The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1070 AMP! Extreme Review

It’s been a while since we took a look at graphics cards and I guess it’s nice to start with a factory overclocked GTX 1070! This time, we’re taking a look at the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1070 AMP! Extreme. A non-reference, factory overclocked sample built with performance and top end features in mind.

As far as feature set goes, this is the top of the line GTX 1070 offering from ZOTAC so expect it to come with flagship features. For an instance, it has a triple slot cooler complete with triple 90mm 0dB compliant fans, and a thick aluminum shroud outfitted with the ZOTAC Spectre RGB. Under those lies the non reference PCB with an 8 phase power design powering up the overclocked GP104 GPU inside.

MODEL	GeForce GTX 1060	GeForce GTX 1070	GeForce GTX 1080	ZOTAC GTX 1070 AMP! Extreme
SHADER UNITS	1280	1920	2560	1920
ROPs	48	64	64	64
GPU	GP106	GP104	GP104	GP104
TRANSISTOR COUNT	4400M	7200M	7200M	7200M
MEMORY CAPACITY	6 GB	8 GB	8 GB	8 GB
MEMORY TYPE	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5X	GDDR5
MEMORY BUS WIDTH	192 bit	256 bit	256 bit	256 bit
CORE CLOCK	1506 MHz+	1506 MHz+	1607 MHz+	1632 MHz+
MEMORY CLOCK	2002 MHz	2002 MHz	1251 MHz	2052 MHz
MSRP	$240	$360	$580	$499 / ₱25000

PACKAGING AND BUNDLED ACCESSORIES:

The  GTX 1070 AMP! Extreme comes in a standard issued ZOTAC packaging featuring all the bells and whistles of the card inside it. The card is cradled snugly inside it with ample amount of padding.

A case badge, quick guide, software DVD, and a pair of well made 6+6 to 8 pin power connectors are bundled. Typical good stuffs from ZOTAC.

THE ZOTAC GEFORCE GTX 1070 AMP! EXTREME:

The card, like any other AMP! Extreme models that came before it is gargantuan – both in size and sheer weight. At almost 13 inch in length, and gawd knows what kilogram this thing is, you are required to check your enclosure for clearance issues.

The back features a nice and rather thick sheet of metal with the power boost as the highlight of this area. That brass colored bar actually helps the card to minimize power fluctuations, aiding stability. The “PUSH THE LIMIT” area on the other hand lights up when the card is turned on. Oh yes, turned on.

According to ZOTAC, the power consumption is rated at 250W, and thus two 8-pin power connectors are required. With the PCI-E power + those PEG connectors, we are actually looking at 375W maximum theoretical power draw. That’s not usually the case though, since VGA vendors over spec their cards when it comes to power inputs.

The card features a dense array of heatsinks and a number of heatpipes to keep the GPU, its VRAM, and VRM cool. Every major components on this card is actively cooled.

And here’s a sample of the GTX 1070 AMP! Extreme with its lighting feature. It’s an acceptable glow but things would be nicer if ZOTAC incorporated a better material to diffuse the lighting.

This card comes with 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, and a single DL-DVI port for display output. Apologies for the lack of home-brewed images. Seems like someone’s stupid enough not to snap one!

THE TEST SYSTEM AND BENCHMARKS:

Our test system is based on a Intel Core i5 6600K gaming system, which should be in-line with the latest mainstream gaming components. The operating system used is a 64-bit Windows 10 Pro Edition with power options set to high performance. Third party background applications are disabled unless they are absolutely required.

TEST SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
PROCESSOR	Intel Core i5 6600K
MOTHERBOARD	ASUS Z170-A
CPU COOLER	Cryorig C1 Top Flow
MEMORY KIT	Crucial Ballistix Tactical @ 2666MHz 4x4GB Kit
GRAPHICS CARD	ZOTAC GTX 1070 AMP! Extreme 8GB
INTERNAL STORAGE	Crucial MX200 250GB
POWER SUPPLY	CORSAIR RM850X 850W
DISPLAY	27″ DELL U2715H
OPERATING SYSTEM	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

The games and benchmark tools should include 720p, 1080p, 1440p, and 2160p results if necessary to the hardware being tested. They are outlined below for your reference.

• Overwatch – Settings are set to Ultra with a Render Scale set to 100%.
• Battlefield 4 – Settings are set to Ultra.
• Starcraft 2 – Settings are set to Extreme.
• DOTA 2 – Settings are manually set to maximum with DirectX 10 only mode and FPS cap disabled.
• DIRT: Rally – Settings are set to Ultra.
• Project CARS – Settings are manually set to maximum with anisotropic filtering at x16.
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Settings are set to Ultra with V-SYNC turned off.
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Settings are set to Ultra with Nvidia HairWorks turned off.

FRAMES PER SECOND 101:

FPS is the general unit of which we measure a graphics card’s performance. Since higher FPS means that there are more frames rendered each second – the higher value, the smoother the gameplay should be. Check out the difference of 30 and 60 FPS ON THIS LINK.

