

Besides the maximun voltaje i achieve is 1.121



Am I doing something wrong?

Does this has anything to do with the readings on GPU-Z

P.S: I am using MSI Afterburner 2.3.1

Thanks!!


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Of the three power edition cards that I have tried only one can do more than +50 with the LN2 bios.

You need to do a few extra tweaks mentioned in the op for working voltage control in afterburner.


----------



## doulos1382

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Of the three power edition cards that I have tried only one can do more than +50 with the LN2 bios.
> 
> You need to do a few extra tweaks mentioned in the op for working voltage control in afterburner.


Alright I tried using the AB 2.2.3 and I reached a 1306 Core Clock at 1.285 volts on air.

Is it that good?


----------



## SenorPablo

Hey guys, got a quick question. Overclocking my gtx 680 lightnings in sli and I can't get past +65 on on the gpu clock with +50 voltage. Is this normal for sli? I have a feeling my second card is just not that great of an overclocker (It's a power edition I flashed to LN2 bios), my first one can go up to 1350 stable for gaming. For heat issues I don't put the voltaGE ALL the way up in sli. Another thing that strikes me is that even though I put +65 on the gpu it only boosts to 1254 on the clock instead of 1267 like it should, It's always been like that for me but is that normal?

Plus in GPU-Z it saids my boost is like 1059 and it doesn't correctly read any of my clocks, another issue I have shrugged off in the past but now I'm worrying about it.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *doulos1382*
> 
> Alright I tried using the AB 2.2.3 and I reached a 1306 Core Clock at 1.285 volts on air.
> 
> Is it that good?


Its better than one of mine.


----------



## rankftw

I have a question about the Power % in AB. I have it set to 300% but it never seems to get anywhere near that high. With what I'm able to set as my maximum OC it only goes to around 90%. Is it actually meant to go any higher or will it always display < 100%. Here is a screenshot to show an example.



Is this normal. I have modded AB for my Lightnings and overclocking is fine but I'm wondering if this is stopping me getting higher clock. The screenshot is after 30 mins of Metro and both cards were at 90-99% load all the time.


----------



## doulos1382

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Hey guys, got a quick question. Overclocking my gtx 680 lightnings in sli and I can't get past +65 on on the gpu clock with +50 voltage. Is this normal for sli? I have a feeling my second card is just not that great of an overclocker (It's a power edition I flashed to LN2 bios), my first one can go up to 1350 stable for gaming. For heat issues I don't put the voltaGE ALL the way up in sli. Another thing that strikes me is that even though I put +65 on the gpu it only boosts to 1254 on the clock instead of 1267 like it should, It's always been like that for me but is that normal?
> 
> Plus in GPU-Z it saids my boost is like 1059 and it doesn't correctly read any of my clocks, another issue I have shrugged off in the past but now I'm worrying about it.


Hi Pablo! How did you do to get 1350 stable? Was it on air? And it was on LN2 right? Did you put all the voltage Up in the slider? And one last question... How are your temps?

I can get mine on 1306 but it goes up to 70C of temp and afaik that is too hot.

and about GPU-Z i get the same readings... i guess that is some error of the software.

Thanks!


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rankftw*
> 
> I have a question about the Power % in AB. I have it set to 300% but it never seems to get anywhere near that high. With what I'm able to set as my maximum OC it only goes to around 90%. Is it actually meant to go any higher or will it always display < 100%.


That setting doesn't determine current draw; it only lets you establish an upper limit (as a percentage of TDP). Setting it to 1% more than the card will ever want to draw (in your case, let's call it 95%), or setting it to infinity, are the same. 150% has always been more than enough for me.


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *doulos1382*
> 
> Hi Pablo! How did you do to get 1350 stable? Was it on air? And it was on LN2 right? Did you put all the voltage Up in the slider? And one last question... How are your temps?
> 
> I can get mine on 1306 but it goes up to 70C of temp and afaik that is too hot.
> 
> and about GPU-Z i get the same readings... i guess that is some error of the software.
> 
> Thanks!


It was on air, flashed LN2 bios, voltage on the core and aux was set up all the way, I think I had the memory at +450? Back when I had the single card the temps would always get above 70 in the games I played, highest I saw it go was 78 I think. Never went into the 80's though. I had an aggressive fan curve set in afterburner. Do you have a lightning or did you flash the power edition card?


----------



## driftingforlife

Thought my Lightning were dying, turns out it the PSU thats dead


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> It was on air, flashed LN2 bios, voltage on the core and aux was set up all the way, I think I had the memory at +450? Back when I had the single card the temps would always get above 70 in the games I played, highest I saw it go was 78 I think. Never went into the 80's though. I had an aggressive fan curve set in afterburner. Do you have a lightning or did you flash the power edition card?


i think that people need better case cooling because i have my lightning way more OC then that on stock air and with Furmark it will NEVER go above 72. And that **** is meant to melt cards

It really seems like at least half the people here aren't actually increasing their volatage with AB because they are using something other then 2.2.3 and not doing the memory hack

i feel like 1375+ core and +600 mem should be a minimum people can reach with +93mv
i'm at 1405 and +900 mem and i'm sure its taped out but people just seem so far off that they need to be doing something wrong


----------



## doulos1382

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> It was on air, flashed LN2 bios, voltage on the core and aux was set up all the way, I think I had the memory at +450? Back when I had the single card the temps would always get above 70 in the games I played, highest I saw it go was 78 I think. Never went into the 80's though. I had an aggressive fan curve set in afterburner. Do you have a lightning or did you flash the power edition card?


Hi Pablo!

I got temps above 70 on crysis 3 also. I was lucky enough to grab one of the last Lightning from amazon at 499.

Wow i cant get to OC gpu clock of 1350 stable, despite the voltage core and aux set up all the way... I guess this is normal right?

I dont like to set the fans to fast because they get notoriously loud.

This is a geat card though..


----------



## doulos1382

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> i think that people need better case cooling because i have my lightning way more OC then that on stock air and with Furmark it will NEVER go above 72. And that **** is meant to melt cards
> 
> It really seems like at least half the people here aren't actually increasing their volatage with AB because they are using something other then 2.2.3 and not doing the memory hack
> 
> i feel like 1375+ core and +600 mem should be a minimum people can reach with +93mv
> i'm at 1405 and +900 mem and i'm sure its taped out but people just seem so far off that they need to be doing something wrong


Wow thats a great OC... Yes im trying... to get to that speed.

I am using AB 2.2.3 and yet at 1367 with a voltage of +93... my Heaven benchmark freezes... What does that mean? My lightning is a bad chip? My ambient temps are kind of hot though

what do you recomend Shperax. I want to play Crysis 3 at that speed


----------



## frequency10

Hey guys, i have a question, how i get more voltage and power limit for best overclock in my msi gtx 680 lightning¿? i have a hard limit in this (see the picture)



this limit dont let me go.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *doulos1382*
> 
> Wow thats a great OC... Yes im trying... to get to that speed.
> 
> I am using AB 2.2.3 and yet at 1367 with a voltage of +93... my Heaven benchmark freezes... What does that mean? My lightning is a bad chip? My ambient temps are kind of hot though
> 
> what do you recomend Shperax. I want to play Crysis 3 at that speed


I think its always best to lower your core to something stable and go crazy with your memory clock. +100 Mem clock makes more FPS difference then core clock +25 more say.

If i was you i would put it at 1350 core then try and get your mem as high as you can. Remember to drop down the slider in 2.2.3 and max out the mem and aux voltage and your mem clock should go very high

You should be very pleased with how many more frames you will get rather then focusing on the core

I would also use the Valley benchmark. its free like heaven and i feel like if your stable in valley your stable in everything for the most part.

Like with my OC i just made it barely squeek through Valley and ALL my games work perfect

ALSO remember that if your driver crashes or you fail a benchmark run to exit out AB and re open it or the OC won't be in effect. Also remember to change back the voltage slider to +100 and hit apply every time you restart AB or your PC so it goes back to +93

And as far as temps go. Make a custom fan map in AB that is a straight line from 0,0 to 100,90
100 being all the way at the top and 90 across
(you can delete the extra map points by clicking on them and pressing dlete as you only need 2)


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *frequency10*
> 
> Hey guys, i have a question, how i get more voltage and power limit for best overclock in my msi gtx 680 lightning¿? i have a hard limit in this (see the picture)
> 
> 
> 
> this limit dont let me go.


Did you flash your BIOS because my AB 2.2.3 lets me go straight to 300 power limit.

I had a weird bug where i had to restart and re-install AB a few time before it would let me raise the slider to 300% and also if the voltage OC is working properly when you hit apply you should only beable to get +93mv

I would try completely uninstalling AB. restart. re-install AB. let it detect settings and restart for you and then try again

(i think the bug had something to do with having the new version of AB on my PC before i got 2.2.3)


----------



## shilka

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> Thought my Lightning were dying, turns out it the PSU thats dead


Are you looking for a new PSU then?


----------



## frequency10

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> Did you flash your BIOS because my AB 2.2.3 lets me go straight to 300 power limit.
> 
> I had a weird bug where i had to restart and re-install AB a few time before it would let me raise the slider to 300% and also if the voltage OC is working properly when you hit apply you should only beable to get +93mv
> 
> I would try completely uninstalling AB. restart. re-install AB. let it detect settings and restart for you and then try again
> 
> (i think the bug had something to do with having the new version of AB on my PC before i got 2.2.3)


I cant buddy, i try reinstall 5 times and nothing, i cant understand my LN2 Bios is *80.04.28.00.3A* (unlocked LN2) and dont let me use more voltage or power limit







somebody help me?

PD: do you think that should change to OLD Unlocked BIOS *80.04.09.00.F8* ?


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *frequency10*
> 
> I cant buddy, i try reinstall 5 times and nothing, i understand my LN2 Bios is *80.04.28.00.3A* (unlocked LN2) and dont let me use more voltage or power limit
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> somebody help me?
> 
> PD: do you think that should change to OLD Unlocked BIOS *80.04.09.00.F8* ?


If your card wasn't one of the 1st 5000 cards made then when you flash to the F8 bios it will be all funky colors and lines. You can hardly see to use the backup.rom you made

It really should be able to go to 300% power limit with 2.2.3 few things i would try

When you un install AB the question it asks is weird. instead of delete all data to do with AB... Yes/No it says something like do you want to keep old AB data Yes/no
So you want to say no.
Then after its gone use something like ccleaner to clear the registry files if there are any
then try installl again
or
Re-format your HDD with a fresh install of windows


----------



## frequency10

Yes i tryed it, unistall ab, when ask me, click NO, and i go to C:\ and i delete msi afterburner folder, and finish with ccleaner...

but no luck, you recomend me reinstall windows?


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *frequency10*
> 
> Yes i tryed it, unistall ab, when ask me, click NO, and i go to C:\ and i delete msi afterburner folder, and finish with ccleaner...
> 
> but no luck, you recomend me reinstall windows?


Assuming you truely do have the 3A Bios flashed on from the Page 1.
yes reformat your HDD

It really can't ever hurt to do that anyway. Makes your PC all new and fast again.
Thats all anyone really ever does to fix any software issues for PC.

then put on AB 2.2.3 and if it doesn't go to 300% after that.....i have no idea whats going on.
Because if its unable to go to 300% the voltage adjuster looks like its working but probably isn't actually adjusting the voltage

Other thought im having are things like
did you flick the switch on the GPU itself to the LN2 BIOS that came pre installed and you flashed that BIOS or the default switch position BIOS
^^^^
i don't even think that could affect anything anyway but its the only thing i could come up with.

This is very useful after doing a re-format (after you finish all those damn windows updates)
http://ninite.com/

just check the stuff you want and hit Get installer


----------



## frequency10

Check again my picture, in the picture you can see the bios model, and this bios come with the gpu, i dont flash nothing.

EDIT: Already can get 300% of power target, but now i want more voltage, only can use 93+... i tryed with all voltages maxed out (core voltage, memory voltage, aux voltage) and core clock 190+ and memory 500+ but crash... same voltage with core-180+ memory-480+ and crash, core-170+ memory-470+ and crash, core-160+ memory-460+ and crash, DAMN.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *frequency10*
> 
> Check again my picture, in the picture you can see the bios model, and this bios come with the gpu, i dont flash nothing.
> 
> EDIT: Already can get 300% of power target, but now i want more voltage, only can use 93+... i tryed with all voltages maxed out (core voltage, memory voltage, aux voltage) and core clock 190+ and memory 500+ but crash... same voltage with core-180+ memory-480+ and crash, core-170+ memory-470+ and crash, core-160+ memory-460+ and crash, DAMN.


You should never max out all voltages and then look for the highest OC. That's backward. Pouring in max voltage to every setting will NOT improve your OC. Too high voltage makes it unstable.

Here is how to do it. First, set aux at -100mv, mem at -50mv, and core at +0mv. Now you're ready to start. Try a modest OC like core +0mhz and mem +250mhz. If that's OK, bring up the core freq first, to like 20, 50, 70, etc, and increase core voltage a little at a time as you go, like +25mv, then +37mv, etc. Leave aux and mem voltage alone for now.

You will probably not need to increase aux above -100, or mem above -50, but stock voltage on mem is not unusual. You should be able to reach a nice OC of +300 to +600 mhz mem using -50 mv or stock mem voltage, and +40 to +80 mhz core using +25 to +50 mv core voltage.

Once you dial that in, you are ready to go for benchmarks, using higher core freqs and voltages.


----------



## dvalle22

New in here, but I have a few questions. I got a 680 lightning a while back and it performs great, but I am having a lot of issues with the nvidia drivers crashing. I'm not overclocked right now (mainly because I want to figure out this issue before trying to overclock).

Which version are you guys running? The crashes make no sense to me because I would think that it would really only be crashing if it was struggling to perform, but it's running great.

The crashes are mostly random, but there are a few instances where I can consistently get it to crash. One is when running a Valley Benchmark, the other is playing Dead Island Riptide. I do realize that Dead Island is riddled which all kinds of crashes right now, so I don't know if that is part of that problem.

If you guys have any ideas, shoot them my way. If you need any more information, let me know. Thanks


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dvalle22*
> 
> New in here, but I have a few questions. I got a 680 lightning a while back and it performs great, but I am having a lot of issues with the nvidia drivers crashing. I'm not overclocked right now (mainly because I want to figure out this issue before trying to overclock).
> 
> Which version are you guys running? The crashes make no sense to me because I would think that it would really only be crashing if it was struggling to perform, but it's running great.
> 
> The crashes are mostly random, but there are a few instances where I can consistently get it to crash. One is when running a Valley Benchmark, the other is playing Dead Island Riptide. I do realize that Dead Island is riddled which all kinds of crashes right now, so I don't know if that is part of that problem.
> 
> If you guys have any ideas, shoot them my way. If you need any more information, let me know. Thanks


Sounds like your card is running hot and in the same time needs a bit more voltage. Do you have enough ventilation through your chassis?


----------



## dvalle22

Yeah my temps are fine, as far as I know. I'm only hitting ~50-60 while running Valley benchmark on ultra. As far as I've been told, those temps are fine, correct me if I'm wrong.

I will try and tweak the voltage and see if it helps.


----------



## MerkageTurk

Why is there an red cross on the first page on this thread over the EVGA GTX 680









Jokes aside, i just got the evga gtx 680 sig sc however i did want the msi lightning but it was unavailable in the UK.


----------



## Deano12345

Awhhhhh yeah









Anyone getting crashes in BL2 with the 320 drivers actually ?


----------



## Rei86

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MerkageTurk*
> 
> Why is there an red cross on the first page on this thread over the EVGA GTX 680
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Jokes aside, i just got the evga gtx 680 sig sc however i did want the msi lightning but it was unavailable in the UK.


I think the 600 Lightning series is actually discontinued now...


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dvalle22*
> 
> New in here, but I have a few questions. I got a 680 lightning a while back and it performs great, but I am having a lot of issues with the nvidia drivers crashing. I'm not overclocked right now (mainly because I want to figure out this issue before trying to overclock).
> 
> Which version are you guys running? The crashes make no sense to me because I would think that it would really only be crashing if it was struggling to perform, but it's running great.
> 
> The crashes are mostly random, but there are a few instances where I can consistently get it to crash. One is when running a Valley Benchmark, the other is playing Dead Island Riptide. I do realize that Dead Island is riddled which all kinds of crashes right now, so I don't know if that is part of that problem.
> 
> If you guys have any ideas, shoot them my way. If you need any more information, let me know. Thanks


The 314.07 whql driver, written before the Titan merge, has always been totally reliable for me.

Try flashing to unlocked LN2 BIOS and run at stock core voltage and stock core freq. Aux voltage is best at -100 or -50 mv for most Lightning users. See if it's stable like that.

Try doing a clean install of AB 3.0.0 beta 9, which doesn't need the profile hack to adjust voltage with the unlocked LN2 BIOS. See if you can get a mild OC with it.

Connect the Lightning to two *different* PCIe 6+2 connectors, rather than one 6+2 and one 6-to-8 adapter off a single connector.

If you are using the nvidia "force-enable-pcie3" patch, undo it with the -revert switch and see if that helps.

Other things that can give you stability troubles are too little VTT voltage and/or VCCSA voltage if you OC your CPU, and, if you OC your RAM, too tight timings or too little voltage.

Make sure your system BIOS is up to date, or back-flash it if your current one has known issues (do some research about that).

Sometimes, just re-installing chipset drivers can help if there have been a lot of sw or driver installations since the last time that was done.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Just installed my blocks.


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Just installed my blocks.


All sorts of win right there


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *frequency10*
> 
> Check again my picture, in the picture you can see the bios model, and this bios come with the gpu, i dont flash nothing.
> 
> EDIT: Already can get 300% of power target, but now i want more voltage, only can use 93+... i tryed with all voltages maxed out (core voltage, memory voltage, aux voltage) and core clock 190+ and memory 500+ but crash... same voltage with core-180+ memory-480+ and crash, core-170+ memory-470+ and crash, core-160+ memory-460+ and crash, DAMN.


All lightning come with a LN2 BIOS. The issue is that not all LN2 BIOS are actually unlocked as advertised. They were threatened by nvidia to make them not unlocked or nvidia wouldn't sell them anymore chips. Something to do with nvidia not wanting people to have 700 series prematurely no doubt.

If you don't have the 3A BIOS on page 1 or the F8 BIOS if your card is old.. then you don't actually have a unlocked card

Also thats probably too high anyway. try something like +93mv drop down the box there and max out the other voltages like mem and aux. then just go like +150 core +600 mem. if they works then go up by 25 core until you crash then put it back 25. same with mem but in 100 incremements.


----------



## CrazyElf

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> Good pics. I love seeing the older generation Lightnings. I was not aware they made a GTX 275 Lightning. I was always under the impression the 480 was the first.
> 
> 580 and 680 Lightning side by side.


This newer generation of Lightning does cool better though. The bigger fans make a difference. MSI does sell TF3 680s with the reference pcb.

I do agree the grey gunmetal shroud looks awesome though as did the 580 Lightning Extreme which appears to be a one off version.


----------



## DerComissar

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Just installed my blocks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!











Lookin' good!








I'd like to hear how well they work on those awesome 680's!


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Whats going on dudes, I am about to OC my 680 lightning so I flashed the BIOS on page 1 of this thread. The default speeds are showing up a little different than what they should be, is this common?


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> Whats going on dudes, I am about to OC my 680 lightning so I flashed the BIOS on page 1 of this thread. The default speeds are showing up a little different than what they should be, is this common?


I have the same problem, my boost is off in afterburner, my clocks are wierd in GPU-Z, everything is all screwed up, not sure if it's normal or not


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Did you flash that BIOS too?


----------



## SenorPablo

Yeah, I flashed it to the other unlocked bios


----------



## SenorPablo

Anyone having any luck overclocking the power edition version with a flashed ln2 bios? Can't get much of an overclock out of mine


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

It works, but voltage doesn't seem to get you that much of an extra oc with Kepler from what I've seen.


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Anyone having any luck overclocking the power edition version with a flashed ln2 bios? Can't get much of an overclock out of mine


Yea I am having issues with the LN2 Bios. Besides the numbers in GPU-z that we talked about, I cant get it to go past +20Mhz. When it does crash it totally disables the video output, so I have to reboot without a proper shutdown. Theres gotta be something we are missing seeing theres a few people with 1300mhz+ running the same BIOS.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Yeah, msi seems to be using some pretty low binned chips with the power edition.


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Im running the Lightning. Got it a couple of weeks before they discontinued them. You think around 1220mhz is really my limit?


----------



## Mast3rkill

Hey can someone tell me if I can turn off the lights of the graphics card? I mean the blue leds


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> Im running the Lightning. Got it a couple of weeks before they discontinued them. You think around 1220mhz is really my limit?


I wouldn't be shocked.

Using afterburner to bump up the core voltage a bit more may get you a few more mhz.


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Hey can someone tell me if I can turn off the lights of the graphics card? I mean the blue leds


I dont think there is a way to disable them. I pretty sure someone else on here asked the same question and the response was electrical tape









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> I wouldn't be shocked.
> 
> Using afterburner to bump up the core voltage a bit more may get you a few more mhz.


Wow, that kinda sucks. I was hoping to get 1300mhz. I have the voltage and power turned all the way up, ~1.2v. Temps are only around 30C and no oscillation with the mhz. When it does crash during Heaven it totally disables my display output so I am forced to reboot.

That afterburner voltage hack, does it still apply to versions after 2.2.4? How high would that allow the voltage to go? What would be the highest recommended voltage on a custom water loop?


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> Whats going on dudes, I am about to OC my 680 lightning so I flashed the BIOS on page 1 of this thread. The default speeds are showing up a little different than what they should be, is this common?


GPU-z doesn't show correctly
after you apply your OC just start up something like furmark on any resolution and just watch it in afterburner. it has a fairly accurate reading on core clock. not so much the voltage but everything else is good. at least afterburner easily shows you the 3 levels of boost with the line tracking


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Yeah, msi seems to be using some pretty low binned chips with the power edition.


I didn't think MSI did this with their chips. I thought it was just a EVGA and ASUS thing


----------



## John Shepard

Can't believe i still haven't joined.
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/5whcy/
As for ocing my card is not much of an overclocker.I managed to do 1400Mhz on the core with at nearly 1.5 so i stopped after that.(the temps were in the 80s range)
It wasn't even 100% stable.


----------



## Viper9

I have a PE-version card, as well. I flashed the LN2 BIOS to the unlocked 3A version and got the following stable overclocks:

Core: +110 -> 1306 MHz
Memory: +530 -> 7068 MHz

I have Core voltage set at +94, Memory voltage at -50 and Aux voltage at -100. I'm using AB 3.0.0 Beta 9.

So, nothing record-breaking but you can get a decent overclock with the PE version of the card.


----------



## Leader

My MSI 680 Lightning wasn't even stable on the factory overclocks that MSI had put on the card and on top of that one of the fans started making a whining noise, maybe the bearings were faulty. Big disappointment and total piece of rubbish, first and last Lightning card that i will ever buy.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Leader*
> 
> My MSI 680 Lightning wasn't even stable on the factory overclocks that MSI had put on the card and on top of that one of the fans started making a whining noise, maybe the bearings were faulty. Big disappointment and total piece of rubbish, first and last Lightning card that i will ever buy.


Theres a few of every product that gets through QC when it should not. I feel bad for you but im also glad that it wasn't me this time. The last bad card i've had was a GTX 285 and i don't wanna go through that again. You should be thankful it wasn't one of the EVGA cards that light on fire.


----------



## Leader

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> Theres a few of every product that gets through QC when it should not. I feel bad for you but im also glad that it wasn't me this time. The last bad card i've had was a GTX 285 and i don't wanna go through that again. You should be thankful it wasn't one of the EVGA cards that light on fire.


Heh every cloud has a silver lining, at least my rig is not in flames


----------



## Zero4549

Run faster little man!


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> I dont think there is a way to disable them. I pretty sure someone else on here asked the same question and the response was electrical tape
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, that kinda sucks. I was hoping to get 1300mhz. I have the voltage and power turned all the way up, ~1.2v. Temps are only around 30C and no oscillation with the mhz. When it does crash during Heaven it totally disables my display output so I am forced to reboot.
> 
> That afterburner voltage hack, does it still apply to versions after 2.2.4? How high would that allow the voltage to go? What would be the highest recommended voltage on a custom water loop?


Looks like you are using the F8 bios, the 3A is the better one since it allows the driver to recover so you don't have to reach for the reset.
Start off slow on the voltage, you need a DMM to really see what it is doing. At +0V the 680 lightning on the ln2 bios loads at 1.26V, +100V is 1.36V.
Hopefully the 3A bios works better for you!
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> 
> Run faster little man!


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Thanks, I was wondering about that bios. I kind of figured that the 3a bios had some improvements.

Also thats a good point on the DMM. The software readings on one of my cards is way off. Going by software readings it looked like core voltage was throttling. As soon as I checked with a DMM I found it holding strong at 1.26v.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *John Shepard*
> 
> Can't believe i still haven't joined.
> http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/5whcy/
> As for ocing my card is not much of an overclocker.I managed to do 1400Mhz on the core with at nearly 1.5 so i stopped after that.(the temps were in the 80s range)
> It wasn't even 100% stable.


How are you getting 1.5 volts? Just curious because I'm thinking of over volting my two cards to see what they will do. I can get 1300/7000 with stock volts...kind of want to see if they both will do 1500MHz


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Leader*
> 
> My MSI 680 Lightning wasn't even stable on the factory overclocks that MSI had put on the card and on top of that one of the fans started making a whining noise, maybe the bearings were faulty. Big disappointment and total piece of rubbish, first and last Lightning card that i will ever buy.


I sent a bad card back to MSI and they sent me a replacement that is a golden chip! I know not everyone will be this lucky but did you get a replacement or a refund?


----------



## John Shepard

After a small voltage increase(50mv) and lot's of stress testing i got a nice and stable +650Mhz on the memory but only a mere +50mhz on the core.(on the normal bios not the ln2)
Does increasing the mem and aux voltage help because i read it's best to decrease those when increasing the core?


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *John Shepard*
> 
> After a small voltage increase(50mv) and lot's of stress testing i got a nice and stable +650Mhz on the memory but only a mere +50mhz on the core.(on the normal bios not the ln2)
> Does increasing the mem and aux voltage help because i read it's best to decrease those when increasing the core?


Considering kepler is generally memory bottlenecked, yes.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Considering kepler is generally memory bottlenecked, yes.


I totally agree with that. Favoring the memory OC on these cards definitely makes a bigger performance difference.


----------



## John Shepard

Alright i switched to the ln2 bios and try oc the memory as much as i can.I am using occt to test for stability and so far i am at +750(+mv 50 mem) with no errors.
Temps on auto fan speed are 71c on the gpu,60c on the mem and 70c on vrm.My ambient temps are near 30c.


----------



## Leader

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> I sent a bad card back to MSI and they sent me a replacement that is a golden chip! I know not everyone will be this lucky but did you get a replacement or a refund?


I sent my card back to a online store where i bought it, card haven't reached there yet. That online store has good reputation with their RMA so i had enough confidence to sent it there and not directly to MSI. They do not have any Lightning cards in stock anymore so i think they will give me full refund or i can pick a different 680 in the same price range (aka DirectCU II







)


----------



## NickLe

@Leader, why not just get the refund and get the GTX780 that's in the pipelines for next month.


----------



## SenorPablo

Anybody here have an EK Waterblock on their lightning?


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Anybody here have an EK Waterblock on their lightning?


I got mine with the the EK block installed, why?


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Anybody here have an EK Waterblock on their lightning?


Got one here also.


----------



## SenorPablo

I want to know if you hack the voltage in afterburner (I think that's how you do it) and go above the 1.310 voltage maximum, what kind of temps do you guys see? If you guys do that


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> I want to know if you hack the voltage in afterburner (I think that's how you do it) and go above the 1.310 voltage maximum, what kind of temps do you guys see? If you guys do that


I get about 37C at ~1.38v but I have an over the top setup.


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> I get about 37C at ~1.38v but I have an over the top setup.


Thats low dude, good temps! What kind of loop are you running?


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Dual 240 rads with gentle typhoons. Ambient is around 20c though lol.


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> Dual 240 rads with gentle typhoons. Ambient is around 20c though lol.


Nice! Im planning on doing a dual rad (200mm and 240) loop for my cpu and lightnings in sli.


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

That's going to be sick! Yea my lightning isn't the greatest. At around 1.38v I get 1300mhz. Researching options to maybe give it some more volts.


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> That's going to be sick! Yea my lightning isn't the greatest. At around 1.38v I get 1300mhz. Researching options to maybe give it some more volts.


Stable for gaming or for benching? Did you hack afterburner?


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Ill probably stick with the 1300mhz for gaming but I would like to push it a little and get some benches done. Haven't done the hack, considering it but I not sure how stable is or what kind of increase you can get. Do you have any experience?


----------



## SenorPablo

I dont want to mess with hacking voltage unless i get my gpus under water. From what ive seen people get up to and past 1400mhz on the core hacking the voltage.


----------



## Leader

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NickLe*
> 
> @Leader, why not just get the refund and get the GTX780 that's in the pipelines for next month.


I can't believe i never thought about that and i follow "[VC] NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 and GTX 780 Pictured" and other 700 topics daily







Yeah i might do that, now i have some time to save some money for GTX 780, i paid 500€ for lightning so i need to collect about 200-300€ if the price rumours of the 780 are even remotely correct.


----------



## SK019

What do you guys think - is there a chance that we will see a GTX 780 Lightning?


----------



## fuhlemann

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SK019*
> 
> What do you guys think - is there a chance that we will see a GTX 780 Lightning?


No, I'll seriously doubt that. nVidia's extreme measures that came along with Kepler proves that they do not want a card that has the unlocked LN2 capabilities. Guessing you'll be left with hardware modding them yourself.

Managed to get my hands on an N680GTX Lightning card as well, however, I'm quite disappointed

BIOS #1 -> it barely manages to run stock without a crash @1201.9/1502.3 MHz clock speeds. 1215:1620 is not stable for the most part. Crysis2 crashes after a while, folding at home stops after a few minutes. (stock voltage, which is measured under load at roughly 1.22-1.23v)

BIOS#2 -> nVidia 320.00 + Afterburner 3.0.0b9 (+settings edit) max clock speeds for VALLEY 1267MHz at 1.300v (measured) and 1293MHz at 1.348v measured..

That's pretty darn ****ty to me^^


----------



## SenorPablo

IF there is a 780 Lightning, I probably won't buy it for the simple reason that the 700 series is a refresh. If nvidia decides to use the GK110 for their GTX 780 (Like they should have) instead of charging 1000 bucks for something that should have costed 500, I will seriously consider buying a 780 lightning (if they make it).


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

So I am about to try out the voltage hack that is shown on the first page of this thread but I just want to double check so I have a couple questions. Do I just add the script to the very end of the file? How high will my volts be able to go after? Hows stability, is this something that can be used daily?


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> So I am about to try out the voltage hack that is shown on the first page of this thread but I just want to double check so I have a couple questions. Do I just add the script to the very end of the file? How high will my volts be able to go after? Hows stability, is this something that can be used daily?


I just use 2.2.3 and you don't need to do the voltage hack it just works. I wouldn't go above the +93mv it will let you go for daily. that should let you go to between 1350 and 1400 core clock.

MSI will still give you warranty as long as you stay within the parameters of the default program settings of afterburner. This is why many people use 2.2.3 because you don't need to hack it for a decent OC.

If your looking to bench high like past 1400 ish you do need to use the hack to get more voltage.
I would say whatever you can get to on +100 or less mv would be a good daily.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fuhlemann*
> 
> No, I'll seriously doubt that. nVidia's extreme measures that came along with Kepler proves that they do not want a card that has the unlocked LN2 capabilities. Guessing you'll be left with hardware modding them yourself.
> 
> Managed to get my hands on an N680GTX Lightning card as well, however, I'm quite disappointed
> 
> BIOS #1 -> it barely manages to run stock without a crash @1201.9/1502.3 MHz clock speeds. 1215:1620 is not stable for the most part. Crysis2 crashes after a while, folding at home stops after a few minutes. (stock voltage, which is measured under load at roughly 1.22-1.23v)
> 
> BIOS#2 -> nVidia 320.00 + Afterburner 3.0.0b9 (+settings edit) max clock speeds for VALLEY 1267MHz at 1.300v (measured) and 1293MHz at 1.348v measured..
> 
> That's pretty darn ****ty to me^^


that is bad. i'm only running 1.31v and i'm at 1405 core 7800 mem. totally stable in anything
im using 2.2.3 and 314.22 driver. i'll update the driver tonight to the new beta one and nothing will change though.


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> I just use 2.2.3 and you don't need to do the voltage hack it just works. I wouldn't go above the +93mv it will let you go for daily. that should let you go to between 1350 and 1400 core clock.
> 
> MSI will still give you warranty as long as you stay within the parameters of the default program settings of afterburner. This is why many people use 2.2.3 because you don't need to hack it for a decent OC.
> 
> If your looking to bench high like past 1400 ish you do need to use the hack to get more voltage.
> I would say whatever you can get to on +100 or less mv would be a good daily.


That's the thing though. At +93mv I am getting barely 1300mhz. Which is a bit disappointing but fine for daily. I would like to do some benches though at higher speeds.


----------



## AddictedGamer93

680 Pages. lol?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> IF there is a 780 Lightning, I probably won't buy it for the simple reason that the 700 series is a refresh. If nvidia decides to use the GK110 for their GTX 780 (Like they should have) instead of charging 1000 bucks for something that should have costed 500, I will seriously consider buying a 780 lightning (if they make it).


The 780 is planned to be gk110, a cut down Titan. The rest of the lineup will be refreshed.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fuhlemann*
> 
> No, I'll seriously doubt that. nVidia's extreme measures that came along with Kepler proves that they do not want a card that has the unlocked LN2 capabilities. Guessing you'll be left with hardware modding them yourself.
> 
> Managed to get my hands on an N680GTX Lightning card as well, however, I'm quite disappointed
> 
> BIOS #1 -> it barely manages to run stock without a crash @1201.9/1502.3 MHz clock speeds. 1215:1620 is not stable for the most part. Crysis2 crashes after a while, folding at home stops after a few minutes. (stock voltage, which is measured under load at roughly 1.22-1.23v)
> 
> BIOS#2 -> nVidia 320.00 + Afterburner 3.0.0b9 (+settings edit) max clock speeds for VALLEY 1267MHz at 1.300v (measured) and 1293MHz at 1.348v measured..
> 
> That's pretty darn ****ty to me^^


Custom PCB & coolers are supposed to be good to go for the 780s, I'm hoping to see a 780 Lightning.

Since they can't really be found available new anymore, wonder if some of these later 680s turning up were RMA returns that went back for poor overclocking & made a comeback later after testing for stock. Still looking better than average 680s but pretty low compared to what most were getting early on.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> That's the thing though. At +93mv I am getting barely 1300mhz. Which is a bit disappointing but fine for daily. I would like to do some benches though at higher speeds.


You aren't alone, two of the four power editions that I've had are like that. The third isn't much better. Supermi had a few of these too, with similar results.


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> You aren't alone, two of the four power editions that I've had are like that. The third isn't much better. Supermi had a few of these too, with similar results.


I had MANY classifieds and Lightnings just like that!!! Only a few of the MANY read more than 20 I tried were actually good overclockers. Gone through 4 titans so far as well, not great overclockers either ... defeated by the grinch of overclocking with kepler LOL


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

So I just got done with My OC and heres what I got:
Core: 1306Mhz
Volts: ~1.3v (this is the highest I have been able to go with 3A Bios and AB 2.2.3)
Memory: 7484Mhz
Temps under load: ~38C
Heaven Score: 1072

While the core didnt clock all that great, the memory did.


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Custom PCB & coolers are supposed to be good to go for the 780s, I'm hoping to see a 780 Lightning.


Same here, I believe with better power delivery and less memory on card it would over clock much better, the 6gb of ram is hogging the TDP. I could be wrong but same core with 3gb ram and better vrm's could be more over clocker friendly


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> I want to know if you hack the voltage in afterburner (I think that's how you do it) and go above the 1.310 voltage maximum, what kind of temps do you guys see? If you guys do that


At +63 mV (+155 core clock, +600 memory) with the unlocked LN2 bios I hit 55C max, and that is in furmark. In intensive games like crysis 3 I see it barely hitting 50C, and in games like dota 2 it stays at 38C. I got a triple and a double rad tho







.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Same here, I believe with better power delivery and less memory on card it would over clock much better, the 6gb of ram is hogging the TDP. I could be wrong but same core with 3gb ram and better vrm's could be more over clocker friendly


Interesting point.

I didn't think the 6gb of vram possibly could hinder the overclock as how it does on ram size on cpus.


----------



## gumbie

Question:

I just purchased one of these cards from a local retailer, Bios version is 80.04.47.00.18

I noticed in the Original post that it says non-LN2

Does this mean my voltage is locked and I do not have a LN2 Bios option?


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

If you have a 680 lightning then you have an LN2 option. It probably won't be a true LN2 though. Check out page 1 of this thread to go about fixing that.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Menthol*
> 
> Same here, I believe with better power delivery and less memory on card it would over clock much better, the 6gb of ram is hogging the TDP. I could be wrong but same core with 3gb ram and better vrm's could be more over clocker friendly


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Interesting point.
> 
> I didn't think the 6gb of vram possibly could hinder the overclock as how it does on ram size on cpus.


The hard limits that include fan power & the works are pretty new with the titan, the amount of memory may well make some difference.
Being more into benching than gaming I have pretty much always gone with the lower vram amount cards when possible, power aside less memory usually has a bit lower latency.


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> At +63 mV (+155 core clock, +600 memory) with the unlocked LN2 bios I hit 55C max, and that is in furmark. In intensive games like crysis 3 I see it barely hitting 50C, and in games like dota 2 it stays at 38C. I got a triple and a double rad tho
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


Good overclocking! What sorta clocks you get with +93 voltage? Im getting a 200mm and double 140 rad next month hoping to get similar temps like you and others!


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Good overclocking! What sorta clocks you get with +93 voltage? Im getting a 200mm and double 140 rad next month hoping to get similar temps like you and others!


At +100 mV ( my slider will stay at that







) I can hit +230 core. I really don't need to touch the memory voltage to get +1000 mem.


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> At +100 mV ( my slider will stay at that
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) I can hit +230 core. I really don't need to touch the memory voltage to get +1000 mem.


nice! Thats some good oc'ing!


----------



## FtW 420

That is very nice for memory clocks!


----------



## shakurass

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> At +100 mV ( my slider will stay at that
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) I can hit +230 core. I really don't need to touch the memory voltage to get +1000 mem.


Sweet Jesus I wish I could get results like that out of my card. I was running mine at +130mhz with +100mV on the core for a while but I was getting some wild graphic glitches in Skyrim so I had to back off to +100mhz. Pushing the memory to +600 with mem and aux voltage at +0 is the best stable gaming I can get. All this on water as well, I guess some of us aren't as lucky with binning!









After reading through this forum I was unable to get a general consensus about whether down volting the aux and/or memory is better or not than upping the voltage. Some people pump up the mem volts and some not. Could anybody possibly elaborate on this for me? Or is it one of those "what kind of attitude does you card have" things?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shakurass*
> 
> Sweet Jesus I wish I could get results like that out of my card. I was running mine at +130mhz with +100mV on the core for a while but I was getting some wild graphic glitches in Skyrim so I had to back off to +100mhz. Pushing the memory to +600 with mem and aux voltage at +0 is the best stable gaming I can get. All this on water as well, I guess some of us aren't as lucky with binning!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After reading through this forum I was unable to get a general consensus about whether down volting the aux and/or memory is better or not than upping the voltage. Some people pump up the mem volts and some not. Could anybody possibly elaborate on this for me? Or is it one of those "what kind of attitude does you card have" things?


I believe it depends on what kind of cooling you are using, the colder your card is the more voltage you can use, I was using a chiller and for some benchmarks an increase in aux voltage allowed for lower voltage on memory with a slight increase in memory frequency, every card reacts differently and every driver and or program, either game or benchmark is different, it really takes a lot of experimentation. For benchmarking you may want to take the card to the edge of stability, for everyday use and gaming I always recommend and use default settings, I don't mind crashes during benching but not during normal use, if I can't get the fps to run a game smooth an upgrade is in order. Just my opinion though


----------



## bern43

Tough decision, but I'm saying farewell to my Lightnings. Moving on to some 780s or Titans. Aquacomputer blocks that I never got a chance to even use are already up on ebay. Cards to follow.


----------



## Deano12345

What's people's opinion on max temps ? Currently keeping them under 70 since I know that's where standard cards throttle. Want to push my OC a bit more, but if adding more temp to the core will hurt the cards in the long term, I'm not too bothered !


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> What's people's opinion on max temps ? Currently keeping them under 70 since I know that's where standard cards throttle. Want to push my OC a bit more, but if adding more temp to the core will hurt the cards in the long term, I'm not too bothered !


On water I couldnt get mine over 40c if I tried. It's a pretty cool running card, even overclocked. No clue on air.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> What's people's opinion on max temps ? Currently keeping them under 70 since I know that's where standard cards throttle. Want to push my OC a bit more, but if adding more temp to the core will hurt the cards in the long term, I'm not too bothered !


I would say that with Kepler you need to worry about Electromigration from over volting rather then damage from temps. I'm sure the card could handle mid 80's for daily gaming and stuff but to even make the lightning get mid 80's you either gotta have the poorest case cooling ever or have it way over volted. Personally i would not go over 1.4v for daily even on water.


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> I would say that with Kepler you need to worry about Electromigration from over volting rather then damage from temps. I'm sure the card could handle mid 80's for daily gaming and stuff but to even make the lightning get mid 80's you either gotta have the poorest case cooling ever or have it way over volted. Personally i would not go over 1.4v for daily even on water.


My case may have the worse case cooling known to man ! Nice to know I have a little bit more headroom, well before I put them under water


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> My case may have the worse case cooling known to man ! Nice to know I have a little bit more headroom, well before I put them under water


well remember that your card probably can never be cooler then your room temp. Most people keep their rooms at 68-70c. My card has never gone above 73c


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> well remember that your card probably can never be cooler then your room temp. Most people keep their rooms at 68-70c. My card has never gone above 73c


You'd be dead at that temperature.


----------



## NickLe

lol


----------



## NickLe

some might say this isn't connected but i was listening to this while i was reading this thread and my comp is running gtx680 lightning... how many degrees of separation is that?
enjoy.


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> well remember that your card probably can never be cooler then your room temp. Most people keep their rooms at 68-70c. My card has never gone above 73c


So its kind of unusual that I keep my room between 20-25c, or did you mean Fahrenheit?


----------



## Chomuco

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680-flashed-geforce-gtx-770/























http://videocardz.com/41438/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680-modified-to-geforce-gtx-770


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> So its kind of unusual that I keep my room between 20-25c, or did you mean Fahrenheit?


yeah i did mean F 68-70F
Anything above 22c is pretty warm. Unless grandma is living with you. sky is the limit then


----------



## Valkayria

Wish this wouldn't of gotten discontinued. I was looking to pick one up. Went with the 670 P/E OC. That dust removal technology sucked me in.


----------



## SenorPablo

Off topic, but I think Maxwell's going to be a winner. I usually go with the tick/tock release cycle. I don't like buying refreshes, personal opinion.

On topic though, does anyone know why they discontinued the lightning?


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Off topic, but I think Maxwell's going to be a winner. I usually go with the tick/tock release cycle. I don't like buying refreshes, personal opinion.
> 
> On topic though, does anyone know why they discontinued the lightning?


Quite a few 680's I've seen have gotten discontinued, I'd imagine its to free up chips/ push sales of the 770, purely speculation though !

Very very interested about that 770 BIOS on a 680, anyone tried it with their Lightning yet ?


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> Very very interested about that 770 BIOS on a 680, anyone tried it with their Lightning yet ?


I don't see the point. You would lose voltage control. On top of that its an entirely different pcb.


----------



## Shperax

The spoon feeding from Nvidia this time around with the 700 series is to the point that my eyes are turning towards the Raedon 9000 series due in Dec 2013
I mean my lightning is getting +28% performance over stock. I can guarantee you now that that is going to be a chunk better then what the 780 will be.
Thing that pisses me off is that they are spoon feeding so badly now that they have divided up chips in the same series of GPU
780 will be GK110 (Basically just a slightly gimped Titan)
770 and less will still be the same 104 chip

Based on AMD's screw up with the crossfire algorithm thing forcing them to skip the 8000 series for desktop i think that they are going to step it up big time come Dec with 9000 and just blow anything Nvidia has out of the water. Kinda like how 7000 dominated for so long.... well as long as you weren't Crossfire that is.


----------



## Leader

The store that i sent my GTX 680 Lightning messaged me that they have processed my RMA and ordered me a new "compensatory product", so i guess im full of s... and i will own another lightning







I could have just sent the card straight to MSI but yeah it is what it is. When the new card arrives maybe i will flash the 770 bios, use silver marker and write 770 on top of the card and join the GTX 770 owners club









Edit: I hope i have great luck this time and get a golden chip


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> The spoon feeding from Nvidia this time around with the 700 series is to the point that my eyes are turning towards the Raedon 9000 series due in Dec 2013
> I mean my lightning is getting +28% performance over stock. I can guarantee you now that that is going to be a chunk better then what the 780 will be.


Lol, thats not comparable to a cut down titan.


----------



## Deano12345

So curiosity got the best of me and I flashed my 2 cards with that '770' BIOS. Works fine ! Cards run cooler than my LN2 bios cards did, presuming that's from the less voltage being out through the chip. Performance is about 5% more stock for stock between the BIOS'. Card is still recognised as a 680 in GPUz/AB/NCP, but the clock speed matches the screenshot on the last page.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Lol, thats not comparable to a cut down titan.


Not sure exactly what you mean by that. A titan itself is average 30%-40% more performance in FPS then a stock 680. I realize that it cannot touch it in compute but thats what the titan was made for. I just hope you realize how close a lightning can actually get to a titan performance when OC'd properly. I just don't think a 2-12% increase is worth $1000. The price vs performance is aweful. Don't get me wrong i would have a titan or 4 if i had buckets of money to throw away.

780 is expected to be 15% less performance then a Titan which makes sense if you look at the stats. It is nice that they are changing the 780 back into a great compute card like 480 and 580 were for their time.

If you don't believe me look at benchmarks. You may find them all over youtube.


----------



## Shperax

Haswell is also a disappointment as expected. Expect a %0.04 - 1% increase in gaming performance. But hey the integrated HD4600 graphics that no one uses is 30-40% better then the HD4000 on ivy. Intel just has no need at all to step it up when the i5 3570k still beats out anything AMD has for gaming performance. Intel has a secret monopoly that they want to keep. With AMD around intel avoids the US monopoly police. AMD knows that if they try and release a CPU that beats intel, intel is huge enough to just shut them down with a quick release of something 30% better like they did when AMD released Athlon 2. So AMD will only release CPU less powerful then intel but by all means good enough to prevent intel from flexing their mega money power they have and just releasing another CPU that dominates. That move again could put AMD out of business and then it wouldn't be a secret monopoly anymore but just a flat out real one.

But everyone knew that already right.

http://wccftech.com/intel-haswell-core-i7-4770k-review-live-china/


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> Haswell is also a disappointment as expected. Expect a %0.04 - 1% increase in gaming performance. But hey the integrated HD4600 graphics that no one uses is 30-40% better then the HD4000 on ivy. Intel just has no need at all to step it up when the i5 3570k still beats out anything AMD has for gaming performance. Intel has a secret monopoly that they want to keep. With AMD around intel avoids the US monopoly police. AMD knows that if they try and release a CPU that beats intel, intel is huge enough to just shut them down with a quick release of something 30% better like they did when AMD released Athlon 2. So AMD will only release CPU less powerful then intel but by all means good enough to prevent intel from flexing their mega money power they have and just releasing another CPU that dominates. That move again could put AMD out of business and then it wouldn't be a secret monopoly anymore but just a flat out real one.
> 
> But everyone knew that already right.
> 
> http://wccftech.com/intel-haswell-core-i7-4770k-review-live-china/


You have an awful warped view of things. You are right about one thing though - Intel currently has no pressure to release chips with higher raw single thread performance. They are putting out better chips though, just not in better in the facet that you appear to care about. AMD has been facerolling Intel on the IGP side for a while now, that's where Intel needs to improve while continuing to hold it's power efficiency and IPC crowns - and that's _exactly_ what they're doing. It's only smart business.


----------



## gpvecchi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> So curiosity got the best of me and I flashed my 2 cards with that '770' BIOS. Works fine ! Cards run cooler than my LN2 bios cards did, presuming that's from the less voltage being out through the chip. Performance is about 5% more stock for stock between the BIOS'. Card is still recognised as a 680 in GPUz/AB/NCP, but the clock speed matches the screenshot on the last page.


So, 770 bios works on 680 Lightning? Do you still have full control of all voltages, and power limit to 300%?
Thank you!


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> So, 770 bios works on 680 Lightning? Do you still have full control of all voltages, and power limit to 300%?
> Thank you!


It works fine. Core Voltage can be adjusted, Memory & Aux voltage have been removed and power limit is 132%


----------



## gpvecchi

Thanks, I'm not sure this is worthy on Lighting... It is for sure with a vanilla 680.

Would be worth to edit latest Bios from MSI to unlock voltages and power limit?


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> It works fine. Core Voltage can be adjusted,


Have you verified that with a DMM?


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> Not sure exactly what you mean by that. A titan itself is average 30%-40% more performance in FPS then a stock 680.


Lol, even 50% is sort of on the low end. In gpu limited games titan is a lot faster than GTX680. In fact its ~30 slower than two of them in sli. In some cases less, like in games with physx or that use direct compute.

I'm also sure that clock speeds on 780 will be lower than Titan. It may be a lot less than 15% slower clock for clock. Sort of like GTX670 and 7950.
With some bios tweaks it may clock to about what titan does.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Lol, even 50% is sort of on the low end. In gpu limited games titan is a lot faster than GTX680. In fact its ~30 slower than two of them in sli. In some cases less, like in games with physx or that use direct compute.
> 
> I'm also sure that clock speeds on 780 will be lower than Titan. It may be a lot less than 15% slower clock for clock. Sort of like GTX670 and 7950.
> With some bios tweaks it may clock to about what titan does.


50% is on the high end. please post where you get your info from
Have you seen the near identical stats of a 780 and Titan? Based on where the 680 stands with Titan with these stats i think at most it could be is 15% gap between 780 and Titan.

I do realize that you keep the same performance gaps if you were to OC them both the same but given what they are right now if your a gamer its far from worth it to buy a Titan when you could have 2 680's for the same price and be running up to 50% better then a Titan. Especially when SLI these days is so near 100%. In fact on quite a few games a Titan is a lot more close in comparison to 2 660ti in SLI then 2 680

680 vs Titan
3D mark 11 38%
3D vantage 35%
Heaven 55%
Valley 53%
Metro 2033 44%
BF3 45%
Borderlands 2 8%
AvP 50%
Crysis 3 50%
Farcy 3 43%

GeForce GTX TITAN GeForce GTX 780
GPU GK110 GK110
CUDA Cores 2688 2496
TMUs 224 208
ROPs 48 40
Memory 6GB GDDR5 3-6GB GDDR5
Interface 384-bit 384/320-bit
MSRP $999 $699 to $759






http://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-770-pictured-equipped-gtx-titan-cooler/


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> 50% is on the high end. please post where you get your info from
> 
> 680 vs Titan
> 3D mark 11 38%
> 3D vantage 35%
> Heaven 55%
> Valley 53%
> Metro 2033 44%
> BF3 45%
> Borderlands 2 8%
> AvP 50%
> Crysis 3 50%
> Farcy 3 43%


3d mark is also a cpu bench.

Like I said in gpu limited scenarios the difference is going to be at its largest.

Now look at Crysis, you claim a 50% difference. Yup that is true of average framerate alone. Now look at minimums on Anandtech's review. There is a 70% difference at 1440p.

You quote borderlands 2 at 8%. I use SGSSAA at 2560x1440. I can assure you that requires a lot more performance and makes the game much more gpu limited. Now on top of that physx effects take a much larger toll on GK104. I can use physx on high with a single titan but can't with GTX680 sli in that game.

