PNY GTX 1070 XLR8 OC Gaming 8GB Graphics Card Review

Introduction Not all graphics cards are created equally, such as this GeForce GTX 1070 from PNY. It takes the stock card and makes it even faster than before. PNY is well-known for their premium quality aftermarket graphics cards, and the XLR8 OC Gaming delivers faster clock speeds, a powerful cooling solution, a slick design, and hopefully fantastic performance too. The stock GTX 1070 delivers a 1506/1683 stock and boost graphics clock, while the new card from PNY ups that to an impressive 1607/1797 MHz, quite an improvement, and one that should no doubt deliver improved performance. OF course, extra power is required to do so, with the card pulling a 150W TDP, and while it still uses the same 8-pin connector, the factory overclock does mean more heat, so that triple fan cooling solution should help keep things nice and cool, even when pushing the card to its limits. Equipped with all the latest features you would expect from a 10xx series card, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 is a robust chipset, so let's jump in, take a closer look at what it has to offer, then fire it up on our test bench! Key Features Factory Overclocked PNY Silent XLR8 Triple Cooler Simultaneous Multi-Projection VR Ready NVIDIA Ansel Support NVIDIA SLI® w/ HB Bridge Support NVIDIA G-SYNC™ NVIDIA GameStream™ NVIDIA GPU Boost™ 3.0 Microsoft® DirectX® 12 Support Vulkan API Support Open GL 4.5 Support PCI Express 3.0 Max Digital Resolution - 7680x4320 @ 60Hz1 3x DisplayPort 1.4 HDMI 2.0b DL-DVI XLR8 Your Performance "Enjoy your supercharged gaming experience with PNY GTX 1070 XLR8 Gaming Overclocked Edition. Powered by the new NVIDIA® Pascal™ architecture and optimized with PNY’s XLR8 Triple Fan XLR8 Cooler; Now you can game faster, game silent. This advanced graphics card is created with ultra-fast FinFET technology and supports DirectX 12 features to deliver fast, smooth, power-efficient gaming experiences." - PNY A Closer Look PNY has put a lot of effort into creating a unique looking graphics card. The shroud is massive, making room for three of their high-performance XLR8 fans, which span the length of a massive two-part heat sink that should allow the card to maintain its overclocked speeds without throttling. At the back of the card, you can see part of the heat sink is exposed, which should allow a little bit of air to flow around the card, moving more heat away with it. I love the heavy duty, almost industrial build quality too, with exposed bolts on the exterior card clamping the metal trim and fans to the main housing of the graphics card. It's certainly an aggressive design, but for anyone building a gaming rig, that's no doubt a good thing. Connectivity is robust, with a 3 x DP, 1 x HDMI, and 1 x DVI, ensuring you can connect all the most common display types, as well as multi-display setups. The card is quite long, as be sure to measure your rig before you order one. Power delivery shouldn't be too much trouble though, with just a single 8-pin power connector required. Around the back of the card, a gorgeous matte black finished backplate, which helps with the overall strength of the card but also helps passively cool the PCB. Overall, this is one gorgeous looking graphics card and is sure to look great in your system. Testing & Methodology Please note that on 16/04/2017, the graphics cards featured in this review were completely retested. This was done to implement new changes in the way we test, the settings we use, the software and more. We've also made some slight hardware changes to our test benches, and all games have been recently updated, as has the OS, graphics drivers, etc. This would mean new results would not be a fair comparison to old. For your reference, the last review to feature our old results can't be found here. Here is the test system used for all graphics card reviews (pictured above) and game performance analysis: Graphics Card Test System Motherboard – Asus Rampage V Extreme X99 Processor – Intel Core i7 5960X at stock with turbo enabled RAM – Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) 2666 MHz Graphics Card – Varies per review CPU Cooler – Noctua NH-D15S Power Supply – Be Quiet Power Zone 1000W Main Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GB Chassis – Lian Li T80 Open Air Test Bench Operating System – Windows 10 64-bit Additional Hardware "Killawatt” style electricity usage meter wall plug Precision Gold N05CC Decibel meter Games Throughout the testing procedure, we always use demanding presets which stress graphics cards to reasonable limits. However, in the interest of fairness, any technology which favours either AMD or NVIDIA is disabled. More specifically, this refers to PhysX, Hairworks and similar technologies. Additionally, we also disable all forms of AA, including FXAA, to gauge performance levels which aren't impacted by sophisticated AA. Theoretically, we could have employed FXAA because it only has a minor impact on the frame-rate, but many users strongly dislike the hazy image this causes. N-Sync is always disabled in our testing, graphics card power usage is set to optimised or balance, system power mode is set to High Performance. Some benchmarks may feature more cards, this is due to some tests being older or newer than others, and being used in other game specific feature tests we have conducted, so you'll find all relevant cards included in each chart as we add or remove new and old tests. Selecting strenuous presets especially at higher resolutions can cause hitching and other performance problems on graphics cards with lower amounts of video memory. For example, Rise of the Tomb Raider's Very High textures requires 4GB of RAM to maintain a smooth frame-rate. In theory, we could run the benchmarks at the High setting, but this defeats the purpose of high-end graphics cards which are designed to cope with the absolute best graphics on the market. Furthermore, the notion of enthusiast cards sporting less than 4GB memory has become less of an issue. Of course, whenever we're tackling more affordable GPUs, the settings will be altered accordingly and detailed for clarity. Identical settings are used for all resolutions, 1080, 1440, 2160, and 1440 Ultrawide, unless otherwise stated. