Test – Asus ROG Strix GTX 1070 Ti |Specs | Price

Introduction

Hi all!

As you probably know the NVIDIA GTX 1070 Ti graphics cards were released a few weeks ago, falling in performance in a pocket square between the “old” GTX 1070 and 1080. In addition and certainly not to do out of the shadows of the GTX 1080 NVIDIA has decided to block the operating frequencies in the BIOS of all partner cards, which has the effect (before software overclocking) of having all cards from different manufacturers at the same level.
Today we are going to Asus with their latest model, the ROG Strix GTX 1070 Ti! On the program, of course, a card equipped with the GTX 1070 Ti GPU supported by 8 GB of GDDR5 and cooled by a good big cooler which should logically be very silent. The card is at the time of writing these lines offered at a price of around € 550, which places it at the level of certain GTX 1080s, it will be necessary to watch the evolution of prices closely when the market has settled down to make the right choice 😉 Let’s take a closer look!

Presentation

Characteristics

The card therefore embeds a Pascal GTX 1070 Ti graphics processor from NVIDIA and engraved in 16 nm. The default operating frequency respects those imposed by NVIDIA, namely 1607 MHz base for an amount boost to 1683 MHz. Asus to stand out (as many brands do) an OC profile is available, not in the BIOS by default but via the small Asus GPUTweak II software (downloadable here). As long as the software is not installed you will not be entitled to the basic 1683 MHz for 1759 MHz in boost mode.
The Asus ROG Strix GTX 1070 Ti is as usual a good big baby, indeed with almost 30 cm in length and 13.4 cm in height it will not be forgotten in the tower 😉 On the other hand and compared to the Strix GTX Classic 1070 the card thickness increases, now blocking 3 slots on the motherboard. This can be an advantage or a disadvantage, indeed a thicker card is often synonymous with more efficient cooling (and / or quieter), but can get stuck in some cases.
The beast is given for a consumption of 180 Watts, which is 30 Watts higher than a GTX 1070, it remains however very good and at the level of a GTX 1080. With a contained consumption the card only needs d ‘a single 8-pin PCIe connector, which is good news for those who are a little tight with their power supply.
Asus as usual has added some small features, which we will personally judge of their usefulness, like 2 connectors for 4-pin fans, RGB LEDs of course (on the front fans and on the back via a big ROG logo) and a connector for an external RGB LED strip.
Offered at a price of around 550 € the Asus ROG Strix GTX 1070 Ti is expensive compared to what can be observed with some GTX 1080s (but 100 € less than the Asus ROG Strix 1080). Now see if the cooling system and the features can make the difference.

Bundle box

The box has been using the design of ROG products for some time now, with a photo of the beast on the front accompanied by the name of the model, as well as the various logos. At the back there is a small listing of the strengths of the beast, a large number of heat pipes, Asus Aura (RGB is life), 4-pin connections for fans and so on. The technical characteristics are also present to know at least what we are talking about 😉

Once the box is open we fall directly on a thick foam on which the pilots DVD and the various manuals rest. Underneath the beast wrapped in its antistatic bag caught in a thick foam, transport should not be a problem, which is a good thing!

In the box and in addition to the graphics card the brand provides us with a small manual, the driver DVD as well as 2 scratchs stamped with the ROG logo to attach the cables inside the tower.

The map

Here is the beast! The first thing that strikes you here is the size of the machine, indeed with its almost 31 cm in length it does not go unnoticed, whether for the eyes or in the hands! Asus has of course equipped the ROG Strix GTX 1070 Ti with its famous Strix cooler, but in 2.5 slots thick here. The frame around the cooler is made of good quality plastic. The cooling of the whole is entrusted to 3 fans, given the cooling surface they should not have too much trouble 😉

At the back there is of course a backplate which will hide the PCB so important in the eyes of some. In addition to the general design Asus has taken care to install the ROG logo, which will light up once the card is powered on, ladies and gentlemen!

As I said above the card is rather thick, here we almost arrive at a thickness of 3 slots, when a “classic” ROG Strix GTX 1070 takes only 2. On the other hand the cooling surface is larger, we can therefore expect better performance and perhaps a lower noise level.

Here you only need a single 8-pin PCIe connector to operate everything, a consumption that will therefore necessarily be measured.

The connection is complete, with 2 x HDMI, 2 x DisplayPort and 1 x DVI-D, enough to connect a significant number of screens (or a VR headset).

We undress the map

The PCB of the ROG Stirx GTX 1070 Ti is identical to the “classic” GTX 1070, except for the addition of 2 capacitors on the power stage part. The build quality is excellent here as usual.
On the right, there are 2 4-pin connectors for external fans, they will be linked to the GPU temperature and will start up according to the ventilation curve of the graphics card (automatically or manually depending on your settings). This will allow, for example, to operate fans installed in the box according to the temperature of the card, fans of silence (or performance) will appreciate.
A connector for RGB LED strips is also present, for a more furnished Christmas tree!

The cooling system on the other hand is clearly a monster, a nickel-plated copper base and therefore with a mirror finish in contact with no less than 6 heat pipes passing through 2 large radiator. The performance of the thing should be great, who needs a water cooling with that? 😀