NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition Review

Introduction

Today marks the launch of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070. We have a pair of launch reviews for you this time around with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition and the ASUS RTX 4070 DUAL. NVIDIA is allowing launch reviews of the reference boards and Founders Edition today with custom OC cards embargoed for tomorrow.

The RTX 4070 currently sits as the most affordable RTX 40-series graphics card with an MSRP of $599 and a Philippine MSRP of PHP40,590. NVIDIA is pushing the RTX 4070 as the go-to 1440p GPU of choice if you want 100FPS. Coupled with DLSS3, the RTX 4070 looks to entice GTX 1080 and RTX 20-series owners to upgrade.

Based on the AD104 silicon which is also used by the RTX 4070 Ti, the RTX 4070 is a cut-down silicon rated with a lower power consumption. Featuring 12GB of GDDR6X, the RTX 4070 is pit directly against the RTX 3080 which launched for $550 and only 10GB of GDDR6 memory although a wider 320-bit bus vs. 192-bit on the RTX 4070. NVIDIA addresses this by optimizing the need of the GPU to require less throughput from the memory although the wider bus would’ve been more ideal.

In this review, we’ll be looking at the Founders Edition RTX 4070. A 1st-party cooler from NVIDIA and features a slimmer flow-through cooler similar to the RTX 3080 but has the newer backplate design of the RTX 40-series.

Boards from other manufacturers will arrive with potentially 8-pin PCIE power connectors but NVIDIA’s Founders Edition RTX 4070 uses the newer 16-pin 12VHPWR connector.

Read on to find out more about the NVIDIA RTX 4070 Founders Edition graphics card.

Product Gallery

Power Draw, Clock Speed and Temperature

We start off by testing how high our GPU clocks go as well as how much power our card uses in gaming use. We use the built-in benchmark in Returnal in 4K benchmark as well as Kombustor (when needed) for this tests so that users will have an idea what kind of usage behavior they can see from these cards. Returnal’s benchmark is impressive and gives a good idea on how certain scenario types afffect performance.

Given that most cards will boost all the way to their highest potential, the numbers we see here should be a good indicator of what to expect from these cards in general. Results are capture via PCAT or Powenetics for power for maximum card-only data capture.

Temperature and Power Draw

Load Temperature Behavior

Test Setup and Methodology

Processor: Intel Core i9-13900K
Memory: Kingston FURY Renegade DDR5-6400 32GB
Storage: Kingston FURY Renegade 2TB SSD
PSU: FSP Hydro G Pro 1000W
Cooling: ROG Ryujin II 360 AIO Cooler
Monitor: ROG PG27UQ 4K 144hz HDR1000
VGA: Listed

For a full-hardware workout, visit https://benchmarks.ul.com for our system warm-up and stress test of choice.

For benchmarking methodology please see our game benchmark method guide.

Test results are gathered and produced on CapFrameX. This makes it easier for use to get both line graph comparison and raw averages without extra tools. Simply the easiest tool for benchmarking and its available for everyone to use, free of charge. Check it out at capframex.com.

Since this is a GPU review, we benchmarked the area of the games that put heavy load on the GPU.

All our test runs are repeatable, click the links below for area and details. Read our benchmarking methodology.

• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive: FPS Benchmark Workshop Map
• DOTA2 – The International Main Event – Day 6: T1 vs PSG.LGD Game 2 (48:00) – The 10-Man Buyback Fight
• Rainbow Six: Siege – Benchmark Mode
• PUBG Battlegrounds – Custom Scene
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
• Valorant
• Grand Theft Auto V – Palomino Highlands
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider – Kuwaq Yaqu
• Destiny 2 – The Tower
• Forza Horizon 5
• Elden Ring – Custom scene, FPS cap removed, offline
• Cyberpunk 2077 – Little China, noontime
• Marvel’s Spider-Man – Empire State area
• F1 2022 – Bahrain, night time
• Microsoft Flight Simulator – Landing mission, YSSY

See our Youtube playlist for benchmark sequences.

