$600 Mid-Range Is Here! GeForce RTX 4070 Review & Benchmarks

foreign [Music] box today we are checking out the GeForce RTX 4070 for the first time I suppose the first thing you want to know is how much does it cost well it is 600 U.S and that's quite a substantial 25 discount when compared to the ti version though having said that just based off the specs alone we do expect it to be around 20 slower still the good news I suppose is that you're still getting the same 12 gigabytes of vram as the 47 ETI so the 4070 is looking pretty good and I'm very excited to check it out but before we do today's sponsor spot is brought to you by thermal Grizzly and their new 12th gen CPU contact frame by debauer it's well known that the integrated loading mechanism or ilm of the LJ 1700 sockets Benz 12th gen CPUs leading to an uneven contact surface that reduces cooling performance solving this issue the contact frame replaces the ilm allowing for a much more even contact with the cpu's IHS and the base of your cooler which in turn reduces operating temperatures installations quick and easy and thanks to the use of anodized aluminum the contact frame is non-conductive and then for those of you who wish to further maximize contact thermal Grizzly now offers an optional lapping tool so for more information please check the link in the video description okay so let's quickly go over the specs then of course we will jump into the benchmarks like the 4070 TI the new non-ti version it's based on the ad-104 Silicon though of course it's a cut down version with 588 Cuda cores so that's 23 fewer than the ti there's also 23 fewer texture units and 20 fewer Rock units the bass and boost clocks have also been lowered the base to 1920 megahertz that's 17 percent lower while the Boost clocks have only been reduced by five percent as for memory Nvidia is still using 21 gigabits per second gddr6x on a 192-bit wide bus for a bandwidth of 504 gigabytes per second and as noted earlier you're still getting 12 gigabytes of vram which we now believe to be the minimum amount of vram that should be provided on a graphics card not targeting entry level performance and I'll talk more about that towards the end of the video now Nvidia is producing a Founders Edition version of the RTX 4070 which isn't something they did for the 4072i which is a bit curious and with a total Graphics power rating of just 200 Watts Nvidia has been able to create a dual slot card and I have to say after becoming so accustomed let's say to massive 40 90 40 18 40 72 graphics cards the 4070 it seems very small but actually it's fairly typical when compared to previous generation models matching the size and weight of the RTX 3070 Fe for example now nvidia's RTX 470 Fe does use a single 12 vhp WR connector and included is a dual 8-pin adapter however nvidia's board partners are free to use the more standard 8-pin connector if they wish and are only required to use a single 8-pin connector on hand I have msi's Ventus 3x model which does use a single eight pin power input and it's a long triple fan card that does only require two expansion slots so it's nice and we'll look at stuff like thermals and power soon now something a bit different about this release is that there are two separate embargoes one for non-overclocked models like nvidia's Fe card and msi's Ventus 3x and then a second embargo which is to be lifted 24 hours later covering the overclocked partner models Nvidia does appear to be prioritizing reviews of models that are meant to sell or at least very near the 600 us MSRP while the more premium OC cards can only be reviewed once on sale the following day so Nvidia really wants to make it clear to viewers that the RTX 4070 is a 600 us product but how true that ultimately ends up being is of course yet to be seen expect them to sell out and of course prices will get inflated you will really only know the true pricing and state of availability of at least a few weeks after launch pretty typical stuff the 4070 tie for example it's not quite 800 U.S 810 820 of the cheaper models but it's very close and then we see supremax strix and aurus models they're all selling up around 950 us which is an absurd price for a graphics card with just 12 gigabytes of vram now for testing I'm still using our ryzen 7 5800x 3D test system with 32 gigabytes of ddr5 3200 dual rank memory but this generally isn't an issue for 1440p benchmarks and it certainly won't be a problem at 4K still as of next week I do plan to start updating all of our GPU data with many new games and titles on our 7800x 3D test system so we will have fresh data with less CPU bottlenecking for future GPU releases for now though the 5800x3d will have to do then for the graphics card we will be using msi's RTX 4070 Ventus 3x and I also have the Fe model on hand but we'll base all our results in msi's model but performance between these two cards is identical okay let's go over the data first up we have Watchdogs Legion here at 1440p the RTX 4070 was good for 127 FPS on average making it a fraction slower than the 3090 TI which meant it was also slower than the 6800 XT this also meant it was just 13 slower than the 4070 TI but also 23 slower than the 7900 XT so in short we're looking at roughly previous generation high-end performance for 600 so again about what you would have paid for a 6800 XT jumping up to the 4K resolution