I could end this Nvidia RTX 4070 review early and just say it’s the $600 RTX 3080, but it’s much more complicated than that. This is Nvidia’s most affordable RTX 40 series card after the $1,600 RTX 4090, $1,200 RTX 4080 and $800 RTX 4070 Ti. The RTX 4070 will be available on April 13th and will start at $599, which is $100 less than the RTX 3080 and $100 more than the RTX 3070.
After the ‘unreleased’ 12GB RTX 4080 was quickly rebranded to the RTX 4070 Ti without the Founders Edition, Nvidia is ready to put pressure on its partners by offering its own Founders Edition RTX 4070. Stick to the $599.99 retail price.
The RTX 4070 offers solid performance that matches the RTX 3080 at 1440p, but is missed in nearly every game at 4K. If you’re looking to upgrade from a 1080p experience to a 1440p monitor, the RTX 4070 is worth considering, but I expected a little more from the generational leap.
hardware
We were particularly impressed with the size of the RTX 4070 compared to the RTX 4080 and RTX 4090. This is the first non-big card in the Founders Edition of the RTX 40 series, and it’s actually shorter than the RTX 3080. Oddly enough, it ships in the same comically giant box that the RTX 4090 comes in, but it’s a 2-slot card that fits easily into most cases and even smaller form factor cases.
The RTX 4070 Founders Edition card will feature similar design aspects to the RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 GPUs. Nvidia is using a die-cast aluminum body, dual axial fans, and an 8-layer PCB with the RTX 4070. The cooling system is an improvement over the RTX 3070 thanks to a new copper plinth that cools the GPU along with four heat pipes. Nvidia has also improved its own axial fan, making it more powerful for better cooling. As usual, third-party cards have different cooling system designs.
On the back, like other RTX 40 series cards, there are three DisplayPort 1.4 ports (4K up to 240Hz on DSC) and one HDMI 2.1 port (8K on DSC up to 60Hz). Nvidia has not moved to DisplayPort 2.1 like AMD. This is probably less of an issue since it’s designed for 1440p games rather than ultra-high refresh rate 4K games.
Like the rest of its RTX 40 series cards, Nvidia is currently using a single 12-pin PCIe 5 connector on the RTX 4070. The box has a 12VHPWR adapter cable so you can connect two 8 pin PCIe power cables.I still hate this power adapter and would recommend investing in a 3rd party single cable solution Like CableMod.
Speaking of power, Nvidia has significantly improved the efficiency of the RTX 4070, allowing it to deliver RTX 3080 levels of performance while using less power. The RTX 4070 only requires the same 650 Watt power supply as the RTX 3070 requirement compared to the 750 Watt power supply needed for the RTX 3080 and 3070 Ti. The RTX 4070 has a TGP of 200 watts and will typically run below that in a wide variety of games. The power savings are obvious for similar performance, as the RTX 3080 maxed out at his TGP of 320 watts.
The RTX 4070 comes with 12GB of memory. This is just 4 GB larger than the RTX 3070 and only 2 GB larger than his original RTX 3080 10 GB model. I think it’s a shame that Nvidia here he hasn’t reached 16 GB of memory. Especially when the latest games are starting to show he’s using up his 8GB card at max settings for 1080p or 1440p gaming, and well beyond that at 4K.
AMD is going in the opposite direction, shipping the $900 RX 7900 XT with 20GB memory and the $1,000 RX 7900 XTX with 24GB memory. Nvidia’s $800 RTX 4070 Ti comes with 12GB of memory, the $1,200 RTX 4080 comes with 16GB of memory, and the $1,600 RTX 4090 comes with 24GB of memory.
1440p benchmark
For our 1440p test, we paired an RTX 4070 with AMD’s latest Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor and pushed a 32-inch Samsung Odyssey G7 monitor. The monitor supports refresh rates up to 240Hz and Nvidia’s G-Sync technology.
We compared the RTX 4070 against the RTX 3080, RTX 3070, RTX 3070 Ti, and RTX 4070 Ti to see where this latest RTX 40-series GPU sits in Nvidia’s lineup.We have tested various AAA games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Forza Horizon 5and assassin’s creed valhallaAll games were tested at high or ultra settings on all tested GPUs and most were able to exceed or approach 100fps.
The RTX 4070 is around 30% faster than its predecessor, the RTX 3070, in most games at 1440p, offering similar performance to the RTX 3080.
The RTX 4070 significantly outperforms the RTX 3080 in titles such as: Forza Horizon 5 and assassin’s creed valhalla but lose Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Nvidia was able to reproduce the performance drop. CS:GO In my previous RTX 4070 Ti review, there must be some kind of bug affecting the RTX 40 series cards in the benchmarks we use.
