Very few units of this video card were produced, and NVIDIA did not authorize its launch; understand why

Very rare and with a curious history. This is how it is possible to classify the GTX 780 Ti Lightning and MSI. A model that did not reach the general public. Some say that 12 units were produced, others say that it was a little more, around 54 units. And the NVIDIA blocked its launch.

Just like the EVGA did with the Kingpin line, in 2013 MSI decided to bet on a powerful version for the GTX 780 TI, aimed at overclocking lovers.

The video card had two versions. The first was distributed to some overclockers in a pre-event at MSI Master Overclocking Arena 2014held in Taipei, Taiwan.

A revamped version, known as the GTX 780 Ti Lightning MOA Edition, was given away to a few lucky people at the MSI-endorsed overclocking event, which also featured the participation of legendary Brazilian overclocker Ronaldo Buassali, who at the time represented Corsair.

The MSI GTX 780 Ti Lightning’s GPU operated at a base clock of 993 MHz and a boost clock of 1058 MHz, while the memory clocked at 7,000 MHz. The power subsystem consisted of a 16+3+1 phase, along with DrMos4. In terms of VRAM, it was 3 GB of GDDR5 with a 384-bit interface and the bandwidth was 336.6 GB/s.

The design followed the same pattern as the GTX 780 Lightning, the model that was launched, and the cooling system used TriFrozr technology fans.

The French website The Hardware Counter got access to a unit of the card and put it to the test. The VGA reached a boost clock of 1314 MHz. The test was carried out in conjunction with a Core i7-4960X, 16 GB of DDR3-2500 MHz memory and an MSI Big Bang XPower II motherboard. Check out some images of the card published by the vehicle at the time below.

Why didn’t NVIDIA authorize the release?

NVIDIA has not authorized the release of MSI’s GTX 780 Ti Lightning because the card did not follow certain aspects set out in NVIDIA’s reference design, especially when it comes to the card’s voltage specification.

Although it was a project aimed at overclockers, NVIDIA wanted to protect itself from possible problems that could harm the reputation of the GTX 780 Ti, in case a wave of complaints about possible stability problems related to this MSI video card happened.

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Instead of re-adapting the project, making it possible to establish a model that could be commercialized, MSI canceled the launch and distributed the very few units produced to some overclockers, who extracted the maximum potential of the VGA using the modified BIOS and LN2 (liquid nitrogen).

Some units of this video card were even sold on eBay. The person responsible for the RandomGaminHD channel He ended up buying one in 2018 and paid a bargain, 110 euros (R$664, in direct conversion). A ridiculous price considering all the uniqueness of this model that is part of the history of curious facts in the world of hardware.