MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio Desktop Graphics Card Review
The MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio is the third GPU that we have received from the Taiwanese manufacturer MSI. We are going to thoroughly review this graphics card. MSI’s RTX 2080 has a custom board design and a proprietary cooling solution. The video card also features an increased TDP of 260 watts, which gives it a nice boost in performance when compared to the reference model.
The Tri-Frozr cooling solution consists of three axial fans, which provide a constant supply of fresh air to a massive heatsink. This is why the GPU requires at least 3 slots. The three fans feature an axial design that helps accelerate the flow of air before it reaches the heatsink and the double-row ball bearings ensure that the cooling system will last for a very long time. The video card also comes with MSI’s Mystic RGB lighting, which can look very good in the right case.
The MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio has three DisplayPort 1.4 connectors, an HDMI 2.0b port and a USB Type-C port for VR devices. The GPU requires two 8-pin power connectors.
GPU specifications in overview
Specifications | RTX 2060 | RTX 2070 | MSI RTX 2080 | RTX 2080 | RTX 2080 Ti | GTX 1080 |
Chip | TU106 | TU106 | TU104 | TU104 | TU102 | GP104 |
Manufacturing process | 12 nm | 12 nm | 12 nm | 12 nm | 12 nm | 16 nm |
Shader units | 1.920 | 2.304 | 2944 | 2.944 | 4.352 | 2.560 |
Texture Units | 120 | 144 | 184 | 184 | 272 | 160 |
Tensor Cores | 240 | 288 | 368 | 368 | 544 | - |
RT Cores | 30 | 36 | 46 | 46 | 68 | - |
GPU Base Clock | 1.365 MHz | 1.410 MHz | 1.515 MHz | 1.515 MHz | 1.350 MHz | 1.607 MHz |
GPU Boost Clock | 1.680 MHz | 1.620 MHz | 1.860 MHz | 1.710 MHz | 1.545 MHz | 1.733 MHz |
Memory Interface | 192 Bit | 256 Bit | 256 Bit | 256 Bit | 352 Bit | 256 Bit |
Memory Bandwidth | 336 GB/s | 448 GB/s | 448 GB/s | 448 GB/s | 616 GB/s | 320,3 GB/s |
Memory Capacity | 6 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 | 11 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR5X |
TDP (in watts) | 160 W | 175 W | 260 W | 215 W | 250 W | 180 W |
The Test Bench - Based on the Ryzen 7 2700X
Our test bench is based on a current AMD platform. The Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7 Wi-Fi serves as the motherboard. The CPU, which is known as the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, offers a lot of performance. The system is cooled by an all-in-one water cooler from Be Quiet (Silent Loop 280mm). 16 GB of 3400 MHz RAM comes from G-Skill. The Acer Predator XB321HK does not represent a bottleneck, thanks to its 4K resolution. We are very grateful to AMD for providing us with the above-mentioned system.
Case | Corsair Carbide Air 540 ATX Cube |
CPU | AMD RYZEN 7 2700X |
CPU cooler | Be Quiet Silent Loop 280mm |
RAM | G-Skill Sniper X 16 GB DDR4 3.400 MHz |
Motherboard | Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7 WiFi |
Monitor | Acer Predator XB321HK 4K |
SSD | ADATA SP900 M.2 SSD |
HDD | 2 TB Western Digital (for games) |
OS | Microsoft Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit (Version 1809) |
Drivers | Nvidia 418.91 |
The Core Clocks of the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio
The MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio has the same base core clock (1365 MHz) as Nvidia’s reference model. However, when it comes to the boost clock, there is some difference. MSI’s graphics card has a higher boost frequency, thanks to an increased TDP (up to 260 watts). The MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio comes with a boost clock of 1830 MHz, whereas the reference model has a boost clock of 1515 MHz and a TDP of 215 watts. The maximum TDP of Nvidia’s Founders Edition card is 225 watts and the maximum boost frequency is 1800 MHz.
Just like the reference model, the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio has 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM that is clocked at an effective frequency of 14 GHz.
At least on paper, the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio looks better than the GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition. The Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC is also on the same level as the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio.
Synthetic Benchmarks
All of the RTX 2080 models that we have tested perform very similarly in the synthetic benchmarks. Here, the battle between MSI and Asus is concluded without either GPU being a clear winner. When compared to the Pascal-based GPUs, the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio is beaten by a small margin by the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. The recently released AMD Radeon VII easily beats most GPUs from Nvidia.
