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Redfall : Redfall provides some great gameplay elements to sink your teeth and time into but it also lacks direction and its vision is muddied with formulaic systems and some glaring issues. Editor's Note: After completing this review-in-progress, without spoilers, the full experience does not improve and the ending is extremely disappointing. We have changed the score from a 6 to a 5. Mario Vasquez

5
von 10
2023-05-01T20:00:00+0000

Vampires are a horror genre staple so it’s quite shocking we haven’t really had an amazing game release featuring them as the central villain in quite some time. So when Arkane, the makers of amazing games like Prey and Dishonored, announced Redfall in June of 2021, it captured my bloodlust. Xbox’s current weak place in the market is begging for a great release which puts a ton of extra pressure for Redfall to exceed expectations.

The excitement for Redfall’s hero-based looter-shooter gameplay centering around vampires has such a high ceiling because of this atmosphere. Microsoft needs a win. It’s Arkane, so we know they have a history of hitting it out of the park with combat, stealth, and a great story. But after delays, the announcement that consoles would be locked to 30fps at launch, and after a quiet launch week, some concern set in.

The press embargo was set right before tomorrow’s release at 8:01 PM ET today. A red flag went up instantly. This is a review-in-progress as we were provided a key close to release and have not had time to complete the entire story but have completed the majority of its major missions. In fact, a 69.4GB patch dropped this morning adding DLC.

After playing, I understand the fear of reviewers about gameplay spoiling major elements of the latter half of the game. For FPS fans, Redfall provides some great gameplay elements to sink your teeth and time into, but it also lacks direction and its vision is muddied with formulaic systems and some glaring issues. Let’s take a deeper look at Redfall in our review of the PC version for Steam. Thank you to Nvidia and to Arkane for providing a review copy for our coverage!

Characters

Redfall has you choose one of four main characters which is one of the biggest draws for me upon release. Going in with friends to experience a 4-player massacre of vampires and their minions could be a real blast. Central to Redfall is its first person and hero shooter design. The four playable characters at launch are cryptozoologist inventor, Devinder Crousley; telekinetic student, Layla Ellison; combat engineer, Remi de la Rosa; and special forces sniper, veteran Jacob Boyer. Redfall has more character releases planned later.

Each character has a trio of upgradable special powers, two are useable for limited times, and an “ultimate” that recharges more slowly over time. Each power has its own unique spin on combat and abilities to play with. Vampires invade the area known as Redfall, and after some opening events, there is no physical way to escape from the area. You and the town’s citizens are fish trapped in a bucket being saved for feeding time.

The opening sequence is pretty great and sets the tone well. The massive cascade of frozen water serves as an ominous foreshadowing of the immense power our enemies hold. Our characters had previous run-ins with the main antagonists that provided them with their abilities.

I really disliked that Bungie made us go to their website to read “grimoire” cards to understand the lore. The same thing is done here with Redfall – most of the backstory ends up by being briefly told in side conversations, and if you want more, you need to read one of the many, many notes strewn across the world or by gathering 100 items that provide more exposition from a central character. It is hard to describe how grandiose the game can be and yet so small at the same time before you actually jump in to play.

Disappointingly, Redfall at times can feel paper thin, and I believe it could have been truly great with more time in the coffin until it was ready to withstand the heat of the sun and its place in the current landscape. Gamers will notice.

We want the deep world-building and narrative that Arkane is known for, and if more time was needed for a sophisticated presentation, I would have begged for it. Without going into later story spoilers, Redfall’s premise is that a biotech corporation known as Aevum was working with a scientist seeking immortality, an experiment went wrong and the vampire hoard was unleashed. Almost immediately, many of the town’s residents became cultists who wanted this same immortality and began to worship and defend the vampires with the promise that once they die they would be reincarnated as all-powerful beings.

A once idyllic island town is now the center for survivors, and you are someone luckily granted special powers that you have right off the bat. Conceptually, its a great setting for this game and it was very interesting to explore. With vampire nests to destroy, bosses to defeat, safehouses to set free, and so much loot to gather for upgrades – the base systems are there for a great time.

But while Redfall’s premise does an amazing job of setting up some great missions, the presentation feels extremely dated. So much so I am not sure that most players will stay long enough to experience the latter half of the game which begins to feel incredible at times.

Let’s take a deeper look at the gameplay.

Gameplay

After the opening sequence, your first mission is to approach a surrounded firehouse with survivors inside. Cultists are standing outside, literally, not banging on the walls or trying to break in – they are standing there in groups just waiting to pick survivors off. This is the same immersion-breaking feeling most of the encounters have in the game. Something feels like it was missed or changed in development.

Most gamers won’t care about small details as they may just care about the overall story and the gunplay. Well, after first picking off the cultists, you meet your first set of survivors for your new home base. There is little to no backstory for the characters without reading interactable letters, and they sort of just fall into place as expert base builders with a doctor, a gun expert, a clergywoman, and more. Redfall is shockingly light on explanations and barebones in so many other similar places that lowered our expectations for the rest of the game.

This base is never attacked and is literally just a place you come back to get supplies, make occasional small talk, and interact with a missions table to get photo cutscenes between your custom character and the survivors. I believe the reason for this is because of only having four characters and it may have been easier to just replace their skin for the cutscenes. I understand that the visuals needed to be presented, but with such barebones characters it would have made me care more about them if they actually talked to you.

Between missions, they will talk to each other and then later you get in-game conversations with dynamic character movements and interactions that I really enjoyed especially near the end of the first half of the game. If this was more fleshed out, I would have cared much more about these characters and saving them.

However, none of it matters as once a major defeat occurs, in order to progress the story you have to leave the main island and can never return. I’d prefer to go back and experience those levels again when I want to and have fun in the sandbox that was created, but its completely shut off.

The second area feels more like the real main game in almost every way. Characters are more vocal, the area feels more dense and packed with hidden items and more enemies to fight. The story is finally fleshed out and its vast world is begging to be explored. Only in the second half is where Redfall shines and becomes extremely fun.

Gunplay

We suggest not playing the healer characters during single-player as they won’t offer much utility. Some of the abilities become extremely powerful with later unlocks like Jacob’s raven damaging anyone in its path. However, the AI needs some serious work and I often found myself ignoring gun perks and upgrades as a necessity to improve my experience.

None of it is truly fundamental to the experience and most hero’s abilities would help multiplayer sessions. However, story progression is not shared due to the nature of the game’s design but the loot and levels you gain are.

Flawed AI is one of the biggest issues we ran into. It’s bad. I mean really bad especially for the poor cultists who get the short straw. They funnel in the same path, get stuck on rocks, have clunky animations, and have no real cognition or ability to flank and outsmart you while at the same time having god-aim. It’s a bad combo especially when being sniped at from a distance.

I am not sure any patches can address this, but with Jacob at launch, AI is broken and basically stuck in easy mode. Even on higher difficulties and with later invisibility unlocks, I could cycle between walking directly into a large group of enemies, grabbing the quest item, and then going invisible again, and they would just go on their way. The same could be said about shooting from a specific area – the AI just funnels directly to you and poses no real challenge ala Deathloop.

Other characters have similar “cheese” but I would recommend increasing the difficulty of the game for a better challenge. The shooting experience is still fantastic – from sniper rifles to UV lasers that petrify the enemy vampires – it is a blast to play.

In some well-designed areas like the vampire nests, it reminded us of entering the Elder Scroll’s Oblivion Gates. These moments however are few and far between if you love to fully explore the world. Some missions are surprisingly good but getting there is such a slog that some may never progress to experience them. The moment-to-moment gameplay constantly clashes badly with each other. It is tiring especially when combined with performance issues.

