MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Super Gaming X Trio Graphics Card Review
MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Super Gaming X Trio Graphics Card Review
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The RTX 2080 Super also sports the same number of transistors (13.6 billion) and GDDR6 RAM (8GB by Samsung for this model) as its predecessor but comes with increased clock speeds on both the core (1815MHz/1710MHz) and RAM (15.5Gbps/14Gbps) and a higher TDP (thermal design power — 250W/215W). On top of all of the above the Super Gaming X Trio model by MSI also offers a factory overclocked boost clock of 1845MHz (RAM clocks remain the same), 12 phase VRM custom PCB, Tri-Frozr cooling solution (triple fan, dual heatsink design with 7 heatpipes, copper base and support for zero RPM mode when in idle), reinforced metal frame, rear backplate and Mystic Light compatible RGB LEDs (20 effects). As for available outputs the GeForce RTX 2080 Super Gaming X Trio comes ready with 3 DP v1.4 ports, single HDMI v2.0b port and a USB-C port thus supporting a total of 4 displays with resolutions of up to 7680x4320p.
Overclocking Showdown — The RTX 2080 SUPER vs.
the RTX 2080
Overclocking Showdown – The RTX 2080 SUPER vs. the RTX 2080 Comparing the Architectural Upgrade
This overclocking showdown is the follow-up to the RTX 2080 SUPER Founders Edition (FE) review where we are now focusing on its maximum overclocked performance versus the maximum overclocked original RTX 2080 FE. We have also matched the memory and core clocks on both cards to see what performance changes the upgrade of the RTX 2080 SUPER FE edition brings with its increased cache size and with two more SM’s enabled over the original RTX 2080 FE.
The RTX 2080 SUPER was released with about 4-8% more performance over the original RTX 2080 FE to differentiate itself more from the RTX 2070 SUPER which encroaches on the original’s performance territory. Besides the architectural upgrade, the RTX 2080 SUPER boasts a 15MHz faster core and 15.6Mbps GDDR6 which is clocked 750MHz higher than the original RTX 2080.
Besides matching their clocks, we have optimized and maxed-out our RTX 2080 SUPER FE and RTX 2080 FE overclocks with all performance options set to their highest limits to get the maximum performance from each card by using a carefully selected 7-game benchmark suite which uses the most accurate and reliable benchmarks that have been each run many more times than usual.
We use the latest WHQL public release Game Ready 431.60 drivers so our results may differ from the 431.56 press drivers used for the RTX 2080 SUPER review. In addition, the cards’ fan speeds have been set to at least 80% to eliminate thermal variability.
The RTX 2080 SUPER FE Overclocking
The RTX 2080 SUPER FE steadily averages 1935-1950MHz Boost under full gaming load after warm-up in a cool room with the card’s Power and Temperature limits maximized. We achieved a completely stable 120MHz offset to the core and a +500MHz offset to the GDDR6. We found that +600MHz was also possible, but the performance stopped increasing, and at +650MHz it began artifacting.
Our final overclock of the RTX 2080 SUPER FE gave us an offset of +120MHz to the core (2055MHz Boost) and a +500MHz offset to its faster memory (8250MHz).
The RTX 2080 Founders Edition Overclocking
The RTX 2080 FE averages 1905-1920MHz at stock settings in a cool room with its Power and Temperature limits maximized.
Our final manual overclock of the original RTX 2080 FE achieves a +140MHz offset to the core (2055MHz Boost) and a +590MHz offset to the memory (7620MHz). This comparison should give a rough idea of how well these two cards each scale with overclocking and how their performance compares.
Matching the RTX 2080 FE’s Clocks to the RTX 2080 SUPER’s Clocks
To match the original RTX 2080 memory clocks, the RTX 2080 SUPER had its memory clocks lowered from 7750MHz to 7000MHz which we were able to do with Precision 1X but not with Afterburner. And to match the core clocks, the original RTX 2080 had +15MHz added to its core speed so that both cards held steady clocks, each card only fluctuating between 1920MHz and 1935MHz as the ambient temperatures were similar.