When compared to the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G, the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio is 20% faster. We observed a similar gap in performance between the MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G and the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G.
3DMark - 3840x2160 Fire Strike Ultra Graphics | |
Nvidia Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
Asus ROG Strix RTX 2080 OC | |
Asus ROG Strix RTX 2070 OC | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB |
Gaming Benchmarks - RTX 2080 achieves great results
The MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio and the Asus ROG Strix RTX 2080 OC also battle it out in the gaming benchmarks. Here, both GPUs offer very similar performance with MSI occasionally beating Asus and vice versa. We did not encounter any problems while running benchmarks. Almost all titles are playable in UHD. In a few titles such as Metro Exodus
, Monsterhunter World
and Kingdom Come Deliverance
, the frame rates sometimes fall below 40 FPS, which makes these titles feel stuttery. However, even the Nvidia Titan RTX can only achieve an average frame rate of 49 FPS in Kingdom Come Deliverance
, which is not an earth-shattering improvement. In absolute terms, here the Nvidia Titan RTX is 25% faster than the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio. However, the Titan GPU costs three times as much as the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio.
All in all, the gaming benchmarks look very good. We did not encounter any anomalies during the benchmarking process.
We use the video game known as The Witcher 3
to examine how well the graphics card performs under load. We run the game on ultra settings and record both the frame rate and the frame time. When compared to the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G, the frame time performance of the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio looks somewhat worse. All in all, there are a few anomalies that have very little impact on the actual gaming experience. A very similar image emerges when we take a look at the frame rate performance. The frame rates stay at about 100 FPS most of the time and there are no considerable drops in performance to speak about. This is why we give a positive assessment to the triple-fan cooling solution.
The Witcher 3 - Fame rates (Ultra preset)
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 | |
1920x1080 Very High / On | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Very High / On | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) |
Assassin´s Creed Odyssey | |
1920x1080 Ultra High Preset | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) |
FIFA 19 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:4x MS | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:4x MS | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) |
Forza Horizon 4 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:2xMS | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:2xMS | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) |
F1 2018 | |
1920x1080 Ultra High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) |
Monster Hunter World | |
1920x1080 Highest Preset (Image Quality High) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Highest Preset (Image Quality High) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) |
Far Cry 5 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:T | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:T | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) |
The Crew 2 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) |
Assassin´s Creed Origins | |
1920x1080 Ultra High Preset | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) |
Kingdom Come: Deliverance | |
1920x1080 Ultra High Preset | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) |
Fortnite | |
1920x1080 Epic Preset | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Epic Preset | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark | |
1920x1080 High Quality | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 High Quality | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) |
Destiny 2 | |
1920x1080 Highest Preset AA:SM AF:16x | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Highest Preset AA:SM AF:16x | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) |
Watch Dogs 2 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 High Preset | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) |
Battlefield 1 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:T | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 High Preset AA:T | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) |
For Honor | |
1920x1080 Extreme Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 High Preset AA:T AF:8x | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) |
Ghost Recon Wildlands | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) |
GTA V | |
1920x1080 Highest Settings possible AA:4xMSAA + FX AF:16x | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 High/On (Advanced Graphics Off) AA:FX AF:8x | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) |
