GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G graphics card review: heavenly gaming office

Graphics cards of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti series are now very relevant for progressive gaming configurations. High performance with a moderate price in its class attracts rather demanding gamers. Therefore, it is not surprising that the models of this line attract the special attention of enthusiasts. Manufacturers of video cards obviously predicted similar user interest, so they offer a wide variety of devices, each of which has its own specifications. We continue to familiarize ourselves with the available range of GeForce RTX 4070 Ti video cards. This time we are reviewing an elegant GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G.

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G

GIGABYTE is among the video card manufacturers that have high hopes for the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. How else can you explain the fact that the Taiwanese manufacturer immediately offers ten models of the corresponding models within the MASTER, ELITE, AERO, EAGLE, and WINDFORCE lines?

We have reviewed the relatively new AERO series, which was formed with the appearance of GeForce RTX 40xx video cards.

One model is available within the line – GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G. The presence of the designation OC in the name unambiguously hints at factory overclocking. Indeed, the graphics processor is accelerated, but the difference is not so significant. Instead of the recommended frequency formula of 2310/2610 MHz, we have 2310/2640 MHz. The GDDR6X memory chips run at an effective 21,000 MHz.

We remind you that for GeForce RTX 4070 Ti video cards, the AD104-400-A1 graphics processor is used in a configuration with 7680 computers, 240 texture blocks, and 80 rasterizers. In addition, the chip contains 240 tensor cores and 60 ray tracing processing modules. The GPU also has a 48MB L2 buffer. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is equipped with 12 GB of memory with a data transfer bus of 192 bits. Taking into account the effective frequency of GDDR6X, the total memory bandwidth is 504 GB/s. The TDP declared by the developers is 285 W.

In the box

The video card comes in a fairly large box with a minimalist design. A solid white field features the massive AERO series name and NVIDIA’s signature series name logo. Such a pleasant white-box.

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G comes with documentation, an adapter from 12VHPWR to two 8-pin connectors for connecting additional power, metal fixing brackets, and a set of screws for their attachment.

Design and layout

Video cards of the AERO series are visually very easy to distinguish from models of other lines by their characteristic light design. The white protective cover of the adapter is remarkable and will certainly attract the special attention of users who assemble the system in a light color scheme. The range of such solutions is very limited, so such a feature can already be an advantage.

In general, the external design of the GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G is quite restrained, but there is a certain elegance in the simplicity. The frame of the white casing has rounded corners. In the central part of the adapter, around the fans, a metal plate with directional surface grinding is fixed – an element that adds the necessary contrast.

The dimensions of the adapter are 336×140×58 mm. So the video card is quite long. With such dimensions, you should first make sure that there will be enough free space in the case to install the GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G.

One of the WindForce brand coolers is used to cool the video card. The current design uses three 100mm axial fans.

Among the features of the work, it should be noted the use of the Alternate spinning mode, which involves central fan rotation in the opposite direction from the lateral ones. This should somewhat reduce the turbulence of the generated flows.

As for the design nuances, let’s pay attention to the fact that the fans have nine blades with a specific profile shape. On each, serrations are provided, which, according to the developers, form air flows. For the fans, a special lubricant with the addition of graphene is used, which should increase the durability of the indicators of models with double ball bearings, while the used fans work more quietly.

The radiator unit of the cooler includes two cassettes with a set of aluminum plates. At the same time, the auxiliary module has approximately twice the total scattering area. Composite heat pipes are used in the structure to accelerate heat transfer.

The peculiarity of the used cooler is the presence of an evaporation chamber that is in direct contact with the crystal of the graphics processor. Additional seven heat pipes speed up the transfer of heat to remote areas of the radiator unit. To improve thermal conductivity, soldering is used at the point of contact of the tubes with the plates.

Through thermally-conducting pads, the main unit is in contact with power elements and memory chips, which also receive additional cooling.

Despite the overall dimensions of the graphics card, the GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G uses a fairly compact printed circuit board with a length of about 175 mm. The GPU power stabilizer unit has a 10-phase configuration with Vishay SiC653 DrMOS power assemblies (up to 50A) and a uPI uP9512R controller. The power parameters of the memory chips are provided by a 3-phase circuit with the same power elements and the uP9529Q controller. As for the GDDR6X microcircuits themselves, they are Micron D8BZC, according to the specification, they are designed to work at a frequency of 1313 MHz (21,000 MHz effective).

A 12VHPWR connector is provided on the top edge of the PCB to connect additional power. Considering the overall dimensions of the adapter, the connector is located closer to the central part of the graphics card. A white LED is provided near the connector, which flashes when there are problems with the power supply.

As we mentioned, an adapter from two 8-pin connectors to 12VHPWR is supplied with the video card, so you do not have to worry about whether the motherboard is equipped with such a connector. As for the power of the power supply, the manufacturer recommends using a 750+ W model for systems with GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G.

