The GeForce RTX 3080 hits the streets immediately. Fueled by Nvidia’s next-gen Ampere GPU structure, it wields sufficient energy to trample its predecessor, the GeForce RTX 2080, by as much as 80 %. Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition confirmed simply how dominant this new GPU is—and the way a lot juice it requires to push that many pixels. The spectacular Founders Edition deploys a brand new 12-pin connector and distinctive “flow-through” cooler design to tame the beastly RTX 3080.
But Nvidia’s $699 Founders Edition isn’t the one RTX 3080 in shops immediately. In an uncommon transfer, a variety of custom-made graphics playing cards by Nvidia companions may even be accessible on day one, together with the $750 MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio 10G on our take a look at bench immediately. Where Nvidia turned to technical methods with its Founders Edition, MSI cranks its overpowering card to 11. The MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio 10G overclocks the GPU to 1800MHz, feeds it with a trio of 8-pin connectors, then cools it down with an enormous three-slot, triple fan cooler loaded with new applied sciences and sure, RGB lights. It dwarfs Nvidia’s providing.
Does heavy metallic push the customized card previous the spectacular precedent set by Nvidia’s Founders Edition? Let’s dig in.
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio 10G: Specs and options
We gained’t spend an excessive amount of time speaking concerning the MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio 10G’s underlying specs, as they’re largely an identical to these of the Nvidia Founders Edition. The particular sauce in its customized design. Read our exhaustive GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition review for a deeper dive into what’s new within the next-gen Ampere GPU. You can even discover extra information about how the RTX 3080 stacks up towards the earlier technology in our GeForce RTX 30-series vs. RTX 20-series spec comparison.
Here’s a high-level take a look at what’s contained in the MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio 10G, adopted by some dialogue on what’s distinctive to this specific card:
- CUDA cores: 8,704
- Boost clock: 1.8GHz
- Memory: 10GB GDDR6X at 9500MHz
- Memory bus: 320-bit
- Memory bandwidth: 760GB/s
- RT cores: 68 (2nd-gen)
- Tensor cores: 384 (Third-gen)
- NVLink SLI: No
- PCIe: Gen 4
- HDMI: 2.1
- HDCP: 2.3
- Display connectors: 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4
- Power: 3x 8-pin
- Recommended energy provide: 750W
The solely main distinction on the GPU stage is the clock velocity, and even that’s minor. The MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio 10G comes overclocked at 1,800MHz increase speeds, a light bump from the RTX 3080’s inventory 1,710MHz specification. The 10GB of cutting-edge GDDR6X reminiscence comes clocked at reference speeds, however these are ultra-fast. The title of this card is attention-grabbing although: by slapping “10G” onto the top, MSI’s branding is likely to be lending credence to rumors of a 20GB RTX 3080 ready within the wings.
Another vital change is available in energy supply. Nvidia’s RTX 3080 FE wants a pair of 8-pin energy connectors, which then slip into an adapter for the corporate’s proprietary 12-pin adapter. That leaves the Founders Edition card with scant leeway for its 320-watt whole board energy rating–the two 8-pin connectors can draw 150W, whereas the PCIe 4.0 slot itself provides one other 75W. MSI constructed extra energy overhead into the Gaming X Trio, outfitting it with a trio of normal 8-pin connections.
Brad Chacos/IDGOne, two, three 8-pin energy connectors.
Unfortunately—and oddly—MSI’s card doesn’t let overclockers push as laborious as Nvidia’s card at a software program stage. While the Founders Edition allows you to improve its energy restrict by 15 % in overclocking software program (like MSI’s superior Afterburner, which is being up to date to assist the RTX 30-series), the Gaming X Trio solely allows you to crank the knob up an additional 5 %. We haven’t had a lot time to tinker with overclocking but, as we concentrate on out-of-the-box efficiency at PCWorld. With the older RTX 20-series GPUs these energy limits had a a lot larger impact on overclocking efficiency than merely upping clock speeds.
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio 10G cooler design
But the MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio 10G’s largest variations lay in its design. Where Nvidia used a cool brief PCB with a novel cooling answer, MSI sticks to a conventional board format for its customized PCB. It’s simply actually massive, not like the Founders Edition’s normal two-slot design.
