Palit GeFore GTX 1070 Founders Edition review – GTX 1080’s smaller and yet powerful brother

During the last couple of weeks we published our detailed reviews of MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition and MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X. Even though an aftermarket Palit model is waiting for our attention, we shall jump over to another GPU that was also announced recently. Its name is GeForce GTX 1070, and the particular graphics card that shall be in the focus of this review is Palit GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition.

If you’ve read our GTX 1080 Founders Edition review, you won’t find a big difference between the two coolers, as either way they are reference models. The size is the same, and the GPUs are powered by a single 8-pin connector. Of course, we don’t expect similar results in our temperature test because the number of CUDA cores and base frequency are not the same for the two chips. Whether this will be enough for the temperature to fall below 80 degrees Celsius during a 100% stress test, or not – we shall see in the sections below.

If you are interested in Palit GeFore GTX 1070 Founders Edition, you can check its current price and availability here: http://amzn.to/2aK4C9s

Contents

What’s in the box?

The front part of the GeForce GTX 1070’s package is really appealing because of the peculiar golden “Palit” inscription, which contrasts against an interesting black background. If you take a closer look at it, you will find that it consists of many lines with uneven and irregular combinations of letters that say “Palit” – it’s visible only from a particular angle. Also, the bottom features this model’s specs sheet, as well as some information about supported technologies.

When you open the box, you can see that the contents are slightly different than those of MSI. There is no internal box with the company logo, though. What you’ll see is the user manual and disk with installation files. Additionally, your attention will be drawn to the GPU itself, which sits in an anti-static package along with an 8-pin connector. At first, we were confused by the lack of a manual but we remembered to look under the styrofoam, which protects the device. Fortunately, apart from the manual and 8-pin connector, Palit have also included a disc with drivers. We don’t recommend using the latter, though, because NVIDIA frequently releases updates that improve the GPU performance.

Technologies supported by GeForce GTX 1070

Even though GeForce GTX 1070 isn’t identical to GeForce GTX 1080, the technologies supported by the two GPUs are exactly the same. The next few lines discuss once again what NVIDIA have included in terms of support and software that can allow for maximum performance of current Pascal graphics cards.

Ansel

At the event that took place in Austin, Texas, where GeForce GTX 1080 was announced, NVIDIA presented their new technologies that were in development for the new free software package. The first one to be announced by the American company was Ansel. It allows us to enjoy games in a slightly different way.

This application supports several key games – Tom Clancy’s The Division, The Witness, Law Breakers, The Witcher Wild Hunt, Paragon, No Man’s Sky and Unreal Tournament. Ansel is a camera that allows you to look at a scene from all kinds of angles, giving you complete freedom in capturing moments from your favorite game. Moreover, if you have a VR headset, you can enjoy the captured frame in its completeness – you’ll get a 360-degree photo.

Other interesting improvements Ansel brings are the filters that serve as additional effects for more attractive and complete appearance. Additionally, the pictures you take can be with a maximum resolution of “only” 61,440 x 34,560 pixels. Fortunately for NVIDIA users, this technology is also supported by older GPUs – 7th, 8th (mobile), and 9th series. The full list of graphics cards that support Ansel can be found on NVIDIA’s official website.

NVIDIA VRWorks Audio

Another technology that was announced at the event is VRWorks Audio. Pascal GPUs offer high enough performance to cope with VR Headsets using Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 p). This is namely why NVIDIA is working on VRWorks Audio – for as realistic virtual world as possible.

NVIDIA have put a lot of efforts on VR headsets. Since we know that HTC Vive dominates the market for these devices, and mass production is in its full swing, it seems that the American company is on the right track. Thanks to VRWorks Audio you will be immersed in a true to life atmosphere. This effect is brought about by a more realistic physics featured in the technology. Apart from it, there are also changes in both visual effects and audio. NVIDIA released an official app called Funhouse that demonstrates what can be expected in the near future in this respect. You can watch the video here, and if you have a VR headset, you can download the game free of charge from the Steam platform. More information about the technology itself can be found below.

Simultaneous Multi-Projection

The last recently announced technology concerning gamers is Simultaneous Multi-Projection. According to the manufacturer, it will allow you to play games in 4K and the mandatory 60 FPS. You may be wondering how this is possible since GeForce GTX 1070 is equal to the last generation flagship GeForce GTX 980 Ti.

NVIDIA’s concept is rather intriguing – we hope that its efficiency and realization will be as good as the presentation of Simultaneous Multi-Projection. According to the developers, many gamers focus mainly on the object in front of you and the peripheral areas are not that important. This is why when you are playing in 4K, the image before you is being rendered in 3840 х 2160 pixels (this is the most important part of the screen, it is where you focus), and the remaining parts are in  FHD (1920 x 1080 p). Additionally, the guys from NVIDIA note that the loss of quality is very little and is visible only if you pixel peep.

Build, construction, and style

As it was mentioned above, there aren’t any major differences in appearance between GeForce GTX 1080 and GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition. If you’ve read our MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition review, you won’t be surprised by any of the facts stated below. Despite this, there is a notable change in the core, which was expected, considering that GTX 1070 is the smaller brother.

