MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X+ 8GB Video Card Review Layout, design and features
Hardware Reviews, Video Cards
1. MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X+ 8GB Video Card Review2. The technical data3. Layout, design and features4. Benchmark values and test results5. Power consumption6. Result and general impression
Layout, design and features …
When we take the graphics card out of the box, we first notice the high weight of approx. 1.7 kg.
But even beyond that, the GeForce 1080 is an impressive appearance. The standard cooler was replaced by MSI’s own solution, the Twin Frozr VI.
Two large 100 mm fans provide the necessary fresh air and the massive heat sink …
… along with the heatpipes is doing the rest. The MSI 1080 also has a lot to offer in terms of connections.
In addition to the three modern display port slots, MSI also provided the graphics card with an HDMI and a DVI port.
To provide the graphics card with a reliable power supply, there is a 6-pin and an 8-pin connector at the rear end.
Of course, the usual SLI connectors must not be missing.
In spite of the massive heat sink, the MSI 1080 only needs two slots and thus remains interesting for SLI operation with air cooling.
Thanks to the lush backplate, however, the back of the graphics card should also receive sufficient cooling.
We also find that it looks good, too.
But the cooler has a surprise in store, which you can’t see when the card is not mounted. We’ll get to that later.
This is the end of our little tour around the MSI 1080 graphics card. Let’s now come to the supplied software.
Software …
A total of three programs are included.
MSI Afterburner
Let’s start with the well-known Afterburner from MSI.
MSI Dragon Eye
Not only as a monitoring tool to use, you can also use the Afterburner to operate the important overclocking functions of the graphics card and thus help it to achieve a little more performance.
The second program is a tool that allows you to display a video window in the game. Live streams or our OCinside YouTube Channel can be viewed. We are talking about the program MSI Dragon Eye. The position and size of the window can be set. It is also possible to enter a link in advance, but also during operation. Problems can occur if so-called overlay functions of e. g. Uplay are used. This should be turned off before using the tool.
MSI Gaming App
The last program is a slimmer version of the Afterburner. The MSI gaming App is able to switch quickly between the three overclocking levels.
The integrated illuminated MSI lettering can be changed here in the lighting colour. Unfortunately, this does not change the remaining red illumination of the card.
An OSD can be set to inform the user in games about the current state of the graphics card.
The other options concern the Zero Frozr function, which switches off the fans in idle mode completely …
… the Eye Rest function which effects a brightness and color control …
… and a VR Ready option that also makes changes to the image display, but which must first be acknowledged by the following message.
The software package is impressive. All the important tools are included to overclock the graphics card as well as to control its cooling capacity and other functions. But let’s now come to the practical test, in which the graphics card also has to prove its performance.
MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X Plus Benchmark values and test results …
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MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Gaming Review > Overclocking Performance
The GTX 1070 Ti is fairly impressive out of the box but it’s not going to wow many enthusiasts. It sits between the 1070 and 1080 in terms of performance which is fine and all but it also sits between them in terms of price and we’re not sure if there was any real need to fill that $100 price gap.
Since you can buy a factory overclocked 1070 Ti I’m curious to see what’s possible here so I fired up MSI Afterburner and started the process of working out how far the core and memory could go.
In the end I landed on what I feel is a pretty mild overclock. The base core clock was happy at 1767MHz while the memory went to 2252MHz for a 10% bump in core speed and 12% for the memory.
This resulted in a Turbo Boost 3.0 operating frequency of at least 2GHz in games which is about a 9% jump from the stock boost frequency. I was hoping to reach at least 2050 MHz and I’m sure we’ll see other reviewers achieving that or better, perhaps I was just a bit unlucky with my card. Anyway, what kind of gains does this overclock net us? Let’s move on to find out.
Once again we have Battlefield 1 up first and here we see an impressive 13% jump in performance, hitting 105fps and that is enough to match the GTX 1080 Gaming X. Although we only managed around a 10% frequency boost this extra gain has come from the increase in memory bandwidth.