Our fan profile was set to allow both cards to ramp up from 80% to 85% for all of these tests so that neither card reached 70C even when fully overclocked so as to remove throttling caused by temperature variability.
Interestingly, both cards each reached 2055MHz boost when fully manually overclocked, so it is likely that most of the performance differences may come from the memory speed. The overclocked RTX 2080 SUPER can reach 8250MHz using faster GDDR6 while the original RTX 2080 can only handle 7590MHz.
The upgraded changes made from the original RTX 2080 to the RTX 2080 SUPER are (1) a GDDR6 memory speed upgrade to 15.6Gbps, (2) an additional speed increase to its core, (3) increased cache size, and with (4) two more SM’s enabled.
We feel that since both RTX 2080s have identical cooling and similar overall characteristics, lowering the memory clocks -750MHz on the SUPER to match the original RTX 2080 and increasing the core clock +15MHz of the original card to match the RTX 2080 SUPER may give us an idea of the performance changes from the increased cache size and additional SMs.
Let’s check the performance results of 7 games with our games at stock, matched, and overclocked speeds using the Founders Editions of the RTX 2080 SUPER versus the original RTX 2080 FE after the Testing configuration.
Testing Platform
We test 7 games and 4 synthetic benchmarks at 3840×2160 and at 2560×1440. Our testing platform is a recent install of Windows 10 64-bit Home Edition v1903, and we are using an i7-8700K which turbos all 6 cores to 4.8GHz, an EVGA Z370 FTW motherboard, and 16GB of XTREEM DDR4 at 3866MHz. The games, settings, and hardware are identical except for the cards being compared.
Before we run our benchmarks, let’s check out the test configuration.
Test Configuration – Hardware
- Intel Core i7-8700K (HyperThreading and Turbo boost are on to 4.8GHz for all cores; Coffee Lake DX11 CPU graphics).
- EVGA Z370 FTW motherboard (Intel Z370 chipset, latest BIOS, PCIe 3.0/3.1 specification, CrossFire/SLI 8x+8x), supplied by EVGA
- T-FORCE XTREEM 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB, dual channel at 3866MHz), supplied by Team Group
- RTX 2080 8GB Founders Edition, at stock FE clocks, matched to the RTX 2080 SUPER clocks, and overclocked, on loan from NVIDIA
- RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB Founders Edition, at stock FE clocks, matched to RTX 2080 clocks, and overclocked, on loan from NVIDIA.
- 480 GB Team Group SSD
- 1.92 TB San Disk enterprise class SSD
- 2 TB Micron 1100 SSD
- Seasonic 850W Gold Focus power supply unit
- EVGA CLC 280mm CPU water cooler, supplied by EVGA
- EVGA NuAudio soundcard, supplied by EVGA
- Edifier 1280T powered speakers
- EVGA DG-77, mid-tower case supplied by EVGA
- Monoprice Crystal Pro 4K
Test Configuration – Software
- GeForce 431.60 WHQL drivers
- VSync is forced off.
- AA enabled as noted in games; all in-game settings are specified
- Gaming results show average frame rates in bold including minimum frame rates shown on the chart next to the averages in a smaller italics font, and higher is better. Civilization VI uses frametimes measurements and lower is better.
- Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.
- Windows 10 64-bit Home edition latest version (v1903) and fully updated.
- Latest DirectX
- All games are updated to their latest versions at time of publication.
- MSI Afterburner, latest beta
- Precision X1 latest version
- Fraps, latest version
7 PC Game benchmark suite & 4 synthetic tests
Synthetic
- Firestrike – Basic & Extreme
- Time Spy DX12
- Superposition
- Heaven 4.0
DX11 Games
- For Honor
- Ghost Recon Wildlands
- Prey
- Total War: Warhammer II
DX12 Games
- Civilization VI
- Metro Exodus
- Metro Exodus – DLSS+Ultra RTX
Vulkan Game
- Strange Brigade
NVIDIA Control Panel settings
Here are the NVIDIA Control Panel settings that match AMD’s settings.
