Review : MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X

It was yesterday that the NDA was lifted on the new NVIDIA RTX 4090 Founders Edition graphics cards. As far as partner cards are concerned, it’s today 3:00 pm and we will reveal the performance of our MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X. Once again we would like to thank MSI for offering us the exclusivity on this model which is the first edition of the “Suprim” in liquid version! And the least we can say is that it’s a real success! Needless to say that we are here on an ultra high-end model and that it is in the 2160p definition that all our tests will take place.

Let’s start without further ado with this MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X, which is going to hold a lot of surprises for us! Make yourself comfortable because you may be a bit shaken up. [nextpage title=”MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X: “]

Architecture:

This MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X benefits from NVIDIA’s brand new architecture, i.e. “ADA Lovelace”. This architecture replaces the Ampere architecture of the GeForce RTX 30xx launched a little over two years ago.

This flagship model of NVIDIA has a GPU AD102-300 with 16384 CUDA cores. It has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory with a bandwidth of 1 TB/s and it sees its TDP reaching 450 watts. The speed of this RTX 4090 should be 2 to 4 times faster than the RTX 3090 Ti according to NVIDIA. On the next page, we will come back in details on the new features brought by this new architecture, including the support of DLSS 3.

The bundle of this Suprim Liquid X:

So what do we find in this imposing box? As soon as you open it, you can see the presence of a Suprim mouse pad. It is also present in the version with an aircooling system.

There is also an adapter that allows to “split” the 16-pin connector into four 8-pin. However, good news since we have the CORSAIR 12VHPWR 600Wconnector to combine with our Corsair HX1500i power supply. This adapter plugs directly into the power supply on two PCIe slots.

Cooling:

If the “Suprim” series is very well known at MSI, it is the first time that the brand offers a version with a standalone liquid cooling system of type AIO. The combination of such a cooling system with the “Suprim” series should offer us a high-end card with great performance.

The card will embark a liquid cooling system that consists of a waterblock to keep the GPU and memory chips cool but also a 240 mm radiator to dissipate heat. So we are on an AIO type liquid loop, i.e. pre-installed. You receive your copy of the RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X and you install it directly into your PC.

To optimize this cooling, a TORX 5.0 fan comes to cool a heatsink placed on the power stages of the PCB. It has nine blades that are connected three by three. This fan is inserted via an octagonal cutout in the brushed aluminum cover.

The radiator in charge of keeping the liquid cool has dimensions of 275 x 120 x 25 mm. The two fans associated with it are 120mm MSI Silent Gale P12 models, designed to offer a high airflow with very little noise. If the temperature is cool enough, they will remain at rest and therefore be perfectly silent thanks to the MSI Zero Frozr technology. The power connectors are accessible so you can replace them as you wish.

The PVC pipes in which the liquid will circulate are sheathed to offer a nicer finish. Their length is 40 cm. Finally, you should know that the card has two different BIOS: silent and gaming . We will evaluate the performance of the card based on the gaming, knowing that it is by default that is selected by MSI.

The cooling system :

Let’s take apart the cooling system to see how it is arranged. The first step is to remove the backplate and the brushed aluminum cover. It is actually quite simple. The backplate has a double role, stiffening the PCB but also playing a role of heat dissipation through the pads that are placed between it and the PCB.

The waterblock /pump combo is placed on the graphics chip as well as on the memory chips. An imposing one-piece radiator then has the role of dissipating the heat from the power supply stages via thermal pads. The fan inserted in the casing blows on this radiator and the air is expelled via the support bracket.

The installation of the cooling system is done very cleanly and it is quite easy to disassemble our MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X.

The connectors:

To power the card, we find the new 16-pin mini-connectors. As we mentioned above, MSI provides in its bund lean adapter to connect four 8-pin connectors.

The card has three DisplayPort 1.4 video outputs and an HDMI 2.1 port.

Yes, some backlighting:

On the front panel, two sides of the octagon have RGB backlighting but also the inscription “Suprim” on the top edge and the logo placed on the backplate,also in brushed aluminum.