Hitman 2 | |
1920x1080 Ultra AF:16x | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
3840x2160 Ultra AF:16x | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) |
Battlefield V | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) |
Farming Simulator 19 | |
1920x1080 Very High Preset | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Very High Preset | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) |
Darksiders III | |
1920x1080 Epic | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Epic | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) |
Just Cause 4 | |
1920x1080 Very High / On AA:SM AF:16x | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Very High / On AA:SM AF:16x | |
NVIDIA Titan RTX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) |
Apex Legends | |
1920x1080 Maximum Settings AA:TS AF:16x | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Maximum Settings AA:TS AF:16x | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) |
Far Cry New Dawn | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) |
Metro Exodus | |
1920x1080 Ultra Quality AF:16x | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra Quality AF:16x | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) |
Anthem - 1920x1080 Ultra Preset | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) |
Dirt Rally 2.0 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) |
low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | |
Battlefield 4 (2013) | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 125.4 | |
GTA V (2015) | 162 | 145 | 125 | 116 | 89 | |
The Witcher 3 (2015) | 301 | 263 | 182 | 109 | 78 | |
Rainbow Six Siege (2015) | 298.5 | 257.8 | 241.9 | 238 | 139.8 | |
Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) | 263 | 196 | 182 | 162 | 77 | |
Far Cry Primal (2016) | 119 | 108 | 98 | 90 | 71 | |
The Division (2016) | 265.4 | 227.6 | 159.4 | 131.1 | 71.7 | |
Doom (2016) | 157.1 | 155.5 | 139.6 | 140.3 | 117.7 | |
Overwatch (2016) | 300 | 300 | 300 | 158 | 143 | |
Deus Ex Mankind Divided (2016) | 154 | 142.8 | 125.3 | 83.1 | 55.1 | |
Battlefield 1 (2016) | 193 | 175 | 159 | 147 | 88 | |
Watch Dogs 2 (2016) | 141.3 | 127.6 | 110 | 86.6 | 54.8 | |
For Honor (2017) | 300.6 | 222 | 214.8 | 169.7 | 76.8 | |
Ghost Recon Wildlands (2017) | 144.7 | 128.4 | 120 | 73.9 | 53.8 | |
Rocket League (2017) | 247.8 | 248.1 | 242.5 | 146.3 | ||
Dirt 4 (2017) | 312 | 249 | 216 | 161 | 100 | |
Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) (2017) | 278 | 222 | 166 | 181 | 74 | |
Destiny 2 (2017) | 146.8 | 146.4 | 146.3 | 146.1 | 130.5 | 72.4 |
Assassin´s Creed Origins (2017) | 114 | 104 | 101 | 86 | 79 | 52 |
Call of Duty WWII (2017) | 249 | 246 | 187 | 167 | 142 | 89 |
Fortnite (2018) | 223 | 180 | 163 | 147 | 128 | 66 |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 163.1 | 125.5 | 96.1 | 44.2 | ||
Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018) | 141 | 125 | 96 | 78 | 70 | 39.1 |
Far Cry 5 (2018) | 133 | 117 | 113 | 107 | 99 | 59 |
The Crew 2 (2018) | 60 | 60 | 69 | 60 | 60 | 60 |
Monster Hunter World (2018) | 144 | 137 | 135 | 115 | 78 | 38.6 |
F1 2018 (2018) | 242 | 219 | 160 | 142 | 120 | 78 |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) | 129 | 116 | 115 | 110 | 90 | 48 |
FIFA 19 (2018) | 264 | 260 | 239 | 228 | 212 | 203 |
Forza Horizon 4 (2018) | 179 | 159 | 157 | 139 | 118 | 84 |
Assassin´s Creed Odyssey (2018) | 111 | 104 | 91 | 68 | 58 | 41 |
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 (2018) | 225 | 190 | 182 | 177 | 123 | 64 |
Hitman 2 (2018) | 90 | 90 | 84 | 79 | 80 | 60 |
Fallout 76 (2018) | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 |
Battlefield V (2018) | 190 | 163 | 155 | 145 | 125 | 76 |
Farming Simulator 19 (2018) | 192 | 141 | 134 | 124 | 123 | 83 |
Darksiders III (2018) | 217 | 146 | 139 | 129 | 110 | 57.6 |
Just Cause 4 (2018) | 200 | 165 | 129 | 123 | 88 | 50 |
Apex Legends (2019) | 143 | 144 | 144 | 144 | 138 | 82 |
Far Cry New Dawn (2019) | 118 | 105 | 102 | 92 | 89 | 62 |
Metro Exodus (2019) | 242.4 | 108.8 | 87.9 | 74.2 | 59.6 | 38.6 |
Anthem (2019) | 113 | 105 | 102 | 97 | 89 | 53.4 |
Dirt Rally 2.0 (2019) | 206 | 159 | 153 | 109 | 87 | 56.7 |
The Division 2 (2019) | 177 | 147 | 124 | 106 | 85 | 50 |
Anno 1800 (2019) | 93 | 93 | 77 | 43.3 | 42.8 | 32.3 |
Rage 2 (2019) | 259 | 149 | 130 | 131 | 89 | 44.7 |
Compute Performance
Those who do not specifically need expensive Quadro GPUs from Nvidia can utilize conventional desktop graphics cards for professional work. However, when compared to the supported Quadro GPUs, such video cards fall far, far behind.
The compute performance of the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio is on an expected level. Depending on the benchmark, the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio is up to 24% faster than the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G. The AMD Radeon VII has no trouble keeping up with the RTX 2080 and sometimes even beats it by a considerable margin. However, occasionally the opposite is true, because from time to time the 7-nm GPU from AMD is trounced by the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G.