The good news here is you can achieve GTX 1080-like performance through overclocking, factory overclocked 1080 performance in fact. For those wondering, a custom overclock on the standard 1070 Gaming X card still sees it fall just short of the 1070 Ti’s stock figures.
We saw a 15% gain in Mass Effect Andromeda and that’s a little higher than I was expecting. Raising the power limit and overclocking the memory has had a big impact here and now the 1070 Ti Gaming edges ahead of the GTX 1080 Gaming X for what is a very impressive result in this title.
Then finally we see a 13% increase when testing with Deus Ex Mankind Divided and this was enough for the overclocked 1070 Ti to match the overclocked Vega 56 graphics card (in an AMD sponsored title nonetheless). Again, the overclocked 1070 Ti also mimics the performance of the GTX 1080 Gaming X.
As surprising as the frame rate results were I have to say the power consumption figures are just as surprising.
Despite increasing voltage, the total system consumption for the 1070 Ti configuration increased by just 14% to 346 watts. That’s only 5% more power draw than the stock Vega 56 graphics card and 22% less once Vega’s overclocked.
Leaving the fan profile on auto, the MSI 1070 Ti Gaming still ran quiet and yet its temperatures maxed out at just 69 degrees after an hour long stress test. That said, for the most part it sat at 68 degrees. Anything south of 70 degrees is cool in my book, especially when the card is running almost silently.
Review MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G — one of the best graphics cards
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Review of MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X graphics card with excellent price / quality ratio, comparison with competitors, gaming performance. |
The MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X is one of the more affordable GTX 1080 graphics cards from a decent brand. At the same time, many authoritative portals call it one of the best, it is the leader in the number of stores selling it and the rating according to user ratings.
Why is this video card so good and why has it gained the highest popularity among competitors?
Content
Content
- 1. Why exactly gtx 1080
- 2. Choosing the model and comparison with competitors
- 3. Descriptions and dimensions
- 4. Packaging and equipment
- 5. Design and componing
- 6. Software
- 6.1. MSI Afterburner
- 6.2. MSI Kombustor
- 6.3. MSI Fan Control
- 6.4. MSI Gaming APP
- 6.5. MSI Mystic Light
- 6.6. MSI Live Update
- 7. Video card testing
- 7.1. Test stand
- 7.2. Test in 3Dmark 2011
- 7.3. Test in FurMark
- 7.4. Tests in games
- 8. Personal impressions
- 9. Conclusion
- 10. Links
1. Why GTX 1080
The goal was to assemble a platform with a margin for the future, which would pull a top-end video card. This upgrade cost $750 and there was simply not enough for a new video card, so it was decided to temporarily put the old GTX 660 aside, and in a couple of months get the GTX 1080.
But about a month after the upgrade, there was a boom in mining and video cards went up in price by one and a half times, so the purchase of a video card had to be postponed a little more.
Due to the high prices, even the option with the GTX 1070 was considered, which, in principle, runs all modern games at high graphics settings in Full HD resolution. But I understood that her perspective was very limited.
In addition, at the time of the availability of the required amount, I had the opportunity to purchase a GTX 1070 for $650, and a GTX 1080 for $730. With a 12% price difference, there is a 37% difference in core performance, plus the GTX 1080 has 25% more memory bandwidth.
The performance difference was calculated using our unique spreadsheet, which you can download from the Links section.
But the GTX 1080 Ti would have cost me $960 already, and for Full HD it is clearly redundant, even in the future for the next 2-3 years. In addition, I would also have to change the power supply, since for a GTX 1080 Ti with a consumption of 250 watts, the recommended PSU power is 600 watts.
While the GTX 1080 consumes 180 W and requires a PSU of 500 W, I just had a high-quality PSU of such power, which I recently got at a tasty price and there was no point in changing it.
You can also download a table with data on the power consumption of video cards and the recommended power supply unit power in the «Links» section.
