AMD's Radeon HD 6970 has been on the market for quite a while now. Recently we have seen an influx of new custom designs from many AIBs that build on the foundation laid out by the HD 6970 reference version but improve on points like overclocking, features or cooling. MSI's Radeon HD 6970 Lightning is the company's flagship HD 6970 designed with gamers and overclockers in mind. Being offered at $370, the MSI HD 6970 Lightning is only marginally more expensive than the reference design which will help to make it attractive to buyers who would usually go with a cheap reference design.