MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio: 250 W, extraordinarily quiet

MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio – details

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

The current market situation for more powerful graphics is quite annoying and does not give many options to gamers or users who use the computing power of GPUs for productive purposes. Respectively, those options are only under very unfavorable conditions with silly prices. But even in this crazy time, it is necessary to keep going somehow and bring new tests on a regular basis, even if the purchasing power is understandably lower in traditional circles (gamers, creatives or developers).

In this test, we will analyze the RTX 3070. According to a German e-shop Alternate, these cards should be the most available. Instead of the most common note with very little availability, they tend to feature “just” low availability. This could indicate better stocks, although even here you need to stay vigilant.

The RTX 3070 has the same core (GA104) as the cheaper RTX 3060 Ti, with which it shares 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, a 256-bit memory bus and 4 MB of L2 cache. However, it already has 8 more streaming multiprocessors (SM), which corresponds to more shaders (5888), render output units (96), texture mapping units (184) and so on (the complete list of specifications can be found in a detailed table in the second chapter of this article).

Compared to the RTX 3060 Ti, the RTX 3070 also has higher clock speed and namely the Gaming X Trio guarantees a 1830 MHz boost. However, this is a value that corresponds rather to an extreme load at which the TDP limits are rapidly reached in worse temperature conditions. In everyday life, however, the operating clock is even higher, and we will analyze this in detail in this test. But first, look at the design of the MSI Gaming X Trio.

MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio – details

It should be noted immediately that this is not a toy card and you are dealing with one of the largest RTX 3070 graphics cards. You won’t find an RTX 3070 with a dual-fan design (i.e. with Twin Frozr 8) like you could with the RTX 2070. The reason also is that it has a slightly higher TDP, but most importantly, it can be seen that MSI wants to have quieter cards again than, say, more powerful models with the Twin Frozr 7 on RTX 2000 (Super). This is also seconded by the fact that these three-fan configurations are also installed on lower series models, including the RTX 3060, where they weren’t before. On the RTX 3070, however, such a cooler makes quite good sense. This card still has a relatively high power draw and with it would certainly be noisier or achieve lower performance the Twin Frozr 8.

Tri Frozr 2 has undergone several visible changes compared to the previous generation. It already uses Torx 4.0 fans, for which the size was unified (Torx 3.0 had a larger middle fan) to 90 mm and the shape of the blades was also changed. The designers omitted the center dispersion and ridges from the blade design, which laminarized the air flow and joined the ends of the adjacent blades instead. They are always in pairs. A remarkable detail is also the smooth glossy surface finish in some parts of the rotor, where higher static pressure could be achieved. Otherwise, most of the surface is matte with a typically rougher surface texture. In addition, the center fan rotates in the opposite direction than the side fans in order to suppress turbulence. But you already know this well from other graphics cards.

On the opposite side, the backplate is massively perforated at the end of the graphics card. This is for better airflow across the fins and overall cooling.

The PCB is significantly shorter than the total length of the cooler, so such a solution to increase cooling efficiency is definitely appropriate. Heated air can leave the cooler faster than if the backplate was solid/closed.

A large, proper cooler is great until it limits the choice of computer case. The RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio is also more bulky in depth, 140 mm in the axis facing the side panel. This will not be restrictive for most PC cases, but there will also be a few of them that have an interior vertically divided into two halves, and such a graphics card usually no longer fits in them. Although the length would fit even with 323 mm.

The number and selection of outputs corresponds to the reference design, i.e. with the predominance of DisplayPorts (1.4a), complemented by one HDMI (2.1). You can use all video outputs simultaneously.

The card is also quite high. Although the PCIe blanking plate is standard, dual-slot, it is exceeded by both the heatsink and fans. Therefore, do not expect to use the third slot with another expansion card.

The weight of the graphics card stops at 1,460 g (3.22 lb). MSI designers considered that this is already quite enough and therefore a holder is part of the accessories. On the one hand, it lightens the load of the PCI Express slot, on the other hand it holds the card in a horizontal position, which will be appreciated especially by perfectionists who care about the appearance of their computers. Still, it looks better when the back is not sagging. This will probably be the main reason to use it. Current PCIe slots with metal shieldings embedded in the PCB will not feel the heavy weight so much.

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Gaming tests

The largest sample of tests is from games. This is quite natural given that GeForce and Radeons, i.e. cards primarily intended for gaming use, will mostly be tested.