The Nvidia Titan RTX is on top most of the time. However, this GPU is not designed solely for gaming and represents a sort of link between the GeForce and Quadro series.
SiSoft Sandra 2016 | |
Image Processing | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
GP Cryptography (Higher Security AES256+SHA2-512) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) | |
GP Financial Analysis (FP High/Double Precision) | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) |
Emissions of the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio
Under load, the emissions look quite bad, due to a high maximum TDP of 260 watts. When idle, the system draws 88 watts, which is normal when compared to the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G and the MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G. During the stress test with FurMark, the energy consumption rises up to 402 watts. However, when we raised the power target from 100% to 109%, the average power consumption reached 433 watts, with the maximum power draw amounting to 460 watts. When gaming, the system drew about 405 watts.
The comparison chart shows that the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio is a power hog. The MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G needed considerably less power with the same test bench. Nevertheless, thanks to a very high performance, the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio can still be described as energy-efficient. Only the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 and the Nvidia Titan RTX consume more energy.
During normal use, we did not observe any thermal issues (PT 100%). The temperatures peaked at 69 °C (156.2 °F) during our stress test. When we raised the power limit to 109%, the temperatures reached 71 °C (159.8 °F). The MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio is far from hitting its temperature limit. This means that the GPU should not be throttling due to overheating. All in all, the Tri-Frozr cooling system works very well, which is why the graphics card does not overheat and does not become too loud. The GPU produces only a slight hum. When compared to the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G, the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio is actually somewhat quieter, which becomes apparent once you take a look at the fan speeds.
Power Consumption - 1920x1080 The Witcher 3 ultra (external Monitor) | |
Nvidia Titan RTX | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (Idle: 74.3 W) | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio (Idle: 87.78 W) | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition (88 fps, Idle: 70.3 W) | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G (Idle: 73.3 W) | |
AMD Radeon VII (Idle: 81.39 W) | |
MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1080 Desktop PC (Idle: 71.1 W) | |
Asus ROG Strix RTX 2070 OC | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition (Idle: 68.3 W) | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G (Idle: 74.66 W) | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition (Idle: 68 W) |
* ... smaller is better
Overclocking - not a lot of potential
Unlike the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G, the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio has much less overclocking potential. We were only able to increase the core clock by 90 MHz and the memory speed by 900 MHz. The small model (MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G) could sustain much higher overclocks. A lot of this can be explained by the fact that the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio uses VRAM from Micron, whereas the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G utilizes VRAM from Samsung, which offers somewhat more room for overclocking. However, there are no guarantees when it comes to overclocking because you never know what kind of chip you are going to get.
The great cooling solution gives us a hint that there is still quite a bit more room for overclocking. That being said, the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio comes with a factory overclock. This is why it has an advantage over the reference model. The power target of the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio can be increased by 9%, which raises the maximum TDP to 283 watts.
We can see the results of manual overclocking reflected in the benchmarks. However, there is no significant boost in performance to speak about. Anyway, we do not recommend overclocking the graphics card, because it comes with a factory overclock as it is. Moreover, it is a very powerful GPU from the RTX 2080 series.
Pros
Cons
Verdict - future-proof, but expensive
Currently, the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio retails for 840 Euros ($946). If you spend some time searching on the Internet, you can find cheaper RTX 2080 GPUs. However, these graphics cards do not offer the same level of performance as the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio. MSI’s video card comes with an increased TDP (260 watts), which is why the GPU can achieve a higher boost clock of up to 1860 MHz. When it comes to VRAM, there is some room for debate, because both the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio and the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G have the same 8 GB of GDDR6 video memory and the same effective memory frequency of 14 GHz. Having said that, we did not encounter any issues related to the amount and speed of video memory during our review.
The MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio features the Tri-Frozr cooling system, which remains quiet even under load. All in all, there are three axial fans (2x 100 mm, 1x 90 mm).
When compared directly to the Asus ROG Strix RTX 2080 OC, both GPUs are on the same level. There is no clear winner in this battle of the two RTX 2080 graphics cards.
The MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio is powerful enough for running modern games in 4K. The increased TDP and the good cooling solution earn some additional Brownie points for the GPU and contribute to a boost in performance.
So who should get the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio? This question is not easy to answer. This GPU is primarily intended for 4K gaming and those who currently game in 1080p or 1440p can do just fine without the MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio. For such gamers something like the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G or the MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G should suffice.