PROS

• Strong performance
• 12GB GDDR6X VRAM
• Exceptional cooling

CONS

• Outpaced by competition
• Priced from “high” to “very high”
• Very large—not for small cases

ZOTAC NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 TI AMP EXTREME AIRO SPECS

Nvidia’s latest graphics card, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, offers impressive performance improvements, but it comes with a high price tag. The Zotac Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Amp Extreme Airo is a top-of-the-line version of the card produced by a partner company, and it delivers excellent gaming capabilities. However, it is only worth considering if it is priced reasonably, as the starting price set by Nvidia for the RTX 4070 Ti is $799.99, which may be too steep for many gamers.

Design: I Was Once an RTX 4080

Nvidia originally announced that it would release two RTX 4080 graphics card versions: the RTX 4080 16GB and the RTX 4080 12GB. However, the company ultimately decided to release the RTX 4080 16GB as the standard GeForce RTX 4080 while renaming the RTX 4080 12GB as the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, which is the subject of this review.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti shares many features with the RTX 4080, as they were originally intended to be part of the same product line. Both cards are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture and are manufactured using a specialized 4nm process by TSMC. The RTX 4080 includes the AD103 GPU die, while the RTX 4070 Ti uses the AD104 chip, which has been modified to a lesser extent than the AD103 and therefore offers slightly lower performance.

The RTX 4070 Ti has fewer hardware resources than the RTX 4080, with a decrease of 26% in the number of CUDA cores, TMUs, ROPs, and RT cores. The VRAM capacity of the RTX 4070 Ti is also lower, at 12GB, compared to the 16GB of the RTX 4080. This is because the RTX 4070 Ti has access to only 60 of the 76 SMs available on the RTX 4080. This results in 7,680 CUDA cores, 240 TMUs, 80 ROPs, and 60 RT cores on the RTX 4070 Ti, compared to 9,728 CUDA cores, 304 TMUs, 112 ROPs, and 76 RT cores on the RTX 4080.

Nvidia slightly increased the clock speed on the RTX 4070 Ti to compensate for the reduced hardware resources. It has a base clock speed of 2,310 MHz and a boost clock speed of 2,610 MHz, but these improvements do not fully make up for the reductions in other areas. In particular, the RTX 4070 Ti has a narrower 192-bit memory interface and slower VRAM, which limits its bandwidth to about 70% of what the RTX 4080 can achieve. This significantly decreased from the 608 GBps bandwidth the previous generation Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti offered.

In summary, the modifications made to the RTX 4070 Ti resulted in a significant decrease in performance compared to the RTX 4080. While it is reasonable for there to be some performance differences between the two cards, given their different price points, the RTX 4070 Ti may have had too many resources cut to achieve a noticeable difference in performance.

A Closer Look at the RTX 4070 Ti Amp Extreme Airo

Nvidia did not release a Founders Edition version of the RTX 4070 Ti, so we tested the performance of the RTX 4070 Ti using a Zotac Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Amp Extreme Airo card instead. This particular card is quite large, despite its rounded design giving the impression of being smaller than the Founders Edition cards in Nvidia’s RTX 40 series.

One downside of the large size of the card is that it may not fit easily into many cases. However, during testing, the card’s huge heatsink and three fans provided excellent cooling performance and lower-than-expected operating temperatures. The card also comes with a factory overclock, increasing the boost clock to 2,700 MHz.

Zotac equipped the card with a 12VHPWR power connector rather than traditional PCI Express (PCIe) power connectors, consistent with other RTX 40-series cards released by Nvidia. The card also comes with an adapter that allows users to connect it to a power supply with three eight-pin PCIe connectors if their power supply does not have a 12VHPWR connector (which is likely to be the case for most users at present).

The back of the card features a standard configuration of three DisplayPort ports and one HDMI port for connecting to displays. This is a common arrangement for most graphics cards currently on the market.

Price Cuts Already, But Is It Still Too High?

The price of the RTX 4070 Ti has been a source of debate and uncertainty. Before the card’s official release, various prices were rumoured for the RTX 4070 Ti (originally known as the RTX 4080 12GB). Eventually, Nvidia settled on an MSRP of $799.99. There is still limited information available about the pricing of the RTX 4070 Ti, and the specific retail price of the Zotac Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Amp Extreme Airo model is unknown.

It is known that the RTX 4070 Ti will be available at multiple price points at launch, even with a starting price of $799.99. Some Asus RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards will be priced as high as $999.99 or $1,049.99, while others will be available for as low as $799.99 or $849.99.

It is not advisable to pay $999.99 or $1,049.99 for an RTX 4070 Ti, as the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is often faster and is available at the same price of $999.99. The performance gap between the RTX 4070 Ti and the RX 7900 XTX is even greater, making it unnecessary to purchase the RTX 4070 Ti at such a high price when a faster card can be obtained for the same or less.

Similarly, it is not advisable to pay $899.99 or more for an RTX 4070 Ti, as the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is available at that price and is slightly faster than the RTX 4070 Ti. The only RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards that may be worth considering are those priced below $899.99, although even then, it is not a clear-cut decision.

At a price of $849.99, the RTX 4070 Ti is roughly on par with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT in terms of value. At $799.99, the RTX 4070 Ti may be considered a better value than the RX 7900 XT. However, the card’s price will be a significant factor in determining which is the better choice.

