NVIDIA’s x070 series GPU has always been the mid-range or go-to GPU by gamers. It offers good performance while not costing an arm and a leg, unlike the top-tier GPUs. However, NVIDIA has released several 4070s this generation. There is the RTX 4070, then the 4070 Ti, and early this year, NVIDIA released the RTX 4070 Super and 4070 Ti Super. There are now four different 4070s. In this article, we’ll compare the newer RTX 4070 Super to the RTX 4070. Both cards are more similar. The Ti versions are on a different tier and are closer to the 4080s. So, GeForce RTX 4070 Super vs 4070, are you torn between the two? This article will shed some light and (hopefully) help you with your decision.
Which NVIDIA GPU Is Better? The GeForce RTX 4070 Super or RTX 4070?
Before proceeding with the performance benchmarks, let’s compare their specifications and features. The GeForce RTX 4070 was released last year and is already over a year old. It features 5,888 CUDA Cores, providing 29 FP32 Shader-TFLOPS of power for rendering traditional rasterized graphics. It also has 184 4th-gen Tensor Cores offering 466 Tensor-TFLOPS (with Sparsity) for AI processing and DLSS; 46 3rd-gen Ada RT Cores capable of 67 RT-TFLOPS for powering next-generation ray-traced graphics; and 12GB of GDDR6X memory.
On the other hand, the newer RTX 4070 Super was just released early this year. So, the RTX 4070 didn’t even reached a year old, and it was succeeded by a Super variant in just 9 months more or less. On paper, the RTX 4070 Super is just an improved RTX 4070. It features 7168 CUDA cores, about 22% increase from the RTX 4070, 224 Tensor, and 56 RT cores.
The RTX 4070 Super has 12GB of GDDR6X VRAM, similar to the RTX 4070. But the 4070 Super’s memory is slightly faster. It has an effective clock speed of 21Gbps and a memory bandwidth of 504 GB/s running on a 192-bit memory interface.
Below are the full specifications of the RTX 4070 Super and RTX 4070.
NVIDIA RTX 4070 Super and RTX 4070 GPU Specifications
| Graphics Card | RTX 4070 SUPER | RTX 4070 |
|---|---|---|
| Fabrication Process | TSMC 4N NVIDIA Custom Process | TSMC 4N NVIDIA Custom Process |
| Transistor Count | 35.8 billion | 35.8 billion |
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace |
| GPU | AD104 | AD104 |
| Graphics Processing Clusters | 5 | 4 |
| Texture Processing Clusters | 28 | 23 |
| Streaming Multiprocessors | 56 | 46 |
| CUDA Cores | 7168 | 5888 |
| Tensor Cores | 224 (4th Gen) | 184 (4th Gen) |
| RT Cores | 56 (3rd Gen) | 46 (3rd Gen) |
| Texture Units | 224 | 184 |
| ROPs | 80 | 64 |
| Boost Clock | 2475 MHz | 2475 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 1313 MHz | 10500 MHz |
| Memory Data Rate | 21 Gbps | 21 Gbps |
| L2 Cache Size | 48MB | 36.9MB |
| Total Video Memory | 12 GB GDDR6X | 12 GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 192-bit | 192-bit |
| Total Memory Bandwidth | 504 GB/s | 504 GB/s |
| Texture Rate | 554.4 Gigatexels/sec | 455.4 Gigatexels/sec |
| Connectors | 3 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI | 3 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI |
| Minimum Power Supply | 650 Watts | 650 Watts |
| Total Graphics Power (TGP) | 220 Watts | 200 Watts |
| PCI Express Interface | Gen 4 | Gen 4 |
| Release Date | January 2024 | April 2023 |
| Launch Price | $599 | $599 $549 (new MSRP) |
Test System Specs
My test system is pretty simple. It has an MSI X670E motherboard with 32GB DDR5-6000 memory. Powering the test system is an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X. I enabled Resizable BAR during the test from the BIOS settings, and the system is running using the Ultimate Performance power profile.
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 7700X |
| Motherboard | MSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000MHz CL30 AMD EXPO |
| Graphics Cards | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Super Gaming X Slim MLG |
| OS Drive | Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus |
| Game Drive | Crucial X6 and X8 Portable SSDs |
| Power Supply | MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5 |
| Chassis | OpenBench BC1 V2 |
| Monitor | MSI MPG 321URX QD-OLED 4K 240Hz |
RTX 4070 Super vs. RTX 4070 Game Benchmarks
Both the RTX 4070 Super and RTX 4070 GPUs are designed for 1440p gaming. It can also handle games comfortably at 1080p, especially graphics-intensive titles like Cyberpunk 2077. While both GPUs are not intended for 4K UHD gaming, both can still handle some games, provided that users must tone down the graphics settings or use DLSS upscaling or DLSS 3 frame generation, or all at the same time, to get higher and smoother frame rates.
I tested the two GPUs in 1920×1080, 2560×1440, and 3840×2160 with ten different games. It’s not a huge game selection, but it is enough to give you an idea of the performance difference between the two GPUs. Below are the results I got.
