GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming Graphics Card Review

TweakTown's Rating: 96%

The Bottom Line

GIGABYTE has an amazing value for money card with its GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card, offering near GTX 1080 levels of performance all while it stays nice and cool and silent during gaming workloads. One of the best GTX 1070s you can buy.

Introduction, Pricing & Availability

GIGABYTE has released a slew of GeForce GTX 10 series graphics cards, with the continued push into the GTX 1070 market with its GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card. GIGABYTE's GeForce GTX 1080 G1 Gaming graphics card was one of the more impressive GTX 1080s for me, as it only required a single 8-pin PCIe power connector but offered all of the performance of the cards with more power available to them, but will the GTX 1070 G1 Gaming repeat this magic?

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The new GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card has the same CUDA core count as every other GTX 1070, and the same 8GB of GDDR5 RAM but GIGABYTE has, of course, played around with the clock speeds. The same WINDFORCE cooler keeps the GTX 1070 G1 Gaming card cool, with the triple-fan cooler staying mostly silent during our testing.

GIGABYTE has been really changing up its graphics card game with the GTX 10 series cards, and the GTX 1070 G1 Gaming is no different. Let's dive right into it.

Pricing & Availability

GIGABYTE's GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming is listed on Amazon for $479 at the time of writing, with stock available and shipping within days of the order being placed. This is actually a good price, considering that the GTX 1070 Founders Edition from GIGABYTE is only a little less at $449 and that the G1 Gaming will beat it.

Specifications & Detailed Look

Specifications

GIGABYTE has tweaked its GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card with the GP104 GPU being clocked up from its default frequency in two modes: OC and Gaming Mode.

• Boost: 1822MHz/ Base: 1620MHz in OC Mode
• Boost: 1784MHz/ Base: 1594MHz in Gaming Mode

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GIGABYTE has kept the 8GB of GDDR5 clocked at 8GHz and has only overclocked the GPU up to 1822MHz under boost with the OC Mode enabled.

Detailed Look

Just like its previous GTX 10 series graphics cards, GIGABYTE has made a great looking card that is found inside of the box. First, we'll tackle the box.

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The front of the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card with the Transformers-like eye checking you out. In the bottom left, we see it has the WINDFORCE cooler, RGB lighting, and this is the OC edition of the card.

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On the back, GIGABYTE details the WINDFORCE cooler, GPU sorting, and the RGB lighting on the GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card.

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Starting with the actual GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card, with the triple-fan cooler in the form of the WINDFORCE cooler.

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GIGABYTE has placed a backplate on the back of the GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card.

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Display connectivity arrives in the form of 3 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI 2.0, and 1 x DVI.

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From the top of the card, we can see the RGB lighting, GIGABYTE branding, and the single 8-pin PCIe power connector.

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A closer look at the single 8-pin PCIe power connector.

Testing Methodology & Test Setup Configuration

Testing Method

For the purposes of testing the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card, and for all future graphics card reviews and articles, we've changed up our benchmark suite. I've removed Battlefield 4, GRID: Autosport, BioShock: Infinite, and Grand Theft Auto V. In their place, I've got Far Cry Primal and The Division.

I've also added in some DX12 testing, with Hitman and Ashes of the Singularity. This will provide us with enough variety, but I'm on the hunt for new benchmarks all the time. The second that Battlefield 1 drops, we'll be including that in our GPU reviews, while I'll also be keeping an eye out on the release of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

Test System Configuration

Corsair sent us over their kick-ass AX1500i PSU, which provides 1500W of power for our 3 and 4-way GPU testing that we have coming very soon.

Anthony's Video Card Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Rampage V Extreme - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• CPU: Intel Core i7 5960X - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Cooler: Corsair H110 - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Memory: Kingston 16GB (4x4GB) HyperX Predator DDR4 3000MHz - Buy from Amazon
• Storage #1: SanDisk Extreme II 240GB - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Storage #2: Intel 730 Series 480GB - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Case: Lian Li PC-T80 Open-Air - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: Corsair AX1500i - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit - Buy from Amazon
• Drivers: NVIDIA GeForce 368.39 and AMD Catalyst 16.6.2 hotfix

Benchmarks - Synthetic

3DMark Fire Strike - 1080p

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 Fire Strike Extreme - 1440p

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3DMark Fire Strike Ultra - 4K (3840x2160)

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Heaven - 1080p

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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Heaven - 1440p

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Heaven - 4K (3840x2160)

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Benchmarks @ 1080p

1080p Benchmarks

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Far Cry Primal is a game built on the impressive Dunia Engine 2 with wide open, beautiful environments. It might look stunning, but the performance is actually quite good - but most cards will be stressed at 1440p, and especially so at 4K and beyond.