Specs Compared: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

Unfortunately, the Zotac Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Amp Extreme Airo card that we are testing is likely to be one of the more expensive models of the RTX 4070 Ti. If it is priced above $899.99, it may not be the best value compared to other options. The trend of higher prices for graphics cards this generation is also a concern, as the previous generation RTX 3070 Ti was originally priced at $599, making it more affordable at launch than the RTX 4070 Ti.

Test Setup

The Zotac Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Amp Extreme Airo graphics card was tested on a system equipped with an Intel Core i9-12900K processor and a Corsair Hydro Series H100X water cooler. The test bed also included an Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboard, 32GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM clocked at 5,600 MHz, a 1TB Corsair MP600 Pro NVMe 4.0 SSD, and a Corsair HX1500i 1,500W 80 Plus Platinum power supply. All tests were conducted on a Windows 11 Pro system with the latest updates installed.

Tested Graphics Cards

The main competition for the RTX 4070 Ti at present is the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. Previous generation graphics cards from both Nvidia and AMD are no longer fast enough to be considered strong competition. While these older cards are not so slow that an upgrade is necessary if you already have an AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT or an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, they may not be worth considering unless they are significantly discounted in price.

Synthetic Benchmarks

In general, Nvidia’s new RTX 40-series graphics cards have been performing better in synthetic tests than AMD’s new Radeon RX 7000-series cards, which is also true for the RTX 4070 Ti.

In the Unigine Superposition test, the RTX 4070 Ti falls slightly behind the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, but the performance difference is insignificant.

Ray Tracing, FSR and DLSS Testing

Nvidia’s new RTX 40-series graphics cards generally have an advantage over AMD’s products when it comes to ray tracing. This allows the RTX 4070 Ti to outperform the Radeon RX 7900 XT and almost match the performance of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX in F1 22. In Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the RTX 4070 Ti significantly outperforms both AMD cards.

FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) is not functioning correctly with AMD Radeon RX 7000-series cards in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, so we could not run that test on either card. In F1 22 with FSR and DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) enabled, the Radeon RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX outperform the RTX 4070 Ti.

AAA Game Tests

In games that do not support ray tracing, the RTX 4070 Ti loses its primary advantage and falls behind the Radeon RX 7900 XT in most of our AAA game tests. The only exception is Far Cry 5 at 1080p, where the RTX 4070 Ti has a small lead but is within the margin of error for testing. This lead is also reduced by evidence of a bottleneck occurring on several cards during the test, which may be caused by the game engine or the Core i9 processor.

At 4K resolution, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT consistently performs better than the RTX 4070 Ti in most games without ray tracing support. The RX 7900 XT has an advantage of 4% in Shadow of the Tomb Raider and 17% in Far Cry 5, with the RTX 4070 Ti typically falling within 10% of the RX 7900 XT’s test score.

With a $799.99 price for the RTX 4070 Ti and $899.99 for the RX 7900 XT, both graphics cards offer strong value. The RTX 4070 Ti may be considered a slightly better value based on performance-per-dollar and ray-tracing capabilities, but the RX 7900 XT is slightly superior in games without ray-tracing support. Ultimately, the best choice will depend on the specific needs and preferences of the user.

Legacy Game Tests

Legacy game tests may have limited compatibility and can be affected by the performance of the game engine used by older games. As a result, performance can vary widely, which is why older RTX 30-series graphics cards often outperform newer RTX 40-series cards in these tests despite being generally slower.

In legacy game tests, it is important to determine whether the graphics cards can run the games and achieve playable frame rates, even if they cannot outperform previous-generation graphics cards. Overall, the RTX 4070 Ti performs well in these tests but fails to maintain 60 frames per second in Hitman Absolution at 4K resolution. In general, it does not perform as well as the AMD competition in these tests, but it does manage to win in Sleeping Dogs at 4K.

Power and Thermal Tests

We measure the power consumption of the entire system using a Kill-A-Watt meter, with only the graphics card being changed between tests to identify it as the primary cause of any differences in power consumption.

Among the new graphics cards tested, the RTX 4070 Ti is one of the most efficient. Its idle power is slightly higher, although this may be due to the CPU not fully entering an idle state. The power consumption in FurMark and Guardians of the Galaxy is a more accurate representation of the card’s power usage, and it is clear that the RTX 4070 Ti uses less power than the RTX 4080 and the RX 7900 XT in these tests.

The Zotac Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Amp Extreme Airo also performs well in terms of thermal performance, reaching a temperature of 49°C during the FurMark test. In a separate thermal test during the F1 22 2K test, the card reached a peak temperature of 67°C, which is excellent.

Conclusion

It is difficult to rate the Zotac Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Amp Extreme Airo and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti as a whole, as complete pricing information is not yet available. It is recommended to carefully consider prices, especially as more RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards are released. If priced below $899.99, the RTX 4070 Ti is competitive with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT and may be a better value at $799.99. If priced above that, it is advisable to consider other options.

Based on the information provided, it seems that the Zotac Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Amp Extreme Airo may not be a good option if it is priced over $899.99, but could be a decent option if it is priced below that. The price increase from its predecessor and the fact that it is only slightly slower than its closest competitor, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, make it difficult to determine the value of the RTX 4070 Ti Amp Extreme Airo. It is important to carefully consider the price and compare it to other options before deciding.

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Title: The Zotac Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Amp Extreme Airo is a high-quality graphics card, but its value depends on its price