I've run lots of MSI graphics cards in the past and was excited to try out the MSI Gaming X 4090. The price is high at $1649, but only $50 over the FE and it runs a little cooler and is clocked a little higher out of the box, plus is was available at the time. The card is huge, like all 4090's. The bracket that comes with it barely offers any support, but something is better than nothing. The card build is solid and has a nice back plate. Out of the box mine boosts close to 2800mhz, which is solid and temps with the stock fan curve are good in the low 70C range and the card fans are quiet. Upping the fans to 60% drops the temps into the low-mid 60's and the noise is not intrusive. Memory temps are cool as well. So no complaints there. The RGB is decent, nothing too fancy, but it is a lower priced 4090, so no complaints there. This card does have some coil whine in certain situations, but it is not overly loud and most cards these days seem to have at least a little, so while I don't love it, I am not going to knock off a star for it. The power limit is only 6%, so overclocking is a little limited, but even so this card will get close to 3000mhz on the core and the memory tops out at +1400mhz on this sample. Pretty average results which is fine for the price point. Performance as expected is fantastic. It is a beast at 4k. I also own a 7900 XTX, which is a great card as well at almost 50% less money and sometimes nearly as fast, but if you love Ray Tracing at 4k, the 4090 is the way to go. So in summary, MSI Gaming X is a great 4090 that is close to MSRP prices.

Beast, finally able to play everything in 4k 120hz. Using a c2 OLED, well worth the money if performance on the next level is something you want. Card stays cool, and is very quiet. As with all 4090's it's really big and sucks a lot of power.

It was between this card and Tuf Oc, I went with this one for 2 main reason and that is price and Tuf has reported really bad coil whine. The gaming x I got has very little coil whine (my cpu radiator fans are louder) and OC very well with msi after burner. I’m coming from a evga 3080ti ftw3 and I can honestly say it was worth the upgrade specially being able to sell my card for a decent amount still. I ended up using Nvidia performance tuning and it gave me 159mhz and 200 memory OC. This card is beautiful and has a decent amount of RGB, the card is built very well and the cooler is over kill for sure. Don’t let the 480 watt max scary you away because it’s an amazing card, I use a 5900x and it bottled necks the 4090 which is crazy when you think about it.

Solid card but be aware of massive dimensions, Things I liked: - Looks - Build quality is not bad but not above average -Great MSI Software integration. MSI center puts everything together - Performance is great. Did some minor benchmarks. 3D Mark TimeSpy came with a bit above average. - Runs cool max it went close to 80 only at hotspot when stress-testing. Nothing above 60 in GPU temps or memory temps. - Hardly fan needs to run. No coil whine. Manually tried with 90% speed just some loud fans as expected but no Coil whine. Temps fell below 30c in idle with 90%. Things I didn't like: - TOO big - My Lian Li O11 D barely gets to close the side. - Missing premium bells and whistles that other AIB are offering. #Vaporcahmber - GPU packing is a bit disappointing. When you are paying so much for a card it should have a great presentation. - 3x8pin VS. 4x8pin (all other manufacturers). Though this can be a good thing since there is hardly any difference and also less cable to worry about. Board power is limited to 450!! I attempted to order the Plantek Vertical Mount GPU which didn't fit since the card is 3 slots. Beware if you are planning to vertical mount. Didn't try it personally but someone referred to this: EZDIY-FAB Vertical PCIe 4.0 GPU Mount Bracket Graphic Card Holder Conclusion: If you can afford to go for it but you won't be missing much if you decide to go for the 4080s. I got a 10% off with BB CC so made a bit of sense to me. For most users, the pricing is a lot especially since there is plenty of stock popping up. Best of luck with yours.

I really want the FE but i settled for this because the FE is never in stock.... That being said this card is very good and it runs cool and very quiet on my fractal torrent case with the gaming bios, highest temp i have seen on it is 66 degrees and that was on a very demanding benchmark at 4k. The only reason i give it 4 stars is because one of the fans makes a slight grinding noise when at 60% speed and it has something to do with the shroud because if i gently press on the bottom left corner of the card the sound goes away. Minimal coil whine as well. If i manage to snipe a 4090 FE then i will return this one,otherwise i will definetly keep it.