As you can see from the pictures above, it’s very discreet and really looks great. The backlighting associated with the brushed aluminum is a real success, personally it is certainly one of the most beautiful graphics cards that I had the chance to have in my hands. [nextpage title=”Specifications and PCB: “]

The technical specifications:

In terms of frequency, the base frequency is announced at 2235 MHz while the Boost is at 2625 MHz. The 24 GB of G-DDR6 memory run at 1313 MHz (1008 GB/s) on a 384 bit bus. Our MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X benefits from a very good factory overclocking compared to the NVIDIA Founders Editioncard, since it has a Boost frequency of 2520 MHz. The memory frequency is also 1313 MHz. We went through GPU-Z to check that the information read is correct. The GPU frequency is 2235 MHz, and the Boost frequency is 2625 MHz. Don’t forget that the latter will be higher during benchmarks depending on the quality of your chip and determined by GPU Boost4.0. The memory has a frequency of 1313 MHz. We remind you how the GPU Boost works here.

Let’s unpack the PCB:

Let’s look at the PCB of our samplein detail. First of all, no surprise, the chip that equips our model is indeed the AD102 whose size is 608 mm². This is an in-house PCB from MSI and is different from the one offered by NVIDIA on its Founders Edition board.

Let’s now deal with the VRM, Voltage Regulator Module. It is a Monolithic Power Systems MP2891 controller that will supply the GPU with the right voltage and current. Our RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X has 26 + 4 phases for a total of 30, yes, 30 phases. The number of phases is often determined by the current requirement of the graphics chip. The more current it needs, the more phases it has.

MSI had the good idea to distribute the power phases on both sides of the GPU. There are 14 on the left and 12 on the right. This will allow not to concentrate the heat produced by them on a single area of the PCB but to have a more homogeneous distribution! Such a choice should also allow a better stability in the voltage brought to the GPU. The mosfets are Monolithic Power Systems MP86957. The mosfets are the elements to keep cool and are often topped by a heat sink. They are the ones that will convert the direct current since our GPU does not work in 12 or 5 volts, but on a lower voltage often located around 1 volt.

Regarding the GDDR6X memory chips, there are 12 of them, D8BZC of 2 GB and are manufactured by Micron with an operating frequency of 1313 MHz. [nextpage title=”New technological innovations: “] A new generation automatically means a lot of new technological innovations and this RTX 4090 is no exception to the rule. We will try to quote you the most important ones in this page a little more theoretical. Most of this information comes from documents received by NVIDIA and which were under NDA until today.

New Ada Lovelace architecture:

On September 21 at 5pm, NVIDIA unveiled part of its future range of graphics cards architected around “ADA Lovelace”. Technically, this chip is out of the ordinary with its 76 billion transistors, its N4 engraving by TSMC, its Shader Execution Reordering, its 90 TFLOPS, its 200 RT TFLOPS, its 1400 Tensor TFLOPS and a maximum of 18432 CUDA Cores in a single GPU. This is quite impressive compared to the previous generation Ampere.

The chip is organized into 12 Graphics Processing Clusters (GPC) each containing 72 Texture Processing Clusters (TPC) with 144 Streaming Multiprocessors (SM). The Streaming Multiprocessors benefit from a new technology called Shader Execution Reordering (SER) which allows to multiply by two the Ray Tracing operations. We can also notice that the chip of the RTX 4090 is amputated allowing perhaps to see a future RTX 4090 Ti land.

This new RTX 4090 also comes with 4th generation Tensor Cores, which will be very useful for the DLSS and DLSS 3 AI as well as 3rd generation RT Cores which will allow to double the performance of Ray Tracing. In addition to the generation evolution, their number also increases compared to the RTX 3090 Ti.

By the way, here is a comparison table to judge the differences between these two cards.

DLSS 3 lands and is already operational:

One of the announcements of NVIDIA during its conference is the arrival of DLSS 3. However, this one is only compatible with RTX 4090’s. Owners of a previous generation card will have to rely on DLSS 2 which NVIDIA will continue to develop in the coming months. As a reminder, until now, the principle of DLSS (Deep learning super sampling) was to allow a gain in terms of FPS by replacing theantialiasing TAA. The idea is to calculate the rendering in a lower definition than that chosen in the parameters and then to replay it in the definition said using an AI applied via the Tensor Corewhile maintaining the most perfect image quality possible.

