First Tests! Is Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4070 the New Mainstream Laptop GPU to Beat?

Following their initial announcement at CES 2023, Nvidia’s RTX 40 Series GeForce graphics processors are rolling out in phases in gaming laptops. A few weeks back, we saw the rollout of the first laptops with the GeForce RTX 4080 and 4090. Today, the RTX 4050, 4060, and 4070 get their big unveil. We have the RTX 4070 in our hands inside the spanking-new Gigabyte Aero 16, and we've got the first tests that show what this new midrange GPU can do, following impressive results from the powerful laptop-grade GeForce RTX 4090.

While the GeForce RTX 4070 doesn’t sit at the top of Nvidia’s new stack like its 4090 sibling, it's arguably way more relevant. The GeForce RTX 4070 will appear in midrange gaming laptops that, while still on the pricier side, will be more affordable than the most expensive notebooks bearing the RTX 4090. These laptops will also likely be more portable than the top-end systems, making them overall more appealing and attainable to most buyers.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Gigabyte's new Aero 16 (starting at $2,099; $2,299 as tested) is one such gaming laptop, a relatively slim machine despite the power inside. It’s a 16-inch system aimed at creative professionals (in addition to gamers), another use case for which you’ll likely see the RTX 4070 deployed. We’ll follow up with a full review of the laptop itself soon, but first, we've got RTX 4070 performance numbers to look at in detail.

Meet the New Aero 16, and Nvidia's Latest Laptop GPU

We reviewed an Aero 16 last year, packed with a 12th-Generation Intel processor and an Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti—a top-end laptop in every way. However, even at 16 inches, this laptop line is on the slim side (0.87 inch thick, tapering down to 0.7 inch), and it doesn’t go all-in on gaming power the way some of its competitors may.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Gigabyte equipped its 2023 Aero 16 model with a brand-new Intel Core i9-13900H CPU, the RTX 4070 GPU (8GB VRAM), 32GB of memory, and a 1TB solid-state drive. This laptop also works with a beautiful 4K OLED screen (though it only refreshes at 60Hz), a fantastic fit for creators that will also help us test higher-end gaming scenarios.

Just as we did for Nvidia's new highest-end mobile GPU, we published a standalone testing piece on Intel's i9-13900HX recently if you’d like to read more on its particular architecture and performance as it relates to the i9-13900H (no “X”).

Crucially, the Aero 16 is running at 80 watts (80W) total graphics power (TGP), and a maximum graphics power of 105W. This may seem like a footnote to you, but we’ve seen in the past few GPU generations, in particular, that power delivery is one of the chief determining factors in what a laptop GPU can accomplish. The performance of the same GPU in two different laptops can vary widely depending on this implementation, combined with how effective the cooling is in a given laptop. It’s important to keep this in mind when looking at the results, and not assume these numbers will be 1:1 reflective of all RTX 4070 laptops.

(Credit: Nvidia)

It's also worth noting that this high-end Core i9 processor should help eliminate or restrict the amount of CPU bottlenecking while the GPU is running full throttle, which can be an issue on more modest systems (and, in some games, may still be an occasional factor). The tests we did at different resolutions should be illustrative here as you look up the number stack; CPU bottlenecks tend to affect low resolutions the most and factor progressively less as the resolution gets higher, all else being equal.

Testing the GeForce RTX 4070: Bring on the Ray Tracing (and Plenty of DLSS)

To provide proper context for the Aero 16’s results, I selected a batch of relevant competitor laptops with a mix of parts. Within this group, you will see the previous-generation equivalent RTX 3070 GPU, the RTX 4090, and some Intel and AMD CPUs. Here are their specs, following those of the new Aero 16, arranged in descending order of GPU potency:

Here we have the mighty 2023 monster Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (with its kingpin GeForce RTX 4090 as the boss GPU to beat), last year’s Gigabyte Aero 16 (a great comparison for previous-gen, top-end CPU and GPU performance), the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 (an AMD representative with an RTX 3080 Ti), the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE (with an RTX 3070 Ti that will demonstrate gen-on-gen improvement), and the Asus ProArt Studiobook 16 (another 16-inch pro creator laptop with last gen’s RTX 3070).

Synthetic 3D Tests

To start, we test Windows PCs' graphics with two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark: Night Raid (more modest, suitable for laptops with integrated graphics) and Time Spy (more demanding, suitable for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs). Two more tests from GFXBench 5.0, run offscreen to allow for different display resolutions, carry out and measure OpenGL operations.

Nvidia's RTX 4070 is a competitive performer here, but it doesn’t profoundly impress. A lot of the added performance for this generation is supposed to be seen at higher resolutions and through DLSS effectiveness while gaming, whereas the raw power is only an incremental increase. That bears out here, with the RTX 4070 mostly (but not even always) besting the RTX 3070 and RTX 3070 Ti. If you’re primarily in need of a GPU for professional 3D workloads, you don’t need to run out for this one if you’re already working with a 30 Series chip.

