Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 2070 Xtreme
A 2070 that’s truly blinged out.
Beware: you may find yourself looking at the Aorus Xtreme 2070 instead of your monitor!
TheGigabyte Aorus 2070 Xtreme really is a bit different. In addition to a custom PCB, factory overclock and hefty triple fan cooler, the Aorus Xtreme manages to pack in 7(!) video outputs and comes with a spectacular RGB implementation.
We knew we were looking at something different the moment we took the Aorus 2070 Xtreme out of its box for a visual inspection. Gigabyte calls its new cooler the Windforce Stack 3x. It utilises three 100mm double ball bearing fans that spin in alternate directions. The cooler’s shroud is also interesting. Most GPU coolers are quite closed but the 2070 Xtreme features a wide open shroud that should theoretically be better for heat dissipation.
Normally we wouldn’t devote too much time to talking about RGB, but this cards demands it. It’s spectacular and needs to be shown off in a vertical position inside a windowed case. What makes it so visually striking is it’s the fans themselves that have RGB LEDs. There’s a complete range of effects to choose from. Beware: you may find yourself looking at the Aorus Xtreme 2070 instead of your monitor! We’d go as far as to say it’s the best RGB implementation of any graphics card we’ve ever seen. It’s not all about bling though. The Windforce Stack 3x cooler is able to maintain its boost clocks at high levels, while remaining effectively silent. If you keep it cool enough, it will boost over 1900MHz. Impressive!
The card features a fully customized PCB with a 10+2 phase VRM. It’s powered by 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors. The memory chips and MOSFETs are cooled by their own heatsink plate and there’s a full cover back plate (with RGB of course) that assists with component cooling.
The Aorus 2070 Xtreme performed well during our testing. It’s a good jump ahead of the already overclocked 2070 Founders Edition and performs on par with the other custom cards we covered. It provides great performance at 1440p even at high refresh rates and is capable of 4K gaming.
The other unique feature among our tested cards is the array of video ports. While Gigabyte states that you can only use five at one time, it’s great to have this kind of flexibility. You can use 3x HDMI + 1x DP and the USB or 3x DP, 1x HDMI plus the USB. The 3x HDMI mode would be particularly useful for users rocking a VR headset, plus a HDMI TV and a monitor or two all at the same time.
We like to spend most of our time looking at the monitor when gaming, but the Aorus 2070 Xtreme kept drawing our attention! If you’re looking for a card to show off, this is definitely the one to get. It’s far from a one trick pony though. It performs admirably while staying cool and quiet. Gigabyte also offer a 4 year warranty (after registration). Combine all this with a decent price and the Aorus 2070 Xtreme is easy to recommend. CHRIS SZEWCZYK