MSI Geforce RTX 5070 12G Vanguard SOC Launch Edition Review

The next card on the test bench is the midrange Nvidia Geforce RTX 5070. In our case, MSI’s Vangaurd SOC Edition comes with unique packaging and a special surprise box where you get one of several Lucky figures. Oh, and there’s a pretty good video card in the box too. The Vanguard GPU offers robust cooling using their tri-fan Hyper Frozr Thermal design, while aesthetically, it has a black on silver shell with a line of RGB lighting slicing through the face. Additionally, you get more robust hardware, increased clockspeeds, and a pretty good-looking card. Read on to see how it performed in our test suite and if it gets our approval!

Blackwell Architecture and Technologies

Nvidia’s new Blackwell architecture is again fabricated using TSMC’s 4N manufacturing process. There wasn’t a process shrink, but that didn’t stop Nvidia from creating 31.1 million on the GB205(-300-A1) die. Compared to the RTX 4070/AD104, the Blackwell chip is slightly smaller (263 mm² vs. 293 mm²), transistors, and as you’d guess has faster clockspeeds. The Vanguard SOC comes in with a base core speed of 2,335 MHz, with a boost clock starting at 2,640 MHz – over 300 MHz difference.

Power consumption is listed as 250W (Total Graphics Power) on our partner card, a 50W increase over its last-gen counterpart, but matching Nvidia’s spec. You can increase the power limit on this card to 120% or 300W, which is a good amount of headroom for overclocking.

The GB205 GPU on the RTX 5070 holds five Graphics Process Clusters (GPCs), 24 Texture Processing Clusters (TPCs), 48 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), on a 192-bit memory interface (6x  32-bit memory controllers). Nvidia lists the TDFLOP rate for the FP64 cores is 482.3 GFlops (1:64), while FP32 is 30.87. Pixel fill rate lands 201 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s. This is faster than the RTX 4070, which has a similar pixel fill rate as a 4070 Super, but is behind in texture rate (554 GT/s vs. 482).

Below is a close-up view of a single Streaming Multiprocessor and everything it contains.

The next evolution in neural rendering technologies utilizing the RTX Tensor Cores is DLSS 4. The latest iteration features Multi Frame Generation (75 games and apps support upon launch); DLSS Multi Frame Generation (MFG) generates up to three additional frames per traditional rendered frame, working with an entire ecosystem of DLSS technologies to multiply framerates up to an astounding 8x over more traditional ‘brute-force’ rendering. DLSS 4 also introduced the most significant upgrade to its AI models since DLSS 2 in 2020.

DLSS Ray Reconstruction/Super Resolution/DLAA will now be powered by the first real-time application of the ‘transformer model’, the same advanced architecture powering AI models like ChatGPT, Flux, and Gemini. The Transformer models improve image quality and temporal stability, less ghosting, and higher detail in motion. Any DLSS games with these features can be upgraded to the new DLSS transformer model for improved performance and IQ.

For streamers, Nvidia also updates its NVENC encode and decode accelerators (four each -3/4 NEVENC and 2/4 NVDEC are enabled). The new 9th-gen encode accelerations come with 4:2:2 AV1 and HEVC encoding support.

Details aside, the table below lists the specifications for the new Blackwell GPUs, including our review sample, MSI RTX 5070 Vanguard SOC.

Specifications and Features

The MSI RTX 5070 Vanguard SOC

MSI’s new Vanguard series is positioned between the flagship SUPRIM cards and the familiar Gaming X series. The Vanguard can remind you of both as it takes design cues from both families. You get the clean look of the SUPRIM with the carbon elements from the Gaming X line. Cooling the beast is a large heatsink with the Hyper Frozr thermal design shared across different lines. On top of the looks and cooling are faster-than-Founders clock speeds offering a slight boost over the baseline spec.

The card gets its power from a single 12V-2×6 connector capable of supplying up to 600W of in-spec power. MSI recommends a 650W power supply, which is enough, even with high-end processors and some overclocking. It also has two BIOS, Gaming and Silent, which adjusts the fan curve. All of our testing was with the BIOS set to the Gaming option. It was quiet during testing, but removing ‘only’ 250W, I hope it’s quieter than some of the larger cards (this is a 2.5-slot card). Overclockers doesn’t provide a decibel reading, but just like our other cards, I let it fold away about four feet from my ears while I wrote this article. Again, you can hear the Stormforce fans doing work, but it wasn’t harsh, nor did I hear a lot of coil whine.

MSI offers a whopping 12 different RTX 5070 SKUs. From the top down is the Vanguard OC, SOC and SOC Launch Editions, Inspire 3x/OC, Ventus 3x/OC, Ventus 2x/OC (White SKUs!), and the entry-level Shadow with two fans. I’ve said it before, but you’re too picky if you can’t find a card that suits you in that product stack.

Overall, we like the look of the Vanguard and its tastefully implemented lighting. It looks good, feels well built, and is quiet during regular operation. Take a look below to see the features that make it tick!

