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GeForce RTX 4070 Graphics Card Review – Featuring MSI Ventus 3X

Today we are finally checking out NVIDIA’s latest mid-range graphics card, the GeForce RTX 4070 GPU. We are already late to the (review) party since our RTX 4070 got delayed in transit. We have MSI’s GeForce RTX 4070 Ventus 3X 12G graphics card here; specs-wise, it is similar to NVIDIA’s RTX 4070 Founders Edition. So, its performance should be similar to a reference model. As you may have seen from other reviews, the RTX 4070 performs similarly to an RTX 3080 10G graphics card. Let’s find out if it does perform like an RTX 3080 and if it’s worth getting it for a 1440p gaming setup. Please continue reading our review below.

msi rtx 4070 ventus 3x review

MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ventus 3X 12G Review – The 1440p Graphics Card

The GeForce RTX 4070 is NVIDIA’s latest GPU for gamers targeting 100+ FPS at 1440p gaming. Like all RTX 40 series GPUs, it features NVIDIA’s Ada Lovelace architecture and DLSS 3. According to NVIDIA, the RTX 4070 offers a “tremendous upgrade” if you still use an RTX 2070 or GTX 1080.

The GeForce RTX 4070 is based on the AD104 GPU and equipped with 5,888 CUDA Cores providing 29 FP32 Shader-TFLOPS of power for rendering traditional rasterized graphics. It also has 184 4th gen Tensor Cores offering 466 Tensor-TFLOPS (with Sparsity) for AI processing and DLSS; 46 3rd gen Ada RT Cores capable of 67 RT-TFLOPS for powering next-generation ray-traced graphics, and 12GB of GDDR6X memory.

NVIDIA GeForce_RTX_4070_Block_Diagram

Below are additional features of the RTX 4070 and its specifications. After that, let’s look at MSI’s GeForce RTX 4070 Ventus 3X graphics card and see how it performs.

Technological innovations include:

  • New Streaming Multiprocessors (SM) – The new SM delivers up to 2x performance and power efficiency.
  • 4th Generation Tensor Cores and Optical Flow – Enable and accelerate transformative AI technologies, including the new frame rate multiplying NVIDIA DLSS 3.
  • 3rd Generation RT Cores – Up to 2x ray tracing performance, delivering incredibly detailed virtual worlds like never before.
  • Shader Execution Reordering (SER) – SER improves ray tracing operations by 2x, boosting FPS up to 44% in Cyberpunk with RT: Overdrive Mode.
  • DLSS 3 – A revolutionary breakthrough in AI-powered graphics that massively boosts performance using AI to generate additional high-quality frames.
  • NVIDIA Studio – Unmatched performance in 3D rendering, video editing, and livestreaming.
  • AV1 Encoders – The 8th generation NVIDIA Encoder (NVENC) with AV1 is 40% more efficient than H.264, enabling new possibilities for streamers, broadcasters, and video callers.

GeForce RTX 4070 Specifications

Graphics CardRTX 4070RTX 4070 TiRTX 4080RTX 4090
Fabrication ProcessTSMC 4N NVIDIA Custom ProcessTSMC 4N NVIDIA Custom ProcessTSMC 4N NVIDIA Custom ProcessTSMC 4 nm NVIDIA Custom Process
Transistor Count35.8 billion35.8 billion45.9 billion76.3 billion
ArchitectureAda LovelaceAda LovelaceAda LovelaceAda Lovelace
GPUAD104AD104AD103AD102
Graphics Processing Clusters45711
Texture Processing Clusters23303864
Streaming Multiprocessors466076128
CUDA Cores58887680972816384
Tensor Cores184 (4th Gen)240 (4th Gen)304 (4th Gen)512 (4th Gen)
RT Cores46 (3rd Gen)60 (3rd Gen)76 (3rd Gen)128 (3rd Gen)
Texture Units184240304512
ROPs6480112176
Boost Clock2475 MHz2610 MHz2505 MHz2520 MHz
Memory Clock10500 MHz10500 MHz11200 MHz10501 MHz
Memory Data Rate21 Gbps21 Gbps22.4 Gbps21 Gbps
L2 Cache Size36864 KB49152 KB65536 KB73728 KB
Total Video Memory12 GB GDDR6X12 GB GDDR6X16 GB GDDR6X24 GB GDDR6X
Memory Interface192-bit192-bit256-bit384-bit
Total Memory Bandwidth504 GB/s504 GB/s716.8 GB/s1008 GB/s
Texture Rate455.4 Gigatexels/sec626 Gigatexels/sec761.5 Gigatexels/sec1290.2 GigaTexels/sec
Connectors3 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI3 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI3 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI3 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI
Minimum Power Supply650 Watts700 Watts750 Watts850 Watts
Total Graphics Power (TGP)200 Watts285 Watts320 Watts450 Watts
PCI Express InterfaceGen 4Gen 4Gen 4Gen 4
Release DateApril 2023 January 2023 November 2022October 2022
Launch Price$599 $799 $1,199 $1,599

