We recently received an RTX 4070 Founders Edition from Nvidia and we have been testing it for the past week by using 11 PC games plus hybrid benchmarks. The Founders Edition will be available at $599 starting tomorrow. Nvidia is touting this GPU as a great upgrade to the seven-year-old 10 series cards – and while it is true that its value proposition is undeniable – you will have to decide if it is worth the price of admission.

Thankfully, Nvidia has kept pricing sane as the RTX 4070 arrives with multiple new features, including DLSS 3, which brings an incredible performance uplift. For this reason alone, this new entry in the 40 series is extremely exciting. The higher-priced RTX 3080 is hard to find new in stock so we will compare them to find the best value.

The RTX 4070 further cements its new value role as it supports impressive new features including Displaced Micro-Meshes and Nvidia DLSS 3 technology, all while using less power than the RTX 3070 Ti. Additionally, for broadcasters, the RTX 4070 supports AV1 encoding which in and of itself is a good enough reason to upgrade from older generations of cards. 

The RTX 4070 Feature set

Right out of the gate, many will be concerned about being bound by the RTX 4070’s 12GB VRAM capacity as modern games skyrocket in their usage. While it may not age the best in 5-6 years, its VRAM is more than enough for current needs. Compared with buying a used RTX 3080, the RTX 4070 is a new card with a warranty, and it includes the latest leaps in DLSS/AI technology.

Comparing generation-to-generation there is a giant leap thanks to TGP/power improvements. There is also no price category competition from AMD, and FSR 2.0 is well behind DLSS 3 in performance. Again, the value proposition in comparison to the rest of the rather expensive 40 series is obvious, but the RTX 4070 may not offer the raw GPU power upgrade that those with RTX 3080s are looking for at this price range.

Today, there are over 400 games and applications that have RTX support which includes over 50 announced titles with DLSS 3. According to Nvidia, DLSS 3 has the fastest adoption of any of their technologies to date, with DLSS 3 being adopted 7x faster than DLSS 2. DLSS 3 is featured in some of the hottest current and upcoming titles including Forza Horizon 5, Diablo IV, Redfall, and The Finals. This value alone may be enough to move the needle for potential buyers.

GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition Board

The GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition graphics card incorporates many of the new design elements that are also found on NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4080, and RTX 4090 Founders Edition boards. The RTX 4070 Founders Edition board is crafted with premium materials and components including a die-cast aluminum body and dual axial fans. It looks fantastic in our PC and especially for ITX enthusiasts, this may be a go-to card with its perfect compact size.

The RTX 4070’s new design also provides about a 20% increase improvement in airflow compared to the RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition.

Our Plan

Nvidia is in an interesting spot with the RTX 4070 delivering outstandingly efficient performance. For this review, we are planning to benchmark the RTX 4080, RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4070, RTX 3070, and RTX 3080 within an average build that most gamers today would be able to complete on a reasonable budget.

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

The GeForce RTX 4070 is based on the AD104 GPU and equipped with 5,888 CUDA Cores providing 29 FP32 Shader-TFLOPS of power for rendering traditional rasterized graphics. It also boasts 184 Fourth Generation Tensor Cores offering 466 Tensor-TFLOPS (with Sparsity) for AI processing and DLSS, 46 Third Generation Ada RT Cores capable of 67 RT-TFLOPS for powering next-generation ray-traced graphics, and 12GB of GDDR6X memory.

We want to test if it really can hold up with 12GB of VRAM to deliver a potential amazing value proposition compared to the RTX 3080 launched at $699 two years ago and the RTX 2080 Ti which launched at $99 MSRP four years ago. We want to especially compare the $599 RTX 4070 with the $849 ASUS Tuff Gaming 4070 Ti OC to determine its place in the current lineup.

Features & Specifications

The RTX 4070 technological innovations include:

• New Streaming Multiprocessors (SM) – The new SM delivers up to 2x performance and power efficiency
• 4th Generation Tensor Cores and Optical Flow – Enable and accelerate transformative AI
  technologies, including the new frame rate multiplying Nvidia DLSS 3
• 3rd Generation RT Cores – Up to 2x ray tracing performance, delivering incredibly detailed
  virtual worlds like never before
• Shader Execution Reordering (SER) – SER improves ray tracing operations by 2x, boosting FPS up to 44% in Cyberpunk with RT: Overdrive Mode
• DLSS 3 – A revolutionary breakthrough in AI-powered graphics that massively boosts
  performance using AI to generate additional high-quality frames
• Nvidia Studio – Unmatched performance in 3D rendering, video editing, and live streaming
• AV1 Encoders – The 8th generation Nvidia Encoder (NVENC) with AV1 is 40% more efficient than H.264, enabling new possibilities for streamers, broadcasters, and video callers

Key Features from ASUS

• Dedicated 3rd generation ray tracing cores (46)
• Dedicated 4th generation Tensor cores (184)
• 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 1.4 support: up to 4K at 240Hz or 8K at 60Hz with DSC, HDR
• HDMI 2.1 support: up to 4K 240Hz, 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. So it’s exciting to get back down to Nvidia’s MSRP for the RTX 4070 FE at just $599.

Here is the RTX 4070 in GPU-Z:

According to GPU-Z, the RTX 4070 has the default GPU clock of 1920Mhz compared to the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC’s 2310MHz, about an 18.4% difference, and a boost GPU clock of 2475Mhz compared to the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC’s 2730MHz which is around a 10% difference. So for $350 less, you will have a very competitive performance with the latest 40 series feature set.

Below is the advanced general information on the RTX 4070 FE as reported by the GPU-Z tool.

As you can see from the GPU-Z screenshots, you can even increase both power and temperature limits to some degree, and while there is little room for overclocking, there is some additional potential performance for gamers looking to get more from their builds. RTX 4070 partner boards should be interesting to see based on their cooling methods and pricing.

Our Benchmarking PC

We benchmark using FrameView on a recent install of Windows 11 Pro Edition 22H2, at 3440×1440 using an Intel Core i7-12700K with stock clocks and 32GB of DDR4 Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 3600MHz memory on an ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4 motherboard. All games and benchmarks are the latest versions, and we use the latest GeForce 531.42 press drivers for our testing. The games tested, display driver, settings, and hardware are identical except for the GPUs we compare.

Fair warning – We lost our RTX 4080 during benchmarking due to a faulty power cable and PSU when swapping out video cards, so this is why the card is missing from some tests. We are in the process of getting them replaced.

Let’s unbox and take a closer look at this graphics card.

A Closer Look at the RTX 4070 Founder’s Edition

Packaging

The box cover highlights a sleek approach to the packaging. I am a huge fan of the presentation Nvidia has been providing for its FE line. It offers a very premium unboxing experience. The graphics card image for the recent RTX cards is iconic and that shape is also shown on the box.

Accessories

As we open the box, it folds out beautifully displaying the brand new RTX 4070 FE. Beneath the card are the new standard 16 PIN (12VHPWR) PCIe connector and an installation guide with a QR code to visit Nvidia’s website for more guides and information if needed.

The Card

The RTX 4070 FE is a small dual-fan graphics card with classic RTX aesthetics that are still refined and look great. The logo sadly does not light up on the RTX 4070 FE so that is one downside of its lower price range.

For comparison here are some photos of our 4070 Ti:

The IO panel connectors are 3 DisplayPorts and 1 HDMI connection.

Inside the case

The RTX 4070 FE looks subtle and classic inside a case. I would personally love to build an SFF PC using this card. It is the perfect size offering a powerful small gaming rig at a reasonable price compared to the sky-high prices we have seen these last few years. We like that it is small and discrete but some may not like the unlit logo

Next is our testing configuration, methodology, and more.

Test Configuration

Benching Methodology

Test Configuration – Hardware

• 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700K (Hyper-Threading/Turbo boost on; stock settings)
• ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4 motherboard (Intel Z690 chipset, v.1008 BIOS)
• CORSAIR Vengeance RGB PRO 32GB DDR4 (2×16GB, dual-channel at 3600 MHz XMP)
• RTX 4070 FE 12GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• ASUS TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition 12GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• RTX 3080 FE 10GB, stock clocks
• RTX 3070 FE, stock clocks
• 1 x TeamGroup 1 TB NVMe M.2 SSD
• 2 x WD Blue 1TB SATA SSD
• Corsair RM850x, 850W 80PLUS Gold power supply unit
• ALIENWARE 34″ CURVED QD-OLED GAMING MONITOR – AW3423DWF

Test Configuration – Software

• NVIDIA GeForce 531.42 game-ready press 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 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 ASUS tools.
• Latest DirectX
• All games are patched to their latest versions at the time of publication.
• 3DMark suite, 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

• We use FrameView for capturing frame times and analyzing the relevant performance numbers obtained from each recorded built-in or custom benchmark sequence.

Benchmark Suite:

PC Games

DX11 Games

• Total War: Warhammer III (DX11)

DX12 Games

• Chernoblyte (DX12)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (DX12)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12)
• F1 2022 (DX12)
• Far Cry 6 (DX12)
• Resident Evil 4 (DX12)
• Red Dead Redemption 2(DX12)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (DX12)
• Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition (DX12)
• Dirt 5 (DX 12)

Vulkan Games

• DOOM Eternal (VK)

Hybrid Tests (3DMark)

• DLSS Feature Test
• Fire Strike Extreme
• Fire Strike Ultra
• Time Spy
• Time Spy Extreme

Nvidia Control Panel settings

Here are the global Nvidia Control Panel settings:

Noise, Temperatures, and Power Consumption

Unfortunately, we did not have time to check out the overclocking potential, but temperatures were controlled and the RTX 4070 runs very cool.

The RTX 4070 FE is quiet, and its fans never spin up at idle, even under a heavy or full load to be irritating or noticeable. When gaming it spins up to full often under very heavy loads – like Metro Exodus with all features turned on. It is as silent as the RTX 4070 Ti we tested previously.

Below is our thermal and approximate power consumption analysis on idle (Windows desktop, no user interactions.

Idle conditions

We ran into issues testing under load (our PSU died during near the end of our testing) but throughout our testing overall, the GPU was very efficient and in-line with our expectations. There is no heater meme to be found here.

Nvidia Performance Graphs and information

The biggest selling point for the RTX 4070 FE at $599 has to be DLSS 3. This is a gigantic leap – while some purists may not like frame generation – the performance increase and quality retention is simply stunning. On our QD-OLED display, we could barely see any image quality differences but performance increased dramatically. BTR plans on doing a full DLSS 3 gaming suite test in the near future.

In our testing, the RTX 4070 FE with DLSS 3 is almost 3 times faster than the RTX 2070 Super and it nearly doubles the performance of the RTX 3070 Ti while using less power.

Let’s head to the performance charts to compare the graphics performance of the RTX 4070 FE.

Gaming Performance Charts

Main Performance Gaming Summary Charts

Here are BTR’s 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 3440×1440.

FireStrike Graphics Score:
3070: 16807
4070: 21121
Timespy Graphics Score:
3070: 6611
4070: 17881
4070Ti: 22467
Averaged Framerates & Relative GPU Performance

Averaged Game Framerates

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

On average, the RTX 4070 is faster than the RTX 3080 at 3340×1440. However, owners of this card can likely hold off on an upgrade unless they want lower power consumption, DLSS 3, and better ray tracing performance at a reasonable price. DLSS 3 is a game-changer for the games that have it. For games that do not and that are on DLSS 2 the RTX 3080 loses narrowly or wins in some older games in rare cases.

