Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070: Two-minute overview

Plenty of guarantees had been made concerning the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, and in some slim sense, these guarantees are fulfilled with Nvidia’s mainstream GPU. However the gulf between what was anticipated and what the RTX 5070 really delivers is just too huge a spot to bridge for me and the legion of players and fanatics on the market who will not be capable of afford—and even discover, frankly—Nvidia’s greatest graphics playing cards from this technology.

Launching on March 5, 2025, at an MSRP of $549 / £549 / AU$1,109 within the US, UK, and Australia, respectively, this is likely to be one of many few Nvidia Blackwell GPUs you may discover at MSRP (together with accessible inventory), however just for lack of considerable demand. Because the middle-tier GPU in Nvidia’s lineup, the RTX 5070 is supposed to have broader attraction and extra accessible pricing and specs than the enthusiast-grade Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, however of all of the playing cards this technology, that is the one which appears to have the least to supply potential patrons over what’s already available on the market at this worth level.

That is to not say there may be nothing to commend this card. The RTX 5070 does stand up to native Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 efficiency in some video games due to Nvidia Blackwell’s unique Multi-Body Era (MFG) expertise. And, to be honest, the RTX 5070 is a considerable enchancment over the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, so at the least in direct gen-on-gen uplift, there’s a roughly 20-25% efficiency acquire.

However this card is a far, far cry from the promise of RTX 4090 efficiency that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang introduced on stage at CES 2025, even with the qualifier that such an achievement can be “unattainable with out synthetic intelligence,” which suggests a heavy reliance on DLSS 4 and MFG to get this card over the road.

If we’re simply speaking framerates, then in some very slim instances this card can try this, however at 4K with ray tracing and cranked-up settings, the enter latency for the RTX 5070 with MFG might be noticeable relying in your settings, and it may possibly develop into distracting. Nvidia Reflex helps, however if you happen to take RTX 4090 efficiency to imply the identical expertise because the RTX 4090, you merely will not get that with MFG, even within the 80 or so video games that assist it at the moment.

Add to all this the truth that the RTX 5070 barely outpaces the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Tremendous once you take MFG off the desk (which will be the case for the overwhelming majority of video games performed on this card) and you actually do not have something to point out for the additional 30W of energy this card pulls down over the RTX 4070 Tremendous.

With the RTX 5070 coming in at lower than 4 p.c quicker in gaming with out MFG than the non-OC RTX 4070 Tremendous, and roughly 5% quicker general, that signifies that the RTX 5070 is basically a stock-overclocked RTX 4070 Tremendous, performance-wise, with the added characteristic of MFG. An overclocked RTX 4070 Tremendous would possibly even match or exceed the RTX 5070’s general efficiency in all however a handful of video games, and that does not even contact upon AMD’s numerous choices on this worth vary, just like the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE or AMD’s upcoming RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 playing cards.

Provided that the RTX 4070 Tremendous remains to be usually accessible available on the market (at the least in the meanwhile) at a worth the place you are more likely to discover it for lower than accessible RTX 5070 playing cards, and competing AMD playing cards are sometimes accessible for much less, simpler to search out, and provide roughly the identical stage of efficiency, I actually wrestle to search out any cause to suggest this card, even with out the questionable-at-best advertising for this card to bitter my emotions about it.

I caught a whole lot of flack from fanatics for praising the RTX 5080 regardless of its 8-10% efficiency uplift over the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Tremendous, however on the stage of the RTX 5080, there isn’t a actual competitors and you are still getting the third-best graphics card available on the market with a noticeable efficiency increase over the RTX 4080 Tremendous for a similar MSRP. Was it what fanatics wished? No, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a unbelievable card with few friends, and the bottom efficiency of the RTX 5080 was so good that the latency downside of MFG simply wasn’t a problem, making it a robust value-add for the cardboard.

You simply cannot declare that for the RTX 5070. There are just too many different choices for players to think about at this worth level, and MFG simply is not a robust sufficient promoting level at this efficiency stage to maneuver the needle. If the RTX 5070 is the one card you’ve gotten accessible to you for buy and also you want a terrific 1440p graphics card and might’t await one thing higher (and also you’re solely paying MSRP), then you definately’ll in the end be proud of this card. However the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 may have and will have been so significantly better than it in the end is.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070: Worth & availability

• How a lot is it? MSRP/RRP beginning at $549 / £549 / AU$1,109
• When are you able to get it? The RTX 5070 goes on sale on March 5, 2025
• The place is it accessible? The RTX 5070 will probably be accessible within the US, UK, and Australia at launch

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 is offered beginning March 5, 2025, with an MSRP of $549 / £549 / AU$1,109 within the US, UK, and Australia, respectively.

