Review: Asus RTX 3070 Noctua OC

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Specification and PCB:

Technical specifications :

In terms of frequency, the base frequency is announced at 1500 MHz while the Boost peaks at 1815 MHz. The 8 Gb of G-DDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz (448 GB/s) on a 256 bit bus. Our Asus RTX 3070 Noctua OC benefits from a good factory overclocking, as the reference card offered by NVIDIA has a Boost frequency of 1725 MHz. We went through GPU-Z to check that the information read was correct.

The GPU frequency is 1500 MHz, and the Boost frequency is 1815 MHz. Don’t forget that the latter will be higher during benchmarks depending on the quality of your chip and determined by GPU Boost 4.0. The memory has a frequency of 1750 MHz. Check out how GPU Boost works here.

The PCB :

Let’s start by removing the numerous screws on the backplate and the ones holding the heat sink to the GPU chip. Let’s have a look at the PCB of our sample in detail. The PCB is in fact that of the RTX 3070 Tuf Gaming. First of all, no surprise, the chip that equips our model is indeed the GA104 whose size is 392 mm². Now let’s deal with the VRM, Voltage Regulator Module. It is the OnSemi NCP81610 controller that will supply the GPU with the right voltage and current. There is a set of 10 phases, one more than the Founders Edition. The number of phases is often determined by the current requirement of the graphics chip. The more current the graphics chip needs, the more phases there are.

Then there are the mosfets, which in this case are 50A Vishay SIC654A. The mosfets are the elements to keep cool and are often topped by a heat sink. They are the ones that will convert the direct current since our GPU does not work on 12 or 5 volts, but on a lower voltage often located around 1 volt. Finally, we should also note the presence of voltage read points integrated directly on the PCB.

The memory chips :

The two phases of the memory are controlled by a UPI uP9529Q chip. The chip is located on the front right side of the PCB. Finally, as far as the GDDR6 memory chips are concerned, there are eight of them, K4Z80325BCs, and they are manufactured by Samsung. They should have good overclocking potential.