NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition Preview @ [H]

[EuphoricRage470]

Then your start your own review site that does that. The [H] thinks it is a waste of their time for their target audience, and it's a waste of a LOT of time, because they don't just run a canned benchmark and throw a number at you like so many sites: the [H] takes the time to do reviews correctly.

Naw, I run 2560x1440, 144hz, it's not useful to me personally It may not be worthwhile to [H] and I 100% respect that, but saying that 1080p doesn't matter at all is a bit of a stretch in my book.

See, this is the thing: it's their site so they get to decide what to review and how. Don't like their choices? Well, there are plenty of other review sites, surely there is one somewhere that does reviews of what you want the way you want it done. Of course, some of them are incompetent, and some are shills just pandering for review samples.

Very true I read [H] and TPU, two best sites for hardware reviews.

Me, I'm only interested in how our soon-to-be-purchased GTX 1080s will perform when driving our new Acer Predator 32" UHD G-Sync monitors.
Our 970's can't drive those monitors at max frame rates with all the eye candy on, but they still look much nicer than our previous non-G-Sync 1080p (her) and 1440p (me) monitors.

I am running a 1080 on a 144Hz 2560x1440 monitor and I can tell you that this card will be a big, big step up from your 970s ;-)

G-Sync and Free Sync are pretty amazing, and UHD on a 32" monitor is like looking through a window. If you haven't experienced them together, you don't know what you are missing.

XB270HU monitor here. Although I'm missing out on 4K + 32", I love me some 144Hz

 

[magic8192]

I was waiting for a good used 980ti, but after this, I will probably get a 1070.

 

[Odellus]

If fps is what you're after, just disable all eyecandy settings and enjoy, or lower your res. No point in having a top tier/2nd tier card if all you want is frame rates, unless you're trying to put off a video card purchase for another decade.

dear god what

 

[SamuraiInBlack]

dear god what

Haven't said anything that people don't already do to max out their fps. Some folks just flat out do not care about AA or AF or how good shadows look. They just want their frame rates to never dip below a specific point. Easiest way to do that is to not push the card so hard. To me, you don't buy a top tier/2nd tier card for hella fast fps alone. You buy it for eyecandy AND fps AND high resolution. Am I wrong?

 

[robble]

I am extremely interested in seeing a 1070sli vs 10i0 sli at 4k showdown


VERY intetested.

 

[robble]

Uhg 1070sli vs 1080sli @ 4k.

I plan on getting one of those two setups in the next month or so if they ate in stock anywhere.

 

[TechLarry]

How the hell are they going to clear out 980ti's ?

They will have to sell in the low 300's to $299 to move. Does anyone see this happening?

If they do become available for $299, would you buy one over the 1070 ?

 

[pendragon1]

How the hell are they going to clear out 980ti's ?

They will have to sell in the low 300's to $299 to move. Does anyone see this happening?

If they do become available for $299, would you buy one over the 1070 ?

no shit eh! hope they have a HUGH markup otherwise ever retailer is going to take a loss or sit on cards.

 

[Odellus]

Haven't said anything that people don't already do to max out their fps. Some folks just flat out do not care about AA or AF or how good shadows look. They just want their frame rates to never dip below a specific point. Easiest way to do that is to not push the card so hard. To me, you don't buy a top tier/2nd tier card for hella fast fps alone. You buy it for eyecandy AND fps AND high resolution. Am I wrong?

yeah you're wrong. i bought my 980 Ti so i could have a mix of eyecandy and high framerate.

 

[Hector_01]

The sad fact is that your wife decides what you need to do

i know exactly where this guy is coming from lol. Trust me, when your married, have an 18 month old daughter and are paying a house off, you kinda have to atleast talk about big purchases lol. I haven't upgraded in about 3 years so i'm keen as to replace my old 780 gtx with a 1070 gtx. I warned my wife that i will be upgrading this year and not just one part but the whole pc. I felt so manly.......until she bitch slapped me to my room........man this ice pack is cold

 

[SamuraiInBlack]

yeah you're wrong. i bought my 980 Ti so i could have a mix of eyecandy and high framerate.

but that would be exactly what i said. So how am i wrong?

