MSI Gaming X RTX 2070 Super Graphics Card Review

How Much Does It Cost?

Much to my own frustration, I couldn’t actually find any stock of this card at major retailers. However, MSI does have their Super Ventus OC for £509.98, which is a more affordable model than the MSI RTX 2070 Super we just reviewed. Above that, we have the triple-fan Trio model, which features a more aggressive overclock, priced at just £578.99. It doesn’t take a mad scientist to guess the dual fan model sits somewhere between those two, likely around £550. That would make it about £100 more than the similarly designed MSI RTX 2060 Super Gaming X.

Overview

MSI really has been on a winning streak with their Frozr cooling design. I mean, it’s on the 7th iteration now, and I can remember the first generations of it from way back when I started at eTeknix about eight years ago. The dual-fan design has been heavily improved though. Better fans, better bearings, improved airflow to the shroud, a more robust backplate, a better set of radiators; it’s all improved. The end result is a card that can be pushed pretty damned hard and maintain its clocks. Most importantly though, it’s both cool to run and quiet too, which are both huge wins for the MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X.

Gaming

Without a doubt, this is very fast graphics card. It’s giving us a performance that’s shouting down the RTX 2080 (non-super) graphics cards. If that’s not enough, this model gave all the other RTX 2070 Super cards we’ve tested to date a bit of a whipping too. It’s not massively faster, but it’s absolutely clear that it’s the fastest RTX 2070 class card we’ve tested to date. I suspect that comes thanks to that massive cooler, but that’s hardly a surprise really.

For gaming at 1080p it’s complete overkill and even managed 1440p with ease. Of course, your refresh rate may be above 60hz, so there’s obviously still some appeal for this card even at 1080p for 144hz+ gamers.

Because the performance is so close to that of an RTX 2080 (non-super), the card is quite adept at 4K gaming too. OK, so some games will have you dropping a few quality settings a little bit, but not by so much you’ll be feeling left out. Either way, it’s a jack of all trades without the big prices of Nvidia’s flagship cards.

Should I Buy One?

With solid gaming performance, great cooling, and very quiet fans, the value of the MSI Gaming X RTX 2070 super kinda speaks for its self. However, throw in some impressive ray-tracing performance, and features like DLSS, G-Sync, DSR, and more, and you’ve got one hell of a gaming card. I’m sure the slightly more expensive Trio model is brilliant too, but honestly, I can’t see anyone feeling like they settled for second best with the Gaming X!