doesn't change much here the RTX 4070 was good for 72 FPS which is very much 6800 XT light performance making it 19 slower than the ti model then when compared to previous generation GeForce gpus it was three percent faster than the RTX 3080 and 26 faster than the 3070 TI next up we have Rainbow Six extraction and here the 470 was good for 191 FPS which is very much RTX 3080 levels of performance making it 26 faster than the 3072i it was also 10 faster than 6800 XT but seven percent slower than the similarly priced 6950 XT and that is of course based on current retail pricing not the msrps we're also looking at an 18 performance deficit to the 4070 TI and 20 to the 7900 XT the 4070 though it's still very capable of the 4K resolution rendering just shy of 100 FPS which this time meant 6950 XT and RTX 3080 light performance so not bad for 600 us the margin remained much the same to the ti version this time trailing by 19 percent the Far Cry 6 results are CPU Limited at 1440p which is less of an issue for the RTX 4070 and more of an issue for the faster gpus for example here it was six percent slower than the 4070 TI though it was 16 slower than the 7900 XT and then moving to 4K this does solve the CPU limited issue and now the 40 70 is 14 slower than the 40 72 and 31 slower than the 7900 XT in this example we're basically looking at RTX 3080 levels of performance moving on to Assassin's Creed Valhalla we see that at 1440p the 40 70 is 16 slow in the ti model and a massive 27 slower than the 7900 XT still we are looking at 3080 TI 3090 and 6900 XT light performance so I think for 600 us that's an impressive result despite being a more mild 19 boost over the 3070 TI then at 4K we're looking at much the same here the 40 70 was 15 slower than the 40 72 though when compared to the previous generation products it was delivering 6800 XT and RTX 3080 performance next we have hunt Showdown and no surprises here the RTX 4070 is delivering 6800 XT performance so slightly sold in the RTX 3080 in this example and just 14 faster than the RTX 3070ti the results of 4K are even less favorable here the 4070 was just six percent faster than the 30 70 show making it eight percent slower than the 6800 XT and 21 slower than the 4070 TI the outer World saw the 4070 pumping out 141 FPS at 1440p which positioned it between the 6800 XT and 3080 in our graph so fairly typical results here it was also just 14 slower than the 7900 XT and 16 slow on the 472i which is a good result when compared to those more expensive models we find much the same at the 4K resolution here the 470 is now 17 slow and the 40 72 and 16 slower than the 7900 XT while 76 FPS on average meant that we were looking at 6900 XT light performance the RTX 4070 rips through the Modern Warfare 2 Benchmark with 182 FPS making it just 11 slow in the 40 70 TI though it was 32 slower than the 7900 XT still when compared to previous generation products the new 4070 was comparable to the 6800 XT which meant it was actually faster than the 3090 TI then at 4K we're again looking at 6800 XT performance though this time that did make it slightly slower than the 3090 TI which is obviously still a very good result the RTX 4070 looks well down on our Hitman 3 graph at 1440p but with 147 FPS on average it was four percent faster than the RTX 3080 and just three percent slower than the 6800 XT that said it was around 20 slow in the 4070 TI and 7900 XT jumping up to the 4K resolution did provide the higher core count models with an advantage as here the 4070 was now 30 slow in the 40 72i and 38 slower than the 7900 XT which is quite a substantial margin still when compared to the previous generation parts we are looking at RTX 3080 levels of performance so the 470 is certainly no slouch you next up we have f122 and by default this game does enable Ray tracing with the ultra high preset so we've left the rtfx enabled here the 4070 was good for 90 FPS 1440p making it 10 faster than the RTX 3080 in just three percent slower than the 7900 XT moreover it was just 10 slow in the 4072o so a really good result here for nvidia's new 600 offering then at 4K we're looking at RTX 3080 TI and 3090 performance making the 4070 only slightly slower than the 7900 XT in this example then we see that it's 13 slower on the 4070 ti so again a good result here for the 4070 the 4070 doesn't look amazing in our cyberpunk 2077 Benchmark here it rendered just 80 FPS on average making it 25 slow on the 40 70 show and a massive 32 slower than the 7900 XT and then when compared to previous generation products we're only looking at RX 6800 levels of performance though that still meant that it was 14 faster than the 3070. and performance margins are much the same at 4K here the 40 70 was 24 slower than the ti model and 37 slower than the 7900 XT Meanwhile we're again looking at RX 6800 levels of performance making it slightly faster than the 3070 TI it also has to be said that the 4070 was rather unimpressive In Dying Light 2 at least relative to Parts like the 7900 XT which was 35 percent faster or even the ti model which was 29 faster having said that though it was 20 faster than the 3070 TI as it was able to deliver RTX 3080 light performance meanwhile the 4K data is even less impressive here the 4070 was just 15 fast and the 3070 TI making it eight percent slower than the 3080 and RX 6800 the Halo infinite results look much