Review MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio Review: Big, Bad and Bold

[Admin]

The MSI RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio is the largest 3080 we've reviewed so far, promising better cooling and higher performance than lesser cards. With the latest drivers in hand, we take the card for a spin and see just how fast Ampere can go.

MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio Review: Big, Bad and Bold : Read more

 

[DZIrl]

I really like NVidia approach with blowing air out of the box next to HDMI connectors. Before I thought other cards do same, but not.
Approach others use just blows very hot air back into to the box and CPU.
Maybe is better to suck air and fans to blow it to the bottom of the case where an additional fan could blow it out.

 

[cknobman]

Personally I'm not really that impressed with the 3080.
Just too big and sucks too much juice.

I'm going to wait and hold out hope for AMD later this month.

 

[Freeshivacado]

Honestly i perfer Nvidia over radeon. As usually nvidia drivers are just more simple. You install it. Set it up and your done. You dont have to set when the fans kick in like radeon. As most NVidia cards set that automatically. Honestly i cant wait to see how the 3070 will perform when it comes out this october with the AMD Ryzen 4000 series. (Finally! ) I like how nvidia cards blow the heat out the back of metal plate where the ports are. Honestly i think the 3090 is an absolute BEAST of a GPU and is more than anyone would need right now. Thanks for reading!

 

[NP]

Personally I'm not really that impressed with the 3080.
Just too big and sucks too much juice.

I'm going to wait and hold out hope for AMD later this month.

I fully expect that you (and I) will have hold out hope until about 15 - 20 Nov.

 

[neojack]

Is it possible to add cpu temperature comparaison ?
like said a 10900k + this card or a Founder's Edition ?

I saw in Jayz's video that the FE actually get lower case AND cpu temperature compared to triple fan setups.

if the CPU get to the point of throttling, then there is no point, the best triple fan setup will perform worse than the FE.

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

Is it possible to add cpu temperature comparaison ?
like said a 10900k + this card or a Founder's Edition ?

I saw in Jayz's video that the FE actually get lower case AND cpu temperature compared to triple fan setups.

if the CPU get to the point of throttling, then there is no point, the best triple fan setup will perform worse than the FE.

Choice of case (and case fans, radiators, etc.) can definitely impact thermals. The open air coolers like this MSI tend to vent heat out and below the GPU, while the 3080 FE would push a lot of heat up into the CPU and RAM area. If you have a case with a fan venting air at the back by the CPU, which is fairly common, it can run cooler with the FE. The important thing is you want enough airflow into the case to keep the GPU fed with fresh air. Any fairly large case shouldn't be too big of a difference, though.

 

[saunupe1911]

Are you guys serious about having a 1200W or more power supply? Even EVGA says a 750W Gold will do

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

Are you guys serious about having a 1200W or more power supply? Even EVGA says a 750W Gold will do

Yes, but you have to take it in context. If you are wanting to build a top-of-the-line gaming PC around the RTX 3080 or 3090, you won't want to cut power supply short. With a stock clocked Core i9-9900K, I'm seeing power draw at the outlet of up to 525W running games -- situations where the CPU isn't fully loaded, in other words. Overclocked and running something that loads up the CPU and GPU would probably get my test PC up to 650W. Because of rails and just for margin of safety, I'd never want to run a PSU at 100% load. Having at least 20% more power available than necessary is a good practice.

Now, swap out the Core i9-9900K for a Core i9-10900K and overclock that. Unlike the 9900K, which might see peak power draw in the 150-175W range, 10900K could easily hit 250W or more when overclocked. Momentary spikes can go maybe 100W higher than that, and the same goes for the GPU. Toss in the rest of the PC and heavily loaded CPU and GPU could get you into the 750W range -- again, overclocked -- with spikes that might near 1000W. 20% extra would mean 1200W.

You also have to factor in that PSUs tend to degrade in quality over time. A brand-new high-quality 1200W PSU can certainly put out 1000W and even 1200W. Three years down the line, you'll probably lose at least 10% of maximum power. Plus, if you're spending $750 on a GPU, $500+ on a CPU, $250+ on a good motherboard, and $250 or more on case, storage, RAM, and cooling ... well, at that point I wouldn't skimp on a PSU and pick up a $100 model just because it's probably good enough.

So, 750W Gold PSU running on a Ryzen 9 3900X or Core i9-9900K? Yeah, you should be fine. You might come close to the limit, depending on other components, but at stock I doubt you'll have issues. Overclock the CPU or GPU and I'd definitely go with at least 850W, and at that point it's not too much of a stretch to get 1000W or 1200W.

 

[Schlachtwolf]

I have been checking Amazon daily here in Germany and there is not 1 RTX 3000 card of any kind to be found since launch. Boy am I glad I upped from a BeQuiet 550w to my Rog Thor 850w in March. It was still "relatively"cheap then and has left options open for RTX or Big Navi.

First purchase will be the a new CPU from AMD's new line-up. 🆒

 

[Mattye]

Great review, I ordered the card the second it was released. Since then, however, the whole experience has been an absolute nightmare. I think someone needs to write a story about just how bad this launch has been. It has been a master class in poor planning and Nvidia is solely to blame. They have consumers whipped into a frenzy when many have been, essentially, locked up for months looking for some sort of escape. A little transparency would go along way and the AIBs and Nvidia have been silent or at best cryptic in all information they share. The ship date for my card has changed almost daily and keep getting pushed further out.
Meanwhile the best we can get is "oopsie, we're sorry these are hard times, be patient, don't buy from scalpers". The five basic questions need to be addressed what, where, why, when and how.

