MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO Review

MSI's second-best GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO is here, with the same AD104 "Ada Lovelace" GPU and 12GB of GDDR6X ready for 1080p and 1440p gaming.

Published
Manufacturer: MSI (RTX 4070 Ti 16GB Gaming X Trio)
6 minutes & 34 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 90%
TweakTown award

The Bottom Line

MSI's new GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO is a step down from the SUPRIM X, but it still packs virtually the same performance for $50 less. It's a no-brainer.

Pros

  • + GAMING X TRIO design
  • + Thermal performance is good
  • + Can beat the RTX 3090 + RTX 3090 Ti
  • + Kick ass 1440p 120FPS+ gaming performance
  • + RT + DLSS 3!

Cons

  • - No DisplayPort 2.1 connectivity... why!

Should you buy it?

AvoidConsiderShortlistBuy

Introduction

MSI sent over not one but two custom GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards this round, with the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPRIM X that I've already reviewed, and now we have the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO. There's not much difference underneath, with more aesthetic change -- notably the backplate -- between the AD104-powered graphics cards.

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MSI hasn't changed much in terms of design between its new mid-range GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO and its higher-end AD103-powered GeForce RTX 4080 GAMING X TRIO or the AD102-powered GeForce RTX 4090 GAMING X TRIO. That's not a bad thing because the GAMING X TRIO variants from MSI are some of my favorite cards on the market.

The new MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO rocks out with a triple-fan cooler, and a decent-looking backplate, but if you want the premium-style card, MSI has its higher-end GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPRIM X with an absolutely gorgeous backplate.

MSI has a $50 premium on its GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPRIM X, priced at $950, while the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO has an MSRP of $900. NVIDIA kicks off the pricing of its GeForce RTX 4070 Ti at $799, so there's a $100 premium for the GAMING X TRIO and a larger $150 premium for the SUPRIM X.

Buy at Amazon

MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 4080

TodayYesterday7 days ago30 days ago
$1600.00$1040.00$1469.35
* Prices last scanned on 3/27/2024 at 1:35 pm CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Ada Lovelace

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Detailed Look

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MSI hasn't changed much when it comes to the retail packaging of its new GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO, falling in line with the retail packaging of the higher-end GeForce RTX 4080 and GeForce RTX 4090 GAMING X TRIO graphics cards. It'll look great on retail shelves, but once again, if you are a collector of boxes then you'll want to keep this bad boy on your shelf.

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We do have MSI's impressive triple-fan cooler on the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO, with some RGB lighting to light up your gaming PC. On the back, we have a more plain-looking backplate -- only plain when you compare it to MSI's slightly-more-expensive GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPRIM X graphics card.

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I do love the slightly thicker than dual-slot design, which means it'll fit into more systems across the planet. The SUPRIM X variant is much thicker, but you get slightly better thermals, a more slick design, and a $50 premium in pricing. The near dual-slot design is mighty impressive considering the power underneath.

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Just like with every single GeForce RTX 40 series GPU released, MSI's new custom GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO uses a 16-pin "12VHPWR" power connector that splits out to dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors. You're only using 200W power or so here, by the way.

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Display connectivity remains unchanged: 3 x DisplayPort 1.4 connectors, backed up by a single HDMI 2.1 port.

Test System Specs

I've recently upgraded my major GPU test bed for 2022, but I will be upgrading again soon, now that Intel has launched its new 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" CPUs and Z790 motherboards, and AMD with its new Ryzen 7000 series "Zen 4" CPUs and X670E motherboards.

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The new upgrades include the shift to the Intel Core i9-12900K processor, ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme motherboard, 64GB of Sabrent Rocket DDR5-4800 memory, and 8TB of Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD goodness. Intel's flagship Core i9-12900K is a beast, with the Alder Lake CPU packing 8 Performance cores (P-cores) and 8 Efficient cores (E-cores) at up to 5.2GHz.

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme

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I've got that installed into the bigger-than-life ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme motherboard, which is absolutely loaded to the brim with technologies and features that it houses everything you need. We're talking about one of the best-looking designs on a motherboard yet, PCIe 5.0 support, enthusiast-grade 10GbE networking, and oh-so-much more.

RAM: 64GB Sabrent Rocket DDR5-4800

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Sabrent helped out in a huge way by sending over 64GB of DDR5-4800 memory in the form of 4 x 16GB DDR5-4800 modules of its new Sabrent Rocket DDR5 memory. The company also helped out in an even bigger way, supplying us with a gigantic and super-fast 8TB model of its Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD.

SSD: 8TB Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus M.2

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We're talking about 7.5GB/sec+ (7500MB/sec) from a single M.2 SSD, along with a gigantic 8TB of capacity. The 2TB drives aren't big enough for all of our game installs for GPU testing... the 4TB is much better, but the 8TB gives us room to move into 2023 without worrying about installing multiple games that are 200GB+ in size.

