The Bottom Line
Introduction
Another day, another custom Ampere graphics card -- this time we have the Inno3D GeForce RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 graphics card -- which I'm going to be throwing into the benchmark ring for the first time (as a new custom card review) against AMD's newly-released-but-you-can't-buy-them Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800.
I recently took a look at the bigger brother of this card with Inno3D's GeForce RTX 3080 iCHILL X3 graphics card, and we have virtually the same thing here but the RTX 3070 version. The same cooling tech, the same design, but in a cheaper, less powerful version.
You can't buy Inno3D products in every market, but if you can then you will want to read this review as I don't think there are many online. Let's dive right into it -- I won't bother with pricing and availability, as that's going to be patchy depending on the region. You're looking at $50-$100 more than the Founders Edition, but that's alright as you're getting a better card.
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.
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.
Inno3D marketing
Inno3D debuted its new iCHILL X3 series with the GeForce RTX 3080 and now we've got the GeForce RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 in our hands. We have a triple-fan cooler, and stylish card here with the RTX 3070 iCHILL X3.
As usual, you can tweak the card from software -- in this case, Inno3D's own tool kit TuneIt.
The triple-fan cooler in question, with 3 x 90mm Scythe blades that provide great airflow and no-noise idle.
Detailed Look
I love the retail packaging for the Inno3D GeForce RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 -- where if retailers were open and you could freely walk around because of COV -- oh wait, there's not many of them available anyway. Jokes aside, the box looks great.
From the front and the back, we have an interesting style that I dig -- especially from the front. There's too many stickers on the backplate, Inno3D.
The card is thick, but it's no thicker than a regular custom RTX 3070. The RTX 3070 FE design is still my favorite, as it's just so damn small.
You'll need dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors.
The RGB lighting isn't too over the top, either.
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.
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.
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.
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.
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X (buy from Amazon)
- Motherboard: ASUS ROG X570 Crosshair VIII HERO (buy from Amazon)
- Cooler: CoolerMaster MasterLiquid ML360R RGB (buy from Amazon)
- RAM: G.SKILL Trident Z NEO RGB 32GB (4x8GB) (F4-3600C18Q-32GTZN) (buy from Amazon)
- SSD: Sabrent 2TB Rocket NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 (buy from Amazon)
- PSU: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 1200W (buy from Amazon)
- Case: InWin X-Frame 2.0
- OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional x64 (buy from Amazon)
Benchmarks - Synthetic
3DMark Fire Strike
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.
3DMark TimeSpy
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.
Benchmarks - 1080p
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is the latest game to be inserted into our benchmark suite, with Ubisoft Montreal using its AnvilNext engine to power the game. It scales really well across the cards, and has some surprising performance benefits with AMD's new Big Navi GPUs.
You can buy Assassins Creed: Valhalla at Amazon.
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.
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.
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.
1080p Benchmark Performance Thoughts
Right out of the gate the Inno3D RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 beats the RTX 3070 FE in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, and when overclocked is just 4FPS away from the RTX 3080 FE.
We have nearly 160FPS when overclocked in Shadow of War, beating the RTX 3080 by 1FPS -- while it loses to the RTX 2080 Ti and RX 6800 when at stock, but beats the two cards when overclocked in Metro Exodus.
Benchmarks - 1440p
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is the latest game to be inserted into our benchmark suite, with Ubisoft Montreal using its AnvilNext engine to power the game. It scales really well across the cards, and has some surprising performance benefits with AMD's new Big Navi GPUs.
You can buy Assassins Creed: Valhalla at Amazon.
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.
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.
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.
1440p Benchmark Performance Thoughts
Things settle down a bit in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla at 1440p, where Inno3D beats out the reference RTX 3070 FE when overclocked -- but loses to it stock (by 1FPS). In Shadow of War sees the RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 getting within 1FPS of the RX 6800.
We are still over 60FPS in Metro Exodus at 1440p, while Shadow of the Tomb Raider is offering 140FPS without a problem.
