MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim X 10G LHR, 10GB GDDR6X, HDMI, 3x DP

Die MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim X bzw. die Suprim-X-Serie ist die neue High-End-Reihe von MSI und dies unterstreicht unser Test-Modell auch. Abmessungen, Design, Ausstattung und letztendlich auch die Leistungswerte und Messungen sprechen für sich. Allerdings ist der Spielraum, den die Hersteller hier haben, sehr gering geworden. NVIDIA hat mit der GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition eine sehr gute Karte auf die Beine gestellt. Darüber hinaus können sie sich aber nur noch in kleinen Details voneinander absetzen. Die Leistung der MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim X bewegt sich im erwarteten Bereich. Sie ist das schnellste Modell bzw. kämpft um die Spitze. Aufgrund der geringen Abstände aber kann es mal passieren, dass andere Modelle etwas schneller sind. Diese Unterschiede können auch mal Messungenauigkeiten sein. Spüren wird man diese geringen Unterschiede in Spielen aber ohnehin nicht. Bei der Lautstärke und den weiteren Messwerten muss man unterscheiden, ob das Gaming- oder Silent-BIOS zum Einsatz kommt. In der Leistung unterscheiden sich die beiden Modi nicht. Das Silent-BIOS aber ist deutlich leiser, führt aber auch zu einer höheren GPU-Temperatur, die aber als unproblematisch einzuschätzen ist. Die Leistungsaufnahme ist mit 377 W recht hoch, aber MSI gibt ihr ein Standard-Power-Limit von 370 W.

The MSRP of the MSI GeForce RTX 3080 SUPRIM X is $899, which is significantly higher than NVIDIA's Founders Edition. For the slight performance improvement, we suspect that kind of premium is going to be tough to justify for some folks, but we'd consider this card to be one of the more aggressive GeForce RTX 3080 options available, and it will provide ample opportunity for enthusiasts to tweak and tune performance. Then again, with the current GPU availability woes, finding one of these cards anywhere close to MSRP is a near impossibility, which is unfortunate. On its merit though, we really like the MSI GeForce RTX 3080 SUPRIM X. It's kind of big and it commands a premium, but it is one of the most desirable, GeForce RTX 3080s yet.

The performance of the MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim X is right in line with other premium offerings from other manufactures based on other RTX 3080 reviews that I’ve read and from talking to my peers since this is the only RTX 3080 I’ve reviewed. While the MSI offering performs just as well, there’s also a significant price for similar raw performance. At $899, the MSI GeForce 3080 Suprim X is $200.00 over the retail Nvidia RTX 3080 Founders Edition and $50 more than the Asus ROG Strix. Still, I can’t help but think of taking that $200.00 and picking up a water block and founders edition. There are trade-offs no matter which way you go. However, to be fair, pricing is not really relevant at the time of this review as retailers are having a hard time maintaining stock levels so consumers can purchase them. Every detail about the MSI GeForce 3080 Suprim X screams that it is a premium product. From the packaging to the included accessories, the cooler, etc. This is MSI’s top of the line RTX 3080. If you’re looking for the top, you’ve found it. However, in the end, it is going to depend on what you want and if you’re willing to let the extra cash leave your wallet for a premium product.

On Tuesday I took a look at the new RTX 3070 Founders Edition as a look at Nvidia’s new Ampere-based GPU ahead of today's launch. Well in addition to the launch, today is also when the embargo drops for aftermarket RTX 3070’s and I’m lucky enough to have the RTX 3070 XC3 Black from EVGA on hand to check out. The RTX 3070 Founders Edition performed well, but today I’m excited to see what an overclock and a different cooler can do. Especially with EVGA going with a more traditional full-length PCB and cooler here over the short PCB that the Founders Edition had to support their unique blow-through design.

Well, make no mistake, these are both extremely fast cards. I want to start with the RTX 3090 SUPRIM X24G though. It’s one of the fastest cards on the market today, make no mistake. However, it’s not THAT much faster than the RTX 3080 when it comes to gaming, at least not relative to the price increase. This card is for gamers with deep pockets who want the absolute best. However, it’s really for workstations, rendering, game development, that kind of thing. If you need a crapload of VRAM for development, it’s perfect. Beyond that, it’s a bit much for your typical PC gaming setup.

The MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim X is a truly massive card. If you look at the photos you could just assume that it's big but normal sized—nope, it is 34 cm long and 14 cm tall, bigger than any card I've ever tested. MSI went all out in terms of product design, to create this new series, which sits a notch above even the Gaming X. The rated boost has been bumped to 1905 MHz—the highest of all RTX 3080 cards, only the ASUS STRIX and Gigabyte Extreme can match that.

MSI has a fantastic card here at hand with the SUPRIM X. Despite the ominous naming; it's a product that oozes quality at that hardware level; the hardware really is that good. Stil. I am struggling with it as I do not see a substantial relevance for this product. If I am allowed to make a personal note here, I think perhaps the TRIO is a better-looking product? It performs the same with a 1% differential and likely is cheaper (if you can spot one in the stores). So all the extra's like a new look, aluminum backplate, newly designed cooler, and dual BIOS, is it worth a price premium? We doubt that a little. But it is over-engineering at its best. But I mean, if the card would have been substantially faster than the TRIO X, then yeah, probably. But that's not the case. In the end, though, it's a fantastic product, ranking high up there in features and specification. However, Nvidia's project green light defines that all cards are more or less in that same performance bracket, and that results in a meager 4% additional performance seen over the FE edition, for this, all amped and beefed up product. Make no mistake, it's love and fantastic, but is it worth the highest price premium? We doubt that.

MSI’s new Suprim X line proved itself to be more than a competent performer in our testing. Actual performance results were spot on, trading blows with our Asus ROG Strix RTX 3080 card. The new Twin Frozr 2S heatsink gets the job done and does so quietly regardless if you are using the Gaming or Silent modes. Priced at $899, the Suprim X is priced higher than the Asus ($849.99 if you can find them). The biggest difference between these cards outside of some hardware details is the appearance. Otherwise, these perform similarly enough where performance isn’t setting the cards apart. In the end, the MSI RTX 3080 Suprim X is an improvement over the Gaming X Trio and fits in well in the product stack. Its place in the market at the $899 price point may be a bit too much for some users to overcome a $90 difference between the two. But if you want MSI’s (read: any brand’s) flagship RTX 3080, you’re going to pay a premium of some sort. As the stock of the Ampere cards improves over time, we hope to get the Gigabyte Aorus RTX 3080 ($850), and the EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra ($810), in for review to see how they compare. In the meantime, the MSI RTX 3080 Suprim X is a worthy competitor to the listed and tested cards. Whether or not the price premium is worth it, is up to you. But you won’t find a much more stout and well rounded card than the Suprim X.