NVIDIA’s latest GPU “GeForce RTX 4070”, which was released from 22:00 on April 13, 2023. Boasting overwhelming watt performance, it can be said to be the “favorite of the middle range GPU”. MSI’s “GeForce RTX 4070 GAMING X TRIO 12G” is the video card that quickly adopted such a highly anticipated GPU. With a factory OC and a large specification with three fans, drawing performance and cooling power are a big concern. We’ll send you a review soon.
Performance is the same as RTX 3080 and power consumption is less than RTX 3070 Ti
Now let’s move on to the benchmarks. For comparison, we prepared the GeForce RTX 3080 (high OC model) from the previous generation high-end model and the RTX 3070 Ti (rated model) from the upper middle. Resizable BAR is enabled and the driver is Game Ready 531.42 distributed for reviewers. Also, this time, we will introduce a kit “PCAT” (Power Capture Analysis Tool) that accurately measures the power consumption of NVIDIA’s video card alone, and also verify the high watt performance of the RTX 4070-equipped card.
The test environment is as follows.
| CPU | Intel Core i9-13900K (24 cores 32 threads) |
| motherboard | MSI MPG Z790 CARBON WIFI（Intel Z790） |
| memory | DDR5-5600 32GB（PC5-44800 DDR5 SDRAM16GB×2） |
| System SSD | M.2 SSD 2TB（PCI Express 4.0 x4、2TB） |
| CPU cooler | Simple water cooling (36cm class) |
| power supply | 1,000W（80PLUS Gold） |
| OS | Windows 11 Pro（22H2） |
Let’s check from “3DMark” of the classic 3D benchmark. Only for the OC model, the score is slightly higher than the rated operation NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition, which is almost the same as the high OC model RTX 3080. It significantly outperformed the RTX 3070 Ti in all tests. In particular, the Ada Lovelace architecture adopted by the RTX 4070 has been optimized for ray tracing, and the Port Royal and Speed Way scores, including those tests, are high.
3DMark measurement results
Next, try the popular FPS “Rainbow Six Siege” and “Apex Legends”. Rainbow Six Siege runs an in-game benchmark function, and Apex Legends measures the frame rate when moving a certain course in training mode with “FrameView”.
Rainbow Six Siege measurement results
Power consumption of Rainbow Six Siege/card
Measurement results of Apex Legends
Apex Legends / power consumption of the card alone
It is about the same as the RTX 3080 and exceeds the RTX 3070 Ti, which is the same trend as 3DMark. It can be said that 4K has enough performance to play comfortably if it is a game with a light to medium-sized drawing load. When the “Spot Shadow Detail” setting is set to the maximum “Pole” in Apex Legends, the drawing load becomes quite heavy, but it still reaches an average of 132fps at 4K.
Attention is the power consumption of the card alone measured by PCAT. In Full HD for Rainbow Six Siege, the RTX 4070 is less than half the RTX 3080 and more than 100W less than the RTX 4070 Ti. It can be seen that the RTX 3080 achieves a higher frame rate than the RTX 3070 Ti while consuming much less power, in other words, it achieves overwhelmingly higher watt performance than the RX 30 series. The result. The same is true for Apex Legends.
Next, what about ray tracing performance? I would like to try it with “Elden Ring”, which added support for ray tracing in the March 23, 2023 update. The frame rate was measured with “FrameView” when moving a certain course around Rimgrave.
Measurement result of Elden Ring
Power consumption of Elden Ring/card alone
The game only goes up to 60fps, so 59fps on average is pretty close to max framerate. The RTX 4070 produced an average frame rate of 59fps in full HD and 57fps in WQHD, which is almost comfortable to play. 4K is a bit stuttering (unfortunately it doesn’t support DLSS), but it’s nice to be able to play the highest quality Elden Ring, including ray tracing, smoothly up to WQHD. Also, Elden Ring has a frame rate upper limit of 60fps, so the power consumption was lower than other games.
Try the effect of DLSS 3, the true value of the RTX 40 series
From here, let’s test with a game that supports “DLSS 3”, which is the biggest strength of the RTX 40 series. The drawing load reduction technology up to “DLSS 2” that can be used in the RTX series was only “DLSS Super Resolution”, which upscales the screen rendered at low resolution to the actual resolution, but there is AI frame generation technology ” DLSS Frame Generation” was added, and “DLSS 3” made it possible to further improve the frame rate. Since frame generation is performed on the GPU side, it can be said that the frame rate can be improved even in situations where the CPU becomes a bottleneck.
Let’s take a look at the test results for the two titles “Hogwarts Legacy” and “Microsoft Flight Simulator”.Hogwarts Legacy measures the frame rate when moving a certain course in the dormitory, Microsoft Flight Simulator selects “Sydney” from the activity landing challenge, and measures the frame rate when flying for 60 seconds with “FrameView”.
