Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti review: DLSS turns a beastly GPU into a gaming monster

The avalanche of next-generation GeForce graphics cards continues. Nvidia released the $1,999 GeForce RTX 5090 and $999 RTX 5080 in January, powered by a new “Blackwell” architecture and sporting DLSS 4’s fantastic new Multi Frame Generation feature. Now, the $750 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti arrives on February 20, bringing the same arsenal of next-gen goodies to PC gamers who can’t splurge on a four-figure GPU.

It’s great. It also immediately makes the RTX 5080 much less appealing. Most gamers should pick up the RTX 5070 Ti instead – assuming you can find one for around its $750 MSRP, and you’re willing to lean into the magical experiences unlocked by Nvidia’s DLSS 4 technology.

We’ve spent the past week putting the Asus Prime GeForce RTX 5070 Ti to the test, including extensive experiential testing of Nvidia’s literally game-changing new DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation feature. Here’s what PC gamers need to know before plunking down $750 on this glorious, AI-augmented beast of a graphics card.

It’s basically a 4080 Super…

As you can see from the benchmarks above, the RTX 5070 Ti delivers essentially the exact same performance as the RTX 4080 Super, last generation’s 4K gaming champion. (We limited our benchmark testing to 1440p resolution because we wanted to focus our 4K efforts on play testing Multi Frame Generation, below.)

That means this card churns out frames at a ferocious rate, capable of keeping even high-speed 1440p monitors well-fed – and that’s before flipping on DLSS upscaling or frame generation. Flipping on those must-use technologies sends performance soaring significantly higher.

While we don’t have hard 4K benchmark results here, rest assured that the 5070 Ti is also plenty capable at that pixel-packed resolution. PCWorld video producer Adam Patrick Murray tested the 5070 Ti at 4K in his small-form factor PC, which previously housed an RTX 4080. “Performance on this 5070 Ti in my 7800X3D SFF rig felt almost exactly like the 4080 I was using, but it could handle ray tracing way better,” he reports. “And MFG isn’t available on the 4080 so I couldn’t use the transformative experience [with the older GPU].”

Unlike the RTX 5080, the RTX 5070 Ti offers a solid (though not hair-raising) performance increase over its predecessor. While we included results for the 4070 Ti Super in the benchmarks above, that card was about 10 percent faster than the vanilla 4070 Ti. That makes the new RTX 5070 Ti a welcome 20 to 30 percent faster than its predecessor, for $50 less than its predecessor launched at.

You love to see it… though to be fair, we called the 4070 Ti “technically hobbled and wildly overpriced” at the time. Fortunately, the criticisms that earned such stark feedback have been corrected in the RTX 5070 Ti. (More on that later.)

Casting a wider gaze, the RTX 5070 Ti’s arrival means that you can now get 4080+ level performance for significantly less than the $1,200 that the RTX 4080 debuted at in late 2022. And since the RTX 5080 is only 10 to 15 percent faster for 33 percent more money, it makes the RTX 5070 Ti the smart choice unless you seek maximum performance for ultra-fast 4K experiences.

…but with Nvidia’s must-use Multi Frame Gen tech

As Adam testified above, DLSS 4’s new Multi Frame Generation feature – which inserts up to three AI-generated frames between every two “traditional” frames, to send frame rates and visual smoothness absolutely soaring – is truly transformative. It can make even a clunky game like Star Wars Outlaws feel as sublime as the legendary Doom 2016, though the overall experience is a bit hard to measure with normal tools.

We’ve already spent considerable time in our RTX 5090 and 5080 reviews discussing the gloriousness and caveats of MFG. We’ve also explained how DLSS 4 is so much more than “fake frames,” and how the fate of Nvidia’s RTX 50-series depends on MFG.

So, with 75 games and apps now available with DLSS 4 (either natively or via a “DLSS Override” option in the Nvidia app), we decided to spend several days actually play testing as many MFG games as possible, rather than spending those days running endless benchmarks.

You can see Adam’s thoughts on playing not one, not two, but twenty 4K games with MFG on the RTX 5070 Ti in the video below. I asked him for a tl;dr teaser to include here, and he simply said “Holy hell, this just f***ing works.”

