MSI Gaming Z and Gaming X Differentiated Some More

btarunr · May 31, 2016

We found out more information on what sets MSI Gaming Z series graphics cards apart from the Gaming X series. The Gaming X series cards, such as the GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X, which was part of the company's first wave of GTX 1080 cards, is the middle grade of the Gaming series. The Gaming Z series (such as the GTX 1080 Gaming Z, which is coming soon), is the top-tier variant.

The Gaming X GTX 1080 features double ball bearing fans, a few gamer-specific features though MSI Gaming Control Center, a back-plate, and a significant factory OC. The Gaming Z, on the other hand, gives you all the features of the Gaming X, but higher clock speeds, and a custom RGB LED setup lining the top logo and an MSI "Dragon" logo on the back-plate.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

atomicus · May 31, 2016

Custom RGB with red plastic all over the card. WHEN WILL THEY LEARN!?!

P4-630 · May 31, 2016

Red/black fits just nicely in my new system

Prima.Vera · May 31, 2016

There going to be 2 types of TwinFrzr Gaming cards??? Z and X ??? Wth....

ensabrenoir · May 31, 2016

atomicus said:
Custom RGB with red plastic all over the card. WHEN WILL THEY LEARN!?!

Silly human ...RGB is the future......resistance is futile.....you will be assimilated......

Frick · May 31, 2016

I must have developed dyslexia or something, because I found this part really messy.

"We found out more information on what sets MSI Gaming Z series graphics cards apart from the Gaming X series. The Gaming X series cards, such as the GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X, which was part of the company's first wave of GTX 1080 cards, is the middle grade of the Gaming series. The Gaming X series (such as the GTX 1080 Gaming X, which is coming soon), is the top-tier variant."

Then I figured you've mixed them up.

P4-630 · May 31, 2016

Frick said:
The Gaming X series (such as the GTX 1080 Gaming X, which is coming soon), is the top-tier variant."

Right, that should be GTX 1080 Gaming Z then

Moofachuka · May 31, 2016

I got even more confused after reading the article...

Random Murderer · May 31, 2016

So the only thing that sets the Z apart from the X is a slight OC from the factory and RGB lighting on a small portion of the back...
I wonder how much of a premium MSI will be charging for these "features?"

P4-630 · May 31, 2016

Random Murderer said:
So the only thing that sets the Z apart from the X is a slight OC from the factory and RGB lighting on a small portion of the back...
I wonder how much of a premium MSI will be charging for these "features?"

My guess is $25~$30

silentbogo · May 31, 2016

And I was just having a laugh at their motherboards branding.... :laugh:

Can't wait for an upcoming MSI GTX1070 PRO RGB GAMING PLATINUM/OC SPECIAL EDITION

Keullo-e · May 31, 2016

There are still plenty of alphabets left for future models. :laugh:

rtwjunkie · May 31, 2016

silentbogo said:
And I was just having a laugh at their motherboards branding....

Can't wait for an upcoming MSI GTX1070 PRO RGB GAMING PLATINUM/OC SPECIAL EDITION

That wins the prize for best naming!!

Seriously though, I wouldn't be surprised to see sonething almost that bad.

Prima.Vera · Jul 26, 2016

Anyone know if a Gaming X can be flashed successfully with a Gaming Z firmware?
Tryed to look it up on the Internets but no luck....

P4-630 · Jul 26, 2016

Prima.Vera said:
Anyone know if a Gaming X can be flashed successfully with a Gaming Z firmware?
Tryed to look it up on the Internets but no luck....

Don't know about that.
Why would you want?
You can OC it manually to Gaming Z clocks.

cadaveca · Jul 26, 2016

P4-630 said:
Don't know about that.
Why would you want?
You can OC it manually to Gaming Z clocks.

But that requires running additional software. So many people complain about having to run software when it comes to the GAMING APP, so it only makes sense such users want a card that is high clocked without needing software to do so...

Prima.Vera · Jul 27, 2016

P4-630 said:
Don't know about that.
Why would you want?
You can OC it manually to Gaming Z clocks.