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Graphics Settings For this game, we use the Very High preset, with some small changes to increase the Texture Filtering, turn off the AA, and all V-Sync settings. Preset: Custom Fullscreen: On Exclusive Fullscreen: Off DirextX 12: On VSync: Off Anti-aliasing: Off Texture Quality: Very High Texture Filtering: 16x Anisotropic Shadow Quality: Very High Sun Soft Shadows: High Depth of Field: Very High Level of Detail: Very High Dynamic Foliage: High Ambient Occlusion: On PureHair: Off Specular Reflection Quality: Normal Vignette Blur: On Motion Blur: On Bloom: On Tesselations: On Screen Space Reflections: On Lens Flares: On Screen Effects: On Film Grain: On Rise of the Tomb Raider Graphics Settings Preset: Custom Fullscreen: On Exclusive Fullscreen: Off DirextX 12: On MSAA: Off VSync: Off Texture Quality: Very High Texture Filtering: 16x Anisotropic Shadow Quality: Very High Ambient Occlusion: Very High Contact Hardening Shadows: On Parallax Occlusion Mapping: High Depth of Field: Very High Level of Detail: Very High Volumetric Lighting: On Screenspace Reflections: On Temporal Anti-Aliasing: Disabled Motion Blur: On Sharpen: On Bloom: On Lens Flares: On Cloth Physics: On Subsurface Scattering: On Chromatic Aberration: On Tesselations: On Far Cry Primal Graphics Settings Graphics Quality: Custom HD Textures: On Textures: Very High Shadow: Ultra Post FX: High Geometry: Ultra Terrain: Very High Water: Very High Environment: High Anti-Aliasing: Off Volumetric Fog: Very High Motion Blur: On Ghost Recon: Wildlands Graphics Settings Preset: Custom Antialiasing: Off Ambient Occlusion: SSBC Draw Distance: Very High Level of Detail: Ultra Texture Quality: Ultra Anisotropic Filtering: 16 Shadow Quality: Ultra Terrain Quality: Ultra Vegetation Quality: Ultra Turf Effects: Off Motion Blur: On Iron Sights DOF: On High-Quality DOF: On Bloom: On God Raws: Enhanced Subsurface Scattering: On Lens Flare: On Long-Range Shadows: Ultra Software 3DMark Firestrike 3DMark Time Spy Unique Superposition Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Rise of the Tomb Raider Far Cry Primal Ghost Recon: Wildlands CPU-ID HWMonitor TechPowerUp GPU-Z Noise Everyone has their own reasonable noise level when it comes to comes to components on a computer. Some can handle all fans at 100% load to keep temperatures down; some want an entirely silent computer. To accurately gauge the noise output of a graphics card, we position a Precision Gold N05CC Decibel meter from one metre above our open air test bench and take an average reading at idle and load. Power Consumption With electricity becoming increasingly expensive across most parts of the world the need for computer components to become power efficient has never been more relevant. Graphics cards are often the most power-hungry components of a desktop system so having an efficient graphics card is crucial to keeping power bills under control. Power is tied to heat, so lower power consumption means a graphics card is likely to run slightly cooler and put out less heat into your system meaning your other components will run cooler with improved longevity. AMD and NVIDIA have both made power consumption an integral part of the way graphics cards dynamically overclock, so the need for graphics card vendors to use efficient VRM and PCB designs is becoming essential to maximise performance. We take power readings during idle state with no background applications running. Then again at 25%, 50%, and 99% completion of the Unigine Superposition benchmark, using the average as the final published result. Temperatures The cooling solution which graphics card vendors choose to implement is one of the main differences that consumers have to contend with when selecting a graphics cards. Apart from their acoustic properties, the thermal properties of graphics card coolers are critical. Lower temperatures are always better, and with AMD and NVIDIA opting to use dynamic overclocking algorithms that take temperature into account, it is important that graphics card vendors use high-performance cooling solutions to maximise performance. The era of graphics cards reaching critical temperatures are now in the past, but the importance of low temperatures remains. Lower temperatures mean better stability, longer component longevity and lower fan speeds. We take temperature readings after 10 minutes of desktop idle with no background programs running, then take the recorded maximum delivered from Unigine Superposition after a 4K optimised run, confirming the numbers are accurate with HWMonitor. Ambient temperature is always kept +/- 1c from 21c. 3DMark Straight away we see the XLR8 off to a flying star, and so it should be, it's a pretty fast card on the specs table. It managed a score that sits behind the GTX 1080, which is pretty much where it should be. Again, very competitive scores here, beating out the Fury X by a nice margin. Even at 2160p it still holds onto 3rd place perfectly. I think it's pretty clear this card is going to be clocking in 3rd place a lot today, with another great score in Time Spy. Unigine Superpossition Superpossition is a very demanding benchmark and needs plenty of VRAM to get a great score, so that 8GB GDDR5 is helping out a lot here. Pushing the same benchmark in 4K gives it a much bigger lead over the Fury X. