After checking out the RTX 5080, the next off the line was the RTX 5070 Ti. There was no Founder’s Edition for this one (not that we see them here in Australia), but I was able to check out MSI’s VANGUARD SOC model which is the flagship in their RTX 5070 Ti range.
As soon as I pulled this out of the box, it was very clear that this was going to be a GPU unboxing experience like no other. At CES, MSI was making a big deal out of the new VANGUARD model as it includes one of 10 Lucky figures. If you’re not a hardcore MSi fan, Lucky is its little dragon mascot that it takes very seriously. I was lucky enough to get the Guard Lucky from England, holding a little GPU.
The entire experience of unboxing Lucky definitely elevates what is usually quite a non-experience, providing an extra layer with a box going through all of the possibilities, a little welcome letter and a blind unboxing experience that provides a bit of excitement before you get to the good stuff.
Pulling the VANGUARD out of box was a similar experience. Whilst the Founder’s Edition RTX 50-series are quite understated, this is the complete opposite in the best possible way. You get MSI’s logo on the front of the card that is lit up with RGB goodness, the MSI dragon on the right side of the GPU, and a massive dragon on the top of the card. You’ve then got RGB lighting underneath as well, so if you’re someone that loves an RGB setup, this won’t disappoint.
At 338 x 140 x 50mm in size and 1310 grams of weight this isn’t a small card, so just be prepared for that. It’s definitely not the biggest GPU in existence but it absolutely isn’t going to fit into a small build. It feels solid in the hands with its metal backplate and that’s just the beginning of its efficiency and cooling effectiveness that makes the size acceptable.
Taking advantage of the STORMFORCE fan which comprises of seven fan blades, a Vapor Chamber and the HYPER FROZR Thermal Design, you’ve got a GPU that is extremely quiet and also maintains a temperature in the mid 50s, MSI has tone a fantastic job in making a card that is a performance beast whilst super silent and staying cool at the same time.
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Onto the performance, it’s a great performing card and I can really see the 5070 Ti being the one that a lot of people gravitated towards once stock normalises a bit. This is absolutely a very capable 4K card coming in just a bit below the RTX 5080 and when it comes to 1440p gaming, it’s going to hit the sweet spot for even the most high-frame monitors.
When it comes to the equipment I used to test, Mwave were kind enough to provide me with an extremely sexy case that perfectly matched the 5070 Ti.
It’s this Antec case HERE (or full PC range HERE) and includes the below:
- Antec C3 ARGB Black Constellation Series Mid Tower ATX Case
- ASUS PRIME Z790-P WIFI-CSM DDR5 Intel LGA 1700 ATX Motherboard
- Intel Core i7 14700KF 20 Core Up to 5.60GHz
- Predator 32GB DDR5 Memory
- Lexar 2TB PCIe Gen 4.0 NVMe SSD
- MSI MAG A850GL 850W 80+ Gold Fully Modular ATX 3.0 PCIE5 Power Supply
I really wanted to focus on the RTX 50-series specific feature in DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation (MFG) as well as improvements to DLSS thanks to the new Transfomer model (which are also available on older RTX GPUs).
I fully understand why the most hardcore of PC gamers aren’t the biggest fan of MFG, but for me across all games tested, it’s an absolute game-changer. Being able to play the small sample of games available in early access at ~200 FPS at 4K at ultra with ray-tracing turned to the max without having to worry about frames and getting to take advantage of my 4K/240hz OLED monitor was just a step above anything else that I’ve experienced.
I’m no Digital Foundry by any stretch, but basically the reason why MFG is such a big deal is because 3 out of 4 frames (if you’re using MFG 4x) is rendered by NVIDIA’s latest transformer model, so you’re able to literally double or triple performance in some instances without a conceivable loss in graphical quality and even more clarity in some instances.
RTX 5070 TI 4K MULTI FRAME GEN PERFORMANCE
Maximum Settings / DLSS: Quality
- Cyberpunk 2077 – 133 FPS
- Hogwarts Legacy – 180 FPS
- Marvel Rivals – 254 FPS
- Star Wars Outlaws – 157 FPS
- Alan Wake 2 – 109 FPS
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard – 231 FPS
Whilst gaming in 4K, the 5070 Ti does a fantastic job with Multi Frame Gen turned on at 4x. If you’ve got a 4K/144hz monitor, you’ll be able to push it to the limit with most games. You’re able to play Cyberpunk 2077 fully kitted out with ray-tracing at 130+ FPS, Hogwarts Legacy comes in at just under 200 FPS, Marvel’s Rivals pushes well above 250 FPS and Dragon Age The Veilguard does as well.
RTX 5070 TI 1440p MULTI FRAME GEN PERFORMANCE
Maximum Settings / DLSS: Quality
- Cyberpunk 2077 – 234 FPS
- Hogwarts Legacy – 325 FPS
- Marvel Rivals – 402 FPS
- Star Wars Outlaws – 261 FPS
- Alan Wake 2 – 190 FPS
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard – 318 FPS
Similarly, at 1440p the 5070 Ti performs incredibly with Multi Frame Gen enabled. If you’ve got a 4K/240hz monitor, you’re going to maximise it with Cyberpunk 2077 pushing 240 FPS, Hogwarts Legacy, Marvel Rivals and Dragon Age The Veilguard all pushing above 300 FPS and Alan Wake 2 and Star Wars Outlaws both reaching above 200 FPS as well.
RTX 5070 TI 4K DLSS PERFORMANCE (NO FRAME GEN)
Maximum Settings / DLSS: Balanced
- Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered – 135 FPS
- Cyberpunk 2077 – 74
- Returnal – 74 FPS
- Black Myth: Wukong – 76 FPS
- Spider-Man Miles Morales – 146 FPS
Without Multi Frame Gen, you’re still going to a fairly solid 4K performance just with DLSS 4. Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered almost reaches 140 FPS, Cyberpunk 2077 still hits well above 60 FPS even with ray-tracing turned all the way up, Returnal and Black Myth Wukong perform similarly in the mid 70s and Spider-Man Miles Morales reached well into the mid 140s.
@shannongrixti The MSI RTX 5070 Ti Vanguard GPU is a beautiful piece of tech with an extremely cute Lucky blind box #RTX5070Ti #RTX5070 #GPU #MSI #MSIVanguard #Vanguard5070TI #NVIDIARTX5070Ti #Gaming #PC #GamingPC #PCBuilding
RTX 5070 TI 1440p DLSS PERFORMANCE (NO FRAME GEN)
Maximum Settings / DLSS: Balanced
- Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered – 228 FPS
- Cyberpunk 2077 – 173 FPS
- Returnal – 122 FPS
- Black Myth: Wukong – 101 FPS
- Spider-Man Miles Morales – 232 FPS
It’s a similar story without Multi Frame Gen at 1440p as well. You’ll still be able to reach the super high refresh rates of your monitor with Horizon Zero Dawn and Spider-Man Miles Morales both reaching around the 230 FPS mark, Cyberpunk 2077 reaching 173 FPS and Black Myth Wukong and Returnal both hovering around 100 FPS.
The RTX 5070 Ti might just end up being the card to get in the RTX 50 series range, and if you’re wanting the best of the best within the range, there isn’t going to be much better than the MSI Vanguard which is absolutely the most premium GPU available that I’ve tested.
