Review and testing of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 video card

In the Radeon RX Vega family of accelerators, it was the youngest model, Vega 56, that turned out to be the most successful product. By putting a large distance in performance and price between the GeForce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080, NVIDIA allowed the competitor to fill this niche with a video card that not only surpasses the GTX 1070 in performance at standard frequencies, but can also easily overclock to the level of the GeForce GTX 1080. At the same time At the time, the company was able to cover the gap that had opened in the GeForce 10 series with the same success with an updated version of the GTX 1070. The fact that NVIDIA’s response to AMD’s successful move in the high-performance discrete graphics segment would be exactly this became known long before the official announcement of the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti. The question is how far NVIDIA is ready to push the new model closer to the GeForce GTX 1080 in order to put the Radeon RX Vega in its place.

⇡#Technical characteristics, price

In the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti GPU, NVIDIA has enabled four more SMs (shader multiprocessors), for a total of 512 additional CUDA cores and 32 texture mapping units. As a result, only by unlocking computing resources not used in the original GTX 1070, the “titanium” version received a 27 percent increase in the throughput of the corresponding stages of the pipeline. At the same time, the frequency characteristics and power limit of the new product are selected in such a way that the potential of a more productive GPU is not constrained by power consumption in real tasks: although the upper of the two frequencies that NVIDIA reports for its video cards has not changed compared to the GeForce GTX 1070 (1683 MHz ), the base GTX 1070 Ti is equal to the GeForce GTX 1080 (1607 instead of 1506 MHz), as well as in power (180 W). Interestingly, the RAM frequency in the Ti version remains the same - 8 GHz, while NVIDIA today offers manufacturers of adapters based on the GTX 1060 and GTX 1080 a choice - install memory chips with the frequency that was provided for by the original specifications, or at 1 GHz higher.

Since there's a wide margin between the GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 in both performance and price, the new GTX 1070 Ti has its own slot at $449, while the GTX 1070's MSRP ($349) remains unchanged since the price cut caused by the GTX launch. 1080 Ti. By the way, this time NVIDIA does not differentiate between partner products and the Founders Edition: the latter is sold on the company's website at the same price that original design cards should aim for. And the name Founders Edition in this case is arbitrary - after all, the reference design card will go on sale simultaneously with partner models based on the GeForce GTX 1070. The recommended cost of the GTX 1070 Ti for the Russian market is 33,990 rubles. - for 2,400 rubles. more than the GTX 1070 cost in the NVIDIA online store. The latter, in the Founders Edition modification, is being withdrawn from sale, but the original versions will continue to exist.

Packaging and equipment

The box is small, perhaps because the card itself is not very large, and the delivery set has long become very modest.

The packaging design is very recognizable. Indeed, each brand has its own unique design. Here we see the same situation. And even though the heads of different characters look at us from the box, the style itself is still unique. As for the color palette, red and black colors predominate here. In the upper left corner we see the KFA2 manufacturer's logo. In the center we are asked the same question: “What's your game?” Below, the manufacturer provides a little clarity about the product, informing about the graphics processor, the amount and type of memory, as well as the single-slot cooling system. On the back of the package we are told about the advantages of this device. Here we are told about VR support and the ability to play in 4K resolution.

Here you can also find information about the scope of delivery and some features of this device. A black cardboard box is hidden inside the outer shell.

Opening it, we see on top a piece of soft porous material, under which there are instructions and a disk.

Next we can see the frame in which the video card itself is clamped, additionally packaged in an antistatic bag. There is a small compartment on top where accessories are located. In general, the package is not very large.

• Setup Guide (installation instructions);
• User Manual (user manual);
• Disk with drivers and utilities;
• 6-pin PCI-e to 2x Molex adapter;

A meager set, but now all manufacturers are guilty of this, citing the saving of our money. Everything you need is there and it looks reasonable. Analog monitors are not supported by the device at all, which means the DVI to D-Sub adapter is simply useless, which is why it is not there.

⇡#Test stand, testing methodology

Game tests

Let's move on to gaming applications and focus on the testing methodology. FPS measurements were carried out using the FRAPS utility. All games were tested in the three most current resolutions: 1920x1080, 2560x1440 and 3840x2160. The following options are manually disabled:

• VSync (Vertical Sync)

All other settings, including anti-aliasing, were set to the maximum possible. For clarity, each game is provided with screenshots of the graphics settings menu; only the resolution was changed, all other parameters remained unchanged.