Note: Some proprietary technologies of NVIDIA like PCSS, HBAO+, and HairWorks work on AMD GPU’s BUT to maintain uniformity amongst GPUs, these have been turned OFF.

You can click on any of the benchmark charts enlarge. You can also move forward and backwards to quickly navigate through our charts via gallery view. For this test, only the out-of-box normal mode will be tested.

Kindly let me know if you spot an errors in the charts. I do my best to keep them error free but while test results are reliable and accurate, bringing them over to Excel and relying on formulas to generate the reports sometimes can cause mix-ups.

Notes:

• All data are gathered from exactly the same system, with exactly the configuration we list here. No data is reused from another system or from any variations of. We gather data from only one system as indicated here.
• Graphics cards are allowed to heat up prior to benchmarking. Cooler graphics cards may boost higher than normal.
• Following up on the above, we try to enjoy the game and play a bit before proceeding to the actual benchmark scenario. This allows us to detect any other problems like stuttering, frame skipping, or any other problems.
• Games that receive graphical updates that affect performance e.g. (DOTA2 moving from DX9 to DX11) will be retested completely.

Please take note that we are rebuilding our GPU review database starting with the RTX 40 series.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO)

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, popularly known as CSGO, competes for Steam’s most popular game. It has found a resurgence in its popularity and has recently peaked in 2020 in the number of players that play the game. Based on Valve’s Source Engine, the game received major asset overhauls during the years since its inception nearly 10 years ago. Still, it’s a light game and can be played on fairly lighter systems but the competitive scene for CSGO has seen average players demand high FPS from their systems thus gaining favorable standing with GPU vendors just from the demand for higher FPS alone. CSGO is a game that can easily go past 500FPS on enthusiast systems on maximum settings. We’re including CSGO as requested by our community.

API: DirectX9 (default)
Maximum In-Game Settings
Texture Streaming Disabled
Vsync OFF

DOTA 2

Note: JUNE 2020 – DOTA2 has recently implemented a transition from DirectX9 to DirectX11 and new install of the game will prompt users to switch from DX9 to DX11. With that said, we are testing DOTA2 in DX11 from now on.

In contention for the most popular game on Steam and the biggest competition in eSports: DOTA 2 is powered by the Source 2 engine. The game is fairly light on low to medium settings but maxed out, with heavy action on screen especially during clashes, can really stress most systems. This is a game where frame times matter as responsiveness is very important in high-stakes competition. We’re looking at consistently low frametimes in this  game for the best experience

Our test uses actual game replay, using the segment from game 2 of PSG.LGD versus T1 during Day 6 of the Main Stage. The clash during the 48:00 where we see a drawn-out fight which sees both team expending all of their buybacks to secure this clash.

You can watch the replay of the actual game used in the benchmark in your Dota2 client. You can browse the TI10 replay files to see the actual match. You can download it for your own reference. (save it to your DOTA2 replays folder)

API: DirectX11 (default)
Best-Looking slider setting (Ultra)
FPS_MAX 0
Vsync OFF

Rainbow Six: Siege

Nearly 4 years later and Rainbow Six: Siege has become a phenomenon after a lukewarm beginning. The massive shift in focus of the game sees it stepping into eSports territory and the excellent mix of gameplay mechanics, good design and a dedicated dev team has put R6: Siege in a position it couldn’t even picture during launch. Rainbow Six: Siege focuses heavily on tactical and creative gameplay and its vertical levels and highly destructible maps encourage players to be quick on their feet so the action is always going. Powered by Ubisoft’s own AnvilNext 2.0 engine which powers some of Ubi’s recent visual masterpieces, R6:Siege also feature excellent graphics and can get very taxing at high detail settings. The game also features an Ultra HD texture pack download for those that want higher resolution textures but will of course demand more from the system.

