MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Trio

AIB versus Founders versus Titan Xp

WHEN CHOOSING which GPUs to review, there’s a simple process of elimination we go through. Typically, we review a reference card on launch, then, if it’s interesting enough, one aftermarket variant, and generally that’s it. To cover more than that, it has to be exceptional in one way or another. MSI’s Trio is one such card.

Admittedly, this isn’t the first tri-cooler we’ve seen from MSI, although that threefan design has usually been reserved for the two-and-a-half-slot, high-end, Lightning overclocking variants, which aren’t readily available, and often come at such a high price point it’s enough to make even the mighty Titan Xp sweat.

So, what’s so interesting? Think of this as MSI’s equivalent to Asus’s DCIII. Or a Tri Frozr cooling solution, instead of its usual Twin Frozr. Now, let’s be clear, the Twin Frozr is still a solid and dependable cooling choice, capable of keeping even the GTX 1080 below 70 C under load in some of the most airflow-restricted cases out there— so why the big push for the triple fan? Well, the general public is under the impression that the more fans you have, the cooler you can keep it, and although that is somewhat true, nothing in our eyes trumps good heatsink design, something at which MSI has always excelled.

That aside, the Gaming X variants are now looking to be available to the mainstream at a far more affordable price, and coupled with the GTX 1080 Ti GPU at its core, this is a prime outing for the new cooler. Packed with a fully custom PCB, designed from the ground up for improved power delivery, and the inclusion of RGB lighting, it’s easy to see why MSI chose the GTX 1080 Ti as its base for the Trio’s first outing. We’d be surprised if the next generation of cards didn’t come with Trios as standard, across everything from the GTX 2060 upward.

So, how good is it? And how much of a difference does that custom PCB make? Well, it all comes down to memory and GPU core clock speeds. In brief, with the help of GPU Boost, the MSI Gaming X Trio’s stock performance was exceptional in our testing, and far closer to the Titan Xps we featured in our Dream Machine 2017 build than we’d like to admit.

At 1440p, we saw average frame rates as high as 106 in FarCryPrimal, 63 in Riseof theTombRaider, and 57 in TotalWar:Attila. In comparison, the Titan Xp at stock scores average frame rates of 107 in Primal, 64 in Rise, and 58 in TotalWar:Attila— that’s a one-frame-per-second difference, for a card that costs $400 more.

It’s cool, too. Seriously so. While overclocking and running stress tests, we achieved a maximum temperature of 58 C. Impressive enough, even at stock, but we weren’t anywhere near that, pumping an extra 120MHz into the core and 270MHz into the already overclocked memory.

MSI has really hit it out of the park with this one. The Gaming X Trio is an impressive redesign of an already impressive card, with incredible stock performance and cooling. It’s a heavy beast for sure, even coming with its own reinforcing bracket in the box, but the trade-offs are few and, to be frank, it’s one of the best GTX 1080 Tis we’ve seen. The big questions lie with the following: Can you stomach the $80 price hike for the additional performance, on top of MSI’s own and currently most affordable GTX 1080 Ti ARMOR edition? And do you mind the slightly off-putting RGB LED lighting design? If the answers are yes and no respectively, the Trio is likely the best GTX 1080 Ti for you. MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Trio

TRIFORCE Exceptional 1080 Ti performance; quiet; cool; impressive design.

TRIPE Big; slightly more power draw; $80 more than stock.

$ 800, www.msi.com