Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti in the test: AD104 has to prove itself with 12 GB for 899 euros RRP

In early 2023, the GeForce RTX 4080 12GB returns in the form of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, which will be available to buy starting January 5th. The name is new, but the hardware, including TDP and clock rates, is absolutely identical down to the smallest detail. The price is also new: while the GeForce RTX 4080 12 GB should have started for 1,099 euros, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is only 899 euros. In the USA, without the influence of the euro-USD exchange rate, it is 799 instead of 899 US dollars before taxes. Without a doubt, the GeForce RTX 4080 12 GB not only had the name but also the price chosen to be simply absurd.

Compared to the GeForce RTX 4080 and especially the GeForce RTX 4090, Nvidia is launching the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti as an Ada Lovelace GPU with significantly fewer execution units, which in turn does not hold back in terms of features and thus also "Shader Execution Reordering" (SER ), DLSS 3 with frame generation and the dual video encoder.

The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti has a base clock of 2,310 MHz, the average boost is given as 2,610 MHz. The maximum power consumption is 285 watts, but it can probably be increased manually above the 300 watt limit with any custom design. All partner cards are expected to be equipped with the new 16-pin power connector according to the PCIe 5.0 standard (12VHPWR). Each model comes with an adapter that enables operation on two 8-pin power plugs, which allows 300 watts of power via this connection in accordance with the specification. Together with a theoretical maximum of 66 watts via the PCIe slot, a power limit of 366 watts would still be within the norm.

For the storage system, the AD104 relies on six 32-bit wide controllers for the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, which corresponds to a 192-bit interface. The memory expansion is therefore automatically 12 or 24 GB, Nvidia has opted for 12 GB. GDDR6X is again used for the memory type, which works on the graphics card with 21 Gbps and consequently with 10,504 MHz.

Compared to the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, the RTX 4070 Ti has 25 percent more shaders, 12 times as much L2 cache, 50 percent more memory, but a slightly slower memory interface. The price increases by almost 40 percent.

The Asus GeForce RTX 4070 Ti TUF OC in detail

While the GeForce RTX 4090 and the GeForce RTX 4080 basically use the same cooler, the test subjects of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti use a smaller expansion stage. For example, while the Asus GeForce RTX 4070 Ti TUF OC cooler looks similar to the GeForce RTX 4080/4090 TUF OC offshoot (or the RX 7900 XTX TUF OC pictured), they are two completely different cooling systems that can also be found in In terms of size no longer have anything to do with each other.

The TUF cooler of the RTX 4070 Ti is "only" 3.25 slots wide and the height of 13.0 cm and the length of 30.0 cm are significantly lower. This is reflected in a weight of only 1,340 g. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti TUF OC is still big, but it looks really tiny compared to the GeForce RTX 4080 TUF OC. Its weight is 1,920 g, while the length and width are 5 and 1.5 cm larger respectively. The custom design is ultimately as long as the FE of the RTX 4080/4090, but less high and significantly lighter.

The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti TUF OC also looks and feels high-quality and reserved, since there is no detailed RGB lighting. Only the TUF symbol is illuminated, which doesn't really match the other appearance of the card and also looks cheap. Less would have been more here.

The small TUF comes with new fans

Compared to the larger TUF coolers, the three axial fans with a diameter of 88 mm have also been changed. Their starting speed is around 800 revolutions per minute, and they remain switched off at low temperatures.

The graphics card offers a performance and a quiet BIOS, which only affects the fan control. The former is the factory state.

Asus names the boost clock rate of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti TUF OC at 2,730 MHz, which is 120 MHz higher than Nvidia, even if this value should not be taken into account - official clock rates for modern graphics cards are much more than a pure marketing statement no more. The TGP is still 285 watts and is thus based on Nvidia's specification. The value can be increased to a maximum of 314 watts.

The new 16-pin power connector (12VHPWR) is installed on the card, and an adapter to two 8-pin connectors is included in the scope of delivery.

The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Eagle OC in detail

While the Asus TUF is close to the premium segment, the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Eagle OC is an entry-level model that will be sold for an RRP of 915 euros.

As usual from the Eagle series, a lot of plastic is used, so the look and feel suffer accordingly. The minimalist RGB lighting with the Gigabyte logo, on the other hand, goes well with the graphics card and looks better than the competing model.

The cooler is also of high quality for the entry-level model

Nevertheless, the cooler of the Gigabyte graphics card is large with around 2.8 slots and a length of 30.0 cm and a height of 13.5 cm. The weight of 1,256 g then shows that Gigabyte has not saved particularly on the cooler material, which is comparable to that of the competitor model.

