Introduction

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a mean machine based on NVIDIA's second-biggest implementation of its "Pascal" architecture, the 16 nm "GP102" silicon. This is the same chip that drives the TITAN X Pascal. The GTX 1080 Ti features the same number of CUDA cores as the latest TITAN, at 3,584 spread across 28 streaming multiprocessors. There is some cost-cutting here, but none that is designed to lower performance - the chip has a slightly narrower memory bus at 352 bit; that's a memory chip less than what you'd find on the TITAN X Pascal. The total memory amount is hence 11 GB. A cluster of ROPs is also disabled, so you now get 88 ROPs (as opposed to the 96 ROPs on the TITAN). The memory chips are, however, clocked 10% higher to make up for the 8.3% narrower memory bus. This move also translates into cost savings due to the lack of a 12th memory chip and probably better yields for the GP102 chip.



The MSI GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Trio came to us as a surprise and is probably one of the last custom variants of the GTX 1080 Ti that will be released. MSI has taken the fantastic thermal solution of the GTX 1080 Ti Lightning and put it on a GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X PCB, which should help with cost. Also removed are overclocker-specific features like dual BIOS and voltage measurement points.

Overall, this results in a card that makes huge promises: best noise and temperatures with a pretty RGB backplate without breaking the bank. We will investigate this closely in the following review.

According to MSI, the price for the Gaming X Trio is €829, which seems slightly off as the card is now listed for €899 in shops (both prices include VAT). Its exact price in US dollars isn't available yet; for the comparisons in this review, we used $850, which should roughly match the expected price point.

Packaging and Contents

You will receive:

• Graphics card
• Documentation + driver disc
• 1x PCIe 6-pin to 8-pin adapter
• PCIe slot card holder

The Card

MSI's card is huge. The front has seen a small visual overhaul, now using black, gray and a red that shimmers through lightly. On the back, you will find a metal backplate. Dimensions of the card are 32.0 cm x 14.0 cm.

Just like the Lightning, adjustable RGB lighting is included, which looks amazing and is almost hypnotizing. Of course, it can be fully controlled using MSI's Mystic Light software.


Installation requires three slots in your system.


Display connectivity options include a DVI port, two HDMI ports, and two DisplayPorts. It's nice to see that the DVI port has been brought back, which was missing on the GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition.

Unlike previous-generation NVIDIA cards, the DVI port no longer includes the analog signal, so you'll have to use an active adapter. NVIDIA also updated DisplayPort to be 1.2 certified and 1.3/1.4 ready, which enables support for 4K at 120 Hz and 5K at 60 Hz, or 8K at 60 Hz with two cables.

The GPU also comes with an HDMI sound device. It is HDMI 2.0b compatible, which supports HD audio and Blu-ray 3D movies. The GPU's video-encoding unit has been updated to support HEVC at 10-bit and 12-bit.


We shine the light from a self-leveling line laser onto the card, which shows no sagging, which is impressive considering the big cooler. Should you still be concerned since you move your PC around a lot, for example, MSI has you covered with the included support bracket.


Pictured above are the front and back, showing the disassembled board. High-res versions are also available (front, back).

A Closer Look

MSI's thermal solution uses six heatpipes, of which three are thicker and longer for improved cooling performance. This is the same cooler as on the MSI GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z.


The backplate is made from metal to protect the card against damage during installation and handling. The Lightning Z had a heatpipe here, which is no longer included; it provided questionable gains anyway and makes little sense on a card like the Gaming X Trio where overclocking isn't the main focus.


Once the main heatsink is removed, a black metal baseplate becomes visible, which provides cooling for the memory chips and VRM circuitry.


MSI has upgraded the power input of their GTX 1080 Ti to two 8-pins. This input configuration is specified for up to 375 watts of power draw.


With Pascal, NVIDIA made some changes to how SLI works. In a nutshell, for 4K at 60 Hz and above, NVIDIA recommends new high-bandwidth SLI bridges it dubbed "SLI HB." These bridges occupy both SLI fingers. Traditional triple- and quad-SLI setups are gone as well. Only certain benchmarks can run more than the dual-SLI setup to which all games are limited.