With every graphics card launch the flagship card steals most of the coverage and praise. This time around with NVIDIA’s Blackwell graphics architecture that is of course the GeForce RTX 5090. Reviews of that card launched last week and you can draw your own conclusions. One of the biggest criticisms of the RTX 5090 is of course the price. Well the RTX 5080 is next on the launch list for NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series and it essentially cuts that price in half, making it a more feasible card for gamers. The GeForce RTX 5080 is based on NVIDIA’s GB203 silicon and brings with it 10752 CUDA cores, 84 RT cores, 336 Tensor cores, 336 TMUs, and 84 ROPs. When it comes to memory you are going to get 16GB of GDDR7 that runs across a 256-bit bus. The card will have a base clock of 2295 MHz and will boost up to 2617 MHz. For our first RTX 5080 card will be checking out the MSI GeForce RTX 5080 Vanguard SOC Launch Edition. Vanguard is actually a new line from MSI this generation is really made for people who want a high performance card this is quite flashy and will stand out. This card does comes with a factory overclock, boosting up to 2730 MHz by default. Let’s take a look and see if this is the RTX 5080 you need to get!

Special thanks to MSI for providing us with the GeForce RTX 5080 Vanguard SOC Launch Edition to review.

– Powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture and DLSS 4
– Core Clocks:
Extreme Performance: 2745 MHz (MSI Center)
Boost: 2730 MHz (GAMING & SILENT Mode)
– HYPER FROZR THERMAL DESIGN: An apex evolution of advanced thermal design that delivers unparalleled cooling and quiet operation.
– STORMFORCE Fan: Seven fan blades, claw texturing, and a circular arc are designed for optimal airflow with minimal noise.
– Advanced Vapor Chamber: Built-in Vapor Chamber swiftly transfers heat from the GPU and VRAM to the core pipe for optimal dissipation.
– Core Pipes: Square-shaped Core Pipes maximize heat dissipation with the Vapor Chamber for superior cooling.
– Filled Fins: Shaped fins cover the core pipes to reduce turbulence and enhance cooling performance.
– Wave Curved 4.0: Precision-engineered wave edges with a high-low fin design enhance airflow and reduce turbulence.
– Air Antegrade Fin 2.0: The fins feature a V-shaped cutout and a high-low design at the airflow passthrough to optimize flow efficiency.
– Metal Backplate: A reinforcing metal backplate with airflow vents and thermal pads enhances cooling.
– Dual BIOS: Dual BIOS gives you the choice to prioritize for full performance in GAMING mode or low noise in SILENT mode.
– MSI Center: The exclusive MSI Center software lets you monitor, tweak and optimize MSI products in real-time.
– Afterburner: Take full control with the most recognized and widely used graphics card overclocking software in the world.

The MSI GeForce RTX 5080 Vanguard SOC Launch Edition comes in MSI’s typical retail box. On the front it just says Vanguard Launch Edition and lets us know we do indeed have a RTX 5080. Flipping over to the back there is a picture of the card itself, some of the main features are listed, and there are QR codes for the installation guide and more.

Opening the box up inside you’ll find the card itself, a triple 8-pin PCI-Express to 12VHPWR adapter, a GPU support, Lucky figurine, and a quick start guide. Each RTX 5080 Vanguard Launch Edition will ship with a different Lucky figurine (9 total, with 1 secret edition). We received the Astronaut Lucky.

• Blackwell
• GeForce RTX 5080
• GPU
• Graphics Card
• MSI
• Nvidia
• Review
• RTX 5080
• RTX 5080 Vanguard
• RTX 5080 Vanguard SOC
• RTX 5080 Vanguard SOC Launch Edition