 

[Makeroflostsouls]

Haha, happy wife happy life. If I buy something expensive. I buy my wife something she wants first . You have to trade lol only way to get nice things lol. Like she just spent like 300 bucks at the spa. So new 1070gtx for me lol. Plus the 400 I made off my sli 970s so 330 bucks for an sli upgrade really isn't bad.

 

[PGHammer]

That's not really true. When the Fury X came out, if we only extrapolated the 4k results, the Fury X would have come on top in many games (which is what AMD probably wanted).

Going by steam stats 1440p is far from popular and its already loosing ground to 4k.

So to better serve your readers I think you should include 1080p results.

That is due to two factors with 4K - it is displacing not just 1440p but 1080p in the display space (even with PC-only monitors) - and it's actually due to price (not just that 1440p is an odd-duck resolution).
Thanks to HDMI support in newer displays, it's actually gotten easier (not harder) to get 4K into a display if you aren't limited to DisplayPort - after all; how many 4K HDTVs support DisplayPort?

However, what if you can get G-SYNC and 4K in the same display - and without costing a mint?

There actually IS such a creature - and you can buy it today.

XB280HK bprz

While it does have a $799.99 SRP in the US, not so much as one of the three leading sellers of the display in the US are within $100USD of that - Amazon, Walmart, and Newegg, from cheapest to priciest.

Tag-teamed with a GTX 1070 Founder's Edition, you're talking BARELY $1000USD for the pair - and that is if you include both tax and shipping. (Naturally, if you are an Amazon Prime customer, you'll be on the shady side of $1000USD - as in under it - buying from the e-tail behemoth.)

Still, some folks won't upgrade to 4K yet - and there's a LOT of 1080p that thus won't be going anywhere any time soon. (My current display is 1080p; thus, if forced into doing one purchase at a time, the display would be upgraded last due to price.)

 

[PGHammer]

In my case, due to 4K interest (because display pricing has actually become sane) and due to not wanting to let my wallet get raped, GTX1070 is the only sane choice (whether FE or AIB). Because the AIBs (all of them) had various issues with their unique designs the AIB-superiority "issue" got severely mucked up in terms of reliability. Yes; that DOES make Founder's Edition the "chicken" choice; however, I'm actually okay with that these days - I prefer reliability to bling.

 

[Raendor]

That is due to two factors with 4K - it is displacing not just 1440p but 1080p in the display space (even with PC-only monitors) - and it's actually due to price (not just that 1440p is an odd-duck resolution).
Thanks to HDMI support in newer displays, it's actually gotten easier (not harder) to get 4K into a display if you aren't limited to DisplayPort - after all; how many 4K HDTVs support DisplayPort?

However, what if you can get G-SYNC and 4K in the same display - and without costing a mint?

There actually IS such a creature - and you can buy it today.

XB280HK bprz

While it does have a $799.99 SRP in the US, not so much as one of the three leading sellers of the display in the US are within $100USD of that - Amazon, Walmart, and Newegg, from cheapest to priciest.

Tag-teamed with a GTX 1070 Founder's Edition, you're talking BARELY $1000USD for the pair - and that is if you include both tax and shipping. (Naturally, if you are an Amazon Prime customer, you'll be on the shady side of $1000USD - as in under it - buying from the e-tail behemoth.)

Still, some folks won't upgrade to 4K yet - and there's a LOT of 1080p that thus won't be going anywhere any time soon. (My current display is 1080p; thus, if forced into doing one purchase at a time, the display would be upgraded last due to price.)

