Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Ti: Three Cards, Unboxed

Synchronized at Factory

When GeForce GTX 1070 Ti launches, Nvidia will require that all cards ship with its reference base and GPU Boost clock rates. But that's just one side of the story. You'll still see boards with different coolers and power supplies. Does that mean all 1070 Tis perform the same, though?

We can't talk about specifications yet; today is for unboxing only. But a lot of the rumors we've read are true (with a few exceptions). Those exceptions are what we hope to tease today. One of the cards we already have on-hand is going to play a leading role in this. But which one is it? Read on!


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Gigabyte GTX 1070 Ti G1 Gaming - ISO

Take the well-known cooler used for Gigabyte's GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming G1, put it on a shorter PCB, and you get a new card. But why shorten the board? It turns out that the Aorus cooler trades length for thickness. But there are no Aorus cards that run at reference clock rates (they're all factory overclocked). So, we end up with a G1 Gaming model instead. Unfortunately, the true special feature of the card is not visible from this angle.


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Gigabyte GTX 1070 Ti G1 Gaming - Front

As with Gigabyte's GTX 1070 and 1080 G1 Gaming, the three fans have a rotor diameter of 78mm and an opening of ~82mm.


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Gigabyte GTX 1070 Ti G1 Gaming - Back

The backplate overlaps a significantly shortened PCB, matching the thermal solution's length. This makes it easy for Gigabyte to continue using components that already exist.


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Gigabyte GTX 1070 Ti G1 Gaming - Slot Cover

We get a total of three DisplayPort 1.4-ready connectors, one HDMI 2.0 output, and the obligatory dual-link DVI interface. Four of those five connectors can be used at any given time.


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Gigabyte GTX 1070 Ti G1 Gaming - End Of Card

Gigabyte's fan cover closes off the card's back side. Consequently, there is not much to see.

Measuring 10.5cm between the PCIe slot's edge to the top of the fan shroud, this card should still fit into narrower enclosures.


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Gigabyte GTX 1070 Ti G1 Gaming - Bottom

We measure 28.3cm from the slot cover to the outside edge of the front cover. The cooling fins are oriented vertically, and the overlapping fan shroud deflects airflow a little towards the back.


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Gigabyte GTX 1070 Ti G1 Gaming - Top

The view from above shows how much shorter Gigabyte's PCB is than the cooler. There's just one eight-pin auxiliary power connector, an illuminated Gigabyte logo, and the Fan Stop LED indicator for when the card is idle in its passive mode. A thickness of 3.5cm is flat enough to pass for a true dual-slot model.


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Gigabyte GTX 1070 Ti G1 Gaming - First Impression

Even though the card looks very similar to its two G1 Gaming relatives, the BIOS includes some surprises for us. While the test results will have to wait, the card's performance should come out somewhere between the 1070 and 1080. No surprise there.


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Gainward GTX 1070 Ti Phoenix - Golden Sample

GS usually stands for Golden Sample. By that, Gainward means a selection of cards that should be able to achieve the highest overclocks. But since Nvidia isn't allowing factory-tuned clock rates, this is a card that technically shouldn't exist.

Those restrictions weren't made clear to board vendors until after the cards and components were already manufactured, though. As a result, this product was allowed to find its way into our hands. Be that as it may, the BIOS still plays by Nvidia's rules.


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Gainward GTX 1070 Ti Phoenix

Gainward's GTX 1070 Ti Phoenix (let's forget about the GS for now) is identical to Palit's GTX 1070 Ti JetStream except for the fan shroud and warranty coverage. Here, the "Super" of Palit's usual Super Jetstream suffered the same fate as Gainward's GS: mainly, Nvidia neutered it.


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  • samer.forums
    What is the point of this card when the GTX 1080 is around ?
    Reply
  • Sakkura
    20310761 said:
    What is the point of this card when the GTX 1080 is around ?

    Being $50 cheaper with commensurate performance. Mostly to fill in the gap between 1070 and 1080 that Vega hits (especially Vega 56).
    Reply
  • samer.forums
    20310810 said:
    20310761 said:
    What is the point of this card when the GTX 1080 is around ?

    Being $50 cheaper with commensurate performance. Mostly to fill in the gap between 1070 and 1080 that Vega hits (especially Vega 56).

    and you really think that bitcoin miners will keep that $50 difference ? it will sky rocket to more than GTX 1080 in no time . you will see .
    Reply
  • poochiepiano
    20310820 said:
    20310810 said:
    20310761 said:
    What is the point of this card when the GTX 1080 is around ?

    Being $50 cheaper with commensurate performance. Mostly to fill in the gap between 1070 and 1080 that Vega hits (especially Vega 56).

    and you really think that bitcoin miners will keep that $50 difference ? it will sky rocket to more than GTX 1080 in no time . you will see .
    That's not really nvidia's worry, though, is it? This is what matters to them: people are buying Vega, this product is to get some of that market back. Doesn't matter if the customers are miners or gamers. Besides, as far as I know, Vega 56 wasn't that desirable for miners, but these things seem to change every other week, so who knows?
    Reply
  • shrapnel_indie
    First x70Ti card in a generation or so. Can't help but think that AMD's Vega cards had some influence on this, and that the choke-chain placed on manufacturers might have something to do with it could potentially dig into GTX1080 sales. Just my opinion and guesswork though. Can't help but want a Vega 56 or 64, but this 1070Ti just might change my mind. (Yeah, I prefer AMD, but I'm not so stuck on it as to ignore performance to price.... It's why I won't get a Vega 64 at its current price point.)

    Clarified "First Ti card in a generation or so" -> referring to x70 series.
    Reply
  • LilDog1291
    20310893 said:
    First Ti card in a generation or so. Can't help but think that AMD's Vega cards had some influence on this, and that the choke-chain placed on manufacturers might have something to do with it could potentially dig into GTX1080 sales. Just my opinion and guesswork though. Can't help but want a Vega 56 or 64, but this 1070Ti just might change my mind. (Yeah, I prefer AMD, but I'm not so stuck on it as to ignore performance to price.... It's why I won't get a Vega 64 at its current price point.)

    I mean there is the 1080ti which came out a little while ago but yeah this is just to hit that same market that Vega has targeted with a product that is 'newer'. Still wouldn't go with Vega due to the manufacturing problems they have had with different HBM2 module height, even if the price point wasn't the same. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-vega-package-problem,35281.html
    Reply
  • warpuck
    I put a Wind Force cooler off a HD 7970 on a R9 285. Used the two fans from the original cooler and added a Arctic 92mm to the end. The fan on the end blows thru the cooler end. Oh and got 125 Mhz more out of the GPU and more out of the memory. The original cooler did not have VRAM thermal pads connected to the cooler or the VRs. Just more all around with nuch less GPU temps. Can't see why that would not work on a short GTX card also
    Reply
  • Malik 722
    why AMD don't release the Ti like variant of it's R580 that would be interesting.
    Reply
  • rwinches
    Wow that Vulcan X has two 8 pin power connectors! Kind of hard to believe it will be running at stock.
    AIBs will not only be sold at $449 more like $500 and up and then miners will boost that. I hope the sag in mining continues thru the holiday sales.
    Reply
  • TadashiTG
    I think it's still user OC'able. If the last picture is to be believed.
    Reply