A few months before 2020 ends, I received an RTX 2070 Super from our friends at GALAX. Back then, I thought no one would buy this card anymore due to the RTX 30 series. So, dear me decided to just shelf the unit and wait for the signal to send them back along with the other GALAX cards at my disposal.
Since my year-ender decision aged like milk, I have decided to check out the GALAX RTX 2070 Super – more specifically, the infamous Work The Frames Edition.
This graphics card is basically a unicorn among the company’s line-up due to its set of features – over the Super nomenclature. That includes the translucent triple 90mm fans with 11 blade design, a Galaxy inspired backplate which is a homage to the Galaxy brand and its luscious RGB lighting effects. Of course, this too comes with a non-reference PCB and a beefy VRM configuration.
Technical Specifications
| GPU | |
| Model | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 |
| Cores | 2560 Cuda, 40 RT |
| Core Clock | 1830 MHz (OC) |
| Architecture | Turing |
| Manufacturing Process | 12nm (FinFET) |
| TDP | 215W |
| Memory | |
| Memory Speed | 14Gbps |
| Memory Bus Width | 256-bit |
| Memory Capacity | 8GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 |
| Connectivity | |
| Display | 3x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0b |
| Power | 1x PCIe 8-Pin, 1x PCIe 6-Pin |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 328mm |
| Width | 150mm |
| Height | 53mm |
| Weight | — (It broke my coffee bean scale T.T) |
Packaging and Accessories
GALAX did a good job with the RTX 2070 Super WTF Edition’s packaging. It looks simple but the internal packaging has a better foam material and presentation compared to the more standard offerings from the company. Below are the items that you should expect inside:
- GALAX RTX 2070 Super WTF Edition 8GB
- Quick setup guide
- Dual molex to single 8-pin
- Dual molex to single 6-pin
Pretty normal bundle for a graphics card I must say. To think that GALAX still included a molex adapter means that there should be enough consumers with PSUs without an 8-Pin and 6-Pin connector; or maybe they just want to get rid of the adapters. Could also be both.
Design, Layout and Build Quality
For a triple fan conforming model, the GALAX RTX 2070 Super WTF Edition is genuinely huge. This is a 12 inch long card with almost 5 inch of width and a girth of more than 2 inches – with a weight to match.
The backplate received a galaxy treatment which is a throwback to the old times. The backplate also lights up so no matter the orientation you put this card to, you’re blessed with a 180-degree RGB goodness if that is your kind of thing.
TDP is about 215W with an 8-Pin and 6-Pin power combination. The card is actually shorter if we’ll only account the PCB. The GALAX logo around this area also lights up, further cementing the card’s 180-degree lighting capabilities.
Connectivity wise, the GALAX RTX 2070 Super comes with triple DisplayPorts and a single HDMI port. Since everything is located on a single row, GALAX used this opportunity to maximize ventilation.
Cooling on the other hand is a courtesy of triple 90mm 0dB capable fans; blowing air directly to the dense aluminum heatsink array with six heat-pipes. Of course, the VRM and VRAM are actively cooled as well. This card comes with a non-reference PCB so GALAX really maximized what they could do with this card.