Based on the results obtained, we can conclude that the GTX 1070 copes well with most games at a resolution of 2560x1440. If we turn to 4K, then such a video card is suitable only for picky players who are able to compromise and, in addition to anti-aliasing, disable parameters such as shadows, volumetric lighting or the distance of drawing objects. The lack of FPS in this resolution is especially noticeable in games such as Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Crysis 3 and Metro Last Light.

To make the material more informative, I will provide several videos shot at a resolution of 3840x2160 on maximum graphics, but with anti-aliasing disabled. This way it will be possible to evaluate the impact of this parameter on the final FPS value. I highly recommend using the Google Chrome browser to view it.

⇡#Test participants

The following video cards took part in performance testing:

• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti (1608/8008 MHz, 8 GB);
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X (1000/7012 MHz, 12 GB);
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (1506/8008 MHz, 8 GB);
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (1607/10008 MHz, 8 GB);
• AMD Radeon R9 Fury X (1050/1000 MHz, 4 GB);
• AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (1471/1600 MHz, 8 GB), Turbo;
• AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (1546/1890 MHz, 8 GB), Turbo.

⇡#Performance: 3DMark

The difference in performance between the GeForce GTX 1070 and the Ti version is not as great as the GPU configuration of the video cards would lead you to hope, but still reached an impressive 15%. In any case, this is enough for the GTX 1070 Ti to be on par with the Radeon Vega RX 56 in synthetic tests, which are usually favorable to the architecture of AMD chips.

Test results

First, let's start testing with default frequencies and see what this card is capable of without overclocking.

3D Mark 11 Performance – 19924.

3D Mark 11 Extreme – 8136.

3D Mark (Fire Strike) – 15407.

Unigine Heaven 4.0 (Extreme) – 2776.

Excellent result. During testing, it was noted that in these applications the frequencies rise above the Boost mode, which means that the cooling system copes well with the loads. It is also possible that for these cards the manufacturer specially selects graphics processors that can operate at the same frequency at lower voltage. However, in heavy operating conditions it is noticeable that the cooler works almost to the limit of its capabilities, so you can simply forget about strong overclocking. But we’ll still try to speed it up a little.

3D Mark 11 Performance – 20561.

3D Mark 11 Extreme – 8412.

3D Mark (Fire Strike) – 16532.

Unigine Heaven 4.0 (Extreme) – 3003.

Yes, the overclocking is far from record-breaking, but it rather shows us that the cooling system still has some headroom. In reality, I wouldn't use it every day. And in any case, I would recommend modifying the rear bar to enlarge the hole for the exhaust of hot air.

⇡#Performance: games (1920 × 1080, 2560 × 1440)

In gaming benchmarks with moderate screen resolutions, the GTX 1070 Ti also demonstrated a 14-15% advantage over the original version of the video card and at the same time was 8-9% superior to its main competitor, the Radeon RX Vega 56. However, to achieve this goal, NVIDIA had to reduce the gap between the two older GP104-based models to 9–10%.

The transition to ultra-high resolution did not change the balance of results among NVIDIA video cards. The GeForce GTX 1070 Ti is still 14% better than the original GTX 1070, while the GTX 1080 is still 10% better than the GTX 1070 Ti. But the advantage of the GTX 1070 Ti over the Radeon RX Vega 56 has decreased to 5%.

⇡#Clock speeds, power consumption, temperature, overclocking

The maximum frequency that the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti graphics processor reached in our tests is 1886 MHz. This is the highest figure among the entire GeForce 10 family, because even in the GTX 1080 Founders Edition, auto overclocking, as a rule, rests on the 1860 MHz bar. It is not surprising that the GTX 1070 Ti and GTX 1080 differ insignificantly in terms of power consumption. The FurMark test pushes both video cards to the power limit inherent in the standard BIOS settings, but in real-world tasks the GTX 1070 Ti still outperforms the older model with 9 W of power.

