The reviews for the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU show performance similar to RTX 3080 10GB and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics cards while being very power efficient.
After months of waiting, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 is going to release to the public. Just before its release, the restriction on their reviews has been lifted.
But that lifting of the review embargo isn’t without its restrictions. though. Nvidia has two sets of cards in the RTX 4070 series. One that run at default clocks and are priced at MSRP and another which are sold by graphics cards makers with overclocked specs and at higher MSRP.
Today, only the default clocked reviews are out. With the reviews of aftermarket overclocked graphics cards allowed only a day later.
The interesting thing about RTX 4070 is people think it’s mid-range. While it’s being officially priced at $599. We never understood the definition of a mid-range card costing a $600, that too at the base price.
Whatever it is. The reviews are out and worth looking at.
Tom’s Hardware
As always, Tom’s Hardware has done a review for the RTX 4070 Founders Edition by Nvidia.
In terms of performance, they decided to include Ray Tracing performance in the default overall list. Something we disagree slightly. We don’t believe Ray Tracing is used by everyone and showing it in main numbers is unfair to AMD too. That’s why we have used just the non-RTX performance image above.
At 1080p (page 5), Nvidia RTX 4070 performs as fast as RTX 3080 Ti and is slightly behind AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. But no one buys such an expensive graphics card to game at 1080p.
At 1440p (page 4), for which this graphics card is made for, the performance numbers change. Here, both RTX 3080 10GB and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT performs similar to the Nvidia RTX 4070. These numbers are disappointing. The only thing great for RTX 4070 here is that it leaves AMD far behind in Ray Tracing tests.
At 4K (page 6), RTX 4070 performs nicely. While the performance similarity with AMD 6800 XT is comparable to 1440p above, Nvidia RTX 3080 10GB is found beating it. Which again is a disappointment.
What impresses us is the overall performance at 4K, it still manages to run at a good average of 55 FPS, which is a good number for a “mid-range” graphics card depending on the game. Additionally, here too, the Ray Tracing numbers are good.
Tom’s Hardware also did the upscaling tests with DLSS2, DLSS3 and FSR2. The numbers for DLSS3, which is exclusive to the RTX 40 series, are really good. However, they complain that it adds latency, which doesn’t help things.
The power usage numbers weren’t available on time, hence they have not been published by them.
igor’sLAB
igor’sLAB tested the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Founder’s Edition at base 200W and also at 220W.
At 1080p (page 4), RTX 4070 200W performs the same as RTX 3080 10GB and is slightly faster than the AMD RX 6800 XT. However, when overclocked to 220W, it performs faster than AMD RX 6900 XT. The average 1% lows it’s slightly faster than RTX 3080 10GB though.
At 1440p (page 5), RTX 4070 200W’s performs 3.5% slower than RTX 3080 10GB. The performance is similar to AMD RX 6800 XT too. That gap is reduced when overclocked to 220W, though. In 1% lows, AMD RX 6800 XT is slightly faster than Nvidia RTX 4070.
At 4K (page 6), RTX 4070 is 1% faster than RTX 3080 10GB. This is because of the extra 2GB RAM which RTX 4070 offers. Here too, the performance is similar to that of AMD RX 6800 XT. In 1% lows however, AMD RX 6800 XT is 3% ahead, but when RTX 4070 is overclocked to 220W, that difference becomes negligible.
What’s important is the power consumption. Nvidia RTX 4070 uses average 200W in gaming at 4K. Whereas AMD RX 6800 XT requires 299W and Nvidia RTX 3080 10GB requires 312W for the same.
TechPowerUp
TechPowerUp has made the most comprehensive review for the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition. Additionally, they have written a review for the Gainward, PNY, MSI Ventus 3X and ASUS Dual versions too. However, the performance on all of them are similar.
At 1080, Nvidia RTX 4070 is 2% faster than RTX 3080 10GB and is just 1% faster than AMD RX 6800 XT. That difference is reduced at 1440p, where the performance between all the three cards is virtually the same. However, while it performs the same as AMD RX 6800 XT, the Nvidia RTX 4070 a huge 5% slower than the RTX 3080 10GB at 4K.
TechPowerUp however was very impressed by the DLSS3 performance and the temps of the FE card (page 37). Another thing is the power consumption of the card overall (page 39). It uses 200W max, whereas AMD RX 6800 XT used 298W and Nvidia RTX 3080 10GB 335W in gaming.
TechSpot
TechSpot too reviewed the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition.
At 1080p, the RTX 4070 was faster than both RTX 3080 10GB and AMD RX 6800 XT. However, at 1440p, that difference is slightly reduced. At 4K, all three perform virtually the same.
In total PC power consumption, it doesn’t go above 320W, whereas an AMD RX 6800 XT PC used 409W and an Nvidia RTX 3080 10GB PC used 460W for the same.
Conclusion
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 overall performs similar to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. At 1080p is it is faster than the other two, at 1440p, it is the same and at 4K, it lags behind a bit. Why, because it comes with just 192-bit memory bus, which is a major cut-down from previous-gen offerings from both Nvidia and AMD. Also, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT comes with more VRAM, which is said to help at higher resolutions.
It’s a massively power efficient card and the Ray Tracing performance is excellent too. But its problem is something else.
RTX 4070 costs $599, which is the same as the original cost of RTX 3070 Ti. Whereas it performs similar to RTX 3080. This is not the generational upliftment expected. For example, generation after generation Nvidia has offered around 50% upliftment in performance at the same price. This time around, it’s just 30% increase, that too, at a higher cost.
Ideally it should have been priced at $499 instead for it to have a RTX 3080 level performance. Even then it wouldn’t be justified.
To take things further, a tweet by a well known info sharer @harukaze5719 shows, that the $599 price is just for the base model. The overclocked models by one of the card maker starts from $659 and goes till $829. Remember, we are talking about a mid-range graphics card here. Not to forget, the price in Europe and Asia is only going to be higher.
Additionally. If Ray Tracing and DLSS3 performances are not up for consideration, then AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT can be found at a similar or even cheaper price, with 16GB VRAM, which is 4GB more than what Nvidia RTX 4070 offers.
In all. Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 is a good card, but it should have been better and it costs too much.
