Test Setup
Please read the information on our GPU testing procedures and methodology here. Note that our GPU Testing Bench has been upgraded to the AMD AM5 platform and a Ryzen 9 7900X CPU with DDR5.
System Setup
We are using the motherboard’s current default BIOS settings on the latest release BIOS. We have enabled PCI-Express Resizable BAR in the motherboard BIOS. This means we are utilizing Resizable BAR on NVIDIA GPUs and AMD Smart Access Memory on AMD GPUs in all our testing. We have enabled EXPO I in the BIOS for the memory.
We are using a fresh install of Windows 11 Pro with the latest Windows Updates, including the 22H2 Fall 2022 update. We have the latest drivers installed including the latest chipset drivers from AMD. We are using the “Best Performance” power profile in Windows Settings. Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling is ENABLED in Windows. VBS is DISABLED and Game Mode is ENABLED.
Video Card Comparisons
We are including some specific video cards, for specific reasons. You might be wondering why we included the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti FE video card in our review. This one was included so that, as an upgrade, you can see gen-over-gen what the performance uplift is from the previous generation GeForce RTX 3070 Ti straight to the new GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. In this way, if you have a GPU around this performance, and are looking for an upgrade to the next generation of video cards you can see what kind of uplift in performance, you will get.
Granted, the pricing of both video cards is very different, with the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti having an MSRP at launch of $599, and the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti launching at $799. There is at least a $200 difference between them, but we know a lot of people have GPU performance right now around this GPU and are curious what an upgrade would bring for them, so we acknowledge that price difference.
We are also including a GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and GeForce RTX 3090 in this review, as they were the last generation’s flagship video cards. This will show where the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti lines up, is it faster than an RTX 3090? Is it between those cards, or faster than an RTX 3090 Ti?
Finally, we are including the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, for obvious reasons. This video card has an MSRP of $899 and is the current price competitor from AMD.