Check the latest pricing and availability: (#ad)
MSI RTX 4070 Ventus 2X 12G OC at Amazon.com here.
RTX 4070 Ventus 3X 12G OC at Amazon.com here.
RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio 12G at Amazon.com here.
GeForce RTX 4070 graphic cards are available on Amazon.com here.

Packaging and Closer Look

The MSI RTX 4070 Ventus 3X’s packaging is relatively small. It’s been a while since I last saw a small packaging for a graphics card, even for a mid-range class card. Usually, they are big. The box itself is even smaller than the MSI RTX 3050 Gaming X and feels ordinary. You can see a picture of the graphics card at the front, and at the back, you can read some of its specifications.

Most RTX 4070 cards in the market are not big and chunky, unlike the RTX 4080 and even the RTX 4070 Ti cards. Despite having a triple-fan design, the Ventus 3X is only a 2-slot graphics card. It measures 308mm in length, 123mm in width, and 52mm in height. It’s also very lightweight, weighing only 1.1 kg.

The front cooler shroud is all plastic, including the backplate (unfortunately). Because of this, the card feels cheap on hand or plasticky. The only good side is that it is not that heavy and doesn’t occupy much space. Despite being lightweight, I still used a graphics card support since the rear end of the card tends to sag a bit due to its length.

MSI Ventus 2X Dual Fan Design

If you need a small and more compact RTX 4070 card or are not a fan of the triple-fan design, MSI also has the RTX 4070 Ventus 2X. Even the Founders Edition RTX 4070 has a small and compact body.

The Good Old Ports

On the rear ports area, we can see the usual output ports: three DisplayPort 1.4a and one HDMI 2.1 port. Most base model RTX 4070 cards use the good-old 8-pin PCIe power connector. Some premium or higher-end RTX 4070 variants, including the Founders Edition, uses the 16-pin 12VHPWR connector. So keep that in mind if you ever plan to get an RTX 4070 card and don’t have an ATX 3.0 PCIe 5-compatible PSU.

Size Comparison

Above, you can see a size comparison between the RTX 4070 Ventus 3X, NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super FE, and an MSI RTX 3080 Ti SUPRIM X. Despite being a slim and “long” graphics card, the RTX 4070 Ventus 3X’s PCB ends somewhere in the middle, where the 8-pin PCI power connector is located. So half of the graphics card’s length is just a heatsink.

Now let’s see how this graphics card performs.

Test Setup for RTX 4070

msi rtx 4070 ventus 3x review setup

I’m using an X670E motherboard with an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X to test the GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. It is paired with a DDR5-6000MHz CL30 memory kit with the AMD EXPO profile enabled. Resizable BAR was also enabled from the BIOS settings. Below are the rest of the specifications of the system:

Operating SystemWindows 11 Pro
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 7 7700X
MotherboardMSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi
MemoryCorsair Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000MHz CL30 AMD EXPO
Graphics CardMSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ventus 3X 12G
OS DriveMSI Spatium M480 Play
Game DriveSanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD V2 and Extreme Portable SSD V2
Power SupplyMSI MPG A1000G PCIE5
ChassisMSI MPG Velox 100P Airflow
MonitorMSI Optix MPG321UR-QD 4K 144Hz

I used NVIDIA’s GeForce Game Ready Driver version 531.68 WHQL. The card was tested in three resolutions – 1920×1080 FHD, 2560×1440 WQHD, and 3840×2160 4K UHD.

For synthetic benchmarks, I used 3DMark’s benchmark suite. I also used the following games to test the graphics card using traditional rasterization: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, Forza Horizon 5, Horizon Zero Dawn, Monster Hunter World, Read Dead Redemption 2, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and The Division 2.

For ray tracing and DLSS-enabled games, I tested the RTX 4070 with Cyberpunk 2077, Watch Dogs Legion, The Witcher 3 Next Gen, A Plague Tale: Requiem, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare II.