Today, with the arrival of DLSS 3, things are changing even if the fundamental principle of increasing the number of FPS is still the main reason. The novelty comes from the fact that DLSS 3 allows you to add whole intermediate images and no longer pixels. This increases the number of frames per second and consequently the fluidity. To achieve this, DLSS3 uses an optical flow gas pedal integrated into the new RTX 4000 architecture. For this reason, previous generations that are not equipped with DLSS3 will not be able to benefit from it. We will have to be careful during our tests and compare what is comparable because yes, of course the DLSS 3 will be more powerful but it is difficult to judge it on the Ampere generation which does not support it.

Even if the main function is to increase the number of FPS, NVIDIA also reminds the importance of latency. We had already dealt with this subject by talking about Reflex. To summarize simply, the principle is to reduce the latency in games as much as possible, that is to say the time that elapses between the moment you click on the button of your mouse and its manifestation on the screen. In order to be able to perform all the readings, a compatible mouse will be necessary.

The latest advances from NVIDIA could turn the world of e-sports upside down, as we could see 1440p 27″ displays replacing the current 1080p 25″ displays. Finally, NVIDIA has already announced over 35 games that are compatible and ready to use DLSS 3. We will of course add games that support DLSS 3 to our tests. Of course DLSS 3 games are backwards compatible with DLSS 2 technology.

AV1 hardware compression:

NVIDIA now integrates its 8th generation NVENC encoder with AV1 which is 40% more efficient than H.264. The arrival of AV1 will be very useful especially for streaming. [nextpage title=”The test configuration: “] As we said in the introduction, we are (again) busy updating all our graphics using the latest drivers from NVIDIA, AMD and of course Intel. We also took the opportunity to slightly modify our test configuration. So here we go again for a new series of tests and therefore of graphics on this slightly modified configuration:

• Motherboard: ROG Maximus Z690 APEX
• Processor: Intel Alder Lake i9-12900K
• Memory : 32 GB Corsair Vengeance 5600 CL38 DDR5
• Graphics Card: MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X, NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti FE, KFA2 RTX 3090 HOF (BIOS 1000w), KFA2 RTX 3090 Ti HOF, Asus RX 6800 XT LC, MSI RX 6900 XT Gaming Z and Powercolor RX 6950 XT LC
• Cooling system: ROG Ryujin II 360
• SSD : Western Digital Black SN750 2 TB + EKWB radiator
• Power supply : Corsair AX1600i + 12VHPWR 600W adapter
• Operating system : Windows 11 64 bits

We would like to point out that NVIDIA recommends the use of a “high-end” configuration with the latest CPU from Intel or AMD as well as DDR5 memory in order to take full advantage of the performance of the RTX 4090. The use of a 144 Hz 4K screen is also a sine qua non condition. For our tests we use a copy of the ROG PG27UQ. The drivers used are NVIDIA 517.48 and AMD 22.9.2. For the RTX 4090, we used the presses drivers in version 521.90.

Our test protocol:

All cards are tested at stock frequencies and without any optimization. For the various benchmarks, whether synthetic or gaming, we will opt for 1080p, 1440p and 2160p resolutions depending on the performance of the card. Here, with this ultra high-end model, we will only use 2160p definition.

As you can see, we have switched to Windows 11 and we have activated in the BIOS the ” ReSize BAR ” visible in GPU-Z. Now that you know everything about our test configuration, it’s time to start! [nextpage title=”Synthetic benchmarks: “] Our first series of tests will be dedicated to synthetic benchmarks. These are often used for overclocking competitions but are also very interesting to compare different GPUs. So we will focus on the 3DMark benchmarks. We will test the following benchmarks:

• Fire Strike (1080p)
• Fire Strike Ultra (2160p)
• Time Spy (1440p)
• Time Spy Extreme (2160p)
• DirectX Raytracing
• Intel XeSS
• Mesh Shader

3DMark Fire Strike and Fire Strike Ultra :

