MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming Z review

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Conclusion

Conclusion

Pretty much all MSI GAMING series graphics cards have their cards folded right, proper cooling, nice design, good components and a few tweaks. Compared to the X model, this Z  model has received a bump in clock frequencies as well as an aesthetic change with a LED activated logo on the backplate. Really that is all as that is the difference. The Z series is to offer the best performance. Unfortunately MSI is still fiddling with their Gaming APP, to achieve the best performance you need to run the Gaming APP and select OC mode. Now at that point you'll receive merley a 25 MHz bump extra, but what I am trying to say is that MSI should make a change. That OC mode should become the default clock frequany. And if people want to use the MSI APP software to downclock then can use it. I mean why would anyone even select SILENT mode if the card in OC mode cannot even be heard ? So my advice to MSI, forget about the MSI APP, place the highest clocks in that BIOS at default. We thus tested tested this Z card at Gaming mode: 1835 MHz / 1632 MHz / 8108 MHz. Still a very nice weak alright. The GeForce GTX 1070 overall offers really good performance. These cards (especially the factory tweaked ones) are battling (and winning from) the GTX 980 Ti and Titan X (Maxwell)  cards out there. The combo of the GPU with GDDR5 memory at 8 Gbps still offers plenty of horsepower. The Pascal GP104 architecture is interesting, as in aside from a few changes in the pipeline, it looks VERY similar to Maxwell. Make no mistake there have been changes, but it shares a very similar structure. So the biggest benefit for Nvidia was 16 nm, as it allows them to drive their products to incredible clock frequencies whilst they can use less voltage, and that results in power consumption way under the 200 Watt marker. Though not that exquisite GDDR5X memory, the 1070 uses GDDR5 graphics memory, still it's effectively running at a nice data-rate of 8 Gbps which brings in a very nice memory performance boost compared to the last gen products, in fact it tweaks rather easily over 9 Gbps as well. That fact armed with new color compression technologies effectively boosts the memory bandwidth a notch upwards compared to the GeForce GTX 970 and 980. These cards are faster compared to a GTX 980 and roughly as fast as a 980 Ti. Next to that I have got to say, 8 GB 256-bit GDDR5 graphics memory also feels like an excellent and well-balanced amount of graphics memory anno 2016. Would you ever use 8 GB of memory? Well, not anytime soon. The largest number we ever measured as like 5 or 6 GB. But hey, who knows with titles like The Division / GTA5 and technologies like Ultra HD and / or DSR versus performance and VRAM what you find valid, or not. High up there in the enthusiast space there certainly is a market for cards like these. That makes these 8 GB models relevant for gaming. 


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Aesthetics

MSI tweaked the design a bit for the new Gaming X and upcoming Z series, the more stylish TwinFrozr VI cooler looks serious and now comes with RGB LED lighting control. Switch it on/off or to any color and animation you prefer, the choice is yours. Cool dibs is that backplate, with opening at the proper areas (GPU/VRM) for venting. As you can see, I remain skeptical about backplates, they potentially can trap heat and thus warm up the PCB. But the flip-side is that they do look better and can protect your PCB and components from damage. Consumer demand is always decisive, and you guys clearly like graphics cards with backplates. Both the front IO plate and backplate are dark matte black which certainly gives the card that premium feel. All that combined with a nicely design 10 phase PCB again in matte black, and the end result is a lovely looking product.

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I am however not a fan of the LED lit Gaming logo on the backplate. I would have liked to have seen something more subtle, a dragon stamped as holes with LEDs behind it in a subtle red or something. However taste is personal and thus a very subjective thing to somment on.

Cooling & Noise Levels

The reference design (founder editions) of the GTX 1070 are set at an offset threshold of 80 degrees C. Once the GPU gets warmer the card will clock down / lower its voltage etc to try and keep the card cooler, that's throttling and it part of the design. MSI however throws in a cooler that manages roughly 500 to 600W of cooling performance. It is a really good one, so good that up-to a degree or 60 on the GPU, this card remains passive and thus inaudible. Once the fans kick in, you can expect to hover at the 70 Degrees C marker, with seriously demanding games. Please do note that you will need proper ventilation inside your chassis to achieve that number. So MSI shaved off a good 10 Degrees C over reference. Noise wise, we can’t complain about cooling whatsoever. Expect sound pressure values in the 38 dBA range at max under load and warm circumstances, and that simply is silent. That's measured 75 CM away from the PC. This means you can barely hear the card while using it. Once overclocked with added voltage we always do recommend a little more fan RPM, this does increase noise a tiny bit, but it's nothing dramatic by any standard. Overall this is a very silent and solid cooling solution. We have not heard any coild noise.

