This underrated Nvidia GPU is still the one to buy

1 month ago

Nvidia's RTX 4070 graphics cards complete a pinkish background.

There hasn’t been a batch of affirmative reception to Nvidia’s graphics cards this generation. There’s nary uncertainty that Nvidia’s RTX 40-series GPUs are among nan best graphics cards you tin buy, but pinch disappointing generational improvements, higher pricing, and reliance connected features for illustration DLSS 3, it’s easy to constitute disconnected a caller graphics paper erstwhile Nvidia releases one.

But there’s 1 Goldilocks graphics paper from Nvidia’s existent procreation that’s nan correct prime for a batch of PC gamers. It delivers each of nan champion parts of Nvidia’s cutting-edge procreation and ignores nan insane pricing and disappointing generational uplifts. And now, months aft launch, prices person dropped, making it an moreover amended value. That GPU is Nvidia’s RTX 4070.

Not a lukewarm reception

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

The RTX 4070 didn’t get bad reviews erstwhile it launched. It’s nan only paper from Nvidia’s existent procreation to person earned an Editor’s Choice badge from Digital Trends, arsenic you tin publication successful my RTX 4070 review, and nan sentiment from reviewers was mostly positive. There were a fewer exceptions, specified arsenic The Verge saying it “was expecting a small much from a generational leap,” but nary reviewers thought it was a bad paper — overmuch dissimilar GPUs for illustration nan RTX 4060 Ti.

The consequence from gamers was overmuch different astatine nan time. I searched “RTX 4070 reddit” and took a look astatine immoderate of nan apical comments from erstwhile nan paper first released. Here’s a sampling:

“It will waste good for 2 reasons: Nvidia’s mindshare and nan truth that nan worth of nan different RTX 40 cards is truthful bad that this paper seems acceptable.”
“Nvidia is group connected making graphics cards importantly much costly complete clip and, for that reason, you [should] debar buying Nvidia for nan clip being.”
“I dislike it.”

Not specified a lukewarm reception. Contrast that to a thread that was posted past week, though, wherever you’ll find fundamentally each commenter recommending nan card, claiming that “it rocks,” and that “it’s a no-brainer.” What happened? Well, put simply, nan RTX 4070 sewage cheaper.

The paper primitively launched for $600. Keep successful mind that’s nan guidelines price, truthful you could expect to walk anyplace from $620 to $700 depending connected what was disposable astatine retailers. Now, you’ll commonly find nan RTX 4070 for $550, and if you shop unfastened container and utilized cards, you’ll find them arsenic debased arsenic $450. This value accommodation chiefly came successful consequence to AMD’s RX 7800 XT, which managed to lucifer and sometimes hit nan RTX 4070 astatine $500.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

I don’t judge nan $50 quality really factors into nan RTX 4070 being a bully graphics card. That’s a pricing accommodation connected par pinch nan quality betwixt a banal and overclocked exemplary of immoderate GPU. But it’s a staggering illustration of really a flimsy value accommodation tin wholly upend nan communicative astir a product. The RTX 4070 went from a coagulated paper pinch bad pricing to a downright woody fundamentally overnight, and each it took was a $50 value cut.

The RTX 4070 was ever a awesome GPU, balancing capacity pinch value successful a measurement that nary different modern Nvidia GPU does while delivering next-gen features. It seems that now nan wider PC gaming organization is getting nan memo. For a conception of PC gamers that are consenting to walk immoderate money for a highest gaming experience, nan RTX 4070 is nan graphics paper to buy.

The highest PC gaming experience

The RTX 4070 graphics paper connected a pinkish background.

A friend of excavation precocious upgraded his PC. After nan RX 7800 XT released, he was convinced it was nan graphics paper we was going to buy. We talked astir it a fewer times, but 1 day, he spotted an RTX 4070 for a reasonable value and decided to spell pinch it. He called maine after, excited that he now had what he described arsenic nan “peak PC” for gaming. There are much powerful PCs, nary doubt, but that’s an awesome reaction.

You tin look astatine a benchmark floor plan and quickly spot that location are plentifulness of GPUs that are much powerful than nan RTX 4070, some from Nvidia itself and AMD — nan RTX 4070 looks downright puny compared to nan RTX 4090. But that doesn’t matter overmuch erstwhile you look astatine nan existent numbers. The RTX 4070 delivers close, and usually above, 100 frames per 2nd (fps) astatine its target solution of 1440p.

Above that, nan paper tin still present playable framework rates astatine 4K. It’s not going to deed 60 fps successful each crippled pinch each of nan settings maxed out, but it will meet and transcend that people successful astir games. In my trial suite, it only fell short of 60 fps successful 1 crippled astatine 4K: Cyberpunk 2077, which remains 1 of nan most demanding PC games around.

The title from AMD is fierce. The RX 7800 XT tin hit nan RTX 4070 successful immoderate titles, and connected average, AMD’s paper is 9% faster astatine 1440p and 6% faster astatine 4K. That changes erstwhile you bring ray tracing into nan mix, though. As expected, nan RTX 4070 is astir 13% amended pinch ray tracing astatine 1440p. Once you facet successful Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling 3.5, nan comparison isn’t moreover fair. In a business that should beryllium intolerable for nan RTX 4070, for illustration Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K pinch nan maximum ray tracing settings, DLSS 3 tin thief you execute framework rates supra 60 fps.

RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT ray tracing capacity astatine 1440p.

There’s immoderate earned disapproval of Nvidia progressively trading nan characteristic group of its GPUs complete earthy performance, but (short of possibly nan $1,600 RTX 4090), nan RTX 4070 is nan only GPU successful Nvidia’s existent lineup that nails nan equilibrium of coagulated baseline capacity that’s enhanced by a world-class characteristic set. AMD’s competing GPUs whitethorn person a flimsy separator successful wide performance, but not capable to warrant skipping retired connected nan features Nvidia’s existent GPUs offer.

For immoderate people, AMD’s RX 7800 XT makes much sense. There’s besides a group that should walk up for thing for illustration nan RX 7900 XTX, and yet different that don’t request much than an RTX 4060.

But nary paper nails that highest PC gaming acquisition successful 2023 rather for illustration nan RTX 4070. Its earthy capacity is perfect for 1440p and much past tin of 4K, and it has a group of features that make intolerable gaming scenarios for illustration way tracing successful Cyberpunk 2077 a reality. It’s nan paper you should bargain if you want nan champion PC gaming has to connection successful 2023 without an infinite budget.