# MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X 8 GB



## W1zzard (Jun 13, 2016)

MSI's GTX 1080 Gaming X is an overclocked, custom-design variant of the GTX 1080 that doesn't throttle. Its fans are also nearly inaudible in heavy gaming, switching off completely while the card is cool for zero noise output in idle and light gaming.

*Show full review*


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## EzioAs (Jun 13, 2016)

@W1zzard , I don't know if this has been requested yet, but if it's not too much trouble, can we get screenshots of graphics settings for each game in their respective pages? If settings remain similar for each review, you can reuse them for future reviews as well. Thank you.

Great card, btw. Hope this cooler makes it to the GTX 1060 as well.


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## W1zzard (Jun 13, 2016)

EzioAs said:


> @W1zzard , I don't know if this has been requested yet, but if it's not too much trouble, can we get screenshots of graphics settings for each game in their respective pages? If settings remain similar for each review, you can reuse them for future reviews as well.


Yeah I guess I can look into that for the next round of rebenches (not until after AMD RX launch I think)


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## puma99dk| (Jun 13, 2016)

DVI output no longer includes analog VGA signals <-- lol Thumbs down for this, srsly if ppl can afford a GTX 1080 they should be able to afford a better monitor running DVI-D, HDMI or Displayport not sitting with a VGA monitor


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## 64K (Jun 13, 2016)

MSI has done it again. 9.8

The price right now is too high imo but I have expected delays in GPUs since going to 16nm. Maybe the price will come down in a few months or maybe aftermarket GPUs are going to be more expensive in the future. Hope not.


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## rtwjunkie (Jun 13, 2016)

Ok, price is totally beyond my willingness to spend despite this being a killer card, and the particular model I desire.   Now it's time for me to be realistic.

Since I plan on staying on my 1080p IPS monitor for 2 years, I'll be finding a new MSI 980Ti on clearance sale or buy a used one.  The increased GPU power, bandwidth, and 6GB of VRAM will be plenty for the foreseeable future while I still have that monitor.


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## Fluffmeister (Jun 13, 2016)

Definitely expensive, but damn.... nice card.


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## ShurikN (Jun 13, 2016)

> The MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X is available online for $719 - but out of stock at the moment.



Aren't they all


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## Dippyskoodlez (Jun 13, 2016)

Serious question, is there anything legitimately new about the sli hb bridge device, or does a double old bridge work?


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## Legacy-ZA (Jun 13, 2016)

Thank you for the review W1zzard. ^_^

It's a fantastic card, I can't wait to see the reviews coming in for the 1070 versions of the MSi and EVGA cards. 



Dippyskoodlez said:


> Serious question, is there anything legitimately new about the sli hb bridge device, or does a double old bridge work?



As I understand it; you get more bandwidth with the new bridges, translating to more performance. You can still use the old SLi bridges, albeit at reduced bandwidth.

*Edit*
I would like to know just how much of a difference it will make though, would be interesting to see.


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## W1zzard (Jun 13, 2016)

Dippyskoodlez said:


> Serious question, is there anything legitimately new about the sli hb bridge device, or does a double old bridge work?


I'm looking into that right now. SLI HB Bridge just arrived from NV


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## Eroticus (Jun 13, 2016)

Awesome card, thanks for ur work. =]


No VGA should be as Pros =D.


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## kiddagoat (Jun 13, 2016)

Nicely done Wiz!!  I am loving mine


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## Caring1 (Jun 13, 2016)

Lolled at the $599 price in the charts, doubt they will be that price for some time yet.


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## bug (Jun 13, 2016)

puma99dk| said:


> DVI output no longer includes analog VGA signals <-- lol Thumbs down for this, srsly if ppl can afford a GTX 1080 they should be able to afford a better monitor running DVI-D, HDMI or Displayport not sitting with a VGA monitor



Yup, VGA can't do 4k anyway. I don't think it can do 2560x1440 at a decent refresh either...
@W1zzard: "NVIDIA Pascal is introducing a new voltage controller by uPI, the uP 9511P. It's the first time I see this model, so I don't know what features it provides." <- I'm pretty sure this is the third time you've said this.


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## Pumper (Jun 13, 2016)

Charging as much as they can while AMD is lagging behind.


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## Air (Jun 13, 2016)

It think you should mention it in the "cons" that it is gigantic. Wont fit a lot of itx cases. 

Unfortunately for itx owners, seems like most custom cards this generation are very wide. Seems I will have to go back from a Ncase to my big old prodigy...


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## BiggieShady (Jun 13, 2016)

EzioAs said:


> ... can we get screenshots of graphics settings for each game in their respective pages? If settings remain similar for each review, you can reuse them for future reviews as well. Thank you.





W1zzard said:


> Yeah I guess I can look into that for the next round of rebenches (not until after AMD RX launch I think)



Screenshots ... or pretty blue tables that I like so much, with minimal information like ... Preset - Ultra, Extra - AF:16x, AA:4x, VSync:Off, Hairworks:Off ... neatly formatted with grouping and all


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## Frick (Jun 13, 2016)

I'm honestly disapointed. Overclocks worse than FE despite moar power, and dat price!  The cooler is nice, but still.

Also definitely not liking that the FE seems to be the baseline pricewise. So far anyway.


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## qubit (Jun 13, 2016)

Another epic MSI card and the one I would get if I was in the market. I've got the MSI GTX 780 Ti Gaming which had a similarly fantastic review.

It's horribly expensive though at £650, which is a bit more than the Founder's Edition cards.



Frick said:


> Also definitely not liking that the FE seems to be the baseline pricewise. So far anyway.


Yeah, it was obvious that was going to happen.  NVIDIA's got no competition from useless AMD though so they can get away with it. Their new Polaris cards better be something special.


