Ahead of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s launch on October 23, I’ve had some hands-on time with MSI’s custom graphics card themed after the game, the GeForce RTX 5080 COD MW4 Edition OC. This design’s sure to please diehard fans of the series, but I reckon it looks great on its own terms, too.
No special edition graphics card is complete without bespoke packaging. MSI has naturally obliged this unspoken requirement, using the game’s cover art with Captain Price and Ghost for the front of the box.
While I would’ve liked to have seen some custom artwork, the execution here is tasteful and suitably sharp. However, there’s little else of note to see around the sides or back, save a glimpse of the GeForce RTX 5080 COD MW4 Edition OC itself on the latter.
Lifting the lid, more Modern Warfare 4 artwork greets us. There’s no Price this time, as Ghost looms over the protective cardboard on his lonesome. I really dig the hyper-detail aesthetic on show here, bringing to mind the kind of drawings you’d see in a high-end graphic novel.
Removing the plain MSI black cover, we find the GeForce RTX 5080 COD MW4 Edition OC graphics card and accompanying accessories. All are sitting snugly in their foam cut outs, covered in protective plastic wrap, ready for deployment.
We sadly weren’t able to remove the shrink wrap from the front plate, but underneath you can just about make out a brushed metal finish. The card features a trio of MSI’s Stormforce fans, which previously impressed us on the firm’s GeForce RTX 5080 Vanguard, exhibiting quiet operation and sub-65°C core temperature under gaming load.
I love the yellow outer rings that surround each of the fans, along with the the yellow heatsink that you can see peeking out from the side of the GeForce RTX 5080 COD MW4 Edition OC. I understand branding’s important on a special edition card like this, but I’d have loved to have seen a Ghost skull decal in the centre blower rather than the Call of Duty logo, since we already have the latter as an LED along the side.
The most eye-catching part of the GeForce RTX 5080 COD MW4 Edition OC, though, is its backplate. The Ghost portrait on the left side is particularly striking, with MSI using Mylar to give the artwork greater perceived depth and layering.
We’ve seen cut outs in MSI backplates before, but this design is wholly unique to this graphics card. The inspiration for the metal strip that runs along the right side, over the heatsink, comes from armour plating. There’s presumably little to no impact to cooling, and it does look striking.
MSI’s also given the graphics card support stand a Modern Warfare 4 glow up. The small cylinder looks like a natural extension of the GeForce RTX 5080 COD MW4 Edition OC, and the colour matching of yellow hues between the plastic and metals is commendable.
All-in-all, it’s not the sort of drop that’s going to set hearts racing, but a nice bit of kit for diehard Call of Duty fans. In truth, themed cards are about as exciting as it’ll get on the PC graphics front for the foreseeable future. The GeForce RTX 60 Series is likey ways off, as are next-gen Radeons, while the flagship GeForce RTX 5090 is purportedly discontinued. Despite launching in January 2025, RTX 5080 may be as good as it gets for the time being, especially if the rumours of a 24GB model ring true.
Getting back to the here and now, if you fancy MSI’s RTX 5080 COD MW4 Edition graphics card for yourself, you’ll be able to grab one from Overclockers UK or the MSI UK eShop come October 23. The company hasn’t confirmed pricing yet, but given MSI’s existing RTX 5080 models start at around £1,399 in today’s climate, I expect to see the Call of Duty variant debut for no less than £1,499.
