TechPowerUp has posted some pictures of MSI's upcoming Radeon R9-290X Lightning; or well, its PCB. The PCB pictured is still in its pallet form, so there are no components on it yet. Regardless, you can still see a number of things on the PCB, each more impressive than the last.
Looking at the PCB, the first thing that you might or might not notice is that it is actually a bit taller than the standard width of graphics cards. This is to accommodate the more elaborate power circuitry, which is hands down baffling. MSI has packed the PCB with room for a massive VRM design, which is fed by a staggering two 8-pin PCIe power connectors, topped off with an extra 6-pin PCIe power connector. This is one 8-pin PCIe power connector more than the reference design, giving the card 150 more watts to play with.
The 'Lightning' name is probably more appropriate for this card than the GTX 780 Lightning, given its immense power consumption.
The PCB also features a number of voltage measurement points as well as three 4-pin fan headers, so clearly, it'll also carry the TriFrozr cooler, or a variant of such, that we saw on the GTX 780 Lightning.
The report also indicates that Hong Kong-based hardware vendors intend to release their custom cooled R9-290(X) cards between the end of December and early January. Sorry, Santa won't be bringing you your silent R9-290 or R9-290X.