better at 1440p the 4070 finds itself situated between the 30 90 and 30 90 TI making it 15 faster than the 6800 XT and 17 faster than the 3080. it was also just four percent slow in the 1700 XT though it was still 18 slower than the ti version then at 4K we're looking at 68 FPS on average which is still 3080 TI 30 90 levels of performance and only slightly slower than the 6950 XT so good result overall and last up we have Shadow of the Tomb Raider and we're not using the built-in Benchmark here rather we're measuring in-game performance using the demanding Village section here the 4070 rendered 139 FPS which is 1600 XT and RTX 3090 light performance making it 17 slower than the 4070 TI and then increasing the resolution to 4K did reduce the average frame rate to 74 FPS but we're still looking at 3080 and at 6800 XT levels of performance making the 40 70 80 18 slower than the ti model okay so here's a look at the 13 game average and we find that the 40 70 was good for 126 FPS at 1440p which is the exact same result we receive from the 6800 XT and this meant the 4070 was on average four percent faster than the RTX 3080 and 24 faster than the 370 TI impressively it was also just seven percent slower than nvidia's previous generation Flagship the 3090 or 14 slower than the refresh 390 TI which did eventually become the 30 series Flagship that means it was also just 14 slower than amd's Flagship the 6950 XT or just seven percent slower than the 6900 XT which was the original Flagship then when compared to the 4070 TI the 4070 was 18 slower and at 22 slower than the 7900 XT and then we say when increasing the resolution to 4K the RTX 4070 was able to deliver on average 69 FPS which meant it was once again neck and neck with the 6800 XT therefore it was 20 slow on the ti model and 27 slower than the 7900 XT then just quickly for those of you interested here's a look at the more CPU limited 1080p data using the ryzen 7 5800x3d again I will be moving to the 7800 X 3D shortly but for now here is our 1080p results using the slightly slower previous generation processor and in this more CPU limited example the 4070 was just 14 slower than the ti model and it's 16 slower than the 7900 XT now before wrapping up the testing here's a look at Ray tracing and dlss performance at 1440p in a few titles starting with f122 here the 4070 was just 10 slow in the ti model when running with Ray tracing enabled and then just four percent slower with rt disabled though we're likely running into the limits of our 5800 X 3D CPU here still it's interesting to note that with Ray tracing enabled the 4070 was 14 slower than the 390 TI but with dlss enabled performance was much the same and then with rt disabled the 4070 was 15 faster so some interesting scaling there we're also looking at similar Ray tracing performance of the 7900 XT so I think it's fair to say the 4070 is much better value when it comes to Ray tracing performance next we have Watchdogs Legion and here the 4070 was 19 slow in the 4072i when using Ray tracing the 13 slower with rt disabled then when compared to the 3980 TI it was 22 slower using Ray tracing but just three percent slower with rt disabled and finally when compared to the 7900 XT we find the 4070 was 11 slower with Ray tracing enabled and a much more substantial 23 slower with it disabled moving on to the Guardians of the Galaxy we see the 40 70 is 16 slower than the 4072i with Ray Trace enabled and then 21 slower than the 3092i but also five percent faster than the 7900 XT then with rt disabled it's 11 slower than the 7900 XT and 4070 TI next up we have fortnite using Hardware Ray tracing with Lumen and Nano enabled here the 4070 was 16 slower than the 472 and 309 ETI and then 21 slower than the 7900 XT and I should note that so far we are seeing strong RT performance from rdna3 using the Unreal Engine 5 though it is unclear if this will be the case for all games using this new game engine the 4070 performed very well in Doom Eternal using the ultra nightmare preset we're looking at 249 FPS on average with Ray tracing enabled making it 16 slower than the 47 HDI and 12 slower than the 3090 TI that said it was 20 slower than the 7900 XT and the Radeon GPU does appear to perform very well in this title and that's especially true with rt disabled where it was almost 60 percent faster than the 4070. Resident Evil Village also plays well on the 7900 XT but even so the more affordable RTX 4070 was still very impressive here pumping out 144 FPS using the ray tracing preset at 1440p making it 16 slower than the 4070 TI and 18 slower than the 3090 TI the Spider-Man remaster results are unfortunately quite CPU limited with Ray tracing enabled though probably less so in the case of the 470 as it was 12 slow in the 4072 and 17 slower than the 7900 XT still 116 FPS on average is impressive and dlss was able to bump that up to 128 FPS the last Ray tracing title we're going to look at is cyberpunk 2077 and this is an extremely demanding game even without Ray tracing so unsurprisingly the RTX 4070 is limited to just 39 FPS here though dlss quality mode did drastically improve performance getting us up to 69 FPS in this example the 4070 was 24 slower than the 40 70 TI and 309 ETI but beat the 7900 XT by an 11 margin of course the 7900 XT was much faster with rt disabled but if you care about Ray tracing the 4070 represents really great