The performance of the RTX 3070 is easily the most efficient across the RTX 30-series family but with modern designs pushing for larger cooling, we’ve only seen this card go fast on liquid-cooled SKUs which are quite rare. Not a lot of brands have taken designing coolers that take-up the entire half of the motherboard but the ASUS RTX 3070 Noctua OC Edition was a bold choice, one that will definitely have its ups and downs.
Noise levels is definitely where this thing shines and as our load test shows, the GPU cruises at 60*C with average in-game temps only sitting at 58*C. This means that the fans doesn’t have to work as hard as smaller GPU fans so many will find this card to be absolutely quiet as the fans barely do 60% fan speed in full load. Should users feel the need to crank it up, a Noctua NF-A12x25 in 100% is a gentle hum but should easily keep this card from even going past 60*C even in hotter cases.
The card is a literal show of force for both brands but is also a demonstration of limitations for current GPUs. The size alone is a restriction for many users and is arguably the most disruptive in terms of compatibily for the amount of slots blocked by the cooler. The weight will also pose an issue as well and any non-enthusiast board may sag in a matter of months due to the size of the ASUS RTX 3070 Noctua.
Lastly, there’s the color. Noctua isn’t a strange to trying black but the A12x25 Chromax Edition only arrived after this card was already out. It also features a single point of lighting so the idea of RGB is also out. There have been mods already which introduces newer fans but ultimately, the ASUS RTX 3070 Noctua graphics card as well as its RTX 3080 Noctua edition brother should be treated as semi-passive GPUs.
As semi-passive graphics cards the ASUS RTX 3070 Noctua provides a more powerful solution than settling for less power full passive models which should allow more powerful builds on specific combinations of parts. Ultimately, its a niche product but if you lean towards absolute performance with absolute silence, only a liquid-cooled GPU would compete against the ASUS RTX 3070 Noctua.
ASUS backs the Geforce RTX 3070 Noctua OC Edition with a 3-year warranty.