Far Cry 3 is another game where you see a large difference in minimums or in techreport's 99% percentile framerating.

I'm just going by what I've seen first hand.

GTX680/770 is not going to come close to a cut down GK110. Its just not. Thats especially true in real world day to day usage.

The one thing that you should take from all of this recent microstutter threads is that you can't judge a video card based on average framerate in benchmarks alone.


----------



## Zero4549

Got my replacement 680L in from RA today. PC wont boot. Hangs on POST code 2b with 4 LEDs on the card usually, but sometimes it just endlessly cycles with no LEDs on the card. Screen is black either way.

Ideas?


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> 3d mark is also a cpu bench.
> 
> Like I said in gpu limited scenarios the difference is going to be at its largest.
> 
> Now look at Crysis, you claim a 50% difference. Yup that is true of average framerate alone. Now look at minimums on Anandtech's review. There is a 70% difference at 1440p.
> 
> You quote borderlands 2 at 8%. I use SGSSAA at 2560x1440. I can assure you that requires a lot more performance and makes the game much more gpu limited. Now on top of that physx effects take a much larger toll on GK104. I can use physx on high with a single titan but can't with GTX680 sli in that game.
> 
> Far Cry 3 is another game where you see a large difference in minimums or in techreport's 99% percentile framerating.
> 
> I'm just going by what I've seen first hand.
> 
> GTX680/770 is not going to come close to a cut down GK110. Its just not. Thats especially true in real world day to day usage.
> 
> The one thing that you should take from all of this recent microstutter threads is that you can't judge a video card based on average framerate in benchmarks alone.


Real world Day to day usage is 1920x1080 for the majority of anyone who plays video games which is why i would take sample from that.

Microstutter is not something that affects Nvidia cards very much. Nvidia knew about microstutter for a long time now and built an algorithm in their chips to specifically combat microstutter. Raedon is plagued with microstutter which will be fixed with 9000 series. which microstutter only affects SLI and crossfire not single card setups.

With the percentage of frame increase at 1080p (gaming which most folks play in) the difference between a 680 lightning at 1405 core 7800 mem which is %30 more FPS then stock is undeniably close to the 50% that a nearly next gen game like crysis 3 gets. You can't sit there and say that 20% difference is worth double the price. Titan NEEDS to be 100% better in every way to be worth double the money, not just in compute.

I realize that the frame gap will start to widen if you just keep increasing resolution however. I recently had a friend with 2 680 in sli with triple monitor 120hz complain because he had to turn the settings down to medium to get 120 FPS steady. So he was like i'll upgrade to 2 Titan because they are 6gb VRAM and more powerful. He still cannot play on max settings so he turns it down to medium and now hes only using 1.5gb of VRAM so his 680's would have been fine. Now if he didn't care so much and was fine playing at 60hz he would have been fine with the 2 680's also on maximum settings

In the real world Titan are really not practical. Especially for their price. Not for JUST Gaming anyway. i guess it would take some kind of video rendering and editing to make Titan worth it for its price.

Im guessing you would need 3 Titan minimum to triple monitor SLI at 120hz


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

I think that you're missing my point. The difference between GTX780 (GK110) and GTX680 (GK104) is going to be much larger than your giving it credit for.
Quote:


> I realize that the frame gap will start to widen if you just keep increasing resolution however.


Its not just resolution, I like to use SSAA whenever possible.
Quote:


> Microstutter is not something that affects Nvidia cards very much.


I think that you missed my point there. My point is that you can't use average fps alone in a few titles to measure performance. Things like Physx take a much larger hit on GK104 than they do GK110. Same thing with Direct compute which is occasionally used certain effects in some games. Then there are minimum framerates that will be higher providing a smoother overall experience than average fps alone will let on.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Got my replacement 680L in from RA today. PC wont boot. Hangs on POST code 2b with 4 LEDs on the card usually, but sometimes it just endlessly cycles with no LEDs on the card. Screen is black either way.
> 
> Ideas?


Sadly it sounds like a faulty video card.
Quote:


> 2b
> When the system powers on and the Debug LED shows the usual POST code sequence but hangs on 2b or you get a beep code as soon as the sequence reaches 2b, then the Mainboard cant detect your Videocard properly. Note that the POST code sequence might not halt at 2b but continue, so the final POST Code it displays could be FF, 00 or 7F which means the Maiboard booted, entered BIOS, or OC recovery kicked in and is waiting for Input to enter BIOS. Since the Videocard couldnt be detected properly you will only see a black Monitor and either 2b, FF, 00 or 7F. Check if there is something wrong with the Videocard, the PCIE slot or BUS, the Monitor or monitor cable. Turn the Monitor on and off, switch the Monitor cable from one D-SUB or DVI plug to the other in case your Videocard has two. If this doesnt help then reboot and load the optimized defaults. If that doesnt help either try another Videocard if possible, or try the Videocard in another system to make sure its working properly. Try another monitor or try the Monitor on another System.


I've had evga send me a faulty replacement. I've bought a faulty Asus factory refurb in the past too. So it happens. I'm not too surprised.

Hell, msi once sent me a motherboard back with missing heatsinks.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Sadly it sounds like a faulty video card.
> I've had evga send me a faulty replacement. I've bought a faulty Asus factory refurb in the past too. So it happens. I'm not too surprised.
> 
> Hell, msi once sent me a motherboard back with missing heatsinks.


You may be right. I had looked up 2b and saw that it had to do with video BIOS, etc.

Thing is though, I pulled the lightning out and tried using my 560ti again (the card I've been using without any issues at all during the entire RMA process), and now I'm getting BSODs as soon as I log into windows.

I'd really rather not reformat just to test if its a driver issue from trying to install the lightning earlier, but I believe I read somewhere that uninstalling nvidia drivers from safe mode no longer works properly and doing so can screw up future driver installs.

What do?


----------



## StealthHazrd

Does the GTX 680 Lightning fit in the NZXT Phantom 410 ? I found a color scheme I love and Im confident it will fit. I just want to make sure with the community if anyone has had experience with this setup.


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Got my replacement 680L in from RA today. PC wont boot. Hangs on POST code 2b with 4 LEDs on the card usually, but sometimes it just endlessly cycles with no LEDs on the card. Screen is black either way.
> 
> Ideas?


Bad PSU, or try to reset all components and wires to the computer, could be a shortcut somewhere that trigger the PSU to shutoff.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Bad PSU, or try to reset all components and wires to the computer, could be a shortcut somewhere that trigger the PSU to shutoff.


Doubt it's the PSU. It's been running fine for the last 4 years, with the same hardware. The only thing that has changed is I replaced a broken Lightning with the one I got from RMA.

The one I got back is very obviously a refurb btw. The cooler is all dented and scratched up and the paint is missing in a few places. Fairly confident the replacement is just bad...

That said, now I'm having trouble booting / getting BSODs with the new card removed.

At any rate if anyone would care to lend me some assistance, I have a thread on the matter: http://www.overclock.net/t/1391813/bsods-and-failures-to-boot-please-help


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> 3d mark is also a cpu bench.
> 
> Like I said in gpu limited scenarios the difference is going to be at its largest.
> 
> Now look at Crysis, you claim a 50% difference. Yup that is true of average framerate alone. Now look at minimums on Anandtech's review. There is a 70% difference at 1440p.
> 
> You quote borderlands 2 at 8%. I use SGSSAA at 2560x1440. I can assure you that requires a lot more performance and makes the game much more gpu limited. Now on top of that physx effects take a much larger toll on GK104. I can use physx on high with a single titan but can't with GTX680 sli in that game.
> 
> Far Cry 3 is another game where you see a large difference in minimums or in techreport's 99% percentile framerating.
> 
> I'm just going by what I've seen first hand.
> 
> GTX680/770 is not going to come close to a cut down GK110. Its just not. Thats especially true in real world day to day usage.
> 
> The one thing that you should take from all of this recent microstutter threads is that you can't judge a video card based on average framerate in benchmarks alone.


Do you think nvidia is stabbing us in the back? I mean a refresh shouldn't completely just destroy the previous generation. They screwed us ( imo) by releasing the gk104 instead of the gk110 and now they're going to release the gk110 and price around 550 bucks when we paid 500 for a true mid range card a year earlier? It doesn't sit right with me.


----------



## rotary7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Do you think nvidia is stabbing us in the back? I mean a refresh shouldn't completely just destroy the previous generation. They screwed us ( imo) by releasing the gk104 instead of the gk110 and now they're going to release the gk110 and price around 550 bucks when we paid 500 for a true mid range card a year earlier? It doesn't sit right with me.


why do you think a 680 is mid range? I cant for the life of me max them out on a 2560x1600 or even 3 monitors
a 780 wont be worth upgrading from 680s


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Do you think nvidia is stabbing us in the back? I mean a refresh shouldn't completely just destroy the previous generation. They screwed us ( imo) by releasing the gk104 instead of the gk110 and now they're going to release the gk110 and price around 550 bucks when we paid 500 for a true mid range card a year earlier? It doesn't sit right with me.


The entry into gk110 is the 780 and im pretty sure its going to be $700-$750


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> The entry into gk110 is the 780 and im pretty sure its going to be $700-$750


Agreed. Firm believer in buying in a tick-tock cycle. Sitting this tock out


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> The entry into gk110 is the 780 and im pretty sure its going to be $700-$750


Exactly, they aren't going to release a slightly cut down version of a card that they released for $1000 two months ago for $550.


----------



## NABBO

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Exactly, they aren't going to release a slightly cut down version of a card that they released for $1000 two months ago for $550.


I start to believe it's true.


----------



## NABBO

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SenorPablo*
> 
> Do you think nvidia is stabbing us in the back? I mean a refresh shouldn't completely just destroy the previous generation. They screwed us ( imo) by releasing the gk104 instead of the gk110 and now they're going to release the gk110 and price around 550 bucks when we paid 500 for a true mid range card a year earlier? It doesn't sit right with me.


I think it's true. and is going to be a card that destroys the GTX 680, especially when using antialiasing filters as SGSSAA, a card such as the 780 @ 1200MHz will give you the performance of a SLI GK104, because GTX 780 is a bit 'Titan neutered.
OC is likely to exceed Titan. I think they will do 1250MHz core.
imho


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colforbin*
> 
> Agreed. Firm believer in buying in a tick-tock cycle. Sitting this tock out


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *NABBO*
> 
> I think it's true. and is going to be a card that destroys the GTX 680, especially when using antialiasing filters as SGSSAA, a card such as the 780 @ 1200MHz will give you the performance of a SLI GK104, because GTX 780 is a bit 'Titan neutered.
> OC is likely to exceed Titan. I think they will do 1250MHz core.
> imho


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rotary7*
> 
> why do you think a 680 is mid range? I cant for the life of me max them out on a 2560x1600 or even 3 monitors
> a 780 wont be worth upgrading from 680s


GK 104 is a mid range chip on paper. Limited memory bandwith and no compute (even though not essential). I mean nvidia could've released GTx 680 based on the gk110 that would've destroyed any of AMD's offering and then released the gtx 660 as what we know as the gtx 680 now that would've also competed with amd if they lowered theire prices. But they're milking it right now.


----------



## gl0ry

I love my 680 lightning, its honestly my favorite card. I've only owned it for a couple of months, but I'm honestly starting to cave and want a 780.

I've got my 680 lightning for sale if anyone is interested, it's basically in mint condition and on ebay.. I wish I could sell on overclock.net but I don't have 30 rep









Edit: nvm.. I might just hold onto my card, speculations on the 780 prices are crazy. I don't want to get rid of my lightning just to find out the 780 is a 600-700 dollar card.


----------



## Zero4549

Well.. time for RMA #2. By the time I actually get a working card, the 780 will probably be available. Perhaps I should sell it once it comes in?


----------



## extommy

Hi guys,
Im having problem with my 680 lightning in SLi. Before I flashed the cards I could run with an offset +150mhz and 300 memory stable (which give 1350Mhz clock). After I flashed to 3A bios they are running unstable. This was how I flashed the cards, i ran them separately and flashed 1 at time, reinstall driver, then replace the 2nd one and repeat. I don't know what i did wrong here, but can some1 instruct me how to flash 680 in Sli properly? And which bios should i use? The F8 or the 3A?. Im running 3770k with g1 sniper 3 and Ax1200i so i have more than enough power to drive 2 cards. And btw, please show me how to mod Afterburner for Sli also, im running 2.3.1 version. Thank you in advandce!
Obs: Do I need to run both cards with same bios version?


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *extommy*
> 
> Hi guys,
> Im having problem with my 680 lightning in SLi. Before I flashed the cards I could run with an offset +150mhz and 300 memory stable (which give 1350Mhz clock). After I flashed to 3A bios they are running unstable. This was how I flashed the cards, i ran them separately and flashed 1 at time, reinstall driver, then replace the 2nd one and repeat. I don't know what i did wrong here, but can some1 instruct me how to flash 680 in Sli properly? And which bios should i use? The F8 or the 3A?. Im running 3770k with g1 sniper 3 and Ax1200i so i have more than enough power to drive 2 cards. And btw, please show me how to mod Afterburner for Sli also, im running 2.3.1 version. Thank you in advandce!
> Obs: Do I need to run both cards with same bios version?


3A has proven to be the best bios for most but not for all, some cards worked best with F8 bios (3A was best for me, I have first run cards) later runs have been different
AB ver. 2.2.3 is the version that has voltage control, I seen someone say the latest beta 300 beta 9 also has voltage control but I have not confirmed that myself


----------



## Chomuco

wow !!! GTX 770 LIGHTNING
















http://wccftech.com/msi-geforce-gtx-770-lightning-spotted-wild-features-twin-frozr-iv-cooling/

MSI's upcoming GeForce GTX 770 lightning which is a custom version of the GPU featuring Twin Frozr IV cooling and a non-reference PCB has been spotted.
MSI GeForce GTX 770 Lightning Spotted in the Wild

Read more: http://wccftech.com/msi-geforce-gtx-770-lightning-spotted-wild-features-twin-frozr-iv-cooling/#ixzz2Ts5Qi0xm


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> wow !!! GTX 770 LIGHTNING
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://wccftech.com/msi-geforce-gtx-770-lightning-spotted-wild-features-twin-frozr-iv-cooling/
> 
> MSI's upcoming GeForce GTX 770 lightning which is a custom version of the GPU featuring Twin Frozr IV cooling and a non-reference PCB has been spotted.
> MSI GeForce GTX 770 Lightning Spotted in the Wild
> 
> Read more: http://wccftech.com/msi-geforce-gtx-770-lightning-spotted-wild-features-twin-frozr-iv-cooling/#ixzz2Ts5Qi0xm


Better have a 780 Lightning too or this Lightning fanboy will be disappointed with the 700 series. Better memory clocks are nice, but want more...
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Well.. time for RMA #2. By the time I actually get a working card, the 780 will probably be available. Perhaps I should sell it once it comes in?


This is disappointing, my MSI rma experiences were pleasant, you getting a non-working card back really is teh suck.
Good luck man, would be nice if they stepped up with one of those 770 Lightnings at least, they are almost the same thing...


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Better have a 780 Lightning too or this Lightning fanboy will be disappointed with the 700 series. Better memory clocks are nice, but want more...
> This is disappointing, my MSI rma experiences were pleasant, you getting a non-working card back really is teh suck.
> Good luck man, would be nice if they stepped up with one of those 770 Lightnings at least, they are almost the same thing...


At least they were pleasant and responsive about offering the second RMA.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> At least they were pleasant and responsive about offering the second RMA.


Thats good. I've had the same thing happen with EVGA. I've also bought a open box (refurb) Asus GTX 570 from Newegg which was clearly defective. It happens, sadly.


----------



## Qlix

buuuut I seem to get driver crashes in heaven and valley if i touch anything in AB


----------



## extommy

Hi guys.

I need some advice here. Before i flashed my 680 in sli i could OC them both at 1350mhz with ease, but after i flashed them i strangely got some weird clock. Is there any special tips on how to flash 680 lightning to run in SLi? (LN2 switched)

And supprisingly, i was bored and switched back to non-Ln2, 1 of the card is now running at 1350 without LN-2 meanwhile the other 1 only running att 1111mhz.

Can some1 explain and give me advices ?

Thank you


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> wow !!! GTX 770 LIGHTNING
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://wccftech.com/msi-geforce-gtx-770-lightning-spotted-wild-features-twin-frozr-iv-cooling/
> 
> MSI's upcoming GeForce GTX 770 lightning which is a custom version of the GPU featuring Twin Frozr IV cooling and a non-reference PCB has been spotted.
> MSI GeForce GTX 770 Lightning Spotted in the Wild
> 
> Read more: http://wccftech.com/msi-geforce-gtx-770-lightning-spotted-wild-features-twin-frozr-iv-cooling/#ixzz2Ts5Qi0xm


Hmm... Are we sure those aren't 680 lightnings flashed with 770 bios? Maybe that's why they discontinued the 680 lightning? Just saying...


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> Hmm... Are we sure those aren't 680 lightnings flashed with 770 bios? Maybe that's why they discontinued the 680 lightning? Just saying...


If that was the case then i would grab one for a sli


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> Hmm... Are we sure those aren't 680 lightnings flashed with 770 bios? Maybe that's why they discontinued the 680 lightning? Just saying...


Sure as hell looks like that is the case.


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *extommy*
> 
> Hi guys.
> 
> I need some advice here. Before i flashed my 680 in sli i could OC them both at 1350mhz with ease, but after i flashed them i strangely got some weird clock. Is there any special tips on how to flash 680 lightning to run in SLi? (LN2 switched)
> 
> And supprisingly, i was bored and switched back to non-Ln2, 1 of the card is now running at 1350 without LN-2 meanwhile the other 1 only running att 1111mhz.
> 
> Can some1 explain and give me advices ?
> 
> Thank you


Flash each of the cards individually to the same bios. No special instructions for SLI. If the cards are running in SLI properly they're both going to run at the lowest frequency card. I like to test each of my cards individually and run the better card up top so I can use that one on its own for non-SLI games. You could also just overclock them together. SLI clocks will be lower than your individual clocks. Should work.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Sure as hell looks like that is the case.


Has anyone tried flashing a 770 with a 680? I know they have successfully flashed 680 with 770 bios...then we would know


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> Has anyone tried flashing a 770 with a 680? I know they have successfully flashed 680 with 770 bios...then we would know


The only thing I see worth it would be if the flash gave you GPU Boost. 2.0. Otherwise seems useless.


----------



## SenorPablo

If the GTX 770 lightning is a gtx 680 lightning with a different bios I'm going to find a way to get rid of my gtx 680 power edition, buy it and flash my gtx 680 lightning bios. On a nother note, I think I've posted about it here before but I did some more oc'ing on my Power edition and I could only get up to 1260 stable core clock no matter what I tried with all combinations of voltage. Sounds normal for a gtx 680 POwer edition?


----------



## Qlix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> buuuut I seem to get driver crashes in heaven and valley if i touch anything in AB


so I figured out the issue. I was using the most recent AB. Went back down to 2.2.3 and got proper voltage settings. ONe question though: is it safe to max out memory and aux voltages? or should I not touch them on these cards

heres my Heaven run @ 1320 core/7452 mem



I cant figure out why my AB caps at 1320 core though. I can set it higher, it shows higher in Heaven, but AB graph and OSD always caps at 1320, regardless of what the offset is at. Also... why the hell does my memory OC seem high as -.-


----------



## MrMarauder

Well, the 780 is officially out. I wonder if and when it will be until a 780 Lightning rears its head. The 680 Lightning came out around 3 months after the 680 launched, if that's any indication.


----------



## TheAssassin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrMarauder*
> 
> Well, the 780 is officially out. I wonder if and when it will be until a 780 Lightning rears its head. The 680 Lightning came out around 3 months after the 680 launched, if that's any indication.


I thought that NVIDIA confirmed months ago that there would be no non-reference 780s due to the whole voltage controversy months ago.


----------



## MrMarauder

There are already non-reference design coolers for the 780, with more to follow, not to mention the 780 allows for overvolting.

That said, no guarantee there will be a 780 Lightning, though I do have my fingers crossed.


----------



## Qlix

Looking at clocks, the 680 lightning is clocked higher than a 780 out of the box. So what would be the advantage of an upgrade? If any. Does the 384 bit memory interface really justify the cost?


----------



## SenorPablo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> Looking at clocks, the 680 lightning is clocked higher than a 780 out of the box. So what would be the advantage of an upgrade? If any. Does the 384 bit memory interface really justify the cost?


In my opinion, it does. 3 gigs of ram and 384 bit memory interface is really good. High end stuff right there. I always hear about it, not sure if all of it is facts, but there are a lot of games that benefit from higher memory bandwidth. I know Crysis and Metro have to be among those games. Traditionally mid range cards have a 256 bit bus and higher end cards have a 384 bit bus.


----------



## Qlix

680 lightning is hardly midrange with a 256 bit bus.

3 gigs is nice but for those of us on single monitors its overkill. I will concede there are more cores, but I still don't think the ppd is justified over a 680


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Its a lot faster than a GTX680 dude. The difference between a 680 and 780 is much larger than a 680 and a 670 or maybe even 660ti.


----------



## setza

So, just seeing from the 3dmark11 scores of the gtx 780, which was P12100 at stock, could I say a 680 lightning fairly overclocked (around 1400) is just behind it in 1080p gaming.


----------



## Qlix

Also back to my original question when i subbed:

Is it safe to max memory and aux voltages?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> I thought that NVIDIA confirmed months ago that there would be no non-reference 780s due to the whole voltage controversy months ago.


Non-reference PCBs can still be voltage locked by nvidia, it's easy enough to get full voltage control (warranty goes bye-bye though). A PCB that can handle the extra voltage without replacing the VRMs would be nice.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> Also back to my original question when i subbed:
> 
> Is it safe to max memory and aux voltages?


It should be reasonably safe, but max memory & aux. voltage doesn't usually make anything better though. Some guys have had better luck overclocking when undervolting the auxiliary, & memory ICs can really dislike too much voltage.
Best to ramp up the voltages & test as you go.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> So, just seeing from the 3dmark11 scores of the gtx 780, which was P12100 at stock, could I say a 680 lightning fairly overclocked (around 1400) is just behind it in 1080p gaming.


Not worth the upgrade/ sidegrade for me...both of my Lightnings get 12k in 3dmark by themselves. But it would be a good upgrade for 580 owners.


----------



## Garming

Is there a way to disable the leds?


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Garming*
> 
> Is there a way to disable the leds?


Sharpie









On a more serious note, just stick some black electrical tape over them, under the backplate.


----------



## Ningeal

Does pcie 3.0 benefit your graphics card significanly?

I'm running my Lightning on pcie 2.0; I can't seem to overclock it past +70 MHz and wondered whether this could be the problem.


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ningeal*
> 
> Does pcie 3.0 benefit your graphics card significanly?
> 
> I'm running my Lightning on pcie 2.0; I can't seem to overclock it past +70 MHz and wondered whether this could be the problem.


This should answer most of your questions: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/18/pci_express_20_vs_30_gpu_gaming_performance_review/#.UaDV_EB18Yl


----------



## Garming

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ningeal*
> 
> Does pcie 3.0 benefit your graphics card significanly?
> 
> I'm running my Lightning on pcie 2.0; I can't seem to overclock it past +70 MHz and wondered whether this could be the problem.


Yeah, I was considering this route. How unfortunate.


----------



## Addsome

Hey guys, i've had a GTX 680 Lightning for a while but never really overclocked it. Now im starting to look into this stuff and just wanted to clarify something about my bios version. Im running a 80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2). Should I flash it to 80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked LN2)? Also could anything go wrong during flashing? Thanks.


----------



## Ningeal

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> This should answer most of your questions: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/18/pci_express_20_vs_30_gpu_gaming_performance_review/#.UaDV_EB18Yl


Well, if I haven't missed anything, it doesn't seem like running my Lightning on pcie 3.0 will increase its OC capability beyond 70 MHz. Guess I was unfortunate then.


----------



## qwwwizx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ningeal*
> 
> Well, if I haven't missed anything, it doesn't seem like running my Lightning on pcie 3.0 will increase its OC capability beyond 70 MHz. Guess I was unfortunate then.


Since MSI isnt cherrypicking gpus, its all about luck. You should benefit a little by the extra hidden voltage in the lightning, but you never know if its a good clocker or not.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *qwwwizx*
> 
> Since *MSI isnt cherrypicking gpus,* its all about luck. You should benefit a little by the extra hidden voltage in the lightning, but you never know if its a good clocker or not.


Heck no they aren't. That I'm sure of.


----------



## jukula

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ningeal*
> 
> Well, if I haven't missed anything, it doesn't seem like running my Lightning on pcie 3.0 will increase its OC capability beyond 70 MHz. Guess I was unfortunate then.


Have you tested it on stock bios is it stable? The other one of my lightnings is unstable on stock bios, but in LN2 bios, overcloks GPU +100 MEM +450. But i run them in SLI so it really doesn`t matter. Funny thing i noticed, that it`s also missing one pin on the other power connector.


----------



## MrMarauder

Anyone see the new GTX 770 Lightning that's coming out that appears to essentially be a 680 Lightning?

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b1964/msi-gtx-770-lightning.html


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Well, it looks like those gpus are actually cherry picked at least by Nvidia. It probably also uses faster memory. Other than that I'm sure that its essentially the same card.


----------



## Ningeal

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jukula*
> 
> Have you tested it on stock bios is it stable? The other one of my lightnings is unstable on stock bios, but in LN2 bios, overcloks GPU +100 MEM +450. But i run them in SLI so it really doesn`t matter. Funny thing i noticed, that it`s also missing one pin on the other power connector.


Unfortunately, 70 MHZ is on LN2 bios. :S


----------



## Addsome

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Addsome*
> 
> Hey guys, i've had a GTX 680 Lightning for a while but never really overclocked it. Now im starting to look into this stuff and just wanted to clarify something about my bios version. Im running a 80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2). Should I flash it to 80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked LN2)? Also could anything go wrong during flashing? Thanks.


Anyone?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Addsome*
> 
> Anyone?


May not hurt to try, I got about the same overclock with both bios' though. I stick with the 3A bios for the driver recovery.
When the driver crashes with 3A it can recover to desktop, when the driver crashes with F8, you get a blackscreen & have to reboot.


----------



## Addsome

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> May not hurt to try, I got about the same overclock with both bios' though. I stick with the 3A bios for the driver recovery.
> When the driver crashes with 3A it can recover to desktop, when the driver crashes with F8, you get a blackscreen & have to reboot.


Alright thanks man.


----------



## Zero4549

MSI just last night reported that they received the defective card they sent me. This is taking _forever_, I sent the original card in over a month ago!

At any rate, I never really bothered overclocking much or anything fancy with my previous card. Didn't really have to for any of the games I was playing on a 1920x1200 60hz display. I have a 2560x1440 120hz panel now, so I'm probably going to want to get as much of an overclock as I can get out of the thing.

I've already got the waterblock ready, so cooling isn't an issue, but how about everything else? I've kind of forgotten all the details. I know I should be running the 3A LN2 BIOS, and I should be overclocking with Afterburner, but specifically which version of AB? Should I be using a particular Nvidia driver? Also, I recall that I'm supposed to do some tinkering with either the drivers or afterburner or something to get voltage control to actually work, right?

If someone could just give me an idiot-friendly list of everything I need, that would be super awesome. Thanks.


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> MSI just last night reported that they received the defective card they sent me. This is taking _forever_, I sent the original card in over a month ago!
> 
> At any rate, I never really bothered overclocking much or anything fancy with my previous card. Didn't really have to for any of the games I was playing on a 1920x1200 60hz display. I have a 2560x1440 120hz panel now, so I'm probably going to want to get as much of an overclock as I can get out of the thing.
> 
> I've already got the waterblock ready, so cooling isn't an issue, but how about everything else? I've kind of forgotten all the details. I know I should be running the 3A LN2 BIOS, and I should be overclocking with Afterburner, but specifically which version of AB? Should I be using a particular Nvidia driver? Also, I recall that I'm supposed to do some tinkering with either the drivers or afterburner or something to get voltage control to actually work, right?
> 
> If someone could just give me an idiot-friendly list of everything I need, that would be super awesome. Thanks.


I may be wrong but I am pretty sure AB 2.2.3 allows the most voltage. The first post on this thread says you should get ~1.35v. I have been unable to get anything above 1.3v with 3A LN2 BIOS and 2.2.3 AB. I As far as driver I just use the most up to date stable build.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> May not hurt to try, I got about the same overclock with both bios' though. I stick with the 3A bios for the driver recovery.
> When the driver crashes with 3A it can recover to desktop, when the driver crashes with F8, you get a blackscreen & have to reboot.


Oh, that explains a lot. I'll have to install 3a.

How do you flash to just one card in sli? I know how to use atiflash but I'm not sure of most of the commands with nvflash.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> I may be wrong but I am pretty sure AB 2.2.3 allows the most voltage. The first post on this thread says you should get ~1.35v. I have been unable to get anything above 1.3v with 3A LN2 BIOS and 2.2.3 AB. I As far as driver I just use the most up to date stable build.


I'm using 2.2.3, but if I remember correctly (and I could be wrong, since I currently don't have a kepler card in the system to confirm) afterburner only lets you set a power _limit_, not an actual voltage change.

Also people keep talking about adjusting voltages to different things (like memory) separately - I've never seen any options for that in AB.

How do?


----------



## Qlix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> I'm using 2.2.3, but if I remember correctly (and I could be wrong, since I currently don't have a kepler card in the system to confirm) afterburner only lets you set a power _limit_, not an actual voltage change.
> 
> Also people keep talking about adjusting voltages to different things (like memory) separately - I've never seen any options for that in AB.
> 
> How do?


There most definitely is voltage control in 2.2.3. It's what I use atm. Also to adjust memory and aux voltage there is a drop down at the right end of that voltage control to expand open to see the settings for all 3 (memory, aux, core).


----------



## gl0ry

MSI has the worst customer service I've ever experienced. Good luck with your RMA Zero4549.

When my GTX 570 was defective, it took them about 3 weeks to respond, and then they told me they didn't have a replacement for me, further more they tried to send me a check for 260 dollars when the card retailed for 350 at the time. After I told them no way the card costs 350, they said ok and sent me a check for 325.

I bought a lightning afterwards, but it took a lot of courage, because I knew that if I ever got anything defective from MSI again i'd have to deal with those shenanigans.


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> I'm using 2.2.3, but if I remember correctly (and I could be wrong, since I currently don't have a kepler card in the system to confirm) afterburner only lets you set a power _limit_, not an actual voltage change.
> 
> Also people keep talking about adjusting voltages to different things (like memory) separately - I've never seen any options for that in AB.
> 
> How do?


Yes, it does have voltage control. You need to go into the settings and unlock it though.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *UPGR4Y3DD*
> 
> Yes, it does have voltage control. You need to go into the settings and unlock it though.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> MSI has the worst customer service I've ever experienced. Good luck with your RMA Zero4549.
> 
> When my GTX 570 was defective, it took them about 3 weeks to respond, and then they told me they didn't have a replacement for me, further more they tried to send me a check for 260 dollars when the card retailed for 350 at the time. After I told them no way the card costs 350, they said ok and sent me a check for 325.
> 
> I bought a lightning afterwards, but it took a lot of courage, because I knew that if I ever got anything defective from MSI again i'd have to deal with those shenanigans.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> There most definitely is voltage control in 2.2.3. It's what I use atm. Also to adjust memory and aux voltage there is a drop down at the right end of that voltage control to expand open to see the settings for all 3 (memory, aux, core).


Ah, thanks everyone


----------



## Mast3rkill

Hey guys I have overclocked my gtx 680 lighting to1480/7000 with +180 on the core and I'd like to ask, if keep the temps low my gpu isn't going to have problems with the overvoltage? Or at least if it doesnt degrade my gpu life time to months.

Also which is the max temp that is still safe to use the graphics card, because according to nvidia is about 90° completely safe. max 78° for me


----------



## driftingforlife

^ I would not run it that high 24/7, that is about 1.480v-1.500v.


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Hey guys I have overclocked my gtx 680 lighting to1480/7000 with +180 on the core and I'd like to ask, if keep the temps low my gpu isn't going to have problems with the overvoltage? Or at least if it doesnt degrade my gpu life time to months.
> 
> Also which is the max temp that is still safe to use the graphics card, because according to nvidia is about 90° completely safe. max 78° for me


I thought at 70c there is thermal throttling. What voltage are you running to get those speeds?


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mast3rkill*
> 
> Hey guys I have overclocked my gtx 680 lighting to1480/7000 with +180 on the core and I'd like to ask, if keep the temps low my gpu isn't going to have problems with the overvoltage? Or at least if it doesnt degrade my gpu life time to months.
> 
> Also which is the max temp that is still safe to use the graphics card, because according to nvidia is about 90° completely safe. max 78° for me


Yeah, I'd keep it under 70 if at all possible.

I'm soon to be a former Lightning owner, one down, one to go and I'm already sort of regretting it. First card sold almost immediately. New Aquacomputer waterblocks seem to be harder to move though. Any idea if these blocks will also fit the 770 lightnings? Looks like they should. Would open up a whole bunch more people possibly looking for blocks. Don't want these things to gather dust.


----------



## Chomuco

new !! MSI Afterburner 3.0.0 Beta 10 Download http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html&usg=ALkJrhgB2XUZcSo0PJr2-qr_7dVuKANnWw


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> new !! MSI Afterburner 3.0.0 Beta 10 Download http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html&usg=ALkJrhgB2XUZcSo0PJr2-qr_7dVuKANnWw


Rig is down at the moment due to RMA but what kind of voltages is the lightning getting out of the AB 3.0.0?


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> new !! MSI Afterburner 3.0.0 Beta 10 Download http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html&usg=ALkJrhgB2XUZcSo0PJr2-qr_7dVuKANnWw


Does this solve the issues with all the versions since 2.2.3 as far as overclocking lightnings go? I don't see anything about that in the change log.


----------



## heyskip

That was fixed in Beta 9


----------



## Spikemaul

Just use 3.0.0 Beta 10 instead of 2.2.3 and all will be good.


----------



## setza

Do you guys think some white cold cathodes could drown the blue leds on the lightning? Because I'm getting really sick of the blue tint in my case.


----------



## StreekG

So i have AB 2.3.1 with the lines added to unlock voltage.

Does 3.0.0 Beta 9 and 10 both have the unlocked voltage (+100mV) like 2.2.3?


----------



## xoleras

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> So i have AB 2.3.1 with the lines added to unlock voltage.
> 
> Does 3.0.0 Beta 9 and 10 both have the unlocked voltage (+100mV) like 2.2.3?


I've sold my Lightnings but 2.3.1 and 2.2.3 always provided unlocked voltage for me! So anyone having issues, those two versions always work. With 2.3.1 you need to do the .cfg edit which is detailed on the first page of this thread.

Not sure about 3.0.0, curious about this myself.


----------



## Qlix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Spikemaul*
> 
> Just use 3.0.0 Beta 10 instead of 2.2.3 and all will be good.


how do you figure? I still have capped voltages with 3.0.0 beta 10


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Do you guys think some white cold cathodes could drown the blue leds on the lightning? Because I'm getting really sick of the blue tint in my case.


Just check out my picks...I have white lights. Don't really drown them out. I just worked with them instead of fighting them. Or black electrical tape might work too:thumb:


----------



## setza

Close enough, wll buy some cathodes


----------



## heyskip

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> So i have AB 2.3.1 with the lines added to unlock voltage.
> 
> Does 3.0.0 Beta 9 and 10 both have the unlocked voltage (+100mV) like 2.2.3?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I've sold my Lightnings but 2.3.1 and 2.2.3 always provided unlocked voltage for me! So anyone having issues, those two versions always work. With 2.3.1 you need to do the .cfg edit which is detailed on the first page of this thread.
> 
> Not sure about 3.0.0, curious about this myself.


Cant comment on 3.0.0 Beta 10 but Beta 9 definately allows the extra +100mv.


----------



## StreekG

Ummm is there a way to bypass the expiry date message i get for 3.0.0 beta 9?
I want to keep this version


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Ummm is there a way to bypass the expiry date message i get for 3.0.0 beta 9?
> I want to keep this version


Change the window's date to an earlier time.


----------



## colforbin

3.0.0 Beta 10 Unlock @ +100mv for me.....running 314.22 too FYI.


----------



## Qlix

+100mv in ab doesn't mean you're getting it. Check te graph and osd, suspect its capping @ 1.212


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colforbin*
> 
> 3.0.0 Beta 10 Unlock @ +100mv for me.....running 314.22 too FYI.


I was using beta 9 with 314.22 and was unlocked too, updated to beta 10 and 320.18 and I'm locked again. Don't know if it was ab or drivers (or me). Checked with Unwinder and AB doesn't seem to be the problem, so may be drivers are. Please report if you upgrade to 320.18.

Regards!


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> +100mv in ab doesn't mean you're getting it. Check te graph and osd, suspect its capping @ 1.212


That won't work. AB does not read the correct voltage on the 680. You need a multi meter to see what the voltage is.

Stock - 1.250
+6 - 1.258
+12 - 1.263
+18 - 1.273
+25 - 1.280
+31 - 1.285
+37 - 1.295
+43 - 1.300
+50 - 1.308
+56 - 1.313
+62 - 1.319
+68 - 1.325
+75 - 1.332
+81 - 1.338
+87 - 1.345
+93 - 1.356


----------



## Qlix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> That won't work. AB does not read the correct voltage on the 680. You need a multi meter to see what the voltage is.
> 
> Stock - 1.250
> +6 - 1.258
> +12 - 1.263
> +18 - 1.273
> +25 - 1.280
> +31 - 1.285
> +37 - 1.295
> +43 - 1.300
> +50 - 1.308
> +56 - 1.313
> +62 - 1.319
> +68 - 1.325
> +75 - 1.332
> +81 - 1.338
> +87 - 1.345
> +93 - 1.356


Even better... The point though was that +100 in afterburner doesn't make it unlocked


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> +100mv in ab doesn't mean you're getting it. Check te graph and osd, suspect its capping @ 1.212


Sorry guys. He is correct capped at 1.212 reverted back to Beta 9.

I started getting crashes that were stable in Beta 9.


----------



## SeekerZA

Did you have to do the voltage hack on the beta 9? Also what clocks were you running in 9 that crashed in beta 10?


----------



## elbubi

I was not clear at all in my last post. In beta 10 I get the +100mv slider unlocked, but when aplying overvoltage, it does not change in gpu voltage graph monitoring, while it had in beta 9. I realized cause I got crashes, I applied the profile cfg edit, and know when I apply voltage oc it changes in graph (with beta 9 it changed with no profile modification)

Cheers!


----------



## CalinTM

62 temp on memory and 66 temp on VRM in stress test, you think it's alright ?


----------



## Chomuco

new gtx 770 lightning vs gtx 680 lightning :: http://videocardz.com/42149/msi-geforce-gtx-770-lightning-tested-sli http://videocardz.com/images/2013/05/MSI-GeForce-GTX-770-Lightning-Scaling.png


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SeekerZA*
> 
> Did you have to do the voltage hack on the beta 9? Also what clocks were you running in 9 that crashed in beta 10?


No voltage hack. I could/can run +140 core & +700 mem. I was crashing on several lesser OC before I realized the voltage was locked. Back in Beta 9 and all is stable once again. Should note my lightning is on water too.


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> new gtx 770 lightning vs gtx 680 lightning :: http://videocardz.com/42149/msi-geforce-gtx-770-lightning-tested-sli http://videocardz.com/images/2013/05/MSI-GeForce-GTX-770-Lightning-Scaling.png


So is this just a factory OCed 680??


----------



## Rei86

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> new gtx 770 lightning vs gtx 680 lightning :: http://videocardz.com/42149/msi-geforce-gtx-770-lightning-tested-sli http://videocardz.com/images/2013/05/MSI-GeForce-GTX-770-Lightning-Scaling.png


780 Lightning details [email protected]!


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colforbin*
> 
> So is this just a factory OCed 680??


Its probably a binned gpu and faster memory.


----------



## CrazyElf

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xoleras*
> 
> I've sold my Lightnings but 2.3.1 and 2.2.3 always provided unlocked voltage for me! So anyone having issues, those two versions always work. With 2.3.1 you need to do the .cfg edit which is detailed on the first page of this thread.
> 
> Not sure about 3.0.0, curious about this myself.


Under the circumstances, would it be best to just use 2.2.3?


----------



## elbubi

I rolled back to 3.0.0 beta 9 and voltage tweak is working again without cfg editing, reinstalled beta 10 and once again "no-go" (but it can be workaruonded with cfg editing though).

Can anyone else confirm this behaviour or am I crazy?

Kind Regards!


----------



## CalinTM

Anyone could respond me regarding mem and vrm temps ?
60 mem temp and 65 vrm in load.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Anyone could respond me regarding mem and vrm temps ?
> 60 mem temp and 65 vrm in load.


Sounds fine, the vrms on my GTX280 used to hit 90c pretty regularly. I had that card for years.

A lot of cards have their memory unsinked. The memory temps seem fine too.


----------



## CalinTM

Ok, for me seemed too high, guess if that's normal, it's normal.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Anyone could respond me regarding mem and vrm temps ?
> 60 mem temp and 65 vrm in load.


That would not scare me for benching and stress testing only. For 24/7 heavy use like gaming, I like mem under 55, vrm under 60, and core under 70. Can still get a nice OC on air.


----------



## CalinTM

For me in games is about the same, just tested GRID 2, and the mem and vrm has the temps in that range. I don't have GPU OC because my GPU doesn't know to OC (it's already OC-ed compared with a stock 680) and if i OC it on 40mhz more i need to put about 40mV and then it heats in games to 70 or possible more. So i keep it on stock 1202Mhz, and in games has 64-67 degrees.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Don't worry about it, those chips are rated for far more than that.


----------



## StreekG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> I rolled back to 3.0.0 beta 9 and voltage tweak is working again without cfg editing, reinstalled beta 10 and once again "no-go" (but it can be workaruonded with cfg editing though).
> 
> Can anyone else confirm this behaviour or am I crazy?
> 
> Kind Regards!


I'm pretty sure Unwinder mentioned that Beta 10 brings back the restriction, Beta 9 worked fine for me.

Why not just use the last final release with the CFG edit workaround? I use 2.3.1 with CFG edit and i get fully unlocked voltage adjustment and no rounding off to +93mV, stays at +100, perfect!
The Beta will just expire and then you'll need to change versions anyway.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> For me in games is about the same, just tested GRID 2, and the mem and vrm has the temps in that range. I don't have GPU OC because my GPU doesn't know to OC (it's already OC-ed compared with a stock 680) and if i OC it on 40mhz more i need to put about 40mV and then it heats in games to 70 or possible more. So i keep it on stock 1202Mhz, and in games has 64-67 degrees.


The Lightning cooler exhausts into the case. Good or bad depending on your setup. Play with it a bit. You can get a little temp headroom by dropping Aux and Mem voltages. I hacked in an extra 120mm fan and removed the blanks from the slots above and below the card to improve heat exhaust. Also, removing the GPU reactor and its cover (useless, unless you are seriously overvolting) helped with air flow over (possibly through?) the card.

My current 24/7 config (unlocked LN2):
Core: +25mv
Mem: -50mv
Aux: -100mv
Core: +56mhz
Mem: +600mhz

Works nicely and stays cool enough for my conservative tastes. This card has to last until Maxwell, and I use it very hard every day. I am not impressed with Titan (a Cadillac marketed as a Ferrari) or the 780 (even less interesting).

All bets are off if MSI releases a 780 Lightning, however









edit: typo


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> I'm pretty sure Unwinder mentioned that Beta 10 brings back the restriction, Beta 9 worked fine for me.
> 
> Why not just use the last final release with the CFG edit workaround? I use 2.3.1 with CFG edit and i get fully unlocked voltage adjustment and no rounding off to +93mV, stays at +100, perfect!
> The Beta will just expire and then you'll need to change versions anyway.


Because I like the newer beta implementations.

I asked Uwinder and he said that no restriction was back with beta 10 => http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4605304&postcount=30

Anyway, I'm using beta 10 with cfg editing, no big deal, just wanted to know if it was "my" issue, or was a general issue.

Cheers!


----------



## TheAssassin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> I'm pretty sure Unwinder mentioned that Beta 10 brings back the restriction, Beta 9 worked fine for me.
> 
> Why not just use the last final release with the CFG edit workaround? I use 2.3.1 with CFG edit and i get fully unlocked voltage adjustment and no rounding off to +93mV, stays at +100, perfect!
> The Beta will just expire and then you'll need to change versions anyway.


Where is the info on the config edit? I want to try that out.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Im still using Afterburner 2.2.3 :O

Honestly done see the reason to upgrade - why fix what isn't broken.


----------



## r360r

Anyone know how much I could get for my Lightning on eBay?


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Im still using Afterburner 2.2.3 :O
> 
> Honestly done see the reason to upgrade - why fix what isn't broken.


I can only assume there have been some updates to some of the other features, other than just adding support for titan and 7xx. Why else would they keep releasing new versions? Personally, I'd like to see MSI give a little more love to the built in video recorder, although with Nvidia's newly announced shadowplay, that may soon be a thing of the past (at least on Nvidia cards).


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> I can only assume there have been some updates to some of the other features, other than just adding support for titan and 7xx. Why else would they keep releasing new versions? Personally, I'd like to see MSI give a little more love to the built in video recorder, although with Nvidia's newly announced shadowplay, that may soon be a thing of the past (at least on Nvidia cards).


The only thing I noticed when having a poke around the new afterburners was the fact it can report/track frametime in ms.

Other then that not exactly sure - maybe that and the 100mV/93mV bug?


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Anyone know how much I could get for my Lightning on eBay?


Unless it's a legendary overclocker, I'd pay $375-$400 now that the 770L is out. I'd have paid $450 yesterday, but not today. But why sell? What can you "upgrade" to? Titan is armed robbery unless you have 3 monitors or like to model hurricanes instead of playing games, and the 780 is slightly less than that only cheaper. With a little ingenuity you should be able to OC a 680L to perform as well as a 770L in most users' hands.

Maxwell is coming. Breathe.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> Unless it's a legendary overclocker, I'd pay $375-$400 now that the 770L is out. I'd have paid $450 yesterday, but not today. But why sell? What can you "upgrade" to? Titan is armed robbery unless you have 3 monitors or like to model hurricanes instead of playing games, and the 780 is slightly less than that only cheaper. With a little ingenuity you should be able to OC a 680L to perform as well as a 770L in most users' hands.
> 
> Maxwell is coming. Breathe.


probably cause he has heard that the 780 overclocks like a beast. especially under water. Which is true. a 780L should drop at around $700 US. the question is, is 30% or 40% (assuming you get a good OCer of a 780) worth $200.

And the problem is that there is only reference coolers out on 780's right now with the 1 EVGA exception of course. Sure the Reference coolers look bad ass but im sure any cooler anyone makes for them will be better cooling.

And the 780 actually performs better then a Titan because they overclock so much better with compute disabled. They should have never marketed the Titan as a gaming card/dev card. It should have been a Entry level Dev card only. Because the $1000 price for basically a Tesla is amazing. But $1000 for that performance in gaming is a rip off.


----------



## GenoOCAU

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> probably cause he has heard that the 780 overclocks like a beast. especially under water. Which is true. a 780L should drop at around $700 US. the question is, is 30% or 40% (assuming you get a good OCer of a 780) worth $200.
> 
> And the problem is that there is only reference coolers out on 780's right now with the 1 EVGA exception of course. Sure the Reference coolers look bad ass but im sure any cooler anyone makes for them will be better cooling.


Do you have any sources regarding the 780 Lightning? Ive only been able to find information on 770 Lightning.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gl0ry*
> 
> My scores, Benchmark stable @ 1359 / 7300. Might be able to push the memory a more, but this is starting to definitely cut close to my max for benches.
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


Keep in mind max bench OC in heaven will be lower than some benchmarks. For me I can only get stable at 1360MHz ish in Heaven where as in 3dmark11 I can push 1398MHz


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> probably cause he has heard that the 780 overclocks like a beast. especially under water. Which is true. a 780L should drop at around $700 US. the question is, is 30% or 40% (assuming you get a good OCer of a 780) worth $200.
> 
> And the problem is that there is only reference coolers out on 780's right now with the 1 EVGA exception of course. Sure the Reference coolers look bad ass but im sure any cooler anyone makes for them will be better cooling.
> 
> And the 780 actually performs better then a Titan because they overclock so much better with compute disabled. They should have never marketed the Titan as a gaming card/dev card. It should have been a Entry level Dev card only. Because the $1000 price for basically a Tesla is amazing. But $1000 for that performance in gaming is a rip off.


The 780 *should* OC better than the Titan, since it has less memory and occupies less of the chip. I haven't seen any evidence of that, but it's what I'd expect. A 780 Lightning is something I would look into. But I'll definitely wait for Max unless a 780L comes out. Even then, I might still wait.


----------



## StreekG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Where is the info on the config edit? I want to try that out.


In the first post of this thread, near the end is a section "Tweaking Afterburner 2.2.4"
The cfg edit there works for all versions after 2.2.3


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GenoOCAU*
> 
> Do you have any sources regarding the 780 Lightning? Ive only been able to find information on 770 Lightning.


i was not refering to the LE card. I don't know the terms of the contract regarding selling of refrence cards before custom editions. I just hope it ends soon so we can start seeing some real coolers get released
OC to 1228 @ only 1.2v !!!!!! 23% is pretty good for refrence cooler Hopefully MSI has that lightning edition ready to go
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6980/nvidia-geforce-gtx-780-overclocking-results

Unboxing and good info on the card





I'm actually really hoping for a shroud change in the 780 LE card because im getting sick of the same old look of twin frozer


----------



## colforbin

Interesting......

770 Lightning
http://videocardz.com/42149/msi-geforce-gtx-770-lightning-tested-sli


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> The Lightning cooler exhausts into the case. Good or bad depending on your setup. Play with it a bit. You can get a little temp headroom by dropping Aux and Mem voltages. I hacked in an extra 120mm fan and removed the blanks from the slots above and below the card to improve heat exhaust. Also, removing the GPU reactor and its cover (useless, unless you are seriously overvolting) helped with air flow over (possibly through?) the card.
> 
> My current 24/7 config (unlocked LN2):
> Core: +25mv
> Mem: -50mv
> Aux: -100mv
> Core: +56mhz
> Mem: +600mhz
> 
> Works nicely and stays cool enough for my conservative tastes. This card has to last until Maxwell, and I use it very hard every day. I am not impressed with Titan (a Cadillac marketed as a Ferrari) or the 780 (even less interesting).
> 
> All bets are off if MSI releases a 780 Lightning, however
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> edit: typo


Well, first, i don't want to use the LN2 bios, because it gets a little more hotter with LN2. And second, if i put and OC of 50Mhz on core clock (that is the maximum i can reach with nice temps and not crazy voltages) i don't think 50mhz more will impact in games fps, maybe 1-2 fps more. I OC only the memory to +350Mhz. And third MSI has again locked the voltage tweaking on AB beta 10, only beta 8 and 9 has unlocked voltage.

So stupid think by nvidia to lock these Kepler chips, why because that degradation, well every component degrades overtime if using overclock, or not overclock. And i don't know why MSI did that nvidia wanted to lock the voltages, these Lightning cards are made by their PCB components to be overclocked even higher. Don't forget, 680 Lightning cards are already overclocked by default with 100Mhz and possible more, so there isn't alot of headroom to clock further and still able to get nice temps in games, to not throttle down. And i got a very bad chip, i saw people able to get 1300mhz on very low voltages, i can't pass 1280mhz even on LN2 bios with max voltages.


----------



## Zero4549

Well I've officially been waiting an entire month for a working card from MSI RMA.