Speaking of vampire nests, these are some of the best gameplay areas in Redfall. They pack strong vampires in large numbers that can overwhelm you quickly even with Jacob’s invisibility and it requires careful planning. Conversely, there is little punishment for dying as progress does not reset and there are typically no timers, so if you can go in gun blazing.

Vampire nests reached another level that let me see the vision for Redfall which makes it hurt to see it ignored for the rest of the gameplay. The tone, the atmosphere, and with your back against the wall fighting off vampire hoards is such an amazing concept!

In one mission, you go to investigate a boat and as soon as the quest item is picked up it triggers an angry mob that immediately surrounds your only exits with deadly red mist, a mini-boss, and a mob of bloodthirsty vampires. You can see this all unfold beneath you from the boat’s windows. Your only option is to bite back and fight your way out. The game is filled with these bursts of incredible and stunning moments with fantastic and engaging gunplay that is then mixed with poor performance, bad lip-syncing, and horrible AI.

I am really reminded of Destiny 1’s live service launch which was obviously a victim of a large form of rewrite and rebuild. Perhaps Redfall had a similar fate but we will never know. Arkane has promised gamers that this will be their most supported game yet and we really hope so. The core gameplay is incredible but it reminds us of Cyberpunk 2077’s promise of a better future when all we need now is the vampire killing fun we have been salivating for.

The loot, the loot, the loot, the loot, the loot

Let’s talk loot. Vampire bosses keep repeating “the blood, the blood, the blood, the blood” but all I care about is if they will give me fun weapons to kill them with. Loot and gameplay can keep a game alive for a long time especially if there are fun quests or some great special weapons or “exotics” to chase. A community can grow quickly when secrets are found or the best load-outs to defeat bosses are found.

Redfall’s weapons scale with your level and just pump out higher numbers of damage. Pistols, shotguns, automatic rifles, UV lasers, stake launchers, snipers, and flare guns round out a fun and worthwhile experience. Unfortunately, as the game fleshes out you see how exploration is broken by other reward types. So build-crafting with the right perks and skill point selections doesn’t make much of a difference now.

Pistols are often one-shot minions, flare guns burn and stun lock vampires, and stake launchers massively chunk any boss or special vampire. It’s all amazing fun and the combo load-outs you run can really allow for great gameplay loops. Although the cultists are really bad enemies, they serve little to no threat until much later when their level just means their incredible accuracy can health-chunk you within a second or two if you get careless. I died a lot early being overrun in confined space by the fast vampire attacks as they surrounded me. Some enemy abilities can also one-shot you. This would not be much of an issue in multiplayer but it felt bad in single-player mode.

That said, you don’t have to worry about dying in a mission because no progress is lost and you have so much junk loot currency that you will likely never spend. You do not lose any progress from dying, any damage or defeated enemies stay dead, and your mission status is retained. Most of the world’s junk loot like bleach, toilet paper, water bottles, etc. that you pick up gets converted into a currency for purchases back at the home base.

Things like med kits, better guns, and lock picks can be purchased with converted drop currency. However, most of the rewire/hack kits just lead to more junk loot or heals, which enemies drop, and are strewn literally everywhere. Most of the lock picks do the same.

There was no master sword moment or a huge loot drop that I was super excited for. This is because they aren’t necessary because vampire nests and a later world event granted me the best loot in the game. Most of your old loot is junked as you move on to the next mission anyway.

The combos are fun though as you need to either stake, petrify, or burn vampires. You can mix using a UV gun to petrify groups of vampires and then shotgun them one by one to dispatch a large group easily. If you take too long as Jacob, you can just go invisible with no real danger. I did this for the first big boss and didn’t even lose 50% health because a large power weapon pumps out such large chunks of damage the boss gets health gated and frozen before they can even react. I broke the game rather easily. Balancing needs to occur and much more AI work is needed. There was a huge patch today that hopefully addresses some of these woes.

PC Performance


I am beginning to call DLSS 3 a godsend but it should not be necessary just to enjoy a major release. The industry has lately given PC gamers the short end of the stick, but that is a topic for another day. We started our playthrough with our Ryzen 7800x3D build with an RTX 4070 Ti and 32 GB of DDR5-6000mhz RAM on our TeamGroup 2TB NVMe drive. Ours is far beyond a typical system, but from the onset we had massive crashes, stuttering, bugs, and large frame dips. Microstutters and texture problems also occurred.

The latest Nvidia driver helped and DLSS 3 almost doubled our performance. This still did not address some areas of town where we would dip into the low teens. Entering the menu could often cause the game to crash. Glitches like this ruined some major moments of our playthrough but with patches this may be resolved soon.

DLSS looks incredible and is a must-have feature. It nearly doubled performance on the RTX 4090 which was already performing great except for the 1% lows. The same could be said for our RTX 4080 and 4070 Ti. The newly released RTX 4070 also performs well but the game really needs some serious performance improvements.

There was a large 69.4GB patch today so we redid our benchmarks. Here are our numbers using maxed/Epic settings:

Testbed 1:

Intel 13900KF/RTX 4090 FE/2x16GB DDR5 6400/Win 11 – 3840 x 2160

TAA high/No DLSS – 124.3 av /  42.1 1% low

Quality DLSS 3 – 178.0 av / 72.7 1% low

DLSS 3 in particular allows for stunning gameplay and steady framerates with comparable image quality to native. Unfortunately, Redfall is sadly locked at 30FPS for the console launch with 60 FPS mode coming soon but now we can understand why: It just needs more time in development.

Testbed 2:
Post-Day 1 Patch with AMD Ryzen 7800x3D, 2x16GB DDR6 6000, TeamGroup 2TB NVMe, Win 11.
3840×2160, Epic Preset DLSS comparison:

Post-Day 1 PatchAvg. FPS DLSS 2/3 OFFAvg. FPS DLSS 2/3 ON
RTX 307059.689.4
RTX 308077.2105.7
RTX 407076.8110.6
RTX 4071 Ti90.1122.8
RTX 4080112.5137.3
Redfall by Mario Vasquez

Conclusion – try if you have Game Pass

We can not recommend Redfall at launch. I was very excited for Arcane Austin’s Redfall, despite the console war chatter, the state of Xbox, and red flags coming out from the game development cycle. I still loved my time with it, and in many moments I was having a good deal of fun, but most of the time the world proved to be empty or uninteresting.

I would not have continued as far as I progressed if I did not enjoy some of the big set pieces so much. I believe anyone with Game Pass should play it, even at 30fps on console. However, it’s a messy mix of RPG, looter shooter, and a multiplayer game that lacks a cohesive and consistent presentation. Couple this with terrible AI and a plethora of bugs and there are very high highs and very, very low lows. 

Redfall can technically be played solo, but we recommend the experience with friends as it is much better. It is also not going to be the major release to start the Xbox renaissance that we so desperately need. This review score is going to be low, but I am still rooting for it. There is something there at the core that is clawing at the surface to come out and be enjoyed. It is your choice if you want to power through the mud to get to the meat of it.

If you can withstand some glitches, read the story in text form with barebones character development, and have friends to play with then you will have a decent time. That said, the world is already so empty that traversing its many roads with no vehicles or large enemy population it can feel lonely walking large swaths of areas as a solo player. At times, I grew so frustrated with the experience I found myself begging for a story, begging for those cool moments, and I often felt unrewarded and angry.