Test Setup and Methodology
System performance is evaluated by industry standard benchmark tools and applications. The system is tested with the following software configurations:
- UEFI configuration – Default
- Windows Power Plan – Balanced
- Windows Game Mode – Disabled
- Windows Game Bar – Disabled
- Windows Security – Disabled
Outlined below is the default test system specifications as well as the software and applications used for the review:
| Default Test System Specifications | |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 |
| Motherboard | ASUS ROG Strix B550-I Gaming |
| Cooler | AMD Wraith Stealth V2 |
| Memory | ADATA Premier 2666MHz 16GB |
| GPU | ASUS ROG Strix RX 570 4GB |
| Storage | Plextor M9PE NVME 512GB |
| Case | Mechanical Library JXK-K3 |
| PSU | Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 650W |
| Display | LG UF680T |
| OS | Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit |
Synthetic Performance:
- AIDA64 Extreme Edition: GPGPU Benchmark, Single-Precision
- LuxMark v3.1: LuxBall HDR, OpenCL
Gaming Performance:
- CS:GO: DirectX 9, Maximum Settings, 8x MSAA
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege: Vulkan, Ultra Preset, TXAA, 16x AF
- League of Legends: DirectX 9, Very High Preset
- DOTA 2: DirectX 11, Best Looking Preset, AA
- Assetto Corsa: DirectX 11, Maximum Settings, 4x AA, FXAA, 16x AF
- F1 2020: DirectX 12, Ultra High Preset, TAA, 16x AF
- Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers: DirectX 11, Maximum Preset, FXAA, x16 AF
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider: DX12, Highest Preset, TAA, 8x AF
- Total War: Warhammer II: DX11, Ultra Preset, FXAA
- Civilization VI: DX12, Ultra Preset, 8x MSAA
Temperature, Power and Noise:
- OCCT v5.0: 3D and VRAM Test
Temperature, Power and Noise
Graphics card thermal figures are taken during a 15 minute idle and a 15 minute load via OCCT’s 3D stress test. The ambient temperature is checked at 27 °C (±1 °C).
Now total system power consumption are also noted during the stress test. The measurements are then taken by a watt-meter.
Graphics card noise levels are also measured via the OCCT 3D stress test. The ambient sound level or noise floor is about 34 dBA (±1 dBA). Measurements are then taken via a sound level meter situated exactly 12 inches away from the card.
The GALAX RTX 2070 Super WTF starts with an astounding cooling and acoustic performance. Power consumption is just decent or as expected though for card its caliber.
Synthetic Performance
The Aida64 Extreme Edition GPGPU Benchmark is designed to measure GPGPU computing performance via different workloads. Our choice here is the Single-Precision benchmark to check out the floating-point performance of the card.
LuxMark is an OpenCL cross-platform benchmark tool. Scene of choice is the LuxBall HDR. It is a benchmark with a total of 217K triangles required to render.
Synthetics are also nothing to laugh at – if not compared to the figures from the recently released RTX 30 series cards. The RTX 2070 Super is still a decent card for OpenCL applications.
Gaming Performance
CS:GO is Valve’s critically acclaimed FPS game, running on the Source engine utilizing the DirectX 9 API. Demo used is the grand finals match between Astralis and ENCE at IEM Katowice 2019.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is a popular FPS title developed by Ubisoft utilizing the AnvilNext 2.0 engine with DirectX 11 and Vulkan API support. The benchmark tool within the game is used for this run.
League of Legends is one of the genre defining MOBA games in the industry. It utilizes RIOT Game’s in-house engine written in C++ with support for the DirectX 9 API. Demo of choice is a Summoner’s Rift replay via the ROFL-Player.
DOTA 2 is yet another popular MOBA game featuring Valve’s Source 2 engine with support for a number of APIs. Benchmark of choice here is a demo from OG and Liquid’s grand finals match at The International 2019.
Assetto Corsa is a sim-racing game developed by Kunos Simulazioni with extensive support for customization. The game runs on a in-house engine with support for DirectX 11. The built-in benchmarking tool is used for the run.
F1 2020 is the official F1 racing game developed by Codemasters utilizing the Ego Engine 3.0 with support for DirectX 11 and DirectX 12. API of choice is DirectX 12 with the built-in benchmarking tool utilized for the review.
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers is an MMORPG created by Square Enix. It uses the tried and tested Crystal Tools game engine with support for DirectX 11. The built-in benchmark tool is used for this run.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the third installment for Eidos-Montréal’s reboot of the original series. The updated Foundation game engine is featured in this game with support for DirectX 11 and DirectX 12. The first few scenes from the built-in benchmark tool is used for this review.