The back side of the video card is covered with an aluminum plate. A plate with a natural color for this material adds to the overall strength of the structure, protects surface-mounted elements from mechanical damage, and also generally improves the external design of the device. In this case, the plate is not used for additional cooling of elements on the outer surface of the PCB.

A compact printed circuit board made it possible to implement a design with additional cooling. As you can see in the photo, the reverse protective plate has an overall frame, ensuring a powerful through-flow of the radiator cassette. Of course, this will improve the general temperature regime.

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G has two BIOS chips, as well as the ability to switch between two firmware if necessary. The basic BIOS OC is the default mode for this model, while the Silent mode involves the operation of the cooling system at reduced speeds. A toggle switch for changing the active microcode chip is located on the top side of the PCB next to the auxiliary power connector.

The equipment of the interface panel is standard for adapters of the series – three DisplayPort 1.4 outputs and one HDMI 2.1. The panel has partial perforations to remove heated air.

The fact that GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G belongs to the line of gaming devices is evidenced by the presence of RGB lighting. The developers decided not to overuse this, so illumination is provided only for the logo on the upper edge of the video card.

To adjust the backlight parameters, you need to use the GIGABYTE Control Center proprietary application. Multiple modes and RGB Fusion synchronization option are supported. There is also an opportunity to make corrections to the algorithm of the video card cooling system and experiment with frequency parameters.

Test bench configuration

• Motherboard: Gigabyte B760 AORUS ELITE AX (LGA1700, Intel B760)
• Processor: Intel Core i5-13600KF (6/12+8; 3.5/5.1 GHz + 2.6/3.9 GHz; 24 MB L3)
• Cooling: Jonsbo TW7-240 ARGB Black
• Memory: Kingston FURY Renegade RGB DDR5-6400 32 GB (KF564C32RSAK2-32 2×16 GB)
• Video cards: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G; MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ti VENTUS 3X 8G OC
• Drive: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB
• Body: Jonsbo D41 Mesh Screen Black

As a test platform to check the capabilities of the video card, we used a system based on the Core i5-13600KF processor in connection with the Gigabyte B760 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard on the Intel B760 chipset, as well as a dual-channel Kingston FURY Renegade RGB DDR5-6400 32 GB memory kit (2×16 GB) with a timing formula of 32-39-39-80.

Considering that the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12GB series graphics card is tested, the basic system configuration is actually very close to what we recommend for advanced gaming PCs based on the Intel platform.

To bring the testing closer to realistic conditions of use, the platform was assembled in a case, and the temperature values were measured with the side wall closed.

For these purposes, the Jonsbo D41 Mesh Screen Black case was used, which may interest you with the presence of a full 8-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels on the front wall. The display is connected with two cables – to the HDMI output on the video card and to the USB port on the motherboard (for power). The system recognizes it as a second monitor.

The model of using such a screen can be arbitrary, but it is logical to use it as part of the case, for example, to monitor system parameters. In addition, the screen itself is removable, so it can generally be placed as an additional display next to the main monitor, and a cover panel is provided for the appropriate place in the body.

Since the Core i5-13600KF processor comes without a standard cooler, and its power consumption under multi-threaded load is quite high, the basic Jonsbo TW7-240 ARGB Black liquid cooling system was used for the CPU. The test set of games was installed on a Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB drive.

Touching on the nuances of PC assembly, let’s note the original GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G support system. The video card comes complete with a pair of brackets. One of them is initially attached to the motherboard on additional racks. The second is fixed directly on the back end of the video card, where threaded holes are provided.

After installing the video card in the slot, both brackets are fixed with an auxiliary screw. The general process may not be very convenient and fast, but it provides reliable support for the adapter and does not require additional supports that can spoil the appearance of the internal space in the case.

To compare the indicators, we used the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB series video card, directly the MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ti VENTUS 3X 8G OC adapter. Previously, the GPU clock frequency formula was adjusted to the recommended one – 1575/1770 MHz, so the indicators on the charts correspond to the basic values for the video card of the series without taking into account factory overclocking.

Operation

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G supports semi-passive cooling mode with fans stopping at low load. In the interpretation of the manufacturer, this technology is called 3D Active Fan.

So in sleep mode, the video card works silently. A huge cooler allows you to keep the temperature of the GPU and memory chips at 35-36C in this mode. The power consumption of the adapter in this state is about 9 W.

Under gaming load, the GPU temperature increased to 61C with 72C at the hottest point. The memory chips only warmed up to 58C. At the same time, the speed of rotation of the fans at the peak rose to ~1800 rpm. During operation, the GPU was accelerated to 2895 MHz.