Yes, there were all sorts of GTX 1080 Ti from Palit, Zotac and similar second-rate brands at the price of GTX 1080 from the best manufacturers (ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte). Sometimes these offers seemed quite tempting, but I understood that good things don’t come cheap, and there was no desire to take a noisy “stove” of dubious quality. It is always better to find some middle ground between performance and quality rather than chasing the most powerful hardware at the lowest price, which is costly in the future. In addition, this still did not cancel the replacement of the power supply.
Simple arithmetic and logic prompted an unambiguous choice in favor of the GTX 1080, and all that remained was to choose the manufacturer and model.
2. Model Selection and Competitor Comparison
The cheapest option was the MSI GTX 1080 Aero, which could be bought at a tempting price on par with the GTX 1070 ($650).
But after reading the reviews and reviews, it was clear that despite the fact that the cooling system throws warm air outside the case, it is quite hot (above 80 °) and noisy. However, based on my experience, I assumed so, the soul did not lie to her initially, and the price is suspiciously low.
Further, based on the fact that I love ASUS, I started looking at video cards from this brand. And I immediately sunk into the soul of the Asus GTX 1080 ROG Strix with a beautiful RGB backlight
Although, her fans are small, high-speed (up to 3500 rpm) and at speeds above 60% they already begin to make noise, and closer to the maximum they turn the apartment into an airfield, but this will certainly not happen in reality.
But the main problem was that it was overpriced and there weren’t many sellers.
And where it was possible to buy it at a more or less acceptable price ($810), the warranty was given for only 12 months, which is unacceptable for an expensive pre-production video card that is bought for at least 3 years.
The Gigabyte GTX 1080 G1 Gaming video card, which cost less ($690), did not impress me.
The fans are just as small, even more revving (up to 4100 rpm) and in general the cooling system (as well as the circuitry) is worse, in general, it is a C grade.
The Gigabyte GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming video card from this manufacturer is really worthy.
It is made very high quality, we have a powerful (about 65 °) and quiet cooling system, but it takes 3 slots in thickness! This monster was also a bit intimidating due to its inflated price (about $770).
The MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X is the most popular video card that is sold everywhere. up to 2500 rpm), which provides a low temperature (about 70 °) with a low noise level.
Below you can see a comparison of the fan speeds and noise level of the GTX 1080 video cards from MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte, according to 3Dnews.
By the way, when there is no load on the video card, the fans do not rotate, which will be a wonderful gift for those who like to work in complete silence. MSI also has a separate cooling for memory chips (which competitors do not have).
The circuitry is also on top, and the high-quality 10-phase power system is cooled by additional radiators with plumage. At the same time, the cost of this video card is lower than that of a competitor from ASUS ($810). I managed to get it for $730 with a 36 month warranty.
3. Specifications, connectors and dimensions
First, I will give the characteristics of the reference (reference) video card GTX 1080 from nVidia in comparison with the nearest models, so that you can see the difference in characteristics.
| GTX 1060 6G | GTX 1070 | GTX 1080 | GTX 1080 Ti | |
| Number of shader units | 1280 | 1920 | 2560 | 3584 |
| Shader frequency, MHz | 1506-1708 | 1503-1683 | 1607-1733 | 1480-1582 |
| Memory size | 6 GB | 8 GB | 8 GB | 11 GB |
| Bus and memory type | 192-bit GDDR5 | 256-bit GDDR5 | 256-bit GDDR5X | 352-bit GDDR5X |
| Memory frequency, MHz | 8000 | 8000 | 10,000 | 11 000 |
| Memory bandwidth, GB/s | 192 | 256 | 320 | 484 |
| Number of texture units (TMU) | 80 | 120 | 160 | 224 |
| Number of ROPs | 48 | 64 | 64 | 88 |
| Stronger than previous | – | >48% | >37% | >28% |
The difference in performance was calculated using our table, to which we have already given «Links».
