Looking for advice: Zotac 3070 and EVGA 3070 Ti are the same price - which do I get?

oblongpolygon

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So to my surprise, I've finally found two 3070 cards available in my area! And both are exactly the same price.

Unfortunately, I have no idea which card is better, in their various respects.

My choice is between...
  • ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 3070 Twin Edge OC 8GB
  • EVGA GEFORCE RTX 3070 TI XC3 ULTRA 8GB
...and as I say, they are priced exactly the same!

Which card should I get?

Surely, someone can comment on the quality of EVGA cards, vs the quality of ZOTAC cards? Or maybe these cards specifically?

Maybe the following information, about me, will help someone make a recommendation...
  • I do care about build quality - even if it doesn't affect performance, but definitely if it does! Wwhen the 3000 series came out initially, I remember hearing about manufacturers cutting corners, and some of the components on some cards were said to be of a poorer quality, or performed less capably. I want to avoid those sorts of issues. I didn't understand the details though.
  • I don't need the extra space which the shorter ZOTAC gives me. I have a SFF PC, specifically a v2 DAN A4 case... but I know both cards will fit.
  • Maybe I need to be a bit mindful of heat, given the SFF situation?
  • The SFF case is on the desk, and so I do care about noise, and certainly coil whine, which I've experienced before. That said, I normally wear headphones, and probably would be if the GPU is being seriously used - as in gaming.
  • I'd like to be able to manually set fan speeds, so as to manage noise. I am definitely bothered by a "cronch" sound I used to hear on another card when its fans spun up, now and then, to manage heat.
  • I want a reliable card, something that could last a few years - certainly at these prices. Again, I think this tells me that I care about build quality.
  • I don't need the absolute fastest card on the planet, because the most demanding game I own is Doom Eternal. But yes, I do want a new card.
I'd be so immensely grateful for any ZOTAC vs EVGA advice you lot have. Or any 3070 vs 3070 Ti advice. I'm seriously stumped, and so I guess I've logged on to ask for help.

Thanks all.
 
3070TI is faster and at the same price.

Quality wise should be the same between the two cards. The XC3 and the Twin Edge are the 'entry' variants of both brands.

If you live in the USA, EVGA probably also has easier customer service to deal with.

I'll go with the 3070TI
 
I would vote for EVGA as they have traditionally the better experience among our forum goers. Will say this though;

I've had to RMA thankfully a few video cards, and one of them was a Zotac 970 and another a EVGA 2080ti. Both companies were very easy to deal with with the RMA process. Evga was a little more friendly if you are American as you dealt with a person who was not only easy to communicate with, but actually didn't seem like a worker drone. Saying that, the card I got back from Zotac was perfect while the Evga card had to be immediately returned for issues (boots up, detects okay, hard crash as soon as you enter any game). Rma time for the Evga was over a month of downtime in my experience, over just a few weeks for Zotac.

I personally believe that a company isn't just the product, but also the support and communcation. Evga is really high up there for me outside of that hiccup. But having owned a bunch of Zotac card (including the current 3080ti in my main rig), I haven't had any major issues with them except that one 970.
 
Thanks, dudes, for the feedback so far. That is four votes for EVGA, and none for ZOTAC, sadly.

I say it's "sad" because as just your answers came in, I've discovered that other users have reported the EVGA GEFORCE RTX 3070 TI XC3 ULTRA 8GB does not fit in the Dan A4 SFF case without modifications which would make me constantly nervous. Link for info, if interested.

I promise, I did actually carefully measure my case, and compared it to the stated dimensions of the card, before starting this thread here.

Anyway, this discovery is very sucky - I mean, the card with the most votes, doesn't fit in the case without tweaks.

If your PSU can handle the extra load of the Ti then I would definite go with the EVGA.

Good point. In terms of the PSU, I have a SilverStone SX650 Gold, so... maybe not powerful enough for the Ti version anyway.

But there's one more thing, and this is the real kicker...

I've also just realised that my mobo uses PCIE 3.0 whereas both of these are 4.0 cards... and so maybe the PCIE 3.0 of my motherboard will be a bottleneck, and thus I won't really be able to take advantage of the power / speed of a 3000 series card after all. I don't actually know the answer to that! But if that is an issue, then... maybe a second-hand 2000 SUPER series card makes more sense.
 
