The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Founders Edition Review: Mid-Range Turing, High-End Price
by Nate Oh on October 16, 2018 9:00 AM ESTWolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Vulkan)
id Software is popularly known for a few games involving shooting stuff until it dies, just with different 'stuff' for each one: Nazis, demons, or other players while scorning the laws of physics. Wolfenstein II is the latest of the first, the sequel of a modern reboot series developed by MachineGames and built on id Tech 6. While the tone is significantly less pulpy nowadays, the game is still a frenetic FPS at heart, succeeding DOOM as a modern Vulkan flagship title and arriving as a pure Vullkan implementation rather than the originally OpenGL DOOM.
Featuring a Nazi-occupied America of 1961, Wolfenstein II is lushly designed yet not oppressively intensive on the hardware, something that goes well with its pace of action that emerge suddenly from a level design flush with alternate historical details.
The highest quality preset, "Mein leben!", was used. Wolfenstein II also features Vega-centric GPU Culling and Rapid Packed Math, as well as Radeon-centric Deferred Rendering; in accordance with the preset, neither GPU Culling nor Deferred Rendering was enabled.
Wolfenstein II gives us a more intriguing look at the underlying capabilities of the RTX 2070. In general, the RTX 20 series and RX Vega perform very well in this game, leaving the GTX 1080 Ti in an uncharacteristic position. The older cards, however, suffer extra for their lack of VRAM. Where the GTX 980 Ti's 6GB is already wearing a little thin, the GTX 980's 4GB is simply not enough and the game makes sure to remind you. The measured 30+fps numbers is an amusing disguise for the everpresent stuttering. In that sense, the RTX 2070 has a distinct advantage by virtue of its full 8GB complement of framebuffer.
It's not clear how much is due to Wolfenstein II's Vulkan implementation, and it will be very interesting to see how the upcoming Doom Eternal fares on GPUs. It's hardly the case that these high framerates would be wasted, even at 1080p; 240Hz monitors and the like are very much on the market.
In any case, the RTX 2070's 1440p Wolfenstein II performance is another ideal scenario, where previous generation Pascal and Maxwell are simply outclassed and thus wouldn't be threatening 2070 sales in the least.
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TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link
Because the 2070 is a 1070 replacement? Why do you people get hung up on "WELL IT COST A BUNCH SO ITS A HIGH TIER CARD"No, it isnt, its a mid tier card with a high tier pricetag. It doesnt make sense to compare the 2070 to a 1080ti because of the pricetag, anymore then comparing a vega 64 to a 1070 because they both cost $400 at some point.
ioni - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link
2070's die size is closer to the 1080 ti than it is to the 1080. It should be, at minimum, being compared to a 1080.Nioktefe - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link
Exactly, it could be called RTX 2050 and still use the same chip, don't compare marketing with die specifications, RTX chips are huge, and they are priced accordingly to that, we will never see 2080Ti come close to 1080ti pricesPeachNCream - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link
^^ So much of this right here! Name it what whatever, but the retail price is ultimately what dictates what it must compete with from prior generations or from the nearest competitor. As far as pricing is concerned, the RTX 2070 must contend with the GTX 1080Ti and 1080 when a present day buyer is looking at options in that price range.tamalero - Wednesday, October 17, 2018 - link
die size is irrelevant, price points is what is important in price brackets.. if the 2070 is on 1080gtx prices for a tiny improvement, its not worth it..Vayra - Monday, October 22, 2018 - link
Die size is not irrelevant. Cause & Effect: larger die = lower yield per wafer = higher price.CheapSushi - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
Do you make your choice based on die size OR price?dguy6789 - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link
What an absolutely ridiculous statement. People don't cross shop products that have radically different pricing- they pick a budget and look for what is best in that price segment. Hmmm I'm torn between a Kia and a BMW. Yeah right.evilspoons - Wednesday, October 17, 2018 - link
That's reasonable, the Kia Stinger is a pretty decent RWD/AWD luxury sedan. For like $45k CAD you get roughly what you'd have to pay $65k CAD to get in a BMW, so a $45k BMW by contrast is a much less interesting vehicle. (Although personally, I'd go with the Genesis G70 instead of the Kia, you can get it with a 6-speed manual.)khanikun - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
Car analogies do and don't work here. Some might start with size, while other start with price. Some will start with looks, some will start with power, some will start with drivetrain, etc. Some will cross shop products that have different prices, some won't.Some might be torn between a Kia and a BMW, if both made rwd sports cars that compete against each other, even with a price tag difference. Look at all the comparisons between something like a Subaru WRX STI vs a BMW M3, even though the M3 is easily $20k over the STI.
The only time I see someone set a budget first, is those looking at the used car market. Not the looking at the new car market.