In the following table you can see the comparison of the MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X with the closest competitors and the benchmark from nVidia.
| nVidia GTX 1080 |
Gigabyte G1Gaming |
MSI Gaming X |
ASUS ROG Strix |
|
| Number of shader units | 2560 | 2560 | 2560 | 2560 |
| Shader frequency, MHz | 1607-1733 | 1696-1835 | 1708-1847 | 1785-1936 |
| Memory frequency, MHz | 10 012 | 10 012 | 10 112 | 10 012 |
| Connectors | 1xDVI-D 1xHDMI 2.0b 3xDP 1.4 |
1xDVI-D 1xHDMI 2.0b 3xDP 1.4 |
1xDVI-D 1xHDMI 2.0b 3xDP 1.4 |
1xDVI-D 2xHDMI 2.0b 2xDP 1.  4 |
| Dimensions, mm | 268×102×37 | 282×105×41 | 279×140×42 | 300×123×41 |
| Stronger than previous | – | >6% | >1% | >5% |
As you can see, in terms of factory overclocking, Gigabyte is 6% ahead of the reference from nVidia, MSI is just 1% behind it, and ASUS leads by another 5%. But this difference is insignificant and even in tests it is difficult to notice it, not to mention the added 100 MHz to the memory frequency of MSI for some reason, which does nothing at all. In any case, fans of squeezing the maximum out of iron more than compensate for the difference with manual overclocking. In this regard, MSI has a margin no less than that of ASUS.
The next difference concerns connectors, and here again ASUS stands out, which has 2 HDMI ports, so those who need it simply will not have a choice.
Well, video cards also differ significantly in size. Gigabyte is relatively short (282 mm) and very narrow (105 mm), MSI is a little shorter (279 mm) but unusually wide (140 mm), while ASUS is very long (300 mm) with a normal width for this class of video cards (123 mm). ). This must be taken into account depending on the dimensions of the case.
4. Packaging and Contents
The MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X is packaged in a medium-sized crimson box with the proud ‘VRREADY’ logo to support virtual reality technology.
And the bottom indicates support for other proprietary technologies from nVidia — GameWorks, Ansel, VRWorks, DirectX 12 and the use of an updated Twin Frozr VI cooling system in the design.
At the back, attention is focused on backlighting, low noise levels and proprietary software.
In the lower right corner there is a list of supported technologies.
The most interesting of those that we haven’t mentioned yet:
- nVidia SLI (Multi-GPU)
- G-SYNC (frame sync)
- GameStream (game streaming)
- GPU Boost 3.
0 (auto overclocking)
But all this is generally supported by other modern video cards.
The scope of delivery does not spoil.
In addition to the video card itself, it includes:
- a disk with drivers and utilities
- user manual
- video card installation manual
- sticker with stickers
Unfortunately, not a single adapter was included. But the guide for installing and connecting the video card in the form of a comic book with a dragon
5. Design and layout
The video card looks quite serious and beautiful, I immediately liked it, despite the fact that I was delighted with the design of ASUS ROG Strix.
It’s nice that all connectors without exception are carefully covered with plastic caps. But I was especially struck by the width of the video card and it is not surprising, because the cooling system uses two huge (as for a video card) 100 mm turntables with dragons
From above, the board is covered with a ventilated metal backplate, which does not allow the textolite to sag excessively and protects the surface-mounted elements from damage.
There is nothing unusual in the location of the connectors, but the area of the ventilation holes is small.
But this is the fault of most video cards and, as practice shows, this does not have a big effect on cooling.
On the other hand, the cooling system includes 6 powerful nickel-plated heat pipes that effectively remove heat from the GPU.
Two additional power connectors 8-pin and 6-pin are located in the usual place for modern video cards.
Well, in the rear end you can see the radiators of the power system, which are also blown by the air flow from the fan.
Of course, the video card, as it is fashionable now, has a backlight.
The white MSI dragon emblem and red fins show through the clear case window. But, despite the fact that the case is quite wide (200 mm), the lid, when closed, rested against the additional power cable and became back to back.
6. Software
MSI has developed a variety of software for its graphics cards, let’s take a look at them one by one.
6.1. MSI Afterburner
MSI Afterburner is rightfully considered the best utility for overclocking video cards.