The Z has quite big freqs on OC mode. I tried reaching those via the Afterburner, but the game froze and driver crashed. My guess you need to adjust the power mode and voltage too for that, which can only be done properly via the Firmware.

kill_and_eat_u · Sep 1, 2016

Prima.Vera said:
Anyone know if a Gaming X can be flashed successfully with a Gaming Z firmware?
Tryed to look it up on the Internets but no luck....

It sure can done it myself on a GTX 1080 in OC mode but going much more on base clocks became unstable, got mine out to 1780mhz base clock and +500 on memory not quite sure if it changes the power draw either but sits around 80%, also watercooled witch also seems to be better and doesnt fluctuate, on air though it wouldnt run the gaming Z bios for more than 30mins without crashing, running gaming mode bios was fine though at 1733mhz...
link to the bios can be found here just go down a bit on the page

http://www.overclock.net/t/1601288/official-nvidia-gtx-1080-owners-club/5530

rtwjunkie · Sep 1, 2016

cadaveca said:
But that requires running additional software. So many people complain about having to run software when it comes to the GAMING APP, so it only makes sense such users want a card that is high clocked without needing software to do so...

Well if you want a custom fan profile which will cool infinitely better that the default, then you'll be running Afterburner anyway. I can't imagine ever not using a custom fan profile.

cadaveca · Sep 1, 2016

rtwjunkie said:
Well if you want a custom fan profile which will cool infinitely better that the default, then you'll be running Afterburner anyway. I can't imagine ever not using a custom fan profile.

I can't imagine ever actually needing one on an MSI card. I use MSI GAMING GPUs pretty much exclusively these days; GPUs don't get hot, and are virtually silent. That's a hard thing to do effectively, but MSI does (just check W1zz's reviews).

So for me, I'd buy the GAMING Z to get the highest clocks I could, and leave well enough alone. I'm not about to OC a GPU as the performance difference never really justifies it for me.

That said, I do run the added software. I wasn't speaking from my own perspective; I was merely relating common complaints. I won't use afterburner though; the GAMING APP is sufficient for me.

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	AlderLake / Laptop
Processor	Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz / Intel i3 7100U
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master / HP 83A3 (U3E1)
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme + 5 case fans / Fan
Memory	32GB DDR5 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6000MHz CL36 / 8GB DDR4 HyperX CL13
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio / Intel HD620
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Evo 500GB + 850 Pro 512GB + 860 Evo 1TB x2 / Samsung 256GB M.2 SSD
Display(s)	23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p / 14" 1080p IPS Glossy
Case	Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window / HP Pavilion
Audio Device(s)	Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W / Powerbrick
Mouse	Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless / Logitech M330 wireless
Keyboard	RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless / HP backlit
Software	Windows 11 / Windows 10
Benchmark Scores	Cinebench R23 (Single Core) 1936 @ stock Cinebench R23 (Multi Core) 23006 @ stock

Processor	Intel® Core™ i7-13700K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15
Memory	32GB(2x16) DDR5@6600MHz G-Skill Trident Z5
Video Card(s)	ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 AMP Holo
Storage	2TB SK Platinum P41 SSD + 4TB SanDisk Ultra SSD + 500GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD
Display(s)	Acer Predator X34 3440x1440@100Hz G-Sync
Case	NZXT PHANTOM410-BK
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi Titanium PCIe
Power Supply	Corsair 850W
Mouse	Logitech Hero G502 SE
Software	Windows 11 Pro - 64bit
Benchmark Scores	30FPS in NFS:Rivals

System Name	The Stone that the Builders Refused / iJayo
Processor	R5 1600/ R7 3700X
Motherboard	Asrock AB350 Pro4 / Asus Rog Strix B450-F gaming
Cooling	Cryorig M9 / Noctua NH-D14
Memory	G skill 16 Gigs ddr4 / 16 gigs PNY ddr4
Video Card(s)	Nvdia GTX 660 / Nvidia RTX 2070 Super
Storage	120gig 840 evo, 120gig adata sp900 / 1tb Mushkin M.2 ssd 1 & 3 tb seagate hdd, 120 gig Hyper X ssd
Display(s)	42" Nec retail display monitor/ 34" Dell curved 165hz monitor
Case	Pink Enermax Ostrog / Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Tempered Glass edition
Audio Device(s)	Altec Lansing Expressionist Bass/ M-Audio monitors
Power Supply	Corsair450 / Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 650
Mouse	corsair vengence M65 / Zalman Knossos
Keyboard	corsair k95 / Roccat Vulcan 121
Software	Window 10 pro / Windows 10 pro
Benchmark Scores	meh... feel me on the battle field!

