MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z
January, 2019Type
Graphics CardPrice
$1599.99 USMSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z Package
The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z graphics card comes within a large rectangular package. The front of both packages has a large “GeForce RTX” brand logo along with the “MSI” logo on the top left corner. The picture of the card itself is featured on the front with a black background that looks really neat.
The packaging has put a large emphasis on the RTX side of things as the first feature enlisted by AIBs will be Ray Tracing, followed by GDDR6, DirectX 12 and Ansel support. NVIDIA has bet the future of their gaming GPUs on Ray Tracing support as these are the first cards to offer support for the new feature.
The back of the box is very typical, highlighting the main features and specifications of the cards. The three key aspects of MSI’s top tier custom cards are its blazing performance which is achieved by a fully custom design, the new Tri-Frozr cooling system and a rugged edge fins heatsink which will offer better cooling performance compared to the traditional flat surfaced fin heatsinks.
There's also a focus towards GeForce.com on each AIB card through which users can download the latest drivers and GeForce Experience application which are a must for gamers to access all feature set of the new cards.
There's a second box within the main packaging that has a nice texture to it and a gold "Lightning" branding embedded in the middle.
Within this package is the card itself but I will first talk about the accessories that come within the package. The only accessory that is placed next to the card itself is the graphics card bracket while the rest of the goodies are hidden underneath the graphics card container.
The card is nicely wrapped within an anti-static cover which is useful to prevent any unwanted static discharges on various surfaces that might harm the graphics card. The card accessories include a Molex power connector which isn't of much use in high-end systems since the PSUs already have the required cables.
Useful manuals and installation guides are packed within an MSI labeled letter case. There is an MSI Quick Users Guide, a Support bracket installation guide, a sticker letter, the MSI DIY comic, and a single drivers disk. It’s best to ignore the driver disk and install the latest software and graphics drivers directly from the NVIDIA and MSI official web pages as the ones shipped in the disks could be older versions and not deliver optimal performance for your graphics cards.
The most interesting accessory that I found in the package was a graphics card support bracket. This bracket connects the graphics card to the casing, offering better durability and prevents any sort of bending that may occur due to the heavy weight of the Gaming X Trio series graphics cards.
One thing is for sure, as soon as you look at the card itself, you are greeted with a design that is unlike anything that has been done before. This is really a special graphics card and I am excited about knowing that I will be testing it out.
Contents
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MSI has really hit the notes right with their flagship GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z graphics card. A strong contender in the custom RTX 2080 Ti lineup and a card that features excellent cooling, excellent overclocking and an excellent design which even at its high price is totally worth it.
- One of the fastest GeForce RTX 2080 Ti models available right now
- Stellar gaming performance at the 4K resolution
- Great upgrade from GTX 1080 Ti and GTX 1080
- Factory Overclocked Out of Box (Up To 1770 MHz)
- Excellent 19 Phase Power Design With Up To 380W TDP Limit
- Stunning Tri-Frozr Design With Carbon Fiber Shroud and Backplate
- OLED Dashboard for real-time GPU/VRAM Statistics (Includes Splash Screen)
- Zero Frozr Fan Technology Included on TORX 3.0 Fans
- Great overclocking potential, full tuning options
- Memory modules on the Lightning Z can hit more than 750 GB/s bandwidth
- Backplate includes heat pads for increased heat dissipation
- MSI Mystic Light RGB support on the shroud and back look stunning
- Support for real-time ray tracing and DLSS features in next-generation gaming titles
- Good driver support for GeForce products, compatibility with DX11, DX12, Vulkan, OpenGL titles
- Lot's of display connectivity, great for VR and multi-display PCs.
Pros
- Ridiculously High Priced ($1599.99 US)
- Very high power consumption when overclocked
- Factory Overclock Not As Impressive As Other Custom RTX 2080 Ti cards
- No Zero Frozr enabled on default BIOS
- Very few DLSS and RTX titles available right now
Cons
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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