MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION Video Card Review

Introduction

Today, February 20th, 2025 the non-MSRP or factory overclocked “OC” NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti video cards are launching, and (supposedly) will also be available on shelves in retail and e-tail purchases. One of those factory overclocked cards is the new MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION (G507T-16VGSL) which we are reviewing today. If you are unfamiliar with the new GeForce RTX 50 series announced at CES 2025, we have the two previous GeForce RTX 5090 and GeForce RTX 5080 GPUs recently launched, with reviews of both of the Founders Edition you can check out on our site.

The GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs based on the Blackwell architecture were announced at CES, and the first to launch was the GeForce RTX 5090 as the flagship GPU this generation at a high $1,999 MSRP. The second to launch was the GeForce RTX 5080, which was cut down in half, in spec, and priced at $999 MSRP. Now, the next GPU down in the series is being launched, the reference-priced GeForce RTX 5070 Ti has an MSRP of $749. The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is a partner-only card, and this is our MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION review, which will have a non-reference-MSRP pricing.

The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti utilizes the GB203 GPU based on the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture and is the successor to the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER based on the NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture. The GB203 die is the same one used in the GeForce RTX 5080, scaled down in specification to meet the needs of this tier at $749. GB203 is based on the TSMC 4nm 4N NVIDIA custom process, which is the same as the previous generation Ada Lovelace. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti supports a PCI-Express 5.0 (Gen5) interface.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti consists of 6 GPCs, 35 TPCs, and 70 SMs with 128 CUDA Cores per SM. When you add all this up, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti has 8,960 CUDA Cores, 280 5th Gen Tensor Cores, 70 4th Gen RT Cores, 96 ROPs and 280 Texture Units. The L1 Data Cache/Shared memory size is 8960KB, and the L2 cache size is 49152KB. The GPU Boost Clock is set at 2452MHz. Memory consists of 16GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit memory bus at 28Gbps giving it 896GB/s of memory bandwidth. The TGP (Total Graphics Power) is 300W.

MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION Information

The full product name of the video card we are reviewing is the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION with model name: G507T-16VGSL. Key features from the name are that this is MSI’s Vanguard series, and it is a special Launch Edition version and also an SOC model indicating a highly factory overclocked model out-of-the-box. The default factory overclocked GPU Boost on the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC video card is 2588MHz, contrast this with the reference NVIDIA GPU Boost spec on the RTX 5070 Ti of 2452MHz. That gives the MSI RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC video card a 5.5% GPU clock boost out-of-the-box.

If you click over to MSI’s product listings for GPU, you will find all of its series listed. You’ll quickly discover that the new VANGUARD Series sits just under its highest-end SUPRIM Series, in fact, the VANGUARD series is akin to the SUPRIM series but with a darker aesthetic, more RGB, and different factory clock speed boosts on the SOC models, but otherwise a pretty beefy video card meant to offer extreme performance and cooling potential.

MSI currently has several different models based on the new GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU. MSI has a GeForce RTX 5070 Ti in its VENTUS line, GAMING TRIO and PLUS line, VANGUARD line, INSPIRE line, and SHADOW line. Specifically under the VANGUARD line, MSI has three different models. There is the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD OC, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC, and then the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION that we are reviewing today. The “SOC” models have a higher factory overclock than the “OC” model, and the difference between the LAUNCH EDITION and non-LAUNCH EDITION is the inclusion of special bundling like the Lucky Figurine. If you want the higher overclocked model, either of the two “SOC” models will be the ones to pick.

On the design front, the video card has a striking, dark design but with SUPRIM premium feel. It features MSI’s Hyper FROZR cooling solution using an Advanced Vapor Chamber for cooling both the GPU and VRAM. The LAUNCH EDITION model comes with a special package inside with a limited-edition Lucky figurine in the box and a card. There are 9 different themed figurines of Lucky, and it is all random as to what you’ll get, with there even being 1 secret hidden edition you may come across.

MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION Pictures

Inside the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION box there are two boxes, meaning the outer layer box fits over the VANGUARD box inside. The outer box displays VANGUARD on the front, and GeForce RTX 5070 Ti with very shiny and colorful lettering when light is shown. When you take this outer shell off, the inside box opens up and shows you a nice diagram of all the different possible Lucky’s you can get. Lucky is contained inside a smaller box, and you get a nice card as well with the power adapter and a GPU stabilizer stand for your case.

The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC is a very large video card, and quite heavy. The video card measures 357mm x 151mm x 66mm (14″ x 5.9″ x 2.5″) in size, and while it is a 3-slot video card, in practice it’s a 3.5-slot video card. This video card also weighs 1945g or 4.2 pounds.

This is an “SOC” model, and therefore the GPU Boost is 2588MHz out-of-the-box, which is 5.5% higher than the reference spec of 2452MHz. The 16GB of GDDR7 runs at the same stock 28Gbps. The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC has 3x DisplayPort 2.1b, and 1x HDMI 2.1b. The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC uses one 16-pin power connector, and it supports PCI-Express 5.0.

The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION uses MSI’s HYPER FROZR thermal design, which is based on an advanced vapor chamber cooling design. Within this is the Core Pipe, which is are square-shaped pipes to maximize contact and heat dissipation with the vapor chamber. The heatsink uses MSI’s WAVE CURVED 4.0 design with wave edges featuring a high-low fin design to enhance airflow and reduce turbulence. This, combined with AIR ANTEGRADE FIN 2.0 has a V-shaped cutout to also aid airflow passthrough to optimize flow efficiency.

The fans are MSI’s STORMFORCE Fans with seven fan blades with a claw texturing and circular arc ring designed for optimal airflow with minimal noise. The fans are Double Ball Bearing for lengthy use. The fans also support Zero Frozr which disables the fans at low temperatures to reduce noise. The entire video card has a Metal Backplate with airflow vents and thermal pads to enhance cooling. MSI uses high-quality clay-based thermal pads for critical board components.

Speaking of components, a custom 2oz thickened Copper PCB is used and additional fuses are built into the custom PCB to provide safeguards against electrical damage. MSI uses HCI CHOKE (High-Efficiency Carbonyl Inductors) chokes to reduce noise and improve electrical filtering. DrMOS power stages provide great efficiency with low power loss and enhanced voltage controls. There is even a Dual BIOS on board giving you the choice between the GAMING mode or a low noise SILENT mode.

One unique feature of the 3x 8-pin PCIe power to 16-pin power adapter is the use of a bright yellow plugging. This allows you to visually recognize if the power cable is plugged in all the way or not. When pushed solidly in (with a click) and no yellow showing, the power cable is fully inserted. There is a Dual-BIOS switch between Silent mode and Gaming mode, with the difference being the fan profile, it is more aggressive on Gaming and less aggressive on Silent. With the pass-through air design, the rear fan will blow completely through the video card, cooling the heatsink completely on this end. The top and bottom of the video card are open to allow air to vent that way for the other fans.

The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC supports MSI’s Mystic Light RGB lighting and is fully controllable and customizable with MSI Center software. There is a strip of LEDs on the bottom edge of the design, as well as the top, and on the top edge of the video card the MSI logo, as well as on the end of the video card. With the way the LEDs are positioned, they do end up lighting up the inside of the card as well.

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