MSI GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO Review

MSI's custom GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO is the first custom RTX 3070 we've tested, a seriously fast, great-looking card.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: MSI
9 minutes & 21 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 100%
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The Bottom Line

An incredible card, with some massive OC headroom that sees the $560 MSI GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO beating the $2499 monster TITAN RTX. Wowzers.

Introduction

NVIDIA unleashed its new GeForce RTX 3070 this week, with my review on the GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition right here -- but boy are you in for a wild ride with this review of the MSI GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO graphics card.

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I didn't have time to play around with the overclocking on the GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition, but I put some more time into the MSI GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO overclocking that I will go back to the RTX 3070 FE it was that impressive. Just wait until you see those results.

MSI does what it normally does here with the GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO as it did with the RTX 3080 GAMING X TRIO (our review here) and the RTX 3090 GAMING X TRIO (our review here) with its triple-fan cooler. It has impressive thermals, a slick design, and more OC headroom than the two other GAMING X TRIO graphics cards.

You're effectively getting GeForce RTX 2080 Ti performance, at half the cost -- but be careful of pricing as things are shifting around so much right now worldwide. There are some markets like Australia where price gouging is happening, and I'm sure it's happening elsewhere.

Still, if you can find an MSI GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO then you'll be happy to just have it -- it kicks ass and right now you're looking at around $560 or so -- a $60 premium on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition graphics card.

Buy at Amazon

MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 2070 Super

TodayYesterday7 days ago30 days ago
$967.19$289.00$679.00
* Prices last scanned on 3/28/2024 at 8:09 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Everything You Need to Know About Ampere

There's much more going under the hood of the Ampere GPU architecture powering the GeForce RTX 3070, with some rather big upgrades across the board on the GPU side of things while the VRAM and memory bandwidth is virtually identical.

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We have an dramatic increase of CUDA cores from 2304 on the GeForce RTX 2070 to a huge 5888 CUDA cores on the GeForce RTX 3070, but less Tensor Cores, and more RT Cores, Textures Units, and ROPs.

NVIDIA is using the same 8GB of GDDR6 memory on the GeForce RTX 3070 as the GeForce RTX 2070, with 8GB of GDDR6 at 7Gbps on a 256-bit memory bus with 448GB/sec of memory bandwidth.

The TGP is boosted up on the GeForce RTX 3070 up to 220W, up from the 185W on the RTX 2070 FE.

MSI marketing

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Detailed Look

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MSI's retail packaging for the GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO is identical to the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 GAMING X TRIO graphics card -- and that ain't bad, I dig it.

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I really love the GAMING X TRIO style, but man this card is much bigger than the RTX 3070 FE.

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I'm also a huge fan of the backplate on the card.

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We have a thicker nearly 3-slot card here.

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You'll need dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors to get the MSI RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO up and running.

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3 x DP 1.4 and 1 x magical HDMI 2.1 for 4K 120Hz TV goodness.

Test System Specs

Latest upgrade:

Sabrent sent over their huge Rocket Q 8TB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD, which will be my new Games install SSD inside of my main test bed.

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I've got a new upgrade inside of my GPU test bed before my change to a next-gen test bed, where I will be preparing for NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere graphics cards and AMD's next-gen RDNA 2 graphics cards.

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Sabrent helped out with some new storage for my GPU test beds, sending over a slew of crazy-fast Rocket NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSDs. I've got this installed into my GPU test bed as the new Games Storage drive, since games are so damn big now. Thanks to Sabrent, I've got 2TB of super-fast M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD storage now.

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Anthony's GPU Test System Specifications

I've recently upgraded my GPU test bed -- at least for now, until AMD's new Ryzen 9 5950X processor is unleashed then the final update for 2020 will happen and we'll be all good for RDNA 2 and future Ampere GPU releases. You can read my article here: TweakTown GPU Test Bed Upgrade for 2021, But Then Zen 3 Was Announced.

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Benchmarks - Synthetic

3DMark Fire Strike

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3DMark has been a staple benchmark for years now, all the way back to when The Matrix was released and Futuremark had bullet time inspired benchmarks. 3DMark is the perfect tool to see if your system - most important, your CPU and GPU - is performing as it should. You can search results for your GPU, to see if it falls in line with other systems based on similar hardware.

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3DMark TimeSpy

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Heaven

Heaven benchmark

Heaven is an intensive GPU benchmark that really pushes your silicon to its limits. It's another favorite of ours as it has some great scaling for multi-GPU testing, and it's great for getting your GPU to 100% for power and noise testing.

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Benchmarks - 1080p

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Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.

You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.

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Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.

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Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.

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1080p Benchmark Performance Thoughts

We have performance that actually topples the GeForce RTX 3080 FE with the overclocked MSI RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO in Shadow of War at 1080p -- which is kinda nuts, while the RTX 3090 FE is only 2FPS faster than the card overclocked.