We chose the test games primarily to ensure the balance between the titles better optimized for the GPU of one manufacturer (AMD) or the other one (Nvidia). But we also took into account the popularity of the titles so that you could find your own results in the charts. Emphasis was also placed on genre diversity. Games such as RTS, FPS, TPS, car racing as well as a flight simulator, traditional RPG and sports games are represented by the most played football game. You can find a list of test games in the library of chapters (9–32), with each game having its own chapter, sometimes even two (chapters) for the best possible clarity, but this has its good reason, which we will share with you in the following text.

Before we start the gaming tests, each graphics card will pass the tests in 3D Mark to warm up to operating temperature. That’s good synthetics to start with.

We’re testing performance in games across three resolutions with an aspect ratio of 16:9 – FHD (1920 × 1080 px), QHD (2560 × 1440 px) and UHD (3840 × 2160 px) and always with the highest graphic settings, which can be set the same on all current GeForce and Radeon graphics cards. We turned off proprietary settings for the objectivity of the conclusions, and the settings with ray-tracing graphics are tested separately, as lower class GPUs do not support them. You will find their results in the complementary chapters. In addition to native ray-tracing, also after deploying Nvidia DLSS (2.0) and AMD FidelityFX CAS.

If the game has a built-in benchmark, we use that one (the only exception is Forza Horizon 4, where due to its instability – it used to crash here and there – we drive on our track), in other cases the measurements take place on the games’ own scenes. From those we capture the times of consecutive frames in tables (CSV) via OCAT, which FLAT interprets into intelligible fps speech. Both of these applications are from the workshop of colleagues from the gpureport.cz magazine. In addition to the average frame rate, we also write the minimum in the graphs. That contributes significantly to the overall gaming experience. For the highest possible accuracy, all measurements are repeated three times and the final results form their average value.

Tests with active AMD Smart Access Memory will not be part of the standard methodology yet. Of course, we will focus on SAM, but for better orientation, we will include these tests in a separate article. But we’re doing this just temporarily, until GeForce graphics supports it as well. Then we switch to the opposite model and all cards will be tested with SAM turned on. Until then, however, SAM will be turned off in standard tests, and we will publish the performance increase under its influence separately. No one will be cut short by anything (neither those who have pure AMDs in their cases, nor the owners of Intel platforms) and the clarity of the results will be nicely preserved. Still, putting multiple modes of one card into the same chart (or having 500 charts per article instead of 300) would no longer do any good.

We plan to do one more thing – once a quarter to measure the impact of various updates (drivers, OS, games, BIOS) on performance. This will result in percentage increases or drops in performance that you can work with when studying older tests. It’s a bit of a compromise, but it’s definitely a better option than releasing new tests with out-of-date software. Of course, it would be ideal to test all previous cards before doing every new test, but this is unrealistic. But we believe that you will also appreciate the continuous measurement with one GeForce graphics card and one Radeon and the inclusion of the appropriate coefficient in the criteria of interactive graphs.

Computational tests

Testing the graphics card comprehensively, even in terms of computing power, is more difficult than drawing conclusions from the gaming environment. Just because such tests are usually associated with expensive software that you don’t just buy for the editorial office. On the other hand, we’ve found ways to bring the available computing performance to you. On the one hand, thanks to well-built benchmarks, on the other hand, there are also some freely available and at the same time relevant applications, and thirdly, we have invested something in the paid ones

The tests begin with ComputeBench, which computes various simulations (including game graphics). Then we move on to the popular SPECviewperf benchmark (2020), which integrates partial operations from popular 2D and 3D applications, including 3Ds max and SolidWorks. Details on this test package can be found at spec.org. From the same team also comes SPECworkstation 3, where GPU acceleration is in the Caffe and Folding@Home tests. You can also find the results of the LuxMark 3.1 3D render in the graphs, and the remarkable GPGPU theoretical test also includes AIDA64 with FLOPS, IOPS and memory speed measurements.

For obvious reasons, 3D rendering makes the largest portion of the tests. This is also the case, for example, in the Blender practical tests (2.91). In addition to Cycles, we will also test the cards in Eevee and radeon ProRender renderers (let AMD have a related test, as most are optimized for Nvidia cards with proprietary CUDA and OptiX frameworks). Of course, an add-on for V-ray would also be interesting, but at the moment the editorial office can’t afford it, we may manage to get a “press” license in time, though, we’ll see. We want to expand application tests in the future. Definitely with some advanced AI testing (we haven’t come up with a reasonable way yet), including noise reduction (there would be some ideas already, but we haven’t incorporated those due to time constraints).