We also tried Silent mode by toggling the active BIOS chip. In this case, the cooling system fan operation algorithm is adjusted. Under load, the GPU warmed up to 65C, and the memory chips – up to 62C. At the same time, the frequency of rotation of the fans decreased significantly – to ~1400 rpm. Such a change was already felt at the noise level. Undoubtedly, the Silent mode will be better for fans of the quietest platforms. The temperature regimes are quite favorable, while the noise level of the video card is lower. Of course, it “works” if the video card was the loudest element of the platform.

Please note that the peak GPU operating frequency in Silent mode is 2880 MHz. But the difference with the standard profile is so small that it will not affect the performance results.

Performance

This time, while testing the capabilities of the new video card, we decided to visually evaluate the difference in performance between the two generation models by comparing the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB. Although the new strengthened “seventy” is significantly more expensive than its predecessor – the recommended price is $799 vs. $599 – such a comparison will generally allow you to get a practical idea of changes in the capabilities of adapters of the same line but of different generations. First, we will remind you about the technical specifications of both models.

From the obvious technical features, let’s pay attention to the fact that in the case of the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, the GA104 graphics processor has a significantly lower operating frequency. The new technical process allowed us to significantly add AD104 here. The GeForce RTX 3070 Ti used a 256-bit bus, while the RTX 4070 Ti “only” has a 192-bit bus. Moreover, despite the more effective frequency of GDDR6X, the new model still has a lower memory bandwidth – 504 GB/s compared to 608 GB/s in the RTX 3070 Ti.

At the same time, the GPU carrier with the Ada Lovelace architecture received 12 GB of local memory instead of 8 GB in its predecessor. In this class of devices, it already matters. The declared power consumption of both video cards is almost the same – 290 W vs. 285 W. But this is all theoretical. Let’s move on to practice, which will show what both video cards are really capable of.

GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB indicators

GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB indicators

The first try with 3DMark component tests shows a tangible advantage of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB. The model from GIGABYTE outperforms the RTX 3070 Ti 8GB by 47-62%. Impressive, but it’s still synthetic. And what about real games?

We tested video cards in 11 fairly demanding games, marking the results with average and minimum fps values on the charts. In 4K with maximum picture quality without ray tracing and smart scaling, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB video card had an advantage over the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB at the level of 31-55%. The average value is 42%. As you can see, in several games, even the RTX 4070 Ti failed to reach the average 60 fps, although it was quite close to these figures. In turn, the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti failed to approach this value in five projects.

The average 40 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 is a clear example that the predecessor is not ready for such challenges. Of course, RTX 3070 Ti is also available in 4K mode when needed, but in this case, additional graphics quality settings cannot be avoided.

Touching on the issue of local memory capacity, it should be noted that the presence of “only” 8 GB is no longer just a base for 4K, but insufficient value even for current projects, not to mention future ones. It is interesting that during testing, the four-year-old Ghost Recon Breakpoint reminded us of this, complaining about the insufficient memory capacity of the video card during the test.

Therefore, increasing the local buffer from 8 GB to 12 GB is an urgent need for video cards of this level, even without taking into account that even more memory is required for ray tracing modes. There, DLSS/FSR/XeSS, which partially reduce the need for the necessary memory of the video card, will come to the rescue.

In the current range of NVIDIA, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB can be considered the “queen of 1440p“. The specifications of the model are perfectly balanced for this mode. Therefore, although we expected a significant advantage over its predecessor, the fact that it will increase on average to 47% was a certain surprise.

Why did GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, on the contrary, increase in the mode with a lower resolution? Let’s say that the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti was partly helped by the fact that the memory bandwidth of this model is higher and this had its effect on the largest possible textures. In 1440p mode, this GPU advantage was obviously less important, so the RTX 4070 Ti managed to improve the relative results.

Evaluating absolute fps values, it is obvious that the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB can be safely paired with a high-speed 1440p@144+ Hz gaming monitor and enjoy the purchase. In general, in 1440p mode, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti video card shows results similar to what only NVIDIA’s flagship model of the previous generation, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti 24 GB, can offer.

In Full HD mode, the model on GPU with Ada Lovelace architecture outperformed the RTX 3070 Ti by an average of 40%. A slight decrease in the advantage can be attributed to the increasing influence of the central processor on the final result. Perhaps in a configuration with a Core i9-13900K or Ryzen 7 7800X3D, the relative difference in the performance of both video cards would be preserved, but these are nuances that do not affect the overall strength ratio of both test participants. In general, it is not surprising that even the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB has quite decent performance in 1080p mode. At the same time, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti for Full HD is rather excessive. Of course, if we do not mention ray tracing and another effective retarder – path tracing technology.

