ASUS Turbo GeForce RTX 2070 8GB review (Page 30)

ASUS Turbo GeForce RTX 2070 8GB review

Graphics cards 1049 Page 30 of 30 Published 2018-10-16 15:00 by Hilbert Hagedoorn

Conclusion

Final words and Verdict

Months ago when we all learned about the, at the time, pending RTX series, nobody expected the launches to be as rough as they have been. NVIDIA released everything at once, all reviews became haste jobs and yeah, that seems to be repeating itself with the RTX 2070 launch. Performance of the RTX 2070 is not bad though, not bad at all. The Raytracing and AI feature like DLSS remain interesting, but still are a proof of concept as not one actually game supports it. And it's exactly there where these products need to make sense in order to make sense in terms of the cash you need to put down for RTX cards. The Turbo edition we just reviewed shows very decent performance metrics, it, however, will not be a card suitable in the ultra HD range. Up-to something 2560x1440 resolution wise is the best bet and goal for this product. I do believe that at such a resolution the RT and tensor cores will be sufficient enough. But again, that is something only the future can tell. ASUS is offering a really nice product overall, nice looks, proper cooling, and low acoustics are what you will get for the money. The card is very basic in clocks there is some decent tweaking potential left as well. The card ain't running hot and above it all, this is just a properly good looking GeForce RTX 2070 for a lower segment SKU in this product range.

Gaming performance

We spilled the beans already, but the GeForce RTX 2070 series positions itself to sit in that FullHD and (W)QHD resolution in range. Performance wise you are looking at the GTX 1080 on raw shader perf, added benefits are of course the RT and Tensor cores. If you stick to the aforementioned resolutions your games will run at proper framerates with the very best image quality. The 8 GB graphics memory is nice, making the product a bit more future proof. In terms of multi-GPU setups, NVIDIA did not allow SLI for this series.

Aesthetics

With an all-black design, the cooler really isn't bad looking. I actually like that as it is easy on the eyes. Obviously, it's less good for cooling performance and noise levels of course.

Cooling & Noise Levels

The card tops out at roughly 75 Degrees C while gaming. So that's 'okay', the acoustics, however, are considerably audible at 44 DBa under full gaming load. It's the nature of the affordable SKU within the product really. We've heard no noticeable coil whine. But I do want to note that any graphics card at a high-enough FPS will make some coil-whine.

Concluding

In my previous review, I already touched the topic, I'll do so here again. In my opinion, NVIDIA should have delayed the 2070 until actual DXR games are on the market, as only then we can see what this card can do. And I do have to say, I am a little bit worried about the 36 RT and 288 Tensor cores. One thing is certain, it will not be enough for Ultra HD. Typically the more value products (if you allow me to use that phrase for a second), could be doubled up in performance with the help of SLI, however, NVIDIA ripped that out of 2070 as well, it has no NVLINK and you will not see any AIB cards supporting it. So once again it all boils down to simple things, how much value are you going to get out of your money? And that question has been haunting the entire RTX product release, and not so much the new technology, as everybody loves new tech and features. The RTX 2070 will perform roughly at the GTX 1080 level, that in retrospect is not a bad proposition, as GTX 1080 cards are more expensive than the 499 USD price tag for the RTX 2070. Realistically though, the founder's edition (which NVIDIA refuses to seed to reviewers) will sell for a steep 599 USD, and we do expect the more premium cooled AIB product to sit along these lines in pricing as well. And that is a lot of money if you keep in mind that the GTX 1070 at the time was launched at 379 USD for the AIB products and 449 for the founder edition cards. It is what it is though and we'll report as-is. The actual AIB partner product. The card does what it is designed for, ooze out good performance at cooling and acoustics that matches the price tag. It is however too loud for my taste and while we have no other complaints overall, after just having reviewed the MSI ARMOR does feel it is the lesser product in relation to cooling while both are priced similar (499 USD). I guess here your choice needs to be brand preference. Acoustics are 'okay', temps are decent but you will have some leeway left for tweaking and overclocking. The power consumption sits at that 175 Watts range, so that ain't bad either. Overall I feel the RTX 2070 is the more sensible product, but it probably still should be a hundred bucks less expensive? The shader engine performance, however, is really good, tweak it a little and you're at that 1080 Ti perf level. Recommended if you feel it's worth the money, however, the high acoustic noise level of this product would prevent me, personally, from purchasing this product.

Footnote: in the charts, the card is listed 'ASUS Dual', this is a slight typo as it obviously is the 'ASUS Turbo' version.