Graphics cards can also be tested well in photo editing. To get an idea of the performance in the popular Photoshop, we’re using a script in PugetBench, which simulates real work with various filters. Among them are those that use GPU acceleration. A comprehensive benchmark suggesting the performance of raster and vector graphics is then also used in alternative Affinity Photo. In Lightroom, there are remarkable color corrections (Enhance Details) of raw uncompressed photos. We apply these in batches to a 1 GB archive. All of these tasks can be accelerated by both GeForce and Radeon.

From another perspective, there are decryption tests in Hashcat with a selection of AES, MD5, NTLMv2, SHA1, SHA2-256/512 and WPA-EAPOL-PBKDF2 ciphers. Finally, in the OBS and XSplit broadcast applications, we measure how much the game performance will be reduced while recording. It is no longer provided by shaders, but by coders (AMD VCE and Nvidia Nvenc). These tests show how much spare performance each card has for typical online streaming.

There are, of course, more hardware acceleration options, typically for video editing and conversion. However, this is purely in the hands of encoders, which are always the same within one generation of cards from one manufacturer, so there is no point in testing them on every graphics card. It is different across generations and tests of this type will sooner or later appear. Just fine-tuning the metric is left, where the output will always have the same bitrate and pixel match. This is important for objective comparisons, because the encoder of one company/card may be faster in a particular profile with the same settings, but at the expense of the lower quality that another encoder has (but may not have, it’s just an example).

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Methodology: how we measure power draw

We have been tuning the method of measuring power draw for quite a long time and we will also be tuning it for some time. But we already have gimmicks that we can work with happily.

To get the exact value of the total power draw of the graphics card, it is necessary to map the internal power draw on the PCI Express slot and the external one on the additional power supply. For the analysis of the PCIe slot, it was necessary to construct an in-between card on which the power draw measurement takes place. Its basis is resistors calibrated to the exact value (0.1 Ω) and according to the amount of their voltage drop we can calculate the current. We then substitute it into the formula for the corresponding value of the output voltage ~ 12 V and ~ 3.3 V. The voltage drop is so low that it doesn’t make the VRM of the graphics card unstable and the output is still more than 12/3.3 V.

We are also working on a similar device for external power supply. However, significantly higher currents are achieved there, longer cabling and more passages between connectors are necessary, which means that the voltage drop will have to be read on an even smaller resistance of 0.01 Ω, the current state (with 0.1 Ω) is unstable for now. Until we fine-tune it, we will use Prova 15 current clamp for cable measurements, which also measures with good accuracy, they just have a range of up to 30 A. But that is also enough for the OC version of the RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio. If a card is over the range, it is always possible to split the consumption measurement (first into one half and then into the other half of the 12 V conductors).

And why bother with such devices at all when Nvidia has a PCAT power draw analyzer? For complete control over the measurements. While our devices are transparent, the Nvidia’s tool uses the processor that can (but of course does not have to) affect the measurements. After testing the AMD graphics card on the Nvidia’s tool, we probably wouldn’t sleep well.

To read and record measurements, we use a properly calibrated multimeter UNI-T UT71E, which exports samples to XLS. From it we obtain the average value and by substituting into the formula with the exact value of the subcircuit output voltages we obtain the data for the graphs.

We will analyze the line graphs with the waveforms for each part of the power supply separately. Although the 3.3 V value is usually negligible, it needs to be monitored. It is difficult to say what exactly this subcircuit powers, but usually the consumption on it is constant and when it changes only with regard to whether a static or dynamic image is rendered. We measure consumption in two sort of demanding games (F1 2020 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider) and one less demanding one (CS:GO) with the highest graphic details preset and UHD resolution (3840 × 2560 px). Then in 3D rendering in Blender using the Cycles renderer on the famous Classroom scene. However, in addition to high-load tests, it’s important to know your web browser consumption (which, in our case, is accelerated Google Chrome), where we also spend a lot of time watching videos or browsing the web. The usual average load of this type is represented by the FishIE Tank (HTML5) website with 20 fish and the web video in our power draw tests is represented by a sample with the VP9 codec, data rate of 17.4 mb/s and 60 fps. In contrast, we also test offline video consumption, in VLC player on a 45 HEVC sample (45.7 mb/s, 50 fps). Finally, we also record the power consumption of the graphics card on the desktop of idle Windows 10 with one or two active UHD@60 Hz monitors.

