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MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z Review

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Conclusion

This card is really fast, but also sufficiently silent. And if you want to try your hand at overclocking, the big cooler and binned GPU really stack the deck in your favor.

There are just two moments of shock you'll have to endure on your journey with MSI's GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z. First is when you open your wallet to pay for this thing. It's sold out pretty much everywhere, leaving Amazon-based sellers asking (at the time of publishing) $2000. That's insanity. Then, there's the first time those three fans spring into action. MSI should address this issue with a firmware update; the starting pulse is way higher than it needs to be otherwise.

Otherwise, everything about this card is great. We found no other flaws with it.

If we're throwing out suggestions, though, it would have been nice for MSI to include a support bracket with its accessory bundle. The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z is massive, and we can't imagine anyone wanting to transport or ship a gaming PC with it installed for fear of damaging their motherboard. The optional three-slot bracket might help a bit, but even then there's just too much weight on the PCIe slot.

Bottom line: there's very little to criticize. And that's rare feedback from the discerning Tom's Hardware team.

[Update 9:00am P.T., Oct 23, 2017: Due to lack of reasonable availability, we've updated the following final verdict and removed the award we originally gave this product.]


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22 Comments Comment from the forums
  • samer.forums 22 October 2017 13:15
    20% more performance for 100% more price ?

    no ty .. I can GET 2x SLI GTX 1080 ti for the same price.
    Reply
  • mahanddeem 22 October 2017 14:23
    Nice 1080ti, I had an msi 680 Lightning and it was the greatest gpu I ever had, and I had like 20 gpus thought the years.
    Reply
  • TMTOWTSAC 22 October 2017 14:45
    After allowing for driver improvements since the review, the final result looks an awful lot like a Titan XP with maybe an extremely mild OC. Or a stock Titan XP in an 18C room rather than a 20C room. For $200 more.
    Reply
  • Gam3r01 22 October 2017 17:23
    20297187 said:
    20% more performance for 100% more price ?

    no ty .. I can GET 2x SLI GTX 1080 ti for the same price.

    Well, thats not really the point is it?
    Nobody buys a Lightning card because its affordable, you buy it because its a Lightning card.
    Reply
  • Sam Hain 22 October 2017 18:12
    $2K for??? There are several "high-end" Ti's in the $700 range (on air) that run better specs than this overpriced card and run same or better benches.

    What is the purpose of this card, LOL.
    Reply
  • redgarl 22 October 2017 19:36
    Remember about the line, no bad products, just bad price... well this is the case. The price is just ridiculous.

    I cannot believe you gave an Award to this. So basically any overpriced piece of hardware deserve an award by the same logic.

    Also, you never talk about reliability or engineering flaws. For example, you gave that piece of garbage an award...

    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080-graphics-cards,4725-4.html

    Just take a look at this from a fellow user and me... you guys cannot even point out these simple issues and give feedback about the manufacturers design quality.

    http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3547768/evga-ftw-1080-caught-fire.html
    Reply
  • jasonelmore 22 October 2017 22:24
    This card does not even match the Asus ROG Poseidon's base clocks nor boost clock.. So basically your paying $2K for the cooler
    Reply
  • Lasselundberg 23 October 2017 01:26
    why are the charts only stock nvidia stuff and none of the competitions overclocked cards.....why is there a stupid video on all pages i hate it....why is there a stupid email popup every time i visit this site. tomshardware i bid you goodbye i have been with you since the beginning, but all the spam video's and popups...and worst of all comparisons thats useless....bye
    Reply
  • derekullo 23 October 2017 04:17
    For the most part you can always ignore the seemingly helpful prices that Tom's shows in the big green stickers.

    The price of the card is not $2000.

    Bit-tech did a review of the card and mentioned they bought it for $870.

    https://www.bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/graphics/msi-geforce-gtx-1080-ti-lightning-z-review/1/

    When sites sell out of the cards they remove the price from the page making the overpriced $2000 cards the only ones left to actually advertise, hence the price grabber code pulling $2000 and saying that is the price.


    If you dig deep enough you can find the actual vendor Tom's is talking about, Ecotest with 33 whole reviews over the past year, that sells it for $2000 hoping some one will inadvertently hit purchase.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B074DKRWG3/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new
    Reply
  • Artakra 23 October 2017 04:33
    I simply cannot imagine something of this weight and width is a good thing to be hanging off your PCI bridge...

    Ill pass thanks. And take just about any other similarly spec'ed 1080ti.
    Reply