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Some glory shots, of course.

Displays: ASUS ROG Strix 43-inch 4K 120Hz

ASUS has been a tight partner of TweakTown for many years, with the fine folks at ASUS Australia sending over their ROG Strix XG438Q and ROG Swift PG43UQ gaming monitors for our GPU test benches. They're both capable of 4K 120Hz+ through their DisplayPort 1.4 connectivity.

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I will be upgrading these in the near future, over to some DisplayPort 2.0-capable panels and some new HDMI 2.1-enabled 4K 165Hz panels in OLED form of course...given that next-gen GPUs are right around the corner, there has been no better time to upgrade your display or TV.

I've been working on this system for a while now, but now we're stretching its legs with the newly-released PC port of Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered. Not just in 1080p or 1440p, not even in just 4K... but at 8K with a native resolution of 7680 x 4320. I've run through some of the very fastest GPU silicon on the planet.

Benchmarks - Synthetic

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Benchmarks - 1080p

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Benchmarks - 1440p

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Benchmarks - 4K

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Temps & Power Consumption

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MSI's new custom GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO graphics card has the AD104 "Ada Lovelace" GPU running at 59-60C, which isn't bad -- not the best, but it's not super-hot, either -- while GPU hotspot temperatures were sitting at 67-69C under load. Power consumption falls in line with other RTX 4070 Ti cards, at under 200W total.

What's Hot, What's Not

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What's Hot

  • MSI's sweet GAMING X TRIO design: I'm a big fan of the GAMING X TRIO design, with the new AD104-powered MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO to be a fine addition to your gaming PC. Just make sure it fits first.
  • Good thermal performance: We have sub 60C GPU temperatures on the GAMING X TRIO variant, all while using 195W to 200W of power. There's some wiggle room for OC fun, with thermal performance keeping up thanks to the thermal system MSI has deployed on the card.
  • Keeps up with, sometimes beats the RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti: NVIDIA doing what it does best here, with the new GeForce RTX 4070 Ti offering performance that rivals previous-gen flagship GPUs. You won't be smashing through 4K 120FPS in games for the most part, but with DLSS you will be.
  • Kick ass 1440p 120FPS+ gaming performance: If you're gaming on a 1440p or 3440x1440 ultrawide gaming monitor, there's enough performance under the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti hood to annihilate those resolutions at 120, 144, or 165Hz easily.
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What's Not

  • SUPRIM X is the more premium card: MSI has the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO priced at $900, while the higher-end SUPRIM X comes in at $950. You do get a better-looking card, with a much better-looking backplate, but that's up to you if you want to splash out $50 more.
  • No DisplayPort 2.1 connectivity: This isn't an issue of COLORFUL, but rather NVIDIA for not including the latest DisplayPort 2.1 connectivity on their GeForce RTX 40 "Ada Lovelace" GPU architecture. Sigh. Sigh, sigh, SIGH.

Final Thoughts

MSI's second-best GeForce RTX 4070 Ti in the new GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO is a fine entry into the AD104-powered world of graphics cards, commanding a price of $899 -- $50 less than the more-premium MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPRIM X.

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In a blind test you wouldn't tell the difference in gaming performance -- FPS wise -- between MSI's slightly-cheaper GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO, and the more expensive SUPRIM X. MSI has built a duo of great AD104-based GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards with the GAMING X TRIO and SUPRIM X variants having their own fans based on first off: the $50 premium, and secondly the difference in aesthetics.

MSI's new GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO is a mighty fine upgrade if you've been coasting along on the GeForce GTX 10 series GPUs, or an older-gen Radeon RX series GPU. You've got the latest and greatest ray tracing cores as well as the truly magical DLSS 3 technology that's exclusive on NVIDIA's now current-gen Ada Lovelace GPU architecture.

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1080p, 1440p, and 3440x1440 monitor owners that are enjoying 120FPS+ gaming will have an upgrade worthy of their money -- especially the sub $1000 price point -- while not needing to upgrade their PSUs given that the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards use around 200W of power.

Performance

90%

Quality

90%

Features

90%

Value

90%

Overall

90%

The Bottom Line

MSI's new GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO is a step down from the SUPRIM X, but it still packs virtually the same performance for $50 less. It's a no-brainer.

TweakTown award
90%

MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 4080

TodayYesterday7 days ago30 days ago
$1600.00$1040.00$1469.35
* Prices last scanned on 3/27/2024 at 1:35 pm CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Anthony joined the TweakTown team in 2010 and has since reviewed 100s of graphics cards. Anthony is a long time PC enthusiast with a passion of hate for games built around consoles. FPS gaming since the pre-Quake days, where you were insulted if you used a mouse to aim, he has been addicted to gaming and hardware ever since. Working in IT retail for 10 years gave him great experience with custom-built PCs. His addiction to GPU tech is unwavering and has recently taken a keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.

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