The lightning is a beautiful card, but I've gotta say this has eroded my confidence in MSI.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Well, first, i don't want to use the LN2 bios, because it gets a little more hotter with LN2. And second, if i put and OC of 50Mhz on core clock (that is the maximum i can reach with nice temps and not crazy voltages) i don't think 50mhz more will impact in games fps, maybe 1-2 fps more. I OC only the memory to +350Mhz. And third MSI has again locked the voltage tweaking on AB beta 10, only beta 8 and 9 has unlocked voltage.
> 
> So stupid think by nvidia to lock these Kepler chips, why because that degradation, well every component degrades overtime if using overclock, or not overclock. And i don't know why MSI did that nvidia wanted to lock the voltages, these Lightning cards are made by their PCB components to be overclocked even higher. Don't forget, 680 Lightning cards are already overclocked by default with 100Mhz and possible more, so there isn't alot of headroom to clock further and still able to get nice temps in games, to not throttle down. And i got a very bad chip, i saw people able to get 1300mhz on very low voltages, i can't pass 1280mhz even on LN2 bios with max voltages.


MSI was basically told by Nvidia that they have to adhere to the green light program or face consequences. MSI wanted to keep the unlocked voltage going, but they are a business & have to consider supply.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Well I've officially been waiting an entire month for a working card from MSI RMA.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The lightning is a beautiful card, but I've gotta say this has eroded my confidence in MSI.


Agreed. As much as I like MSI, sending a dead card as an RMA replacement is just full of fail. At least for the QC department.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Agreed. As much as I like MSI, sending a dead card as an RMA replacement is just full of fail. At least for the QC department.


My second RMA status has been sitting on "processing" for a week now.

The guy (or gal?) who issued me my second RMA wrote "[Return Label] *2nd RMA PROCESS EXPRESS SERVICE ONCE RECEIVED REPLACE CARD AND SHIP BACK FULLY TEST AND MAKE SURE IS IN GOOD CONDITION* HH" on both the online form, and on the shipping label.

Somehow I don't think it a week with no results qualifies as "express service", unless they are getting hung on the "fully test and make sure is in good condition" part. Perhaps they've simply run out of working 680 Lightnings? I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that is in fact the case, and not that they are simply being lazy and negligent.

I also sent them an email saying as much, so hopefully they catch my drift. I can't say I'd entirely object to a 770 Lightning, or a reference 780 as a replacement, if they can't source a working 680 lightning









Lets just call it compensation for lost time, eh MSI? *crosses fingers*


----------



## CalinTM

Well, sad thing nvidia is making this, i hope when i will buy a GTX 880 Lightning, it will have unlocked voltage and nvidia will not say anything. I will stay with this card, the 780 doesn't worth the money, new fresh things will come on 8 series nvidia, this 7 series, 780 is just a small titan, and the titan is just a small tesla.


----------



## daveash

Hi all, new here.

Got my 680 Lightning today, running the F8 unlocked bios from the OP. I'm having trouble with the Core Clocks, I have no idea what I'm clocking to. GPU-Z states my default clocks are 1202 GPU and 1059(!) Boost. Is this weird having the boost clock so much lower?

Overclocking seems to result in different results everywhere. A 1184MHz Boost in GPU-Z results in a reported 1320MHz boost in Afterburner, while Unigine Valley reports 1327MHz. I have no idea which one of these (if any) is right, so really struggling to know where I'm at.

Also, afterburner lowers the voltage everytime it launches. If I set to +81mV, for example, next time it launches it'll be 74mV. After that it'll be 68mV and so on. Anyone know why this is? I'm using 2.2.3.


----------



## CalinTM

Hello there
1. Don't use GPU-Z, he doesn't know this card.
2. At stock, your native clock is 1110Mhz, and in games boosts to 1202Mhz
3.Unigine valley and heaven reports wrong, the GPU core clock
4.Only afterburner 2.2.3 and 3.0.0 beta 8 and beta 9 has unlocked voltage control, it works for both normal and F8 (3A) bios. If you want to use other versions and have unlocked voltage control, you need to make some config tweaks into afterburner
5. People say that the real voltage measured by multimeter is about 40-50mV higher of what afterburner shows.
6. It's normal after reboot to show in afterburner different voltage, as you said, 81,and after reboot is 74mV, etc. I dunno the reason, i think it's some kind of driver and afterburner bug. Also, you can do increments of GPU core only in 13mhz increments, so, +13Mhz, then +27Mhz, etc.
If you want to have after reboot for example 81mV, and to not change anymore, you need to set in Afterburner 81mV then to get into Afterburner folder, then into Profiles folder, and you will find one (or two) long file cfg names, open those, see if core voltage is set to =81, then close the windows, then set the config file to read only, and after reboot it will have 81mV all the time, even if afterburner still displays smaller voltage into his window.

And for stability don't use unigine heaven, cuz that one is kinda broken, it needs higher voltages to don't crash, use 3d mark programs, unigine valley, and games, play games for some time, and if you see it crashes, put more volts, or reduce the OC.

PS: The stock 680 comes with 1000Mhz, the lightning comes with 1110Mhz and it boosts to 1202, so is very much overclocked by default, don't use some extra OC, because it will bring you very high temps and it will not make in games a difference for, say +50mhz more.

Overclock only the memory voltage, you should bring +350Mhz from the start with no problems, above that it's kinda useless.

Hope it helps !


----------



## Rei86

So the MSI GTX 770 Lightning review is up

http://hardocp.com/article/2013/05/30/msi_geforce_gtx_770_lightning_video_card_review#.UaeF65wrprg


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rei86*
> 
> So the MSI GTX 770 Lightning review is up
> 
> http://hardocp.com/article/2013/05/30/msi_geforce_gtx_770_lightning_video_card_review#.UaeF65wrprg


Pointless without OC results imo. The only point of a Lightning edition card is OC headroom lol...


----------



## setza

Will anyone get a 770 lightning and flash it to 680? Or vice versa? Because I'm considering getting one for SLI with my current 680 lightning.


----------



## gpvecchi

680 can be flashed to 770, so I suppose the same for viceversa...
As used 680 Lighting are too expensive, I'll wait for 770 Lightning to lower price.
770 SLI are awesome, 770 LIghting will be more; and... unlocked 680 Lightning SLI?


----------



## bern43

Any idea whether 680 Lightning water blocks will work with the 770 Lightning? Might actually be able to sell my two unopened blocks if they do.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Pointless without OC results imo. The only point of a Lightning edition card is OC headroom lol...


It has a default 1202mhz boost clock. I had two power editions that couldn't even hit that without the LN2 bios. You can sure bet that the 770 overclocks better on average. My current lightning doesn't do much past 1250mhz on the LN2 bios.

It also has significantly higher memory clocks, I'm sure that there is headroom on top of that too.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> Any idea whether 680 Lightning water blocks will work with the 770 Lightning? Might actually be able to sell my two unopened blocks if they do.


I'm sure that it will. I would send a message to EK. I'm sure that they know for sure. They usually respond pretty quickly.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> It has a default 1202mhz boost clock. I had two power editions that couldn't even hit that without the LN2 bios. You can sure bet that the 770 overclocks better on average. My current lightning doesn't do much past 1250mhz on the LN2 bios.


My 680 has the exact same boost clock.
Sure your results may vary but I want the juicy details regarding voltage control. For example they sell it with the locked BIOS but hint that the card has the hardware capability for voltage control if the BIOS is modded, etc.

I would like the 770L to OC better than the 680L but I simply want to see some results first and was hoping the review would provide a glimpse of that =P


----------



## dr/owned

Seems the 770L is physically identical to the 680L, but with a new BIOS and possibly better binned die. Can't find anyone definitely saying this but that's what it seems like.

I kinda feel bad for everyone that is buying the 770. They're pretty much getting what 680 owners have had for a year at more or less the same price. I'm waiting for a 780L before I consider upgrading.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> I'm waiting for a 780L before I consider upgrading.


I was thinking about this. With with a bit more voltage and the Lightning cooler the 780 overclocked should top most maxed out titans for a lot cheaper. I feel like the Lightning cooler is not praised enough, the thing is bloody amazing. With a pretty conservative fan profile I rarely top 54c in my games (LN2 stock voltage but still)

I can see the temps sky-rocketing after a certain voltage range though, it's a pretty big chip.

But anyway, I don't play anything that even comes close to maxing my 680L


----------



## Rei86

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> I was thinking about this. With with a bit more voltage and the Lightning cooler the 780 overclocked should top most maxed out titans for a lot cheaper. I feel like the Lightning cooler is not praised enough, the thing is bloody amazing. With a pretty conservative fan profile I rarely top 54c in my games (LN2 stock voltage but still)
> 
> I can see the temps sky-rocketing after a certain voltage range though, it's a pretty big chip.
> 
> But anyway, I don't play anything that even comes close to maxing my 680L


Where the hell have you been? The Twin Frozer design is given tons of praise in the press and enthusiasts alike.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> I was thinking about this. With with a bit more voltage and the Lightning cooler the 780 overclocked should top most maxed out titans for a lot cheaper. I feel like the Lightning cooler is not praised enough, the thing is bloody amazing. With a pretty conservative fan profile I rarely top 54c in my games (LN2 stock voltage but still)
> 
> I can see the temps sky-rocketing after a certain voltage range though, it's a pretty big chip.
> 
> But anyway, I don't play anything that even comes close to maxing my 680L


Consider that the 680 you are cooling is actually a very cool running chip to begin with. Also, as stated above, the twin frozr gets tons of praise, and its been that way for years.

At any rate, I highly doubt a twin frozr would give a 780 enough additional OC headroom over it's stock "titan cooler" to actually outperform a titan. Even LN2 isn't going to give the card more VRAM, for instance, and you're just talking about the difference between two air coolers.

As a side note, the titan cooler is actually pretty decent BTW, if you weren't aware.


----------



## Spikemaul

Can the bios from a 770L be flashed to the 680L?


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rei86*
> 
> Where the hell have you been? The Twin Frozer design is given tons of praise in the press and enthusiasts alike.


I don't know about that, the cooler on my 7970 TF3 was awful.

The cooler on the 680 lightning is decent, its no GTX780 reference cooler. The Titan and 780 use a very nice vapor chamber cooler.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> My 680 has the exact same boost clock.


No it doesn't, your card may boost to 1202mhz (most don't) but that doesn't mean that the stock boost clock is 1202mhz. On the 770 lightning the cards will boost to at least 1202mhz.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> At any rate, I highly doubt a twin frozr would give a 780 enough additional OC headroom over it's stock "titan cooler" to actually outperform a titan. Even LN2 isn't going to give the card more VRAM, for instance, and you're just talking about the difference between two air coolers.


From the the reviews I have read the GTX 780 overclocked beats the Titan in almost every benchmark. Just saying


----------



## Rei86

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> I don't know about that, the cooler on my 7970 TF3 was awful.
> 
> The cooler on the 680 lightning is decent, its no GTX780 reference cooler. The Titan and 780 use a very nice vapor chamber cooler.


The reference cooler on the Titan isn't as great as reviews tout it too be.


----------



## Scorpion667

The Titan/780 cooler is still, just a fancy looking blower cooler at the end of the day. The 500 series has vapor chambers too (albeit smaller heatsinks yes) and they were ok, but not impressive.

I dunno, I feel as though if my TF4 can keep my 680 under control at 1.5v GPU voltage, it can probably handle a 780 at 1.3v. Remember heat load is exponentially increased with voltage.

BUT

It's all speculation anyway, no one's right until we see the card =P


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rei86*
> 
> The reference cooler on the Titan isn't as great as reviews tout it too be.


I used one, I thought that it worked great. GK110 is a massive gpu. Also those coolers work much better in sli than something like these "twin frozor" coolers.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> From the the reviews I have read the GTX 780 overclocked beats the Titan in almost every benchmark. Just saying


Yes and an overclocked GTX670 outperforms a stock GTX680. What is your point? We know that there isn't a large difference between the two clock for clock.


----------



## CalinTM

cmon who buys stock pcb cards...


----------



## bern43

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> cmon who buys stock pcb cards...


Those of us who want to ensure we can easily get waterblocks and/or are running SLI. I think the stock cooler on my 780 works great. Actually seems quieter than my Lightning cooler was. Either way it's really pretty quiet.


----------



## Rei86

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> I used one, I thought that it worked great. GK110 is a massive gpu. Also those coolers work much better in sli than something like these "twin frozor" coolers.
> Yes and an overclocked GTX670 outperforms a stock GTX680. What is your point? We know that there isn't a large difference between the two clock for clock.


Oh god not this again...


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> Those of us who want to ensure we can easily get waterblocks and/or are running SLI. I think the stock cooler on my 780 works great. Actually seems quieter than my Lightning cooler was. Either way it's really pretty quiet.


Yep, sorry, i don't want to use SLI/Cross, i prefer one powerful card.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bern43*
> 
> Those of us who want to ensure we can easily get waterblocks and/or are running SLI.


Exactly, I normally prefer reference cards.

I'll be honest I wish that I had gone with reference cards instead of my Lightnings. MSI doesn't bin the gpus so its still just as much of a craps shoot. I could have saved a few bucks with some reference cards.

I couldn't run the LN2 bios on my top card until I installed the waterblocks.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Yep, sorry, i don't want to use SLI/Cross, i prefer one powerful card.


Thats probably because you don't have much experience with sli. I've been very happy with sli in the time that I've used it.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> I don't know about that, the cooler on my 7970 TF3 was awful.
> 
> The cooler on the 680 lightning is decent, its no GTX780 reference cooler. The Titan and 780 use a very nice vapor chamber cooler.


7970s run hot, the twinfrozr works very well on the 680 Lightnings, but the 7970s really want water. I like the sound level of the TF cooler over reference coolers on the 7970, but air cooling doesn't really cut it for overclocking the AMD cards.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> No it doesn't, your card may boost to 1202mhz (most don't) but that doesn't mean that the stock boost clock is 1202mhz. On the 770 lightning the cards will boost to at least 1202mhz.


All the 680 Lightnings boost to 1202 on the ln2 bios at stock.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> From the the reviews I have read the GTX 780 overclocked beats the Titan in almost every benchmark. Just saying


But then the Titan overclocks too, unless putting a golden 780 up against a dog of a Titan, the 780 isn't going to beat the Titan in the hands of an overclocker.


----------



## dr/owned

MSI is doing _some_ binning of the Lightning cards. I had 2 reference 680's prior to the Lightnings I have now. Neither one could overclock to the 1200 that the Lightnings do on their own in the LN2 bios.

In terms of waterblock availability and resale, it's better with the reference cards. But if you're the kind of person buying a Lightning card, you probably don't care too much.

For me it does kinda suck that to upgrade I'd have to spend probably $1600 ($700 * 2 for the cards + $200 for new waterblocks).


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Exactly, I normally prefer reference cards.
> 
> I'll be honest I wish that I had gone with reference cards instead of my Lightnings. MSI doesn't bin the gpus so its still just as much of a craps shoot. I could have saved a few bucks with some reference cards.
> 
> I couldn't run the LN2 bios on my top card until I installed the waterblocks.
> Thats probably because you don't have much experience with sli. I've been very happy with sli in the time that I've used it.


I'm not sure either of your claims are really valid.

I've used SLi several times, and each time I've been annoyed by it. It's usually fun at first, when a single card is still more than powerful enough for games with improper/no SLi support, but as the cards age, they do so much less gracefully than a single card. There's also the fact that you usually end up paying more as much for significantly less than twice the performance, once you calculate in the cost of a larger power supply, better cooling, etc. Finally, there is the microstutter. Anyone who says it doesn't exist is totally blind. It's significantly worse in some games than others, but the fact that you end up paying more for something that might give you a migraine is not an easy one for some sensitive users to swallow.

As for Lightnings being "just as bad" as reference cards for overclocking, that's pretty much nonsense. Overclocking is _always_ a gamble. Lightning cards provide slightly better chances to win, and significantly better results if you do win. To put it in RPG terms, A lightning gives you +5 to crit chance, and +50 to crit damage. I don't think anyone would say that does not add _any_ value. The only question is if you are willing to pay for that extra benefit (or perhaps if you would rather that money go to +30 power instead







).


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> 7970s run hot, the twinfrozr works very well on the 680 Lightnings, but the 7970s really want water. I like the sound level of the TF cooler over reference coolers on the 7970, but air cooling doesn't really cut it for overclocking the AMD cards.
> All the 680 Lightnings boost to 1202 on the ln2 bios at stock.
> But then the Titan overclocks too, unless putting a golden 780 up against a dog of a Titan, the 780 isn't going to beat the Titan in the hands of an overclocker.


Mine boosts to 1202Mhz on normal bios, not LN2, i mean on both bios versions.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dr/owned*
> 
> MSI is doing _some_ binning of the Lightning cards. I had 2 reference 680's prior to the Lightnings I have now. Neither one could overclock to the 1200 that the Lightnings do on their own in the LN2 bios.


While they could be binned, keep in mind LN2 BIOS has a higher voltage than stock. I measured it with a DMM once but I forgot what the value was. Over 1.2v for sure.


----------



## dr/owned

Unlocked it's 1.21V at +0 mV (or 1.26...can't remember it's been a while). + 100 mV is 1.36V. I personally found no difference in overclockability between +50 and + 100, just _a whole lot_ more power consumption.

And you also have the cutest avatar in the world. My cat does something similar when I go to hug him sometimes....paw in face.


----------



## CalinTM

I think with multimeter on LN2 at stock its 1.26 and at +100 is 1.36V (and AB says 1.21 at stock on LN2)

1.21 i think they say on multimeter is on normal bios at +0 mV

So generally speaking for every voltage that AB says you need to add +40 or +30 mV to tell the real voltage people say it;s on multimeters.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> All the 680 Lightnings boost to 1202 on the ln2 bios at stock.


Not really, as mentioned that is at 1.26v and with gpu boost essentially disabled. The card isn't rated to hit a 1202mhz boost clock at 1.18v like the 770 lightning. I've had two of these cards that couldn't do that.

With a 770 from the looks of things you can be sure that on average you're getting a chip that'll clock better.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> 1.21 i think they say on multimeter is on normal bios at +0 mV


I saw ~1.18v iirc.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Mine boosts to 1202Mhz on normal bios, not LN2, i mean on both bios versions.


Yes but most don't. GTX770 is guaranteed to hit at least a 1202mhz boost clock on the default bios. There is no gamble, it will. These are clearly binned chips.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> I'm not sure either of your claims are really valid.
> 
> I've used SLi several times, and each time I've been annoyed by it. It's usually fun at first, when a single card is still more than powerful enough for games with improper/no SLi support, but as the cards age, they do so much less gracefully than a single card. There's also the fact that you usually end up paying more as much for significantly less than twice the performance, once you calculate in the cost of a larger power supply, better cooling, etc. Finally, there is the microstutter. Anyone who says it doesn't exist is totally blind. It's significantly worse in some games than others, but the fact that you end up paying more for something that might give you a migraine is not an easy one for some sensitive users to swallow.


I'm sorry but your post makes no sense. I'll address your two points.

First of all sli is what it is. You can check out benchmarks all day. In general it scales very well. Obviously you can use settings with two GTX 670s or 680s that you couldn't dream of using on a single GTX680 in most games. I don't know what problems you had but you're in the vast minority.

I am also extremely sensitive to microstutter. I've discussed it in several threads. Its not a big issue on Kepler. If you had any experience with these cards in sli you would know that.

Also even with the setups that do show microstutter there are ways around it that work very well on your 60hz display. A framerate cap clears it right up.

If you don't want to use sli, thats fine but don't push your excuses on others as fact.
Quote:


> As for Lightnings being "just as bad" as reference cards for overclocking, that's pretty much nonsense. Overclocking is _always_ a gamble. Lightning cards provide slightly better chances to win, and significantly better results if you do win. To put it in RPG terms, A lightning gives you +5 to crit chance, and +50 to crit damage. I don't think anyone would say that does not add _any_ value. The only question is if you are willing to pay for that extra benefit (or perhaps if you would rather that money go to +30 power instead
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ).


This makes no sense.

The only advantage that these cards have over a reference card is an arguably better cooler and the LN2 bios that allows a higher core voltage.

MSI doesn't bin these chips, you aren't getting "a slightly better chance to win". All that these cards do is allow you to squeeze out a few more mhz from whatever gpu that you happen to get by using a higher core voltage.


----------



## Chomuco

3dmark gtx 680 lightning ? !!!

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/718823


----------



## Brenton

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> 3dmark gtx 680 lightning ? !!!
> 
> http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/718823


2 gtx Lightnings Valley Bench!...still very good cards

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b275/Brentonian/ValleyBench2_zps00109709.jpg


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Not really, as mentioned that is at 1.26v and with gpu boost essentially disabled. The card isn't rated to hit a 1202mhz boost clock at 1.18v like the 770 lightning. I've had two of these cards that couldn't do that.
> 
> With a 770 from the looks of things you can be sure that on average you're getting a chip that'll clock better.
> I saw ~1.18v iirc.
> Yes but most don't. GTX770 is guaranteed to hit at least a 1202mhz boost clock on the default bios. There is no gamble, it will. These are clearly binned chips.
> I'm sorry but your post makes no sense. I'll address your two points.
> 
> First of all sli is what it is. You can check out benchmarks all day. In general it scales very well. Obviously you can use settings with two GTX 670s or 680s that you couldn't dream of using on a single GTX680 in most games. I don't know what problems you had but you're in the vast minority.
> 
> I am also extremely sensitive to microstutter. I've discussed it in several threads. Its not a big issue on Kepler. If you had any experience with these cards in sli you would know that.
> 
> Also even with the setups that do show microstutter there are ways around it that work very well on your 60hz display. A framerate cap clears it right up.
> 
> If you don't want to use sli, thats fine but don't push your excuses on others as fact.
> This makes no sense.
> 
> The only advantage that these cards have over a reference card is an arguably better cooler and the LN2 bios that allows a higher core voltage.
> 
> MSI doesn't bin these chips, you aren't getting "a slightly better chance to win". All that these cards do is allow you to squeeze out a few more mhz from whatever gpu that you happen to get by using a higher core voltage.


SLi issues are fact, not opinion. SLi issues being unimportant to you is opinion. No one is _pushing_ anything, only rebutting your claim that SLi is inherently better with no downsides, as that is simply untrue. Benchmarks only tell a small part of the story. Fact.

Lightning cards have completely redesigned PCBs. They do more than just give you better cooling, they also give your cleaner power and more voltage headroom to play with. These things affect overclocking weather you like it or not. I'm not saying that a poor chip will magically overclock well just because of a better PCB, but a good chip _will_ benefit from it. A borderline chip might just get enough of an edge to clock higher than it would on a reference PCB. Lastly, MSI does in fact do some minor binning. You can't sell a factory overclocked card without first confirming that it will run at the factory overclock. With a reference card running at reference speeds, you aren't guaranteed anything above stock. A chip that can run at 104mhz above stock is more likely to run at greater than 104mhz than a chip that cannot. There may not be a large number of chips that fall into this category, but they do in fact exist, and buying a Lightning weeds out those total duds. You can choose to ignore these aspects because you feel they are not _significant enough_ for whatever metric you are using, but pretending they have no effect whatsoever is absurd.

Lastly, my panel is running at 96hz, and will be running at 120hz again when I get my 680 back from RMA. That's completely irrelevant to the topic at hand, but I felt I needed to correct your presumption.


----------



## magiwizard

has anyone tried flashing 680 lightning to 770 lightning? I would do it but since I'm watercooled flashing the bios back after a failed attempt can be a pain in the ass so... -_- waiting for some brave soul to try


----------



## CalinTM

Why to flash it, only to see 770 name ?

@ BababooeyHTJ: So you say not every 680 can boost in games up to 1202Mhz on normal bios ?


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> @ BababooeyHTJ: So you say not every 680 can boost in games up to 1202Mhz on normal bios ?


Not without overclocking and not all will do it fully stable.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> SLi issues are fact, not opinion. SLi issues being unimportant to you is opinion. No one is _pushing_ anything, only rebutting your claim that SLi is inherently better with no downsides, as that is simply untrue. Benchmarks only tell a small part of the story. Fact.


No offense but you don't know what you are talking about and it shows. Did I ever say that sli doesn't have a single downside? No, what I am saying is that it has far less than you claim. What always cracks me up is that the people who complain about sli the most are the ones that have the least experience with it. You don't see many people complaining about sli on the forums. There is a reason for that.

When is the last time that you even tried sli? That sli on a stick (gtx295) from four generations ago? You don't think that Nvidia has made any improvements in the past five years? There have been many articles written about microsutter in recent years if you care to educate yourself about the subject.
Quote:


> MSI does in fact do some minor binning.











Quote:


> Lastly, my panel is running at 96hz, and will be running at 120hz again when I get my 680 back from RMA. That's completely irrelevant to the topic at hand, but I felt I needed to correct your presumption.


That statement right there just shows how little you know about the subject of microstutter. There is a reason that I bought up the 60hz comment. Its easy to set up a hard cap, not that I've ever had to do that with Kepler anyways.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Not without overclocking and not all will do it fully stable.
> No offense but you don't know what you are talking about and it shows. Did I ever say that sli doesn't have a single downside? No, what I am saying is that it has far less than you claim. What always cracks me up is that the people who complain about sli the most are the ones that have the least experience with it. You don't see many people complaining about sli on the forums. There is a reason for that.
> 
> When is the last time that you even tried sli? That sli on a stick (gtx295) from four generations ago? You don't think that Nvidia has made any improvements in the past five years? There have been many articles written about microsutter in recent years if you care to educate yourself about the subject.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That statement right there just shows how little you know about the subject of microstutter. There is a reason that I bought up the 60hz comment. Its easy to set up a hard cap, not that I've ever had to do that with Kepler anyways.


Gee, you sure are right about how no one in this forum ever complains about SLi. http://www.overclock.net/newsearch?search=sli+issues

I've used SLi several times. I currently use a machine with dual 670s a few times a week. Shocker, I don't list machines I don't personally own.
Exactly what experience do _you_ have? Based on your logic that users have only used hardware listed in their sig rigs, you've never even touched a nvidia card, yet alone two or more in SLi. Yes, I know how incredibly stupid that sounds, that is exactly the point.

Microstutter still very much exists. Improvement is not elimination.

Prove to me that every single reference 680 is capable of running at stock lightning clocks without issue. I don't need to prove common sense.

Now, with that all said, please educate me, oh great one. How does using a 60hz panel magically eliminate microstutter? How does a 120hz panel magically transform into a 60hz panel? How does any of that have anything to do with frame limiters? Oh that's right, it doesn't. There are no magical work arounds for microstutter, there are only ways to lessen its severity at the expense of responsiveness.

It's cool and all that you have conviction in your opinions, but they're just that, nothing more. Quit making presumptions about other users, and if you want proof, be prepared to first provide some of your own.


----------



## CalinTM

@BababooeyHTJ: Oh, that's nice i guess, i thought all 680 lightnings can boost to 1202 in games. So i got some good card after all. You think if i push on +70mV on LN2 bios to gain 1280Mhz you think it's safe for the card, i mean to not broke, in say, 1 more year ? (because next year i will upgrade to a 880 or possible a dual gpu 8 series nvidia). Some one told me that is save every voltage afterburner puts, as long as i don't mod afterburner to use even more voltage or use the extreme edition.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Gee, you sure are right about how no one in this forum ever complains about SLi. http://www.overclock.net/newsearch?search=sli+issues
> 
> I've used SLi several times. I currently use a machine with dual 670s a few times a week. Shocker, I don't list machines I don't personally own.
> Exactly what experience do _you_ have? Based on your logic that users have only used hardware listed in their sig rigs, you've never even touched a nvidia card, yet alone two or more in SLi. Yes, I know how incredibly stupid that sounds, that is exactly the point.
> 
> Microstutter still very much exists. Improvement is not elimination.
> 
> Prove to me that every single reference 680 is capable of running at stock lightning clocks without issue. I don't need to prove common sense.
> 
> Now, with that all said, please educate me, oh great one. How does using a 60hz panel magically eliminate microstutter? How does a 120hz panel magically transform into a 60hz panel? How does any of that have anything to do with frame limiters? Oh that's right, it doesn't. There are no magical work arounds for microstutter, there are only ways to lessen its severity at the expense of responsiveness.
> 
> It's cool and all that you have conviction in your opinions, but they're just that, nothing more. Quit making presumptions about other users, and if you want proof, be prepared to first provide some of your own.


i was under the impression that Nvidia cards had very little microstutter in SLI. Way less then AMD cards. Im pretty sure that microstutter gets worse for each additional card you add also. like 3 and 4

The most i would personally use is 2 cards but i don't because you lose some of your OC for each additional card you add also and i try to get the most out of my money and single card overclocking does that for me.

I don't think at any point i would ever SLI. i like powerful single chip cards.
780 is looking pretty sweet but its just not enough of a gain from a 680LE so im just gonna skip to the 880


----------



## Shperax

Is anyone having problems with the new 320.18 driver? I always like having the newest driver but ive heard lots of horror stories on this driver.


----------



## bozzd

hi guys, does anyone hv problem overclocking with AB 3 beta 10?bcoz im unable to overclock my lightning, ive flashed it using 3A bios 2months ago n it was perfect overclock it using any afterburner version. but last night when trying to overclock even adding +50mhz its become unstable..any idea wht happens?
thanks for the answers in advance


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *magiwizard*
> 
> has anyone tried flashing 680 lightning to 770 lightning? I would do it but since I'm watercooled flashing the bios back after a failed attempt can be a pain in the ass so... -_- waiting for some brave soul to try


I'd be surprised if the 680L unlocked BIOS didn't improve the 770L. The other way around, not so much.

Shouldn't we change the name of this thread to the [Official] MSI GTX 680 Lightning and 770 Lightning Owners Club? Might as well invite the 770-L users, since it is essentially the same card.


----------



## Shperax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bozzd*
> 
> hi guys, does anyone hv problem overclocking with AB 3 beta 10?bcoz im unable to overclock my lightning, ive flashed it using 3A bios 2months ago n it was perfect overclock it using any afterburner version. but last night when trying to overclock even adding +50mhz its become unstable..any idea wht happens?
> thanks for the answers in advance


As far as i know only beta 9
and 2.2.3 voltage controllers actually work correctly
The other version do nothing to your voltage


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> As far as i know only beta 9
> and 2.2.3 voltage controllers actually work correctly
> The other version do nothing to your voltage


Yes, it sounds like his voltages are no longer being applied. But the AB profile edit on page one of this thread will unlock the voltage sliders on every version of AB from 2.2.3. Beta 9 was special only because it didn't need the edit.


----------



## nick112

hey guys,
got a question for you.
I have a 680 lightning now for a year and I am thinking of watercooling it. i already have a cpu loop.
I have a 200mm rad and a 240mm rad will this be enough for a i5 3570k and the 680?
If yes what block would you recommend? already seen the aqua computer and EK.
Thanks!


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> 7970s run hot, the twinfrozr works very well on the 680 Lightnings, but the 7970s really want water. I like the sound level of the TF cooler over reference coolers on the 7970, but air cooling doesn't really cut it for overclocking the AMD cards.
> All the 680 Lightnings boost to 1202 on the ln2 bios at stock.
> But then the Titan overclocks too, unless putting a golden 780 up against a dog of a Titan, the 780 isn't going to beat the Titan in the hands of an overclocker.


The "real" question is the Titan worth the $500 price over the 780? Performance/ dollar not looking too good with the Titan but the argument for the extra vram come in play too. What ever I guess...


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> 7970s run hot, the twinfrozr works very well on the 680 Lightnings, but the 7970s really want water. I like the sound level of the TF cooler over reference coolers on the 7970, but air cooling doesn't really cut it for overclocking the AMD cards.
> All the 680 Lightnings boost to 1202 on the ln2 bios at stock.
> But then the Titan overclocks too, unless putting a golden 780 up against a dog of a Titan, the 780 isn't going to beat the Titan in the hands of an overclocker.


The "real" question is the Titan worth the $500 price over the 780? Performance/ dollar not looking too good with the Titan but the argument for the extra vram come in play too. What ever I guess...


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nick112*
> 
> hey guys,
> got a question for you.
> I have a 680 lightning now for a year and I am thinking of watercooling it. i already have a cpu loop.
> I have a 200mm rad and a 240mm rad will this be enough for a i5 3570k and the 680?
> If yes what block would you recommend? already seen the aqua computer and EK.
> Thanks!


I run 2 Lightnings OCed @ 1350/7000 1.35v and a 2600k @ 4.8 1.4v with 240mm and 200mm rads. Check out my pics... I have a very similar setup as yours but I am doing a push/pull on the 200mm. I am going to get better 200mm fans because the stock fans for the 600t are horrible.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Brenton*
> 
> 2 gtx Lightnings Valley Bench!...still very good cards
> 
> http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b275/Brentonian/ValleyBench2_zps00109709.jpg


nice!!! What clocks?


----------



## nick112

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> I run 2 Lightnings OCed @ 1350/7000 1.35v and a 2600k @ 4.8 1.4v with 240mm and 200mm rads. Check out my pics... I have a very similar setup as yours but I am doing a push/pull on the 200mm. I am going to get better 200mm fans because the stock fans for the 600t are horrible.


yeah right now i also have push pull on the 200mm rad, with both stock fans. may i ask what block you have on the gpu? and would the mx4 be a good paste for the gpu?


----------



## bozzd

back to AB 3 beta 9, everything run smooth. however I've got this message/warning whenever i open the AB 3beta9 where it says," Warning! This version expires on Wednesday, June 05, 2013, 10:00:31!"
does anyone have this kind of message/warning?and if it expires that means I wont be able to use it after that day? thanks


----------



## Rei86

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> The "real" question is the Titan worth the $500 price over the 780? Performance/ dollar not looking too good with the Titan but the argument for the extra vram come in play too. What ever I guess...


The Titan is 350 over the price of a 780.

For that 350 you're getting the ability to 4-Way SLI, 3GB more of VRAM, 2 more SMX cores...384 more Cuda Cores, and the ability of Double Precision.


----------



## gpvecchi

I'm about to buy a 770 Lightning; will I be able to SLI with my actual 680L if I flash same bios for both? Thanks


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rei86*
> 
> The Titan is 350 over the price of a 780.
> 
> For that 350 you're getting the ability to 4-Way SLI, 3GB more of VRAM, 2 more SMX cores...384 more Cuda Cores, and the ability of Double Precision.


That extra vram and more cores are why the Titan OCs like a dog. And due to diminishing returns in scaling, 4-way SLI gives a horrible RoI. None of these "features" is worth a dime to me, much less $350.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> I'm about to buy a 770 Lightning; will I be able to SLI with my actual 680L if I flash same bios for both? Thanks


I haven't heard of anyone doing this yet, so unless someone here has had this experience and can tell us how it went, all you are going to get are educated guesses (and uneducated guesses). FWIW, mine is that it will work, especially if you can find a BIOS that works nicely on both of them.

Another guess is that down-dating with the 680L's unlocked LN2 BIOS would be better than up-dating with the 770L BIOS. Do let us know how it goes. I have a selfish interest here: I was set to get a second 680L for SLI but I couldn't find one. If the 770L works with the 680L in SLI, I'll be quite pleased.


----------



## Rei86

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> I'm about to buy a 770 Lightning; will I be able to SLI with my actual 680L if I flash same bios for both? Thanks


Till someone does it I'm going to say no. nVidia is treating the 770 as a different GPU from the 680. If you want to flash your 680L with the 770L BIOS and see if it can be "unlocked" good luck too you
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> That extra vram and more cores are why the Titan OCs like a dog. And due to diminishing returns in scaling, 4-way SLI gives a horrible RoI. None of these "features" is worth a dime to me, much less $350.


Burden of more. Either ways that's a reason to keep a 350 dollar price gap between the two, allowing nVidia to have a price gap filer between the Titan and the older 680, Won't shock me since the GTX 770 is a MSRP of 399.99 that we might see a GTX 775 to fill in the gap between the GTX 780 649.99 and the GTX 770 399.99.


----------



## Brenton

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> nice!!! What clocks?


set at 1400 / 7000 both cards in AB 3.0 beta 10 with the config. edit for voltage control (set at +80mV core, +0 mem and +0 aux)

It appears maybe the new 770 lightnings are really 680 lightnings with some of the oci'ng pre-done on them?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> I'm about to buy a 770 Lightning; will I be able to SLI with my actual 680L if I flash same bios for both? Thanks


They are basically the same card, as long as the core is identified as the same & the memory controller is the same (to work properly when flashed from one to the other) sli should work.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> That extra vram and more cores are why the Titan OCs like a dog. And due to diminishing returns in scaling, 4-way SLI gives a horrible RoI. None of these "features" is worth a dime to me, much less $350.


I haven't really seen that 780s OC a lot better, looks like most are doing low to mid 1200s on the core overclocked, not exactly blowing Titan away. I do have to agree with 4 way sli, scaling is bad enough that it is almost a waste of a card.
The extra bit of performance in the Titan wouldn't be worth the $350 difference to most, but it is to some.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Brenton*
> 
> set at 1400 / 7000 both cards in AB 3.0 beta 10 with the config. edit for voltage control (set at +80mV core, +0 mem and +0 aux)
> 
> It appears maybe the new 770 lightnings are really 680 lightnings with some of the oci'ng pre-done on them?


Pretty much, just upgraded memory. Many 680s couldn't do much more than 1750Mhz mem overclocked, 770 starts there & overclocks . The guys who do have 680L that hit 2000Mhz memory basically have 770 Lightnings.


----------



## Gerbacio

sorry to jump in your thread guys!

i got a windforce 3 770 yesterday and today is dead

it was astonishingly silent!

i been contemplating getting the Lightning due to their reputation!

how silent is the cooler? (for example the windforce was nearly dead silent at 50%...and kept the card under 65 degrees @1300)

i might pull the trigger today or tomorrow


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nick112*
> 
> yeah right now i also have push pull on the 200mm rad, with both stock fans. may i ask what block you have on the gpu? and would the mx4 be a good paste for the gpu?


I am using the Aquacomputer AquagraFX:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=59_971_240_999&products_id=37736


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Brenton*
> 
> set at 1400 / 7000 both cards in AB 3.0 beta 10 with the config. edit for voltage control (set at +80mV core, +0 mem and +0 aux)
> 
> It appears maybe the new 770 lightnings are really 680 lightnings with some of the oci'ng pre-done on them?


Very nice...I get around 94FPS in Valley. My cards will do around 1380/7000, any higher and I have to give it a lot of volts. One of my cards will actually hit 1500 on the core with some serious volts Don't have the extreme cooling to bench it there though.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Pretty much, just upgraded memory. Many 680s couldn't do much more than 1750Mhz mem overclocked, 770 starts there & overclocks . The guys who do have 680L that hit 2000Mhz memory basically have 770 Lightnings.


Have you seen any benchmarks at those sort of clocks?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> i was under the impression that Nvidia cards had very little microstutter in SLI.


Thats true, its usually best to ignore people complaining that can't come up with any specific examples.
Quote:


> Way less then AMD cards. Im pretty sure that microstutter gets worse for each additional card you add also. like 3 and 4
> 
> The most i would personally use is 2 cards but i don't because you lose some of your OC for each additional card you add also and i try to get the most out of my money and single card overclocking does that for me.


I've never heard that. There are methods to measure microstutter. I would be interested to see FCAT measurements in tri-sli. I haven't heard any complaints.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Shperax*
> 
> Is anyone having problems with the new 320.18 driver? I always like having the newest driver but ive heard lots of horror stories on this driver.


I've been using it without issue. If you listen to all of the complainers at guru3d and Nvidia forums that for all you know have been having issues beforehand you'll never update your drivers.

Then again there isn't a need to update the driver unless you're playing something new like Metro last light. This driver helped a lot in Tomb Raider for me.


----------



## CrazyElf

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> That extra vram and more cores are why the Titan OCs like a dog. And due to diminishing returns in scaling, 4-way SLI gives a horrible RoI. None of these "features" is worth a dime to me, much less $350.


Pretty much you get really good scaling with a second card (like 90% on well supported titles), then adding a third card it tends to drop a lot.

Realistically with a Titan, you get 3gb more VRAM (compared to a 780), which really is of limited value, save for high resolution mods on Skyrim and maybe if have a multi-monitor setup. I wonder what the average Titan OCs are. Perhaps ~1150 MHz? I mean, if "Titan Lightning" came out, we could see perhaps ~1,300 MHz seeing that the PCB is also a bottleneck for OCing on the Titan, but due to Nvidia's policies ...








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Pretty much, just upgraded memory. Many 680s couldn't do much more than 1750Mhz mem overclocked, 770 starts there & overclocks . The guys who do have 680L that hit 2000Mhz memory basically have 770 Lightnings.


What modules do these 770 Lightnings have? I can't remember the 680s, but the 7970 Lightnings carried H5GQ2H24MFR-R0C rated for 1500 MHz. How good are the memory clocks that people have been getting?

If people are frequently getting 1,400 MHz Core and 2,000 MHz RAM, this will be awesome.


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CrazyElf*
> 
> Pretty much you get really good scaling with a second card (like 90% on well supported titles), then adding a third card it tends to drop a lot.


Thats not really all that true. You're just more likely to run into cpu limitations with three cards. In gpu limited games or when using SSAA like I like to do a third card tends to scale very well.

Here is a good forum review on GTX 680 tri-sli scaling with realistic settings that I would actually use.


----------



## gpvecchi

At the end, I ordered another 680L to SLI with mine, I can't risk the 770L not to be compatible.
I found some on ebay.it @ €437; 770L costs €458; I'll eventually try 770L bios flashing when I'll be sure...
EDIT: will a Seasonic M12D 850W will be enough for my SLI+3570k and some overclock?


----------



## shilka

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> EDIT: will a Seasonic M12D 850W will be enough for my SLI+3570k and some overclock?


You have more then enough power you could have 3 video cards


----------



## gpvecchi

Thanks!


----------



## gkolarov

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Have you seen any benchmarks at those sort of clocks?
> Thats true, its usually best to ignore people complaining that can't come up with any specific examples.
> I've never heard that. There are methods to measure microstutter. I would be interested to see FCAT measurements in tri-sli. I haven't heard any complaints.
> I've been using it without issue. If you listen to all of the complainers at guru3d and Nvidia forums that for all you know have been having issues beforehand you'll never update your drivers.
> 
> Then again there isn't a need to update the driver unless you're playing something new like Metro last light. This driver helped a lot in Tomb Raider for me.


680L 1372/8000

another picture


----------



## 66racer

Hey guys, wanted to ask a voltage question. I picked up a gamer msi gtx770 and it can do 1.212 stock. Since you guys have had unlocked voltage a while, what amount is considered high for 24/7. I havent started overclocking at 1.212 yet but got "only" 1254mhz on 1.200 and want to squeeze a bit more out of the card.

Thanks


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shilka*
> 
> You have more then enough power you could have 3 video cards


Keep in mind power consumption goes up pretty fast with increased clocks & voltage, with max voltage (+100) on 2 x 680 lightnings at 1400 core along with a moderately clocked 3770k this will pull 1000w + from the wall. 850W should be adequate for the 2 cards, but no chance for tri sli with overclocking.


----------



## Zero4549

My second replacement just came in. Identical issue as the last one. 'Bout to rage fit.

My 560Ti works in every PCIE slot, with every set of power cables. No issue. Works overclocked, works with reset BIOS, whatever.

680L refuses to work in any slot with any cables.

680L + 560ti refuses to work in any setup.

No matter what I do, as soon as I introduce the 680L into the system, it refuses to boot. I get POST hangs at 2b, 75, 7F, or occasionally make it all the way to FF but not display anything on the screen and the keyboard LEDs (caps lock, etc) will not respond. Sometimes POST codes just cycle endlessly making little beeps everytime C1 comes up.

Now... this is the SECOND replacement I've gotten from MSI RMA. I'm completely at a loss. Is it really possible they sent me _three_ defective cards _in a row_, and that the last 2 have identical issues?

I almost want to think it's something wrong with my MOBO, but I just can't reproduce the issue with any hardware other than the 680L, _and even the original 680L worked fine for a few months!_ I've also thought it could be my somewhat old PSU giving out, but I can overvolt my CPU and 560ti to high heaven and they work fine. I can even toss my old 295 into the second slot and it'll still boot without issue. Surely a 680L and the same CPU both at stock don't draw more power than that!

Do I go through another month of waiting for MSI RMA to send me another 680L or what? What would you guys do? I'm completely at a loss here.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Keep in mind power consumption goes up pretty fast with increased clocks & voltage, with max voltage (+100) on 2 x 680 lightnings at 1400 core along with a moderately clocked 3770k this will pull 1000w + from the wall. 850W should be adequate for the 2 cards, but no chance for tri sli with overclocking.


This.

1.36v 1400Mhz 680 Lightnings really suck the juice.


----------



## 66racer

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> This.
> 
> 1.36v 1400Mhz 680 Lightnings really suck the juice.


Im guessing this is only a benchmark setting? Trying to find out what the highest 24/7 volt should be. Picked up a msi gamer 770 and it can do 1.212v but not sure if its worth it....considering you guys are putting 1.36v to them even if its just for benching guess 1.212 is a fine 24/7 gaming setup lol


----------



## setza

So MSI is announcing a gtx 780 lightning at computex...damn.

http://videocardz.com/42549/msi-teasing-geforce-gtx-780-lightning-at-computex


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> So MSI is announcing a gtx 780 lightning at computex...damn.
> 
> http://videocardz.com/42549/msi-teasing-geforce-gtx-780-lightning-at-computex


OH YEA!!!


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> So MSI is announcing a gtx 780 lightning at computex...damn. http://videocardz.com/42549/msi-teasing-geforce-gtx-780-lightning-at-computex


Well, that's it for the Titan









But this is a tough one: my 680L does all I need game-wise, and I love fooling with it. Do I wait for Maxwell as I'd planned, or snap up two of these little monsters? Game changer, isn't it?


----------



## InvalidUserID

Kind of late to the party but I picked up a 680 Lightning to replace my GTX 480.


----------



## Zero4549

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *InvalidUserID*
> 
> Kind of late to the party but I picked up a 680 Lightning to replace my GTX 480.


Have you tested it, does it work?

I've been having a lot of issues with the replacement cards I've gotten back from RMA even though my original one worked fine. We have very similar motherboards, so I thought I'd ask.


----------



## InvalidUserID

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zero4549*
> 
> Have you tested it, does it work?
> 
> I've been having a lot of issues with the replacement cards I've gotten back from RMA even though my original one worked fine. We have very similar motherboards, so I thought I'd ask.


I'm using it right now, so far so good.


----------



## MrMarauder

And now we wait....


----------



## Qlix

is there a way to get AB to stop dropping down to +93 core voltage and stay at +100 like its set?


----------



## rankftw

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> is there a way to get AB to stop dropping down to +93 core voltage and stay at +100 like its set?


Try version 2.3.1


----------



## bozzd

hi guys need help here. flashed my lightning with 3A bios 2months ago, everything was fine till i recently attempt to mod this 3A bios with kepler bios tweaker. this is where the problem begin. after 10-15minutes playing dota 2 all of a sudden the application exit to windows, occured many times so i flashed back to the original 3A bios unfortunately the problem persist. any ideas wht the problem is?


----------



## driftingforlife

What did you mod? Also why, your not going to get a better OC.


----------



## bozzd

ikr..i was being silly T__T
n actually i can overclocked my card 1320mhz for core clock n 7008 for memory. does uninstalling driver might help solve the problem?


----------



## driftingforlife

What did you change in the BIOS?


----------



## bozzd

i change the baseclock n memory clock and also voltage pattern however ive flashed it back with original 3A bios..


----------



## driftingforlife

Im just wondering if you damaged something with that BIOS. Try new drivers and test the card on the normal BIOS.


----------



## bozzd

normal bios means the 3A or factory bios?


----------



## driftingforlife

The NON LN2 BIOS.


----------



## bozzd

ok bro..thx for the help.i might do it tonite after work.


----------



## StreekG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rankftw*
> 
> Try version 2.3.1


Can confirm this version works a treat with the modified profile settings to unlock the voltage.

Voltage stays at +100 always.


----------



## gpvecchi

My order for another 680 Lightning has been canceled as no longer available...
As cheap 680 Lightning are not available over internet, I'd go for a 770...
I have the 770 L bioses (thanks to an user of this forum), who dares flashing it?
EDIT: it seems that LN2 bios has the same limits of non-LN2...


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> My order for another 680 Lightning has been canceled as no longer available...
> As cheap 680 Lightning are not available over internet, I'd go for a 770...
> I have the 770 L bioses (thanks to an user of this forum), who dares flashing it?
> EDIT: it seems that LN2 bios has the same limits of non-LN2...


If you PM a link to the BIOS, I'll flash my cards and let you know !


----------



## CrazyElf

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Thats not really all that true. You're just more likely to run into cpu limitations with three cards. In gpu limited games or when using SSAA like I like to do a third card tends to scale very well.
> 
> Here is a good forum review on GTX 680 tri-sli scaling with realistic settings that I would actually use.


Right now I'm basing my statement on this review here:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_680_3_way_sli_review,1.html

Metro 2033 saw good scaling, as did the synthetics, and Lost Planet 2 wasn't bad, but most games saw rapidly diminishing returns. You get really good returns when you add a second card and from there, the returns seem to go downhill.


----------



## rankftw

Can someone upload the 770 Lightning BIOS files so I can try them.


----------



## Qlix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> Can confirm this version works a treat with the modified profile settings to unlock the voltage.
> 
> Voltage stays at +100 always.


but is it Heaven stable? Only version of AB i could ever get to work well with Heaven was 2.2.3


----------



## Rei86

[H] put up a N770 Lightning OC review.

http://hardocp.com/article/2013/06/06/msi_n770_lightning_overclocking_review/1#.UbFyYZwrpbg


----------



## Mackenzie69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jcamp6336*
> 
> Some of the posts in this thread have lead me to believe that new Lightnings no longer overclock good. Is this true?


i own one of the newer ones and you can still hit around 1300mhz on them but now when you get around 1280 if you dont have good enough cooling they wont push much more mind you this is with a modded bios ive not be able to reach these clocks on stock ln2 either locked or un locked


----------



## nas75013

gpvecchi can you give me 770L BIOSes? I will try and i will give you feedback more effectively!


----------



## Brenton

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rei86*
> 
> [H] put up a N770 Lightning OC review.
> 
> http://hardocp.com/article/2013/06/06/msi_n770_lightning_overclocking_review/1#.UbFyYZwrpbg


After reading that, I am thinking my 2 gtx 680 Lightnings with GPU boost 1 (which OC to 1400/7000, with +80mV core on unlocked bios) may be better than the gtx 770 lightnings with GPU Boost 2
(unless there is an unlocked bios for the 770 Lightnings)?


----------



## gpvecchi

For everyone asking for 770L bios: to be polite, I asked to the person who gave it to me if I can post it...
If it's ok, I'll post it later!

OK, I had the permissions (you have to thank Gerbacio)!

https://mega.co.nz/#!g1oVlBiR!fnTtqHapcOZ1dh0mPrcu3iPzM1xSRfELSFJ-_322sz4


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> For everyone asking for 770L bios: to be polite, I asked to the person who gave it to me if I can post it...
> If it's ok, I'll post it later!
> 
> OK, I had the permissions (you have to thank Gerbacio)!
> 
> https://mega.co.nz/#!g1oVlBiR!fnTtqHapcOZ1dh0mPrcu3iPzM1xSRfELSFJ-_322sz4


Sweet ! I'll have these flashed this evening !


----------



## gpvecchi

Please let me know how it goes; in particular I'm not sure 680L and 770L has the same memory chips. But as I can't find an affordable 680L, I'd buy buy a 770L if I can match bioses...

Oh, I can't download from Mega using Firefox Nightly, if you have problems just use Explorer.


----------



## Gerbacio

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> For everyone asking for 770L bios: to be polite, I asked to the person who gave it to me if I can post it...
> If it's ok, I'll post it later!
> 
> OK, I had the permissions (you have to thank Gerbacio)!
> 
> https://mega.co.nz/#!g1oVlBiR!fnTtqHapcOZ1dh0mPrcu3iPzM1xSRfELSFJ-_322sz4


thanks for giving me credit bro ...appreciate it!

some info

the Bios 1 overclocks better for me on air than the LN2

the Bios one also for some crazy reason without the +12 gives me better steady clocks ....im rocking 7822 memory and 1300 core! on air stock cooler

if i give it the +12 the memory becomes unsable and dosnt do much past 7k ....the core also becomes unstable past 1265! this makes no sense!

i just did like 4 back to back Valley runs on those clocks, rebooted and did 2 more ...not a hiccup!...it dosnt make any sense ! cause if i use LN2 bios or i use any of the two with the +12 it dosnt clock nearly as much and it becomes unstable!