Below is the GPU-Z screenshot of the MSI RTX 4070 Ventus 3X 12G.

msi rtx 4070 ventus 3x gpuz

GeForce RTX 4070 Benchmarks

Synthetic Benchmark Results

Below are the results that I got with 3D Mark’s benchmark suite. The numbers are the graphics scores.

As you can see from the results above, the RTX 4070 trade blows with the RTX 3080. It is also substantially faster than its predecessor, but there’s also a significant gap between the RTX 4070 and RTX 4070 Ti. Let’s check out some real game benchmark results next.

GeForce RTX 4070 Ray Tracing and DLSS Benchmark Results

Let’s start with the more demanding game titles with ray tracing and/or DLSS enabled.

Cyberpunk 2077

Using traditional rasterization, the RTX 4070 can push more than 100 fps in 1080p resolution with ultra graphics settings. And yes, I did disable FSR since FSR is enabled by default if you simply choose ultra preset. The RTX 4070 can drive Cyberpunk 2077 well up to 1440p. However, in 4K, the graphics card struggles and gets only around 30 fps on average.

Watch Dogs: Legion

Watch Dogs Legion is not as graphics-intensive as Cyberpunk 2077, so we can see that the frame rate is better in this game. I wouldn’t be surprised if the RTX 4070 struggles at 4K since the graphics card is not intended for 4K gaming. The primary target of the RTX 4070 is 1440p gaming.

The Witcher 3: Next-Gen

I had to retest The Witcher 3 Next-Gen because the performance on the previous versions was all over the place. I have only managed to retest a few GPUs so far. Again, we can see a similar scenario where the RTX 4070 performs well at 1080p and 1440p.

A Plague Tale: Requiem

In Plague Tale Requiem, the RTX 4070 performs on par or slightly faster than the RTX 3080. But when DLSS is enabled or at 4K, we can see that the RTX 3080 slightly outperforms the RTX 4070. This will be a repeating scenario and general conclusion – the RTX 4070 performs on par with the RTX 3080 10G at 1080p and 1440p. But the RTX 3080 10G slightly outperforms the RTX 4070 at 4K resolution.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare II

In Call of Duty MW II, we can see a similar result or pattern. Now, let’s check out game titles using traditional rasterization.

1080p Game Benchmark Results

1080p is not really the target resolution of the RTX 4070. But given how newer (AAA) games have become graphics-intensive especially the upcoming ones, I think the RTX 4070 is useful for 1080p gaming. Just pair it with a good gaming CPU, like the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, and you won’t experience CPU bottlenecks (mostly).

1440p Game Benchmark Results

NVIDIA markets the RTX 4070 as the 1440p gaming GPU. It is the target resolution of the RTX 4070, and NVIDIA promises gamers a 100+ fps average in this resolution. Let’s see if the RTX 4070 can average more than 100 fps.

It looks like the RTX 4070 can offer more than 100 fps on average in the games we tested it with. That is alright, considering all games were tested using their highest or maximum graphics quality.

2160p Game Benchmark Results

4K UHD or 2160p is not the target resolution of the RTX 4070. You won’t have an excellent gaming experience using this graphics card for 4K gaming, especially with newer graphics-intensive games. Not unless you sacrifice the graphics quality and use DLSS 3 to get smooth and playable frame rates.

It looks like the RTX 4070 can still drive (older) games above 60 fps at 4K resolution. Not bad, actually. Still, I wouldn’t use an RTX 4070 for 4K gaming, mainly since I use a 4K high refresh rate monitor. Nevertheless, you can use the RTX 4070 for 4K, just don’t expect too much.

Pricing and Availability

The GeForce RTX 4070 graphics cards are now available. All base models, including the Founders Edition card, start at $599 (MSRP). Meanwhile, the higher-end or premium models usually retail for around $650 to $680. At the time of publishing this review, you can get an Overwatch 2 Ultimate battle pass with a GeForce RTX 40 series card. It is a limited offer, and I do not know when it will end. For the latest pricing and availability, kindly check out the links below. (#ad)

MSI RTX 4070 Ventus 2X 12G OC is available on Amazon.com here.
GeForce RTX 4070 Ventus 3X 12G is available on Amazon.com here.
GeForce RTX 4070 Ventus 3X 12G OC is available on Amazon.com here.
MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio 12G is available on Amazon.com here.
GeForce RTX 4070 graphics cards are available on Amazon.com here.

GeForce RTX 4070 Review Conclusion

Temperature and Power Consumption

When it comes to efficiency, these RTX 4070 cards are very efficient. The Ventus 3X’s temperature was just around 66°C on average. It never touched 70°C at all, and on top of that, it was running very silently, inaudible at best.

