Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070: Everything you need to know

Enter Nvidia’s cutting-edge GeForce RTX 4070, now available in several markets. Nvidia hasn’t launched a new GPU since the original RTX 4090 and 4080, and it’s definitely taking its time with expanding the RTX 40 series. Sure, they released the RTX 4070 Ti at CES 2023, but it’s just a rebrand of the 12GB RTX 4080. And now the Nvidia RTX 4070 emerges as a great mid-range contender with a new architecture. So, if you’re interested, here’s everything you need to know about the RTX 4070, including price, availability, performance, and more.

RTX 4070 price and where to buy

Nvidia RTX 4070 has been introduced in the 40 series for $599 (Rs 62,000 in India). That’s $100 more than the asking price of Nvidia’s last-gen RTX 3070 at launch. That means Nvidia is making the GPU 20% more expensive than the previous generation, and the $599 asking price matches the RTX 3070 Ti’s launch price.

Availability for this 40-series GPU is good so far, with only the FE model being out of stock. We will update this section once the card is also available on Amazon. This card can also be purchased from local retailers such as MicroCenter.

Nvidia RTX 4070 specifications

Here are the specifications of the newly launched Nvidia RTX 4070. Although we are listing details for the RTX 4070 Founders Edition, clock speeds may vary slightly with third-party graphics cards. To use the GPU in your system, Nvidia recommends a 650W PSU. This card uses one 16-pin PCI-e Gen 5 connector or 2x 8-pin power connectors. Incidentally, the Founders Edition boasts a similar footprint to its predecessor.

Nvidia RTX 4070 performance

In a nutshell, Nvidia’s latest RTX 4070 graphics card delivers similar performance to the previous generation RTX 3080. It will be faster in some games, but slower in others. Still, the margins are very thin, and overall the card seems to perform similarly to the RTX 3080. Nvidia’s announcement compared the GPU to the previous generation RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 2070 Super. Here is the performance of the card:

While this allows a good measure of performance, games tested with frame generation turned on are not a completely fair comparison . DLSS 3 is the new graphics card lineup’s unique AI frame generation feature that works by artificially inserting pseudo-frames into your games for a smoother experience. This is a great feature that we recently highlighted in our review of the Alienware M18 R1 with RTX 4080 laptop, and we’ll talk more about it in a moment.

This feature is great, and it’s great to have DLSS on a mid-range GPU, but you can’t really compare the pure GPU performance with this enabled. Therefore, to directly compare the GPUs in the benchmarks above, you should refer to the bottom section, which shows performance in games without frame generation. Once we get our hands on the card, we’ll be sure to run a comprehensive benchmark that details the RTX 4070’s performance.

When it comes to competition, the RTX 4070 has no competition at the moment, at least when it comes to the latest generation GPUs on the market. AMD has yet to introduce mid-range GPUs in the RX 7000 series. Therefore, the only GPUs that can currently compete with the 4070 are AMD’s last-gen RX 6000 series GPUs. They are based on older architectures and do not have the same efficiency when compared to the latest generation GPUs.

We look forward to seeing AMD and Nvidia compete for this latest generation as more GPUs become available. But for now, the RTX 4070 is the cheapest Nvidia GPU that is part of the RTX 40 series.

New RTX 4070 architecture and features

Next, let’s take a look at the architectural improvements and new features to see what’s new with GeForce RTX 4070.

1. Ada Lovelace architecture with 3rd generation RT cores

This new graphics card from Nvidia is designed based on the “Ada Lovelace” architecture, which uses TSMC’s 4N process . This manufacturing process is an enhanced version of the 5nm process. Because it is a new architecture, the overall efficiency is significantly improved. Essentially, this means higher performance with lower power. In an official blog post , Nvidia claims that the new architecture is highly efficient, offering ” more than twice the performance at the same power compared to Ampere .”

First-time users’ experience with the RTX 4070 has shown it to have similar performance to the RTX 3080, but with significantly lower power consumption . This proves that the new architecture actually improves efficiency slightly. Additionally, this card also features 3rd generation RT cores.

2. DLSS 3 AI Frame Generation

What is DLSS 3 AI Frame Generation? It is Nvidia’s latest upscaling technology exclusive to RTX 40 series graphics cards. Turning on DLSS 3 will instantly boost your framerate and improve your overall FPS regardless of the settings you’re using. This is still an artificial frame generated by AI, and the experience of playing games in DLSS 3 can feel a little strange. Nevertheless, the added smoothness is amazing and one of the best additions to this new generation of GPUs.

Here, DLSS 3 is accelerated thanks to the 4th generation Tensor Cores that are part of the Ada Lovelace architecture. Nvidia says the all-new 8-bit floating point (FP8) tensor engine will improve throughput by up to 5x. Additionally, a new optical flow accelerator is also part of what enables this DLSS 3 feature. This accelerator is responsible for feeding the DLSS neural network “pixel motion data” from the game’s frames.

3. Dual AV1 encoding

We’ve already talked about the AV1 encoder and why it’s a huge innovation from a streaming perspective. This also includes streaming games. Thanks to the RTX 4070’s dual AV1 encoding, gamers can stream their gameplay to platforms like Twitch and YouTube with higher fidelity compared to x264 codecs.

Support for AV1 is slowly rolling out in many places, and at some point this feature will become very important. Now every new GPU manufacturer is adding this, whether it’s Intel Arc or Radeon RX 7000 series.

RTX 4070 vs. RTX 3070 Ti vs. RTX 3070

Below, we compare the RTX 4070 to the RTX 3070 and RTX 3070 Ti. Comparison by Nvidia, showing average power consumption while gaming as well as idle. We will mention TGP ratings and compare them with many other important differences. This is a great comparison highlighting all the new features.

That’s everything you need to know about Nvidia’s latest midrange 40-series graphics cards. We’ve covered the RTX 4070’s price, where you can buy it, and the new improvements that are part of the Ada Lovelace architecture. One thing we didn’t cover is the RTX Video Super Resolution feature that can improve video quality on both RTX 30-series and 40-series GPUs. So is the RTX 4070 worth buying? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.