Let’s start with 3DMark Fire Strike, which is one of the most used benchmarks today. It consists of two graphics tests, a CPU test and a fourth test that combines GPU and CPU. Don’t forget to deactivate the demo which doesn’t bring anything in the final score and prolongs the benchmark duration (unnecessarily). The version used for these tests is of course the latest one First benchmark that we realize with this MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X and the least we can say is that it starts with a bang! The score obtained is 52 239 leaving the RX 6950 XT at 4942 points. As you will notice later, the balance of the graphics is maintained thanks to the fact that the benchmark is done in 1080p. The same is true for Fire Strike Ultra. Well no, it’s an even more obvious observation since with its 25132 points, our RTX 4090 exceeds the RX 6950 XT by 9694 points, that is to say a gain of 62% for the latest arrival of NVIDIA. The gap is widening since we are now in a 2160p benchmark.

3DMark Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme:

The second test is 3DMark Time Spy. Although this one is done in 1440p, it has the particularity of using DirectX 12. It consists of two graphical tests and a CPU test. As for Fire Strike, don’t forget to disable the demo. These two first benchmarks are proposed by UL Benchmark. The performance obtained in Time Spy is often representative of what we will have in games. And here, the MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X once again slams the competition. Just look at the shape of the graphics to realize the imbalance that has just set in. If this is confirmed in games, we risk having a gulf between this new generation and the previous one. Under 3DMark Time Spy Extreme, it is an incredible score that we obtain with almost 20K for the graphic score! For information, the current world record in Time Spy Extreme with a CPU and a 3090 Ti under LN2 is 14977 points. So, without any overclocking, it is already largely beaten !

3DMark DirectX Raytracing:

UL Benchmarks has added a new test to its series of benchmarks to measure Ray Tracing performance. The idea will be to use the 3DMark DirectX Raytracing test to compare the performance of Ray Tracing hardware dedicated to AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards but now also to Intel! The 3DMark DirectX Raytracing test is designed to make Ray Tracing the limiting factor. Instead of relying on traditional rendering, the entire scene is traced and drawn in one pass. The test result will depend entirely on the performance of the Ray Tracing. It will be easy to measure and compare the performance of the different cards between them. This benchmark has always been dominated by NVIDIA cards and we continue to be surprised with a score of 141.61 FPS. The addition of the CUDA cores and the increase in frequency has a huge impact on the performance gain.

3DMark Intel XeSS

UL Benchmarks in collaboration with Intel will add this new benchmark to the 3DMark suite. We had early access to this new test for our testing. This Intel XeSS test is designed to evaluate and compare the performance and image quality of XeSS (Xe Super Sampling). There are four XeSS modes to choose from: Ultra Quality, Quality, Balanced and Performance. The 3DMark inspection tool helps you compare image quality with a side-by-side view of XeSS rendering and native resolution rendering. You need a graphics card that supports Intel XeSS to run this test. So we’ll have two scores, a FPS number with XeSS disabled and then on the right with XeSS enabled. The mode chosen is “Ultra Quality” which is actually the default mode for the benchmark. In this new benchmark, all graphics cards without exception take advantage of XeSS but it is Intel that has the best gain. ARC models see a gain of 50% while NVIDIA and AMD models, more or less 30 to 35%. This does not prevent our MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X to dominate once again the ranking.

3DMark Mesh Shader:

Here is the new test we added to the synthetic benchmarks: Mesh Shader. We added it because it is managed by the RDNA 2 architecture of AMD and therefore our RX 6000. It allows us to analyze the performance level of GPUs concerning this feature. As a reminder, it allows to exploit more complex calculations at the geometry level, in a more flexible way, for each meshlet . The displayed result is the one with the Mesh Shaders active. Well, as we conclude this first series of synthetic tests, we are stunned by the performance. In all the time I’ve had the chance to review graphics cards, I’ve never been confronted with such a difference in gain between two successive generations. [nextpage title=”4K gaming performance: “] We decided to select six games because they seem to be representative enough. We have opted for DirectX12 and Vulkan with the following games:

• The Division 2 (DirectX 12)
• Borderlands 3 (DirectX 12)
• Red Dead Redemption II (Vulkan)
• Far Cry 6 (DirectX 12)
• Watch Dogs: Legion (DirectX 12)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (DirectX12)