Benchmarks - 4K
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is the latest game to be inserted into our benchmark suite, with Ubisoft Montreal using its AnvilNext engine to power the game. It scales really well across the cards, and has some surprising performance benefits with AMD's new Big Navi GPUs.
You can buy Assassins Creed: Valhalla at Amazon.
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.
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.
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.
4K Benchmark Performance Thoughts
I wouldn't recommend the Inno3D RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 for 4K gaming, nor would I for any RTX 3070 -- 4K gaming at 60FPS+ is reserved for the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090, as well as the new Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics cards.
But, we're looking at 47FPS in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla -- so dialing down a few details and you could easily hit 4K 60FPS in something brand new like Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. We have 84-91FPS average in Shadow of War depending on stock and OC, while the card gets punished in Metro Exodus with 42-44FPS average.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider sings on the Inno3D RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 with 75-81FPS average, beating out the RTX 2080 Ti easily.
Overclocking
Out of the box I was setting around 1935-1950MHz on the GPU, at 69C temps with the fans on auto (which were spinning at around 57% at a shave under 2000RPM).
But pushing the Inno3D GeForce RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 graphics card to its limits I was seeing anything between 2040-2070MHz and boosts up to 2100MHz, but for the most part it sat between 2040-2070MHz with a 800MHz overclock on the GDDR6 memory.
Power Consumption & Temps
Power consumption numbers here with the Inno3D RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 are no different to other RTX 3070 graphics cards with around 340W for the entire system and 355W when overclocked.
When it comes to cooling, the Inno3D RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 stayed at around 68C while the card dropping to 55C when the fans are cranked up to 100%.
What's Hot, What's Not
What's Hot
Performance that beats the RTX 2080 Ti: Inno3D is giving you performance levels of around the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti here, which is great for the new RTX 3070. You've got RTX and DLSS of course, so if your games have those technologies then it's an even better card.
Great OC headroom: There's more OC fun to be had with the RTX 3070 over the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 for the most part.
What's Not
You might not like the design, but it is what it is -- if this is the only GeForce RTX 3070 you can find with the worldwide shortages, it won't matter. For me, I kinda dig the unique design.
Final Thoughts
Inno3D offers a great custom GeForce RTX 3070 with its iCHILL X3 graphics card, if you can take in its unique style then you're going to rock out with your GTX 3070 performance.
The card was silent at idle and not even that loud when it was under gaming loads, the RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 graphics card stayed under 70C when overclocked. Speaking of being overclocked, thatj's where a nice injection of free performance comes into play.
Out of the box the card is still mighty fast, but with some OC tweaks you can enjoy another 5-10% performance across the board and bringing you closer to the GeForce RTX 3080.
AMD has come out with its new Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800 graphics cards, which are competitors for RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 -- but Inno3D still has a great card on offer here with the RTX 3070 iCHILL X3. It battles the RX 6800 and is an even better fighter when overclocked.
Still, if you want something higher-end Inno3D has the RTX 3080 iCHILL X3 -- but for 1080p, 1440, and even 3440 x 1440 UltraWide gamers the RTX 3070 iCHILL X3 is a great graphics card -- if you can buy it.
Performance |
100% |
Quality |
90% |
Features |
100% |
Value |
95% |
Overall |
96% |
Inno3D has an interesting design, but great performance underneath with its GeForce RTX 3070 iCHILL X3. It has some great OC headroom, too.
What's in Anthony's PC?
- CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K
- MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE Z690 AERO-G
- RAM: Corsair 32GB DDR4-3200
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 24GB
- SSD: Sabrent 4TB Rocket 4 Plus
- OS: Windows 11 Pro
- CASE: Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL
- PSU: ASUS ROG Strix 850W
- KEYBOARD: Logitech G915 Wireless
- MOUSE: Logitech G502X Wireless
- MONITOR: LG C3 48-inch OLED TV 4K 120Hz
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