NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 review: A Titan X at less than half the price

Performance Benchmarks - page 1

Test Setup

The detailed specifications of our current graphics card testbed system are as follow:-

• Intel Core i7-5960X
• ASUS X99-Pro (Intel X99 chipset) motherboard
• 2 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2133 (Auto timings: CAS 15-15-15-36)
• Samsung SSD 840 Pro 256GB SATA 6Gbps solid state drive (OS + benchmark + games)
• Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps hard drive (general storage)
• Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
• Intel INF 10.1.1.14

NVIDIA supplied us with beta driver version 368.19 for testing, and that’s what we used for both benchmarking and overclocking. For our comparison cards, we included NVIDIA’s top performers from the last generation, and a couple of AMD’s Fiji cards, the Radeon R9 Fury and Nano.

The full line-up of graphics cards and their driver versions are listed below:

• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (ForceWare 368.19)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (ForceWare 368.13)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan X (ForceWare 365.19)
• ASUS ROG Matrix GTX 980 Ti Platinum (ForceWare 365.19)
• MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G (ForceWare 365.19)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (ForceWare 368.22)
• Sapphire Radeon R9 Nano (Crimson Edition 16.3.1)
• ASUS Strix Radeon R9 Fury (Crimson Edition 16.3.1)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 and 1080 compared

	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition
Launch SRP	From S$768	From S$1188
Core Code	GP104	GP104
GPU Transistor Count	7.2 Billion	7.2 billion
Manufacturing Process	16nm	16nm
Core Clock	1,506MHz (Boost: 1,683MHz)	1607MHz (Boost: 1733MHz)
Stream Processors	1,920	2560
Stream Processor Clock	1,506MHz	1607MHz
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs)	120	160
Raster Operator units (ROP)	64	64
Memory Clock (DDR)	8,000MHz	10000MHz
Memory Bus width	256-bit	256-bit
Memory Bandwidth	256GB/s	320 GB/s
PCI Express Interface	3.0	PCI Express 3.0
Power Connectors	1x 8-PIN PCIe	1 x 8-pin
Multi GPU Technology	SLI	SLI
DVI Outputs	1x	1
HDMI Outputs	1x	1
DisplayPort Outputs	3x	3
HDCP Output Support	Yes	Yes

Test cards compared

	NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan X	ASUS ROG Matrix GeForce GTX 980 Ti Platinum Edition	MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4G	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970	Sapphire Radeon R9 Nano	ASUS Strix Radeon R9 Fury
Launch SRP	—	From S$1329	From S$949	—	From S$848	From S$969
Core Code	GM200	GM200	GM204	GM204	Fiji	Fiji
GPU Transistor Count	8 billion	8 billion	5.2 billion	5.2 billion	8.9 billion	8.9 billion
Manufacturing Process	28nm	28nm	28nm	28nm	28nm	28nm
Core Clock	1000MHz (Boost: 1075MHz)	OC mode: 1216 MHz (Boost: 1317MHz) Gaming mode (default): 1190 MHz (Boost:1291 MHz)	1216MHz (Boost Clock: 1317MHz) (OC mode) 1190MHz (Boost Clock: 1291MHz) (Gaming mode) 1127MHz (Boost Clock: 1216MHz) (Silent mode)	1050MHz (Boost: 1178MHz)	1,000MHz	1000MHz
Stream Processors	3072	2816	2048	1664	4,096	3584
Stream Processor Clock	1000MHz	1216MHz	1216MHz	1050MHz	1,000MHz	1000MHz
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs)	192	176	128	104	256	224
Raster Operator units (ROP)	96	96	64	64	64	64
Memory Clock (DDR)	7010MHz	7200MHz	7010MHz	7010MHz	500MHz	1000MHz
Memory Bus width	384-bit	384-bit	256-bit	256-bit	4,096-bit	4096-bit
Memory Bandwidth	336.5 GB/s	345.6 GB/s	224 GB/s	224 GB/s	Up to 512GB/s	512GB/s
PCI Express Interface	PCI Express 3.0	PCI Express 3.0	PCI Express 3.0	PCI Express 3.0	3.0	PCIe 3.0 x16
Power Connectors	1 x 6-pin, 1 x 8-pin	1 x 8-pin, 1 x 8-pin	2 x 8-pin	2 x 6-pin	1x 8-pin	2x 8-pin
Multi GPU Technology	SLI	SLI	SLI	SLI	Yes	CrossFire
DVI Outputs	1	1	1	1	—	1
HDMI Outputs	1	1	1	1	1x	1
DisplayPort Outputs	3	3	3	3	3x	3
HDCP Output Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Benchmarks