We have chosen to use the benchmarks integrated in these different games. Why did we do this? Simply to allow you to compare your results with ours if you also have a copy of one of these games. It’s a thought that seemed relevant to us and that will allow you to compare your results with ours. As we mentioned on page 4 of this article, we have activated the Resizable Bar in the BIOS, which is now supported by all (recent) GPUs. Finally, we have opted only for 2160p definition and selected the cards that are able to compete at this level. Unfortunately, we don’t have any RTX 3080’s available at the moment to add performance to our graphics. We also decided to harden the graphics quality of some games since the next generations should be more powerful, both from NVIDIA and from the next AMD graphics cards.

The Division 2:

The Division 2 will be tested under DirectX 12. As for the graphics settings, they will be set to ” ultra ” mode with vertical synchronization disabled. Well, that’s it, thanks and goodbye! We have just entered another dimension and the performance is simply indescribable. We go from an RTX 3090 Ti which does 97 FPS in 2160p to our RTX 4090 which is at 161 FPS. Have we skipped a generation in the greens?

Borderlands 3:

For the second game, we switch to Borderlands 3. The graphic options are set to ” Brutal “. It is important to know that Borderlands 3 is quite greedy and that this choice of parameters has a strong impact on the FPS. It is a game that is often praised in the announcements of new graphics cards and precisely in this Brutal mode. The performance of Borderlands 3 is still very high with an average of 131.7 FPS. It becomes complicated to detail the tables as the domination is so overwhelming.

Red Dead Redemption 2:

Third game and not the least, Red Dead Redemption II on PC. The advantage of this opus is to offer the possibility to test the integrated benchmark under Vulkan. We opt for the graphics options in ” ultra “. Third game and not the least, RDR2 offers the possibility to test the integrated benchmark under Vulkan. We will see if our RTX 4090 is as comfortable and well it is still the case with an average of 123.6 FPS.

Far Cry 6:

The latest game we are adding to this section is Far Cry 6, since it supports DXR as well as SFR offered by AMD. We will also find it on the next page. For our benchmarks, we opted for an ” ultra” graphic quality. Even though our record on this game showed an advantage to the RX 6000 cards, the MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X is still far ahead.

Watch Dogs Legion:

Last but not least, Watch Dogs Legion will be used for our tests with Ray Tracing and DLSS. For our benchmarks, we have opted for an “ultra” graphic quality. In the Watch Dogs Legion benchmark, the RTX 4090 model passes the symbolic 100 FPS.

Cyberpunk 2077:

This is a game that we have been wanting to add for a while and it is now done since it now has an integrated benchmark. We will also use this game for our tests with Ray Tracing. For our benchmarks, we have opted for a “high” graphic quality. New and last benchmark of this panel of games. This is the one that shows the strongest performance with our graphics cards since few cards pass the 60 FPS mark. As you might expect, our RTX 4090 has no problem reaching 90 FPS. It is almost the only card capable of exceeding the symbolic 60 FPS mark.

Game Average:

A slap in the face, what more can I say? I have the impression that we have just skipped a generation and that we are already two generations later as the differences are so important. We are very curious to discover the performance of the next RTX 4080 and especially to see where a model like the RTX 4060 will be placed. And if we wanted to go even further, since the chip in our RTX 4090 is not complete, you can easily imagine that an RTX 4090 Ti would perform even better. [nextpage title=”Ray tracing and DLSS/FSR performance:”] Let’s now take a look at the five games we have selected that support Ray Tracing as well as DLSS and some of them also support AMD’s FSR as well as Intel’s new XeSS technology which is supported by Shadow Tomb Raider and Hitman 3. As we have already reminded you, if the DLSS remains the property of NVIDIA, the FSR and the XeSS can be used with all cards from AMD, Intel and even NVIDIA. The five DirectX 12 games that we will test with Ray Tracing and DLSS, FSR or XeSS are :

• Watch Dogs: Legion (DLSS)
• Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition (DLSS)
• Far Cry 6 (DLSS – FSR)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (DLSS – FSR)
• Hitman 3 (DLSS – XeSS)

No change for this new series of games since we stay in the 2160p definition. Depending on the card, we will use DLSS for NVIDIA and either FSR or XeSS for AMD models. If FSR is not available in a game, then we will use XeSS on our AMD card. So even though our MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X is intended for DLSS 3 which we will discuss on the next page, we also wanted to measure the gain of this RTX 4090 in DLSS 2 against the previous generation.

