MSI N260GTX Lightning Black Edition is based on GeForce GTX 260/216. We use the “216”on the name to remind you that we talking about the second version from this graphics chip, which has 216 processors instead of 192. On both GeForce GTX 260 versions the GPU runs at 576 MHz, the shader processors run at 1,242 MHz and the 896 MB memory is accessed at 1 GHz (2 GHz DDR) through a 448-bit interface, translating into a maximum theoretical transfer rate of 112 GB/s.

On this model from MSI the GPU runs at 655 MHz (13.71% above the standard model) and the processors run at 1,404 MHz (13.04% above the standard model). The memory has the same clock specs, however N260GTX Lightning Black Edition comes with double the memory: 1792 MB instead f 896 MB. According to MSI this is the first GeForce GTX 260 to have this feature, which improves performance in games that use large textures like Grand Theft Auto IV.

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Figure 4: MSI N260GTX Lightning Black Edition.

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Figure 5: MSI N260GTX Lightning Black Edition.

The reviewed card comes with three video outputs: VGA, DVI and HDMI. This way you can connect it to any kind of display without the use of any adapter. The card comes with one HDMI-to-DVI adapter – to allow you to connect two video monitors with DVI cables to it – and one DVI-to-VGA adapter – to allow you to connect two video monitors with VGA cables to it.

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Figure 6: MSI N260GTX Lightning Black Edition.

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Figure 7: HDMI, DVI and VGA connectors.