We measure system-wide power draw from the wall while the card is sat idling at the Windows 10 desktop for 30 minutes. A reading under load comes from running the 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra stress test 20 times.
Despite having TGP rated at 250W – the same as the Founders Edition – the Gaming X Trio draws 12W more at the wall according to our testing, which is likely a result of the increased core clock and other ‘extras' that go along with the MSI card, like the third fan and RGB lighting.
Importantly, however, this actually takes the MSI card beyond the 2080 Ti in terms of power draw, despite Nvidia's flagship remaining a decent amount faster.