At stock settings the MSI RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO equals the RTX 2080 Ti, is 2FPS behind the TITAN RTX (that costs $2499) while the MSI RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO overclocked beats the TITAN RTX -- and then trails the RTX 3080 by 11FPS. Impressive stuff for 1080p.

Benchmarks - 1440p

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Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.

You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.

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Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.

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Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.

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1440p Benchmark Performance Thoughts

It's at 2560 x 1440 and 3440 x 1440 that the GeForce RTX 3070 really shines, with the overclocked card once against toppling the $2499 TITAN RTX in Shadow of War and Metro Exodus at 1440p. It's really incredible stuff to see happening in person. A new $500-$560 card equaling and bettering the performance of a card worth $2000 more.

Benchmarks - 4K

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Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.

You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.

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Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.

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Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.

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4K Benchmark Performance Thoughts

4K gaming performance sees the MSI RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO beating the RTX 2080 Ti and reference RTX 3070 FE, and just 2FPS away from the $2499 monster TITAN RTX in Shadow of War.

We have the same 45FPS as the TITAN RTX with the overclocked MSI RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO in Metro Exodus, while at stock settings it equals the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition with 43FPS and beats the RTX 3070 FE with its 41FPS average.

Benchmarks - RTX + DLSS

I haven't had time to run the normal RTX + DLSS tests, but I will update this in the next couple of days once I have the results and fill them in. I will actually have some interesting (and rather great) benchmarks on Watch Dogs: Legion with RTX and DLSS technologies enabled coming soon, so keep checking back.

Overclocking

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Out of the box I was getting GPU boost clocks that were settling in at around 1995MHz for the most part, but the overclocking headroom is huge and the performance rocks so much I included overclocked results in every single benchmark chart.

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I was able to pump the OC up by 135MHz that achieved a rock solid GPU boost clock of 2115MHz -- I also overclocked the 8GB of GDDR6 memory by 500MHz, too. The overclock was totally stable for many hours of stress testing before I went ahead and re-benchmarked everything with the overclock enabled.

The results speak for themselves really, you're getting even more performance out of the MSI RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO with a simple overclock and the card handles it like a boss. Even when it's massively overclocked, the fans keep the card at just 49C under load (fans at 100%).

Power Consumption & Temps

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We have a total system draw of 320W for the card at stock, and 340W when overclocked -- this is well under the 430W of the RTX 3080 FE and 440W of the RTX 3090 FE. MSI is using around 35W more power than the stock RTX 3070 FE.

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When it comes to temps MSI's new GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO hits some home runs, with the card operating at just 62C under load -- and 50C or under with the fans cranked at maximum and even the OC tilted all the way to the edge of crashing.

Damn good results here, MSI.

What's Hot, What's Not

What's Hot

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  • Beyond RTX 2080 Ti performance: NVIDIA's own GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition rivals the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti performance, but with a simple overclock the MSI GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO takes some serious shots at the RTX 2080 Ti. It's pretty incredible stuff.
  • 8GB of GDDR6 is enough: Where the RTX 2080 Ti comes with 11GB of GDDR6X, you only have 8GB on the RTX 3070. But this is enough for the current and even next-gen games coming if you're only playing at 1080p, 1440p, and 3440 x 1440. You wouldn't necessarily buy the RTX 3070 for 4K gaming, that's where the RTX 3080 shines.
  • Major OC headroom: I was able to get another 100MHz out of the GPU and 500MHz on the RAM, with it running cooler than stock and offering some actual beefy OC results in every resolution and test. Free performance, and I love it. The RTX 3070 is a better overclocker than both the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 so far.
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What's Not

There's nothing here not to love, it's just a kick ass card for the money with some major OC headroom for additional overclocking fun. It has HDMI 2.1 connectivity, runs cool, looks great... what's not to love?

Final Thoughts

MSI has my favorite GeForce RTX 30 series GAMING X TRIO card here with its new GeForce RTX 3070 variant, which looks great -- and has a ton of OC headroom for up to 10% more performance.

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If you have your heart set on -- and can actually buy the MSI GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO, then I wouldn't hesitate. It can handle everything you throw at it and is the perfect 1440p or better yet 3440 x 1440 ultrawide gaming graphics card for 120-165FPS smooth gaming.

But... there is also AMD's just-announced RDNA 2-based Radeon RX 6900 XT and Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics cards. If you're wanting to wait just a few weeks to see how they end up in real-world benchmarks and tests then I would just wait a few weeks... but if you are desperate, you won't regret the MSI RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO. It's a kick ass card.

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Wrapping up -- if you want it, get it. You won't regret the purchase, and it was some of the best fun I've had with a graphics card in a while now.

Performance

100%

Quality

100%

Features

100%

Value

100%

Overall

100%

The Bottom Line

An incredible card, with some massive OC headroom that sees the $560 MSI GeForce RTX 3070 GAMING X TRIO beating the $2499 monster TITAN RTX. Wowzers.

TweakTown award
100%

MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 2070 Super

TodayYesterday7 days ago30 days ago
$967.19$289.00$679.00
* Prices last scanned on 3/28/2024 at 8:09 am 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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