So to my surprise, I've finally found two 3070 cards available in my area! And both are exactly the same price.
What does this mean? Until it's in your hands I wouldn't assume anything available.

Either is fine, Zotac is good even if support subpar. The 3070Ti will game better and is the stronger card due to GDDR6x.

PCie 3 vs 4 is irrelevant for these cards.
 
Given oblongpolygon 's latest post, the Zotac should be alright.

Take note that the performance difference between the 3070 and the 3070TI is small.

Also -- DPI is right, PCIE 3 vs 4 is totally irrelevant in this case.
 
Zotac is fine. I've had a few and the one time I had to RMA it was painless and fairly quick. They aren't the best looking or have the best HSF, but they work fine for what they are IMO.
 
If the Zotac is non LHR get it, otherwise eVGA all the way. If you don't know what LHR is, Google :)
 
Thanks, dudes, for the feedback so far. That is four votes for EVGA, and none for ZOTAC, sadly.

I say it's "sad" because as just your answers came in, I've discovered that other users have reported the EVGA GEFORCE RTX 3070 TI XC3 ULTRA 8GB does not fit in the Dan A4 SFF case without modifications which would make me constantly nervous. Link for info, if interested.

I promise, I did actually carefully measure my case, and compared it to the stated dimensions of the card, before starting this thread here.

Anyway, this discovery is very sucky - I mean, the card with the most votes, doesn't fit in the case without tweaks.



Good point. In terms of the PSU, I have a SilverStone SX650 Gold, so... maybe not powerful enough for the Ti version anyway.

But there's one more thing, and this is the real kicker...

I've also just realised that my mobo uses PCIE 3.0 whereas both of these are 4.0 cards... and so maybe the PCIE 3.0 of my motherboard will be a bottleneck, and thus I won't really be able to take advantage of the power / speed of a 3000 series card after all. I don't actually know the answer to that! But if that is an issue, then... maybe a second-hand 2000 SUPER series card makes more sense.
When I moved from pci-e 3.0 to 4.0 my 6900xt’s score went up by 1.2% so don’t sweat the pci-e 3.0 thing it doesn’t matter
 
If the Zotac is non LHR get it, otherwise eVGA all the way. If you don't know what LHR is, Google :)


You people are idiots. The 3070 Ti is a new card that automatically comes with LHR so Zotac is the only card there that could possibly be normal!

The 3070 Ti takes a ton more power to operate, for around a 7% performance bump, which will translate to much larger coolers (harder to fit in your tiny case)

power-gaming.png


I've had a Zotac GTX 1060 that I've been using form the lat 3 years without issue - was an RMA card closeout sale after the mining crash in 2018, and the card has been faultless since!

That fact thsat a card is LHR or not is completely pointless here!
 
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You people are idiots. The 3070 Ti is a new card that automatically comes with LHR.

The 3070 Ti takes a ton more power to operate, for around a 7% performance bump, which will translate to much larger coolers (harder to fit in your tiny case)

power-gaming.png


I've had a Zotac GTX 1060 that I've been using form the lat 3 years without issue - was an RMA card closeout sale aftern the mining crash in 2018.
Ok Mr. Not An Idiot, he specifically said the Zotac is a 3070 no 'Tea' added.
 
You people are idiots. The 3070 Ti is a new card that automatically comes with LHR so Zotac is the only card there that could possibly be normal!

The 3070 Ti takes a ton more power to operate, for around a 7% performance bump, which will translate to much larger coolers (harder to fit in your tiny case)

power-gaming.png


I've had a Zotac GTX 1060 that I've been using form the lat 3 years without issue - was an RMA card closeout sale after the mining crash in 2018, and the card has been faultless since!

That fact thsat a card is LHR or not is completely pointless here!

Did someone miss the news that all new cards apart from the 3090 are now LHR??
 
Hey all - OP here. Sorry about the long wait on a reply, from me - I'm now an uncle, that's why. Anyway...

I'm now just doing some thinking / considering, given all the feedback, and I've added some replies below.

I just wanna indicate that I'm grateful for all the advice - it was, and it remains, really useful as I work this out.

A few replies to specific comments, below...

Until it's in your hands I wouldn't assume anything available.

Either is fine, Zotac is good even if support subpar. The 3070Ti will game better and is the stronger card due to GDDR6x.

