MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X OC desktop graphics card in review

We have already tested the new RTX 3000 graphics cards extensively. However, with the MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X OC, we now had a comparatively inexpensive representative of the new Ampere series in our test. With an MSRP of only 529 Euros (~$642), the custom model is not much more expensive than Nvidia's reference model (499 Euros/~$606). However, the tense situation on the market still ensures a very low availability and thus also drives the purchase price extremely high, so that prices starting at 800 Euros (~$971) are called for stock models at the time of testing. This is a very frustrating situation if you currently want to buy a new gaming system to play new blockbusters like Cyberpunk 2077

Fortunately, the scarcity does not affect the performance and MSI's model was quite convincing in the test. And those who can do without all the lighting orgies via RGB should take a closer look at the Ventus 3X series. The MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X OC has a large heatsink with three axial fans, but they stand completely still in 2D mode and at low load and thus do not cause any noise emissions. But even under load, this graphics card never gets loud. The model can use a maximum of 220 watts, which is exactly the same as the Founders Edition. The model from the Gaming X Trio range that we also recently tested was equipped with a 240 watt BIOS. We'll get to what this ultimately means for the performance later in the review.

In our gaming tests, the MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X OC does a slightly better job than in the synthetic benchmarks, which means that the Gaming X Trio model is beaten in some tests. Both MSI models are thus closer together here and are virtually equally fast. Our test sample can also mostly prevail against the RTX 2080 Ti. Nevertheless, the GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X OC runs out of steam in very high resolutions, so the older top model has the lead here. The GeForce RTX 3070 is only suitable for 4K gaming to a limited extent because the frame rates vary a lot from game to game. The MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X OC sometimes has problems with smooth gameplay in 2160p with the latest games. Thus, we consider this graphics card more suitable when it comes to 1440p gaming. Here, the MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X OC performs consistently well and can always bring good frame rates to the screen in the games we tested.

Those who mostly play in 1080p or 1440p will be quite happy with the performance of the MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X OC. Nevertheless, the 8 GB VRAM leaves a bland aftertaste if you want to be prepared for the future. Nevertheless, the 8 GB VRAM are still sufficient at the moment. As always, we use the game The Witcher 3 (1080p Ultra Preset) for the frame times and the frame rate. We only noticed a few higher latencies now and then during the recording, but they did not noticeably affect the gameplay. The frame rate is also relatively constant over time. There are a few frame drops in the middle and at the end, but this does not affect the smooth gameplay since there is always at least 105 FPS.