MSI GTX680 Lightning Overclocking

Question

Hi,

I recently bought an MSI N680GTX Lightning and now I am trying to overclock it. I found some examples of it here;

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/30/msi_geforce_gtx_680_lightning_overclocking_redux/1

They are able to get this speeds:

But i am not able to add even just +50Mhz core speed or set it's power limit to %300 even in LN2 mode it stuck at %133. If I add +50 core speed and open MSI Kombustor 2.4 in 2 seconds it closes it self down and Nvidia Control Center says: The NVIDIA OpenGL driver lost connection with the display driver due to exceeding the Windows Time-Out limit and is unable to continue. and gives me this link: http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3007

I am using Nvidia 306.23 Drivers, BIOS A11, P17+P19 power cables and another GTX285 for PhysX effects. Could someone help?
Alienware Area-51 ALX
MSI Afterburner 2.24

AW51 · Accepted Answer

OK.

I returned card to the store (where i bought). They tested the card and also expected that the card is faulty and then changed it with a new one. Now this one works great. I tested it with MSI Kombustor 2.4 run a GPU Burn-in Stress test for 19 hours no problem :). Also tried it with Unige Heaven DX11 Benchmark 3.0 Basic Edition. Stress test is for premium but i left it open for about 10 hours again no crash no problem :).

I am also able to OC it a bit more(at least it doesn't crash +50MHz Core Speed. About power limit and voltages as i read from here(http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_gtx_680_lightning_voltage_tweaking,1.html);

"And then the really bad news ...

While I was writing this article I learned that NVIDIA just issued new BIOS files to the AIC partners and is frowning upon voltage tweaking outside their limitations. As such all new batches Lightning cards will have BIOSes where their limit of 1.175V is enforced, even in the LN2 BIOS. MSI has to follow that directive or probably face the fact that they will not be able to purchase the GPUs anymore.

This as well includes setting restrictions in the new AfterBurner 2.2.3 (download here)

So while everything as described above is possible it in the end means that only the first batch of 5000 cards will have an OLD Bios that is freed up from the limitation and thus allows voltage tweaking to a certain extent. We can only assume that the old BIOS will spread like a virus to current Lightning owners to give them a little more flexibility on voltage tweaking matters. However you'd also need a special MSI AfterBurner build to support it. And that we do not see happening, due to the limitations requested by NVIDIA.

We understand NVIDIA's point of view on this, really .. extreme voltage tweaking can damage GPUs, and in the end these are returned to NVIDIA. Next to that the complexity of this new methodology is extensive and to a certain extent even unreliable. For NVIDIA it thus is matter of RMA and cost.

The flipside of the coin however is that when imposing such limitation on the high-end GPUs it pretty much kills off the fun for many of you. Extreme performance and tweaks drive the overclocking community and in the end drive the sales of the complete product line.

We do hope this point of view will change in the future allowing the AIC partners more flexibility. But for now you guys will have to face the fact that NVIDIA's 1.175V limitation is a solid fact. But sure, this news is a little bitter."

It's not possible to set the power limit to %300 or add some extra voltages anymore but np the card just runs great at 1215Mhz Core Speed with GPU Boost(Factory Default).

What I heard was other makers complained because people stopped buying their cards. There are only 3 cards out there that could do this and everyone was buying them... well duh. Then there is the fact that failed cards go back to Nvidia.

With 2.2.3 and the old LN2 bios you can add extra volts. Afterburner 2.2.2 didn't have the voltage slider, well it did but it was blank. 2.2.3 does. Just make sure you use 2.2.3 and not the newer one 2.2.4. If you can't get the volts up with the original LN2 bios then download an unlocked bios.

Your 1215mhz OC is what my reference cards run at so you should be able to go over that or there is no point in owning that card. Take it back, get your money and buy a reference card and pocket the saved cash. Will your cards boost over the 1215mhz? I see 1280mhz or so and every now and then a couple of them will break 1300mhz when boosting on rare occasions. I don't think you are getting any extra volts with you cards. Something isn't right.