value at 600 U.S now one aspect of the RTX 4070 that's particularly impressive is power efficiency here we're measuring total system usage and as you can see the 4070 allowed for a total system consumption of 318 Watts which is 11 less than the RTX 3070 and that is a super impressive result given that it was roughly 40 percent faster in this test and we find much the same in the other games tested Doom for example saw total system usage at 314 Watts which is a 10 reduction when compared to the 3070 and a 26 reduction when compared to the 6800 XT which delivered a similar level of performance Dying Light 2 saw more of the same 314 watts of total system usage here which was a good improvement over the previous generation models now if we lock the frame rate at 90 FPS we see just how efficient the RTX 4070 really is here total system usage dropped by four percent when compared to the 47 ETI and a massive 22 when compared to the 7900 XT that is a remarkable power saving at the same performance level so excellent work hereby Nvidia okay so now it's time for the all-important cost per frame and we'll start with the MSRP figures based on our 1440p data the 600 MSRP makes the RTX 4070 the best value GPU released at this performance tier for this generation and last though to be fair AMD is yet to release a 600 rdna3 competitor but still when compared to the Radeon rx6000 and GeForce 30 series offerings the 4070 looks very good at least based on MSRP pricing still if Nvidia can deliver RTX 4070s at 600 us then it will be a good value product at least relative to what we've seen from AMD and Nvidia so far we've often talked about how the 6800x10 RTX 3018 gigabyte were the last sensible high-end products and the RTX 4070 is delivering similar performance at a more competitive price of course we're only talking about an eight percent improvement over the 6800 XT after two and a bit years but compared to what we've been getting that's actually a really good result I'm sorry to say it's also an 18 improvement from the RTX 3080 and a 19 improvement over the terrible value 3070 TI which we can probably ignore for the majority of these comparisons on that note I feel that the 4070 is best compared in terms of value with either the RTX 3080 10 gigabyte or RTX 3070 when compared to the 3070 we're looking at an 8 Improvement in cost per frame so the same margin scene we're comparing with the 6800 XT or the plain old 6800 so that's good but it's certainly not mind-blowing basically the 4070 is 20 more expensive than the RTX 3070 and offers on average 31 more performance so again that's good it's certainly an improvement and much better than what we've been getting up to this point with the latest generation of products now if we look at the typical current retail prices for each product or at least for the products that can still be purchased brand new we find that the RTX 4070 is less attractive when compared to many of the previous generation of Radeon gpus I'd say the 6950 XT is a particular standout here as it's just fifty dollars more than the claimed MSRP for the RTX 4070 but offers 16 more performance on average the 6950 XT also provides four gigabytes of additional vram though RT performance is weaker and you miss out on features like dlss and of course frame generation which are probably worth paying a premium for depending on the type of gaming you do the 7900 XT also is quite appealing here at 800 which is quite a bit more than the RTX 4070 but you're getting loads more vrm at 20 Gigabytes and almost 30 percent more performance so I'd say the 7900 XT will turn out to be a significantly better investment but that is merely a guess on my part overall while there are available radio Alternatives right now and even with a direct rdna3 competitor which is yet to release I'd say the RTX 4070 is still a compelling option at 600 us finally here's a quick look at operating temperatures after an hour of load inside a closed ATX case msi's Ventus 3x peaked at just 64 degrees with a fan speed of 1400 RPM so this card was whisper quiet and very cool impressive results for sure and they prove that all you need for optimal operation with an RTX 4070 is one of these base model MSRP cards at least from MSI then we have nvidia's Fe model which runs slightly hotter peaking at 67 degrees with a slightly louder fan speed of 1700 RPM still that's an exceptionally good result especially given how compact the Fe model is but the MSI card was cooler and quieter so there you have it Radeon RX 6800 XT GeForce RTX 3080 10 gigabyte performance for 600 U.S it's not exactly mind-blowing stuff after about two and a half years it's a 50 to 100 discount based on those older products and that is assuming that they're all sold at the MSRP having said that though I think given the current market where things happen to be it is a rather good deal and it's certainly much closer to an acceptable price tag let's say at least in our opinion than any of the other current generation GPU releases so far ideally the GeForce RTX 4070 should be a 500 us product at least in our view and while 600 is a 20 markup it's still much closer to our ideal price than anything that's come before it so that makes it really difficult to criticize the 600 MSRP especially given that it makes the RTX 4070 the best value current and previous generation GPU priced above 500 while also including