The RTX 4070 also consumes much less power while performing similarly to an RTX 3080 10G graphics card. On average, my RTX 3080 was consuming 353 Watts. Meanwhile, on average, the RTX 4070 only consumed 190 Watts to perform similarly to the RTX 3080 10G. It is even more efficient than its predecessor, the RTX 3070. The RTX 3070 consumed around 224 Watts on average, using the same gaming benchmark tests.

So, when it comes to efficiency and temperature, hands down to the RTX 4070.

MSI Ventus or Gaming X Trio?

Should you get a Ventus graphics card or the Gaming X Trio? Do the premium RTX 4070 cards with 12VHPWR connectors perform faster than the RTX 4070 cards with 8-pin power connectors? Well, the answer is no. They will perform about the same, perhaps just a couple of fps higher. But generally speaking, their performance would be indiscernible despite getting a few fps more with the premium models.

It is a matter of personal preference if you want to buy a more premium-looking model. For instance, the Ventus card does feel cheap on hand. And some gamers might be turned off by its lackluster or plain design. So, if you want a better looking-graphics card, the Gaming X Trio is your option. But be prepared to spend $50 to $80 more on premium cards.

UPDATE: Aside from feeling plasticky, I discovered another thing while opening my Ventus 3X. There are no thermal pads for the VRM section. Meaning the VRM is not actively being cooled and doesn’t make contact with the heatsink. Only the GPU and the VRAM are actively being cooled by the heatsink/cooler. Some of the MOSFETs, 5 to be exact, have thermal pads and do make contact with the heatsink. But the other MOSFETs on the top-side portion and all VRMs don’t have any thermal pads.

I wonder why MSI didn’t put thermal pads on the VRM area. The RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio’s VRM has thermal pads, and other base models of RTX 4070 seem to have thermal pads for the VRM area too. Nevertheless, these chips are designed to handle more than 100°C, and I didn’t encounter any issues when I tested the RTX 4070 Ventus 3X despite not having thermal pads on the VRM area. But if you are uncomfortable with it, you better get the Gaming X Trio version or check some of the best RTX 4070 cards here.

Finally…

I think the RTX 4070 is an excellent graphics card for 1440p and 1080p gaming. It’s $200 cheaper than the RTX 4070 Ti variant. So, I guess it offers a (slightly) better value than its big brother GPUs. Aside from the RTX 3080-like performance at a lower cost and better power efficiency, the RTX 4070 features DLSS 3, which should give you more legroom, especially for graphics-intensive titles. It also features 8th generation NVIDIA Encoder (NVENC) with AV1 support, if that feature matters to you. Overall, I’m not overly excited about the RTX 4070; it could perform slightly better or at least cost $50 cheaper. Nevertheless, it is a good solid GPU for 1440p gaming.

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Author
Peter Paul
Peter is a PC enthusiast and avid gamer with several years of hands-on experience in testing and reviewing PC components, audio equipment, and various tech devices. He offers a genuine, no-nonsense perspective, helping consumers make informed choices in the ever-changing world of technology.

6 thoughts on “GeForce RTX 4070 Graphics Card Review – Featuring MSI Ventus 3X”

  1. It looks like you were not to excited about 4070,it could cost less etc. What is the best alternative today? What would be best to buy if not 4070? I suppose 12g of ram is jot much these days, as many games already can use 8-10gb. Looking forwards 2-3 years that would be not that much. I tend to buy a card every 5-6 years, and I te d to play in max details with resolutions of min 1080. In years 4-6 I dont expect to be ae to play in max details in some of the latest games. But most, yes.

    Reply
    • Hi Dude,

      Don’t get me wrong. True, I’m not “overly” excited. It’s just an okay product. Not very exciting but not bad as well.
      The RTX 4070 is a good buy for 1440p. You actually have two options. Either the RTX 4070 or the RTX 4070 Ti, but you will have to spend $200+ more for the 4070 Ti. I recently published a comparison of the two GPUs here.

      Then AMD also dropped the previous generation RX 6950 XT prices to match the RTX 4070. I don’t have a 6950 XT, but I do have a 6900 XT. My concern is that it’s older gen, and it consumes more power; ray tracing is not as good as NVIDIA’s GPU, DLSS quality is better, it doesn’t have DLSS 3, etc. So yes, unless you are locked into getting an AMD card, I am uncomfortable recommending AMD’s alternative.

