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After October and Nvidia’s RTX 4090 release, users were met with the scary reality of high-priced graphics cards. Now this trend has been happening for generations, but it’s still a tough pill to swallow. Today marks the release of Nvidia’s RTX 4070, which aims to offer top-notch performance at a less scary price. Starting at $599, many will still consider this card overpriced, but it’s more affordable than the RTX 4070 Ti we recently reviewed and doesn’t lose a lot of performance against it. You get all of the bells and whistles of the Ada Lovelace architecture, including 4th-gen Tensor cores, 3rd-gen Ray Tracing cores, DLSS3 capability, 8th-gen AV1 encoders, and more.
Our friends at MSI kindly enough to send their RTX 4070, which comes with the large, 3-slot Tri-FrozR 3S cooling solution, more robust than reference power delivery, and increased boost clock speeds out of the box. We’ll take a more detailed look at the features and let you know where the RTX 4070 stands performance-wise, see how it compares to its older siblings and AMD’s offerings.

ADA Lovelace Architecture and Technologies
For those who read our RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X, the MSI RTX 4080 Suprim X review, or our RTX 4070 Ti Suprim X article, the Ada Lovelace architecture shouldn’t be anything new. Below we’ve kept a lot of the information in there but updated it with the RTX 4070 details in case you’re new or want a refresher.

Nvidia’s new Ada Lovelace architecture is fabricated on TSMC’s 4N manufacturing process. The smaller process allowed Nvidia to dramatically increase the transistor count, which turns into more cores (70% more CUDA cores than GA102). The entire core consists of a whopping 76.3 billion transistors, which they state makes it one of the most complex chips ever made.
With the new core, the Ada architecture also operates at higher clock frequencies using “… high-speed transistors in critical paths that could otherwise restrict the rest of the chip”. The RTX 4070 and its AD104 variant have base clocks of 1,920 MHz on the core and 1,313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) on the 12GB GDDR6X with a 192-bit bus. Power consumption is listed as 285W with partner cards like our MSI, likely increasing that limit.
The AD104 GPU found on the RTX 4070 comes equipped with 4 Graphics Process Clusters (GPCs), 23 Texture Processing Clusters (TPCs), 46 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), and a 192-bit memory interface (6x 32-bit memory controllers). There are also 92 FP64 cores (2 per SM) not shown in the diagrams. Nvidia states the TFLOP rate for the FP64 cores is 1/64th the TFLOP rate of FP32 operations, and the small FP64 core count is included to ensure compatibility with FP64 code, including Tensor Core code.

The third generation RT core in these Ada GPUs adds a dedicated unit called the Opacity Micromap Engine and the Displaced Micro-Mesh Engine (DMME). The former evaluates Opacity micromaps that are used to accelerate alpha traversal. The DMME allows the Ada RT core to ray trace complex objects and the environment with significantly less BVH build time and storage costs which, when simplified, makes for a much faster and more efficient pathing. Together, Nvidia claims the Ada 3rd-gen RT core is the most powerful Nvidia has ever made.

