RTX 3070 stacking up really close to the RTX 2080 Ti, but for much cheaper
Technical Details
All the new RTX 30-series ( RTX 3070 )video cards fall into the Ampere architecture, which shares tons in common with the RTX 20-series generation’s Turing architecture. It’s essentially a beefed-up version of Nvidia’s three-pronged approach for graphics processing: streaming multiprocessor (SM), the Tensor core for deep learning, and AI-based tech like DLSS, and therefore the RT core dedicated to ray tracing tasks.
Compared to their previous-gen counterparts, Ampere cards pack a better CUDA core count, GDDR6X memory, higher transistor count, and rate for much higher TFLOPs–though peak power consumption is higher now. a minimum of for the RTX 3070, power requirements aren’t as steep because the RTX 3080 Nvidia says you will need a 650-watt power supply for the 3070, which peaks at 220 watts under load.
the RTX 3080, RTX 3070 sports a replacement power pin design; the packaging comes with an adapter so all you actually got to power it’s one standard 8-pin PCIe power connector. The RTX 3070 Founder’s Edition has both cooling fans on the underside of the card; however, you continue to get an equivalent airflow design with one fan for back-end exhaust and therefore the other to tug air from below and push it upward through the cardboard itself.
You’ll get equivalent ports because of the higher-end Ampere cards, too: one HDMI 2.1 and three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. One difference in design is that the RTX 3070 may be a bit more compact–while it’s still a dual-slot card, it’s quite a bit shorter at 9.5 inches as against the 3080’s 11.2 inches. Any standard mid-tower case can fit an RTX 3080, but it is often a decent fit regardless.
While Nvidia has changed the way it lays out the specs for its video cards from generation to generation, below you will find the more pertinent technical details to ascertain how these cards pile up on paper.
| RTX 3080 | RTX 3070 | RTX 2080 Ti | RTX 2080 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CUDA Cores | 8704 | 5888 | 4352 | 2944 |
| Clock Speed (Boost) | 1710 MHz | 1730 MHz | 1635 MHz | 1515 MHz |
| Memory Speed | 19 Gbps | 14 Gbps | 14 Gbps | 14 Gbps |
| VRAM / Memory | 10 GB GDDR6X | 8 GB GDDR6 | 11 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Single Precision Perf | 29.7 TFLOPs | 20.3 TFLOPs | 13.4 TFLOPs | 10.1 TFLOPs |
| RT Cores | 68 | 46 | 68 | 46 |
| Tensor Core TFLOPs | 238 | 163 | 114 | 85 |
| TDP (Watts) | 320 W | 220 W | 260 W | 225 W |
| Transistor Count | 28.3 B | 17.4 B | 18.9 B | 18.9 B |
Methodology And Test Bench
RTX 3070, we used an equivalent rig like our previous RTX 3080 review for a test bench. While we’ve had access to limited resources performing from home amid the present conditions of the pandemic within us, we managed to place together an honest machine to figure. It includes the subsequent specs:
- MSI Mag Z490 Tomahawk motherboard
- Intel Core i7-10700 (non-K) 8-core/16-thread CPU clocked at 4.7GHz
- Corsair H100i AIO Liquid Cooler
- 16GB (2x8GB dual-channel) Corsair Vengeance DDR4-3000 RAM
- Samsung 960 Pro 512GB NVMe SSD
- Seasonic Prime 1000W (80 Plus Platinum) PSU
We included a complete of 4 video cards in our tests: the RTX 3070 (of course), RTX 3080, RTX 2080 Ti, and RTX 2080. Results from the RTX 3070 reflect using the GeForce Game Ready 456.56 driver, while the opposite three cards were tested using the sport Ready 456.16 driver.
The focus of this review is on in-game performance with maximum graphics settings at both 4K (3840×2160) and 1440p (2560×1440) resolutions. If Nvidia graphics features were available, like ray tracing and DLSS, we turned them on to means what these cards can do with the bells and whistles they supply. Performance for each card was either measured in average FPS or an entire score calculated by the game’s benchmark tools (except for Control, which was done using FRAPS), and results were examined relative to other cards. The exact performance will vary from one user to a special, and while we pushed the cards as far as games allow us to, remember that you simply simply can always adjust graphics options to reinforce FPS output and tweak visuals to your liking.
Control
Control is one among the marquee games Nvidia’s been using to point out off its graphics tech, and permanently reason, offering full ray tracing options and DLSS continue frame rate and maintain image quality. Since there’s no in-game benchmark, we created our own gameplay sequence to measure performance and used FRAPS to urge our numbers.
When running 4K, the RTX 3070 got a mean of 46.4 FPS, which is simply one frame behind the RTX 2080 Ti’s 47.4 FPS–a tiny trail of two .1% to be exact. And our new card is behind the RTX 3080’s 64 FPS by 27.5%. Switching to 1440p, there’s virtually no difference in performance between the 3070 and 2080 Ti (hitting 82 FPS and 82.3 FPS averages)–that puts the 3070 at 21.6% behind the 3080.
Heat Check
It seems that the Ampere cards have thermal management on lock, which might be attributed to the new push-pull dual fan design. For the RTX 3070, idle temperature sat at 37 C and peak load temperature never exceeded 76 C, in any case, our testing. It’s just a teeny bit hotter than the RTX 3080, which had idle and peak temps of 35 C and 75 C, respectively. These cards are drawing more power than their predecessors yet remain cool under load. For reference, comparison, the RTX 2080 Ti idled around 34 C and peaked at 78 C, while the RTX 2080 would idle at about 33 C and hit peak load temp at 74 C.
The final review
The idea of a video card carrying a $500 suggested retail price and working at or on the brink of the RTX 2080 Ti is pretty wild. albeit it trails ever slightly in most of our tests, it isn’t by much, and certainly wouldn’t be all that noticeable when it comes time to the particular gaming experience. There also are a couple of reasons why we left the RTX 2080 out of the conversation for our comparisons: It’s largely phased out and therefore the RTX 3070 outclasses it every step of the way. However, it does indicate the relative improvement in performance that this wave of latest Ampere cards can provide.
The RTX 3080 remains impressive as a $700 MSRP card that shows significant leaps over its predecessors, but unless you’re aiming for top-notch performance at 4K or trying to squeeze out every frame to form use of a high-refresh-rate 1440p display, it’d be overkill. That’s where the RTX 3070 comes in, making high-end performance somewhat affordable and including all the bells and whistles Nvidia packs with its RTX cards.
With 4K slowly becoming more mainstream (although still not widely adopted), the RTX 3070 can provide playable gaming experiences at that resolution though a couple of compromises would be necessary to stay 60 FPS in additional demanding games. Otherwise, every modern PC game goes to seem and run great with this card, especially when DLSS is implemented.
As great because the RTX 3070 are often, Nvidia hasn’t been ready to continue supply with demand, evident within the rough launch of the RTX 3080 and therefore the very limited availability of cards, even from several board partners. Prices may fluctuate and it’s hard to inform if many interested buyers will even get their hands on one around launch, given Nvidia’s statement about supply not increasing until well into 2021.
If you held out on upgrading to the RTX 20-series, now’s an honest time to select up a replacement video card for high-end performance. Nvidia’s claim of getting a foothold over the RTX 2080 Ti maybe a little bit of a stretch, but it really depends on which metrics and games you are looking at. Regardless, that extra cash in your pocket that you’ve got saved by choosing an RTX 3070 rather than an RTX 2080 Ti goes to be tons more noticeable than a few of the frames you’ll miss out on. And overall, the RTX 3070 may be a killer video card for its market value.