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## GreiverBlade (Jun 13, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> Since I plan on staying on my 1080p IPS monitor for 2 years, I'll be finding a new MSI 980Ti on clearance sale or buy a used one.  The increased GPU power, bandwidth, and 6GB of VRAM will be plenty for the foreseeable future while I still have that monitor.



ooookay SEND ME YOUR CURRENT 980 ASAP (aka: once you've got a Ti)! 4gb is still enough now ...  (jk jk )

altho ... disapointiiiiiiing, unlike the custom 980Ti which had way better improvement over stock, i.e: 81%= stock 100%=custom in 4K res, that one ... is ... "nil"  absolutely not worth the overpice ...

no thanks nvidia, this year will either be RED or SLI for me ... (if 980 seller don't brainfart as they usually do with nvidia ... i mean, come on ... i saw a 6month used Titan (non XYZ) for 1400chf ...recently, and when you ask the seller about the price the answer is almost a "it's a nvidia card STFU it's the regular price for 2nd hands, they do not loose value over the years passing" ... my @$$ )


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## rtwjunkie (Jun 13, 2016)

GreiverBlade said:


> ooookay SEND ME YOUR CURRENT 980 ASAP (aka: once you've got a Ti)! 4gb is still enough now ...  (jk jk )
> 
> altho ... disapointiiiiiiing, unlike the custom 980Ti which had way better improvement over stock, i.e: 81%= stock 100%=custom in 4K res, that one ... is ... "nil"  absolutely not worth the overpice ...
> 
> no thanks nvidia, this year will either be RED or SLI for me ... (if 980 seller don't brainfart as they usually do with nvidia ... i mean, come on ... i saw a 6month used Titan (non XYZ) for 1400chf ...recently )



Yeah, not a huge improvement over FE.  I'm over it.  

I'm going have to hold off on the 980Ti for awhile too.  It's time to see what kind of overclocking I can do to maintain 980 performance.  In truth, where I'm at, you're probably right.  4G will "mostly" be enough.  *I do have a few games that come close to filling it tho.


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## GreiverBlade (Jun 13, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> Yeah, not a huge improvement over FE.  I'm over it.
> 
> I'm going have to hold off on the 980Ti for awhile too.  It's time to see what kind of overclocking I can do to maintain 980 performance.  In truth, where I'm at, you're probably right.  4G will "mostly" be enough.  *I do have a few games that come close to filling it tho.


bah if i get into that zone of "slightly" above 4gb (at last it's not "slightly above 3.5 and poof fps drop and stuttering  ) i will seek a RX480 if they do it in 8gb and probably get 2 of them for the resale price of my 980  (unless i win a second 980 too  althought i wil still be at 4gb, but in SLI this time  )

PS: MSI 1080 Gaming X 8gb where i live : 889chf (919.96$) .... sooo 719$ ... nope nope nope ...
https://www.digitec.ch/en/s1/produc...-gaming-x-8g-gp104-8gb-graphics-cards-5777040


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## the54thvoid (Jun 13, 2016)

I have a Kingpin 980ti - and this is too silly a price for me......


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## rtwjunkie (Jun 13, 2016)

the54thvoid said:


> I have a Kingpin 980ti - and this is too silly a price for me......


Just wait for the 1080Ti price!   (We need an emoticon of clutching the chest)


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## SmokingCrop (Jun 13, 2016)

_"You will not hear them when the card is installed in a case - and running at full load"_
I dislike it when reviews say things like this. You clearly don't have a silent system in a silent house with open ended headphones then..

Great review though.

ps: maybe it's time to switch to a new game for the quick overclock result? By the end of the year you'll be at 175 FPS or so, lol


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## Jnubbles (Jun 13, 2016)

I am a little surprised this got such a high rating considering how MSI have priced themselves compared to other brands. It's not any better than the FE edition as far as overclocking is concerned yet it costs $100 than the other AIB cards. I don't think this pricing should be rewarded with an editors choice award.


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## GreiverBlade (Jun 13, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> Just wait for the 1080Ti price!   (We need an emoticon of clutching the chest)





"i used to be an enthusiast like you, then i took a "nvidia pricing list" in the knee..."


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## W1zzard (Jun 13, 2016)

SmokingCrop said:


> I dislike it when reviews say things like this. You clearly don't have a silent system in a silent house with open ended headphones then..


I do and I have the measurements to back it up.

You have a MSI 970 Gaming, which should be roughly the same noise level. No way you can hear that when in installed in a case and you sit next to it.


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## the54thvoid (Jun 13, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> Just wait for the 1080Ti price!   (We need an emoticon of clutching the chest)



Some people probably think I'm an Nvidia apologist but I want the fastest single solution for my 1440p set up.  But frankly, things aren't looking good price wise and I do blame the lack of serious high end competition.  I would happily buy AMD if it shat all over a 1080 but I don't see it happening any time soon unfortunately.


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## mrthanhnguyen (Jun 13, 2016)

The EVGA ACX 3 is only $649 and has the same perf. Why this card is more expensive?


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## HD64G (Jun 13, 2016)

Great review as always W1z! 

Some points about the conclusion and rating from my point of view though:

1) Price isn't good at all, being over the greedy FE.
2) OC is small as it results in less than 10% more FPS when done.
2) Power consuption is high (+70W for the 6-7% more FPS compared to the reference).

So, I would give this specific model 8,5/10 max, 9,8/10 is too much for it imho.


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## GreiverBlade (Jun 13, 2016)

mrthanhnguyen said:


> The EVGA ACX 3 is only $649 and has the same perf. Why this card is more expensive?


my side : 
ACX SC = 839chf ... 868.85$
ACX FTW= 899chf... 930.99$


same player try again ...


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## the54thvoid (Jun 13, 2016)

HD64G said:


> Great review as always W1z!
> 
> Some points about the conclusion and rating from my point of view though:
> 
> ...