Where the RTX 4070 really comes to life is DLSS 3. Nvidia’s latest upscaling tech will be exclusive to the RTX 40 series cards and will use the same AI as his DLSS 2 along with new AI frame generation tech. DLSS 3 uses existing rendering techniques and he produces two frames. His third frame is then inserted between them using a new frame generation technique.
The result is a significant performance improvement.I enabled DLSS 3 with forza horizon 5, Frame rates jumped from DLSS 2 averaging 127 fps to DLSS 3 averaging 159 fps. This is a 25% performance improvement. Comparing the RTX 3080 with DLSS 2 only and the RTX 4070 with DLSS 3, the performance increase is almost 40%.
I have seen even more impressive results Cyberpunk 2077 and DLSS 3. Going from the Ray Tracing Ultra preset with DLSS 2 quality enabled up to DLSS 3 almost doubled the frame rate from 68 fps to 120 fps at 1440p on the RTX 4070.
4K benchmark
In terms of 4K, the RTX 4070 is less impressive than the RTX 3080. This is probably why Nvidia is marketing this as a 1440p card. We paired this GPU with a 31.5-inch Acer Nitro XV2 monitor. This monitor supports refresh rates up to 144Hz, but the RTX 4070 couldn’t take full advantage of that refresh rate, even with the help of his DLSS.
RTX 3080 beats RTX 4070 at 4K for most games Forza Horizon 5 and assassin’s creed valhalla Notable exception. However, the RTX 4070 comfortably outperforms the RTX 3070 in his 4K, offering close to 60 fps in most games. However, you’ll probably want to remove some settings to improve performance at 4K.
Again, the RTX 4070 Ti is around 25% better than the RTX 4070 at 4K, but we’re paying around 33% more for the extra performance the RTX 4070 Ti offers at both 1440p and 4K.
The RTX 3080 was intended to offer better 4K performance for under $1,000, but now, nearly three years later, modern games are demanding more at 4K. It’s a shame the RTX 4070 can’t always keep up here when it can at 1440p.
However, DLSS 3 clearly makes a big difference in supported games. One of the big new additions is path tracing. Cyberpunk 2077 With the new Overdrive mode. This mode only came out a day before his in this review, so we had limited time to fully test it on multiple GPUs, but with DLSS 3 enabled on the RTX 4070, we were able to see some Promising results were obtained.
Delivering cinematic lighting and visuals, the maximum overdrive mode runs at 61 fps at 1440p on the RTX 4070. This is more than 3x better than 18 fps running without DLSS enabled at all.
On the 4K side, the RTX 4070 does poorly in Cyberpunk 2077’s overdrive mode test. This is a very demanding new tech test and it only runs at 8 fps on RTX 4070 in 4K without DLSS. Again, DLSS 3 gives us a 3x+ performance improvement, but this only gets you up to 25 fps, so lower settings or use DLSS performance mode to improve frame rates at 4K. It is recommended that you
We also briefly tested DLSS 3 using Microsoft Flight Simulator on the RTX 4070. It’s also a demanding title on both CPU and GPU, and DLSS 3 can double the frame rate at both 4K and 1440p on the RTX 4070. From 43 fps without DLSS to 86 fps more playable on the RTX 4070.
Almost three years ago we called the RTX 3070 the sweet spot for 1440p gaming, and little has changed with the RTX 4070. It delivers his 1440p games steady at framerates that can take advantage of a 144Hz monitor. in some of the more demanding games.
The RTX 4070 is very similar to the RTX 3080’s performance at 1440p, but noticeably worse at 4K. I would have liked to see a bit more performance with the RTX 4070, especially at 4K, but if you’re looking to spend around $600 on a GPU right now, DLSS 3 is a reasonable selling point to consider. DLSS 3 can make up for performance in certain games, but with the generational leap, any title should really deliver on that.
At $599, the RTX 4070 is the most affordable RTX 40-series GPU ever and Nvidia’s fourth in the series. Especially since AMD and Nvidia GPUs have skyrocketed in price this generation, it’s attractive to those still using GTX 10-series or RTX 20-series GPUs in that price range.
But we’ll have to wait to see what AMD can offer at this price point or below. is targeted. AMD may not be able to match Nvidia at the top RTX 4090 level or ray tracing and DLSS performance, but many hope he can beat Nvidia again on price. is.
Correction April 12, 2023 2:04 PM ET: The RTX 4070 does not have DisplayPort 2.1, not HDMI 2.1. Sorry for the confusion.
UPDATE April 13, 2023 10:00 AM ET: RTX 4070 is now available for purchase, added link to retailer.