PCie 3 vs 4 is irrelevant for these cards.
You make a valid point, about assuming availability - until it's in your damn hands. In this climate, with shipping disrupted, and chip shortages, it's sensible advice. Also, I didn't even know I'd need to consider the variation of memory on the card - thank you for highlighting this difference. Thanks, also, for the clarity about the PCIE difference. Cheers!

Take note that the performance difference between the 3070 and the 3070TI is small.

Also -- @DPI is right, PCIE 3 vs 4 is totally irrelevant in this case.
Gotcha - small difference, and PCIE not impactful. Cheers!

They aren't the best looking or have the best HSF, but they work fine for what they are IMO.
HSF? Is that an abbreviation for... heat sink fan? I have no idea. But the point taken anyway - not the best looking, and maybe a bit average in this other way too.

If the Zotac is non LHR get it, otherwise eVGA all the way.
Yeah, the ZOTAC 3070 is non-LHR, so... okay, I'll count that as a vote for ZOTAC.

When I moved from pci-e 3.0 to 4.0 my 6900xt’s score went up by 1.2% so don’t sweat the pci-e 3.0 thing it doesn’t matter.
Thanks so much for putting an actual number on the difference! That's minor - so I won't sweat it.

Is the Zotac an LHR card? If not, get that, then trade it in for a brand new Porsche.
Yes, a non-LHR card. And lols. The Porsche would be manual, though, probably, and I didn't learn to drive stick.

This is the right answer.
Noted.

The 3070 Ti takes a ton more power to operate, for around a 7% performance bump, which will translate to much larger coolers (harder to fit in your tiny case).
This raises a good point, which I had maybe not fully appreciated - larger power draw, for a 7% performance bump, maybe necessitating more cooling, which is hard in my little case. At least one other, below, highlights the case being a bit of a limitation too. You're maybe onto something.

He specifically said the Zotac is a 3070 no 'Tea' added.
Correcto.

Buy the ti and get a new case.
I take your point... and some of the comments above are driving at a similar point - the case being a big (yet physically small) limitation.

This is a used card, lots of non LHR 3070s floating in the wild...
No, no - this is a new card. Sorry, maybe I should have actually stated this in the positive, so it wasn't assumed. My bad. I don't know, but I guess the retailer made an order for the parts ages ago, and it was held up, and only arrived recently... or something like that?

Where was that stated? Even still there are used LHR 3070s out there.
I'm not seeing many used LHR 3070s in my area, but... I guess this differs between countries.

PSU should be fine.
Thanks for confirming this.

No material difference in performance here.
Likewise, thank you for confirming this, too. Cheers!

If they are the same price a Ti card is going to be better all day long….get the Ti.
Yeah, same price. And I really take your point... the Ti will game better, for longer... although I'm trying to bear in mind some of the "non-financial" costs mentioned by others above, like heat produced.
 
If you want to mine. Get the 3070. It seems non LHR and same price as 3070 Ti. If it is LHR then fuck it.
If you want to game. Get the 3070 Ti.
If you care about power. Get the 3070.
If you care about size. Get the 3070.
If you care about warranty. Get the 3070 Ti.

I personally mine and if 3070 was a non LHR model then I would grab it pronto. OC the living shiznits out of it and mine for 5 bucks a day when not playing games.
 
3070ti for the warranty which is also transferable on resale.

LHR is kinda meh now, you can mine on an LHR card with coins that aren't LHR targetted or use something like nbminer which has freed up good performance. I still game on my 3070ti card for my racing games as it's connected to my home theatre system which works with my wheel stand.
 
If you want to mine. Get the 3070. It seems non LHR and same price as 3070 Ti. If it is LHR then fuck it.
If you want to game. Get the 3070 Ti.
If you care about power. Get the 3070.
If you care about size. Get the 3070.
If you care about warranty. Get the 3070 Ti.

I personally mine and if 3070 was a non LHR model then I would grab it pronto. OC the living shiznits out of it and mine for 5 bucks a day when not playing games.
That pretty much sums it up, though it's worth noting that you can turn down the power limits on a 3070Ti. It won't run as fast, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it's performance was similar to the 3070's at the same power draw at least for the GPU core. I have no idea how power hungry GDDR6X ram is compared to GDDR6. Of course if it's too hot the [H] thing to do is mod the case or figure out how to cram liquid cooling in there.
 
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