As attempts to overclock the GeForce GTX 1070 have repeatedly shown, in the original version of the card NVIDIA not only disables some of the GPU computing units, but also utilizes crystals that do not have a high enough frequency potential to serve as part of the GeForce GTX 1080. Contrary to hopes for the mature 16 nm FinFET process technology The GTX 1070 Ti is not far removed from the original GTX 1070 in this regard. The Founders Edition gives the overclocker the ability to increase TDP by 20% and add 100 mV to the GPU supply voltage limit, thereby unlocking several clock speed steps associated with voltage levels . However, our GTX 1070 Ti allowed us to move the base frequency slider only by 130 MHz relative to the nominal. The GPU's peak overclock clock reached 2,012 MHz, while the GTX 1080 typically manages another 100 MHz more. The effective RAM frequency was increased from the standard 8,008 to 8,808 MHz.

Performance: overclocking

One of the advantages of the Radeon RX Vega 56, in addition to the initially higher performance compared to the GeForce GTX 1070, is the overclocking potential - almost to the level of the Radeon RX Vega 64 and GeForce GTX 1080. Judging by synthetic tests, the GTX 1070 Ti easily repeated this achievement , although, in turn, the overclocked Vega 56 is still ahead of both the overclocked GTX 1070 Ti and the GTX 1080 in AMD's favorite benchmark.

As for gaming tests, overclocking the GTX 1070 Ti allowed us to not only catch up, but also overtake the GTX 1080 along with Vega 64. Even if we put our opponents on an equal footing by overclocking the AMD card, the victory, and by a large margin, still remains for GTX 1070 Ti.

Extensive testing of the GeForce GTX 1070 using the MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G video card as an example

We recently got acquainted with the older Pascal video card in the form of the GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition, and also looked at the features of the non-reference MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G card. The new leaders of the graphics Olympus offer the current maximum performance for single-chip solutions, but they also have a corresponding price tag. Therefore, the GeForce GTX 1070 video card, which is offered at a lower price, is of no less interest. We will find out what this model is capable of in this review, where we will get acquainted with the next new NVIDIA product in the form of the non-reference version of the MSI Gaming X line. The video card will be tested at reference-level frequencies, at factory settings and overclocked. This will allow you to evaluate the potential of the GeForce GTX 1070 in different modes, and at the same time compare the new product with older flagships and with the new leader GeForce GTX 1080.

GeForce GTX 1070 is based on the GP104 graphics processor of the new Pascal architecture. The processor is manufactured using the 16nm FinFET process technology, operates at high frequencies and supports a number of innovative optimizations to dramatically accelerate performance in VR. With a 256-bit memory bus, the overall efficiency of data transfer has increased noticeably due to new compression algorithms. The overall computing potential of the GPU is represented by 2560 CUDA stream processors with 160 texture units. The capabilities of the GeForce GTX 1070 are somewhat less. Five multiprocessors are disabled, resulting in 1920 active CUDA cores and 120 texture units. Instead of the new generation GDDR5X memory, GDDR5 is used, but with a record frequency for this type of chip of 8 GHz.

The base core frequency is 1506 MHz, which is 100 MHz lower than that of the older video card. The stated average Boost Clock is 1683 MHz. At the same time, the GPU Boost technology itself has been updated to version 3.0, which provides for a more flexible change in frequency depending on the operating voltage. Thanks to simplifications, the TDP level is reduced to 150 W. And this is an extremely low figure for a video card, which should be slightly better than the flagship solutions of the previous series, where 250 W was the norm.

The standard version, subtitled Founders Edition, is structurally identical to the reference video card GeForce GTX 1080. We will immediately get acquainted with the model from MSI, which will offer higher frequencies and better cooling.

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G

The video card comes in a familiar medium-sized box. According to the new naming system, Gaming X has replaced the usual Gaming, and those cards that were previously called Gaming LE will now receive the simple name Gaming without additional prefixes.

The delivery set is small. Inside there is only the obligatory software disc and brief instructions. Fans of the brand will love the set of additional stickers with the MSI and VR Ready logos.

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G is externally a copy of the older model GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G. The updated, aggressive scalloped cowl design and black and red color combination look striking. The heaviness of the video card, protruding heat pipes and a large radiator immediately hint that behind this flashiness lies high efficiency.

The total length of the video card is almost 28 centimeters. Cooling takes up two expansion slots and uses a pair of large fans.

The reverse side of the board is protected by a metal plate with a stylized image of a dragon. In the corner, instead of one power connector, there are two. They are positioned with the latches facing up, making them easy to connect.