Another significant improvement over the previous generation is the upgrade from DLSS 2.0 to DLSS 3.0. The new sauce inside is a new frame generation technique that combines optical flow estimation with DLSS to improve the gaming experience. In other words, inserting accurately synthesized frames between existing frames enhances the frame rate and provides a smoother gaming experience. The most significant performance uptick, you’ll see, is with using DLSS.
The Tensor cores have also been updated. Compared to Ampere, Ada provides more than double the FP16, BF16, TF32, INT8, and INT4 Tensor TFLOPS and runs the Hopper FP8 Transformer Engine, delivering over 1.3 PetaFLOPS of tensor processing on the 4090.
For those who like to stream content, Nvidia’s NVENC encoder and existing optimizations for OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) eliminated the need for a dedicated PC for video capture so you can play and stream at the PC without sacrificing quality or performance. Ada takes that further, incorporating support for AV1 video encoding the 9th gen NVENC hardware encoder. Previous generations only decoded but didn’t encode. The AV1 encoder is said to be 40% more efficient than the H.264 encoder found in the 3000 series GPUs. With this update, users can increase from 1080p to 1440p while running at the same bitrate and quality. The 4080 and 4090 use two NVENC encoders for the work.
Details aside, the table below lists the specifications for the new ADA GPUs, including our review sample, MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio.
Specifications and Features
Nvidia RTX 4000 Series Specifications | ||||
Model | MSI RTX 4070 | RTX 4090 (24GB) | RTX 4080 (16GB) | RTX 4070 Ti (12GB) |
Architecture | Ada Lovelace (AD102, AD103, AD104) | |||
Manufacturing | TSMC 4N (5 nm) | |||
CUDA Cores | 5,888 | 16,384 | 9,728 | 7,680 |
RT Cores (Gen 3) | 46 | 144 | 80 | 60 |
Tensor Cores (Gen 4) | 184 | 576 | 320 | 240 |
Texture Units (3rd Gen) | 184 | 576 | 320 | 240 |
ROPs | 64 | 192 | 112 | 80 |
L2 Cache | 36 MB | 96 MB | 64 MB | 48 MB |
Base Clock | 1,920 MHz | 2,230 MHz | 2,210 MHz | 2,310 MHz |
Boost Clock | 2,610 MHz | 2,520 MHz | 2,510 MHz | 2,610 MHz |
Memory | 12 GB GDDR6X | 24 GB GDDR6X | 16 GB GDDR6X | 12 GB GDDR6X |
Memory Speed | 504 GBps | 1008 GBps | 736 GBps | 504 GBps |
Memory Bus | 192-bit | 384-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit |
Supplementary Power | PCIe 5.0 12-pin 2x 8-pin | PCIe 5.0 16-pin 3x 8-pin | PCIe 5 12-pin 2x 8-pin | PCIe 5 12-pin 2x PCIe 8-pin |
Standard Display Connectors | HDMI (2.1) 3x DisplayPort (1.4a) | |||
Max Resolution | 8K (7680 x 4320) | |||
TDP | 215 W | 450 W | 320 W | 285 W |
Release Date | 4/13/2023 | 10/12/22 | 11/15/22 | 1/5/23 |
MSRP | $649 ($599) | $1599 | $1,199 | $799 |
The MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio
MSI’s take on the RTX 4070 offers more robust power delivery, the massive Twin Frozr 3S cooling solution, and a 215W+ TBP out of the box. Like the RTX 4090 and the 4080, the 4070 sources its power from the latest PCIe 5.0 12(+4) 12VHPWR connector that offers up to 450 W requiring two (instead of three or four and 450/600W) 8-pin PCIe connectors. MSI doesn’t currently list a recommended wattage; however, a quality 650W model would be more than sufficient, even paired with a flagship-class processor and overclocking.
Unlike its big brothers, the 4070 Gaming X Trio has one BIOS, so any performance or fan speed adjustments must be made through software. The 2,610 MHz boost clock is one of the faster on the market. But as many already know, performance among its peers will be close regardless. Nvidia’s pricing for the FE model is $599. You can expect this and flagship versions from other card partners to cost $600+.
MSI doesn’t offer the Suprim X SKU on the 4070, so the Gaming X Trio is the flagship part. I’d expect to see the less expensive Ventus released along with it. They all use a custom cooling solution, but the Ventus is like working with the reference card hardware specification (power delivery).
As far as looks go, the Gaming X Trio is a large card extending well past the width of ATX motherboards. The black and silver design gives way to three 120mm Torq 5.0 fans blowing through a 2-slot heatsink. The fans also utilize MSI’s Zero Frozr technology that keeps the fan off until cooling is needed. The fans never spun up at idle/desktop or watching videos, and the card was completely silent. Even when fully loaded, the cooling solution was barely audible over the system it was installed in. MSI’s cooling solutions for this generation of video cards do an exceptional job at keeping the hot running bits below running well within specification.
For those into RGB lighting, the Gaming X Trio sports RGB feature on the face and the top of the card, illuminating the MSI branding. This configuration won’t take over the inside of your chassis but is bright enough to show off the internals. Adjustments to the lighting are made through the Mystic Light application.
TRI Frozr 3 Thermal Design | |
TORX FAN 5.0Design improvements to TORX FAN 5.0 result in +23% airflow compared to an axial fan and +10% airflow compared to TORX FAN 4.0. | |
Core PipesCore Pipes are precision-crafted to make maximum use of the available space. A squared section of heat pipes fully touches the vapor chamber to spread heat along the entire length of the heatsink. | |
GOT YOUR BACKFine details elevate the backplate, such as its brushed metal finish and the beveled edges polished with a light-gold color. Thermal pads beneath the sturdy plate provide additional cooling to the graphics card. | |
Ball bearingsTwo sets of durable ball bearings spin the TORX FANs for years of intense and lengthy gaming sessions. | |
ZERO FROZRThe fans completely stop when temperatures are relatively low, reducing the noise significantly when active cooling is not needed. The fans will automatically start spinning again when the heat is on during gaming. |
Retail Packaging and Accessories
The retail packaging for the MSI’s RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio sports a lot more color than the flagship Suprim X we’re used to seeing. The black box displays the card and branding along with some colorful designs. The back of the box reveals some features and specifications about the card it holds. After opening the box, you’ll see the card sitting snuggly inside form-fitting foam and an anti-static bag for protection. MSI includes a GPU support bar, the 2x 8-pin PCIe, to a 12+4 pin PCIe 5.0 adapter to power the card.
Meet the MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio

