Review and testing of the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC graphics card

 

We have been given the opportunity to test the ASUS TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC graphics card, which uses the advanced Ada Lovelace architecture, which ensures high quality graphics and performance.

APPEARANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS

This subsection of our review reveals the main aspects of the TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC, such as appearance and hardware configuration.

APPEARANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS

The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC is offered in a compact package that not only protects the graphics card well during transport, but also allows you to store it conveniently. Inside the package are a video card, installation instructions, as well as additional components.

The TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC package includes only the video card itself and a stand screwdriver.

The backplate of the TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC features a cutout to help allow airflow to flow more freely through the heatsink array. This can improve the cooling of the graphics card and reduce the temperature during use, which in turn can improve its performance and increase stability.

In addition, there is also a BIOS switch on the back of the graphics card that allows you to quickly and easily switch between Quiet Mode and Performance Mode.

The TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC video card occupies 3 PCI-E slots in the system unit, which is currently the standard size for video cards. Make sure you have enough space inside the case to install your graphics card before purchasing...

On the side of the graphics card from Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC is a standard 8-pin power connector instead of the more common 12-pin.

Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC is equipped with 4 video outputs: 1 HDMI and 3 DisplayPort.

The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC is smaller than the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC, both in length and width. But the cards are almost equal in height and occupy 3 PCI-E slots.

ARCHITECTURE

 

NVIDIA introduces the new GeForce RTX 4070 GPU based on the AD104 architecture. At the heart of this powerful device are 5,888 CUDA cores capable of delivering 29 teraflops (TFLOPS) of computing power for rendering bitmap graphics and 12 gigabytes of GDDR6 video memory. The new GPU features 184 Gen 4 Tensor Cores delivering 466 tensor TFLOPS (with sparsity) for AI and DLSS processing, and 46 Gen 4 Ada RT cores capable of delivering 67 RT-TFLOPS for next generation ray tracing processing.

NVIDIA Ada architecture features include a new shader execution engine (Shader Execution Reordering (SER), new RT cores, and an improved version of DLSS, making the RTX 4070 a great solution for gaming at any graphics level.

Ideal for content creation, the GeForce RTX 4070 GPU delivers superior gaming performance. The RTX experience is accelerated in top content creation applications, along with NVIDIA Studio drivers designed for maximum stability. In addition, exclusive tools are available that leverage the power of RTX to accelerate creative processes with the help of artificial intelligence.

NVIDIA Ada Streaming Multiprocessor

The RTX GPU has three core processors: a programmable shader that was introduced almost 20 years ago, RT cores for accelerating ray and triangle intersections, and an artificial intelligence processing pipeline called Tensor Cores.

The Ada architecture improves on all three RTX processors:

1. Programmable Shader: 29 Shader-TFLOPS, compared to 22 TFLOPS on the RTX 3070 Ti. SM Ada includes a new Shader Execution Reordering (SER) technology that redistributes tasks on the fly, doubling the speed of ray tracing shaders. SER is as significant an innovation for GPUs as out-of-order execution has become for CPUs.

2. Gen 4 Tensor Cores: The new Tensor Cores in Ada include the NVIDIA Hopper FP8 Transformer engine, which delivers over 466 sparse tensor terraflops in the RTX 4070 for AI workloads. That's double the 174 tensor teraflops on the RTX 3070 Ti. Compared to FP16, FP8 reduces storage requirements and doubles AI performance.

3. Gen 3 RT Cores: New Opacity Micromap Engine speeds up alpha-tested geometry ray tracing by a factor of 2, and new Micro-Mesh Engine allows additional geometry to be created on the fly, allowing for increased geometry complexity without the cost of building and storing BVHs . Ray and triangle intersection performance on Ada reaches 67 RT-TFLOPS, compared to 42 RT-TFLOPS on the RTX 3070 Ti.

