Nvidia's 70-class GPUs are almost always among the best graphics cards you can buy, offering a clean balance of price and performance that's perfect for a lot of PC gamers. The RTX 5070, however, breaks with tradition. Although it offers decent generational improvements and a world-class Founder's Edition design, the card doesn't do enough to stand out from the stiff competition around its list price of $550.

Combine that with some of the worst GPU availability we've seen in two generations, and consequently higher prices, and the RTX 5070 isn't the go-to GPU that this class of Nvidia graphics card usually is. It's a fine option, and one that becomes more attractive the closer it is to list price. But you should temper your expectations about what the RTX 5070 can deliver, especially if you're already sitting on an RTX 40-series GPU.

About this review: Nvidia provided XDA with a sample for testing, but had no input ahead of publication.

Price, specs, and availability

A welcome price drop

As we've seen throughout the RTX 50-series generation, you'll have a rare shot at picking up an RTX 5070 at release for its list price of $549. Nvidia has struggled to stabilize inventory for its current-gen GPUs, so if you aren't able to get an RTX 5070 when it releases on March 6, you will likely have to wait weeks (or maybe even months) for a restock to bring prices back down.

Compared to the previous generation, Nvidia slashed $50 off the price of the RTX 5070. The original RTX 4070 launched at $599 before dropping to $549 when Nvidia released the RTX 4070 Super last year. In AMD's camp, you have the RX 7800 XT at around the same $550 price. AMD is also set to launch its RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 in a few short days, both of which are competing for around the same price.

This tight grouping of options, around $550 to $600, means the RTX 5070 is already facing an uphill battle, especially with its relatively minor generational performance improvements, as I'll dig into below.

For specs, there are a couple of important notes. Nvidia stuck with the same 12GB frame buffer that we saw in the previous generation, but it's using faster GDDR7 memory. Power consumption is up compared to both the RTX 4070 and RTX 4070 Super, however, reaching up to 250W. You can see the full specs below. And, before anyone asks, yes, my review unit had all of its ROPs.

Design and features

Another Founder's Edition treat

There's no doubt about it; Nvidia is making some of the most impressive-looking GPUs money can buy today. The Founder's Edition design was already attractive, with its muted silver accents and mashes of various gunmetal hues, and this generation, Nvidia decided to have that form meet function.

Just like the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, the RTX 5070 has a dual flowthrough design. It has two fans, and they pull air in from the front and exhaust it out the back. Simple. It's so simple that it's easy to miss just how much engineering went into pulling this design off. Nvidia had to design a very compact PCB for the GPU to live on in order to allow air to actually move through the graphics card. It's a feast for the eyes and the temperature in your PC.

Although the RTX 5070 carries the same thermal design as the flagships, it's much smaller. You're still getting a dual-slot design, but Nvidia massively cut down the length to 252mm and the width to 112mm. It's a tiny GPU, and it should be able to fit in just about any small form factor case on the market.

Performance

Sorry, it's not as fast as an RTX 4090

We need to start with Nvidia's claims about the RTX 5070 because it really puts the performance discussion in context. When Nvidia announced the card, it said the RTX 5070 could deliver performance on-par with the RTX 4090. Now, Nvidia's claims are little more grounded in reality, saying it offers a 20% jump over last-gen's RTX 4070. As you can see in my averages above, only one of those claims is true.

You're not getting RTX 4090 levels of performance — you need DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation for that — but Nvidia's gen-on-gen claims hold up. I measured a 23% bump at 4K, 25% at 1440p, and 22% at 1080p, all surpassing Nvidia's performance claims. The problem, which is apparent when looking at my charts, is how many other GPUs there are that also provide around a 20% uplift over the RTX 4070.

Before getting to the individual games, here's a quick look at the test bench I used:

Across most games, there's a consistent trend in performance. The RTX 5070 is usually a touch faster than the RTX 4070 Super and on-par with the RTX 4070 Ti. More damning for Nvidia is the comparison to the RX 7800 XT, however. The RTX 5070 doesn't offer a massive bump over AMD's last-gen midrange offering, which bodes poorly for Team Green when the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 release.

Games like Forza Motorsport, Assassin's Creed Mirage, and Black Myth: Wukong show the problem with the RTX 5070. You may get that 20% jump over the original RTX 4070, but that's a lot less impressive than it sounds. As my benchmarks show, the RTX 4070 Super and RX 7800 XT are already around 10% to 15% faster than the original RTX 4070. Is an extra 5% to 10% really worth buying a new $550 GPU? I reckon not.

