MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Gaming Z review (Page 30)

MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Gaming Z review

Graphics cards 1048 Page 30 of 30 Published 2018-11-02 13:24 by Hilbert Hagedoorn

Conclusion

Final words and Verdict

I am going to leave the pricing and Raytracing/AI tensor feature discussion for what it is, and talk a little more about what MSI accomplished here with the Gaming Z. See when I filter away the above-mentioned variables (regardless of whether that is fair or not), we have a mighty impressive graphics card here. The RTX 2070 Gaming Z has a massive tweak, seriously impressive as it brings it closer towards 1080 Ti performance. Despite that tweak, we see really good temperatures. But what amazes me is how silent the product is, at the measures 33 DBa you just cannot hear it. Just wow. The visuals of the card are subject to taste, but here again once powered on I (and I know this is subjective to say) really really like the looks. The generic performance level of the RTX 2070 is not bad, 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. The dual fan edition from MSI we just reviewed shows really good performance metrics, it, however, will not be a card suitable in the Ultra HD range combined with Raytracing and demanding modern games. Up-to something 2560x1440 resolution wise is the best bet and goal for this product.

Gaming performance

We mentioned it a couple of times already spread over several RTX 2070 articles, 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 above GTX 1080 levels based purely 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. Again, the RTX 2070 do not have an NVLINK connector for you to run two cards in multi-GPU mode.

Aesthetics

Well, I expressed my opinion on this topic in the first paragraph already. With a dark design, the cooler once powered on just looks amazing. The RTX 2070 Gaming Z has new and most definitely improved looks. It sits in the Gaming line, was made a little darker to look at, and that works for me. The RGB lighting effects are funky to see. That LED inclusion that has been done subtly and can be configured in any manner you prefer with Mystic Light software, the choice is yours. While I always will remain skeptical about backplates (they potentially can trap heat and thus warm up the PCB) MSI does have vents there. The flip-side is that they can look better and can protect your PCB and components from damage and, well, they can look nice as they can have a certain aesthetic appeal. I have to admit, this is looking very nice but looks are always personal, of course. So in the end, on looks, you certainly get that premium feel of detailed aesthetics and quality.

Cooling & Noise Levels

The Twinfrozr 7 revision Torx fan v3.0 edition tops out at roughly 66 Degrees C while gaming. So that's just really good considering the tweak this card has at factory defaults, the acoustics are well under control as well as at its worst we measured only 33 DBa you'll not be hearing this card under normal circumstances card. 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

From the entire RTX range with the three product lines released in my opinion, the GeForce RTX 2070 overall makes the most sense. Combined with Raytracing we, however, doubt it'll be a fast enough card in the Ultra HD range. Then again, if you drop regular AA, choose DLSS you'll benefit from an extra kick in performance, that you can trade in for RT. The future will, however, tell how that is going to pan out. For this conclusion I am going to focus on what MSI brought to the table, an in my view the Gaming Z simple ticks all the right boxes, and then some more. The PCB and component design ooze quality, the cooler is super efficient, the acoustics levels are at an all-time low. In fact so low that you will never hear this card. Typically the more value products (if you allow me to use that phrase for in this context), could be doubled up in performance with the help of SLI, however, NVIDIA ripped that out of 2070, it has no NVLINK and you will not see any AIB cards supporting SLI. The RTX 2070 will perform roughly at and just above that GTX 1080 level, that in respect is not a bad proposition. Pricing for this model should sit in the 550 USD range, however, due to shortages, that is looking like a 599 USD price tag. Overall though, this without a doubt was the most beautiful card we have tested (and yes that is subjective). Combined with kickass and totally silent cooling and a really nice factory tweak we'll hand out a top pick award, as the product they MSI has released here really deserves that award. What a gorgeously designed product.