RTX 3070 review: A $500 GPU that matches the $1,200 RTX 2080 Ti

When the RTX 3080 launched, it was undeniably exciting to see a huge leap in power over previous video cards. But that’s a $700 GPU, and even though the 3080 sold out in minutes, it’s not the card that most people will buy. The sweet spot for GPUs over the last half-decade is the $500 option. That’s why I was looking forward to the RTX 3070 — especially since Nvidia is promising that the more affordable card’s performance matches the capabilities of the $1,200 RTX 2080 Ti. That’s exciting. And the final product lives up to those claims.

The RTX 3070 is about as powerful as the fastest card from last generation for about half the price. That means it’s an excellent GPU for 4K60 gaming but at a price that finally makes sense for a much wider audience. It also has all of the great creation features that Nvidia uses to set itself apart from AMD’s offerings.