The side visor of the casing has a window with an illuminated logo. The red teeth on the right side of the case are also illuminated.

The design of the Twin Frozr VI cooler is similar to that of the MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G, but uses one less heat pipe. There are five heat pipes in total, the outer one with a record diameter of 10 mm.

Contact with the surface of the graphics crystal occurs through a large base. Tubes are soldered onto this plate on the reverse side, which, bending, penetrate the array of plates at different points, evenly distributing heat throughout the radiator.

On the front side, two 100 mm fans are screwed onto the radiator, which blows through the radiator and blows air onto the board.

The special shape of the impeller and the bends of the blades (in accordance with Torx 2.0 technology) provide the fans with increased efficiency. Due to their design features, they create more powerful air pressure with a larger air flow dispersion area.

The board itself is covered with two plates, which act as radiators for different elements. A separate plate covers the memory chips.

A large ribbed plate covers the power components of the power unit.

After a complete disassembly, you can examine the GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G PCB, which is actually no different from the PCB of the older GeForce GTX 1080 model made by MSI.

The board is larger than standard, the number of power phases has been increased.

The MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G has eight power phases for the GPU and two for GDDR5 memory.

Full markings of the GP104-200-A1 GPU.

Eight gigabytes of memory are equipped with eight Samsung K4G80325FB-HC25 chips.

The video card supports three operating modes, switching between which is carried out through the MSI Gaming App utility. The program has other capabilities, for example, controlling the backlight of the video card. The difference in frequencies between the modes is small, but it allows you to change priorities to performance or quiet operation. The most productive OC Mode provides a base frequency of 1607 MHz with a Boost Clock of 1797 MHz, and a memory frequency of 8100 MHz. In Gaming Mode, core frequencies are 1582/1771 MHz with a memory frequency of 8000 MHz. Silent Mode offers frequencies similar to the standard level - 1506/1683 MHz for the core and 8000 MHz for the memory.

Our test instance initially runs in OC Mode. Serial versions can work in Gaming Mode, which can be changed in one click through the Gaming App. At the initial frequencies, the core operating temperatures remained within 69 °C on an open bench. Note that the video card was operated at an ambient temperature of 26 °C, which is a couple of degrees higher than it was during testing of the MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G. Under completely identical conditions, the older and younger video cards should be as close as possible in terms of temperature and noise characteristics.

During testing in Metro: last Light, the Boost frequency remained at 1949 MHz (bottom left screenshot). In The Division, core frequencies were at the level of 1949–1962 MHz. Short-term peak Boost values ​​reached 2000 MHz. The fans spun up to 1100–1200 rpm. You can forget about any noticeable noise at such a speed; the video card is really quiet.

For testing, we needed an analogue of the reference frequency. At first glance, this is easily achieved by selecting Silent Mode. But good cooling should provide a higher average Boost. As a result, we decided to further reduce the base frequency by another 20 MHz. This may limit the maximum Boost values ​​compared to the reference, but the average should be closer. Below is an illustration of this mode when tested in Metro: last Light. The Boost frequency was 1848–1860 MHz. The temperature and fan speed remained virtually unchanged compared to the initial levels.

As for overclocking, the results of this video adapter turned out to be close to the results of its older friend. The base frequency was raised by 73 MHz with the peak Boost increasing to 2076 MHz. The voltage was increased by only one step, which helped improve stability at such frequencies, but did not provide a serious gain. Its further increase also did not give noticeable improvements. The memory was overclocked to 9272 MHz. This is not the level of GDDR5X frequencies, but relative to the recommended value the increase is almost 16%.

The final Boost frequency was close to 2038 MHz in all applications. To increase stability, the fan speed was manually increased to 1450 rpm, which ensured operating temperatures at the initial level or even slightly lower. The noise is still low, which means this frequency combination can be used in everyday use.

Characteristics of tested video cards

The reviewed video card will be compared with participants in a larger test of the GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition.