MSI’s Gaming X Trio SKU sports a premium appearance and utilizes an effective yet quiet cooling solution. The frosted lines flanking the middle fan have RGBs below to provide a little bling on the front. The top of the card also sports RGB lighting to illuminate additional branding. Ultimately, it’s a beautiful card with a neutral design that doesn’t stick out and blends in with most build themes.
A Closer Look at the MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio
Focusing on the I/O, we see the typical fare for this generation, three DisplayPort ports (v1.4a) and one HDMI (v2.1) port. The former supports a maximum resolution of 8K (7680×4320), while the HDMI port handles up to 4K @ 120Hz. The Gaming X Trio’s Tri Frozr 3S cooler sends most of the air inside the case while some seeps through the IO plate. You’ll want good airflow for this card to keep case thermals down and the card running as it should.
Power is sent through the new 12+4-pin PCIe 5.0 connector, which takes up much less space than the traditional 6+2-pin PCIe connectors we’re familiar with. Not only does the new connector take up less real estate on the card, but the PCIE-SIG-designed 12VHPWR plug can also deliver up to 600 W (this one 300W), which is a lot more than a single 6+2-pin is capable of (150 W). MSI includes the proper adapter to connect with the card, which, in this case, requires TWO independent PCIe 6+2-pin connections – do not use piggybacked connectors!
We also have some pictures of the core and memory and the PCB. You can see the Micron Memory, the AD104-250-A1 chip, upgraded power delivery (from the base cards/spec), and more for the 9-phase (total) power delivery.
Below is a screenshot of GPU-Z showing the clocks we achieved at stock speeds. The MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio has a listed boost clock of 2,610 MHz, which ran much higher (upwards of 2,800 MHz+) throughout our testing.

MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio on the test bed…

Test System and Benchmark Methods
Test System Components | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte Z690 Tachyon ($349.99) |
CPU | Intel i9-12900K (stock) |
CPU Cooler | Corsair iCUE H150i |
Memory | Kingston Fury Beast 2×16 GB 5200 MHz CL40 ($161.99) |
SSD | Mushkin Helix 1TB NVMe (OS + Applications – $80) |
Power Supply | EVGA 850 W P6 ($119.99) |
Video Card | MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio ($649) / 531.42 driver |
Our test system is based on the latest (at the time of publishing) mainstream Intel z690 platform and uses the i9-12900K 8P,8E/24t CPU. The DRAM is in a 2×16 GB configuration at 5200 MHz with CL40 timings, a middle-of-the-road option balancing performance, and cost. The CPU runs stock.
Since the last update, we have made some changes and updated titles. More details can be found in the GPU Testing Procedure article, which we have updated with our latest benchmarks. Below is a quick summary for easy reference.
- UL 3DMark Time Spy – Default settings
- UL 3DMark Fire Strike (Extreme) – Default settings
- UL 3DMark Port Royal – Default Settings (Ray Tracing capable cards only)
- Unigine Superposition – 1080p High, 1080p Extreme
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider – DX12, “Highest” preset
- The Division 2 – DX12, Ultra preset, VSync Off
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey – Ultra High preset, VSync Off
- Far Cry 6 – Ultra defaults, HD Textures enabled
- F1 2021 – DX12, Very High defaults, Bahrain track, show FPS counter.
- Metro: Exodus – DX12, Ultra defaults
Synthetic Benchmarks
Our first set of benchmarks hails from Underwriters Laboratories, which acquired Futuremark in 2014. Earlier in 2018, a rebrand occurred, and since that time, Futuremark is now UL. The benchmarks have not changed, just the name. We chose to stick with 3DMark Fire Strike (Extreme) and 3DMark Time Spy as these tests give users a good idea of performance on modern titles.
3DMark Fire Strike (Extreme) is a DX11-based test that runs at 1080p resolution. UL says the graphics are rendered with detail and complexity far beyond other DX11 benchmarks and games. 3DMark Time Spy is a DX12 benchmark designed for Windows 10 PCs. It supports new API features such as asynchronous computing, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading, running at 2560 x 1440. 3DMark Port Royal is the first Ray Tracing benchmark designed for Windows PCs and graphics cards with Microsoft DirectX Raytracing capabilities.
Results from the synthetic benchmarks show the RTX 4070 beating out the last-gen RTX 3080 across most benchmarks and trading punches with AMD’s RX 6800 and 6800XT. Overall, it’s a performant card in the synthetic tests.
Gaming Benchmarks
We have updated our testing suite for gaming benchmarks to bring more modern titles into the mix, and gone are Battlefield V, F1 2018, Far Cry 5, AOTS:e, and World of Tanks, which have been replaced with Metro Exodus, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, F1 2022, and Far Cry 6. We kept The Division 2 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The games should provide a good view of the card’s overall performance with many DX12-based. One thing worth noting with these high-end cards, they aren’t made for 1080p gaming, so the gaps between cards tend to get minimized.
1920 x 1080 (1080p) Results
In 1080p gaming, you’ll note this card can push most titles to over 144 FPS or more, so able to drive high refresh rates/FPS for competitive gaming. In this low-res testing, the RTX 4070 competes with the 6800 XT and is slower than the RTX 3080 Ti across most games. Overall, it’s a plenty competent gaming card for 1080p with all settings to Ultra.
2560 x 1440 and 4K UHD Results
Below are the higher resolution results starting with 2560 x 1440 and the gaining-in-popularity 3840 x 2160 (4K UHD) resolution.


At higher, more GPU-board resolutions, the RTX 4070 shows off its mettle with FPS in most titles averaging well over 100 FPS. In some titles, it’s even reaching 144 FPS at these settings, which makes it suitable for high Hz gaming at this middling resolution. Bumping things up to 4K UHD, with our settings (Ultra), all titles except F1 2022 (which has RT enabled by default at our settings) reach the magic 60 FPS threshold.
Ray Tracing and DLSS Testing
After enabling Ray Tracing and DLSS, we tested Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Far Cry 6, and F1 2022 at 1440p and 4K. It ran all the titles over 60 FPS at 4K, even in the titles that don’t support DLSS (Far Cry 6). So long as you’re working with DLSS, especially DLSS 3.0 capable titles, you can enable ray tracing at these higher resolutions and achieve smooth gameplay.
Folding @ Home Performance
For all of the folding @ home community, we had a chance to let this run for about 23 of 24 hours. From the looks of things so far, this card outputs around 7-8M PPD depending on the OS, WU, and other factors. You can see on 4/9 the full 24-hour results at stock speeds. During the testing, the card ran at 2,895 MHz (average), peaking at about 200 W and averaging ~195 W. System power consumption varied, but our test system pulled between 250 and 285 W at the wall when folding. Temperatures reached 65°C, with the fans activating and spinning around 40%. They were practically inaudible in the open-air chassis/test bench at this speed.

