MSI GTX 780 Lightning 3 GB Review 48

MSI GTX 780 Lightning 3 GB Review

A Closer Look »

The Card

Graphics Card Front
Graphics Card Back

MSI's new cooler gives the card a more boxy look than previous Lightnings. The GPU reactor on the back is now black instead of blue. Dimensions of the card are 13 x 27 cm.

Graphics Card Height

Installation requires three slots in your system since the cooler extends about 0.25 slots above the slot cover. The GPU reactor on the back also increases the card's thickness, which shouldn't be an issue since you will need an extra slot between cards to accommodate the thicker cooler.

Monitor Outputs, Display Connectors

Display connectivity options include two DVI ports, one HDMI port, and one DisplayPort. You may use all outputs at the same time, so triple-monitor surround gaming is possible with one card.

The GPU also includes an HDMI sound device. It is HDMI 1.4a compatible, which includes HD audio and Blu-ray 3D movies support.


Two available SLI connectors allow you to combine up to three GTX 780 cards in a Triple-SLI, multi-GPU configuration. NVIDIA decided to disable Quad-SLI on the GTX 780, so that feature is reserved for the GTX Titan only.

Graphics Card Teardown PCB Front
Graphics Card Teardown PCB Back

Pictured above are the front and back, showing the disassembled board. High-res versions are also available (front, back). If you choose to use these images for voltmods, etc., please include a link back to this site or let us post your article.
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May 4th, 2024 02:18 EDT change timezone

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