The 4070 Ti is a clear improvement but at a significantly higher buy-in price. In comparison to the rest of the 40 series lineup, the RTX 4070’s performance is unmatched for budget/value gamers.

Final Thoughts & Verdict

This has been an enjoyable exploration evaluating the new RTX 4070 FE. Overall, it is the best 40 series value for your money if the current adoption rate of DLSS and DLSS 3 continues. The performance gain is stunning. Without this technology, we can compare the RTX 4070 to the RTX 3080 from the previous generation with very distinct differences. Nvidia has improved performance with supplemental tech like DLSS 3, the architecture, cooling, and most of all, the pricing.

The RTX 4070 is compact and amazingly efficient compared to the RTX 30 series and its 40 series brothers. The idle fan stop is huge for us, and support for AV1 encoding is stellar for a lot of streamers at this price.

The RTX 4070 performed above the RTX 3080 in most cases and well above the RTX RTX 3070. The gap widened significantly with frame generation/DLSS 3 – So much so that this is a no-brainer. However, this is not a “wow” with the raster performance jump over the previous generation. Instead, the RTX 4070 is more efficient, more compact, and has much better features especially if you are still on a 10-series card. This is a worthy point in time with a card that is finally available at a reasonable price as a poster child for the generational leaps Nvidia is making with its technology and DLSS 3.

There is no early adopter woe here as there are many AAA titles to enjoy – right now – with DLSS 3 enabled, unlike with ray tracing at its launch. However, If DLSS 3 means little to you, we would hesitate to recommend upgrading from an RTX 3080 to an RTX 4070. However, the RTX 3070 user base will see enough significant performance gains to be able to make this a worthwhile consideration.

For a couple hundred dollars more you could buy an RTX 4070 Ti or a current AMD offering – but there is no card currently in this class and price that comes close to competing. The value of your dollar here will make any gamer happy. Especially at 1080p and 1440p, this card is a beast ready to serve your needs.

We do implore you to look at our upcoming DLSS 3 comparison of the current generation. This technology is finally allowing Nvidia to realize the dream that has been ray tracing. We can now maintain great performance while having the full suite of RTX features on an mid-level card. Safe to say, we give the RTX 4070 Founders Edition our Editor’s Choice award.

–Happy gaming! Per Audacia Ad Astra. Rest in Peace to Lance Reddick – our Commander Zavala.

BTR received a Pro 2 review kit from HTC/VIVE nearly four weeks ago and we have been working to achieve the highest performance with the best visuals using a RTX 3080 Ti. The Pro 2 is a high resolution VR headset with a per eye resolution of 2448×2448 that will cause even the fastest video cards to struggle at SteamVR’s default 150% Render Resolution.

BTR has been reviewing and benchmarking VR games and hardware since 2016 when we started out with a Rift CV1 (1080×1200) and then upgraded to a Vive Pro (1440×1600) two years later, and then a Valve Index (1440×1600) especially for its wider field of vision (FoV) and higher refresh rate options 144Hz/120Hz vs. 90Hz. Recently we reviewed a Reverb G2 on loan from Hewlett Packard (HP) and also a Reverb G1 (both at 2160×2160).

The original Pro and the Index, both at 1440×1600 per eye resolution, although they are a noticeable upgrade over the Rift CV1’s 1080×1200 per eye resolution, the “screendoor” effect (the unlighted space between pixels) is still visible. However, the Reverb G2 has almost eliminated it by using improved lenses and and an LCD display at 2160×2160 resolution per eye to earn its reputation as the best headset for VR sims even if its tracking is not perfect. Now Vive uses an even higher “5K” resolution LCD for the Pro 2 with 2448×2448 per eye native resolution and with a new bespoke dual stacked Fresnel lens design .

The Reverb G2 at $599 and the Vive Pro 2 at $799 are competitors and they are both aimed at professional or prosumer consumers rather than strictly at VR gamers like the Index, Cosmos, or the Quest 2 are. Although the G2 is a complete $599 VR kit, the Pro 2 headset by itself costs $799 and it still requires two base stations ($199 each) and two controllers ($199 each) making the full Pro 2 kit considerably more expensive. The Pro 2’s gaming advantages lie primarily with its outstanding base station tracking although the G2 can also be set up in a mixed VR configuration also by using Vive Trackers and dongles with base stations and SteamVR controllers.

Since 2016, BTR has continued to focus on VR, and not only do we review select VR games, we benchmark and chart their frametimes and unconstrained framerates (the performance headroom) with multiple video cards from AMD and NVIDIA using FCAT VR. Because the Pro 2 is the newest high resolution headset, we picked the RTX 3080 Ti to test the performance of 6 representative VR games “best playable” settings. The new Ti about 10% faster than a RTX 3080 or less than 5% slower than a RTX 3090 and its performance should be in the same class as a RX 6800 or RX 6900 XT.

Let’s take a closer look at the Pro 2 which launched earlier this month and its evolution from the Pro which launched in 2018. The improvements between the original Pro and the Pro 2 lie primarily in 3 areas: (1) improved lenses, (2) wider field of view (FoV), and (3) a higher resolution LCD.

• New bespoke dual stacked lens
• Wider FoV
• New high resolution “5K” LCD panel (higher refresh rate to 120Hz, brighter, lower persistence, reduced mura, better contrast and colors)

Because they are so similar, we were able to simply switch out the original Pro and install the new Pro 2 in its place taking care only to replace the link box and update the software. Everything else except for minor cosmetic differences/colors are the same.

Unfortunately, the Pro 2 sports the same only fair headphones/audio solution and the same poor microphone, but the same basic well-constructed/well-balanced headset with the same weight, ergonomics, and layout that was introduced in 2018. We had hoped that they might have made made more improvements but HTC/Vive is concentrating on VR for industry with their completely redesigned and lighter Focus 3 so they only made the barest of necessary upgrades to an already solid headset.

We find that the screen door effect (SDE) is completely gone using the Pro 2 and its overall clarity is even better than the G2. Although god rays and even excessive brightness are still issues for many, and some OLED purists are offended by an LED display, the Pro 2’s increased clarity is impressive, and the widened FoV for those whose face fits the headset or who take the time to modify it is the difference between wearing small googles and wearing a scuba mask.

By using the Pro 2 and comparing its visuals to the older headsets, VR becomes more immersive, the colors are better, the clarity and detailing are much more impressive, and even small text can be easily read. We even feel it edges out the G2 in 3 areas: FoV, larger sweet spot, and slightly higher overall clarity. But the Pro 2’s biggest positives are for its ability to be used wirelessly and that it is a native SteamVR headset although Vive chose to pair it with their own Vive Console. Another plus is its ability to handle 120Hz/120FPS for action games. It’s big negative is its high price – $799 for just the headset (+$400 for the base stations/controllers) compared with $599 for the G2 which is a complete kit and has already been discounted substantially by some etailers.

After spending nearly a month with the Pro 2, we sent the review sample back to Vive and purchased our own headset from Newegg to use as our go-to set for VR and also for future benchmarking to compare performance with the Reverb G2 and with the Valve Index. Overall – despite its faults – it is the highest resolution headset available and it works well for VR benchmarking and gaming. However, it is a challenge to find the right game settings and the appropriate SteamVR Render Resolution to deliver an enjoyable VR experience without exceeding even the fastest video card’s capabilities.

Before we check performance, let’s get started by unboxing the Pro 2 on the following page.

Unboxing

The Vive Pro 2 review sample kit arrived in the same style box as our 2018 review sample of the original Vive Pro. Everything between the two kits are identical except for the headsets and the cable link boxes. Here is the full unboxing of the Vive Pro kit that is the same for the Pro 2.

We tested and benchmarked the Pro 2 review sample for 3 weeks and then returned it to Vive as we had received our own Pro 2 headset that we purchased from Newegg for $729 from their preorder promotion. Following is the unboxing of the retail headset. If you already have an original Vive or Pro setup, you are ready for the Pro 2 – just swap the headsets and the link boxes – and follow the software prompts.

We like Viveport for the ability to preview and play many VR games and we will take advantage of their free two month subscription included with our purchase of the Pro 2 headset.

In the box you will find the Pro 2 headset, the link box, and the necessary DisplayPort and USB 3.0 cables..

The contents of the box are below.

Below we see the Pro 2 (left) go face-to-face with the the original Pro. Only the colors have changed.

Top down view below. The ear cushions are cosmetically different but it has the same decent positional audio but it is not as good as the Index audio.

The new design does a much better job of accommodating glasses wearers. Easy adjustments for tightening the headset remain permanent until changed which makes it easy to remove or to put on the headset.

Aside from the well-worn out faceplate of the original Pro, it’s difficult to tell the headsets apart – except by looking at the lenses..

The VIVE Pro 2 uses a new bespoke dual stacked lens design paired with a “5K” LED panel. Actually, it’s “2.5K” to each eye (4896×2448 total; 2448×2448 per eye) which is a huge amount of pixels for any video card to handle. By comparison, the original Pro currently boasts 1440×1600 pixels per eye. Once the sweet spot is found, one can see that the FoV has been widened to what Vive calls 120 degrees – probably not, but slightly wider than the Index and definitely wider than the original Pro. Although we lik the deeper blacks of OLED panels, the Pro 2’s LCD is a superior panel and its blacks are deeper than the Index and good enough for Elite Dangerous.

The base station external tracking of the Pro 2 remains outstanding and it is the single factor that makes it an overall better choice over the Reverb G2. Although the G2’s positional head tracking is responsive, some rotational latency may be noticed at times, and positional controller tracking jitter is more noticeable for shooters that is not visible with the Pro 2.

Setup

The setup for the Vive Pro requires installing two base stations on opposite sides of the room with the VR gamer in the middle. Usually they are mounted high up on a wall for tracking which is much more complex and time-consuming than setting up the self-contained tracking of the Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) G2. Refer to BTR’s original review of the Pro for setup procedures. The main difference is that the Pro only needed SteamVR whereas the Pro 2 requires the new Vive Console to run alongside it.

There are currently five settings in the Vive Console to cover most capable video cards from a GTX 1070 to a RTX 3090. However, to take full advantage of the Pro 2’s high native resolution with a fast video card, only Ultra and Extreme should be considered. Unfortunately, setting Extreme for demanding VR games which requires exactly 120 FPS delivered at a strict cadence – never falling below 120 FPS – will require faster video cards than are currently available. If exactly 120 FPS cannot be delivered, then the framerate is automatically halved to 60 FPS which is not ideal and somewhat defeats the purpose of using the Extreme setting in the first place.

A reason for considering Extreme 120Hz is for visually undemanding action games or for games where the player may be satisfied with a 60 FPS delivery which is still a better option than 45 FPS (from using Ultra/90 FPS where the framerate is also halved). We tested and benchmarked the Pro 2 on Ultra and Extreme settings since we want to take advantage of the full 2448×2448 per eye native resolution of the panel and also look for some general rules for setting the SteamVR Render Resolution for the best VR experience.

Motion Smoothing & Delivering framerates at an Exact Cadence

Benchmarking VR is quite complex due to the fact that VR needs to sustain a fixed framerate target locked to 90 FPS (or 120Hz; but we will use 90Hz in our following examples). If a PC can not meet that 90 FPS target, the frame rate is halved to 45 FPS to make sure that there is no judder or it may cause a VR type of motion sickness.