Watch Dogs Legion:

Second game, Watch Dogs Legion supports Ray Tracing and DLSS 2.0. It is one of the most demanding games of the moment. Three levels of Ray Tracing are offered in the game (medium – high – ultra) and four levels of DLSS (performance – quality – balanced – ultra performance). For our benchmarks, we opted for Ultra graphics quality, ” high ” Ray Tracing and ” balanced ” DLSS. The Ray Tracing in Watch Dogs Legion makes all cards suffer except our sample of the day which even with RT exceeds 60 FPS. Activating DLSS 2 performance will further boost the FPS to an average of 107.

Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition:

Third game and supports DLSS 2.0. We have dedicated a file to it. Three levels of Ray Tracing are offered in the game and four levels of DLSS (performance – quality – balanced – ultra performance). For our benchmarks, we opted for Ultra graphics quality, ” high ” Ray Tracing and ” quality ” DLSS. We continue with the demanding games and only our MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X manages once again to pass the 60 FPS mark with the RT active and how. Is DLSS really still necessary? We start to imagine being able to play in 8K.

Far Cry 6:

The latest game we add to this section since it supports DXR as well as SFR proposed by AMD. For our benchmarks, we opted for Ultra graphics quality, we enabled both DRX options as well as FSR in ” quality ” mode for the three definitions: 1080p, 1440p and 2160p. In Far Cry 6, FSR is the only choice available to boost FPS after enabling Ray Tracing. All our cards can benefit from it, regardless of the manufacturer. The FSR is to the advantage of AMD cards, which manage to outperform our RTX 4090 for the first time.

Cyberpunk 2077:

New game that we have just added and that proposes in its parameters the activation of the DLSS but also the FSR. For our benchmarks, we have opted for “high” graphics quality, ” ultra” Ray Tracing and ” balanced ” DLSS/FSR. This is the most demanding game where our cards have a hard time keeping up. We are even a little relieved to see our RTX 4090 finally suffer even though the average of 44.85 FPS is excellent compared to other cards. The DLSS 2 in performance mode allows a considerable gain with an average of 112.34 FPS. The suffering was short-lived.

Hitman 3:

New game also added since it is now compatible with XeSS technology in addition to DLSS. We have received access to a beta version which should be officially released soon. We talked to you more about this game on page four of our article. For our benchmarks, we opted for “high” graphics quality, ” enabled ” Ray Tracing and ” balanced ” DLSS/Xess. We find a situation already known with only the RTX 4090 which is big and dominates this last test. The key we received to test Hitman was deactivated yesterday, hence the lack of results for the three AMD cards. We are quickly trying to get a new key.

So Ray Tracing with the RTX 4090:

Finally, we wonder if the DLSS is still necessary for this MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X as the performances are incredible. We note the same findings as for the gaming part, the performance explodes with this new generation. We could easily imagine that this RTX 4090 could be in good conditions to enjoy the 8K definition combined with DLSS 3. Let’s see on the next page what the DLSS 3 will bring. [nextpage title=”The RTX 4090 and DLSS 3:”] We will add a new section that will concern the DLSS 3 since our sample of the day, the MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X is compatible. Unfortunately, we can’t make a comparison for the moment since it’s the only DLSS 3 compatible model. We will first test the 3DMark DLSS Feature Test beta which supports DLSS 3.

Next, we’ll judge how it looks in the games Cyperpunk 2077 and A plague Tale: Requiem. In order to make sure the FPS count is correct, we installed the latest press version of NVIDIA FrameView 1.4, which allows us to check what the benchmark says and what FrameView says. In particular, we knew that the benchmark version with Cyberpunk 2077 ‘s DLSS 3 is not correct. This should be correct soon after a fix is put in place.

