MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio Review: Hot-Clocked Blackwell GB203
Overclocking The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio
As we've already mentioned many times at this point, Blackwell-based GeForce RTX 50 series cards feature GPU Boost, which scales frequencies and voltages, power and temperatures permitting, based on the GPU's workload at the time -- just like the last couple of generations. Should a temperature or power limit be reached, GPU Boost will drop down to the previous boost frequency and voltage stepping, in an attempt to bring power and temperatures down gradually and not cause any significant performance swings.
To overclock the cards, the maximum boost clock and power limit can be tweaked to increase performance. Altering the fan speed curve and GPU voltage (when applicable) can allow for further tuning when supported.
MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio Hardware Monitor - Default "Stock" Settings
Like previous-gen cards, the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio is usually voltage or power limited to prevent damage and ensure longevity, and it's those limits that will usually determine your success when overclocking. With the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio, the power target can be increased by up to 10%, but the GPU voltage could not be altered, at least not in the latest beta version of MSI's Afterburner we used. That said, we were able to increase the GPU and memory clocks quite a bit over their default values, in addition to cranking up that power limit.
MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio Hardware Monitor - Overclocked
We upped the power target to its maximum (110%) and used the GPU and memory frequency offsets in Afterburner to manually alter the card's frequencies. We increased the GPU and memory clock offsets incrementally until the test system was no longer stable, showed on-screen artifacts, or performance peaked due to hitting a power or other limit.
In its stock configuration, the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio hit a 2,550MHz boost clock and peaked at only 63°C, while maintaining its 28Gbps memory data rate (effective 14,000MHz). While overclocked, however, we were able to take its GPU clock all the way up to 2,925MHz with a 29Gbps memory speed. That's a nearly 15% increase in GPU frequency, with just a few clicks. Not bad.
With the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio overclocked, we re-ran some tests and saw some really nice performance gains, in the neighborhood of 10% - 13%. Just like the RTX 5080, it appears NVIDIA is being quite conservative with the RTX 5070 Ti's recommended clocks and power limit.
We should also mention, that while overclocked the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio remained relatively cool. We saw temperatures peak at 65°C, which was only a couple of degrees higher than stock and the fan speed maxed out at a barely audible 37%.
Total System Power Consumption
Throughout all of our benchmarking and testing, we also monitored noise output and tracked how much power the GPUs were consuming in our test system. Our goal here is to give you an idea as to how much power each GPU used while idle and also while under a heavy workload.
The two GeForce RTX 5070 Ti card represented here exhibited power consumption numbers in-line with their predecessor. The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio, ASUS PRIME GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 4080 and RTX 4070 Ti were all within a few watts of one another, which bodes well for the RTX 5070 Ti's efficiency -- despite outperforming the RTX 4070 Ti across the board, power consumption was somewhat lower.
Noise is not a concern with the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio either. At idle or when under light loads, the card is effectively silent becuase its fans spin down completely when the GPU temperature is low. The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio doesn't generate any noise at idle or under low loads. When under heavy, sustained loads, the card's fans do spin up, but they remain very quiet. The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio is audible, but it's output is modest versus other high-end GPUs.MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio Review Summary & Conclusions
If you read yesterday’s GeForce RTX 5070 Ti launch article featuring the ASUS PRIME model and scrutinized all of the data in this review, you’ll see that the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio’s slightly higher boost clocks translate to only modest increases in frame rate. The MSI card also has a more useful bundle (the adjustable GPU support bracket is a welcome addition), a larger cooler, and a bit more lighting and bling, along with those hot-clocks, but that also means it’s got a higher pricetag. We'll have to wait and see where street prices land after the launch craziness, but expect the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio to be $50 to $100 more than base GeForce RTX 5070 Ti cards. Considering performance alone, the price premium may be tough to justify. However, if you’re going with a particular theme for a build or like some specific features of the card, you do you.
On its own, the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio is a high-quality product. Frankly, though, we hope GPU manufacturers move away from these massive 13-inch, 2.5 – 3 slot designs at some point for more power friendly GPUs, but we’re not quite there yet. As is stand today, the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio may be fairly large, but that allows the card to run nice and cool and quiet. And it affords the ability to overclock considerably, without any excessive noise or heat.
If you’ve got a GeForce RTX 4070 Ti or SUPER already, the RTX 5070 Ti probably won’t compel you to upgrade, but for owners of older GPUs looking to get something with the latest feature set for gaming, AI, and content creation, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti will be a significant upgrade and the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio is an excellent example of the product. Just be sure to seek out deals and don’t overpay for one, if you can avoid it.
