MSI has launched its flagship custom GeForce GTX 480 video card! The MSI N480GTX Lightning is here to give Fermi fans their Extreme Overclocking fix with its special LN2 features and military class hardware. Does it stand above the average GeForce GTX 480? How far does it outperform the now more than a year old ATI Radeon HD 5870?

With its LN2 features, the MSI N480GTX Lightning is a great video card for those interested in truly extreme overclocking. For the rest of us, however, its effectiveness is somewhat limited by that fact that if you aren't going to be breaking records with liquid nitrogen, it is a pretty average factory overclocked GeForce GTX 480 with an above average price. The advanced power management features are nice, and the cooler is extremely effective, but for most users, it is still going to be just another GeForce GTX 480 with a solid air-cooled overclock capability.

For high-budget gamers who need a video card now, the MSI N480GTX Lightning is a solid choice if you are one of the few who insist on NVIDIA GPUs. We can't find it up for sale anywhere right now, but MSI says that it should be at $549 USD when it does land this week. At that price, it is more expensive than most GTX 480s, but it is undoubtedly of higher quality as well. If you do choose this video card, you will be getting one of the best configurations of a GeForce GTX 480 out there. You will find superior cooling (which is cherished on GTX 480 video cards) and the ability for very high custom overclocking utilizing Voltage tweaking.

The market for this video card is very clear; the MSI N480GTX Lightning is built for the ultra-enthusiast looking for the highest grade components and best chances for overclockability with a custom cooling solution that works. If this is you, this is your GeForce GTX 480, but you will pay for it at $549. For these reasons, we feel this deserves our Silver [H] Editor's Choice award; the only fact keeping it from Gold is the pricey nature to an already pricey video card.