Gaming Tests

Real-world game tests are an important measure of what a GPU can achieve for mobile PC gamers, so we run game tests using the built-in benchmarks of F1 2021 and Rainbow Six Siege. We normally run Assassin's Creed Valhalla, too, but it continually failed to launch on this system—this issue is far from unique to this laptop or GPU.

These two games represent a mix of simulation and competitive multiplayer experiences. We run F1 2021 with and without Nvidia's performance-boosting DLSS anti-aliasing on maximum settings, and Siege is conducted on the lowest and maximum settings. We run these tests at 1080p resolution so results can be compared fairly among systems, but further below we’ll try some higher-resolution tests.

The same story from the synthetic tests roughly holds true here—and why wouldn’t it at 1080p? The raw performance increase without the variables of ray tracing, DLSS, and higher resolutions is looking minimal, at least in this slimmer laptop with a maximum graphics power of 105W. Outside of that, these frame rates are ideal for playing these titles at maximum settings and seeing high frame rates, though I do wish Assassin’s Creed would have run as well.

Before any final conclusions, let’s get to those higher-end tests that are most relevant to this new GPU. As stated, many of Nvidia’s claims with the 40 Series revolve around performance with ray tracing active, at high resolutions, and with DLSS 3 active—something only the new GPUs have. As such, we cranked up the resolution, switched on the fancy real-time lighting features, and tested a couple DLSS 3-enabled titles, too.

The scores below show results for F1 2021, F1 2022, and Cyberpunk 2077, with DLSS off and on, plus the new frame generation feature (listed as “FG” in the legend) in the latter two titles. The older laptops are unable to run the DLSS 3 features, so the Aero can only be compared with the first two RTX 4090 laptops we've tested here; it is expected to lag behind these powerhouses.

The first main takeaway: 4K is still a bridge too far for the RTX 4070, at least in this laptop. Even with FG active on Cyberpunk and F1 2022, the Aero 16 falls well short of 60 frames per second (fps). You can see that the RTX 4090 systems fare much better, demonstrating just how demanding gaming at 4K is—only top-of-the-line systems can power through. Even then, that’s only with DLSS active. The aforementioned CPU bottleneck could be a factor at 4K (Nvidia warned us that may be the case with these powerful GPUs), but it's tough to do much better than this 13th Gen Core i9 chip, at the same time.

With all of these variables, the F1 2022 tests at 1440p are more friendly to the Aero 16, though it still needs at least DLSS to average 60fps. It doesn’t appear in the chart, but out of curiosity I also ran the same Cyberpunk 4K tests at 1440p: the Aero 16 averages 76fps with FG and DLSS active, and it achieves just 22fps with DLSS off entirely.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Many gaming laptops should view 1440p as their maximum resolution target and forget 4K, and based on this evidence, many of them should still be content with 1080p. Plus, even if they can attain 60fps at 1440p, you don’t want your expensive machine to barely reach that mark. Ideally, there’s a frame rate cushion for demanding gameplay spikes, and more to the point, you want to be able to take advantage of the high refresh rate screens found in most gaming laptops (though not this particular model, thanks mostly to the 4K OLED panel wherein refresh rates aren't as fast). There’s not much point in a 144Hz or higher display if you can’t break over 100fps.

On the positive side, 76fps at 1440p in a demanding game, like Cyberpunk 2077 at maximum settings, is a plus, and since it relies on the latest new features, not something possible for most laptops before.

I should also say that I experienced quite a few crashes across these tests, in addition to Assassin's Creed not launching. The F1 games, in particular, crashed during or after completing most tests, but I was able to see the results first. This was using the latest available drivers from Nvidia at the time of testing. This could be due to early driver woes, or the combination with this particular laptop, but it wasn't a flawless experience.

The GeForce RTX 4070 Is Competitive…But DLSS Is Essential

There’s a lot to chew on in those results but there are some clear takeaways, and it’s not all positive viewing. It’s fair to say that, at least in this Aero 16, the GeForce RTX 4070 is a bit underwhelming. Gaming at 4K is a non-starter, even with DLSS and FG active, and its 1440p performance leans heavily on those features. Only a batch of newer titles support them, and even then the frame rates are good—not great.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Overall, the GeForce RTX 4070 seems to be a tick above the RTX 3070 and (usually) the RTX 3070 Ti, but this is no giant leap, and other last-gen GPUs can outpace this system at times. While considering all of this, remember to avoid drawing sweeping RTX 4070 conclusions based on one laptop at a particular wattage, but these tests are still indicative of what you can generally expect short of a massive difference in wattage and thermals. We’ll test more RTX 4070 (and hopefully RTX 4080) laptops soon, so stay tuned for more data and reviews.