Review

ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 TUF Gaming OC Edition Review

NVIDIA's new architecture codenamed “Ampere" series-based GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs, the 2nd generation of RTX, features new RT Cores, Tensor Cores and streaming multiprocessors, bringing stunning visuals, amazingly fast frame rates, and AI acceleration to games and creative applications.

Today we are reviewing the ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 3070 OC edition graphics card, this TUF Gaming OC edition model has a rated boost clock of 1755MHz in OC Mode and 1725MHz in Gaming Mode with 8GB of GDDR6 Video Memory, clocked at 14Gbps, over a 256-bit bus. ASUS TUF Gaming OC edition offers their own custom cooling solutions and advance power delivery designs.

The TUF GAMING GeForce RTX™ 3070 has been stripped down and built back up to provide more robust power and cooling. A new all-metal shroud houses three powerful axial-tech fans that utilize durable dual ball fan bearings. Fan rotation has been optimized for reduced turbulence, and a stop mode brings all three fans to a halt at low temps. Beneath, a thick heatsink keeps thermals under tight control. Additional features, including TUF components, Auto-Extreme Technology, and a backplate vent make the TUF a proper powerhouse. For builders looking for a new “old faithful", this card has your back.

Now let's see what this ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 TUF OC has for us.

Features

TUF Gaming GeForce RTXâ„¢ 3070 buffed-up design with chart-topping thermal performance

• NVIDIA Ampere Streaming Multiprocessors: The building blocks for the world’s fastest, most efficient GPU, the all-new Ampere SM brings 2X the FP32 throughput and improved power efficiency. 
• 2nd Generation RT Cores: Experience 2X the throughput of 1st gen RT Cores, plus concurrent RT and shading for a whole new level of ray tracing performance. 
• 3rd Generation Tensor Cores: Get up to 2X the throughput with structural sparsity and advanced AI algorithms such as DLSS. Now with support for up to 8K resolution, these cores deliver a massive boost in game performance and all-new AI capabilities.
• Axial-tech Fan Design has been newly tuned with a reversed central fan direction for less turbulence.
• Dual Ball Fan Bearings can last up to twice as long as sleeve bearing designs.
• Military-grade Capacitors and other TUF components enhance durability and performance.
• GPU Tweak II provides intuitive performance tweaking, thermal controls, and system monitoring.

FANS Axial-tech Upgrades
TUF Gaming cards leverage our tried-and-true Axial-tech fan design, with three fans working in tandem to satisfy the thermal demands of NVIDIA's new high-octane design. The fans rely on dual ball fan bearings to ensure consistent performance and increased longevity compared to sleeve bearings and other bearing types.

FANS New Directions
The fans have been smartly tuned with a reversed rotation for the center fan, which reduces turbulence, and with a fan-stop mode that kicks in when the GPU temp falls below 55 degrees.

Heatsink MaxContact
To get heat into the heatsink array efficiently, so that it can be whisked away by the powerful axial-tech fans, we use a manufacturing process that improves the surface smoothness of the heatspreader at the microscopic level. The extra flatness allows for better contact with the die for improved thermal transfer.

TUF Components
Components are selected for TUF Gaming graphics cards based on their durability and performance. In addition to top-shelf chokes and MOSFETs, capacitors that meet military-grade certification make the TUF stand tall amongst the competition. The components are soldered to the PCB using our advanced Auto-Extreme automated manufacturing process. Smooth joints on the rear of the PCB and the elimination of human errors ensure each graphics card meets our rigorous specifications. Finally, to ensure flawless performance when it counts, the cards are subjected to a grueling 144-hour validation trial.

Fresh Shroud
An all-aluminum shroud adds robust protection to TUF Gaming graphics cards and a no-nonsense industrial design and grayscale colorway fits into any build with ease.

It's Cooler Out Back
The underside of the card reveals a host of improvements. Most of the rear is swathed in a protective metal backplate that prominently features a wide vent. The vent allows hot air to escape towards chassis exhaust fans instead of being recycled back into the GPU cooler. Beneath the GPU, a bracket provides consistent mounting pressure between the die and heat spreader. Stainless steel is used for the I/O bracket to protect ports and provide a more secure mount. A conveniently placed Dual Bios switch allows customization of the card's default performance profile without software.

Design Functional Front
The top-side RGB element can be customized with Armoury Crate and synced with other ASUS components to enable uniform lighting. To fulfill the power demands of the GeForce RTX 3070, two 8-pin power connectors are present, along with an onboard circuit that monitors PSU rail voltage. The circuit is fast enough to catch any transients that result in the rail voltage dropping too low. If that happens, a red LED will light up so you know the power supply wasn't able to keep up with the GPU's power draw.

Specifications

Package

The ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 TUF Gaming OC Edition comes in a black / green colored box with ASUS Gaming Logo highlighted on front of the box . Back of box covers details about the product features along with specifications.

Inside the box

Along with the GFX card box also includes driver installation CD and quick start guide.

Looks

Testing

Test system configuration -

Bundled Software

Benchmarks

Temperatures

Room Temperature: 30C

In idle, the temperature is real good and at full load running 3D Mark Fire Strike temperature was ok and fans were not loud at all.

Power Consumption

Wattage reading as per displayed by APC Pro 1000VA (Model no. BR1000G-IN) UPS.

Pros

• Great Build Quality
• RGB LED and quieter FANs
• Nice thermal performance
• Standard PCIe Power Connectors
• Out of the Box OC
• Dual-BIOS

Cons

• High power consumption

Conclusion

The ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 TUF Gaming OC Edition graphics card is one of the best thermal performance solution cards in the whole Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Series GPU cards available in the market offering great pricing too. With excellent build quality and top quality components, better cooling system and overclocking capabilities makes ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 TUF Gaming OC Edition graphics card worthy of our PC TeK Reviews Choice Award.

Manufacturers Info

Thanks.

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