Redfall releases later today on Xbox Series consoles, PC, Game Pass, and is Steam Deck verified.

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GeForce 528.24 Driver Performance Analysis https://babeltechreviews.com/geforce-528-24-driver-performance/ Sun, 29 Jan 2023 02:18:26 +0000 /?p=29643 This driver performance analysis showcases the performance of an ASUS TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC EDITION (Ada Lovelace architecture) and a Gigabyte AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER (Ampere architecture) with 17 PC games using the latest GeForce 528.24 Game Ready driver. We compare this GeForce driver versus our previously recommended driver 528.02 with both cards, and we perform all tests on the same game version & OS build.

Our AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER, rev. 1.0 (Ampere GPU micro-architecture).

Our testing platform is a recent install of Windows 11 64-bit Pro Edition, an i9-12900K with stock clocks, an ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4 motherboard, and 32GB of T-FORCE XTREEM ARGB WHITE DDR4 3600MHz. The games tested, settings and hardware are identical except for the GPUs and the drivers we compare.

Our ASUS TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC EDITION (Ada Lovelace GPU micro-architecture).

Benching Methodology

Test Configuration – Hardware

  • 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900K (Hyper-Threading/Turbo boost on; stock settings)
  • ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4 motherboard (Intel Z690 chipset, v.2212 BIOS)
  • T-FORCE XTREEM ARGB WHITE 32GB DDR4 (2×16GB, dual-channel at 3600 MHz CL14 XMP), supplied by TeamGroup
  • ASUS TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC EDITION 12GB, stock clocks
  • Gigabyte AORUS GeForce RTX 3080 MASTER 10GB (rev. 1.0); v.F4 VBIOS, stock clocks
  • 1 x Samsung 500GB SSD 960 EVO NVMe M.2
  • 2 x WD Blue 1TB SATA SSD
  • 1 x TeamGroup MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD
  • Corsair RM850x, 850W 80PLUS Gold power supply unit
  • ASUS TUF Gaming VG289Q 28″ IPS UltraHD (3840×2160) 60Hz 5ms FreeSync Monitor for testing games at 2160p resolution.
  • ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q 27″ IPS QuadHD (2560 x 1440) 165Hz 4ms G-Sync Monitor for testing games at 1440p resolution.

Test Configuration – Software

  • Nvidia GeForce 528.02 and 528.24 drivers; ‘Prefer maximum performance’ (on a per-game profile basis); Shader Cache Size ‘Unlimited’ (globally); fixed refresh rate (globally).
  • We enable Resizable BAR.
  • ‘V-Sync application controlled’ in the control panel; V-Sync off in-game.
  • We note and specify the display resolution and the main in-game display, graphics, AA, and scaling settings in the performance summary charts.
  • Windows 11 64-bit Pro edition, latest updates v22H2, High-performance power plan, HAGS & Game Mode are enabled, Game DVR & Game Bar features off, Control Flow Guard (CFG) off on a per-game basis, Hypervisor and Virtualization-based security are disabled.
  • We do not install GIGABYTE or ASUS tools.
  • Latest DirectX
  • All 17 games are patched to their latest versions at the time of publication.
  • 3DMark suite and UNIGINE Superposition benchmark, the latest version
  • Basemark GPU benchmark, v.1.2.3
  • UNIGINE Superposition, v.1.1
  • CapFrameX (CX); the latest version
  • RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS); the latest version
  • FrameView; the latest version
  • Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), the latest version; always uninstall drivers using DDU in safe mode, clean, and restart.
  • ISLC (Purge Standby List) before each benchmark.

GeForce Driver Suite-related

  • We use DCH Game Ready drivers.
  • The display driver is installed.
  • We install the latest version of PhysX.

Hybrid & Non-Synthetic Tests-related

  • Single run per test.

Game Benchmarks-related

  • We use the corresponding built-in or custom benchmark sequence.

Frametimes Capture & Analysis tool-related

  • We use CapFrameX for capturing frametimes and analyzing the relevant performance numbers obtained from each recorded built-in or custom benchmark sequence.
  • We use FrameView for capturing purposes only when DLSS 3 is enabled for maximum reliability.
  • We always perform consecutive runs until detecting three usable runs (no outliers) that can be aggregated by CapFrameX using the following method:
    • Aggregate excluding outliers:
      • Outlier metric: Third, P0.2 (0.2% FPS percentile).
      • Outlier percentage: 3% (the % the FPS of an entry can differ from the median of all entries before counting as an outlier).
  • We compare and evaluate the results and aggregated records in terms of percentages of gain/loss and set the following thresholds to consider a % value as significant (not within the margin of error) for our benchmarking purposes:
    • Score/FPS Avg > 3% when valuing hybrid and non-synthetic benchmarks;
    • FPS Avg > 3% when evaluating raw performance;
    • P1 > 3% when evaluating frame time consistency; after applying our custom formula

{[(LowPercentileFPS_2 / AvgFPS_2) / (LowPercentileFPS_1 / AvgFPS_1)] – 1} x 100

Benchmark Suite: 17 PC Games, 4 Hybrid & 3 Non-Synthetic Tests

PC Games

DX11 Games

  • Days Gone (DX11)
  • God of War (DX11)
  • Total War: Warhammer III (DX11)

DX12 Games

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem (DX12)
  • Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (DX12)
  • Call of Duty: Vanguard (DX12)
  • Cyberpunk 2077 v.1.61 (DX12)
  • F1 2021 (DX12)
  • Far Cry 6 (DX12)
  • Forza Horizon 5 (DX12)
  • Hitman 3 (DX12)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn (DX12)
  • Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition (DX12)
  • The Callisto Protocol (DX12)

Vulkan Games

  • DOOM Eternal (VK)
  • Quake 2 RTX (VK; v.1.6.0)
  • Wolfenstein: Youngblood (VK)

Hybrid Tests (3DMark)

  • DirectX Raytracing feature test
  • Fire Strike Ultra
  • Port Royal
  • Time Spy Extreme

Non-Synthetic Tests

  • Basemark GPU
  • GPUScore: Relic of Life
  • UNIGINE Superposition

Nvidia Control Panel settings

Here are the global Nvidia Control Panel settings:

Nvidia Control Panel Global 3D Settings (AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER & TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC).

The value ‘Prefer maximum performance’ for the power management mode setting is set on a per-game or program profile basis via Manage 3D Settings > Program settings tab.

GeForce 528.24 Game Ready WHQL Drivers

This latest GeForce Game Ready 528.24 driver was released on January 24 primarily for the release of Dead Space (Remake) and Forspoken, which feature Nvidia DLSS technology. It also brings optimized support for the new DLSS 3 games, including Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Hitman 3, and Deliver Us Mars.

Dead Space (Remake/2023) in-game screenshot (by BTR)

The download links for the latest GeForce 528.24 drivers can be found here. The release notes are here as a downloadable pdf file. Here are the release highlights from Nvidia’s website:

This new Game Ready Driver provides the best day-0 gaming experience for the latest new games supporting NVIDIA DLSS 3 technology including Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Hitman 3, and Deliver Us Mars. Additionally, this Game Ready Driver supports the launch of titles supporting NVIDIA DLSS technology including Dead Space and Forspoken.

