At CES 2024, Nvidia introduced three new video cards to its overall GeForce RTX 4000 line. The cards themselves weren't a big secret since they were subject to numerous rumors and leaks for the past few months, but this marks the first time that one video card generation from Nvidia has seen both Super and Ti variants in its line, bringing it closer to Capcom's naming schemes since one of the cards is labeled the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super. All three cards, including the RTX 4080 Super, are all scheduled for launch throughout the month of January, and we have the lowest-spec card of the trio in our hands for review: the GeForce RTX 4070 Super.

This is a Founder's Edition card, so those familiar with this generation's design will be familiar with the physical aspects. The dual fan blower/exhaust style is still present, as is the 12-pin connector that terminates into two standard 8-pin connectors. This is a two-slot card, but unlike the other ones from Nvidia, the whole card and heatsink combo is shorter in length than an ATX motherboard, so it'll fit in smaller cases. It's also black all around instead of being black and silver, and the card weighs less than expected, so there should be no fear of it sagging over time. Overall, the changes are minor but make for a good-looking card on the outside.

We attached a spec spreadsheet with most of the data Nvidia has provided for all of the cards in the 4070 series, and on paper, the 4070 Super feels like it sits right in the middle of the regular and Ti variants. All cards have 12GB of GDDR6X VRAM with the same clocks, interface, bandwidth and boosts, but the L2 cache of the 4070 Super matches the regular version of the card, making it lower than what the Ti sports. Everything else — from the GPU clusters to the tensor cores to the texture units, RT cores, and CUDA cores — beats the regular 4070 but falls short of the Ti version. The 4070 Ti is the outgoing card, so the main question we're trying to answer isn't whether the Super is more powerful than the Ti; we want to know how well this new $599 card performs when compared to a card with an MSRP of $799.

The PC we're using for these tests is a Ryzen 7 7700X equipped with 32GB of G.Skill Flare X5 Series DDR5-6000 RAM in a dual-channel configuration. The motherboard is the MSI B650-P Pro. The RTX 4070 Super is represented by Nvidia's Founder's Edition model, while the RTX 4070 Ti is the Gigabyte Gaming OC edition, which may skew the results a bit compared to a stock non-OC model. All tests were conducted in 1080p, 1440p, and 2160p (4K) with all of the options turned up to their highest possible setting, unless otherwise noted. For DLSS numbers, all of the games used the highest possible DLSS version supported by the game, and frame generation was activated in titles that supported it. All cards were running using Nvidia's beta driver 546.52. As usual, we highly encourage you to use this review along with reviews from other outlets to get a broader and better picture of how the RTX 4070 Super performs overall, as our tests will focus squarely on the RTX 4070 Super versus the RTX 4070 Ti.

3DMark

We start off the benchmarking run with the 3DMark suite of synthetic benchmarks. With Fire Strike, the 4070 Super gets a score of 40043 at 1080p, 23212 at 1440p, and 12197 at 4K. The 4070 Ti gets a score of 41478 at 1080p, 25138 at 1440p, and 13456 at 4K. The score difference between the cards isn't that large, and the story is the same for the other tests. With Time Spy, the 4070 Super gets a score of 19242 at 1440p and 9130 at 4K. The 4070 Ti gets a score of 20828 at 1440p and 9903 at 4K. Port Royale gives the 4070 Super a score of 12881 and the 4070 Ti a score of 14222 while Speed Way gives the 4070 Super a score of 5177 and a score of 5563 for the 4070 Ti.

The DirectX Ray Tracing test that takes place in the Port Royale environment but completely renders the scene using a number of ray-traced samples. Unlike the other major benchmark tests in the suite, this measures things in the standard frames per second. With two samples, the 4070 Super hits 323fps, while the 4070 Ti goes higher with 354.03fps. Go to six samples, and the 4070 Super scores 121.02fps while the 4070 Ti's lead shrinks to 132.58fps. At 12 samples, the difference shrinks again, as the 4070 Super hits 62.12fps while the 4070 Ti gets 68.12fps. Finally, at 20 samples, the 4070 Super achieves 37.78fps while the 4070 Ti gets to 41.4fps.

