ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Twin Edge OC Card Review – An Excellent Graphics Card for SFF

 
Tested by Christopher “Revenant” Moine
Senior Editor
 
Update 1-20-2024: More detailed fan tests were conducted in the thermals sections. Those test charts were added, and fan-speed normalized chart updated. These changes do not reflect a change in the overall recommendation of the card.
Update 1-21-2024: Added acoustic spectrum analysis. Added pictures confirming GPU width, fan diameter, and fan hub diameter.
 
Let’s not mince words: The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is what the GeForce RTX 4070 should have been a year ago. It performs like a RTX 3090, uses only 220 watts, and doesn’t feel like a giant step backward in pricing compared to the generation before it. The reference model is $599, which is $100 less expensive than the $699 GeForce RTX 3080, while performing on par with the $1,499 GeForce...

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[Donmigs85]

The ATX PSU takes up the space of a cooling fan. However the temps are still within spec. Have you tried undervolting at all?

Not yet but might give it a shot soon.

 

[Revenant]

Not yet but might give it a shot soon.

There is solid potential there.

Let me test in the Ghost right now.

 

[Revenant]

Not yet but might give it a shot soon.

Here you go....

Just a note: the fans on the Stock for the GPU were running roughly 100 RPM faster than the Undervolt.

 

[Donmigs85]

I've also ordered a faster Arctic P12 Max fan to see if that helps with the cooling. There's definitely a significant difference when I leave the case open.

 

[Donmigs85]

hoping you could also take a look at the Palit Dual and Inno3D 4070 Supers one day if possible - curious to see how they perform in an SFF build versus Zotac

 

[Revenant]

hoping you could also take a look at the Palit Dual and Inno3D 4070 Supers one day if possible - curious to see how they perform in an SFF build versus Zotac

I'd love to but SFFN doesn't have a media contact with those companies. Maybe if we can get to Computex we could get a media representative for them.

 

[Donmigs85]

I'd love to but SFFN doesn't have a media contact with those companies. Maybe if we can get to Computex we could get a media representative for them.

There's one more model I just discovered that's nearly as short as the Zotac. Can't find any reviews for it at all https://www.galax.com/en/graphics-card/1clickoc-series/geforce-rtx-4070-super-oc.html

 

[Revenant]

There's one more model I just discovered that's nearly as short as the Zotac. Can't find any reviews for it at all https://www.galax.com/en/graphics-card/1clickoc-series/geforce-rtx-4070-super-oc.html

Won't fit a Ghost S1. It's not Dual Slot if it's 2.3 slots.

Unfortunately, we don't have a media contact for them either right now.

 

[Donmigs85]

Ugh, I missed that. Seems only Palit and Inno3D have true dual slots other than Zotac

 

[Revenant]

Ugh, I missed that. Seems only Palit and Inno3D have true dual slots other than Zotac

It's very easy to miss. Their marketing team was deceptive with that picture. They made it look like they were comparing it to another card and that theirs was 2-slots by putting dual slot in massive fonts and 2.3 slot in tiny numbers. The truth is that it's a 3-slot card. It takes up 3 slots. It removes functionality of a third slot. It doesn't measure the same as 2 slots. Even if your card is 2.05 slots, than it's three slots.

That's the wonderful thing about objective measurements: They are what they are, and they don't care about your marketing or feelings.

 

[Donmigs85]

UPDATE: Installed a new P12 Max fan for exhaust earlier and set it to 70%. Much better temps now (GPU 75-78C max instead of 80-84C, hotspot 88-92C instead of 95C and memory junction 84C compared to 90+C before) and the GPU fans don't exceed 72% whereas before they would hit 80-90%. This is with +10% power limit and the mild OC too. Room temperature is 26C. So yeah, this card demands either an open-air case or very strong airflow especially if you don't undervolt.

 

[Revenant]

UPDATE: Installed a new P12 Max fan for exhaust earlier and set it to 70%. Much better temps now (GPU 75-78C max instead of 80-84C, hotspot 88-92C instead of 95C and memory junction 84C compared to 90+C before) and the GPU fans don't exceed 72% whereas before they would hit 80-90%. This is with +10% power limit and the mild OC too. Room temperature is 26C. So yeah, this card demands either an open-air case or very strong airflow especially if you don't undervolt.

Cut the +10 and leave the mild OC. I'm assuming +150 range for the core. See if it's stable.

 

[Donmigs85]

Discovered another weird quirk with this card - if I run the Time Spy Extreme stress test after a cold boot, the fans will spin up as high as 82-83%. But, if I run the test again right after the fan will only peak at 73% instead for the duration of the 2nd run. Temps are higher on the first run (GPU reaches 83C, hotspot 95C, VRAM 90C). On the 2nd run clocks are the same but the GPU peaks at 78-80C, hotspot 90-92C and VRAM 86 to 88C. It's very odd and consistently reproducible.

 

[Donmigs85]

Tried the Port Royal stress test - same thing, fan peaks at just 73% instead of 83% on the first run of Time Spy Extreme

 

[Revenant]

Discovered another weird quirk with this card - if I run the Time Spy Extreme stress test after a cold boot, the fans will spin up as high as 82-83%. But, if I run the test again right after the fan will only peak at 73% instead for the duration of the 2nd run. Temps are higher on the first run (GPU reaches 83C, hotspot 95C, VRAM 90C). On the 2nd run clocks are the same but the GPU peaks at 78-80C, hotspot 90-92C and VRAM 86 to 88C. It's very odd and consistently reproducible.

Is this stock or with the overclock?

 

[Donmigs85]

Is this stock or with the overclock?

It actually does it both stock and with the +10% power limit and +100/1000 core/VRAM. Not sure if MSI Afterburner is influencing this or maybe it's a VBIOS bug.

 

[Donmigs85]

In case anyone's interested, I found this review on a Japanese site with teardown pictures https://jisakuhibi.jp/review/zotac-gaming-geforce-rtx-4070-super-twin-edge-oc-12gb-gddr6x

 

[Donmigs85]

What's funny is the Japanese reviewer and a couple others from Hong Kong and Taiwan seem to be getting much better temps and lower noise than we are.

 

[Revenant]

It actually does it both stock and with the +10% power limit and +100/1000 core/VRAM. Not sure if MSI Afterburner is influencing this or maybe it's a VBIOS bug.

I'll try to replicate it on the one we have.

 

[Donmigs85]

Any idea also if the caps and chokes they're using are decent quality based on the pics on the Japanese site? I noticed they use fewer than some of the other cheap variants.