Fixed Bugs

    • Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and Lightroom instability with 528.02 [3940086]
    • Adobe Photoshop 24.1 application instability with 528.02 when using GeForce Experience [3940488]
    • Adobe Premiere Pro: ProRes RAW files appear completely black when previewing [3924753]
    • Autodesk Alias: Expected transparent window appears opaque [3891620]
    • OctaneBench 2020 fails intermittently due to render engine failure [3880988]

The GeForce 528.24 Driver Performance – Summary Charts with 17 Games

Below are the summary charts of our selection of 17 games plus four hybrid and three non-synthetic benchmarks. We chart our games’ driver performance progression from version 528.02 to 528.24 using the AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER and the TUF RTX 4070 Ti OC.

You can see the list of graphics settings on the performance data tables, and we run each built-in or custom game benchmark’s sequence at 3840×2160 or 2560×1440, as specified on the charts.

Results give average framerates, and higher is better. We display the low FPS percentile (P1) below the corresponding averages in italics and a slightly smaller font. We use CapFrameX to record frametimes over time and to visualize and convert them into their corresponding average FPS and P1 FPS percentiles values.

There are also columns showing percentages of gain/loss in raw performance (average FPS) and, when applicable, in frame time consistency or stability between the different driver versions. We applied the following custom formula to calculate the stability gains or losses:

{[(LowPercentileFPS_2 / AvgFPS_2) / (LowPercentileFPS_1 / AvgFPS_1)] – 1} x 100

We mark significant performance changes (higher than 3%) in bold and use purple for the significant improvements or orange font for regressions.

GeForce 528.24 Driver Performance Charts

geforce 528.24 driver performance
Hybrid Benchmark Results
geforce 528.24 driver performance
Non-Synthetic Benchmark Results
geforce 528.24 driver performance
DirectX 11 Game Performance Results
geforce 528.24 driver performance
DirectX 12 Game Performance Results
geforce 528.24 driver performance
Vulkan Game Performance Results
geforce 528.24 driver performance
DirectX Raytracing Game Benchmark Results
geforce 528.24 driver performance
Vulkan Raytracing Game Performance Results

Notes on GeForce 528.24 Driver Performance

From the charts, we see no significant differences in graphics performance between drivers for the hybrid and non-synthetic tests using our RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 3080.

For the game benchmarks, although most games show no significant differences when we move to 528.24 drivers from the 528.02 driver version using both GPUs, we see a noteworthy improvement in Doom Eternal (Vulkan Ray Pipeline API) in terms of raw performance.

Also, based on our testing, we found that the significant performance differences in Hitman 3 (DX12 & DXR) and The Callisto Protocol (DX12 & DXR) are not driver-related but game-related due to their latest title updates.

Disclaimer
Please be aware that the following results, notes, and the corresponding driver recommendation are valid for similar Ada Lovelace and Ampere gaming rigs on Windows 11 v22H2. Although our GeForce driver recommendation can still be handy or suitable for Turing gamers, their representativeness, applicability, and usefulness on different NVIDIA GPU architectures, testing benches, and MS Windows versions may vary.

Conclusion

Based on our previous results and findings, we recommend Ada Lovelace and Ampere users update to 528.24 drivers. Overall, although its raw performance and smoothness or frametimes consistency are on par with our previously recommended driver 528.02 using both Nvidia GPU architectures, we see a significant gain in raw performance in Doom Eternal (Vulkan Ray Pipeline API) using both Nvidia GPU architectures.

From a qualitative point of view, there are also important reasons that make it advisable to upgrade to version 528.24. These reasons include its higher level of driver bug fixes, the optimizations for the latest games, and support for the latest Nvidia technologies.

Let’s Play!

***

Rodrigo González (aka RodroG) is the current BTR lead reviewer and an enthusiast gamer. He is especially interested in shooter games, open-world role-playing games, and software and hardware benchmarking. He is the author of the Nvidia WHQL Driver Performance Benchmarks Series and founder and moderator of the r/allbenchmarks community on Reddit.

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GeForce 528.02 Driver Performance Analysis https://babeltechreviews.com/geforce-528-02-driver-performance/ Mon, 09 Jan 2023 02:53:17 +0000 /?p=29579 Read more]]> GeForce 528.02 Driver Performance Analysis – 17 games benchmarked using an RTX 4070 Ti and 3080

This driver performance analysis showcases the performance of an ASUS TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC EDITION (Ada Lovelace architecture) and a Gigabyte AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER (Ampere architecture) with 17 PC games using the latest GeForce 528.02 Game Ready driver. This time, we can only compare this GeForce driver versus the previous Game Ready driver 527.56 with the RTX 3080 and set our RTX 4070 Ti performance baseline using the latest driver for future analyses. We perform all tests on the same game version & OS build.

Our ASUS TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC EDITION (Ada Lovelace GPU micro-architecture).

Our testing platform is a recent install of Windows 11 64-bit Pro Edition, an i9-12900K with stock clocks, an ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4 motherboard, and 32GB of T-FORCE XTREEM ARGB WHITE DDR4 3600MHz. The games tested, settings and hardware are identical except for the GPUs and the drivers we compare.

Our AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER, rev. 1.0 (Ampere GPU micro-architecture).

Benching Methodology

Test Configuration – Hardware

  • 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900K (Hyper-Threading/Turbo boost on; stock settings)
  • ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4 motherboard (Intel Z690 chipset, v.1008 BIOS)
  • T-FORCE XTREEM ARGB WHITE 32GB DDR4 (2×16GB, dual-channel at 3600 MHz CL14 XMP), supplied by TeamGroup
  • ASUS TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC EDITION 12GB, stock clocks
  • Gigabyte AORUS GeForce RTX 3080 MASTER 10GB (rev. 1.0); v.F4 VBIOS, stock clocks
  • 1 x Samsung 500GB SSD 960 EVO NVMe M.2
  • 2 x WD Blue 1TB SATA SSD
  • 1 x TeamGroup MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD
  • Corsair RM850x, 850W 80PLUS Gold power supply unit
  • ASUS TUF Gaming VG289Q 28? IPS UltraHD (3840×2160) 60Hz 5ms FreeSync Monitor for testing games at 2160p resolution.
  • ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q 27? IPS QuadHD (2560 x 1440) 165Hz 4ms G-Sync Monitor for testing games at 1440p resolution.

Test Configuration – Software

  • Nvidia GeForce 527.56 and 528.02 drivers; ‘Prefer maximum performance’ (on a per-game profile basis); Shader Cache Size ‘Unlimited’ (globally); fixed refresh rate (globally).
  • We enable Resizable BAR.
  • ‘V-Sync application controlled’ in the control panel; V-Sync off in-game.
  • We note and specify the display resolution and the main in-game display, graphics, AA, and scaling settings in the performance summary charts.
  • Windows 11 64-bit Pro edition, latest updates v22H2, High-performance power plan, HAGS & Game Mode are enabled, Game DVR & Game Bar features off, Control Flow Guard (CFG) off on a per-game basis, Hypervisor and Virtualization-based security are disabled.
  • We do not install GIGABYTE or ASUS tools.
  • Latest DirectX
  • All 17 games are patched to their latest versions at the time of publication.
  • 3DMark suite and UNIGINE Superposition benchmark, the latest version
  • Basemark GPU benchmark, v.1.2.3
  • UNIGINE Superposition, v.1.1
  • CapFrameX (CX); the latest version
  • RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS); the latest version
  • FrameView; the latest version
  • Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), the latest version; always uninstall drivers using DDU in safe mode, clean, and restart.
  • ISLC (Purge Standby List) before each benchmark.

GeForce Driver Suite-related

  • We use DCH Game Ready drivers.
  • The display driver is installed.
  • We install the latest version of PhysX.

Hybrid & Non-Synthetic Tests-related

  • Single run per test.