Price doesn't make it a bad product.  Just expensive.  Given the 4k summary:






It destroys everything out the box.   

If it is the fastest card by a long shot (it is) and it consumes less power than last gen's top dog (it does) and it is whisper quiet (it is) it would have been a 10.

It's not a 10 because of the factors you mention.

Though OC shouldn't be a factor as W1zzard never uses over volting so it's not really that much of a proper OC.


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## pat-roner (Jun 13, 2016)

the54thvoid said:


> I have a Kingpin 980ti - and this is too silly a price for me......



I know the feeling. 980ti extreme edition from gigabyte here. Looks like the 1080 is around 10% performance increase over my 980ti overclocked. Not that impressive when factoring in the price TBH.


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## Fluffmeister (Jun 13, 2016)

HD64G said:


> 2) Power consuption is high (+70W for the 6-7% more FPS compared to the reference).



True, but then people seemed to balk at cards with just a single 8pin connector when in reality it seems they will clock exactly the same.

Cheaper cards like the EVGA SC or a Palit Jetstream would be my preference if I was in the market for a 1080.


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## pat-roner (Jun 13, 2016)

Fluffmeister said:


> True, but then people seemed to balk at cards with just a single 8pin connector when in reality it seems they will clock exactly the same.
> 
> Cheaper cards like the EVGA SC or a Palit Jetstream would be my preference if I was in the market for a 1080.


 
Looks like design and cooler performance is the thing to consider when buying a 1080. The FE has done pretty well performance and OC wise - to bad it's getting gimped by the cooler.


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## Air (Jun 13, 2016)

Ok question: Is it possible to undervolt these cards using the new boost 3.0 features? I mean, instead of increasing clocks for each voltage value, reduce voltage for each clock value. If so, by how much? Can these cards be undervolted at all?


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## the54thvoid (Jun 13, 2016)

Air said:


> Ok question: Is it possible to undervolt these cards using the new boost 3.0 features? I mean, instead of increasing clocks for each voltage value, reduce voltage for each clock value. If so, by how much? Can these cards be undervolted at all?



Why would you?

Besides, after reading a little at OCN, Pascal seems to be really closely controlled for TDP and voltage.  Shame really.  It's looking to be Nvidia's Fury X for overclocking.


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## SmokingCrop (Jun 13, 2016)

W1zzard said:


> I do and I have the measurements to back it up.
> 
> You have a MSI 970 Gaming, which should be roughly the same noise level. No way you can hear that when in installed in a case and you sit next to it.


Do you know at what fanspeed I should set my MSI 970Gaming in order to test this?
Because I can clearly hear it at 42% with the case next to me on the ground. (case fans run at 450~ RPM, Dual CPU fans at 350~ in idle with 550~ under load, passive PSU, no HDDs)
And that's by manually setting the fan, in auto mode it's just too loud for me.

ps: 42% is silent enough to not notice it while gaming (a lot of games have moments where it's almost dead silent and hearing fans at that point is annoying to me).

edit:
also, _"MSI has also included the idle-fan-off feature we love so much since it provides a perfect noise-free experience during desktop work, Internet browsing, and even light gaming."_ is very contradicting as you couldn't even hear it at full load..?


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## TheDeeGee (Jun 13, 2016)

SmokingCrop said:


> Do you know at what fanspeed I should set my MSI 970Gaming in order to test this?
> Because I can clearly hear it at 42% with the case next to my on the ground. (case fans run at 450~ RPM, Dual CPU fans at 350~ in idle with 550~ under load, passive PSU)
> And that's by manually setting the fan, in auto mode it's just too loud for me.



That's why i will be getting the 1070 AERO and slap an Arctic Accelero Xtreme 4 on it ^^

Been using Arctic on my GPUs for over 10 Years and i only trust them when it comes to a Dead Silent GPU under load.

My current 680 has a Twin Turbo 2 with the Fan Speed Fixed at 35%, and it never goes above 70C.


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## TheinsanegamerN (Jun 13, 2016)

Not very impressive given the price. Given that these 8+6 pins cant OC any better then the 8 pin models, something like the $620 EVGA ACX 1080 is the way to go this round. Hopefully that card has as good of temps as the MSI model.


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## ZoneDymo (Jun 13, 2016)

that power ussage, what happened


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## Air (Jun 13, 2016)

the54thvoid said:


> Why would you?
> 
> Besides, after reading a little at OCN, Pascal seems to be really closely controlled for TDP and voltage.  Shame really.  It's looking to be Nvidia's Fury X for overclocking.



Well with my current card (R9 270X) i can overclock to get an negligeable improvement in performance, around 4% i think, or i can undervolt to -81 mv, an get a VERY noticiable drop in temperatures (6-7 C), and fan speed.   Its nice to have this option.

Edit: also because maybe im getting an FE and Im very afraid of the noise.


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## TheinsanegamerN (Jun 13, 2016)

Air said:


> Well with my current card (R9 270X) i can overclock to get an negligeable improvement in performance, around 4% i think, or i can undervolt to -81 mv, an get a VERY noticiable drop in temperatures (6-7 C), and fan speed.   Its nice to have this option.
> 
> Edit: also because maybe im getting an FE and Im very afraid of the noise.


I;ve heard that the FE editions are rather quiet, although I would question why wouldnt you get one of the much cheaper ACX editions from EVGA that are $80 cheaper.

I also do the same undervolt thing with my CPUs. My 3570k is running at stock boost speeds of 3.8 GHz at .975 volt or so, much lower then the stock voltage. It's fun when nothing in your PC really heats up.


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## Assimilator (Jun 13, 2016)

If AMD really can sneak Polaris' promised performance in at $200 they're gonna have a winner on their hands. The prices for the Pascal cards are insane.


