GeForce RTX 3090 vs GTX 1070 SLI

Place in the ranking	122	24
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	14.92
Power efficiency	8.69	13.58
Architecture	Pascal (2016−2021)	Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Pascal GP104 SLI	GA102
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	16 August 2016 (8 years ago)	1 September 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$1,499

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	3840	10496
Core clock speed	1506 MHz	1395 MHz
Boost clock speed	1683 MHz	1695 MHz
Number of transistors	14400 Million	28,300 million
Manufacturing process technology	16 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	350 Watt
Texture fill rate	no data	556.0
Floating-point processing power	no data	35.58 TFLOPS
ROPs	no data	112
TMUs	no data	328
Tensor Cores	no data	328
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	82

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Interface	no data	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	no data	336 mm
Width	no data	3-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	1x 12-pin
SLI options	+	-

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR6X
Maximum RAM amount	2x 8 GB	24 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	8000 MHz	1219 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	936.2 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	no data	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI	-	+
G-SYNC support	+	-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

VR Ready

no data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12_1	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	no data	6.5
OpenGL	no data	4.6
OpenCL	no data	2.0
Vulkan	+	1.2
CUDA	+	8.5

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 1070 SLI 38.02

RTX 3090 69.35
+82.4%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 1070 SLI 42691

RTX 3090 61518
+44.1%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

GTX 1070 SLI 34226

RTX 3090 47241
+38%

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 1070 SLI 140180

RTX 3090 231612
+65.2%

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 1070 SLI 373694

RTX 3090 779348
+109%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	119 −66.4%	198 +66.4%
1440p	70−75 −84.3%	129 +84.3%
4K	59 −45.8%	86 +45.8%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	no data	7.57
1440p	no data	11.62
4K	no data	17.43

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

65−70

−209%

207
+209%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	80−85 −96.3%	159 +96.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	65−70 −72.7%	114 +72.7%
Battlefield 5	120−130 −80.5%	220−230 +80.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 −52.6%	110−120 +52.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	65−70 −163%	176 +163%
Far Cry 5	90 −30%	110−120 +30%
Far Cry New Dawn	95−100 −77.9%	160−170 +77.9%
Forza Horizon 4	180−190 −25.9%	230−240 +25.9%
Hitman 3	80−85 −42.7%	117 +42.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 −57.1%	250−260 +57.1%
Metro Exodus	120−130 −16.1%	144 +16.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	90−95 −44.4%	130 +44.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	130−140 −110%	290−300 +110%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 −57.5%	200 +57.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	80−85 −205%	247 +205%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	65−70 −59.1%	105 +59.1%
Battlefield 5	120−130 −80.5%	220−230 +80.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 −52.6%	110−120 +52.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	65−70 −125%	151 +125%
Far Cry 5	64 −82.8%	110−120 +82.8%
Far Cry New Dawn	95−100 −77.9%	160−170 +77.9%
Forza Horizon 4	180−190 −25.9%	230−240 +25.9%
Hitman 3	80−85 −42.7%	117 +42.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 −57.1%	250−260 +57.1%
Metro Exodus	120−130 −16.1%	144 +16.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	90−95 −35.6%	120−130 +35.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	130−140 −189%	402 +189%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	75−80 −88.6%	140−150 +88.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 −56.7%	199 +56.7%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	80−85 −33.3%	108 +33.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	65−70 −37.9%	91 +37.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 −52.6%	110−120 +52.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	65−70 −100%	134 +100%
Far Cry 5	48 −144%	110−120 +144%
Forza Horizon 4	180−190 −14.8%	217 +14.8%
Hitman 3	80−85 −41.5%	116 +41.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 −83.2%	295 +83.2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	130−140 −153%	351 +153%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	73 −148%	181 +148%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +18.7%	107 −18.7%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

90−95

−43.3%

129
+43.3%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	70−75 −123%	160−170 +123%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 −86.4%	110−120 +86.4%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 −127%	93 +127%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45 −88.1%	79 +88.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50 −80%	80−85 +80%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −210%	93 +210%
Far Cry 5	40−45 −84.1%	80−85 +84.1%
Forza Horizon 4	210−220 −25.5%	270−280 +25.5%
Hitman 3	45−50 −135%	115 +135%
Horizon Zero Dawn	80−85 −181%	233 +181%
Metro Exodus	70−75 −93.1%	139 +93.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	90−95 −189%	266 +189%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	55−60 −176%	152 +176%
Watch Dogs: Legion	180−190 −7.4%	203 +7.4%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

65−70

−92.4%

127
+92.4%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 −129%	85−90 +129%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 −116%	65−70 +116%
Hitman 3	30−35 −168%	83 +168%
Horizon Zero Dawn	170−180 −26.3%	220−230 +26.3%
Metro Exodus	45−50 −188%	141 +188%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	54 −183%	153 +183%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 −169%	70 +169%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 −138%	57 +138%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 −113%	50−55 +113%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 −254%	46 +254%
Far Cry 5	20 −150%	50−55 +150%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −189%	153 +189%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55 −206%	159 +206%
Watch Dogs: Legion	18−20 −216%	60 +216%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

30−35

−226%

111
+226%

This is how GTX 1070 SLI and RTX 3090 compete in popular games:

RTX 3090 is 66% faster in 1080p
RTX 3090 is 84% faster in 1440p
RTX 3090 is 46% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 1070 SLI is 19% faster.
in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RTX 3090 is 254% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GTX 1070 SLI is ahead in 1 test (1%)
RTX 3090 is ahead in 71 test (99%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	38.02	69.35
Recency	16 August 2016	1 September 2020
Chip lithography	16 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	350 Watt

GTX 1070 SLI has 16.7% lower power consumption.

RTX 3090, on the other hand, has a 82.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce RTX 3090 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 1070 SLI in performance tests.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.