4th Generation Tensor Cores

Tensor cores are high-performance computing cores specialized in matrix multiplications and accumulations that are used in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing applications. Tensor cores provide breakthrough performance for matrix calculations, which are critical for training and inferring deep learning neural networks. Sample output applications include NVIDIA DLSS 2.1 technology for gamers, which introduced a new 9x upscaling mode with 1440p internal rendering and upscaling to 8K resolution. In addition, many creative applications have begun to use artificial intelligence features to speed up the work of artists. NVIDIA Broadcast also offers noise removal tools,

Fourth-generation tensor cores of the Ada architecture build on the capabilities of previous Ampere GPUs, which supported many new data types and introduced sparsity that doubled the throughput of tensor cores compared to Turing tensor cores. Ada's fourth-generation tensor cores support the new FP8 data format, which was first introduced in the NVIDIA Hopper GPU architecture. Compared to FP16, FP8 data format reduces data storage requirements and doubles AI performance. With the new FP8 format and sparsity feature, the GeForce RTX 4070 delivers 466 teraflops of performance for AI inference tasks.

3rd Generation RT Cores

The third generation of RT cores in the Ada architecture are specialized hardware blocks to speed up BVH traversal and perform ray and triangle intersection calculations, which is critical for speeding up ray tracing.

RT cores free up the resources of the programmable SM shader cores, allowing them to perform other pixel, vertex, and compute tasks. Ada RT cores provide ray and triangle intersection test acceleration up to 2x faster than Ampere architecture GPUs, allowing developers to add more detail to their virtual worlds. The Ada architecture also features the Opacity Micromap Engine, which accelerates alpha-tested geometry ray tracing by a factor of 2, and the Micro-Mesh Engine, which generates micromeshing on the fly to generate additional geometry, allowing for more geometric complexity without the expense of creating and storing BVHs.

AV1 video encoding

The GeForce RTX 4070 offers hardware support for video encoding using the AV1 codec. AV1 provides improved image quality at the same bit rates as H.265/H.264, which is a big advantage for game streaming. With AV1, users can achieve the same image quality at lower bit rates, resulting in smaller file sizes and faster video loading. AV1 Ada encoder is 40% more efficient than H.264 encoder in Ampere architecture.

So, thanks to the improved technologies and architecture of Ada, the GeForce RTX 4070 is an excellent choice for content creation professionals and gamers who demand high performance and visual quality. With support for the latest technologies such as ray tracing, DLSS and AV1, the RTX 4070 graphics card delivers superior image quality and performance for today's and tomorrow's games and applications.

GPU Tweak III OPERATING MODES

HEATING AND POWER CONSUMPTION

The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC video card was tested for gluttony in conjunction with an Intel Core i9 13900K processor with a clock speed of 3.2 GHz and a Z690 AORUS MASTER motherboard, in a closed Thermaltake Core V51 case.

Below are the test results for the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC graphics card:

 

According to FurMark, a dedicated graphics card testing software, the power consumption of the graphics card is 199 watts, while gaming is 190 watts. The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC graphics card demonstrates fairly low power consumption.

 

According to the data received, the temperature regime of the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC graphics card reaches a maximum of 54 degrees Celsius in a stress test and up to 52 degrees in games. This is one of the best results among all our tested video cards.

TEST PART

Test configuration
test stands	ASUS ROG Strix B650-A Gaming WiFi  32 GB DDR5 6000@6400 CL30 KingstonFURY Renegade Kingston FURY Renegade PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD  Case MPG CORELIQUID K240
multimedia equipment	Monitor Philips 326M6VJRMB/00 Power Supply Seasonic PRIME TX-1000
Software configuration
operating system	Windows 10 21H2/ Windows 11(Alder Lake)
Graphics driver	Nvidia GeForce/ION Driver Release 531.68 WHQL AMD Radeon Adrenalin Edition 24.1.1
Monitoring programs	MSI Afterburner

The Callisto Protocol

 

Testing took place at maximum quality settings (with ray tracing).