This places it on the identical worth as the present RTX 4070 MSRP, and barely lower than that of the RTX 4070 Tremendous. It is also the identical MSRP because the AMD’s RX 7900 GRE and upcoming RX 9070, and barely cheaper than the AMD RX 9070 XT’s MSRP.

The comparatively low MSRP for the RTX 5070 is likely one of the brilliant spots for this card, in addition to the existence of the RTX 5070 Founders Version card, which Nvidia will promote straight at MSRP. It will at the least put one thing of an anchor on the cardboard’s worth within the face of scalping and common worth inflation.

• Worth: 4 / 5

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070: Specs

• GDDR7 VRAM and PCIe 5.0
• Larger energy consumption
• Nonetheless simply 12GB VRAM, and fewer compute models

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 is a blended bag in relation to specs. On the one hand, you’ve gotten superior expertise like the brand new PCIe 5.0 interface and new GDDR7 VRAM, each of which seem nice on paper.

However, it looks like each different spec was configured and tweaked to guarantee that it compensated for any efficiency profit these applied sciences would impart to maintain the general package deal kind of the identical because the earlier technology GPUs.

As an illustration, whereas the RTX 5070 sports activities quicker GDDR7 reminiscence, it does not increase the VRAM pool past 12GB, not like its rivals. If Nvidia hoped that the quicker reminiscence would make up for preserving the quantity of VRAM the identical, it solely makes a modest enhance within the variety of compute models within the GPU (48 in comparison with the RTX 4070’s 46), and a noticeable lower from the RTX 4070 Tremendous’s (56).

No matter efficiency beneficial properties the RTX 5070 makes with its quicker reminiscence, then, is totally neutralized by the bigger variety of compute models (together with the requisite variety of CUDA cores, RT cores, and Tensor cores) within the RTX 4070 Tremendous.

The bottom clock on the RTX 5070 is notably increased, however its increase clock is barely barely elevated, which is in the end the place it counts whereas taking part in video games or operating intensive workloads.

Likewise, no matter beneficial properties the extra superior TSMC N4P node provides the RTX 5070’s GPU over the TSMC N4 node of its predecessors appears to be eaten up by the reducing down of the die. If there was an influence or value cause for this, I do not know, however I believe that this choice is what in the end sinks the RTX 5070.

It looks like each choice was made to maintain issues proper the place they’re moderately than transfer issues ahead. That may be acceptable, truthfully, if there was another main profit like a enormously decreased energy draw or a lot cheaper price (I’ve argued for each moderately than pushing for extra efficiency each gen), however someway the RTX 5070 manages to drag down an additional 30W of energy over the RTX 4070 Tremendous and a full 50W over the RTX 4070, and the value is barely barely decrease than the RTX 4070 was at launch.

Lastly, this can be a PCIe 5.0 x16 GPU, which signifies that you probably have a motherboard with 16 PCIe lanes or much less, and also you’re utilizing a PCIe 5.0 SSD, certainly one of these two parts goes to get nerfed right down to PCIe 4.0, and most motherboards default to prioritizing the GPU.

You would possibly be capable of set your PCIe 5.0 precedence to your SSD in your motherboard’s BIOS settings and put the RTX 5070 into PCIe 4.0, however I have never examined how this is able to have an effect on the efficiency of the RTX 5070, so be conscious that this is likely to be a problem with this card.

• Specs: 2.5 / 5

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070: Design

• No dual-pass-through cooling
• FE card is similar measurement because the RTX 4070 and RTX 4070 Tremendous FE playing cards

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Version appears similar to the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 that preceeded it, however with some very key variations, each inside and outside.

Probably the greatest issues concerning the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 FE playing cards was the modern twin pass-through cooling answer on these playing cards, which improved thermals a lot that Nvidia was in a position to shrink the scale of these playing cards from the gargantuan bricks of the final technology to one thing way more manageable and sensible.

