In an effort to make sorting through all the results as easy as possible we have combined the results all of all the game results into an easy to digest summary format. By comparing it to similar products in all the games you will be able to easily find the game(s) you are interested in, see the improvement and decide if it is the worth the investment.
As you can see MSI packs in a gobsmackingly large amount of value into this rather reasonably priced card enthusiast grade card. Color us impressed.
Score Card and Summary
Packaging & Accessories: 8 out of 10
MSI really does not include much in the way of accessories, but for the price it still is more than reasonable – if a touch average. The external shipping container is not ‘average’ and instead is just as good as what MSI uses on cards costing twice as much as what this R9 390X costs. That is impressive when you think about it.
Functionality & Aesthetics: 19 out of 20
As expected the aesthetics are typical MSI Gaming series, that is to say on the aggressive side for our personal tastes, but still well above average…and that is about the only thing you can complain about in this area. This cards custom 2.5 slot Twin FROZR design works and works amazingly well. As long as your case and motherboard can handle its plus size dimensions you will be impressed with what it has to offer.
Build Quality & Warranty: 18 out of 20
MSI knocked it out of the park with this one, as this card is not built but overbuilt. Quite honest if MSI ever decide to upgrade the warranty on their cards from 3 years to 5 we literally would have zero to complain about as it fine a specimen of what AMD has to offer as you are likely to find.
Performance: 28 out of 30
Thanks to a very decent factory overclock this card is easily the match for GTX 980 cards. Hell factory overclocked 980s are only slightly faster than this powerhouse. Rebadge, refine, revalue, whatever you call it you certainly can’t call it ‘slow’!
Value: 20 out of 20
No matter if you look at it as only costing $5 more than a reference R9 390X, or nearly $170 less than the typical reference GTX 980, the end result is the same: outstanding, best in class value.
Final Score: 93 out of 100
When you combine GTX 980 (and better) levels of performance with GTX 970 prices the results are nothing short of double-take worthy. However, when you take that level of value and then add in the fact this cards upsized custom heatsink and fan allows it to be damn near silent …well then you don’t just have a good value, you have an excellent card. A card that is fierce competition for NVIDIA’s GTX 980.