We used the latest beta of Afterburner to set both GeForce’s highest Power and Temperature targets. In addition we added .
1mV for overclocking. By setting the Power Limits and Temperature limits to maximum, they do not throttle, but they can reach and maintain their individual maximum clocks. This is particularly beneficial for almost all higher power cards.
Let’s head to the performance results of our overclocking and matched-clocks showdown between the RTX 2080 FE and the RTX 2080 SUPER FE.
Performance summary charts
Here are the performance results of 7 games and 4 synthetic tests comparing the stock, matched, and overclocked RTX 2080 FE 8GB versus the stock, matched and overclocked RTX 2080 SUPER 8GB Founders Edition. The highest settings are always chosen and the settings are listed on the charts. The benches were run at 3840×2160 and at 2560×1440.
Gaming results show average framerates in bold text, and higher is better. Minimum framerates are next to the averages in italics and in a slightly smaller font. Civilization 6 results are given as frametimes in ms where lower numbers are better.
First up, the Overclocked results:
We see that both cards each gain performance from overclocking and the RTX 2080 SUPER pulls further away from the original RTX 2080 by virtue of its faster memory although they both achieve the same core overclock (2050MHz).
Now let’s check out the matched results where the clocks are equalized between both cards. The RTX 2080 SUPER has its memory clocks reduced by -750MHz to 7000MHz to match the original RTX 2080’s memory speeds, and the original RTX 2080 is overclocked by +15MHz to match the SUPER’s core speed.
Interestingly, the RTX 2080 SUPER tends to give slightly less performance when it is running at the same clocks as the RTX 2080. Of course, we only tested two samples with a dozen benchmarks, and all of the results are generally within 3% which could be attributed to benching ‘noise’ or margin of error.
There is one notable exception with the RTX 2080 SUPER running Strange Brigade.
Lowering the SUPER’s memory clocks drastically dropped the minimum frame rates although we ran the benchmark many times with the same results. One may perhaps speculate that the RTX 2080 SUPER needs a bit more core speed and higher memory clocks to take full advantage of its extra two SMs and the larger cache.
Let’s check out our conclusion.
Conclusion
This has been quite an interesting exploration for us in evaluating the stock, clocked-matched, and overclocked RTX 2080 SUPER FE versus the stock, clock-matched, and overclocked original RTX 2080 FE. The RTX 2080 SUPER FE overall is a bit faster than the original RTX 2080 at stock. But overclocked, the new RTX 2080 SUPER pulls away even further away thanks to its significantly faster memory and architectural upgrade.
A gamer looking for the best value in the $700 range should pick either an original RTX 2080 or a RTX 2080 SUPER with confidence. Both cards overclock equally well on their cores and in our case, both reached 2050MHz, although the overclocked RTX 2080 SUPER card pulls further away from the overclocked original RTX 2080.
We had originally intended to get back to VR comparing the RX 5700 XT with the new SUPER cards, but our Anniversary Edition became defective and we sent it back to AMD for an exchange. We also received a Vive Pro from HTC Vive and can’t wait to bring you a mega-VR review. However, while waiting for our RX 5700 XT to return from RMA, we will bring you two Team Group reviews: a Vulcan 500GB SSD review and a T-FORCE DDR4 gaming review starting next week.
Stay tuned. In the meantime, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to post them in the comments section below.
Happy Gaming!
MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
In this review, we’re looking at the 8 GB version of Nvidia’s MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio graphics card.
The card is equipped with 2×8 Pin connectors and consumes from 200 watts to 265 watts depending on overclocking, miner and algorithm.