support for Technologies such as DLS S3 and speaking of DLS S3 the reason why there are no DLS S3 benchmarks in this review is the same reason given in our RTX 4080 review so for a more detailed explanation please watch our day one RTX 4080 review but in short a big issue with DLS S3 benchmarks is reporting frame generation as an FPS metric and this is because 120 FPS for example using DLS S3 frame generation really isn't 120 FPS it's the smooth business of 120 FPS but with the input of roughly half that frame rate plus a few graphical issues so really this is a smoothness technology rather than a performance enhancing technology and this is a serious issue for Benchmark graphs and I would suggest any reviewer benchmarking with frame generation enabled should report the numbers as let's say 120 dlss 3.0 FPS just as an example okay so as I said in the current market the RTX 4070 happens to be a rather good deal that said it's not hands down the best deal for example the 6800 XT that can be had for a little bit less right now around 570 and it offers more vram but you'll have to weigh that up against the lack of dlss support and the inferior Ray tracing performance I think personally I would still go with the RTX 4070 the higher end of 6950 XT that makes a stronger case for itself with around 15 more performance on average and as a result comes in at a saving of seven percent per frame again the same cons and Pros do apply here it's certainly a tougher choice to make and for me it would really depend on the games I play as to which one of these two cards I'd pick and there's also a case that can be made for the Radeon RX 7900xt and frankly that's probably the hardest choice for me sure the 1700x ticket's quite a bit more costly at 800 us but in terms of cost per frame it is much the same given that on average it's almost 30 percent faster and the big draw card for me here is that extra eight gigabytes of vram 12 gigabytes to 20 Gigabytes is a massive upgrade and I fully expect this wide disparity in capacity to hand the 7900 XT a serious visual advantage in the not too distant future much like what we're currently seeing when comparing the RX 6800 and RTX 3070 in modern games of course as I've noted 200 US is still quite a lot of money but if you're planning on holding on to your next graphics card for three to four years then I think going for something that's got a bigger frame buffer and also provides a good chunk of extra performance now is a good idea and as a side note I'd be just as happy to upsell you on a GeForce GPU but stretching the budget to around twelve hundred dollars US so double for the 16 gigabyte RTX 4080. just seems a bit too far-fetched for the future proofing angle and while on the topic of vram I will quickly just note that 12 gigabytes is now what we consider to be the bare minimum so that is to say you shouldn't purchase a graphics card with less than 12 gigabytes certainly not when spending over twelve hundred dollars US it is our opinion that eight gigabytes should only be reserved for the most entry-level gaming products and anything with less than eight gigabytes isn't suitable for current generation gaming really the RTX 4070 should have at least 16 gigabytes of vram and the same is also true for the ti model more so in fact that said I'm not saying the 12 gigabyte vram buffer is a deal breaker rather I'm cautioning you that this is now the bare minimum moving forward and therefore this product might not age as well as those with 16 gigabytes or more vram keeping all of that in mind I still believe that the RTX 4070 is a good value product packing a strong feature set and excellent performance once remaining rdna 2 stock for the 6800 XT and 6950 XT drives up there will be nothing that can hold a candle to the value of the RTX 4070 that is until AMD gets the rack together and releases more affordable Arduino 3 gpus but of course we're yet to see what will be on offer there and with no announce announcements just yet I don't necessarily recommend your weight in a nutshell I am very happy that the RTX 4070 has turned out to be a product that we can recommend and I expect this product to sell pretty well because of that uh that is of course assuming that the 600 us MSRP is met and Nvidia along with our partners can supply plenty of these MSRP models like the Ventus 3x and that is going to do it for this video hopefully you enjoyed this review of the RTX 4070 of course let me know what you think about this product at 600 Us in the comment section below and I'll be sure to read your comments also you can become a harboring box member by signing up to floatplane or patreon that'll give you access to our exclusive Discord server really great place to talk Tech without having to deal with all the other drama cool place to hang out doesn't matter if you're like AMD Intel or Nvidia or just good Value Hardware you won't be attacked for your opinions there unlike other places where you can talk about tech so yeah cool place to hang out we also have a live stream where you can ask Tim and I questions live behind the scenes content q a stuff a lot of cool things there so if you're interested check that out but if not that is perfectly fine and I would like to thank you for watching this video I'm your host Steve see you next time [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: Hardware Unboxed