You can buy Far Cry Primal at Amazon.

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We recently changed over to Metro: Last Light Redux, with developer 4A Games making the Redux version of Metro: Last Light the 'definitive' version of the game. Redux had a fresh coat of paint on the already impressive 4A Engine, and it really pushes our GPUs to their limits.

You can buy Metro: Last Light Redux at Amazon.

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Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is one of the most graphically intensive games we test, with Monolith using their own Lithtech engine to power the game. 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 Mordor at Amazon.

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Thief has been around for quite a while now, with the latest version of the first-person stealth game powered by Epic Games' older Unreal Engine 3. While it's old, it has some great multi-GPU scaling that we use to test out our various GPU setups.

You can buy Thief at Amazon.

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Tomb Raider is still such a gorgeous game, with developer Crystal Dynamics using their own 'Foundation' engine to build Lara Croft into the new world. One of the best parts about Tomb Raider is the absolutely stellar multi-GPU scaling, so this is an important test to see how well our NVIDIA GeForce SLI and AMD Radeon CrossFire setups scale.

You can buy Tomb Raider at Amazon.

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Benchmarks @ 1440p

1440p Benchmarks

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Far Cry Primal is a game built on the impressive Dunia Engine 2 with wide open, beautiful environments. It might look stunning, but the performance is actually quite good - but most cards will be stressed at 1440p, and especially so at 4K and beyond.

You can buy Far Cry Primal at Amazon.

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We recently changed over to Metro: Last Light Redux, with developer 4A Games making the Redux version of Metro: Last Light the 'definitive' version of the game. Redux had a fresh coat of paint on the already impressive 4A Engine, and it really pushes our GPUs to their limits.

You can buy Metro: Last Light Redux at Amazon.

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Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is one of the most graphically intensive games we test, with Monolith using their own Lithtech engine to power the game. 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 Mordor at Amazon.

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Thief has been around for quite a while now, with the latest version of the first-person stealth game powered by Epic Games' older Unreal Engine 3. While it's old, it has some great multi-GPU scaling that we use to test out our various GPU setups.

You can buy Thief at Amazon.

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Tomb Raider is still such a gorgeous game, with developer Crystal Dynamics using their own 'Foundation' engine to build Lara Croft into the new world. One of the best parts about Tomb Raider is the absolutely stellar multi-GPU scaling, so this is an important test to see how well our NVIDIA GeForce SLI and AMD Radeon CrossFire setups scale.

You can buy Tomb Raider at Amazon.

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Benchmarks @ 4K

4K Benchmarks

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Far Cry Primal is a game built on the impressive Dunia Engine 2 with wide open, beautiful environments. It might look stunning, but the performance is actually quite good - but most cards will be stressed at 1440p, and especially so at 4K and beyond.

You can buy Far Cry Primal at Amazon.

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We recently changed over to Metro: Last Light Redux, with developer 4A Games making the Redux version of Metro: Last Light the 'definitive' version of the game. Redux had a fresh coat of paint on the already impressive 4A Engine, and it really pushes our GPUs to their limits.

You can buy Metro: Last Light Redux at Amazon.

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Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is one of the most graphically intensive games we test, with Monolith using their own Lithtech engine to power the game. 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 Mordor at Amazon.

45

45

Thief has been around for quite a while now, with the latest version of the first-person stealth game powered by Epic Games' older Unreal Engine 3. While it's old, it has some great multi-GPU scaling that we use to test out our various GPU setups.

You can buy Thief at Amazon.

45

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Tomb Raider is still such a gorgeous game, with developer Crystal Dynamics using their own 'Foundation' engine to build Lara Croft into the new world. One of the best parts about Tomb Raider is the absolutely stellar multi-GPU scaling, so this is an important test to see how well our NVIDIA GeForce SLI and AMD Radeon CrossFire setups scale.

