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The N580GTX Lightning arrives in a stealth bomber style box indicative of MSI artwork for this specific range of cards. It is a gatefold design and it folds open to reveal some of the specifications.
Our bundle was rather spartan, but it seems to be a well circulated ‘review' sample so bits and pieces such as the driver CD have clearly gone missing over the last couple of months. According to the official documentation there are 3 Voltage measurement cables supplied, we received 2.
The card is a two slot design and is built around a black PCB and the card is heavy due to the metal construction of the cooler.
There are three measurement points on the PCB which allow the enthuasiast user to measure specific voltages to aid overclocking. The card requires two eight pin PCI E power connectors to operate properly.
The N580GTX is SLI capable in 2,3 and 4 way configurations.
The card is equipped with two DVI ports, a single full sized HDMI port and a single full sized Displayport. You can only use two displays with this card simultaneously. The HDMI connector supports audio – DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD, DTS and 7.1 channel audio with 192 khz, 24 bit.
The cooler is a substantial design with 5 thick heatpipes running from the center.
The card is a custom, proprietary design from MSI featuring a 16 phase PWM design which was the world's first 16 phase implementation when the card was released. The card is specified with MSI's full range of ‘military class' components with Super Ferrite chokes delivering 10% better power efficiency and 30% higher current capacity. There are Hi-c Capacitors onboard which offer 15x less leakage and are (according to MSI), used on Space Shuttles and satellites.
An overview of the hardware according to GPUz. highlighting the overclocked core and memory figures.
I saw this at OCUK a while ago, over £400 for a video card. ouch.
Looks great, but I need a new job. my 460 will have to last a while longer
Their cards are great, they normally take a lot longer to get to retail, same with ASUS. its down to their engineering teams who make the mobos. always can do more than the main players we associate such as powercolor, evga etc.
Id rather have one of these than the hideous 590./ what a dogs dinner that card was.
I bet tho if MSI made a 590 they wuold get the power regulation wright.
Wicked card, love it
two of these in SLI for folding @ home = perfection.
WEll it certainly shows that Nvidia should have got MSI to built their GTX590 instead of skimping on the power delivery system.
Asus and MSI rock, I do think its best actually waiting for a few months for these guys to release the cards, rather than jump onboard earlier with a poorer version.
the power on these cards is so important. its becoming more noticeable now.
Can kitguru find out if they are making a GTX590 with enhanced power components? id love an 18 phase 590. ive held off buying one due to the recall and problems. Thank god I didnt have the money at the time or id be the not so proud owner of a turkey now.
Excellent, now you need to review their new one !
WOuldnt mind one of these myself, I can only dream !