Hogwarts Legacy measurement results
Hogwarts Legacy/Energy consumption per card
Measurement result of Microsoft Flight Simulator
Power consumption of Microsoft Flight Simulator/card alone
Hogwarts Legacy is a game that becomes very slow when both image quality and ray tracing are set to the highest settings. Still, the RTX 4070 reaches an average of 88fps even at 4K with DLSS on performance settings. I’ve been able to reach a frame rate that I can play comfortably enough. This value reaches about 3.4 times when DLSS is disabled, and the power of DLSS 3 is well understood. The reason why the RTX 3080 full HD has almost the same frame rate with or without DLSS is because the CPU is the bottleneck. This is a typical example of DLSS becoming less effective when CPU power is insufficient.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a game whose CPU bottleneck is more pronounced. With the RTX 3080/3070 Ti, the CPU is the bottleneck for both full HD and WQHD, and the frame rate hardly changes even if DLSS is enabled. In that respect, the RTX 4070, which can use DLSS 3, stretches the frame rate exactly at any resolution. It’s a game that shows the strengths of the RTX 40 series.
And pay attention to the power consumption of the card alone. DLSS is a technology that reduces the drawing load, that is, the GPU load is reduced and the power consumption is also reduced. The RTX 4070 already has high watt performance, but by utilizing DLSS 3, it can be further enhanced.
Next, I would like to try “Cyberpunk 2077”, which added “Overdrive Mode” corresponding to “Path Tracing” that accurately simulates all light sources in the update on April 11, 2023, and increased the drawing load. It also supports DLSS 3, so I will check the effect. The test was set to “Ray Tracing: Overdrive” with the highest image quality setting, and the frame rate when executing the in-game benchmark function was measured with “FrameView”.
Supports path tracing with the April 11th update.It’s currently considered a technology preview.
Cyberpunk 2077 measurement results
Cyberpunk 2077 / power consumption of a single card
Path tracing is an intense drawing load that exceeds conventional ray tracing. Without DLSS, the framerates are severe enough to play smoothly even in full HD. By enabling DLSS, the RTX 4070 reaches a frame rate that can be played normally up to WQHD. It can be said that this mode assumes the use of DLSS 3. RTX 3080/3070 Ti can only average 60fps or more even with DLSS enabled in full HD. If the number of games that support path tracing increases in the future, the existence of DLSS 3 will become more and more important.
Looking at the power consumption of the card itself, it doesn’t change much even if DLSS is enabled. The drawing load is so high. The low 4K power consumption of the RTX 3080/3070 Ti seems to be due to the lack of performance and the inability to draw properly.
Stable operation and high cooling above the boost clock
Finally, check the transition of power consumption and temperature of the entire system.
Regarding the power consumption of the entire system, using Ratoc System’s “REX-BTWATTCH1” as a power meter, 10 minutes after OS startup when idle, maximum value when running 3DMark-Time Spy, maximum value when running Cyberpunk 2077 were measured respectively.
Refer to the power consumption sheet in Excel
The card power of the RTX 4070 is rated at 200W, but the GeForce RTX 4070 GAMING X TRIO 12G is set to 215W in the OC model. The RTX 3080 has a card power of 320W and the RTX 3070 Ti has 290W. This is also reflected in the power consumption of the entire system. It can be said that this is a fair result.
Finally, let’s see the changes in the GPU clock and GPU temperature. The progress of playing Cyberpunk 2077 for 10 minutes is tracked with the monitoring app “HWiNFO Pro”. The GPU clock is “GPU Clock” and the GPU temperature is the value of “GPU Temperature”. It is operated in a barrack state. Room temperature is 22°C.
Excel temperature and clock sheet reference
The boost clock remained at around 2,745MHz and was operating above the set boost clock. The maximum temperature is 62.8°C, and the average is 59°C, which is too cold. As expected, it is a combination of three fans and a large heat sink.
Boasts a high degree of perfection with excellent wattage performance and cooling power
The GeForce RTX 4070 GAMING X TRIO 12G can be said to be a large class of cards equipped with the RTX 4070, but the most attractive point is that it satisfies gamers’ demands for high-clock operation and cooling. With basic performance comparable to the RTX 3080, it has the great advantages of greatly reduced power consumption and DLSS 3, which greatly increases the frame rate, and also has the high cooling power unique to MSI. It can be said that it is perfect for those who want to play. It’s a very satisfying piece.
In addition to this machine, MSI will also release the RTX 4070-equipped model of the “VENTUS” series, which emphasizes cost performance. “GeForce RTX 4070 VENTUS 2X 12G OC” with a dual fan specification adopting TORX FAN 4.0 and a card length of 24.2 cm, and “GeForce RTX 4070 VENTUS 3X 12G OC” with a triple fan specification and a card length of 30.8 cm for cooling 2 products, both factory OC models. The GeForce RTX 4070 VENTUS 3X 12G OC will be sold in limited quantities at Amazon and Tsukumo stores.
In addition, the cospa-oriented models “GeForce RTX 4070 VENTUS 2X 12G OC” (left photo, dual fan model) and “GeForce RTX 4070 VENTUS 3X 12G OC” (right photo, triple fan model) will also be released on April 13.The price (tax included) is 99,800 yen for the dual fan model and 104,800 yen for the triple fan model.
[制作協力：MSI]