MSI Ventus 3X RTX 5070 Ti OC Graphics Card Review

https://youtu.be/DxnCh79TEZg The RTX 5070 Ti is here, though much like the other 50 series cards, availability is a bit of a sore subject, and even then, pricing comes into the mix and shakes things up even more. If however, you’re dead set on getting a 5070 Ti, it will likely come down to what model you can get on the day, though arming yourself with the relevant information about each model of card from each brand, can definitely do you favours if knowing a particular SKU is right for you or not. That brings us to today, where we’re taking a look at the MSI Ventus 3X OC model to delve into the cooler, and its potential in terms of keeping temperatures under control, keeping those sustained levels of boost clock, and seeing how far things can be pushed through overclocking. MSI Ventus 3X OC Graphics Card When it comes to the 5070 Ti, the MSI Ventus 3X OC is an interesting one as it’s meant to be an MSRP-based card, meaning that it’s meant to hit the $749 price tag though as history has taught up, with a GPU that’s meant to being one thing, generally ends up being another, but that’s not the interesting part. Instead, what shines out about this card, is that it’s a triple fan SKU with a pre-factory overclock, and MSI aren’t charging any extra for it, though that’s not to say that retailers aren’t taking the opportunity to increase things themselves. That aside, the 3X OC is a pre-factory overclocked card, but sadly in reality, we’re only talking a little over 1%, so really it’s neither here nor there, as to me, that comes across as more of a marketing exercise than actually offering anything substantial. Maybe brands should be held to a little higher scrutiny by consumers and not allowed to refer to a GPU being classed as an OC model, unless it comes in at least 5% higher for instance. Either way, the “overclock” does mean that the boost clock now comes in at 2482MHz, as opposed to 2452MHz, while the memory remains the same at 1750MHz or 28Gbps Effective, though I’m confident that we can get those clocks quite a bit higher, especially with a triple fan cooling solution that should assist us along the way. Graphene Backplate A composite Graphene backplate reinforces the graphics card while providing passive thermal conduction properties. Core Pipe Precision-crafted heat pipes ensure max contact to the GPU and spread heat along the full length of the heatsink. Triple Fan Thermal Design TORX Fan 3.0: The award-winning MSI TORX Fan 3.0 design creates high static pressure and pushes the limits of thermal performance. Zero Frozr: Calm before the storm, keeping fans still and maintaining silence until cooling is needed. Thermal Padding: An abundance of thermal pads use any chance for additional heat transfer directly from the components. MSI Center The exclusive MSI Center software lets you monitor, tweak, and optimize MSI products in real-time. A Closer Look So speaking of the cooler, that’s essentially what MSI have focused on with the Ventus 3X OC. It’s not the most premium cooler on the market, but it sets out to do a job for, and this will be the last time I say it, an “affordable price”. That means we get three Torx 5.0 fans which are said to increase airflow by 23% compared to axial based fans, along with double ball bearings to help increase the longevity of the fans, even after years of intense gaming. The fans also stop when temperatures are low, which reduces noise in your system and will again increase the lifespan. The card features a nickel-plated copper base plate which makes direct contact with the GPUs core and GDDR7 VRAM modules to effectively transfer the heat into the square shaped heatpipes to help expel heat away from the core components and with the three fans effectively pushing air towards the rear of the card, the large cutout allows that hot air to pass through. The card is for the most-part plastic, though the backplate is made from metal, which aims to increase the structural rigidity of the card, though there will be some benefits in terms of thermal dissipation, though it’s clear that’s not the end goal, though does add a slight premium feeling to the card. There’s also a reinforced metal brace that again looks to enhance the rigidity of the card and increase its durability, so there’s definitely a big focus on quality, and making sure that every element of the card should last, at least in theory. In terms of the size, it’s not the biggest card on the planet, being a 5070 Ti, you also wouldn’t expect it to be. It measures in at 303mm long, 121mm tall, and 49mm thick, making it slightly thicker, due to the cooler shroud, than 2 slots. It also comes packed with a small but novel anti-sag bracket, which isn’t the best we’ve seen, but also isn’t the worst, and while it’s not made from metal and feels like something that could be 3D printed, it does the job, and is something you’ll realistically only have to install once and then leave it in place. Now I will say that if you’re after the glitz and the lights, then this card won’t be for you. It’s not an ugly card by any means with its mixed materials and different colours, but there’s no RGB to be seen, and this obviously helps to keep costs down over