MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X Review

TweakTown's Rating: 95%

The Bottom Line

MSI's best GeForce RTX 4080 is the new SUPRIM X, with unbelievable thermal performance, a wicked design, and gorgeous backplate.

Pros

• Freaking wicked design
• 4K 120FPS+ gaming
• More performance than RTX 4080 FE
• Unbelievable thermal performance
• Nice and quiet, too!

Cons

• No DisplayPort 2.1 connectivity... why!
• Radeon RX 7900 XTX is right around the corner
• $180 premium over the RTX 4080 FE

Should you buy it?

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Introduction

NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 4080 is now official, with our first custom RTX 4080 being MSI's monster new GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X. It continues on with the fantastic design aesthetic that the company used on its GeForce RTX 4090, but drops in the AD103 GPU and 16GB of GDDR6X memory.

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MSI's new GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X is the bigger and better brother of the two cards the company sent over for review, with some impressive kit in the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 GAMING X TRIO. But the SUPRIM X brand is bigger and more bad-ass, with a higher-quality style and an absolutely beautiful backplate... something that MSI nails with its GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X.

What we've got here with the new GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X, is everything that makes MSI's higher-end GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X... a fantastic thermal solution, a great style, but with a knocked down AD103 GPU (the RTX 4090 has the flagship AD102 GPU) and 16GB of GDDR6X memory (the RTX 4090 has 24GB of GDDR6X memory).

• Read more: MSI GeForce RTX 4080 GAMING X TRIO Review
• Read more: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition Review

MSI is positioning the flagship GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X as its best-in-class air-cooled RTX 4080, leaving the water-cooled goodness for the higher-end GeForce RTX 4090. If you don't need the beast that is inside of the GeForce RTX 4090, then the new custom MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X would be a damn fine addition to your gaming PC.

It's a big beast, but you already know that... if you've got the space and just built yourself a new Intel Core i9-13900K or AMD Ryzen 9 7900X system, the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X would be enough to drive all games on the market right now, especially at 4K 120FPS.

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NVIDIA's new Ada Lovelace GPU architecture features the best in ray tracing that you can get right now, as well as NVIDIA's game-changing DLSS 3 technology. If you're playing any games that use DLSS (in any form, but especially DLSS 3 as we move into 2023 and beyond) then you're going to have something that should be pretty damn "future-proof".

NVIDIA kicks off pricing on its GeForce RTX 4080 at $1199, while the new MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X has a premium of $180 coming in at $1380.

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Ada Lovelace

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Detailed Look

Next up we've got MSI's new custom GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X graphics card, with no AIO cooler in sight this time around... we've still got the stellar SUPRIM X retail packaging (that includes a SUPRIM X gaming mouse pad in the box).

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From the front, you've got that same triple-fan cooler that will keep your Ada Lovelace GPU and 16GB of GDDR6X memory cool, while I'm sure there's going to be some wiggle room for overclocking. I do love the design MSI has opted for with its GeForce RTX 40 series SUPRIM X graphics cards... now let's move to the back.

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I think I dig the back more than the front, where MSI has used high-quality materials and construction lines that get emphasized by the geometry of points, lines, and planes. MSI has put its all into the design of the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X graphics card.

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MSI continues on with its chunky design, but it's not as crazy as the ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4080... looks great, however.

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The 16-pin power connector you'll require, which MSI provides a 3 x 8-pin PCIe power adapter.

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We have the usual display connectivity here once again: 3 x DisplayPort 1.4 connectors and a single HDMI 2.1 port are on the back of the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X graphics card.

Test System Specs

I've recently upgraded my major GPU test bed for 2022, but I will be upgrading again soon enough once Intel launches its new 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" CPUs and Z790 motherboards, and AMD with its upcoming Ryzen 7000 series "Zen 4" CPUs and X670E motherboards.

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The new upgrades include the shift to the Intel Core i9-12900K processor, ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme motherboard, 64GB of Sabrent Rocket DDR5-4800 memory, and 8TB of Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD goodness. Intel's flagship Core i9-12900K is a beast, with the Alder Lake CPU packing 8 Performance cores (P-cores) and 8 Efficient cores (E-cores) at up to 5.2GHz.

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme

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I've got that installed into the bigger-than-life ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme motherboard, which is absolutely loaded to the brim with technologies and features that it houses everything you need. We're talking about one of the best-looking designs on a motherboard yet, PCIe 5.0 support, enthusiast-grade 10GbE networking, and oh-so-much more.

RAM: 64GB Sabrent Rocket DDR5-4800

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Sabrent helped out in a huge way by sending over 64GB of DDR5-4800 memory in the form of 4 x 16GB DDR5-4800 modules of its new Sabrent Rocket DDR5 memory. The company also helped out in an even bigger way, supplying us with a gigantic and super-fast 8TB model of its Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD.

SSD: 8TB Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus M.2

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We're talking about 7.5GB/sec+ (7500MB/sec) from a single M.2 SSD, along with a gigantic 8TB of capacity. The 2TB drives aren't big enough for all of our game installs for GPU testing... the 4TB is much better, but the 8TB gives us room to move into 2023 without worrying about installing multiple games that are 200GB+ in size.

Some glory shots, of course.

Displays: ASUS ROG Strix 43-inch 4K 120Hz

ASUS has been a tight partner of TweakTown for many years, with the fine folks at ASUS Australia sending over their ROG Strix XG438Q and ROG Swift PG43UQ gaming monitors for our GPU test benches. They're both capable of 4K 120Hz+ through their DisplayPort 1.4 connectivity.

