The RTX 4070 Ti had, let's call it a problematic birth, as it was originally launched under the name "RTX 4080 12 GB" - at least until gamers pointed out that there were so many differences between the RTX 4080 16GB and the 12GB version that it made no sense to designate them both with the same tier of performance level. So Nvidia unlaunched the card, and has now relaunched it as RTX 4070 Ti - hopefully not too many trees died making boxes labelled "RTX 4080 12 GB".
While based on the Ada Lovelace platform just like the RTX 4080, there are a number of differences. Also they are aimed at different audiences, as the RTX 4070 Ti targets mainly 1440p gamers and those still using GTX 1080 and RTX 2080 cards.
Unlike the 4090 and 4080, there is no "cheap" FE version, only AIB/third-party cards like this MSI Suprim X version. But the RTX 4070 Ti will still be your cheapest way to get access to DLSS 3, which by all means is a very valid selling point for getting an Nvidia Card.
It comes with 7680 Cuda cores, 60 Streamin Multiprocessors, 240 Tensor cores, 60 RT Cores and 80 ROPs. As standard it has a 10500 Mhz memory clock, a 2610 Mhz boost clock, and a 192-bit Memory with a 504 GB/sec Memory Bandwidth Interface, which clearly indicates that we are no longer in high-end country. It still uses the PCIe 5.0 interface for power, requiring a 12VHPWR adapter for most of us, which is odd, as it only is rated at 285 Watt TGP. Dual 8-pin connectors should be sufficient. However, the 4070 Ti can run using a 2x8-pin adapter, where the other cards need a 3x8-pin adapter, and removing just the one "arm" of the adapter actually makes a difference. We measured 255 Watt at sustained 100% load, with a few peaks hitting 260 Watt, but still far from the 285 Watt TGP specified by Nvidia.
MSI has done some work on the card, the Suprim series is by far their most premium looking, and this is no exception, combined with subtle and tasteful RGB and really nice metal surfaces and MSI's Tri Frozr 3S thermal design that includes the use of a vapor chamber and a massive amount of heatsink fins. As the card is somewhat smaller, one can only wonder why a shorter design could not be implemented, as the card is really long and doesn't fit particular well in smaller cases.
As MSI has made a really good cooling system as always, temperatures never got past 69 degrees, even when under maximum stress, and noise levels kept around the 33 dB mark. MSI has also tuned the card, and we measured a boost clock of 2775 Mhz.
When talking about prices, the Nvidia MSRP, which is without any forms of taxes included, shipping to the local market, national VAT, sales taxes and a minimum of profit for the end-point reseller, is a great place to start. It is also where you realise that either the inflation and general state of the global economy has really hit hard, or someone is trying to profit, because the price has risen from $600 to $800. That is a 33% increase, meaning that what is supposed to be a souped up version (Ti) of a really good mid-range card, the RTX XX70 series, is all of a sudden priced above the high end cards, XX80 series. This annoys me on a personal level, as it creates an economic barrier for good, fluid gameplay in any new AAA title in at least 1440p.
It important to note that Nvidia, and not MSI, ultimately decides the MSRP more or less directly due to the pricing of the actual GPU chip internally, but also that a premium card like the Suprim X is just made in better quality and with more tuning. If you don't want to pay what MSI is asking, the MSI Ventus cards are usually the cheapest way to get a new graphics card in the series, and are traditionally extremely close to the Nvidia FE pricing of the same card, aka - it won't be any cheaper than this. However, looking at the materials used and the way the Suprim X card is made, one understands why it costs more. But given that 2022 was a horrible year for GPU sales, one would think that Nvidia would be interested in the lowest possible prices, especially with AMD offering two very competitive options in the sub $1000 bracket.
The Benchmarks are made using an AM5 based Asrock X670E motherboard, 32 GB DDR5 6000 memory kit, 360mm AIO cooling for the 7950X CPU. All games are loaded from an NVMe 4.0 drive. The list is a lot shorter than usual due to some difficulties during testing.
3D Benchmark
Blender BMW GPU
Heaven
Total War: Warhammer III
Red Dead Redemption 2
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Far Cry 6
Cyberpunk 2077 DLSS 3 Performance
Nvidia claims up to 3x performance of an RTX 3090 Ti in this game under some very specific circumstances. We only managed around a 50% increase, but beating an RTX 3090 Ti is still impressive, however, Nvidia should know better than make claims like that, knowing very well that such performance claims are easy to double check for anyone who has access to both cards. We sent our RTX 3090 Ti back a long time ago, and therefore haven't been able double check in regards to the newest drivers, so performance might be more than 50% - but 3x does not seem realistic, no matter the drivers.
Dirt 5
So - it all looks good, the RTX 4070 Ti is a lot cheaper than the RTX 4080, and only falls behind by around 15-20 FPS depending on the game. However, for a few extra Euros, you can get an AMD Radeon RX7900XT that outperforms the RTX 4070 Ti in every test we have bar a few heavily Ray-Traced games. As usual, gamers are left in the dark with an expensive card that is still the cheapest way to access Nvidia DLSS 3 and the best Ray-Tracing performance. Keeping that in mind, MSI has still managed to deliver a premium card with premium cooling and build quality. It is - sadly - still the cheapest way to get current-gen graphics.