API: DirectX 11
Ultra Settings
Anti Aliasing: TAA
Ultra HD Texture pack not installed
Ambient Occlusion: SSBC
Vsync OFF
The game automatically drops to 50% render resolution when Ultra preset is selected

Apex Legends

The battle royale genre sees multiple titles emerge and Respawn Entertainment’s most successful title to date, Apex Legends differentiates itself from main rival PUBG as it presents itself in true, fast-paced FPS. Existing in the same universe as Titanfall, Apex Legends sees contenders in traditional battle royale elimination format but gameplay heavily gears towards more familiar FPS mechanics. As a Respawn Ent. game, its closer to COD versus PUBG’s more sluggish and heavier gameplay.

API: DirectX 11
Settings: High
Texture Streaming Budget: 6GB VRAM
Vsync: OFF

PUBG Battlegrounds

Developed and published by PUBG Corporation, PlayerUknnown’s Battlegrounds now officially PUBG Battlegrounds, was an ARMA3 mod which has gained a massive global playerbase after being released as a stand-alone game. The game is now available for almost all platforms from PC to mobile but PC has been the definitive edition of the game. The game has evolved much since its release, receiving multiple polish to arrive at its current state.

API: DirectX 11
Settings: Ultra
Vsync: OFF

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (2022)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) is the latest addition to the COD franchise and once again puts the main game back into the hands of Infinity Ward. With Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard both failing to continue the success of 2019’s COD Modern Warfare which has in-turn changed to Warzone, Activision is set on resetting the slate once again with COD Modern Warfare 2. Built alongside Warzone 2.0 on the IW 9.0 engine, CODMW2 ditches some partner technologies like ray tracing to keep it friendlier to all systems but still pushes more detailed models and environments for a modern look.

API: DirectX 12
Render Resolution: 100%
Ultra Preset

Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2 runs on an upgraded version of the original Overwtch engine but implements changes to support larger maps and allows the development team to better utilize the maps for story-based missions.

API: DirectX 11
Ultra Preset
Frame Cap: 600

Valorant

Developed by League of Legends developer, Riot Games, Valorant is a first-person shooter featuring multiple heroes or agents which have unique skills to assist them within the games traditional team-based FPS combat. The game is gaining incredible success and has taken a large chunk of the now-incredibly massive CSGO playerbase as well, presenting a more refreshed take on classic TDM FPS but spices it up with skills, etc. Like CSGO and League, this game is light as a feather for the largest adoption possible. With 360hz monitors and input lag/system latency a major focus for these games, we’re now including it as reference for players.

API: DirectX 11
Max Detail settings

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

CD Projekt Red’s latest installment in the Witcher saga features one of the most graphically intense offering the company has to date. As Geralt of Rivia, slay monsters, beasts and men as you unravel the mysteries of your past. Vast worlds and lush sceneries make this game a visual feast and promises to make any system crawl at its highest settings. This game has found great resurgence in its playerbase thanks to the release of Netflix’ Witcher series. On December 2022, The Witcher 3 received a next-gen patch which bring ray tracing as well as many other changes to the game.

API: DirectX 12
Ultra Preset

Grand Theft Auto V

The fifth and most successful installment to date in the highly controversial Grand Theft Auto series brings a graphical overhaul to the PC version of GTA V which many have lauded as a superior approach in porting a console game to PC. Featuring large areas and detailing, GTA V is a highly challenging application in terms of scene complexity.

Our benchmark uses a run from Palomina Highlands running through a lush area to a remote road all the way to a neighborhood in our car to simulate multiple scene changes.

API: DirectX 11
FXAA Off
MSAA 4x
TXAA Off
Very High settings
Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
Motion Blur disabled
Advanced Graphics enabled
Vsync OFF

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the latest installment in the reboot run of the classic Tomb Raider franchise. The game follows the story set forth by the previous game which Shadow of the Tomb Raider short follows after. Technology-wise, the game uses the Foundation engine updated to meet the demand of developer Eidos Montreal to push the engine to its limits. The game supports DirectX 12 and is one of the launch titles to support RTX technology namely DLSS which launched a couple of months post-launch.

