MSI GTX 770 Lightning 2gb Vs. Gigabyte GTX 770 4gb

forscience97 · Jun 18, 2013

Im looking to upgrade to a 770 for my new build. I have everything else picked out, and the graphics card is my final step. That being said, I am looking to overclock, so i'll obviously need adequate cooling fom these two cards. So, which is better: Twin Frozr IV or Windforce 3x? Also, does the 4gb of VRAM on the gigabyte 770 make it a better deal than the Lightning? Essentially, for the same price, which card would I get the best performance/time out of?

vmem · Jun 18, 2013

the twin frozer IV is slightly better IMO

also you don't need 4GB of VRAM. but you also don't need the lightning, it doesn't give you that much extra overclocking headroom and no one actually runs their build at max OC for daily use. just get the gaming edition from MSI. I think it's the best deal out there for a 770 (unless you just get the reference board)

jerreece · Jun 18, 2013

Here is how I "personally" rank them:

EVGA GTX 770 ACX

Asus GTX 770 DirectCU2

MSI GTX 770 Twin Frozr

The amount of VRAM only improves things if you're playing at resolutions higher than 1920x1080 as of right now. Future games might change things. But for now 2GB is sufficient for 1920x1080 or lower.

EDIT: Also, the EVGA ACX models are 10" in length. The MSI Twin Frozr is 10.24" long (says NewEgg.com). The Gigabyte Windforce model is 11" in length. So keep these dimensions in mind depending on how roomy your case is.

Also, some of the MSI models (Lightning, Gaming Edition) require two 8pin PCI Connectors. Supposedly more headroom for overclocking. But important to note.

forscience97 · Jun 18, 2013

jerreece :

I'll take your advice, but I was under the impression that VRAM effects AA levels also? Is that correct?

Strunf · Jun 19, 2013

Wait till the GTX 770 4GB is actually out, 4GB may become important in the following years if game producers push HD textures, I'm playing Skyrim and with the Textures packs and other HD Mods I already completely saturate my 1.28GB Vram of my current card, sure 2Gb is a bit more but I'm not even installing all the Mods I want, for me my next GC needs at least 3GB of RAM.

forscience97 · Jun 19, 2013

Strunf :

That's what I was worried about. It is also the reason why im probably going to go Gigabyte's 4gb over MSI's Lightning (since they're the same price). But, will there be any cooling differences between the two?

sam_p_lay · Jun 19, 2013

Why get half the memory if they're the same price? That's absolutely insane. If you were paying 20% more for the extra memory then fair enough, but to turn down effectively free memory would be idiocy.

vmem · Jun 19, 2013

sam_p_lay :

but why are they the same price I wonder... OP, which vendor are you buying from and which country are you in?

forscience97 · Jun 19, 2013

And it has virtuially the same idle/boost core clock as MSI's lightning edition, which makes paying for less just seem plain stupid. The only thing that's holding me back is Gigibyte's Windforce design.

forscience97 · Jun 19, 2013

Also, I'm buying from Newegg, and I am in the U.S.A.

sam_p_lay · Jun 19, 2013

Windforce coolers are very good. Don't worry about that - Gigabyte are a quality manufacturer.

vmem · Jun 19, 2013

ahh, you're talking about the lightning. it's not worth it, it hardly has any extra overclockability over the regular gtx 770. I would either get this from MSI:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=gtx+770&N=-1&isNodeId=1

or the ACX version from EVGA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130919

forscience97 · Jun 19, 2013

Yeah, but I don't have any problem paying the extra $50 for another 2gb of VRAM. This is because I would like to advance from 1 monitor in the future, as well as I like to have my AA levels maxed. So, unless anyone can convince me otherwise, I think I'm going with Gigabyte's 4gb edition.

sam_p_lay · Jun 19, 2013

Sounds like a good choice to me. Where did the $50 come from though? I thought they're same price?

vmem · Jun 19, 2013

forscience97 :

sure... it's your money... all we're trying to tell you is that the extra 2gb of VRAM really doesn't buy you anything extra...

kyleamos12 · Jun 19, 2013

vmem :

Go with the Gigabyte. That MSI Lighting is worthless unless you are going to put a water block and a custom Liquid cooled system, then you might be able to churn out 50-100Mhz more of an over clock then air cooled.

pyr0_m4n · Jun 19, 2013

kyleamos12 :

vmem :

Go with the Gigabyte. That MSI Lighting is worthless unless you are going to put a water block and a custom Liquid cooled system, then you might be able to churn out 50-100Mhz more of an over clock then air cooled.