----------



## nas75013

Thanks mate, i try right now!

Edit: Be carreful, the mame of BIOSes are reverse nonLN2.rom and LN2.rom.


----------



## Deano12345

So just tried to flash the BIOS and its telling me no matches found, even flashed back to the 680 LN2 BIOS to check it wasn't the cards acting up. Anyone have any ideas ?


----------



## nas75013

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> So just tried to flash the BIOS and its telling me no matches found, even flashed back to the 680 LN2 BIOS to check it wasn't the cards acting up. Anyone have any ideas ?


Try with nvflash 5.134.0.1, it should work.


----------



## gpvecchi

You have to us -4 -5 -6 parameter. Did someone flashed?


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> You have to us -4 -5 -6 parameter. Did someone flashed?


Still tells me there's no matches. This is the screenshot 

Ignore the -6 command and Palit BIOS, I was just testing stuff out. Putting the Lightning BIOS and the -4 -5 -6 gives the exact same error


----------



## gpvecchi

Did you use this?

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2231/nvflash-5-134-0-1-for-windows/

There's a readme in it...

According to it, you can try

nvflash.exe --index=0 -4 -5 -6 biosname


----------



## Deano12345

Yeah I used that one, didn't read that readme though ! I will once I get home


----------



## Qlix

I'm curious why anyone would even try this. The only difference between a 770 and 680 lightning is memory speed if I'm not mistaken. And you can pretty much oc a 680 to 770 levels anyway. Why risk your card just for it to tell you it's a 770? What are we really hoping to gain out this?


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> I'm curious why anyone would even try this. The only difference between a 770 and 680 lightning is memory speed if I'm not mistaken. And you can pretty much oc a 680 to 770 levels anyway. Why risk your card just for it to tell you it's a 770? What are we really hoping to gain out this?


Im just curious to see what happens. More out of boredom than anything else !


----------



## Qlix

That I respect. Just hope no one is expecting monstrous results, they're the same card. Only benefit I can see would be for SLI.


----------



## nas75013

My feedback after the flash and gtx 770 driver installed

The card work like a gtx 770 lightning.
But in gpu-z your card stay a gtx 680 (not recognized like a gtx 770).
In Afterburner your card is recognized like a gtx 680 vanilla not a gtx 680 lightning and not like gtx 770 lightning, so you loose your lightning feature.
And when you run 3Dmark11 your card is recognized like a generic vga card; score 10900 point.

gtx 680 lightning with gtx 770 lightning bios = <10DE,1180,1462,2835>

original gtx 770 lightning = <10DE,1184,1462,2835>

10DE = Nvidia
1180 = gtx680 device ID
1184 = gtx770 device ID
1462 = MSI
2835 = Pci subsytem ID

When you flash with the gtx 770 L bios 1180 = gtx680 device ID doesn't change!
That why you got a card weird!


----------



## Deano12345

Good news, I can get higher stable clocks. Bad news, can't get the cards to display. Only know the clocks are higher since I booted with one card having a 680 BIOS and running Valley


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nas75013*
> 
> My feedback after the flash and gtx 770 driver installed
> 
> The card work like a gtx 770 lightning.
> But in gpu-z your card stay a gtx 680 (not reconize like gtx 770).
> In Afterburner your card is reconize like a gtx 680 vanilla not a gtx 680 lightning and not like gtx 770 lightning, so you loose your lightning feature.
> And when you run 3Dmark11 your card is reconize like a generic vga card; score 10900 point.
> 
> gtx 680 lightning with gtx 770 lightning bios = <10DE,1180,1462,2835>
> 
> original gtx 770 lightning = <10DE,1184,1462,2835>
> 
> 10DE = Nvidia
> 1180 = gtx680 device ID
> 1184 = gtx770 device ID
> 1462 = MSI
> 2835 = Pci subsytem ID
> 
> When you flash with the gtx 770 L bios 1180 = gtx680 device ID doesn't change!
> That why you got a card weird!


the solution for change the name and device ID is completely erase the EPROM and after proceed to flash
do you remember GTX465 unlocked to 470? http://lab501.ro/placi-video/cum-transformi-geforce-gtx-465-in-gtx-470/2
the bad news is that the command "--eraseeeprom" doesn't work in the latest version of NVFLASH ...








I'm thinking how to do ...


----------



## gpvecchi

Mmmh, I presume it's a bug of nvflash, as devide ID doesn't change even if flashing a vanilla 680 to vanilla 770; editing the 770L bios reports 1184 device ID, so simply it is not flashed to 680L...
Did someone tested a pure DOS environment?


----------



## XbeaTX

i tried the latest DOS version and some older but doesn't work ... only 5.134.0.1 for Windows permit to flash

this is the result


http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/xbeaTX23/media/Immagine_zps60e4e2f2.jpg.html


----------



## Deano12345

I'm annoyed since I can definitely get higher clocks with the 770L BIOS, just cannot for the life of me figure out why the thing wont display when flashed. Bad flash maybe ?


----------



## Qlix

What do you mean "won't display". Could be a dumb question I just want to be clear as to what you truly mean.


----------



## Deano12345

Basically it'll boot, as in I can hear the Windows chime and the POST code on my board is A0 which means a normal boot. However neither my TV nor monitor detects it


----------



## Qlix

Ew. Bad news


----------



## Deano12345

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> Ew. Bad news


Yeah, gonna try some more things out tomorrow morning while the GP is on !


----------



## nas75013

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> i tried the latest DOS version and some older but doesn't work ... only 5.134.0.1 for Windows permit to flash
> 
> this is the result
> 
> 
> http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/xbeaTX23/media/Immagine_zps60e4e2f2.jpg.html


XbeaTX are you flashing the LN2 bios with the switch in LN2? because in the folder, name of bios are reverse!


----------



## gpvecchi

http://www.hardware.fr/medias/photos_news/00/41/IMG0041402_1.jpg
http://cdn.overclock.net/9/91/910878ba_front_full.jpeg
Naked 680L and 770L
They look absolutely the same...


----------



## magiwizard

All you need to do is clear cmos on your mobo and the display should work fine haha.. I ran into similar problems switching cards

Cheers,
Henry
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> Basically it'll boot, as in I can hear the Windows chime and the POST code on my board is A0 which means a normal boot. However neither my TV nor monitor detects it


----------



## XbeaTX

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nas75013*
> 
> XbeaTX are you flashing the LN2 bios with the switch in LN2? because in the folder, name of bios are reverse!


LN2 bios in ln2 switch position


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> Basically it'll boot, as in I can hear the Windows chime and the POST code on my board is A0 which means a normal boot. However neither my TV nor monitor detects it


Have you tried a different input. I know I had an issue one time where it had to be on Dual DVI to get a signal. It was more a Nvidia bug than anything else. Once I found that I was able to get my display port back working.


----------



## SK019

Did anyone here moved from GTX 680 Lightning to GTX 780? Would this be a worthy upgrade?
I run my Lightning at 1350/7000 and use 1200p monitor.

Thanks in advance.


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

How can I go about getting a replacement PCI bracket for the 680L (if possible)? I attempted to paint mine and it didn't turn out so nice.


----------



## Qlix

Afterburner 2.2.3 voltage settings are bouncing all over the place for me now. They refuse to stay where i set them. Which version had unlocked voltages plus stayed at +100mV?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> Afterburner 2.2.3 voltage settings are bouncing all over the place for me now. They refuse to stay where i set them. Which version had unlocked voltages plus stayed at +100mV?


2.3.1 with cfg edit.


----------



## Qlix

pretty sure we already determined that the config edit gave you +100 in settings but that it didnt feed more than 1.212... correct me if im wrong?


----------



## gpvecchi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XbeaTX*
> 
> i tried the latest DOS version and some older but doesn't work ... only 5.134.0.1 for Windows permit to flash
> 
> this is the result
> 
> 
> http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/xbeaTX23/media/Immagine_zps60e4e2f2.jpg.html


Just one question: did you reboot? New bios is completely loaded just after reboot...


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> Afterburner 2.2.3 voltage settings are bouncing all over the place for me now. They refuse to stay where i set them. Which version had unlocked voltages plus stayed at +100mV?


Using 3.0.0 Beta 10 with .cfg edit. Can confirm voltages are over 1.212.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colforbin*
> 
> Using 3.0.0 Beta 10 with .cfg edit. Can confirm voltages are over 1.212.


It was ok with beta 9, but not with the beta 10 for me. So i went back to 2.3.1


----------



## setza

Guys I had this really weird behaviour a while ago while running Unigine Valley. At certain overclock, the benchmark would crash. That's normal, but what isn't is that when I looked at AB it showed that just before the crash the power had gone to 180%. I was like lolwut. It never ever passes 80%. Idk how it would go to 180%. Maybe bad reading? It has happened twice now, always shows extremely high power just before the crash, like a 70% to 180% spike.


----------



## heyskip

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> Afterburner 2.2.3 voltage settings are bouncing all over the place for me now. They refuse to stay where i set them. Which version had unlocked voltages plus stayed at +100mV?


I had to be careful with that version as now and then when booting with a +voltage offset it would read something crazy like +238. I didn't measure with a DMM but the voltage was definitely way high as i could increase the core clock well above normal.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> pretty sure we already determined that the config edit gave you +100 in settings but that it didnt feed more than 1.212... correct me if im wrong?


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> It was ok with beta 9, but not with the beta 10 for me. So i went back to 2.3.1


Beta 10 with config edit is giving me the max of ~1.38v


----------



## SeekerZA

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *heyskip*
> 
> I had to be careful with that version as now and then when booting with a +voltage offset it would read something crazy like +238. I didn't measure with a DMM but the voltage was definitely way high as i could increase the core clock well above normal.
> 
> Beta 10 with config edit is giving me the max of ~1.38v


WoW! is that volts reading in OSD? or via volt meter? I get 1.28 i think it was on my lightning. If there's more voltages can anyone confirm this on beta 10?


----------



## Lurifaks

You can add me


----------



## CalinTM

On AB 3.0.0 Beta 10 there is some new monitoring things

FB, BUS, VID

What are does for ?


----------



## gpvecchi

Guys, I got it! To prevent bios flashing to most expensive cards (ex. GTX 690 to Tesla), nVidia set the board ID by soldering a set of resistors on the board.
680 may be turned into 770 changing this resistor:

Resistor n.3 has to be switched from 5k to 25k.
This is the PCB of a vanilla 680, I need to check if the Lightning is the same. Then, the most difficult thing, to solder an SMD resistor without killing the board...
EDIT: PCB is too different, need to find the right resistor...


----------



## DJRamses

Guru 3D has posted today, a special SE Edition of Afterburner for Lightnings (680/770)... for a little more"boom boom"
Link Forum

I ve not tested it....


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Guru 3D has posted today, a special SE Edition of Afterburner for Lightnings (680/770)... for a little more"boom boom"
> Link Forum
> 
> I ve not tested it....


After installing it tells me it's missing files or something is corrupt, weird...


----------



## elbubi

Tested it myself. It seems that the only change is database unlocked as it was with beta 9, so overvoltage is aloud without the need to edit profile.cfg.

At least in my case is that way.

Cheers!


----------



## Qlix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DJRamses*
> 
> Guru 3D has posted today, a special SE Edition of Afterburner for Lightnings (680/770)... for a little more"boom boom"
> Link Forum
> 
> I ve not tested it....


that DL tells me 3.0.0 beta 10. nothing about SE


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> Tested it myself. It seems that the only change is database unlocked as it was with beta 9, so overvoltage is aloud without the need to edit profile.cfg.
> 
> At least in my case is that way.
> 
> Cheers!


Same here.....no need to edit .cfg can confirm voltages over 1.212


----------



## Brenton

Same here, voltage unlocked with no config edit


----------



## detunedstring

Picked this baby up off a member here on OCN. Count me in!


----------



## StreekG

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> that DL tells me 3.0.0 beta 10. nothing about SE




I get upto 1.38V as another user mentioned on this page, but i'm using 2.3.1 with cfg edit.

Is this SE edition giving us more than that? I'm a bit confused.


----------



## CalinTM

So the SE, has only the unlocked voltage as the beta 9, or it goes higher than the beta 9 in terms of voltage tweaking...


----------



## MaTr1x

Hi all,

Been using a 680L now for a month and I like it







Flashed the 80.04.28.00.3A LN2 bios in the LN2 position, using AB 2.3.1 with the cfg edit and been trying some OC's. Highest my core does is 1397MHz in 3DM11. Not bad at all. I haven't tried the memory above 6912MHz (yet).

Since the default 3A LN2 BIOS has lower default settings I changed the BIOS myself so that I can run it with a moderate OC if I want to without the need of Afterburner.

What I did is I took the 3A BIOS, editted it with the Kepler BIOS Tweaker v1.25 and the only things I changed are:

Code:



Code:


base clock 1202
boost clock 1267.5
boost limit 1320.0
memory clock 3400

max table clock (boost table) 1320.0

This way it will boost up to 1320MHz max. Been playing GRID2 for 2 hours this way without any problems. Boost to 1346MHz crashes so that's why I lowered it a bit. If you guys are eager to try it yourselves I have uploaded the BIOS here. But just make sure beforehand that your card can run this so try to OC it yourself at these speeds first.

In comparison:
My standard non-LN2 BIOS (does 1254MHz boost btw), the default LN2 80.04.28.00.3A, and the tweaked LN2 80.04.28.00.3A (don't mind the 1.1 PCI-E speed, GPU-Z fluctuates between 1.1 & 3.0)


----------



## Deano12345

So after putting 8 on my rig, the 770 Lightning BIOS's work. Weird


----------



## Qlix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> 
> 
> I get upto 1.38V as another user mentioned on this page, but i'm using 2.3.1 with cfg edit.
> 
> Is this SE edition giving us more than that? I'm a bit confused.


IM blind. thanks didnt see that before. Lets see if its more stable than 2.2.3 now


----------



## bozzd

flash my 680L with 770L using AB beta 10 se..my card no longer throtle at 70C bcoz i set with temp target.nice features for overclockers with standard air cooler.


----------



## gpvecchi

Do you mean that the board is recognized as 770L?
In SE there's a different value for voltage controller in cfg file...


----------



## bozzd

still and remain as 680 however it works like 770


----------



## Mackenzie69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> Did you use this?
> 
> http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2231/nvflash-5-134-0-1-for-windows/
> 
> There's a readme in it...
> 
> According to it, you can try
> 
> nvflash.exe --index=0 -4 -5 -6 biosname


make sure when it asks if you wish to over-ride to type YES in caps or it wont allow you to continue


----------



## Mackenzie69

ya tried to flash with the 770L bios now i get no display from it ,good thing for integrated graphics


----------



## bozzd

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mackenzie69*
> 
> ya tried to flash with the 770L bios now i get no display from it ,good thing for integrated graphics


did u install the latest drivers from nvidia 320.18??if not then u shud go boot to windows using safe mode install latest drivers n u gud to go.


----------



## bozzd

btw is there anyone wanna sell their 680L.. PM me pls.thx


----------



## gpvecchi

I tried flashing 770L bios; AB beta 10 SE (no edit to cfg) shows "GTX 680" (no lightning) and all I can set is +12mV, 109% power limit and 95°.
Is this right or is it recognized as vanilla one?


----------



## bozzd

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gpvecchi*
> 
> I tried flashing 770L bios; AB beta 10 SE (no edit to cfg) shows "GTX 680" (no lightning) and all I can set is +12mV, 109% power limit and 95°.
> Is this right or is it recognized as vanilla one?


thats exactly wht happen to me..regardless edited with .cfg
however u can hack AB core voltage with artmoney..
1 drawbacks from 770 bios is that we no longer able to adjust memory voltage n aux..so sad


----------



## orwasmadi

hi guys, i will recieve 2 Lightnings today, i am not planing to overclock them at the moment until i can afford to watercool them, but my question is, is there anything fundamental to do regarding SLI'ing these bad boys ?
i hear alot about BIOS and stuff, is there any thing to do in the first step to make them work ?


----------



## Deano12345

They're plug and play, just connect the SLi cable and they'll work regardless of BIOS'. Ideally run them on the same BIOS so the cards boost to the same


----------



## Chomuco

new!!







GTX 680 Lightning

Standard BIOS : 80.04.28.00.39

LN2 BIOS= 80.04.28.00.3A



http://imageshack.us/a/img21/4862/atdd.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img835/7328/1hkw.jpg


----------



## Mackenzie69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bozzd*
> 
> did u install the latest drivers from nvidia 320.18??if not then u shud go boot to windows using safe mode install latest drivers n u gud to go.


that i do need to try then as im on 3.14 on that bios


----------



## Qlix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StreekG*
> 
> 
> 
> I get upto 1.38V as another user mentioned on this page, but i'm using 2.3.1 with cfg edit.
> 
> Is this SE edition giving us more than that? I'm a bit confused.


how the hell are you getting 1.38. Every ab I've used, unlocked, config edit, doesn't matter... I get more than 1.212 but never more than 1.268


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Qlix*
> 
> how the hell are you getting 1.38. Every ab I've used, unlocked, config edit, doesn't matter... I get more than 1.212 but never more than 1.268


Have you checked with a multimeter? No software will report the actual voltage.


----------



## bern43

Any suggestions of spots to sell my unopened Aquacomputer 680 Lightning blocks. I've listed them three separate times on ebay for what I consider to be really good prices and I've just been coming up blank. At this point I'm just throwing away listing fees. Really just looking for suggestions, have people had luck on Amazon?


----------



## colforbin

What are you looking to get for them?


----------



## Qlix

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Have you checked with a multimeter? No software will report the actual voltage.


no, I don't have the leads that come with the card (bought it used) and haven't tried to stick my *meter* leads in the plugs yet -.-


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

I've been playing with the new version of afterburner.

Here is my 3dmark11 score.







I would have loved to see what these cards can do with a 3770k.

Here is Heaven


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Have you checked with a multimeter? No software will report the actual voltage.


Yup, I thought that I had a problem with voltage throttling on one card on the LN2 bios. After checking with the DMM it stayed at a constant 1.25v. Don't trust software reading I guess.


----------



## saint19

Well, my wallet goes broken finally and all my things are in sale except my GTX 680 (Special feeling for it).

I think that change 680 for 780 isn't good idea, the performance difference isn't high enough I think.


----------



## Qlix

Has anyone used CLP/CLU on these with success?


----------



## Kimir

I still love my pair lightnings







:


----------



## Mackenzie69

there anyone to reflash a bricked 680L i just get beeping on mine and cant load into anything on the ln2bios


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mackenzie69*
> 
> there anyone to reflash a bricked 680L i just get beeping on mine and cant load into anything on the ln2bios


Will it boot in the normal bios?


----------



## Shperax

I'm sure its been said before but Afterburner 3.0.0 beta 10 voltage control works perfectly fine and doesn't that have bug that 2.2.3 has when you hit apply.

All though i did extensively test Nvidia drivers and i found that the 320.18 drivers do in fact give you a performance decrease of about -6 to -8 FPS Average

Rolling back to the 314 whql gives the FPS back


----------



## 66racer

Hi guys I was wondering about temps and figure you guys may know. How hot would you allow the vrms and memory modules to get? I technically have an Asus 770 and while different Its practically the same. I took the stock cooler off and put an h70 corsair on it. I have an IR temp gun too. With Air flow my peaks are 50-52c on both items under valley bench.

Thanks


----------



## Olivon

Hello guyz,

I got a 680 Lightning too and it's a great card for sure.
I'm runnin' with the LN² BIOS and AB 3.0.0 beta10.
With the multimeter, I see I give ~1.38v with the slide core voltage pushed to the max (+100).
I ordered an EK full block and I want to put a little more juice on the little beast. Somebody got an idea ? AB Extreme version or other trick ?
I noticed that memory voltage seems to be locked, I'm at 1.5v with mem voltage slide at max but I'm more focused on the GPU side.

Any advice will be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance !


----------



## Kimir

If you can get a copy of AP extreme, get one.
If not, there is the artmoney way, the one I used to get my lightning at almost 1500Mhz


----------



## Olivon

I got an older 2.1.0 Extreme version but it doesn't work.. I will take a look to artmoney. Thanks Kimir !


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Olivon*
> 
> I got an older 2.1.0 Extreme version but it doesn't work.. I will take a look to artmoney. Thanks Kimir !


Has to be ABX version 2.2.3 for the 680s, MSI found a way to keep new versions from leaking out so they aren't really found anywhere on the WWW anymore.
Artmoney still works, just be careful when making changes & check the voltage before putting the card under load.


----------



## Olivon

Thanks ftw420 !

I tried artmoney and it works fine, address is 00454D6C for Voltage GPU

+120 gives around 1.4v with the multimeter

1424MHz seems hard to pass but I will wait my WB to come for further high clocks testing.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Olivon*
> 
> Thanks ftw420 !
> 
> I tried artmoney and it works fine, address is 00454D6C for Voltage GPU
> 
> +120 gives around 1.4v with the multimeter
> 
> 1424MHz seems hard to pass but I will wait my WB to come for further high clocks testing.


is there a tutorial for artmoney around somewhere?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> is there a tutorial for artmoney around somewhere?


There is this one https://sites.google.com/site/qwwwizx/home/gtx-680

This may be worth checking out as well http://www.overclock.net/t/1398725/unlock-afterburner-limits-on-all-cards-and-gtx-770-lightning-tweak/0_50


----------



## Olivon

+1

Rbby258 appz works great on 680L and is much simple than artmoney.


----------



## Kimir

Will give it a try


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Olivon*
> 
> +1
> 
> Rbby258 appz works great on 680L and is much simple than artmoney.


Works great here too. Just starting to play around with it Metro LL. Stable @ 1372 right now.


----------



## Olivon

[email protected] (multimeter) are my H24 settings. 75° under Metro LL, fan auto.
1411 3DM11 run is possible with 1.38v too (100% fan).


----------



## TheAssassin

I'm really starting to think about selling my 680L to get the 780L.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> I'm really starting to think about selling my 680L to get the 780L.


I'm waiting on the 780 Lightnings as well, they should be much fun!


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Olivon*
> 
> [email protected] (multimeter) are my H24 settings. 75° under Metro LL, fan auto.
> 1411 3DM11 run is possible with 1.38v too (100% fan).


Nice.....I am under water so temps are upper 50's.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> There is this one https://sites.google.com/site/qwwwizx/home/gtx-680
> 
> This may be worth checking out as well http://www.overclock.net/t/1398725/unlock-afterburner-limits-on-all-cards-and-gtx-770-lightning-tweak/0_50


Thanks, i'm lazy


----------



## Dinocookies

I updated to the unlocked bios 80.04.28.00.3A but my voltage is still locked. Do you guys know whats up?


----------



## Deano12345

M
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Dinocookies*
> 
> I updated to the unlocked bios 80.04.28.00.3A but my voltage is still locked. Do you guys know whats up?


I presume you unlocked the voltage sliders from the options in Afterburner ?


----------



## Dinocookies

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> M
> I presume you unlocked the voltage sliders from the options in Afterburner ?


Ya I did, but no matter how much I increase the voltage it wont go past 1.175v.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Dinocookies*
> 
> Ya I did, but no matter how much I increase the voltage it wont go past 1.175v.


Did you apply the AB profile edit on page one of this thread? It works with AB 2.3.1 whql and 3.0.0 beta 10. There is also a beta 10 from Guru3D for 680 Lightnings that doesn't require the edit.


----------



## Chomuco

gtx 780 lightning new :


----------



## Kimir

Aren't we the 9 already, where is the card?!


----------



## p3gaz_001

Hey guys, i want to know, what is the performance gap between a GTX 680 L and a reference GTX 780??? is a reference 780 worth to buy coming from a 680L??


----------



## Sem

does anyone here have Svets Vbios tuner

love my 770 Lightning to bits but im this close to returning it because of the fan speed during startup

with svets tool some one can reduce the fan speed for me

thanks


----------



## jukula

I have Svets Vbios tuner. But im not sure does it work with 770 bios. PM your bios file to me so i can try.


----------



## Harry604

So I rma my 580 lightning xtreme and im getting a 680 lightning since they dont have them anymore...

i been trying to read as much as i can on 680 lightning from this thread

what are my best options once i get the card

should i change the bios? to which one...
what afterburner do i use ?
do i flash to 770l?
i have a h80 and dwood bracket i can add to it..

thanks


----------



## p3gaz_001

5 days and more without any answer? is this a dead thread?


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> 5 days and more without any answer? is this a dead thread?


Well a good Lightning will get ~13,000 graphics score in 3dmark11

While a good GTX 780 will get ~16,000.

That's a big jump imo and worth the change to me.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Harry604*
> 
> So I rma my 580 lightning xtreme and im getting a 680 lightning since they dont have them anymore...
> 
> i been trying to read as much as i can on 680 lightning from this thread
> 
> what are my best options once i get the card
> 
> should i change the bios? to which one...
> what afterburner do i use ?
> do i flash to 770l?
> i have a h80 and dwood bracket i can add to it..
> 
> thanks


The unlocked 3A ln2 bios can be flashed for full voltage control. F8 does as well, but the 3A works better with driver crash recovery.
I've just been using AB v. 2.2.3 although there are later versions of AB that also work, i'm just not sure which.
I wouldn't flash to a 770L bios if the 3A bios does what you need, the 770L does have higher stock memory & I'm not sure if the memory controller is the same, no idea if it plays nicely with the 680L or not.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Well a good Lightning will get ~13,000 graphics score in 3dmark11
> 
> While a good GTX 780 will get ~16,000.
> 
> That's a big jump imo and worth the change to me.


^ This, big kepler is a pretty good difference.


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *p3gaz_001*
> 
> Hey guys, i want to know, what is the performance gap between a GTX 680 L and a reference GTX 780??? is a reference 780 worth to buy coming from a 680L??


Basically a GTX 770 lightning is the same exact card as the 680 lighting just with a different bios but same hardware. Here's a link that compares the 770 lighting to the gtx 780:


----------



## Tbolo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrTOOSHORT*
> 
> Well a good Lightning will get ~13,000 graphics score in 3dmark11
> 
> While a good GTX 780 will get ~16,000.
> 
> That's a big jump imo and worth the change to me.


Not a big jump in actual game play though. Only like 7 frames slower in BF3 depending on rez


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> Basically a GTX 770 lightning is the same exact card as the 680 lighting just with a different bios but same hardware. Here's a link that compares the 770 lighting to the gtx 780:


The memory clocks better. It must be rated for faster speeds.

Also GTX770 seems to clock better on average. They may be binned better on average. I would pay a little more for a 770.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbolo*
> 
> Not a big jump in actual game play though. Only like 7 frames slower in BF3 depending on rez


The difference can be huge depending on the settings. For example Physx or anything that uses Cuda or direct compute really seems to slam GK104. I can run Borderlands 2 with a higher physx setting on a single Titan than I can on a pair of GTX680s.

Thats an extreme scenario but it happens. I also think that the difference grows at higher resolutions and with more aa like I like to use. There is a large difference between GK104 and GK110.


----------



## Chomuco

2 MSI GTX 680 LIGHTNING's!sli , 0 gtx 780 ??


----------



## BlueNasser

Quote:
Originally Posted by Unwinder View Post

Some black magic for 680 Lightning owners:

On 2.2.4 you may edit Lightning hardware profile files (.\Profiles\VEN_10DE&DEV_1180....cfg) and add the following lines there:

[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

Those lines disable NVIDIA's capped voltage control module, enable voltage control via direct access to CHL8318 and select offset voltage control mode for it.

Note: each card profile must be edited for SLI configs.
Alexey Nicolaychuk aka Unwinder, RivaTuner creator

Does this work for 770 Lightning in AB 3.0.0 bata 10 or 11?


----------



## jukula

Try AB 3.0.0 beta 11 SE it should work with Lightnings. http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html


----------



## Chomuco

new sli wow !! god!!


----------



## CalinTM

67-71 degrees in gaming, like bf3 or other hardcore games is ok for the card ?


----------



## jukula

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> 67-71 degrees in gaming, like bf3 or other hardcore games is ok for the card ?


Depends from a person. Someone says it's too hot, and someone says keep it under 80C. I have 2 overclocked lighnings in sli highest temp i've ever seen is 78C. I wouldn't worry if i were you.


----------



## CalinTM

I will really benefit in terms of fps for some 50Mhz OC ?


----------



## Chomuco

karlitos!! god !! sli lightning 680



http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/965321[/


----------



## Chomuco

msi gtx 780 lightning


----------



## Olivon

http://tof.canardpc.com/view/92cd5526-c4e8-4682-97c0-3ce397cf8959.jpg

LN2 780 Lighning teasing

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=597247150297119&set=pb.123693947652444.-2207520000.1374745874.&type=3&theater


----------



## Dinocookies

I had to refalsh my bios because I need to RMA my card. Are these the orignal bios?
LN1- 80.04.28.00.39
LN2 -80.04.28.00.3A
Anyone have any clue how to fix this? 



Sorry had to use my phone software wont record when it crashes.


----------



## Chomuco

msi gtx 780 lightning


----------



## JulioCesarSF

So

Is it possible to flash a gtx 680 lightning with gtx 770 lightning bios? Whats the point?


----------



## Kimir

Heard it is, the point? get the memory clock higher at stock








I'll stick 680 LN2 bios personally. The latest beta driver and AB beta 11 is causing me some trouble, driver crashing and seems like my core voltage isn't applied properly. I've to figure which one is the issue so I rolled back to previous driver already.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> So Is it possible to flash a gtx 680 lightning with gtx 770 lightning bios? Whats the point?


I would be a lot more interested in flashing the 770L with the 680L unlocked LN2 BIOS. I haven't heard if that works though.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> The latest beta driver and AB beta 11 is causing me some trouble, driver crashing and seems like my core voltage isn't applied properly. I've to figure which one is the issue so I rolled back to previous driver already.


I rolled back from 326.19 beta to 320.49 whql because of poor stability and increased frame time latency. Both problems disappeared after the rollback. I'm using the guru3d version of AB 3.0.0 beta 11, which doesn't need the profile edit. Everything works as it should.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> I would be a lot more interested in flashing the 770L with the 680L unlocked LN2 BIOS. I haven't heard if that works though.


LOL








770L haven't unlock LN2 bios?

Sorry for the question.








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Heard it is, the point? get the memory clock higher at stock
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll stick 680 LN2 bios personally. The latest beta driver and AB beta 11 is causing me some trouble, driver crashing and seems like my core voltage isn't applied properly. I've to figure which one is the issue so I rolled back to previous driver already.


Omg, get the memory clock higher *at stock* ?
















I'm using this driver: http://depositfiles.com/files/2hyd8yz00
And it's perfect here with AB beta 11.

With "normal" driver i have problems with voltage too, overclock never go estable.


----------



## Kimir

Well well, I definitely have a problem here. Even at stock clock my PC crash (test on Crysis 3)


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Well well, I definitely have a problem here. Even at stock clock my PC crash (test on Crysis 3)


Driver problems, i roll back to 320.00 and it's working nice.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Driver problems, i roll back to 320.00 and it's working nice.


I've tried roll back at driver 320.18 and 320.49, same thing, I keep crashing the I must restart the pc. When I get back on windows, I've a message telling me windows encountered an error with id 116 (BSOD 0x0116... GPU issue)
Damnit at stock clock I can resume my crysis 3 saved game but I crash after a few seconds, with tomb raider it's almost instant! I've tried reducing core clock (to 1110) and with +100mv same thing. Look like I'm gonna have a bad week resolving that thing.
Like I didn't had enough of my windows SSD being dead 2 weeks ago.


----------



## setza

Try flashing to a different BIOS?


----------



## Kimir

Nop I didn't, I've been using the same unlocked LN2 bios since I've got my two lightning. I'll switch to the regular bios today and test again.
Weird thing on 3DMark (13), it's going through all test and in the last one at almost the end it crashes.


----------



## alancsalt

Lower yr OC a tad until it passes


----------



## fantaziz

Hey guys !!! I had my GTX 680 lightning a long time ago, I unlocked my LN2 bios and overclocked it to +94 Vcore / Power Limit 150/ Core Clock +150/ Memory Clock +500 (with MSI afterburner) , and it worked so well for several month....

Now I have crashes on some games... Returns back to the desktop and says that some drivers crashed blablabla....(my driver is 320.49)

Could you help me ???!

Thanks a lot !


----------



## Kimir

Lower my non-OC you mean, I'm at stock LN2 (1202/3004)
Tried 1110/3004, which is the default value of the lightning, same thing. Will see with the switch to regular bios when I get home.

Seems like 320.49 is a no go with the 680 Lightning








I had the same thing as you fantaziz, but since I messed with drivers and afterburner I got those damn crashes that don't recover ahah.


----------



## alancsalt

Then you are left with the driver sweeper type clean instal... not the nvidia tick box which doesn't really do it. That's about the last possibility before hardware suspicions... If you have not done it before, Google....


----------



## Kimir

Don't say that, no more hardware failure pleaseeeee!!
Yeah I did a clean install, driver sweeper, ccleaner and restart before installing the drivers 320.18 (the one I got my record with).


----------



## fantaziz

Is there a fix for my problem in page 721 ??? Thanks


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Don't say that, no more hardware failure pleaseeeee!!
> Yeah I did a clean install, driver sweeper, ccleaner and restart before installing the drivers 320.18 (the one I got my record with).


Yeah well, I think 116 usually means graphics, so, if you've done the usual, what else can you think? One more clean instal?

Power supply not getting flaky?
TIM and thermal pads all good on your water blocks?
Then you are left wondering if one card has fallen ill.

Can you test them separately? Unplug power from one, boot and test for crash. Do same for other?


----------



## Kimir

That's what I'm gonna do. Another clean install with drivers known to work, regular bios. If it's still hanging, I'll disable SLI, unplug the power cable and disable the pcie slot (great feature from the RIVE yeah!) to test them both separately.
Temps are ok so TIM and thermal pads should be too. In this kind of situation, I really see that furmark is useless, it doesn't crash at all.


----------



## colforbin

Just thought I would chime in. I'm running 320.49 with no issues (+120 on core, and +700 on mem on LN2). Afterburner Beta 3.0.0. 11.


----------



## Kimir

Ok so, drivers 326.29 (meh, wanted to try those dev drivers as well) and switch to regular bios on both card, no crash. SLI not supported with those drivers with 3DMark tho.
Let's clean install the latest whql ones and try again.

Edit: ok so I'm back with LN2 bios and the 320.49 drivers and I can OC a little, not touching vcore and power limit, +100 on core and usual +600 on mem and Crysis 3 is ok. Fine enough for daily use (I was used to 1306Mhz, 1280Mhz will do).
I tried my second profile with +75mv, 250 power limit, +150core and 600 mem and I crashed. If I remember correctly I took the 680/770 Lightning version of AB beta 11 so core voltage should be working... gotta get that multimeter tomorrow and check that.
Played too much Crysis 3 for today


----------



## colforbin

Beta 11 voltage is working


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Edit: ok so I'm back with LN2 bios and the 320.49 drivers and I can OC a little, not touching vcore and power limit, +100 on core and usual +600 on mem and Crysis 3 is ok. Fine enough for daily use (I was used to 1306Mhz, 1280Mhz will do).
> I tried my second profile with +75mv, 250 power limit, +150core and 600 mem and I crashed. If I remember correctly I took the 680/770 Lightning version of AB beta 11 so core voltage should be working... gotta get that multimeter tomorrow and check that.
> Played too much Crysis 3 for today


C3 works beautifully with with my 680L but it took a lot of tweaking.

1. I get better stability with SSDO replaced by SSAO. If you use "very high" sys spec, just add this to autoexec.cfg:
r_SSDO = 0
r_SSAO = 3

2. I get better stability with CUDA processing disabled in NV CP; no idea why, since AFAIK there is no NV Physx or directcompute etc in C3, but it works for me.

3. Using RTSS to cap frame rate at 60 and setting vsync off both in CP and game settings works for me. Seems to work better than setting a frame limit in autoexec.cfg, and definitely better than using vsync.

With those 3 adjustments, I eliminated the stretched polygons that I get otherwise when I push the Lightning. I also use either fxaa or smaa medium in the game's AA settings. Adding:
r_Sharpening = 1.0
to autoexec.cfg gives me a nice image with AA on.

In C3 MP, I find that Origin in-game can cause crashes. I keep it off and no probs.

I'm on air, so I use: +12mv, +53mhz core // -50mv, +700mhz mem // -100mv aux // +150% power limit. Using 80.04.28.00.3A unlocked LN2 BIOS, 320.49 driver, and AB 3.0.0 beta 11 from guru3d without the profile hack. With a few additional game settings tweaks, I'm getting a consistent 60fps in MP with a single 680L on air, and almost no frametime spikes. I do see 72 - 75c in C3 depending on ambient temp, but I think she'll last until Maxwell comes along, which is all I need









FWIW, my 3930k will do 4.6ghz without a hitch in all games, incl C3 SP, but it will crash in C3 MP. No idea why. No probs with 4.4ghz. So, maybe look into your system OC as well?


----------



## JulioCesarSF

I'm using 326.29 and it's working nice (sli + overclock).


----------



## setza

I had to roll back to the 320.49 because the new beta ones cause borderlands 2 to crash everytime.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> I had to roll back to the 320.49 because the new beta ones cause borderlands 2 to crash everytime.


Yeah, I found 326.29 crashed now and then too. Another thing I didn't like about it was the frame latency. Rolled back to 320.49 and am quite satisfied. Definitely better frame times and more stable for me.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> C3 works beautifully with with my 680L but it took a lot of tweaking.
> 
> 1. I get better stability with SSDO replaced by SSAO. If you use "very high" sys spec, just add this to autoexec.cfg:
> r_SSDO = 0
> r_SSAO = 3
> 
> 2. I get better stability with CUDA processing disabled in NV CP; no idea why, since AFAIK there is no NV Physx or directcompute etc in C3, but it works for me.
> 
> 3. Using RTSS to cap frame rate at 60 and setting vsync off both in CP and game settings works for me. Seems to work better than setting a frame limit in autoexec.cfg, and definitely better than using vsync.
> 
> With those 3 adjustments, I eliminated the stretched polygons that I get otherwise when I push the Lightning. I also use either fxaa or smaa medium in the game's AA settings. Adding:
> r_Sharpening = 1.0
> to autoexec.cfg gives me a nice image with AA on.
> 
> In C3 MP, I find that Origin in-game can cause crashes. I keep it off and no probs.
> 
> I'm on air, so I use: +12mv, +53mhz core // -50mv, +700mhz mem // -100mv aux // +150% power limit. Using 80.04.28.00.3A unlocked LN2 BIOS, 320.49 driver, and AB 3.0.0 beta 11 from guru3d without the profile hack. With a few additional game settings tweaks, I'm getting a consistent 60fps in MP with a single 680L on air, and almost no frametime spikes. I do see 72 - 75c in C3 depending on ambient temp, but I think she'll last until Maxwell comes along, which is all I need
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> FWIW, my 3930k will do 4.6ghz without a hitch in all games, incl C3 SP, but it will crash in C3 MP. No idea why. No probs with 4.4ghz. So, maybe look into your system OC as well?


I don't touch much on all the game setting, I'm using geforce experience setting on this one.
I was using C3 because I felt like it. For real gaming stability, Far Cry 3 is the one game to use, but I didn't wanted to play that one when my issue came out, I let my steam update Tomb raider, I might as well use this one (not as stressful as C3 or FC3).
My ram/cpu oc is stable, been using it for a while now, I can even usen 4.8Ghz but I need about 1.45v so I prefer to stick to 4.6 with 1.4v. 5Ghz was a no go last time I did my 15k on fire strike, tho.

I left my setting tweak (cfg profile) when I was using AB beta 10 with no issue, don't know If that could be the cause of my trouble with the beta 11.


----------



## Chomuco




----------



## Harry604

is it really worth overclocking...

card is stock 1202 ghz.... if i overclock it 100mhz more

how much of a performance boost will i see in fps... say bf3,

or overclocking memory


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Harry604*
> 
> is it really worth overclocking...
> 
> card is stock 1202 ghz.... if i overclock it 100mhz more
> 
> how much of a performance boost will i see in fps... say bf3,
> 
> or overclocking memory


Bro, this page is called overclock.net for a reason.







But yeah, it is worth it, I can't give you any numbers, but you could probably find them googling for them. Anyways it's free performance!


----------



## Chomuco

new !! msi gtx 780 lightning !!


----------



## Kimir

Looking good (I like yellow







) but don't really care about the cooling, if I ever get them, they will be under water.


----------



## r360r

Quick question. I'm thinking of SLIing two 680 lightnings. Would my current power supply handle it?
http://www.seasonicusa.com/Platinum_Series_XP2.htm


----------



## Kimir

Single +12v rail so it's shouldn't be an issue, the 760/860 are beefy enough for SLI and OC . which one you've got and what it the rest of your rig? (use the rig builder and put it in your sig







)


----------



## r360r

I should mention its the 660W ver.
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Solid2i2/saved/16Tj


----------



## FtW 420

660w will work, but overclocking would likely be limited.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> I should mention its the 660W ver.
> http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Solid2i2/saved/16Tj


Stock clocks and volts? then yes that psu will be fine.

I think the Lightnings on the LN2 bios with a light frequency overclock will be fine too. Just can't overvolt anymore than the LN2 bios provides.


----------



## r360r

If I do SLI I'll keep it stock. That enough raw power to max current games (right?). Now will my 4.0 (summer) - 4.4 (fall) Ghz OC still work for the i5?


----------



## driftingforlife

With my 3930k at 4.6 and both 680's at 1340 @ 1.36v I pull 800w from the wall gaming.


----------



## Chomuco

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Looking good (I like yellow
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) but don't really care about the cooling, if I ever get them, they will be under water.


http://thinkcell.ekwb.com/idea/msi-780-lighting-water-blocks


----------



## Chomuco

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Quick question. I'm thinking of SLIing two 680 lightnings. Would my current power supply handle it?
> http://www.seasonicusa.com/Platinum_Series_XP2.htm


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> With my 3930k at 4.6 and both 680's at 1340 @ 1.36v I pull 800w from the wall gaming.


This. I was even able to pull 900+w from the wall by running Prime95 and FurMark at the same time with 3930k @ 4.6 and 680's @ 1411. It's not comparable to what real use is but well.








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> http://thinkcell.ekwb.com/idea/msi-780-lighting-water-blocks


That's a nice initiative, but I'm sure they will come with one few weeks after the card is released anyway. I prefer Aquacomputer, tbh.


----------



## Kimir

Ok so, back with testing on my issue.
Figured that whenever I increase vcore on the cards, leaving the clock that work fine with no additional voltage, makes the PC crash.
So, manual drivers cleanup, clean install 320.18 known to work for me.

Disabled first pcie slot, unplugged the power cables from the first CG. Test with second card OC @ 1372 core with +100mv and 1800 memory. Test succeed: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/722961
Disabled third pcie slot, unplugged the 2nd card power cables. Restart ended with 0x7E BSOD twice, I was able to go to windows after a cold boot. sfc /scannnow found some damaged file and repaired them (I screwed with the afterburner cfg file manually, bad idea). Restart again.
Ok, Test with first card OC @ 1372 core with +100mv and 1800mem. Test succeed: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/1025570
Now back with the 2 graphic cards enabled:
no OC at all, default LN2 1202Mhz core and 1502Mhz on memory, pass: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/723205
OC with no volatage added, 1280Mhz core and 1800Mhz memory, failed in the middle of combined test, restart with 0x00000116 error. Tested twice, failed twice.
Another try with different OC, 1306Mhz core with +50mV and 1750Mhz on memory AND Aux voltage set to 0 instead of -100, pass: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/723256
Let's try with 1372Mhz with +100mV and 1750Mhz on memory with Aux reset to 0 as well, failed with blackscreen after the test 1 load. Forced to reset and No boot device (oh f$%k! that's what happened when one of my SSD vector goes dead 2 weeks ago!)
Ouf, after a cold boot, windows loading and I can write those line, jeez I was about to cry.









Temperature were all ok, with 27°c ambient, max 54°c on GPU/VRM.
ps: lol stupid 3DMark sysinfo, with version 1.0 I had the temp included in the graphs, now only the fps show up...

So what now, possible PSU problem?








Got no multi meter and wattmeter right now, ordered my own (since I can't borrow my brother ones anymore). I've a spare Enermax Platimax 850w I had before getting the 1000w one.
Changed because when I was with SLI Asus GTX580 Matrix with too much OC, the PC was shutting down instantly (because no enough Amp I believe, you know four +12 rail of 30A when 42A was needed). The 1000w one has a single rail of 83A and the GTX680 lightning require 38A each. I know nothing in electricity, dammit, I should not have sleep at school.








Or it's just SLI who's F*#k'd up on the drivers, but it was working fine before...


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> So what now, possible PSU problem?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Got no multi meter and wattmeter right now, ordered my own (since I can't borrow my brother ones anymore). I've a spare Enermax Platimax 850w I had before getting the 1000w one.
> Changed because when I was with SLI Asus GTX580 Matrix with too much OC, the PC was shutting down instantly (because no enough Amp I believe, you know four +12 rail of 30A when 42A was needed). The 1000w one has a single rail of 83A and the GTX680 lightning require 38A each. I know nothing in electricity, dammit, I should not have sleep at school.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Or it's just SLI who's F*#k'd up on the drivers, but it was working fine before...


Hadn't heard from you on this for a while, thought you'd found the gremlin. Have you tried using a different SLI bridge? AFAIK, 850w should be enough for 2 lightnings and a 3930k. Why not try it?


----------



## Kimir

Well, I didn't had time to do it all until today in fact. And I don't really want to pour my problem in here, this topic isn't really alive anymore, some went to 770, 780 or even Titan. I've been looking in the official 680 owners club for similar thing, but nothing really comparable yet.
I will try with the 850w tomorrow, 2h30am here








and SLI bridge, why not I've got one or two somewhere, will try that as well. Also, should I stay with 320.18 of go to 314.22 or 320.4? My GPU aren't dead, from the individual test of each so...


----------



## setza

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Well, I didn't had time to do it all until today in fact. And I don't really want to pour my problem in here, this topic isn't really alive anymore, some went to 770, 780 or even Titan. I've been looking in the official 680 owners club for similar thing, but nothing really comparable yet.
> I will try with the 850w tomorrow, 2h30am here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and SLI bridge, why not I've got one or two somewhere, will try that as well. Also, should I stay with 320.18 of go to 314.22 or 320.4? My GPU aren't dead, from the individual test of each so...


Maybe try the new beta ones? They have been great for me so far.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Omg AB Beta 11 not applying the voltage here.


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Omg AB Beta 11 not applying the voltage here.


OMG download Beta 11 Lightning SE Edition from Guru3D...


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *setza*
> 
> Maybe try the new beta ones? They have been great for me so far.


I swapped to the latest whql one, just to not stay with the one that supposedly damage GPU (the one I broke my record on FS lol).

Before I switch power supply I tried to remember what did I changed before this happen. Changed some bios setting trying to reduce my CPU voltage to lower than 1.408 for 4.6Ghz with no real success but few other parameter were changed (cpu pll and other stuff) and added a NAS (syno DS1513+ and DX513 extension) to the same UPS (Eaton ellipse 1600).
If it was the UPS, it would ring, so I took a look at bios setting, restored with my profile oc. Just made a try on Fire strike, pass: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/726172
And 3Dmark11, pass: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/6960886

So, I guess it was that, some bios parameter that was screwing the PCH ( also know as IOH, doing the "0x116 = Low IOH (NB) voltage, GPU issue (most common when running multi-GPU/overclocking GPU").

IOH (I/O Hub, on motherboards targeted to CPUs that have an embedded memory controller using a two-chip chipset solution)
PCH (Platform Contoller Hub, on motherboards targeted to CPUs that have an embedded memory controller using a single-chip chipset solution)
source.

Problem solved I hope, will do some further testing on games.
And if it's all ok, back in the game of OC, need to get the cpu working @ 5Ghz for benching, want to do 20k back on 3D11 and break my latest 15k on 3D13. I don't want to disappear from top 30 just yet (I'm the last 680SLI)


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *elbubi*
> 
> OMG download Beta 11 Lightning SE Edition from Guru3D...


OMG> ARE U SERIUS?

I'm not stupid. AB beta 11 *SE* have problems.

Check this: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=305901&page=62


----------



## Kimir

I'm using this one right now, and it does work for me without the added lines in profiles.
Most certainly Nvidia drivers issue blocking the added voltage, tried clean install?


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> OMG> ARE U SERIUS?
> 
> I'm not stupid. AB beta 11 *SE* have problems.
> 
> Check this: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=305901&page=62


Running perfectly fine here for me without profile edit also. I do run single card only, but your post was not clear about sli or actually using SE edition (just "omg it does not work"). It is very likely you may be misunderstood with such poor information about an issue.

Regards.

Btw, no need for the extra large font, it does not make your point stronger.


----------



## alancsalt

Gentlemen, before you get off on the wrong foot









JulioCesarSF, elbubi has always been a polite and respectful poster.

elbubi, JulioCesarSF writes guides for this sort of thing, so when he says it doesn't work for him, I believe him, and can understand why he might be a little peeved it doesn't.

You are both good guys, OK?


----------



## fantaziz

Am I the only one to have crash in many many games with my GTX 680 ????

Please help me I have the 320.49 drivers and I overclocked it to +94vCore, +150 Core Clock, and +500 Memory Clock ??? BTW is this overclock right ???

Thanks for your help


----------



## elbubi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Gentlemen, before you get off on the wrong foot
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JulioCesarSF & elbubi: You are both good guys, OK?


Of course we are!
















I do also believe him, just said that imho his first post was not clear enough and may lead to confusion.

Besides I know that If it works fine for me does not mean it has to work for everyone. Probably his sli config has something to do. Hope he will find a fix soon.

All good from this side. Thanks for your wise intervention









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> Am I the only one to have crash in many many games with my GTX 680 ????
> 
> Please help me I have the 320.49 drivers and I overclocked it to +94vCore, +150 Core Clock, and +500 Memory Clock ??? BTW is this overclock right ???
> 
> Thanks for your help


There is no "right" overclock, each card is different and thus every OC is different. I would first reset card to stock clocks and do some stability tests to se if its not a hardware problem (using heaven, 3dmark, ocscanner, furmark, few games, etc).

Once you are sure the card has no hardware malfunction, I would begin to OC by little steps, Core and Mem one at a time, and checking constantly with heaven/3dmark/hefty games, to prove stabilty of applied OC. It's a "trial and error" procedure, it takes time but it's the only way to assure your OC is stable and that you are squeezing every little drop of performace out from your card. ALWAYS check temperatures during tests, there is a lot of info about it in this threads and all over the web.

Regards and good luck! ;


----------



## fantaziz

Thanks elbubi, but I've done all thoses steps a long time ago, but now I have many crashes, I wanted to know if it's a driver issue or something else...


----------



## elbubi

In my case, 4 o 5 months ago, my previously 100% stable and ubber tested overclock profile began to crash *very* often.

Don't know which the cause was: new driver architecture or degrading vga hardware, but I had to lower my oc profile in order to regain stability once again. (from 1350 to 1275 core, and had to increase volts to mantain mem at 7000)

Anyhow, may be its not a bad idea to test game with stock clocks/light oc to see if crashes are still present.

Regards!


----------



## Kimir

And my problem still not fixed, crashed within few second on Crysis 3. x_x


----------



## Kimir

So I did test with the other PSU and sli bridge. I even go crazy doing 2 psu with the spare 850w for the GPUs only. Crashed after a some minute in Crysis 3.
Could it be the PCH temp?


----------



## Chomuco

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> And my problem still not fixed, crashed within few second on Crysis 3. x_x


driver 314.07 !!







sli 680 lightning


----------



## Kimir

Why should I use this one in particular? enlight me.

Anyway, I'm gonna try restore with my 4 months old system image backup (today if I've got time) and see if that could come from a windows update or I don't know what else.
Troubleshooting takes time, but I'm will figure this out lol


----------



## fantaziz

Hey guys !! I want to know if the drivers crashes in games is caused by a lack of Core Voltage, or an excess... Thanks


----------



## Kimir

Can be on both case, and unstable clocks.


----------



## fantaziz

The problem is that the benchmarks :Unigine Heaven And 3D Mark 11 don't crashes but my games do...


