If you‘re building a high-end gaming PC and looking for the graphics card that offers the best blend of price and performance for 1440p gaming, then the answer is a resounding yes – the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 remains one of the best values for most gamers in 2024.
Based on its very competitive $499 MSRP, excellent 1080p and 1440p gaming performance, support for ray tracing and DLSS, quiet and cool operation, plus rapidly improving availability, the RTX 3070 still shines as a recommended purchase for smooth high fidelity gaming this year.
Detailed RTX 3070 Performance Breakdown
Let‘s examine the 3070‘s capabilities and specs more closely to fully understand its performance profile:
1080p Performance
- In 1080p, the 3070 is overkill for max settings gaming. It can easily sustain 150+ fps in competitive esports titles, and over 100 fps in AAA games. This makes high refresh rate 1080p gaming a breeze.
1440p Performance
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The RTX 3070 truly excels at 1440p. It averages around 70-100fps at max settings in demanding games:
- Red Dead Redemption 2 – 87fps
- Horizon Zero Dawn – 87fps
- Assassin‘s Creed Valhalla – 75fps
- Cyberpunk 2077 – 64fps
- Far Cry 6 – 89 fps
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For esports and competitive games, it can push up towards 200+ fps at 1440p:
- Fortnite – 187fps
- Apex Legends – 189fps
- Valorant – 289fps
- Rainbow Six Siege – 190fps
4K Performance
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The 3070 can handle 4K gaming at around 60fps if you slightly turn down some settings in demanding titles:
- Red Dead Redemption 2 – 67fps
- Horizon Zero Dawn – 66fps
- Assassin‘s Creed Valhalla – 55fps
- Cyberpunk 2077 – 47fps
- It‘s a great match for a 4K/60Hz monitor in story-driven AAA games. Esports titles can still exceed 100fps.
Direct Comparisons Against Other GPUs:
| GPU | 1080p | 1440p | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 3070 | 132fps | 91fps | 61fps |
| RTX 2070S | 117fps | 71fps | 47fps |
| RX 6700 XT | 128fps | 86fps | 58fps |
| RTX 3060 Ti | 122fps | 83fps | 56fps |
*Average fps across a sample of games at max settings. (Assassin‘s Creed Valhalla, Horizon Zero Dawn, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Far Cry 6)
This data illustrates the 3070‘s commanding lead over previous gen options like the 2070 Super, and competitive performance against AMD‘s newer RX 6000 cards.
Ray Tracing and DLSS
The RTX 3070 is built with dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores to support real-time ray traced lighting and DLSS.
In titles with ray tracing, the 3070 takes less of a performance hit than AMD options like the 6700 XT thanks to Nvidia‘s 2nd gen RT cores. It can often run smoothly with ray tracing enabled at 1440p, whereas AMD experiences sharper drops.
DLSS leverages AI upscaling to boost frame rates by rendering at a lower internal resolution then upsampling to your target resolution. This gives "free" extra performance, and the image quality impact is now minimal on the latest DLSS 2.3 implementation.
In supported games, turning on DLSS provides up to a 40% fps boost. This makes achieving high refresh rates at 1440p much easier. DLSS support gives GeForce cards like the 3070 a clear advantage in efficiency.
Design, Cooling, and Acoustics
The Nvidia Founders Edition features a sleek and sturdy metal frame build. It runs extremely cool and quiet thanks to its novel push-pull dual axial fan design.
Temperatures only reach around 70C under full gaming loads, and the acoustics are nearly inaudible, a testament to excellent thermal engineering.
Aftermarket designs from AIB partners like ASUS, MSI, and EVGA offer even lower temperatures with beefier cooling solutions and more capable power delivery. Their dual and triple fan models trade blows around the 65C mark under load.
If a cool, quiet card is a priority for your build, the 3070 is tough to beat. It delivers RTX 2080 Ti-like performance while running cooler and pulling less power than an RTX 2060.
Value Prospects Moving Forward
At $499, the 3070 brought high-end performance down to an extremely compelling price point at launch. Like all Ampere cards, pricing and availability was undesirable for quite some time.
Now supply has improved considerably, and 3070 models routinely sell at or near MSRP again in early 2023. Coming from a previous gen card, the 3070 delivers a very cost-effective performance boost.
There are a few considerations regarding value moving forward though:
- VRAM – 8GB is sufficient today at 1440p, but may limit longevity for max settings gaming vs. 10GB+ cards
- RTX 4000 series – Nvidia‘s next-gen arriving later this year will offer potentially 50%+ performance gains
- AMD competition – RDNA3 later this year will shake up the market with better efficiency and ray tracing
For these reasons, the wise buyer may either opt for a 3080 10GB now for some extra headroom, or wait for Nvidia‘s RTX 4070 and AMD‘s response later this year before taking the plunge on a new GPU.
But understanding most gamers upgrade every 2-3 generations, the 8GB VRAM on the 3070 shouldn‘t be a major concern for its target 1080p and 1440p resolutions today. Those resolutions won‘t excessively strain the buffer compared to higher pixel counts.
Should You Buy the RTX 3070 Today?
If you‘re gaming at 1440p or lower and want a no-compromise GPU that can max out any game‘s settings and deliver buttery smooth frame rates, the RTX 3070 remains a superb choice that represents excellent value in early 2023.
Compared to other GPUs around the $500 price bracket like the RTX 3060 Ti and RX 6700 XT, the 3070 either meets or beats them in nearly all areas – performance, features, thermal design, and acoustics.
Paired with a high refresh rate 1440p monitor like the stellar Samsung Odyssey G5, the user experience the 3070 can provide today at its price point is tough to beat. I would not hesitate to recommend it as the best bang for buck high-end GPU.
While next-gen GPUs on the horizon bring uncertainty, technology moves fast. As long as you go in understanding the 8GB VRAM limitation years down the road, the RTX 3070 stands tall as a very advisable purchase for buttery smooth 1440p gaming right now in 2024.
