MSI Unveils GeForce RTX 40 Gaming Slim Series GPUs With Thinner And Lighter Designs

PCs, components and peripherals maker MSI has launched a new family of graphics cards. The new Gaming Slim line will exclusively feature NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Ada Lovelace GPUs. MSI explains that it has taken its well-regarded Gaming series and trimmed the fat for slimmer and lighter designs – making the cards more amenable to fitting in compact PC cases.

 

When NVIDIA launched the first RTX 40 cards, many were taken aback by the sheer size and power-hungry nature of the latest gen. We had some warning about graphics card size inflation when the RTX 3090 Ti debuted, but the Ada pioneering RTX 4090 pushed the barriers of acceptable graphics card sizes in all dimensions.

Later, with the GeForce RTX 4080 and RX 4070 Ti the next-gen bulk appeared to persist. We have only started to see more modestly sized designs with the advent of the RTX 4070 and lower SKUs. Flying in the face of this trend, we often hear about how the RTX 40 series cards are the most efficient ever, in terms of performance per watt.

Now, MSI has stepped up to release a raft of new Gaming Slim GPUs. It says that despite the slimmed down cooler, users will still benefit from a “top-notch thermal design.” The press release today lists 12 new Gaming Slim products based around the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, 4070, and 4060 Ti. Different color options, overclocked and non-overclocked models make up the numbers, as follows:

While certainly thinner, the 12 GeForce RTX 40 Series cards outlined above aren’t exactly small. They all still come rocking a triple fan shroud, and they are all 307 x 125 x 46mm in size (The RTX 4070 Ti models are slightly thicker at 51mm). We have seen smaller RTX 4070 and 4060 Ti graphics cards before, so MSI could potentially have gone twin fan and made some of its Gaming Slim models much shorter.

MSI boasts about reduced weight, but we aren’t sure who sees this as desirable. That translates to less thermal mass available for heat dissipation, barring other design factors. For example, the MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Gaming Trio weighs 1.59kg, compared to a Gaming Slim based around the same GPU at 1.09kg. That the Gaming Slim is 3cm shorter might be welcomed by some with smaller PC cases, but a 500g lighter product will probably induce a shrug. There are plenty of solutions in 2023 for those concerned about GPU sag, and the Gaming Slim models which are currently on sale appear to come with a bundled VGA support bracket (see image above).

For the full tech specs tables of the 12 new cards, please check the MSI press release. However, there are no surprises to be found.