You can buy Tomb Raider at Amazon.

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Benchmarks - DX12 & OC Adventures

This is our new section for video card reviews, with DX12 and VR becoming a huge deal over the course of the last 12 months. We have just a handful of DX12 tests right now, so expect this section of the site and our reviews to grow considerably over the coming months.

The same goes for VR, where we have both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive in house now. We will be testing VRMark for now, which is in Preview form, as well as our thoughts on VR gaming on the HTC Vive with the new GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card.

DirectX 12 Performance

We have 3DMark Time Spy Ashes of the Singularity and Hitman with DirectX 12, with the NVIDIA Titan X stomping all over every other GPU setup I've tested. Insanity.

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Overclocking Adventures - To Be Continued...

With the single 8-pin PCIe power connector, it's enough to handle the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming under intense gaming loads, but it has some room for a pretty good overclock. The OC Mode had its boost clock at 1822MHz, while I was able to hit 2025MHz boost when I overclocked the card. This resulted in a nice boost in performance while kicking the power up by 20W, up to 270W for our full system power consumption.

The additional performance was welcomed, as you can see in our 3DMark FireStrike benchmarks:

3DMark Fire Strike - 1080p

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3DMark Fire Strike Extreme - 1440p

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3DMark Fire Strike Ultra - 4K (3840x2160)

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Power, Temperature, & Noise

Power Consumption

All of our GeForce GTX 1080s have been scattered with power consumption, with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition and my entire Core i7-5960X test bed consuming 250W. The GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition sits at around 215W, while the overclocked GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming sits at 250W. When it's overclocked, the GTX 1070 G1 Gaming card uses an additional 20-35W more power, while it uses an additional 20W on average.

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Temperature & Noise

GIGABYTE has a cool graphics card on its hands with the GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming card, with the card sitting at around 63C under load. The fans would spin up and keep the card cool, but you couldn't hear the sound coming from the fan when you were gaming at all - you'd really have to be in a quiet room to notice it.

Performance Summary & Final Thoughts

Performance Summary

The performance of the GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition is enough for most people, but with the tweaks that GIGABYTE has made to its GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming edition card, those numbers not only improve, the acoustics and temperatures are lower. GIGABYTE's card is also the better looking of the two, and it does have some pretty kick ass cooling technology, too.

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If you're using a 1080p monitor, you'll be able to hit 60FPS+ in every game on the market, and anything coming soon. You could tweak some details and use the GTX 1070 G1 Gaming edition card on a high refresh rate screen, with 120-144FPS easily achievable with a mix of medium and high graphics. Up at 2560x1440 things will change a little, but 60FPS+ is no problems for the GTX 1070 G1 Gaming card, and again you'll probably hit 120-144FPS average if you tweaked the visuals and went at around medium settings.

GIGABYTE's new GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card will also handle the heavy hitters like 4K and VR, which both require considerable GPU horsepower. I had absolutely no issues at 4K, enjoying some 60FPS+ performance in most of my games. When it came to VR, the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming is more than fast enough to handle even the most intensive VR game like Raw Data on the HTC Vive.

Final Thoughts

Wrapping things up, GIGABYTE has an excellent value for money product with their GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card. It has nearly the same performance as the more expensive GTX 1080 but is a boat load cheaper - nearly $150 cheaper than the GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition.

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If you're gaming at high refresh rates like 120/144Hz and at 1080p or 1440p, the GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card will suit your needs. If you're a 4K gamer or want to dabble in some VR gaming with the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, then GIGABYTE will have you covered. The GTX 1070 isn't as fast as the GTX 1080, but it's also much cheaper. Upgrade paths include moving to an SLI system, where 2 x GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming Edition graphics cards in SLI would make for a super-fast gaming setup.

GIGABYTE continues to impress with its G1 Gaming graphics cards, and while the GTX 1080 G1 Gaming edition is faster, the GTX 1070 G1 Gaming is cheaper and is pretty damn powerful. The GTX 1070s have been impressing me more for the performance/dollar ratio, and GIGABYTE has won me over once again with their GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card. Mad performance for not-so-insane money.