Game Benchmarks-related

  • We use the corresponding built-in or custom benchmark sequence.

Frametimes Capture & Analysis tool-related

  • We use CapFrameX for capturing frametimes and analyzing the relevant performance numbers obtained from each recorded built-in or custom benchmark sequence.
  • We use FrameView for capturing purposes only when DLSS 3 is enabled for maximum reliability.
  • We always perform consecutive runs until detecting three usable runs (no outliers) that can be aggregated by CapFrameX using the following method:
    • Aggregate excluding outliers:
      • Outlier metric: Third, P0.2 (0.2% FPS percentile).
      • Outlier percentage: 3% (the % the FPS of an entry can differ from the median of all entries before counting as an outlier).
  • We compare and evaluate the results and aggregated records in terms of percentages of gain/loss and set the following thresholds to consider a % value as significant (not within the margin of error) for our benchmarking purposes:
      • Score/FPS Avg > 3% when valuing hybrid and non-synthetic benchmarks;
      • FPS Avg > 3% when evaluating raw performance;
      • P1 > 3% when evaluating frame time consistency; after applying our custom formula

{[(LowPercentileFPS_2 / AvgFPS_2) / (LowPercentileFPS_1 / AvgFPS_1)] – 1} x 100

Benchmark Suite: 17 PC Games, 4 Hybrid & 3 Non-Synthetic Tests

PC Games

DX11 Games

  • Days Gone (DX11)
  • God of War (DX11)
  • Total War: Warhammer III (DX11)

DX12 Games

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem (DX12)
  • Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (DX12)
  • Call of Duty: Vanguard (DX12)
  • Cyberpunk 2077 v.1.61 (DX12)
  • F1 2021 (DX12)
  • Far Cry 6 (DX12)
  • Forza Horizon 5 (DX12)
  • Hitman 3 (DX12)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn (DX12)
  • Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition (DX12)
  • The Callisto Protocol (DX12)

Vulkan Games

  • DOOM Eternal (VK)
  • Quake 2 RTX (VK; v.1.6.0)
  • Wolfenstein: Youngblood (VK)

Hybrid Tests (3DMark)

  • DirectX Raytracing feature test
  • Fire Strike Ultra
  • Port Royal
  • Time Spy Extreme

Non-Synthetic Tests

  • Basemark GPU
  • GPUScore: Relic of Life
  • UNIGINE Superposition

Nvidia Control Panel settings

Here are the global Nvidia Control Panel settings:

Nvidia Control Panel Global 3D Settings (AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER & TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC).

The value ‘Prefer maximum performance’ for the power management mode setting is set on a per-game or program profile basis via Manage 3D Settings > Program settings tab.

GeForce 528.02 Game Ready WHQL Drivers

This latest GeForce Game Ready 528.02 driver was released on January 5 primarily for the launch of RTX 4070 Ti GPUs. It also brings optimized support for Nvidia DLSS 3 technology in Conqueror’s Blade and Dakar Desert Rally.

The download links for the latest GeForce 528.02 drivers can be found here. The release notes are here as a downloadable pdf file. Here are the release highlights from Nvidia’s website:

This new Game Ready Driver provides the best day-0 gaming experience for the latest new games supporting NVIDIA DLSS 3 technology, including Conqueror’s Blade and Dakar Desert Rally.

Gaming Technology
      • Introduces support for the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

Source: Nvidia

The GeForce 528.02 Driver Performance – Summary Charts with 17 Games

Below are the summary charts of our selection of 17 games plus four hybrid and three non-synthetic benchmarks. We chart our games’ driver performance progression from version 527.56 to 528.02 using the AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER and our gaming driver performance baseline for the RTX 4070 Ti GPU.

You can see the list of graphics settings on the performance data tables, and we run each built-in or custom game benchmark’s sequence at 3840×2160 or 2560×1440, as specified on the charts.

Results give average framerates, and higher is better. We display the low FPS percentile (P1) below the corresponding averages in italics and a slightly smaller font. We use CapFrameX to record frametimes over time and to visualize and convert them into their corresponding average FPS and P1 FPS percentiles values.

There are also columns showing percentages of gain/loss in raw performance (average FPS) and, when applicable, in frame time consistency or stability between the different driver versions. We applied the following custom formula to calculate the stability gains or losses:

{[(LowPercentileFPS_2 / AvgFPS_2) / (LowPercentileFPS_1 / AvgFPS_1)] – 1} x 100

We mark significant performance changes (higher than 3%) in bold and use purple for the significant improvements or orange font for regressions.

GeForce 528.02 Driver Performance Charts

geforce 528.02 driver performance
Hybrid Benchmark Results

geforce 528.02 driver performance
Non-Synthetic Benchmark Results

geforce 528.2 driver performance
DirectX 11 Game Performance Results

geforce 528.02 driver performance
DirectX 12 Game Performance Results

geforce 528.02 driver performance
Vulkan Game Performance Results

DirectX Raytracing Game Benchmark Results

geforce 528.02 driver performance
Vulkan Raytracing Game Performance Results

Notes on GeForce 528.02 Driver Performance

From the charts, we see no significant differences in graphics performance between drivers for the hybrid and non-synthetic tests using our RTX 3080.

For the game benchmarks, although most games show no significant differences when we move to 528.02 drivers from the 527.56 driver version using our RTX 3080 GPU, we see a notable improvement (approximately a +8%) in The Callisto Protocol (DX12, no ray tracing) in terms of frame time consistency.

Our testing also shows that the 528.02 driver delivers approximately the same performance as the pre-RTX 4070 Ti launch 527.62 press drivers, including the significant frametime stability gain in The Callisto Protocol (DX12, no ray tracing). So, we also consider it would probably be a recommended GeForce Game-Ready driver version for Ada Lovelace users.

Disclaimer
Please be aware that the following results, notes, and the corresponding driver recommendation are valid for similar Ada Lovelace and Ampere gaming rigs on Windows 11 v22H2. Although our GeForce driver recommendation can still be handy or suitable for Turing gamers, their representativeness, applicability, and usefulness on different NVIDIA GPU architectures, testing benches, and MS Windows versions may vary.

Conclusion

Based on our previous results and findings, we recommend Ada Lovelace and Ampere users update to 528.02 drivers. Overall, although its raw performance and smoothness or frametimes consistency are on par with both the previous driver 527.56 using our RTX 3080 and press driver 527.62 with the RTX 4070 Ti, we see a substantial performance gain in frame time stability in The Callisto Protocol (DX12, no ray tracing) using both NVIDIA GPU architectures.

From a qualitative point of view, there are also important reasons that make it advisable to upgrade to version 528.02. These reasons include its higher level of driver bug fixes, optimized support for the latest Nvidia technologies, and support for the RTX 4070 Ti GPU.

Let’s Play!

***

Rodrigo González (aka RodroG) is the current BTR lead reviewer and an enthusiast gamer. He is especially interested in shooter games, open-world role-playing games, and software and hardware benchmarking. He is the author of the Nvidia WHQL Driver Performance Benchmarks Series and founder and moderator of the r/allbenchmarks community on Reddit.

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RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC Edition Review https://babeltechreviews.com/rtx-4070-ti-tuf-gaming-oc-edition-review/ https://babeltechreviews.com/rtx-4070-ti-tuf-gaming-oc-edition-review/#comments Wed, 04 Jan 2023 22:53:15 +0000 /?p=29368 Read more]]> The $849.99 TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition Gaming Performance

We recently received an ASUS TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition 12GB from Nvidia and we have been testing it for the past ten days by using 19 PC games plus hybrid and non-synthetic benchmarks. This time, there will be no production nor distribution of Founder Edition models for its RTX 4070 Ti GPU (AD104) by Nvidia, and AIBs will be the only ones assembling and distributing custom models of this Ada Lovelace GPU. Although these GPUs arrive with multiple new features, including DLSS 3, this review will focus mainly on testing raw performance, not upscaling.