Specifications
| Specifications | MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Video Memory | GDDR6 8GB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This is a program for managing the power of a video card, the frequency of a graphics chip and video memory. The power reduction potential for video cards of the 20th line is low — they themselves are designed for 250 watts. At stock frequencies, consumption at a load in mining is in the range of 200 — 230 watts, but even in such conditions, these are horse volumes of electricity in terms of profit. 
The heatsink also provides extra rigidity for the card. It screws into both the backplate and the I/O bracket. 
| Test stand | ||
| CPU | Intel Core i9-9900K (4.9 GHz, 4.8 GHz in AVX, fixed frequency) | board | ASUS MAXIMUS XI APEX |
| 0010 | 1920 × 1080 | Off |
| 3DMark Fire Strike 1.1 Extreme | 2560 × 1440 | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike 1.1 Ultra | 3840 × 2160 | |
| 3DMark Time Spy 1.1 | DirectX 12 (feature level 11_0) | 2560 × 1440 |
| 3DMark Time Spy Extreme 1.1 | 3840 × 2160 | |
| Game Benchmarks | ||||
| MSAA 4x + TAA Ultra | Off | |||
| Far Cry 5 | DirectX 11 | Built-in benchmark. Max. graphics quality |
TAA | TAA |
| Strange Brigade | Vulkan | Built-in benchmark. Max. graphics quality | AA Ultra | AA Ultra |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | DirectX 12 | Built-in benchmark. Max. graphics quality | SMAA 4x | SMAAT 2x |
| Forza Horizon 4 | DirectX 12 | Built-in benchmark. Max. graphics quality | MSAA 4x + FXAA | FXAA |
| Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | DirectX 11 | Built-in benchmark. Max. graphics quality | AA High (TAA) | AA High (TAA) |
| Battlefield V | DirectX 12 | OCAT, Liberte mission. Max. graphics quality. DXR off, DLSS off | TAA High | TAA High |
| Metro Exodus | DirectX 12 | Built-in benchmark. Max. graphics quality. DXR off, DLSS off, Shading Rate 100% | TAA | TAA |
DiRT Rally 2. 0 |
DirectX 11 | Built-in benchmark. Max. graphics quality | MSAA 4x + TAA | TAA |
| Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 | DirectX 12 | Built-in benchmark. Max. graphics quality | AA Ultra (TAA) | AA Ultra (TAA) |
| Total War: THREE KINGDOMS | DirectX 12 | Built-in Battle Benchmark. Max. graphics quality | TAA | TAA |
In most test games, the average and minimum frame rates are derived from the array of individual frame render times recorded by the built-in benchmark (or the OCAT utility, if not available).
The average frame rate in the charts is the reciprocal of the average frame time. To estimate the minimum frame rate, the number of frames generated in each second of the test is calculated. From this array of numbers, the value corresponding to the 1st percentile of the distribution is selected.
The exceptions to this technique are three games with a built-in benchmark — DiRT Rally 2.
0, Far Cry 5 and Forza Horizon 4. The Far Cry 5 benchmark itself records the number of frames per second of the test — the average FPS value and the 1st percentile are calculated based on these numbers, and not on the rendering time of individual frames. The DiRT Rally 2.0 benchmark records only the average frame rate and the minimum frame rate calculated from the maximum frame time. Forza Horizon 4 does not output any performance parameters to a file and also reports average and minimum frame rate totals.
The power of video cards is recorded separately from the CPU and other PC components using the JUNTEK VAT-1050 ammeter. In order to simultaneously measure the current passing through the additional power connectors and the motherboard slot, the video card is connected through a PCI Express x16 hard riser, in which the power lines are broken and brought out to a separate cable.
Test load for power and noise tests using Crysis 3 at 3840 x 2160 resolution without FSAA and maximum graphics quality settings, and FurMark stress test at the most aggressive settings (3840 x 2160 resolution, MSAA 8x).
Measurements of all parameters are performed after the video card warms up, when the GPU temperature and clock speeds stabilize.
