This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Let's face it, anyone shopping in the GPU market is going to get gouged. It's just the way it is. This was an upgrade gift to myself for my birthday in August. I've waited until now for the prices to (somewhat) reach MSRP. I never thought I would pay almost as much for a GPU as a entire computer. But if you want one, you pay the price (thank you BBY for the rewards and Price Match!).
I was first going to buy the Asus Prime (which I'm sure is a comparably fine product), but with a discrepancy in the dimensions listed on BBY, I switched to MSI for the smaller formfactor. I needed that extra quarter inch shorter in length and with that, this card 'just fits' in my mid ATX case. Also I'm not a big over clocker, but OC is an added plus.
I was also concerned with consumers complaining regarding coil whine, but I have not noticed it, and with MSI software, you can profile the fans if noise becomes an issue. This card passed all of the benchmark and stress testing, no problem.
I like the all metal jacket of this card and installation was fairly straightforward, but having GPU installation experience is helpful. The included 16 pin adapter was helpful, but be careful, it can be tricky to make sure all of the connections are secure and passes the 'smoke test'.
I game mostly on console, but I primarily buy the latest hardware for my hobby in Microsoft Flight Simulator, and this board handles it fine. I'm sure this card will handle any moderate to mid-high end level gaming with ease, especially employing DLSS.
All in all, a great product and a satisfying experience. I expect this GPU to serve well for a few years to come. So far so good.