We’ve updated our performance benchmarks to include a handful of the latest titles. Two benchmark games, Hitman and Ashes of the Singularity, also take advantage of DirectX 12, so we were also able to get a look at how the GeForce GTX 1070 performed using Microsoft’s latest gaming API.

Here’s the list of the benchmarks we used:

• Futuremark 3DMark (2013)
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
• Crysis 3
• Tom Clancy’s The Division
• Ashes of the Singularity
• Hitman

We used the Fire Strike Extreme test in 3DMark (2013) for our power and temperature tests.

Futuremark 3DMark (2013)

In 3DMark, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX displayed figures in line with what the GeForce GTX Titan X served up. There were minuscule – bordering on insignificant – differences across the board, so there’s really little point in calculating percentage differences. However, compared to the GeForce GTX 1080, the latter was around 15 to 20 percent faster than the 1070, depending on the tested resolution.

The GeForce GTX 1070 was also over 50 percent faster than the GeForce GTX 970 in Fire Strike Extreme and Ultra, which bodes well for gamers looking for an upgrade to a relatively affordable card that is better able to handle high resolution gaming.

The card also handily beat out the two AMD Fiji-based cards. At US$499, the Nano even costs more than the GeForce GTX 1070. Time and time again, things continue to work out in NVIDIA’s favor, as the green camp consistently shows that it can beat AMD at nearly every performance segment and price point (at least until AMD's next-gen comes out).

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

But now for the actual gaming benchmarks. In Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, the GeForce GTX 1070 continued to serve up numbers that were almost uncannily close to that of the GeForce GTX Titan X. Truly, NVIDIA just made a Titan X at less than half the price.

We also weren’t too surprised to see that the GeForce GTX 1080 was still quite far ahead of the pack, coming in at around 28 percent faster than the 1070. With that said, the flagship Pascal card, and the factory overclocked GeForce GTX 980 Ti, were about all that managed to beat the GeForce GTX 1070. It cruised to a commanding lead over all the other cards, the GeForce GTX Titan X excepted.

Crysis 3

There was a similar pattern in Crysis 3. The GeForce GTX 1070 and Titan X were once again neck-and-neck with each other, while the 1080 maintained its lead at the head of the group. We’ll focus on the higher resolution settings here as the Pascal cards are intended for more demanding scenarios like these, and would really be wasted on regular 1080p gaming.

At Ultra settings with a resolution of 1600p, the GeForce GTX 1070 was a whopping 55 percent faster than the GeForce GTX 970. In turn, the GeForce GTX 1080 was about 22 percent faster than the 1070. That may not seem like an especially staggering lead, but it is still very significant, especially at higher resolutions with all the eye candy turned up. Even the most powerful cards continue to be taxed with settings like these, and a 20 percent lead can often make the difference between a choppy and playable gaming experience.

Tom Clancy’s The Division

The GeForce GTX 1070 fared less well in The Division, falling behind the GeForce GTX Titan X more than it did in the other benchmarks. That aside, it was still ahead of the majority of the other 'high-end' tier cards.

However, the GeForce GTX 1080 really showed that it isn’t just the single-GPU king in name only. At a resolution of 1600p and Ultra settings, it was around 33 percent faster than the 1070. As it turns out, while NVIDIA may be pitching both cards in a similar vein as each other, that is, for VR and other demanding use cases, it’s clear that you’ll still want to get the GeForce GTX 1080 if you game at quad HD resolutions and like to crank all the settings up.