MSI Afterburner allows you to:
- overclock the video card
- adjust fan speed
- create settings profiles
- track mass parameters
- take screenshots
- record video
In addition, MSI Afterburner includes the famous RivaTuner Statistics Server package for monitoring various parameters that can be displayed over full-screen applications (overlay). This is used to determine the load on the video card, video memory, as well as the processor, RAM and temperature indicators (together with the HWiNFO utility).
6.2. MSI Kombustor
MSI Kombustor is a stability testing utility based on FurMark.
It allows you to determine the temperature mode of the video card.
It can also be used to test PhisX, OpenGL and other graphics technologies.
6.3. MSI Fan Control
MSI Fan Control is a small utility for manually adjusting the fan speed of a video card.
The utility was on the installation disk, but it did not start for me, displaying a message that the video card is not supported.
6.4. MSI Gaming APP
MSI Gaming APP is a multi-functional utility that allows you to enable various graphics card modes with one click.
We will consider the Windows version of the utility, but there is also a mobile version that allows you to control the video card using a smartphone or tablet
The main ones are performance modes:
- OC Mode (maximum performance)
- Gaming Mode (default)
- Silent Mode
In addition, the utility has a number of other functions.
Eye Rest — Controls the display settings of the monitor.
The following modes are available:
- Eye Rest
- Gaming (Gaming contrast enhancement)
- Movie (watch video)
- Customize
The Default button returns the default settings, turning off all effects.
Function LED — allows you to control the backlight of the video card.
By default, the backlight is always on. Here you can turn it off completely or set different effects:
- breathing
- flashing
- double flash
- random effect
It looks nice, but I would like more effects. With LED Color, you can change the color of the MSI dragon logo to any color from the RGB range, it’s very effective!
If the video card has several separate backlight zones, then they can be adjusted separately, and you can also turn on the color music effect, then the backlight will flash to the beat of the music
were not saved. But, after updating the utility to the latest version from the MSI website, the backlight mode did not crash and no longer required the utility to be launched after the computer was booted.
OSD function — allows you to display monitoring data over games.
Monitoring of processor and memory parameters turned out to be unavailable for me, perhaps this requires an MSI motherboard. The utility also warns that a very limited number of games are officially supported (only about 20).
However, this also works in other games. You can adjust the size of the text, but it is not possible to change its color and position. By default, indicators are displayed in small red font in the upper left corner of the game.
So this utility is not very suitable for monitoring, it is better to use MSI Afterburner with RivaTuner, where everything can be fine-tuned.
Cooler Boost — available as a snowflake button, turns on the increased speed of the video card fans, which can be useful in especially hot conditions.
Zero Frozr function — allows you to forcibly turn off the passive mode, in which the fans do not rotate, if you want them to spin at least at minimum speed all the time.
But, when you exit the utility, the fans stop again, so you need to enable autoload in the settings.
The Dragon Eye function is available both from the utility interface and through a separate shortcut on the desktop.
Allows you to watch YouTube and Twitch videos in an overlay window on top of the game.
Just insert a link to the video, select the size, position and transparency of the video window. Hotkeys are also supported to control the overlay window during the game.
6.5. MSI Mystic Light
MSI Mystic Light is an advanced backlight control utility for MSI motherboards, graphics cards and other devices.
The possibilities of the program are quite wide.
But unfortunately I couldn’t test it as it only works on MSI motherboards.
6.6. MSI Live Update
MSI Live Update is a utility for checking for MSI software updates.
Updates can be checked both manually and automatically according to a schedule.
I recommend that you do not install old utilities from the disk, but immediately download the latest versions from the manufacturer’s website.
7. Video card test
We tested the MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X in 3DMark 2011 synthetic test, FurMark temperature test and heavy popular games.