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Noise measurement…

Noise, as well as other operating characteristics, which we will focus on, we’re measuring in the same modes as consumption, so that the individual values overlap nicely. In addition to the level of noise produced, we also record the frequency response of the sound, the course of the GPU frequencies and its heating.

In this part of the methodology description, we will present something about the method of noise measurement. We use a Reed R8080 sound level meter, which we continuously calibrate with a calibrated Voltcraft SLC-100 digital sound level meter. A small addition to the sound level meter is a parabola-shaped collar, which has two functions. Increases the sensitivity to distinguish the sound produced even at very low speeds. It is thus possible to better compare even very quiet cards with the largest possible ratio difference. Otherwise (without this adjustment) it could simply happen that we measured the same noise level across several graphics cards, even though it would actually be a little different. This parabolic shield also makes sense because, from the outer convex side (from the back), it reflects all the parasitic sounds that everyone who really aims for accuracy of the measurements struggles with during the test. These are various cracks of the body or objects in the room during normal human activity.

To ensure the same conditions when measuring the noise level (and later also the sound), we use acoustic panels with a foam surface around the bench-wall. This is so that the sound is always reflected to the sound level meter sensor in the same way, regardless of the current situation of the objects in the test room. These panels are from three sides (top, right and left) and their purpose is to soundproof the space in which we measure the noise of graphics cards. Soundproofing means preventing different reflections of sound and oscillations of waves between flat walls. Don’t confuse it with sound-absorbing, we’ve had that solved well in the test lab for a long time.

During the measurements, the sound level meter sensor is always placed on a tripod at the same angle and at the same distance (35 cm) from the PCI Express slot in which the graphics card is installed. Of course, it’s always closer to the card itself, depending on its depth. The indicated reference point and the sensor angles are fixed. In addition to the “aerodynamic noise” of the coolers, we also measure the noise level of whining coils. Then we stop the fans for a moment. And for the sake of completeness, it should be added that during sound measurements, we also switch off the power supply fan as well as the CPU cooler fan. Thus, purely the graphics card is always measured without any distortion by other components.

… and the frequency response of the sound

From the same place, we also measure the frequency of the sound produced. One thing is the noise level (or sound pressure level in decibels) and the other thing is its frequency response.

According to the data on the noise level, you can quickly find out whether the graphics card is quieter or noisier, or where it is on the scale, but it is still a mix of different frequencies. Thus, it does not say whether the sound produced is more booming (with a lower frequency) or squeaking (with a high frequency). The same 35 dBA can be pleasant but also unpleasant for you under certain circumstances – it depends on each individual how they perceive different frequencies. For this reason, we will also measure the frequency response of the sound graphics card in addition to the noise level, via the TrueRTA application. The results will be interpreted in the form of a spectrograph with a resolution of 1/24 octave and for better comparison with other graphics cards we will include the dominant frequency of lower (20–200 Hz), medium (201–2,000 Hz) and higher (2,001–20,000 Hz) sound spectrum into standard bar graphs. For measurements, we’re using a calibrated miniDSP UMIK-1 microphone, which accurately copies the position of the sound level meter, but also has a collar, even with the same focal length.

At the end of this chapter, it should be noted that measurements of noise and frequency response of sound will be performed on most cards only in load tests, as out of load and at lower load (including video decoding) operation is usually passive with fans turned off. On the other hand, we must also be prepared for exceptions with active operation in idle or graphics cards with dual BIOS setup, from which the more powerful one never turns off the fans and they run at least at minimum speed. Finally, as with measuring the noise level in one of the tests, we also record the frequency response of whining coils. But don’t expect any dramatic differences here. It will usually be one frequency, and the goal is rather to detect any potential anomalies. The sound of the whining coils is of course variable, depending on the scene, but we always measure in the same scene (in CS:GO@1080p).

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Methodology: heat tests

We’re also bringing you heat tests. You are at HWCooling after all. However, in order to make it sensible at all to monitor temperatures on critical components not only of the graphics card, but anything in the computer, it is important to simulate a real computer case environment with healthy air circulation. The overall behavior of the graphics card as such then follows from this. In many cases, an open bench-table is inappropriate and results can be distorted. Therefore, during all, not only heat tests, but also measurement of consumption or course of graphics core frequencies, we use a wind tunnel with equilibrium flow.

