GTX 580

[Scarey]

Almost time to order my components. An air cooled GTX580 it is, now just which model......? I was looking at the MSI Twin Frozr, but is there a better card and why. Please include overclocked models and don't ask for a budget, that just comes down to is it worth the cash!

 

[hmmblah]

I'd go with the MSI Twin Frozr or the Lightning if you can find it. Those would be my top two choices.

 

[cbiltsouris]

msi lightning for sure mate

 

[S1EJ0]

I love mine!

 

[Lollipop]

Lightning = best 580 there is

 

[AxJaWz]

Yeah get the lightning.

 

[AMDFTW]

lightning

 

[MaddocksL]

Lightning is the flagship so usually a top card.

 

[Excalabur50]

Gotta go with the rest 580 lightning

 

[Scarey]

Thanks for the recommendations

Surprised I didn't see EVGA all through the list as usual. I'm wondering though if the Lightning is worth the extra, as Tom said, it really is an extreme overclockers card.

1536MB MSI GTX 580 Twin FrozR II/OC, 40nm, 4096MHz GDDR5, GPU 800MHz, Shader 1544MHz, 512 Cores is £371.50

3GB MSI GTX 580 Lightning Xtreme Edition, 40nm, 4200MHz GDDR5, GPU 832MHz, Shader 1664MHz, 512 Cores £471.65

Gigabyte Geforce GTX 590 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Gaming Mouse £587.99

Now is the Lightning worth the extra £100 over the Twin Frozr, especially as it's only £116 less than the GTX590....?

 

[Excalabur50]

Dont forget this lightning MSI GeForce GTX 580 Lightning 772Mhz with twin frozer III

 

[AMDFTW]

isent there a normal lightning?

if there is get that

 

[Scarey]

Yeppers, just seen it at £429

Thanks

 

[Ya93sin]

lol, yeah its probably the Lightning, but the Twin Frozr II/OC is just as good tbh. And you save £20 and every penny counts

The only real difference between the Lightning/Twin Frozr III and the Twin Frozr II is the non reference PCB on the former (I think, there might be slight cooler tweaks).

Anyway, from what I've seen, the Twin Frozr II and the Twin Frozr II/OC actually run quieter than the Lightning at stock because the Lightning has higher "stock" clocks.

Actually I can't find the non-OC'd Twin Frozr II many places, maybe its been withdrawn.

Twin Frozr II/OC- 800MHz

Lightning- 832MHz

Those are "stock" core clocks out of the box for each card, but the chips easily go to 900MHz, I think nearly all of them will do 900MHz, just the Twin Frozr II will need a little extra voltage than the Lightning to get that. But then you could have a good 580 chip which itself overclocks well, so there isn't much difference at all.

OH edit- the Lightning XE (Xtreme Edition) is probably the best, but bearing in mind what I said, its all a bit superficial. It looks stunning though

LINK

Smart Temp Sensor Technology dynamically changes the color of the fan blades from blue to white to signal high operating temperature conditions.

 

[Natashaful]

Lightning, The Matrix from Asus is like a bleedin wind tunnel noisey.

 

[S1EJ0]

Lightning is still pretty noisey when fans get to >80% which only happens when you OC. But if your buying a Lighting you are going to be OC'ing

 

[Ya93sin]

It might just be worth getting the Twin Frozr II/OC over the Lightning anyway.

 

[yassarikhan786]

The Gigabyte GTX 580 Super Overclocked is an awesome card. Mine barely goes over 60 C when gaming for a couple of hours and that's with the fans only running at about 64%. It is silent at 64% and overall I'm very impressed with it.

EDIT: It has a blue PCB, which I know a lot of people don't like, but it does match my motherboard's PCB, so it's all good.

 

[Scarey]

I bought the Lightning in the end. It's nestling next to me by the rest of the gear, ready for assemly fun

 

[Natashaful]

I bought the Lightning in the end. It's nestling next to me by the rest of the gear, ready for assemly fun

Dirty boy!