A game cannot exceed 90 FPS otherwise the player will see tearing in the HMD and may also feel sick. A VR game’s delivered framerates simply cannot vary from a locked framerate or the player may get VR sick. It is essential to a great VR experience that framerates are locked to either 45 FPS or to 90 FPS.

A TV uses Motion Smoothing to create a new frame between two existing frames to smooth out and increase the framerate. Unfortunately this adds latency so it must be adapted differently for VR. Motion Smoothing is used when a VR application can’t deliver exactly 90 FPS. By examining the last two delivered frames, Motion Smoothing predicts the future motion and animation to extrapolate a new in-between frame. Synthesizing new frames keeps the current application at the full 90Hz framerate, advances motion forward properly, and avoids judder.

One may think of VR benchmarking in terms of how often the framerate meets or does not meet the 90 FPS standard for a premium VR experience. The more often performance drops below 90 FPS, the worse the VR experience becomes. SteamVR’s Motion Smoothing (or Vive’s Motion Compensation) helps to reduce potential motion sickness by dropping to 45 FPS, but it is a degraded visual experience.

Since VR is personal to each individual’s tolerances, it’s difficult to determine what is or what is not “acceptable”. When the framerates are downgraded to 45 FPS there are some artifacting and ghosting especially of objects in motion because of Motion Smoothing that may often be perceived as a blur with some temporal displacement.

Motion Smoothing does motion prediction by inserting a synthetic frame, every other frame with a cadence that looks something like this:

Frame 0: Frame created by the GPU

Frame 1: Frame synthesized by Motion Smoothing

Frame 2: Frame created by the GPU

Frame 3: Frame synthesized by Motion Smoothing

Frame 4: Frame created by the GPU … and so on.

Even though there is a downgraded visual experience with 45 FPS Motion Smoothing compared with 90 FPS, it is generally better to have Motion Smoothing than not to have it. If the framerates cannot be locked at 90 FPS and do not drop to a locked on 45 FPS, then frames will be dropped and the resulting judder may result in unease and/or VR sickness. Motion Smoothing will lock you into 45 FPS if your frame rate is anywhere between 45 and 90 FPS. The lower frame rate is in exchange for a smoother frame delivery. Motion Smoothing scaling may also synthesize two or even three frames for every frame delivered.

Why the Vive Console’s Motion Compensation is not the same as SteamVR’s Motion Smoothing

SteamVR’s Motion Smoothing comes with a cost of reduced image quality due to synthesized and extrapolated frames which are also sometimes called “reprojection” and it unfortunately is even more pronounced with Vive’s Motion Compensation. We have witnessed it cause some very strange and jarring artifacting with shimmering or bubbling and distortion on object edges that can be very distracting.

Although the Vive Console’s Motion Compensation is supposedly the same as SteamVR’s Motion Smoothing according to Vive, because the new lens and display require its own algorithms, it is visibly inferior to Steam’s solution and we hope it is a work-in-progress. Its distortion varies from game to game, being particularly bad in Elite Dangerous on higher settings and in racings sims, to barely noticeable in other VR games.

Because of its current flaws, we benchmark with Motion Compensation off and aim for a continuously delivered 90 FPS requiring a higher standard for our RTX 3080 Ti than if we left the Vive Console at default. We also recommend that a VR gamer test each game to see if Motion Compensation works properly without annoying artifacting; and if not, play with it off and lower settings or drop the SteamVR Render Resolution to ensure that 90 FPS are being constantly delivered.

A VR gamer can view delivered framerates using the SteamVR console under the “Developer” tab and check the setting to allow you to see framerates/Hz in the HMD overlay. You need to aim for all-green with maybe a few orange bars here and there for an ideal custom VR experience.

Variability with setting SteamVR’s Render Resolution why it may be lowered from its default 150%

There is variability built into SteamVR so that a custom render resolution is set each time it is started and it may vary depending on the PC’s processes that are running when it runs its test. Generally, for high end video cards (RTX 3080 through RTX 3090) it is set at 3900×3900 per eye which is SteamVR’s default 150% Render Resolution Render resolution which automatically scales to whatever it thinks is best for your system while the Vive Console handles display resolution.

Unfortunately, even a RTX 3090 cannot handle the demands of 3900×3900 per eye resolution at a minimum and steady delivery of 90 FPS for most modern visually demanding VR games so we have to find another way to improve performance without impacting visuals too badly – nor do we want to use Vive’s current implementation of Motion Compensation. This will require lowering the SteamVR Render Resolution on a per app basis.

Some may question why it appears necessary that 150% Render Resolution (3900×3900) is used in the first place when the Pro 2’s native panel resolution is only a per eye 2448×2448. This is because of lens barrel distortion and the way VR images are warped and then adjusted in software.

All VR headset lenses distort the image presented on a virtual reality screen which has to be warped by software to counteract the optical effects of the lenses. Instead of being square, the images appear curved and distorted until viewed through appropriate lenses.

VR platforms typically use a two-step process that first renders a normal image (above left) and afterward uses a post-processing pass that warps the image to the HMD’s view (right). The original Pro’s and the Index’ display resolution is 1440×1600 but the SteamVR Render Resolution is 2016×2240. The G2’s display resolution is 2160×2160 but the SteamVR Render Resolution increases to 3168×3096 whereas the Pro 2’s display resolution is 2448×2448 and the SteamVR Render Resolution is 3090×3090.

VR does not use simple upscaling like Supersampling a flat display. In VR, if you render at 150% of a panel’s native resolution, you still need to assign actual color/light values to the pixels, and assigning values from that 150% render resolution to 100% pixels isn’t straightforward. SteamVR uses complex algorithms for image scaling which may not be for only “clarity”; rather they’re methods of fitting an image rendered at one resolution to the display of a different resolution. Motion Smoothing/reprojection/frame synthesis may complicate it further as headsets apparently have to do some color correction when using it.

SteamVR has apparently decided that approximately 150% is optimum for fast video cards since the first HMD generation and it appears that they haven’t updated their formula to account for the high-resolution panels of the G2/Pro 2.

Increasing the render resolution to 150% is efficient especially for the pixels in the center of the viewing area because they are close to the ideal 1:1 native resolution after applying a 1.3x to 1.4x lens barrel distortion compensation. It’s done because the barrel distortion compensation countering the distortion caused by the lenses enlarges what is viewed in the center of the viewing area. Not all pixels in a VR HMD have the same value to the viewer because of distortion that is somewhat analogous to the human eye – the center of our vision is for detail while the periphery is better at noticing quick motion.

SteamVR’s frame buffer is about 150% of a panel’s native resolution but that extra resolution is wasted on the viewing periphery where the lens distortion compresses objects. In this case, it is rather wasteful like using pancake full screen Supersampling for anti-aliasing. Here is where NVIDIA’s Lens Matched Shading would be really helpful if the devs would implement it.

The problem is that the Pro 2’s native per eye resolution at 2448×2448 using SteamVR’s default 150% render resolution is scaled to approximately 3900×3900 per eye and no current GPU can run that resolution at a constant 90 FPS for demanding modern VR games. It is far more demanding than pancake gaming’s Ultra/4K 120 FPS goal.

It appears to us that Vive set a slightly lower base/100% value for the Pro 2 (1.3X compensation for barrel distortion, not 1.4X) but SteamVR’s default 150% render resolution still scales it too high. Actually viewing through the Pro 2’s lenses starting at 100%, at 120% Render Resolution the overall visuals seem to improve to nearly as good as at 150%. Although there are small visual differences that can be seen primarily when switching back and forth, 150% over 120% or even over 100% isn’t generally too noticeable while VR gaming.

It is interesting that Vive makes a compromise when setting Extreme/120Hz which is a much more demanding setting requiring that framerates be delivered above 120Hz in a steady cadence. For Extreme, SteamVR only scales to around 3344×3344 at 150% Render Resolution which evidently uses a lower compensation factor for lens distortion.

Either way, 150% is not practically better than 100% or native resolution for the playing experience compared with bogging down the video card by too high of a Render Resolution. In fact, the image quality of the Pro 2 set to the original Pro’s SteamVR Render Resolution of 2016×2240 is much better on the new HMD and the SDE is eliminated. On the other hand, one cannot increase the Render Resolution or Supersample the original Pro’s image to eliminate the SDE or to match the Pro 2 visuals.

Perhaps Pro 2 gamers may set their SteamVR base global resolution to the panel’s native 2448×2448 resolution and then increase the render resolution on a per app basis as far as it can so long as a constant framerate above 90 FPS (or at least above 45 FPS) is steadily delivered. And forget about Extreme (120%) unless you are simply aiming for a steady 60 FPS.

Next up we give our experiences and a comparison of the Pro 2 with the Reverb G2, Index, and Pro followed by the test configuration before we head to benchmarking. There we will focus on how to maintain the best playable settings for a steadily delivered framerate without the need for synthetic or dropped frames which are especially distressing for simmers.

The Pro 2 VR Experience & Test Configuration

Over the past 4 weeks, we have formed impressions of the similarities and differences between the Pro 2 versus the G2 and also versus the Index and the Pro. The Pro 2’s new LCD panel offer higher contrast and brightness than the original Pro while reducing pixel persistence while also offering better consistency in brightness and in color consistency from one pixel to the next. The Pro 2’s LCD panel improvements allow for better looking text and overall clarity than the older headset and it at least matches what the G2 provides.

The Pro 2 and G2 text are significantly clearer and easy to read over the Pro/Index mostly by virtue of their higher resolution. Higher resolution makes a real difference to overall clarity, and the screendoor effect (SDE) is gone. On the other hand, god rays emanating from high contrast elements are present in all high resolution HMDs that use Fresnel lenses. It is about the same as the Pro/Index. The Pro 2’s field of view appears to be slightly wider than the Index and noticeably wider than the G2 or the Pro.

Comparing simple shooter-type games created for VR, the higher resolution of the Pro 2 over the Index or Pro doesn’t make too much difference – especially since the older headsets can use Supersampling with less demands on the video card. However, games with a lot of detail or text; or even old games like Skyrim – especially when you are looking off into the distance – the Pro 2’s increased resolution makes a big improvement to realism and immersion. It is almost as if a fog lifts by playing with the Pro 2 over playing with the Pro/Index as everything becomes clearer and more detailed.

After much experimentation, we found the visual “sweet spot” for the Pro 2 is better for us than for the G2 or for the older headsets. The only advantage of the original Pro has is its deeper blacks by virtue of its OLED display. In practice, however, we didn’t have any issues playing games like Elite Dangerous and Star Wars: Squadrons where the deep black of space is required. Overall, the image quality of the Pro 2 is better than the Index, the Pro or the G2. However, the G2 wins as the most comfortable of the three headsets due to its comparative lightness although the Pro and the Pro 2 are the most balanced.

VR Gaming with the Vive Pro 2

The Vive Pro 2 is a much more demanding headset than the original Pro or the Valve Index by virtue of its higher resolution. Image resolution has been increased per eye from the Pro’s (or Valve Index’) 1440 x 1600 to 2448 x 2448. This higher resolution gives it exceptional clarity with no screen door effect, but it is also demanding on video cards. By default at the Ultra or Extreme preset, the Vive console uses 150% SteamVR Render Resolution for the Vive Pro 2 which appears to be set to 3900×3900 per eye for high end GeForce cards RTX 3080/3080 Ti/3090 at the time we benchmarked our games.