I don't think 1440p is some odd resolution (you don't call 720p weird and 1440p is same x4 as 1080p to 4k comparison). With all the 4k scaling issues, no high refresh and a requirement for a beefy card - 1440p will become the next mainstream for upcoming years until 4k reaches the same state. Hell, 1440p is becoming affordable for masses only now. 1440p provides best features and picture balance in terms of pixel pitch and performance required as at the moment.

 

[Parja]

100W less than 980 Ti. Very impressive.

And for slightly better performance, no less. 1070 for under $400 is going to absolutely wreck the used card market.

Ha, and total power draw for 1070 SLI is probably only going to be slightly higher than what a single Fury X is at. A pair of them for ~$700 (should definitely be doable for a pair of non-FE cards with a decent sale/rebate/coupon) and a total system power draw ~400W should be a hell of a sweet spot.


Oh, and love the use of "junk" in the article.

Think of it this way, the more junk you pack on, the harder it is to clock all of that junk at the same clock speed at high clock frequencies. However, if you use less junk and have more room for things, and less potential for weak links in the chain, then your potential for higher clock speeds grows as well.

 

[TheHig]

And for slightly better performance, no less. 1070 for under $400 is going to absolutely wreck the used card market.


This indeed.

Already Ebay has some non Ti 980 cards for 250 shipped. I really want a 1070 to upgrade from my 960 but if those 980s go to 200? If one is at 1080p , like me still , thats a lot of perf at that res for 200 bux. also if the 980Tis go on fire sale say sub 300.. Also tempting if the power savings of pascal don't matter to the buyer. Hig

 

[Armenius]

Actually makes me question the amount of improvement we do see on the Ti model. Can't just be me that is a little suspicious/pensive on assuming the Ti will provide the same improvement we saw in the last gen. And with the FE-launch model, there is concern of that not being a good value either haha.

If we assume GP100/102 will be based off of P100, then I think we will. At 2560 cores, GP104 has 2/3 the amount of cores of P100 at 3840. GM204 also had 2/3 the cores of GM200 at 2048 versus 3072.

 

[{NG}Fidel]

That doesn't negate the fact that a $400 video card still overclock past TITAN X performance. You're still getting past TITAN X performance for a lower price.

Which is why i said I'll be buying one.

 

[Stereodude]

i know exactly where this guy is coming from lol. Trust me, when your married, have an 18 month old daughter and are paying a house off, you kinda have to atleast talk about big purchases lol. I haven't upgraded in about 3 years so i'm keen as to replace my old 780 gtx with a 1070 gtx. I warned my wife that i will be upgrading this year and not just one part but the whole pc. I felt so manly.......until she bitch slapped me to my room........man this ice pack is cold

IMHO, it sounds like you need to do a better job budgeting or living within your means if a $400 video card is something you have to seriously discuss before buying. Do you really have so little disposable income?

Haha, happy wife happy life. If I buy something expensive. I buy my wife something she wants first . You have to trade lol only way to get nice things lol. Like she just spent like 300 bucks at the spa. So new 1070gtx for me lol. Plus the 400 I made off my sli 970s so 330 bucks for an sli upgrade really isn't bad.

This is even sadder than the people who have to grovel for permission. I never understood the retaliatory spending many couples engage in. You have to spend twice as much for anything because you have to buy off your wife's permission by spending as much on her or she has to buy herself something of equal value. It's as if the two of you have to spend money exactly equally. If you spend $1k she has to spend $1k to balance the scales... Even if she's making the exact same amount of money you are I just don't understand the logic here. Do your car payments have to be the same too? What about your portion of the grocery bill?

 

[PGHammer]

I don't think 1440p is some odd resolution (you don't call 720p weird and 1440p is same x4 as 1080p to 4k comparison). With all the 4k scaling issues, no high refresh and a requirement for a beefy card - 1440p will become the next mainstream for upcoming years until 4k reaches the same state. Hell, 1440p is becoming affordable for masses only now. 1440p provides best features and picture balance in terms of pixel pitch and performance required as at the moment.

