MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Armor 8G review - Conclusion

Final words and Verdict

Months ago when we all learned about the, at the time, pending RTX series, I guess nobody really 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, the RTX 2070 is not bad, not bad at all. The card sits comfortably above the GeForce GTX 1080 and Radeon Vega 64.  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.  Back to the actual product from MSI. The Armor 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. MSI 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

MSI kept things the stylish with a dual-slot cooler in a dark design. The top logo etc you can switch on/off or to any color and animation you prefer, the choice is yours. Cool dibs is that backplate, however, it lacks proper ventilation. 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. Overall though, it is a nice looking product.  

Cooling & Noise Levels

The card tops out at roughly only 64 Degrees C while gaming. So that's not bad at all, especially considering the acoustics as this puppy remains extremely savvy at very silent noise levels, that was really impressive to hear and measure. 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 opinion, NVIDIA should have delayed the 2070 until actual DXR games are available 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 'only' 36 RT and 288 Tensor cores. One thing is certain, it will not be enough for Ultra HD (with Raytracing). 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 pretty extreme 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. NVIDIA's tactics and planning aside, we also need to look at the actual AIB partner product. Here we have to give props to MSI. This is intended to be that 499 USD product, whether or not it will be selling at that price in retail is another story. But this is not a cheap plastic knock-off. MSI fitted a very nice looking and designed cooler that performance more than adequate. Acoustics are downright terrific and the temps at an equal proverbial. You will also have plenty of leeway left for tweaking and overclocking. The power consumption sits at that 170 Watts range, so that ain't bad either.

MSI as such is doing things spot on right and we certainly can recommend the card if you are interested. From what we heard, the RTX 2070 will be the lowest positioned card to have RT and tensor cores. We do not expect to see a GeForce RTX 2050 / 2060 with them, as it would make little sense. So yeah, raytraced games wise (hybrid), this is the entry-level product for now. It's a really nice performing card between the GTX 1080 and 1080 Ti perf level, and that's a good spot to be in for the RTX 2070 overall. Other then that, MSI offers this 499 USD card with very little to no compromises, recommended if you feel it's worth the money. And let me close by saying, out of all the RTX cards released, this one makes the best sense. 

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