The final synthetic test is Port Royale DLSS, which measures performance at different resolutions using various forms of DLSS and once again measures everything in fps. As seen in the chart, both cards benefit from DLSS 2 at 1080p but hardly need the boost, since native rendering hovers a little over 100fps on average. At 1440p, both cards hit around the 60fps mark, and while DLSS 2 gives them a nice boost, the frame generation of DLSS 3 really benefits, but the uplift was significantly more on the 4070 Ti. Natively, 4K has both cards hovering close to 30fps, and it isn't until you use DLSS 3 that both cards finally go over the 60fps mark with 71.95fps for the 4070 Super and 78.5fps for the 4070 Ti.

Forspoken

The first actual game on the benchmark list is Forspoken. Due to the nature of the benchmark, the 1% lows can't be read, so all we can get are the averages, but it does set the tone for the performance differences you'll see between the two cards in other titles. With ray tracing off in 1080p, the 4070 Super gets 126fps with an increase to 147fps with DLSS while the 4070 Ti scores 139fps and 156fps with DLSS on. The decrease with ray tracing on isn't that big at this resolution, as the 4070 Super hits 105fps and increases to 127 with DLSS, while the 4070 Ti gets 111fps and jumps to 135fps with DLSS. At 1440p, the same type of thing occurs, as the 4070 Super gets 93fps and 119fps with DLSS on without ray tracing, with a drop to 76fps and 103fps with DLSS once ray tracing is on. The 4070 Ti gets 101fps and 128fps with DLSS without ray tracing being used and 80fps and 110fps with DLSS once ray tracing is on. At 4K, both cards hit below the 60fps mark with ray tracing off, as the 4070 Super gets 54fps and the 4070 Ti gets 58fps. It's close to playable, but turning on ray tracing sees performance drop as the 4070 Super hits 41fps and the 4070 Ti gets to 45fps. Turn on DLSS, and things certainly improve, as performance with ray tracing off has the 4070 Super hit 79fps and the 4070 Ti gets 85fps. Ray tracing turned on still gives playable frame rates, as the 4070 Super hits 66fps and the 4070 Ti gets to 71fps.

The Callisto Protocol

The Callisto Protocol is the one game on the list that doesn't have DLSS, but FSR2 works as a good stand-in for those wanting to use some upscaling technology. At 1080p with ray tracing off, the 4070 Super gets an average of 141fps and 152fps with FRS2 on. Under those same conditions, the 4070 Ti gets 148fps and 158fps, respectively. Turn on ray tracing, and the frame rates take a big hit but somehow don't change with FSR2, as both cards achieve a 91fps average at this resolution. At 1440p with ray tracing off, the 4070 Super hits 102fps and 124fps with FRS2 on while the 4070 Ti gets to 112fps and 134fps with FSR2 on. With ray tracing on, the 4070 Super hits 79fps and 90fps with FSR2 on, while the 4070 Ti gets 83fps and 90fps with FSR2 active. At 4K with ray tracing off, the 4070 Super hits 59fps, while FSR2 brings it to more comfortable territory at 81fps. For the 4070 Ti, those same conditions produce an average of 66fps and 89fps with FSR2 on. Turning on ray tracing brings down both cards, as the 4070 Super gets to 42fps and 47fps for the 4070 Ti, but FSR2 brings them both back up; the 4070 Super gets 68fps, and the 4070 Ti gets 74fps.

Forza Motorsport (2023)

Forza Motorsport is still a good game, but the PC version isn't quite as tightened up as the Xbox Series X version. A good example of this is the fact that the DLSS option is present, but unless we were doing something wrong with our settings, the feature doesn't work, as the reading provided by the benchmark are the same as if the technology weren't used at all. With the game not working for us when our frame rate reading software was on, we decided to omit any DLSS frame rate findings for this game until it gets resolved. At 1080p, the 4070 Super produces an average of 113fps with a low of 83fps with ray tracing off and 80fps with a low of 68fps with ray tracing on. The 4070 Ti gets 119fps with a low of 110fps on that same resolution and 85fps with a low of 65fps with ray tracing on. At 1440p, the 4070 Super gets 92fps with a low of 77fps and 71fps with a low of 61fps with ray tracing on, while the 4070 Ti gets 97fps with a low of 64fps and 77fps with a low of 60fps with ray tracing on. While we've double-checked the settings and included the 4K readings in the chart, we can't consider them to be trustworthy, as the 4070 Super suddenly got double the frame rate of the 4070 Ti.