It's not surprising that the grouping here is so tight. Nvidia is using the same TSMC N4 as its previous-gen Ada Lovelace GPUs, and it's relying heavily on clock speed, memory speed, and power to deliver performance gains. The architectural improvements don't show up clearly in games; they focus more on AI performance and an updated media engine. With all of Nvidia's GPUs this generations, the gen-on-gen margins have been tight, and the RTX 5070 isn't changing that story.

That's only one way to look at the RTX 5070, though. If you go back to anything two generations back or older, it's a solid upgrade option, at least right now. The big question is how the RTX 5070 will hold up once AMD's RX 9070 XT is here — based on AMD's performance claims, I'm not confident Team Green will come out ahead.

Thermals and fan noise

Nvidia's engineering marvel

Nvidia's Founder's Edition design for the RTX 5070 isn't just pretty to look at — it's a great performer, too. On my open-air test bench, the GPU peaked at just 66 degrees Celsius after 30 minutes in Furmark 2. The fact that I'm working with an open-air test bench helps a lot, but Furmark is also putting a full load on the GPU. This is a worst-case scenario, and the RTX 5070 held up without breaking a sweat.

Fan noise wasn't an issue, either, settling somewhere around 52.5 decibels after a few minutes in Furmark. For context, the ambient noise in my room was 38.8 decibels. That's excellent performance, especially factoring in the noise from the 360mm all-in-one liquid cooler I had strapped onto the CPU.

Given its excellent thermal performance and petite size, the RTX 5070 is a great option for a small form factor PC. However, be mindful of its airflow design. Many cases expect a GPU with a backplate, and the RTX 5070 doesn't have one. In some cases, that can mean you're blocking the air from exhausting properly, which undoes a lot of the thermal improvements Nvidia made to this design.

DLSS 4 and ray tracing

"Fake" frames or extra performance?

One of the key selling points of the RTX 5070 — and all of Nvidia's Blackwell GPUs — is DLSS 4. And, in particular, DLSS Multi-Frame Generation (MFG). DLSS 4 isn't exclusive to RTX 50-series GPUs, but MFG is. It allows you, in supported games, to generate up to three frames with AI for each rendered frame, essentially quadrupling your frame rate.

DLSS 4 is available in some games natively, but in most titles, you'll need to use the DLSS override feature in the Nvidia app to unlock MFG. When it works, DLSS 4 really works. The problem is actually getting it to work properly, especially when dealing with a GPU like the RTX 5070.

You need to feed the frame generation with a high base frame rate — at least 60 fps — to avoid visual artifacts and to have an experience that feels as smooth as it looks. MFG serves to make an already good experience better, such as when you need to saturate a 240Hz display. MFG alone can't transform something that's unplayable into playable.

My ray tracing benchmarks for the RTX 5070 illustrate where that can be a problem. If you look at Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K, for example, you need to resort to DLSS Super Resolution before MFG will provide a decent experience. For a flagship like the RTX 5090, that isn't a problem, but the margin for error on the RTX 5070 is much smaller. If you aren't able to reach that fated 60 fps mark with graphics settings and DLSS Super Resolution, MFG is basically off the table.

Thankfully, there's enough grunt here for most ray tracing games. The only titles where you'll run into issues are games with full path tracing available, such as Alan Wake 2, Black Myth: Wukong, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Make no mistake, these games are totally playable on the RTX 5070, all the way up to 4K. But you can't just crank the sliders up and hope MFG will save the day each time.

Should you buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070?

You should buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 if:

• You're upgrading from an RTX 30-series GPU or older.
• You can find one in stock at list price.
• You primarily play games at 1440p.

You should NOT buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 if:

• You already have an RTX 40-series GPU.
• You primarily play games at 4K.
• You're willing to wait for the RX 9070 XT.

In hindsight, it's not surprising Nvidia decided to cut the price of the RTX 5070 compared to the previous generation. The comparisons here show that, although there's a decent gen-on-gen uplift compared to the RTX 4070, the tight grouping of last-gen options around this price makes the RTX 5070 a tough sell. I suspect it'll be an even tougher sell once the RX 9070 XT releases.

I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater here, though. Gamers coming from older GPUs will find a big performance uplift with the RTX 5070, and DLSS 4 MFG is certainly a great tool to have in your back pocket if you already own a high refresh rate display. The RTX 5070 can provide a transformative gaming experience, but it has a few more prerequisites to reach that transformation than previous generations.

Although gamers with an RTX 40-series GPU likely don't need to upgrade, the buying decision is tricky for anyone using something older. Nvidia's GPUs have been in short supply this generation, and the list prices haven't held up. Cards are selling for far above list price in most cases, and the RTX 5070 just isn't worth spending more than $550 on.