 

• The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC performs better than the GEFORCE RTX 3080 and Radeon RX 6800 XT, reaching 82 FPS.
• It slightly outperforms the ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC (81 FPS), but is inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC (88 FPS).

 

• The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC also beats the GEFORCE RTX 3080 and Radeon RX 6800 XT with 63 FPS.
• As in the previous case, it slightly overtakes the ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC (62 FPS) and is inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC (66 FPS).

• The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC continues to outperform the GEFORCE RTX 3080 and Radeon RX 6800 XT at 35 FPS.
• It also marginally outperforms the ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC (34 FPS) and behind the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC (39 FPS).

Overall, the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC 12 GB graphics card delivers better performance than the GEFORCE RTX 3080 and Radeon RX 6800 XT at all resolutions. It also has a slight advantage over the ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC, but is inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC. All graphics cards in this comparison show comfortable FPS values, well above the 25 fps threshold at all resolutions.

Forspoken

Testing took place at maximum quality settings (with ray tracing).

• The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC performs better than the Radeon RX 6800 XT and ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC, reaching 73 FPS.
• It slightly outperforms the GEFORCE RTX 3080 (72 FPS), but is significantly behind the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC (89 FPS).

• The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC also beats the Radeon RX 6800 XT with 58 FPS.
• As in the previous case, it slightly outperforms ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC (57 FPS) and GEFORCE RTX 3080 (57 FPS), but is inferior to Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC (68 FPS).

• The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC continues to outperform the Radeon RX 6800 XT at 35 FPS.
• It is on par with the GEFORCE RTX 3080 (35 FPS) and slightly outperforms the ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC (34 FPS), but inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC (43 FPS).

Overall, the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC 12 GB graphics card delivers better performance than the Radeon RX 6800 XT and ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC at all resolutions. It also has a slight advantage over the GEFORCE RTX 3080, but is inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC. All graphics cards in this comparison show comfortable FPS values, well above the 25 fps threshold at all resolutions.

dead space

Testing took place at maximum quality settings (with ray tracing).

• The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC performs better than the Radeon RX 6800 XT and GEFORCE RTX 3080, reaching 129 FPS.
• It slightly outperforms the ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC (127 FPS), but is inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC (132 FPS).

• The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC also beats the Radeon RX 6800 XT and GEFORCE RTX 3080 with 83 FPS.
• As in the previous case, it slightly outperforms the ASUS GeForce RTX 4070

• The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC continues to outperform the Radeon RX 6800 XT at 38 FPS.
• It slightly outperforms ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC (37 FPS), but is inferior to GEFORCE RTX 3080 (39 FPS) and Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC (42 FPS).

Overall, the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC 12 GB graphics card delivers better performance than the Radeon RX 6800 XT and GEFORCE RTX 3080 at all resolutions. It also has a slight advantage over the ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC, but is inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC. All graphics cards in this comparison show comfortable FPS values, well above the 25 fps threshold at all resolutions.

Hogwarts Legacy

 

Testing took place at maximum quality settings (with ray tracing). 

 

• Without DLSS/FSR: Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC performs better than Radeon RX 6800 XT but loses to GEFORCE RTX 3080 and Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC.
• With DLSS 3.0: Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC (138 FPS) outperforms all graphics cards except Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC + DLSS 3.0 (159 FPS).

• Without DLSS/FSR: Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC provides better performance than Radeon RX 6800 XT and ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC, but is inferior to GEFORCE RTX 3080 and Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC.
• With DLSS 3.0: Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC (105 FPS) once again outperforms all graphics cards except Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC + DLSS 3.0 (118 FPS).

• Without DLSS/FSR: Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC shows comfortable FPS values ​​(25 FPS), surpassing Radeon RX 6800 XT, but losing to GEFORCE RTX 3080 and Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC.
• With DLSS 3.0: Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC (61 FPS) continues to outperform all graphics cards except Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC + DLSS 3.0 (71 FPS).