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc edition

Our Plan

Nvidia touted the RTX 4070 Ti as a card delivering an outstanding efficient performance that can be up to 3x faster than the RTX 3090 Ti in specific games which offers a tremendous upgrade for GTX 1080 Ti or RTX 2080 users. Although for this review, we have not been able to use those same Pascal, Turing, and Ampere GPUs, we have been able to compare our RTX 4070 Ti versus an RTX 3080 (Ampere micro-architecture, 2nd RTX generation) and RTX 2080 Ti (Turing micro-architecture, 1st RTX generation).

We think comparing the RTX 4070 Ti’s performance against two iconic cards from Nvidia’s previous two RTX generations of GPUs may be worth it for Turing or Ampere users considering an upgrade to Ada Lovelace.

The RTX 4070 Ti features 7680 CUDA Cores, 40 Shader TFLOPS, 93 RT-TFLOPS, 641 Tensor FLOPS, and 12GB of GDDR6X memory, so we will see how it performs and compare with raster games and ray-tracing/DLSS games. We will focus on RTX 4070 Ti raw performance as well as consider whether the new RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC Edition at $850 delivers a good value as an upgrade from the RTX 3080 that launched at $700 MSRP two years ago and from the RTX 2080 Ti which launched at $1000 MSRP four years ago.

Features & Specifications

Key Features from ASUS

  • Dedicated 3rd generation ray tracing cores (60)
  • Dedicated 4th generation Tensor cores (240)
  • NVIDIA DLSS 3 support
  • Game Ready and Nvidia Studio drivers
  • Nvidia GeForce Experience
  • Nvidia Broadcast
  • Nvidia G-Sync
  • Nvidia GPU Boost
  • PCI Express Gen 4
  • Microsoft DirectX 12 Ultimate support
  • Support for Vulkan RT APIs, Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6
  • HDCP 2.3 support
  • DisplayPort 1.4a support: up to 4K at 240Hz or 8K at 60Hz with DSC, HDR
  • HDMI 2.1a support: up to 4K 240Hz or 8K 60Hz with DSC, Gaming VRR, HDR

Specifications

Nvidia’s MSRP price for RTX 4070 Ti GPUs is $799, and ASUS’s price for the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC Edition is $849.99. This is approximately $50 over Nvidia’s MSRP price for a quality well-cooled tri-fan custom model with a factory GPU overclock of 120 MHz over the Nvidia reference 2610MHz boost clock.

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc edition
Graphics Card Information provided by GPU-Z (Performance VBIOS mode).

According to GPU-Z, the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC has the same default GPU clock of 2310MHz and boost GPU clock of 2730MHz – 120MHz higher than the reference – using both VBIOS modes, so the only difference between VBIOS modes is the fan curve.

We will show GPU-Z data and test the card using the Performance VBIOS mode only, as the factory overclock doesn’t change between VBIOS modes, and the card is silent under full-load when in Performance Mode, so it is not worth having higher GPU temperatures with slightly worse performance.

Below is the advanced general information on the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC reported by the GPU-Z tool.

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc
Advanced General Information, provided by GPU-Z (Performance VBIOS mode).

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc
NVIDIA BIOS Information, provided by GPU-Z (Performance VBIOS Mode)

As you can see from the GPU-Z screenshots above, you can even increase both power and temperature limits to some degree, so there is still some room for GPU overclocking, but not very high or extreme, at least without taking other risky modding procedures.

The Test Bed

We benchmark with CapFrameX and FrameView tools on a recent install of Windows 11 Pro Edition 22H2, at 2560×1440 and 3840×2160, using an Intel Core i9-12900K with stock clocks and 32GB of T-FORCE XTREEM ARGB WHITE DDR4 3600MHz memory on an ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4 motherboard. All games and benchmarks are the latest versions, and we use the latest GeForce Game-Ready 527.62 press drivers for games and hybrid and non-synthetic tests. The games tested, display driver, settings, and hardware are identical except for the GPUs we compare.

Let’s see the unboxing and take a closer look at this graphics card.

A Closer Look at the ASUS TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition 12GB

Packaging

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc edition

The box cover highlights the graphics card image, adding the TUF GAMING logo, the GeForce RTX GPU name, and references to AURA SYNC, OC Edition, 12GB of GDDR6X memory, and DLSS3, ray tracing, Reflex, and Studio.

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming ocThe back of the case touts the strengths of this model in terms of cooling, durability, aesthetics, and ASUS software. It also includes a list of key features like its dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores, PCI-E Gen 4, Display Port 1.4a, HDMI 2.1a, and HDCP 2.3, and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, DLSS 3, and G-Sync.

However, on the back of the box, there is no mention of the minimum system requirements. Only a QR code that leads to a table of recommended PSUs is added. The minimum system requirements are only shown on one lateral side of the cover and only mention the need for a 1*16-pin supplementary power connector.

Accessories

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc

We open the box and note there are parts for a card stand. The card stand is height adjustable, and its thinner upper part can also be separated and become a small screwdriver for card disassembling purposes. Also, the card stand has a rubber band at one end, and the support base has a magnet to fix the card stand inside the chassis.

ASUS includes a PCIe Gen5 power cable adapter to two PCI-E 8-pin cables to connect the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC to most PSUs. While the power connector adapter requires two Molex wires from the PSU to operate, newer PSUs may offer the new PCIe Gen5 single cable connector instead of massive double cabling. They also include a Velcro cable management strap with TUF GAMING branding.

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc

Above, you can see the card stand fully assembled. Some may not feel the need to use the card stand, given how relatively heavy the 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC is. However, for safety and given the little volume it occupies inside the case, we think it is a worthwhile addition.

Also, you will find a small detachable black cardboard box, which includes the quick start guide, the warranty card, the certificate of reliability, the graphics card holder manual, an ASUS promotional detachable cardboard holder for your mobile phone, and a collectible card advertising this model.

The Card

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc

The RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC is a large tri-fan and three-slot graphics card with sober aesthetics and solid and quality design.

Turning it over, we see a sturdy metal backplate featuring the TUF and GeForce RTX logos and branding.

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc

Heat pipes and heatsink fins cover the entire PCB, and there is a switch to choose between the Performance and Quiet VBIOS modes. We didn’t bother using the Quiet VBIOS mode as the card is silent anyway, and the factory overclock is the same, but it is good to have in case a flash procedure fails.

The IO panel connectors are 3 DisplayPorts and 2 HDMI connections.

Below is the other card end.

Plugged in & Inside the case

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc

The RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC looks beautiful inside a case. We liked that only the TUF logo has RGB lighting to match our RGB-lite gaming rig.

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc

The specifications look promising, and the card, itself, looks solid and quality.

Next is our testing configuration, methodology, and more.