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I will be upgrading these in the near future, over to some DisplayPort 2.0-capable panels and some new HDMI 2.1-enabled 4K 165Hz panels in OLED form of course...given that next-gen GPUs are right around the corner, there has been no better time to upgrade your display or TV.

I've been working on this system for a while now, but now we're stretching its legs with the newly-released PC port of Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered. Not just in 1080p or 1440p, not even in just 4K... but at 8K with a native resolution of 7680 x 4320. I've run through some of the very fastest GPU silicon on the planet.

• CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K (buy from Amazon)
• Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme (buy from Amazon)
• Cooler: CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE LCD Display (buy from Amazon)
• RAM: Sabrent Rocket 64GB DDR5-4800 (4 x 16GB) (F4-3600C18Q-32GTZN) (buy from Amazon)
• SSD: Sabrent 8TB Rocket 4 Plus PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD (buy from Amazon)
• PSU: MSI MPG A1000G Gaming Power Supply 1000W (buy from Amazon)
• Case: InWin X-Frame 2.0
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro x64 (buy from Amazon)
• Display: ASUS ROG Swift PG43UQ (4K 120Hz) (buy from Amazon)

Benchmarks - Synthetic

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Benchmarks - 1080p

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Benchmarks - 1440p

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Benchmarks - 4K

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Temps & Power Consumption

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MSI keeps the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X even cooler than its RTX 4080 GAMING X TRIO graphics card, with the RTX 4080 SUPRIM X keeping the GPU at a rather chilly 56C during heavy gaming and benchmark loads... while GPU hotspot temperatures hovered at around 63-64C.

What's Hot, What's Not

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What's Hot

• MSI's wicked SUPRIM X design style: MSI really wins you over with their design on the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X graphics card, which is a big step above the RTX 4080 GAMING X TRIO. If you are a fan of beautiful backplates, then MSI has something you won't take your eyes off when you are looking inside of your PC... because we all know you'll show this bad boy off.
• Unbelievable thermal performance: We're talking 56C during gaming and benchmarking loads, which is freaking impressive.
• 4K 120FPS+ gaming: You won't have any issues cranking 4K 120FPS+ on the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X... I was enjoying many hours of Overwatch 2 with maxed-out details at 4K and beyond 200FPS at all times.

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• TSMC 4N process node: NVIDIA has been limping along using a custom 8nm process node at Samsung, but now they've been unshackled with Ada Lovelace being made on TSMC's new 4N process node (which in reality, is 5nm, but "4N" is for NVIDIA).
• DLSS 3: I say this with every evolution, but DLSS is like black magik -- only this time, NVIDIA has sacrificed something (Jensen, maybe) to the AI upscaling technology gods. DLSS 3 is freaking incredible, truly offering double, triple, and sometimes even more performance over native rendering. It's simply amazing to sit back and watch Microsoft Flight Simulator or Cyberpunk 2077 go from 60FPS or so, to 150FPS+ with a few button presses enabling DLSS 3.
• Ray tracing + DLSS 3 = more FPS than no ray tracing: DLSS 3 super-powers any game that's blessed enough to feature Ada's exclusive upscaling technology, whereas in games like Cyberpunk 2077 turning DLSS 3 on allows you to run ray tracing with MORE performance, not less.

What's Not

• No DisplayPort 2.1 connector, WTF: NVIDIA not including the new display connector moving forward -- DP2.0 -- is a huge mistake. It means anyone buying a $1500+ graphics card in the tail end of 2022 is not going to be able to use next-gen DP2.0-capable gaming monitors that we'll begin seeing debut in the coming months, probably at CES 2023 in January. WTF, NVIDIA? Even Intel's is-it-even-real Arc GPUs have a DP2.0 port.

Final Thoughts

MSI does it again with a new GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X that is the best the company has to offer in the RTX 4080 family, offering the same 4K 120FPS+ performance and ray tracing + DLSS 3 dominance. Just in pure rasterization, the GeForce RTX 4080 is a powerful card that will put a smile on your dial.

We have some absolutely awesome thermal performance with just 56C at load, thanks to the TRI FROZR 3 cooler that is capable of easily handling 300W+ of power. This is enough to keep the AD103 "Ada Lovelace" and 16GB of GDDR6X memory nice and cool.

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The performance leap over the previous-gen GeForce RTX 3080 is really something else, so if you skipped buying the Ampere GPU generation of cards, the new MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X is bloody good. If you've just purchased yourself a huge new HDMI 2.1-capable 4K 120FPS+ TV, this is another great purchase for 4K 120FPS+ gaming on the big screen.

MSI nails the design of its GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X and its backplate, where if you're a fan of backplates like I am, that's a big deal... and a huge selling point over MSI's other GeForce RTX 4080 GAMING X TRIO. Underneath you're getting virtually the same performance, but the SUPRIM X has a real touch of class about it.

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You will have to justify the $180 premium over the $1199 price on the GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition, and sure you've got a smidge more performance -- and a little bit more over the stock performance inside of the RTX 4080 SUPRIM X -- but this is just the price of GPUs today. AMD will change that with the introduction of its new Navi 31-based Radeon RX 7900 XTX which I'll be testing against the GeForce RTX 4080 in the very near future.

If you want to hold off and wait, then go for it... but if you leap in, you won't regret MSI's new GeForce RTX 4080 SUPRIM X graphics card.