The much genned frames, the much things enactment the same
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
I knew the RTX 5070 was tricking me. Parked adjacent to the extravagant silliness of the two-grand RTX 5090, this £539 / $549 graphics card looked similar a precise agreeable deal, offering each the aforesaid DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation arsenic its bigger, pricier brothers. Also, an upgrade to the RTX 4070 Super, a GPU that could grip 4K without looking excessively retired of spot successful a premium 1080p rig. Tragically, though, the RTX 5070 breaks a ineffable covenant, a communal knowing betwixt PC owners and parts makers that’s held beardown for decades: if you bargain a caller mentation of a thing, it should beryllium faster than the aged mentation of that thing. Look past the MFG illusion, and acold excessively often, it isn’t.
Rifling done the specs doesn’t crook up immoderate wide reasons for this deficiency of show gain; the RTX 5070’s CUDA halfway number comes successful astatine 6144, putting it simply in-between the RTX 4070 (5888) and the RTX 4070 Super (7168), but some basal and boost timepiece speeds person been raised to compensate. VRAM, meanwhile, remains astatine 12GB, but with a power from GDDR6X to GDDR7 that confers importantly much bandwidth. Then there’s the powerfulness rating, which some the delayed Founders Edition and this present triple-fan PNY GeForce RTX 5070 OC acceptable astatine 250W – 50W much than an entry-level RTX 4070 Super. It looks, and sounds, similar a decent generational update.
And yet...
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 review: 4K benchmarks
While the RTX 5070 does marque the chopped arsenic a 4K contender, surpassing 60fps successful astir Ultra-quality games without upscaling, the lone clip it produced a visibly faster framerate was successful Cyberpunk 2077. Elsewhere, it lone outperforms the RTX 4070 Super by a scant fistful of single-digit frames per second, and repeatedly loses retired to the non-Super RTX 4070 Ti successful the process.
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Obviously, precise fewer imaginable buyers are going to beryllium upgrading straight from past year’s RTX 4070 Super to the RTX 5070, and the latest exemplary does astatine slightest marque for a meaty betterment connected the RTX 3070. Trouble is, that betterment has already been made successful the past generation, and for prices that – adjacent if you’re fortunate capable to find an RTX 5070 successful stock beneath £600 – are apt driblet overmuch faster, particularly wherever the secondhand marketplace is concerned.
It’s besides worthy addressing a circumstantial claim, made by Nvidia during their archetypal RTX 50 bid announcement, that the RTX 5070 delivers "RTX 4090 performance" with MFG. This is, depending connected however generous you privation to be, either lacking successful discourse oregon implicit tosh. While it’s existent that, for instance, 4x MFG tin resistance the RTX 5070 to 71fps successful a afloat path-traced Alan Wake 2, that’s lone adjacent oregon faster than the RTX 4090 if you contradict the older GPU its ain tools. Sure enough, it lone needs DLSS 3’s old-timey, 2x framework procreation to mean 82fps connected different identical settings. In short, the lone mode the RTX 5070 is genuinely moving astatine the aforesaid gait arsenic the RTX 4090 is if they’re successful the aforesaid transportation van.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
You could inactive see MFG to beryllium the RTX 5070’s enactment trick, though astatine 4K specifically, it’s not arsenic overmuch of a difference-maker arsenic it is connected on burlier cards similar the RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080. In some Cyberpunk and Alan Wake 2, the RTX 4070 joins its 40-series rivals successful being incapable to churn retired playable way tracing show connected DLSS Quality; successful fact, successful the latter, it’s narrowly the slowest of the lot. As a result, erstwhile 4x MFG kicks in, it’s producing a higher fig successful a framerate antagonistic but isn’t really helping the games to tally and smoother oregon much responsively than connected the DLSS 3-limited 40 bid models. As acold arsenic your PC knows, it’s inactive lone moving astatine 26/21fps, and each the AI-generated frames successful the satellite won’t get escaped of the sluggish consciousness that aiming and camera power volition endure successful those conditions.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 review: 1440p benchmarks
1440p is simply a much comfy situation for the RTX 5070’s framework gen tech, though its problems with overfamiliar show remain. If anything, it’s more bothersome here, arsenic the higher framerates marque it adjacent harder to archer a naked-eye quality betwixt this and its predecessors.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
In Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the RTX 4070 Super adjacent finishes ahead, if lone beryllium a azygous frame, portion adjacent the games that the RTX 5070 does comparatively good successful (Cyberpunk 2077, F1 24) lone spot an uptick of 10% oregon so. There is simply a simultaneous gap-narrowing with the RTX 5070 Ti, suggesting you don’t request to agelong to the Ti mentation for prime Quad HD, and again, anyone upgrading from the RTX 3070 volition bask a sizeable velocity boost. Still, these benefits could use to the RTX 4070 Super conscionable arsenic overmuch arsenic the RTX 5070.