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Gentlemen, before you get off on the wrong foot
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JulioCesarSF, elbubi has always been a polite and respectful poster.
> 
> elbubi, JulioCesarSF writes guides for this sort of thing, so when he says it doesn't work for him, I believe him, and can understand why he might be a little peeved it doesn't.
> 
> You are both good guys, OK?


I'm ok, i love everybody here.









So let's go.

i can't find the new adress in artmoney for AB Beta 11. Tips?









I found the problem with OSD enabled. If you enable framerate + frametime count, freeze (games[Tomb Raider 2013, Crysis 3 and BF3] and kombustor) sometimes, the others option is ok.









Edit: i found it: 00454D6C









This adress is working:


----------



## Kimir

You could also use the Rbby258 tool instead of artmoney, it works great and it couldn't be easier to use!
Awesome score btw. I'm going to disable frame rate/time, maybe that's what cause me those damn freeze (but in 3DMark the OSD doesn't show, could it still be the issue by running in background? will see)..


----------



## $ilent

Can anyone explain the settings used to overclock the gtx 680 and thier max safe limits?

As a gtx 570 user im only used to changing gpu voltage and gpu core clock. Ive never seen these power limits, etc.

thanks


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> You could also use the Rbby258 tool instead of artmoney, it works great and it couldn't be easier to use!
> Awesome score btw. I'm going to disable frame rate/time, maybe that's what cause me those damn freeze (but in 3DMark the OSD doesn't show, could it still be the issue by running in background? will see)..


Ty and nice tool, let's see if it work.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *$ilent*
> 
> Can anyone explain the settings used to overclock the gtx 680 and thier max safe limits?
> 
> As a gtx 570 user im only used to changing gpu voltage and gpu core clock. Ive never seen these power limits, etc.
> 
> thanks


There is no safe limit. Just keep your temps under 75C +-


----------



## Harry604

what are your fps gains

say with +100 on core and +500 on memory

in battlefield 3


----------



## $ilent

Hi all

Just installed my msi gtx 680 power edition card, I have bios version 80.04.47.00.16, ive switched the bios on the card to LN2 bios and the bios number hasn't changed?

Is this normal? Do I need to flash a new bios onto this card?

thanks

Im confused by gtx 600 overclocking, on my old 500 card all you could do was change core voltage, this new one has power limit too?

Also does flashing the new bios void the warranty? or is it reversible?


----------



## JulioCesarSF

GTX 680 Lightning LN2 -> GTX 770 Lightning LN2 work, but afterburner is locked. Anyone know how to unlock voltage control?


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> GTX 680 Lightning LN2 -> GTX 770 Lightning LN2 work, but afterburner is locked. Anyone know how to unlock voltage control?


Does this work?

http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html
Quote:


> Today we release an updated Beta revision of Afterburner, this application successfully secured the leading position on graphics card utilities. We're happy to see MSI Afterburner is leading the overclock applications. MSI Afterburner is ready, this version also supports the control of NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan, 760, 770 and 780.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> Does this work?
> 
> http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html


Wow beta 12. Let's see.

No look.

The problem is that card's name is gtx 680, not gtx 680 lightning ot gtx 770 lightning. I don't know how to mod this (the name of the card).


----------



## Kimir

Have you tried using the cfg file edit?
what are the benefit of using the 770 bios?








There is no special edition for 6800/770 lightning for the beta 12, on purpose of this one is unlocked by default, let me know Julio, thanks.


----------



## $ilent

Does anyone know how to flash gtx 680 Power Edition to the unlocked LN2 bios? Whenever I try to flash to the unlocked LN2 bios my display screws up and I get big artifacts onscreen until I have to resort to flashing my backup stock rom?


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Have you tried using the cfg file edit?
> what are the benefit of using the 770 bios?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There is no special edition for 6800/770 lightning for the beta 12, on purpose of this one is unlocked by default, let me know Julio, thanks.


I just need to find a way to mod cards name.

I want to test if this bios (770lightning LN2) is more stable then gtx 680 lightning LN2.
First, i see more clock e less voltage. So i want try overclock this.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *$ilent*
> 
> Does anyone know how to flash gtx 680 Power Edition to the unlocked LN2 bios? Whenever I try to flash to the unlocked LN2 bios my display screws up and I get big artifacts onscreen until I have to resort to flashing my backup stock rom?


This is impossible.


----------



## $ilent

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> This is impossible.


Since when? The power edition is just a lightning with a different bios. The card I have even says lightning on the PCB and on the backplate.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *$ilent*
> 
> Since when? The power edition is just a lightning with a different bios. The card I have even says lightning on the PCB and on the backplate.


Ok Sorry.

Try 3A and F8 bios.


----------



## Harry604

is there a benefit to flashing to the 770L bios...


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> I just need to find a way to mod cards name.
> 
> I want to test if this bios (770lightning LN2) is more stable then gtx 680 lightning LN2.
> First, i see more clock e less voltage. So i want try overclock this.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


So basically, what it does right now is put the frequencies of the 770L. But then you are screwed with power limit and voltage and you don't even have the 770 name. d'oh!


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Looks like we need to wait next Afterburner SE version to unlock.

I just want to test.
But at first look, i see more clock and with less voltage, so theoretically we can push more overclock with 770L ln2 bios.








I doon't care about voltage, because we can hack it, but the problem is power limit, i need more than 118%.
The true, what i feel is, ln2 770L is more stable than 680L ln2, in my tests.

Btw, i found a new powermizer tweak in Guru3D foruns, works better then mine.


----------



## Kimir

Damn, my SLI bug is driving me nuts! For now I'm running in single card mode and my OC is fine as before (I can even push the mem to +700 stable in C3). Almost finished Crysis 3 since all the different test I've done, rofl.
That would be awesome to have 770L bios with 300% power limit unlock (I use to put 250, but it doesn't even go that high in game) and with less voltage, if I could do 1400 with +100mv, that'd be great ahah (1372 rock solid atm).
Powermizer, oh it's been a long time I haven't heard of that, link please?


----------



## $ilent

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Ok Sorry.
> 
> Try 3A and F8 bios.


I managed to put the 3A bios on fine, but according to the first post you need to have F8 bios on, which doesnt work for me. Is the 3A bios just the same?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *$ilent*
> 
> I managed to put the 3A bios on fine, but according to the first post you need to have F8 bios on, which doesnt work for me. Is the 3A bios just the same?


the F8 was the original of the first 5000 cards. The 3A was the new one, you are supposed to have a 3A one on you LN2 bios by default, but it's locked. The one on first page is the unlocked one.


----------



## $ilent

Sobwe shoukd put the unlocked ln2 A3 bios on? Ive put the a3 on my 680, my max voltage is now 1.21v, power limit 300%.


----------



## Kimir

If you can set power limit to 300%, you are unlocked. But the voltage should go higher, what Afterburner are you using?


----------



## $ilent

2.3.1


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *$ilent*
> 
> 2.3.1


With this one you need the profile file edit. See the first post part about "Tweaking Afterburner 2.2.4", it apply to the 2.3.1.


----------



## $ilent

What's the max safe voltage?

I'm overclocking and even with 1.2v I'm not stable at like 1250mhx, is this normal or do I just need more voltage?


----------



## Kimir

Max voltage reported on AB with slider to +100mv is 1.31 or so, in reality it's 1.4v.


----------



## $ilent

So my card is running at 1.4v if in afterburner im set to +100mv? That doesnt seem right, since temps are ridicuously low for that voltage and im only just stable at 1238mhz.

I have taken a screenshot of my monitoring programmes, im really confused as to whats going on.

Ive flashed the LN2 bios to an unlocked A3 one, but with my programmes to monitor voltage and core speeds ive got about 3 different readings:



Ive set core voltage to +100mv in AB, in EVGA precision that shows it as 1.21v, but on my gpu widget its showing as 1.09v.

Also gpu clock is showing as +39 in AB, but GPUz shows completely random numbers...


----------



## Kimir

Don't run evga precision and afterburner at the same time, jeez, you gonna get conflict.
Check voltage in AB, tell me what you see, if it's says 1.212 or around that, the +100mv is not applied.
screen your afterburner profile to see if you added the 3 lines correctly, update you sig (it says you got one 570). If you are i SLI, you need both profile edited to have the voltage control.
Or better install the AB 3.0.0 beta 11 SE downloadable @ guru3d.


----------



## $ilent

I haven't adjusted the profile edit in my ab so far, so I'm guessing its nit running high now?


----------



## Kimir

yep, if you didn't edit the profile (*.cfg file in program files) and restart AB, you won't have the voltage control at all.


----------



## $ilent

Ohh so that's why voltage doesn't change in precision.

Thanks


----------



## $ilent

Ive edited my config files in MSI AB but it all looks the same?

Scratch that, my VDDC is going up now in GPUz. So is what GPUz shows the correct voltage its running or is it more? Afterburner doesnt show core voltage, it just says anything up to +100mv.

At the minute its at +25 which in GPUz shows VDDC as 1.223v.


----------



## Kimir

If you put this:

Code:



Code:


[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

it should be working, make sure you put the 3 line starting with VDDC after the [settings] parameter, this one should already exist in your cfg file.
If you added the whole thing in the end it won't work (it will take the first [settings] and not the one you added in the end).

edit for your edit: no software will report the true voltage (you must use a multimeter for real voltages), but if it goes higher than default, then it works.
@+100mv, in non SLI in Crysis 3, my core voltage is about 1.28, in SLI it goes to 1.3+


----------



## $ilent

So is GPUz near enough right though? Ive ordered a DMM to test my voltage. Im just referring to your post where you said +100mv will be 1.3v but in reality it will be 1.4v.

If GPUZ is saying its 1.22v, does that mean its closer to 1.32v?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *$ilent*
> 
> So is GPUz near enough right though? Ive ordered a DMM to test my voltage. Im just referring to your post where you said +100mv will be 1.3v but in reality it will be 1.4v.
> 
> If GPUZ is saying its 1.22v, does that mean its closer to 1.32v?


Answer is here:
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> I know i keep posting this
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Voltage table:
> 
> AB 2.2.3, 3A LN2 BIOS.
> 
> Stock - 1.250
> +6 - 1.258
> +12 - 1.263
> +18 - 1.273
> +25 - 1.280
> +31 - 1.285
> +37 - 1.295
> +43 - 1.300
> +50 - 1.308
> +56 - 1.313
> +62 - 1.319
> +68 - 1.325
> +75 - 1.332
> +81 - 1.338
> +87 - 1.345
> +93 - 1.356












I received my new multimeter today, going to check by myself, and try to figure out what is wrong when I'm in SLI...


----------



## $ilent

Hmm drifting a figures seem different to mine, at stock my core volt shows as 1.197v in gpuz


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *$ilent*
> 
> Hmm drifting a figures seem different to mine, at stock my core volt shows as 1.197v in gpuz


I tested with a MM. GPU-Z does not read any voltage right ton the 680 L.

Will do a new one useing 3.0.0 beta 11.


----------



## $ilent

Ok when will you be doing that drifting, my mm won't be here for a while


----------



## driftingforlife

Will start now.


----------



## $ilent

Thanks budd! Currently testing my 1254mhz 1.26v overclock, max temp is 67c in folding with fan at 60%


----------



## driftingforlife

Done, there is no change from my first voltage testing. Carry on useing the first one I did.


----------



## $ilent

Cool thanks!

What's max safe volts for these cards then or is it purely temps based?


----------



## driftingforlife

You fine the the max AB can do +100 on water, with air its temp based.


----------



## $ilent

Nice one, whats max temps then







I read throttling starts at 70?

Also im gonna pick up a DMM instead of buying one online, are you gonna be online later drifting? Im not sure how to use it thats all.


----------



## driftingforlife

i always keep it 80 and below.

Should be.

I got mine £20 from maplin.


----------



## $ilent

Cool cheers, I'm off homebase I think. They got a cheap one for 15 quid.


----------



## driftingforlife

Just uploading a vid now on how to use a MM on the 680L.


----------



## Kimir

Made a quick test on my own, yep 1.356v with +100mv, AB reporting 1.299 (GPUz render test)
With 3Dmark firestrike, goes up to 1.382 with AB reporting 1.313.


----------



## driftingforlife

its uploading, going to take a while


----------



## $ilent

While we are waiting for the upload how are your 680s ASIC quality? Mine is 79% seems higher than what I normally see on lightning a.


----------



## driftingforlife

My 2nd card is 84%, it does 1340/1950MHz with +93.

1st does 1370/2000MHz but is not fitted atm so can't read the ASIS.


----------



## $ilent

Cool! My card is a power edition, so I think 1300 would be acceptable seen as its only guaranteed to run at 1019mhz.

Any luck on the upload?


----------



## driftingforlife

210 mins remaining, I have rubbish internet.


----------



## $ilent

210 minutes!

Is it super HD? lol


----------



## driftingforlife

Normal HD, just utter rubbish internet.


----------



## $ilent

Drift ive got my DMM, ive got one of the cables from my msi box, red to red, black to black, im gonna set the DMM to 2V, but should the DMM be set to V with ~, V with -..., A or Ohm?

And which volt reading port on my gpu do I connect this to? I assume I can just plug it straight in whilst the pc is running right?


----------



## driftingforlife

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-multimeter/measuring-voltage

Use the 1st port, closest to the mobo. Should be fine while its on, I do.

Vid just failed, wrong format, need to remake it.


----------



## DizZz

Can anyone link me to the MSI Afterburner 3.0.0 Beta 11 download link? I tried finding it on guru3d and it would just redirect me to the beta 12 downlaod. Thanks


----------



## driftingforlife

The link on guru3d is the beta 11.

http://archive.sunet.se/pub/games/PC/guru3d/afterburner/MSIAfterburnerSetup300Beta11_SE-%5BGuru3D.com%5D.zip


----------



## $ilent

Sorted it drift!

Heres my results (core voltage mv):

+75 - 1.328dmm - 1.268gpuz
+81 - 1.335dmm - 1.273gpuz
+88 - 1.341dmm - 1.279gpuz
+94 - 1.348dmm - 1.285gpuz
+100- 1.355dmm - 1.291gpuz

Sorry mate I know you went through trouble making that video to help me, I thought I would give it a try. Thanks for your help though


----------



## $ilent

My GTx 680 Power Edition has gone from 1019mhz to 1241mhz folding stable at 1.32v, temps max out at about 60C with 60% fan.

Is this temp/voltage ok and how is that overclock? Average? Ive tried 1300mhz with +100mv or 1.35v but its not stable :/


----------



## raven7

How did you get that higher voltage for the power edition 680, did you flash the unlocked lightning bios or some other method? cheers.


----------



## $ilent

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *raven7*
> 
> How did you get that higher voltage for the power edition 680, did you flash the unlocked lightning bios or some other method? cheers.


I flashed the A3 unlocked LN2 bios from the first page onto it. The F8 bios doesnt work.

You have to edit msi afterburner profiles too to enable higher voltage settings.


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *raven7*
> 
> How did you get that higher voltage for the power edition 680, did you flash the unlocked lightning bios or some other method? cheers.


Yes he did.


----------



## OptimusToaster

Alright, so like $ilent and raven7 I also have the 680 Power edition. I have been lurking on this thread for a few days to work out how to get more performance from it but have reached an impass.

I have managed to flash one of the bioses to the 3A LN2 Lightning bios, and as far as i can tell that went successfully. Firstly it doesn't appear to be stable at the stock settings for that bios, requiring me to put +33mV extra to the core. However when I type +33, it becomes +37 when I hit apply. Is this normal?

Also which version of AB should I use? Currently am using 2.3.1, with the direct voltage tweak applied. Not sure if this version is affected by nVidia's big hissy fit with regards to overvolting.

Power limit, should I set this to 300% or does it not really matter due to it not affecting anything?

And finally I tried to push the core clock a little bit further, but even at +100mv vcore I couldn't get +25Mhz on the core. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks for your help guys, signed up specially for this.


----------



## CalinTM

Why on LN2 i have +5 more degrees on memory and vrm temperature ?

In stress tests is 63 degrees memory and 65 VRM. And on normal bios is 60 degrees, they aren't too big ??

And why on stress test voltage is 1.20V and in games says 1.22-23V ?

Im using +19mV on LN2 for +67mhz.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Why on LN2 i have +5 more degrees on memory and vrm temperature ?
> 
> In stress tests is 63 degrees memory and 65 VRM. And on normal bios is 60 degrees, they aren't too big ??
> 
> And why on stress test voltage is 1.20V and in games says 1.22-23V ?
> 
> Im using +19mV on LN2 for +67mhz.


The ln2 bios has a higher default clock (after boost) than the stock bios, so even without changing clocks it will run a bit warmer & pull more juice.

The voltage is a bit higher than that as well, no software will read gpu voltage properly. At stock on the ln2 bios is about 1.26V actual, & goes up from there. +20mV it would be running at about 1.28V actual.


----------



## CalinTM

Well i dunno why the hell OSD says in, for example unigine valley 1.20V in the whole stress test, and if i jump into a game, battlefield 3, there the OSD says 1.23V

I know they arent accurate, but why says that ?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Well i dunno why the hell OSD says in, for example unigine valley 1.20V in the whole stress test, and if i jump into a game, battlefield 3, there the OSD says 1.23V
> 
> I know they arent accurate, but why says that ?


I wish I knew, it's like cpu vcore & other voltages, different softwares can all report slightly different numbers, none are ever 100% accurate when actually measured.


----------



## CalinTM

So actually when it says 1.21V on OSD, it's ? +30mV more on multimeter ?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> So actually when it says 1.21V on OSD, it's ? +30mV more on multimeter ?


For me the easiest way to figure the voltage is to start looking at it starting at 1.26V (my actual load voltage at stock +0mV), from there it just adds what is set for voltage. +30mV in afterburner = about 1.29V load, up to 1.36V at +100mV set in AB.


----------



## CalinTM

So its 1.26V on LN2 on +0mV ?

In normal bios i can make it stable on +54Mhz on +50mV and has 1.21-1.22V, read by afterburner.

That means that 1.26V i can use much higher OC only by activating LN2, which has bigger default volts ?

In other words for my +54Mhz OC i can use +0mV on LN2 bios ?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> So its 1.26V on LN2 on +0mV ?
> 
> In normal bios i can make it stable on +54Mhz on +50mV and has 1.21-1.22V, read by afterburner.
> 
> That means that 1.26V i can use much higher OC only by activating LN2, which has bigger default volts ?
> 
> In other words for my +54Mhz OC i can use +0mV on LN2 bios ?


The ln2 bios also starts off at 1200Mhz after boost, I haven't had a stock bios on the lightning since it was new so not sure what the stock clocks/voltage were.

+54 should be doable at +0 mV on the ln2 bios, my lightnings were early ones but went pretty far past that before the new AB with voltage control released.


----------



## CalinTM

Doesn't work, it crashes in unigine valley.

You say LN2 is 1.26 on stock, and i assume the normal bios has smaller default voltages than LN2.

Based on this: my +54Mhz are stable on normal bios at +50mV (50mV, but the real voltage i really assume it's smaller, compared with LN2 at +50mV).

Ok, so normal bios at +50mV its stable, and that +50mV on normal bios i don't think they are 1.26V, a lot smaller, maybe 1.22V

And you say LN2 has 1.26V on default volts, so i tested, i putted my same +54Mhz OC on LN2 bios which you say its a lot bigger than normal bios, and it crashes.

Something doesn't add up here....

Why it crashes on LN2 and passes on normal bios ? this only means that LN2 bios stock volts aren't 1.26V, because if they were, i could pass +54Mhz on LN2 stock volts, which are alot bigger than normal bios at +50mV.

Its possible that unigine sofware can force the volts to be much lower during the stress tests ?

I must take in mind that a 680 lightning has alot of OC by default, a reference 680 has 1000Mhz and my card on stock bumps to 1202Mhz, so 200mhz of factory OC, the GPU i dont think it can take much force...


----------



## Kimir

FYI, my preset are the following:
profile 1 : +90Mhz core, +0mv vcore, +600Mhz mem, +0mv mem, -100mv aux.
profile 2 : +110Mhz core, +50mv vcore, +600Mhz mem, +0mv mem, -100mv aux.
profile 3 : +150Mhz core, +75mv vcore, +600Mhz mem, +0mv mem, -100mv aux.
profile 4 : +170Mhz core, +100mv vcore, +600Mhz mem, +0mv mem, -100mv aux.
and the last is mainly for bench,
profile 5 : +170Mhz core, +100mv vcore, +700Mhz mem, +50mv mem, -100mv aux. Used as reference to, then put +270Mhz core and +210mv vcore...

All of this with 250% power limit, just because I don't want to put 300, but you hardly need more than 120%.

And for the voltage, what they real value are, read the chart from driftingforlife.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> I know i keep posting this
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Voltage table:
> 
> AB 2.2.3, 3A LN2 BIOS.
> 
> Stock - 1.250
> +6 - 1.258
> +12 - 1.263
> +18 - 1.273
> +25 - 1.280
> +31 - 1.285
> +37 - 1.295
> +43 - 1.300
> +50 - 1.308
> +56 - 1.313
> +62 - 1.319
> +68 - 1.325
> +75 - 1.332
> +81 - 1.338
> +87 - 1.345
> +93 - 1.356


Verified it myself with 3.0.0 beta 11 SE, it's the same, except that when you put +100, it stay at +100 when you apply and doesn't go back to +93 like the previous version (like 2.3.1, if you use this one, remember that you need to edit your profile to get the voltage slider to actually do something!







)


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Doesn't work, it crashes in unigine valley.
> 
> You say LN2 is 1.26 on stock, and i assume the normal bios has smaller default voltages than LN2.
> 
> Based on this: my +54Mhz are stable on normal bios at +50mV (50mV, but the real voltage i really assume it's smaller, compared with LN2 at +50mV).
> 
> Ok, so normal bios at +50mV its stable, and that +50mV on normal bios i don't think they are 1.26V, a lot smaller, maybe 1.22V
> 
> And you say LN2 has 1.26V on default volts, so i tested, i putted my same +54Mhz OC on LN2 bios which you say its a lot bigger than normal bios, and it crashes.
> 
> Something doesn't add up here....
> 
> Why it crashes on LN2 and passes on normal bios ? this only means that LN2 bios stock volts aren't 1.26V, because if they were, i could pass +54Mhz on LN2 stock volts, which are alot bigger than normal bios at +50mV.
> 
> Its possible that unigine sofware can force the volts to be much lower during the stress tests ?
> 
> I must take in mind that a 680 lightning has alot of OC by default, a reference 680 has 1000Mhz and my card on stock bumps to 1202Mhz, so 200mhz of factory OC, the GPU i dont think it can take much force...


Different games & benches can make the gpu pull more or less than others, the first game test in 3dmark 11 seems to pull a bit higher voltage than most & that is where i hit 1.26V under load at stock (max, voltage fluctuates continuously). Valley pulls a bit less, running closer to 1.25V under load.
Here's a pic running a 3d11 window with some different software open & the multimeter in view.


----------



## OptimusToaster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> FYI, my preset are the following:
> profile 1 : +90Mhz core, +0mv vcore, +600Mhz mem, +0mv mem, -100mv aux.
> profile 2 : +110Mhz core, +50mv vcore, +600Mhz mem, +0mv mem, -100mv aux.
> profile 3 : +150Mhz core, +75mv vcore, +600Mhz mem, +0mv mem, -100mv aux.
> profile 4 : +170Mhz core, +100mv vcore, +600Mhz mem, +0mv mem, -100mv aux.
> and the last is mainly for bench,
> profile 5 : +170Mhz core, +100mv vcore, +700Mhz mem, +50mv mem, -100mv aux. Used as reference to, then put +270Mhz core and +210mv vcore...
> 
> All of this with 250% power limit, just because I don't want to put 300, but you hardly need more than 120%.
> 
> And for the voltage, what they real value are, read the chart from driftingforlife.
> Verified it myself with 3.0.0 beta 11 SE, it's the same, except that when you put +100, it stay at +100 when you apply and doesn't go back to +93 like the previous version (like 2.3.1, if you use this one, remember that you need to edit your profile to get the voltage slider to actually do something!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


Couple of quick questions.
What is the SE version of AB? And what does aux voltage do/why did you set it too -100mV?


----------



## CalinTM

I don't understand then why it cant be stable at 1.25-1.26 on LN2, but can be stable on normal bios at +50mV, which i really think +50mV on normal bios isn't equal with 1.26V


----------



## Kimir

The SE version is the one that doesn't need you to edit the *.cfg profile to control the voltages on 680/770 Lightning.
I set the aux to -100 because it seems to be more stable at higher OC, I didn't believed it when I read about it here, then I tried -50/-100 and -100 is seems to help.


----------



## CalinTM

FTW 420: Can you test it on normal bios at +50mV to tell me whats the multimeter voltage ?

AB says 1.20-1.23V


----------



## OptimusToaster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> I don't understand then why it cant be stable at 1.25-1.26 on LN2, but can be stable on normal bios at +50mV, which i really think +50mV on normal bios isn't equal with 1.26V


Have you factored in the much higher default clock speeds on the LN2 Bios?

And thanks for the help kimir.


----------



## NamesLucky

Hey guys,
Been awhile since I kept up with this thread, I bought my Lightning about 6 months ago from another member here, Its been awesome, and I had it in an external gpu setup for my laptop. However, I"m looking to build another gaming rig and couldn't resist upgrading to a 780. Im getting ready to sell it and thought I'd get an opinion on what you guys think I should do with the cooler on it.
Right now it has "The mod" (found on another thread around here) aka an H100 has been securely zip tied onto it. VRM cooling is accomplished through Arctic aluminum heat sinks and a fan blowing on them. Temps are great, and with the LN bios and regular afterburner +100mV it runs 1398Mhz through everything, and alittle over 1400MHz though _almost_ everything. Not sure what the new bioses could do for it though, haven't tried any of them on this card. My question to you guys is....should I market it with the H100 on it, and claim the fairly high 24/7 overclock, or put the stock back on? The guy I bought it from claimed high overclocks on air, but I haven't verified them since I immediately put the H100 on it. Thanks for any opinions!
I would have to make up at least some of the difference of the H100, since I still need one for my new 780 thats coming, so I would have to sell it for a higher price.


----------



## CalinTM

To put things down you say its 1.26 on LN2 bios at default. This isn't way too much compared with nvidia 1.175V ? I mean the card could get faulty just because has an insane voltage on LN2 default ?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> FTW 420: Can you test it on normal bios at +50mV to tell me whats the multimeter voltage ?
> 
> AB says 1.20-1.23V


I'll have to flash a normal bios back onto the card, I currently have the F8 & 3A bios' on it, looks like one of the normal bios' at techpowerup is OK, I'll give it a try.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> To put things down you say its 1.26 on LN2 bios at default. This isn't way too much compared with nvidia 1.175V ? I mean the card could get faulty just because has an insane voltage on LN2 default ?


The regular 680s can get flashed to 1.21V & are fine with it, the lightnings are made to take more. The ln2 bios' also loosen up the OCP & OVP limits as well, but shouldn't have a negative impact on the card.
I've been using my 680 on the ln2 bios in the daily rig for quite a while & have seen no issues, it doesn't usually run with much of a load though.


----------



## CalinTM

Yeah but if on multimeter its 1.26 on default, not modified volts, its kinda large. I also have a nasty GPU i can't put more than +70Mhz on reasonable volts, i need insane +80mV on LN2 to pass 1280Mhz. And from yout picture it seems you can go at +100mhz with +0mV on LN2.

Maybe i can go two, but i test in unigine valley, 3dmark 11 and 3dmark 2013, they both don't crash even if i OC and dont put volts.

Some time ago someone told me that these are the volts on both BIOS'es measured on multimeter....

F7- stock real voltage of 1.21v, with +93mv you'd be at 1.31v
3A- stock real voltage of 1.26v, with +93mv you'd be at 1.36v.

I also talked with some msi forums staff member and he thinks that those voltages aren't true, what afterburner says its true. Says that multimeters have the thing to bump the numbers higher.

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=169091.0


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Yeah but if on multimeter its 1.26 on default, not modified volts, its kinda large. I also have a nasty GPU i can't put more than +70Mhz on reasonable volts, i need insane +80mV on LN2 to pass 1280Mhz. And from yout picture it seems you can go at +100mhz with +0mV on LN2.
> 
> Maybe i can go two, but i test in unigine valley, 3dmark 11 and 3dmark 2013, they both don't crash even if i OC and dont put volts.


It could just be the card, both of mine were bought pretty quick after launch, one does about +100 on the core & the other has gone to +180 for benching before needing a voltage bump.

How high are the temps getting? I don't use a case & usually run 100% fan when loading them up, although the 680L do run pretty cool so temps shouldn't be much of an issue.


----------



## CalinTM

My case is small, here is summer, the temps in 3dmark aren't big at all max 67 degrees. But a loop in unigine heaven with 4xAA gets about 72 degrees temps.

In games i use fps cap, and my PC can sustain 85 fps almost all the time, if the fps drops the usage starts to increase to 99% then the card heats up to 71 degrees and it starts to throttle down.

And i need to use LN2 bios, but as you say 1.26V on default LN2 is huge, and its a double edge sword...


----------



## FtW 420

The temps are still pretty good, shouldn't be an issue.

Testing the normal bios (80.04.28.00.39) with the same settings (+0mV, 100 power target, +100 core, +500 mem) in the same spot of 2dmark 11 the dmm is reading 1.215V, boost is going up to 1267 on the normal bios instead of 1306 on the ln2 bios.


----------



## CalinTM

So its correct, on dmm its still on normal bios default voltage is still more than nvidia's 1.175V

So 1.21V on normal bios on dmm, and +50mV is 1.26V (the default LN2 bios)

normal bios and +50mV is the default voltage of LN2 bios.

So naturally 680L is running by default on dmm readings more than nvidias 1.175 volts.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> So its correct, on dmm its still on normal bios default voltage is still more than nvidia's 1.175V
> 
> So 1.21V on normal bios on dmm, and +50mV is 1.26V (the default LN2 bios)
> 
> normal bios and +50mV is the default voltage of LN2 bios.
> 
> So naturally 680L is running by default on dmm readings more than nvidias 1.175 volts.


Yes, just tried adding +50mV to the non-ln2 bios & it runs 1.262V at the start of 3d11. The other noticeable difference between the bios' is the default boost, the ln2 bios automatically boosts to 1202.


----------



## CalinTM

Could you try to run unigine valley and check the dmm ?
Basically dmm's say +30/40mV bigger than what afterburner says. You look at afterburner and add up +40mV to get your dmm reading.

Very curious thing, i hope when i will buy another rig, possible next year, with the new nvidia cards, i hope they don't have this issue, reading on dmm much bigger than software says.

I still remember the days on the 500 series nvidia, when all the cards can get max of 1.1V now Kepler is going even higher than CPU OC volts.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Could you try to run unigine valley and check the dmm ?
> Basically dmm's say +30/40mV bigger than what afterburner says. You look at afterburner and add up +40mV to get your dmm reading.
> 
> Very curious thing, i hope when i will buy another rig, possible next year, with the new nvidia cards, i hope they don't have this issue, reading on dmm much bigger than software says.
> 
> I still remember the days on the 500 series nvidia, when all the cards can get max of 1.1V


With everything default in AB on the non-ln2 bios valley is loading at 1.205V, AB is showing max 1.176V, gpu-z is showing 1.208V.

The multimeter does come in handy, the voltages shown in software for any gpu or cpu/motherboard is never 100% accurate, some can be closer than others & it is nice to be able to check where things really are.
There were tricks to get more out of 580s, my reference cards could do at least 1.2V (can't remember if that was the limit) & the 580 Lightning could get up to 1.8V.


----------



## mfranco702

Hey guys, I just picked another one of these, I found a very good deal on local craigslist, I have them set up already up and running, but now the question is: Physx on second GPU or on the CPU? what difference does it make in games or it is the same thing? my processor is a 3770K @ 4.6 GHz.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mfranco702*
> 
> Hey guys, I just picked another one of these, I found a very good deal on local craigslist, I have them set up already up and running, but now the question is: Physx on second GPU or on the CPU? what difference does it make in games or it is the same thing? my processor is a 3770K @ 4.6 GHz.


Physx is eye candy for games, for gaming physx on the second gpu, it runs much faster on a gpu than on the cpu.

For valid benchmarks it should be set to the cpu.


----------



## Chomuco

new!! MSI Afterburner 3.0.0 Beta 14(2013-08-16)

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=380513


----------



## mfranco702

Anyone running two of these in SLI overclocked? I have a few questions!


----------



## driftingforlife

Me


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Physx is eye candy for games, for gaming physx on the second gpu, it runs much faster on a gpu than on the cpu.
> 
> For valid benchmarks it should be set to the cpu.


thanks for the response +rep


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> With everything default in AB on the non-ln2 bios valley is loading at 1.205V, AB is showing max 1.176V, gpu-z is showing 1.208V.
> 
> The multimeter does come in handy, the voltages shown in software for any gpu or cpu/motherboard is never 100% accurate, some can be closer than others & it is nice to be able to check where things really are.
> There were tricks to get more out of 580s, my reference cards could do at least 1.2V (can't remember if that was the limit) & the 580 Lightning could get up to 1.8V.


1.8V on a card that i designed by default to run at 1.1V ? Cmon man....it's insane....


----------



## CalinTM

I want to ask something about the Power % in afterburner.

I use normal bios, with some OC, is normal that in games and stress tests the power can spike above 133% ? I have 145 and 167% spikes for 1 second, then back to below 133%

This is normal ?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> 1.8V on a card that i designed by default to run at 1.1V ? Cmon man....it's insane....


I don't think most go near that limit even ln2 cooled, by 1.6V or so the card can pull upwards of 900w.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> I want to ask something about the Power % in afterburner.
> 
> I use normal bios, with some OC, is normal that in games and stress tests the power can spike above 133% ? I have 145 and 167% spikes for 1 second, then back to below 133%
> 
> This is normal ?


Not sure if it is supposed to be normal, but looking at some screens I do see weird power spikes as well, so it isn't just you at least.


----------



## CalinTM

I use the normal bios for OC, cuz the LN2 is making too much heat by default.

Sometimes reaches spikes to 167% power, and sometimes doesn't, it stays below 133%

I use +67core and +400mem @+63mV +10mV mem


----------



## Chomuco

new!! gooo rayoss 780 msi lightning


----------



## TechSilver13

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> new!! gooo rayoss 780 msi lightning


I hate the looks of that card.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TechSilver13*
> 
> I hate the looks of that card.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4


Holly crap! How much?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mfranco702*
> 
> Holly crap! How much?


How much does he hate the looks?









As long as the card under the heatsink performs, the heatsink could be pink with a 'my little pony' theme for all I care.
It'll get swapped out for something else anyway.


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> How much does he hate the looks?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As long as the card under the heatsink performs, the heatsink could be pink with a 'my little pony' theme for all I care.
> It'll get swapped out for something else anyway.


How much money I was wobdering


----------



## FtW 420

Ah, nothing solid yet, the MSRP in Singapore $ was listed, that can be converted to USD but still doesn't apply to how much it will cost outside Singapore.

I'm guessing between $700 & $750, just basing it on competitor prices.


----------



## Chomuco

new! 3.0.0 Beta 14 (SE de 680/770 ediciones Lightning)

http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> new! 3.0.0 Beta 14 (SE de 680/770 ediciones Lightning)
> 
> http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html


Im already overclocking with it, lol thanks anyways chamuco


----------



## CalinTM

Anyone could tell me why i have in games and stress tests, spikes and high power limit usage with normal bios ?

If i switch to LN2 bios and i use the same OC settings, the power limit is much smaller and doesn't have spikes. Look at this pictures

normal bios: http://i39.tinypic.com/fdyeyv.jpg

LN2 bios with 133% power: http://i41.tinypic.com/2r4my5c.jpg

LN2 bios with 300% power: http://i43.tinypic.com/r1ylxw.jpg

Why it spikes like that Power% on normal bios ??


----------



## Menthol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> How much does he hate the looks?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As long as the card under the heatsink performs, the heatsink could be pink with a 'my little pony' theme for all I care.
> It'll get swapped out for something else anyway.


A pink little pony that runs like a stallion would be awesome


----------



## Nikola-Tesla

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> As long as the card under the heatsink performs, the heatsink could be pink with a 'my little pony' theme for all I care.


brb, I need to buy pink spray and print some smexy-stickers


----------



## Chomuco

A pink little pony that....ja.. WC !!


----------



## eastoahu

*NEW*

First post here on the forums!
Let me know how everything looks









Username: Eastoahu
Max Core OC: 1411
Max Memory OC: 7020





I also got my i5 stable @ 5.0 ghz today (as you can see in the screenshot)


----------



## mfranco702

ok guys, long story short, I have two lightnings in SLI overclocked but in afterburner 3.0.0 beta 14 the GPU 1 seems to get higher voltage than the GPU 2 (1.31V vs 1.275V) therefore clocks higher to 1382 MHz. and the other one to 1325 MHz. this seems very weird since both are unlocked LN2 BIOS's.

GPU 1 80.04.09.00.F8
GPU 2 80.04.28.00.3A

Also in afterburner the gpu 1 power limit is 300% and the gpu 2 is only 133%, is this normal or do I have to run the same BIOS in both cards to make them get same voltage and similar clocks, anyone else has the same situation? what can I do to fix this? i kinda want to push the second card a little higher, but something is holding it back. any help would be appreciated.

attach some images:


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *eastoahu*
> 
> *NEW*
> 
> First post here on the forums!
> Let me know how everything looks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Username: Eastoahu
> Max Core OC: 1411
> Max Memory OC: 7020
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I also got my i5 stable @ 5.0 ghz today (as you can see in the screenshot)


Good clocks for the card, the graphics score looks in line & all looks good!
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mfranco702*
> 
> ok guys, long story short, I have two lightnings in SLI overclocked but in afterburner 3.0.0 beta 14 the GPU 1 seems to get higher voltage than the GPU 2 (1.31V vs 1.275V) therefore clocks higher to 1382 MHz. and the other one to 1325 MHz. this seems very weird since both are unlocked LN2 BIOS's.
> 
> GPU 1 80.04.09.00.F8
> GPU 2 80.04.28.00.3A
> 
> Also in afterburner the gpu 1 power limit is 300% and the gpu 2 is only 133%, is this normal or do I have to run the same BIOS in both cards to make them get same voltage and similar clocks, anyone else has the same situation? what can I do to fix this? i kinda want to push the second card a little higher, but something is holding it back. any help would be appreciated.
> 
> attach some images:


The 3a bios on the second card may be a locked ln2 bios? It doesn't look like the voltage increase is applying properly (& the power limit).
It wouldn't hurt to flash a known unlocked bios to see if that fixes it up, or has it already been flashed?


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Good clocks for the card, the graphics score looks in line & all looks good!
> The 3a bios on the second card may be a locked ln2 bios? It doesn't look like the voltage increase is applying properly (& the power limit).
> It wouldn't hurt to flash a known unlocked bios to see if that fixes it up, or has it already been flashed?


I bought it used about two weeks ago, according to the data on the First page of this thread the second's card BIOS is LN2 Unlocked, unless im seeing it wrong, I havent used a multimeter but obviously isnt getting same voltage as her sister since clocks lower. also weird about the power limit, if it was locked would it let me increase voltage a bit?


----------



## FtW 420

You're right, I remembered there was a locked 3a bios but it had 29 instead of 28 in it, that one does look unlocked. But not acting like an unlocked bios.

I would still try a different bios unlocked bios (or reflashing the unlocked bios with the same numbers in the OP), both F8 & 3A should work, the difference is in the overclock recovery, with F8 a driver crash requires a reboot, the 3A bios has better crash recovery in windows.


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> You're right, I remembered there was a locked 3a bios but it had 29 instead of 28 in it, that one does look unlocked. But not acting like an unlocked bios.
> 
> I would still try a different bios unlocked bios (or reflashing the unlocked bios with the same numbers in the OP), both F8 & 3A should work, the difference is in the overclock recovery, with F8 a driver crash requires a reboot, the 3A bios has better crash recovery in windows.


If I want to flash to F8, do I need to unmount the SLI or it can be done while running both cards?, and by unmount I mean physically remove the card from the motherboard, not disabling SLI in nvidia control panel, and also what do you recommend both cards running F8 or 3A?


----------



## FtW 420

I have flashed single gpus for years, either gpu can be flashed while both are in the system using the index command (i=0 or 1), but I haven't done it personally.

I use the 3A unlocked bios' for the crash recovery, F8 works just as well for overclocking & everything, but has to be rebooted after crashing the driver, it gets annoying when testing clocks.


----------



## driftingforlife

I told you in the PMs to flash them with 3A and that afterburn DOES NOT read the voltage right.

Stock - 1.250
+6 - 1.258
+12 - 1.263
+18 - 1.273
+25 - 1.280
+31 - 1.285
+37 - 1.295
+43 - 1.300
+50 - 1.308
+56 - 1.313
+62 - 1.319
+68 - 1.325
+75 - 1.332
+81 - 1.338
+87 - 1.345
+93 - 1.356


----------



## eastoahu

A quick question on the ArtMoney voltage hack... It seems like afterburner resets to the original non-hacked voltages when i restart my computer....

Is there anyway to make it save?

also

The "AUX Voltage" and the "Memory Voltage" In afterburner are set at zero for me... Do i need to adjust these settings at all???


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Anyone could tell me why i have in games and stress tests, spikes and high power limit usage with normal bios ?
> 
> If i switch to LN2 bios and i use the same OC settings, the power limit is much smaller and doesn't have spikes. Look at this pictures
> 
> normal bios: http://i39.tinypic.com/fdyeyv.jpg
> 
> LN2 bios with 133% power: http://i41.tinypic.com/2r4my5c.jpg
> 
> LN2 bios with 300% power: http://i43.tinypic.com/r1ylxw.jpg
> 
> Why it spikes like that Power% on normal bios ??


Anyone could answer ? Why i have large spikes on power limit on normal bios, and on LN2 the power is nice and stable ??

And also if i have 61 degrees on memory and 64 on VRM in games, it's ok ? Isn't too much for mem and VRM, what are their ratings ?


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *eastoahu*
> 
> The "AUX Voltage" and the "Memory Voltage" In afterburner are set at zero for me... Do i need to adjust these settings at all???


You should experiment with both. Every card is different. For me, -100mv for aux and -50mv for mem work best for OC. YMMV!


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> I told you in the PMs to flash them with 3A and that afterburn DOES NOT read the voltage right.
> 
> Stock - 1.250
> +6 - 1.258
> +12 - 1.263
> +18 - 1.273
> +25 - 1.280
> +31 - 1.285
> +37 - 1.295
> +43 - 1.300
> +50 - 1.308
> +56 - 1.313
> +62 - 1.319
> +68 - 1.325
> +75 - 1.332
> +81 - 1.338
> +87 - 1.345
> +93 - 1.356


yes and thanks for the reply, I decided to test each card's voltage with a multimeter, silly question though, which is the one am I supposed to connect the probes to for the GPU voltage? left, middle or right?


----------



## driftingforlife

From memory it is the one closest to the mobo.


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *driftingforlife*
> 
> From memory it is the one closest to the mobo.


I flashed the second card to F8 and with the AB 3.0.0 beta 14 a multimeter reads the following:

stock voltage:



slider to +100mV:



definitely AB isnt accurate in voltage readings, by the way FtW 420, even though the BIOS was 3A, it was locked, after the flash I get 300% power limit and voltage goes up to 1.38V.


----------



## driftingforlife

Yeap, thats fine.


----------



## CalinTM

So i guess anyone doesnt know why power limit spikes on normal bios and on LN2 is stays normal ?

So, in LN2 in games the power limit graph is still in the area of 50-70%, and if i switch to normal bios the power limit graph in games is between 80-100%.

That is my dilemma, why on normal bios it sucks more power (even with no overclock) compared with LN2 bios....


----------



## suchy101

Hey guys,

What is the current state of overvolting these ?

Some while ago a read that these chips are very sensitive to voltage and you should not push them too high (even though Lightnings allow you to) - this the NV has stopped voltage tweak through later BIOS revisions.

Is this true ? I am running one with a waterblock,, so temperatures are fine (rarely reaching 50), I was wondering if I can push it further with cranking the volts all the way up to +100...


----------



## eastoahu

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *suchy101*
> 
> Hey guys,
> 
> What is the current state of overvolting these ?
> 
> Some while ago a read that these chips are very sensitive to voltage and you should not push them too high (even though Lightnings allow you to) - this the NV has stopped voltage tweak through later BIOS revisions.
> 
> Is this true ? I am running one with a waterblock,, so temperatures are fine (rarely reaching 50), I was wondering if I can push it further with cranking the volts all the way up to +100...


Hmm well I'm running version 2.0.0 and using the voltage hack so afterburner shows +150 on the voltage slider...

I'm air-cooled and don't get above 75 under full load, voltage maxing out at 1. 380

Especially with water cooling, you should be fine at 100 voltage slider

P. S. From what I've read, afterburner only allows "safe" levels of overvoltage so you can't fry anything


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mfranco702*
> 
> I flashed the second card to F8 and with the AB 3.0.0 beta 14 a multimeter reads the following:
> 
> stock voltage:
> 
> 
> 
> slider to +100mV:
> 
> 
> 
> definitely AB isnt accurate in voltage readings, by the way FtW 420, even though the BIOS was 3A, it was locked, after the flash I get 300% power limit and voltage goes up to 1.38V.


I wasn't sure if there was a locked bios with the same version number or not, but looks like there is, MSI got a bit sneaky there!
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> So i guess anyone doesnt know why power limit spikes on normal bios and on LN2 is stays normal ?
> 
> So, in LN2 in games the power limit graph is still in the area of 50-70%, and if i switch to normal bios the power limit graph in games is between 80-100%.
> 
> That is my dilemma, why on normal bios it sucks more power (even with no overclock) compared with LN2 bios....


I'm not sure why it does it, but just tested a bit & I see the same thing. The non-ln2 bios was running at about 70 in the power graph benching valley, on the ln2 bios benching valley at all the same settings the power was going up to low 60s.


----------



## CalinTM

@FtW 420: Flashed the non-LN2 F7 bios with another non-LN2 bios, and now in benchmarks and games the power limit is a little stable, i get 70-90% power limit in games with overclock, and without oc i get 70% power limit with the new bios. With my old F7 bios the power limit is going nuts, has spikes from 60% to 150%.


----------



## jukula

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> So i guess anyone doesnt know why power limit spikes on normal bios and on LN2 is stays normal ?
> 
> So, in LN2 in games the power limit graph is still in the area of 50-70%, and if i switch to normal bios the power limit graph in games is between 80-100%.
> 
> That is my dilemma, why on normal bios it sucks more power (even with no overclock) compared with LN2 bios....


It doesn't suck more power on normal bios. Normal bios at 100% power limit is 225W and LN2 bios at 100% power limit is 300W. Thats why it shows different %


----------



## TheAssassin

What drivers are people running these days with unlocked versions? Im still using 314.22. Also what was the version of AB to use for the unlocked voltage control?


----------



## driftingforlife

Beta 14 SE, get it from guru3D.


----------



## Chomuco

nice


----------



## Harry604

Both my cards are 76.1 and 76.4 asic

are they good cards to overclock


----------



## mfranco702

Does anybody know where i can get a stock cooler to replace, I accidentally touched one fan while spinning and a blade broke, does Warranty cover this kind of things, is it possible to send to MSI for repair?


----------



## CalinTM

Anyone knows where i can download and flash a normal bios for my lightning card ? 680


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Anyone knows where i can download and flash a normal bios for my lightning card ? 680


I downloaded the 80.04.28.00.39 non-ln2 bios from the techpowerup database. http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/index.php?architecture=NVIDIA&manufacturer=MSI&model=GTX+680&interface=&memType=&memSize=


----------



## bhav

Can I join the club with my cheapo rip offs?

















They are flashed to the 300 power limit bios, though it doesnt matter much because one card only does 1250 and the other 1202 with 1.215v


----------



## fantaziz

Before, my overclocking was perfect but now my games keep crashing :/

Please help !


----------



## driftingforlife

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> Before, my overclocking was perfect but now my games keep crashing :/
> 
> Please help !


Care to give a bit more detail.


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I downloaded the 80.04.28.00.39 non-ln2 bios from the techpowerup database. http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/index.php?architecture=NVIDIA&manufacturer=MSI&model=GTX+680&interface=&memType=&memSize=


And i flash it with those commands ?

extract the nvflash files to C:\
save the BIOS file to C:\
open elevated cmd window (hit start button, type "cmd", right click cmd icon, run as administrator)
change directory to C:\ (type " cd C:\ " )
OPTIONAL: type " nvflash --protectoff " then hit enter (turns off any error msg that may result from software write protection)
BACKUP ORIGINAL BIOS: Type " nvflash -b backup.rom " and a copy of your bios will be saved to the nvflash directory
type " nvflash -4 -5 -6 (bios name).rom "
wait for it to finish
reboot


----------



## Dinocookies

Does anyone know where I can get the stock LN1 bios?


----------



## Chomuco

nice , sli rayo con bios stock , volt vddc 1.7 ?? http://i.imgur.com/y6Ccbkr.png



http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/1191136


----------



## bhav

I got 13k points in firestrike











Could anyone tell me how to remove the plastic cover for the reactor on the back? I tried but it wouldnt come off, I want to add in my reference 680 which didnt manage to sell on ebay yet to test tri SLI.


----------



## bhav

Anyone know how to remove the reactor shroud from the back of the card?


----------



## anDrasch

press the 4 lugs which are respectively opposite


----------



## CalinTM

Strange thing i found about the Aux Voltage. I can make it stable in Unigine Valley at +54Mhz with +50mV, BUT if i lower the voltage to +37mV and i use +20mV on Aux Voltage it's stable with lower voltage....

I know Aux Voltage is PLL voltage, but will be a problem if i increased the PLL voltage to +20mV ? And what is the default PLL voltage ?


----------



## r360r

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *anDrasch*
> 
> press the 4 lugs which are respectively opposite


Stupid question. But can I use the card without that thing? Cause I'm having a second card delivered and it looks like I can't install the second card wtihout going to the 3rd PCIe slot because of the reactor


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Stupid question. But can I use the card without that thing? Cause I'm having a second card delivered and it looks like I can't install the second card wtihout going to the 3rd PCIe slot because of the reactor


I removed the reactor and its cover long ago. No change in max OC. But I'm on air, not LN.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mfranco702*
> 
> Does anybody know where i can get a stock cooler to replace, I accidentally touched one fan while spinning and a blade broke, does Warranty cover this kind of things, is it possible to send to MSI for repair?


It should be RMAable, when I broke a blade on the 580 Lightning MSI said it could be RMAd. I didn't want to go without a card though, the superglue has held up since then.
I do have an extra fan here somewhere if you really get stuck.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> I removed the reactor and its cover long ago. No change in max OC. But I'm on air, not LN.


Even on ln2, 1600 core + is still doable without the reactor. I have read that it can help with OCP but no one on air or water should run into that.


----------



## Nikola-Tesla

I removed plastic cover, but kept the small board (I'm also on air).
I'm just wondering, can it affect card longevity when OC'd?

Also, at least one person in this thread bricked his card by removing 'reactor' board.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nikola-Tesla*
> 
> I removed plastic cover, but kept the small board (I'm also on air).
> I'm just wondering, can it affect card longevity when OC'd?
> 
> Also, at least one person in this thread bricked his card by removing 'reactor' board.


Removing the reactor board can't hurt the gpu, unless maybe it was running at the time, or he tried to put it back in wrong. It shouldn't affect the cards longevity at all, it isn't needed & is just an added option.


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> It should be RMAable, when I broke a blade on the 580 Lightning MSI said it could be RMAd. I didn't want to go without a card though, the superglue has held up since then.
> I do have an extra fan here somewhere if you really get stuck.
> Even on ln2, 1600 core + is still doable without the reactor. I have read that it can help with OCP but no one on air or water should run into that.


Thanks FtW 420 but I already sold it on eBay, didn't want to deal with it, had to sell the other one too,time to move on to 700 series or Titan SLI....


----------



## r360r

Hey whats up guys?

on the after burner program is GPU1 on an SLi setup usually the top card?