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## rtwjunkie (Jun 13, 2016)

Assimilator said:


> If AMD really can sneak Polaris' promised performance in at $200 they're gonna have a winner on their hands. The prices for the Pascal cards are insane.



Even at a bit more (they need the cash) and they will snag half the market.  I just don't see these Pascal's selling at even half that rate.


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## GreiverBlade (Jun 13, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> Even at a bit more (they need the cash) and they will snag half the market.  I just don't see these Pascal's selling at even half that rate.


Well then definitely 2 RX480 for me if I can sell my Poseidon Platinum when they will be available...


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## Air (Jun 13, 2016)

TheinsanegamerN said:


> I;ve heard that the FE editions are rather quiet, although I would question why wouldnt you get one of the much cheaper ACX editions from EVGA that are $80 cheaper.
> 
> I also do the same undervolt thing with my CPUs. My 3570k is running at stock boost speeds of 3.8 GHz at .975 volt or so, much lower then the stock voltage. It's fun when nothing in your PC really heats up.



Yeah i do the same to my cpu 4670 non-k, stock, 120 mV undervolt. In this condition even the stock cooler is overkill, silent in most applications. 

Im considering the Evga cards aswell, just waiting for reviews on noise. Past generation was not so good in this departament according to reviews.


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## jihadjoe (Jun 13, 2016)

Wait, so the regular reference card actually clocked higher than this OC special...


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## BoyGenius (Jun 13, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> Just wait for the 1080Ti price!   (We need an emoticon of clutching the chest)


Also next Titan XX will be above that. 


I think this card is also a bit on expensive side but a great review anyway.


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## NeroProtagonist (Jun 13, 2016)

I'm not quite sure how the reviewer can claim "the MSI Gaming X is still a much better price-to-performance option than the GTX 980 or 980 Ti." when the Performance per Dollar graphs show something else entirely.


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## xorbe (Jun 13, 2016)

$720 for the 256-bit turbo civic ... that's a pass.  I may skip this generation on the high-end, seems like the 384-bit big dog could be stupid expensive this generation.  Really want to see the 1060 card though.


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## Basard (Jun 13, 2016)

So they pick a bunch of really nice chips, send em out, call em founder edition, they get reviewed---"1080 is awesome!!!  Best overclock EVER!!"  And then the "real" cards come out-you know, the ones that they can actually MASS produce-and it's all sour milk from then on..?  I guess that's why they gave it the "founders edition" badge, it's almost a totally different model, keeps them from getting sued or something, I guess.  

Kinda disappointing, I was expecting better than FE.


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## EzioAs (Jun 14, 2016)

Basard said:


> So they pick a bunch of really nice chips, send em out, call em founder edition, they get reviewed---"1080 is awesome!!!  Best overclock EVER!!"  And then the "real" cards come out-you know, the ones that they can actually MASS produce-and it's all sour milk from then on..?  I guess that's why they gave it the "founders edition" badge, it's almost a totally different model, keeps them from getting sued or something, I guess.
> 
> Kinda disappointing, I was expecting better than FE.



In my opinion, it's better to judge a product's performance based on it's stock clock than it's overclocking capability. Plus, there's always that luck of the draw when it comes to OC.


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## msamelis (Jun 14, 2016)

Seems like the prices have increased as much as the performance on the 10 series.. $720? That translates around €850-900 around here. I have always been waiting on the Ti versions of the flagships but, bloody hell, if the 1080 is that expensive, how much will the Ti version be? I can't get AMD either because I decided to invest in a Gsyn monitor too.. I think I might skip the 10 series this time around.


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## Dethroy (Jun 14, 2016)

Honestly, I'm not impressed. It was obvious that custom coolers will run Pascal cards silently at cool temps considering the much lower power draw when compared to 28nm. But the MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X (honestly?) 8GB has nothing else that could set it apart from the rest of the pack... Oh no, it actually sets itself apart - with terrible pricing and overclocking. Ok, I stop the grief. But I am not willing to pay 719$ (799€ in Germany) for a freaking midrange card. Honestly, where are we heading? Counting on Vega and GP100 to right the wrongs.


SmokingCrop said:


> Do you know at what fanspeed I should set my MSI 970Gaming in order to test this?
> Because I can clearly hear it at 42% with the case next to me on the ground. (case fans run at 450~ RPM, Dual CPU fans at 350~ in idle with 550~ under load, passive PSU, no HDDs)
> And that's by manually setting the fan, in auto mode it's just too loud for me.


What case do you use? Have you done any modifications to it?


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## beck24 (Jun 14, 2016)

I love all these AMD fanbois whining "Im not impressed". So predictable. The card this replaces is the 980 which the 1080 is vastly faster than and more power efficient. In many cases its 40 to 50%  and more faster than the 650 dollar Fury X.  The upcoming 1080ti and Titan variants of Pascal are even more powerful and prices always settle down after launch hysteria.


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## bug (Jun 14, 2016)

Assimilator said:


> If AMD really can sneak Polaris' promised performance in at $200 they're gonna have a winner on their hands. The prices for the Pascal cards are insane.



That's a big if. Chances are Polaris will face similar shortages and price gouging Pascal does. Though it's much easier to swallow a $200->$275 (let's say) markup than a $600->$700+ one.
We'll have to wait and see, but we already know we haven't had such an interesting year (wrt video cards) for quite some time


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## puma99dk| (Jun 14, 2016)

jihadjoe said:


> Wait, so the regular reference card actually clocked higher than this OC special...



I think u forget to read this:

Important: Each GPU (including each GPU of the same make and model) will overclock slightly
differently based on random production variances. This table just serves to provide a list of typical
overclocks for similar cards, determined during TPU review.


This is actually true every card like every cpu overclocks differently with different volts needed and all that u could have seen a card that could have boosted to 2500mhz without any added voltage or so and u would have been disappointed to see ur card might only have done 2000mhz boost just to keep this in mind.