However, will an advantage of even 40% be such an attractive prospect for owners of a screen with a Full HD resolution and a GeForce RTX 3070 Ti level video card to think about a possible upgrade? It already completely depends on a rational sense of sufficiency and a personal attitude to the same technology of ray tracing, which has not yet had time to become ubiquitous, but is gaining momentum. So what about RT?

And here GeForce RTX 4070 Ti increases the advantage over GeForce RTX 3070 Ti to 50-60%. The latter, without support for DLSS scaling, was barely able to provide an average 60 fps in Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition and Dying Light 2: Stay Human only in Full HD mode. Whereas the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti showed a stunning performance even at 1440p. However, even the new model without DLSS support cannot pull out modes with high-quality tracing in 4K.

The presence of the option of intelligent scaling becomes a lifeline for video cards in extreme modes. However, even with DLSS Performance, in the case of the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, it was not possible to achieve the desired average 60 fps in 4K, although such a profile returned the necessary level of playability in 1440p. In the case of the RTX 4070 Ti, the average 80-90 fps already allows you to enjoy dynamic shooters.

If you add even more rays while experimenting with Portal with RTX, then with GeForce RTX 3070 Ti you may want to play the game only in Full HD or 1440p mode with medium picture quality settings and activated DLSS 2.0. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti video card allows much more here. If only “brute force” is taken into account, then the advantage is sometimes even twofold. And if we also mention the support for DLSS 3, which is not available for the previous generation models, then in this case the comparison loses its meaning altogether. This is one of the advantages of the RTX 40xx models.

As for the development of the intelligent scaling ecosystem in general, according to NVIDIA the total number of games and applications supporting DLSS of various generations already exceeds 290 items and continues to grow. That is, the technology is developing quite rapidly, giving owners of RTX video cards additional preferences. By the way, AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) also already support about 150 games. The list of games with XeSS support from Intel is for obvious reasons still more modest – about 50 games, but there is also potential here. In general, it should be noted that developers are quite actively implementing AI models. Recently, rather, the lack of such support raises questions about the team’s ability to optimize its projects.

Returning to Portal with RTX, we cannot help but pay attention to the suspiciously low performance of both tested video cards in 4K mode without DLSS. The fact is that in these cases, even the 12 GB of memory available in the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is not enough, let alone the 8 GB in the RTX 3070 Ti. Heavy projects with ray tracing in 4K when using the maximum quality settings may cause certain nuances in models with less than 16 GB of buffer. However, there is always an opportunity for adjustments that will allow you to correct the performance situation.

Overclocking

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G allows you to increase the Power Limit parameter by 19%, which is quite noticeable for models of the new line.

By experimenting with overclocking in express mode, we managed to increase the base frequency of the GPU from 2310 MHz to 2500 MHz. The average value of the dynamic acceleration accordingly increased from 2640 to 2830 MHz. The memory chips have been boosted from 1313 MHz (21,000 MHz effective) to 1,440 MHz (23,040 MHz).

After additional overclocking, the performance of the video card, according to 3DMark, increased by 6-7%. However, as it turned out, despite the ability to get results in the test package, at the specified frequencies after overclocking, the adapter was not always stable during long gaming sessions in heavy projects.

To fix this, we had to lower our ambitions somewhat at the expense of the achieved operating frequencies. For the GPU, the 2470/2800 MHz formula was stable, and the GDDR6X microcircuits were at 1410 MHz (22,560 MHz).

During overclocking, we used the regular mode of operation of the video card. After an additional increase in operating frequencies, the GPU under load warmed up to 63C (hot spot – 74C), and memory chips – up to 60C. That is, heating increased by only 2-3C. At the same time, the speed of rotation of the fans also increased slightly – up to ~1900 rpm.

Additional overclocking brings a certain acceleration, but still significantly higher performance should not be counted on. In games, the difference is about 5%.

Power consumption

We’ve already looked at the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards, so we had a first idea of the power consumption of the new line of devices. We remind you that for series adapters, the total declared TBP level is 285 W.

Despite the standard overclocking, in the announced GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Ti AERO OC 12G specifications, the manufacturer does not indicate a certain power consumption value, so let’s evaluate this indicator during increased gaming load.

According to GPU-Z monitoring data, the video card consumed up to 283 watts of power at its peak. After additional overclocking, power consumption increased to 295 W. For comparison, the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti has a declared TBP level of 290 W, and in practice, the test video card consumed about 294 W. That is, the actual values are very close. This is a very revealing moment that allows you to assess the level of energy efficiency of video cards of both generations. Neither the price of video cards nor their positioning is taken into account here, only the absolute indicators of consumption and performance.

So we state that the energy efficiency of GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB is 40-50% better than that of GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB. That is, in proportion to the increase in performance at an almost identical level of energy consumption. Improvements in architecture and improved technological standards for GPU production are yielding significant results.