NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Review: The Original Mid-Range RTX

Introduction

The GeForce RTX 2070 marked NVIDIA's first attempt to bring ray tracing technology to the mid-range market segment. While later superseded by the SUPER variant, it established many of the features that would become standard in modern gaming GPUs.

Design and Build Quality

The Founders Edition showcases NVIDIA's commitment to quality, featuring a dual-fan design that effectively manages thermals while maintaining a relatively compact form factor.

Gaming Performance

The RTX 2070 delivers strong performance at 1440p resolution, though modern titles may require some settings adjustments for optimal framerates.

1440p Gaming Performance

• Cyberpunk 2077 (Ray Tracing Medium): 45 FPS
• Microsoft Flight Simulator: 58 FPS
• Red Dead Redemption 2: 72 FPS
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III: 88 FPS

Ray Tracing and DLSS

As one of the first RTX cards, the 2070's ray tracing performance shows its age in modern titles, though DLSS support helps maintain playable framerates in supported games.

Content Creation

The RTX 2070 remains capable of handling various content creation tasks:

• Video Editing: Decent performance with 1080p and 4K footage
• Streaming: Good NVENC encoding capabilities
• 3D Rendering: Entry-level performance for professional applications

Thermal and Power Performance

The cooling solution proves effective for the card's modest power requirements:

• Load Temperatures: 70°C average under full load
• Fan Noise: 34dB under typical gaming loads
• Power Draw: 175W typical gaming power draw

Memory Configuration

The 8GB GDDR6 memory provides:

• Memory Bandwidth: 448 GB/s
• Memory Interface: 256-bit
• Memory Type: GDDR6

Overclocking

The RTX 2070 shows decent overclocking potential:

• Core: +125 MHz boost clock typical
• Memory: +750 MHz effective typical
• Power Limit: 108% maximum

These overclocks typically result in a 5-7% performance improvement.

Value and Conclusion

While superseded by both the SUPER variant and newer generations, the RTX 2070 represented an important step in bringing ray tracing technology to a wider audience. Its performance remains adequate for 1440p gaming in most scenarios.

Long-term Considerations

The combination of 8GB VRAM and DLSS support helps maintain the card's relevance for 1080p and 1440p gaming, though ray tracing performance in modern titles is limited. Driver maturity is a significant advantage.