----------



## mfranco702

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Hey whats up guys?
> 
> on the after burner program is GPU1 on an SLi setup usually the top card?


if you go to settings you can select GPU1 or GPU2, then click ok, after that the screen will show you whichever GPU you selected and make changes,
Physically the card on top is GPU1.


----------



## Chomuco

sli gtx 680 rayo , http://gyazo.com/7b5e3d291407b010bea4f78dbe1df22a.png


----------



## CalinTM

Im looking for normal bios version 80.04.47.00.18 for Subsystem Id: 1462 *2830*


----------



## smsmasters

I can't get the voltage to go above 1.212V. I'm using MSIAfterburner 3 Beta15 with 80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked LN2 BIOS).

Any ideas?

I even changed the config:

Code:



Code:


[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1


----------



## Chomuco

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *smsmasters*
> 
> I can't get the voltage to go above 1.212V. I'm using MSIAfterburner 3 Beta15 with 80.04.09.00.F8 (unlocked LN2 BIOS).
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> I even changed the config:
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> [Settings]
> VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
> VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
> VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1


use AB 3.0.0 beta 14 SE , RAYO


----------



## smsmasters

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> use AB 3.0.0 beta 14 SE , RAYO


Works!

Do I still need to put:

[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection = 0
VDDC_CHL8318_Detection = 46h
VDDC_CHL8318_Type = 1

in this version? I didn't but the voltage goes up to ~1.3V now


----------



## CalinTM

Beta 15 doesn't have SE version for now, use beta 14 SE. Yes, if you use a locked afterburner(beta 15) you need to use that lines into the config to work.


----------



## wiredg

I had several crashes in games with beta 14 SE. I rolled back to beta 11 SE and haven't had one since. Could be a coincidence, but the AB version was the only change I made. I'll try beta 15 SE when it's available.


----------



## KEL888

Hi

If you remove the plastic cover that covers the GPU reactor and leave the small PCB in tact will there be enough space to put a sound card on top of the card.


----------



## Kimir

Depend on the spacing of your pci-e slot of your motherboard. You can still completely remove the GPU reactor, unless you are running at more than 1700Mhz and on LN2.


----------



## KEL888

I am using a MSI z77a Mpower board. I am not OCing my GPUs but i am running on the LN2 bios.


----------



## KEL888

Anyone here have something like this in there setup like this. Would love to see pics.

x2 GTX 680 lightnings on a MSI mpower z77 and then removed plastic dome and left the GPU reactor and put n sound card on top.

I am thinking of getting a Creative sound blaster ZX.


----------



## smaudioz

I need some advice from you guys. It's not the same card (can't even find a 680 lightning new anywhere) but I have seen the MSI 680 Power Edition that seems quite similar:

http://us.msi.com/product/vga/N680-PE-2GD5-OC.html

I am looking at getting this card. I was also looking at the GTX 770 Lightning but it's £100 more at £360 and I very much doubt it's worth that much more. Also I have been thinking about waiting for the AMD R9 280X(?) or whichever one succeeds the 7970. Out of these 3 cards which would you guys go for and why? There is no price yet for that AMD card but with the 680 PE currently at £260 I'm guessing that will be the cheapest of the 3.

PS I'm upgrading from the GTX 570 in my sig

thanks


----------



## neoroy

Hello guys, just wanna ask what's best driver for this card? For overclocking ofcourse







I found that my Ex-GTX680 TF OC had higher+stable OC with 314.22 WHQL than any newer driver.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Hello guys, just wanna ask what's best driver for this card? For overclocking ofcourse
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I found that my Ex-GTX680 TF OC had higher+stable OC with 314.22 WHQL than any newer driver.


Always hard to say for an overall best driver. I find the older drivers better as well for the clocks, the 304.48 driver gave me killer overclocks. But even with the higher clocks, using newer drivers with less overclock (at a given voltage) can give better framerates/scores. I haven't really played with the 680 much lately with newer drivers.
The end performance really is the goal, regardless of the clocks.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Hello guys, just wanna ask what's best driver for this card? For overclocking ofcourse
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I found that my Ex-GTX680 TF OC had higher+stable OC with 314.22 WHQL than any newer driver.


For a 680L, 314.07 has given me the best results overall, with low frame latencies, excellent stability, good OC potential. 314.22 seemed better in benchmark tests, but I prefer 314.07 for daily use.


----------



## Chomuco

new !! : 3.0.0 Beta 15 (SE for 680/770/780 Lightning editions) [ link ]
http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Always hard to say for an overall best driver. I find the older drivers better as well for the clocks, the 304.48 driver gave me killer overclocks. But even with the higher clocks, using newer drivers with less overclock (at a given voltage) can give better framerates/scores. I haven't really played with the 680 much lately with newer drivers.
> The end performance really is the goal, regardless of the clocks.


I see







thanks for the info FtW 420







yup I agree about that, I already felt this, just wanna make sure so I asked ^_^ with GTX680TF OC and 314.22 myclock abit higher than 320.49 or 326.80 but like you said the score benchmark is abit better with the newest driver








Quality (higher score) is much important than quantity (higher clock), right?









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> For a 680L, 314.07 has given me the best results overall, with low frame latencies, excellent stability, good OC potential. 314.22 seemed better in benchmark tests, but I prefer 314.07 for daily use.


Thanks wiredg but to play SC blacklist smoothly we have to use at least 326.80 BETA or newest 327.23 WHQL, if not then the game will give us more bug like crash when launch the game etc.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chomuco*
> 
> new !! : 3.0.0 Beta 15 (SE for 680/770/780 Lightning editions) [ link ]
> http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html


Already tried this last night







so far so good in benchmark. I hope daily gaming will fine too with this latest AB for lightning series.


----------



## neoroy

Ehm I can't flash into unlocked LN2 BIOS *80.04.09.00.F8*, I've been following tutorial in page one







after succeeded I got strip lines like artifact in windows, but I can still flash back to my original LN2 BIOS, now it's normal again. Btw I was in LN2 BIOS switch while flashing it. I wanna try *80.04.28.00.3A* but will it work?? I'm afraid if this goes wrong too.
Anyway this is my original non-LN2 BIOS switch :
http://imageshack.com/i/jjb0ocp

*Update* : Works with *80.04.28.00.3A*








Btw max volt when I use slider to the max according Afterburner is 1.31volt?? GPU-Z shows the same. Do I have to set powerlimit to 300 so voltage can go up to 1.36volt?
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/837/l1l.png/

Note : After use 80.04.28.00.3A BIOS, everytime when I start up PC or restart while in BIOS post the fan seems like spinning abit higher like 50 or 60% I guess, but after goes to desktop it reduces like normal BIOS. Is this normal?


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Ehm I can't flash into unlocked LN2 BIOS *80.04.09.00.F8*, I've been following tutorial in page one
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> after succeeded I got strip lines like artifact in windows, but I can still flash back to my original LN2 BIOS, now it's normal again. Btw I was in LN2 BIOS switch while flashing it. I wanna try *80.04.28.00.3A* but will it work?? I'm afraid if this goes wrong too.


The 80.04.28.00.3A BIOS is meant for later 680 Lightnings and should work fine if 80.04.09.00.F8 fails. 80.04.09.00.F8 is meant for early ones and does not work with newer ones.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> The 80.04.28.00.3A BIOS is meant for later 680 Lightnings and should work fine if 80.04.09.00.F8 fails. 80.04.09.00.F8 is meant for early ones and does not work with newer ones.


Yup you're right wiredg







I just didn't read quite well on first page







anyway thanks








Tomorrow I will test it.
With stock BIOS (non LN2 BIOS) I got this :
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/543/o56k.png/


----------



## BababooeyHTJ

Has anyone ever degraded the memory on their video card by bumping up the voltage? I havent' touched the memory voltage on my card out of fear. Probably unjustified but still. I just remember furmark degrading the GDDR5 on the original 4870.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Yup you're right wiredg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just didn't read quite well on first page
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> anyway thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tomorrow I will test it.
> With stock BIOS (non LN2 BIOS) I got this :
> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/543/o56k.png/


The stock bios can still get throttling at higher clocks, you can see a bit in the graph there. The 3A ln2 bios should have no throttle. The 3A bios is the better ln2 bios, same results as F8, but crash recovery works with 3A, F8 crash is a blackscreen.
Monitoring software usually doesn't show the right voltage, in the ln2 bios stock voltage is ~1.26V actual (measured on DMM), +100 in AB goes up to ~ 1.36V
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BababooeyHTJ*
> 
> Has anyone ever degraded the memory on their video card by bumping up the voltage? I havent' touched the memory voltage on my card out of fear. Probably unjustified but still. I just remember furmark degrading the GDDR5 on the original 4870.


The memory voltage in software should be safe limits, I don't do memory hardmods as much these days since pushing the voltage too far can degrade memory (for me, a bit too much voltage has been fatal to a card more than once with older gpus like 8800s).


----------



## neoroy

OK now early test with 3A BIOS in LN2 mode, got this with stock volt :
http://imageshack.com/a/img826/3740/0xm6.png

Yup clock boosting steady now, thx FtW 420


----------



## Kimir

1306Mhz without added volts, good







You will certainly hit around 1400 with +100mV, well I hope for you.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> 1306Mhz without added volts, good
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You will certainly hit around 1400 with +100mV, well I hope for you.


Thanks Kimir, how about yours? btw my big problem is the temp because I live in a hot country







I guess with max volt it will be more heat perhaps 80c?? better set fan to 100% right? Also my PSU is 750watt, I heard with unlocked LN2 BIOS may draw up to 900watt, is that true??
Well there is another unlocked LN2 BIOS ... it's 80.04.47.00.42 and it's a hybrid BIOS, have you guys test it? Same like 3A??


----------



## Kimir

Mine are pretty good, one of them is holding me for daily OC. I'm usually at 1372 Mhz with +100mV, had to reduce to 1346 Mhz those days since I'm using the latest nvidia driver and I had few BF3 crash lol. One of them can do 1398 Mhz just fine.
I don't have the temp problem, sort of, since I'm in watercooling. So in peak I will reach 62°c, while you are benching, yeah you'd better set the fan to 100%.
There is no way you can draw 900w with a single card and a 3570k. In game I usually draw about 700~800w with my [email protected] (1.408v) and my 680L in sli.
If I remember correctly, the bios 80.04.47.00.42 is the UEFI one, better stick with the reliable 3A unless you need it.


----------



## CalinTM

Lol, i need 10mV for each 10mhz i put into my card....









To be stable in unigine heaven 3 loops run.









Now in 3d mark 2013, which doesn't test for stability. I can put my card also on 1300mhz on +40mV (say) and i can pass 3dmarks softs. Test under unigine heaven WITH 3 LOOPS in a ROW.


----------



## Kimir

Nothing beat Far Cry 3 for core OC stability and Crysis 3 for mem OC.


----------



## neoroy

Surprise Kimir







I just use *80.04.47.00.42* and performs abit higher in OC, with 3A I only can stable with +115 (see my SS above) which has1306mhz max boost and with this 42 BIOS I can climb up to +130 which has 1320mhz max boost, not too high but I guess it's pretty good.
http://imageshack.com/a/img96/5638/w6pv.png
http://imageshack.com/a/img844/1828/8r31.png
Will try another step up later








I just hope it can do +150 with stock volt.
Btw with 3A while entering windows logo before enter desktop, fan always spin higher like 60 or 70% right? Well with this 42 BIOS fan stay like original non-LN2 BIOS







fan is not spinning too high before entering desktop, maybe 30 or 40%.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Surprise Kimir
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just use *80.04.47.00.42* and performs abit higher in OC, with 3A I only can stable with +115 (see my SS above) which has1306mhz max boost and with this 42 BIOS I can climb up to +130 which has 1320mhz max boost, not too high but I guess it's pretty good.


I'd like to experiment with 80.04.47.00.42 but my Google-fu seems weak today and I can't find a download. Can someone send it to me please?


----------



## Kimir

Oh great if it OC better, what does it do when driver crashes? Black screen or recover (this also depend on driver tho)?
About the fan, yeah they are supposed to turn on the other way to cleanup then at "full" speed before windows pop up (supposed to be 30 sec or so). I don't remember quite well, had a card for 2 days then got the second and the water block for them, so I put them under water even before flashing em'.
I'm interested in a dl link too (I didn't try to find it but since it's asked







).
What is your ASIC neoroy btw?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Surprise Kimir
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just use *80.04.47.00.42* and performs abit higher in OC, with 3A I only can stable with +115 (see my SS above) which has1306mhz max boost and with this 42 BIOS I can climb up to +130 which has 1320mhz max boost, not too high but I guess it's pretty good.
> http://imageshack.com/a/img96/5638/w6pv.png
> http://imageshack.com/a/img844/1828/8r31.png
> Will try another step up later
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just hope it can do +150 with stock volt.
> Btw with 3A while entering windows logo before enter desktop, fan always spin higher like 60 or 70% right? Well with this 42 BIOS fan stay like original non-LN2 BIOS
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> fan is not spinning too high before entering desktop, maybe 30 or 40%.


I hadn't seen that bios before, looks good! Better clocks at the same voltage with the same driver is definitely a bit of a bonus!


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> I'd like to experiment with 80.04.47.00.42 but my Google-fu seems weak today and I can't find a download. Can someone send it to me please?


But becareful, this is UEFI BIOS and not legacy, if your mobo is legacy BIOS it will not boot, ask *CalinTM*, he had experienced with that.
PM sent









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Oh great if it OC better, what does it do when driver crashes? Black screen or recover (this also depend on driver tho)?
> About the fan, yeah they are supposed to turn on the other way to cleanup then at "full" speed before windows pop up (supposed to be 30 sec or so). I don't remember quite well, had a card for 2 days then got the second and the water block for them, so I put them under water even before flashing em'.
> I'm interested in a dl link too (I didn't try to find it but since it's asked
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ).
> What is your ASIC neoroy btw?


If OC fails sometimes blackscreen but sure you can go back to desktop by hit Control+Alt+Del or just simply hit Control+Tab and sometimes it goback to desktop like CTD and shows "Nvidia kernel driver has been stop responding bla bla bla". But mostly CTD.
My Asic is :
http://imageshack.com/a/img41/3999/5at7.png
I sent it via PM, but remember this is for hybrid or UEFI BIOS.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> I hadn't seen that bios before, looks good! Better clocks at the same voltage with the same driver is definitely a bit of a bonus!


Thanks Lorne









OK now first test with add volt :
http://imageshack.com/a/img59/9008/r452.png
http://imageshack.com/a/img51/6137/qou7.png


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> But becareful, this is UEFI BIOS and not legacy, if your mobo is legacy BIOS it will not boot, ask *CalinTM*, he had experienced with that.
> PM sent


TYVM


----------



## jukula

I'd like to test 80.04.47.00.42 bios too. Can't find download.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> TYVM


You're welcome mate








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jukula*
> 
> I'd like to test 80.04.47.00.42 bios too. Can't find download.


I've sent you in PM









Hmm should I just post the link in here? or to TS?


----------



## neoroy

Hello Michaelrw, I wanna join this club please









http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/28/lpq4.jpg/


----------



## Kimir

I doubt the list is being updated at all, I've got my two lightning since about a year now and I'm not on the list either.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> I doubt the list is being updated at all, I've got my two lightning since about a year now and I'm not on the list either.


Did you post your max OC in Heaven and 3DMark 2011? Maybe Michaelrw wants us to test it to the max in heaven and 3DM2011, but I think just posting the card with our forum ID should be enough... then for max OC in heaven and 3DMark 2011 should be an option








But it's up to Michaelrw since he started/own this thread ^_^


----------



## Kimir

I haven't seen a message from him here since I'm following this thread (a little before I own the card), I guess he moved on ahah.
I didn't ran heaven/valley since long time lol, but 3DMark scores are in my sig.


----------



## alancsalt

michaelrw's Community Profile
Forum Post Count:

971

Join Date:

2/17/12

Last Online:

on 7/4/13


----------



## jukula

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> You're welcome mate
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've sent you in PM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hmm should I just post the link in here? or to TS?


Thanks! Didn't notice any difference in OC but for some reason it's 3c cooler than 3A bios.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jukula*
> 
> Thanks! Didn't notice any difference in OC but for some reason it's 3c cooler than 3A bios.


Did you notice fan noise when first booting your PC?







fan spin not to loud for the first time to remove dust with counter clock-wise spinning. 3A BIOS spin abit louder.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> michaelrw's Community Profile
> Forum Post Count:
> 
> 971
> 
> Join Date:
> 
> 2/17/12
> 
> Last Online:
> 
> on 7/4/13


Oh he's leaving us I guess







or busy doin something








Anyway thx Alan








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> I haven't seen a message from him here since I'm following this thread (a little before I own the card), I guess he moved on ahah.
> I didn't ran heaven/valley since long time lol, but 3DMark scores are in my sig.


Yup like Alancsalt wrote, I think he's not here for afew months.
Btw this LN2 BIOS still kick down max boost abit, but with no added volt it goes perfect with no down clock/dynamic clock like normal BIOS, I found +160MHz is the max good steady clock although still there is abit down clock, take alook at this :
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/407/m4ok.png/

I tried +170 which has max boost of 1372MHz with +63mv and can finish Vantage or 3DMark2011 but score is lower than +160







I saw clock is not too stable while full loading, to much down clock and thus result lower score.
I thought LN2 BIOS will have steady boost even in higher clock.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Did you notice fan noise when first booting your PC?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> fan spin not to loud for the first time to remove dust with counter clock-wise spinning. 3A BIOS spin abit louder.
> Oh he's leaving us I guess
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> or busy doin something
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anyway thx Alan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yup like Alancsalt wrote, I think he's not here for afew months.
> Btw this LN2 BIOS still kick down max boost abit, but with no added volt it goes perfect with no down clock/dynamic clock like normal BIOS, I found +160MHz is the max good steady clock although still there is abit down clock, take alook at this :
> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/407/m4ok.png/
> 
> I tried +170 which has max boost of 1372MHz with +63mv and can finish Vantage or 3DMark2011 but score is lower than +160
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I saw clock is not too stable while full loading, to much down clock and thus result lower score.
> I thought LN2 BIOS will have steady boost even in higher clock.


That one is showing some throttle, the f8 & 3a bios' didn't have that. 1400 core on air was a solid line in the graph while benching.
It might have been temps, kinda looks like it was drooping when the core temp was touching around 70°. I thought the throttle point for temps was somewhere mid 70s but could be wrong.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> That one is showing some throttle, the f8 & 3a bios' didn't have that. 1400 core on air was a solid line in the graph while benching.
> It might have been temps, kinda looks like it was drooping when the core temp was touching around 70°. I thought the throttle point for temps was somewhere mid 70s but could be wrong.


Oh my ... I remember now, you're right Lorne







with 3A BIOS there is no throttling, I was benching with temp rise to 80c (because heatsink didn't connect well with GPU thus temp risen too high) and now the clock graph is pure flat







Here :
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/585/txwv.png/
For Kimir, Jukula and Wiredg please be alert this 80.04.47.00.42 BIOS still has throttle when temp gets closer to 70c


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> For Kimir, Jukula and Wiredg please be alert this 80.04.47.00.42 BIOS still has throttle when temp gets closer to 70c


Hey Roy, I'm having a different experience. The 42 BIOS is not throttling core freq due to high temps for me, but it is throttling when the workload is easy. My example is playing C3 with high settings, SMAA rather than MSAA, and SSDO forced. No vsync but a 60 fps frame cap with RTSS.

I can do a constant 60 fps with those settings at 1102 mhz with -50mv, and +700 on mem. When I OC to 1320 (+118mhz) and +63mv (also +700 mem), the core freq will throttle a lot, I think because the work is too easy at that freq.

BUT, if I raise the frame cap to 90 fps, the line will be perfectly flat at 1320. Temps go up to around 82c, so I don't play like that. But there doesn't seem to be any temp throttling. I only get throttling when the GPU is OC'd and in a sense not struggling, which is exactly what you would expect. So I'm liking this BIOS just fine. I haven't seen any advantages over 3A yet, but I certainly haven't seen the slightest problem so far.


----------



## Kimir

Temp will not be a problem for me since i'm on watercooling and my GPUs never exceed 62°c.
@wiredg, were you able to get better oc with less voltage like neoroy? I didn't took the time to put the bios on my cards yet, anyway, the newest beta driver required for BF4 is holding me, I had to reduce by 20Mhz for the same voltage to not get a damn driver crash after a while.


----------



## wiredg

Kimir, the 42 BIOS definitely crashes later in Heaven than the 3A when I reach my GPU's "wall", which is 1333 mhz regardless of voltage. On both BIOSes I can do 1320 stable as you please with +63mv. (Actually, 1320 is stable at +50mv on Heaven, but not C3.) I know that I posted results here a long time ago when I first got the card showing 1333 mhz stable in Heaven with +840 mem, but that was with a much older driver, one of the 304 series drivers if I recall. These days, I get best results in the games I play with the 314.07 driver, so that's what I use.

Jukula said his temps seemed slightly better with 42. I kinda sense that too, but ambient changes a lot so it might be a coincidence.


----------



## Kimir

Great, if it act the same in game as in heaven, I could probably get 1398Mhz with +100mV








I definitely have to try that bios, where did I put nvflash already









edit: voila, updated the non-ln2 bios with the 42 one, I keep the 3A one this way (I never used the original bios anyway but saved it, just in case)


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Great, if it act the same in game as in heaven, I could probably get 1398Mhz with +100mV
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I definitely have to try that bios, where did I put nvflash already
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> edit: voila, updated the non-ln2 bios with the 42 one, I keep the 3A one this way (I never used the original bios anyway but saved it, just in case)


Wow it would be nice if you could do 1398MHz, Kimir







I'll be watch ^^.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> Hey Roy, I'm having a different experience. The 42 BIOS is not throttling core freq due to high temps for me, but it is throttling when the workload is easy. My example is playing C3 with high settings, SMAA rather than MSAA, and SSDO forced. No vsync but a 60 fps frame cap with RTSS.
> 
> I can do a constant 60 fps with those settings at 1102 mhz with -50mv, and +700 on mem. When I OC to 1320 (+118mhz) and +63mv (also +700 mem), the core freq will throttle a lot, I think because the work is too easy at that freq.
> 
> BUT, if I raise the frame cap to 90 fps, the line will be perfectly flat at 1320. Temps go up to around 82c, so I don't play like that. But there doesn't seem to be any temp throttling. I only get throttling when the GPU is OC'd and in a sense not struggling, which is exactly what you would expect. So I'm liking this BIOS just fine. I haven't seen any advantages over 3A yet, but I certainly haven't seen the slightest problem so far.


Hmm so if the load is easy then it will get throttle, I guess it's not too bugging me







what more important to me is not throttling at full load ^_^ btw nice try, wiredg.
LN2 BIOS trully needs better cooler and not stock cooling I suppose afterall ^_^


----------



## Kimir

Well, seems to be throttling because of the power target here. Can't get better than 1350Mhz with +100mV, 1370Mhz isn't even stable on Heaven lol
Tried my record (3DMark, in my sig) frequencies with artmoney (rbby tool isn't working with with AB beta 15) but it crashes as well. Great thing is it recover every damn time the OC fail.


----------



## Hydroplane

Going to give mine a shot at overclocking today. Only took me 10 months


----------



## Hydroplane

Updated my bios to 80.04.09.00.F8. No luck so far, heaven 4.0 and valley constantly crash about halfway through at stock settings.

I think it's due to the nvidia 320.49 driver. If I run in windowed mode at a lower resolution, it will crash at the same spot. I'll try a different driver.

Updated drivers to 327.23. Still doesn't work.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hydroplane*
> 
> Updated my bios to 80.04.09.00.F8. No luck so far, heaven 4.0 and valley constantly crash about halfway through at stock settings.
> 
> I think it's due to the nvidia 320.49 driver. If I run in windowed mode at a lower resolution, it will crash at the same spot. I'll try a different driver.
> 
> Updated drivers to 327.23. Still doesn't work.


Try the 80.04.28.00.3A BIOS. Everyone seems to prefer it. Also, you must use one of the SE versions of afterburner at guru3d -- or use the profile edit explained in the first page of this thread with a non-SE version of AB.


----------



## Hydroplane

I returned to the stock 00.39 bios and it works just fine now. Strange. I think it was a combination of the nvidia drivers and the bios since it had issues with that bios and 320.19 before.

I'll try 80.04.28.00.3A. Made the bios update kind of pointless since that's what my card came with once the switch was flipped, lol

I am still using AB 2.2.3 since I remember back in january when I got the GPU that was the one you were supposed to use. I'll try a different one.


----------



## Hydroplane

Valley still crashes no matter what settings I use. I am on the 3A bios with the jumper set to LN2 now. I tried F8 and 39 as well. All at stock voltages and clocks, I tried 331 drivers, 327 and 320. I tried afterburner 2.2.3 and the 3.0.0 beta 15 se. I can't get it to run for more than 5 minutes without it unexpectedly closing or the nvidia driver crashing then restarting. I give up. I don't need a stable gpu anyway since I don't play games anymore.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hydroplane*
> 
> Valley still crashes no matter what settings I use. I am on the 3A bios with the jumper set to LN2 now. I tried F8 and 39 as well. All at stock voltages and clocks, I tried 331 drivers, 327 and 320. I tried afterburner 2.2.3 and the 3.0.0 beta 15 se. I can't get it to run for more than 5 minutes without it unexpectedly closing or the nvidia driver crashing then restarting. I give up. I don't need a stable gpu anyway since I don't play games anymore.


Wow, that's disappointing. However, the factory LN2 BIOS on the later cards (80.04.47.00.19 in my case) does work well, although the voltage and power limits are lower than with the 3A. But if you're only looking for a moderate OC for daily use, it definitely works. Pretty sure you need the SE version of AB or the profile edit to make the voltage sliders work, but I'm not certain about that; I haven't used 80.04.47.00.19 in ages.


----------



## neoroy

Wow this is surprising me, after use 331.40 BETA driver now when full load my power goes up to *300%*







and thus makes temp got higher up to *71C* but the good thing is *no throttle*







before this my power in AB never pass higher than 99%








I just don't know 331.40 BETA driver makes my card to be truely unlocked, and know I use 327.31 WHQL with power still goes up to 300% in benchmark







but when I rolled back to 314.22 WHQL it never passed 100% again.
Now this 42 BIOS is like 3A, I think








http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/708/npyr.png/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/209/ifr.png/


----------



## Hydroplane

I'm pretty sure it's a software issue since I have had no problems with games up til this point. Some sort of conflict between valley/heaven 4.0, msi afterburner, and the nvidia drivers. Right now what usually happens is the nvidia drivers crash and restart. The benchmark will keep going, but my memory clocks go from 3005 down to the power saving level of 324.

Strangely enough I had no problem increasing my voltage on all versions. Stock bios I could go up to 1.256 and on the ln2 bioses I could hit 1.3V with the slider turned up all the way. My "normal" value is 1.158V.

I am using the 331.40 beta driver and AB 3.0.0. Beta 15 just like neoroy, so I know that combination should work. On the 3A bios my power limit only goes up to 133%. I ran valley for 14 minutes then got "display driver has stopped working and has recovered" then the same thing 3 minutes later, then a minute after that my whole system froze and crashed.

My card is running stock at 1215 MHz, 1.158V indicated, 3005 Memory, temps around 60c


----------



## CalinTM

I saw you guys test 1300mhz with 0 volts on LN2 or with some volts on LN2, but you test only 3d mark 11 or 2013. I did that too, increased to 1300mhz with some volts and passed multiple times the benchmark, but as soon as i entered some games like BF4, played about 10 minutes and the game crashed.
Also, i didn't saw anyone to test in unigine heaven...


----------



## StreekG

In the past i never had much luck with F8 Bios. Although using 331.40 beta the F8 now seems ok, i just reflashed my cards from 3A to F8 again.
I will report back as my second card was never stable at 1300, but it is now. My first card was fine at 1350 in the past but I couldn't boost both to that much due to the second card being handicapped.


----------



## CalinTM

Anyone has 80.04.47.00.18 for Subsystem Id: 1462 2830 ??


----------



## anDrasch

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/128569/msi-gtx680-2048-120718.html


----------



## Hydroplane

Figured out the issue I was having. Apparently my CPU/RAM overclock that was stable on Saturday is no longer stable Tuesday


----------



## Chomuco

probando!


----------



## Kimir

Cloud gate really?
Do Fire Strike and Fire Strike Extreme if you want to compare score with others, cloud gate is for phone lol.


----------



## neoroy

Hmmm yes I think I know that 80.04.47.00.42 STILL has throttle, so I go back to 80.04.28.00.3A modded BIOS by Svet from MSI Forum







and the result is just like old 3A which has no throttle at all







but the fan is not spinning to high at early booting...I like it








Result for now :
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/703/1plq.png/
Unfortunately still has abit artifact at the end of benchmark, maybe this is my max or need add extra volt? Before this I was benching with +160 for the core clock and +500 for the memory clock with no artifact at all, GPU score in 3DMark2011 was 12.724.

@CalinTM, max in 3DMark2011 with no add volt I am at +130 for core and +700 for memory which result 1320MHz max boost steady, but to pass Valley benchmark I have to lower it down to +120 for core and +300 for memory like this :
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/18/fipx.png/

or +115 for core and +700 for memory :
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/196/nmrc.png/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/40/zg1a.png/


----------



## CalinTM

^ Test unigine heaven 3 times one after another, when the bench finishes, start another bench.


----------



## Hydroplane

What is the maximum voltage I should use on these cards? I can max out at 1.256, but my system crashed soon after no matter what my core/memory are set at. I think I can do 1.24 or lower stable.

Neoroy and I now have the same settings (minus his custom version of 3A, which would probably explain his 300% power limit to my 133%) so I'll see if I can achieve the same scores in valley.


----------



## Kimir

If you can't get 300% power limit, it's because you still have the locked 3A bios shipped with the card, get the one in 1st page and you'll have the 300%.
And you probably crash because of that, higher voltage no matter what (freq of core/mem) will hit the 133% limit and then crashes.


----------



## Hydroplane

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> If you can't get 300% power limit, it's because you still have the locked 3A bios shipped with the card, get the one in 1st page and you'll have the 300%.
> And you probably crash because of that, higher voltage no matter what (freq of core/mem) will hit the 133% limit and then crashes.


Actually, you're right about that. I had the original 3A bios, I used that bios tool to put F8 in then I went to switch to 3A and remembered it had been saved in that "backup.rom" file and put that in. Didn't think that there was a difference since I could still up the voltage, just not as much. I also see some mild throttling at 70C, like it's trying to stay below that even though it has an extra 50% fan speed to go yet.

Explains why I was only able to get 1263 MHz at 1.213V (+56 voltage, +60 core). If I went any higher on voltage, my screen would go black, the gpu fans would blast, and then I'd get a system restart. If I went higher on the core, the nvidia drivers would crash and restart. All of those failures could be caused by hitting the power limit? I'd think it would be something less dramatic like downclocking.

Weird thing is I could hit 7200 MHz memory no problem


----------



## Hydroplane

Wait, I have 80.04.28.00.3A. Isn't that the unlocked one (and 04.29 the locked one), or are there two 04.28s?


----------



## Kimir

Yes, there is two 3A bios with the exact same name (the whole 80.04.28.00.3A).
Both of my card were shipped with the said 3A bios and I was like, "well, it's the same" but someone here told me that every card shipped now had locked bios, despite the same name.
You can check on afterburner if you hit the power limit when you crash, and your memory oc has no influence since it's not the vcore related.


----------



## anubis1127

Hey guys, I just picked up a used 680 Lightning, I sold my previous one last June and had been missing it since.



It's primarily going to be a folding card, at least for now. I think it's in the normal bios right now, the switch is to the left, bios is: *80.04.28.00.39*. I'm going to shut it down, and flip the switch after it finishes the WU its folding.

How much PSU do these cards need? The rest of the build is B75 mATX board with Celeron G1610, 4GB Samsung "wonder" RAM, and a 64GB ADATA SSD. I'm using a 550W OCZ Fatal1ty PSU that is a few years older, so I'm going to be looking at updating that next. Right now I have to use one of the included 6pin to 8pin PCI-e adapters with the OCZ, and I don't really like that idea.

The boost clock out the gate is 1225Mhz, and ASIC is 79.1%. Right now it's getting better PPD stock than my OC'd 670 @ 1345Mhz so that pleases me.


----------



## Chomuco

sli rayo , 680 light.. asic ? http://cdn.overclock.net/f/f6/200x200px-ZC-f62c67f6_1020392.jpeg

gpuz 0.7.3 ) vga 1 , 80.5% / vga 2 , 76.0%
VS
gpuz 0.6.4 ) vga 1 , 100% / vga 2 , 99.8%

http://gyazo.com/3d240c6895d1e09dea4df674ca92d1af.png


----------



## anubis1127

Well that WU finished up, and I switched over to the LN2 bios. Looks like I have *80.04.28.00.3A*.



Now to try some OCing.


----------



## Hydroplane

You'll probably run into the same problem I had with the "new" 4.28 3a bios and need to flash it to the one on the first page. I'm going to give mine a shot.

A 550W psu should be ok at stock but overclocked I'm not sure.


----------



## anubis1127

It seems to adjust voltage in AB beta 15 SE. I've put +63v so far and its up to 1.22v. I do notice my power limit is 133% is that indicative of having the "new" 3A?


----------



## Hydroplane

Yes, the old one was 300%. My system restarts with anything above 1.213V or +56 on the new 3A bios, installed the old one and I'm testing it now.


----------



## anubis1127

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hydroplane*
> 
> Yes, the old one was 300%. My system restarts with anything above 1.213V or +56 on the new 3A bios, installed the old one and I'm testing it now.


Hmm, I'm going to try flashing the old one then. It seems to throttle itself back for me.


----------



## Hydroplane

The old 3A bios so far still hasn't helped my voltage. Maxes out at 1.211V, anything more than that and my computer restarts after 5 minutes.


----------



## Hydroplane

Fixed that issue. I can run at 1.285V now +100 no problem









The restarts I was getting made it seem like the GPU wasn't getting enough power. Which should be impossible, considering I have a 1200W PSU with a single 95A 12V rail that ran quadfire 4870x2s for 4 years. I opened my case and switched around a few of the connections on the PSU, and now my problem's solved.

I'm guessing what happened is that one of the 8 pin PCI power connectors on my PSU stopped working. The card would still be getting power from the other 8 pin connector, it would just max out that power at 1.21V and die at anything higher.

I love how I have all of these weird issues that no one else in this thread has. That's what happens when you stick a new-ish $500 gpu into a system built 5 years ago in a college dorm room









I was able to achieve 1320 MHz core and 6930 MHz memory using 1.285V. Settings +100 voltage, 300% power limit, +130 core, +460 memory. Better than before, but still not that great, especially for such a high voltage. It's in the ballpark, at least.


----------



## Hydroplane

Had to lower it to 1306 MHz and 6930 MHz memory at 1.285V for a stable overclock. Ran Valley overnight for 10+ hours and it was still running when I woke up. Very disappointed with only 1306 with that much voltage.

ASIC quality 77.9%, I should be able to do better than that so there must be something else I'm missing. I could go higher on the memory, to like +700, but for whatever reason my FPS in valley would be cut in half after a while I think because of the memory downclocking to idle speeds... though it still showed 3710 or however much in afterburner.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hydroplane*
> 
> Had to lower it to 1306 MHz and 6930 MHz memory at 1.285V for a stable overclock. Ran Valley overnight for 10+ hours and it was still running when I woke up. Very disappointed with only 1306 with that much voltage.
> 
> ASIC quality 77.9%, I should be able to do better than that so there must be something else I'm missing. I could go higher on the memory, to like +700, but for whatever reason my FPS in valley would be cut in half after a while I think because of the memory downclocking to idle speeds... though it still showed 3710 or however much in afterburner.


When I first got my 680L (ASIC 70.9), like 6 months ago, I could do 1333mhz core and +840 mhz mem, stable as you please for hours. Today the best I can do is 1320 / +700. I'm pretty sure the difference is the drivers. Those drivers at the time seemed better for benching. The newer ones seem to give better overall performance in games, so that's what I use. Your OC experience is not unusual and I don't think anything is wrong.


----------



## Hydroplane

Wiredg, what kind of voltage are you using? I'd think I could do better with an asic at almost 80%. There is room for improvement in my memory clocks, but weird stuff starts happening.

I think another thing that throws off my perception is that some folks may have just gotten 1400 or so to run benchmarks, that may not be a 24/7 stable overclock for them.

I ran it for 10 hours in valley, tested prime95 blend for an hour and a half to be sure my ram timings and cpu voltage were stable, and everything looked good.

But guess what, THE SIMS 2 causes my screen to black out and my computer restarts







I think it's due to the core clock and voltage jumping around and not staying at max boost since it's not particularly demanding gpu-wise most of the time. (though you'd be very surprised at how demanding it can be with all of the mods I have and huge houses) That's the one game I actually wanted to play! I'll have to download some more soon, I never got around to finishing those Batman Arkham games and they look fairly demanding graphically.

Edit: went through the 3D settings in the nvidia control panel and changing power management mode to "prefer maximum performance" seems to have fixed the issue.

Ran into another really annoying problem. After about 10 minutes, the GPU downclocks to 536 MHz core, 1.09V and sits there. Nothing short of a system restart will bring it back up to proper speeds.


----------



## wiredg

Hydro, I have always used the 80.04.28.00.3A unlocked LN2 BIOS. I can't tell you the voltages because I have no multimeter to check them properly, but I can tell you the position of my voltage sliders.
For daily use I stick to the stock LN2 core freq of 1202 mhz (+0mhz) and 7406mhz mem (+700mhz). For voltage settings, I use PL 150%, -25mv core, -50mv mem, and -100mv aux.

For benching, I keep everything the same except core freq 1320 (+118mhz) and core voltage +75mv. Reducing the aux and mem voltage helps me with OCing. I can also get away with less than stock voltage on the core at 1202mhz. It's stable like that in all benches and even in Crysis 3, and temps are decent.

Check these things:
Make sure you are using the 80.04.28.00.3A unlocked LN2 BIOS. There will be no throttling.

Make sure that "prefer maximum performance" is also selected in all your game profiles in NVCP. It's not good for games to have adaptive power control. You might have it set globally but "adaptive" could still be set in some game profiles.

Make sure you are using one of the SE versions of AB. If you are not using an SE version, you must use the profile edit on the first page of this thread.

Turn off vsync. However, you might want to use a frame rate limiter with games that act up, especially *less* demanding games where the frame rate can go through the proverbial roof. RTSS, which comes with AB, can be configured to limit frame rates and it works really well. Just add the game executable to the RTSS list of apps and make sure RTSS is running when the game is running. You can set a reasonable frame rate of 60fps, or perhaps 120fps on games that don't demand much. This works way better than vsync. That's all I can think of ATM. Good luck.


----------



## Hydroplane

Maybe I actually have too much voltage. It's possible. I'll see if I can set that prefer maximum performance globally. I haven't touched the aux or mem voltages yet so that's worth a try.









I disabled vsync in nvcp. I actually have the opposite problem. The game is cpu limited since it only uses one core (it's so old that it came out before dual core processors existed) so the gpu sees that it doesn't have much to do and downclocks.

I still have a few things I'd like to try. I'm sure it will work fine in something like crysis 3.


----------



## CalinTM

Ran unigine heaven for 10 hours and it will be different. I can run valley with no problems but heaven always crashes.

I use +56mV on LN2 with +67mhz and +300mem.


----------



## Hydroplane

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Ran unigine heaven for 10 hours and it will be different. I can run valley with no problems but heaven always crashes.
> 
> I use +56mV on LN2 with +67mhz and +300mem.


Heaven 4.0 just crashes after a minute at stock for me, lol. I gave up on it and went to valley. Other than the downclocking thing most of my issues have been fixed. Sometimes I'll get a random crash where the whole screen will turn a random color and the audio will blast. Weird. Maybe I should just put it back to stock, I'm not sure how much of a difference it will make with my old cpu. Though, I did see an 18% improvement in my Valley score.


----------



## CalinTM

Heaven always crashes on every card. I get crashes too on stock clocks, it's because on stock the volts are 1.156V and the card needs 1.175V (the nvidia default) increase on stock clocks the volts to reach 1.175V and it will not crash.

Also, if heaven doesn't crash on the first benchmark, it will crash on every card on the second and third benchmark for sure. The program needs more, more voltage than the other benches. If you get a crash in heaven, in gaming sooner or later you will get one freeze/crash in games, could take hours/days/weeks until a crash in games, and you know ti's from an unstable OC.

But i also think that heaven it's bugged also...


----------



## Hydroplane

Think I solved my issue. Once again, it was due to my CPU/RAM overclock not being stable.

No clue how my system passed 9 hours of prime95 blend then two days later with the exact same settings failed it after a minute


----------



## anubis1127

Ordered an EK Lightning Nickel/Acetal block for my 680 today.









Although I probably should have just saved a bit of cash and used my MCW82, the EK FC block looks soo much better, IMO.


----------



## Hydroplane

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *anubis1127*
> 
> Ordered an EK Lightning Nickel/Acetal block for my 680 today.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Although I probably should have just saved a bit of cash and used my MCW82, the EK FC block looks soo much better, IMO.


Nice! When I do a full upgrade of my computer, I'm 50/50 on watercooling the GPUs or not. I will probably go with 780 sli or titan sli as not much else would be a significant upgrade from a 680. I'm waiting until the end of this month before I do anything so I can grab the Rampage 4 Extreme Black Edition and see how the r9 290x does.


----------



## anubis1127

I wanted to go with the Full Cover block to keep the vrm temps down because all I do is fold on the 680 lightning 24/7, so I figured it'd help out a bit if I watercooled it. Not that my temps are necessarily bad right now, 54C on the vrms, 58C on the core @ 1306Mhz w/ 1.20V. I plan on OCing higher, and cranking up the voltage a bit more, which is why I thought the FC block would be a good idea.


----------



## Hydroplane

You have a better card than mine, I need full voltage to hit 1306, though I haven't tried playing with the aux and mem voltages yet.

I really don't think 54c is that bad for the vrms. The ones on my old 4870x2 literally ran at twice that lol

Think I found the issue with my cpu overclock. Needed more northbridge voltage. Remember what a northbridge is? Yeah, my system still has one of those


----------



## anubis1127

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hydroplane*
> 
> You have a better card than mine, I need full voltage to hit 1306, though I haven't tried playing with the aux and mem voltages yet.
> 
> I really don't think 54c is that bad for the vrms. The ones on my old 4870x2 literally ran at twice that lol
> 
> Think I found the issue with my cpu overclock. Needed more northbridge voltage. Remember what a northbridge is? Yeah, my system still has one of those


Well folding stable is a bit more lenient than even benching stable, and way more lenient than gaming stable. For reference on my 670 I could fold @ 1345Mhz with 1.21V, but benches would start to fail around 1293, or 1306Mhz, then gaming was even lower, around 1280Mhz depending on the game, haha.

I haven't even tried to bench, or game on the 680 Lightning, but I can almost guarantee that 1306Mhz OC is not stable for either.


----------



## Hydroplane

I think I can extract more speed out of my card by lowering/increasing those other two voltages. My goal is the mid 1300s. I'm trying to get the most I can out of this old pile of crap before I upgrade. Though it isn't as bad as I thought, Q9550s are still going for $100 on ebay! I wonder why games are more demanding than a benchmark like heaven. Maybe because they're pushing the CPU as well?


----------



## anubis1127

I'm not really sure, I guess by benchmarks I was speaking primarily of 3DMark 11. My goal for folding on this card is 1345Mhz+, ideally I'd like to push it to 1375Mhz or so, but we'll see. I just upped it to 1320Mhz with 1.22V, so far it seems stable for folding, but its too soon to tell for sure.


----------



## smaudioz

Could one of you please do me a favour and measure the maximum length of this card? I am thinking of getting the power edition which physically is the same card as the lightning and different sites state anywhere from 27cm to 29cm. If one of you could measure the max length of the card including the PCI bracket that would be great. Thanks


----------



## smaudioz

And one other question, is it safe to remove the GPU Reactor and disconnect the pcb for it if there is not enough space for it between the card and my CPU cooler.


----------



## neoroy

My max score in 3DMark 2011, it's already artifacting at graphic test 3 and 4









http://imageshack.com/a/img856/2834/e1k6.png

Like you said before guys, I think I will leave Heaven benchmark too, Valley is better because it's new program and more compatible with latest card especially kepler series.
Btw is it safe daily VRM at 69c? Too high I guess.


----------



## CalinTM

Kinda too high. Yes Heaven is very crap benchmark, it crashes on stock clocks and volts too. And valley is stable on high OC, and they have the same engine. I really think heaven is bugged, because is not normal to crash on stock clocks.

Play some new games, if in 5 days you get crashes then your OC is not stable, that's the ultimate test. Every game is different, some don't crash with OC, and some crash with OC, Heaven is that type of benchmark that crashes everytime for no reason, no artifacting then crashes, only a freeze and boom.

For example i can run Valley multiple times with +300 mem and +0mV on mem volts, and when i run Heaven on the same settings, it crashes within 10 seconds....not even lets the GPU to get some heat....


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Kinda too high. Yes Heaven is very crap benchmark, it crashes on stock clocks and volts too. And valley is stable on high OC, and they have the same engine. I really think heaven is bugged, because is not normal to crash on stock clocks.
> 
> Play some new games, if in 5 days you get crashes then your OC is not stable, that's the ultimate test. Every game is different, some don't crash with OC, and some crash with OC, Heaven is that type of benchmark that crashes everytime for no reason, no artifacting then crashes, only a freeze and boom.
> 
> For example i can run Valley multiple times with +300 mem and +0mV on mem volts, and when i run Heaven on the same settings, it crashes within 10 seconds....not even lets the GPU to get some heat....


Yup for me the real stability test is gaming







my fav games for test are Crysis, Metro2033, Tomb Raider Reboot & Battlefield.
Hmm I guess I can't do 1320MHz for daily even with +37mv when gaming temp jumping sky rocket to almost 80c and VRM nearly 70c







Unlocked LN2 BIOS really makes hot the card.
Btw is it safe using this Unlocked LN2 BIOS for along time or forever?


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Yup for me the real stability test is gaming
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> my fav games for test are Crysis, Metro2033, Tomb Raider Reboot & Battlefield.
> Hmm I guess I can't do 1320MHz for daily even with +37mv when gaming temp jumping sky rocket to almost 80c and VRM nearly 70c
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Unlocked LN2 BIOS really makes hot the card.
> Btw is it safe using this Unlocked LN2 BIOS for along time or forever?


Don't OC that high, OC to max 1280mhz, above that you will never see the difference in gaming, only heat. IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that a stock 680 has 1000mhz and a lightning one has 1200mhz with 1.175V which is a big deal.

Well, the whole card is build with strong PCB components and many VRM's so i guess it's save to use LN2. There is another version of afterburner, called extreme afterburner, that one can damage your card, because (if i remember what a msi staff memeber said to me) with that version i think you can pass 1.4V, that is insane. So LN2 on long usage with max +50mV should be almost 100% safe. Also, i don't think you will keep your GPU for more than 2 years, so it's useless anyway.

As i said, lower the OC, you don't feel the diff in gaming. Mine is at 1267 with +37mV on LN2 and its great.

Also, if you want to keep your clocks and to stop the card for heating, you need to cap your fps in games, for example your card can do 1300Mhz that is insane (the stock gtx680 is 1000mhz) and you have performance, then you need to cap your fps to eg: 70-80fps, and if your card can make more than 70fps in that game then if you cap it at 70fps your gpu usage will drop, and maintaing that 70fps, and the heat will drop.

This is my trick to lower the temps in games while OC-ing. It has a purpose only if you OC kinda big, because then you can achieve performance to eg: stable at 70fps in a game and to drop the gpu usage.









My settings are +67core +300mem(more than 300 i don't think it will feel, only in games that reach 2gb VRAM, which are only Battlefield 4 and Skyrim with texture mods) with +37mV LN2 bios and +10mV mem and +20mV aux voltage to be sure. Temps in games with fps cap to 70-90fps are 72 degrees, VRM to about 64 degrees.


----------



## anubis1127

I don't understand how you gents have such issues with Heaven, I've been using it since version 2.5 on probably 30 different GPUs in the last two years and have yet to have it crash the application. Artiface, or crash my drivers due to unstable OC, sure, but have yet to see the actual application crash.


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *smaudioz*
> 
> Could one of you please do me a favour and measure the maximum length of this card? I am thinking of getting the power edition which physically is the same card as the lightning and different sites state anywhere from 27cm to 29cm. If one of you could measure the max length of the card including the PCI bracket that would be great. Thanks


Quote:


> 280x129x49.15 mm(w/ GPU Reactor)


*http://www.msi.com/product/vga/N680GTX-Lightning.html#/?div=Specification
*
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *smaudioz*
> 
> And one other question, is it safe to remove the GPU Reactor and disconnect the pcb for it if there is not enough space for it between the card and my CPU cooler.


Safe.


----------



## smaudioz

Thanks for replying, I asked because those measurements on manufacturer sites are usually a bit wrong from what I've experienced and they don't include the length of the side-on pci bracket either. I also bought an asus card the other day and returned in due to the site saying 11.2 and then finding out it was 11.4. Anyways I found a newegg video where he measures the lightning and it's 290mm. But it's fine because I'm going to remove my drive cage and saw it in half anyways, so I'll have room for any card after doing that as well as better airflow.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Don't OC that high, OC to max 1280mhz, above that you will never see the difference in gaming, only heat. IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that a stock 680 has 1000mhz and a lightning one has 1200mhz with 1.175V which is a big deal.
> 
> Well, the whole card is build with strong PCB components and many VRM's so i guess it's save to use LN2. There is another version of afterburner, called extreme afterburner, that one can damage your card, because (if i remember what a msi staff memeber said to me) with that version i think you can pass 1.4V, that is insane. So LN2 on long usage with max +50mV should be almost 100% safe. Also, i don't think you will keep your GPU for more than 2 years, so it's useless anyway.
> 
> As i said, lower the OC, you don't feel the diff in gaming. Mine is at 1267 with +37mV on LN2 and its great.
> 
> Also, if you want to keep your clocks and to stop the card for heating, you need to cap your fps in games, for example your card can do 1300Mhz that is insane (the stock gtx680 is 1000mhz) and you have performance, then you need to cap your fps to eg: 70-80fps, and if your card can make more than 70fps in that game then if you cap it at 70fps your gpu usage will drop, and maintaing that 70fps, and the heat will drop.
> 
> This is my trick to lower the temps in games while OC-ing. It has a purpose only if you OC kinda big, because then you can achieve performance to eg: stable at 70fps in a game and to drop the gpu usage.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My settings are +67core +300mem(more than 300 i don't think it will feel, only in games that reach 2gb VRAM, which are only Battlefield 4 and Skyrim with texture mods) with +37mV LN2 bios and +10mV mem and +20mV aux voltage to be sure. Temps in games with fps cap to 70-90fps are 72 degrees, VRM to about 64 degrees.


Thx for the info, mate. Add +rep for you








Yup I guess I will lower it to maybe 1306MHz with +12mv or more lower like you said. I wish I lived in Europe ^_^ temp will be more lower than in my country.
OK then LN2 unlocked BIOS will be my daily usage.


----------



## Retchy82

hey fella's first time owner and poster for 680 lightning im having heat issues im idling awesome at 29-32c now im not overclocked i ran a benchmark on kombustor/3dmark/3dmark11 and my temps jumps straight up to 70c and rises to







80-85 and has even hit 88c this seems really high for not even having a overclock on it?


----------



## anubis1127

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Retchy82*
> 
> hey fella's first time owner and poster for 680 lightning im having heat issues im idling awesome at 29-32c now im not overclocked i ran a benchmark on kombustor/3dmark/3dmark11 and my temps jumps straight up to 70c and rises to
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 80-85 and has even hit 88c this seems really high for not even having a overclock on it?


That is odd. Are the fans working? Do you have a fan profile set? I would try setting the fan at maybe 60-70% then run the benchmark again, see how it does. With my 680 Lightning and the fan at 60%, my temps stay right around 57-59C folding on it 24/7.