Two Noctua NF-S12A fans are at the inlet and the same number is on the exhaust. When testing various system cooling configurations, this proved to be the most effective solution. The fans are always set to 5 V and the speed corresponds to approx. 550 rpm. The stability of the inlet air is properly controlled during the tests, the temperature being between 21 and 21.3 °C at a humidity of ±40%.

We read the heat from the internal sensors via GPU-Z. This small, single-purpose application also allows you to record samples from sensors in a table. From the table, it is then easy to create line graphs with waveforms or the average value into bar graphs. We will not use the thermal camera very much here, as most graphics cards have a backplate, which makes it impossible to measure the PCB heating. The key for the heating graphs will be the temperature reading by internal sensors, according to which, after all, the GPU frequency control also takes place. It will always be the heating of the graphics core, and if the sensors are also on VRAM and VRM, we will extract these values into the article as well.

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Test rig

Note.: At the time of testing, graphics drivers Nvidia GeForce Game Ready 461.09 and AMD Adrenalin 20.12.2 are used, and the OS Windows 10 Enterprise build is 19042.

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

3DMark

For the tests we’re using 3DMark Professional and the Night Raid (DirectX12) is suitable for comparing weaker GPUs, for more powerful ones there is Fire Strike (DirectX11) and Time Spy (DirectX12).

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Age of Empires II: DE

Test platform benchmark, API DirectX 11; graphics settings preset Ultra; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla

Test platform benchmark; API DirectX 12; graphics settings preset Ultra High; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Battlefield V

Test platform custom scene (War stories/Under no flag); API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Ultra; TAA high; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Battlefield V with DXR

Test platform custom scene (War stories/Under no flag); API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Ultra; TAA high; extra settings DXR.

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Note: This game also supports DLSS, but since this is an older title and there are more than enough tests, we will not address this setting in standard tests. However, some testing on request is possible if you ask for it.

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Borderlands 3

Test platform benchmark; API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Ultra; TAA; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Control

Test platform custom scene (chapter Polaris); API DirectX 11, graphics settings preset High; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Control with DXR and DLSS

Test platform custom scene (chapter Polaris); API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset High; extra settings DXR.

DXR (native)

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DXR with DLSS (performance)

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Counter Strike: GO

Test platform benchmark (Dust 2 map tour); API DirectX 9, graphics settings preset High; 4× MSAA; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Cyberpunk 2077

Test platform custom scene (Little China); API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Ultra; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Cyberpunk 2077 with DLSS and FidelityFX CAS

Test platform custom scene (Little China); API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Ultra; extra settings FidelityFX CAS.

FidelityFX CAS (50 %)

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DLSS (performance)

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Cyberpunk 2077 with DXR, DLSS and FidelityFX CAS

Test platform custom scene (Little China); API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Ultra; extra settings DXR with DLSS and FidelityFX CAS.

DXR

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DXR with DLSS (performance)

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DXR with FidelityFX CAS (50%)

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

DOOM Eternal

Test platform custom scene; API Vulkan, graphics settings preset Ultra Nightmare; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

F1 2020

Test platform benchmark (Australia, Clear/Dry, Cycle); API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Ultra High; TAA; extra settings Skidmarks blending off*.

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*on GeForce graphics cards, the Skidmarks blending option is disabled. This option is missing on AMD graphics cards. However, the overall quality of Skidmarks is otherwise set to High on both GeForce and AMD.
Note: The game also supports DLSS 2.0 and FidelityFX for upscaling and sharpening, but due to the relatively low hardware requirements in the native settings, we will not address them in standard tests. However, some measurement on request is possible if you ask for it.

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

FIFA 21

Test platform custom scene (Autumn/Fall, Overcast, 9pm, Old Trafford); API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Ultra; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Forza Horizon 4

Test platform custom scene; API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Ultra; 2× MSAA; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Mafia: DE

Test platform custom scene (from the Salieri’s Bar parking lot to the elevated railway gate); API DirectX 11, graphics settings preset High; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Metro Exodus

Test platform benchmark; API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Extreme; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Metro Exodus with DXR and DLSS

Test platform benchmark; API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Ultra; extra settings DXR.