3DMark DLSS Feature Test:

We did not keep this benchmark since it only concerns DLSS compatible cards and was therefore not useful for our comparative tests. Here, we have retested it since we had access to a beta version supporting DLSS 3. We will therefore perform a benchmark in 2160p with DLSS disabled, then with DLSS 2 performance and finally with DLSS 3 performance. CAPTURE Our MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X gets a score of 59.43 FPS without DLSS, then 141.78 FPS (+138%) with DLSS 2 enabled and finally 211.95 FPS (+256%) with DLSS 3. We can thus judge the gain brought by this new version.

Cyberpunk 2077 :

Let’s start with the game Cyberpunk 2077. Here are the captures of the settings we used during our tests. As far as Ray Tracing is concerned, it is in Ultra mode and then we enabled the options for DLSS which is set to Performance mode.

Here is a capture taken during the integrated benchmark. As you can see, there is an error on the part of the benchmark. We have of course, during all our gaming tests left FrameView open to make sure that what is displayed by the game corresponds to Frameview. So, what about in the Cyberpunk 2077 game? With Ray Tracing Ultra enabled, our average FPS is 44.85 FPS. As soon as we enable DLSS 2 in performance mode, we then reach 112.34 FPS (+150%). Finally, with the new version of the DLSS2 and still in performance mode, it is an average of 141 FPS (+214%) that is reached!

A Plague Tale: Requiem

The second game we installed and which also supports DLSS 3, is the next A plague Tale: Requiem. We also opted for the settings to use Ray Tracing and DLSS 3.

This one is perfectly active in this new game. We are preparing a file on the DLSS 3 in order to compare the screenshots with the DLSS 2 by using the NVIDIA ICAT software. It’s a software that we haven’t used before, so we need some time to get used to it. [nextpage title=”Temperature, power consumption and nuisance: “]

Weather :

In order to measure temperatures, we opted for the Superposition stress test in Extreme mode. We opted for three 5 minutes runs with 10 minutes interval between each test. We took advantage of this benchmark to measure the power consumption of the graphics card for the table above.

In order to know the temperature in Idle, after having finished the three loops of the stress test, we let the card rest for 20 minutes before reading the temperature. It should be taken into account that most of the cards have the “0 dBa” technology and therefore, the fans turn off below a certain temperature, often between 50 and 55°C. This means that it takes longer to dissipate the heat after a period of stress testing or gaming. A card without this technology will be noisier than others at rest. Small reminder: our temperature readings are taken in Open-Air. In a closed case, the cards will necessarily be hotter.

As we expected, the temperatures are excellent thanks to the liquid cooling system. This cooling should allow us to take full advantage of the overclocking potential, but also to considerably reduce the noise pollution of a solution equipped with 3 fans for example. The fans of the radiator and the one inserted in the casing remain at rest when the temperatures are cool.

Noise level :

No readings for the moment. As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, we have just retested all our maps and unfortunately our test room close to the road, distorts our results. We are looking for a new solution to be perfectly efficient.

Power consumption (full configuration) :

We use a wattmeter by reading the consumption on the output of our power supply. Our modular power supply is a CORSAIR AX1600i. The result we propose is the average of the total consumption of our configuration. Only the graphics card changes between each reading. It is therefore easy to calculate the difference between each graphics card.

We were pleasantly surprised by the power consumption of our MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X since the average of our total configuration reached 532 watts. Be careful, the benchmark used only solicits the GPU. For a gaming use, the consumption will be more important but that with all our graphic cards.

This result is quite satisfactory and this thanks to the new fineness of engraving. Our RTX 4090 does better than the two top models of the previous generations from AMD and NVIDIA. We should see RTX 4080, 4070 and 4060 doing even better. [nextpage title=”Overclocking:”]

Overclocking via MSI Afterburner :

Direction the latest version of the MSI Afterburner software from MSI, version 4.6.4 Beta 3. This is the overclocking software designed by MSI but which will be compatible with other GPU brands. The software is really well designed but you will have to go through the advanced mode in order to have access to all the settings possibilities.

