MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X review

The king of midrange returns, but not as we know it

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

The GTX 1070 is an astronomical card, especially for the pricing at the low end. Although a little pricier than the GTX 970 of last generation, this beauty is capable of plowing through almost all AAA titles at 1440p without a sweat.

We liked

The performance for price is fantastic, especially on the AIB partners. At 1440p, it absolutely dominates, and the inclusion of DisplayPort 1.4 is a god send for future proofing. 4K monitors at 120Hz, anyone?

We disliked

We’re still stuck behind that Founder's Edition price point. All that for the sake of early access, and for what you get in comparison to the aftermarket competition, it's just not enough in my eyes to stick a flashy cooler on it, bump up the price, limit accessibility and call it a day. Otherwise, this is a powerful GPU on a fantastic card.

Final verdict

Couple that with its insane overclocking potential and thoroughly well-developed cooler design from partnering manufacturers, and you're onto a winner. The only thing that could potentially make this card better were if the price would drop – if even a fraction. And, with AMD's Polaris RX 480 right around the corner, that might be something we're likely to see soon, as team Red starts snapping up the middle ground once more.