Some VR gamers prefer to lower the SteamVR Render Resolution which is set at 150% which is often used to compensate for a headset’s lens distortion instead of lowering a game’s preset or by dropping individual settings. At 50% SteamVR Render Resolution, there is a clear degradation of visuals which indicates that the SteamVR Render Resolution slider is working properly. However, at 150% Super Resolution, the frametimes go up and framerates are cut in half (which is bad introducing dropped frames and judder) but the variable way that Motion Compensation adds to visible artifacting precludes us from using it.

Ultimately we decided to test – depending on a games performance – at a SteamVR Render Resolution of 150%, 100%, and even at the panel’s native resolution to try and find the right mix of the best playable settings to remain above 90 FPS.

Please note that FCAT VR doesn’t distinguish dropped frames from synthesized (Motion Compensated/reprojected) frames using the Pro 2 (or the Reverb G2) like it properly does for the Valve Index and the Vive Pro. It is likely that FCAT VR is not fully optimized for the Pro 2 although its results appear to be accurate and in line with fpsVR and the SteamVR developer console overlay.

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i9-10900K (HyperThreading/Turbo boost On; All cores overclocked to 5.1GHz/5.0Ghz. Comet Lake DX11 CPU graphics)
• EVGA Z490 FTW motherboard (Intel Z490 chipset, v1.3 BIOS, PCIe 3.0/3.1/3.2 specification, CrossFire/SLI 8x+8x), supplied by EVGA
• T-FORCE DARK Z 32GB DDR4 (2x16GB, dual channel at 3600MHz), supplied by Team Group
• Vive Pro 2, on loan from HTC/Vive; the Wireless Adapter is not used for benchmarking
• RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition 12GB, stock clocks, on loan from NVIDIA
• 1TB Team Group MP33 NVMe2 PCIe SSD for C: drive
• 1.92TB San Disk enterprise class SATA III SSD (storage)
• 2TB Micron 1100 SATA III SSD (storage)
• 1TB Team Group GX2 SATA III SSD (storage)
• 500GB T-FORCE Vulcan SSD (storage), supplied by Team Group
• ANTEC HCG1000 Extreme, 1000W gold power supply unit
• BenQ EW3270U 32? 4K HDR 60Hz FreeSync monitor
• Samsung G7 Odyssey (LC27G75TQSNXZA) 27? 2560×1440/240Hz/1ms/G-SYNC/HDR600 monitor
• DEEPCOOL Castle 360EX AIO 360mm liquid CPU cooler
• Phanteks Eclipse P400 ATX mid-tower (plus 1 Noctua 140mm fan)

Test Configuration – Software

• GeForce 471.11 Game Ready drivers – High Quality, prefer maximum performance, single display, no optimizations, Vsync is off as set in the NVIDIA control panel
• Windows 10 64-bit Pro edition; latest updates
• Latest DirectX
• All 6 VR games are patched to their latest versions at time of publication
• FCAT-VR Capture (latest non-public Beta)
• FCAT-VR (non-public Beta 18)
• SteamVR – at variable render resolutions specified on the charts
• fpsVR

6 VR Game benchmark suite

SteamVR /Epic Platform Games

• Assetto Corsa Competizione
• Elite Dangerous
• No Man’s Sky
• Project CARS 2
• Skyrim
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

Please Note: It is important to remember that BTR’s charts use frametimes in ms where lower is better, but we also compare “unconstrained framerates” which shows what a video card could deliver (headroom) if it wasn’t locked to either 90 FPS/120 FPS or to 45 FPS/60 FPS by the HMD. In the case of unconstrained FPS which measures just one important performance metric, faster is better.

Next let’s look at the Pro 2’s performance using a RTX 3080 Ti to find the best playable settings for 6 games to maintain framerates above 90 FPS.

Performance Benchmarking “Best Playable Settings” and the Conclusion

All of our games were benchmarked at the panel’s native (or just above it), 100%, or 150% SteamVR resolution or (as noted) with the Vive Console set to Ultra/90Hz or Extreme/120Hz.

It is important to remember that BTR’s charts use frametimes in ms where lower is better, but we also compare “unconstrained framerates” which shows what a video card could deliver (headroom) if it wasn’t locked to either 90 FPS/120 FPS or to 45 FPS/60 FPS by the HMD. In the case of unconstrained FPS which measures just one important performance metric, faster is better.

Before we do our testing with the RTX 3080 Ti, we want to follow up our RTX 3070 Ti testing featuring Skyrim with Motion Compensation On vs. Off.

Motion Compensation does as expected although FCAT VR does not distinguish between dropped and synthesized frames. It increases the synthetic frames generated and inserted in-between frames instead of dropping them keeping the framerate high but at the expense of visual artifacts caused by temporal issues with prediction. It will help make some games more playable but probably should be avoided especially for sims.

Overall, we do not like nor recommend Vive’s Motion Compensation currently as it tends to introduce far more artifacts than SteamVR’s Motion Smoothing. VR gamers should test it for themselves to see which games are tolerable and which are not.

Next we are going to look for playable settings using our RTX 3080 Ti with our six test VR games.

First up, Assetto Corsa Competizione.

Assetto Corsa Competizione

BTR’s sim/racing editor, Sean Kaldahl created the replay benchmark run that we use for both the pancake game and the VR game. It is run at night with 20 cars, lots of geometry, and the lighting effects of the headlights, tail lights, and everything around the track looks spectacular.

iRacing may be more accurate or realistic, but Assetto Corsa Competizione has some appeal because it feels more real than many other racing sims. It delivers the sensation of handling a highly-tuned racing machine driven to its edge. Unfortunately, it is probably the most demanding of the racing sims and it may not yet be well-optimized for VR.

VR High

Here are the frametimes using the VR High preset which is custom set in SteamVR to just above the panel’s native per eye resolution of 2472×2472 at 90Hz/Ultra or at 2464×2464 at 120Hz/Extreme.

Here are the details are reported by FCAT-VR:

The RTX 3080 Ti at Ultra/90Hz (2472×2472) delivered 95.10 unconstrained FPS with 460 dropped frames (5%) which means it stayed above 90 FPS 95% of the time delivering a decent VR experience but at just above the panel’s native resolution. Individual settings may be dropped to maintain a steady above 90 FPS VR High experience if this lower resolution is acceptable.

At Extreme/120Hz (2464×2464) it delivered 95.46 unconstrained FPS together with 5968 dropped (48%) frames which means almost half of the frames will be dropped (or synthesized using Motion Compensation). 120Hz may be better suited for future video flagship cards.

VR Low

Here are the frametimes using the VR Low preset at Ultra/SteamVR default 150% Render Resolution and at Extreme/150% and 100% Steam Render Resolutions.

Here are the details are reported by FCAT-VR:

At 90Hz/150% SteamVR default Render Resolution (3924×3924), the RTX 3080 Ti delivered 90.43 unconstrained FPS with 2481 (27%) dropped frames

At 120Hz/150% Render Resolution (3376×3376), it delivered 105.10 unconstrained FPS together with 6363 dropped (50%) frames making it unsuitable for play unless Motion Compensation can be used to deliver a steady 60 FPS at this very high default SteamVR 150% Render Resolution.

At 120Hz/100% Render Resolution (2756×2756), our RTX 3080 Ti delivered 130.88 unconstrained FPS together with 739 dropped (6%) frames making it acceptable for the VR Low setting. It suggests that Ultra/90Hz would give the best VR experience for ACC and there would be enough performance headroom to raise individual settings from the Low preset and/or the Render Resolution above 100%.

Next, we check out Elite Dangerous.

Elite Dangerous

Elite Dangerous is a popular space sim built using the COBRA engine. It is hard to find a repeatable benchmark outside of the training missions.

A player will probably spend a lot of time piloting his space cruiser while completing a multitude of tasks as well as visiting space stations and orbiting a multitude of different planets (~400 billion). Elite Dangerous is also co-op and multiplayer with a very dedicated following of players.

VR High

We picked the High Preset and we set the Field of View to its maximum. Here are the Elite Dangerous 100% Render Resolution frametimes on VR High using both 120Hz and 90Hz settings.

Here are the details are reported by FCAT-VR:

Using SteamVR’s 100% Ultra/90Hz (3184×3184) Render Resolution, the RTX 3080 Ti delivered 95.00 unconstrained FPS with 21 dropped frames making it acceptable for optimum play.

Using SteamVR’s 100% Extreme/120Hz (2756×2756) Render Resolution, it delivered 111.17 unconstrained FPS together with 4191 dropped (49%) frames making it largely unsuitable for play except at 60 FPS with Motion Compensation (if it works properly).

The experience playing Elite Dangerous at High settings is acceptable using the Pro 2 at 100% SteamVR Render Resolution but we may want to consider the experience of playing on VR Medium with a higher Render Resolution also.

VR Medium

Here are the frametimes testing VR Medium on 90Hz and 120Hz comparing SteamVR’s 100% Render Resolution performance with 150%.

Here are the details are reported by FCAT-VR:

Using the VR Medium preset at 90Hz/100% Render Resolution (3184×3184), the RTX 3080 Ti delivered 149.07 unconstrained FPS with no dropped frames.

At 90Hz/150% Render Resolution (3900×3900; chart has typo), it delivered 98.92 unconstrained FPS with 4 dropped frames and 1 Warp miss.

At 120Hz/100% Render Resolution (2756×2756), the RTX 3080 Ti delivered 159.11 unconstrained FPS with 6 dropped frames and 1 Warp miss.

At 90Hz/150% Render Resolution (3376×3376), it delivered 130.40 unconstrained FPS with 259 (3%) dropped frames.

This above results indicate that we can play Elite Dangerous on the Medium preset at either Ultra or Extreme settings up to the default 150% SteamVR Render Resolution, or we can use the High preset at up to 100% SteamVR Render Resolution at Ultra/90Hz in the Vive Console without needing Motion Compensation.

Let’s continue with another demanding VR game, No Man’s Sky.

No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky is an action-adventure survival single and multiplayer game that emphasizes survival, exploration, fighting, and trading. It is set in a procedurally generated deterministic open universe, which includes over 18 quintillion unique planets using its own custom game engine.

The player takes the role of a Traveller in an uncharted universe by starting on a random planet with a damaged spacecraft equipped with only a jetpack-equipped exosuit and a versatile multi-tool that can also be used for defense. The player is encouraged to find resources to repair his spacecraft allowing for intra- and inter-planetary travel, and to interact with other players.

Here is the No Man’s Sky Frametime plot. We set the settings to Enhanced which is above Low but below High, and we also set the anisotropic filtering to 16X and upgraded to FXAA+TAA.

We also set the DLSS setting to Balanced which is below Quality but above Performance and Ultra Performance in an effort to maintain as much performance as possible without compromising image quality too much.

Here are the FCAT-VR details of our comparative runs at 90Hz/100% SteamVR Render Resolution and at 120Hz/100%.

Here are the details.

Using the Vive Console Ultra/90Hz preset at SteamVR’s 100% Render Resolution (3204×3204), the RTX 3080 Ti delivered 97.03 unconstrained FPS with 256 (3%) dropped frames and 1 Warp miss.

Using the Extreme/120Hz preset at SteamVR’s 100% Render Resolution (2756×2756), it delivered 114.49 unconstrained FPS with 3530 (38%) dropped frames.

