Technologies
GeForce RTX 4070 GPU Review: It Hits the Bull’s-Eye of the Middle
From high 1080p gaming to low 4K, as well as for midrange graphics and video production, Nvidia’s RTX 4070 graphics card has got it covered.
Nvidia’s latest throwdown in the GPU arena, the GeForce RTX 4070 seems like the most well-rounded meat-and-potatoes gaming card choice you can get — at least for the moment. It’s a first-rate option for upgrading to high-speed, highest quality 1080p through entry 4K gaming, hitting all of 1440p in between. Covering that much ground means you should be safe for a few years until you’re ready to upgrade again. It’s good for 4K video editing, most streaming and entry-level pro and AI-assisted graphics. The size and power requirements make it a good fit for midsize systems. And starting at $600, it’s the least expensive way to hit all those targets.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition
Like
- Well-rounded performance for the money
- Only takes two slots
Don’t Like
- Needs adapter or PCIe 5 power connectors
The step-up RTX 4070 Ti outperforms it, sometimes by quite a bit, thanks to its faster GPU clock and more cores across the board, which makes the 4070 Ti a tempting competitor for the same gaming performance classes as the RTX 4070. But it’s at least $200 more (although who knows what the 4070’s price range will settle at once the third-party boards start to ship on April 13), recommends a class higher of power supply and takes up more space. Though the 4070 Ti only needs a half-slot more width, that means it will block an entire second slot on many motherboards, and it might not even fit in some smaller systems.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition
| Memory | 12GB GDDR6X |
|---|---|
| Memory bandwidth (GBps) | 504.2 |
| Memory clock (GHz) | 11 |
| GPU clock (GHz, base/boost) | 1.92/2.475 |
| Memory data rate/Interface | 21Gbps/192 bits |
| RT cores | 46 |
| CUDA Cores | 5888 |
| Texture mapping units | 184 |
| Streaming multiprocessors | 46 |
| Tensor Cores | 184 |
| Process | 4nm |
| TGP/min PSU (watts) | 200/650 |
| Max thermal (degrees) | 194F/90C |
| Bus | PCIe 4.0×16 |
| Size | 2 slots |
| Launch price | $600 |
| Ship date | April 12, 2023 |
AMD’s RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX also outperform the RTX 4070, but they’re even more expensive than the RTX 4070 Ti and can’t keep up with the RTX 4070 for ray tracing. They’re also 2.5 slots thick like the 4070 Ti. And though it sounds tempting to opt for a last-generation GeForce model, they aren’t really cheaper unless you drop below an RTX 3070. But at that point you’ve also dropped down to a different performance class.
The RTX 4070 FE’s power connector.
Lori Grunin/CNETOne reason to go for an RTX 40-series class card over an older generation is the jump from DLSS 2 to DLSS 3, Nvidia’s performance optimization technology, that the newer Ada architecture made over Ampere. DLSS 3 delivers significant gains over its predecessor. The downside is that there aren’t a lot of DLSS 3-supporting games out yet — only about 50, which isn’t much out of the universe of thousands of games. But it does bump DLSS 2 performance over the RTX 30-series as well.
It was a bit odd that Nvidia didn’t release a home-grown Founders Edition of the 4070 Ti, but it returned to tradition with the 4070; the Founders Editions are notable for having guaranteed as-launched prices, though they also tend to sell out fast for that reason.
There’s little novel about the RTX 4070 FE’s design relative to the rest of the line. The one notable distinction is the power connector, which like the others needs either the bundled adapter or PCIe 5.0 PSU cables/adapters, but only uses a single 12-pin connection (rather than two).
Like its siblings, the RTX 4070 FE has three DisplayPort 1.4 connections and one HDMI 2.1.