For the fans, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Eagle OC relies on three axial fans with a diameter of 86 mm, which rely on both many and closely spaced fan blades. The fans stand still at low temperatures for silent operation. The starting speed is quite high at 1,100 revolutions per minute.

The graphics card offers a performance and a quiet BIOS, which only affect the fan control. The former is the factory state.

Gigabyte specifies an average boost clock of 2,625 MHz for the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Eagle OC, which is only a small 15 MHz above Nvidia's specifications. The TDP is the normal 285 watts, but in this case it can be significantly increased to 340 watts. The new 16-pin power connector (12VHPWR) is also installed in the Eagle OC. An adapter to two 8-pin connectors is included.

The Adrenalin 22.9.1 driver was used on all Radeon graphics cards, while the 516.94 was installed on the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and the GeForce RTX 3070. The larger GeForce 3000 models were tested with the GeForce 522.25, which also provides more performance in the API overhead with new DirectX 12 optimizations. The GeForce RTX 4090 was tested with the GeForce 521.90, the GeForce RTX 4080 with the GeForce 526.72 and the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti with the GeForce 527.62 - Nvidia made the drivers available to the press before the launch under NDA. The Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT used the "22.40.00.57" beta driver.

The test course has been adjusted for Ada Lovelace and RDNA 3

Full HD is no longer a challenge for one of the new graphics cards, so there is no resolution in the benchmarks. The change only applies temporarily to the special course that has been optimized for Ada Lovelace and RDNA 3. 1,920 × 1,080 will return at a later date. The smallest resolution is WQHD, in 1,920 × 1,080 the new graphics cards will only be faster accordingly. In addition, tests are still being carried out in Ultra HD and, for the first time, in 5,120 × 2,880 for the fastest models in order to use them to the maximum possible extent. However, ray tracing is only activated in 2,560 × 1,440 and 3,840 × 2,160. The detail levels of the games are screwed to the maximum for WQHD and Ultra HD, in 5,120 × 2,880 the details are partially reduced.

The game selection has been adapted for the test course, and the latest titles such as Spider-Man Remastered are now represented. The graphics details were tightened compared to the "normal" course, so that the level of detail is always at the maximum up to and including Ultra HD - this was not the case in every title before. While the general test course takes slower GPUs into account due to the high requirements, especially in the ray tracing details, the new course goes to the limit - since both Ada Lovelace and RDNA 3 will have significantly more ray tracing performance than their predecessors. Maximum RT details are not available in every title, but in many. The editors have summarized the exact graphics settings in a table.

AMD FSR 2.x and Nvidia DLSS 2.x are now important

Last but not least, what is new is that the current upsampling techniques from AMD and Nvidia play a greater role in the article. DLSS 2.x and FSR 2.x have become indispensable in modern games and are often a must for ray tracing use. Since the quality has now been massively improved compared to the first attempts at upsampling and the quality of the native resolution is often achieved and sometimes even exceeded, especially in high resolutions, there is a separate series of measurements that in the target resolution of 3,840 × 2,160 with activated ray tracing GeForce Comparison of graphics cards with DLSS 2.x and Radeons with FSR 2.x. In both cases, the "Quality" level and thus a rendering resolution of 2560 × 1440 is used.

Conclusion

Judging the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is not an easy task. The third offshoot of the GeForce RTX 4000 series fits well into the new Nvidia portfolio. There is significantly more FPS per euro than with the GeForce RTX 4080, and at the same time the graphics card competes with the Radeon RX 7900 XT, even if the latter is "only" beaten in ray tracing benchmarks - but the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti costs less. But the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is anything but cheap, but still expensive at 899 euros - and for a "70s model" (regardless of whether it is Ti or not) simply too expensive. Even the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, which was released in the mining days, cost 250 euros less at 649 euros. And compared to the GeForce RTX 3080, there is not even more FPS per euro.

The RTX 4070 Ti tastes WQHD better than Ultra HD

But what does the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti actually do? Nvidia's new graphics card is surprisingly dependent on the resolution. The lower it is, the better the third Ada Lovelace product performs compared to the other graphics cards. For example, the RTX 4070 Ti is 2 percent faster than the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti in WQHD, but 6 percent slower in Ultra HD. Even with ray tracing, nothing changes in the image. It was clear from the outset that Nvidia's official specification of 80 percent more performance than the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is only valid in special cases in the form of DLSS 2 vs. DLSS 3. The old - and admittedly still officially more expensive - flagship is not consistently beaten.