In general, the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC 12 GB graphics card shows good performance and provides comfortable FPS values, especially when using DLSS 3.0. However, it is inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC with DLSS 3.0 activated in all resolutions.

Resident Evil 4

 

Testing took place at maximum quality settings with RT

 

 Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC delivers excellent performance, delivering more FPS than GEFORCE RTX 3080 and Radeon RX 6800 XT. However, it is inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC.

 The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC continues to perform well, outperforming the GEFORCE RTX 3080 and ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC, but behind the Radeon RX 6800 XT and Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC.

The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC delivers satisfying FPS numbers, outperforming the ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC and GEFORCE RTX 3080. But it falls behind the Radeon RX 6800 XT and Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC.

The Witcher 3

 

Testing took place at maximum quality settings with RT.

 The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC performs well, outperforming the Radeon RX 6800 XT and GEFORCE RTX 3080. It is slightly behind the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC. With the use of DLSS 3.0, all cards show a significant increase in FPS.

 The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC continues to perform well, delivering more FPS than the Radeon RX 6800 XT and ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC, but behind the GEFORCE RTX 3080 and Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC. Using DLSS 3.0, the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC outperforms most graphics cards except the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC.

 The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC performs poorly with FPS below comfortable levels, but it is comparable to the ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC and better than the Radeon RX 6800 XT. The card is inferior to GEFORCE RTX 3080 and Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC. With DLSS 3.0, FPS is greatly improved and the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC delivers comfortable FPS numbers, outperforming most graphics cards except the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC.

In general, the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC 12 GB graphics card performs well at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 resolutions, especially when using DLSS 3.0. At 3840x2160, performance is below comfortable levels without DLSS, but improves significantly with it. In most cases, the card outperforms the GEFORCE RTX 3080 and ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC, but is inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC.

Cyberpunk 2077v. 1.62 Ray Tracing "Overdrive"

Testing took place at maximum quality settings and with ray tracing.

 The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC performs well, providing more FPS than the Radeon RX 6800 XT and GEFORCE RTX 3080, but inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC. With DLSS 3.0, all cards show significant FPS gains, and the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC continues to outperform most graphics cards except the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC.

 The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC performs below comfortable levels without DLSS, but is ahead of the Radeon RX 6800 XT and GEFORCE RTX 3080. The card is inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC. Using DLSS 3.0, the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC delivers comfortable FPS numbers, outperforming most graphics cards except the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC.

 The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC performs very poorly with FPS well below comfortable non-DLSS values, but better than the Radeon RX 6800 XT and ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC. The card is inferior to GEFORCE RTX 3080 and Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC. With DLSS 3.0, FPS improves but still remains below comfortable levels.

In general, the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC 12 GB graphics card performs well at 1920x1080, especially when using DLSS 3.0. At 2560x1440, the card provides a comfortable level of FPS only with DLSS 3.0. At 3840x2160, performance remains below comfortable levels, even with DLSS 3.0. In most cases, the card outperforms the GEFORCE RTX 3080 and ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 DUAL OC, but is inferior to the Asus ROG GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC

CONCLUSION

The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC graphics card is a good choice for gamers, especially considering the benefits of DLSS 3.0. At 1920x1080, the card delivers excellent performance that can handle most modern games at high graphics settings.

At 2560x1440, the card's performance may vary depending on the game, but in most cases, using DLSS 3.0, the card provides a comfortable FPS level and a smooth gaming session.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the performance of the card without DLSS may be insufficient for a comfortable game. However, with the use of DLSS 3.0, the FPS is greatly improved, allowing some games to be played at higher graphics settings.

All in all, the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC is a powerful graphics card capable of delivering good performance in most modern games at various resolutions, especially when using DLSS 3.0. If you're looking for a graphics card that can handle demanding games while still delivering consistent FPS, this card might be a great choice.

The Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC graphics card is also quite cold and quiet during operation. With an optimized cooling design and efficient fans, this graphics card provides reliable cooling even under heavy loads.