RTX 4070 Super vs RTX 4070: Worth the upgrade? (2024)

• 

  Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super

  The RTX 4070 Super supersizes the AD104 silicon from the RTX 4070, bringing more CUDA cores and a slightly increased base clock for more performance. The best thing is that it's launching at the same MSRP, so you're gettting more for the same money.

  Pros

  • More ray tracing and CUDA cores over the predecessor
  • Increased base clock to 1,980 MHz
  • Same MSRP as the card it replaces in the lineup

  Cons

  • 12GB of VRAM might be a limiting factor eventually
  • Only one NVENC encoder

  $600 at Best Buy

• 

  Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070

  The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 is our favorite graphics card from this generation, with a price-to-performance ratio that is hard to beat in this age of premium-priced GPUs. It's very capable for gaming at 1440p and can stretch to 4K on less demanding titles.

  Pros

  • Best bang for buck graphics card this generation
  • Solid 1440p gaming performance
  • Can handle 4K gaming at lower frame rates

  Cons

  • 12GB of VRAM could be a limiting factor
  • Only one NVENC encoder

  $550 at Best Buy

When Nvidia released the RTX 4070, it quickly became one of our favorite graphics cards from this generation. That might have been because it was the first vaguely affordable option of the RTX 40 series, but the mix of performance at 1440p and beyond for a midrange price tag was a winner. Now it's being shunted down from the lineup as Nvidia has released its mid-cycle refresh for this generation, and the new RTX 4070 Super is here. With more power, a new color scheme and the same MSRP that the card it was slated to replace had, on paper it's a winner already. It's not quite that cut-and-dried as Nvidia changed the pricing around on the older card, so we'll lay out what you need to know when deciding between the RTX 4070 and the newer RTX 4070 Super.

RTX 4070 Super vs RTX 4070: Price, specs & availability

Nvidia revealed the RTX 4070 Super on January 8, 2024. It was available to purchase from January 17, at a MSRP of $599. It's available in a Founders Edition with a blacked-out design directly from Nvidia or from its partner Best Buy. You can also get variants from all of Nvidia's board partners, like Asus, MSI, and Zotac from their respective websites or major retailers of PC hardware like Amazon, Best Buy, Microcenter, and others.

The RTX 4070 was released on April 13, 2023, at the same MSRP of $599. Now that the Super version is out, Nvidia has decided to drop the price of this card by $50 permanently, instead of replacing it completely in the lineup. That makes our favorite best value GPU even better value, and it's a shrewd marketing move assuming they have warehouses full of GPU boxes to sell. It also comes in an FE (Founders Edition) from Nvidia or Best Buy, with the older silver and black design. And all of Nvidia's current board partners have customized versions, which can be found at Amazon, Newegg, Microcenter or anywhere else that carries major PC hardware.

• 	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070
  Graphics RAM Size	12GB GDDR6X	12GB GDDR6X
  Brand	Nvidia	Nvidia
  Architecture	Ada Lovelace	Ada Lovelace
  Process	5 nm	5nm
  Shader Units	7,168	5,888
  Ray Accelerators/Cores	56	46
  Stream Processors	56	46
  Base Clock Speed	1,980 MHz	1,920MHz
  Boost Clock Speed	2,475 MHz	2,480MHz
  Memory Bus	192-bit	192-bit
  Memory Bandwidth	504.2GB/s	504.2GB/s
  Power Draw	220W	200W
  Price	600	$600

Architecture

Mid-cycle refresh comes for the best value contender

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super and RTX 4070 share the same 5nm Ada Lovelace architecture as all RTX 40 series graphics cards. The two cards also use the same AD104 silicon, but the RTX 4070 Super has a higher base clock speed, more CUDA cores and more ray tracing (RT) cores. While the RTX 4070 has 46 streaming multiprocessors (SMs), 46 RT cores, and 5,888 CUDA cores, the RTX 4070 Super increases that to 56 SMs, 56 RT cores, and 7,168 CUDA cores. You also get an increase in fourth-gen Tensor cores to 224 (up from 184), and the base clock is now 1,980 MHz whereas it's 1,920 MHz on the older card.

