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MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Super Gaming X Review – Faster Than GTX 1080?

Early this month, NVIDIA released two new graphics cards, the GeForce RTX 2070 Super and 2060 Super. Today we are going to take a look and review a custom RTX 2060 Super – the MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Super Gaming X graphics card. This is MSI’s best RTX 2060 Super variant available. They also have the Armor OC and Ventus OC; but among the three variants, the Gaming X is the better one when it comes to aesthetics and cooler design. It’s also going to be priced a tad higher compared to the reference RTX 2060 Super. NVIDIA claims that the RTX 2060 Super is faster than the GTX 1080 and “and is also up to 22% faster (15% average) than the GeForce RTX 2060 GPU that was launched earlier this year at 2560×1440”. So, let’s check out if the new RTX 2060 Super is indeed that much faster compared to its predecessors. Continue reading our MSI RTX 2060 Super Gaming X review below and find out more about this new graphics card.

msi geforce rtx 2060 super gaming x review

MSI GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER Gaming X Graphics Card Review

Basically NVIDIA released two new graphics cards to combat AMD’s new RX 5700 XT and 5700 graphics cards. They released the SUPER cards a few days before AMD could officially release theirs. So, what’s new with these SUPER cards? Generally speaking, there’s nothing new except for slight change in specs, improved and faster performance from their predecessors.

Also, the RTX 2060 Super is $50 priced higher than the RTX 2060, while the RTX 2070 Super is priced starting at $499 and it replaces the now discontinued RTX 2070. The RTX 2060 Super is based on the TU106 GPU, and comes with the same features that are available on the existing RTX 2060 like ray tracing and AI-enhanced graphics. The core count has been increased in the RTX 2060 SUPER, memory bus has been expanded, and now has 8GB of GDDR6 memory.

According to NVIDIA, the GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers higher performance than the GeForce GTX 1080, and is also up to 22% faster (15% average) than the GeForce RTX 2060 GPU that was launched earlier this year at 2560×1440. The GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is just 1% slower than the stock GeForce RTX 2070 on average overall at 1440p.

Unfortunately, we don’t have an RTX 2070 or RTX 2070 Super, or even AMD’s RX 5700 (XT) to compare the RTX 2060 Super with. Hopefully, we might acquire them soon so that we can better compare these new mid-tier graphics cards.

UPDATE: Check out our MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT EVOKE OC review here.

Going back to the RTX 2060 Super, the graphics card that we have here is the MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Super Gaming X. It’s the company’s best RTX 2060 Super card they can offer. It features a slightly higher boost clock speed vs. the Founders Edition or reference model. It also comes with a better and gaming-centric cooler design and aesthetics.

Check out its full specifications below and after that we’ll take a closer look on the graphics card itself.

MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Super Gaming X Specifications

GPUMSI RTX 2060 Super Gaming XGeForce RTX 2060 SUPERGeForce RTX 2060GeForce GTX 1060
Streaming Multiprocessors34343010
CUDA Cores2176217619201280
Tensor Cores272272240N/A
RT Cores343430N/A
Texture Units13613612080
ROP Units64644848
Rays Cast6 Giga Rays/second6 Giga Rays/second5 Giga Rays0.44 Giga Rays/second
Base Clock1470 MHz1470 MHz1365 MHz1506 MHz
Boost Clock1695 MHz1650 MHz1680 MHz1708 MHz
Memory Clock7000 MHz7000 MHz7000 MHz4000 MHz
Memory Data Rate14 Gbps14 Gbps14 Gbps8 Gbps
Memory Size / Type8GB GDDR68GB GDDR66GB GDDR66GB GDDR5
Memory Interface256-bit256-bit192-bit192-bit
Total Memory Bandwidth448 GB/s448 GB/s336.1 GB/sec192 GB/sec
Texture Rate (Bilinear)224.4 GigaTexels/second224.4 GigaTexels/second201.6 Gigatexels/sec120.5 Gigatexels/sec
Fab. Process / Architecture12 nm FFN / TU10612 nm FFN / TU10612 nm FFN / TU10616nm / GP106
Transistor Count10.8 Billion10.8 Billion10.8 Billion4.4B
Power Connectors8-pin8-pin8-pin6-pin
Recommended Power Supply550 Watts550 Watts550 Watts400 W
Total Graphics Power (TGP)175 Watts175 Watts160 Watts120 Watts
MSRP (at launch)$399$349$249 Ref / $299 FE

MSI RTX 2060 Super Gaming X Packaging and Closer Look

The box of the MSI RTX 2060 Super Gaming X looks very similar with its other graphics card that features the same cooler design. One thing that is really new here is the word “SUPER”, after the RTX 2060. Nevertheless, MSI’s packaging is very nice, aesthetically pleasing and the box itself is sturdy.

Above you can see the front and back view of the MSI RTX 2060 Super Gaming X. The cooler shroud is made out of plastic and it does have RGB lighting. While the back plate is metal with an aluminum brushed texture. This graphics card features MSI’s Twin Frozr 7 thermal design, with Torx 3.0 fans and Zero Frozr feature – meaning the fans stop when the card is in idle or light load.

The MSI RTX 2060 Super Gaming X draws its power from an 8-pin PCIE power connector and requires at least a 550W power supply. On its output area, the RTX 2060 Super Gaming X has one HDMI 2.0b port and three DisplayPort 1.4.

As you can see from its sides, the graphics card features a decent amount of aluminum heat sink. It’s necessary to keep the GPU cool even when the fans are not running. Below the Gaming X is the RTX 2060 Founders Edition for comparison.

Let’s proceed to the next page for the test setup, noise and temperature of this graphics card.

MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Super Gaming X latest pricing and availability:
For US: available on Amazon.com here or Newegg.com here
For UK: available on Amazon UK here

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Author
Peter Paul
Peter is a PC enthusiast and avid gamer with several years of hands-on experience in testing and reviewing PC components, audio equipment, and various tech devices. He offers a genuine, no-nonsense perspective, helping consumers make informed choices in the ever-changing world of technology.

2 thoughts on “MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Super Gaming X Review – Faster Than GTX 1080?”

    • “biased fake bad test”? which one? biased no, all gpu temp tests regardless of manufacturer are tested using furmark. fake? we tested it and it’s the result we got. it’s not fake. you do know that temps are dependent on other factors as well. if your 2060s gaming x got 63c under full load then that’s great. we didn’t say this is a bad card with bad cooler. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      Reply

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