The functionality of modern video cards is constantly expanding. First of all, we perceive them as devices for games, where support for advanced technologies and new rendering methods plays a key role. Modern gaming is also associated with streaming, production and processing of video content. There is also an area of ​​design and professional 3D graphics. And in all these areas, a modern graphics card can make life easier by providing new opportunities and accelerating specialized applications. NVIDIA GeForce RTX models offer the ultimate in performance, allowing you to play with ray-traced effects and accelerate some applications with new hardware capabilities. In this review, we will go beyond the usual scope of studying a specific product and comparing dry performance numbers. Let’s talk a little about the NVIDIA Studio initiative, other NVIDIA technologies, and tracing games. Let’s explore the full range of features of the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 Super Gaming OC 8G and check what the graphics card can do in new games with RTX effects.

Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 Super Gaming OC 8G

The Gigabyte video card comes in a large box, where the device is securely fixed in a padded tray.

The reviewed model Gigabyte GV-N207SGAMING OC-8GC is equipped with a proprietary cooling system WindForce 3x with three fans. The special design of the shroud and the unique shape of the fan blades create that special Gigabyte style that sets these graphics cards apart from the rest.

The total length of the video card is 28.5 cm, the thickness is 2.5 slots. The back of the board is protected by a metal plate.

In the corner there are two additional power connectors — six and eight pins. On the side face there is a large illuminated Gigabyte logo.

Using Gigabyte’s proprietary application, you can change the color of the logo and the glow mode — for example, so that it flickers or smoothly changes brightness.

There are five interface connectors on the rear panel: four DisplayPort, one HDMI and one VirtualLink. All connectors with gold-plated contacts.

Let’s take a closer look at the cooling system. It should be said right away that our test sample has a rich past, so the thermal pads look shabby and their integrity is broken.

The radiator consists of three sections of plates and six heat pipes. This whole structure acts as a single cooler for the GPU, memory chips and VRM elements, for which a plate is provided around the base and additional platforms on the side section.

Implemented direct contact between GPU and heat pipes. The tubes themselves are tightly fitted and pressed together at the base to ensure the best contact between them. Judging by the print, the TU104 graphics chip is in contact with all the tubes in the base area.

For clarity, we will show a photo of the radiator against the background of the board.

For blowing, three fans with an impeller with a diameter of 85 mm are involved. The special shape of the blades helps to increase the power of the air flow. 3D Active technology starts blowing only after a certain temperature is exceeded. Therefore, when working in 2D, the fans can stop completely without making any noise.

The back plate is involved in cooling, removing heat from the hot zones of the textolite. For this, thermal pads are provided under the memory chips and under the power unit.

The PCB design is recognizable as a reference board of the GeForce RTX 2080 series.

The main power system has 10 phases.

At the heart of the GeForce RTX 2070 Super is a stripped-down TU104-410-A1 processor with active 2560 CUDA cores. Eight gigabytes of memory work on a 256-bit bus. GDDR6 Micron 9EA77 D9WCW chips are used.

The standard specs call for a GPU base clock of 1605MHz with an average Boost Clock of 1770MHz. This model has Boost Clock increased to 1815 MHz. The memory operates at a final effective data rate of 14000 MHz.

Testing was carried out on an open stand at an indoor temperature of 21 °C. Under such conditions, real frequencies were kept within 1920-1960 MHz with rare peak values ​​up to 2010 MHz. This is illustrated below in the monitoring screenshots while running tests in The Division 2 and Red Dead Redemption 2 at a resolution of 2560×1440 with the maximum graphics level.

The core temperature did not exceed 63°C at an average fan speed of 1300–1400 rpm. That is, we have a rather quiet and cold video card. Inside a case with poor ventilation, it can be hotter and noisier, but should maintain acceptable thermal and noise performance in even the harshest operating conditions.

The GeForce RTX 2070 Super initially has high core frequencies, so the additional overclocking is small. In our case, we managed to raise the base frequency by 90 MHz with a serious memory acceleration.

When the power limit was increased, the resulting Boost frequencies were kept within 2040-2070 MHz with a peak value of up to 2130 MHz. The final memory frequency after overclocking is 15802 MHz. To ensure complete stability and better cooling at higher frequencies, the fans have been accelerated to 1600 rpm.

However, such overclocking was relevant only for applications without ray tracing. Games with RTX loaded all the GPU units, which slightly reduced the maximum overclocking bar. The final configuration turned out to be as follows — the base value is 1660 MHz at peak frequencies up to 2070 MHz, the memory worked quietly at 15802 MHz. For clarity, below are screenshots of monitoring during a long load of the Bright Memory RTX demo at nominal value and after overclocking.

For testing, two overclocking frequency configurations are involved — higher values ​​​​for simple games, lower frequencies for games with RTX.