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MSI N580GTX Lightning Review

The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 25c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this.

Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by playing Crysis Warhead for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature. We also have included Furmark results, recording maximum temperatures throughout a 30 minute stress test. All fan settings were left on automatic.

Furmark is a purely synthetic test, but it does give an indication of potential cooler limitations. In this case the card maxes out at 63c with fan speeds around 2,500 rpm, translating to 60 percent.

Return to ambient is a feature we have recently added to our reviews … we measure the time it takes for a solution to return to idle temperatures, immediately after full load. The faster the time, the better the cooler – for example a Noctua NH D14 cooler will return an Intel processor to idle temperatures much faster than a reference cooler. This is a good indication of how quickly a heatsink can dissipate heat.

The dual fan Twin Frozr III cooler is really impressive, ensuring that the return to idle time frame is kept relatively short – 20 seconds in total.

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10 comments

  1. Andy Stevenson

    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

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Wicked card, love it

  5. two of these in SLI for folding @ home = perfection.

  6. Trevor McBride

    WEll it certainly shows that Nvidia should have got MSI to built their GTX590 instead of skimping on the power delivery system.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. Excellent, now you need to review their new one !

  10. WOuldnt mind one of these myself, I can only dream !