7.1. Test stand
The video card was tested in the following configuration:
- DELL U2412M Monitor (1920×1200, 60Hz)
- Processor Core i7-6700K (4-4.2 GHz)
- Cooler Deepcool ICE Wind Pro
- Motherboard ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming
- RAM Team DDR4-2666 MHz (2×8 GB)
- SSD Samsung EVO 750
- Power supply AeroCool KCAS-500W
- Body AeroCool Aero-800
- Fans Deepcool GS120 (5 pcs, 1000 rpm)
You can follow the links from this list to reviews of all components on our website, from which you will learn a lot of useful things.
Operating system Windows 10 x64 Pro, driver nVidia 384.76 WQHL.
7.2. Test in 3Dmark 2011
In the popular benchmark 3DMark 2011 with default settings, the video card scored 31749 points in graphics and 11668 in physics.
But this data can only be used in comparison with tests of other video cards.
7.3. Test in FurMark
In the FurMark test, the fans started to spin when the temperature of the graphics chip reached 63°, before that the cooling system worked in passive mode. At room temperature of 26°C, the temperature of the graphics card stabilized at 71°C, which for a GTX 1080 with a TDP of 180W is, if not excellent, then very good.
At the same time, the fans rotated at 67% of the maximum, which gives a noise level of about 50 dBa and it was almost indistinguishable against the background of a quiet system unit.
7.4. Tests in games
Built-in benchmarks of games were used to determine the performance, and where they are not available, the indicators of the next indicative 10 minutes of the game (when active actions began) were taken using the FRAPS program.
The games were tested at 1920×1200 with the following settings.
| Render | Preset | Smoothing | |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider | DX12 | Maximum | SSAA 2x, HBAO+ |
| Grand Theft Auto 5 | DX11 | Maximum | MSAA 4x |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | DX11 | Maximum | HBAO+, HairWorks |
| Just Cause 3 | DX11 | Maximum | SMAA T2x |
| Doom (2016) | Vulkan | Maximum | FXAA, AA 16x |
| Deus Ex: Mankid Divided | DX11 | High | FXAA, AA 16x, SSAO |
| Mafia III | DX11 | High | |
| Batman: Arkham Knight | DX11 | Maximum | AA 16x, GameWorks |
| Watch Dogs 2 | DX11 | High | FXAA, HBAO+ |
| Tom Clancy’s The Division | DX11 | Maximum | SSAA Ultra |
| Battlefield 1 | DX12 | Ultra | FXAA, HBAO+ |
| Resident Evil 7 | DX11 | Very high | FXAA, HBAO+ |
| Mass Effect: Andromeda | DX11 | Maximum | FXAA, HBAO+ |
| DiRT 4 | DX11 | Maximum | MSAA 4x, AA 16x |
| Titanfall 2 | DX11 | Crazy | MSAA 4x, AA 16x |
The minimum and average FPS obtained from the tests are shown in the diagram below.
As you can see, in some games, the minimum frame rate dropped below a comfortable 60 FPS, but in general, the average FPS was on top. For a monitor with a resolution of 2K (2560 × 1440) GTX 1080 is the minimum option, since the frame rate in this resolution is one and a half times lower than in Full HD.
8. Personal impressions
Since I upgraded my graphics card, I’ve played several games at the highest graphics settings.
Watch Dogs 2 with cinematic graphics on ultra settings set automatically by the game kept the frame rate at 100 FPS. So I turned on vsync and enjoyed a very smooth picture without lags and drawdowns at a constant 60 FPS.
The graphics in Titanfall 2 impressed me even more. In addition, the game was well optimized. On ultra graphics, which was also set automatically, the game gave out about 110 FPS, which also allowed us to enable frame synchronization. The whole game was completed without any drawdowns and lags. By the way, both the graphics and the gameplay in it are simply gorgeous, if you haven’t played it, be sure to try it!
In Armored Warfare, which I often play, loading the HD client and setting the graphics to ultra didn’t make any noticeable difference compared to the high preset.
But the picture began to swim somehow unpleasantly, despite the fact that the frame rate was consistently above 100 FPS. The inclusion of synchronization did not change much, except for a more comfortable and less abrupt frame change. And only lowering the graphics settings from ultra to very high returned an excellent balance of smoothness and picture quality. But this seems to be a problem with the game engine.