Compared to 1080p, 720p IS an odd resolution; the reason why it exists at all has to do with smaller displays (not phones, tablets, and phablets - but laptops and notebooks). 720p is three-quarters of 1080p; 1440p is double that of 720p in each dimension, but fifty percent greater than 1080p.
4K (actually, 3840x2160) is doubling 1080p in each direction - which is why it IS sensible for desktop displays (and most HDTVs - like desktop displays, 1080p is most commonplace). If you are looking on the "cheap", you could have gotten a 720p TV - however, once you have seen even a 1080i display, WOULD you have vs. the same panel in 720p?
Also, the reality is that 1440p is another "bridge" resolution (just as 720p was for HDTVs); however, we are needing the bridge less and less for PC displays, as 4K is actually becoming affordable (at least for the displays themselves) - the Acer I pointed to may have a $799USD SRP; however, it's not selling for that - even at Walmart. Further Walmart splits Amazon and Newegg down the middle pricewise - and Newegg is undercutting SRP by $100USD itself. What is the price gap between 1440p and 4K, even @ Newegg - with both supporting G-SYNC (which the Acer I pointed to DOES support)?
With displays such as that Acer, the last mainstream hurdle will be DRIVING such displays - that has been, until GTX10xx, the more significant hurdle, as not a single mainstream GPU (and few enthusiast GPUs, for that matter) could do so in quantities fewer than two. GTX1070 will be the first single GPU outside the "halo" class (TITAN and direct progeny) to be able to do so in quantities of just one. And being able to do so for $1000USD (GPU and display) has, in fact, been completely impossible; in less than a month, it becomes not only possible - but practical. I'm not saying that upgrading to 4K now makes sense if you went 1440p recently; in fact, neither nVidia or AMD is making that argument, either. However, if you are at 1080p today AND running only a single-GPU/single-display setup, unless you are a cheapskate, the clock is ticking.

It's not any more fun that 4K is becoming the default merely in terms of HDTV displays (despite a serious content shortage) - look at the price of SAMSUNG's smallest 4K HDTV. Price isn't the problem; it undercuts the SONY BX450 I just got for Christmas less than two years ago; it's that I don't have enough WALL, despite the curvature. It can - literally - use the same VESA wall-mount the BX450 does; the problem is that it is wider than the space where my current TV sits, which itself replaced a 42" plasma; I can't FIT a 55" HDTV in that space - 4K or no/curved or no.

 

[Stoly]

IMHO, it sounds like you need to do a better job budgeting or living within your means if a $400 video card is something you have to seriously discuss before buying. Do you really have so little disposable income?


This is even sadder than the people who have to grovel for permission. I never understood the retaliatory spending many couples engage in. You have to spend twice as much for anything because you have to buy off your wife's permission by spending as much on her or she has to buy herself something of equal value. It's as if the two of you have to spend money exactly equally. If you spend $1k she has to spend $1k to balance the scales... Even if she's making the exact same amount of money you are I just don't understand the logic here. Do your car payments have to be the same too? What about your portion of the grocery bill?

Single, right?

 

[Raendor]

IMHO, it sounds like you need to do a better job budgeting or living within your means if a $400 video card is something you have to seriously discuss before buying. Do you really have so little disposable income?


This is even sadder than the people who have to grovel for permission. I never understood the retaliatory spending many couples engage in. You have to spend twice as much for anything because you have to buy off your wife's permission by spending as much on her or she has to buy herself something of equal value. It's as if the two of you have to spend money exactly equally. If you spend $1k she has to spend $1k to balance the scales... Even if she's making the exact same amount of money you are I just don't understand the logic here. Do your car payments have to be the same too? What about your portion of the grocery bill?

Oh god, finally someone got my point.

Single, right?

No, he probably was wiser in being a man that won't become a wife's tool and thought things through before marrying.

