MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC Review

TweakTown's Rating: 93%

The Bottom Line

The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC unlocks the full OC potential of the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti thanks to its premium build quality and next-level thermal performance. It is a 4K powerhouse, but one that comes at a cost.

Pros

• Built for OC action, up to 10% faster than the reference design
• Excellent 4K gaming performance that is faster than the RTX 4080 SUPER
• DLSS 4 is a game-changer for image quality and performance
• MSI's new VANGUARD design runs super quiet and cool
• An excellent choice for Full Ray Tracing or Path Tracing

Cons

• One of the most expensive RTX 5070 Ti models out there
• It's a big GPU, so you'll need plenty of room

Should you buy it?

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Introduction

With a bit of overclocking with an app like MSI Afterburner, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti can hit a boost clock speed of 3 GHz with headroom to go even further. Depending on the game, it only takes a few seconds and offers up a notable bump to performance. When it comes to the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, no matter the model, you're looking at performance that sits comfortably in the range of the GeForce RTX 4080 and RTX 4080 SUPER when gaming in 4K.

As these are still two of the most capable and powerful options for gaming at this resolution, with or without ray-tracing enabled, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is a fantastic GPU for playing cutting-edge cinematic games or simply firing up a competitive title for some high-refresh-rate action.

A quick look at the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC

The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is built using a cutdown version of the GB203 chip found in the GeForce RTX 5080, another GPU in the GeForce RTX 50 Series line-up that is great for overclocking. Of course, when it comes to overclocking, you want a model with exceptional power delivery, cooling, and thermal design. The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC fits the bill, and like the RTX 5080 variant we reviewed, it ships with one of the fastest out-of-the-box overclocks with a 150 MHz boost on top of the 2452 MHz reference spec. The kicker is that even with this generous OC, the GPU temperature stays closer to 50 degrees, even after a few solid hours of gaming.

As MSI's flagship GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, the VANGUARD is also the largest and most well-equipped in terms of thermal design, heatsinks, fans, and cooling. It's a premium option through and through, and with a price tag of $919.99 USD, it commands a decent premium over an MSRP model like the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VENTUX 3X. So, with that in mind and the fact that the GPU barely breaks a sweat, we decided to give the GPU a modest manual overclock on top of the out-of-the-box to see what difference it made regarding cooling and in-game performance.

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Cooling-wise, you're still looking at an essentially silent GPU when in use, with GPU temperatures sitting in the 55-degree range and high-speed GDDR7 memory temperatures sitting closer to 60 degrees Celsius. And with performance that is up to 7-10% faster than the baseline GeForce RTX 5070 Ti specs, the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC is not only faster than the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, but it closes the gap between it and the GeForce RTX 5080. This is an impressive result, and this is based on a modest overclock using the same power draw as the out-of-the-box 'Gaming' mode BIOS.

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RTX Blackwell - NVIDIA's Gaming Architecture for the AI Era

Below is a summary of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 Series and RTX Blackwell architecture, applicable to all models.

NVIDIA describes 'Neural Rendering,' which includes all previous versions of DLSS and the brand-new DLSS 4, as the 'next era for computer graphics.' They're not alone; the Lead System Architect for the PlayStation 5 Pro console, Mark Cerny, recently said that ray-tracing is the future of games and that AI will play an integral role in making that happen. DOOM: The Dark Ages developer id Software shared a similar sentiment, adding that the arrival of DLSS was an 'inflection point' for PC game visuals and performance and on par with the arrival of dedicated GPUs and programmable shaders.

With the arrival of the Blackwell generation and the GeForce RTX 50 Series, AI is now being used to accelerate programmable shaders with the brand-new RTX Neural Shaders. Yes, these are actual neural networks that use live game data, and the power of Tensor Cores to do everything from compress textures, render lifelike materials with a level of detail impossible to match using traditional rendering methods, and even use AI to partially trace rays and then infer "an infinite amount

of rays and bounces for a more accurate representation of indirect lighting in the game scene."

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RTX Mega Geometry is incredible in its own right; it essentially increases a scene's geometry detail and complexity (triangles or polygons) by up to 100x. 100 times the detail, it's hard to wrap your head around - but the added benefit in a game like Alan Wake 2 is dramatically improving the performance of the game's Full Ray Tracing or Path Tracing mode. With DLSS 4 and RTX Neural Shaders, NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 Series and RTX Blackwell architecture (which includes the same AI optimizations as data center Blackwell) can be viewed as the turning point for PC gaming - the moment when AI becomes integral to everything from designing a game to programming and then finally rendering it on a 4K display to play.