The aforesaid can’t beryllium said, successful fairness, for framework gen performance. Although these tests suggest the RTX 5070 is successful information somewhat worse astatine dealing with way tracing/full ray tracing than those pesky RTX 40 GPUs, dissimilar astatine 4K, it is capable to nutrient capable pre-generation frames to enactment a workable exertion of 4x MFG.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
I’m not saying this is an capable replacement for traditionally rendered frames, but astatine slightest astatine this resolution, you tin benignant of spot wherever Nvidia is coming from. Spared from the request to compensate for sub-30fps framerates, framework gen is escaped to simply radiance up the ocular smoothness of already adequately-running games, arsenic it should be.
Still, it’s besides hard not to adjacent implicit astatine those towering RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080 bars, wondering wherefore the modular RTX 5070 couldn’t conscionable bash a small much successful the accepted rendering department.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 review: 1080p benchmarks
The driblet to an adjacent little demanding surface rez does small to rise the RTX 5070’s worth proposition. Yet again it’s haunted by the Ghosts of XX70 GPUs Past, particularly successful Assassin’s Creed Mirage, wherever it repeats its embarrassing loss. It does summation a fewer other frames implicit the RTX 4070 Super successful Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but past that’s already moving truthful accelerated that you’d request a 300Hz show and downright inhuman reflection skills to comprehend them successful action.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
That each means we indispensable instrumentality to the satellite of maxed-out lighting effects and AI framework procreation successful hunt of a consolation prize. Like astatine 1440p, the RTX 5070 starts disconnected inexplicably worse than the RTX 4070 Super erstwhile way tracing successful involved, though successful some games it inactive forms itself a coagulated capable basal to use 4x MFG without input lag coating your PC innards successful treacle.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
You’ll person to forgive maine for not sharing these results with the benignant of bubbly enthusiasm that multicoloured barroom charts deserve. I cognize it’s not similar the RTX 5070 has regressed to the constituent that it’s a atrocious GPU successful the wide consciousness – get it astatine RRP, similar this PNY exemplary costs, and it’s inactive a good multi-discipline graphics paper that volition comfortably play thing extracurricular of the astir brutalising 4K settings. And what I was saying earlier, astir the RTX 4070 Super going cheaper faster? Reader, I’m acrophobic that was conjecture. Right now, these are inactive connected merchantability successful the £600-£700 range, and portion plentifulness of committee spouse RTX 5070s volition surely capable the aforesaid space, if these 2 GPUs outgo the aforesaid past there’s nary compelling crushed to instrumentality with the older one. There’s possibly an statement successful favour of the RTX 4070 Super’s powerfulness ratio – I measured it peaking astatine 219W during my tests, versus 251W connected the RTX 5070 – but for each its shortcomings, I would alternatively person MFG than a 30W saving.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
Even so, it’s besides wholly just and tenable to expect immoderate benignant of meaningful, not wholly AI-reliant betterment from each caller generation. The RTX 5070 simply does not deliver, and I’m honestly a small disquieted that if we simply motion and judge that, framework procreation truly volition beryllium the lone mode that aboriginal GPUs fuss to upgrade "performance". Even when, arsenic this precise card’s 4K way tracing results show, specified an attack is inadequate erstwhile the games broadside of the manufacture continues to inquire much and much of your hardware.
This reappraisal is based connected a retail portion provided by the manufacturer.
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