Test bench

The test bench configuration is as follows:

• processor: Intel Core i7-6950X (4.1 GHz);
• cooler: Noctua NH-D15 (two NF-A15 PWM fans, 140 mm, 1300 rpm);
• motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99P-SLI;
• memory: G.Skill F4-3200C14Q-32GTZ (4x8 GB, DDR4-3200, CL14-14-14-35);
• system disk: Intel SSD 520 Series 240GB (240 GB, SATA 6Gb/s);
• additional drive: Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 (1 TB, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm);
• power supply: Seasonic SS-750KM (750 W);
• monitor: ASUS PB278Q (2560x1440, 27″);

• operating system: Windows 10 Pro x64;
• GeForce GTX 1080 driver: NVIDIA GeForce 368.25;
• GeForce GTX 980 Ti driver: NVIDIA GeForce 368.22;
• Radeon driver: AMD Grimson 16.5.3.

Testing was carried out in 2K resolution. The technique was described in the previous article.

Test results

Assassin's Creed Syndicate

In Syndicate, the new GeForce video adapter at reference-level frequencies is 6–9% faster than the GeForce GTX 980 Ti. Considering that our copy of the old flagship is at least 2% faster than the regular version due to slightly higher frequencies, the advantage of the new product is even slightly greater. The gap from Radeon R9 Fury X is about 40%. Overclocking gives the hero of the review a 13% acceleration relative to the recommended frequencies, but at the same time it is not possible to catch up with the GeForce GTX 1080.

Batman: Arkham Knight

The beginner's minimal advantage over the GeForce GTX 980 Ti and Radeon R9 Fury X in Arkham Knight. After overclocking, the old GeForce even pulls ahead a little. The difference between Pascal graphics accelerators is 17–21%. It is not possible to compensate for this lag by overclocking the GeForce GTX 1070.

Battlefield 4

At 150% upscaling in Battlefield 4, we're essentially comparing opponents in 4K mode. With such a heavy load, the advantage of the GeForce GTX 1070 over the GeForce GTX 980 Ti is less than 6%, and the MSI Gaming X gains about another 3% due to increased frequencies. The gap between the GeForce GTX 1070 and its AMD rival is 24–32%. The lag behind the GeForce GTX 1080 reaches 17–20%. The gain from overclocking is less than 14%. After increasing the frequencies, the old GeForce GTX 980 Ti is almost as good as the accelerated newcomer.

DiRT Rally

In the usual Ultra mode with maximum anti-aliasing, the difference between the GeForce GTX 1070 and GeForce GTX 980 Ti is minimal; in overclocking they are equal. For the first time, the youngest representative of the new series is catching up with the GeForce GTX 1080 by increasing frequencies. The place of the outsider traditionally belongs to the Radeon R9 Fury X.

Let's conduct additional testing with improved blending, running the GeForce GTX 1070 only at the recommended frequencies and overclocking.

The inclusion of such blending sharply damages the position of the AMD representative. Even a simple GeForce GTX 1070 demonstrates a twofold superiority over this competitor in terms of minimum fps with a gap of more than 85% in average frame rate. The ratio between the newcomer and the GeForce GTX 980 Ti remains almost unchanged. Let us remind you once again that our copy of the GeForce GTX 980 Ti operates at slightly higher frequencies.

DOOM

Before evaluating the DOOM results, we note that the GPU was underutilized. And from the data obtained, you can see how little the performance differs between all NVIDIA representatives. According to the results, the GeForce GTX 1070 is slightly weaker than the GeForce GTX 980 Ti, but you need to be careful with such indicators. In the future, we will try to compare opponents in a different gaming scene. The main thing is that none of the participants experience performance problems at the heaviest graphics settings.

Fallout 4

With graphics settings above Ultra in Fallout 4, there is a situation where the Radeon R9 Fury X begins to outperform the GeForce GTX 980 Ti. The GeForce GTX 1070 has an advantage of up to 4% over its friend, but this is not enough to catch up with its AMD rival. Parity with its competitor is MSI Gaming X, which operates at higher frequencies. There is less than a 14% difference between the 1508–1898/8014 MHz and 1680–2076/9272 MHz frequency configurations. The GeForce GTX 1070 lags behind the GeForce GTX 1070 by about 18%.

Far Cry Primal

The newcomer wins up to 8% over the GeForce GTX 980 Ti in Far Cry Primal, an advantage over its AMD rival at 11–14%. The frequencies of MSI Gaming X provide an increase in results by 3-4%, further overclocking gives an increase of up to 9%.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

According to the average result, the newcomer is 8% faster than the old flagship. In terms of minimum fps, the Radeon R9 Fury X seems to be better, but there is such a large spread that the final data for this criterion must be assessed taking into account possible errors. Quite a significant gap from the leader of 23%. It is clear that the GeForce GTX 1070 cannot compensate for such a difference through overclocking.