A close look at Pascal

GeForce GTX 1070 and GeForce GTX 1080 feature one and the same die – GP104. What’s more, both cards are part of the Pascal architecture, and their technological process is 16nm. Despite this, when we consider the internals of the two chips, we can see that GeForce GTX 1070 has one Graphics Processing Cluster less – three instead of four. This leads to a decrease in the number of Streaming Multiprocessors because each GPC has five SM.

Taking a look at the image above, we can conclude that the lack of one GPC leads to a sum total of 1920 CUDA cores (2560 in GTX 1080) and 120 texture cores (160 in GTX 1080 – each SM features 8 texture units). There is no difference in terms of memory controllers – we are again presented with 32-bit ones that offer 8 raster cores (a total of 64 raster cores {no differences here as they are not part of GPC}) and 256KB cache memory for each of them, which results in a total of 2MB, level 2. GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition has a base core clock of 1506 MHz and this can go up to 1683 MHz thanks to the Boost technology. Once again we noticed that at high temperatures the frequency varies – we measured a maximum frequency (without overclocking) of 1898 MHz, which translates into +13% increase.

Another distinguishing feature of GeForce GTX 1070 is the memory type. Like we said, the core the two GPUs are based on (GeForce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080) is GP104. Nonetheless, the little brother has 8GB of GDDR5 memory and not GDDR5X, which we saw in the two MSI GPUs. This means that the memory speed has been decreased – 8 Gb/s, while GTX 1080 boasts 10 Gb/s. We are not entirely sure why NVIDIA have not chosen GDDR5X memory type in this model – perhaps they’ve been motivated by financial reasons. Anyway, the interface is 256-bit which translates into 256 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Construction and style

As it was mentioned earlier, the Founders Edition cooler is one and the same for both models (GeForce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080). However, the two chips differ considerably in terms of their construction, and this is why we begin our discussion with the front part of the graphics card.

GeForce GTX 1080 front side

GeForce GTX 1070 front side

By looking at these photos we can notice that the power supply for the two models is different. GeForce GTX 1080 features a 5-phase power supply plus one additional, which is placed on the GDDR5X memory. On the other hand, GTX 1070 offers only a 4-phase power supply plus one dedicated to the GDDR5 memory, which results in lower power consumption – 150 Watts vs 180 Watts (in the bigger brother). Despite this, the graphics card is powered by a single 8-pin connector. In brief, a quality PSU of 500 Watts will be more than enough if you want to install this GPU to your system.

Above the chip, we can notice another change that will probably lead to a difference in temperatures – we have included some temperature tests further down in the article. On the bottom part, which faces the cooler, there are three copper tubes which dissipate heat through the aluminum ribs that are also present in GeForce GTX 1080. Despite this, the vapor chamber method is not available here. Nonetheless, the cooling encompasses all important system components, and the fan pushes hot air out of the box.

As far as dimensions are concerned, the GPU is almost 27 cm long and you can fit it in most Mid-Tower boxes. It is unlikely that you will have problems installing it. The graphics card occupies two slots, which is normal for the Founders Edition cooler. We are again presented with the transparent lid that allows us to monitor the cooling system and accumulated dust. Unfortunately, you will have to be very patient because there are a lot of small elements that need to be removed in order to reach the GPU’s bottom. Additionally, next to the transparent lid, there is an inscription which confirms that you have purchased GeForce GTX 1070.

The cooling system is familiar – two vents on either side, so that hot air can go out of the I/O panel, and not remain in the box, which could increase the overall system temperature. On the back, we can see the Backplate again, which is now made of two parts. It protects the chip from potential damage, while its design is appealing and peculiar. The backplate bears the NVIDIA logo, as well as the GeForce GTX 1070 inscription. Similarly to GeForce GTX 1080, GTX 1080 features an SLI interface – it is good to note this fact because the expected GeForce GTX 1060 will not offer an SLI mode. There is no chance of us missing the GeForce GTX inscription that glows in the traditional green color – if you don’t like this light, you can turn it off by pulling the power cable plugged into the chip.

The I/O panel, or where the video ports are, is completely the same as the one of GeForce GTX 1080. This means that you are presented with a single HDMI 2.0b port, one Dual Link DVI, and three Display Ports, maximum supported resolution of 7680×4320 p with a refresh rate of 60 Hz.

