ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 3070 DirectX 12 DUAL-RTX3070-8G 8GB 256-Bit GDDR6 PCI Express 4.0 HDCP Ready Video Card

One more member featured in Nvidia’s impressive new Ampere architecture and is the Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 8G Gaming OC . The first model we analyzed comes with the best Asus presentation thanks to an Axial-Tech triple fan heatsink with exactly the same measurements and features as the RTX 3090 and RTX 3080 version.It is the third graphics card released by Nvidia, with a slightly higher performance than an entire RTX 2080 Ti and costing 1000 euros less than this in its day. Its 5888 CUDA Cores and 8 GB GDDR6 will lock here at almost 2000 MHz and 14 Gbps respectively. They are expected to be the best card in performance / price of this generation, will it be like this? We’ll find out right now, so let’s get started!The presentation of the Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 8G Gaming OC is nothing different from what we have seen in the top models of the manufacturer. So we have a flexible cardboard box with all the screen printing that Asus uses to show the product in operation and the most important features in the back area.From this first box we will extract another black rigid cardboard that will be the one that actually stores the graphics card. So we opened this box to find the usual, the graphics card inside an antistatic plastic bag and placed on a strong polyfoam mold.

The bundle will contain the following elements:

• Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 8G Gaming OC graphics card
• Installation and configuration manual
• 2x velcro straps to hold cables
• Collection card
• Some kind of ruler to hang

Exactly the same as we have in the rest of the new generation ROG Strix models

In fact, they will be so traced that even the heatsink measurements will be exactly the same. We are 319mm long, 140mm wide, and almost 58mm thick , taking up nearly three full chassis and board slots. Asus has not been complicated with this Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 8G Gaming OC , and has equipped it with a heatsink similar to that of the higher models, which we will reveal in more detail in its corresponding section.TUF models have gladly inherited the previous ROG Strix design with some variations such as using an all-aluminum housing. So this model is presented with a completely renewed aesthetic using a rigid plastic casing with metal inlays between the fans as a base. These “Z” -shaped accents add a spectacular finish to the card, with the natural silver finish of brushed-effect aluminum.The side areas in this case look quite covered, especially the front area visible to the user. Always leaving enough space in the finned area to expel hot air, although it undoubtedly improves the aesthetics compared to other models. This is justified by including a large lateral AURA Sync lighting zone in the form of diagonal lines with customization via Armory Crate . In fact, it is one of the brightest graphics cards we have on the market, something not so common in Asus. In addition, a superior accent is included with the distinctive GeForce RTX, although this does not enjoy lighting.The fan configuration consists of three units with 95mm effective diameter and Axial-Tech design technology. All three will be equal in size, although the central one has a higher density of propellers as it has 13, compared to 11 on the outside. Finally Asus has adopted the alternating rotation system for them, a detail that eliminates air turbulence in the conflicting areas of the fans and improves the flow.To this is added the semi passive dissipation system , which consists of keeping the fans off while the temperature is below 55 ^o C on the card. We can say that the set is incredibly quiet , as it only requires half the capacity of the fans to maintain good temperatures under stress. It seems that the new outer crown design of the fans reduces the noise generated a bit, so all are advantages.We flip the Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 8G Gaming OC over to take a closer look at the backplate, which is made entirely of aluminum at 2mm thick . The central area has a screen-print in timid diagonal lines that will improve heat dissipation a bit. The far right is uncovered as it uses the Founder’s Edition concept to increase airflow in the non-PCB area. The area behind the socket is presented this time with 4 SP-CAP capacitors and around it a series of small MLCC capacitors. It is quite different from the configuration used in the 3080 and 3090, probably due to the lower TDP.

We must not forget an important technical element of the Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 8G Gaming OC such as the Dual BIOS switch . We will find this timidly installed on the edge of the PCB to give us two options of operation. A Quiet mode that will use the GPU’s 1725 MHz gaming frequency and semi-passive heatsink, and another Performance mode that raises it a bit to 1755 MHz with a somewhat more aggressive fan profile. From the Asus GPU Tweak II software you can also manage these modes along with other secondary modes.

The Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 8G Gaming OC will use the same ports in version and quantity as the higher models. The maximum capacity of simultaneous connections will be 4 monitors and up to 8K . So we will find:

• 2x HDMI 2.1
• 3x DisplayPort 1.4a

As a mere review of capability, the new HDMI 2.1 version will support 8K @ 120 Hz and @ 60 Hz in DSC, as well as 4K @ 144 Hz uncompressed . On the part of the DisplayPort interface, it supports a maximum of 8K @ 60 Hz in DSC and 4K @ 144 Hz also compressed.The communication interface does not vary compared to its sisters, so it will be PCIe 4.0 to be able to address more information when necessary in the future. As with the RTX 3080, there is no sign of NVLink connection here.And since your TDP drops to about 220W with two 8-pin power connections they will be more than enough. These are in the usual location, that is, the right side corner. It is interesting to have two 4-pin PWM headers to connect chassis fans . These can be found discreetly in the hole in the backplate.The one we are analyzing is a pure strain gaming graphics card. It will serve perfectly for authoring and rendering work, but its focus and price is for games with performance that surpasses even the RTX 2080 Ti . Being a model with a custom heatsink, we have proceeded to open it to see it in more detail.The one we are analyzing is a pure strain gaming graphics card. It will serve perfectly for authoring and rendering work, but its focus and price is for games with performance that surpasses even the RTX 2080 Ti . Being a model with a custom heatsink, we have proceeded to open it to see it in more detail.