Test Configuration

Benching Methodology

Test Configuration – Hardware

  • 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900K (Hyper-Threading/Turbo boost on; stock settings)
  • ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4 motherboard (Intel Z690 chipset, v.1008 BIOS)
  • T-FORCE XTREEM ARGB WHITE 32GB DDR4 (2×16GB, dual-channel at 3600 MHz CL14 XMP), supplied by TeamGroup
  • ASUS TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition 12GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
  • Gigabyte AORUS GeForce RTX 3080 MASTER 10GB (rev. 1.0); v.F4 VBIOS, stock clocks
  • EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti BLACK EDITION GAMING 11GB, stock clocks
  • 1 x Samsung 500GB SSD 960 EVO NVMe M.2
  • 2 x WD Blue 1TB SATA SSD
  • 1 x TeamGroup MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD
  • Corsair RM850x, 850W 80PLUS Gold power supply unit
  • ASUS TUF Gaming VG289Q 28? IPS UltraHD (3840×2160) 60Hz 5ms FreeSync Monitor for testing games at 2160p resolution.
  • ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q 27? IPS QuadHD (2560 x 1440) 165Hz 4ms G-Sync Monitor for testing games at 1440p resolution.

Test Configuration – Software

  • NVIDIA GeForce 527.62 press drivers; ‘Prefer maximum performance’ (on a per-game profile basis); Shader Cache Size ‘Unlimited’ (globally); fixed refresh rate (globally).
  • We enable Resizable BAR (disabled with RTX 2080 Ti due to the lack of full support).
  • ‘V-Sync application controlled’ in the control panel; V-Sync off in-game.
  • We note and specify the main in-game display, graphics, AA, and scaling settings in the performance summary charts.
  • Windows 11 64-bit Pro edition, latest updates v22H2, High-performance power plan, HAGS & Game Mode are enabled, Game DVR & Game Bar features off, Control Flow Guard (CFG) off on a per-game basis, Hypervisor and Virtualization-based security are disabled.
  • We do not install GIGABYTE or ASUS tools.
  • Latest DirectX
  • All 19 games are patched to their latest versions at the time of publication.
  • 3DMark suite and UNIGINE Superposition benchmark, the latest version
  • Basemark GPU benchmark, v.1.2.3
  • UNIGINE Superposition, v.1.1
  • CapFrameX (CX), the latest version
  • RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS), the latest version
  • FrameView, the latest version
  • Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), the latest version; always uninstall drivers using DDU in safe mode, clean, and restart.
  • ISLC (Purge Standby List) before each benchmark.

GeForce Driver Suite-related

  • We use DCH Game Ready drivers.
  • The display driver is installed.
  • We install the latest version of PhysX.

Hybrid & Non-Synthetic Tests-related

  • Single run per test.

Game Benchmarks-related

  • We use the corresponding built-in or custom benchmark sequence.

Frametimes Capture & Analysis tool-related

  • We use CapFrameX for capturing frametimes and analyzing the relevant performance numbers obtained from each recorded built-in or custom benchmark sequence.
  • We use FrameView for capturing purposes only when DLSS 3 is enabled for maximum reliability.
  • We always perform consecutive runs until detecting three usable runs (no outliers) that can be aggregated by CapFrameX using the following method:
    • Aggregate excluding outliers:
      • Outlier metric: Third, P0.2 (0.2% FPS percentile).
      • Outlier percentage: 3% (the % the FPS of an entry can differ from the median of all entries before counting as an outlier).
  • We compare and evaluate the results and aggregated records in terms of percentages of gain/loss and set the following thresholds to consider a % value as significant (not within the margin of error) for our benchmarking purposes:
    • Score/Avg FPS > 3% when valuing hybrid and non-synthetic benchmarks;
    • Avg FPS > 3% when evaluating raw performance.

Benchmark Suite: 19 Games, 6 Hybrid & 3 Non-Synthetic Tests

PC Games

DX11 Games

  • Days Gone (DX11)
  • God of War (DX11)
  • Total War: Warhammer III (DX11)

DX12 Games

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem (DX12)
  • Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (DX12)
  • Call of Duty: Vanguard (DX12)
  • Cyberpunk 2077 v.1.61 (DX12)
  • F1 2021 (DX12)
  • Far Cry 6 (DX12)
  • Forza Horizon 5 (DX12)
  • Hitman 3 (DX12)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn (DX12)
  • Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition (DX12)
  • Spider-Man: Remastered (DX12)
  • The Callisto Protocol (DX12)
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt v.4.00 (DX12)

Vulkan Games

  • DOOM Eternal (VK)
  • Quake 2 RTX (VK; v.1.6.0)
  • Wolfenstein: Youngblood (VK)

Synthetic Tests

  • AIDA64 GPGPU benchmarks
  • Blender 3.4.0 benchmark
  • Geekbench 5
  • Sandra 2021 GPGPU Benchmarks

Hybrid Tests (3DMark)

  • DirectX Raytracing feature test
  • Fire Strike Extreme
  • Fire Strike Ultra
  • Port Royal
  • Time Spy
  • Time Spy Extreme

Non-Synthetic Tests

  • Basemark GPU
  • GPUScore: Relic of Life
  • UNIGINE Superposition

NVIDIA Control Panel settings

Here are the global NVIDIA Control Panel settings:

NVIDIA Control Panel Global 3D Settings (RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC & AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER).

NVIDIA Control Panel Global 3D Settings (EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Black).

Noise, Temperatures, and Power Consumption

Unfortunately, we did not have time to check out the overclocking potential, but temperatures were slightly higher than the AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER. So BTR plans to follow this review up with a VR review – conducted by Mark Poppin, BTR’s PC VR specialist – and an overclocking and creative and pro apps performance analysis – done by the author of the current article.

The RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC is quiet, and its fans never spin up, even under a heavy or full load, to be irritating or noticeable. It is as silent as the AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER. This model also supports a 0RPM fan mode on idle or light load conditions.

This card is factory clocked 120MHz higher than the reference version at 2610MHz using both BIOS modes. According to its specifications, the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC boost can clock up to 2730MHz out of the box. From our testing, we generally see it boosting even higher and typically settling in 2820MHz with peaks above 2850MHz under full or heavy load conditions.

Below is our thermal and approximate power consumption analysis on idle (Windows desktop, no user interactions) and full-load (UNIGINE Superposition Stress Test, 2160p resolution, highest settings, 10 minutes).

Idle conditions

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc
Idle temperatures & power consumption metrics, provided by GPU-Z (Performance VBIOS mode)

On idle conditions, we see a maximum GPU clock of 210MHz, a Memory Clock of 50.6MHz max, a GPU temperature of 23 Celsius degrees (room temp at 19 Celsius degrees) max, an average board power draw of approximately 9.0W, average power consumption of 3%, and a maximum GPU voltage of 0.88V.

Full-load conditions

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc
Full-load temperatures & power consumption metrics, provided by GPU-Z (Performance VBIOS mode)

Under full-load conditions, the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC peaked at a maximum clock of 2880MHz, but after some minutes running the Superposition stress test, it slowed down progressively, step by step, and stabilized at 2820MHz when GPU temp stays in the mid-60s C. Also, the maximum memory clock was 1312.7MHz, the GPU peaked at 65.50 Celsius degrees max (room temp at 21 Celsius degrees), the approximate board power draw was 272.8W max, a maximum power consumption peak of 95.7%, and the GPU voltage reached a maximum of 1.10V.

Finally, the reported PerfCap reason (performance limited by different factors) during our full-load GPU stress test was either the intended VBIOS power or reliability limits.

So taking into account all the above, we consider that our ASUS TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition sample works great and as intended in terms of frequencies, noise level, temperature, and power consumption. Overall the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC is quiet, well-cooled, and power efficient.

Let’s head to the performance charts to compare the graphics performance of the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC with two other graphics cards; an RTX 3080, based on the Ampere architecture, and an RTX 2080 Ti, based on the Turing architecture.