Total War: Warhammer II is the latest installment of the Warhammer series. It is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics game developed by Creative Assembly utilizing the WarScape game engine supporting both DX11 and DX12. The Skaven preset from the built-in benchmark tool is used.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI is a turn-based strategy game developed by Firaxis Games using a custom game engine built from the ground up that supports DX11 and DX12. This game also comes with two benchmark presets aptly named as Graphics and AI.
Overall gaming performance is still proper this side of year. Granted, what we have are not the hottest titles right now but if you’re looking for a rock solid GPU to game with at most resolutions, then the RTX 2070 Super is more than enough to sate your requirements. Its support for Nvidia’s DLSS feature also makes it worth while if the system is really struggling at higher resolutions.
Software, Lighting and Special Features
Apart from the obvious ray tracing, DLSS and support for GeForce Experience, the GALAX RTX 2070 Super WTF Edition supports the company’s own XTREME TUNER software. This is a prerequisite for the 1-Click OC feature to work. Not the best looking software out there but I’ll take it.
Manually overclocking the card is fine via the software but the 1-click OC feature is just hard to pass especially if you’re a beginner and do not want to mess anything up. There’s also an option to have the app start-up and apply these settings upon booting so there’s that for peace of mind.
GALAX also added a simple fan speed adjustment should you want to manually adjust it according to temperature. Trust me you’d want to do this if you plan to manually overclock the card. With a noise level that is decent enough not to induce hearing loss, setting this high up the scale is not an issue.
RGB lighting could also be customized via the software. A bit fancier compared to the RTX 2060 EX White we reviewed but a larger and a more normal looking software UI is better suited for these kind of options. It is also noteworthy to add that there is a smartphone version of the XTREME TUNER. We tried it but I find the desktop app much more useful – even more so since the desktop app is required to communicate with the app.
Lighting is awesome – especially the effect with the triple 90mm 11-blade fans. They diffuse the lighting well and in a hypnotic manner. This card really looks good with it enabled – front, side and back.
Final Thoughts
The RTX 2070 Super is supposed to be the least of your concern with the RTX 30 series superseding it – more specifically, the RTX 3060 Ti. Natural order of things dictates that the current stocks of the RTX 2070 Super should already be below the MSRP due to the incredible value of the aforementioned card – but it is simply not the case.
The RTX 3060 Ti for example – if even in stock, could be had for about 39,000 Pesos. That’s more than twice the MSRP at 19,220 Pesos. With a few keyboard strokes, the lowest RTX 2070 Super I could find brand spanking new is about 27,000 Pesos on average. That’s still higher compared to the MSRP ages ago but the lowest you could find really with this kind of gaming performance. So yeah, quite a year starter. Things went south really hard.
Now it all boil down to what you could sacrifice as a gamer. You either hold the cash you got right now and pray that everything will go well in the next couple of months. Or maybe gather your courage and shell out for an RTX 2070 Super to experience what could be with the RTX 3060 Ti – with a bit less compute performance and just a tad higher power figures.
With those things said, if you could find this exact unit in the market place, you wont be disappointed. It comes with all the bells and whistles of the RTX 2070 Super with an easy to enable OC mode and is built to last. Looks like a proper centerpiece too considering the year.
GALAX RTX 2070 Super WTF Edition 8GB
-
Performance - 9/10
9/10
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Build Quality - 9/10
9/10
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Features - 9/10
9/10
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Design - 9/10
9/10
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Value - 7/10
7/10
Summary
The GALAX RTX 2070 Super WTF Edition 8GB comes with all the bells and whistles of the RTX 2070 Super with an easy OC mode and is built to last. Looks like a proper centerpiece too considering the year.
Pros
- Excellent 1080 and 1440P performance
- Built really well with a cooling solution to match
- Runs cool and dead silent
- Hypnotic RGB lighting effect
Cons
- Software could use an overhaul
- Current market value – as with every GPUs right now
- Long and heavy – check your clearance