Forza Horizon 5

Compared to the more mainline entry, ray tracing isn't as pronounced in Forza Horizon 5, so the frame rate drop is very small, but DLSS works, so the gains are substantial, as it comes close to doubling native resolution frame rates. The 4070 Super gets an average of 131fps at 1080p, 111fps at 1440p, and 59fps at 4K with ray tracing off while the 4070 Ti achieves averages of 138fps, 118fps, and 62fps at those same resolutions and conditions. Again, the differences between the cards aren't huge, so you aren't going wrong if this is still your primary game of choice.

Red Dead Redemption II

Rockstar's game is perhaps the oldest one on the list, but it still can give some video cards a real workout. The 400 Super achieves an average of 93fps at 1080p, 79fps at 1440p, and 54fps at 4K. The 4070 Ti hits 102fps at 1080p, 86fps at 1440p, and 59fps at 4K. Turning on DLSS gives each card at each resolution a slight boost. The 4070 Super gets 103fps at 1080p, 88fps at 1440p, and 66fps at 4K while the 4070 Ti gets 110fps at 1080p, 96fps at 1440p, and 72fps at 4K.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

The latest version of the Snowdrop engine does a great job of showing off tons of foliage and other elements in an open world, but it comes at a cost. The DLSS option is available, but for some reason, our tests didn't show it to be actually working. Even without frame generation, something that's only available if you're using FSR3, a small uplift would've helped if you plan on using any of these cards with this game in 4K. At that resolution, the 4070 Super can deliver 45fps with a 36fps low with ray tracing off, and that drops to 35fps with a 29fps low with ray tracing turned on. For the 4070 Ti, that means 50fps with a 40fps low and 40fps with a 34fps low with ray tracing off and on, respectively. At lower resolutions, the game hits very playable frame rates with or without ray tracing. At 1080p, both cards hit the hundreds on average with ray tracing off and on. At 1440p, the 4070 Super hits 89fps on average with ray tracing off and 69fps average with the technology on, while the 4070 Ti can beat those average by roughly 10fps.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)

The benchmark for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is more focused on the multiplayer, so activating the ray tracing option in the settings does nothing for the pre-made benchmark. DLSS 3 is included, but unless you're chasing very high frame rates at any cost, you won't need it at any resolution if you just want something playable. The 4070 Super hits 165fps with a 138fps low at 1080p, and DLSS boosts that to 253fps with a 184fps low. At that same resolution, the 4070 Ti achieves 174fps with a 149fps low and DLSS boosts that to 263fps with a 186fps low. At 1440p, the 4070 Super hits 124fps with a 103fps low, with DLSS bumping that to 183fps with a 133fps low. The 4070 Ti has a very slight gain with 128fps and a 101fps low, while DLSS increases it to 191fps and a 136fps low. The 4070 Super can certainly do 4K with 80fps and a 63fps low, while DLSS gives it 102fps with a 68fps low. The same settings on the 4070 Ti yield 84fps with a 67fps low and 108fps with a 73fps low when DLSS is on.

