MSI R9 290X LIGHTNING

V1.0 Dennis Achterberg

LIGHTNING history

GTX 260 LightningGTX 260 Lightning BE

GTX 275 Lightning

HD 5870 LightningHD 7970 LightningHD 7970 BE LightningGTX 680 LightningHD 6970 Lightning

GTX 580 LightningGTX 580 Lightning XE

GTX 480 Lightning

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

GTX 780 LIGHTNING

GTX 770 Lightning

Setting the record straight

The GTX 780 LIGHTNING is very, very fast

Broke(and holds) numerous world-records:• AquaMark• 3DMark 03• 3DMark 05• Unigine Heaven Extreme• Catzilla 576p• Catzilla 720p• Catzilla 1080p• 14 out of top-15 in 3DMark Fire Strike

Reflecting on 2013

That’s a lot…

Powered by MSI

• Improve the thermals, for Gamers & Power Users (high-end air cooling)

• More power! (Always )• Faster memory (Why not?)• Better layout in small

cases/motherboards• Keep going with the “extreme stuff”

What feedback did we get?

Tuning the designGTX 780 LIGHTNING

R9 290X LIGHTNING

TriFrozr revisited

Reduced the number of heat pipes

Increased spacing for better airflow

Removed airflow obstacles

Increased heat sink size

The demand for power

Increased rated input power from 375W to 450W (GTX 480 LIGHTNING level!)

NO Greenlight program! (yay!)

How to solve GDDR5 shortage?

Factory Fires also don’t help with availability (SK Hynix)

A Lot of GDDR5 Memory disappears in PlayStation 4 consoles (8GB per piece)

• Elpida (not perfect for OC)• SK Hynix (Good!)• Samsung (Supposedly the best!)

Not much choice

Smarter Memory

Selected GDDR5 memory that is over-spec from AMD’s Product Advisory

R9 290X LIGHTNING SAMSUNG GDDR 5 Memory configuration optimized by AMD engineers in Toronto

A better fit AMD’s PPC (Power Architecture) works radically different

Impact on the benefits of GPU Reactor

Replaced GPU Reactor with an on-board bi-planar, 24 component High Current capacitor setup

MORE SPACE

!

20.000 Volt Electro Static Discharge!Burns traces Partially (left) or Fully (right)Can happen when hot-plugging a DVI cable

What is this?

ESD Protection

DVI ports on the R9 290X LIGHTNING have ESD Protection (Transient Voltage Suppressor)

Fan Quality

Custom Fan Design?Unlike MSI, some brands use off-the shelf fans that aren’t part of the thermal design, just a low-cost solution in their “high-end” products..

• Propeller Blade Technology• Proprietary/Patented • 2 ball bearing solution • Enhanced lifetime under load• Dust free• Stronger than most fans

MSI OC Series fans

Propeller Blade Technology

20% more airflowLarge area dispersion = More cool air for the heat sink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lMtwuX60JU

Independent Fan ControlGPU

TemperaturePWM

TemperaturePower

TemperatureFan Controller #1 Fan Controller #1Fan Controller #2

Lower temperatures through the direct response of Independent Fan Control

500W Thermal DissipationNickel Plated Copper Base 8mm SuperPipe

2 SuperPipes for maximum heat dissipation

Large surface for efficient heat absorption

Heat Pipes

4 Heat pipes for efficient heat transfer

Form-in-one heat sink

Front heat sink dissipates heat from Memory and VRM modules.

Rear heat sink dissipates heat generated by PWM and protects the PCB.

Maximum Tension and Rigidness

No compromises. 14 screws ensure the heat sink is in optimal contact with GPU, components and card for continued perfect performance of the TriFrozr Thermal Design.

14 Heat sink mounting points

Liquid/Extreme MOSFET heat sink

MOSFET heat sink

• Easy to install• VRM only• Necessary for GPU Only liquid cooling• Essential for extreme cooling

TriFrozr breakdown

Front Heat SinkRuggedness and PWM&

Memory heat sink

2 PWM Fan controllers

Independent fan control

Heat sink 2 SuperPipe, 4 heat pipes and

a dense Aluminium fin grid maximize thermal dissipation

Propeller Blade Technology

2x 90mm fan 1x 80mm fan

Back Heat SinkProtection, ruggedness

and dissipation

Built to be perfect

OC Certified

OC Certified

• Guaranteed stable overclocking• For 24 hours burn-in test• Designed with a better power design• Much improved PWM design

Enhanced Power Design

• 375 Watt Default input power• 450 Watt OC MODE input power

Variable input power

Military Class 4

Hi-C CAPs

New SFC

Copper MOS

Dark Solid Cap

Triple PWM controller

GPU PWM Controller

Memory PWM Controller

PLL/PCIe PWM Controller

Enhanced Power DesignPCI Express power 2x 8Pin Memor

yPLL

Reference Design MSI LIGHTNINGMemory Power Shared with PLL from PCI

Express BusSeparate power pins for GPU and Memory, PLL uses power from slot

PWM Controllers 1 for the whole card GPU, Memory and PLL/PCIe all have an independent controller

System Influence Memory OC will increase power noise on motherboard and vice versa

Motherboard not affected by GPU & Memory OC.

PCI Express power from Motherboard

PCIe

GPU

Have you got the power?

• RED LED: Not enough power• Blue LED: Normal operation• Yellow LED: OC mode

Active Phase Switching

APSActively switches phases to increase

power Efficiency

Triple Load Level Indicator<150WIDLE / 2D

>210WGAMING/OC

>150W <210WLight GAMING

Better stability

Stable currentThrough the optimized design, voltages fluctuate less

under load leading to higher stability.

Reference Voltage ripple =210mV MSI LIGHTNING Voltage ripple = 176mV

Leads to higher performance

R9 290X ReferenceClock Speed: 1100 MHZGPU Voltage: 1.35 VoltRipple: 260 mVolt10% Overclock19% Voltage Delta

MSI R9 290X LIGHTNINGClock Speed: 1400 MHzGPU Voltage: 1.4 VoltRipple 232 mVolt40% Overclock27% higher than reference10% less ripple

The power of not doing anything

LN2 ModeOriginal Mode

• NO OCP• NO Temperature

Limit

• 20% Power Limit

Don’t solder, don’t screw, don’t tape, don’t mod, don’t adjust, don’t correct, don’t revise, don’t rework…

Just flip the switch and shift gears.

Must-have features for extreme overclockers

3x3 OC Kits

Triple Voltage Monitor

V-Check Points(For GPU/Memory/PLL)

Triple Over-Voltage Control

Triple Overvoltage(For GPU/Memory/PLL)

Triple Temp Monitor(For GPU/Memory/VRM)

Triple Temperature

Monitor

Memory Voltage

GPU Voltage

PLL Voltage

Triple Overvoltage

• Adjust voltages of GPU/Memory/PLL through MSI Afterburner.

• No hardware modification required• Increased overclocking potential

Triple Overvoltag

e

Triple Temp Monitor

GPU Temperature

Memory Temperature

VRM Temperature

• Monitor temperature of GPU/Memory/VRM through Afterburner

• Separate thermometer or probes are unnecessary

Triple Temp

Monitor

V-Check points

Auxi

liary

Mem

ory

GPU

Measure your voltages safely and accurately, straight from

the PCB.

AMD Hawaii XT GPUUnique PCBUnique Memory10+3+2 Phases

The difference…AMD Hawaii XT GPUReference PCBReference Memory5+2+1 Phases

• The FASTEST AMD R9 290X• Custom PCB, Custom Memory• Tons of MOA 2013 feedback integrated

Back in RED

Records… Go break them!