Gaming Performance Charts

DirectX 11 Game Performance Charts

Days Gone (DX11)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

God of War (DX11)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Total War: Warhammer III (DX11)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better


DirectX 12 Game Performance Charts

A Plague Tale: Requiem (DX12)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

*TAAU Ultra Quality (No DLSS)

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

TAAU Ultra Quality (No DLSS)

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (DX12)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Call of Duty: Vanguard (DX12)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12) v.1.61

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

*Ray tracing Off & No DLSS

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

*Ray tracing Off & No DLSS

F1 22 (DX12)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

*Ray tracing Off & No DLSS

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

*Ray tracing Off & No DLSS

Far Cry 6 (DX12)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Forza Horizon 5 (DX12)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

*Ray tracing High (Forza Vista only) & No DLSS

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

*Ray tracing High (Forza Vista only) & No DLSS

Hitman 3 (DX12)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

*Ray tracing Off & No DLSS

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

*Ray tracing Off & No DLSS

Horizon Zero Dawn (DX12)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

The Callisto Protocol (DX12)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better


Vulkan Game Performance Charts

Doom Eternal (Vulkan)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Wolfenstein: Youngblood (Vulkan)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better


DirectX Raytracing Game Performance Charts

Cyberpunk 2077 (DXR)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

F1 22 (DXR)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Far Cry 6 (DXR)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Forza Horizon 5 (DXR)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Hitman 3 (DXR)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition (DXR)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

The Callisto Protocol (DXR)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better


Vulkan Raytracing Game Performance Charts

Doom Eternal (Vulkan Ray Pipeline)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Quake II RTX v.1.6.0 (Vulkan Ray Query)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Wolfenstein: Youngblood (RTX)

2160p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

1440p – Avg FPS & P1 FPS – Higher is better

Main Performance Gaming Summary Charts

Here are the summary charts of 19 games, six hybrid, and three non-synthetic tests. We note and specify the main in-game display, graphics, AA, and scaling settings on the performance summary charts below. The benches were run at 2560×1440 and at 3840×2160.

We compare three graphics cards and list them listed in order starting with the TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC (yellow text), the AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER, and the EVGA RTX 2080 Ti BLACK. All results, except for 3D Mark Fire Strike, Time Spy, and Port Royal hybrid tests, show average framerates, and higher is better. Minimum framerates are next to the averages in italics and a slightly smaller font. Minimum framerates are expressed by the 1% percentile FPS (P1), and higher is better.

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc
DirectX 11 Game Performance Results

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc
DirectX 12 Game Performance Results

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc
Vulkan Game Performance Results

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc
DirectX Raytracing (DXR) Game Performance Results

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc
Vulkan Raytracing Game Performance Results

Here are the hybrid and non-synthetic benchmark results.

rtx 4070 Ti tuf oc gaming

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc
Non-Synthetic Benchmark Results

DLSS Benchmarks

In this section, we compare the performance in some games with Quality DLSS on and off, and also compare performance with Quality DLSS 2 with our RTX 3080 and 2080 Ti cards versus Quality DLSS 3 (DLSS 2 + Frame Generation) using our RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC to check if the massive performance improvements advertised by Nvidia are real.

No DLSS vs. Quality DLSS 2

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc

Looking at the chart above, we see substantial performance improvements in all tested games using Quality DLSS 2 with our three cards compared to not using DLSS.

At 2160p and using Quality DLSS, the 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC is the only card of our three we compare to exceed the 30FPS barrier in Cyberpunk 2077 (DXR), to reach the 60FPS one in Hitman 3 (DXR), and to exceed 60FPS avg in Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition (DXR).

No DLSS vs. Quality DLSS 2 & 3

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc
TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC – Quality DLSS 2 & 3 Performance Results

Nvidia talks about 2x and up to 2.4x performance improvements when using DLSS 3 in games supported by the RTX 4070 Ti. In our case, we saw that their promo ads are consistent with reality.

We see an impressive +159% (2.6X) performance improvement between having DLSS 3 on and off in The Witcher 3 (DXR) v4.0, another +107% (2.1X) in F1 22 (DXR), +72% (1.7X) in Spider-Man: Remastered (DXR), and +91% (1.9X) in A Plague Tale: Requiem.

The previous results using DLSS 3 show us the notable advantage and performance leap in the most demanding and current ray-traced games, which comes from having an Ada Lovelace graphics card, especially in the case of the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC.

Considering the image quality results from a 2160p native resolution, we saw that overall, Quality DLSS 3 looks just as good as Quality DLSS 2 in all games we tested, with only some minor artifacts visible in certain situations. From a 1440p native resolution, we see similar results, except The Witcher 3 v.4.0, as the game with DLSS 3 enabled showed a blurrier image than Quality DLSS 2 in this scenario.

Averaged Framerates & Relative GPU Performance

Averaged Game Framerates

We averaged the aggregated FPS avg of all games and testing scenarios, and we represented the total game average FPS for each tested graphics card by the following chart:

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc

On average, the TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti is approximately 17% faster than the AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER and 66% faster than the EVGA RTX 2080 BLACK. So, although the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC offers a substantial performance improvement in games over the EVGA RTX 2080 Ti BLACK baseline performance, the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC delivers a far less impressive step up over the AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER.

RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC Relative Performance

Considering the calculated total game average FPS and the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC as 100% performance, we can situate relatively the two other cards we compare. So, based on our total game average FPS of each card, the relative GPU performance of the AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER is approximately 86% (14% less performance than the RTX 4070 Ti, on average), and the relative GPU performance of the EVGA RTX 2080 Ti BLACK is 60% (40% less performance than the RTX 4070 Ti, on average).

rtx 4070 ti tuf gaming oc

Let’s see our final thoughts and verdict on the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC.

Final Thoughts & Verdict

This has been an enjoyable exploration comparing the new ASUS TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition with the AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER and EVGA RTX 2080 Ti BLACK. The TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti is a quality card with a sober aesthetic, minimal RGB lighting, an excellent cooling system, and room for moderate additional overclocking.

The RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC performed solidly above the RTX 3080 and well above the RTX 2080 Ti. While the TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC is not a notable upgrade for existing RTX 3080 users, it certainly is for RTX 2080 Ti users and any Turing users considering upgrading their gaming rig. However, at $849.99 and for users coming from an RTX 3080, the TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC is still a reasonably priced option to consider as a decent GPU refresh, especially if you want to enjoy significant performance improvements in DX12 and ray-traced games and the massive performance gains that DLSS 3 brings to gamers.

The TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition especially shines at 1440p resolution delivering high to very-high framerates in every recent game and 3D API scenario we tested, and also has the power to play most games over 60FPS at 2160p, where until now, a 3080 fell short of delivering a smooth 60 FPS experience in the most demanding games.

All in all, the ASUS TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition is a decent refresh in terms of performance for RTX 3080 owners who want to upgrade to the latest architecture to maximize its graphics power for a reasonable price or even a big step up at a good price for Turing users who also like to enjoy the ray tracing and Nvidia DLSS enhancements of the new Ada-Lovelace micro-architecture.

Let’s Play!

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Rodrigo González (aka RodroG) is the current BTR lead reviewer and an enthusiast gamer. He is especially interested in shooter games, open-world role-playing games, and software and hardware benchmarking. He is the author of the NVIDIA WHQL Driver Performance Benchmarks Series and founder and moderator of the r/allbenchmarks community on Reddit.

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