Specs sheet

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Base core clock	1506MHz
Boost core clock	1683MHz
CUDA cores	1920
Memory speed	8 Gbps
Memory type and size	GDDR5, 8GB
Memory itnerface	256-bit
Memory bandwidth	256GB/s
Architecture	Pascal
Digital maximum resolution	7680×4320@60Hz
Video output	DP 1.42, HDMI 2.0b, DL-DVI
Technologies supported by GeForce GTX 1070	Multi-Projection VR Ready NVIDIA Ansel NVIDIA SLI NVIDIA G-SYNC NVIDIA GameStream Microsoft DirectX 12 and feature level 12_1 OpenGL 4.5 Vulkan API Multi Monitor
Dimensions	26.7 cm x 11.12 cm, dualslot
Maximum temperature	94 degrees Celsius
Maximum consumption	150 Watts
Power connectors	1 x 8-pin
Recommended PSU	500 Watts

Specs sheet of our configuration

CPU	Intel Core i7-5820K (6-core, 3.30 – 3.60 GHz, 15MB cache)
Motherboard	MSI X99A Godlike Gaming Carbon
RAM	16GB (2x 8192MB) – DDR4, 2133Mhz
GPU	1x MSI GeForce GTX 1070 (8GB GDDR5)
HDD/SSD	256GB M.2 SSD
Connectivity	LAN 10/1000/1000 Mbps
Features	4x USB 2.0 10x SATA III 5x audio jacks 6x USB 3.1 – 4(Gen1), 2(Gen2, Type A+C) 1x optical S/PDIF Out connector 2x RJ-45 1x 6.3 mm gilded stereo headphones jack

Benchmarks and GeForce GTX 1080 comparison

We have included the familiar synthetic tests again for the purpose of an objective comparison between GeForce GTX 1070 and GeForce GTX 1080 since the price different is small and you might be wondering which one to purchase. The lines below display the results we’ve achieved in the 3DMark benchmarks. Each of them was run at base frequencies. You will see why in the following sections where we discuss the overclocking capabilities and temperatures Palit GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition. In the photos below, there is a new thing – the recently added Time Spy which tests the GPU with DirectX12. We are planning to include this benchmark in our GPU reviews from now on.

Firestrike and Firestrike Ultra

3DMark Sky Diver

3DMark Cloud Gate

3DMark Time Spy

Unigine Heaven 3.0 and 4.0

Another software package that is always used in our tests is Unigine Heaven. This benchmark is a very good test when overclocking because it renders many scenes, testing the GPU’s stability. As usual, we have included the two Unigine Heaven versions for the sake of proper evaluation. Here is what we managed to achieve with Palit GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition…

SteamVR Performance Test

Here’s another new test that we decided to include in our future GPU reviews and tests. This benchmark simulates several scenes through “glasses” in order to confirm whether a system is powerful enough for us to enjoy playing with VR headsets – HTC Vive, Google Cardboard, or Oculus Rift. Without any problems, our configuration was awarded a “Very high” grade, and the test did not register anything below 90FPS. Here are the results…

Juxtaposition of the above results and those of GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition and GTX 1080 Gaming X

Gaming tests

All tests were conducted with NVIDIA’s official driver, Version 368.39.

Overclocking capabilities, temperatures and stability

Similarly to MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition, we encountered problems when trying to overclock this GPU. At first, everything seemed quite alright and we registered a frequency of 1986 MHz. Unfortunately, it lasted for a short period of time and then rapidly decreased. At one point, we imagined that we’d reached a constant frequency of 1898 MHz but a few minutes later along with an additional increase of temperature, the frequency fell even further down to 1835 MHz.

This is namely why we decided not to include overclocking tests, as the frequency would have continued to drop, and make it all meaningless. If silence is not a priority and you desire maximum performance, you can achieve it by increasing the fan’s rpm.

When idle, Palit GeForce GTX 1070 remained relatively cool – 32 degrees Celsius and 27% fan speed. As far as the exterior is concerned, things were almost the same – 31 degrees on the Backplate’s side. Then we decided to put the GPU to a 100% test once again for 30 minutes and see how this will affect its frequency.

The photos below indicate that in the beginning of the test the frequency was 1897 MHz. Despite this, similarly to the overclocking procedure, the temperature values rose quickly and after 5 minutes they reached 73 degrees, and at this point, the frequency was at 1847 MHz. After 30 minutes, it dropped to the lowest value of 1822 MHz, while the temperature was around 79 degrees – fortunately for us, it did not go beyond the limit of 80 degrees, which isn’t the maximum operating temperature, of course. Also, the fan kept spinning at 53% (its operation was not audible) and with 2098 rpm. We measured 59.2 degrees on the exterior, where we had previously recorded 31, and 44.6 on the fan’s side – slightly better results than those of GeForce GTX 1080 (in this respect).

Verdict

After all these detailed tests, we can say that GeForce GTX 1070 deserves to be viewed as the brother of the most powerful single-chip GPU – GeForce GTX 1080. The graphics card did very well in the benchmarks we employed, and considering the fact that this chip is a successor to GeForce GTX 970, we are really pleased. It can’t be denied that the drivers for the new NVIDIA GPUs are yet to be improved and increase the two models’ performance.

We are glad that after the 30 minutes of stress test we managed to maintain temperatures lower than those of MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition. Perhaps the three copper tubes are a good step ahead for this model or the lack of GPC results in lower degrees. Despite this, the temperature was not low enough to allow overclocking without increasing the fan’s rpm. Once again, we observed an increase in the number of frames in the DirectX 12 benchmark of “Hitman”, and this says a lot for the good job of the “green” company’s engineers.

You can browse through all available GeForce GTX 1070 models here: http://amzn.to/2aeJl59

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