In Batman Arkham Knight, which I couldn’t comfortably play on the GTX 660 at high settings, the new graphics card performed just as well. At maximum settings, the game ran very smoothly, and the frame rate was about 120 FPS, which also allowed for the use of synchronization. But the game quickly got tired of me and I did not go through it to the end.
During the whole game I never heard any noise from the video card at all. In general, my expectations were fully justified, the video card pulls out heavy games on ultra graphics and there is still a margin to a comfortable level of 60 FPS.
I am surprised by people who say that GTX 1060 is enough for modern games, they probably only play solitaire, maximum tanks
9. Conclusion
The MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X is an excellent value for money graphics card. It is optimal for playing at ultra settings in Full HD resolution and has some margin for the future (approximately 2-3 years for playing at ultra and a few more years at high settings).
In addition, this video card is cool and quiet, which is important. In general, it can be recommended as one of the best options for today. But keep in mind that it is quite wide and may not fit into a narrow case.
Click the links below to download video card comparison tables for performance, power consumption and recommended power supply.
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 TI Gaming X 11G video card test. Proud leadership 1080 Ti
07/12/17
The reviewed MSI GeForce GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G has a «twin sister» GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI GAMING 11G (without X), which differs only in slightly lower frequencies
The arrival of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti in February 2017, which should be even more powerful and faster than the GTX 1080, was to be expected.
In recent years, this is a common practice for NVIDIA, when the current top-end video card of the line is supplemented by the older (in terms of speed) model with the Ti prefix.
Even before the release of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, NVIDIA had a strong leadership in the high-end video card segment. And with the release of this model, it strengthened its position even more. The competitor, at the moment, has nothing to answer in the top class of graphics adapters.
Note that the GTX 1080 Ti is not a slightly overclocked version of the GTX 1080. It uses a different GPU borrowed from a 2016 NVIDIA TITAN X graphics card.
Yes, the GPU architecture is still the same — Pascal. But the GPU itself is more complex. For a clearer picture of the differences between the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, GTX 1080 and TITAN X (2016), we provide a separate table.
Comparison of the characteristics of referential video cards NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and Titan X (2016)
Features MSI GTX 1080 TI Gaming X 11G 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 Cred based on the models of the latest generation GTX 10, we have already got acquainted with the example of the GTX 1080, GTX 1060.
It is logical that this model MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G, based on the GTX 1080 Ti, has a lot in common with them.
Video output set MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G
MSI GAMING graphics cards are characterized by the presence of three modes of operation, slightly different in operating frequencies. The choice of modes is carried out using proprietary software.
MSI Gaming app main menu
Also, using the proprietary software, you can control the glow of the red inserts on the front side of the video card and the illumination of the MSI logo on the side panel. Various effects are available (breathing, flickering, permanent glow, etc.).
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G backlighting is traditional for all latest generation MSI GAMING series video cards. The “claws” around the fan are illuminated in red, and the color of the logo on the side panel can be chosen to your liking. Various lighting effects are also supported.
Pictured is MSI GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING X 6G
Backlight Mode Control
e.) «srcset=»https://hi-tech.ua/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/MSI- 1080-Ti-gaming-osd.jpg 495w, https://hi-tech.ua/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/MSI-1080-Ti-gaming-osd-205×142.jpg /uploads/2017/07/MSI-1080-Ti-gaming-osd-300×208.jpg 300w» /> Overlaying various data on the screen (frequency, temperature, FPS, etc.)
Although not only in terms of performance but also in terms of heat dissipation, the GTX 1080 Ti is often used with three fans, but the MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G, like other MSI GAMING models, uses two fans.0007
With a fairly normal length, the video card turned out to be high and, most importantly, wide. When installed on the motherboard, it will take not two, but three expansion slots
But don’t let that bother you. The fans are very large, and in general the cooling system here is very powerful.
A heat exchanger is used, penetrated by a large number of heat pipes, the heat from which is taken away by a very developed radiator.