FPS values are recorded by FRAPS in-game using a linear route or gameplay for consistency. The results includes the Average FPS and 1% Minimum FPS. The 1% Minimum FPS represents the negative spikes or drops in-game sufficient enough for a gamer to notice. If the game doesn’t support FRAPS, we will use the in-game benchmark tool available.

TEMPERATURE NOISE AND POWER:

The graphics card thermal figures are taken during a 15 minute idle, and a 15 minute load via AIDA64 Extreme Edition’s GPU Stress Test. The ambient temperature is checked at 27°C (±1°C), with values extracted via HWiNFO and GPU-Z.

The graphics card noise levels are taken during a 15 minute idle, and a 15 minute load via AIDA64 Extreme Edition’s GPU Stress Test. The ambient sound level is 34dBA (±1dBA), with measurements taken by a sound level meter situated exactly 12 inches away from the card.

The total system power consumption are taken during a 15 minute idle, and a 15 minute load via AIDA64 Extreme Edition’s GPU Stress Test. The measurements are taken by a watt-meter.

The card, although featuring a non reference PCB, power design, and cooling, is still relatively good when it comes to power output. Noise levels are exceptional too, with a maximum of 38.3dBA output at load considering the fans are spinning at 1302 RPM. Temperature on the other hand featured 61.9°C at maximum load which is still not bad. A well balanced thermals and noise levels.

ZOTAC GTX 1070 AMP! EXTREME	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM
GPU CLOCK	278 MHz	2025 MHz
MEMORY CLOCK	202.5 MHz	1949 MHz
FAN SPEED	0 RPM	1302 RPM
VDDC	0.625V	1.05V

GAMING PERFORMANCE:

Overwatch is Blizzard Entertainment’s critically acclaimed First Person Shooter, running on a custom game engine utilizing the DirectX 11 API. Settings are set to Ultra with a Render Scale set to 100%.

Battlefield 4 is Electronic Art’s popular First Person Shooter, running on the Frostbite 3 game engine developed by DICE utilizing the DirectX 11 and the Mantle API. Settings are set to Ultra.

Starcraft 2 is Blizzard Entertainment’s critically acclaimed RTS game, running on the HAVOC game engine utilizing the DirectX 9 API. Settings are set to Extreme.

DOTA 2 is VALVE’s popular F2P MOBA game, running on the Source game engine utilizing the multi-API support. Settings are set to maximum with DirectX 10 only mode and FPS cap disabled.

DIRT: Rally is CODEMASTER’s take on the rally racing game genre. It utilizes the EGO game engine with support for the DirectX 11 API. Settings are set to Ultra.

Project CARS is Slightly Mad Studios’ latest simulation racing game, running on the Madness game engine utilizing DirectX 11 support. Settings are set to maximum.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda’s critically acclaimed Action Adventure RPG. Skyrim utilizes the Creation Engine with DirectX 10 support. Settings are set to Ultra with V-SYNC turned off.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is CDProjekt RED’s award winning Action Adventure RPG. The Witcher 3 utilizes the REDengine 3 with DirectX 11 support. Settings are set to Ultra.

Gaming performance is just expected for a factory overclocked GTX 1070. It has a nice lead over the GTX 1060, and features an ample enough performance margin compared to the GTX 1080 Founder’s Edition. This thing is made for butter smooth game play at 1440P, with certain titles that can be pushed up at 4K UHD even at their highest settings.

WRAPPING IT UP:

The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1070 AMP! Extreme is a blazing fast graphics card made to symbolize the company’s decade of expertise on the field. Performance wise, you’ll never go wrong with this one – able to offer smooth game play experience at the titles we tested even at 4K UHD with a few exceptions. Cooling performance on the other hand is faithful to the AMP! Extreme moniker so there’s no need to worry around that area. Some games with V-SYNC turned on @60 Hz wont require active cooling either so it is just good.

Build quality is exceptionally good. You’d get a thick back plate to keep the PCB from bending to oblivion (it still bends a bit tho), and a shroud that is made out of thick die-casted metal. It’s like a brick – a functional brick made for gamers I must say.

Feature wise, you’ll get an RGB functionality via the ZOTAC FireStorm software. The glow isn’t spectacular though, since the transparent plastic used for the lighting  is just too glossy for my liking. Color reproduction is not the best too around this area due to the materials used. Display options on the other hand is great – with 5 display outputs to choose from. Bundled accessories are nice too with a quality pair of power adapters to get you started. Overall, still a nice card despite the not so great RGB feature.

Value wise we are looking at a 25, 000 PHP MSRP card. It’s a good deal for a top end GTX 1070 especially with an extended warranty backing it up at a maximum of 5 years when registered. This is just a rock solid card both in performance and physicality, with a few letdowns that shouldn’t bother you while gaming.

EXCELLENT GAMING PERFORMANCE AT ALL LEVELS GOOD DISPLAY OPTIONS ROBUST BUILD QUALITY & DESIGN SILENT CARD – 0DB COMPLIANCE IS A PLUS GREAT COOLING SOLUTION 5 YEAR WARRANTY – IF REGISTERED

HEAVY CARD – COULD BEND WITHOUT SUPPORT RGB LIGHTING COULD BE BETTER