The performance deficit compared to the GeForce RTX 4080 is 25 percent in Ultra HD, in WQHD it is less than 19 percent, since the faster model occasionally encounters a CPU limit. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is close to the Radeon RX 7900 XT in rasterizer games in WQHD - the Radeon is only 3 percent faster, in Ultra HD the gap increases to 8 percent. In ray tracing games, however, the GeForce is faster and is 18 and 17 percent ahead.

The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is therefore very well suited for gaming in WQHD, with or without ray tracing. The performance will also be sufficient in future games to achieve a high frame rate with maximum details. Even Ultra HD with maximum graphics isn't a problem in most titles, but there are indications that the performance reserves are likely to become tight in future games. Upsampling, i.e. DLSS, can then provide an effective remedy. This is necessary for playing with ray tracing anyway, although it can be foreseen that WQHD as a rendering resolution will no longer be possible forever.

Efficient but not as much as RTX 4080 & RTX 4090

The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti has the same strengths as the larger models. The graphics card offers the same features, the new DLSS 3 with frame generation and the dual encoder are included as with the flagship. The novelty also works very efficiently, even if it has to go to the maximum with around 285 watts when playing and thus delivers less FPS per watt than the larger offshoots. However, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is clearly superior to the Radeon RX 7900 XT and especially the old GeForce RTX 3000 generation. And the model can also convert an FPS limiter into more energy efficiency very well, Nvidia's new architecture is nothing short of impressive in this regard.

The memory expansion, on the other hand, is less impressive. 12 GB is 50 percent more VRAM than the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, but that doesn't change the fact that the Radeon RX 7900 XT offers clearly more with 20 GB and 12 GB no longer consistently enable optimal operation today and in the future will be too little from time to time. For example, if you activate or switch DLSS in Spider-Man Remastered in Ultra HD including ray tracing afterwards, you will immediately run into a VRAM shortage. 12 GB in the current generation is probably pretty much what 8 GB was in the old one: mostly sufficient, but sometimes too little after 2 years at the latest.

Overall, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti does not make a perfect appearance, but it does make a convincing impression. The graphics card fits well into Nvidia's RTX 4000 line-up and successfully manages to annoy the Radeon RX 7900 XT from time to time. With ray tracing, the GeForce is a fair bit faster - and it's more efficient anyway. In return, the Radeon offers a few other advantages.

899 euros is too much for a 70s model

But 899 euros remain just 899 euros - although it is still very questionable how many models there will be at this price. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti thus represents a significant price increase compared to the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, which was born in mining times. 1,000 euros and more will probably not be uncommon in retail.

This means that the GeForce RTX 4090 of all things still somehow has the most sensible pricing at Nvidia, which in the absolute GPU limit delivers hardly less FPS per euro than the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. And even if the new graphics card has a clearly better price-performance ratio than the GeForce RTX 4080 offers, this is no art. 900 euros for a graphics card from the 70s is simply too much. Neither a really good GPU architecture nor DLSS 3 or anything else can change that.

Of course, you can also sell it the other way around, namely that the customer now receives roughly the same performance as an RTX 3090 Ti for a lower price, whose RRP is 1,329 euros and which even cost 2,249 euros at the market launch. That's not wrong, but both major manufacturers have moved significantly out of the price range that many players can bear.

Because AMD is no better in this regard either. The Radeon RX 7900 XT is also too expensive with the RRP of 1,049 euros and the current market price of 999 euros. It just doesn't help the player. In this price range, it is currently only possible to completely forget about a useful price-performance ratio or to buy a used one. PC gaming will have a problem by 2023 at the latest, when the expensive GeForce RTX 4090 of all things still seems to offer the most value for the purchase price.

The Asus TUF is a good custom design with no weaknesses

Should it be a GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, the Asus GeForce RX 4070 Ti TUF OC was able to convince in the test. The graphics card has a good cooling system that works pleasantly quiet with both BIOS versions. However, more performance should not be expected from the custom design. The purchase price, which was not mentioned in advance, will definitely be higher than the 899 euros set for a standard model.

The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Eagle OC is said to be available for 915 euros, but the test copy is noticeable with a very annoying coil rattling, which the editors have never experienced before. It's entirely possible that this is just an isolated incident, but that's pure speculation. And that's a shame, because the Gigabyte graphics card knows how to please with the silent BIOS. The cooler doesn't come close to the TUF counterpart from Asus, but it makes a very convincing impression.