MSI GeForce RTX 5080 16G VANGUARD SOC Launch Edition Graphics Card Review

Today we will be taking a look at the GeForce RTX 5080 16G VANGUARD SOC Launch Edition. It’s one of the fastest graphics card you can get on the market, and uses Nvidia’s latest Blackwell GPU featuring 10,752 CUDA cores, 84 RT cores (4th Gen), 336 Tensor cores (5th Gen), and 16GB of GDDR7 ram running at 30Gbps on a 256-bit memory bus.

It features an overclocked GPU running at a boost speed of 2,730 MHz (default boost speed is 2,620 MHz), and if you run MSI Center, you can get an Extreme Performance of up to 2,745 MHz.

What’s more, it now fully utilizes the PCIE 5.0 x16 slot found on latest motherboards, and supports the latest DLSS 4.0 giving you up to 4X performance boost in gaming.

The MSI Vanguard series of graphics cards offers great aesthetics with carbon fiber accents, aerodynamic edges, fractured lines, and futuristic RGB lights.

For cooling it comes with MSI’s HYPER FROZR THERMAL DESIGN that combines cooling fans with claw-textured blades, core heat pipes, and vapor chamber to give you excellent cooling efficiency, optimal heat dissipation and silent performance.

Video outputs include 3 x DisplayPort (v2.1b) and 1 x HDMI 2.1b, allowing you to display up to 4K @ 480Hz or 8K 120Hz with DSC, Gaming VRR, HDR.

According to Nvidia, the GeForce RTX 5080 SUPER has a total graphics power (TGP) is around 360W, so we recommend a minimum power of 1000W or higher.

And lastly, the MSI GeForce RTX 5080 16G VANGUARD SOC Launch Edition includes one exclusive limited-edition Lucky figurine. There are 9 to collect in total with 1 secret edition.

I would like to thank MSI for providing the review sample. This is a snippet from what MSI has to say about themselves on their website:

As a world leading gaming brand, MSI is the most trusted name in gaming and eSports. We’ve dedicated countless hours and numerous resources to the eSports community to support the world’s most aspiring gamers and leverage their gaming expertise to optimize our product design. MSI has integrated all gamers’ coveted functions into its gaming rigs, eliminating the tedious trial and error by themselves and pushing the performance beyond limits. The determination to surpass past achievements has made MSI a ‘True Gaming’ brand throughout the industry!

 

Adding to its unanimous acclaim in the gaming field is MSI’s reputation as a trailblazer and top brand in digital content creation. Built around MSI’s decade-long pioneering tech in gaming, the Content Creation Series packs stunning color accuracy, long-lasting battery life, high fidelity audio and excellent performance into an ultra-portable, stylish chassis for photographers, graphic designers, 3D animators, video editors and other professionals around the world.

Amazingly portable and powerful, the MSI Business & Productivity Series packs unprecedented performance, enterprise-grade security and outstand battery life into its clean-cut, modern chassis to compliment the extraordinary tastes of business professionals.

 

MSI’s customer-centric mindset steers the direction of its R&D resource deployment and makes the globally acclaimed MSI Gaming Series, Content Creation Series and AIoT solutions possible. Ranked highest on gamers’ wish lists, the Gaming Series features top-notch laptops, graphics cards, monitors, motherboards, desktops and gaming gear. The Content Creation Series is specifically tailored for digital content creators. Recognized for its aesthetic design and performance, the Content Creation Series is now a market leader in its field. Moreover, MSI pioneers critical developments in AI, enterprise computing and IoT. Cloud servers, customizable Industrial PCs, smart robotic appliances, and vehicle infotainment and telematics systems are MSI’s fields of expertise where the most comprehensive AIoT solutions are built.

Here’s a quick comparison between Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 40 and RTX 50 series.

As you can see from the table above, the GeForce RTX 5080 features 10,752 CUDA Cores, a 2.3 GHz base clock that boosts up to 2.62 GHz. It also includes DLSS 4 support, 4th Gen Ray Tracing cores and 5th Gen Tensor cores. The Typical Graphics Power (TGP) is rated at 360W, so we recommemd a power supply of 1000W or higher.

Now the MSI GeForce RTX 5080 16G VANGUARD SOC Launch Edition actually uses a slightly overclocked GPU that operates on a Boost Clock speed of up to 2.73 GHz (the default is 2.62 GHz), and features 16GB of GDDR7 VRam on a 256-bit memory bus running at 30 Gbps.

To test the graphics card, we’ll be using our Project Aqua Hydrangea PC Build, which consists of Gigabyte Z890 AORUS Elite X ICE motherboard , along with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor @ default clock speed, as well as 48GB of Viper Gaming Extreme 5 DDR5-8000 ram.

OK, let’s jump straight in and start by taking a look at the specifications of the graphics card on our next page. We were unable to get a price for the MSI GeForce RTX 5080 16G VANGUARD SOC Launch Edition graphics card, but expect to pay well above MSRP around USD $1,999+.  It’s currently sold out in most places, but you can check with Newegg – https://tinyurl.com/56thfwam

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