----------



## Retchy82

yeh thats at 100% fan curve  it wasnt doing this at the start it was under 60c and i havent even overclocked it yet


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Retchy82*
> 
> hey fella's first time owner and poster for 680 lightning im having heat issues im idling awesome at 29-32c now im not overclocked i ran a benchmark on kombustor/3dmark/3dmark11 and my temps jumps straight up to 70c and rises to
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 80-85 and has even hit 88c this seems really high for not even having a overclock on it?


Try to re-apply thermal paste on your GPU and re-install the cooler with carefully, my 680LT cooler did not attach well and cause heat up to 80c when testing Vantage but after re-apply thermal paste with MX-4 + re-install HSF carefully now temp has gone down, like 63-64c.
Btw I use stock auto fan while tested Vantage with stock clock, idle is 33-35c.


----------



## r360r

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Try to re-apply thermal paste on your GPU and re-install the cooler with carefully, my 680LT cooler did not attach well and cause heat up to 80c when testing Vantage but after re-apply thermal paste with MX-4 + re-install HSF carefully now temp has gone down, like 63-64c.
> Btw I use stock auto fan while tested Vantage with stock clock, idle is 33-35c.


Any video on how to properly do this on the lightning?


----------



## Chomuco

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *r360r*
> 
> Any video on how to properly do this on the lightning?


nice ...


----------



## SirRobinII

Anyone experience with flashing the 680 bios to 770 and going in sli with 770 lightning ?


----------



## caper1

Hey I'm having some issues overclocking my 680 lightning. The card has been run stock for around a year now, I'm just looking juice it up a bit for gaming (gw2 wvw, and maybe some bf4). I have a ax1200i psu, h100 cooled i7 3770K (stock), 16gbs mem,p8z77vpro mb.

I am currently using driver 327.23, version 2.3.1 msi afterburner, running heaven 4.0 basic as a benchmark and using gpu-z 0.7.3.
LN1(80.04.28.00.39) and LN2(80.04.28.00.3A) bios (never flashed)

Whats happening:
I go into msi afterburner, increase the core clock slightly , just to get 15 or 20 MHZ on the boost clock and then apply the settings . I verify changes on GPU-Z and then click run on heaven.. Before I run the benchmark test the screen will flick black for a few seconds (no artifacts or any warnings,temps are great) and then continue running heaven, with the options to run benchmark etc just like before the black screen....but it resets my clocks during this blackout, so there's no point of running the bench mark lol. Sometimes this happens 5 or so seconds into the cinematic scene , others it can take a 20 or more.

Ive tried this on both bio versions, tried increasing power limit and voltage slightly ..to see if that would stop the black out/ reset lol.. but no luck.
When I run heaven with stock clocks, this does not happen. And i can run the benchmark test without any issues.

Yeaaa lol, this is my first time overclocking so apologies if I'm all over the road, my brains fried from reading all day lol.

Hope its not a big deal, love the card and the idea of OCing it, not to obtain crazy numbers, just to improve performance while keeping stability!

Thanks for any info!


----------



## Hydroplane

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *caper1*
> 
> Hey I'm having some issues overclocking my 680 lightning. The card has been run stock for around a year now, I'm just looking juice it up a bit for gaming (gw2 wvw, and maybe some bf4). I have a ax1200i psu, h100 cooled i7 3770K (stock), 16gbs mem,p8z77vpro mb.
> 
> I am currently using driver 327.23, version 2.3.1 msi afterburner, running heaven 4.0 basic as a benchmark and using gpu-z 0.7.3.
> LN1(80.04.28.00.39) and LN2(80.04.28.00.3A) bios (never flashed)
> 
> Whats happening:
> I go into msi afterburner, increase the core clock slightly , just to get 15 or 20 MHZ on the boost clock and then apply the settings . I verify changes on GPU-Z and then click run on heaven.. Before I run the benchmark test the screen will flick black for a few seconds (no artifacts or any warnings,temps are great) and then continue running heaven, with the options to run benchmark etc just like before the black screen....but it resets my clocks during this blackout, so there's no point of running the bench mark lol. Sometimes this happens 5 or so seconds into the cinematic scene , others it can take a 20 or more.
> 
> Ive tried this on both bio versions, tried increasing power limit and voltage slightly ..to see if that would stop the black out/ reset lol.. but no luck.
> When I run heaven with stock clocks, this does not happen. And i can run the benchmark test without any issues.
> 
> Yeaaa lol, this is my first time overclocking so apologies if I'm all over the road, my brains fried from reading all day lol.
> 
> Hope its not a big deal, love the card and the idea of OCing it, not to obtain crazy numbers, just to improve performance while keeping stability!
> 
> Thanks for any info!


This is the exact same problem that I had. My solution was to use valley instead of heaven, but I suppose I should try heaven now too. Try to flash the bios to the 80.04.28.00.3A on the first page. Despite having the same number as your LN2 bios, they are different with the one on the first page allowing more voltage and an increase of the power limit to 300%. I would try using ab 3.0.0 beta 15 (make sure to download the one that says it's for 680/770/780 lightnings on guru3d) some people have had luck with it and it works well for me. I'm also on the 340 beta nvidia drivers.


----------



## CalinTM

Heaven 4.0 is broken, don't test on that bench, that one always will say that you have an unstable OC, test in games and unigine valley.


----------



## caper1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hydroplane*
> 
> This is the exact same problem that I had. My solution was to use valley instead of heaven, but I suppose I should try heaven now too. Try to flash the bios to the 80.04.28.00.3A on the first page. Despite having the same number as your LN2 bios, they are different with the one on the first page allowing more voltage and an increase of the power limit to 300%. I would try using ab 3.0.0 beta 15 (make sure to download the one that says it's for 680/770/780 lightnings on guru3d) some people have had luck with it and it works well for me. I'm also on the 340 beta nvidia drivers.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Heaven 4.0 is broken, don't test on that bench, that one always will say that you have an unstable OC, test in games and unigine valley.


Hey guys thanks for the reply... Yeah sometime late in the am I gave up on Heaven and just bought 3dmark 11. I was able to pass with this score on the full 3dMark11 test:


If I would increase the core clock past 1136MHZ I would have a power % spike of like 200% and the program would temporarily black out and the reset would happen , followed by the program continuation lol. Seems like 1136MHZ is low for a crash, i was hoping i could get a small OC without hitting voltages etc and just adjust core and mem...This was all done on the LN1 bios.

Thanks for the info! Ill try to flash my LN2 bios and get the suggested version of MSI AB. Oh and got rid of heaven and downloaded valley! Ill be back with my findings lol.
Cheers

Edit:
Actually before I go at this again I should find out some info lol..
Do people just crank the power limit up to max (300% ) and leave it, or is that a factor you need to fine tune like the core clock and mem? If your increasing power limit should you add some core voltage too?

For stability I'm just watching for artifacts, power spikes and that my temps stay below 70, currently they are at 60 while the tests are running, do you guys make your own fan curve or just let it auto adjust... Any other tips lol?

I'm a bit OCD so its hard for me to just grab info on OC procedures with other cards and just apply the techniques to this card lol, and the closest to a guide ive found is the http://www.overclock.net/t/1265110/the-gtx-670-overclocking-master-guide

Thanks again for any info!
Cheers


----------



## Retchy82

Thanks for the video will help out alot! will artic silver 5 be ok because thats all i got on hand?


----------



## Kimir

There is no such thing as LN1. LN2 mean Liquid Nitrogen. The primary bios has no specific "name", you can just call it regular bios.
No need to fine tune the Power Target at all, I'm used to leave it to 250 because I know it won't ever get past it with my watercooling OC.


----------



## Retchy82

another question how do i flash back my bios to the backup.rom do i just follow the instructions and instead of running the 680L_unlockedbios.rom in nvflash i just put -4 -5 -6 backup.rom in and it will reflash to that origianl bios? thanks alot if you can help just wanna make sure thats how to do it thanks again


----------



## CalinTM

Yes, that is how it works.


----------



## Retchy82

thanks alot!


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SirRobinII*
> 
> Anyone experience with flashing the 680 bios to 770 and going in sli with 770 lightning ?


Quite interesting







Hmm I wonder too, does anybody try that??

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Retchy82*
> 
> thanks alot!


Remember to backup your origin BIOS also in other media like USB FD just for safety ^_^ in case your OS is corrupted and need to format it and re-install OS.


----------



## SirRobinII

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Quite interesting
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hmm I wonder too, does anybody try that??


http://www.overclock.net/t/1396335/turn-your-gtx-680-in-to-a-stock-gtx-770

770 lightning = 680 lightning+high clocks+new bios+other name on box and manuals


----------



## Kimir

JulioCesarSF did the test of using 770 Lightning on his 680SLi setup, it was working but then he got the limitation of said bios, which is 109% power target.
So it was kinda useless, he is probably back on 3A.


----------



## zapery

Im planning on getting the aqua computer Water block What did you guys use for thermal paste methods. ^^


----------



## SirRobinII

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *zapery*
> 
> Im planning on getting the aqua computer Water block What did you guys use for thermal paste methods. ^^


I'm maybe going to use this waterblock EK-FC680 GTX Lightning. But the cooler aint that loud and temperatures aint that high :/

edit; 3dmark always crash even when my gpu isnt overclocked :C Kombuster and games are running stable on this clocks http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/n5383/


----------



## caper1

Hey...
Ive been attempting to over OC my gtx 680L. I'm new to gpu overclocking so attempting to understand the process I've read the 670 Master Guide,a bunch of forums and sifted through many pages here .....I'm not shooting for crazy numbers, Id just like a little boost for gaming... and i really enjoy tinkering with my pc lol. Just got my 3770k to a super stable 4.5kGHZ....not crazy by any means, but its stable and was fun to do!

So Im not having much luck with the gpu! I figure I should stop failing and ask some questions..
Starting with the process ive taken .. please correct the hell out of me if need be lol! I will very much appreciate it!

Display driver : 331.58
BIOS : 80.04.28.00.3a
msi ab : 2.3.1
Valley 1.0
GPUZ 0.7.3

Increase power limit to max (300), Core voltage to max(+100) Memory (+100max) and AUX(+50MAX).
Then I go on to find my stable Core Clock... increasing by set values. On signs of instability decrease core clock, voltage or power limit..depending on the issue.. temp above 70, display driver crashing, bsod, frequency oscillation etc..

After this you go onto memory and pretty much follow the same procedure.

lol am I on the right track here?

Thanks for any info!


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *caper1*
> 
> Hey...
> Ive been attempting to over OC my gtx 680L. I'm new to gpu overclocking so attempting to understand the process I've read the 670 Master Guide,a bunch of forums and sifted through many pages here .....I'm not shooting for crazy numbers, Id just like a little boost for gaming... and i really enjoy tinkering with my pc lol. Just got my 3770k to a super stable 4.5kGHZ....not crazy by any means, but its stable and was fun to do!
> 
> So Im not having much luck with the gpu! I figure I should stop failing and ask some questions..
> Starting with the process ive taken .. please correct the hell out of me if need be lol! I will very much appreciate it!
> 
> Display driver : 331.58
> BIOS : 80.04.28.00.3a
> msi ab : 2.3.1
> Valley 1.0
> GPUZ 0.7.3
> 
> Increase power limit to max (300), Core voltage to max(+100) Memory (+100max) and AUX(+50MAX).
> Then I go on to find my stable Core Clock... increasing by set values. On signs of instability decrease core clock, voltage or power limit..depending on the issue.. temp above 70, display driver crashing, bsod, frequency oscillation etc..
> 
> After this you go onto memory and pretty much follow the same procedure.
> 
> lol am I on the right track here?
> 
> Thanks for any info!


Use Special Edition MSI Afterburner for GTX680/770/780 Lightning in guru3d







Latest is 3.0.0 BETA 15 *SE*.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SirRobinII*
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1396335/turn-your-gtx-680-in-to-a-stock-gtx-770
> 
> 770 lightning = 680 lightning+high clocks+new bios+other name on box and manuals


Well, I think I will stay with 680 origin BIOS ^_^


----------



## raduzo888

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Hmmm yes I think I know that 80.04.47.00.42 STILL has throttle, so I go back to 80.04.28.00.3A modded BIOS by Svet from MSI Forum
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and the result is just like old 3A which has no throttle at all
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> but the fan is not spinning to high at early booting...I like it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Result for now :
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/703/1plq.png/
> 
> 
> Unfortunately still has abit artifact at the end of benchmark, maybe this is my max or need add extra volt? Before this I was benching with +160 for the core clock and +500 for the memory clock with no artifact at all, GPU score in 3DMark2011 was 12.724.
> 
> @CalinTM, max in 3DMark2011 with no add volt I am at +130 for core and +700 for memory which result 1320MHz max boost steady, but to pass Valley benchmark I have to lower it down to +120 for core and +300 for memory like this :
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/18/fipx.png/
> 
> 
> 
> or +115 for core and +700 for memory :
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/196/nmrc.png/
> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/40/zg1a.png/


Hi

Can you post a link with 80.04.28.00.3A modded BIOS by Svet from MSI Forum please?
My fan is spinning to high at early booting. I don't like it XD.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *raduzo888*
> 
> Hi
> 
> Can you post a link with 80.04.28.00.3A modded BIOS by Svet from MSI Forum please?
> My fan is spinning to high at early booting. I don't like it XD.


Already sent you in PM








Hmm is it OK post it in here??


----------



## CalinTM

Why you dont want to post it for everyone, getting slow response on msi forms for this bios...


----------



## fantaziz

Hey guys !

I'm so annoyed, I can't get a stable OC with my MSI GTX 680.... I have it since several month, I unlocked the BIOS, I'm at +100 voltage, 300 power limit, +140 Core Clock, +450 memory clock, and my temps doesn't go further than 70°.... I have random crashes in all my games, it can be after 5 hours or 10 minuts....








Before I was at +90 voltage, +150 core clock, +500 memory clock and it was very stable









And I'm getting mad because I don't want to downclock it...

Please help me, tell me what's wrong, or what I should try.... It don't reed all the pages of this topic so I could have missed something maybe....

Thanks all for helping me, and sorry for my bad english


----------



## Scorpion667

Hey guys I'm considering grabbing another 680 lightning for sli. Should be better performance then single titan/290x.

I'm just wondering what average and minimum FPS you guys are getting in BF3 multiplayer with 680 lightning sli @ 1300mhz

Also do you ever experience microstutter or any other sli related issues?


----------



## anubis1127

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Hey guys I'm considering grabbing another 680 lightning for sli. Should be better performance then single titan/290x.
> 
> I'm just wondering what average and minimum FPS you guys are getting in BF3 multiplayer with 680 lightning sli @ 1300mhz
> 
> Also do you ever experience microstutter or any other sli related issues?


I don't have SLI 680 Lightnings, just one of those, but in my gaming rig I have 2x 670s. I can install BF3 today, and give it a try later. What res are you looking for? Ultra settings I assume? I want to say last time I tried BF3 FPS was pretty descent @ 1080p on 690 . I haven't tried it in months though, and not since I've had 670 SLI.


----------



## bond32

Hello guys, looking for input here. Might be bias I know, but right now I am leaning towards getting 2x770 lightnings. I just returned my 780 lightning as I saw the price was so much cheaper, for the price I paid I can get 2 770 lightnings on amazon right now (359.99). Also I see 2 choices of solid waterblocks, but for now I will just use air cooling. So my question would be, would you do it or go with a single 780? Benchmarks put 2 770's very close to 2 780's, from what I see (3-6 fps). I am pretty much gaming on this, but I do a good bit of overclocking/benches.

Other options I am considering:
1x7990 $729.99
1x780 Lightning $549.99
1xR9 290x (whenever available) $549.99
2xEVGA 770's $329.99 each

Again I will eventually get water blocks, just won't be able to afford the blocks when I make the purchase.


----------



## Scorpion667

Actually yeah I could use 670 results too since my buddy is gonna sli his for BF4. We just want like a rough indication of minimum and average FPS. 1080p if possible.
Cheers

Looking for
1. all ultra
2. optimized ultra (i.e AA off, AF on low/med, shadows on med)

Just cause like the 680/670 sli reviews use older drivers, that's why I thought I'd ask on forums


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Why you dont want to post it for everyone, getting slow response on msi forms for this bios...


OK Calin, for easy way, I will post it in here








>>EDITED<<
Fan is not spinning too high at early booting, that's only the difference between this BIOS and 3A BIOS in page 1







and I think it's UEFI VBIOS.

Guys, I'm very sorry, I need to remove this link







this was suppose to be personal BIOS for me and not for public, said Svet.
Please don't ask again for download link of this BIOS, OK?? ^_^ but we can still talk about it in here


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Hey guys I'm considering grabbing another 680 lightning for sli. Should be better performance then single titan/290x.
> 
> I'm just wondering what average and minimum FPS you guys are getting in BF3 multiplayer with 680 lightning sli @ 1300mhz
> 
> Also do you ever experience microstutter or any other sli related issues?


SLI GTX680 is abit better than GTX690, and GTX690 is abit better than TITAN ... so there you have now







SLI GTX680 Lightning should be better performance than TITAN, but I don't know about R9 290X, from benchmark I saw 290X abit better than TITAN.


----------



## anubis1127

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Actually yeah I could use 670 results too since my buddy is gonna sli his for BF4. We just want like a rough indication of minimum and average FPS. 1080p if possible.
> Cheers
> 
> Looking for
> 1. all ultra
> 2. optimized ultra (i.e AA off, AF on low/med, shadows on med)
> 
> Just cause like the 680/670 sli reviews use older drivers, that's why I thought I'd ask on forums


Yeah, definitely. I installed the latest WHQL drivers last night, so I'll give this a shot after work.


----------



## colforbin

What kind of PSU is needed for Lightnings in SLI with overclock of 1300/+700 mem?

850 or better?


----------



## anubis1127

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colforbin*
> 
> What kind of PSU is needed for Lightnings in SLI with overclock of 1300/+700 mem?
> 
> 850 or better?


I would say 850W or better would be sufficient. Not sure I'd want to go below 850W.


----------



## Kimir

Yep, 850w is enough for 1300/700. But if you want to reach almost 1400 and play with a 3930k at more that 1.45v, 1Kw is required.


----------



## driftingforlife

With 2 680s at 1320mhz and a 3930k at 4.6ghz i pull about 900W at max load from the wall, average load 650W-800W.


----------



## CalinTM

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> OK Calin, for easy way, I will post it in here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >>3A BIOS modified<<
> Fan is not spinning too high at early booting, that's only the difference between this BIOS and 3A BIOS in page 1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and I think it's UEFI VBIOS.


OMG man nice bios ! Flashed now, and the fans are soo quiet now on boot. Lovely BIOS. So, for how much time this bios is live, i mean modified by Svet ? Also, you sure it's the same 3A unlocked bios but only with the fan tweak ?


----------



## raduzo888

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Already sent you in PM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hmm is it OK post it in here??


Thx for this Bios!. Now I can enjoy the SiLENCE


----------



## raduzo888

For more information:

I used this bios for MSI GTX 680 POWER EDITION.
Now I have pure MSI gtx 680 Lightning


----------



## caper1

Hey gents, should I be using AB ver 2.3.1 and applying the mods mentioned on page one of this giant forum lol? I've been using newer versions Im running into a few issues. ab reset clock settings mid way through benching... I cant determine what the issue is from msi graphs.. everything looks stable.. My multi meter is reading 1.3 volts... seems to be capped there.

Cheers!


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> OMG man nice bios ! Flashed now, and the fans are soo quiet now on boot. Lovely BIOS. So, for how much time this bios is live, i mean modified by Svet ? Also, you sure it's the same 3A unlocked bios but only with the fan tweak ?


I don't know anything about that, Calin







looks like same 3A Unlocked BIOS to me, no temp limit, right? max boost clock stays where it should be.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *raduzo888*
> 
> Thx for this Bios!. Now I can enjoy the SiLENCE


No problem, raduzo888


----------



## Frenky91

Is that bios that has no high spin on begining offical or if you put it and the card gets broken will they accpet waranty?


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Frenky91*
> 
> Is that bios that has no high spin on begining offical or if you put it and the card gets broken will they accpet waranty?


No it's a modded BIOS from Svet, just like others modded BIOS I guess, so it's your own's risk if you use it. Just like Overclocking rule. If you meant MSI would accept it, I don't know, if it's broken because of the modified BIOS then I guess you need to flash it again into original BIOS and send it to MSI for RMA

Note : Guys, sorry I have to remove my download link







it was not meant for public, and only for me, said Svet. I have to do this, I am very trully sorry.


----------



## d0mini

Hi there gtx 680 owners! I have a question that may seem a little strange - is it possible to flash a 770 with the 680's ln2 bios? I would be doing this so I could set a higher power target than 109%, which makes having unlimited voltage a little useless.. As I understand it people have successfully flashed from a 680 to a 770, but can it be done the other way around? Has anyone else done this before?


----------



## Kimir

No idea if it has been tried. Have you asked on the 770 Lightning owner thread? They probably know better.


----------



## d0mini

They don't seem to have really done anything with regards to the power limit of lightning cards, which I find a little strange seeing as it limits the overclocking potential so significantly.. I gave it a go with the first LN2 vbios on your front page, and it booted but the screen was a mess - I had to use my igpu to flash it back, so it is fairly safe to say that it does not work, unfortunately. I'm going to keep looking for a solution, sorry for intruding :3


----------



## alancsalt

That would probably be because that particular bios did not match your bios revision. Bios can be changed because of small hardware component changes on the card, so they only work with a bios from that same revision. GPUZ can read your current bios revision..so you would look for a modded bios that matches or is known to work on cards with your bios version?


----------



## d0mini

It's ok, I found an unlocked bios on TechPowerup that allowed me to edit the maximum power limit







Thanks for the help anyway!


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *d0mini*
> 
> They don't seem to have really done anything with regards to the power limit of lightning cards, which I find a little strange seeing as it limits the overclocking potential so significantly.. I gave it a go with the first LN2 vbios on your front page, and it booted but the screen was a mess - I had to use my igpu to flash it back, so it is fairly safe to say that it does not work, unfortunately. I'm going to keep looking for a solution, sorry for intruding :3


Just like I did before







I mean first I used F8 unlocked LN2 BIOS and got like artifact in desktop, then I changed to 38 Unlocked LN2 BIOS and back to normal again.
But now I use different 3A Unlocked LN2 BIOS modified from MSI Forum.


----------



## SirRobinII

When do you need more then 133% power ? Offset OC 124 core mhz 500 memory mhz


----------



## Mukimiki

Hi, anyone can help me, i have the msi ngtx680 and i turned it into ln2 than i made a backup(thank god i made one) then instaled the 80.04.00.f8 .rebooted the pc and i ended up like this

I managed to instal the backup and everything seems fine now but i didn't make step further to turn my card into a monster, if anyone could help me i would be realy grateful.
Thanks.


----------



## alancsalt

Cards undergo bios revisions, sometimes made because components used on the GPU have been changed, like capacitors or RAM. This means that you have to flash with the right "family" of bios revisions for a bios to work with your card.

Use *GPUZ* to read your bios revision number, post it here, and someone should be able to tell you which bios you should flash your card to.


----------



## steeve21

My Lightning just sits at 1202MHz even when i'm not doing anything, isn't it supposed to downclock itself to 3-400MHz ish?


----------



## colforbin

What is a good resale for a Lightning that can do 1342/+700mem with two Aqua Computer waterblocks?


----------



## Mukimiki

Thanks i already solved it by geting the 0.04.28.00.3A bios installing in dos, clock is running stable at 1280mhz and memory clock 3402mhz







altough voltage tweaking doesn't help on getting more out of it but finaly bf4 in 1920x1080 is running with everything on extra and my fps is not dropping below 60 (barlely sometimes)


----------



## alancsalt

As long as you're winning..


----------



## Scorpion667

Have ny of you had any nickel flaking on the EK waterblock for this card? I can't find the aquacomputer one anywhere


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mukimiki*
> 
> Hi, anyone can help me, i have the msi ngtx680 and i turned it into ln2 than i made a backup(thank god i made one) then instaled the 80.04.00.f8 .rebooted the pc and i ended up like this
> 
> I managed to instal the backup and everything seems fine now but i didn't make step further to turn my card into a monster, if anyone could help me i would be realy grateful.
> Thanks.


Just exactly like I did







it means that F8 BIOS is not compatible with your card and so you need to flash again with 3A BIOS, trust me it will works, now I use 3A BIOS









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steeve21*
> 
> My Lightning just sits at 1202MHz even when i'm not doing anything, isn't it supposed to downclock itself to 3-400MHz ish?


Hi Steve, seems like you got other applications running in background thus makes your card runs at 3D profile, you need to find it out your self, check task manager and see Processes.


----------



## rintalahri

What is the latest UEFI BIOS for MSI GTX680 Lightning version.


----------



## Kimir

The 3A with fan that doesn't spin like crazy at startup


----------



## rintalahri

Yes i know. I have 80.04.28.00.3A (unlocked LN2) now.
It confuses my motherboard bios ... I do not think that this is a
UEFI BIOS. If i disabled csm support in my motherboard, it wont boot.
I unistall gtx680 then it boot. I must take gtx680 totally off...
I had all the settings UEFI BIOS mode. Now just want latest uefi bios...

Sorry bad english...


----------



## rintalahri

Why GPU Clock is 1006MHz, not 1202MHz what it should be


----------



## SirRobinII

Gpuz says perfcap reason pwr and it won't clock higher. How do I get higher power limit then 110% in on LN2 bios ? It's set to 133% but limited on 110% -.-


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rintalahri*
> 
> Why GPU Clock is 1006MHz, not 1202MHz what it should be


You have to put some load on the card to see the boost clock, click the question mark next to the bus interface box & a render test box will open, then click over to the sensor tab in gpu-z & start the render test, it should show 1202 for the core clock.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SirRobinII*
> 
> Gpuz says perfcap reason pwr and it won't clock higher. How do I get higher power limit then 110% in on LN2 bios ? It's set to 133% but limited on 110% -.-


Do you know if your card has an unlocked ln2 bios? There were new ones out that had the same bios number but were not fully unlocked, if you have flashed an unlocked bios from the OP did you restart & let the driver reinstall?


----------



## SirRobinII

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Do you know if your card has an unlocked ln2 bios? There were new ones out that had the same bios number but were not fully unlocked, if you have flashed an unlocked bios from the OP did you restart & let the driver reinstall?


Never flashed it, going to flash it then. If you are online can you give a link







dat laziness


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SirRobinII*
> 
> Never flashed it, going to flash it then. If you are online can you give a link
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> dat laziness


Th 3A has been my go-to unlocked bios https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByaqIKti5kitakRWSnlYV0RkTFk


----------



## SirRobinII

How can u use more then then 100 mV offset core voltage ? Still seems to be limited on 110% with the new bios. Gpuz still shows perfcap reason PWR


----------



## FtW 420

For more than 100mV rbby258's tool works http://www.overclock.net/t/1398725/unlock-afterburner-limits-on-lots-of-cards-titan-to-gtx460-with-llc/0_50

I'll have to pull out the 680-L to check the power limit, pretty sure the 3a does more than 110, are you using an SE version of AB for Lightning support?
Last time I ran the 680 I used 2.2.3, it was the one released to support the 680L at the time.


----------



## SirRobinII

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> For more than 100mV rbby258's tool works http://www.overclock.net/t/1398725/unlock-afterburner-limits-on-lots-of-cards-titan-to-gtx460-with-llc/0_50
> 
> I'll have to pull out the 680-L to check the power limit, pretty sure the 3a does more than 110, are you using an SE version of AB for Lightning support?
> Last time I ran the 680 I used 2.2.3, it was the one released to support the 680L at the time.


AB SE 3.0 beta 15

reinstalled few times and still the same.


----------



## FtW 420

I just tested with the 3A bios & AB 3.0.0 beta 15 SE, goes to 300 power limit.

The bios in the OP I linked should be the same, but maybe try this one, off the card I just tested & working

GK104_3a.zip 56k .zip file


----------



## Mawgzeetee

Hey guys I'm new here!!(go easy on me LOL). Been reading this thread for ages but thoughts id finally join up.
Pleased to meet you all.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mawgzeetee*
> 
> Hey guys I'm new here!!(go easy on me LOL). Been reading this thread for ages but thoughts id finally join up.
> Pleased to meet you all.


----------



## anubis1127

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mawgzeetee*
> 
> Hey guys I'm new here!!(go easy on me LOL). Been reading this thread for ages but thoughts id finally join up.
> Pleased to meet you all.


Hi, welcome.


----------



## CalinTM

What do you think i need to use F8 or 3A ? My card when i bought it arrived with F8 bios.

What 3A has better than F8 ?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> What do you think i need to use F8 or 3A ? My card when i bought it arrived with F8 bios.
> 
> What 3A has better than F8 ?


My first 680L also came with F8, for overclocking it is pretty much identical to 3A, the advantage of 3A is the overclock recovery. Crash the driver with F8 & you have a blackscreen until restarting, with 3A it can recover back to desktop.

I did have a z77 gd80 with an early bios (mobo bios) that didn't like the cards with 3A bios, F8 worked fine to get to desktop, 3A didn't. It is still the only board + bios I have seen that disliked a particular gpu bios.


----------



## Mawgzeetee

Yeah Im on 3A, tried F8, my screen went crazy fans too, thought my rig was going to take off LOL.


----------



## MUSAB

what am i doing wrong


----------



## Mawgzeetee

Hmmm I'm stumped assuming you have followed all the instructions correctly. This might help, helped me.


----------



## alancsalt

There's a way to navigate to the nvflash location in cmd that I can never remember. My shortcut method is to put a copy of cmd.exe in the nvflash folder and use that.


----------



## StreekG

I've never had issues, i just place nvflash into c:\ and run CMD through the start menu.


----------



## SirRobinII

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> There's a way to navigate to the nvflash location in cmd that I can never remember. My shortcut method is to put a copy of cmd.exe in the nvflash folder and use that.


you mean this http://www.overclock.net/attachments/12368 http://www.overclock.net/t/1289489/gtx-600-series-unlocked-voltage-bios-downloads-and-tools


----------



## steeve21

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Hi Steve, seems like you got other applications running in background thus makes your card runs at 3D profile, you need to find it out your self, check task manager and see Processes.




I don't get it, i can't find any processes that shouldn't be running


----------



## alancsalt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SirRobinII*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *alancsalt*
> 
> There's a way to navigate to the nvflash location in cmd that I can never remember. My shortcut method is to put a copy of cmd.exe in the nvflash folder and use that.
> 
> 
> 
> you mean this http://www.overclock.net/attachments/12368 http://www.overclock.net/t/1289489/gtx-600-series-unlocked-voltage-bios-downloads-and-tools
Click to expand...

Maybe
Quote:


> Open a command prompt as admin and then type without the quotes "cd c:/" to change the directory


Haven't needed to flash a GPU bios lately.


----------



## Idef1x

I had not been using my gaming rig for a few weeks. When I powered it on, it said that my MSI Afterburner had expired. I thought nothing of it, and downloaded the latest beta version. I also noticed that my video drivers could use an update, so I updated those at the same time.

Now my overclock is totally unstable. The card will not reach a voltage of more than 1.21. Does anyone know what I should do to fix this?


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Idef1x*
> 
> I had not been using my gaming rig for a few weeks. When I powered it on, it said that my MSI Afterburner had expired. I thought nothing of it, and downloaded the latest beta version. I also noticed that my video drivers could use an update, so I updated those at the same time.
> 
> Now my overclock is totally unstable. The card will not reach a voltage of more than 1.21. Does anyone know what I should do to fix this?


I've had the same problem. Fixed it easily by rolling back to AB 2.3.1 and using the profile edit (see the OP for that). Also, driver 314.07 whql has been best for benches and all games (yes, BF4 incl) on my system. YMMV, of course, but for me, it's the most stable combo I have found with the 3A bios. Max 1333 / +800 mem on air, stable as you please.

edit: oops, make that +700 mem in Crysis 3.


----------



## SirRobinII

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> Th 3A has been my go-to unlocked bios https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByaqIKti5kitakRWSnlYV0RkTFk


TYVM

Going to buy a waterblock for this beast. The original cooler looks nice and performs good, but noisy :/


----------



## JulioCesarSF

I think I'm having problems with reading the TDP value. Difference 64% and 5C. 5C is normal because of watercoller. However, 64% is a big difference.

Anyone know of anything?

Both cards with 3A bios.

Win 8 Pro 64 Bits - 3DMark 64% Dif.
First card TDP: 158% - 56C.
Second TDP: 222% - 61C.

Win 8.1 Pro 64 bits - 3DMark 104 % Dif.
First card TDP: 146% - 61C
Second TDP: 250% - 67C.

I do not remember when it started, I went back to do benchmark now.









Driver problems?

Update:

It's a bug, don't know where, drop power limit to 150% and both cards are ok now:
First Card TDP: 89%
Second Card: 94%
5% only, now it's normal.

Never saw that, but with 150% i got more score at 3DMark.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> I've had the same problem. Fixed it easily by rolling back to AB 2.3.1 and using the profile edit (see the OP for that). Also, driver 314.07 whql has been best for benches and all games (yes, BF4 incl) on my system. YMMV, of course, but for me, it's the most stable combo I have found with the 3A bios. Max 1333 / +800 mem on air, stable as you please.
> 
> edit: oops, make that +700 mem in Crysis 3.


Why don't you use AB 3.0.0 BETA 15 SE, wiredg? Looks like normal/stable for me








Btw last week I have cleaned my heatsink with distilled water + toothbrush







and result is more lower temp, usually 1320/1900mhz with +25mv max temp in Vantage was 76c now only 62 - 63c .... awesome








And so now I can push more for daily up to 1359/1850 with +50mv, max vantage temp is 69c and max temp in Crysis 3 is 71-72c








Next I will try my memory up to +800 or 1900mhz, I hope it's stable. Btw I'm not adding any volt to memory cause it turns out abit not stable when adding memory volt, weird. Should I use more mem volttage like +50mv?

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *steeve21*
> 
> 
> 
> I don't get it, i can't find any processes that shouldn't be running


Hmm so weird, Steve. Looks like no active process in your background, btw my AB detects only PowerDVD13 agent and Razer Synapse active in 3D process but my memory usage in Task manager only use 1.5G sometimes 1.7G and never hit 2G like yours.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *FtW 420*
> 
> My first 680L also came with F8, for overclocking it is pretty much identical to 3A, the advantage of 3A is the overclock recovery. Crash the driver with F8 & you have a blackscreen until restarting, with 3A it can recover back to desktop.
> 
> I did have a z77 gd80 with an early bios (mobo bios) that didn't like the cards with 3A bios, F8 worked fine to get to desktop, 3A didn't. It is still the only board + bios I have seen that disliked a particular gpu bios.


Oww maybe Z77A-GD80 early BIOS didn't compatible with 3A BIOS, btw I use the same mobo







but with V1.50 BIOS installed and have no problem with 3A but when I use F8 BIOS there was problem, like artifact or mess up visual display.

Btw in AB Power sensor monitoring, it doesn't show full 300% power when full load, why is that Lorne? Only almost 100% like 89% but scores and performance is normal.


----------



## CalinTM

how you got those temps i got 71-72 on stock clocks, if i oc reaches on 75-79 on full fps, and i need to cap fps to don't melt the gpu.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Why don't you use AB 3.0.0 BETA 15 SE, wiredg? Looks like normal/stable for me


Roy, I find only slightly better clocks with the older AB, RTSS, and nv driver (314.07) on my 680L. The diff isn't great, 1320 vs 1333, but it's there. Also, in games, I see a lot of tall spikes in frame times (often over 70ms, occasionally over 200ms) on the AB graph using the newer software. This happens even when frame rates are stable. Sometimes I can really feel the pauses in game. But with the older driver and older AB, I see only a few short spikes now and then, never over 25ms.

It makes me think that the newer software is meant for newer *cards*, not newer games. It makes sense to me that an older card and an older OS (Win-7) would work better with older software. *Seems* to be the case, anyway. Or maybe my OS image is whack and I finally need to do a clean install, lol


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> Roy, I find only slightly better clocks with the older AB, RTSS, and nv driver (314.07) on my 680L. The diff isn't great, 1320 vs 1333, but it's there. Also, in games, I see a lot of tall spikes in frame times (often over 70ms, occasionally over 200ms) on the AB graph using the newer software. This happens even when frame rates are stable. Sometimes I can really feel the pauses in game. But with the older driver and older AB, I see only a few short spikes now and then, never over 25ms.
> 
> It makes me think that the newer software is meant for newer *cards*, not newer games. It makes sense to me that an older card and an older OS (Win-7) would work better with older software. *Seems* to be the case, anyway. Or maybe my OS image is whack and I finally need to do a clean install, lol


Hmmm so it's true I have read an article about these spikes in latest driver Nvidia, unfortunately my system is mix of old and new HW








I use Windows 8.1 Pro x64 and an old card GTX680 LT ^_^ and so I need to use latest Nvidia driver for best compatibility with my OS.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> how you got those temps i got 71-72 on stock clocks, if i oc reaches on 75-79 on full fps, and i need to cap fps to don't melt the gpu.


Hi Calin, I already said before that I have cleaned my heatsink first with distilled water and brushed it







then the temp went down pretty good. I am surprised how the temp now it's more cooler than before.
Btw I set my custom profile fan like this :


Btw I see in AB Power Graph properties is set to 150 by default and I raised it to 300 just like my max Power Limit but still in sensor never reach flat 300% while full load, I wonder why is that??


----------



## JulioCesarSF

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Hmmm so it's true I have read an article about these spikes in latest driver Nvidia, unfortunately my system is mix of old and new HW
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I use Windows 8.1 Pro x64 and an old card GTX680 LT ^_^ and so I need to use latest Nvidia driver for best compatibility with my OS.
> Hi Calin, I already said before that I have cleaned my heatsink first with distilled water and brushed it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> then the temp went down pretty good. I am surprised how the temp now it's more cooler than before.
> Btw I set my custom profile fan like this :
> 
> 
> Btw I see in AB Power Graph properties is set to 150 by default and I raised it to 300 just like my max Power Limit but still in sensor never reach flat 300% while full load, I wonder why is that??


Because your overclock don't need 300% of TDP.


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Oww maybe Z77A-GD80 early BIOS didn't compatible with 3A BIOS, btw I use the same mobo
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> but with V1.50 BIOS installed and have no problem with 3A but when I use F8 BIOS there was problem, like artifact or mess up visual display.
> 
> Btw in AB Power sensor monitoring, it doesn't show full 300% power when full load, why is that Lorne? Only almost 100% like 89% but scores and performance is normal.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JulioCesarSF*
> 
> Because your overclock don't need 300% of TDP.


^ that!
The 300% is a limit where the card will throttle to stay under the set limit. 300% is a lot, even ln2 cooled with huge vcore will run throttle free at 300%

The only time the power limit will affect the clocks on the card is when it is set too low, Nvidia introduced the power limits because of the green light program & they want to keep it low.


----------



## neoroy

Hmm so that is







thx JulioCesarSF & FtW 420.

But this is strange, I guess it's a bug or miss-read in AB sensor monitoring, take alook of my old SS :
http://imageshack.com/a/img4/1521/ogo9.png
http://imageshack.com/a/img547/3560/gjtz.png

Look at that Power limit, it reached full 300% on AB monitoring when I set power target slide to max 300%. But if I set stock power limit then it went to 102% max.
The weird thing is when I go back and use that BIOS and driver, I can not get that max powerlimit again ^_^ miss-read I guess, right?

Btw I was use 42 BIOS special from msi forum that still has "throttle" when temp reach near 70c, but now I use 3A BIOS from page 1 in this thread but alittle bit modified for lower fans spin at booting PC by msi forum.

This is my score in Win 8.1 pro x64, very low physic score







I used to get 9600 - 9700 in 3DMark2011 Physic test with Windows 7 at 4.7GHz, so in windows 8/8.1 still you will get lower 3D CPU test benchmark, but in non 3D CPU test like SuperPI/HyperPI it shows normal/same score like in Windows 7.


----------



## Scorpion667

Got my 680 Aqua block to breathe some new life in this old puppy =D



Once I get my Alphacool NexXxoS Monsta 280mm I'll be going all out on the card


----------



## SirRobinII

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Got my 680 Aqua block to breathe some new life in this old puppy =D
> 
> 
> 
> Once I get my Alphacool NexXxoS Monsta 280mm I'll be going all out on the card


nice, in the shop where i buy my parts the ek fc680 is out of stock and they only have the aqua now. I like the looks of the EK more :/


----------



## Kimir

Everyone taste is different, I like alot the Aqua one









Dat copper, me gusta


----------



## SirRobinII

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Everyone taste is different, I like alot the Aqua one
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dat copper, me gusta


Looks awesome


----------



## Mawgzeetee

Gear porn right there!!Awwwww so wish I had the balls to take my lightning to the next level!


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Everyone taste is different, I like alot the Aqua one
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dat copper, me gusta


Oh my







that is beautiful things









I see you got ASUS Rampage, Kimir, why do you like lightning instead of ASUS Matrix or DCII TOP?







looks nice if you have ASUS mobo & ASUS card.
Perhaps lightning card is more tempting for you


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Oh my
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> that is beautiful things
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I see you got ASUS Rampage, Kimir, why do you like lightning instead of ASUS Matrix or DCII TOP?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> looks nice if you have ASUS mobo & ASUS card.
> Perhaps lightning card is more tempting for you


Lightning is the undisputed 680GTX king. It's the only software voltage unlocked 680gtx capable of reaching 1.4v+ with no hardware mods.

Cooler aesthetics don't matter once you put a waterblock on the card.


----------



## fozz292

Can a mod please delete this post?


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Oh my
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> that is beautiful things
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I see you got ASUS Rampage, Kimir, why do you like lightning instead of ASUS Matrix or DCII TOP?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> looks nice if you have ASUS mobo & ASUS card.
> Perhaps lightning card is more tempting for you


In matter of fact, I had Asus cards before, 2x GTX580 Matrix, both went bad and got replacement at shop expense. I had the choice between multiple 680, the MSI was the best pick for OC and I didn't wanted Asus card no more.
Seriously I'm almost at 1500 without hardware mode on benchs


----------



## fozz292

So I've just finished OC'in using unigine valley.

I've got stable clocks at:
+100mV, for voltage
300% power limit,
+160MHz Core clock
+450MHz Memory clock

with a max temperature of around 70 degrees celcius. This however, is at an ambient room temp of only about 20 degrees C, and I live in Australia so summer temps can get up to 40.

My question is: If I have a low gpu temp, will it be considered a safe overclock for daily use? And if not, how much should I downclock to get a safe daily use that I could expect 4 years or so of life in my gpu for?

I was thinking around
+50MV
200% power
+120MHz Core
+350MHz Mem

for a daily, is that reasonable considering my benchmark max?


----------



## SirRobinII

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fozz292*
> 
> So I've just finished OC'in using unigine valley.
> 
> I've got stable clocks at:
> +100mV, for voltage
> 300% power limit,
> +160MHz Core clock
> +450MHz Memory clock
> 
> with a max temperature of around 70 degrees celcius. This however, is at an ambient room temp of only about 20 degrees C, and I live in Australia so summer temps can get up to 40.
> 
> My question is: If I have a low gpu temp, will it be considered a safe overclock for daily use? And if not, how much should I downclock to get a safe daily use that I could expect 4 years or so of life in my gpu for?
> 
> I was thinking around
> +50MV
> 200% power
> +120MHz Core
> +350MHz Mem
> 
> for a daily, is that reasonable considering my benchmark max?


I think the fans die b4 the components on the pcb.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fozz292*
> 
> So I've just finished OC'in using unigine valley.
> 
> I've got stable clocks at:
> +100mV, for voltage
> 300% power limit,
> +160MHz Core clock
> +450MHz Memory clock
> 
> with a max temperature of around 70 degrees celcius. This however, is at an ambient room temp of only about 20 degrees C, and I live in Australia so summer temps can get up to 40.
> 
> My question is: If I have a low gpu temp, will it be considered a safe overclock for daily use? And if not, how much should I downclock to get a safe daily use that I could expect 4 years or so of life in my gpu for?
> 
> I was thinking around
> +50MV
> 200% power
> +120MHz Core
> +350MHz Mem
> 
> for a daily, is that reasonable considering my benchmark max?


I think it's the same in the end







once you start to overclock, the risk is ofcourse impact in lifetime unit/components ... no one can determine how long it will last, but at least with TOP supported components such as in lightning series I guess the impact will not degrade to soon like reference model does


----------



## fozz292

I'm actually half glad to hear that, so that I don't have to clock it down too much!
Thanks

Hey also another question, do the other voltages give much more performance? Are they worth tinkering with? (memory voltage, aux voltage?)


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fozz292*
> 
> I'm actually half glad to hear that, so that I don't have to clock it down too much!
> Thanks
> 
> Hey also another question, do the other voltages give much more performance? Are they worth tinkering with? (memory voltage, aux voltage?)


Honestly bro, you decide. Nobody can tell you how much reduction in card lifespan you get from OC.

On air I do +50mv on the GPU daily. Memory clocks are the same as max oc, no point lowering this if you're not using voltage control on the memory (memory voltage does nothing for my memory OC). Plus keplers love high memory speeds.

I'm putting it under water as soon as I receive a shipment from FCPU then I will run it +100mv daily because:

high heat + high voltage = bad
high heat + low voltage = ok
low heat + high voltage = ok


----------



## Kimir

Holy jeez, starting to hate one thing about MSI... afterburner.
When will they stop with the stupid beta version that expire. I'm still with the v15 SE and it says since yesterday that it will expire the 14th.
Hope they will release another SE before that date.


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> Holy jeez, starting to hate one thing about MSI... afterburner.
> When will they stop with the stupid beta version that expire. I'm still with the v15 SE and it says since yesterday that it will expire the 14th.
> Hope they will release another SE before that date.


You can use beta 17 (non-SE) with the profile edit on the OP. It works fine. I agree it's irritating that they expire.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> You can use beta 17 (non-SE) with the profile edit on the OP. It works fine. I agree it's irritating that they expire.


Unwinder will release RTSS with 64bit compatibility and so does Afterburner by MSI in middle of this December







so I guess in 14th dec'2013 there will be new Afterburner.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> Honestly bro, you decide. Nobody can tell you how much reduction in card lifespan you get from OC.
> 
> On air I do +50mv on the GPU daily. Memory clocks are the same as max oc, no point lowering this if you're not using voltage control on the memory (memory voltage does nothing for my memory OC). Plus keplers love high memory speeds.
> 
> I'm putting it under water as soon as I receive a shipment from FCPU then I will run it +100mv daily because:
> 
> high heat + high voltage = bad
> high heat + low voltage = ok
> low heat + high voltage = ok


Yup my card also similar like yours Scorpion667







memory can go up to +700 or +800 with no added memory volt, while core clock needs added voltage, ofcourse

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> In matter of fact, I had Asus cards before, 2x GTX580 Matrix, both went bad and got replacement at shop expense. I had the choice between multiple 680, the MSI was the best pick for OC and I didn't wanted Asus card no more.
> Seriously I'm almost at 1500 without hardware mode on benchs


Great PC you have there, Kimir








Lightning is very nice after all ^_^


----------



## CalinTM

Lol i cant get max 350mhz on memory without having artifacts in games....Seems some cards are soo high and other ones are so low in terms of oc.


----------



## rintalahri

Core clock 1319.5Mhz
Memory clock 3801.6


----------



## anubis1127

Nice results. That is a pretty high core clock. I can't tell from the screenshots, what voltage is that at?


----------



## rintalahri

Only core voltage is +50mV , other voltages is standard...
(cooling is air..)


----------



## otrebor

me too, i prefer the aquagrafx. hey, what rad did you use on your build?


----------



## SirRobinII

ordered the aquacomputer waterblock, needed to buy more parts for the EK so it would be €10 more expensive


----------



## rintalahri

why is my GTX does not heat up? Maximum heat is about 70c what I have got ..








air cooled ...









Why volts wont get higher than 1.212v ??
in afterburner I have volts 100mv and aux +50mv , still V dont get higher??


----------



## SirRobinII




----------



## Kimir

This is a nice looking block.









Btw, since AB is still not uptaded, now running with rbby tool at startup, and for the lulz I run at 1411Mhz @1.35v (+150mV) at all time.


----------



## Scorpion667

So much for Nvidia's stupid voltage restrictions eh boys? I've been overvolting my 680L for ages without any issues/degradation.

Cheap bastards lol.


----------



## anubis1127

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> So much for Nvidia's stupid voltage restrictions eh boys? I've been overvolting my 680L for ages without any issues/degradation.
> 
> Cheap bastards lol.


Haha, well put.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *anubis1127*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Scorpion667*
> 
> So much for Nvidia's stupid voltage restrictions eh boys? I've been overvolting my 680L for ages without any issues/degradation.
> 
> Cheap bastards lol.
> 
> 
> 
> Haha, well put.
Click to expand...

Well the GPU's can handle it but ever since the 500 series (570GTX and 590 specifically) they started skimping on power delivery. This is just their solution to cards going up in smoke due to insufficient and/or poor quality VRM's.


----------



## colforbin

What voltage are you running? I have been reluctant to push past 1.4v.


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colforbin*
> 
> What voltage are you running? I have been reluctant to push past 1.4v.


+50mv on LN2 so that's 1.32v as far as I remember? I measured with a DMM a long time ago and made a chart for every voltage but I'm not near my PC








I'm gonna do +100mv daily once I get that waterblock on. Was gonna expand my Swiftech H220 with an XT45 280mm rad and GPu block initially but changed my mind and am going to do full custom loop.

Need about $300 to finish it so it's gonna have to wait till after the holidays. Tickets to Russia put a big dent in my wallet lol.


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rintalahri*
> 
> why is my GTX does not heat up? Maximum heat is about 70c what I have got ..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> air cooled ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why volts wont get higher than 1.212v ??
> in afterburner I have volts 100mv and aux +50mv , still V dont get higher??


It's false reading from AB sensor I believe







at normal BIOS with slider up to max +100mv it should be 1.26volt ... read by DMM, stock is 1.21volt.
And with LN2 BIOS, slider up to max +100mv it should be 1.36v. Stock is 1.26volt.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> This is a nice looking block.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Btw, since AB is still not uptaded, now running with rbby tool at startup, and for the lulz I run at 1411Mhz @1.35v (+150mV) at all time.


Yup no more SE version







so how do I fix this? With rabby tool at startup, Kimir?? Does it work all the time?
Ehm looks like in early January next year I will get 780LT


----------



## Kimir

With the newest version rbby tool you can use AB beta 15 SE forever. So I've set rbby tool at startup (it launches AB automatically) and disabled AB at startup.

Damnt, if i had some money to spend, i'll have made a new rig already with 2x 780Ti classy, but well...


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> With the newest version rbby tool you can use AB beta 15 SE forever. So I've set rbby tool at startup (it launches AB automatically) and disabled AB at startup.
> 
> Damnt, if i had some money to spend, i'll have made a new rig already with 2x 780Ti classy, but well...


Looks like I need to read the thread ^_^ ok thx Kimir ... +rep for you mate









Ehm that girl on your avatar is so beautiful


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *neoroy*
> 
> Looks like I need to read the thread ^_^ ok thx Kimir ... +rep for you mate
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ehm that girl on your avatar is so beautiful


I just replied your pm









Oh if you'd see my wallpapers, NSFW







(in fact you can see part of this particular one in my hwbot validations (click on







or ... in my sig, the 3DMark11 especially lol)


----------



## neoroy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kimir*
> 
> I just replied your pm
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh if you'd see my wallpapers, NSFW
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (in fact you can see part of this particular one in my hwbot validations (click on
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> or ... in my sig, the 3DMark11 especially lol)


Thx for thePM, Chris









Btw I cannot see full view about your wallpaper







but it's okay, no need to discuss it later








And your scores is awesome







not mention your rig, Chris







very clean and nice.


----------



## K2mil

What would be a fair price for used 680 gtx L ?


----------



## colforbin

I would like to know this as well. I was thinking around the 300.00 mark.


----------



## DizZz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> What would be a fair price for used 680 gtx L ?


$300 shipped


----------



## K2mil

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DizZz*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *K2mil*
> 
> What would be a fair price for used 680 gtx L ?
> 
> 
> 
> $300 shipped
Click to expand...

I'm thinking about getting 2nd one for SLI SET UP but it appears these are hard to find now can someone recommend a place where I can get it for about $300 this sounds fair.....