It might have been good to see what such an answer may have carried out for the RTX 5070, however possibly it simply wasn’t potential to engineer it so it made any sense. Regardless, it is unlucky that it wasn’t an possibility right here, despite the fact that the RTX 5070 is hardly unwieldy (at the least for the Founders Version card).

In any other case, it sports activities the identical 16-pin energy connector placement because the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, so 90-degree energy connectors will not match the Founders Version, although you should have higher luck with most, if not all, AIB companion playing cards which can probably follow the identical energy connector placement of the RTX 40 collection.

The RTX 5070 FE will simply match inside even a SFF case with ease, and its lighter energy draw signifies that even when it’s important to depend on the included two-to-one cable adapter to plug in two free 8-pin cables out of your energy provide, it’s going to nonetheless be a reasonably manageable affair.

Lastly, like all of the Founders Version playing cards earlier than it, the RTX 5070 has no RGB, with solely the white backlight GeForce RTX brand on the highest fringe of the cardboard to offer any ‘aptitude’ of that kind.

• Design: 3.5 / 5

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070: Efficiency

• Virtually no distinction in efficiency over the RTX 4070 Tremendous with out MFG
• Utilizing MFG can get you native RTX 4090 framerates in some video games
• Considerably quicker efficiency over the RTX 4070

Boy howdy, right here we go.

One of the best factor I can say concerning the efficiency of this card is that it’s simply barely the very best 1440p graphics card available on the market as of this overview, and that DLSS 4’s Multi Body Era can ship the type of framerates Nvidia guarantees in these video games the place the expertise is offered, both natively or by the Nvidia App’s DLSS override characteristic.

Each of these statements include a whole lot of caveats, although, and the RTX 5070 does not make sufficient progress from the final gen to make a compelling case for itself performance-wise, particularly since its signature characteristic is barely accessible in a smattering of video games in the intervening time.

On the artificial facet of issues, the RTX 5070 appears sturdy in opposition to the cardboard it is changing, the RTX 4070, and usually provides about 25% higher efficiency on artificial benchmarks like 3DMark Metal Nomad or Pace Means. It additionally has increased compute efficiency in Geekbench 6 than its direct predecessor, although not be as drastic a margin (about 10% higher).

In comparison with the RTX 4070 Tremendous, nonetheless, the RTX 5070’s efficiency is barely about 6% higher general, and solely about 12% higher than the AMD RX 7900 GRE’s general artificial efficiency.

Once more, a win is a win, nevertheless it’s a lot nearer than it ought to be gen-on-gen.

The RTX 5070 runs into related points on the artistic facet, the place it solely outperforms the RTX 4070 Tremendous by about 3% general, with its greatest efficiency coming in PugetBench for Creators’ Adobe Premiere benchmark (~13% higher than the RTX 4070 Tremendous), however faltering considerably with Blender Benchmark 4.3.0.

This is not too shocking, because the RTX 5070 hasn’t been launched but and GPUs are inclined to carry out higher in Blender a number of weeks or months after the cardboard’s launch when the devs can higher optimize issues for brand new releases.

All in all, for this class of playing cards, the RTX 5070 is a strong alternative for many who would possibly need to dabble in artistic work with out a lot of a monetary dedication, however actual execs are higher off with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti if you happen to’re seeking to improve with out spending a fortune.

It is with gaming, although, the place the true heartbreak comes with this card.

Technically, with simply 12GB VRAM, this is not a 4K graphics card, however each the RTX 4070 Tremendous and RTX 5070 are sturdy sufficient playing cards which you could get playable native 4K in just about each recreation as long as you by no means, ever contact ray tracing, international illumination, or the like. Sadly, each playing cards carry out roughly the identical underneath these situations at 4K, with the RTX 5070 pulling right into a slight >5 fps lead in a couple of video games like Returnal and Dying Mild 2.

Nevertheless, in some titles like F1 2024, the RTX 4070 Tremendous really outperforms the RTX 5070 when ray tracing is turned on, or when DLSS is ready to balanced and with none Body Era. General and throughout completely different setting configurations, the RTX 5070 solely musters a roughly 4.5% higher common FPS at 4K than the RTX 4070 Tremendous.

It is just about the identical story at 1440p, as effectively, with the RTX 5070 outperforming the RTX 4070 Tremendous by about 2.7% throughout configurations at 1440p. We’re actually within the realm of what a superb overclock can get you on an RTX 4070 Tremendous moderately than a generational leap, regardless of all of the next-gen specs that the RTX 5070 brings to bear.