DLSS 4 includes more goodies than NVIDIA's highly touted new Multi Frame Generation technology, but let's start there. DLSS 3's version of Frame Generation has evolved with DLSS 4, powered by Blackwell hardware and software, and an innovative use of AI to generate frames 40% faster while using 30% less VRAM. Switching to a new model also means that Frame Generation and Multi-Frame Generation could soon come to GeForce RTX 20, 30, and RTX 40 Series owners. DLSS 4 benefits all GeForce RTX gamers.

With the 5th Generation of Tensor Cores in the GeForce RTX 50 Series delivering 2.5X more AI performance, NVIDIA's latest GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs can execute five complex AI models - covering Super Resolution, Ray Reconstruction, and Multi Frame Generation in a couple of milliseconds. Part of the reason it happens so quickly is the addition of hardware Flip Metering, which shifts frame pacing to the Blackwell display engine - the result is frame rates of up to 4K 240 FPS and higher without stuttering issues. With up to 15 of every 16 pixels generated by AI, the result is up to 8X the performance when compared to native rendering or rasterized performance.

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DLSS Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction are also switching to a new 'Transformer' model, with over double the parameters and four times the compute requirement. This is one of the most exciting aspects of the GeForce RTX 50 Series, as it pushes DLSS into a new realm of image quality and performance. The best part is that it will work on all GeForce RTX GPUs; however, there will be a performance hit compared to running it on an RTX 50 Series GPU. Already available in games, DLSS 4's Transformer model is another DLSS 2.0-like moment for the technology, and the results speak for themselves.

Even better, DLSS 4 is integrated into the NVIDIA App with a new 'DLSS Override' feature that allows users to experience the latest tech without waiting for a path or game update. DLSS 4 is built to be backward compatible, with 75 games and apps supported (so far).

It doesn't stop there, as the new AI Management Processor (AMP) allows AI models to share the GPU with graphics workloads. As a result, expect to see digital humans in games alongside AI assistants like NVIDIA's Project G-Assist becoming more prevalent in the coming years. This filters down to the creator side, with AI assistants for streamers, who will also benefit from the GeForce RTX 50 Series' expanded creator features.

RTX Blackwell introduces 4:2:2 chroma-sampled video encoding and decoding. The ninth-generation NVENC encoder also improves AV1 and HEVC quality. RTX Blackwell is a game changer for creators and editors, especially with the new low-voltage and cutting-edge GDDR7 memory that dramatically improves memory bandwidth and speed.

Specs and Test System

Specifications

Here's a look at the specs for the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti compared to the previous generation's GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, as well as the GeForce RTX 5080 and GeForce RTX 4080.

As mentioned above, the new GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and GeForce RTX 5080 are built using the same GB203 chip. The latter features 20% more hardware in the form of CUDA, Tensor, and RT Cores, which means it's more powerful. Conversely, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is more efficient because it uses 17% less power (on paper) when under full load and can still deliver excellent 4K gaming performance. It shares a similar memory configuration, with 16GB of fast GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing an impressive 896 GB/sec of bandwidth - which is excellent for playing games at higher resolutions. Speaking of, 4K is where the GPU excels and can offer a sizable improvement of the previous generation's GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, even though the 40 Series and 50 Series are built on a similar custom TSMC 4N process.

Not seeing a process node shrink is unusual for a GeForce RTX generation and could be one of the reasons why there's not a massive performance uplift in specific workloads or scenarios. However, as the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC is a supercharged model, it offers a 24% improvement to 4K gaming over the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER in the games we tested, which is an impressive feat when you factor in that it only has 6% more CUDA Cores and RT Cores. This shows you there's much more to a GPU generation and chip architecture than moving to a newer and smaller process.

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RTX Blackwell is built for the AI era, where raw performance meets cutting-edge hardware and software designed to improve performance, enhance overall efficiency, and deliver the future today. DLSS 4's switch to a more complex transformer model for the GeForce RTX 50 Series (which is backward compatible with previous GeForce RTX generations) is a game changer for AI-powered upscaling and image fidelity. More and more titles are being released with RT every year, and the new transformer model for the DLSS Ray Reconstruction denoiser significantly improves image quality compared to native rendering. The difference is night and day, and it's downright remarkable that a game like Cyberpunk 2077 or Alan Wake 2 can look that much more impressive running at 150 FPS with DLSS and Frame Generation than running at 30 FPS natively.