Power Consumption

Any GP104 Pascal GPU and thus GP104 based graphics card is rated as having a 160~180 Watt TDP under full stress, our measurements back that up albeit a notch higher due to the faster clocks and thus voltage usage. We noticed that the Gaming Z 1070 did consume slightly more power due to its tweaks and design, it was roughly 180 Watts under full stress (peak value). That's OK though. Here again keep in mind we measure peak power consumption, the average power consumption is a good notch lower depending on GPU utilization. Also, if you plan to overclock the CPU/memory and/or GPU with added voltage, please do purchase a power supply with enough reserve. People often underestimate it, but if you tweak all three aforementioned variables, you can easily add 200 Watts to your peak power consumption budget as increasing voltages and clocks increases your power consumption.

Gaming performance

If you plan to upgrade my biggest advice to you is this, you'll need to look at your monitor first and foremost. A GeForce GTX 1070 would be perfect for Wide Quad HD Gaming at 2560x1440. It has plenty power and has the graphics memory to deal with games for years to come, even with the best quality settings and some niche AA levels. Price performance wise one should also take SLI into deliberation. We'll test it at one point but two GeForce GTX 1070 cards setup in SLI might be a true sweet-spot for Ultra HD gamers or the ones that like to go a little dirteeh with DSR and of course the latest gaming titles. Performance wise, really there's not one game that won't run seriously good at the very best image quality settings at 2560x1440. And sure, the cool factor remains you get the advantages of an 8 GB framebuffer. As such we feel the card is rather future proof. We mentioned SLI already, but starting with Pascal the primary focus for Nvidia in terms of multi-GPU setups is that they will support 2-way SLI, but really that's it and all. For those of you that want to run 3 and 4-way configuration, it's going to be difficult but remains possible as the game needs to support and you will need to obtain a driver key from the Nvidia website. Do not expect Nvidia to enhance drivers for it, they'll just open up the floodgate and have you deal with the rest. Some of you might be disappointed about this news. Me personally, I am fine with the choice to focus on proper 2-way SLI opposed to all the arbitrary configurations that less then 0.01% of the end-users uses.

Overclocking

Due to the many limiters and hardware protections Nvidia has built in all and any cards will hover roughly at or just over the 2 GHz on the Boost marker. Now, the one factor that can actually positively influence the boost speed a little is temperature as the GPU will then will throttle less. And that did show as we could boost to  roughly 2100 MHz, but that realistically is borderline stable. On 3DMark Firestrike with this card tweaked for example it may hover at ~2050 MHz, while in Rise of the Tom Raider (2016) you will be close towards 2.1 GHz. The reality is that Nvidia monitors and adapts to hardware specific loads, e.g. an application that is nearly viral like on the GPU will have the effect of the GPU protecting itself by lowering clocks and voltages. The opposite applies here as well, if a game does not try & fry that GPU, it'll clock a bit faster withing the tweaked thresholds at your disposal. Tweaking is fun, but definitely more complicated anno 2016. The memory can reach 9.0 Gbps effectively fairly easy. So if you can find a high enough stable tweak, definitely go or it if you are seeking that last bit of extra performance.


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Concluding

The Gaming Z looks and feels like the Gaming X. It has an extra Dragon LED lit logo at the backplate and is clocked only 25 Mhz (base clock) higher compared to the X model. Personally I would have liked to have seen higher numbers as this is the Z model. Regardless, the fact however remains that the Gaming Z SKU is without doubt the fastest GeForce GTX 1070 from MSI that your money can get you. Also keep in mind that the reference/founder cards have a base clock frequency of 1,506 MHz where MSI clocks the base frequency 126 MHz higher at 1,632 MHz (default). But yes, the differences in performance in-between all models is hard to notice during gaming. I mean to date we have tested like six tweaked SKUs from varying manufacturers and the differences in-between ALL cards are like 3 FPS give or take 1 FPS. For PC gamers out there that play their games up-to the WQHD domain and 2560x1440 ('ish) the 1070 is a truly nice upgrade. Especially if you come from the GeForce GTX 960/970 range. Seen from GTX 980 and higher, not so much of course. The new architecture proves its agility and the die shrink to 16 nm FiNFET shows low power consumption due to lower voltages and obviously the high clock-speeds and that 8 Gbps GDDR5 memory offer the product that the GTX 1070 is. The MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming Z is a simply terrific choice for the ones that game in up-to 2560x1440 resolution domain and even some games in the Ultra HD realm. Added benefits over a founders edition card has the better looks, the better cooling, and simply is a very silent product. Tweaking pretty much Nvidia determines what you max overclock is with a few exception here and there. All cards from any vendor are going to hover in the 2.0~2.1 GHz range max. I'll say it again, ALL cards including the inexpensive models (elbeit these might be more noisy of course). I'll stick to my earlier recommendation - you need to focus at the extras like design, cooling, RGB LED system and a bit of that x-factor that suits your style. That does make the MSI GeForce GTX 1070 GAMING Z 8G is what it is, a serious gaming product with an all sturdy and armored up design. We do like it a lot, and certainly would like to recommend the card to any serious gamer, if you can find it for the right price of course. Personally, and I am being brutally honest here, I'd pick up a regular Gaming or Gaming X model they offers slightly better value. But obviously from a spec point of view, the Z model ticks all the right and best boxes and as such does come recommended.

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