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## ZeroFM (Jun 14, 2016)

beck24 said:


> I love all these AMD fanbois whining "Im not impressed". So predictable. The card this replaces is the 980 which the 1080 is vastly faster than and more power efficient. In many cases its 40 to 50% faster than the 650 dollar Fury X.  The upcoming 1080ti and Titan variants of Pascal are even more powerful and prices always settle down after launch hysteria.


dude gtx 980 at launch not priced at 650*£ . 1080 should replace 980ti but still 100[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_sign']£ more expensive at launch[/URL]*


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## beck24 (Jun 14, 2016)

ZeroFM said:


> dude gtx 980 at launch not priced at 650*£ . 1080 should replace 980ti but still 100£ more expensive at launch*


Point is 1080ti has already been reported for release later this year, plus some version of Pascal Titan. No one forces anyone to buy em but they will sell. Generally the people that can afford 5 to 7 hundred dollar video cards want the best, a hundred bucks is lunch money for them.


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## MustSeeMelons (Jun 14, 2016)

Seems like the whole FE really f*cked the consumer. If it will be the same with the 1070, seems that in my country it will cost basically the same as a 980Ti for the foreseeable future.
I like the FPS figures, but that's about it.


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## rtwjunkie (Jun 14, 2016)

beck24 said:


> I love all these AMD fanbois whining "Im not impressed". So predictable. The card this replaces is the 980



Yes, I know it replaces the 980...at about $200 frickin dollars more!  If you'll do some forum reading on this and some of the other threads, I have made that point several times.

As to the AMD fanbois crying comment, try looking up system specs of those of us who have made these comments before you embarrass yourself further.


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## Kissamies (Jun 14, 2016)

puma99dk| said:


> DVI output no longer includes analog VGA signals <-- lol Thumbs down for this, srsly if ppl can afford a GTX 1080 they should be able to afford a better monitor running DVI-D, HDMI or Displayport not sitting with a VGA monitor


That's what's I was about to comment too.. Technology evolves, we just can't have all that legacy crap forever. 


Good review tho!


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## Vayra86 (Jun 14, 2016)

jihadjoe said:


> Wait, so the regular reference card actually clocked higher than this OC special...



Yes, but it doesn't hold that clockspeed.

The MSI Gaming X also doesn't hold the max clockspeed even before it reaches a 82C throttle point. Pascal clocks fluctuate a couple of bins, constantly, as you can see in the graph below this box in the review. The MSI Gaming X *does* get a much higher clock median of 1912mhz, which is what you should consider the realistic clock at gaming loads. The FE will fall off much further - it peaks higher, and falls back more immediately when it hits the 82C throttle point.

With Pascal there is not going to be any easy way to keep a solid boost clock. Where Kepler/Maxwell would dabble in one boost bin up or down, with GPU Boost 3.0 you set a clock range across all voltages.

About the actual OC capability, I was completely right in saying that Nvidia has eaten up most of the OC headroom on Pascal by shipping with very high stock clocks. MSI takes another good 8% of OC headroom and balances it out with their cooling solution. What is left (before overvolt!) is about 8% more performance. That's about 17-20% from stock clocks without boost. Factor in GPU Boost 3.0 however, and you can see most of the OC'ing is done for us.

About the additional pins: I think these cards will peak for typical use at 2100mhz, regardless of overvolt, additional pins or whatever exotic marketing AIB's conjure up this time. Overall I think MSI's Gaming X is going to be the sweet middle ground in terms of a very decent factory OC with a whisper quiet cooler on top, without being overpriced in the whole scheme of AIB releases. They've got a winner methinks.

What I am most curious about is if they will put this exact same cooler on the 1070 Gaming X... in that case, that may be my next card when the prices settle a bit. So far it puts the Asus Strix to shame at least, and Gigabyte isn't even on my list anymore, their cooler needs a lot of love.


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## NDown (Jun 14, 2016)

beck24 said:


> I love all these AMD fanbois whining "Im not impressed". So predictable. The card this replaces is the 980 which the 1080 is vastly faster than and more power efficient. In many cases its 40 to 50%  and more faster than the 650 dollar Fury X.  The upcoming 1080ti and Titan variants of Pascal are even more powerful and prices always settle down after launch hysteria.



How can one be a fanboy simply because they disagree with you?

It is not impressive because it doesnt overclock that good considering the hype weeks ago, not to add the ridiculous pricing.

"more faster than the 650 dollar Fury X"

well it's faster than the 980Ti aswell, why the fuck are you comparing 16nm to 28nm cards

might aswell compare it to the original 2013 Titan that costs $1000 at its launch



beck24 said:


> Point is 1080ti has already been reported for release later this year, plus some version of Pascal Titan. No one forces anyone to buy em but they will sell. Generally the people that can afford 5 to 7 hundred dollar video cards want the best, a hundred bucks is lunch money for them.



This kind of mindset (and people actually do that) is what drives the GPU prices even further, they just swallow everything thrown at them without actually considering the actual value of the card

The market as a whole could drive prices down if the users weren't like meth addicts.


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## Frick (Jun 14, 2016)

NDown said:


> This kind of mindset (and people actually do that) is what drives the GPU prices even further, they just swallow everything thrown at them without actually considering the actual value of the card
> 
> The market as a whole could drive prices down if the users weren't like meth addicts.



Aye, more performance for more money is not the upgrade we need (it might be the upgrade we deserve). More performance for the same money/same performance for less money is what makes it an upgrade IMO.


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## yysc (Jun 14, 2016)

GreiverBlade said:


> my side :
> ACX SC = 839chf ... 868.85$
> ACX FTW= 899chf... 930.99$
> 
> ...



USA prices don't include taxes, European prices do.