 

[saunupe1911]

Yes, but you have to take it in context. If you are wanting to build a top-of-the-line gaming PC around the RTX 3080 or 3090, you won't want to cut power supply short. With a stock clocked Core i9-9900K, I'm seeing power draw at the outlet of up to 525W running games -- situations where the CPU isn't fully loaded, in other words. Overclocked and running something that loads up the CPU and GPU would probably get my test PC up to 650W. Because of rails and just for margin of safety, I'd never want to run a PSU at 100% load. Having at least 20% more power available than necessary is a good practice.

Now, swap out the Core i9-9900K for a Core i9-10900K and overclock that. Unlike the 9900K, which might see peak power draw in the 150-175W range, 10900K could easily hit 250W or more when overclocked. Momentary spikes can go maybe 100W higher than that, and the same goes for the GPU. Toss in the rest of the PC and heavily loaded CPU and GPU could get you into the 750W range -- again, overclocked -- with spikes that might near 1000W. 20% extra would mean 1200W.

You also have to factor in that PSUs tend to degrade in quality over time. A brand-new high-quality 1200W PSU can certainly put out 1000W and even 1200W. Three years down the line, you'll probably lose at least 10% of maximum power. Plus, if you're spending $750 on a GPU, $500+ on a CPU, $250+ on a good motherboard, and $250 or more on case, storage, RAM, and cooling ... well, at that point I wouldn't skimp on a PSU and pick up a $100 model just because it's probably good enough.

So, 750W Gold PSU running on a Ryzen 9 3900X or Core i9-9900K? Yeah, you should be fine. You might come close to the limit, depending on other components, but at stock I doubt you'll have issues. Overclock the CPU or GPU and I'd definitely go with at least 850W, and at that point it's not too much of a stretch to get 1000W or 1200W.

Welp buying a 1200W EVGA Platinum today!!!

 

[neojack]

Choice of case (and case fans, radiators, etc.) can definitely impact thermals. The open air coolers like this MSI tend to vent heat out and below the GPU, while the 3080 FE would push a lot of heat up into the CPU and RAM area. If you have a case with a fan venting air at the back by the CPU, which is fairly common, it can run cooler with the FE. The important thing is you want enough airflow into the case to keep the GPU fed with fresh air. Any fairly large case shouldn't be too big of a difference, though.

well thats all theorical, but i would like to see actual numbers

also this statement "the 3080 FE would push a lot of heat up into the CPU and RAM area" was debunked :
(the thumbnail is misleading, it's a joke)

View: https://youtu.be/mJ4ha0zsWHw?t=584


same temp room, same case, same everything, except changing the GPU
significant decrease in temperature on the CPU with the FE compared to the triple fan GPU

question is : is this a common trend for all triple fan cards ? is the MSI gaming X trio reviewed here any different ?
i think that's interesting enough to actualy test it, and not just theorycrafting.

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

well thats all theorical, but i would like to see actual numbers

also this statement "the 3080 FE would push a lot of heat up into the CPU and RAM area" was debunked :
(the thumbnail is misleading, it's a joke)

View: https://youtu.be/mJ4ha0zsWHw?t=584


same temp room, same case, same everything, except changing the GPU
significant decrease in temperature on the CPU with the FE compared to the triple fan GPU

question is : is this a common trend for all triple fan cards ? is the MSI gaming X trio reviewed here any different ?
i think that's interesting enough to actualy test it, and not just theorycrafting.

I don't mean "a lot" like you're reading it -- I meant that the back fan would pull a lot more heat up into the CPU / RAM area compared to a setup with three fans venting out the sides of the GPU. The 3090 / 3080 FE setup should allow for less turbulence and better airflow as well. If you don't have any fans in the CPU zone, though, and you have a smaller case, it could be less ideal.

 

[S4INT_MICH4EL]

Honestly i perfer Nvidia over radeon. As usually nvidia drivers are just more simple. You install it. Set it up and your done. You dont have to set when the fans kick in like radeon. As most NVidia cards set that automatically. Honestly i cant wait to see how the 3070 will perform when it comes out this october with the AMD Ryzen 4000 series. (Finally! ) I like how nvidia cards blow the heat out the back of metal plate where the ports are. Honestly i think the 3090 is an absolute BEAST of a GPU and is more than anyone would need right now. Thanks for reading!

I have a Question. I have the opportunity to get this card the above, or the 3070. Which one do you think I should get?
The card mentioned in this article will cost me $950 with tax purchased from Dell from a friend, while the 3070 will cost me $510.00 with tax from a friend. Is $440 of an increase worth the money from a 3070 to a 3080????
I rather have a 3090 of course, but nobody has that currently unfortunately....

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

I have a Question. I have the opportunity to get this card the above, or the 3070. Which one do you think I should get?
The card mentioned in this article will cost me $950 with tax purchased from Dell from a friend, while the 3070 will cost me $510.00 with tax from a friend. Is $440 of an increase worth the money from a 3070 to a 3080????
I rather have a 3090 of course, but nobody has that currently unfortunately....

If it's $950, that's about $200 more than it should cost, so I wouldn't bother with that. $510 is at most $10 above MSRP. Sure, the 3080 is faster, by about 25% (35% at 4K ultra). It's not 86% faster, though.