other models. If you do want that, then MSI have other models in their 5070 Ti stack, but again, you’ll be paying for those features, though that typically means that you’ll get a higher overclock among other key features too. Beyond that, we still have a single 12V 2x6 connector to provide the 300W of power to the card, and it’s recommended to have at least a 750W power supply for your system if running a 5070 Ti, though as always, depending on the rest of your systems specs, you may want to go a little higher to give you that extra headroom in the future. So to look at, and at least on paper, the Ventus seems to tick all of the right boxes, especially being a 5070 Ti calibre of card and as there is no founders model, you’re instead going to be relying on getting the best bang for your buck, especially if you’re looking at MSRP levels of pricing, whatever that even means. Sure, you can get something bigger, and potentially better, but you’ll be paying for it too and that typically means, RGB, dual BIOS switches, and bigger overclocks. Overclocking Now speaking of overclocks, that’s one area worth looking at because these Blackwell based GPUs do have quite a lot of headroom in them, which is odd given that NVIDIA are literally leaving performance on the table, but I guess, if you know what you’re doing, then you can at least get that sense of being able to push the card harder yourself. It’s here where we managed to increase the clock speed of the card by a pretty staggering 700MHz. We did try 710MHz to see if we could go any further, but that did leave us with a software crash and while we could finetune it into single digit increments, it wouldn’t equate to anything substantial anyway. That aside, we did manage to push our memory by 375MHz, which equates to another 3000MHz effective. GPU-Z Stock GPU-Z OC Software Settings Power & Temperatures To see what this overclock does for the general performance of the card, and more importantly, to make sure that things are 100% stable, we booted up F1 24 for an hour-long loop to check how the temperatures, fan speed, power usage and clock speed behaviour was like, and to see how that compares to the stock levels too. In terms of the temperatures, not much really changed from stock with a single degree difference in the GPU temperature, while the memory junction remained around the same levels at 65 degrees. The overclock did manage to push our GPU clock a little higher, averaging around 2835MHz, which is a modest 6% increase in terms of real-world clock speed, though we did see a 3000MHz jump in the effective memory clock, now at 17001MHz. Being a triple fan card, we didn’t see any increase in fan speed, and instead, stayed around the low to mid 1600RPM mark, all while using around 270 Watts of power, even when overclocked. Inno3D How We Test We continue to update our testing methods around once per year. As such, we re-test older hardware to reflect changes over time. These can be driver updates, Windows updates, game patches, and more; all of which have an impact on performance figures. Furthermore, we update our test benches to newer and more relevant hardware. This means that our new reviews aren’t always comparable to those of older reviews, so please compare the testing methodology on older reviews should you be trying to compare them with newer ones. Replicate Our Results When it comes to our benchmarks in our reviews, the benchmarks are pretty self-explanatory and are kept as simple as possible, although there are a few exceptions. Remember that your choice of a graphics card, CPU, the silicon lottery, and other factors can yield different numbers, and there’s always a margin for error when using any software. Links are provided below, as well as the settings we use. We encourage you to not just look at how one product compares to any other, but how it compares to your own. If you’re looking to build a new system, you should benchmark your current PC using the benchmarks available to you. You should then look at the percentage improvement from your current hardware to the hardware tested here to give you a ballpark figure of how much of an upgrade this will provide you with. Processor Test Systems Test System (GPU) Motherboard Gigabyte B650E AORUS MASTER Buy Now Processor Ryzen 7 9800X3D Review Buy Now GPU Changes Per Review RAM 32 Corsair VENGEANCE RGB 6000MHz CL30 Review Buy Now CPU Cooler NZXT Kraken Z73 RGB Buy Now Power Supply NZXT C1000 Gold Review Buy Now Storage Seagate FIRECUDA 530 1TB Review Buy Now Chassis NZXT H9 Flow Review Buy Now OS Windows 11 Pro Version 21H2 Drivers Software We use a variety of software from different developers to assist in our testing and to give us the most consistent results possible. Some applications are specifically used for testing, while others are simply used for monitoring and to aid us in making sure that our results are as accurate as possible. Software Used 3DMark FireStrike & TimeSpy (download) Gaming To gauge performance levels which are easily reproduced time after time, by both ourselves and our readers, we now stick strictly to games default profiles. Given how powerful most modern cards are getting, we've began using more demanding profiles for most games, but will otherwise