We would suggest dropping a setting if necessary so the RTX 3080 Ti can deliver a constant 90 FPS at Ultra/100% Render Resolution. It has a superior image even using the Enhanced Preset with 100% Render Resolution and it plays and looks very nice using DLSS Balanced. DLSS is a lifesaver in this regard as without it, it would not be possible to play at 90 FPS even on Enhanced without dropping or synthesizing frames.

Next, we will check out another demanding VR game, Project CARS 2.

Project CARS 2

There is a real sense immersion that comes from playing Project CARS 2 in VR using a wheel and pedals. It uses its in-house Madness engine, and the physics implementation is outstanding.

Project CARS 2 offers many performance options and settings and we prefer playing with SMAA over using MSAA.

We use all settings on Medium with everything else on. If necessary, we recommend lowering grass and reflections further to maximize framerate delivery as motion smoothing or reprojection tends to cause visible artifacting.

Here is the frametime plot where this time we benchmarked Ultra/90Hz and Extreme/120Hz with the panel’s native resolution and also at 100%.

Here are the FCAT-VR details.

Using the Medium settings at 90Hz/Native Render Resolution (2472×2472), the RTX 3080 Ti delivered 101.33 unconstrained FPS with 10 dropped frames.

At 90Hz/100% Render Resolution (3224×3224), it delivered 60.45 unconstrained FPS with 4602 (49%) dropped frames.

At 120Hz/Native Render Resolution (2456×2456), the RTX 3080 Ti delivered 66.38 unconstrained FPS with 52 dropped frames and 1 Warp miss.

At 120Hz/100% Render Resolution (2780×2780), it delivered 77.47 unconstrained FPS with 4006 (39%) dropped frames.

At either Native or at 100% Render Resolution, The Pro 2 is able to deliver 60 FPS steady using the Extreme/120Hz setting which may be an acceptable option for some. Otherwise Medium settings on the Ultra/90Hz at the panel’s native resolution may be a better option for others.

Let’s benchmark Skyrim VR.

Skyrim VR

Skyrim VR is an older game that is no longer supported by Bethesda, but fortunately the modding community has adopted it. It is not as demanding as many of the newer VR ports so its performance is still very good on maxed-out settings using its Creation engine.

We benchmarked Skyrim VR using its highest settings but we did not adjust in-game Supersampling.

Here are the frametime results.

Here are the details of our comparative runs as reported by FCAT-VR.

Using Skyrim’s highest settings at 90Hz/Native Render Resolution (2464×2464), the RTX 3080 Ti delivered 219.58 unconstrained FPS with 1 dropped frame.

At 90Hz/100% Render Resolution (3184×3184), it delivered 122.85 unconstrained FPS with 1 dropped frame.

At 90Hz/150% (SteamVR Default) Render Resolution (3900×3900), the RTX 3080 Ti delivered 97.27 unconstrained FPS with 2781 (22%) dropped frames and 1 Warp miss.

At 120Hz/100% Render Resolution (2732×2732), it delivered 156.40 unconstrained FPS with 372 (2%) dropped frames and 1 Warp miss.

At 120Hz/150% Render Resolution (3344×3344), it delivered 124.32 unconstrained FPS with 4891 (29%) dropped frames.

As before, raising or lowering the SteamVR Render Resolution is a great way to adjust the performance. Skyrim VR cannot be played without dropping or synthesizing frames at maxed out in game settings at SteamVR’s default 150% Render Resolution. Fortunately, it looks like 120% is an attainable compromise for a RTX 3080 Ti and the visuals are not degraded substantially compared with 150%.

Last up, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinner is the last of BTR’s Pro 2 VR test games. It is a first person survival horror adventure RPG with a strong emphasis on crafting. Its visuals using the Unreal 4 engine are outstanding and it makes good use of physics for interactions.

We benchmarked Saints and Sinners using its highest settings, but we left the Pixel Density at its default in game 100%. Here is the frametime chart using both Vive Console Ultra and Extreme Presets at 100% and at 150% SteamVR Render Resolution settings.

Here are the details as reported by FCAT-VR.

Using Saints & Sinner’s highest settings at 90Hz/100% Render Resolution (3184×3184), the RTX 3080 Ti delivered 106.30 unconstrained FPS with 2 dropped frames.

At 90Hz/150% (SteamVR Default) Render Resolution (3900×3900), it delivered 79.05 unconstrained FPS with 2827 (47%) dropped frames.

At 120Hz/100% Render Resolution (2756×2756), the RTX 3080 Ti delivered 132.38 unconstrained FPS with 437 (5%) dropped frames.

At 120Hz/150% Render Resolution (3404×3404), it delivered 107.56 unconstrained FPS with 4133 (48%) dropped frames.

The best Pro 2 settings for The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners using a RTX 3080 Ti to avoid either Motion Compensation or dropped frames are the highest in-game settings using the Vive Console at Ultra/90Hz and at 100% SteamVR Render Resolution.

Using a RTX 3090 may allow the Render Resolution to be increased while using a RTX 3080 may require dialing back settings or lowering the Render Resolution a bit. It takes experimentation coupled with checking the SteamVR developer overlay in the headset to find the best playable settings.

Let’s check out our conclusion.

The “Best” HMD

There is no such thing as the “best” HMD unless you are just talking about specs, in which case, the Pro 2 wins by virtue of its higher resolution. VR is more “alive” and immersive using the Pro 2 over the original Pro or the Index. Unfortunately, at $799 the Pro 2 – by itself without considering the base stations and controllers costs – is much more expensive than the Reverb G2 at $599. The G2 setup is also less complex and time-consuming. The advantages that the Pro 2 has over the G2 are with its more precise tracking, wider FoV, and its ability to use wireless for a completely untethered experience.

If you are a racing or flight sim enthusiast, the G2 may be a better choice over the Pro 2. However, for action games and especially for standing games or for shooters where precise tracking is critical, the Pro 2 is a better choice – if price is no object. Unfortunately, we find the Pro 2 to be overpriced at $799 as a consumer headset as Vive shifts to industry VR away from the consumer market. But if a VR gamer already has a top video card and a Vive headset/base station tracking, then the Pro 2 may be an excellent almost drop-in upgrade solution.

We wish to extend our thanks to HTC for loaning us a Pro 2, and we enjoyed testing and evaluating their new VR headset. We like it so much that we purchased a Pro 2 from Newegg for our own enjoyment as well as for future benchmarking.

Unfortunately, Vive software still appears to be a work in progress – especially in regard to Motion Smoothing – and it appears that a default SteamVR target of 150% Render Resolution is simply too high for this generation of video cards. As long as a gamer is willing to tweak his Pro 2 and per-application settings, the Pro 2 is an outstanding VR headset for gaming.

Next up we are going to review our “off grid” mostly solar-powered office followed by a 1TB SSD review before we return to VR. We will continue to benchmark the Pro 2 and will also follow-up this review with another showdown with the Reverb G2 using the top AMD and NVIDIA video cards.

Happy VR Gaming!

This driver performance analysis showcases the performance of a Gigabyte AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER (Ampere architecture) and an EVGA RTX 2080 Ti BLACK (Turing architecture) with 18 PC games using the latest GeForce 466.77 Game Ready driver. We compare these drivers versus our previously recommended driver 466.27 using both cards, and we perform all tests on the same game version and the same OS build.

Our testing platform is a recent install of Windows 10 64-bit Pro Edition, an i9-9900K with stock clocks, a Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO motherboard, and 32GB of Kingston DDR4 3333MHz. The games tested, settings and hardware are identical except for the GPUs we use and the drivers we compare.

Benching Methodology

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i9-9900K (Hyper-Threading/Turbo boost on; stock settings)
• Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO motherboard (Intel Z390 chipset, v.F12l BIOS)
• Kingston HyperX Predator 32GB DDR4 (2×16GB, dual-channel at 3333 MHz CL16)
• 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
• Samsung 500GB SSD 960 EVO NVMe M.2
• WD Blue 1TB SATA SSD
• Corsair RM750x, 750W 80PLUS Gold power supply unit
• ASUS TUF Gaming VG289Q 28? IPS UltraHD (3840×2160) 60Hz 5ms FreeSync Monitor (Fixed Refresh Rate On) when testing games at 2160p resolution.
• ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q 27? IPS QuadHD (2560 x 1440) 165Hz 4ms G-Sync Monitor (Fixed Refresh Rate On) when testing games at 1440p resolution.

Test Configuration – Software

• NVIDIA GeForce 466.27 and 466.77 drivers; ‘High Quality’ and ‘prefer maximum performance’ (on a per-game profile-basis); fixed refresh rate (globally).
• Resizable BAR off.
• V-Sync application controlled in the control panel, V-Sync off in-game.
• AA and AF as noted in games; all in-game settings are specified.
• Windows 10 64-bit Pro edition, latest updates v21H1, High-performance power plan, HAGS off, Game Mode, Game DVR & Game Bar features off.
• GIGABYTE and ASUS tools not installed.
• Latest DirectX
• All 18 games are patched to their latest versions at the time of publication.
• 3DMark’s suite and UNIGINE Superposition benchmark, the latest version
• Basemark GPU benchmark, v.1.1
• UNIGINE Superposition, v.1.1
• CapFrameX (CX), the latest version
• RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS), the latest version
• Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), the latest version; always uninstall old driver using DDU in safe mode, clean, and restart.

• ISLC (Purge Standby List) before each benchmark.

GeForce Driver Suite-related

• Standard Game Ready drivers are used.
• The display driver is installed.
• The latest version of PhysX is installed.

Hybrid & Non-Synthetic Tests-related

• Single run per test.

Game Benchmarks-related

• The corresponding built-in or custom benchmark sequence is used.

Frametimes Capture & Analysis tool-related

• CapFrameX is used for capturing and analyzing the relevant performance numbers obtained from each recorded built-in or custom benchmark sequence.
• Consecutive runs until detecting 3 valid 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 value the results and aggregated records in terms of percentages of gain/loss, by setting the following thresholds to consider a certain % 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/P0.2 > 3% when evaluating frame time consistency; after applying our custom formula

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

Benchmark Suite: 18 PC Games, 4 Hybrid & 4 Non-Synthetic Tests

Hybrid Tests (3DMark)

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

Non-Synthetic Tests

• Basemark GPU
• UNIGINE Superposition
• Neon Noir (Benchmark)
• Boundary: Raytracing Benchmark

DX11 Games

• Borderlands 3 (DX11)
• Days Gone (DX11)
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (DX11)
• Far Cry New Dawn (DX11)
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Ghost Recon Breakpoint (DX11)
• Neon Noir (DX11; Loop Mode)

DX12 Games

• Borderlands 3 (DX12)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (DX12)
• Metro Exodus (DX12)
• Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition (DX12)
• Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (DX12)
• Watch Dogs: Legion (DX12)
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider (DX12)
• Godfall (DX12)
• DIRT 5 (DX12)

Vulkan Games

• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint (VK)
• Strange Brigade (VK)
• Wolfenstein Youngblood (VK)
• Quake 2 RTX (VK; v.1.5.0)

NVIDIA Control Panel settings

Here are the global NVIDIA Control Panel settings:

Both ‘High-Quality’ values for texture filtering-quality setting and ‘Prefer maximum performance’ for power management mode are set on a per-game or program profile-basis via Manage 3D Settings > Program settings tab.

GeForce 466.77 Game Ready WHQL Drivers

This latest GeForce Game Ready 466.77 driver was released on Thursday (06/10/21) primarily for the launch of RTX 3070 Ti GPUs. It also brings support for the enhanced version of The Persistence, which adds real-time ray-traced reflections, shadows, global illumination, and NVIDIA DLSS.