In A Plague Tale: Requiem, the RTX 4070 Super is about 20% to 22% faster than the RTX 4070, depending on the resolution. Ray tracing shadows is not enabled in this game, but I am using the higher graphics settings. Both GPUs can handle this game at 1080p and 1440p quite well, but neither will offer a good gaming experience at 4K.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare II is not a graphics-intensive title. In this title, the RTX 4070 Super is about 17%, 20% to 24% faster than the RTX 4070 in 1080p, 1440p, and 2160p, respectively. Both GPUs can play the game even at 4K, and you’d still get above 60 FPS. You can use DLSS and tweak the graphics settings to get an even higher and smoother frame rate of 4K. While Call of Duty supports DLSS upscaling, it does not support DLSS 3 frame generation.
In Forza Horizon 5, the RTX 4070 Super is (surprisingly) significantly faster than the RTX 4070 in 1080p. I’m not sure if this is just a fluke, but in 1440p and 4K, it is about 20% faster than the 4070.
Meanwhile, in Horizon Zero Dawn, the RTX 4070 Super is only about 12% to 15% faster than the RTX 4070. This game showed the smallest performance gap so far.
In Monster Hunter World, the RTX 4070 performed somewhat closer to the 4070 Super. The Super is just 11%, 14%, and 17% faster than the 4070. The same can be said in Red Dead Redemption 2, where the RTX 4070 Super’s performance is just around 12% to 15% faster.
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the RTX 4070 Super is just about 11% faster. But in 1440p and 4K, the performance difference widens. The 4070 Super is now about 16% faster than the 4070.
If the RTX 4070 was performing near the 4070 Super in Horizon Zero Dawn, the performance difference narrows further in The Division 2. Based on my testing, the performance difference between the two GPUs varies. The difference could also be larger or smaller, depending on the resolution and game title.
But generally speaking, the RTX 4070 Super still offers a substantial performance increase over the 4070. These benchmarks are just from pure rasterization, except for Forza Horizon 5. Next we test both GPUs with ray tracing and DLSS upscaling enabled.
When ray tracing and DLSS are involved, the RTX 4070 Super seems to have a big advantage over the 4070. In Cyberpunk 2077, with the ultra graphics preset, ray tracing set to psycho, and using DLSS Quality, the RTX 4070 Super is around 16%, 21%, and 26% faster than the RTX 4070. Clearly, both GPUs are not intended for 4K gaming, but we can still get decent and playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.
In The Witcher 3 Next-Gen, the RTX 4070 Super is about 22% (1080p), 28% (1440p), and 21% (2160p) faster than the 4070. Perhaps the increase in CUDA and RT/Tensor cores helped in ray tracing and upscaling performance.
RTX 4070 Super vs 4070 10-Game Summary
Combining all the results I got, the RTX 4070 Super showed some very promising performance uplift from the RTX 4070. It is about 15% to 18% faster than the 4070 on average. And as you can see from the results, it can even go as high as around 20% faster than the 4070, depending on the scenario or game title.
We have established how fast the RTX 4070 Super is over the RTX 4070. But performance is not the only deciding factor. Price also plays a major role in determining a product’s worthiness.
Pricing Difference
When the RTX 4070 was released, it had a starting launch price of $599. The Founders Edition sold for $599, but most custom-designed RTX 4070 from NVIDIA’s AIC partners sell the 4070 above $600.
With the release of the RTX 4070 Super, it took the spot of the RTX 4070, including its starting price. So now, the RTX 4070 Super has a launch price of $599. Meanwhile, the RTX 4070 got a price cut, lowering it to $549.
From $550 to $600, that’s only about a 9% difference. Upon checking the current market prices of these graphics cards, the cheapest RTX 4070 graphics card is about $540. Meanwhile, the cheapest RTX 4070 Super card is selling for about $585. This makes the price difference between the two GPUs only about 8%.
Now, with that small price difference, the answer to which GPU is the better pick is clearly a no-brainer.
NVIDIA RTX 4070 Super vs RTX 4070 Conclusion
Well, if you quite didn’t get it yet. The RTX 4070 Super performs about 15% to 20% faster than the RTX 4070. But it is only about 9% more expensive than the 4070. Clearly, the RTX 4070 Super offers a much better price-to-performance than the RTX 4070. You’ll get more performance by simply investing a bit more in the RTX 4070 Super.
With the current pricing, I would no longer consider getting an RTX 4070. I would only consider an RTX 4070 graphics card if the price is below $500. Although, I don’t think NVIDIA will drop the 4070’s price to $500-level as it cannibalizes the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB, which is currently selling for around $450. And between the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4070, the latter is a much better choice.
In conclusion, the RTX 4070 Super is the better gaming GPU to pick between it and the RTX 4070. If the pricing on these GPUs changes significantly, well, you have seen the benchmark results, and you can adjust and make a decision from there.
I hope this comparison helped you in one way or another. If it did, consider sharing this article with your friends.