That's nearly a 22% increase in SMs, RT cores, and CUDA cores on the new RTX 4070 Super, which is an impressive increase given that the card is still at the same $599 MSRP that the RTX 4070 released at. What hasn't changed is the memory, which is 12GB of GDDR6X with a 192-bit bus, making a total of 504.2GB/s of bandwidth. On paper, the RTX 4070 Super is going to be more powerful than the RTX 4070, but it's slightly difficult to predict by how much, and this isn't intended to be a generational leap, more a mid-cycle stepping stone.

Performance and power

It's more power, for the same money

We've had hands-on experience with both of these graphics chips, although with custom AIB models that are slightly overclocked from the reference models. The MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ventus 3X impressed us at 1440p, with over 60 frames-per-second in demanding titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 with the graphics options turned right up. Ray tracing in real-time dropped them below 60 FPS again to 40 until Nvidia's DLSS was turned on, when those frame rates almost tripled. The frame rate increase at 4K was even more stark, going from 5 FPS with Ultra and RT settings, to a more playable 40 FPS once DLSS was on.

On the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Super Trinity Black Edition we reviewed, Cyberpunk 2077 continued to be a challenge, but with 49 FPS with Ultra settings and RT turned on at 1440p and 82 FPS once DLSS Quality was turned on, it was a smoother experience. That's a similar number to the Gigabyte RTX 4070 Ti Gaming OC card we also reviewed, which could do 57 FPS at 1440p without DLSS, a significant jump over the RTX 4070. At 1080p, the RTX 4070 Super handled everything thrown at it, putting out over 60 FPS even without using DLSS.

Synthetic benchmarks to simulate performance in DX11 and DX12 titles are a great way of comparing differing graphics cards. They show rough potential power changes between them, even if the numbers don't always line up with real-world game testing. The RTX 4070 Super shows a small improvement over the RTX 4070, which is as expected with the increased core count without changing the memory speed or amount. It's worth pointing out that these synthetic tests don't test for how advanced upscaling technologies like Nvidia's DLSS or AMD's FSR can improve the gaming experience while still using the same power levels. That's why the synthetic numbers show a smaller jump than the frame rates in Cyberpunk 2077.

Both of these graphics cards are incredibly capable at 1080p or 1440p, as only a handful of game titles like the aforementioned Cyberpunk 2077 can bring them to their knees. The RTX 4070 Super gives you more performance for the same money you would have paid for an RTX 4070 until just recently.

RTX 4070 Super vs RTX 4070: Worthy upgrade?

The RTX 4070 Super is a worthy entry into the list of best RTX 4070 graphics cards. It brings more CUDA cores, more RT cores, and more overall performance for the same price tag as the card it was supposed to replace in the lineup. Except, Nvidia didn't replace the RTX 4070, instead it got a permanent $50 price cut, making our favorite GPU of this generation even better value. If you already have an RTX 4070, you can hold on to your current GPU for now. The RTX 4070 Super does outperform it, but you'll lose more in depreciation on your existing card than what you'd gain.

For everyone else, it's worth picking up the RTX 4070 Super if you're building a PC now. The increased performance for the same MSRP makes it an even better bang for buck graphics card, and should be the first one you look at when building a mid-range gaming PC. And don't forget to check out our list of the best CPUs to pair with your RTX 4070, as the picks are just as relevant for the Super variant.

Editor's Choice

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super FE

The RTX 4070 Super supersizes the AD104 silicon from the RTX 4070, bringing more CUDA cores and a slightly increased base clock for more performance. The best thing is that it's launching at the same MSRP, so you're getting more for the same money.

$600 at Best Buy

While the Super refresh is deserving of the win here, the $50 permanent price drop for the RTX 4070 means it's even better value than when we previously recommended it. That makes it a great option for anyone trying to squeeze every bit of performance into a smaller budget, as you can use the cost savings for better RAM or higher-performing case fans, or any other component you need.

Great value

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 is our favorite graphics card from this generation, with a price-to-performance ratio that is hard to beat in this age of premium-priced GPUs. It's very capable for gaming at 1440p and can stretch to 4K on less demanding titles.

$550 at Best Buy$549 at NVIDIA