Nvidia RTX 4070 Super FE in detail
The cheapest of the new GeForce RTX 4000 Super graphics cards – the RTX 4070 Super – has the biggest increase in SM blocks compared to the non-Super variants (i.e. to the RTX 4070), yet the price, at least on paper, doesn’t increase too much. The price-performance ratio is thus very attractive and attacks the competing Radeon (RX 7800 XT) even if you disregard the typical Nvidia “premium” stuff, such as significantly faster ray tracing, DLSS 3 or CUDA.
You’ve already read the specs overview for the three new RTX 4000 Super graphics cards, now it’s time to get testing. For now, then, specifically the RTX 4070 Super model. I’ll release tests for the remaining ones every week, at the time of writing only the results of the cheapest of the sped-up GeForce cards from the Ada Lovelace generation can be published. These, like the GeForce RTX 2000 (Turing) once did, carry the “Super” designation.
The main difference of the RTX 4070 Super over the RTX 4070 is the increase in SM count. It’s from 46 to 56. The increase in the number of active GPU shaders is thus more than 20% and the TDP, or more precisely TBP (Total Board Power) has risen to 220 W (from the 200 W of the RTX 4070). The memory remain GDDR6X (capacity still 12 GB), as well as the 192-bit bus through which it is connected.
Nvidia RTX 4070 Super FE in detail
The tested RTX 4070 Super we have is in the Founders Edition (FE) design, which is notable, among other things, for its rather unconventional cooler.
First of all, however, it should be noted that this is a relatively small graphics card overall, so with good compatibility with everything around. It weighs in at 1025 grams and is 224mm long and only takes up two PCIe slots (with 40mm) in height.
This design also has the advantage of a smaller width than most non-reference models. From the PCI Express slot on the other side, to the outer frame of the cooler housing, it is approximately 111 mm. The smaller width of the graphics card can be useful for example for dual-chamber cases with a vertically split interior, where the graphics card section is often narrower than in more “traditional” computer case concepts. So one of the reasons why the Founders Edition design can be attractive is the superior compatibility not only with cases, but also with expansion cards.
The cooler fans are 90 mm in diameter and the tips of the blades are reinforced with a circular hoop to reduce vibration. This is a fairly common phenomenon, mainly aimed at minimizing secondary noise generated by resonating of the heatsink or even the fans themselves, if they reach critical speeds where the vibrations hit resonant frequencies. And the layout of the fans is also striking here. There’s only one in the front (intake), the exhaust one is at the back.
So Nvidia is using a similar concept to what is used in cases. The advantage over traditional solutions with both fans being intake ones should also be that there is less dust on the PCB and therefore places that you normally can’t get to without removing the cooler.
External power supply is provided via a 16-pin, but beware. This is already the new 12V-2×6 connector, which you can recognize at first glance by the shorter signal pins. With the older connector they were almost flush with the plastic sleeve of the connector, now they are significantly recessed into the connector.
And why are the pins shorter? To prevent contact during incorrect installation (not pushing it in all the way), which then means that the graphics card does not work as a precautionary measure. The user is thus forced to return to the graphics card in the event of the connector not being inserted properly and to push the connector in properly. Replacing the 12VHPWR connector with the newer 12V-2×6 isn’t new, revisions have been occurring continuously since the summer of 2023 even on non-Super RTX 4000 models.
For owners of PSUs without 16-pin cables, an adapter is included that connects via two 8-pin PCIe cables. Considering the lower power draw (with a current externally of around 17 A), this is a sufficient number that also allows for a relatively large margin. The cross-section on both sides is one-to-one, and such an adapter is theoretically usable for the RTX 4090, with about twice the power draw, as well.
In any case, when installing the graphics card, always make sure that the connector is pushed all the way in when plugging in the external power cable. In addition to a tactile response, you will know that this has happened by a rather loud clicking sound. It is only when you hear it that the installation can be judged as correct.
Please note: The article continues with following chapters.
- Contents
- Nvidia RTX 4070 Super FE in detail
- Table of parameters
- Methodology: performance tests
- Methodology: how we measure power draw
- Methodology: noise and sound measurement
- Methodology: temperature tests
- Test setup
- 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
- Cyberpunk 2077 with DXR (and DXR with DLSS)
- 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 gaming performance and performance per euro
- CompuBench (OpenCL)
- 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 speeds
- GPU and VRAM temperatures
- Net graphics card power draw and performance per watt
- Analysis of 12 V rail power supply (higher load)
- Analysis of 12 V rail power supply (lower load)
- Analysis of 3,3 V rail power supply
- Noise level
- Frequency response of sound
- Conclusion
