EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card Review

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Introduction

On our test bench, today is the EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING (08G-P5-3767-KR) video card. Among the four RTX 3070 cards that EVGA offers, the FTW3 ULTRA GAMING sports the fastest factory overclock that EVGA currently offers. It is equipped with EVGA’s iCX3 cooling solution which includes three fans.

Like all other GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs, this card is impossible to find in the retail environment but has an MSRP of $689.99 direct from EVGA at the time of publication. To get the card from EVGA, jump into their notification queue and await your turn (it’ll probably be a while). We’ve seen the card pop up from time to time at NewEgg and BestBuy, but is still as hard to get as any other RTX 30 Series card. This represents a premium over the GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition card and we’ll compare it to the MSI Radeon RX 6700 XT GAMING X which has been weighing in at a comparable price point.

At the time of publication, it appears likely that this card has received NVIDIA’s LHR (Lite Hash Rate) treatment and is found as part number 08G-P5-3767-KL. Other than the hash rate adjustment, there are no differences between the two versions of the card.

The GeForce RTX 3070 GPU is based on the Samsung 8nm manufacturing process and Ampere architecture.  It has 46 SMs, 5,888 CUDA Cores, 184 Tensor Cores (3rd gen), 46 RT Cores (2nd gen), 184 Texture Units, and 96 ROPs.  It has a GPU Boost Clock of 1725MHz.  It has 8GB of GDDR6 memory at 14GHz on a 256-bit bus providing 448GB/s of memory bandwidth.

EVGA RTX 3070 Models

EVGA has four RTX 3070 models listed on its website. The card we are reviewing today, the RTX 3070 FTW ULTRA GAMING sits on the top of the pile with the biggest cooler and factory overclock. Below are pictures comparing it to the XC3 variant.

EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING (08G-P5-3755-KR)

The EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING comes in a regulation-size video card box that identifies it as an RTX 3070 FTW3 ULTRA model from EVGA. Once we cracked open the box, we found a black-clad GPU sporting three fans and a solid metal backplate.

Specifications

EVGA has given the GeForce RTX 3070 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING a factory overclock of 90MHz on the boost clock, bringing it from the stock 1725MHz up to 1815MHz. Keep in mind that the boost clock is a target based upon power, workload, and temperature and that value will typically be exceeded via the card’s boosting algorithm NVIDIA GPU Boost. It also sports 8GB of 14 GHz GDDR 6 memory that is equal in speed to the reference specifications. EVGA offers a 220W TGP on the card.

From a size perspective, it’s larger than a standard size card. It’s a bit taller than the XC3 series, a bit wider, and has a higher thud factor when hitting the desk. Specifically, it is 11.8 inches long, 5.38 inches tall and 2.75 slots wide. This is still a little bit smaller than the MSI GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO that we recently looked at. For an additional comparison, the GeForce RTX 3070 Founders edition’s length is 9 inches long, so the EVGA video card is 2.8 inches longer.

EVGA iCX3 Cooling

EVGA is utilizing its iCX3 cooling setup that consists of 3 HDB 2.0 noise motor fans with fan blades that have raised “E”s on them to reduce noise. The fans feature an asynchronous fan mode and will switch off when temperatures are under 55 degrees Celsius. The PCB features cutouts (along with the backplate having cutouts) to improve airflow and reduce exhaust recovery. EVGA claims a 5.1% improvement over the iCX2 cooling system while being 9.7% quieter.

As a general programming note, it appears that the iCX3 branding is utilized for all levels of EVGA cards, as the 3070 XC3 that we recently looked at had a vastly different cooling system while still being called iCX3.

 Pictures and Information

The RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO comes in a compact box that displays a picture of it on the front along with the usual labeling stating the RTX 3070 GPU can be found inside. On the back, other features are listed to adorn the back of the box down with the usual mice type.

The front of the EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING sports the iCX3 cooling design which features six heat pipes and three fans (note this is one more heatpipe than the XC3 variant of this card). Turning the card around shows off the metal backplate and cutouts where the rear fan can blow straight through the card. It’s a full two-plus-ish PCI-e slots wide and sports three Display Port 1.4a connections and one HDMI 2.0 connection.

The EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING is equipped with a backplate to help further the distribution of heat. Additionally, a fan header and RGB header can be found on the back of the card to allow you to use EVGA’s Precision X1 software to control another fan or some RGB bling.

The video card requires two 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors. EVGA recommends a 650W Power Supply.

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David Schroth
David is a computer hardware enthusiast that has been tinkering with computer hardware for the past 25 years and writing reviews for more than ten years. He's the Founder and Editor in Chief of The FPS Review.

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