On the ray-tracing front, NVIDIA's new RTX Neural Shaders leverage AI to compress textures, render complex environments, assist in calculative ray bounces, and more - all to provide a 4X or 8X improvement to image quality and performance as opposed to a modest generational bump in raw performance. We're just starting to see these technologies appear in games, so it will take some time to get a clearer picture of what Neural Shaders mean for the future of PC gaming.

Kosta's Test System

Physical Design and Cooling

The VANGUARD is a brand new design from MSI, making its debut with the GeForce RTX 50 Series and more powerful models like the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. It is a premium design similar in some respects to the SUPRIM models from the company and represents the current flagship option for its range of GeForce RTX 5070 Ti cards. Of all the RTX 5070 Ti GPUs we've reviewed so far, it's the most powerful and the largest in terms of size and weight - it's a triple slot GPU that weighs in at 1945 grams - making it virtually identical, physically, MSI's GeForce RTX 5080 VANGUARD SOC.

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The thermal performance here is second to none, thanks to MSI's new STORMFORCE fans that are quiet and powerful, the advanced vapor chamber for the GPU and VRAM, the core pipes designed for maximum contact and heat dissipation, and the use of high-quality components and thermal padding throughout the design. Put it all together, and you've got MSI's HYPER FROZR THERMAL DESIGN, which sees GPU temperatures stay below 55 degrees Celsius, even under load and manually overclocking the memory and clock frequencies.

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Visually, the VANGUARD design is one of MSI's more impressive-looking GPUs - especially if you're a fan of stylish RGB lighting. The lightning bolt that runs diagonally across the GPU is met by two transparent MSI badges that light up, with grey and black two-tone flourishes that converge on the metal backplate with the iconic MSI dragon. Our only criticism is that it might all be a little overkill and that even for those wanting a premium build with plenty of cooling power and OC potential, a more compact card like MSI's revamped GAMING TRIO design could be the way to go, especially when you're not talking about a GeForce RTX 5080 or the flagship RTX 5090.

The Games and Tests

PC gaming not only covers a wide range of genres and styles, from indie games with simple 2D graphics to massive 3D worlds lit by cutting-edge real-time ray tracing technology. With that, the needs and requirements of each gamer vary. High refresh rates and latency reduction become more important than flashy visuals or playing at the highest resolution possible for those who live and breathe fast-paced competitive games. For those who want to live in a cinematic world and become a key player in an expansive narrative, ray-tracing, and high-fidelity visuals are a stepping stone toward immersion.

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Our chosen benchmarks cover various games, engines, APIs, and technologies. For the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, all tests are run at 4K and 1440p and include results for performance-boosting Super Resolution technologies like NVIDIA DLSS 4 - including Frame Generation and the new Multi Frame Generation. In many ways, DLSS numbers are more important in 2025 than native rendering - a title with ray tracing isn't meant to be played without Super Resolution. Also, DLSS technologies like Ray Reconstruction and the new RTX Mega Geometry dramatically improve visual fidelity and detail compared to native rendering. However, our benchmark results are still sorted using 'raw performance' or native rendering.

Here's the breakdown of games, settings, and what's being tested.

Games and Settings Benchmarked

Path Tracing Games and Settings Benchmarked

Gaming Performance Analysis

Average Gaming Performance - 4K Results

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It's fantastic to have an enthusiast-class GPU that delivers 5-10% more performance with a modest manual overclock. For all our benchmarks, we boosted the memory and clock speeds by 250 MHz and found that it was stable and made a real difference in performance when added to the 150 MHz OC you get out of the box.

This makes the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC 34% faster than the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti for 4K gaming and 24% faster than the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER refresh. In addition, it's 8% faster than the GeForce RTX 4080 and 4% faster than the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER. The 83 FPS average, which climbs to 104 FPS with DLSS enabled, puts it within 10% of the GeForce RTX 5080 with reference specs. This makes the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC a 4K powerhouse, alongside being a beast for 1440p gaming or pairing with an Ultrawide 3440x1440 cinematic aspect ratio display.