“The goal was to get acceptable [graphics] settings to hit 50+ FPS at 4K [to combat potential latency issues] and then turn on MFG,” Adam says. “I could play most of the games at max settings but with some upscaling involved, so turning on MFG allowed me to hit 120+ FPS and completely change the experience of the games.”

There are a few caveats, but nothing show-stopping. Hit the video to get the full scoop (and maybe subscribe to PCWorld’s YouTube channel while you’re at it?).

There is no RTX 5070 Ti Founders Edition

PNY

Nvidia’s diminutive two-slot Founders Edition models were a hit with RTX 5080 and 5090 buyers sick of beefy 3+ slot designs, but they’re not an option for the RTX 5070 Ti. This GPU will only be available as custom boards from Nvidia partners like Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte.

That means most (all?) RTX 5070 Ti will be thicker designs with ample cooling attached. Hope you have room in your case!

It may also mean that it could be hard to find an RTX 5070 Ti for close to its $749 MSRP. (Though it’s hard to find any high-end GPUs right now, to be fair.) With past custom-only releases, Nvidia partners usually provided an MSRP model, but with very low stock. Instead, board makers tend to prioritize more glamorous custom models with overclocks, extra features, and much larger premiums.

We’re already seeing early RTX 5070 Ti listings nearing the $1,000 price point. Paying the price of an RTX 5080 is a hard sell for the 5070 Ti, however – though the looming threat of tariffs mean it could make sense for worried U.S. buyers.

The RTX 5070 Ti fixes the RTX 4070 Ti’s worse sins

Last generation, we called the RTX 4070 Ti “technically hobbled and wildly overpriced.” Thankfully, Nvidia fixed the most glaring issues in the RTX 5070 Ti, starting with a price point that’s $50 lower.

It was actually the RTX 4070 Ti Super that corrected the vanilla 4070 Ti’s crippled memory subsystem – the new RTX 5070 Ti just keeps those much-needed tweaks intact. With 16GB of cutting-edge GDDR7 memory paired with a wide 256-bit bus, the RTX 5070 Ti is a glorious option for both 1440p and 4K gaming alike – especially when paired with Multi Frame Generation. (Did we mention MFG is amazing?)

AMD’s counterpunch is right around the corner

AMD

If you’re open to an AMD graphics card, you may want to hold off buying the RTX 5070 Ti.

AMD renamed its next-generation GPUs to better align with Nvidia’s models. That means the Radeon RX 9070 XT – teased at CES, and launching sometime in early March – should be Team Red’s 5070 Ti competitor. While it’ll come with a new FSR 4.0 implementation that finally mirrors DLSS’s setup, AMD isn’t currently expected to have a Multi Frame Gen-like feature at launch. More importantly, rumors suggest the Radeon RX 9070 XT could wind up nearly as powerful as the 4080 Super (and thus the 5070 Ti). If that’s true, AMD could decide to severely undercut the 5070 Ti’s pricing…whenever the 9070 XT actually releases.

Of course, if you delay buying an RTX 5070 Ti at launch, stock may take a while to replenish, if prior RTX 50-series releases are any indication. Decisions, decisions.

Should you buy Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5070 Ti?

Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry

If you want a high-performance graphics card capable of flying through 1440p and 4K gaming, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is a no-brainer among currently available options. Gaming only gets better once you flip on Multi Frame Generation in 75 supported games and apps – the visual smoothness it provides is truly transformative, even if you’re coming from a 4080 Super already. Just ask Adam!

I wouldn’t recommend buying the RTX 5070 Ti if you’ve already got a comparable RTX 40-series card. But if you’re coming from the 30-series or prior, and willing to hold your nose over how much more graphics cards cost now – the RTX 3070 Ti cost $600 and the 2070 Super cost $500, before inflation – you’ll love the RTX 5070 Ti. The jump forward in raw performance alone is worth it, and then adding MFG on top (in dozens of supported titles) can make your games feel like a whole new experience.

With a 25 to 30 percent leap in performance plus Multi Frame Gen, for $50 less than its predecessor, the RTX 5070 Ti offers a compelling all-around package – one that, unfortunately, the RTX 5080 didn’t quite nail. The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is absolutely the enthusiast-grade graphics card I’d buy right now if I were shopping around… though you may want to see what AMD’s imminent Radeon RX 9070 XT offers when it hits the streets in early March.