Grand Theft Auto 5

In GTA 5, the advantage over the GeForce GTX 980 Ti is 5–10%, and the advantage over the Radeon R89 Fury X is about 30%. The frequencies provide the MSI Gaming X with an additional couple of percent advantages over the simpler version of the GeForce GTX 1070. The increase from overclocking is around 10%. The advantage over the boosted GeForce GTX 980 Ti is negligible.

Hitman

The new Hitman favors AMD solutions. Radeon Fury X outperforms the GeForce GTX 980 Ti and does not even let the GeForce GTX 1070 get ahead at standard frequencies. MSI Gaming is already superior to its opponent, albeit by a tiny margin. The newcomer's advantage over the GeForce GTX 980 Ti is about 8%, the increase with overclocking is 12%.

Let's conduct additional testing when enabling DirectX 12.

Optimization of this mode sucks on both legs, especially on NVIDIA. There is even incomplete GPU utilization on “green” video cards, resulting in the most serious performance losses. The GeForce GTX 1070 allows you to play in this mode, but choosing DirectX 11 for Hitman is more appropriate.

Just Cause 3

The newcomer wins less than 5% over the GeForce GTX 980 Ti in Just Cause 3. Taking into account the initial frequencies of the old flagship, we can safely add three percent to this. The advantage over Fury X is 16–21%. Increased frequencies provide MSI with an additional advantage of up to 5%, further overclocking gives a speedup of up to 8%.

Metro: Last Light

The GeForce GTX 1070 is almost 8% faster than the GeForce GTX 980 Ti in Last Light, up to 18% ahead of its AMD rival. The difference with the older GeForce GTX 1080 is also 18%. Overclocking gives only 13% acceleration.

Quantum Break

In Quantum Break, there is a minimal advantage for the newcomer compared to the GeForce GTX 980 Ti and Radeon R9 Fury X; MSI wins another few percent due to its increased frequencies. The gap from the leader is 20–22%. When overclocked, the GeForce GTX 1070 and GeForce GTX 980 Ti have identical performance.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

A newcomer wins up to 10% over an old flagship in Rise of the Tomb Raider. The gap from Radeon R9 Fury X is 60–76%. The game loads more than 7 GB of memory even with simple anti-aliasing, so the low performance of Fury is also due to the small volume of the video buffer on this video card. It is traditionally impossible to catch up with the leader. But in overclocking, the GeForce GTX 1070 holds the lead over the GeForce GTX 980 Ti.

We will conduct additional testing in more severe conditions. We will test the GeForce GTX 1070 at frequencies similar to the reference level and overclocked.

Enabling heavy SSAA anti-aliasing increases the lead over the AMD representative. In essence, Fury X is out of the running; only GeForce can provide acceptable performance in this mode. The advantage of the GeForce GTX 1070 over the GeForce GTX 980 Ti reaches 8–12%, the lag behind the GeForce GTX 1080 is 22%.

Let's see if the situation changes after enabling DirectX 12.

Only in this game we have so far seen a slight increase in fps when moving from DirectX 11 to the new DirectX 12. But if we talk about Radeon, then this video adapter has rendering artifacts, so this mode is only relevant for GeForce.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3 version 1.21 experienced slight lag and unstable minimum fps on our test system. The reason for this is not clear, but it is a fact that should be taken into account when evaluating the results in comparison with our older reviews. Based on a stable average, the advantage of the GeForce GTX 1070 over the GeForce GTX 980 Ti is less than 6%, and the gap over the Radeon R9 Fury X is almost 18%. The difference between the younger and older Pascal is more than 21%, which cannot be compensated for by overclocking the GeForce GTX 1070.

Enabling HairWorks hardly changes the balance of power. It's nice to note that the newcomer can handle this mode with ease, providing a comfortable level of performance in 2K.

Tom Clancy's The Division

In The Division, the difference between a newcomer and an old flagship is about 7%, Fury X's gain is more than 10%. The MSI Gaming X is another 5% faster, and overclocking brings a 7% boost.