And with DLSS, which includes the new and impressive DLSS 4 transformer model for Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction, you're getting enough of an additional performance boost that you'll be able to hit 100+ FPS in most games running in 4K without any tinkering. With Radeon's relatively lackluster RT performance, the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC is a much better all-rounder than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. With a third of the games in our benchmark suite featuring ray-tracing, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD is 14% faster on average for 4K gaming.

However, there are titles where the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and RTX Blackwell seem to underperform compared to Radeon. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is still a game where Radeon hardware shines, likewise when it comes to Cyberpunk 2077 with RT turned off. If you go through the individual benchmark results below, you'll notice a lot of titles where the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD, RTX 4080, RTX 4080 SUPER, and Radeon RX 7900 XTX are all within a few percentage points of each other.

Average Gaming Performance - 1440p Results

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When it comes to 1440p gaming, the overclocked MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC is still faster than the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER and AMD's RDNA 3 Radeon RX 7900 XTX flagship - on average. The average performance of 139 FPS without DLSS enabled is around 80% faster than the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti at this resolution and 50% faster than the GeForce RTX 3080. These are two GPUs that are still high up on the monthly Steam Hardware Survey results, which makes the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC a pretty impressive upgrade for those with a GeForce RTX 30 Series GPU looking for a new enthusiast-class card.

The good news is that DLSS 4 still delivers fantastic results at 1440p, which bodes well for the upcoming GeForce RTX 5070 and firing up hardware-intensive Path Tracing modes in titles like Alan Wake 2. For pure 1440p gaming, the gen-on-gen upgrade over the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER drops to 18% - which is still a respectable result but not earth-shattering.

Regarding GPUs that are GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and higher, you've got an excellent option for high-refresh-rate gaming at this resolution. For the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC reviewed here, competitive gamers can hit 320 FPS in Counter-Strike 2, while the single-player DOOM Eternal hits 288 FPS with ray-tracing enabled. Even though there are differences, pretty much every GPU you see on the list above is a capable GPU at this resolution; the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC just so happens to be one of the best.

Benchmarks - 3DMark Synthetic Tests

3DMark offers a suite of synthetic benchmarks built to test GPUs in various scenarios. 3DMark Steel Nomad is a cutting-edge DirectX 12 benchmark with newer, modern rendering techniques designed to push GPUs to their limit. The 'Light' version tests at 1440p, while the main Steel Nomad benchmark tests pure native 4K rendering. Port Royal is a benchmark focusing exclusively on real-time ray tracing for lighting effects like reflections, shadows, and more.

3DMark's new Steel Nomad benchmarks are the official successors to Time Spy. They're designed for modern AAA gaming and run on modern engines like Unreal Engine 5 - running at 1440p and 4K without ray-tracing or upscaling. Looking at the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC's score, you're looking at a result that sits alongside the GeForce RTX 4080 and GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, which is reflected in most of the real-world gaming benchmarks we carried out. The score demonstrates the decent generational uplift over the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and how modern GPU architectures like RTX Blackwell are better equipped for 2025 gaming.

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Port Royal is a synthetic benchmark for ray-tracing, and here, the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC delivers a score of 6.5% higher than the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER and a whopping 28% higher than the flagship RDNA 3 GPU, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. This result can be seen in some titles; however, for the most part, we found that the RT performance of the overclocked MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC was on par with the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER - not faster. With AMD's GeForce RTX 5070 Ti competitor, the new Radeon RX 9070 XT, set to arrive in a matter of days, this chart highlights that RDNA 4's new flagship mid-range offering will need to offer better than Radeon RX 7900 XTX RT to be competitive with GeForce RTX.

Benchmarks - 4K Gaming

Benchmarks - 1440p Gaming

DLSS 4, Frame Generation, and the new Multi-Frame Generation

DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation are impressive bits of technology, thanks mainly to the overall improvements to performance and latency on the Frame Generation side and the new 'Transformer' model for Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction. We used the DLSS 'Quality' mode preset for these benchmarks, often delivering better-than-native image quality.

Multi Frame Generation is an evolution of the Frame Generation technology that NVIDIA introduced with the GeForce RTX 40 Series, which leverages AI to generate up to 3 additional frames to deliver a massive improvement to performance or the overall smoothness of a game's presentation, motion clarity, and feel. With the correct settings and the right game, it is like watching digital sorcery. Sure, there are artifacts, and a frame-by-frame analysis will make these obvious - however when you're looking at 200+ FPS, it's not something you notice.

