MSI RTX 4080 Super Expert Review

Conclusion

Conclusion

There is usually only one way to approach a graphics card. Is it fast? Is it cool? And, preferably, is it quiet?

With the MSI RTX 4080 Super Expert all of those answers are fairly easy to come across. If you read our reviews of the various RTX 4080 Super cards we saw at launch you’ll know all of them perform well. There are very small differences between the highest and lowest scorers. Consistency is very much the watchword of all RTX Nvidia cards. So probably the biggest differences are found in cooling. Even there though, some are in the mid to low 70°C range, and some in the mid sixties. Even power draw only has 20W between the most frugal and most demanding.

The MSI RTX 4080 Super Expert sits right in the middle of the pack. It’s not the fastest, but not disgraced. It’s not the coolest or the most frugal but, again, right on a par with the rest. In strict performance terms it’s right in the ballpark and if you want a RTX 4080 Super you could certainly do worse than the MSI Expert.

Where it unquestionably steals a march on the competition is the looks. In fact we will argue that it’s where it steals a march on nearly every graphics card. When you take them out of the box they are feel roughly the same in the hand. The MSI RTX 4080 Super Expert felt dramatically different thanks to its full-cover aluminium alloy shroud. For those who worry about the weight of such a thing, don’t. MSI handily supply a GPU stand in the box.

The full-cover nature of the surround means it looks like it was hewn from a single piece of metal. There are barely any joins to be seen. Even the places where we normally might expect a glimpse of the internals resolutely refuse to divulge their secrets. It’s spectacular. Utterly gorgeous. Perhaps the best thing is that the nature of the materials and design make it a blank canvas for those of you of a more artistic bent. Grab your airbrush.

In a world where graphics cards can be indistinguishable, the MSI RTX 4080 Super Expert stands outside of the norm. Instantly recognisable, and the cooler isn’t just for show but does its job well. Performance is very much on a par with the other RTX 4080 Super cards we’ve seen. Those incredible design touches are what make it stand apart and for that reason it wins our OC3D Aesthetics Award. It’s gorgeous.

Discuss the MSI RTX 4080 Super Expert in our OC3D forums.