Thermal images
All thermal images were taken under maximum load for a general idea and understanding of the cooling system with a slight overclocking of the core and memory.
At first glance, the coolers do a good job and the GPU temperature is around 72 degrees.
However, it should be understood here that the card costs 1 in an open stand. This means that in a dense rig without additional cooling, the GPU temperature will reach 80 degrees and above, depending on the room temperature and the presence of additional cooling.
From the side of the backplate, we see a similar picture.
In general, the overall impression of the cooling system is satisfactory, but you should understand that it is better not to build a farm on these cards without additional cooling.
Conclusion
In general, the video card Palit RTX 2080 SUPER WGRP 8 Gb turned out not bad, with its pluses and minuses.
As for the assembly, it is 5, all casing parts and fans are made of good quality plastic, plus the card fits perfectly in the hand, there are no flimsy parts.
As for the cooling system, it is not very good. In a dense rig we would advise you to use additional cooling. Without it, the temperature of the cards can exceed 72-76 degrees.
We also advise you to set the cooler RPM to no more than 69%, since the cooler is the most common failure in a video card. When working in mining 24/7 at 100% speed, the coolers break down faster, the oil dries out, they turn into a “stone”.
Therefore, set the speed to 69% and use additional cooling such as a floor fan.
Based on all of the above, the Bytwork team recommends this card for purchase, but if the budget allows, we would advise you to look at other models with a better cooling system.
Memory and power consumption
Video card equipped with 8 GB GDDR6. Most often supplied by the company Samsung .
Each memory chip is marked “ K4Z80325BC-HC16 «.
As we have already said, the frequency of the card is 1845 MHz — this means that the card has already been overclocked for you at the factory (for the core — +30 MHz), but you can slightly overclock it yourself if you have the necessary knowledge.
It is worth noting that under overclocking the card can consume up to 270 watts without downvolting.
Unlike the reference card, which has 1×6 and 1×8 Pin connectors, MSI has increased the card’s power supply and made -2×8 Pinn power connectors.
A farm of 6 MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio graphics cards and a connected power system (motherboard, SSD, processor) will require 1 x 1800W PSU or 2 x 1000W PSUs.
You can find out how to power a farm with 2 power supplies on our website.
Also on our website you can choose a great block for mining: the corresponding section contains detailed articles about different power supplies: their configuration, efficiency, drawdowns, ripple, analysis and much more.
performance in mining
Hashrate
| Algorithm | MH/S (under optimal overclocking) | ZHASH | 74 (H/S) |
| Ethash | 39.2 (MH/S) |
| Progpow | 20.4 (MH/S) | NeOSCRYPT | 2460 (KH/S) |
| x16S | 27.2 (MH/S) |
| Lyra2z | 5.8 (MH/S) |
| PHI2 | |
| CNSBER | 1045 (h/s) |
| BCD | 1045 (h/s) | x22i | 17 (MH/S) |
How much can earn
0 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9,000 MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio is great at mining algorithms like Equihash (150.5), CuckooCycle, X16RT, MTP, X16R. Most of the coins of these algorithms are very profitable for mining.
Next are the algorithms, mining of which will bring you a little less profit, but they are still worth considering: Equihash(210.9), BCD, Zhash, Xevan, ProgPow, Ethash and others.
Well, at the end there are coins whose mining is unprofitable — these are coins that have switched to ASICs, or have been mined by ASICs for a long time, as well as coins that have scrambled: Equihash, CryptoNight, LBRY and many others.
Please note that a little later we will add the behavior of this video card in mining on different algorithms. Its payback, income per day, as well as hashrate.