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Deus Ex is very demanding, but even with ultra settings, the card maintained an average and minimum above 60fps. At 1440p, the card scored great frame rates too, which could easily be tuned to hit 60fps. 4K gaming did knock the wind out of the card a bit, but even the 1080 Ti struggles to hit above 40fps with our settings. It'll hit 60fps with medium settings through, so it's still possible to game at this resolution. The same is true of 21:9 1440p, with the card putting out another great score, although the Fury X did favour a lot better in terms of minimum frame rates. Rise of the Tomb Raider Rise of the Tomb Raider proved no trouble, with fantastic frame rates at 1080p. Even at 1440P, the XLR8 scored fantastic results. Gaming at 2160p isn't out of reach either, with just a few minor graphics tweaks this card will easily do 60fps in Tomb Raider at 4K. Predictably, the ultrawide performance was great too. Far Cry Primal Amazingly the XLR8 performed almost as well as the GTX 1080 and the 1080 Ti at 1080p. The 1080 series cards pulled ahead here, but the 1070 still manages to maintain a high minimum and average frame rate. It drops down quite a lot at 4K, but these are still respectable figures overall. Again, we see this card is more than capable of gaming at 1440 ultrawide, even with ultra settings it scores very highly. Ghost Recon: Wildlands Wildlands is extremely demanding with ultra settings, but the XLR8 scores very close to 60fps at 1080p. Predictably, it holds onto that 3rd place slot at 1440p, 2160p, and ultrawide too. Acoustic, Thermal and Power Testing Acoustic Performance The XLR8 doesn't have a zero fan mode, but even with all three fans running, it's super quiet at just 36 dBa, although you can hear a bit of air turbulence at full load, with the fans kicking up to 46 dBa. Thermal Performance While it may be a little louder, the fans aren't working hard for nothing, and the card clocks in at a breezy 57c even at full load! Power Usage Nvidia has had an efficiency lead for quite some time now, so unsurprisingly the XLR8 only uses 259 Watts, which is much less than even the RX 470. Final Thoughts Price The PNY GeForce GTX 1070 XLR8 OC Gaming Edition Graphics Card is a pricey £420, which could be better as you can pick up a 1070 from around £370, but it's still priced on par with the ASUS STRIX GTX 1070, and Gigabyte GTX 1070 G1, which offer comparable performance. Overview There's a lot to love about this graphics card, as it comes out swinging with its no-nonsense approach to high-performance gaming. It's clocked faster than the stock card, and it manages to maintain that power and speed thanks to its improved power delivery and massively upgraded cooler vs the stock Nvidia design. Like almost anything though, it's not perfect. The cooler does a fantastic job of keeping the hardware cool, but unlike its rivals, it doesn't offer a zero fan mode for silent performance in low load scenarios, which is a shame as I'm certain the heat sink is big enough to do so. With that in mind, I don't think the card is particularly noisy, but zero fan modes can reduce dust build up and improve the lifespan of the fans. In terms of all-out performance, the XLR8 doesn't muck about and is one of the fastest cards we've ever tested. Sure, the GTX 1080 and the 1080 Ti pull ahead by a hefty margin, but this is the only card on the market that can get even close, and the next fastest card we've tested, the Fury X, still lags a fair bit behind the GTX 1070 in most of our tests. If you want most of the high-end performance thrills of the more expensive Nvidia graphics cards, at almost half the price, this is certainly the way to go. While the top Nvidia cards are king in the world of 4K gaming, the GTX 1070 is perfectly positioned for those wanting to game at high frame rates, and resolutions like 1440p, as well as ultrawide 3440 x 1440p, as it has more than enough VRAM to deal with the increased resolution and plenty of rendering power to deliver reliable frame rates at a competitive price range. Build quality is as good as we've come to expect from PNY, with a durable and unique looking cooler shroud, a few hints of colour on the metal brackets giving it that well-established black and red gamer vibe, as well as a durable full-cover backplate design that completes the package. Pros Blazing fast gaming performance Ideal for 1440p and Ultrawide resolutions Can delivery > 60fps frame rates at ultra settings Powerful cooler design Durable build quality Backplate Red LED lighting Good factory overclock Cons No RGB lighting option No ZERO RPM fan mode "The PNY GTX 1070 XLR8 is one of the best graphics cards on the market. A decent factory overclock, a powerful cooler, and a durable and stylish design make it great value for those wanting to take their gaming performance to the next level."