Review: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X

Testing methodology

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X Specification

Notes

To minimise the impact of any CPU bottlenecks, our test platform is configured with a quad-core Intel Core i7-6700K processor overclocked to 4.4GHz across all cores and 32GB of Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 memory set to run at 2,400MHz using the built-in XMP profile.

For our high-end benchmark suite, we have an array of games tested at FHD (1,920x1,080), QHD (2,560x1,440) and 4K UHD (3,840x2,160) resolutions. Where applicable, any vendor-specific enhancements such as PhysX and TressFX are disabled to help even the playing field. In-game benchmark results are recorded as minimum and average frames per second.

Performance of GeForce cards is dictated more by real-world boost frequency than what's written on the box. Tested in the same chassis and with ambient conditions as close as possible, this is how the three GeForce GTX 1070 cards fared with respect to boost speed when running 3DMark, which is about as demanding as any game.

What we see here is the trio of cards all surpass their rated boost speeds during the most graphically demanding benchmark. GTX 1070 scales better than GTX 1080 because it starts from a lower frequency, though do appreciate that the Palit card will benchmark faster than MSI because it has overclocked memory to boot.