MSI GTX 275 Lightning Shatters World Records on LN2

Overclocking/OC-Team.be by massman @ 2009-12-21

Once in a while, a high-end video card lands on my test table; in most cases just to overclock on air cooling without even the most simple voltage modifications. This time however we put the card under LN2 and found out this is a golden sample within the Lightning series. Is it the fastest running NVIDIA GPU ever?

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Voltage Modifications

Voltage modifications

As for the Vgpu I didn't even bother looking up the hardware-based modification as there's a simple tool available to increase the voltage through the VID-mode of the voltage regulator. No, it's not the MSI Afterburner software which, in the end, limited me both in terms of voltage options and frequency options. Instead of the Afterburner software, I decided to use the same application we've used when testing the Asus GTX285 Matrix. Let's go back a few months:

As for the application of this I2C feature. I'm not really a very good software programmer, but I was lucky enough that Snot_Aap, a Dutch overclocker, had already programmed this application for the MSI Lightning GTX 260, which was used at MSI's MOA EU 2009 final in Munich, which has been covered by Madshrimps not so long ago. All I had to do was check and partially re-write the code to make it work for the Asus Matrix GTX285!

Madshrimps (c)


Link (right-click and save): MadMatrix.rar

How to use:

  • Place the 'Madmatrix.bat' file in your rivatuner folder.
  • Double-click the 'Madmatrix.bat' and enter the HEX value matching the prefered voltage(*)
  • Make sure you typed the right HEX value and enter 'Y' or 'yes' and press enter.
  • Check the commands that will be run and press enter.
  • Check the voltage with a multimeter on the card or with the Asus software utility(*²)

    (*): The voltages stated in the utility are not the only ones you can use. As said before, there are 256 combinations, so you will have a look in the datasheet (P.15) if you want to apply a different voltage. Note that the voltage has to be indicated by its HEX value, so you will need a BIN to HEX converter to translate VID table. Also note that this is a workaround for the OVP problem: by using the software utility, you will not trigger the OVP. OCP, Over Current Protection, still is an issue though.

    (*²): This software has compatibility problems with the Asus software as both re-write the VID settings. Please, do NOT use the Asus utility to change ANYTHING (frequency, voltage or fan speed) if you're using the Madshrimps utility. If you use our utility first and then apply anything in the Asus utility, your voltage selection will have been reset!


The only modification left was the Vmem modification which is also quite important as you will find out later on in this article. For creating the picture, we've used the extremely large picture hosted on TechpowerUP.com

Madshrimps (c)

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Comment from piotke @ 2009/12/21
Very nice results.
Comment from jmke @ 2009/12/21
nice is an understatement. This picture sums up the awesomeness the best:



stock 650Mhz
Comment from Massman @ 2009/12/21
Cool. So it is 100% oc?
Comment from jmke @ 2009/12/21
depends on how you look at it; NVIDIA "reference" dictates 650Mhz GPU; MSI version comes with pre-OC at 700Mhz. So "stock" it's not quite 100% OC, but compared to reference, it surpasses 100% OC; which is quite rare for VGA cards. Mostly only a few low end cards achieve this (7300 GT, 2400 XT etc), almost never higher end. (edit: had to add almost)
Comment from Massman @ 2009/12/21
If I can run 1400/1435 again in combination with a 5.1GHz cpu ... 21k should be possible!
Comment from leeghoofd @ 2009/12/21
time to order that UD7 mobo for a review
Comment from geoffrey @ 2009/12/21
Out of the box overclocking aint THAT great though considering it comes with voltage mods and an aftermarket cooler.
Comment from Massman @ 2009/12/21
MSI actually also confirms this: on air cooling it's not an insane card, but it has been built for extreme overclocking.
Comment from geoffrey @ 2009/12/21
Hence it is more an collectors item then anything else
Comment from Massman @ 2009/12/21
It's not really a collectors item as it's actually wide-spread being sold in retail stores. The Asus MARS was a collectors item ... the Lightning series is for the enthousiasts
Comment from jmke @ 2009/12/21
what G means is that's OC potential is not worth it, if it only does it for very short time on extreme cooling
Comment from Massman @ 2009/12/21
OC potential is hardly ever worth it
Comment from jmke @ 2009/12/22
Au contraire, plenty of products from the past were OC worthy on air, surpassing more expensive editions
Comment from Massman @ 2009/12/22
... on high-end products.

I've yet to see any factory-overclocked high-end card that gives any real advantage. In low-end segment, of course there's an advantage in overclocking ... probably because low-end is just crippled high-end.
Comment from jmke @ 2009/12/22
we're basically saying the same thing
Comment from Massman @ 2009/12/22
Yes, I am agreeing
Comment from jmke @ 2009/12/22
we should print this thread out and put it in a frame, this kind of thing doesn't occur very often

 

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