This new driver also includes among others the following bug fixes:

• • [Crossfire HD]: Freestyle is not supported for the game. [200734448]

  • [Kepler/Turing GPUs]: Blue-screen crash with DPC Watchdog Violation error may occur. [3321668/3321735]

The download links for the latest GeForce 466.77 drivers can be found starting here. The release notes can be found here as a downloadable pdf file. Here are the release highlights from NVIDIA’s website:

Game Ready Drivers provide the best possible gaming experience for all major new releases. Prior to a new title launching, our driver team is working up until the last minute to ensure every performance tweak and bug fix is included for the best gameplay on day-1.

Game Ready for No Man’s Sky DLSS Patch
This new Game Ready Driver provides support for the latest new titles and updates, including the latest patch for No Man’s Sky which introduces NVIDIA DLSS technology. Additionally, this release also provides optimal support for The Persistence, Chivalry 2, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2, and the new NVIDIA Reflex integrations in War Thunder and Escape from Tarkov.

Gaming Technology
Includes support for the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPUs.

The Performance Summary Charts with 18 Games

Below you can find the summary charts of our representative selection of 18 games and 4 hybrid and 4 non-synthetic benchmarks. We chart our games’ driver performance progression from version 466.27 to 466.77 using both the AORUS RTX 3080 MASTER and the EVGA RTX 2080 Ti BLACK.

You can see the list of graphics settings on the charts, and we run each built-in or custom game benchmark’s sequence at 2560×1440, except for Borderlands 3, Days Gone, and Far Cry New Dawn, tested at 3840×2160 resolution. You may click on each chart to open a pop-up for the best viewing.

Results give average framerates and higher is better. We display the low FPS percentiles (P1 and P0.2) below the corresponding averages. We use CapFrameX to record frametimes over time and to visualize and convert them into their corresponding average FPS and P1 and P0.2 FPS percentiles values.

There are also columns showing percentages of gain/loss in both raw performance (average FPS) and, when applicable, in frametimes 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 or orange font for the significant improvements or regressions respectively.

GeForce 466.77 Driver Performance Charts

Notes on GeForce 466.77 Driver Performance

From the charts, we see no significant differences in graphics performance between drivers for both the hybrid and non-synthetic tests using both our RTX 3080 and RTX 2080 Ti. It’s worth noting that the anomalous high GPU usage we saw in the 3DMark Fire Strike Physics sub-test using driver 466.47 is not present using this latest Game Ready driver.

About the built-in game benchmarks, although most games show no significant differences when we move to 466.77 drivers from the 466.27 driver version using both GPUs, we see a performance improvement in Ghost Recon Breakpoint (Vulkan API mode) in terms of frametime consistency.

Disclaimer

Please be aware that the following results, notes, and the corresponding driver recommendation are valid for similar Ampere and Turing gaming rigs on Windows 10 v21H1. Its 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 Ampere and Turing users to update to the latest GeForce 466.77 driver. Its raw performance and smoothness or frametimes consistency level are overall on par with our previously recommended driver 466.27 using both NVIDIA GPU architectures.

From a qualitative point of view, there are important reasons that also make it advisable to upgrade to version 466.77. These reasons include its higher level of security and driver bug fixes, the optimizations for the latest games, and support for the latest NVIDIA technologies.

Let’s Play!

***

Rodrigo González (aka ‘RodroG’) is an enthusiast gamer and tech reviewer interested especially 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.

BTR received the RTX 3070 Ti 8GB Founders Edition (FE) from NVIDIA and we have been testing its performance by benchmarking 25 games and five VR games using the new Vive Pro 2, and also by overclocking it with an emphasis on ray tracing and DLSS. Although the RTX 3070 Ti is a gaming card, we have added workstation, SPEC, and GPGPU benches. Although we feature the Vive Pro 2 to see if a RTX 2080 Ti / RTX 3070/Ti class of card can power its extreme resolution, this is not a review of the new headset yet.

We are going to compare performance using eight top cards to see where the RTX 3070 Ti FE fits in – the RTX 3070 Ti, 3080 Ti FE, the RTX 3090 FE, the RTX 3080 FE, as well as versus the reference RX 6800, RX 6800 XT, and the Red Devil RTX 6900 XT. However, because of supply/demand issues, all suggested pricing is meaningless as only a very lucky few gamers will get them at or close to MSRP/SEP.

NVIDIA indicates that the RTX 3070 Ti has been in full production and stockpiled for over a month, so they are already in the hands of retailers and have been there for weeks so they can build supply. Even so it will still sell out probably within a few minutes or less because the demand is incredibly high. Fortunately, the end of the COVID-19 and Crypto pandemics are in view and a new ‘Roaring 20s’ for gamers may soon appear on the horizon with lower prices and better availability by the Autumn.

Specifications

We have already covered Ampere’s features in depth and we have reviewed the RTX 3070, the 3080 Ti’s $499 slower brother that comes equipped with 8GB of GDDR6 vRAM. The RTX 3070 Ti is a GDDR6X upgrade over the RTX 3070. Besides its faster memory, the 3070 Ti also has more CUDA Cores and slightly higher clock speeds, as well as a flow-through cooler design similar to the RTX 3080/3080 Ti/3090.

This review will consider whether the new RTX 3070 Ti FE at $599 – $100 more than the RTX 3070 – delivers a good value. Below are the specifications comparing the RTX 3070 Ti with the RTX 2070 as well as with the RTX 3070.

Since the RTX 2080 Ti launched in 2018, there are now more than 130 games and applications supporting NVIDIA’s RTX tech including ray tracing and Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS). Since all of the vendors and console platforms now support ray tracing technology, we will focus on these newer games. NVIDIA’s Reflex latency-reducing technology is also now supported in 12 of the top 15 competitive shooters and we will follow up this review with an upcoming latency review.

We benchmark using Windows 10 64-bit Pro Edition at 1920×1080, 2560×1440, and at 3840×2160 using Intel’s Core i9-10900K at 5.1/5.0 GHz and 32GB of T-FORCE DARK Z 3600MHz DDR4 on a EVGA Z490 FTW motherboard. All games and benchmarks use the latest versions, and we use the most recent drivers.

Let’s first unbox the RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition before we look at our test configuration

The RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition Unboxing

The Ampere generation RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition is also a completely redesigned Founders Edition and here is the card, unboxed.

Inside the box and beneath the card are warnings, a quick start guide and warranty information, plus the 12-pin to PCIe dual 8-pin dongle that will be required to connect the RTX 3070 Ti to most PSUs.

Just like the other Ampere Founders Editions, the RTX 3070 Ti comes in a “shoebox” style box where the card inside lays flat at a slight incline for display.

The system requirements, contents, and warranty information are printed on the bottom of each box. The RTX 3070 Ti requires a minimum 750W power supply unit, and the case must have space for a 267mm (L) x 112mm (W) two-slot card.

It easily fits in our Phanteks Eclipse P400 ATX mid-tower as it is much smaller than the RTX 3090 and slightly smaller than the RTX 3080 Ti.

The RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition is a moderately heavy 2-slot card with dual fans. As a GDDR6X upgrade over the RTX 3070, the 3070 Ti also has more CUDA Cores and slightly higher clock speeds, as well as the flow-through cooler design similar to the RTX 3080/3080 Ti/3090.

Turning the card over, we see the similar unique design of the top Ampere FEs with the flow-through cooler. This card is designed to keep the GPU cool partly by using a short PCB, and inside the card it is mostly all heatsink fins.

There is very large surface area for cooling so the heat is readily transferred to the fin stack and the dual fans exhaust the heat out of the back of the case and also from the top of the card into the case’s airflow.

The IO panel has a very large air vent and four connectors. The connectors are similar to the Founders Edition of the RTX 2080 Ti and the RTX 3080, but the VirtualLink connector for VR is no longer used. Three DisplayPort 1.4 connectors are included, and the HDMI port has been upgraded from 2.0 to 2.1 allowing for 4K/120Hz over a single HDMI cable.

Before we look at overclocking, power and noise, let’s check out our test configuration.

Test Configuration

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i9-10900K (HyperThreading/Turbo boost On; All cores overclocked to 5.1GHz/5.0Ghz. Comet Lake DX11 CPU graphics)
• EVGA Z490 FTW motherboard (Intel Z490 chipset, v1.3 BIOS, PCIe 3.0/3.1/3.2 specification, CrossFire/SLI 8x+8x), supplied by EVGA
• T-FORCE DARK Z 32GB DDR4 (2x16GB, dual channel at 3600MHz), supplied by Team Group
• RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition 8GB, stock and overclocked, on loan from NVIDIA
• RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition 12GB, stock and overclocked, on loan from NVIDIA
• RTX 3090 Founders Edition 24GB, stock clocks, on loan from NVIDIA
• RTX 3070 Founders Edition 8GB, stock clocks, on loan from NVIDIA
• RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition 8GB, stock and overclocked, on loan from NVIDIA
• Radeon RX 6800 16GB reference version, stock clocks on loan from AMD
• Radeon RX 6800 XT 16GB reference version, stock clocks on loan from AMD
• Red Devil RX 6900 XT 16GB, at Red Devil clocks, loaned by PowerColor and returned in April.
• VIVE PRO 2, on a short-term loan from HTC/VIVE
• 1TB Team Group MP33 NVMe2 PCIe SSD for C: drive
• 1.92TB San Disk enterprise class SATA III SSD (storage)
• 2TB Micron 1100 SATA III SSD (storage)
• 1TB Team Group GX2 SATA III SSD (storage)
• 500GB T-FORCE Vulcan SSD (storage), supplied by Team Group
• ANTEC HCG1000 Extreme, 1000W gold power supply unit
• BenQ EW3270U 32″ 4K HDR 60Hz FreeSync monitor
• Samsung G7 Odyssey (LC27G75TQSNXZA) 27? 2560×1440/240Hz/1ms/G-SYNC/HDR600 monitor
• DEEPCOOL Castle 360EX AIO 360mm liquid CPU cooler
• Phanteks Eclipse P400 ATX mid-tower (plus 1 Noctua 140mm fan) – All benchmarking and overclocking performed with the case closed

Test Configuration – Software

• GeForce 466.47 for (RTX 3080 Ti Press launch drivers) are used for all GeForce cards except for the RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3070 which use the new card’s press launch drivers – 466.61.
• Adrenalin 21.5.2 drivers used for the RX 6800 and the RX 6800 XT and 21.3.2 is used for the RX 6900 XT.
• High Quality, prefer maximum performance, single display, set in the NVIDIA control panel.
• VSync is off in the control panel and disabled for each game
• AA enabled as noted in games; all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied
• Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games
• All games have been patched to their latest versions
• Gaming results show average frame rates in bold including minimum frame rates shown on the chart next to the averages in a smaller italics font where higher is better. Games benched with OCAT show average framerates but the minimums are expressed by frametimes (99th-percentile) in ms where lower numbers are better.
• Windows 10 64-bit Pro edition; latest updates 21H1 (Build1 9043.1023). DX11 titles are run under the DX11 render path. DX12 titles are generally run under DX12, and multiple games use the Vulkan API.
• Latest DirectX
• MSI’s Afterburner, 4.6.4 beta to overclock the RTX 3070 Ti
• FCAT VR
• fpsVR
• OpenVR Benchmark

Games

Vulkan

• DOOM Eternal
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Ghost Recon: Breakpoint
• World War Z
• Rainbow 6 Siege

DX12

• Resident Evil VIllage
• Metro Exodus – Enhanced Edition & regular edition
• Hitman 3
• Cyberpunk 2077
• DiRT 5
• Godfall
• Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War
• Assassins Creed Valhala
• Watch Dogs Legions
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Death Stranding
• F1 2020
• Borderlands 3
• Civilization VI – Gathering Storm Expansion
• Battlefield V
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider

DX11

• Days Gone
• Crysis Remastered
• Destiny 2 Shadowkeep
• Total War: Three Kingdoms

VR Games

• Assetto Corsa Competizione
• Elite Dangerous
• No Man’s Sky
• Project CARS 2
• Skyrim

Synthetic

• TimeSpy (DX12)
• 3DMark FireStrike – Ultra & Extreme
• Superposition
• Heaven 4.0 benchmark
• AIDA64 GPGPU benchmarks
• Blender 2.92 benchmark
• Sandra 2020/21 GPGPU Benchmarks
• SPECworkstation3
• SPECviewperf 2020
• Octane benchmark

NVIDIA Control Panel settings

Here are the NVIDIA Control Panel settings. AMD Adrenalin Control Center Settings

All AMD settings are set so that all optimizations are off, Vsync is forced off, Texture filtering is set to High, and Tessellation uses application settings. Navi cards are quite capable of high Tessellation unlike earlier generations of Radeons.

