Default GPU Frequency
Before we look at performance, we need to find out the actual real-world gaming frequency the video card performs. With both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs today, the GPU frequency is very dynamic. What may be quoted as the “Boost Clock” is not necessarily the performance it will actually run at. Typically, GPUs today can exceed the “Boost Clock” dynamically. We need to find out what it actually runs at, in this way we can see how well things like cooling and power headroom are working.
To do this we will record the GPU clock frequency over time while playing a game. We use Cyberpunk 2077 for this with a very long manual run-through at “Ultra” settings. We also record GPUz sensor data to look at GPU temperature, Voltage, and Power.
The MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ti SUPRIM X 8G video card has a dual-BIOS. By default, MSI ships the video card in the “Silent Mode” setting. There is also an optional “Gaming Mode” position. The “Gaming Mode” position basically makes the fan more aggressive, thus keeping the GPU cooler, but also potentially making more noise. The GPU Boost clock speed is set at the same frequency on both BIOS positions at 1860MHz. To see if there is any difference at all in GPU Clock speed we went ahead and tested both BIOS positions and are showing the GPU Clock speed while gaming above.
As you can see, there is a slight 15MHz difference at most, but only at the start of gaming. Within 30 seconds of gaming, it starts to stabilize, to where it finally equals each other and both Silent and Gaming mode BIOS settle right at 1935MHz while gaming. Therefore, for gaming, it truly does not matter what the BIOS switch is set to, it should perform the same on this video card.
At 1935MHz the video card is boosting well above the 1860MHz it is set for by the factory. NVIDIA GPU Boost is doing its work for sure. That’s a nice 75MHz clock speed bump for free. If you want to compare this clock speed to the Founders Edition, we experienced it running at 1860-1875MHz. Therefore, at 1935MHz the MSI RTX 3070 Ti SUPRIM X is running 60-75MHz higher out-of-the-box.
