MSI is pulling out all of the stops with its lineup of GTX 1080 graphics cards. Alongside its Founders Edition, with its unique cooler design, MSI has announced six other iterations of Nvidia’s current top-of-the-line Pascal graphics processing unit (GPU).
Although it has yet to detail pricing or availability information, we do know the names, clock speeds, and other important specifications of the cards. The lowest end of the new renditions, and therefore likely the cheapest too, are the 1080 Aero 8G and Aero 8G OC.
As you might expect, the latter is an overclocked version of the former, so their clocks are 1,607 MHz / 1,733 MHz (core/memory) and 1,632MHz / 1,771 MHz respectively. Both look to be designed as a way to get the GTX 1080 price down, as they simply employ a standard blower design, pumping the hot air out of the rear of the case.
Related: Asus launches two new graphics cards based on Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1080 ‘Pascal’ GPU
Moving up the range, we find the GTX 1080 Armor 8G and its overclocked variant. These cards have a more powerful dual-fan cooler of MSI’s own design, though they don’t exhaust the air in the same way, so you’ll want to have decent system cooling to make sure this efficient card stays nice and chilled.
The non-OC’d version has the same 1,607MHz / 1,733MHz clock as the base version, while the overclocked one brings it up to 1,657MHz / 1,797MHz. Both also sport an additional 6pin power connector, and will therefore require two PCIE power cables to run (thanks PCPer).
The most powerful air-cooled version of the GTX 1080 that MSI is offering is its GamingX edition, which uses the TWIN FROZR VI twin-fan cooler. It has a redesigned shroud with some red and black styling and the additional power connector seen in the Armor versions.
This one however ups the ante that bit more with several different clock-speed offerings: a silent mode, which should operate in supreme quiet; gaming, which ups the clock speed to 1,683MHz / 1,822MHz for the core and memory, respectively, and “OC,” which powers up the GTX 1080 to an impressive 1,708MHz / 1,847MHz.
The only card that can match that clock for clock, is the GTX 1080 Sea Hawk, MSI’s water-cooled version. It has the same shrouded air-cooler as the Aero version, but combines it with a 120mm radiator to cool the core with a closed-water cooling loop.
Surprisingly however, it doesn’t sport the same additional 6pin power connector, but otherwise this should be the most impressive of the bunch.
We’ll update this with pricing and availability details as and when we receive them.
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