Anisotropic Filtering is disabled by default but we always use 16X for all game benchmarks.

Let’s check out overclocking, temperatures and noise next.

Overclocking, Temperatures & Noise

All of our performance and overclocked testing are performed in a closed Phanteks Eclipse P400 ATX mid-tower case. Inside, the RTX 3070 Ti is a quiet card even when overclocked and we never needed to increase its fan speeds manually or change the stock fan profile. We overclocked using Afterburner without adding any extra voltage.

We used Heaven 4.0 running in a window at completely maxed-out settings at a windowed 2560×1440 to load the GPU to 98% so we could observe the running characteristics of the RTX 3070 Ti and also to be able to instantly compare our changed clock settings with their results. At completely stock settings with the GPU under full load, the card ran cool and stayed below 85C with clocks that averaged around 1850MHz.

Simply raising the Power and Temperatures to their maximums resulted in the clocks running above 1875MHz with a small rise in temperatures using the stock fan profile.

After testing multiple combinations, our RTX 3070 Ti’s final stable overclock to achieve the highest overall performance added +150MHz offset to the core and +800 MHz to the memory. to achieve a core clock above 2000MHz with a memory clock of 10300MHz. The RTX 3070 Ti FE is power-limited, and to achieve a higher overclock will require more voltage.

Although we were unable to spend a lot of time overclocking it, our review sample appears to be only a fair overclocker. If you want a higher overclock, pick a partner overclocked AIB RTX 3070 Ti. To see the performance increase from overclocking, we tested 5 games. The results are given after the main performance charts in the next section.

First, let’s check out performance on the next page.

Performance Summary Charts & Graphs

Gaming Performance Summary Charts

Here are the summary charts of 25 games and 3 synthetic tests. The highest settings were always chosen and the settings are listed on the chart. The benches were run at 1920×1080, 2560×1440 and at 3840×2160. Five cards were compared and they are listed in order starting from left to right with the RTX 3070 FE, the reference RX 6800, the RTX 3070 Ti, the RX 6800 XT, the RTX 3080 FE, the RTX 3080 Ti FE, the RTX 3090 FE, and the Red Devil RX 6900 XT (which was benchmarked in April).

Most results, except for synthetic scores, show average framerates, and higher is better. Minimum framerates are next to the averages in italics and in a slightly smaller font. Games benched with OCAT show average framerates, but the minimums are expressed by frametimes (99th-percentile) in ms where lower are better. Performance wins between the RTX 3070 Ti and the RX 6800 are given in yellow text.

Please click on each chart to open a pop-up window for its best viewing experience.

Although there is some game-dependent variability, the RTX 3070 Ti FE is only around 3-10% faster than the RTX 3070 FE but it is enough to now easily trade blows with the reference RX 6800 in rasterized games, winning more than it loses, and is much faster in most ray traced games and a lot faster when DLSS is used.

Next we look at overclocked performance.

Overclocked benchmarks

These benchmarks are run with the RTX 3070 Ti overclocked +150MHz on the core and +800MHz on the memory versus at stock clocks. The RTX 3070 Ti overclocked results are presented first and the stock results are shown in the second column.

There is a small performance increase from overclocking the RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition. Unfortunately, although we did not have enough time to optimize our overclock, it’s clear that NVIDIA has locked down Ampere cards’ overclocking in an attempt to maximize performance for all Founders Edition gamers. We would also suggest that the RTX 3070 Ti FE is rather voltage constrained and if you want a higher overclock, pick a factory-overclocked partner version instead of a Founders Edition.

Let’s next look at VR gaming with the Vive Pro 2. The following is not our review of the Vive Pro 2 – the full review will follow next week. Instead we are going to focus on performance.

VR Gaming with the Vive Pro 2

The Vive Pro 2 is a much more demanding headset than the Vive Pro or the Valve Index by virtue of its higher resolution. Image resolution has been increased per eye from the Pro’s (or Valve Index’) 1440 x 1600 to 2448 x 2448. This higher resolution gives it exceptional clarity with no screen door effect, but it is also demanding on video cards. By default at the Ultra or Extreme preset, the Vive console uses 150% SteamVR Render Resolution for the Vive Pro 2 which appeared to be set to 2748×2748 per eye for high end NVIDIA cards at the time we benchmarked our games.

Here is the OpenVR benchmark result which requires 100% SteamVR Render Resolution for its default run. We used the Vive Console Ultra setting at native resolution and 90Hz. We did not test the Extreme setting which allows up to 120Hz.

Although SteamVR sets the same resolution for the RTX 3090 and the RTX 3070 Ti, it uses a lower resolution for AMD cards at either 100% (2244×2244) or at 150%. In fact, yesterday’s Vive software update lowered the default SteamVR resolution slightly for NVIDIA cards which suggests that it is still a work in progress and is being fine-tuned. The 100% SteamVR render resolution was lowered from 2556×2556 to 2532×2532 yesterday. Our results reflect the higher render setting.Some VR gamers prefer to lower the SteamVR Render Resolution which is set at 150% and is mostly used to compensate for the lens’ distortion instead of lowering a game’s preset or by dropping individual settings. We decided to initially test at 100% which is what we test the Reverb G2, the Vive Pro, and the Valve Index. Our follow up review will also benchmark at the default 150% resolution.

Yesterday, in response to our questions, Vive suggested that the SteamVR default Render Resolution should be left at 150%. Vive told BTR:

“Motion Compensation is the same as Motion Smoothing. The new lens and display requires our own motion compensation, and VIVE Console is the software that is driving the displays, so motion compensation is built into that.

For VIVE Pro 2, we set Steam’s supersampling setting as 150% by default, which makes up for the lens distortion. We found this to be the best value for SteamVR’s automatic performance scaling to scale and still reach 90 or 120 Hz on the majority of PCs we expect to be used to run VIVE Pro 2. However, users can still go into SteamVR to manually adjust their supersampling settings.

If we had set it to 100%, a lot of PCs would struggle under automatic settings. Render resolution is set by SteamVR and automatically scales to what it thinks is best for your system, VIVE Console handles display resolution.”

Motion Smoothing is disabled in SteamVR, but we actually didn’t see any FPS performance difference disabling or enabling Motion Compensation in the Vive console using fpsVR although the frametimes suffered. We see relatively minor visual differences between 100% and 150% SteamVR Render Resolution but even at the higher setting, lens distortion is still slightly visible to us particularly at the edges of the display.

At 50% SteamVR Render Resolution, there is a clear degradation of visuals which indicates that the SteamVR Render Resolution is working properly. However, at 150% Super Resolution, the frametime rates go up (which is bad) for several games that we tested although the FPS remain at 45 FPS which suggested to us that Vive’s Motion Compensation may still be on although Vive assures us it can be switched off in their console. We noticed that Motion Compensation artifacting became prominent and even disturbing if settings are pushed too high as we found with Elite Dangerous.

Please note that FCAT VR doesn’t distinguish dropped frames from synthesized frames using the Pro 2 (or the Reverb G2) like it properly does for the Valve Index and the Vive Pro. We suggest that the vast majority of the frames reported as dropped are actually synthetically generated (reprojected) frames. It is likely that FCAT VR is not yet optimized for the Pro 2.

It is important to remember that BTR’s charts use frametimes in ms where lower is better, but we also compare “unconstrained framerates” which shows what a video card could deliver (headroom) if it wasn’t locked to either 90 FPS or to 45 FPS by the HMD. In the case of unconstrained FPS which measures just one important performance metric, faster is better.

Let’s individually look at our five VR games’ performance using FCAT VR. All of our games were benchmarked at 100% SteamVR resolution.

First up, Assetto Corsa Competizione.

Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC)

BTR’s sim/racing editor, Sean Kaldahl created the replay benchmark run that we use for both the pancake game and the VR game. It is run at night with 20 cars, lots of geometry, and the lighting effects of the headlights, tail lights, and everything around the track looks spectacular.

Just like with Project CARS, you can save a replay after a race. Fortunately, the CPU usage is the same between a race and its replay so it is a reasonably accurate benchmark using the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

iRacing may be more accurate or realistic, but Assetto Corsa Competizione has some appeal because it feels more real than many other racing sims. It delivers the sensation of handling a highly-tuned racing machine driven to its edge. We test using the VR Low preset.

VR Low

Here are the ACC frametimes using VR Low.

Here are the details are reported by FCAT-VR:

The RTX 3070 Ti delivered 102.85 unconstrained FPS with 15 dropped or synthesized frames and no Warp misses.

The RTX 3070 Ti has a little performance headroom and it is possible to play it using enhanced individual settings with minimal reprojected or synthesized frames but it is best suited for playing ACC on VR Low. VR High is unplayable.

Next, we check out Elite Dangerous.

Elite Dangerous (ED)

Elite Dangerous is a popular space sim built using the COBRA engine. It is hard to find a repeatable benchmark outside of the training missions.

A player will probably spend a lot of time piloting his space cruiser while completing a multitude of tasks as well as visiting space stations and orbiting a multitude of different planets (~400 billion). Elite Dangerous is also co-op and multiplayer with a very dedicated following of players.

We picked the Ultra Preset with the maximum FoV originally but the shimmering and artifacting from reprojection/Motion Compensation was awful, so we set everything to Medium leaving the FoV at maximum. Here is the frametime plot.

Here are the frametimes.

Here are the details as reported by FCAT-VR:

The RTX 3070 Ti delivered 128.79 unconstrained FPS with no Warp Misses nor any dropped or synthetic frames.

The experience playing Elite Dangerous at Ultra settings is awful but Medium seems perfect with some performance headroom to increase individual settings.

Next, we will check out a really demanding VR game, No Man’s Sky.

No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky is an action-adventure survival single and multiplayer game that emphasizes survival, exploration, fighting, and trading. It is set in a procedurally generated deterministic open universe, which includes over 18 quintillion unique planets using its own custom game engine.