Under the casing there is also a special plate that serves as a stiffener and at the same time is a heatsink for memory chips. The elements of the eight-phase power supply system are in contact with the main radiator through a thermal pad.
The board itself has been modified from the reference. Declared the use of advanced components of increased reliability.
The back plate serves as a decorative role and protects against mechanical impact
The manufacturer slightly increased the GPU and memory frequencies, which is the standard for this series of MSI video cards.
In Gaming mode (default), GPU and memory clocks are 1544 (1657 Boost) and 11016 MHz respectively. For comparison, the reference GPU frequencies for the GTX 1080 Ti are 1480 (1582 Boost frequency).
And when you select OC Mode, the frequencies for the GPU will be 1569 (1683 Boost frequency) and 11124 MHz for the memory.
Characteristics of the MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X 11G video card according to GPU-Z
in the work
9000
Any fears that the MSI GEFORCE two-fenant cooling system GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X 11 is not the best suitable for such a powerful (TDP is 250 W) video card, turned out to be absolutely in vain.
Under load in our conditions, the fans spin up to only about 1300 rpm. You can’t call a noisy video card at all
In our working conditions (open stand, room temperature about 23 ° C) in games, the temperature of the GPU rarely exceeded 68 ° C . For a video card of this class, this is a good indicator. At the same time, the fan speed remained at about 1300 rpm. At this speed, the noise level of the MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G under load was negligible.
According to measurements, the frequency of the GPU of this video card rises much higher than the declared Boost frequency.
It is often possible to observe a value at the level of 1924 MHz.
MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G under load (MSI Afterburner)
GPU voltage and frequency curve at factory settings (data from MSI Afterburner) in the absence of load. When the GPU temperature drops below 50°C, the fans stop and the graphics card runs silently. When the temperature rises to approx. 63 °C, the fans turn on.
Benchmarks and performance
To evaluate the performance, we compared the MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G with its relative MSI GTX 1080 GAMING X 11G based on GPU G08 the last ninth generation (GTX 980 Ti), which was Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 980 Ti X4 Ultra.
Predictably, the GTX 1080 Ti model was noticeably faster than the GTX 1080 and GTX 9 solutions80 Ti .
It can be predicted that with an increase in load and the transition to higher resolutions, the gap between the GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G and these opponents will be even more significant.
Unfortunately, the lack of a suitable monitor did not allow us to compare the performance of video cards in 4K resolution (3840 × 2160 pixels).
Note that we tested the MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G in the Gaming mode, which is used in the video card by default.
Test platform configuration:
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K, overclocked to 4.2 MHz
Drives: SSD Adata S511 120 GB (system), HDD 1 TB
Operating system: Windows 10 64 bit
Drivers for graphics card based on NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1080 Ti: GeForce 384.76
Drivers for graphics cards based on Geforce GTX 1080 and GTX
Advanced proprietary cooling system copes well with this powerful video card, providing a fairly comfortable noise level. Taking into account a certain temperature margin and an improved board, the model has a certain reserve for overclocking manipulations.
The lighting system, although not the most advanced at the moment, is also very interesting and functional.
Fans of experimenting should like proprietary software. Mobile devices are also supported.
In terms of performance, the MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI GAMING X 11G is a monster, but don’t expect anything else from a device based on the GTX 1080 Ti.
Our complaints only relate to the dimensions of the device and the level of power consumption. But this is not a problem of this particular video card, but a feature of all GTX 1080 Ti boards.
As for the cost, this is currently a sore point for powerful video cards. Graphics adapters are in short supply and overpriced. MSI GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti GAMING X 11G is now over $1000. This is, of course, a very high level, well above NVIDIA’s recommended price for the GTX 1080 Ti.
9028 performance
+ efficient quiet cooling system with switchable fans
+ increased frequencies
+ controlled backlight, interesting proprietary application
— high power consumption
— rather large dimensions
The most pumped GTX 1060
Overview of video cards based on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 from Inno3D, MSI and Zotac.