Nvidia RTX 5070 vs RTX 4070: Which is the best gaming GPU?

The Nvidia RTX 5070 and the RTX 4070 are mid-premium segment graphics cards designed to handle the latest titles at QHD resolutions. With DLSS and frame generation, you can expect playable framerates in virtually any title, even at 4K resolutions. The 70-class offering has consistently ranked among some of the most popular GPUs because of its blend of pricing, strong performance, and versatility.

However, which is the better buy among the Blackwell and Ada Lovelace options? Let's look at what each GPU brings to the table and try to answer that question in this article.

Both the Nvidia RTX 5070 and RTX 4070 are strong 1440p gaming GPUs

The Nvidia RTX 5070 12 GB is the latest QHD gaming entry from Team Green (Image via Nvidia)

The RTX 5070 and RTX 4070 share a similar DNA: at $549, they target the mid-premium market with a mix of budget features such as cut-down video memory buffers, an efficient power design, while bringing strong performance metrics to the table. Let's look at their specs to grasp what each GPU offers.

Specs comparison

There are several differences between the two 70-class GPUs. To begin with, Ada Lovelace and Blackwell offer widely different architecture, leaving little room for an apples-to-apples comparison between the cards. This means every unit of rendering unit delivers more performance on the 5070, thanks to better packaging and gen-on-gen improvements bundled with the latest generation.

That said, the RTX 4070 isn't far behind the 50 series GPU in terms of hardware specs. On average, you're looking at 5% fewer CUDA, Tensor, and RT cores. Based on these numbers, the 5070 12GB is expected to be about 20-25% faster in raw rasterization performance. With DLSS 4 multi-frame generation, this number could go past 100%.

However, the biggest letdown in the latest video card is the same 12GB video memory buffer. While the newer 50 series card bundles faster GDDR7 VRAM, the bandwidth stays limited to 672GB/s as the bus width is a narrow 192-bit. For some context, the 4070's memory delivers 504.2GB/s bandwidth with its GDDR6X VRAM.

The detailed specs comparison of the two GPUs is as follows:

Feature	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 12GB	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 12GB
Architecture	Ada Lovelace	Blackwell
GPU	AD104-250-A1	GB205-300-A1
CUDA Cores	5,888	6,144
Tensor Cores	184 (4th Gen)	192 (5th Gen)
RT Cores	46 (3rd Gen)	48 (4th Gen)
Base Clock	1,920 MHz	2,325 MHz
Boost Clock	2,475 MHz	2,512 MHz
Memory	12GB GDDR6X	12GB GDDR7
Memory Bus	192-bit	192-bit
Memory Bandwidth	504.2GB/s	672.0GB/s
L2 Cache	36MB	48MB
TDP (Total Power)	200 W	250 W
PCIe Interface	PCIe 4.0 x16	PCIe 5.0 x16
Display Outputs	1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a	1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1b
DLSS Support	DLSS 3	DLSS 4
Ray Tracing	Yes	Yes
MSRP (USD)	$549	$549
Release Date	April 12, 2023	March 4, 2025

In terms of pricing, both GPUs have the same MSRP of $549. However, real-world pricing differs. We spotted deals on both cards for ~$700 in retail stores like Amazon and Best Buy.

Performance comparison

The Nvidia RTX 4070 12 GB still holds its ground in the latest games (Image via Nvidia)

In terms of gaming performance, the RTX 5070 12 GB undoubtedly takes the lead. However, we are interested in the percentage margin. While the 5070 relies mostly on DLSS 4 to deliver its advertised performance gains, the better hardware should theoretically help the card push the limits of native performance by a healthy margin, too.

Below is a comparison of framerates achieved by either card in some of the latest titles. The numbers were sourced from the YouTube channel Testing Games.

	Nvidia RTX 4070 12GB	Nvidia RTX 5070 12GB
The Last of Us Part II	71 FPS	85 FPS
Forza Horizon 5	115 FPS	140 FPS
Ghost of Tsushima	64 FPS	72 FPS
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2	56 FPS	73 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	60 FPS	74 FPS
Red Dead Redemption 2	94 FPS	114 FPS
Black Myth: Wukong	37 FPS	46 FPS
Horizon Forbidden West	80 FPS	97 FPS
God of War: Ragnarok	107 FPS	129 FPS
Silent Hill 2	79 FPS	95 FPS

On average, the RTX 5070 12 GB is about 30% faster than the last-gen alternative. This is a strong gain, given that these numbers are from native 1440p gaming experiences. While the 4070 strongly holds its ground, the new GPU delivers a consistent uplift, bringing it close to the much costlier RTX 4070 Ti Super.

Since both the RTX 4070 and RTX 5070 are selling for about as much, it doesn't make much sense to buy the older GPU in 2025. However, the last-gen GPU continues to be powerful enough to handle the latest titles without a hiccup. If you're getting a superb deal on the 4070, it can still make some sense over the RTX 5060 Ti and the RX 7700 XT, both of which are slower than the 70-class GPUs.

About the author

Arka’s journey as a tech journalist took root in his educational background as a computer science undergraduate. Gathering valuable experience from YT Times, Quoramarketing.com, Games Bap, and Outscal, Arka now produces top-notch content for the Gaming Tech division of Sportskeeda.

Drawing inspiration from the likes of Buildzoid and Gamers Nexus, Arka relies on thorough testing and in-depth research of the latest hardware to ensure the delivery of authentic information in his articles. His genre expertise has also led him to work with tech giants such as Dell, Logitech, AMD, Nvidia, and more, where he reviewed their latest hardware.

While he delves into language modeling in his free time, he also finds time for gaming. His go-to genre is single-player games, but he often revisits Conflict: Desert Storm I and II, the former being the game that prompted him to undertake the journey he’s enjoying today. If he ever got a chance to drop into a game Jumanji-style, it would have to be Mafia: Definitive Edition.

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Edited by Sijo Samuel Paul