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## TheinsanegamerN (Jun 14, 2016)

NDown said:


> How can one be a fanboy simply because they disagree with you?
> 
> It is not impressive because it doesnt overclock that good considering the hype weeks ago, not to add the ridiculous pricing.
> 
> ...


You know, its funny, people scream that comparing pascal to 28nm cards is "unfair" and shouldnt be done, but when polaris is compared to a 980, nobody screams " WAAAH, YOU CANT COMPARE 14NM WITH 28NM!!!!1!1!!"

The 1080 is compared with 28nm cards because it is replacing them. Again, when the 680 came out, it was compared to the 580. When the 980 came out, it was compared to the 780/ti. When the 7000 series came out, it was compared to the 6000 series. thats how it works, die shrink or not, you compare the new cards to the old ones. Thats how comparisons work.


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## Air (Jun 14, 2016)

Air said:


> Ok question: Is it possible to undervolt these cards using the new boost 3.0 features? I mean, instead of increasing clocks for each voltage value, reduce voltage for each clock value. If so, by how much? Can these cards be undervolted at all?



So If anyone is interested, I just checked. You cant. 

Guru 3D has a video on the overclocking section of the GTX 1070 FE, the voltage offset slider range is from 0 to +100 mV. And voltage is the X axis on the GPU Boost 3.0 adjust tool.


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## MustSeeMelons (Jun 14, 2016)

I vote for castrating the guy who thought that 20% above MSRP is OK. The more expensive it is, the less value it holds and the more fierce the defense be from the ones who bought it, there aren't many people who can admit a 700+ purchase mistake..


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## beck24 (Jun 14, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> Yes, I know it replaces the 980...at about $200 frickin dollars more!  If you'll do some forum reading on this and some of the other threads, I have made that point several times.
> 
> As to the AMD fanbois crying comment, try looking up system specs of those of us who have made these comments before you embarrass yourself further.


lol.
 If I want to find out about a GPU I actually read the reviews of legit sites, then talk to my buddies. If $200 means that much to you, don't buy it. SO far, in the opinion of reviewers whose opinions matter to more than one person, 1070 and 1080 are well received.


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## rtwjunkie (Jun 14, 2016)

beck24 said:


> lol.
> If I want to find out about a GPU I actually read the reviews of legit sites, then talk to my buddies. If $200 means that much to you, don't buy it. SO far, in the opinion of reviewers whose opinions matter to more than one person, 1070 and 1080 are well received.



LOL, didn't say it wasn't. Now, try and focus on it's over-inflated value.

What's amazing is how skillfully you chose to completely gloss over the primary point, which was that most of those pointing out its overinflated expense are not AMD owners as you assumed.  It IS possible to just make honest assesments of a product.


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## Melvis (Jun 14, 2016)

Going by those numbers ill be getting a second hand GTX 970


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## bug (Jun 14, 2016)

MustSeeMelons said:


> I vote for castrating the guy who thought that 20% above MSRP is OK. The more expensive it is, the less value it holds and the more fierce the defense be from the ones who bought it, there aren't many people who can admit a 700+ purchase mistake..



Don't worry about it, if the price is unfair nobody will buy these. And then the manufacturer will have to lower the price.


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## beck24 (Jun 14, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> LOL, didn't say it wasn't. Now, try and focus on it's over-inflated value.
> 
> What's amazing is how skillfully you chose to completely gloss over the primary point, which was that most of those pointing out its overinflated expense are not AMD owners as you assumed.  It IS possible to just make honest assesments of a product.


I
It's all relative. What's over inflated to you is not to somebody else . That's why there is a wide price range of products. Some bought the Founder's Edition cards which makes no sense to me, but so what? That's their business.


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## centaurius (Jun 14, 2016)

Weird prices, actually where I am right now the price of GTX 1080 FE is 799€, and the MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X is at 779€.


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## beck24 (Jun 14, 2016)

centaurius said:


> Weird prices, actually where I am right now the price of GTX 1080 FE is 799€, and the MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X is at 779€.


I'm waiting for the 1080ti which from all reports should be ridiculously fast.
I think some of the custom 1070s are looking pretty cool for people with older cards .


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## Dippyskoodlez (Jun 14, 2016)

W1zzard said:


> I'm looking into that right now. SLI HB Bridge just arrived from NV



w1zzard da MVP.


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## jihadjoe (Jun 14, 2016)

EzioAs said:


> In my opinion, it's better to judge a product's performance based on it's stock clock than it's overclocking capability. Plus, there's always that luck of the draw when it comes to OC.


Who buys a card specially made for overclocking to run stock?


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## Aquinus (Jun 15, 2016)

jihadjoe said:


> Who buys a card specially made for overclocking to run stock?


There is something to be said for not having to touch overclocking to be happy with the card. I've overclocked my 390 to play with it but, I don't usually need to overclock it to be happy with the performance I get out of it.  I think that's @EzioAs' point. With that said, I love my 390 GAMING. MSI has done a great job as of late IMHO.


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## GhostRyder (Jun 15, 2016)

Love the design, cooler, and everything of this card.  Always love seeing MSI cards in action and this one has not let down except on the overclocking front.


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## Aquinus (Jun 15, 2016)

GhostRyder said:


> Love the design, cooler, and everything of this card.  Always love seeing MSI cards in action and this one has not let down except on the overclocking front.


That's how I've been feeling about the GAMING series. The TwinFrozr series felt a lot like MSI's own take with about similar results as the reference design plus maybe a quieter cooler but, the GAMING series seems to clock far better than the prior cards. I don't know what MSI is doing, but they need to keep doing it.


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## Prima.Vera (Jun 15, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> Just wait for the 1080Ti price!   (We need an emoticon of clutching the chest)


The new Titan will probably break the 2K$ barrier too. It seems that recently _Money _start to grew on the trees, otherwise I really cannot understand those callous prices...