I just got 2nd one on eBay I paid $350 and the card will come with pre installed water block as well as the stock fan for assembly. I think that it was fair considering a water block that by itself cost around $100 give or take.

Now I have a question I'm not really planing to go h2o yet... I will have to put back the stock fan.... I know for fact that its better to run a card a bit before change thermal paste on the cooler.... what do I do ...... should I put it in the oven for a bit or what lol ??


----------



## akhiltu

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Deano12345*
> 
> Good news, I can get higher stable clocks. Bad news, can't get the cards to display. Only know the clocks are higher since I booted with one card having a 680 BIOS and running Valley


is there any way to do a total chage to 770 lighning if you got answer please tell me so happy to hear it


----------



## CalinTM

Well after all, after OC-ing my 680 lightning, i managed to make the card like a 770 lightning, in terms of performance. It should work for me until maxwell 20nm arrives.


----------



## TheAssassin

Anyone have a download link to beta 15 se?


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> Anyone have a download link to beta 15 se?


They have been combined since beta 16 so you are good to DL beta 18
http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html


----------



## Mawgzeetee

Has anyone Tried the NZXT Kracken G10 Watercooler kit just came across it before.
http://www.nzxt.com/product/detail/138-kraken-g10-gpu-bracket.html


----------



## CalinTM

Can someone tell me if the cooler Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme III, will fit with my 680 Lightning ?

And i really need to take off that passive heatsink who cools the memory and stuff ?

Pls reply..


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mawgzeetee*
> 
> Has anyone Tried the NZXT Kracken G10 Watercooler kit just came across it before.
> http://www.nzxt.com/product/detail/138-kraken-g10-gpu-bracket.html


It would most likely work, but with a catch. The 680 lightnings gpu reactor goes on the same area of the gpu itself. in order to properly fit the G10 on it would prevent any use of the gpu reactor, unless you wanted to modify the G10 backplate. I have no idea if modding the backplate would even work, but if you have the guts to try please let me know how it goes.
it goes without saying that if you bought the G10 and cut up the back plate, the warranty is most likely void.

i also find myself looking at the graphics cards back plate that is standard, i am wondering if the backplate on the card comes off with the twin frozr cooler, if so you're in good shape.
so in conclusion, the g10 will probably work, but at the expense of not being able to use the gpu reactor. the gpu reactor was designed for more stable overclocking from what i remember, so putting a liquid cooler on it would probably only quiet it down.
sorry for half of this post being opinionated but i am just expressing the situation from my point of view.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CalinTM*
> 
> Can someone tell me if the cooler Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme III, will fit with my 680 Lightning ?
> 
> And i really need to take off that passive heatsink who cools the memory and stuff ?
> 
> Pls reply..


If you have read the post i posted a few minutes ago about the G10 cooler, my concerns are the same with the accelero. The backplate would most likely prevent use of the gpu reactor.
with an air cooler that massive i would be more concerned about the fit in your case as opposed to fitting on the graphics card.


----------



## CalinTM

The backplate of the accelero will be a little higher, so i think it will still have the option to put the gpu reactor, without the cap, of course.


----------



## anubis1127

I have one of these:



Never got around to putting it on my 680L when I had it. If anybody wants a proper way to cool their card, I can put up an ad in the MP for it.


----------



## DizZz

Selling my GTX 680 Lightning for anyone who might be interested:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1465585/msi-gtx-680-lightning


----------



## Mawgzeetee

Thanks Xander, All those points you made were the ones i was suss on as well.
I think I'll leave it for now, I've found a mate who might buy it and I'd rather give him a card thats in one piece lol.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mawgzeetee*
> 
> Thanks Xander, All those points you made were the ones i was suss on as well.
> I think I'll leave it for now, I've found a mate who might buy it and I'd rather give him a card thats in one piece lol.


yeah, it is getting to be a slightly dated card but i've got 2 of them in my rig and still kickin a$$ across 3 1080p screens for anything i throw at it. you should be fine if you wish to continue using it as long as you have adequate space below the card for the fans to grab some air. The air cooler on it is pretty efficient. i never see either one of my cards go above 60C as opposed to when i had both of those bad boys stuffed into a micro atx case it was not un-common to see 80C on the top card.


----------



## SirRobinII

How do you flash the 680 to 770 ln2 ?


----------



## Matsu

Hello.

How much do you want for the waterblock for the gtx 680 lightning.


----------



## caper1

Hey all,

I've tried to OC my card in the past, I failed with stability issues and ended up just running stock. Being deployed I hadn't the time to really understand and resolve the issues, hopefully an RMA wasn't required. Anyway, I have the time to once again attempt OC this card with at least mild success. Could someone fill me in on a few things to get started?

What LN2 bios should I use? I still have the 80:04:28:00:3A , which I downloaded last year...hopefully that wasnt the issue.

Which Driver and MSI AB should I run? Currently driver 314.07, and non profiled mod 2.3.1 AB.

SYSTEM
Win7
i7 3770k stable oc 4.5ghz
stock gpu cool, cpu liquid
p8z77vpro mb

Thanks for any info!


----------



## colforbin

AB Beta 18
Driver 335.23
LN2 from the first page

Should be all good. Good luck.


----------



## caper1

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colforbin*
> 
> AB Beta 18
> Driver 335.23
> LN2 from the first page
> 
> Should be all good. Good luck.


Thanks man!
Yep got LN2 80.04.28.00.3A, beta 18 msi and driver ver. 335.23

Running into some issues but working @ it! This seems like some really good advice from early in this thread..so I'm working up from here!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wiredg*
> 
> You should never max out all voltages and then look for the highest OC. That's backward. Pouring in max voltage to every setting will NOT improve your OC. Too high voltage makes it unstable.
> 
> Here is how to do it. First, set aux at -100mv, mem at -50mv, and core at +0mv. Now you're ready to start. Try a modest OC like core +0mhz and mem +250mhz. If that's OK, bring up the core freq first, to like 20, 50, 70, etc, and increase core voltage a little at a time as you go, like +25mv, then +37mv, etc. Leave aux and mem voltage alone for now.
> 
> You will probably not need to increase aux above -100, or mem above -50, but stock voltage on mem is not unusual. You should be able to reach a nice OC of +300 to +600 mhz mem using -50 mv or stock mem voltage, and +40 to +80 mhz core using +25 to +50 mv core voltage.
> 
> Once you dial that in, you are ready to go for benchmarks, using higher core freqs and voltages.


----------



## TURN & BURN

Just a heads up there are total unlock bios for these cards no restrictions

T&B


----------



## Scorpion667

Still no 780TI Lightning on the horizon =(

To be honest the LN2 BIOS is too good to go with other vendors. I like my clock speeds locked in during 3D apps. I noticed I always had no performance problems where as other 680 owners get wild clock speed variations that have a negative effect on performance. It probably helps me with 120fps @ 120hz in the games I play.


----------



## Kimir

There won't be any 780Ti lightning, they made a dozen for LN2 event, but it will not be released for public.
If you are looking for the equivalent in OC potential to a lightning with 780Ti chip, take a look at EVGA with the classified.


----------



## renzkuken1

How much are these cards worth second hand?


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> How much are these cards worth second hand?


i still see them going from 300-350 if you can find one below 300 i would say its a good buy.


----------



## UPGR4Y3DD

Hi, I have a 680 lightning and considering upgrading to sli for folding purposes. Given they are now harder to come by, do I have any options other than hunting down another 680 lightning?


----------



## Hankmoody

Hi guys,

First of all sorry for my english mistakes. ı'm not a native speaker also And thats my problem:

My tdp never goes above %83. Is this a problem? I guess this condition holds my 680's oc potential back. Because ı can't catch stability over +150 gpu +550 mem. I use 3A unlocked bios. And my power is Akasa venom 750W. My temps are cpu: max 60 gpu max:66(+93vm).

Please someone help me!


----------



## wiredg

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hankmoody*
> 
> My tdp never goes above %83. Is this a problem? I guess this condition holds my 680's oc potential back. Because ı can't catch stability over +150 gpu +550 mem. I use 3A unlocked bios. And my power is Akasa venom 750W. My temps are cpu: max 60 gpu max:66(+93vm).


You don't have a problem. The card will only draw as much current as it needs. Around 80% of TDP is a normal maximum for your clocks. The power slider does not set the current draw; it sets the current-draw *limit*. Your card is behaving normally.


----------



## Hankmoody

Thanx for your reply.

But ı see so much guy in this thread who has %170-190 tdp and they can reach higher speeds. What is the difference between us?


----------



## FtW 420

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Hankmoody*
> 
> Thanx for your reply.
> 
> But ı see so much guy in this thread who has %170-190 tdp and they can reach higher speeds. What is the difference between us?


It is normal to see the lower power % , using the 3a bios my card can run 1450 core before I see the power hit 100% in the afterburner graph. There can be higher spikes once in a while, I've seen the max power % go up to like 175% for a second at lower overclocks.
Quite a few people list the max benching clocks also, my overclocks in the OP spreadsheet wouldn't be 24/7 gaming stable.


----------



## Scorpion667

Yea I find 3dmark11 spikes it to 175% right before the benchmark starts even on mid to high voltage/clocks. Just for a split second.

Power draw is like that for everyone. I only have experience with 3a BIOS


----------



## renzkuken1

Where can I find a water block for my lightning 680? I would have posted in for sale but I can't yet. So if someone could point me in the right direction I need one Asap. I want to put them underwater. (Preferably second hand and delivers to australia)


----------



## Scorpion667

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *renzkuken1*
> 
> Where can I find a water block for my lightning 680? I would have posted in for sale but I can't yet. So if someone could point me in the right direction I need one Asap. I want to put them underwater. (Preferably second hand and delivers to australia)


I have a sealed aquacomputer 680L copper block that I never got around to installing. Was thinking about posting it to marketplace. Dunno about shipping to Aus, heard it's expensive


----------



## colforbin

I was going to sell him mine of my old 680L. Shipping was around $90 from the US via USPS. Yikes


----------



## iwalkwithedead

How close is the 680lightning to the 770lightning.

There is a club for 680 and 780, none for 770.


----------



## DizZz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *iwalkwithedead*
> 
> How close is the 680lightning to the 770lightning.
> 
> There is a club for 680 and 780, none for 770.


Basically the same card except the 770 has a newer bios and faster memory.


----------



## iwalkwithedead

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DizZz*
> 
> Basically the same card except the 770 has a newer bios and faster memory.


I'm having a hard time getting the unlocked bios and special edition of MSI afterburner.


----------



## colforbin

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *iwalkwithedead*
> 
> I'm having a hard time getting the unlocked bios and special edition of MSI afterburner.


Beta 19 is what you need. They no longer make the SE Edition. It's all together now.


----------



## Olivon

Take a look at this thread :

http://www.overclock.net/t/1398725/unlock-afterburner-limits-on-lots-of-cards-some-with-llc-ab-b-19/

Rbby258 makes a great job and it works very well with your card.


----------



## iwalkwithedead

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colforbin*
> 
> Beta 19 is what you need. They no longer make the SE Edition. It's all together now.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Olivon*
> 
> Take a look at this thread :
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1398725/unlock-afterburner-limits-on-lots-of-cards-some-with-llc-ab-b-19/
> 
> Rbby258 makes a great job and it works very well with your card.


Thanks Guys.







Much appreciated.


----------



## mahanddeem

Hello there,
I have my MSI 680Lightinig for almost a year and a half now, good card but I have few questions please :

1.On an i7 or i5 (I have [email protected] clocks), what BF4 settings you guys can use to achieve 60+ fps constant on 1080p ? I always have to set effects and post process effects to low or medium and can never use more than 2x MSAA. I hate drops to 50s and 40s even when brief.

2.What is the "latest" vBIOS for this card ? mine now is 80:04:47:00:18. Any newer ? I don't overclock it but wants to run the latest.

Thanks


----------



## Kimir

Latest bios, no need for that, it's not a motherboard. The best one is the 3A unlocked!


----------



## Dinocookies

I hated this card wish i would have spent the cash on another


----------



## Kimir

Why is that? I love mine. I prefer my kingpin, obviously. Because evbot and classy tool controller, that is the main missing thing for Lightning cards.


----------



## Dinocookies

Well It never overclocked well. The highest I could overclock it past core was 5mhz :/ I would rma it but it runs fine on stock.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Dinocookies*
> 
> Well It never overclocked well. The highest I could overclock it past core was 5mhz :/ I would rma it but it runs fine on stock.


Mine only overclocks to 1267 on the core, but many people report that the memory clock is where you see a noticeable difference.


----------



## Dinocookies

I do give it that I can overclock the memory pretty good. With boost my core tops out at 1202. anything overthat and it crashes. Still disapointing my friends gtx670 overclocks better than mine :/


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Dinocookies*
> 
> I do give it that I can overclock the memory pretty good. With boost my core tops out at 1202. anything overthat and it crashes. Still disapointing my friends gtx670 overclocks better than mine :/


I know what you mean. I got a 770 with the gigabyte windforce cooler and it pushed passed 1250 on the core without me touching the oc settings. If you are that disappointed with it i'm sure someone would buy it off you. then you could get a 700 series card or even wait for the 800.


----------



## Kimir

How odd, mine in SLI is doing 1372Mhz with +100mv slider as daily clock. Of course watercooled and with 3A bios from OP.


----------



## Dinocookies

Ya I tried the 3A bios as well but no luck. I'll probly just sell it like xanderthegoober suggested.


----------



## Olivon

My guess is more than you don't know how to overclock it or you have problems with other components on your rigs.
Like Kimir, I run 1372MHz with +100 on AB with no problem at all since more than 1 year. This card is solid stuff.
MSI did a great job with the 680L. Kudos to them.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Olivon*
> 
> My guess is more than you don't know how to overclock it or you have problems with other components on your rigs.
> Like Kimir, I run 1372MHz with +100 on AB with no problem at all since more than 1 year. This card is solid stuff.
> MSI did a great job with the 680L. Kudos to them.


They did do a great job but it's still silicone lottery, he probably just didnt get a good one.


----------



## colforbin

I could run 1342Mhz as a daily driver on my 680L. Even if he got the short end of stick on the chip he should be able to muster better than +5.


----------



## FatalSlash

Hi! Sorry for my bad English. I still can not overclock my 680 lightning, even slightly. Please tell me what could be the reason? maybe the case in the power supply? ( 600W) Or card has no overclocking potential? thanks in advance ( i5 2500. p8h77-v)


----------



## saint19

Guys I need a little help over here...

I can't play heavy games (BF4, BF3,) at full details with my GPU or the rig goes freeze and I have to restart the PC, the curious thing is that I can pass Heaven DX11 without problems and benchmarks without problems, even, I can play another games like titanfall, GRID, Sleeping Dogs...

Do you guys think that my GPU is failing? It is still on warranty.


----------



## Olivon

Have you tried to put your card on another rig in order to test if working good or not ?


----------



## saint19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Olivon*
> 
> Have you tried to put your card on another rig in order to test if working good or not ?


Yep, same results...


----------



## Olivon

Weird but if the problem is still persistent on another rig/OS and the card is covered by warranty, use it.
Temps are good ?


----------



## saint19

Yeah, temps never goes above 62-65°C.


----------



## Olivon

U R good for RMA time dude so


----------



## saint19

Seems that, the problem is that I'm not in the USA so, my RAM cost a lot more that just an UPS shipping inside the USA


----------



## orwasmadi

*Hello People









i am running on SLI with these beasts and after long time saving money, i've decided to go water cooling, however, i can't find any EK-FC gtx680 Lightning Water blocks available any place !!

Please, do you know where to find 2 blocks anywhere ?? pleeeeaaaassseee :S*


----------



## saint19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *orwasmadi*
> 
> *Hello People
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i am running on SLI with these beasts and after long time saving money, i've decided to go water cooling, however, i can't find any EK-FC gtx680 Lightning Water blocks available any place !!
> 
> Please, do you know where to find 2 blocks anywhere ?? pleeeeaaaassseee :S*


At this time, I think that you will have to look for that on eBay or forums market sites.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *saint19*
> 
> At this time, I think that you will have to look for that on eBay or forums market sites.


Just did a quick once over on ebay and most of the listings are from hong kong or they are across multiple generations so i doubt they would work for the lightning.


----------



## Kaozm

I have this card and im just wondering if anyone know what is the best nvidia driver for best results?


----------



## Kimir

I'm fine with 335.23 but didn't try the newest versions since doesn't do well on my 780Ti, might not be well for the 680L either.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Anyone know if there is a way to either disable or change the leds on the lightning cards?


----------



## saint19

Hi guys...

Anyone knows if is possible modify tessellation on nVidia 3D settings?

Sent from my Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk


----------



## CalinTM

No u cant


----------



## saint19

After 2 years, I have to say good bye to my GTX 680 Lightning...my 1st high end GPU






























I do not know if I can afford a new generation now, but, I hope in December get a new one.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *saint19*
> 
> After 2 years, I have to say good bye to my GTX 680 Lightning...my 1st high end GPU
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I do not know if I can afford a new generation now, but, I hope in December get a new one.


What are you going to be replacing it with? I am still running 1 of my lightnings in my second rig. as for the other, well look at my sig. It is up for sale sadly.


----------



## saint19

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> What are you going to be replacing it with? I am still running 1 of my lightnings in my second rig. as for the other, well look at my sig. It is up for sale sadly.


For now, I will keep a GTX 750 that I have. My wallet is a little broken (my financial status more exactly) and buy a new one is not possible right now. I would use the money for pay some bills and credit cards and wait until December...


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *saint19*
> 
> For now, I will keep a GTX 750 that I have. My wallet is a little broken (my financial status more exactly) and buy a new one is not possible right now. I would use the money for pay some bills and credit cards and wait until December...


Going from 680L to 750, sad day. Hope you are able to get a replacement beastly card soon. Good luck.


----------



## Samsarulz

Great thread. Just some moments ago I unlocked my GTX 680 PE thats is a Lightning rebranded







. Up until now no BSODs and nothing that making the GPU crash. Thanks!


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Samsarulz*
> 
> Great thread. Just some moments ago I unlocked my GTX 680 PE thats is a Lightning rebranded
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Up until now no BSODs and nothing that making the GPU crash. Thanks!


Just sold a PE that i flashed the lightning bios onto








What are your overclocks looking like?


----------



## Samsarulz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> Just sold a PE that i flashed the lightning bios onto
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What are your overclocks looking like?


For the moment +100 MHz on GPU and + 600MHz on Memory. Im with latest 344.11 Nvidia Drivers. Will look for a previous version. Maybe I can achieve more OC.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Samsarulz*
> 
> For the moment +100 MHz on GPU and + 600MHz on Memory. Im with latest 344.11 Nvidia Drivers. Will look for a previous version. Maybe I can achieve more OC.


That is with what stock clocks? my stock clocks were 1202 and 3000 mem for the LN2 bios.


----------



## Samsarulz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> That is with what stock clocks? my stock clocks were 1202 and 3000 mem for the LN2 bios.


According to GPU-Z, my stock clocks are *1202/1502* MHz for GPU/Memory. Then I have same clocks as you







.

Right now Im benchmarking Aquamark







. There I can go up to +150/+700 for GPU/Memory. Looking for the best result.

Swapped stock cooler and installed the EK-GPU Supremacy HW bot Edition. Then with max OC and every voltaje at max with Power at +300 I got like 53-54°C max temp on the heaviest benchmark.

ASIC quality is like 72%, then I think this card is more suitable for sub zero cooling rather than trying something with Water/Air.

Thanks


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Samsarulz*
> 
> According to GPU-Z, my stock clocks are *1202/1502* MHz for GPU/Memory. Then I have same clocks as you
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 
> Right now Im benchmarking Aquamark
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . There I can go up to +150/+700 for GPU/Memory. Looking for the best result.
> 
> Swapped stock cooler and installed the EK-GPU Supremacy HW bot Edition. Then with max OC and every voltaje at max with Power at +300 I got like 53-54°C max temp on the heaviest benchmark.
> 
> ASIC quality is like 72%, then I think this card is more suitable for sub zero cooling rather than trying something with Water/Air.
> 
> Thanks


wish i had that good of core OC on my air cooled 680 PE. max i got was 1267


----------



## Samsarulz

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Samsarulz*
> 
> According to GPU-Z, my stock clocks are *1202/1502* MHz for GPU/Memory. Then I have same clocks as you
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 
> Right now Im benchmarking Aquamark
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . There I can go up to +150/+700 for GPU/Memory. Loojing for the best result.
> 
> Thanks


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> wish i had that good of core OC on my air cooled 680 PE. max i got was 1267


I flashed the BIOS fron this thread, the one for the 1st 5000 GTX 680 GPUs. Those are the stock clocks that I have, byt I dont´know if are "real". Sometimes GPU-Z gets a bit dizzy when you change the BIOS xD.


----------



## TheAssassin

What drivers are you guys running now?


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TheAssassin*
> 
> What drivers are you guys running now?


Gigabyte GTX770 windforce SLI in my main rig but my first lightning card is in my secondary rig for the woman. running 3 1600x900 screens in surround


----------



## Awesomeguy10578

Hi everyone! I found a good deal ($270) on a GTX 680 Lightning and was wondering if I should take it, this card is still powerful isn't it? I do have a question though, the max core voltage for the unlocked bios is 1.375V right? And that is all fine and good for the card? Even when you max out the other voltages?
Thanks


----------



## supermi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Awesomeguy10578*
> 
> Hi everyone! I found a good deal ($270) on a GTX 680 Lightning and was wondering if I should take it, this card is still powerful isn't it? I do have a question though, the max core voltage for the unlocked bios is 1.375V right? And that is all fine and good for the card? Even when you max out the other voltages?
> Thanks


Bad deal bro.

Get a 970 for $330 that is much more powerful.

Edit:
Was gonna sat even $200 us too much, then I saw thee post bellow and yup there ya go.

Again bad deal.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Awesomeguy10578*
> 
> Hi everyone! I found a good deal ($270) on a GTX 680 Lightning and was wondering if I should take it, this card is still powerful isn't it? I do have a question though, the max core voltage for the unlocked bios is 1.375V right? And that is all fine and good for the card? Even when you max out the other voltages?
> Thanks


Is that USD? in all honesty asking too much. i sold my last one for $185


----------



## Awesomeguy10578

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *supermi*
> 
> Bad deal bro.
> 
> Get a 970 for $330 that is much more powerful.
> 
> Edit:
> Was gonna sat even $200 us too much, then I saw thee post bellow and yup there ya go.
> 
> Again bad deal.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> Is that USD? in all honesty asking too much. i sold my last one for $185


Yea it's USD. But in my country a GTX 760 Hawk is $290, and a GTX 970 is average $350. Soooo....


----------



## TheAssassin

what drivers lol?


----------



## Awesomeguy10578

Wait so you guys think it's a bad deal for a GTX 680 Lightning at $270? MSI's GTX 970s are hovering around the $450 mark in my country which is Indonesia BTW. And anyways I'm only running a single 1080p monitor so a GTX 680 would definitely suffice for years to come, do you guys think I should get the used GTX 680 Lightning for $270 that I found? I mean it's a Lightning so it won't blow up even when I push it to the limit right? P.S. I blew up a Gigabyte GTX 750 Ti while extreme overclocking it (Volt mod 1.2V and TDP mod 200W lololol) so I want a card that could take a ridiculous amount of overclocking.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Awesomeguy10578*
> 
> Wait so you guys think it's a bad deal for a GTX 680 Lightning at $270? MSI's GTX 970s are hovering around the $450 mark in my country which is Indonesia BTW. And anyways I'm only running a single 1080p monitor so a GTX 680 would definitely suffice for years to come, do you guys think I should get the used GTX 680 Lightning for $270 that I found? I mean it's a Lightning so it won't blow up even when I push it to the limit right? P.S. I blew up a Gigabyte GTX 750 Ti while extreme overclocking it (Volt mod 1.2V and TDP mod 200W lololol) so I want a card that could take a ridiculous amount of overclocking.


That's what we were asking if it was US dollars or not. when talking price it helps if you say what country you are in. If you think it's a great deal then go for it. But if you want the card to take over 1212mv you might want to look into water cooling. going much higher than 1212mv on air is kinda silly and is asking for trouble.


----------



## Awesomeguy10578

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> That's what we were asking if it was US dollars or not. when talking price it helps if you say what country you are in. If you think it's a great deal then go for it. But if you want the card to take over 1212mv you might want to look into water cooling. going much higher than 1212mv on air is kinda silly and is asking for trouble.


Ahh right ok, well MSI's TwinFrozr IV cooler seemed to handle 1.3+ volts and 1400MHz fine in benchmarks as it keeps the core below 75C. I really don't mind about noise when gaming, I usually use a pair of earphones.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Awesomeguy10578*
> 
> Ahh right ok, well MSI's TwinFrozr IV cooler seemed to handle 1.3+ volts and 1400MHz fine in benchmarks as it keeps the core below 75C. I really don't mind about noise when gaming, I usually use a pair of earphones.


I too don't mind a bit of computer noise, all i know is when my cards are going full bore at 1212mv, 1267 core and 3800 mem, the top card sometimes reaches 86C. these are gigabyte windforce 770s with the 3 fans on the card. What is the ambient room temp that your card temps max at 75C at 1.3V?


----------



## Awesomeguy10578

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> I too don't mind a bit of computer noise, all i know is when my cards are going full bore at 1212mv, 1267 core and 3800 mem, the top card sometimes reaches 86C. these are gigabyte windforce 770s with the 3 fans on the card. What is the ambient room temp that your card temps max at 75C at 1.3V?


Well I haven't owned the card actually but the reviewers say 23C I think. Anyways, I think I'll just go with the GTX 760 Hawk instead which costs roughly $270 too brand new, that $270 GTX 680 Lightning I was talking about is used and don't have warranty so I don't want to risk it.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Awesomeguy10578*
> 
> Well I haven't owned the card actually but the reviewers say 23C I think. Anyways, I think I'll just go with the GTX 760 Hawk instead which costs roughly $270 too brand new, that $270 GTX 680 Lightning I was talking about is used and don't have warranty so I don't want to risk it.


760 is roughly 65-75% of the performance of the 680 if i remember correctly. what card are you running now?


----------



## Awesomeguy10578

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> 760 is roughly 65-75% of the performance of the 680 if i remember correctly. what card are you running now?


That's a stock 760, the 760 Hawk performs near identical to the stock 680. So if I overclock it like I always do with all my stuff I would get over slightly overclocked GTX 680 performance. I used to use a Gigabyte GTX 750 Ti that I said blew up, so currently I'm on Intel HD 4600 on my 4690K.


----------



## ibleedspeed

Hey guys I am trying to flash my lightning to the unlocked bios from the OP.... its not happening what am I doing wrong?
the instructions look like I am supposed to substitute the bios number for the "UnlockedBios.rom" ?

I tried itt with both "UnlockedBIOS.rom" and the bios number and I get a cant open file error both ways....here is what I did...


----------



## ibleedspeed

Okay so I had to resort to a youtube video for the correct instructions... the OP does not mention that you have to rename the bios.... and second that big honking button that says "get the bios here" is the wrong bios...after flashing to the bios the op recommends the results were not good to say the least... then I got it flashed over to the right bios the one that ends with "3A" and it was fine from there accept that the card didnt overclock worth a crap so the last 2 hours of my life were a complete waste....







anybody want another lightning? lol.


----------



## isasa74

Hi guys,

Thanks for the forum and the 3d.

I have a SLI of GTX680 Lightning and the cards have different LN2 BIOS (not sure if this is good), one of them is actually locked (80.04.47.00.19) and I would like to re flash it with an unlocked BIOS.

I have tried with all the available unlocked ROM's but with no luck as nvflash always comes back with the message of the screenshot below.

The GTX680 to be flashed is at the moment alone so no SLI and toggled to LN2 as per instructions:





guys I'm a bit at a loss here and any help would be much appreciated.:thumb


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Is that the nvflash utility?


----------



## isasa74

yes it is


----------



## Kimir

Nvflash -r or --protectoff
Then nvflash -4 -5 -6 bios name.rom, it will still tell you the mismatch message but will ask you to write YES to continue.
If I recall correctly.


----------



## isasa74

thanks for the reply









when I run nvflash -r I'm asked to choose one of the two cards but no matter what I select nvflash always picks up the one already flashed with unlocked Bios









the ID of the two cards is different and nvflash seems to give priority only to the one which actually matches the bios rom better.

GTX1 subsystem id 14622834 BIOS locked 80.04.47.00.19
GTX2 subsystem id 14622831 BIOS unlocked 80.04.09.00.F8


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *isasa74*
> 
> thanks for the reply
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> when I run nvflash -r I'm asked to choose one of the two cards but no matter what I select nvflash always picks up the one already flashed with unlocked Bios
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> the ID of the two cards is different and nvflash seems to give priority only to the one which actually matches the bios rom better.
> 
> GTX1 subsystem id 14622834 BIOS locked 80.04.47.00.19
> GTX2 subsystem id 14622831 BIOS unlocked 80.04.09.00.F8


Keep it simple, never have two cards installed when flashing a bios. Do this then post results


----------



## CryptiK

switch -i0 for the first card, -i1 for the second card. I've always flashed with 2 or 3 cards, just tell it which one you want to flash!


----------



## isasa74

It doesn't matter which one I switch to, NVflash always try to flash the one already with the unlocked BIOS ignoring the other one...


----------



## isasa74

I eventually flashed the bios but then when I rebooted the system, the boot screens of the motherboard were all messed up (not readable) and windows started with 256 colors (which I haven't seen in ten years!!)









fortunately I could flash back to the default BIOS and now the card is ok...any suggestions please?


----------



## Jasonkruys

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *isasa74*
> 
> I eventually flashed the bios but then when I rebooted the system, the boot screens of the motherboard were all messed up (not readable) and windows started with 256 colors (which I haven't seen in ten years!!)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> fortunately I could flash back to the default BIOS and now the card is ok...any suggestions please?


You have tried taking out a card and flashing one at a time? Suggested before, but I am not sure if you have tried it?


----------



## isasa74

yes I did it, there was only one card in when I flashed as I took out the other one physically from the computer.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *isasa74*
> 
> yes I did it, there was only one card in when I flashed as I took out the other one physically from the computer.


This maybe a dumb suggestion to you but what if you just extract the bios and have someone mod it as opposed to using one of these pre-made bios'?

visit this thread please and update us on your decision. http://www.overclock.net/t/1467851/nvidia-maxwell-kepler-bios-editing-thread-gtx-2xx-to-9xx-now-supported


----------



## orwasmadi

Hello,
i am planning to put my 680s under water with EK Blocks, the thing is i don't want ti use the big bulky EK sli bridges, what i want is to connect tubes between the blocks, but i don't know what EK SLI Link to use, planning to get a link like this one:

http://cdn.overclock.net/a/ad/ad97485e_177271_518978781445962_775952906_o.jpeg

Could any one help me please and tell me the name of this link? i would be thankful.


----------



## CryptiK

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *isasa74*
> 
> I eventually flashed the bios but then when I rebooted the system, the boot screens of the motherboard were all messed up (not readable) and windows started with 256 colors (which I haven't seen in ten years!!)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> fortunately I could flash back to the default BIOS and now the card is ok...any suggestions please?


There's 2 unlocked bioses. The f8 tends to only work on the original first batch unlocked cards. The other one (3n or something isn't it?) is still unlocked but works on the later batches of cards


----------



## Spikemaul

What version of Afterburner do we use now?


----------



## orwasmadi

Project Justice.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *orwasmadi*
> 
> Project Justice.
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


Beautiful build, how long have you had those water blocks? they are impossible to find now... Not that I am looking as both my 680 lightnings got sold a while ago.


----------



## orwasmadi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> Beautiful build, how long have you had those water blocks? they are impossible to find now... Not that I am looking as both my 680 lightnings got sold a while ago.


Finding them was the Hardest thing in the process, i've got them a year ago after posting a request for them on this thread if i recall correctly, and the other block a managed to find in Polish website called darmacz.pl that they went out of business.

i have been keeping them ever since that time, the project of watercooling this build took me 3 years to complete


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *orwasmadi*
> 
> Finding them was the Hardest thing in the process, i've got them a year ago after posting a request for them on this thread if i recall correctly, and the other block a managed to find in Polish website called darmacz.pl that they went out of business.
> 
> i have been keeping them ever since that time, the project of watercooling this build took me 3 years to complete


that is some dedication my friend.


----------



## saint19

Why not try to find an SLI bridge more "decent" for the build? I mean, something like this:


----------



## fantaziz

Hello everyone.

I have currently an MSI Lightning 680 and I want to change it for a more recent graphic card.
The problem is that when I got the 680 I wanted to overclock it, but the BIOS version didn't allow me to overclock it.

So I went to this thread and followed the instructions:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club

And I managed to unlock the "LN2 bios" and it worked !

But I wonder, if I change my graphic card will it work ? I mean,will the bios reset itself and allow me to use my new card normally ? Or will it screw up everything ? Do I need to undo what I did with the 680 ? If yes, how ?
I ask this because I don't want to make a dumb mistake and I'm not very experienced, I just know how to follow a tutorial...

Thank you a lot.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fantaziz*
> 
> Hello everyone.
> 
> I have currently an MSI Lightning 680 and I want to change it for a more recent graphic card.
> The problem is that when I got the 680 I wanted to overclock it, but the BIOS version didn't allow me to overclock it.
> 
> So I went to this thread and followed the instructions:
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1280007/official-msi-gtx-680-lightning-owners-club
> 
> And I managed to unlock the "LN2 bios" and it worked !
> 
> But I wonder, if I change my graphic card will it work ? I mean,will the bios reset itself and allow me to use my new card normally ? Or will it screw up everything ? Do I need to undo what I did with the 680 ? If yes, how ?
> I ask this because I don't want to make a dumb mistake and I'm not very experienced, I just know how to follow a tutorial...
> 
> Thank you a lot.


That bios is unique to the graphics card. if you install that card into another machine it will work the same way. Just as your motherboard has it's bios that is unique to itself, this is unique to the 680. You will be fine.


----------



## onishared

Hi, i just bought a used gtx 680 lightning and have 1 trouble.

Assuming about 2 fans as fan 1 (above gpu) and fan 2 (above memory , voltage reg)

When i start the system both fans spins together to make the clear dust as indeed. But after some seconds the fan 2 stop to work,, then the card works perfectly and have those numbers, 35 C idle and 73 C full load.

The fan 2 stay stopped. The only way that it spin is if i put in afterburner fans to work in 90% speed. then fan 2 work normal and both fans spin together. but at normal operation fan 2 stay dead.

PS: fan 2 work free when using hand and have no issues, structural.

Anyone have any idea ?

thanks


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *onishared*
> 
> Hi, i just bought a used gtx 680 lightning and have 1 trouble.
> 
> Assuming about 2 fans as fan 1 (above gpu) and fan 2 (above memory , voltage reg)
> 
> When i start the system both fans spins together to make the clear dust as indeed. But after some seconds the fan 2 stop to work,, then the card works perfectly and have those numbers, 35 C idle and 73 C full load.
> 
> The fan 2 stay stopped. The only way that it spin is if i put in afterburner fans to work in 90% speed. then fan 2 work normal and both fans spin together. but at normal operation fan 2 stay dead.
> 
> PS: fan 2 work free when using hand and have no issues, structural.
> 
> Anyone have any idea ?
> 
> thanks


Had similar problem with an old gigabyte card. turned out to be a bad cooling unit. good news is i think those fans are replaceable on those cards and you maybe able to find them on ebay.

Is there any manufacturer warranty left on the card? if so contact MSI ASAP and have them ship you a cooler. you should be able to replace it yourself to minimize down time.


----------



## onishared

No, manufecturer warranty still. i live in Brazil , i´ll try to contact msi here, but no hope to get here.
I could buy in ebay with a friend in USA, but not found.
i guess that those fans are specific to this model, 10 mm fan with 2 types of plastic in the surface.

thanks for the help


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *onishared*
> 
> No, manufecturer warranty still. i live in Brazil , i´ll try to contact msi here, but no hope to get here.
> I could buy in ebay with a friend in USA, but not found.
> i guess that those fans are specific to this model, 10 mm fan with 2 types of plastic in the surface.
> 
> thanks for the help


100MM *
and yeah that's unfortunate. Another option is to get another after market cooler for better performance like the arctic cooling units.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=Arctic+cooling&N=-1&isNodeId=1

Most of the newer coolers have those heatsink like backplates with will get in the way of the gpu reactor.


----------



## onishared

Very thanks for your help.

And i have one final question :

My card have normal bios (80.04.47.00.18) and LN2 bios (80.04.47.00.19) locked LN2.

Do you recommend any bios update ? i don´t have a plan to extreme overclok it, but the goal i could interest is start Uefi bios fast, i use fx8350 , ssd and crosshair formula-z........... ( i wish a bios update could fix this fan 2 , but just a dream)

As curiosity Gpu-z read asic quality 72,2%, i read that not is a big deal this info. but looks good ?


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## XanderTheGoober

If you are not doing any extreme overclocking i would stick with the bios' that you have now. the LN2 bios should work on air as it did on mine, although I had a 100% functional cooler as well. With a gimped cooler I would oc on the standard bios to extend the life of your card VS trying to pump all it's got out of it. If you replace the cooler you could always flash the unlocked bios in post 1 of this thread.


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## mafiotzi

Hello guys, I am running one MSI GTX 680 Lightning, not OCed and I'm very pleased with it. My question is: Would it be worth buying another one to use it in SLI? I am mostly using mine for gaming and so far I can run everything on Ultra. I was just wondering if it would make any difference if I would get a 2nd one. With GTA5 on PC coming in few day I was pondering







Would my PSU even handle 2 of these?

Specs: Motherboard - Z87-GD65
PCU i5-4670k
GPU MSI GTX 680 Lightning
PSU Corsair TX750


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## Awesomeguy10578

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mafiotzi*
> 
> Hello guys, I am running one MSI GTX 680 Lightning, not OCed and I'm very pleased with it. My question is: Would it be worth buying another one to use it in SLI? I am mostly using mine for gaming and so far I can run everything on Ultra. I was just wondering if it would make any difference if I would get a 2nd one. With GTA5 on PC coming in few day I was pondering
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Would my PSU even handle 2 of these?
> 
> Specs: Motherboard - Z87-GD65
> PCU i5-4670k
> GPU MSI GTX 680 Lightning
> PSU Corsair TX750


What monitor are you using? If it's just a regular old 1080p monitor I don't think there's much point in doing SLI, plus if you're getting a Lightning you're gonna overclock and I'll tell you right now 2x of the GTX 680 Lightnings OVERCLOCKED would push your PSU close to it's limits and that's not exactly good.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Awesomeguy10578*
> 
> What monitor are you using? If it's just a regular old 1080p monitor I don't think there's much point in doing SLI, plus if you're getting a Lightning you're gonna overclock and I'll tell you right now 2x of the GTX 680 Lightnings OVERCLOCKED would push your PSU close to it's limits and that's not exactly good.


This statement is true, however the power savings of the 4670k should be enough to keep it under control especially if he is running stock bios on both cards. Still though, for those monsters I would want a little room to play as well. Only way to tell for sure would be to just go for the sli and get a kill-a-watt meter just for the PC power cord and find out how much juice she is pulling. Just for your information mafiotzi, if your PC with 2 graphics cards and it's processor is pulling 700W from the wall, assuming at that load your power supply is 80% efficient, that means your PSU is only supplying 560W of power. So even if you see a reading of 800W of power being pulled from the wall, don't go out spending your money quite yet as at 80% efficiency thats still only supplying 640W of power. well within the limits of your power supply.

With that said I can say that my old system with 2 of these monsters in sli, on custom bios for both cards, a watercooled overclocked i7 2600k and running the max stress load on it, my power supply peaked out at a 900W power draw from the wall. at 80% efficiency that means my psu was supplying 720W to the system. Sandy bridge processors take considerably more power than haswell/DC anyway. with you only having an i5 devils canyon processor and two of these bad boys you should be good to run that psu.


----------



## Awesomeguy10578

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> This statement is true, however the power savings of the 4670k should be enough to keep it under control especially if he is running stock bios on both cards. Still though, for those monsters I would want a little room to play as well. Only way to tell for sure would be to just go for the sli and get a kill-a-watt meter just for the PC power cord and find out how much juice she is pulling. Just for your information mafiotzi, if your PC with 2 graphics cards and it's processor is pulling 700W from the wall, assuming at that load your power supply is 80% efficient, that means your PSU is only supplying 560W of power. So even if you see a reading of 800W of power being pulled from the wall, don't go out spending your money quite yet as at 80% efficiency thats still only supplying 640W of power. well within the limits of your power supply.
> 
> With that said I can say that my old system with 2 of these monsters in sli, on custom bios for both cards, a watercooled overclocked i7 2600k and running the max stress load on it, my power supply peaked out at a 900W power draw from the wall. at 80% efficiency that means my psu was supplying 720W to the system. Sandy bridge processors take considerably more power than haswell/DC anyway. with you only having an i5 devils canyon processor and two of these bad boys you should be good to run that psu.


Yea like I said you probably can but it's pushing it and personally I wouldn't be comfortable doing that lol.


----------



## mafiotzi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Awesomeguy10578*
> 
> What monitor are you using? If it's just a regular old 1080p monitor I don't think there's much point in doing SLI, plus if you're getting a Lightning you're gonna overclock and I'll tell you right now 2x of the GTX 680 Lightnings OVERCLOCKED would push your PSU close to it's limits and that's not exactly good.


I'm using: BenQ XL2420Z 24IN LED 144HZ 1ms FPS Gaming Monitor 2x HDMI DP DVI VGA HAS 3D Ready


----------



## mafiotzi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mafiotzi*
> 
> I'm using: BenQ XL2420Z 24IN LED 144HZ 1ms FPS Gaming Monitor 2x HDMI DP DVI VGA HAS 3D Ready


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> This statement is true, however the power savings of the 4670k should be enough to keep it under control especially if he is running stock bios on both cards. Still though, for those monsters I would want a little room to play as well. Only way to tell for sure would be to just go for the sli and get a kill-a-watt meter just for the PC power cord and find out how much juice she is pulling. Just for your information mafiotzi, if your PC with 2 graphics cards and it's processor is pulling 700W from the wall, assuming at that load your power supply is 80% efficient, that means your PSU is only supplying 560W of power. So even if you see a reading of 800W of power being pulled from the wall, don't go out spending your money quite yet as at 80% efficiency thats still only supplying 640W of power. well within the limits of your power supply.
> 
> With that said I can say that my old system with 2 of these monsters in sli, on custom bios for both cards, a watercooled overclocked i7 2600k and running the max stress load on it, my power supply peaked out at a 900W power draw from the wall. at 80% efficiency that means my psu was supplying 720W to the system. Sandy bridge processors take considerably more power than haswell/DC anyway. with you only having an i5 devils canyon processor and two of these bad boys you should be good to run that psu.


Thank you for your detailed reply. My Bios is stock, as well as my GPU (I know it's a shame to have this GPU stock lol). Only my PCU is OCed @ 4.0ghz. I asked my initial question because I know these cards are rare to find and I found one for sale. I was wondering if it would be a good thing to get another one to have in SLI. Since I love this card so much, I was thinking that having 2 now would allow me to use them for a longer time before I have to upgrade my GPU in case Future Games would be to much for just 1 Gtx 680. I could always just sell my actual PSU and upgrade for a better one in time when I find some good deals.
Thank you for your quick answers guys. Cheers.


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mafiotzi*
> 
> Thank you for your detailed reply. My Bios is stock, as well as my GPU (I know it's a shame to have this GPU stock lol). Only my PCU is OCed @ 4.0ghz. I asked my initial question because I know these cards are rare to find and I found one for sale. I was wondering if it would be a good thing to get another one to have in SLI. Since I love this card so much, I was thinking that having 2 now would allow me to use them for a longer time before I have to upgrade my GPU in case Future Games would be to much for just 1 Gtx 680. I could always just sell my actual PSU and upgrade for a better one in time when I find some good deals.
> Thank you for your quick answers guys. Cheers.


Go for it. they are only 2GB cards so if you can get it cheap enough i say go for it. But if you're running any resolution above 1080p the 2GB frame buffer may become the bottleneck very quickly on newer titles.


----------



## mafiotzi

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *XanderTheGoober*
> 
> Go for it. they are only 2GB cards so if you can get it cheap enough i say go for it. But if you're running any resolution above 1080p the 2GB frame buffer may become the bottleneck very quickly on newer titles.


After some research I started looking at the 780TI...than the 980...and than I decided to just wait for the release of the 980TI with the GM200


----------



## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mafiotzi*
> 
> After some research I started looking at the 780TI...than the 980...and than I decided to just wait for the release of the 980TI with the GM200


Another good choice.


----------



## Kimir

Yeah wait for the full unlocked GM200, without crazy price point of the titanX and hopefully new AMD GPU to cut Nvidia price range.


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## revengeyo

Hello!

I just got myself a GTX 680 lightning, but it wont overclock!



My ln2 bios is: 80.04.28.00.3A

Even when i put the sliders (core voltage, aux, power limit, mem voltage) to the max, it will crash even with +50 on the core (boost 1245mhz), without touching the memory.

Can someone tell me whats going on?

Aldp can i use newer afterburner software? Or do i have to use 2.2.3?


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## revengeyo

Dayum, i can't even get 1333mhz (boost) stable whatever i do.
Tried rby tool, in ln2 bios tried raising the voltage up to 1.35v still crashes...
Also without mem overclock crashes
upped power limit to 200, aux voltage +50.
I guess i have a bad chip.


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## XanderTheGoober

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *revengeyo*
> 
> Dayum, i can't even get 1333mhz (boost) stable whatever i do.
> Tried rby tool, in ln2 bios tried raising the voltage up to 1.35v still crashes...
> Also without mem overclock crashes
> upped power limit to 200, aux voltage +50.
> I guess i have a bad chip.


I could not get either one of my 680 lightnings to touch 1300 on the core, so don't feel bad. if you got it used maybe they degraded the chip? it's a thought. cheers.


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## revengeyo

I feel so stupid.
I forgot to change AB setting from "standard MSI" to "extended MSI"








Now i can see voltage changes in monitor tools.

Before i tought because the readings were inaccurate when it didn't change.



Now it will overclock but it will take about 0.01V for each mhz.
So +100 core will take + 0.100V
Things get real hot real fast.

So iam now @ 1350mhz boost, @ 1.35V waiting for shhh to explode


----------



## NickLe

If you read back in the threads MSI was selling gtx 680's that were the "LE" version but the card was branded "Lightning" it was for all intent and purposes a Lightning card but you couldn't over clock it or anything. If you bought it second hand, the person may have sold you an LE... Keep it cool and enjoy it, now it's yours and now you know the real deal.


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## revengeyo

How can i tell the difference between a normal version and a LE version?
I got the original box and receit..


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## Kimir

You are at 1350Mhz now, so it does OC.
It doesn't matter if it's a LE or not, as long as you flash it with proper bios and get results, it's just about silicon lottery in the end.


----------



## NickLe

If you have the original box and receipt then it's the original. But if you have the product only and don't know the origins, then it's a crawl shoot and no way to tell, since the bios can be easily flashed.


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## NickLe

And then it could be that the card has been worn down to what you have... They may have been oc'ing to the max and you are just getting what's left of it.


----------



## NickLe

You can try taking the shroud odd, reapplying thermal paste.


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## revengeyo

I will try that, thank you


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## revengeyo

Replaced the tim, and my temps went down alot.
Before i get with 100% fan 75c (with +100v)
And now i get 65c with auto fan (47% fan)
The tim was very hard and old


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## NickLe

WOW!
That's amazing results.
Glad that worked out for you.


----------



## rrazer

hell yeah!


----------



## revengeyo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rrazer*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> hell yeah!


Nice motherboard!


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## rrazer

I like it too..







now I've replaced the Ballistix Tactical Tracers with 2 Dominator Platinums..


----------



## Nyck26

I've just bought one of these and I'm trying to overclock it. I can change the memory clock but the core clock doesn't go more than 1200 Mhz no matter what I set it to. Bios is set to LN2 (F8), Afterburner version: 301; also added the code to the profile file. Help?


----------



## SirRobinII

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nyck26*
> 
> I've just bought one of these and I'm trying to overclock it. I can change the memory clock but the core clock doesn't go more than 1200 Mhz no matter what I set it to. Bios is set to LN2 (F8), Afterburner version: 301; also added the code to the profile file. Help?


Never had problems with that, maybe try to use afterburner lightning version.


----------



## marc0053

Hi all, what is the best voltage tool to control the gtx 680 lightning past 1.4V?
I've tried Rbby tool but having some issues to get it to work, any alternatives?


----------



## saint19

Just to report...

A few weeks back my 680 Lightning dead...now it is in the trash with my 7970 Lightning that doesn't work too.


----------



## Kimir

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *marc0053*
> 
> Hi all, what is the best voltage tool to control the gtx 680 lightning past 1.4V?
> I've tried Rbby tool but having some issues to get it to work, any alternatives?


Back at the time I was OC'ing mine I used artmoney before rbby tool, as MSI didn't even reply to my mail requesting afterburner extreme.
If you have done some XOC, try requesting it, I know that gunslinger used it with his 980Ti lightning recently.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *saint19*
> 
> Just to report...
> 
> A few weeks back my 680 Lightning dead...now it is in the trash with my 7970 Lightning that doesn't work too.


Oh, sad to hear. Such great cards, mine are still in perfect shape. Well I hope, I didn't use the rig they are in in awhile, I teared down the loop since the white tubing I used seems to be crap, plus the black QDC did their wonderful job of build up messing it all more.


----------



## GTR Mclaren

Dear Lightning users

Im about to get a 680 Lightning, used, for $160

I can sell my old 560ti for $80 here....it will be a great jump...but

Anything I should know about the card?? It will run ok in my Corsair 650???


----------



## MrTOOSHORT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GTR Mclaren*
> 
> Dear Lightning users
> 
> Im about to get a 680 Lightning, used, for $160
> 
> I can sell my old 560ti for $80 here....it will be a great jump...but
> 
> Anything I should know about the card?? It will run ok in my Corsair 650???


You'll be fine with your TX650 and the 680 Lightning.


----------



## norsk2277

Okay soo i use Afterburner vers 4.1.1 and i overclocked it but for some reason the voltage won't go above 1.212 voltage? frown.gif I tried to flash the BIOS and the voltage jumped from 1.175 to 1.212 but whatever i try with RBBY tool the voltage won't go any higher than 1.212 :/ Anybody who can help me out? Do i need to Afterburner 2.2.6?


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

That's the max voltage you'll get without physical modification of the card.


----------



## norsk2277

Actualy i downloaded MSI Afterburner 2.2.3 and got 1.308 as max voltage







it increased a bit soo i think the Core speed is stable at 1300MHz









However the Core Voltage wont go above +93 in AB

EDIT 2: I unlocked the wrong BIOS version







But now everything works and i can boost the voltage past 1.3







thanks for help anyway.


----------



## GnarlyCharlie

Good deal, it's been a while since I ran the 680, must have been thinking of something else.


----------



## mahanddeem

Hello guys,
I'm trying to mod my MSI GTX680 Lightning vBIOS using Kepler Bios Tweaker 1.27

After extensive testing, I found out that my card capability in MSI Afterburner 4.2 is as follows:
+61mV on core
+50mV on vram
Max power limit
+140 on core
+500 on vram

These settings ingame would effectively be:
Around 70%-75% power limit
1346mhz core
7000mhz vram
1.256v in voltage

These are rock solid settings in games like BF4 and GTA V and I'm happy with the performance.

My original vbios is the unlocked LN2 VBIOS that has stock all power limits to 600watt on 100%. So i did not tweak power table when modding the bios, it's quite enough for what I'm doing.

Now I'm doing everything in KBT 1.27 and doing voltage table as much as 1.26v in the boost clocks(I increased all the clock table voltages sliders above 1110 mhz to around 1.25v) then I flashed the bios but ingame and at 1346mhz it only reaches 1.205v and then crash to desktop.

Any help on that? And why msi AB ups the voltage to desired levels but tweaking the bios voltage does not?
I'm using last WHQL 361.75 on Win 10 pro 64bit

Thanks


----------



## barti2

He needs mods under gtx680 lightning with memory hynix to keep the card stable with voltage above 1.25v and core over 1300mhz


----------

