Test Setup
Please read the information on our GPU testing procedures and methodology here. Note that our GPU Testing Bench has been upgraded to the Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU and AM5 platform.
Note that we have the 1905 BIOS installed, which uses AGESA version Combo AM5 PI 1.1.0.2b. We are using the motherboard’s current default BIOS settings on the latest release BIOS. We have enabled PCI-Express Resizable BAR in the motherboard BIOS. This means we are utilizing Resizable BAR on NVIDIA GPUs and AMD Smart Access Memory on AMD GPUs in all our testing. We have enabled EXPO I in the BIOS for the memory.
We are using a fresh install of Windows 11 Pro with the latest Windows Updates, including the 23H2 Fall 2023 update. We have the latest drivers installed including the latest chipset drivers from AMD. We are using the “Balanced” power profile in Windows Settings. Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling is ENABLED in Windows. VBS is DISABLED and Game Mode is ENABLED.
Discussion (5 replies)
Join Discussion →Compared to the RX 7900 XTX versions we have already reviewed (AMD RX 7900 XTX and MSI RX 7900 XTX Gaming TRIO Classic) the overclocking and gameplay are nearly identical across the board. Given the time passed and driver improvements I would bet there is little difference. At present, the XFX model reviewed is just a few frames better in most games and could be attributed to a higher power limit setting. The XFX Merc models are exceptionally well made and have excellent cooling, there is no doubt about that. The fit and finish of a Merc is equal to the MSI SUPRIM or the ASUS ROG Strix models.
To me the fan is a gimmick to ressurect a model of video card that is just not selling. Realistically, when was the last time a fan went DOA in any of your video cards? Most of us are going to sell them off and upgrade well before the fans go out. The real advantage or draw to this would be swapping the fan out for aesthetic in a vertical orientation, but there are no alternatives. Cleaning? A little compressed air even with the fan in place is no problem.
Just playing the Devil's advocate here. I'm not sure this video card should get a "10" . Maybe for design and cooling, but if I had $1000 to spend on a video card I'd have to look hard at what this card can do with Ray Tracing compared to the competition.
The last time I owned MSI or Gigabyte GPUs. It's why I don't buy models from them anymore.
LoL, I own almost exclusively MSI gpus and have not had any problems. My only gpu issues ever were both with EVGA products......one fan and one memory issue.
I'm sure I just got unlucky with the ones I owned. I think I had around 5 or 6 of them over the last decade and all of them had fan failures. Gigabyte was about 50/50 in the half a dozen or so I owned around the same time. Mostly AMD cards for MSI, but Gigabyte was Nvidia cards. Most of the Gigabyte boards during that time failed on me as well so I don't buy them anymore either.
Only blemish in my mind on MSI is them changing warranty terms after the sale on some folks that were doing crypto mining with them. Changing the warranty after sale should be illegal.