MSI's Suprim family of graphics cards (pronounced 'supreme'), which was introduced with Ampere, has two new members. The company (via Harukaze5719) recently and silently added the GeForce RTX 3070 Suprim SE 8G and GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim SE 10G to the mix. The 3070 and 3080 are two of the best graphics cards, or would be if everything wasn't perpetually sold out.
In the car world, the "SE" designation is commonly used to denote a Sport Edition or Special Edition trim level. In MSI's case, the acronym has a different meaning though. The Suprim SE models are in fact slower variants of their X and non-X counterparts, giving way to the joke that SE may mean Slow Edition. Other than the obvious difference in clock speeds, the graphics cards are identical to the other Suprim offerings in every way, including aesthetics, cooling, power connectors and display outputs. It's possible that MSI just introduced the SE trim as an excuse to recycle silicon that doesn't meet the requirements for the Suprim (X) models.
Performance-wise, the GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim SE 10G shouldn't be much slower in comparison to its other siblings. It only comes with 5% lower boost and extreme performance clocks when compared to the Suprim X, and manual tuning should be able to make up most of the difference. The GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim SE 10G retains the same 370W TDP as the Suprim (X).
MSI GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070 Suprim Specifications
| Graphics Cards | Boost Clock (GHz) | Extreme Performance Clock (GHz) | TDP (W) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim X 10G | 1,905 | 1,920 | 370 |
| GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim 10G | 1,815 | 1,830 | 370 |
| GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim SE 10G | 1,755 | 1,770 | 370 |
| GeForce RTX 3070 Suprim X 8G | 1,905 | 1,920 | 280 |
| GeForce RTX 3070 Suprim 8G | 1,830 | 1,845 | 270 |
| GeForce RTX 3070 Suprim SE 8G | 1,770 | 1,785 | 240 |
The GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim SE 8G drew the shortest straw. The graphics card shows a 7% downgrade in clock speeds with respect to the Suprim X model, and it also has a 40W lower TDP. Although MSI reduced the power consumption by 14% on the graphics card, it still commands a pair of 8-pin PCIe power connectors. Again, manual tuning can likely close the gap.
The GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim X 10G and GeForce RTX 3070 Suprim X 8G officially retail for $900 and $660, respectively. The non-X variants are only marginally less expensive, so we don't expect the SE variants to be forgiving on the pockets either, especially with the conditions that the graphics card market is in right now. None of the cards are in stock right now, sadly.
