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The GPU market is in a precarious state due to the impact of cryptocurrency mining on supply and demand. Fortunately for gamers, Nvidia's GTX 1080 Ti seems to have come through unscathed – prices are close to normal and stock is still widely available. KitGuru has already assessed a number of impressive GTX 1080 Ti offerings from the likes of ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and Palit and today we are analysing the MSI Gaming X variant.
The Gaming X series from MSI is frequently a hot seller on etailer websites and a highly-regarded graphics cards brand across the PC industry, after testing the MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X Plus it is easy to see why. Nvidia's GTX 1080 Ti remains the best high-end option for PC Gamers with deep pockets and third party options like this one from MSI offer the best range of cooling, features and noise, or lack of it.
The formula with MSI's GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X isn't anything unusual. MSI has taken Nvidia's GTX 1080 Ti GPU, overclocked it to 1,658MHz on the core (up from 1,582MHz) and assembled it onto a reworked PCB design. MSI overhauled the cooling with its TwinFrozr cooler which is almost-but-not-quite 2 slots in size. Dimensions have expanded over the MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X in order to account for the increased heat output of the GTX 1080 Ti GPU.
Styling is unquestionably sharp although the red and black colour scheme is beginning to feel a little tiresome. Gamers who haven't settled on a final colour scheme for their build may well end up building their system around a graphics card like this. It's an eye-catching centrepiece for any build although MSI fans looking for something a little more exclusive and flexible may do well to consider the Lightning Z instead.
Clock speeds are undoubtedly conservative in the wider market place but MSI has been cautious in order to preserve the superiority of certain products in its own GTX 1080 Ti portfolio. The Gaming X sits below the Lightning range so the clock speeds of 1,544MHz core and 1,657MHz boost make sense.
| GPU | MSI GTX 1080 Ti Lighting Z | MSI GTX 1080 Ti Sea Hawk X | MSI GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X | MSI GTX 1080 Ti Duke OC |
| Base Clock |
1582 (1607) MHz | 1544 (1569) MHz | 1544 (1569) MHz | 1531 MHz |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1695 (1721) MHz | 1657 (1683) MHz | 1657 (1683) MHz | 1645 MHz |
| Memory Clock Effective |
11124 MHz | 11016 (11124) MHz | 11016 (11124) MHz | 11016 MHz |
| Memory Bandwidth | 489 GB/s | 484 (489) GB/s | 484 (489) GB/s | 484 GB/s |
| Price (£) | £TBC $TBC | £900 ($800) | £775 ($820) | £TBC ($750) |
Gamers looking for more speed in a simple click can achieve this with the MSI Gaming App. An OC mode can be enabled which boosts frequencies to 1,569 (1683) MHz on the core and 11,124 MHz on the memory. The price to pay for MSI's Gaming X solution, approximately £775, is inevitably a decent chunk above bargain-basement offerings that start from £675.
Let's see how MSI's GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X shapes up through our suite of tests and whether it justifies that extra cost.
Prices are at a high at the moment but its worth shopping around. I got the little brother to this card in may when I got fed up waiting for Vega. Just to show how much the prices have risen……
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/44f321f75d0009751cb1c2d071f32a02ebac53b39582308105c1e1278a5a70cf.jpg
I paid £503 for the GTX1080 and MSI had a £43 cashback offer on so all in it was £460. (plus I got £230 for my R9 290X, the upgrade to the GTX 1080 cost me £230, happy days) The exact same GTX1080 from the exact same store today is up for £595, excluding the MSI discount that card is £92 MORE expensive.
Seems like I’m the only one who just wants a classy case without tempered glass or RGB. Who cares what the card looks like?
Not me, I spent ages researching coolers and went for the MSI based on user feedback. The MSI Twinfrozr is pretty much the quietest air-cooler you can get. I know mine is only the GTX1080 but if I cared about RGB they do another model that is specifically called the MSI GTX1080 RGB, I’m guessing that model shoots rainbows out of its ass lol.
same here. I want the best perf for the cash and not waste money on needless stuff like RGB controllers. I like a nice looking card (to buy) but I don’t look at it after its in so who cares? and yeah my case DOES have a perspex side window but I couldn’t care less that it does…. it just happens to.
all card prices seem to be jacked up right now inc 1080ti vs what we’d expect with so much competition (AIB competing with each other) which of course comes from the lesser cards prices being higher too, goes without saying.
It’s a bad time to being a GPU right now (esp on the high end), wait for vega (not for perf but to hopefully drive prices down a little maybe.. MAYBE) or wait for Volta. Only buy 1080ti if you get a killer deal, ebay deal or are desperate for that perf asap.
I have this card, and it is by far and away the best card I’ve ever had. It runs very quiet, and stays cool even after marathon gaming sessions. I mean it really runs cool. Great job on the fans and cooling MSI! I’m using it on a Dell 4k monitor and it is able to maintain 60 or above FPS in all but one or two games (and its very close in them, mid 50’s). I know it’s a very expensive card, but if you have the means, I recommend this card over any other 1080Ti.
Yes MSI is staying with the red and black theme which isn’t everyones cup of tea I know. But when you hold this card, you can tell it is extremely well made and solid. Great job MSI, and thanks for the review.
Good point, and I’m fine with the looks. Plus the way my case sets (a Corsair Air 540 with a glass panel), I can’t see it at all. Just a warm reddish glow coming from under my desk (mobo has red LEDs). Looks so cool!
Idk about you, but this is one exception I’d make.
http://fanlessfan.com
I love geforce gtx 1080, its best around. To compare price ( everybody complain) sneak here https://bestgtx.com/best-geforce-gtx-1080/
Styling is unquestionably sharp although the red and black colour scheme is beginning to feel a little tiresome. Gamers who haven’t settled on a final colour scheme for their build may well end up building their system around a graphics card like this. It’s an eye-catching centrepiece for any build although MSI fans looking for something a little more exclusive and flexible may do well to consider the Lightning Z instead.
I paid £650
Weirdly enough my 1080ti gaming x card, overclocked to plus 100 on the core and plus 610 on the memory is only getting 5834 in unigine heaven (At default it scores 5660) is there something wrong with my card? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/729719ab51d59921d8a2a9b67616f7e5f505b0e4ca301fd5c9072ef64d8f1651.png