API: DirectX 12
Graphics Settings Preset: Highest
Texture Quality: Ultra
Texture Filtering: 8x Anisotropic
Anti-Aliasing: TAA
DLSS: OFF
Raytraced Shadow: OFF
Vsync OFF

Destiny 2

Destiny 2: New Light is an MMOFPS which sees a persistently sizable playerbase. The game features traditional MMO elements but played in an FPS approach which allows a more skill-dependent game versus traditional MMORPG formats. The game features a futuristic sci-fi universe with lush and detailed in-game locations that puts respectable workload on a gaming system.

API: DirectX 11
Settings: Highest
Vsync: OFF

Forza Horizon 5

Developed by Playground Games and published by Xbox Game Studios, Forza Horizon 5 is the latest installment in the Forza series, picking up straight after the British escapades of Horizon 4, Horizon 5 takes us now to Mexico for another open-world racing spectacle, that is Horizon. Built on proprietary ForzaTech engine, the game harnesses its power to provide an excellent experience on both PC and Xbox.

API: DirectX 12
Settings: High
Raytracing: Off
Vsync: Off

Elden Ring

Elden Ring is developed by Japanese studio From Software, known for the Soulsborne sub-genre of games as well as Armored Core from the older console days. Elden Ring cemented its name by releasing closely with Horizon Forbidden West and easily took the gaming world by storm thanks to its rich, in-depth lore and challenging gameplay. Elden Ring by default is frame capped. We’ve disabled this via driver settings.

API: DirectX 12
Maximum detail preset

Cyberpunk 2077

The most anticipated game of 2020 has just received its sort of “launch patch” this 2022 with version 1.5 changing many things in terms of performance as well as few things in the graphics department. Perhaps the most anticipated game of the last decade, Cyberpunk 2077’s launch has been a rollercoaster gamers on PC are largely in agreement that it was definitely worth the wait bar the bugs. Made by CD Projekt Red and based on the REDengine4, Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most modern games introducing full utilization of raytracing amongst others. We do not enable raytracing in this test segment, that will be for the latest section of this review..

API: DirectX 12
Settings: Ultra Preset
Raytracing Off
DLSS Off
Vsync: OFF

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered

Sony’s streak of PlayStation exclusives going to PC continues with Spider-Man. Originally releleased for PS4 in 2019, the game sees a PS5 upgrade and 2022 PC remastered release. The PC version of Spider-Man features a ton of modern PC graphical enhancements including all modern upscaling techniques along with ray tracing. The game natively supports ultrawide monitor resolution and is actively updated with with technologies from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.

API: DirectX 12
Settings: Very High Preset

F1 2022

F1 22 updates the F1 title with the newer technical specifications set by FIA as well as the new Sprint race to serve as the sports’ video game counterpart used primarily for their F1 esports and also used by their racers for practice on occassion. F1 22 uses modern graphical techniques and takes advantage of raytracing as well as newer technologies to further improve visual realism.

API: DirectX 12
Settings: Ultra Preset

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) is the much awaited release since Flight Simulator X from 2006. Harnessing the power of Microsoft Azure, Bing Maps and AI functionalities, Microsoft Flight Simulator brings the definition of realism to a new level with maps that are alive and real, rendered directly from their real-world counterpart and populated ingame with details. The game is constantly update to maintain real world relevance particularly for large events or other recent occurences.

API: DirectX 12
Settings: Ultra Preset

Ray Tracing and DLSS Performance

In this page we see how our test cards perform when Ray Tracing is enabled in game. Games will have varying degrees of how they utilze raytracing. We enable everything to their highest setting although for Cyberpunk 2077, we did not go with Psycho setting and used Ultra. The numbers show the amount of reduction in FPS we with ray tracing enabled versus regular raster performance.

DLSS Performance Results

The results below show performance of the cards with Raytracing On with DLSS. The percentage reflects the improvement over ray tracing results only with DLSS disabled. DLSS3 is measured against ray tracing only results as well but we include Microsoft Flight Simulator which does not have ray tracing for raster result compared to DLSS and DLSS3, the percentage reflecting the increase from that number.

Average FPS, Relative FPS and Game Performance Summary

To give you a quick idea of how good the gaming performance of the system we’re testing, we’ve averaged the results for your reference presented in overll average and esports average (CSGO, DOTA2, Siege, Apex, PUBG, OW2, Valorant).