When paired with DLSS 4's new transformer model for AI Super Resolution, RTX Blackwell's new AI scheduling, and 'Flip Metering,' the effect is seamless as long as the input frame rate is at least 60 FPS - preferably 70-80 FPS. Multi Frame Generation is not a one-click fix for poor performance or a poorly optimized game. Still, it does mean that decent performance becomes excellent, and games with CPU or other limitations can see those limitations disappear.

For a lot of gamers, 80 FPS in a cinematic title like Dragon Age: The Veilguard running in 4K on the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC with ray-tracing and the DLSS 'Quality' preset would be more than enough performance. What Multi Frame Generation brings to the table is the ability to maximize the refresh rate of your display, and as our GPU test bench includes a 4K 240 Hz OLED display, the result is that it can do precisely that. Play Dragon Age: The Veilguard at 4K 240 Hz, and you immediately notice the additional smoothness and performance.

Path Tracing Performance - 1440p

Path Tracing, or Full Ray Tracing, arrived with the GeForce RTX 40 Series and DLSS 3 and is leveling up with the GeForce RTX 50 Series and DLSS 4. It's only possible thanks to AI technologies like DLSS Super Resolution, Ray Reconstruction, and RTX Neural Shader technology like RTX Mega Geometry. It's designed specifically for these technologies, and we're only including native or rasterized performance to highlight just how intensive it is on a GPU as powerful as the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. In fact, outside of the massive increase in performance, these games also look notably worse without DLSS 4.

Remedy is one of the most talented PC gaming developers working today. Scratch that; Remedy is one of the most talented game developers, period - going back to the original Max Payne, which blew us away with its slow-motion bullet-time action and incredible (for the time) visuals. Alan Wake 2 is the culmination of decades of technical experience, and running on the studio's in-house engine, it's a stunning showcase for what the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC can do. It features full support for DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation, and it's the first game to incorporate the brand-new RTX Mega Geometry tech for rendering path-traced environments.

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Star Wars Outlaws is another DLSS 4 showcase, especially regarding Ray Reconstruction and how the new transformer model makes the DLSS Balanced preset look superior to native rendering. These benchmarks show that the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC is a powerhouse for 1440p Path Tracing with DLSS 4 and, depending on the title and settings, a viable option for taking Full Ray Tracing or Path Tracing into the 4K realm.

Temperature and Power Efficiency

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The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC didn't break a sweat when overclocked and remained quiet throughout all benchmarking. Our manual overclock drew a little more power than the non-OC or modest OC models we tested, but not drastically. As a 300W GPU, it's also the most efficient GPU in the RTX Blackwell line-up so far, showcasing that the architecture scales incredibly well - delivering superior performance to the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER and GeForce RTX 4080 while using similar power. With manual overclocking, you can push the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC beyond 300W, and when testing this side of the GPU, we didn't see the power draw reach up to 310 or 315W.

Final Thoughts

The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is a fantastic GPU for PC gaming. It offers a massive performance boost compared to the GeForce RTX 30 Series and a sizable bump to 4K gaming compared to the previous generation's GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. In reviewing the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC, which is MSI's flagship RTX 5070 Ti, we were blown away by how quiet and calm it stayed even when overclocked. It also shows that, like the GeForce RTX 5080, there's enough headroom to boost performance with a few tweaks, delivering up to 7-10% more performance in some games and workloads.

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The build quality is excellent, and MSI's new VANGUARD design for the GeForce RTX 50 Series is akin to getting a new and impressive SUPRIM design to play with. Unfortunately, the build quality you get, OC headroom, and premium cooling come at a cost, with the $919.99 price point sitting notably higher than the $750 MSRP. Granted, MSI has MSRP models like the VENTUS 3X we reviewed on launch day, and for many, that would probably be the way to go. The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VANGUARD SOC is absolutely for those who want to overclock the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, increase power limits, and find that stable point where it leaves the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER behind.

Overclocking aside, the show's real star is how well the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti benefits from NVIDIA's new DLSS 4 updates - including the RTX 50 Series exclusive Multi Frame Generation. With powerful raw performance the new transformer AI model for Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction delivers better-than-native image quality when gaming in 4K. And with that, you've got 4K 100+ FPS in most titles, with or without ray-tracing enabled. And with the shift to Neural Shaders and AI-enhanced features and technologies powering more and more titles, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is more than equipped to handle the next couple of years of gaming.