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MSI’s new RTX 4090 might finally convince me to buy one

Monica J. White
By
Two MSI Gaming Slim graphics cards: one white, one black.
MSI

In case you were hoping to see even more of Nvidia’s top graphics cards on the shelves, MSI has got your back. The company just unveiled around 20 new GPU models, and it’s not just more of the same — these new cards belong to MSI’s Gaming Slim series, meaning they’ll take up significantly less room in your PC case. And yes, this also applies to the behemoth RTX 4090.

MSI is readying up Gaming Slim models powered by the RTX 4090, RTX 4080, RTX 4070 Ti, and RTX 4070 GPUs. There are already RTX 4060 Ti 16GB cards in the Slim lineup, and the RTX 4060 hardly needs such a refresh. All cards will be available in either black or white, adding up to an impressive number of new products.

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MSI’s Gaming Slim series focuses on providing adequate cooling while cutting down on size. While the midrange Ada cards are already dual-slot, the RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 hog a lot of space, being triple- and quad-slot cards, respectively. Some models of the RTX 4090 go up to 4.5 slots, although there are also options that fit in just over three slots. Then there’s Asus with its 3.1-slot RTX 4060. At this rate, a 4-slot card will be the norm a few years from now.

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Given that unconstrained growth, it’s nice to see that even the RTX 4090 can be altered to a more reasonable size, although we don’t know how much thinner it will be exactly. The RTX 4070 Ti Gaming Slim will take up 2.5 slots, while the RTX 4070 remains a 2-slot option. All the cards now receive a triple-fan cooling solution with MSI’s Torx Fan 5.0, up to eight heat pipes, and a copper baseplate. The cooling on the high-end models might still be improved in some way, but MSI hasn’t shared much in the way of details yet.

MSI Gaming X Slim RTX 4070 graphics card.
MSI

Dropping down to a Slim card means sacrificing some clock speeds, but the loss should not be major enough to matter even in the fastest GPUs in the lineup. Be prepared to pay a premium for one of these GPUs, though. Cards made by Nvidia’s partners typically cost more than the recommended list price, and we can only hope the bump will be reasonable enough. The black version of the MSI Gaming RTX 4070 Gaming X Slim is already available on Newegg, and it’s not too bad — it costs . On the other hand, there’s also a $1,600 RTX 4070 Ti Gaming Slim, but that price is bound to change.

It seems that the RTX 4070 Ti and the RTX 4070 will be the first to launch, seeing as MSI has already posted the full specs for each card. Perhaps we’ll have to wait for the high-end options to make it to market, but we now know that they’re on the imminent horizon.

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Monica J. White
Monica J. White
Computing Writer
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
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