Overclocking the MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio
For overclocking, we used the latest version of MSI Afterburner without issue. The OC Scanner also did the job of finding a stable overclock. Ultimately, we settled on +83 MHz for the core and +200 for the memory (there’s a lot more in the tank here). While the scores didn’t go up much (a couple of percentage points) on these mid-resolution benchmarks, there was still some improvement. This card also allows for a massive 25% power limit increase. With these settings, the card peaked at 2,970 MHz and ran around that speed consistently through most of our benchmarks. Even when overclocked, the card peaked at 213W.
Just be careful when overclocking that your performance is increasing. Instead of crashing due to instability (which still can happen), chances are you will see performance drop first, so keep an eye out for the results.

Temperatures and Power Use
We test power consumption by running through the game benchmarks of Shadow of the Tomb Raider and F1 2021 at stock speeds and while overclocked. We monitor temperatures throughout this testing, with the peak temperature listed in the data below. The benchmarks are extended (time) to allow the card to settle to simulate actual gaming conditions more accurately.
Temperatures on the air-cooled MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio reached 66°C in F1 2021 and 68°C SOTR at stock settings. Once overclocked, temperatures increased slightly in each game, peaking at 68°C in F1 2021 and 70°C in SOTR. Longer gaming sessions will increase the temperatures, but this gives you a general idea of the Tri Frozr 3’s capabilities. It does a great job of keeping temperatures in check and doing so quietly.

Power use for the RTX 4070 peaked at 365 W (total system power) at stock and reached 377 W while overclocked (both in SOTR this time around). A high-quality 650W power supply will be plenty to support this card and a flagship-class processor.

Conclusion
Nvidia’s new RTX 4070 has finally landed and with a more reasonable price tag of $599 for the Founder’s Edition. For $600, you receive a competent card at any resolution. Be it 1080p and high Hz gaming or trying running over 60 FPS at 4K UHD, the card has you covered. The MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio we tested will hit store shelves at $649 today, a significant premium over the FE. That said, it does come with more robust power delivery and a more effective and quiet cooling solution to justify the increased expense.
On the performance front, we saw this ~215W card beat Nvidia’s RTX 3080 in most tests and competes with AMD’s 6800 XT. It’s still slower than AMD’s 7900XT cards, but it’s not intended to compete with them in the first place, as 4070s are 2/3 the price or even less when talking Founder’s Edition cards. The RTX 4070 is cheaper per frame than the RTX 3080, but still a $100+ increase over the previous generation RTX 3070’s release price.
Like always, there’s a lot of competition in this space, including the Gigabyte Aorus and Asus Strix models, among other brands. As most know, at this point, the performance difference between these cards will only be a couple of percentage points. The most significant differences between the aftermarket and reference models are price, appearance, and cooling solution/noise levels. MSI’s Gaming X Trio SKUs, the flagship for this RTX 4070 part, does a great job at all those things too. It looks good, has improved power delivery, and the cooling solution is quiet and keeps the card running cool.

– Joe Shields (Earthdog)
- MSI RTX 4070 Ti Suprim X Review
- MSI RTX 4080 Suprim X Review
- MSI RTX 4090 Suprim Liquid X Review
- MSI RTX 3090 Ti Review
- MSI RTX 3080 Ti Suprim X Review
- XFX MERC319 BLACK RX 6700 XT Review
- MSI RTX 3060 Ti Gaming X Trio Review: Best Value 4k/60fps Gaming
- AMD RX 6800 XT and RX 6800 Review: Competing at the Top Again
- ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3080 OC Review
- MSI RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio Review
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