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD	Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

MSI Gaming Z and Gaming X Differentiated Some More

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

atomicus

P4-630

Prima.Vera

ensabrenoir

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

P4-630

Moofachuka

Random Murderer

The Anti-Midas

P4-630

silentbogo

Moderator

Keullo-e

S.T.A.R.S.

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

Prima.Vera

P4-630

cadaveca

My name is Dave

Prima.Vera

kill_and_eat_u

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

cadaveca

My name is Dave

System Name	No Name
Processor	i7 980 @ 4.2ghz
Motherboard	GA-X99M-GAMING
Video Card(s)	MSU Gaming X 1070
Audio Device(s)	X7 Creative LE
Mouse	Razer Naga
Keyboard	K95 Corsair RGB Blue

System Name	TOO MUCH RADIATOR! \| The TV Box a.k.a. The Shoebox
Processor	Core i7 4930K @ 4.5GHz \| Core i5 6600K @ 4.5GHz
Motherboard	Asus X79 Rampage IV Extreme \| Asus Z170i Pro Gaming
Cooling	Custom water on CPU and GPU, dual 360mm radiators \| Corsair H80i
Memory	4x 8GB G.Skill TridentX DDR3-1600 \| 2x 4GB G.Skill RipJaws 4 DDR4-3000
Video Card(s)	Sapphire AMD R9 295x2 \| PowerColor AMD HD7970
Storage	Samsung SSD 830 256GB, various others \| 2x 1TB Seagate Barracudas in RAID1
Display(s)	Dell U2713HM 2560x1440 IPS \| Panasonic TC-L32E5 1080p IPS TV
Case	Thermaltake Suppressor F51 (stripped down to hold two radiators) \| Cooler Master Elite 130
Audio Device(s)	RM-DAC -> Xiang Sheng 708b -> Sennheiser HD650 \| HDMI sound device on 7970
Power Supply	LEPA G1600-MA 1600W \| Corsair CX750M 750W
Software	Win 10 64
Benchmark Scores	over 9000 BungholioMarks, "Bitchin' Fast"

System Name	WS#1337
Processor	Ryzen 7 3800X
Motherboard	ASUS X570-PLUS TUF Gaming
Cooling	Xigmatek Scylla 240mm AIO
Memory	4x8GB Samsung DDR4 ECC UDIMM
Video Card(s)	Inno3D RTX 3070 Ti iChill
Storage	ADATA Legend 2TB + ADATA SX8200 Pro 1TB
Display(s)	Samsung U24E590D (4K/UHD)
Case	ghetto CM Cosmos RC-1000
Audio Device(s)	ALC1220
Power Supply	SeaSonic SSR-550FX (80+ GOLD)
Mouse	Logitech G603
Keyboard	Modecom Volcano Blade (Kailh choc LP)
VR HMD	Google dreamview headset(aka fancy cardboard)
Software	Windows 11, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

System Name	4K-gaming
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X up to 5.05GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550M Aorus Elite
Cooling	Custom loop (CPU+GPU, 240 & 120 rads)
Memory	32GB Kingston HyperX Fury @ DDR4-3466
Video Card(s)	PowerColor RX 6700 XT Fighter OC/UV
Storage	~4TB SSD + 6TB HDD
Display(s)	Acer 27" 4K120 IPS + Lenovo 32" 4K60 IPS
Case	Corsair 4000D Airflow White
Audio Device(s)	Asus TUF H3 Wireless
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX518
Keyboard	Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1
Software	Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	It runs Crysis remastered at 4K

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

Processor	6700k
Motherboard	asus formula viii
Cooling	ek predator AIO 360mm cooling both CPU and GPU
Memory	32gb kingston hyperX ddr4
Video Card(s)	MSI gtx 1080 gaming X
Storage	240gb samsung evo, 500gb samsung evo M.2
Display(s)	asus PG279Q ips g-sync 1440p
Case	Corsair 780t
Audio Device(s)	none
Power Supply	EVGA supernova G2 1000w
Mouse	ROG spatha
Keyboard	Corsair K95
Software	windows 10