Total War: Attila

Less than 5% difference between GeForce GTX 1070 and GeForce GTX 980 Ti in Attila. Between representatives of the Pascal generation, the difference is 17% in average fps and, unexpectedly, only 13% in minimum. But after overclocking, the hero of the review still cannot catch up with the GeForce GTX 1080.

XCOM 2

In XCOM 2, the beginner's advantage over the GeForce GTX 980 Ti is minimal. The MSI Gaming X also receives such a slight advantage at its frequencies. Further overclocking allows you to come close to the nominal performance level of the GeForce GTX 1080.

3DMark 11

The GeForce GTX 1070 outperforms its NVIDIA predecessor by almost 10% and wins 33% over the Radeon R9 Fury X. The difference with the GeForce GTX 1080 is 20%. Acceleration to frequencies 1680–2076/9272 MHz increases the result by 12%.

3DMark Fire Strike

In this test, the newcomer's advantage over the GeForce GTX 980 Ti is less than 9%, and the difference with the Radeon R9 Fury X is about 12%. The gap from the leader is 21%. The increase from overclocking is almost 14%.

In the more difficult Fire Strike test mode, the results are about the same. The difference with the GeForce GTX 980 Ti is slightly reduced. And the gap between the GeForce GTX 1070 and the GeForce GTX 1080 is now only slightly more than 18%.

Energy consumption

The GeForce GTX 1070 has the lowest power consumption. After overclocking, the video adapter reaches the level of the GeForce GTX 1080 in terms of this indicator. As for the high data of the Radeon Fury X, they correspond to the accelerated Radeon Nano. Early tests showed a negligible difference in power consumption between the GeForce GTX 980 Ti and the full-fledged Fury X reference.

conclusions

GeForce GTX 1070 is an excellent replacement for the top-end NVIDIA video adapters of the previous series. According to tests, the new product beats our slightly accelerated GeForce GTX 980 Ti by 2% to 10%. Essentially, the GeForce GTX 1070 replaces the GeForce GTX Titan X, and will be faster in some modes. At the same time, the new product is more economical and has a number of important improvements to optimize performance in VR. The latter is of extremely little importance for now, but if you want to join virtual reality, the advantages of Pascal in comparison with Maxwell will be noticeably higher than the stated percentages. The GeForce GTX 1070 confidently outperforms the Radeon R9 Fury, especially in heavy modes where a large amount of memory is needed. The lag behind the GeForce GTX 1080 reaches 20%, sometimes even higher. This does not seem to be too much, but the overclocking potential does not make it possible to compensate for such a difference. It’s interesting that when overclocking we sometimes see equality between the GeForce GTX 1070 and the GeForce GTX 980 Ti, and even a tiny advantage for the old one. But achieving such frequencies is not possible for every top-end Maxwell, and its cooling requirements are noticeably higher.

Thanks to the low TDP level, manufacturers will be able to produce quiet and cool versions of the GeForce GTX 1070. The reviewed MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X 8G video card is one of these. Powerful cooling ensures complete acoustic comfort at initially elevated frequencies. Full implementation of the overclocking potential is also possible in quiet mode. This is an excellent high-quality video card, which we confidently recommend for purchase to those who are focused on the latest NVIDIA Pascal products.

As for general pricing, the cost of the GeForce GTX 1070 is still unusually high for the second most powerful model in the new series. At the same time, it is more expensive than the GeForce GTX 980 Ti, but it is also better in all respects. For now, you will have to fork out for the right to get a progressive high-performance video card. But if AMD Polaris in the middle class really turns out to be as good as the manufacturer predicts, then in the future this may lead to lower prices for the competitor’s top models. However, this is a completely different story, and we will talk about Radeon Polaris in another article.

⇡#Conclusions

In this round of competition for the discrete graphics market, NVIDIA had the opportunity to fend off AMD's move by releasing a more powerful video card between the GeForce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080, instead of lowering the prices of existing models.

Compared to the first wave of accelerators based on the NVIDIA GP104 chip, the new GeForce GTX 1070 Ti is in exactly the right position to provide a small but still measurable advantage over the competitor’s device at standard frequencies and at the same time surpass it in overclocking. To do this, NVIDIA had to to some extent put the GeForce GTX 1080 under attack, because if the Vega 56 can be overclocked almost to the level of the GTX 1080, then the updated GTX 1070 Ti is capable of even more.

