MSI R6970 Lightning and N580GTX Lightning revealed

SemiAccurate published photos of MSI's upcoming Radeon HD 6970 Lightning and GeForce GTX 580 Lightning graphics cards. Both models are equipped with the Twin Frozr III cooling solution and at first sight both cards look quite similar. Clockspeeds, pricing and availability are still unknown.

The N580GTX Lightning uses a 16 phase PWM design and overclockers can adjust the Voltage for the GPU, Memory and PLL via MSI’s Afterburner software. The card features a pair of DVI-I connectors, an HDMI port and a DisplayPort connector, although you’re limited to using only two of them at one time. We also noticed a BIOS switch at the rear of the PCB, a feature the N480GTX Lightning didn’t have. As for clock speeds we’ll have to wait until the official launch which we expect will take place at CES.

This brings us to the R6970 Lightning, which at first sight, appears identical to the N580GTX Lightning. However, a different port layout including a pair of DVI-I ports, an HDMI port and two mini DisplayPort connectors ups the connectivity options. MSI has used an 18 phase PWM design for the R6970 Lightning and again, there’s Voltage control for the GPU, memory and VDDCI via MSI’s Afterburner software. As with all Radeon HD 6970 cards, this one also has a BIOS switch.

Here's a picture of the N580GTX Lightning (top) and R6970 Lightning (bottom):