2024-02-17 17:30:00
The status of NVIDIA graphics cards in the gaming market is absolutely absolute. Although AMD Radeon is achieving significant results as the second player, it is not enough to match Nvidia GeForce’s market dominance. However, unlike other markets, ‘NVIDIA graphics card’ is not an absolute standard. In other words, there are many different markets to choose from.
Numerous domestic and foreign manufacturers have released the same NVIDIA graphics cards, and they are incredibly diverse. Although it is an NVIDIA product, it is not manufactured by NVIDIA. At this point, consumers may feel spoiled for choice. Since the manufacturers are different and they all look the same, it may seem like you should just buy the lowest price, but each company has different business experience and different A/S policies, so it is difficult to make an easy decision.
In the end, in such an unequal market with a lack of information, the winner is bound to be a manufacturer that has been making graphics cards with high reliability for a long time. In this context, ZOTAC graphics cards have shown the clearest reference in terms of ‘basic’.
▲ Well-documented by foreign media. Please refer to the table created by others for differences between products.
This means that this manufacturer has at least secured confidence that it is not unstable. In addition, although there is no company on a scale that actively supplies products through OEM as much as Zotec, the fact that there are many brands requesting production from Zotec is nothing short of a testament to its excellent manufacturing capabilities.
However, Zotac has had mixed evaluations in the market. The evaluation is that although it is faithful to the basics, it is somewhat dull because there is nothing special about it. This is because they tend to make other people’s products very well, while only providing the basics for their own products. This may be a peculiar habit of manufacturers that are considerate of OEM brands. Conversely, this also means that there is absolutely no doubt in terms of stability, no matter how harsh the environment. Brand trust is solid.
With that history in mind, let’s find out why the newly released ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER TWIN Edge OC D6X 12GB graphics card is good. The appearance, which is close to that of a ‘model student’ who is faithful to the basics and never deviates from tricks, gives a sense of trust. Yes, the ZOTAC graphics card had a somewhat boring visual identity.
Model Name: ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER TWIN Edge OC D6X 12GB
Clock: Boost 2,490 MHz
Memory: 12GB GDDR6X 192-Bit
CUDA Cores: 7,168
Interfaces: 3 x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1 x HDMI 2.1
Features: IceStorm 2.0 Cling, Metal Backplate, LED Indicator, 0dB Silent Cooling
Recommended power: 750W or more
Size: W 234.1mm x H 123.4mm x D 40.2mm
Power: 2ea x 12VHPWR
Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER TWIN Edge OC D6X 12GB is compact. It packs the full performance of the 4070 SUPER into a 234mm size and is perfectly compatible with most cases.
It’s small in size but the fan is big. Two large 90mm cooling fans, which are more than twice as large as the previous model, were placed and the fan height was increased by up to 60%. Cooling efficiency has been significantly improved through a design that creates optimal air flow and maximizes air pressure. Although it is not noticeable, this detail is one of Zotec’s greatest strengths.
Above all, the most important thing is that the price was maintained while upgrading from 4070 to 4070 SUPER as announced at the last CES. The number of CUDA cores was expanded from 5,888 to 7,168, and the L2 cache capacity was expanded from 36MB to 48MB. Overall, about 20% of the specifications have been upgraded, but the price has been frozen, which is definitely good news for users who were hesitant to purchase the RTX 40 series.
The most important benchmark results are interesting: NVIDIA announced that the 4070 SUPER has similar performance to the 3090, the previous generation flagship model. Most people didn’t believe it, but some games actually showed higher frames than the RTX 3090.
◆ Test environment
① CPU – R9 7800X3D – 8C16T / 4.2~5.0GHz / L2+L3 104MB / TDP 120W
② M/B – ASRock Steel Legend X670E WIFI Daewon CTS
③ RAM – Micron Crucial DDR5-5600 16GB x 2ea Daewon CTS
④ SSD – Micron Crucial P5 1TB Daewon CTS
⑤ VGA – option
⑥ OS – Windows 11 Pro 22H2
Of course, in cases where high bandwidth is required, such as 4K, the 3090 showed better results, but the important thing is that the retail price of the 4070 SUPER is only 1/3 of the 3090. The difference is over 1 million won in Korean money. If a graphics card that costs 1 million won cheaper has similar performance, it can be said that virtually no user would complain about cost-effectiveness.
Of course, Nvidia has to endure the complaints of users who purchased the 30 series flagship graphics card at a huge price last year.
ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER TWIN Edge OC D6X 12GB has an increased heatsink thickness and a large aluminum fin stack inside. The thicker heat sink and the use of aluminum as a material help control heat generation. It is also noteworthy that four heat pipes are arranged vertically to increase the surface contact area with the GPU, thereby increasing heat dissipation efficiency.
The ‘Freeze Pan Stop’ function, which has now become a basic feature of ZOTAC, is also useful. For general low-resource tasks, do not use the GPU. At this time, the fan automatically stops to help you use the PC without noise. It is good for a quiet work environment, but it is a useful feature that reduces the burden on the user in that it fundamentally contributes to extending the life of the fan.
Detailed settings of the graphics card can be easily adjusted with self-provided software called ‘Firestorm’. Most settings, including clock speed, individual fan speed, curve, GPU memory frequency, voltage, one-click BIOS switch, and RGB effect adjustment, can be handled within the PC.
** Editor’s note
The ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER TWIN Edge OC D6X 12GB that we have looked at so far is flawless in terms of structural design, functions, and materials, as listed above. The online standard price is in the low 900,000 won range, breaking the 1 million won range to increase attractiveness. The quality guarantee period is 3 years.
It is questionable what more performance is required from the graphics card to evaluate it as being somewhat dull. ZOTAC fully demonstrates the performance according to the specifications presented by the RTX 4070 SUPER. Since users who play games for a long time should focus on stability, the Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER TWIN Edge OC D6X 12GB is one of the comfortable options that can be selected with the lowest stress.
By Shinkang Kim Editor shinkang.kim@weeklypost.kr
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