MSI RTX 2080Ti Duke Review

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With quite a few RTX cards in the MSI range it makes sense for the Duke to place which one it is front and centre, and it certainly has that box ticked. We like the brush effect font used too, it reminds us of playing Okami.

  

If you’re familiar with the MSI Twin Frozr, or Triple Frozr, cooler then this will be instantly recognisable. Fans with plentiful blades and lots of angles to attract the eye. It’s nice without being gaudy, recognisable without the design limiting the function. Very nice indeed.

  

The part of the card you see the most, the backplate is very sturdy with large branding and, happily enough, a little duct to route some of the airflow from the top fan across the back of the card.

  

There is an awful lot of room for the heat sink to dissipate the warm air, especially on the lower side. That’s some serious fin density. The logo side obviously has a little more shroud to fit in the Duke RGB logo and RTX branding, but it’s still by no means a full cover shroud.

  
  

Display outputs are a combination of the ever faithful HDMI alongside DisplayPort, and there is even a USB header for those of you who need somewhere to plug in your VR headset.

  

As you would expect from an RTX 2080Ti card the power requirements are two 8pin PCI Express numbers.

  

Often a cooler looks almost indistinguishable from the cooler on any other of the manufacturers range but the Duke leaves nobody in any doubt as to which heart beats in your machine.