Brad Chacos/IDGNvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition (left) subsequent to MSI’s Gaming X Trio (proper)
Seriously: It’s laborious to overstate how large this card is. The Gaming X Trio is roughly 13 inches lengthy, three slots thick, and so large that I can’t screw its bracket into the case by hand—my fingers can’t attain. Instead, I needed to safe the cardboard utilizing a skinny screwdriver. It’s so hefty, MSI features a metallic assist bracket within the field you could screw in beneath the Gaming X Trio to assist maintain it up.
MSI additionally devoted a number of engineering consideration to reinforcing the Gaming X Trio’s construction. It constructed a “rigid metal anti-bending strap” into the half of the cardboard that holds the GPU itself, solely to assist all the things keep robust. Likewise, the full-length backplate is constituted of graphene composite relatively than conventional plastic or metallic. MSI’s press materials touts graphene as being 100 instances stronger than metal, and says the backplate is 4 instances stronger than a plastic backplate, whereas additionally being 20 instances higher at warmth dissipation.
Brad Chacos/IDGThe MSI RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio’s backplate makes use of a graphene composite.
All that reinforcement holds up a powerful cooling answer, which MSI dubs “Tri Frozr 2.” The MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio 10G embeds a trio of swooping Torx 4.0 axial followers in its (plastic) shroud. MSI claims the redesigned blades generate 20 % extra air stress than the last-gen Torx 3.0 followers on the identical 35-decibel noise stage. Better but, they shut off fully when not below load, so the cardboard stays silent whilst you’re searching your desktop.
Those followers push air by a gargantuan heatsink. The fins embody tiny “deflectors” designed so as to add but extra floor space for cooling, in addition to information the incoming air in particular instructions. Rather than sticking to laborious edges for the fins, MSI outfitted the Gaming X Trio with “Wave-curved 2.0” fins, which helps to cut back noise ranges, the corporate says. It’s obtained not one, not two, however 5 heatpipes snaking all through, as nicely.
Brad Chacos/IDGThat’s a number of fins! The black metallic between the warmth sink and the fins on the left aspect of the cardboard is the metallic “anti-bending strap.”
Brad Chacos/IDGYou can see the heatsink “deflectors” between the warmth pipe studs.
That’s not all. The MSI Gaming X Trio options precision-machined core pipes over the GPU itself to maximise the contact between the RTX 3080 chip and its heatsink. The firm additionally makes use of “an abundance of thermal pads” over the board’s elements, and created the PCB with 2 ounces of thickened copper to assist with warmth dissipation and reliability. MSI took steps to guard towards the upper energy calls for of the RTX 3080 as nicely, constructing further fuses into the PCB.
Sure, that’s a number of advertising lingo, however right here in the actual world, all that stuff works. The MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio 10G stays cooler than Nvidia’s Founders Edition below load, and whilst you may see this gigantic graphics card in your case, I by no means as soon as heard its followers over my CPU liquid-cooler or case followers, even when careworn to the max.
Brad Chacos/IDGLight ’em should you’ve obtained ’em.
Speaking of seeing the cardboard, the Gaming X Trio features a skinny RGB mild strip on the sting of the cardboard, accent lights within the shroud, and the MSI emblem on the aspect of the cardboard additionally illuminates. You can tweak them utilizing MSI’s “Mystic Light” RGB controls through the corporate’s Dragon Center control app.
MSI can be upgrading its implausible Afterburner overclocking and GPU monitoring app to assist the RTX 30-series. This contains the “OC Scanner” instrument, which scans your graphics card throughout a wide range of voltages to use an automated overclock tailor-made to your particular GPU’s capabilities. I used to be capable of play with the upgraded model of Afterburner a little bit bit earlier than this embargo carry. While the OC Scanner labored as marketed, the real-world outcomes weren’t game-changing.
Brad Chacos/IDGPort report: The MSI Gaming X Trio matches the Nvidia Founders Edition’s 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a loadout.
The automated overclocking provides solely 42MHz to the cardboard’s core clock speeds, and 200MHz to its reminiscence clock speeds. In observe, the efficiency uplift was negligible, including about three frames per second to gaming efficiency outcomes at 4K decision. Not three %; three frames. Nvidia’s automated overclocking API is thought for staying conservative, so that you may have the ability to squeeze extra juice out of the cardboard manually. Still, it’s not an auspicious begin for individuals hoping Ampere will allow you to push overclocks to blistering new ranges. The lack of a dual-BIOS change might also irk overclockers.
Fortunately, the RTX 3080 is extremely quick as-is. Onto the benchmarks.
Next web page: Our take a look at system, gaming benchmarks start