state on a per game basis if we use other profiles beyond High, Ultra, Maximum or their respective equivalent at all resolutions. V-Sync is always disabled in our testing, and all FPS caps that can be removed are. We also enable XMP and Resizable bar technology across all platforms to keep things as fair as possible. Games While we test a lot of games, it's not possible to display all of the data on the website or in our videos. Instead, we include access to all of our testing data for our Patreon members (link), where members get a ton of other benefits as well. What we do, however, is display charts for averages across all game titles to give a better picture of performance across all titles tested. A Plague Tale: Requiem Alan Wake II Baldur's Gate 3 Black Myth Wukong CS2 Cyberpunk 2077 F1 24 Fortnite Hogwarts Legacy Indiana Jones And The Great Circle Starfield War Thunder Resolutions 1080 (Full HD) 1440 4K Some tests will also include features such as NVIDIA DLSS and Ray Tracing. However, these will be clearly labelled and may only appear in reviews for graphics cards that support those features. Power Consumption Not being content with simply reading total system power draw, we now run F1 24 for an hour loop and measure power draw at the end of the loop for the most accurate measurement that represents real-world gameplay experience. Temperatures We take temperature readings after the same hour-long F1 24 loop with no other background programs running, again to simulate a real-world gaming experience. A Plague Tale: Requiem A Plague Tale: Requiem is a stealth-survival horror adventure that serves as a direct sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence. Players continue the harrowing journey of Amicia and Hugo de Rune, two young siblings navigating a plague-ridden France in the 14th century. The game features stunning visuals, intense action sequences, and a gripping narrative that explores themes of family, resilience, and the darkness within. When looking at how this translates to actual gaming performance, in A Plague Tale, we found that the overclock, did manage to give us another 9% in the averages and a healthier 13% in the lows, which now puts the 5070 Ti Ventus 3X slightly ahead of the 7900 XTX from AMD by 3%, and leads the 4080 SUPER now by a 7% margin. Black Myth Mukong Black Myth Wukong is an action role-playing game inspired by the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West." Developed by Game Science, it features stunning graphics, challenging combat encounters, and a captivating story based on the legendary Monkey King. Players can expect a unique blend of Chinese mythology and action-packed gameplay. In Black Myth: Wukong, the overclock makes for quite a substantial difference, with a near 20% increase in performance over the stock results, though with frame rates around 50 FPS, these percentages may seem artificially inflated compared to when you’re talking triple digit performance, so take from that what you will. Regardless, again, this is enough to push ahead of the 7900 XTX from AMD and the 4080 SUPER from last generation, and now matches the stock 5080 results, though does fall behind in the lows. Cyberpunk 2077 Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world action role-playing game set in the dystopian metropolis of Night City. Developed by CD Projekt Red, it offers a vast and immersive world filled with diverse characters, complex storylines, and a wide range of customization options. Players can create their own unique cyberpunk character and explore the city's underbelly, completing missions, engaging in cybernetic enhancements, and making choices that shape their destiny. In Cyberpunk, again, it does make a difference, this time with an increase of 11% when overclocking the card, and this again pushes ahead of the 4080 SUPER, though does fall behind AMD’s 7900 XTX this time by 3 FPS, but it’s nice to see that a quick overclock can lead to some pretty decent gains overall without too much effort. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is an upcoming action-adventure game based on the iconic film franchise. Developed by Bethesda Game Studios, it promises to deliver an epic and cinematic experience with a globe-trotting adventure, thrilling action sequences, and a captivating story. Players will step into the shoes of Indiana Jones and embark on a quest to uncover the secrets of a mysterious artefact. In Indiana Jones, the performance boost is more modest, with just a 6% increase in performance when overclocked, now giving us 87 frames per second, but again, this is enough to push past the 4080 SUPER, and sit just below the RTX 5080 Founders Edition’s stock result. Starfield Starfield is a highly anticipated space exploration role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios. It offers a vast and immersive galaxy to explore, with countless planets, star systems, and alien civilizations to discover. Players can create their own custom character and embark on a journey to uncover the secrets of the universe, completing missions, engaging in space combat, and making choices that shape their destiny. In Starfield, the performance at stock was pretty strong at 75 FPS, sitting between