Posted on Monday, December 02 2013 @ 11:47 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
TPU
got its hands on two pictures of MSI's upcoming custom-design PCB for AMD's Radeon R9 290X. Below you can see a set of two uncut PCBs that are just punched, wired and stacked of the MSI Radeon R9 290X Lightining.
An exact launch date for these cards is unknown, it will either by late December or early January.
The MSI Radeon R9 290X Lightning PCB features a 15+2 phase VRM that draws power from a trio of power connectors, which is a first for single-GPU graphics cards. These include two 8-pin connectors, and a 6-pin. One can also make out three 4-pin fan connectors, and a few voltage measurement points. Display connectors include a pair of piggy-backed DVI connectors, and the usual DisplayPort and HDMI fare. The PCB overall, appears to be a good centimeter taller than what constitutes as "full-height" for add-on cards. The extra height creates room for a BIOS switch, some VRM circuitry, and the power connectors.