OK, however what concerning the RTX 4090? Can the RTX 5070 with DLSS 4 Multi Body Era match the native 4K efficiency of the RTX 4090?

Sure, it may possibly, at the least if you happen to’re solely involved with common FPS. The one recreation with an in-game benchmark that I can use to measure the RTX 5070’s MFG efficiency is Cyberpunk 2077, and I’ve included these outcomes right here, however in Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle and Dragon Age: Veilguard (utilizing the Nvidia App’s override operate) I just about discovered MFG to carry out persistently as promised, delivering considerably quicker FPS than DLSS 4 alone and touchdown within the ballpark of the place the RTX 4090’s native 4K efficiency finally ends up.

And as long as you keep far-off from ray tracing, the bottom framerate at 4K will probably be excessive sufficient on the RTX 5070 that you simply will not discover an excessive amount of, if any, latency in lots of video games. However once you flip ray tracing on, even the RTX 5090’s native body fee tanks, and it is these baseline rendered frames that deal with adjustments primarily based in your enter, and the three AI-generated frames primarily based on that preliminary rendered body do not consider no matter enter adjustments you’ve got made in any respect.

As such, despite the fact that you may stand up to 129 FPS at 4K with Psycho RT and Extremely preset in Cyberpunk 2077 on the RTX 5070 (blowing well past the RTX 5090’s native 51 common FPS on the Extremely preset with Psycho RT), solely 44 of the RTX 5070’s 129 frames per second are reflecting energetic enter. This results in a state of affairs the place your recreation appears like its flying by at 129 FPS, however feels prefer it’s nonetheless a sluggish 44 FPS.

For many video games, this is not going to be a deal breaker. Whereas I have never tried the RTX 5070 with 4x MFG on Passable, I am completely constructive I can’t really feel the distinction, as it is not the type of recreation the place you want quick reflexes (aside from coping with the effing Stingers), however Marvel Rivals? You are going to really feel it.

Nvidia Reflex undoubtedly helps take the sting off MFG’s latency, nevertheless it does not fully eradicate it, and for some video games (and players) that’s going to matter, leaving the RTX 5070’s MFG expertise an excessive amount of of a blended bag to be a categorical promoting level. I believe the hate directed at ‘pretend frames’ is wildly overblown, however within the case of the RTX 5070, it is not totally with out advantage.

So the place does that go away the RTX 5070? General, it is the very best 1440p card available on the market proper now, and it is comparatively low MSRP makes it the very best worth proposition in its class. It is also more likely that you’re going to really be capable of discover this card at MSRP, making the query of worth extra than simply tutorial.

For many players on the market, Multi Body Era goes to be nice, and as long as you go simple on the ray tracing, you may in all probability by no means run into any sensible latency in your video games, so in these cases, the RTX 5070 would possibly really feel like black magic in a circuit board.

However my downside with the RTX 5070 is that it’s completely not the RTX 4090, and for the overwhelming majority of the video games you are going to be taking part in, it by no means will probably be, and that is primarily what was promised when the RTX 5070 was introduced. As a substitute, the RTX 5070 is an RTX 4070 Tremendous with a couple of video games operating MFG slapped to its facet that appear like they’re taking part in on an RTX 4090, however might or might not really feel like they’re, and that is simply not ok.

It isn’t what we had been promised, not by a protracted shot.

• Efficiency: 3 / 5

Do you have to purchase the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070?

Purchase the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 if…

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Additionally think about

How I examined the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070

• I spent a couple of week with the RTX 5070
• I used my full GPU testing suite to research the cardboard’s efficiency
• I examined the cardboard in on a regular basis, gaming, artistic, and AI workload utilization

I spent a couple of week testing the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, utilizing it as my essential workstation GPU for artistic content material work, gaming, and different testing.

I used my up to date testing suite together with trade normal instruments like 3DMark and PugetBench for Creators, in addition to built-in recreation benchmarks like Cyberpunk 2077, Civilization VII, and others.

I’ve reviewed greater than 30 graphics playing cards for TechRadar within the final two and a half years, in addition to extensively testing and retesting graphics playing cards all year long for options, evaluation, and different content material, so you may belief that my evaluations are primarily based on expertise and knowledge, in addition to my need to ensure you get the very best GPU on your hard-earned cash.

• Initially reviewed March 2025