	HYPER FROZR Thermal Design An apex evolution of advanced thermal design that delivers unparalleled cooling and quiet operation.
	STORMFORCE Fan Seven fan blades, claw texturing, and a circular arc are designed  for optimal airflow with minimal noise.
	AIR ANTEGRADE FIN 2.0 The fins feature a V-shaped cutout and a high-low design at the airflow passthrough to optimize flow efficiency.
	WAVE CURVED 4.0 Precision-engineered wave edges with a high-low fin design enhance airflow and reduce turbulence.
	Advanced Vapor Chamber Built-in Vapor Chamber swiftly transfers heat from the GPU and VRAM to the core pipe for optimal dissipation.
	Core Pipe Square-shaped Core Pipes maximize heat dissipation with the Vapor Chamber for superior cooling.

Retail Packaging and Accessories

The retail packaging on the Launch Edition (LE) is much larger than that of non-LE versions as it has to house the sizeable card and the mystery Lucky character. After you remove the ‘shell’, inside is a larger box with the Vanguard Launch Edition staring right at you. After opening the box, we see the mystery box with our Boba Lucky inside. Below are a couple of accessories including a 2x 8-pin PCIe to 12V-2×6 connector. MSI includes a small strut to help support the card in your chassis.

Meet the MSI RTX 5070 Vanguard SOC

The Vanguard is a looker blending in some of the best aspects of the Suprim and Carbon cards. You get some titanium and the carbon fiber look on the front. When it’s powered on, a line of RGBs shoots through the middle and right Stormforce fans and shines on the heatsink, making a cool-looking effect. The back of the sports a large backplate that covers the tiny PCB and massive heatsink almost twice the size of the PCB. It is functional too as MSI has a thick thermal pad between it and the back of the GPU. The top and rear of the card also sport RGB design features including the Dragon (Lucky on steroids?) and MSI branding.

It’s a good looking card that’s sure to blend in with most any build theme and proud to be the centerpiece of your build.

A Closer Look…

On the I/O, we see Nvidia’s standard lineup of three DisplayPorts and one HDMI. With Blackwell comes a bump in spec with DP 2.1b and HDMI 2.1b. The former offers ~3x the bandwidth of 1.4a and supports up to 4K 480Hz (with DSC) or 8K 165Hz (DSC).

Power for this card goes through the 2x 8-pin 12VHPWR connector (included), which uses two 8-pin PCIe power leads for the 12-pin configuration. Again, please use two unique PCIe cables with the connector, or buy an ATX 3,1/PCIe 5.1-spec’d power supply for native support.

After opening the card, we see the advanced vapor chamber, core pipes, and Air Antegrade Fin 2.0 that make up the Hyper Frozr Thermal design. On the PCB, we see the GB205-300-A1 die with Samsung 12Gb, 32 Gbps GDDR7 ICs, and several MOSFETs (we could not find datasheets on these either).

Heatsink

PCB

GB205-300-A1

Samsung K4YAF325ZC SC28

MOSFETs

Below is a screenshot of GPU-Z showing the clocks our card ran with stock speeds. Our review card has a listed boost clock of 2,640 MHz, but it ran much higher around 2,880 MHz throughout our testing, peaking just over 2,900 MHz.

MSI RTX 5070 Vanguard SOC on the test bed…

Test System and Benchmark Methods

Our test system is based on the latest (at the time of publishing) mainstream Intel z790 platform and uses the i9-14900K 8P,16E/32t CPU. We’ve updated it to the latest BIOS. The DRAM is in a 2×16 GB configuration at 6000 MHz with CL36-38-38-80 timings, a slower option by all accounts today, but still balances performance and cost. The CPU runs stock for the motherboard.

Since the last update, we have made some changes and updated titles. More details can be found in the most recent 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)
• UL 3DMark Speedway – Defaul t settings
• Unigine Superposition – 4K Optimized
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider – DX12, “Highest” preset
• Assasin’s Creed: Mirage  – Ultra High preset
• F1 2024  – Ultra High preset, Las Vegas track
• Far Cry 6 – Ultra preset, HD Textures enabled
• Avatar – Ultra preset
• CyberPunk 2077 – Ultra preset

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; it is just the name. We chose to use 3DMark Fire Strike (Extreme) and 3DMark Time Spy, 3DMark Speedway, and 3DMark Port Royal as these tests give users a good idea of performance on modern titles and include ray tracing.

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 and runs 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, while Speedway is another DX12 benchmark.

3DMark – FireStrike Extreme

3DMark – Time Spy

3DMark – Speedway

3DMark – Port Royal

Unigine Superposition – 4K Optimized

Results from our synthetic benchmarks put this card just short of the RTX 4070 Ti and several percent faster than the RTX 4070 Super Gaming X Slim. Compared to AMD’s last-gen cards, it tends to land just behind the 7900XT, but how much varies by benchmark.