So I guess you live in the desert? I have the msi 770 and im overclocked 125 mhz with air cooling. i dont even break 70c when im playing far cry 3 on ultra. you don't need a water block.

forscience97 · Jun 20, 2013

pyr0_m4n :

kyleamos12 :

So I guess you live in the desert? I have the msi 770 and im overclocked 125 mhz with air cooling. i dont even break 70c when im playing far cry 3 on ultra. you don't need a water block.

Does this mean that MSI's cooling is significantly better than Gigabytes? Because I still have yet to decide, which one has a better performance to price ratio (theoretically speaking)?

pyr0_m4n · Jun 20, 2013

forscience97 :

pyr0_m4n :

Does this mean that MSI's cooling is significantly better than Gigabytes? Because I still have yet to decide, which one has a better performance to price ratio (theoretically speaking)?

I love my msi. put that aside however, msi and gigabyte really dont have much difference cooling wise. jsut remember that msi can match gigabytes cooling level using one less fan.

forscience97 · Jun 20, 2013

pyr0_m4n :

forscience97 :

I love my msi. put that aside however, msi and gigabyte really dont have much difference cooling wise. jsut remember that msi can match gigabytes cooling level using one less fan.

From what I've read, in most cases the Twin Frozr IV's cool more efficiently at a 6-8 degree Celsius differential. While I love MSI (And I believe that the lightning is a better quality GPU than the Gigabyte), it seems that 4gb of VRAM may be worth it for the same price. Also, would I even be able to tell the difference between 4x MSAA and 8x MSAA? Because that's what I intend the extra VRAM to go towards.

sam_p_lay · Jun 20, 2013

Nah both modes look the same. The strongest argument for 4GB is for next year's games and the year after etc. Plus the fact they're the same price

4GB models usually cost a LOT more (at the high end anyway).

Strunf · Jun 21, 2013

BigMack70 :

Cause it doesn't matter if you don't use over 2GB of VRAM, even with 3 screens you may not go over it... unless of course you install HD Textures Mods and/or increase the AA settings.

http://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php/artikel/hardware/grafikkarten/22235-test-palit-geforce-gtx-680-4-gb-jetstream.html?start=16

Also the next Gen consoles will push higher quality Textures, the PS4 will get 7GB of Ram just for the Games (1GB for the OS), if 4GB is spent on purely non Graphical data it will still leave 3GB of "VRAM". The fact is that there's no way around it if your game uses more than 2GB of Ram he will trash your GC regardless of how powerful it is.

Skyrim is one of the very few games if not the only that allows such a high level of Modding that you can go over 2GB of VRAM... I play Skyrim so yeah paying 10-20% more for the extra 2GB is a non issue.

vmem · Jun 21, 2013

BigMack70 :

+1

also, take a step back and consider this. the 770 is an awesome card for it's performance/dollar at the top-end right now, but it is not THE top-end card. you're spending an extra 10-20% for extra memory in preparation of games coming next year that will 'possible' make use of the 4gb of vram? you realize that chances are, the 770 itself will fail to keep up before you run into a vram limitation right?

sam_p_lay · Jun 22, 2013

Did you even look at Strunf's link above? 40fps on the 4GB vs 3fps on the 2GB. 40fps doesn't sound to me like it's run out of power. Also is it only speculation if it's based on over 15 years of PC gaming history? We know 1GB used to be more than ample. We know that before that, 512MB was ample. And 256MB, 128MB etc. Why are people assuming that graphical advance will suddenly slam on the brakes at the 2GB point and stop progressing?

And again, OP is saying it's the same price. Seems some people would buy a 2GB model at the same price as a 4GB because they've been indoctrinated to believe 4GB is 'incorrect' (ad populum at work). Anyway, OP appears to have made their decision.

sam_p_lay · Jun 22, 2013

BigMack70 :

Sorry but you're not that funny. I was almost gonna point out that the only way to achieve this in current games is with supersampling but I thought it would be stating the obvious. The value of the article is that it demonstrates that when pushed hard enough, the 2GB card drops to 3fps while the 4GB does 40fps. If that's not down to the memory difference, want to explain the framerate difference?

MSI GTX 770 Lightning 2gb Vs. Gigabyte GTX 770 4gb

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