Introduction
On our test bench, today is the MSI GeForce RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID X 24G video card. It sits at the top of MSI’s 4090 product stack and has the same boost clocks as its air-cooled sister card. The key features of the MSI GeForce RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID X 24G is the high factory overclock (105MHz boost clock increase), a 480W power limit, and a 240mm AIO cooling solution.
The RTX 40 Series GPUs have been a bit easier to find in the retail environment compared to the 30 Series, though the RTX 4090-based cards tend to not stay in stock for a long time when they do pop up. The MSI GeForce RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID X 24G rings in at an MSRP of $1749, which is a $150 premium over the GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition.
The RTX 4090 GPU is based on the TSMC 4N manufacturing process, and Lovelace architecture. It has 128 SMs, 16,384 CUDA Cores, 512 Tensor Cores (4th gen), 128 RT Cores (3rd gen), 512 Texture Units, and 176 ROPs. It has a GPU Boost Clock of 2520MHz. It has 24GB of GDDR6X memory at 21GHz on a 384-bit bus providing 1008GB/s of memory bandwidth.
MSI RTX 4090 Models
MSI has eight RTX 4090 models listed on its website which are segmented into SUPRIM, GAMING, and VENTUS product lines. Each of the product lines has a lower clocked and a higher clocked variant, with X denoting a faster SUPRIM or GAMING card whereas VENTUS uses OC. A liquid-cooled variant is only available under the SUPRIM barrier, and keep in mind that there is a LIQUID and LIQUID X variant of this card, with the latter being clocked higher and the one we are reviewing today.
MSI GeForce RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID X 24G
The MSI GeForce RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID X 24G comes in a whale of a box as there’s got to be somewhere to hide the 240mm AIO cooler. Once we cracked open the box, we found all the goodies necessary to get going, including a SUPRIM-branded mousepad.
Specifications
MSI has given the RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID X 24G a factory overclock of 105MHz on the boost clock, bringing it from the stock 2520MHz up to 2625MHz. Keep in mind that the boost clock is a target based on power, workload, and temperature and that value will typically be exceeded via the card’s boosting algorithm. It also has an Extreme Performance mode bringing it up to a 2640MHz boost clock via MSI Center. It also sports 24GB of 21GHz GDDR6X memory which is equal in speed to the reference specifications. MSI quotes power consumption at 480W TGP, which is 30W higher than the Founders Edition 450W TGP level. The video card supports a dual-BIOS for Silent and Gaming modes. A minimum 850W PSU is needed, and MSI recommends 1000W.
From a size perspective, it’s still a rather large card, but slim enough to fit in a two-slot profile. It’s tall and long, still hanging over the back of our test bench’s full-size ATX motherboard. Specifically, it is 11 inches long, 5.5 inches tall, and 1.7 inches wide and weighs in at 5.187 pounds. Of note, this is a significantly smaller footprint than what you see from other RTX 4090-based cards. This video card supports 3x DisplayPort 1.4a ports, and 1x HDMI 2.1a port.
Cooling Solution Overview
MSI’s cooling setup rests on three main features: Zero Frozr, TORX FAN 5.0, a micro-fin copper waterblock, and a 240mm aluminum heat radiator. The radiator is equipped with MSI’s MEG SILENT GALE P12 fan that features anti-vibration gaskets on its corners to reduce vibration (Ed: That’s obviously obvious!). A metal backplate is also installed to help move the back side’s heat around.