NVIDIA has officially rolled out their GTX 1070 Founders Edition cards but lucky reviewers have already tasted what the MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G version can do with a cheaper price tag.
Most of the PC gamers are confused and mad about NVIDIA's strategy with the official release of the GTX 1070. The more expensive version of the card has gotten out first before the cheaper and better-looking AIB cards like the MSI Gaming X version.
Custom cards are preferred by more because of their better cooler solutions and factory overclocked frequencies. The problem is that they arrive several weeks later after the FE cards have been released.
The MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G has made its way first to the reviewers who gave sneak peeks as to what it can do compared to the FE. One example is that the stock frequencies of the MSI AIB card is at 1607 MHz, guru3d.com has learned.
Awesomesauce Network from YouTube has even posted a video review of the card. He was able to overclock the card up to 2100mHz for the boost clock which is kind of disappointing considering that the FE can easily reach up to 2000mHz.
Perhaps the advantage of the MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G version is the temperatures. While the FE temps on load range between the 75 to 80-degree Celsius spectrum, the custom card locks the temps at 70c.
For better temps, MSI has also unveiled several more versions of the GTX 1080's little brother. The Sea Hawk X version includes a Corsair H55 Hydro Cooler that would surely bring down the temps of the card, Tom's Hardware reported.
The GTX 1070 Founders Edition does not seem to stray too far from the competition considering that the MSI Gaming X 8G's advantage lies within the temperatures. Experienced users can still try to increase the overclock with their own settings using the MSI Afterburner software.
Besides the Twin Frozr VI cooler, the MSI card also features the RGB LED lighting for the logo on the side of the GPU. However, the other pulsating lights are just colored yellow to orange which may be a turn off for some users who prefer other colors.
Unfortunately, the pricing for the MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G has not been confirmed yet. It could be around the $400 range while the hybrid versions could cost more. Release dates are also still a mystery considering that the FE has just launched.