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## Abula (Jun 15, 2016)

[EMAIL='w1zzard@techpowerup.com']W1zzard[/EMAIL] said:
			
		

> More reviews will follow this week; the cards are already here, stay tuned.


 Hope there is a Asus GTX1080 Strix on the list, i really want to see how it measures with the MSI.

Btw did you guys know if there will be a MSI GTX1080 Lightning, seems there was a lightning model on Computex, but some sites said that was GTX980ti that was purely there for show, and that MSI didn't have a real GTX1080 Lightning.  I really would like to know, i would wait if there will be one, specially with how good it did on the GTX980Ti, but i somewhat think that they are going to wait for the GTX1080Ti.


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## Basard (Jun 15, 2016)

EzioAs said:


> In my opinion, it's better to judge a product's performance based on it's stock clock than it's overclocking capability. Plus, there's always that luck of the draw when it comes to OC.



So, the FE is ABSOLUTELY pointless then.


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## SmokingCrop (Jun 15, 2016)

Abula said:


> Hope there is a Asus GTX1080 Strix on the list, i really want to see how it measures with the MSI.
> 
> Btw did you guys know if there will be a MSI GTX1080 Lightning, seems there was a lightning model on Computex, but some sites said that was GTX980ti that was purely there for show, and that MSI didn't have a real GTX1080 Lightning.  I really would like to know, i would wait if there will be one, specially with how good it did on the GTX980Ti, but i somewhat think that they are going to wait for the GTX1080Ti.


That Lightning on Computex was the 980 Ti. Asked that on forums of tweakers.net (dutch) where MSI employee ("The Source") often comes.
He also says it takes atleast 2-3 months to make something like a Lightning model and like a month for the normal models. He didn't say anything about 1080 lightning or 1080 ti lightning.


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## SpAwNtoHell (Jun 16, 2016)

Air said:


> It think you should mention it in the "cons" that it is gigantic. Wont fit a lot of itx cases.
> 
> Unfortunately for itx owners, seems like most custom cards this generation are very wide. Seems I will have to go back from a Ncase to my big old prodigy...



Depends on the case my fractal design cube 500 can fit anything i through at it unless the card is wider then 2 slots... And longer then 320mm....and yes it is itx


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## SpAwNtoHell (Jun 16, 2016)

Assimilator said:


> If AMD really can sneak Polaris' promised performance in at $200 they're gonna have a winner on their hands. The prices for the Pascal cards are insane.


That is the reason most of us wait to push the buy button... Ehh not long now i am not expecting polaris to exceed 1080 but close enough or just about 1070 if so we all have a winner if price is right but until then and w1zzard gets its hand on one to review and we see the actual price in the online stores.... As look what gtx 1070 msrp and gtx 1080 got us so far....

In uk at least no 1070 and that is preorder and out of stock is not below 400£ and you need to add delivery to that, and 1080 is not even listed under 620£ except one or 2 listings and then not by much lower... I am not talking about FE... 980ti on the other hand was placed just above 1070 more in bettween pascal cards...but guess what is out of stock so if you want a gpu right now here you can only buy a 970 which is lame really. So really great cards nice to see they exist but will be some time till we want to buy or are available...


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## Tagaotpk (Jun 16, 2016)

Hello.

What about the special BIOS for press cards ?
French review website say MSI and Asus are using special BIOS (not Gigabyte) for press, that leads to 1-3% difference in benches.

http://www.hardware.fr/news/14693/gtx-10x0-asus-msi-bios-special-presse.html

It's not that big but it begins like this and then...

Just a small message nothing big. Have a nice day.


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## Jeffredo (Jun 18, 2016)

I hate monopolies.


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## ThomasS31 (Jun 27, 2016)

Hi W1zzard,

Any chance you review the cheaper "Armor" edition as well, to see how it compares? 

Thanks!


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## Footman (Sep 6, 2016)

ThomasS31 said:


> Hi W1zzard,
> 
> Any chance you review the cheaper "Armor" edition as well, to see how it compares?
> 
> Thanks!



Based on what I read I think all MSI cards are built around the same 1080 pcb using the 10 phase vrm, Hi-c CAPs, Super Ferrite Chokes and solid capacitors. I just purchased one of the MSI Sea Hawk X EK cards (lucky enough to have some cash on hand). I replaced the TIM and the PCB looks exactly the same as the other MSI 1080's. Just the cooling that looks different.

Usually I buy the cheapest VGA I can and then buy the waterblock and backplate separately as it is usually cheaper. This is the first videocard and waterblock combo that is actually cheaper than buying the parts separately. I did pay $804 USD for the card, however a base 1080 would have cost a minimum of $659 and the FE is still $600, add on the EK Waterblock in Nickle at $140 and the backplate at $30 and shipping and you end up spending more than $804. The added benefit of this card is no lost warranty for swapping out the HSF for a waterblock, better pcb than stock FE and custom EK waterblock and backplate.

I haven't really done any testing of this card yet, but it is 30% faster than my overclocked 980Ti (2560x1440), which I gave to my son (sold his GTX 970), everyone wins.....

Perhaps I should have waited for AMD to get their 490 ready or for game promotions! I can always sell the SeaHawk later 

(EDIT) I believe that MSI has based their SeaHawk (the one with the Corsair cooler) on the FE PCB with 5 phase power supply and single 8 plug power supply.


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## Prima.Vera (Sep 8, 2016)

beck24 said:


> I'm waiting for the 1080ti which from all reports should be ridiculously fast.



Which reports? There are no reports of any 1080Ti being released or any performance rumors.
Have any links?


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## qubit (Sep 8, 2016)

Prima.Vera said:


> Which reports? There are no reports of any 1080Ti being released or any performance rumors.
> Have any links?