And yet, in terms of performance, the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti and Radeon RX Vega 56 are not so different as to declare the winner of the fight solely on the basis of technical parameters. Equally important are the actual retail prices at which competing devices will be sold in the coming months. But here NVIDIA again found itself in a more advantageous position: although the shortage of new generation AMD processors has subsided, the average cost of Vega video cards on the market still exceeds the recommended values, and original design boards are still on the way. The GeForce GTX 1070 Ti, in turn, starts from a ready-made platform that NVIDIA partners formed during the time of the first accelerators of the Pascal family.

Design and features of KFA2 GeForce GTX 1070 Katana

The antistatic bag containing the video card is sealed with a yellow sticker.

The video card is not large, and without a cooler it would definitely fit on the edge of a mini ITX board. Now we can definitely understand that this is not a reference.

Unique design? Perhaps, but it seems to me that the manufacturer had one eye on the reference printed circuit board from nVidia GTX1060. Of course, the result is not an exact copy, but the dimensions are the same. The most amazing and unique thing here is definitely the cooling system.

To remove it, you need to unscrew only six screws with springs on the back of the device.

It just so happens that the cooler is larger and, most importantly, longer than the video card itself. For example, the turbine itself, which drives air, is located far beyond the printed circuit board.

The design turns out to be modular and an important role here is played by the metal casing to which everything is attached. For example, a radiator is screwed to it with four screws at the top and bottom, through which the air pumped by the turbine passes.

This is a small but very heavy device. Why so much weight? The answer is quite simple because it is 100% copper. Yes, the radiator is completely copper, and even with a built-in evaporation chamber. All its elements are well soldered, so the heat dissipation is as efficient as possible.

The base is a steel frame, which serves as a fastening. The radiator is also soldered to it, and it itself is in contact with memory chips and transistors through special thermal rubber bands. As a thermal interface, we can see gray and thick thermal paste.

The radiator is attached to a gray metal casing. There is a warning on the front that says it may be hot.

These are not empty words, since metal conducts heat well, and during operation the card heats up significantly.

A special turbine must cope with the ardent nature of the device. The principle here is the same as with reference cards. The turbine drives forced air through the radiator fins, which exits the housing.

The main advantage of this approach is that the hot air leaves the housing. There is a myth that the turbine is very noisy. Actually this is not true. It may be a little louder than three large fans on huge coolers, but it is more compact and overall quite effective. Here we see that the turbine is attached to a special plastic panel, and that, in turn, is attached to a metal casing.

Having disassembled the entire structure, we can look at the device markings and its technical characteristics.

We've sorted out the cooling system and now let's move on to studying the video card itself.

Now we can clearly see that the printed circuit board is quite compact. Textolite is black in color and the surface is matte.

Most of the elements are soldered at the front, but you can also find them at the back. There is also a plate with the markings and serial number of the device.

Why did I mention the nVidia GTX1060 reference? Take a look for yourself. There are differences, of course, but the similarities are obvious.

The power supply on the video card is made according to the 4+1+1 scheme (GPU/MEM/PLL).

The uPI Semiconductor uP9511P chip is used as the main PWM controller.

This is an eight-phase PWM controller with support for nVidia Open Voltage Regulator technology. Based on this, there are prerequisites that in fact the number of phases can be 8+1+1. We can also notice here the uPI Semiconductor uP1728Q buck converter.

Five phases use Alpha & Omega Semiconductor AOE6930 transistor assemblies.

The GP104 graphics processor is soldered in the middle of the printed circuit board. Here in its marking we see the number 200. This means that it belongs to the GTX1070 family.

It was manufactured in the 48th week of 2016. Next to it, eight GDDR5 memory chips manufactured by Micron are wired in the letter “P”.

Additional power is supplied to the board via an 8-pin PCI-e connector.

One of the interesting features you can find on the printed circuit board at the very top are contact pads for measuring voltages on various buses.

The following picture awaits us on the back panel. As many as three video outputs of different types.

On the one hand, this is great because you can connect any monitor without any problems. On the other hand, it was possible to solder three mini DP connectors, and simply put adapters for DVI and HDMI in the kit. For what? Yes, the fact is that there is simply no room left for the exhaust of hot air.