The player takes the role of a Traveller in an uncharted universe by starting on a random planet with a damaged spacecraft equipped with only a jetpack-equipped exosuit and a versatile multi-tool that can also be used for defense. The player is encouraged to find resources to repair his spacecraft allowing for intra- and inter-planetary travel, and to interact with other players.

We set the settings to Enhanced which is above Low and below High, but we also set the anisotropic filtering to 16X and upgraded to FXAA+TAA. The game has recently implemented DLSS 2.1 and we used the highest visual quality preset, Quality which gives a much smaller performance boost than the others DLSS settings.

Here is the No Man’s Sky Frametime plot.

Here are the FCAT-VR details of our comparative runs.

The RTX 3070 Ti produced 85.37 unconstrained FPS with no dropped frames or Warp misses, but it required 3200 (50%) synthetic frames.

The Low Preset may be better suited for play with the RTX 3070 Ti, or else individual setting may be lowered to maintain a balance of performance to visuals. However, it may be best to use DLSS Performance instead and accept a slight artifacting. We were very impressed with the Enhanced preset using DLSS Quality, and the high resolution screen of the Vive Pro 2 makes playing this game an even more extraordinary experience where the game comes more alive.

Let’s continue with another demanding VR game, Project CARS 2, that we still like better than its successor.

Project CARS 2 (PC2)

There is a real sense of immersion that comes from playing Project CARS 2 in VR using a wheel and pedals. It uses its in-house Madness engine, and the physics implementation is outstanding. We are disappointed with Project CARS 3, and will continue to use the older game instead for VR benching.

Project CARS 2 offers many performance options and settings and we prefer playing with SMAA rather than to use MSAA.

We originally tried maximum settings including for Motion Blur but that wasn’t possible so we set everything to Medium.

Here is the frametime plot.Here are the FCAT-VR details.

The RTX 3070 Ti delivered 77.49 unconstrained FPS with 4802 (50%) synthesized or dropped frames and with no Warp misses.

The experience playing Project CARS 2 on the Medium preset requires that we would recommend lowering individual settings or even lower the resolution a as needed to stay out of reprojection. However, even on Medium, the game looks great using the Vive Pro 2.

Let’s benchmark Skyrim VR.

Skyrim VR

Skyrim VR is an older game that is no longer supported by Bethesda, but fortunately the modding community has adopted it. It is not as demanding as many of the newer VR ports so its performance is still very good on maxed-out settings using its Creation engine.

We benchmarked Skyrim VR using its highest settings, but we did not increase its in game supersampling.

Here are the frametime results.

The RTX 3070 Ti managed 130.68 unconstrained FPS with no dropped frames, no synthetic frames, and no Warp misses.

The RTX 3070 Ti can play Skyrim at its maxed out in-game settings although we did not benchmark in-game Supersampling since we saw reprojecting or synthesized frames. Since there is some performance headroom, it suggests to us that mods may be used with the Vive Pro 2 and a RTX 3070 Ti class of video card.

These benchmarks results bring up more questions than answers that we hope to cover in a follow up review dedicated to the Vive Pro 2 next week. However, we love the Pro 2 and have ordered our own headset and will keep it for future VR benchmarking.

To see if the RTX 3070 Ti is a good upgrade from the other video cards we test workstation, creative, and GPGPU benchmarks starting with Blender.

Blender 2.92 Benchmark

Blender is a very popular open source 3D content creation suite. It supports every aspect of 3D development with a complete range of tools for professional 3D creation.

We benchmarked three Blender 2.92 benchmarks which measure GPU performance by timing how long it takes to render production files. We tested seven of our comparison cards with both CUDA and Optix running on the GPU instead of using the CPU. We benchmarked the RX 6800 XT and the RTX 3080 using OpenCL because Radeons do not support CUDA.

Here are the RTX 3070 Ti’s CUDA and OPTIX scores.

For the following chart, lower is better as the benchmark renders a scene multiple times and gives the results in minutes and seconds.

Blender’s benchmark performance is slower using the RTX 3070 Ti compared with the RTX 3080 and slightly faster than te RTX 3070.

Next we look at the OctaneBench.

Octane Bench

OctaneBench allows you to benchmark your GPU using OctaneRender. The hardware and software requirements to run OctaneBench are the same as for OctaneRender Standalone.

We run OctaneBench 2020.1.5 for Windows and here are the RTX 3070 Ti’s complete results with an overall score of 454.87.

Here is the summary chart comparing our five GeForce cards. Radeons cannot run the Octane benchmark.

The RTX 3070 Ti is a decent card when used for rendering but closer to the RTX 3070 in performance than the RTX 3080.

Next, we move on to AIDA64 GPGPU benchmarks.

AIDA64 v6.33

AIDA64 is an important industry tool for benchmarkers. Its GPGPU benchmarks measure performance and give scores to compare against other popular video cards.

AIDA64’s benchmark code methods are written in Assembly language, and they are well-optimized for every popular AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and VIA processor by utilizing the appropriate instruction set extensions. We use the Engineer’s full version of AIDA64 courtesy of FinalWire. AIDA64 is free to to try and use for 30 days.

Here are the RTX 3070 Ti AIDA64 GPGPU results.

Here is the chart summary of the AIDA64 GPGPU benchmarks with seven of our competing cards side-by-side.

The RTX 3070 Ti is a fast GPGPU card that is slightly faster than the RTX 3070. So let’s look at Sandra 2020 next.

SiSoft Sandra 2020/21

To see where the CPU, GPU, and motherboard performance results differ, there is no better tool than SiSoft’s Sandra 2020. SiSoftware SANDRA (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is a excellent information & diagnostic utility in a complete package. It is able to provide all the information about your hardware, software, and other devices for diagnosis and for benchmarking. Sandra is derived from a Greek name that implies “defender” or “helper”.

There are several versions of Sandra, including a free version of Sandra Lite that anyone can download and use. Sandra 2021 R2 is the latest version, and we are using the full engineer suite courtesy of SiSoft. Sandra 2020/21 features continuous multiple monthly incremental improvements over earlier versions of Sandra. It will benchmark and analyze all of the important PC subsystems and even rank your PC while giving recommendations for improvement.

We ran Sandra’s intensive GPGPU benchmarks and charted the results summarizing them. There was a bug in one Processing benchmark that affected the Red Devil RX 6800 XT with OpenCL that was addressed by SiSoft by the time we tested the RX 6800.

In Sandra GPGPU benchmarks, the RTX 3070 Ti is similar in performance to the RTX 3070. Interestingly, the RTX 3070 Ti (and RTX 3080 Ti’s) Hashing bandwidth is much lower than the RTX 3080/RTX 3070 and even the RX 6800 XT as NVIDIA has limited its cryptocurrency mining ability. However, since the architectures are different, each card exhibits different characteristics with different strengths and weaknesses.

SPECworkstation3 Benchmarks

All the SPECworkstation3 benchmarks are based on professional applications, most of which are in the CAD/CAM or media and entertainment fields. All of these benchmarks are free except for vendors of computer-related products and/or services.

The most comprehensive workstation benchmark is SPECworkstation3. It’s a free-standing benchmark which does not require ancillary software. It measures GPU, CPU, storage and all other major aspects of workstation performance based on actual applications and representative workloads. We only tested the GPU-related workstation performance as checked in the image above.

Here are our raw SPECworkstation 3.0.4.summary and raw scores for the RTX 3070 Ti.

Here are the SPECworkstation3 results summarized in a chart along with six competing cards. Higher is better.

Using SPEC benchmarks, the RTX 3070 Ti is closer in performance to the RTX 3070 than it is to the RTX 3080. However, since the architectures are different, the cards each exhibit different characteristics with different strengths and weaknesses.

SPECviewperf 2020 GPU Benches

The SPEC Graphics Performance Characterization Group (SPECgpc) has released a 2020 version of its SPECviewperf benchmark that features updated viewsets, new models, support for both 2K and 4K display resolutions, and improved set-up and results management.

We benchmarked at 4K and here is the summary for the RTX 3070 Ti.

Here are SPECviewperf 2020 GPU benchmarks summarized in a chart together with six other cards.

Again the RTX 3070 Ti is slightly faster than the RTX 3070 but not close to RTX 3080 performance.

After seeing these benches, some creative users may wish to upgrade their existing systems with a new RTX 30X0 series card based on the performance increases and the associated increases in productivity that they require. The question to buy an RTX 3070 Ti should be based on the workflow and requirements of each user as well as their budget. Time is money depending on how these apps are used. However, the target demographic for the RTX 3070 Ti is primarily gaming for gamers, especially at 1440P and at 1080P.

Let’s head to our conclusion.

Final Thoughts

The $599 RTX 3070 Ti FE performed well performance-wise compared to the RX 6800. However at only around 3-10% faster than the $100 less expensive RTX 3070 it is not priced particularly well based on its value to performance. It does have faster GDDR6X memory, slightly more cores and a mini-clockspeed bump together with a much better cooling system

If a gaming enthusiast wants a very fast card upper-midrange card, the RTX 3070 Ti is an excellent card for ultra 1080P or 1440P gaming. It can also be used for 4K gaming if settings are lowered.

The Founders Edition of the RTX 3070 Ti is well-built, solid, and good-looking, and it stays cool and quiet even when overclocked. The RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition will offer a solid upgrade for first generation Turing owners of the RTX 2070 or any earlier generation cards. However, it is not really an upgrade from a $499 RTX 3070 FE which has a higher value to price ratio – if it can be found at MSRP.

Pros

• The RTX 3070 Ti is fast enough for VR gaming with the Vive Pro 2 at 100% SteamVR render resolution
• The RTX 3070 Ti is perfect for 1440P or 1080P gaming although settings have to be lowered for 4K; and it’s also very useful for intensive creative, SPEC, or GPGPU apps
• Ray tracing is a game changer in every way and the RTX 3070 Ti is much faster than the RX 6800 XT or RX 6800 XT when DLSS 2.0 or ray tracing features are enabled. DLSS 2.0 has been rightly called “a miracle” for gamers including for VR gamers
• Reflex and Broadcast are important features for competitive gamers and broadcasters
• Ampere improves over Turing with AI/deep learning and ray tracing to improve visuals while also increasing performance with DLSS 2.0 and Ultra Performance DLSS
• The RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition design cooling is quiet and efficient and its upgraded flow-through design is a real upgrade over the RTX 3070 FE. The GPU in a well-ventilated case stays cool even when overclocked and it remains quiet using the stock fan profile
• The industrial design is eye-catching and it is solidly built

Cons

• High Price
• Lack of availability

The Verdict

If you are a gamer who plays at maxed-out 1080P, 1440P, or even at 4K with lesser settings, you may want to upgrade to a RTX 3070 Ti. The Founders Edition offers good performance value as an upgrade from previous generations with the additional benefit of being able to handle ray tracing much better. It is much faster in ray traced games than any Radeon, and DLSS 2.0 is a true game changer that brings extra performance without any compromise in visuals.

The RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition is available starting tomorrow for $699 from NVIDIA’s online store, and USA customers can purchase these cards also directly from Best Buy both online and in person. Only a relatively few lucky gamers will be able to buy one at SEP, but we believe the supply issue will ease and pricing will return to normal by the Autumn and this review will be even more useful in making a high end card selection then.

Stay tuned, there is a lot more on the way from BTR. Next week, we will test multiple cards in VR using the brand new Vive Pro 2. We are in touch with HTC/Vive and hope to have answers and solid performance results by then. Stay tuned to BTR!

Happy Gaming!