The 1080 Ti is certain to be released (nothing official from NVIDIA yet) and will perform like the Titan X Pascal, which is indeed ridiculously fast. If past experience is anything to go by, then some variants will actually be faster.

The big catch of course is the price. I'm guesstimating around £900 (Titan X Pascal is £1100 in the UK) which will put a lot of people off, including me.

Check out TPU's Titan X Pascal review to see its incredible performance.

www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/Titan_X_Pascal


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## GreiverBlade (Sep 8, 2016)

qubit said:


> The 1080 Ti is certain to be released (nothing official from NVIDIA yet) and will perform like the Titan X Pascal, which is indeed ridiculously fast. If past experience is anything to go by, then some variants will actually be faster.
> 
> The big catch of course is the price. I'm guesstimating around £900 (Titan X Pascal is £1100 in the UK) which will put a lot of people off, including me.
> 
> ...


incredible is big talk ... a decently OC'ed 1080 (custom model not the craptastic FE) is not far from it for only a fraction of the price so ... a 1080Ti will merely perform like a OC 1080, nonetheless the 1080 are already ovepriced and the TXP is not worth at all the price tag (i know you can put a Titan X (pascal) under water and OC it further to regain the lead ... but still )  i guess the Ti will have 12gb ... pfahahaha (still no 4k card ... not that it matter ... 4k is not a thing ) well the TXP is "almost" 4K worthy but is 4k really worth if it need the incoming top dog to be accessible?

12-15-21-24 difference is not what i call impressive ...


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## qubit (Sep 8, 2016)

GreiverBlade said:


> incredible is big talk ... a decently OC'ed 1080 (custom model not the craptastic FE) is not far from it for only a fraction of the price so ... a 1080Ti will merely perform like a OC 1080, nonetheless the 1080 are already ovepriced and the TXP is not worth at all the price tag (i know you can put a Titan X (pascal) under water and OC it further to regain the lead ... but still )  i guess the Ti will have 12gb ... pfahahaha (still no 4k card ... not that it matter ... 4k is not a thing ) well the TXP is "almost" 4K worthy but is 4k really worth if it need the incoming top dog to be accessible?
> 
> 12-15-21-24 difference is not what i call impressive ...


Actually, I just looked at the review again after I posted and saw that it wasn't as far ahead of the 1080 as I thought, so yeah, fair point. 

It's a shame that NVIDIA had to disable two processing blocks from it, making the chip effectively less than 50% bigger than the GP104, reducing the performance advantage. It's a bit of a piss-take when they charge so much for it, competition from AMD there or not. I'm sure that the 1080 Ti version will gimp it further and probably the RAM too.  This and the likely price of the 1080 Ti is why I decided to buy the 1080 now.


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## msamelis (Sep 8, 2016)

qubit said:


> The 1080 Ti is certain to be released (nothing official from NVIDIA yet) and will perform like the Titan X Pascal, which is indeed ridiculously fast. If past experience is anything to go by, then some variants will actually be faster.
> 
> The big catch of course is the price. I'm guesstimating around £900 (Titan X Pascal is £1100 in the UK) which will put a lot of people off, including me.


Nvidia has always been consistent with scaling, performance-wise, with their GPU models. For instance, 2x970s performed slightly better than a single 980ti but the latter had more VRam and cost a little less.  One would assume that the same would take place again if and/or when the 1080ti is released. The price will probably be slightly lower than the total cost of two 1070s, so around MSRP of $750 or so, which would probably translate to around £750 in the UK (?). Meanwhile, the price locally would probably be around €900 if I take in mind that the cheapest 1070 is around €470 - bloody hell.

The release of the 980ti also dragged the price of the 980 down too. It could be the same story again. I am waiting on the 1080ti myself and decide if it's worth upgrading or not. Probably the latter.


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## Ungari (Sep 8, 2016)

ThomasS31 said:


> Hi W1zzard,
> 
> Any chance you review the cheaper "Armor" edition as well, to see how it compares?
> 
> Thanks!



My understanding from the 900 Series, is that the ARMOR is a simply a Reference Card with the custom cooler, hence the lower price.
BTW I love the Black and White shroud as it will go with any color scheme. No matter how good the Twin Frozr cooler is, there are many who buy the card because MSI forces the Red on it's shroud.


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## GreiverBlade (Sep 8, 2016)

msamelis said:


> Nvidia has always been consistent with scaling, performance-wise, with their GPU models. For instance, 2x970s performed slightly better than a single 980ti but the latter had more VRam and cost a little less.  One would assume that the same would take place again if and/or when the 1080ti is released. The price will probably be slightly lower than the total cost of two 1070s, so around MSRP of $750 or so, which would probably translate to around £750 in the UK (?). Meanwhile, the price locally would probably be around €900 if I take in mind that the cheapest 1070 is around €470 - bloody hell.
> 
> The release of the 980ti also dragged the price of the 980 down too. It could be the same story again. I am waiting on the 1080ti myself and decide if it's worth upgrading or not. Probably the latter.


well i decided for the 1070 because the MSI Armor was nice and was the only one at 456chf/416.34€ which was the only one cheaper than a FE



Ungari said:


> My understanding from the 900 Series, is that the ARMOR is a simply a Reference Card with the custom cooler, hence the lower price.
> BTW I love the Black and White shroud as it will go with any color scheme. No matter how good the Twin Frozr cooler is, there are many who buy the card because MSI forces the Red on it's shroud.


nope the 1070 Armor is same PCB as the Gaming X minus one 6 pin and 2 powerphase and capacitor (which is still more than a FE ) so i can decently think the 1080 variante would be alike.

and also the Armor version seems to perform better at stock than the Gaming X at stock ....
https://uk.hardware.info/product/351486/msi-geforce-gtx-1070-armor-oc-8gb/testresults
detailed charts on each bench (slightly and just above the gaming X) 
here also i could expect the 1080 variant to act same


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