Returnal

Returnal stutters quite frequently during the benchmark, which explains the very low 1% lows all around, but the game still puts up some good numbers on both cards. At 1080p, the 4070 Super hits an average of 130fps with ray tracing off, and it gets boosted to 206fps with DLSS 3 on. Turn on ray tracing, and the averages drop to 113fps and 202fps with DLSS 3 on. For the 4070 Ti, the average is at 143fps and 223fps with DLSS 3 on. Turning on ray tracing sees the card at this resolution get 122fps and 217fps with DLSS 3. The frame rates still hold up well at 1440p, as the 4070 Super hits 99fps on average with a boost to 160fps with DLSS on. Ray tracing drops this to 81fps and 150fps with DLSS. The 4070 Ti at 1440p sees an average frame rate of 107fps then a bump to 170fps with DLSS, while ray tracing drops things to 90fps and 161fps with DLSS. At 4K, the cards barely make the cutoff point for a modern-day threshold of playable frame rates. The 4070 Super hits 58fps on average with ray tracing off but drops to 44fps with ray tracing on, while the 4070 Ti hits 64fps with ray tracing off and 50fps with it on. As seen in some earlier games, DLSS really boosts frame rates. The 4070 Super hits 94fps without ray tracing and 85fps with it on, while the 4070 Ti gets 100fps and 93fps with ray tracing on.

Assassin's Creed Mirage

The latest in Ubisoft's long-running series performs quite well on both cards in all resolutions without needing DLSS, but the tests show some big discrepancies with the 1% lows from time to time. At 1080p, the 4070 Super hits 145fps with a 39fps 1% low, while activating DLSS bumps that to 149fps with a 62fps 1% low. Using a 4070 Ti at that resolution, the card gets 154fps with a 72fps low and 160fps with a 77fps low when DLSS is on, so the uplift from the upscaling technology isn't that much. At 1440p, the 4070 Super hits 116fps with a 35fps low, but the gain with DLSS is bigger, as the card gets 140fps with a 51fps low when it's on. The 4070 Ti at this resolution gets 124fps with a 36fps low and 144fps with 85ps low with DLSS on. At 4K, the 4070 Super hits 71fps with a 50fps low and DLSS boosts that to 98fps with a 35fps low. By comparison, the 4070 Ti hits 76fps with a 55fps low at this resolution, and that increases to 105fps with a 65fps low when DLSS is on.

Cyberpunk 2077

Rounding up the benchmark list is Cyberpunk 2077, a game that has quickly become the go-to title for Nvidia's RTX 4000 series of cards due to its bevy of ray tracing and upscaling features. Without ray tracing activated, both cards have fps averages in the triple digits at 1080p, so using DLSS 3 is overkill, while the lows are above the 60fps mark. At 1440p, both cards hit above the 60fps average, but the 4070 Super has a 1% low of 53fps. Using DLSS 3 ensures that both games climb back into triple-digit frame rates at this resolution. Set the game to 4K, and both cards can only muster above 30fps, which may be acceptable if you're going for a classic console experience. DLSS 3 is the only way to hit 60fps, and even then, only the 4070 Ti hits that mark, as the average for the 4070 Super is 54fps.

Throw ray tracing into the mix, and you'll see why DLSS 3 becomes a necessity if you want to see advanced lighting in action. At 1080p, the 4070 Super can only muster 39fps natively but leaps to 108fps with DLSS 3 on. The 4070 Ti gets 44fps natively but 114fps with DLSS 3 on. At 1440p, native rendering sees both cards hit below 30fps, with DLSS 3 giving the 4070 Super 75fps and the 4070 Ti getting 78fps. As good as DLSS 3 is, it can't work miracles, as the performance for both cards with DLSS 3 on in 4K causes the benchmark to slow down so badly that the average is below 1fps, which causes the load into the benchmark to take 10 times longer and the actual run of the benchmark went into 15 minutes before completion.

The GeForce RTX 4070 Super can almost be thought of as a downclocked GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. Like that card, it is great for high refresh rate gaming on 1080p and 1440p while also being capable of hitting 60fps at 4K if you're willing to drop a few settings from max level or use upscaling technology like DLSS. Ray tracing gives us a similar story, so you can enjoy a good deal of new features comfortably, but the biggest advantage is in the price. Although $599 is still pricey for a video card that only sports 12GB of VRAM, the performance difference between the RTX 4070 Super and the 4070 Ti isn't enough to justify spending over $200 to get the latter card. For those looking to upgrade, the RTX 4070 Super is a card to keep on the short list of potential GPUs within a reasonable budget.

Score: 8.0/10