The heatsink of this Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 8G Gaming OC is going to be exactly the same as the one used in the higher models. This is great news due to the fact that it has a GPU with a lower TDP and consequently more spare cooling.Asus has used a single block for the whole assembly, which has a transverse fin and different thicknesses to adapt to the installation height of the different components. It is made entirely of aluminum , while cold plate and heatpipes are made of nickel-plated copper . For the main VRM, another double plate has also been placed that cools chokes and MOSFETS . The second VRM will have its own heatsinks.The contact surface with the main chip has a wide area, since it is also responsible for cooling the memories. Asus has not skimped on thermal paste, because we have a huge amount poured that completely covers the sides of the chip. Right underneath and soldered, we have a total of 7 6mm diameter heatpipes that will be spread throughout the block to transport the heat.The backplate that covers the back of the PCB will also have gray thermal pads to cool the rear area of ​​the VRM and the memories. In passing, it will do the same with the filter capacitors of these elements.

This Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 8G Gaming OC is using a hard-hitting 14-phase power setup . For this , triple-state Super Alloy MOSFETS have been used and soldered to the PCB with the Auto-Extreme manufacturing process . In fact, it is noted that the PCB and its design is very similar to that of other models, in order to ensure a high performance of the automated assembly process.The signal smoothing stage is completed with high quality metallic chokes and solid polymer capacitors . For the subsequent filtering, as we have already mentioned, a combination of SP-CAPS and MLCC capacitors are being used . If we remember, the 3090 and 3080 used entirely ceramic capacitors. In any case, the problem of the high frequencies of this Ampere card has already been solved by drivers.This Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 8G Gaming OC is using a hard-hitting 14-phase power setup . For this , triple-state Super Alloy MOSFETS have been used and soldered to the PCB with the Auto-Extreme manufacturing process . In fact, it is noted that the PCB and its design is very similar to that of other models, in order to ensure a high performance of the automated assembly process.The signal smoothing stage is completed with high quality metallic chokes and solid polymer capacitors . For the subsequent filtering, as we have already mentioned, a combination of SP-CAPS and MLCC capacitors are being used . If we remember, the 3090 and 3080 used entirely ceramic capacitors. In any case, the problem of the high frequencies of this Ampere card has already been solved by drivers.

The entire PCB area has been reinforced with a fairly thick metal frame that will prevent it from bending or deforming due to the weight of the assembly. This frame integrates with the heatsink, backplate, and ports plate to form a block puff. The possibilities of customization and improvement of thermal performance are present in the ROG series also of graphics cards. With the two 4-pin PWM headers, we can connect chassis fans that the card will manage autonomously or through the GPU Tweak II software.This Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070 8G Gaming OC is presented to us with the third chipset implemented by Nvidia in this new generation, and of course it will not be the last, since the 3060 is still missing at least. To give you a quick idea of ​​the performance of this GA104, it beats the RTX 2080 Ti in gaming and rendering. This Samsung custom 8nm Ampere architecture is proving to be one of the most impressive leaps in GPU history.This time we have 46 SMs always made up of three types of processing elements: 1 RT Core, 4 Tensor Core and 128 CUDA Core. A layout that is maintained across all manufacturer chips, so it’s easy to know the total internals count. The chip uses a 128KB L1 cache per SM , and the L2 cache is kept at 4MB , which we recall, the RTX 2070 Super has 64KB per SM on L1 and also 4MB on L2. This increase is another reason for its improved performance without a doubt.The compute unit count will be 5888 CUDA cores, 184 3rd generation Tensor cores and 46 2nd generation RT cores. In short, all of them have doubled their computing power per clock cycle, making the performance per watt 1.9 times higher than that offered by Turing. In this way the performance in hardware ray tracing and DLSS take on a new dimension to establish itself as the way forward in the new generation of games.

Asus has overclocked this card to put it in an overclocking mode frequency of 1905 MHz (1725 MHz the reference), while it will start from 1500 MHz as the base frequency. But this is not what the real data says, which shows us a frequency that in practice reaches 2050 MHz almost constantly . The brutal increase in frequencies in this architecture has been noticeable in all models, and of course we cannot complain when seeing clocks higher than those specified. With this frequency it will be one of the highest performing versions.No less important will be the memory configuration, which in this case will consist of 8 GB of GDDR6 type . Be careful, we are not talking here about the new generation GDDR6X, but about the chips used in Turing , working at a clock frequency of 1750 MHz, which due to its DDR condition is 7000 MHz effective and 14 Gbps . These 8 1 GB chips generate a bus width of 256 bits (8 x 32 bit) and bandwidth of 448 GB / s , thus being the same as in the RTX 2070. Its overclocking capacity remains exceptional, and will allow the frequency to be increased by up to 600 effective MHz.

ROG Strix GeForce RTX™ 3070 buffed-up design with chart-topping thermal performance.