the 4070 Ti SUPER and RTX 4080, though this time, the overclock didn’t seem to do much as we only saw a less than 3% uplift thanks to the overclock, which did nothing for our standings, with both the stock and overclocked results now sitting at similar levels. Ray Tracing - Black Myth Wukong Black Myth Wukong is an action role-playing game inspired by the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West." Developed by Game Science, it features stunning graphics, challenging combat encounters, and a captivating story based on the legendary Monkey King. Players can expect a unique blend of Chinese mythology and action-packed gameplay. Moving back to Black Myth: Wukong but this time enabling raytracing, and it’s clear to see how taxing the game is, even on a card like the 5070 Ti, as we’re now into the realms of what would be classed as unplayable frame rates and upscaling would need to be relied on to run these quality settings. Regardless, we do see an increase of 4%, though this does only equate to just 1 frame per second and both the stock and overclock results see identical 1% lows. Ray Tracing - Cyberpunk 2077 Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world action role-playing game set in the dystopian metropolis of Night City. Developed by CD Projekt Red, it offers a vast and immersive world filled with diverse characters, complex storylines, and a wide range of customization options. Players can create their own unique cyberpunk character and explore the city's underbelly, completing missions, engaging in cybernetic enhancements, and making choices that shape their destiny. It’s a similar story in Cyberpunk with pretty dire frame rates to start with, showing that upscaling tech is very much needed, because even our overclock, which does give us a 9% increase in performance only translates to a 2 FPS increase in performance with identical 1% lows yet again. Conclusion So for the 5070 Ti Ventus 3X OC, it’s a tricky one as we don’t have a founders model to compare to, but that’s typical for this level of card, as NVIDIA have never made an FE model in this tier, so we have to treat the Ventus 3X OC a bit like a founders, of which we did in our main 5070 Ti coverage, which you can go and check out. Today, however, was less about what NVIDIA have done, and more about what MSI have accomplished through overclocking, style and design and the all-important cooler. It’s here, where, though we don’t have comparisons yet, it does fairly well. Temperatures were kept under control, fan speed was on the lower-end of the scale and no unnecessary power was used throughout testing, and that’s exactly what we’d expect from MSI and a card like this that offers a no frills approach for gamers who just want to game and who just want to focus on that without any extra added features that come at an extra added price. Stock and MSRP The big issue with this card, and it’s not specific to this but much like the rest of the 50 series, we are somewhat limited by availability and pricing. If you’re dead set on getting a 5070 Ti, the choice may come down to what’s in stock rather than what’s best in class, but at least the Ventus offers a solid cooling solution and some overclocking potential at what should be MSRP, if retailers don’t inflate the price of course. OC? Despite the 'OC' branding, the factory overclock is essentially negligible, making it more of a marketing move than a real performance differentiator. That said, the card does have strong overclocking headroom, as we showed with a 700MHz boost to the core clock and an effective 3000MHz increase on the memory, allowing for some significant gains in select titles. Cooling and Performance Thermally, the triple-fan setup proves effective, keeping the card at respectable temperatures even under heavy load. The base plate and heat pipe design clearly work well to dissipate heat, while the fans remain relatively quiet and efficient. Despite pushing power consumption to 270W under overclocked conditions, fan speeds remained steady, and temperatures barely increased, showing that MSI’s cooling design does its job effectively. The addition of a metal backplate, while not primarily for cooling, does add a slight premium feel and provides structural rigidity, preventing PCB sag over time, though with no thermal pads, cooling does take a bit of a backseat, and it would have been nice to see something extra there, though as this is a no-frills option, if you’re after a more visually striking card or extra enthusiast-grade features, MSI do have something there for you with higher-end cards, though again you’ll pay for those extras. That said, if you simply want a well-cooled 5070 Ti at a reasonable price, the Ventus still makes a compelling argument, assuming you can get it at MSRP, because as we said in our main review, if it’s above that, it kind of loses its edge.. Should I Buy One? Ultimately, while the Ventus 3X OC is a good option, it doesn’t necessarily stand out from the crowd in a meaningful way. The lack of an actual Founders Edition for the 5070 Ti makes AIB models the only choice, but that also means pricing plays a major role, and at $749, again it’s fine, but if retailers push it higher, it becomes a much harder sell.