Compared to 1080p, 720p IS an odd resolution; the reason why it exists at all has to do with smaller displays (not phones, tablets, and phablets - but laptops and notebooks). 720p is three-quarters of 1080p; 1440p is double that of 720p in each dimension, but fifty percent greater than 1080p.
4K (actually, 3840x2160) is doubling 1080p in each direction - which is why it IS sensible for desktop displays (and most HDTVs - like desktop displays, 1080p is most commonplace). If you are looking on the "cheap", you could have gotten a 720p TV - however, once you have seen even a 1080i display, WOULD you have vs. the same panel in 720p?
Also, the reality is that 1440p is another "bridge" resolution (just as 720p was for HDTVs); however, we are needing the bridge less and less for PC displays, as 4K is actually becoming affordable (at least for the displays themselves) - the Acer I pointed to may have a $799USD SRP; however, it's not selling for that - even at Walmart. Further Walmart splits Amazon and Newegg down the middle pricewise - and Newegg is undercutting SRP by $100USD itself. What is the price gap between 1440p and 4K, even @ Newegg - with both supporting G-SYNC (which the Acer I pointed to DOES support)?
With displays such as that Acer, the last mainstream hurdle will be DRIVING such displays - that has been, until GTX10xx, the more significant hurdle, as not a single mainstream GPU (and few enthusiast GPUs, for that matter) could do so in quantities fewer than two. GTX1070 will be the first single GPU outside the "halo" class (TITAN and direct progeny) to be able to do so in quantities of just one. And being able to do so for $1000USD (GPU and display) has, in fact, been completely impossible; in less than a month, it becomes not only possible - but practical. I'm not saying that upgrading to 4K now makes sense if you went 1440p recently; in fact, neither nVidia or AMD is making that argument, either. However, if you are at 1080p today AND running only a single-GPU/single-display setup, unless you are a cheapskate, the clock is ticking.

It's not any more fun that 4K is becoming the default merely in terms of HDTV displays (despite a serious content shortage) - look at the price of SAMSUNG's smallest 4K HDTV. Price isn't the problem; it undercuts the SONY BX450 I just got for Christmas less than two years ago; it's that I don't have enough WALL, despite the curvature. It can - literally - use the same VESA wall-mount the BX450 does; the problem is that it is wider than the space where my current TV sits, which itself replaced a 42" plasma; I can't FIT a 55" HDTV in that space - 4K or no/curved or no.

4k TV is one thing, but even on my 50" samsung, when i connect it to PC - everything is so damn small. I can't imagine using a 4K monitor until scaling is fixed. BTW, read the sig before making assumptions. Many of us here show there what hw they use. And ultimately 1440p 114 Hz > 4k 60 Hz any time of the day.

 

[Stereodude]

Single, right?

At the moment, yes. I was married for over 11 years and never once had a sit down heart to heart with my wife groveling for permission to buy something. We also didn't engage in retaliatory spending. If I wanted a $400 video card and went and bought myself a $400 video card. When she wanted something expensive she went and bought it. On average we spent less each month than we made and the spending of money was never an issue. And no, it didn't end over money. I would have posted the same responses at any point in those 11+ years

 

[schizo]

You lived within your means, which is great.

Many people, and from what I've seen even really most people, have extensive debt, student and/or credit-card, and are unable to control their spending. These people live paycheck to paycheck, meaning if they lost their jobs they would be in dire straits in a month or two. That's a very different situation, and it causes extreme stress for a relationship.

 

[Axehandler]

If fps is what you're after, just disable all eyecandy settings and enjoy, or lower your res. No point in having a top tier/2nd tier card if all you want is frame rates, unless you're trying to put off a video card purchase for another decade.

I get what your saying..

However, I play Fallout 4 @1920x1200 on my 7970 ultra settings. It is very playable but can but slowish at times.

I would Like to have better FPS on the same settings without losing the eyecandy.
I also understand you can have a "Great" gameplay without all the FPS..

Correct me thou, Is it not true? Having a Top Tier card is about Getting the Eyecandy AND the FPS?

