Nvidia Geforce RTX 4070 Ti: Hobbled and wildly overpriced
With prices like these, who needs scalpers?
This review will be short and sweet. Nvidia’s new $799 Geforce RTX 4070 Ti is a technically hobbled, drastically overpriced graphics card that costs $100 more than the higher-tier RTX 3080 did last generation. In exchange for that 14 percent higher price tag, you usually get 14 percent higher performance at 4K resolution and around 20 percent at 1440p.
Depending on how you look at it, the Geforce RTX 4070 Ti offers stagnant-at-best value at similar prices to last generation, or a painfully steep markup over last gen’s already overpriced RTX 3070 Ti. It’s a beastly card that can topple the previous RTX 3090 Ti flagship in many games, especially at 1440p resolution or when DLSS 3 swings into action, but at this chest-clutching price, we simply can’t
recommend it. In fact, we recommend avoiding it outright unless there are mammoth price reductions.
SPECS, FEATURES, AND DESIGN
The specs for the Geforce RTX 4070 Ti shouldn’t surprise anyone, since it’s the “unlaunched” $899 RTX 4080 12GB ( fave. co/3kczgis) with a new name. Gamers (and us, fave.co/3wwbv2z) called shenanigans on Nvidia initially giving this scaled-down GPU the same 4080 branding as the much more powerful 16GB RTX 4080, and shortly before AMD revealed its Radeon RX 7900-series graphics cards ( fave. co/3kfez0q)— which would’ve made this GPU look silly at the same $899 price as the 7900 Xt—nvidia canceled its original launch plans. It’s back with a lower price tag that’s still unreasonably, uncomfortably high for what’s being offered. Here’s a recap of the RTX 4070 Ti’s core specs:
Graphics Processing Clusters: 5
Texture Processing Clusters: 30
Streaming Multiprocessors: 60
CUDA Cores: 7680
Tensor Cores: 240 (4th Gen)
RT Cores: 60 (3rd Gen)
Texture Units: 240
ROPS: 80
Boost Clock: 2610 MHZ
Memory Clock: 10500 MHZ
Memory Data Rate: 21 Gbps
L2 Cache Size: 49152 KB
Total Video Memory: 12GB GDDR6X
Memory Interface: 192-bit
Total Memory Bandwidth: 504 Gb/sec
Texture Rate: 626 Gigatexels/sec
Connectors: 3×Displayport, 1×HDMI
Max Display Resolution: 4K at 240Hz or 8K at 60Hz with DSC
Power Connectors: 2× PCIE 8-pin cables OR 300w or greater PCIE Gen 5 cable (adapter included in box)
Minimum Power Supply: 700 Watts
Power: 12W Idle, 20W AV1 Video
Playback, 226W Average
Gaming Power (AGP), 285 W Total Graphics Power (TGP)
Maximum GPU Temperature: 90° C
PCI Express Interface: Gen 4
Yes, the 4070 Ti’s core count and memory capacity are drastically reduced versus the 4080’s—nvidia made the right call (eventually) with its name change. But now that the name won’t sow confusion among would-be buyers, the more concerning tweak revolves around the 4070 Ti’s memory bus.
Wider bus lanes let you move data more effectively. Think of it like rush hour; a fourlane highway can keep traffic moving much faster than a single-lane dirt road. Bus width is an important factor for overall memory bandwidth, especially at higher resolutions where textures and ray tracing can gobble up memory fast.
The Geforce RTX 4070 Ti packs a pipsqueak 192-bit memory bus. By contrast, the RTX 3080 ( fave.co/38ntnoi)— which, again, was a higher-tier card that cost $100 less than the 4070 Ti—wielded a 320-bit bus, which is typical for a high-end GPU. Even the already pandemic-overpriced $600 RTX 3070 Ti ( fave.co/3j3s9ul) had a 256-bit bus. You had to go all the way down to the $330 RTX 3060 ( fave.co/3lucqkx) to find an Nvidia GPU with a 192-bit bus in the last generation.
The new 4070 Ti offers 504GB/S of total memory bandwidth; the 3080 hit 760GB/S and the 3070 Ti offered 608GB/S, while the 3060 and its far slower GDDR6 non-x memory hit an appropriate 360GB/S.
It matters. Compared to the RTX 3080, the 4070 Ti’s uplift in 4K gaming is measurably slower than its 1440p uplift. You can still play 4K games with everything cranked and still hit 60 frames per second without issue most of the time, but intentionally hobbling the 4K performance of a freaking $799 graphics card leaves a sour taste in the mouth. The 4070 Ti is tangibly slower than all other new-gen
GPUS and the RTX 3080 in Counter-strike: Global Offensive at 4K and 1440p resolutions, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the neutered
bus width factors into that. It would be more acceptable if this GPU cost hundreds of dollars less.
Fortunately, the RTX 4070 Ti is much more efficient than the 3080 was, rated for 285 watts of total graphics power compared to the 3080’s 320W. It’s faster, too. Nvidia’s new Ada Lovelace GPU architecture ( fave.co/ 3O1pryl) impresses there.
The custom Asus Tuf 4070 Ti we’re reviewing today—nvidia isn’t launching a Founders Edition version of this Gpu—still uses the new 16-pin 12VHPWR connector, however, with an adapter included in the box. (Make sure you plug it in snugly; fave. co/3damkaq.) It’s also a huge 3.25-slot graphics card despite the lower power draw. Asus otherwise did a fine job with Tuf, which features a striking industrial design, a dual-bios switch (we test at default), and not one but two HDMI 2.0b connectors to go along with three Displayports. Finding dual HDMI ports on a GPU is rare these days, and Asus only charges a $50 premium for this version of the Tuf—though, again, the RTX 4070 Ti is wildly overpriced to begin with.
Nvidia maintains its lead in terms of offering well-rounded features and capabilities that AMD simply can’t match. The Radeon RX 7900 duo is tangibly faster than the 4070 Ti in terms of raw rasterization (read: traditional gaming) performance, but Nvidia’s GPU holds a massive ray-tracing performance advantage, bolstered by Ai-powered DLSS and DLSS Frame Generation technologies. They’re fiercely impressive. Generally speaking, Nvidia also thwomps AMD in CUDA support for machine learning tasks (duh) and overall content creation prowess, and has other life-enhancing features like Nvidia Broadcast, Reflex, and Shadowplay. If you do more with your GPU than simply play games, or if you consider peak raytracing performance a priority, target an Nvidia GPU.
Let’s get to the games.