GRAPHICSCARDS
78 JANUARY2020||COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE383
EVENASNVIDIA’SGeForce range has
become bigger,more complicated and
potentially moreconfusing –what with all the
Ti suffixes and Supervariants –its ‘70 cards
have always been reliablygoodbuys.
We therefore have high hopes forthe RTX
2070 Super, even if it doesn’t go as farasthe
RTX2060 Super in upgrading the memory.
Here,you get the same 8GB of GDDR6 as the
standard RTX2070,but clock speeds have
risenacross theboard –base speeds areup
from 1,410MHzto1,605MHz, boostspeeds up
from 1,620MHz to 1,770MHz –and theCUDA
core totalhas jumped from2,304 to 2,560.
LOSTATC
Our testingmodel, aZotac GeForce RTX2070
SuperAmp Extreme, is £540 –pricier than
the majority of RTX2070 cards seem to be.
Of course,thisisanextensive custom job
even by partner card standards.The default
dual-fan cooler is gone,replacedbyalong
triple-fan cooler,and it comeswithafactory
overclock of 1,830MHz. It’sperfectlypossible
to find cheaper versions without such
comprehensive tweaks, however:Zotac
itselfmakes the£490 GeForce RTX2070
Twin Fan, which has just two fans and runs
at stockspeeds. This is much more in line
with RTZ2070 pricing.
Even on themore expensiveAmp Extreme
model, admittedly,the designdoesn’t scream
luxury.The plasticaround the fans feels cheap,
and while thereisabackplate, it’s aplainblack
metal affair; therecertainlyhasn’t been ttthhheee
same attention to design as on MSI’s Gaaaming
XTrio designfor the RTX2080Super annndRTX
2080 Ti.There arefewer outputports assswell,
whichisentirely down to the lack of aUSB
Type-C VirtualLink connector.
This mainly benefits VR headsets,soif you
don’t own or want one, it won’tbeahuggg
concern, although it’s always nice how t
function as standard Type-C ports as we
this case,you get three DisplayPort sock
and an HDMI output, so at leastbasic
monitorconnectivityiswell covered.
When it comestoperformance,the R
2070 Super hasatough task:itneeds to
follow its predecessorinproviding a
genuine high-end alternative to Nvidia’s
costliercards, whiletaking on the Radeo
RX 5700XT, aGPU that has the major
advantage of costing up to £211 less.
The RTX2070 Super has the edgein
Dirt Showdown, if only avery small one...
NVIDIA GeForce
RTX2070Super
★★★★★
£540•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
VERDICT
Despitecosting more than the RX 5700 XT,
higher performance and afar better cooler
make this card worth the cash
betterthanthose
but by 3fps at most. More positively,that 4KKK
result –which is the leastaffectedby
bottlenecking –isonly2fps behind the RTX
2080 Super,and 5fps behindthe RTX2080 Ti.
AMPITUP
Amore GPU-reliant game, Metro: Last Light
Redux, provides more encouraging results.
Scoring106fps at 1080p, the RTX2070 Super
opens up awider 10fpslead on theRX5700
XT,and this creeps up to 11fps at 1440p,where
Nvidia’s GPU managed averyimpressive
69fps. In other words, this is the cheapest
GPU that can break60fpsatQuad HD
resolution.Similarly,itmanages30fps –the
absoluteminimum youshouldbeaimingfor
–at4K, whereas theRX5700 XT produced
26fps.Thisseems likeanother tinydifference,
but it canbenoticeablewhen frame rates are
thislow,unlikewhen they’re skyhighinDirt
Showdown. Furthermore,turning off SSAA
results in a62fps average,which is aclearly
vvviiisssiiibbbllleee 111000 fffpppsssfffaaasssttteeerrrttthhhaaannnwwwwwhhhaaatttttthhheeeRRRXXX 555777000000 XXXTTT
did in the same test.
Tomb aider,the RX 5700 XT manageda
iin ory at 1440p by outperforming
RT 2070Super’s152fps. Thelatter was
ster at 1080p,with 230fps to theAMD
cccaaarrrddd’sss 111999999 fffps,aaannndddiiitttsss 777 5fpppsa4K is agreat
result.BothGPUs aretiedinthe SteamVR
Performance Test, scoring 11 outof11.
In allthese tests(exceptSteamVR), the
RTX2080Super hasamodest performance
lead, but whether it’s worth the £750 you’d
spendonitisanother matter.At1080p,you
only get an extra 1fps in Dirt, 12fps in Metro
and 17fps in Tomb Raider.Thislastresult
comes at apoint where the game is running
so fast that you don’tneed any more frames
anyway.The RTX2070Super is therefore
better value than the RTX2080Super,just as
the standard RTX2070was to the RTX2080.
In fairness, the RTX2070 Super’s
performance leads over theRX5700XTare
comparably minor,but thisspecificZotac
modelhas someother advantages, too. It’s
much quieter than the blower-style cooler
used in AMD’s reference design, andruns
much cooler too: we measuredanidle core
temperateof36°C,aload temperature of 63°C
aaannndddaaapppeeeaaakkkttteeemmmpppeeerrraaatttureof64°C.That’smuch
lesswarmoooon l threeeecounts,especiallyidle
temperaturrrre, ee the RX 5700 XT was
nearly twice a The RX 5700XTtendsto
use less poooowr the RTX2070Super,
whichtende yat around itsofficial
215W gggg benchmarks, but with PC
h lt mmmm takethat and better
ling eeee atures exceeding 80°C.
HEALTHYCOMPETITION
eeee treviewed the RX 5700 XT,
geofpartnerversions with
mprovedcoolers,but these
cost up to £400 –aserious
tin the RX 5700 XT’s price
antage.However,thatstill
esa£140 saving,sowe
tsaythe RTX2070 Super
eentirelybetter pick for
0 pand 4K gaming. It is,
ever, aworthy adversary.