Mining profitability on Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER
We figured out what hashrate the 2080 S has, but what about the profitability? In the table below you can see how much profit per day one card will bring. The data is presented for August 2021. Current information can be calculated at whattomine.com.
| Cryptocurrency | 24 hour USD revenue | Cryptocurrency | 24 hour USD revenue | ||
| Ethereum(ETH)
Ethash |
$2. 59 |
EthereumClassic(ETC)
Etchash |
$1.90 | ||
| Nicehash-Ethash
Ethash |
$ 2.77 | Expanse (Exp)
Ethash |
$1.57 | Etho(ETHO)
Ethash |
$0.82 |
| Callisto(CLO)
Ethash |
$1.05 | Ubiq(UBQ)
Ubqhash |
$ 0.74 | ||
| Ellaism (ELLA)
ETHASH |
$ 0.88 | $0.71 |
MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Super Gaming X Trio / Page 6
Review Page:
1- Introduction & Specs, Map & PCB Analysis, Test Setup2- Gaming Test3- (Part 1) test (part 2)4- Gaming test (part 3)5- Performance & Consumption6- Temperatures & Noise, Overclocking & Power Limit7- Rating & Review
Contents:
Temperatures
| GPU temperatures (comparison) | |||
| Idle | Load | Gaming Noise | |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSI RTX 2080 Super Gaming X Trio | 51°C | 72°C | 32 dB(A) |
| NVIDIA RTX 2080 FE | 36°C | 72°C | 35 dB(A) |
| NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super FE | 36°C | 78°C | 36 dB(A) |
| Zotac RTX 2080 AMP Extreme | 48°C | 84°C | 37 dB(A) |
Noise level
The standby turntable lock feature is a delight.
Gaming noise is significantly lower than the RTX 2080 Founders Edition, making it the quietest RTX 2080 Super card tested to date. Temperatures are good too, so nothing to complain about.
Overclocking
The maximum manual overclocking of this sample is 2295 MHz for VRAM (+18%) and +105 MHz to the base frequency, increasing the average from 1972 MHz to 2063 MHz (+5%).
| Maximum overclocking (comparison) | ||
| Max. GPU Clock | Max. Memory Clock | |
|---|---|---|
| MSI RTX 2080 Super Gaming X Trio | 2063 MHz | 2295 MHz |
| NVIDIA RTX 2080 FE | 2100 MHz | 1980 MHz |
| NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super FE | 2008 MHz | 2300 MHz |
| NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super FE | 2008 MHz | 2300 MHz |
| Zotac RTX 2080 AMP Extreme | 2053 MHz | 2255 MHz |
Overclocking Efficiency
Using the obtained clock speeds, a short Unigine Heaven test was run to evaluate the gain.
Actual, actual gain in 3D performance from manual overclocking was 8.5%!
Clock speeds
To perform this kind of test, the card is first allowed to idle for a while to reach thermal equilibrium. This is followed by an instantaneous 100% gaming load and key parameters are recorded, which gives a rough idea of the card’s behavior when the speed of its fans increases at the same time as the temperature rises. When the temperature reaches a stable point, that is, its increase does not occur within 2 minutes, the load stops and data is recorded during the cooling process.
Volt-Frequency Analysis
The graphics card uses NVIDIA’s dynamic overclocking engine, GPU Boost 4.0, which will adjust frequency and voltage based on load, temperature, and other related factors.
The graph below shows all combinations of GPU frequency and GPU voltage at 1920×1080 resolution. Constructed points allow you to arrange them to indicate more commonly used values.
Light colored markers mean that the frequency/voltage combination is rarely used, and darker dots more often.
Frequency Profile
| GPU frequency | Memory frequency | Clock GPU Voltage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop | 300 MHz | 101 MHz | 0.650 V |
| Multi-Monitor | 300 MHz | 101 MHz | 0.650 V |
| Blu-ray Playback | 300 MHz | 101 MHz | 0.650 V |
| 3D Load | 1965-2025 MHz | 1938 MHz | 1.018-1.050 V |
Power limit
All NVIDIA graphics cards have been given a power limit defined in the BIOS to limit power consumption by adjusting the Boost frequency accordingly. There is also a second limit that determines the maximum TDP setting limit for custom overclocking, i.e. how far the power slider can go.