DXR (native)

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DXR with DLSS (performance)

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Test platform custom scene (Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Air Traffic: AI, February 14, 9:00 am) autopilot: from 1000 until hitting the terrain; API DirectX 11, graphics settings preset Ultra; TAA; extra settings Motion Blur off.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Vulkan)

Test platform custom scene; API Vulkan, graphics settings preset Favor Quality; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Dx12)

Test platform custom scene; API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Favor Quality; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Test platform custom scene; API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Highest; TAA; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider with DXR

Test platform benchmark; API DirectX 12, graphics settings preset Highest; extra settings DXR.

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Note: This game also supports DLSS and FidelityFX CAS, but since this is an older title and there are more than enough tests, we will not address this setting in standard tests. However, some testing on request is possible if you ask for it.

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Total War Saga: Troy

Test platform benchmark; API DirectX 11, graphics settings preset Ultra; 4× AA, no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Wasteland 3

Test platform custom scene; API DirectX 11, graphics settings preset Ultra; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Overall game performance

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Performance per euro

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

CompuBench 2.0 (OpenCL)

Test platform benchmark; API OpenCL; no extra settings.

Game Effects

Advanced Compute

High Quality Computer Generated Imagery and Rendering

Computer Vision

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

ComputeBench 2.0 (CUDA)

Test platform benchmark; API Nvidia CUDA; no extra settings.

Game Effects

Advanced Compute

High Quality Computer Generated Imagery and Rendering

Computer Vision

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

SPECviewperf 2020

Test platform benchmark; API OpenGL and DirectX; no extra settings.

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SPECworkstation 3

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

FLOPS, IOPS and memory speed tests

Test platform benchmark; app version 6.32.5600; no extra settings.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

LuxMark

Test platform benchmark; API OpenCL; no extra settings.

Blender@Cycles

Test platform render BMW and Classroom; renderer Cycles, 12 tiles; extra settings OpenCL for Radeon and CUDA for GeForce. The way most people will use it. OpenCL with GeForce is always slow because path tracing does not support GPU acceleration and is computed by the CPU. Nvidia OptiX is tested separately on supported cards (GeForce RTX) and the results are extracted in a separate graph.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Blender@Radeon ProRender

Test platform render BMW and Classroom; renderer Radeon ProRender, 1024 samples; extra settings OpenCL for Radeon and CUDA for GeForce. Nvidia OptiX is tested separately on supported cards (GeForce RTX) and the results are drawn in a separate graph.

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Blender@Eevee

Test platform animation renderEmber Forest; renderer Eevee, 350 images; extra settings OpenCL.

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Photo editing

Adobe Photoshop: Test platform PugetBench; no extra settings.

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Affinity Photo: Test platform built-in benchmark; no extra settings.

Adobe Lightroom: Test platform custom 1-gigabyte archive of 42 raw photos (CR2) taken with DSLR; no extra settings.

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Broadcasting

OBS Studio and XSplit: Test platform F1 2020 benchmark; extra settings – enabled encoders AMD VCE/Nvidia Nvenc (AVC/H.264), output resolution 2560 × 1440 px (60 fps), target bitrate 19,700 kbps.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Password cracking

Test platform Hashcat; no extra settings. You can easily try the tests yourself. Just download the binary and enter the cipher you are interested in using the numeric code on the command line.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

GPU clock speed

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

GPU heating

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Net graphics power draw

Performance per watt

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Analysis of 12 V subcircuit power supply (higher load)

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Analysis of 12 V subcircuit power supply (lower load)

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Analysis of 3.3 V subcircuit power supply

The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Noise level

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Frequency response of sound

Measurements are performed in the TrueRTA application, which records sound in a range of 240 frequencies in the recorded range of 20–20,000 Hz. For the possibility of comparison across articles, we export the dominant frequency from the low (20–200 Hz), medium (201–2,000 Hz) and high (2,001–20,000 Hz) range to standard bar graphs. However, for an even more detailed analysis of the sound expression, it is important to perceive the overall shape of the graph and the intensity of all frequencies/tones. If you don’t understand something in the graphs and tables below, you will find the answers to all the questions in this article. That explains how to read the measured data below correctly.

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The availability of more powerful graphics cards for common consumers is lousy, but if you are lucky enough to get one, it will most probably be equipped with a GPU GA104-300-A1, which is in the GeForce RTX 3070. Most cards have this GPU and one of the most attractive is the MSI Gaming X Trio with Tri Frozr 2 cooler. It is really oversized and thanks to it, this graphics card significantly exceeds the reference boost. And is also pretty quiet while doing so.

