Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition Review: $549 Blackwell goodness under imminent threat from AMD RDNA 4
Blackwell for the rest of us.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition based on the GB205 GPU brings Blackwell benefits to the masses with its $549 pricing. While the RTX 5070 FE comes across as a capable 1080p and 1440p gaming GPU, it's success will ultimately depend on stocks and pricing, and whether it can withstand the impending AMD RDNA 4 onslaught.Vaidyanathan Subramaniam 👁 Published 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 ...
Verdict: Potential for redemption provided there's enough stock at the right price
Update 03/05: Given that the RTX 5070 FE will not be available until late March according to Nvidia, we are temporarily pausing the Editor's choice award for this card pending further availability at MSRP.
From melting connectors rearing their head again to defective chips with missing hardware to anemic supplies and inflated prices due to scalping, the RTX 50 series launch has been anything but stellar. Nevertheless, the arrival of the RTX 5070 provides one more chance for Nvidia to course correct itself.
Nvidia's plans for an RTX 5060 or an RTX 5050 down the line are unclear at this point, but the RTX 5070 is currently the gateway into everything that Blackwell aims to offer.
Performance-wise, the RTX 5070 manages to outperform the RTX 4070 Ti in synthetic benchmarks despite a 20% deficiency in CUDA cores.
Gaming, however, is a mixed bag. While there are titles that favor the RTX 5070's memory enhancements, the RTX 4070 Ti tends to have a miniscule advantage overall.
The real kicker, though, is support for DLSS 4 multi-frame generation. Nvidia's bold claims of performance comparable to the RTX 4090 hold some truth, but this comes with a big asterisk.
Let's be honest. A gimped Blackwell GPU can never match a near-complete Ada die's raw performance. That being said, the RTX 5070 can make good use of MFG in the pitiful of games that support it, latency concerns notwithstanding.
Though an entry-level card, the RTX 5070 FE doesn't disappoint when it comes to the basics. Its build quality is top-notch, the emissions are largely under control save for the occasionally loud fans, and the power efficiency gains compared to top Nvidia and AMD offerings are quite palpable.
However, it won't be a cakewalk for Nvidia with the impending RDNA 4 Radeon RX 9070 XT and the RX 9070 launches, particularly with the RX 9070 also being priced at $549. This becomes especially concerning given the fact the RTX 5070 offers just 12 GB of VRAM, which pales in comparison to the 16 GB on offer from the competition.
From a purely performance standpoint, the RTX 5070 should have no qualms in finding a good number of gamers who mainly need a capable 1080p or 1440p Ultra GPU.
However, Nvidia needs to get both stock availability and the pricing right in order to prevent potential customers from gravitating towards Team Red.
This is why competition is good.
Pros
Cons
Price and Availability
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition is officially priced at $549 MSRP and will be available (hopefully) along with similarly priced AiB models from tomorrow.
In India, the RTX 5070 FE will set you back by ₹60,000, but good luck finding it at your local retailer.
Nvidia's Blackwell generation of GPUs, the GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and the RTX 5070 Ti, have seen tumultuous reception so far. We are now at the launch of the entry-level Blackwell GPU, the RTX 5070.
The RTX 5070 is pegged as the gateway to all the goodness that the Blackwell generation offers including GDDR7 memory, multi-frame generation, FP4 quantization, and NVENC enhancements.
Unlike the RTX 5070 Ti, which is only available via Nvidia's add-in board (AiB) partners, the RTX 5070 comes in a Founders Edition (FE) variant, which we're reviewing today. The FE card and a slew of AiB models priced both at and above MSRP will also be available from tomorrow.
Priced at $549, the RTX 5070 FE is $50 cheaper than the RTX 4070's launch MSRP. Nvidia raised several eyebrows during its CES 2025 keynote claiming by a neat sleight of hand that the $549 RTX 5070 offers comparable performance to that of a $1,599 RTX 4090.
In this review, we take a look at the RTX 5070 Founders Edition and see how it stacks up against the Blackwell and Ada offerings we've tested so far.
The GPU offers a set of 3x DisplayPort 2.1b-outs with UHBR20 support and a single HDMI 2.1b-out, which are now standard in the Blackwell generation.
Despite being a 250 W GPU, the RTX 5070 FE makes use of the new 12V-2x6 power connector.
You should have no trouble using existing 12VHPWR cables from ATX 3.x power supplies but note that right-angled connectors will not fit into the angled recess on the GPU end.
A handy 16-pin to 2x 8-pin adapter comes in the box, allowing you to continue using your reliable older PSU without any issues.
Fortunately, our RTX 5070 FE unit has all of its 80 ROPs enabled (phew!). The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR7 VRAM on a 192-bit memory interface that can deliver a theoretical bandwidth of 672 GB/s.
The RTX 5070 FE is capable of boosting up to 2,512 MHz, but higher boost clocks are possible depending on the available power and thermal headroom.
The card is rated at a 250 W TGP by default. It is possible to further increase the power target by 10% resulting in a 275 W TGP.
| low | med. | high | ultra | QHD DLSS | QHD | 4K DLSS | 4K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Witcher 3 (2015) | 211 | 162.7 | 146.2 | |||||
| X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 150.6 | 120.2 | ||||||
| Baldur's Gate 3 (2023) | 186.8 | 132 | 115.4 | 70.9 | ||||
| Cyberpunk 2077 2.2 Phantom Liberty (2023) | 164.7 | 128.3 | 107.6 | 72.5 | 47.4 | |||
| Assassin's Creed Mirage (2023) | 163 | 126 | 106 | 78 | ||||
| Alan Wake 2 (2023) | 107.5 | 73.7 | 54.5 | 39 | ||||
| Avatar Frontiers of Pandora (2023) | 94 | 63.2 | 56 | 32.1 | ||||
| F1 24 (2024) | 138.8 | 140 | 90.1 | 77.3 | 45.1 | |||
| Black Myth: Wukong (2024) | 57 | 63 | 43 | 43 | 25 | |||
| Star Wars Outlaws (2024) | 74.5 | 74.7 | 56.2 | 48 | 32.5 | |||
| Stalker 2 (2024) | 81.2 | 128.8 | 61.8 | 77.5 | 37.2 | |||
| Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (2024) | 131 | 103.6 | 54 |
More articles related to this device
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition (GeForce RTX Series)Related Articles
Transparency
The selection of devices to be reviewed is made by our editorial team. The test sample was provided to the author as a loan by the manufacturer or retailer for the purpose of this review. The lender had no influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review. We never accept compensation or payment in return for our reviews. As an independent media company, Notebookcheck is not subjected to the authority of manufacturers, retailers or publishers.
This is how Notebookcheck is testing
Every year, Notebookcheck independently reviews hundreds of laptops and smartphones using standardized procedures to ensure that all results are comparable. We have continuously developed our test methods for around 20 years and set industry standards in the process. In our test labs, high-quality measuring equipment is utilized by experienced technicians and editors. These tests involve a multi-stage validation process. Our complex rating system is based on hundreds of well-founded measurements and benchmarks, which maintains objectivity. Further information on our test methods can be found here.