You may also want to try the new version of EVGA Precision Tune if you have no luck with 2.2.3 and the LN2. They added what they call K boost. It will not go over the 1.175v but it wil hold the volts there so the card will always run at max volt/clock. Using it gives me about 20mhz more.

Alienware-L_Por · Answer

thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. It is so unfortunate that the above cannot be done on the newest ones :(

morblore · Answer

OK.

I returned card to the store (where i bought). They tested the card and also expected that the card is faulty and then changed it with a new one. Now this one works great. I tested it with MSI Kombustor 2.4 run a GPU Burn-in Stress test for 19 hours no problem :). Also tried it with Unige Heaven DX11 Benchmark 3.0 Basic Edition. Stress test is for premium but i left it open for about 10 hours again no crash no problem :).

I am also able to OC it a bit more(at least it doesn't crash +50MHz Core Speed. About power limit and voltages as i read from here(http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_gtx_680_lightning_voltage_tweaking,1.html);

"And then the really bad news ...

While I was writing this article I learned that NVIDIA just issued new BIOS files to the AIC partners and is frowning upon voltage tweaking outside their limitations. As such all new batches Lightning cards will have BIOSes where their limit of 1.175V is enforced, even in the LN2 BIOS. MSI has to follow that directive or probably face the fact that they will not be able to purchase the GPUs anymore.

This as well includes setting restrictions in the new AfterBurner 2.2.3 (download here)

So while everything as described above is possible it in the end means that only the first batch of 5000 cards will have an OLD Bios that is freed up from the limitation and thus allows voltage tweaking to a certain extent. We can only assume that the old BIOS will spread like a virus to current Lightning owners to give them a little more flexibility on voltage tweaking matters. However you'd also need a special MSI AfterBurner build to support it. And that we do not see happening, due to the limitations requested by NVIDIA.

We understand NVIDIA's point of view on this, really .. extreme voltage tweaking can damage GPUs, and in the end these are returned to NVIDIA. Next to that the complexity of this new methodology is extensive and to a certain extent even unreliable. For NVIDIA it thus is matter of RMA and cost.

The flipside of the coin however is that when imposing such limitation on the high-end GPUs it pretty much kills off the fun for many of you. Extreme performance and tweaks drive the overclocking community and in the end drive the sales of the complete product line.

We do hope this point of view will change in the future allowing the AIC partners more flexibility. But for now you guys will have to face the fact that NVIDIA's 1.175V limitation is a solid fact. But sure, this news is a little bitter."

It's not possible to set the power limit to %300 or add some extra voltages anymore but np the card just runs great at 1215Mhz Core Speed with GPU Boost(Factory Default).

What I heard was other makers complained because people stopped buying their cards. There are only 3 cards out there that could do this and everyone was buying them... well duh. Then there is the fact that failed cards go back to Nvidia.

With 2.2.3 and the old LN2 bios you can add extra volts. Afterburner 2.2.2 didn't have the voltage slider, well it did but it was blank. 2.2.3 does. Just make sure you use 2.2.3 and not the newer one 2.2.4. If you can't get the volts up with the original LN2 bios then download an unlocked bios.

Your 1215mhz OC is what my reference cards run at so you should be able to go over that or there is no point in owning that card. Take it back, get your money and buy a reference card and pocket the saved cash. Will your cards boost over the 1215mhz? I see 1280mhz or so and every now and then a couple of them will break 1300mhz when boosting on rare occasions. I don't think you are getting any extra volts with you cards. Something isn't right.

You may also want to try the new version of EVGA Precision Tune if you have no luck with 2.2.3 and the LN2. They added what they call K boost. It will not go over the 1.175v but it wil hold the volts there so the card will always run at max volt/clock. Using it gives me about 20mhz more.

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MSI GTX680 Lightning Overclocking

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