Introduction
On our test bench today, we have the opportunity to review the brand-new MSI GeForce RTX 5070 12G GAMING TRIO OC. Launched on March 4th, 2025, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 sits just below the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti in the new Blackwell GPU lineup for 2025 and is aimed at the mainstream 1440p gameplay experience range of gaming.
The base reference MSRP of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is $549, and the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 GAMING TRIO OC will carry a price premium, which is currently shown as $649.99 on MSI’s US Store Front. For the price premium, you get a fully custom partner-developed video card, custom cooling with the MSI TRI FROZR 4 thermal design, a factory overclock, overclocking tweaking with MSI Afterburner, and MSI features.
We have a very detailed launch article that discusses all the nitty-gritty of the RTX 5070, and we invite you to give that a good look. Briefly, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 consists of 5 GPCs, 24 TPCs, and 48 SMs with 128 CUDA Cores per SM. When you add all this up, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 has 6,144 CUDA Cores, 192 5th Gen Tensor Cores, 48 4th Gen RT Cores, 80 ROPs, and 192 Texture Units. The L1 Data Cache/Shared memory size is 6144KB, and the L2 cache size is 49152 KB. The GPU Boost Clock is set at 2512MHz.
Memory consists of 12GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit memory bus at 28Gbps, giving it 672GB/s of memory bandwidth. The TGP (Total Graphics Power) is 250W. The minimum PSU recommended is 650 watts per MSI. Here’s a nice review of what MSI has to offer in the RTX 5000 series of video cards, including recommended PSUs and SFF cards.
We will procede with our standard gaming suite as well as overclock this overclocked video card. Keep in mind that prices are in flux, so be sure to check out our pricing widget for the latest pricing updates, which will potentially change over time for this graphics card.
MSI GeForce RTX 5070 12G GAMING TRIO OC
MSI has entered the arena with a plethora of GeForce RTX 5070 GPU-based video cards. From the top of the stack VANGARD to the more basic VENTUS and some in-between plus a few with two fans. The cards fall in this order: VANGARD (OC and SOC), TRIO (OC and non-OC), INSPIRE (OC and non-OC), SHADOW 2X and 3X, and VENTUS 2X and 3X (OC and non-OC). Lots of choices, indeed.
As you can see, the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 12G GAMING TRIO OC sits just below the top. It is overclocked and has a distinct striped RGB pattern on the front of the card. This theme has been consistent with the TRIO models from the RTX 3000 series. The remainder of the card is a rather subdued black and gray. It is also factory overclocked out of the box.
There is also a White version of the GAMING TRIO OC offered as well if that is of interest for your color scheme. There is also Non-OC versions of the GAMING TRIO offered as well in both black and white, so a ton of options here from MSI that should suite your needs. The model we have represents the best factory overclocked model of the GAMING TRIO series.
The reference Boost Clock of the GeForce RTX 5070 is 2512MHz. The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 GAMING TRIO OC comes with a Boost Clock of 2610MHz right out of the box. That’s a nice 98MHz without doing anything but opening the box and installing the video card. This should give it the edge over a Founders Edition in performance. There is also an MSI Center configurable OC option to enable a higher 2625MHz Boost Clock as well in software, as a very easy software button overclock using the software.
We received the video card directly from MSI. This was a full retail box. The packaging was exactly as we have come to expect from MSI: the box-in-a-box with plenty of foam padding. The video card was placed in a thick anti-static bag. There were two accessories, a two-headed 12V-2×6 adapter and a stand-alone video card support.
The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 GAMING TRIO OC has a characteristic look that has been very consistent for quite a while. The card has a plastic shroud on the front with three 100mm fans. MSI calls these “StormForce” fans, connected at the margin with seven blades. The blades are slightly scored. The scoring apparently lowers the noise profile. The fans also utilize Double Ball Bearings for longevity and lifespan. The fans are cowled and raised slightly above the shroud. The fans support MSI ZERO FROZR technology to keep the fans turned off at low temperatures to save on noise levels.
Overall, the thermal design uses MSI’s TRI FROZR 4 suite of technologies. The aluminum heatsink is a heatpiped design running the full length of the video card. The heatpipes use MSI CORE PIPE technology featuring a square design that makes better contact with the GPU baseplate for better thermal transfer. The heatsink is big, but overall, the weight of the card is not excessive.
The heatsink features an MSI WAVE CURVED 4.0 design with wave edges on the fins to enhance airflow and reduce tubulance in a high-low fin design. It also uses AIR ANTEGRADE FIN 2.0 technology with a V-Shape to the heatsink to again improve airflow passthrough to improve efficiency. The baseplate is Nickel-Plated Copper and makes direct contact with the GPU and memory. MSI uses high-quality clay-based thermal pads for cooling all components.
The backplate on the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 12G GAMING TRIO OC is brushed aluminum with a large dragon logo on the cut-out area. The dragon is mirror finished and shines very characteristically. Very nice touch. Electronically, the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 GAMING TRIO OC relies on DrMOS power stages and additional fuses built into the custom PCB to provide safeguards against electrical damage.
This video card features RGB, two sets of stripes surround the middle fan, and a dragon logo medallion-shaped RGB is seen on the rear edge. All of these may be controlled by MSI Center software.
Physically, this is a long but not-so-heavy video card. The measurements are: 13 1/4 inch x 4 7/8 inch x 2 inch. This is a 2.5 slot card. Weight is 2 pounds 9 ounces. The I/O has three Display Port 2.1b and one HMDI 2.1b port. Total Board Power is listed at 250 Watts. A minimum of a 650-watt PSU is recommended. The video card supports PCIe Gen5 x16 and is backward-compatible.