Summary
What we were able to measure and experience ourselves and through other, independent sources, not only astonished us by the form alone, but also disappointed us greatly. We don't know of a similar case where specifications were disregarded or bent in such an extreme way just to squeeze out a bit more performance without officially ignoring Nvidia's restrictions for everyone to see. The potential magnitude of increased electromigration due to extreme overvoltages in complex circuits cannot be estimated or accurately predicted by anyone, so even warranty promises may be of little comfort or postponement of the problem.
We deliberately write in the subjunctive, as we cannot judge this either. We will definitely contact Richtek about this case, because only the manufacturer itself will be able to make a reliable statement, if at all. However, if you already read its voltage specifications and the texts in the data sheet, you certainly can't expect anything positive.
MSI statement and indirect response
After responding to an initial verbal inquiry with the usual generalities, MSI sent us an official statement from headquarters yesterday in response to our relayed details, which we would like to reproduce first in the original and in piece:
MSI has been at the spearhead of graphics card overclocking for years.
Only top-of-the-line "Military Class III" components are used, and our products stand out from the competition thanks to careful customizations. These specially adapted graphics cards are known in the market under the names MSI Lightning, Hawk, Twin Frozr or Power Edition.
Nvidia's Kepler architecture is designed to control and regulate GPU performance (Nvidia GPU Boost) by monitoring power consumption. Since MSI designs its customized products with overclocking in mind from the start, we give these cards an extra performance reserve from the factory because we expect enthusiasts to overclock them. Because of this design decision and the higher quality of the components, we are able to add more power to the boards. This enables a higher GPU boost level, which we can also maintain for longer without shortening the graphics card's life expectancy or its warranty period. In case of problems, customers can contact MSI at any time within the 3-year warranty period.
We are not aware of any other manufacturer currently offering this level of performance, and we have been working with Nvidia to ensure that on specimens of upcoming production batches, this free additional overclocking is less than it is now. The new variants with conventional GPU Boost will be available on the market starting next month.
If you now read very carefully and above all between the lines, as well as filtering out the usual marketing-speak, you will be able to draw three remarkable conclusions:
Firstly, the clear emphasis on the 3-year warranty promise should have a calming effect and express the unbroken conviction about the durability, secondly, Nvidia should have intervened very clearly, and thirdly, they would hardly want to voluntarily change the production and thus give up a supposed speed advantage at such short notice if there wasn't a very good reason for it. We also know from several sources that our analyses of the boost clock in the (also internationally published) Roundup for the GTX 660 Ti have prompted at least two other board partners to do their own analyses and in one case also to a concrete appeal to Nvidia.
What advice can be given to affected users now?
Pure panic or returning a working card at this stage is certainly not the right way to respond appropriately to the issue. However, you should have this article and the detailed reasoning up your sleeve in case of problems. If necessary, even after the 3-year warranty.
We cannot yet say how customers will be able to distinguish between the two different models with and without "errors" that will be offered in parallel from next month. However, we hope for MSI's fairness to make a labeling or at least provide information. It was not easy for us to make this process public, as it certainly represents a certain political issue. On the other hand, however, in the interest of the user, one should not remain silent, because it is no small matter to operate complex control circuits against the manufacturer's specifications with up to 88% overvoltage. Now MSI is in demand when it comes to possible customer concerns.
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