 

[Axehandler]

You lived within your means, which is great.

Many people, and from what I've seen even really most people, have extensive debt, student and/or credit-card, and are unable to control their spending. These people live paycheck to paycheck, meaning if they lost their jobs they would be in dire straits in a month or two. That's a very different situation, and it causes extreme stress for a relationship.

I agree with this.

In our family we pool our money and agree on "Large" purchases. NOT using credit, but funds available.
Since we Talk about this stuff, it wouldn't be exactly right for me to go out and purchase a 1000$ item without talking/asking.

If the family already had plans for that money (vacation, new washer, kids school stuff.. etc) I would look like the Idiot

Axe

 

[schizo]

Yep that's just called "being an adult".

 

[Singularity_Survivor]

I like how you guys included the Overclocking Preview within the GPU preview. In the past, it would take several days or a week after previewing a new GPU to get those O/C results. Great job!

 

[Langly]

I thought the 1080 was awesome and now the cheaper 1070 thats performing so well... I think I may be buying the 1070 instead down the road. I game at 1920x1200 with no plans to go to 4k anytime soon. 1070 should do all the newer games just fine. Once DX12 gets tuned more, I'll enable my intel gfx to allow that to help out too

 

[pcgeekesq]

At the moment, yes. I was married for over 11 years .... And no, it didn't end over money.

In the over 30 years I've been married, the rule for spending on PCs have been simple: what I get, she gets too, and we both agree on whether to buy it or not.

If you didn't marry [H]ard, you aren't truly [H]ard.

 

[rezerekted]

Tom's use internal bench marks which basically suck. Hardocp is much more accurate.

Bullshit, they tested with actual games and more various vid cards than HardOCP did too.

Anyway, looking at prices at ncix for just realsed 1080 cards they want $900.00 CAD or more for them. Fuck that price. I thought these cards were supposed to be around $600?

 

[Cmustang87]

I like the part where the thread went from discussion about the glorious 1070 to marital counseling and personal finance at the drop of a hat. Mind your own business people.

 

[Raendor]

Bullshit, they tested with actual games and more various vid cards than HardOCP did too.

Anyway, looking at prices at ncix for just realsed 1080 cards they want $900.00 CAD or more for them. Fuck that price. I thought these cards were supposed to be around $600?

600 USD

 

[Ocellaris]

no shit eh! hope they have a HUGH markup otherwise ever retailer is going to take a loss or sit on cards.

No idea how it works in the GPU market,

Bullshit, they tested with actual games and more various vid cards than HardOCP did too.

Anyway, looking at prices at ncix for just realsed 1080 cards they want $900.00 CAD or more for them. Fuck that price. I thought these cards were supposed to be around $600?

Holy shit math fail. Sir are you aware that there is a currency conversion between countries?

 

[rezerekted]

I just checked, they are $699 USD on newegg.com

Unless prices come way down I won't be getting a 1080 then. $900 CAD for a vid card is stupid territory and I don't go there.

 

[rezerekted]

Holy shit math fail. Sir are you aware that there is a currency conversion between countries?

600.00 USD = 785.553 CAD

As you were saying?

I went and checked USA prices and they are going for $699 USD which is:
699.00 USD = 915.199 CAD

I'll wait for a firesale and the fools amongst you can pay the current price.

 

[Ocellaris]

Why are you even bitching about 1080 prices in a 1070 thread?

 

[Raendor]

600.00 USD = 785.553 CAD

As you were saying?

I went and checked USA prices and they are going for $699 USD which is:
699.00 USD = 915.199 CAD

I'll wait for a firesale and the fools amongst you can pay the current price.

founder's edition is 699, which is available.

 

[DejaWiz]

Holy shit...980 Ti/Titan X performance ballpark at around 150W power draw at that price point.

Well done, nVidia. Well done.

Thanks for putting in the time and effort for this review, [H] - much appreciated!