Power, Temperature and Noise
Keeping frequency close to 2GHz when gaming results in system-wide power consumption creeping beyond the 500-watt mark. We'd recommend a high-quality 850W unit just to be on the safe side.
MSI's approach to cooling appears to differ from rival partner cards. Whereas Asus and Gigabyte have attempted to keep temperature as low as possible, the Gaming X Trio runs warmer in favour of lower fan speeds.
That's exactly the way we prefer it, and 76°C is hardly cause for concern, yet MSI is aware of this perceived performance gap and has issued an optional low-temperature BIOS for those who prioritise cooling. With the alternate BIOS installed, we found that fan speed under load increased from around 1,500RPM to 2,000RPM, resulting in in-game temperature falling to 67°C.
A reduction in temp is always nice, yet we'd be inclined to stick with the default low-noise BIOS as it offers truly comfortable acoustics. MSI's RTX 3090 is satisfyingly quiet even when gaming, and to be fair even the low-temperature BIOS isn't overly obtrusive. Swap over and in-game noise levels climb to 40.2dB. It's nice to have the option, though we do wish MSI had implemented a hardware toggle switch to save users having to go through the process of flashing their cards manually.