Relative Performance

Conclusion

Final thoughts on the GeForce RTX 4070

With the RTX 3060 making its way as the most popular graphics card amongst Steam users recently, NVIDIA is looking to convince those who are 2 or 3 generations behind to consider upgrading their system. The entire RTX 40-series hinges on a lot of tech with 3rd-gen RT cores, 4th-gen Tensor cores on the Ada Lovelace cards allowing a new stack of applications way beyond just pure raster performance.

NVIDIA doubles down on this with a lengthy reviewers’ guide allowing the media to cover the extensive use-cases of the RTX 40-series. In the case of the RTX 4070, this makes some of these technologies much more accessible for those that need it with its more attractive price point.

Pure performance alone, at 1440p the card averages ~235FPS on a combination of competitive esports title and AAA games. Esports alone sees near-400FPS at 1440p, an effective doubling from the RTX 2070.

DLSS3 is a force multiplier here and we did observe weird results in Spiderman and F1 2022 in 4K but in Cyberpunk 2077, the results is as impressive like it was on the higher-tier 40-series cards. But chief amongst all its traits is its high efficiency with most games only sipping 160W-180W from the rated 200W max draw of the RTX 4070.

But at $599, the NVIDIA RTX 4070’s launch price is much higher than the RTX 3070 and a big jump from the RTX 2080, people who may be expecting the xx70 class RTX 40-card to be cheaper. And I agree, while it does dump all this tech for its asking price, a $550 or even a $500 card could’ve been the market disruptor we needed to revitalize the market especially with more games pushing Frame Generation. This leaves those folks looking to save a buck to still look at used RTX 30-series cards and squeeze some more life out of them.

And yes, the only competition right now for the RTX 4070 is a sub-$300 RTX 3080 and RTX 3080 Ti if you can find one but provided you don’t care about DLSS3 Frame Generation or faster AV1 encoding. A tertiary option is a Radeon RX 6900XT or RX 6800XT who may not match the RTX 4070 in all-out 1440p performance, but again, if you can get it for $300 or less, it is an option. At $500 or so, any of those older cards save the 3080 Ti sits behind the efficiency curve that the RTX 4070 offers just better value in terms of efficiency.

Final thoughts on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition

Talking about NVIDIA’s RTX 4070 Founders Edition, a lot of us here in Asia have treated the Founders Edition as a gem of sorts and for a good reason: its not sold here.

Still, for our international readers looking to snag a custom-cooled RTX 4070 at MSRP, the RTX 4070 Founders Edition uses an updated cooling solution based on this generation’s newer design. Its not as as enormous as the RTX 4080 or RTX 4090 which makes it usable for most systems especially at a handsome power rating of 200W.

Available at an MSRP of $599 in select region, the RTX 4070 Founders Edition is well-made card and the design update gives it a more premium feel versus the noticeable chance of the RTX 3080 FE going to the RTX 3070 which saw a silver, single-sided blower which lacked the pizazz of the flow-through double-sided approach of the higher RTX 30 cards.

Much of the value of the RTX 4070 is in its performance and its value-added features which you may or may not use. In the case off the RTX 4070 Founders Ediiton, this is currently the cheapest 1440p card from NVIDIA and unless AMD launches a competitor then it currently sits as the best value RTX 40-series card at MSRP.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition Review

Final Thoughts

Much of the value of the RTX 4070 is in its performance and its value-added features which you may or may not use. In the case off the RTX 4070 Founders Ediiton, this is currently the cheapest 1440p card from NVIDIA and unless AMD launches a competitor then it currently sits as the best value RTX 40-series card at MSRP.

Performance

9

Build Quality

8.9

Functionality

8.8

Value

9.1

Pros

Great 1440p performance across multiple titles

Impressive efficiency

Low card temperature

Zero fan at idle

Quiet a full load

Slim 2-slot design

AV1 hardware encode

Cons

Not as dramatic a performance jump vs. RTX 3070

Price could be lower

9

Rating