MSI GeForce GTX 770 Lightning review - Product Showcase

Product Showcase

If we rotate the card and look at the backside we can see two SLI connectors, three cards in SLI GPU mode are supported, not four. Very visible is the blue round GPU reactor. The GPU reactor functions as a power supply module which, when installed on the back of the GPU, it increases current volume by 88%, reduces power supply noise by 13%, and should improve overall overclocking stability. It is actually an add-on board which you may remove. Let's do just that.

 You can remove the plastic cap and then see a small PCB. That's actually removable as well:

You can remove the plastic cap and then see a small PCB. That's actually removable as well. The PCb itself hosts a battery of tantalum capacitors that are used to filter and stabilize GPU voltage much like the NEC/Tokin Proadlizer film capacitors we all know.

Be careful when you plug it back in. Once powered on the Reactor module also features a few blue LEDs onboard, so when it is installed with the GPU Reactor cap in place, it has a nice blue glow emanating from it. The GPU Reactor can be removed completely if needed or preferred. 

For those that think the miltitary class components are a bit of a myth ... The GTX 770 Lightning is armed with MSI Military Class IV components, so you'll spot some interesting things like nickel plated capacitors, Hi-c CAPs, Copper MOS and as shown above, Gold coated solid state chokes. 

Really, these are not your average components right there. This is all used to ensure longevity and better tweakability.