So as you guys know I sold off my Aorus as I will be SLI down the road soon. I was going to get the Asus Strix OC but decided to get the MSI Gaming X instead as it looks great for my build as much as many would disagree with how it looks.
I would say I've got a better binned chip than even my previous Aorus as I can hit 2,075Mhz with voltage. My previous Aorus could only max out at 2,050Mhz. The MSI Gaming X is a much more compact card and there is no sag at all as it's shorter than even the Asus. I'm actually not even using my GPU stand and it's just collecting dust now.
The card also is quieter than the Aorus at 100% fan speed. Yes, the difference is noticeable and it runs slightly cooler than the Aorus too. One thing I feel that the Asus and MSI design gets right with their cards is that the memory section is being cooled by a midplate between the cooler and the PCB board. This also structurally prevents much sag also unlike the Aorus which is just a huge copper block cooling both memory and GPU.
I have played around with the card extensively for a couple of days and this is my best run with the card. I have a 140mm ML140 Corsair fan that blows into the fins of the backplate and that helps with cooling alot. Look below for my run with Timespy.
Full image here :
http://i67.tinypic.com/e02xwx.png
Basically, I'm at +101Mhz for core and +360Mhz for memory. Can go higher for memory but GDDR5X loosens timing as you go higher and your scores remain the same or become less and I find around +350Mhz gives the best results for memory. Core max is +101 with +100% voltage in afterburner. If I don't utilise voltage at all, my max overclock would be +95Mhz for the core and will boost to 2,062.5Mhz only. Memory remains the same at +360Mhz.
Also,I've maxed out this card as it's already hitting the max 1.093V which is the max Pascal GP102 is allowed to run by Nvidia. I will never use this settings for 24/7 and only for benches. Regular 24/7 I'll just max out power limit and thermal limit and let GPU boost handle everything as what some of you have mentioned. I'll use my more aggressive fan curve to keep my boost clocks more or less linear as temps will be much more controlled.
I don't mind the slightly more audible noise as these fans are double bearing fans and they are so much more efficient at >80%. Basically it's set to run at 100% above 60 degrees and trust me, these torx fans on the MSI is seriously quiet. At least to me cause my Aorus was noticeably louder. There is a slight coil whine during Timespy but it is hardly audible unless you concentrate and place your ears near the card.
So for those looking for an alternative between the usual brands, I'd say MSI is a very good consideration. The card works flawlessly, software is tip top from MSI Gaming app to Afterburner.
