Why Nvidia’s RTX 3070 Ti makes nearly-perfect sense

Opinions are revolving around how baffling RTX 3070 Ti is. Despite revitalizing the 3000-series lineup, Nvidia’s RTX 3070 Ti is far from differentiating itself from the RTX 3070. This article will provide an unusual viewpoint: this confusion actually makes perfect sense. 

Why we knit our brows looking at the RTX 3070 Ti 

At its release price ($599), Nvidia’s RTX 3070 Ti is precisely $100 above the RTX 3070 and $100 below the RTX 3080. This sets a common expectation: the RTX 3070 Ti would be much faster than the RTX 3070 and only trivially less than the RTX 3080. 

Actual benchmarks let potential buyers down. 10% improvement upon the RTX 3070 means Nvidia’s own RTX 3070 Ti is a far cry from the RTX 3080, pointing out that this 3070 Ti would easily be considered a “bait product” for the two others when those GPUs eventually reach stable prices. The RTX 3070 provides the best p/p by far, while the 3080 aims directly to those who yearn for the best performance at below $1,000. So, what solutions does the RTX 3070 Ti REALLY work towards? 

Whilst current price fluctuations partly justify Nvidia’s decision to sell such a perplexing product, it is the release price that indicates how manufacturers position their GPUs in the market. With $599, the RTX 3070 Ti has 256 more CUDA cores, 8 Tensor cores and 2 RT cores than the RTX 3070, and it also offers 8GB GDDR6X memory rather than GDDR6. Setting aside those advances, as 3070 Ti’s benchmarks show that it is meant for 2K gaming, its distinctions from the RTX 3070 in terms of using purposes remain questionable. 

What matters here is that the Nvidia’s RTX 3070 Ti only gives gamers 60fps or above at 4K in 50% of the tested games, urging us to more than often reduce the resolution for the best gaming experience or make optimal use of our 144Hz monitor. Regarding such games as Watch Dogs, playing ultra settings with the RTX 3070 Ti is simply impossible as even with DLSS, the fps index only reaches roughly 25. 

Remember why Nvidia’s RTX 3070 stirred the market months ago. The RTX 3070 has been a perfect offer carrying along with it unbelievable 2K gaming capabilities, mostly when compared to latest generation’s RTX 2080 Ti at its price range. The RTX 3070 Ti, in contrast, fails to meet public expectations as it surrenders to AMD RX 6800 in most gaming tests, and buyers would automatically turn their head to either the RX 6800 or Nvidia’s own RTX 3080. It is not to mention that AMD’s Smart Access Memory promises more fps than does Nvidia’s Resizable BAR in particular gaming contexts.

There are thus only two reasons for gamers to buy a RTX 3070 Ti. First, they have used Nvidia’s products for a long time; or second, the RTX 3070 Ti is what they are lucky enough to find available anywhere.

RTX 3070 Ti is a “rational” GPU of Nvidia

At the outset, we have a very limited number of choices as of first half of 2021. Amid the global chip shortage, a “normal” new Nvidia’s GPU can possibly cost $1,000 or over – specifically $1,300 for a RTX 3070 or $2,000 for a RTX 3080 on average. When the real price gap between RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3080 is approximately $400 on free markets, trying to get a new RTX 3080 without knowing whether it can be found in a foreseeable future is more of a risky decision. From the perspective of Nvidia, the RTX 3070 Ti is not necessarily be an outstanding GPU to generate sales.

Rather than blaming the manufacturer for creating a less-than-expected GPU, we should consider why the design and other hardware features of Nvidia’s RTX 3070 Ti rationalize its presence. Nvidia’s purpose of creating such a RTX 3070 Ti would be to position it as a less superior version of the RTX 3080. In other words, the RTX 3070 Ti is not meant to be compared to the 3070, though “comparing” is the most natural reaction of most tech users.

To be more specific, the RTX 3070 Ti has a fan on either of its side, with a push-pull system coming along. The fan on the bottom blows cool airflows to our card, which later will be released to the other side that is close to our CPU’s diffuser and case fans, while a conventional blower system is used to discharge hot airflows through the PCIe slots. This system can also be found on the RTX 3080 Founders Edition and is an optimal solution to keeping the GPUs cool and causing less noise. The RTX 3070 Ti has a similar radiator design from the RTX 3080, despite using small and thin (rather than firm and solid metal) heat fins. A new 12-pin power connector is added on these GPUs to replace the old 6-pin and 8-pin counterparts, and an adapter is readily available in the box. 

All the needed ports, an eye-catching design along with these features promise worthy added values for the RTX 3070 Ti in comparison with the RTX 3070.

What the RTX 3070 Ti can do better

Unfortunately, the RTX 3070 Ti consumes 30% more energy than the RTX 3070 does, with its TDP reaching 290W. This explains why Nvidia recommends us to pair RTX 3070 Ti with a 750W PSU (650W for RTX 3070), and this hikes the overall price of our PC. If we use the RTX 2070, the PC would take only maximum 550W.

At $599, we can expect more from the RTX 3070 Ti. It is admitted that Nvidia’s GPUs are viable options for gamers, streamers or video editors with their NVENC, ray-tracing or DLSS, but AMD RX 6800 simply shows greater overall performances with 16GB VRAM GDDR6X instead of only 8GB on the RTX 3070 Ti (which will fail to satisfy a host of our demands in particular points of its life span). AMD’s Fidelity FX Super Resolution is also on the way.

All in all, either RX 6800 or RTX 3070 Ti is barely available these days, and the best GPU we can choose now is any of them that we can find on free markets. RTX 3070 Ti, in the end, is certainly not a disappointment if we manage to buy one.