Lori Grunin/CNETCompanies release the highest priced, highest performing model, wait a little while to see how many people snap it up, then release a slightly cheaper, slightly less powerful model, rinse and repeat. And none do it more consistently than Nvidia. That makes offering informed buying advice harder than necessary: We know that slower, cheaper GPU models are coming, but not how much slower or how much cheaper.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a 4060 Ti in our future that makes an incremental drop that’s worth the performance sacrifice for the price savings, the way the RTX 4070 did subsequent to my review of the RTX 4070 Ti. But for the moment, the GeForce RTX 4070 seems to strike the best balance of performance for the money, and one that should keep you happy for a few years.
Relative performance of other GPUs
Shadow of the Tomb Raider gaming test (1440p)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS)
3DMark Time Spy graphics test
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
Guardians of the Galaxy (1440p at maximum quality with ray tracing)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS)
Procyon Video
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
SpecViewPerf 2020 SolidWorks (4K)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS)
3DMark Speed Way (DX12 Ultimate)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
3DMark DXR (DirectX Ray Tracing)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS)
Test PC configuration
| Custom PC | Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (22H2); 3.2GHz Intel Core i9-12900K; 32GB DDR5-4800; 2x Corsair MP600 Pro SSD; Corsair HX1200 80 Plus Platinum PSU, MSI MPG Z690 Force Wi-Fi motherboard, Corsair 4000D Airflow midtower case |
|---|
Technologies
The FCC Just Approved Charter’s $34.5B Cox Purchase. Here’s What It Means for 37M Customers
Technologies
Spotify Expands Into Audiobook Rankings With Weekly Charts
The feature is available to both free users and Premium subscribers. Wuthering Heights is reaching the heights on both the US and UK charts.
If you’re a Spotify user, you may be familiar with features like the year-end summary Wrapped, as well as your daily usage stats. Now, the service has a new popularity chart tracking audiobooks.
Spotify’s audiobook charts are now available to free and Premium users within the service’s Audiobooks hub. While only Premium users receive 15 hours of audiobook listening per month, the company offers a larger selection of titles you can buy.
US charts and UK charts are both available now.
Read more: Best Music Streaming Services for 2026
Spotify says that the audiobook charts will help customers discover new and popular titles in real time.
«As we’ve proven with Music and Podcasts Charts, when content is easier to access, discover, and enjoy, the demand grows,» said Duncan Bruce, Spotify’s director of audiobook partnerships and licensing, in a statement on Friday.
Spotify launched audiobooks in 2022, and has since added features such as the AI catchup tool Recaps and PageMatch, which lets you swap more easily between a printed book and the audio version.
Spotify Premium currently costs $13 a month and includes more than 100 million songs, as well as audiobooks. Spotify Premium is currently CNET’s Editors’ Choice for best music streaming service.
The current US audiobooks chart lists Emily Brontë’s romantic classic Wuthering Heights as the top listen, followed by James Clear’s self-help book Atomic Habits and Freida McFadden’s psychological thriller The Housemaid. Audiobook popularity is also broken down by genre, with charts for romance, mystery and thriller books, self-help, science fiction and fantasy, biography and memoir, business and careers, teen and young adult, religion and spirituality, history, and parenting and relationships.
Powered by its blockbuster movie adaptation starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, Wuthering Heights also leads the overall chart for the UK.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 28, #523
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle No. 523, for Saturday, Feb. 28.
Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. Chicagoans and southerners, you might have an advantage, at least with the blue and purple categories. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.
Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Fore!
Green group hint: Take me out to the ballgame.
Blue group hint: Alma mater.
Purple group hint: Bear down.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Golf equipment.
Green group: Materials in a baseball.
Blue group: SEC school locations.
Purple group: First names of Chicago Bears.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is golf equipment. The four answers are club, glove, rangefinder and tee.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is materials in a baseball. The four answers are cork, rubber, leather and yarn.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is SEC school locations. The four answers are Athens, Auburn, Lexington and Oxford.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is first names of Chicago Bears. The four answers are Cairo, Caleb, Luther and Rome.
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