Gaming Benchmarks

We have updated our testing suite for gaming benchmarks to bring more modern titles into the mix. Gone are Assasin’s Creed: Odyssey, F1 2022, The Division 2, and Metro Exodus, replaced/updated by Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, F1 2024, Avatar, and CyberPunk 2077.  It is worth mentioning that high-end cards aren’t made for 1080p gaming, so the gaps between them tend to be minimized as this is a wholly CPU-bound resolution with such powerful SKUs.

1920 x 1080 (1080p) Results

F1 24

Far Cry 6

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage

CyberPunk 2077

Avatar

SOTR

Across our 1080p titles, the MSI RTX 5070 Vanguard SOC pushed between 116 and 279 FPS depending on the title. Clearly this is a high Hz-capable card at 1080p.

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.

Starting with 2560×1440, we can see it’s clearly capable of 60+ FPS across these titles, often breaking 100 and even 200 FPS. For those running 4K UHD, it’s still a capable card though in some modern titles, you’ll need to lower settings from Ultra for the best user experience. That, and on some rare titles, the 12GB vRAM buffer could get in the way.

Ray Tracing and DLSS/FSR Testing

The charts below show what the review card can do when using ray tracing and DLSS/FSR capabilities. In this grouping, we test at 2560 x 1440 and 3840 x2160.

Far Cry 6

F1 2024

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage

Cyberpunk 2077

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Avatar

Performance using ray tracing varied wildly by titles. Some, older titles, were playable at 1440p (and even 4K), and others were well below that magic 60 FPS threshold (even below 30). Good news, however! Enabling DLSS on our titles brings the FPS back up to more playable frame rates. You can even get away with ray tracing in Cyberpunk, Avatar, and F1 2024, our more demanding and modern titles.

Folding @ Home Performance

For all of the folding @ home community, we captured a screenshot during our 3/4 day session. We couldn’t get results from EOCF, but watching this throughout its run time, I saw a variance of 14-16M PPD using around 205W with temperatures hanging around 67C. Not too shabby!

Overclocking the MSI RTX 5070 Vanguard SOC

Overclocking our Vanguard SOC was easy as ever. Crank the power limit (+20% in this case, raise memory to its maximum (+2000 or 250 MHz) and dial in the core. We settled on a +151 without manual changes to the core voltage for a daily overclock which yielded around 3,045 MHz clock speed during the tests. Power increased by around 10W, nominal. If you want to push things, we’ve seen plenty of SKUs reach well over 3,100 MHz, the Vanguard SOC included.

Temperatures and Power Use

We test power consumption by running through the game benchmarks of F1 2024 and Cyberpunk 2077. 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 and, more accurately, simulate extended gaming conditions. Most air-cooled cards will saturate and normalize around 10 minutes or so.

Temperatures on this card peaked at 65°C in Cyberpunk, 63°C in F1 24 at default settings. Once overclocked, temperatures increased in both titles, rising three degrees Celsius. Longer gaming sessions will increase the temperatures, but this gives you a general idea of the card’s cooling capability. When folding for over 18 hours, it peaked at 67C (average of ~65C) and wasn’t hard on the ears, either.

Idle

F1 24

Cyberpunk 2077

Power use peaked at 240W in F1 24, and 251W in Cyberpunk at stock. Our overclocked setting increased power use to 261W and 270W respectively which still leaves some headroom for overclocking.

Conclusion

Nvidia’s RTX 5070, like its big brothers, was met with a lukewarm response from prospective buyers, and others alike. Like the RTX 5080 we reviewed, we did get an increase in raster performance over its previous generation twin (and its Super refresh), but wasn’t the typical increase where the named SKU punches up to ‘next tier’ levels. Pricing, SRP specifically looked promising at first, this card is $719.99, but the market and a lack of available stock, for whatever reason, has driven prices up on these quite a bit. Add that together (which doesn’t include AMD RDNA4), and you end up with a rather chilly vibe, especially from those who can’t get their hands on the cards at a reasonable price point. Nvidia must launch with more units in the future.

That said, anyone who uses DLSS and doesn’t mind the new Multi-Frame Generation is in for a treat (even those using Ada, Ampere, and Turing-based cards). The new Transformer-based AI models for DLSS improve image quality, making it even more challenging to discern between native rendering and DLSS, even with still images. Here’s a great article from Techpowerup, complete with image quality comparisons and performance, so you can see how the various modes compare and judge for yourself.

MSI’s take on the RTX 5070, well, this take, the Vanguard SOC Launch Edition, builds upon Nvidia’s Founders Edition offering users an even more premium version with improved cooling and acoustics, increased boost speeds, and more. But it does come at a premium. The base RTX 5070 is $550 while this one is towards the top of aftermarket SKUs at $719.99. For the money, you do get a good-looking limited Launch Edition SKU with robust cooling, faster default clock speeds, unique packaging, and a mystery Lucky action figure.

Some may not feel it’s worth it, and if you find yourself in this camp, MSI have other, less expensive SKUs that looks different, performs similarly, but have different components under the hood. If you’re into the collectible side of things, and like the look, the RTX 5070 Vanguard SOC Launch Edition should be on your shortlist. Just be prepared to pay for the price premium.

– Joe Shields (Earthdog)

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