Views: 239,974

Keywords: hardware unboxed

Id: DNX6fSeYYT8

Length: 30min 15sec (1815 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 12 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/From-UoM]

So basically a 3080/6800xt as suspected Stagnation throughout the generation

The power usage is the biggest selling point imo. 200w is 2/3 rd the power of the 6800xt and 3080. (300w and 320w)

[u/[deleted]]

[removed]

[u/zakats]

$600 for midrange.

Jensen can eat my ass.

[u/Keulapaska]

The MW II result at 1440p is interesting as it performs way better compared to other nvidia cards and even at 4k it ain't that bad. Otherwise kinda all over the place and very title dependent, sometimes faster than a 3080, sometimes slower and 4k makes it worse, which is no surprise. Curious to see benchmarks 2 years from now how it'll stack then.

[u/IANVS]

SFF crowd is going to love these. 3080/6800XT performance in a smaller, cooler and much more efficient package. High performance 250-270mm 2-slot cards in 2023 is almost a miracle and a dream come true for people with older and smaller SFF cases...

[u/MobileMaster43]

Stopped being interested when I saw that it is slower than a 6800XT.

And more expensive.

[u/iLangoor]

It seems like it all boils down to ROPs, which are usually tied with memory controllers.

4070 has 158.4 Gpixel/s (64 ROPs) pixel throughput compared to 3080's 164.2 (96 ROPs), as far as advertised frequencies are concerned (per TPU).

N5's raw clockspeed advantage is saving the day here. Otherwise, it's the same old Ampere with a bloated L2 cache and other minor tidbits.

[u/Glissssy]

In 3-4 years I might own one when the used price is genuinely 'midrange'

[u/MildJorge14]

So basically at $600 the best option is the 6950XT.