Conclusion

Compared to the RX 6800, the RTX 3070 lags a bit behind in most performance tests, even without active SAM. Although the overall performance graphs suggest something a little different. Only CS:GO gets the RTX 3070 into positive green numbers, running very fast on the GeForce and the exactly opposite way on the RX 6800 (SAM off). In FHD and QHD resolutions, the Radeon even reaches almost only half fps (yes, we will soon apply the new metric, where the average performance will be calculated in a way so that each game has the same weight). Otherwise, the RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio more or less scores lower in most games.

We recorded losses of more than 12% compared to the RX 6800 in games such as Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (even up to 19–24%), Battlefield V without DXR or Borderlands 3. And then there are titles, where the performance difference fits in between 8–10% and is many times higher only in UHD (2160p). This includes games like DOOM Eternal (-18%) or F1 2020 (-14%). However, these are titles where the fps are still high (above 90), and also suitable for faster monitors. In FIFA 21, the RTX 3070 keeps up and is still in lead compared to the RX 6800. In Cyberpunk 2077 with FidelityFFX CAS the performance is balanced, but a comparison with the RTX 3080 is remarkable to see here, where it loses by 26–50%. The higher the resolution, the greater the percentage drop. This is the case in general, and on average the framerate is a quarter lower than with the TUF RTX 3080 with performance BIOS mode. But the GPU clock speed is really high here (1912–1961 MHz) even for the RTX 3070. After all, the smaller and slower VRAM is noticeable here.

The reviewed RTX 3070 overtakes the RX 6800 for example in Mafia: DE (by 4–10%) and always with DXR on (ray-tracing graphics). For example, in Shadow of the Tomb Raider it’s faster by 2–11%, in Battlefield V by 6–12%, in Metro Exodus by 12–14% and in Control by up to 34–41%. Then there are games where you can’t tell the difference, like in Cyberpunk 2077, Forza Horizon 4 or Red Dead Redemption 2 (only using Vulkan, Dx12 suits AMD more).

For players who do without RT, the RX 6800 is more advantageous. It has a higher performance at a 30–35 W less power draw. And for non-gaming purposes, of course, for everyone who needs a fast render using CUDA. Here, however, it is worth adding that slower OpenCL in Blender does not mean worse efficiency, it is very similar. Although the RX 6800 has lower performance, it also adequately uses less power.

Either way, it must be admitted that MSI did a great job with the RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio. This graphics card is significantly quieter (almost by up to 10 dBA!) than the more power-efficient reference Radeon RX 6800. Not only in terms of fans, but also the coils, which are also among the quieter, although not the quietest. Overall, however, the RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio is a very quiet graphics card, which also excels in low temperatures. But the tax for these properties is the larger dimensions. There are no extremes for which you would not find a suitable PC case though. Collision with other components may only occur in unique situations. But of course it’s also wise to watch out for them.

Thank you to Spacebar for providing us with games for our tests

• Contents
• MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio – details
• Specification table
• Methodology: performance tests
• Methodology: how we measure power draw
• Methodology: noise and sound measurement
• Methodology: heat tests
• Test rig
• 3DMark
• Age of Empires II: DE
• Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
• Battlefield V
• Battlefield V with DXR
• Borderlands 3
• Control
• Control with DXR and DLSS
• Counter-Strike: GO
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Cyberpunk 2077 with DLSS and FidelityFX CAS
• Cyberpunk 2077 with DXR, DLSS and FidelityFX CAS
• DOOM Eternal
• F1 2020
• FIFA 21
• Forza Horizon 4
• Mafia: DE
• Metro Exodus
• Metro Exodus with DXR and DLSS
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (Vulkan)
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (Dx12)
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider with DXR
• Total War Saga: Troy
• Wasteland 3
• Overall game performance and performance per euro
• CompuBench (OpenCL)
• CompuBench (CUDA)
• SPECviewperf 2020 and SPECworkstation 3
• FLOPS, IOPS and memory speed tests
• 3D rendering 1/2 (LuxMark and Blender@Cycles)
• 3D rendering 2/2 (Blender@Radeon ProRender and Eevee)
• Photo editing (Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and Affinity Photo)
• Broadcasting (OBS and Xsplit)
• Password cracking
• GPU clock speed
• GPU heating
• Net graphics power draw and performance per watt
• Analysis of 12 V subcircuit power supply (higher load)
• Analysis of 12 V subcircuit power supply (lower load)
• Analysis of 3.3 V subcircuit power supply
• Noise level
• Frequency response of sound
• Conclusion