MSI GeForce RTX 5080 16G Expert OC Review

Final Score: 96 out 100

Let us begin by addressing the elephants in the room. Is the MSI RTX 5080 16G Expert OC the absolute fastest RTX 5080 available today? No. There are faster (including MSI’s very own ‘Suprim’). Is it the quietest? No. 3 fan models, such as (once again) MSI’s Suprim, will be quieter. Are there smaller ones? Absolutely. There are a couple of smaller (especially if you include aftermarket water-cooled examples). The same goes for weight (as this is an absolute unit of a GPU). Is it even the ‘bestest’ for all people? No. There is no such animal… nor can a ‘best for everyone’ GPU even exist, given the wide disparity amongst niches/groups and their wants/needs/desires/etc. None of these matters are strawman arguments that fans of the competition will invariably use to try and tarnish the new Expert series’ luster.

And shine it does.

Shine so brightly that if we were forced to summarize the MSI RTX 5080 16G Expert OC in just two words, those two words would be “Chief’s” and “Kiss”… as that is what we want to do when thinking about what MSI’s engineers have wrought with their Flow FROZR 2 custom cooling solution. It is a chief’s kiss in its underlying philosophy, its engineering, and its (nearly) flawless execution. It simply is everything the Founder’s Edition should have been if NVIDIA had talked to MSI and their R&D team instead of opting for the cheaper ‘other guys’.

Make no mistake, this is no wannabe F.E.; nor is it some double-fisted “spiteful competition” product released solely to be a spoiler to NVIDIA FE sales. Instead, it is ‘Graceful Power’ in every sense of the word. A design where the team behind it started with the best of the best MSI makes, but then gave it a more understated aesthetics… as well as a more practical (and yet prettier) form-factor. To be precise, the mad lads over at MSI started with their RTX 5080 SUPRIM blueprint and modified it for the more mature audience’s needs/wants… and desires. Thus, a “Suprim in a Bespoke Business Suit” is how we would summarize it if we were to go beyond just a simple Chief’s Kiss explanation.

This philosophy of ‘Graceful Power’ is key to understanding the MSI RTX 5080 16G Expert OC… as this design philosophy represents more of an example of “parallel evolution” rather than “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. Put another way, the RTX 5080 16G Expert OC is a design that grew out of the fact that the market pressures both the RTX 5080 F.E. team and Expert OC’s team were under were very similar, and thus the end results are similar. Just with the MSI team given a lot more freedom in both the overall design and build cost budget than NVIDIA has ever given to their design team. Put bluntly, Flow FROZR 2 does indeed show the world how ‘flow through cooling’ can be done right. It may indeed show the world why a custom cooling solution, as long as a barn is not necessary, to optimize performance. It may even do all that and offer better noise, cooling, and pixel crunching performance… but nuking the Founder’s Edition from serious consideration is just a happy coincidence as the Flounder… err Founder’s Edition was not the target of this design.

So, instead of thinking in FE terms, potential buyers wishing to understand the Expert OC should be thinking in terms of it being a “ProArt hunter”. That is the series this new Expert OC has its sights trained on, and boy, does it deliver a great argument for why one should choose it over the firmly established ProArt line.

Before we get into pouring the salt into the ProArt’s wounds, we do have to make it clear. We really like the various previously released ProArt cards. We have used them since their inception. Even with all the RMA troubles ASUS has heaped upon us over the years, we, the ProArt were still the undisputed ‘go to’ options for our mature clientele. Even some of our business builds (where Quadro models were not a requirement) would get a ProArt. Put bluntly, the ProArt was one of only a few that didn’t look or act like they prioritized gaming over business… and did so without overly offending our highly conservative sensibilities. Sadly, they are also as long as a frickin’ house, not nearly as quiet as their 3-fan design would lead one to believe, and have started to be priced well beyond what they should be. So yes. We did recommend them. We did use them.

We probably will no longer be using them, as the RTX 5080 16G Expert OC is better. As long as you exclude buzzsaw / 100 percent fan profiles from the equation, the RTX 5080 16G Expert OC will basically offer all the real-world performance any medium-sized 3-fan option can provide. Equally impressive, the Expert OC also offers all the low noise (and then some) that make (some of) the PA’s so good for home system builds. One could even argue that its overall aesthetics are better. It just does all that while also coming in a shorter package that will fit in a ton of smaller cases where the ProArt version just won’t.

Mix in an MSRP more in line with the Founder’s Edition end of the price spectrum rather than ProArt, and the end result is that MSI has a winner on their hands with the RTX 5080 16G Expert OC. So sure. It may not be the fastest. It may not be the smallest nor lightest. It certainly is not the flashiest. But what it is… is a great ‘all rounder’ that does not (relatively speaking) cost a fortune and yet will seamlessly work in a business / professional build, a Home Theatre build, or even the average adult’s PC gaming build. It just will probably never be found inside a tween or angsty teen build. So if all that sounds like what the doctor ordered, then you will want to get your hands on one of these cards ASAP. We know we will be!