Power, Temperature, and Noise

As always, we'll take a look at power, temperature, and noise of the RTX 2070 Founders Edition, especially considering its atypically large GPU, new cooler design, new fixed-function hardware, and higher TDPs. For the most part, the dual axial fan open air design provide straightforward benefits in lower noise and cooling, though with drawbacks as mentioned earlier.

As this is a new GPU, we will quickly review the GeForce RTX 2070's stock voltages and clockspeeds as well.

GeForce Video Card Voltages
RTX 2070 Boost GTX 1070 Boost RTX 2070 Idle GTX 1070 Idle
1.050v 1.062v 0.718v 0.625v

The voltages are broadly comparable to the preceding 16nm GTX 1070. In comparison to pre-FinFET generations, these voltages are exceptionally lower because of the FinFET process used, something we went over in detail in our GTX 1080 and 1070 Founders Edition review. As we said then, the 16nm FinFET process requires said low voltages as opposed to previous planar nodes, so this can be limiting in scenarios where a lot of power and voltage are needed, i.e. high clockspeeds and overclocking. Of course, Turing (along with Volta, Xavier, and NVSwitch) are built on 12nm "FFN" rather than 16nm, but there is little detail on the exact process tweaks.

GeForce Video Card Average Clockspeeds
Game RTX 2070 RTX 2070 FE GTX 1070
Max Boost Clock
2160MHz
2160MHz
1898MHz
Boost Clock 1620MHz 1710MHz 1683MHz
Battlefield 1 1723MHz 1825MHz 1787MHz
Far Cry 5 1734MHz 1824MHz 1784MHz
Ashes: Escalation 1775MHz 1853MHz 1774MHz
Wolfenstein II 1644MHz 1719MHz 1728MHz
Final Fantasy XV 1690MHz 1786MHz 1749MHz
Grand Theft Auto V 1802MHz 1881MHz 1832MHz
Shadow of War 1669MHz 1775MHz 1768MHz
F1 2018 1780MHz 1826MHz 1787MHz
Total War: Warhammer II 1743MHz 1833MHz 1786MHz

In terms of clockspeeds, the RTX 2070 isn't bringing any surprises. Like Pascal and the GTX 1070, the boost clock reading is used liberally, usually boosting beyond, and varies per game/workload. With the +90MHz Founders Edition OC, the RTX 2070 dutifully ramps up. What remains to be seen is how these clockspeeds hold when RT cores or tensor cores are actively and steadily utilized. In any case, at its Founders Edition specs, the RTX 2070 has perhaps another 100MHz or so to push, but otherwise is out of headroom (or power).

Idle Power Consumption

Load Power Consumption - Battlefield 1

Load Power Consumption - FurMark

The steady TDP creep has taken its toll, and the 2070 is no longer a power-sipper of the likes of the 1070 or 970. At the very least, it is far from the excesses of its older 2080 Ti and 2080 siblings. Of note is its additional power draw over the GTX 1080, which in certain games trades blows with the 2070.

Temperature

The adoption of an open air cooler with dual axial fans has immediate benefits, especially with a lower temperature target.

Idle GPU TemperatureLoad GPU Temperature - Battlefield 1Load GPU Temperature - FurMark

Noise

In turn, the open air cooler allows for quieter, slower spinning axial fans.

Idle Noise LevelsLoad Noise Levels - Battlefield 1Load Noise Levels - FurMark

Compute & Synthetics Overclocking
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  • Jon Tseng - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link

    Anandtech review out on time? What is the world coming to???
  • MrSpadge - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link

    That was a nate review. Ehm, I mean neat.
  • ianmills - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link

    Oh, I get it!
  • bug77 - Wednesday, October 17, 2018 - link

    Oh, nate! I mean, oh neat!
  • dollarshort - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link

    Technically a day late if you count Kyle B's review ;)
  • Jon Tseng - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link

    BUT I WANT MY REVIEWS TO HAVE LOTS OF EGREGIOUS TECHNICAL DETAIL AND DROP 2 WEEKS LATE! :-p
  • imaheadcase - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link

    Apparently its come to flying around the globe to tech conferences, reporting on news than actual product.
  • mkaibear - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link

    Waa! Waa! My free entertainment isn't exactly what I want it to be, time to get on my keyboard and complain about it.

    Grow up. Or go elsewhere. Anandtech is doing a great job given the constraints they operate under.
  • Diji1 - Wednesday, October 17, 2018 - link

    Waa! Waa! This comment isn't exactly what I want it to be, time to get on my keyboard and complain about it.

    Grow up. Or go elsewhere. imaheadcase is doing a great job given the constraints they operate under.
  • GreenReaper - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link

    Like... being a headcase? >_>

    Sometimes the flying is part of getting the product to review. Other times... well, trade shows and the like are sometimes compensation for the level of pay provided by an online news reporting gig. This isn't the glory days of Personal Computer World, with issues 600-pages thick with ads.

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