MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Expert
January 2024Type
Graphics CardPrice
$999 US+MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Expert Unboxing & Closeup
The MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Expert graphics card comes inside a large cardboard box. The front of the package has a large picture of the graphics card with the "Expert" and "MSI" logo and the label for the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER.
The packaging has put a large emphasis on the RTX side of things as the first feature enlisted by AIBs will be NVIDIA Ada architecture, Ray Tracing & DLSS support. NVIDIA has bet the future of their gaming GPUs on Ray Tracing support as these are the first cards to offer support for the new feature. The back of the box is very typical, highlighting the main features and specifications of the cards.
There's also a focus towards GeForce.com on each AIB card through which users can download the latest drivers and GeForce Experience application which are a must for gamers to access all feature sets of the new cards.
The sides of the box once again greet us with the large GeForce RTX branding. There's also the mention of 16 GB GDDR6X (RTX 4080 SUPER) memory available on the card. Opening the box, you are greeted with a nice "Expert" logo.
Outside of the box, the graphics card and the accessory package are held firmly by foam packaging. The graphics card comes with a few accessories and manuals which might not be of much use for hardcore enthusiasts but can be useful for the mainstream gaming audience. These include a nice graphics card anti-sag stand which is especially useful for such big cards.
The graphics card is massive in terms of size and weighs around 2kg. The card measures 336 x 142 x 78 mm and takes up 3.0 slots worth of space for installation.
You would have to keep in mind the height when going for a triple or quad-slot card solution as your case or motherboard PCIe slot combination may not allow such a setup. The cooling shroud extends to the back of the PCB and it requires a casing with good interior space for proper installation.
The back of the card features a solid matte backplate that looks stunning. The backplate offers a lot more functionality than just looks which I will get back to in a bit.
In terms of design, the graphics card rocks a singular color scheme which is champagne gold, and harkens back to the MSI Evoke series which featured a similar design scheme. The card goes for a non-RGB aesthetic and still looks beautiful. For cooling, MSI is using a brand new Flow Frozr cooler which is a similar technique used by NVIDIA's Founders Edition designs.
The card has just two fans, one on the front and one on the back, both of which are 102mm and provide a flow-through design with both fans pulling in air and throwing them out of the shroud.
Coming to the fans, the card rocks the two aforementioned "Patented" Frozr fans Each fan is comprised of 9 blades which have a very distinctive appearance to enhance airflow while operating silently.
MSI also features a 0db Zero-Frozr technology on the fans which isn't explicitly mentioned. This feature won’t spin the fans on the card unless they reach a certain threshold. In the case of the MSI heatsink, that limit is set to 60C. If the card is operating under 60C, the fans won’t spin which means no extra noise would be generated. You can see how the upper shroud looks with lots of room for the air to pass through.
I am back at talking about the full-coverage, full metal-based backplate that the card uses. The whole plate is made of solid metal which adds to the durability of this card. The matte-gold finish on the backplate gives a unique aesthetic.
The graphics card also comes with a compact PCB design which means that the shroud, heatsink, and backplate are all extended beyond the PCB. The second fan blows air through the heatsink and blows it out from the cutouts that are situated at the very end of the backplate. Here, we see MSI's use of a unique grill that resembles the front grill of a Mercedes Benz.
With the outside of the card done, I will now start taking a glance at what's beneath the hood of this monster graphics card.
On the outside, the graphics card is fully covered and you can barely get a peek at the heatsink since the shroud is entirely enclosed. The grill is the only place where you can see the heatsink.
While one side features the GeForce RTX and MSI logos, the other side doesn't have a lot going on but it is the side that will be facing toward the motherboard so you aren't losing much there.
The large fin stack runs from the front and to the back of the PCB and is so thick that you can barely see through it.
Talking about the heatsink, there are two blocks of aluminum fins that are interconnected by six heat pipes running through the base plate and heading out toward the dual heatsink blocks. The heat pipes are part of the Core Pipe design that are square-shaped to ensure maximum contact with the GPU.
The secondary heatsink that extends from the main block comes with a V-shape fin layout that improves airflow.
There are several heat pads included for the VRMs and memory chips. They are full-sized, making full contact with the components to offer stable and efficient heat transfer.
Finally, we can talk about the Vapor Chamber that this card uses. The Vapor chamber covers the GPU and the memory modules and provides superior cooling than a traditional copper baseplate.
I/O on the graphics card sticks with the reference scheme which includes three Display Port 1.4a & a single HDMI 2.1 port.
MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Expert Teardown:
The MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Expert is a very power-hungry graphics card as showcased by its custom design. Being so, the card utilizes a single 16-pin connector (3x 8-pin) which can deliver up to 320 Watts of power to the graphics card.
The card is rated at 320W but ends up around 370W with its full power limit.
MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Expert Gallery:
As I said, the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Expert ships with a non-RGB design but the matte finish offers a nice reflective touch if you already have RGB illumination within your PC.
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About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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