To test our overclocking, we are going to focus first on the Time Spy Extreme benchmark. Let’s go! We choose a maximum fan speed, we set the power limit to the maximum, i.e. 110% and we’re off! At first, we only push the GPU frequency until the bench is not running anymore. Once we have a stable GPU frequency, we move on to increasing the memory frequency.

By default, at stock frequencies , our MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X gets an overall score of 16984 points and 19958 points for the GPU score. The boost frequency reaches a maximum of 2835 MHz with the GPU temperature rising to 62.4 °C.

In the end, I was able to push the Boost frequency to 3075 MHz and the memory to 1400 MHz. This allows me to obtain excellent scores and thus to gain more points. The limit is around 3075/3100 MHz, if the card goes higher, the benchmark crashes.

In the next few days, we will try to bring a little more coldness to our card to see if we manage to exceed the 3100 MHz mark in boost frequency.

3DMark Hall Of Fame :

The official 3DMarkHall Of Fame page lists the best scores in the world in the different 3DMark benchmarks and also classified according to the number of GPUs. We have therefore introduced our current best scores to see where we stand in the world ranking!

The captures were made this morning and of course the ranking will evolve in the coming hours as some cards are cooled with liquid nitrogen just appeared. We will encode this afternoon our score on Hwbot and will benchmark again very soon this MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X under liquid nitrogen. [nextpage title=”Conclusion:”]

NVIDIA’s Slam:

We have to admit it, it’s a slap in the face that we took during our tests. We never imagined that we would reach such results when we started our tests. The performance of this MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X is just incredible. As we said in the gaming section ,we have the impression that NVIDIA skipped a generation and went straight to the next one, as the RTX 3090 Ti is so far behind.

We are even wondering if the DLSS is still important in 2160p for this RTX 4090. The DLSS 3 seems to keep all its promises but we will come back to a more detailed test in the coming weeks, especially using the ICAT utility. The few owners of an 8K screen should also take advantage of this DLSS 3 combined with the RTX 4090.

The power consumption that we thought at first was catastrophic given the announcement of the TGP at 600 watts is rather interesting on this model. The TGP was finally re-evaluated at 450 watts and our various measurements show that the RTX 4090 is more interesting than the RTX 3090/3090 Ti and the RX 6950 XT.

Now, be aware that this power monster has a limit and not just any limit. Indeed, in order to take full advantage of the RTX 4090’s performance, you will need a high-end configuration including a state-of-the-art processor and DDR5. We will soon be testing this RTX 4090 on an older configuration to see how it affects performance. Needless to say, without a 4K display and a high-end configuration, it would be totally unreasonable to buy this model. And this is the point that needs to be emphasized. This ultra high-end card is a showcase for NVIDIA and few gamers will really need it as the rest of their configuration is not in line with the RTX 4090. So even if it makes you dream, we are very curious to see the behavior of the RTX 4080, 4070, 4060, etc.

MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X :

Wow, MSI has done a great job in offering to upgrade their Suprim series to liquid. All the basics of the original series have been retained with the brushed aluminum, octagonal cutout, RGB backlight balance and of course the cooling performance. This move to the Suprim Liquid X version also allows it to keep a 2 slot thickness even if you will have to find the space to accommodate the 240mm radiator. The finish is exemplary and the PCB perfectly designed.

We liked :

• The new reference for the 2160p definition and probably 8K
• Incomparable performance compared to the RTX 3090 Ti
• A very well thought out power supply with quality components
• Excellent original overclocking!
• The GDDR6X memory is always so docile when overclocking
• Excellent cooling system combined with low noise levels
• The presence of two BIOS
• The possibility to change the two radiator fans very easily
• Very reliable noise levels
• The AfterBurner utility that allows you to push the Suprim Liquid X even further
• The power consumption which is improving even if we hoped for better

We would have liked:

• A lower price, but that was to be expected and finally in view of the performance/€ price, it is the previous generation that should be cheaper now

Double bullseye for this MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X. First of all on the card itself since MSI had an excellent idea by declining its Suprim version in Liquid X. We already found the Suprim versions superb but what can we say about this liquid version where brushed aluminum dominates. Finally, this new architecture crushes everything in its path and offers to the lucky owner performances never reached. Thanks to MSI for its availability and providing us this card!