      “max details with resolutions of min 1080” -> You are using a 1080p monitor, correct? And you don’t plan on getting a 1440p or 4K monitor in a few years? If not, the RTX 4070 is fine. 1080p doesn’t require a lot of VRAM. If you plan to upgrade to 4K, consider an RTX 4080 or RTX 4090. 12GB of VRAM is getting inadequate for modern titles, especially at 4K resolution. But for lower resolutions, it’s still enough for today.

      For example, I could not get Cyberpunk 2077’s RT Overdrive (path tracing) photo-realistic settings to work with the RTX 4070 at 4K because it requires more VRAM. But that option is available in 1080p and, I think in 1440p as well, with the RTX 4070.

      I hope this helps.

      Reply
      • Hi Paul,

        I do have 4k TV. I currently have 1660S, a temporary solution, in majority of the titles I can play in 1440 with 120hz refresh. I recently watched video where someone was comparing 3070, rtx a4000 and AMD 6900.the comparison was about performance with RT enabled, in 1080, and what impact on performance with RT has amount of ram. Resident evil, the last of us, hogwarts and couple more games in 1080 were taking even 14gb of vram. I wonder why they won’t make a graphics card with more ram. I read ram for 4080 cost about 150$. With the current prices of the cards, it wouldn’t make a difference for people to pay a 100$ more just to get much more ram, say, 20,24gb, this way the cards could handle games much better. RT eats a lot of ram, 4k needs lots of ram for textures. 4070 with RT on could be perfect card to have 20gb or vram.

        Now I am pc only gamer for many, many years, I started with voodoo card. Im observi g how cards prices jumpt suddenly, without delivering magnificent jump towards cgi quality. Majority of games are running on old engines, like call of duty… Other games didnt make huge leap in graphics in last 10-15 years, really. Sure, we have crysis 3, cyberpunk. Although i would expect games to look like the demos of cyberpunk before cyberpunk was released. They demoed proper new level of graphics, which wasn’t delivered in final game.
        paying for 4080 or 4090, 1500$ is somewhat crazy at this moment to me. First time in my life Im considering switching to playstation, as for the price of the card I can get this and next gen playstation. On top of that add cost of new mb, cpu, psu… Dont know. I hold off 30xx gen in hope of big RT improvement in next gen, but, if only top range card can run current title in proper RT, cyberpunk, It may not be ae to Run game that will be released tomorrow.

        Reply
        • Yes, I can confirm that Hogwarts Legacy does need more VRAM, especially at 4K.
          As for why NVIDIA doesn’t put more VRAM on their graphics cards, that I do not know.
          NVIDIA uses a faster GDDR6X memory, but AMD only uses GDDR6 (with higher VRAM capacity, though).

          As to “cgi quality”, Games based on Unreal Engine 5 are coming. They do take some time to develop.
          But expect next-gen games will have better graphics quality and most probably require faster GPUs.

          Yes, RTX 4090 is a halo product, not a value-oriented product.
          I’m sure when the next-gen GPUs are released, like RTX 5080, they will be faster than the current RTX 4090s.
          Just look at the RTX 3080 Ti/3090/3090 Ti. Those older GPUs are now on the same level as an RTX 4070 Ti or RTX 4080, and the new ones consume much less power.

          If you are hesitant to upgrade today, better hold off and wait for the next generation.
          If you can still game with your current setup, that’s okay. No need to rush.
          Yes, getting a PS5 is also an option, especially if you want to play the exclusives.

          Reply
  2. This review (and the ultimate score) should really be ratified to take a bigger stance on VRM cooling issues. This card could easily burnout outside of the warranty period, and MSI has a less than terrific RMA process to begin with.

    Reply
    • Hi Eric,
      While I agree that they should have also put thermal pads on the VRMs, this review is generally about NVIDIA’s RTX 4070.
      Unfortunately, we didn’t get a Founders Edition, and this Ventus 3X is the closest to a reference model.
      Our rating is for the RTX 4070 in general.

      I did point out the specific “issue” with this card. I no longer disassemble graphics cards in my review due to time constraints, but I got curious when I saw TPU and Guru3D’s reviews later on.

      Guru3D did report this to MSI: “Engineering got back to us saying that they produced similar results, but they pass internal validation, ergo they deem this to be normal/expected behaviour. .”

      This isn’t the first time I’ve seen when there are no thermal pads on the VRM, or partially some are not actively cooled.
      While I can’t say for certain about its longevity, it is running within specs.
      Still, it would be nice if those (hot) components were passively cooled as well.

      Reply

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