Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti review: the typical performance upgrade spectrum

We conclude our testing of traditional, rasterised game performance with AC Unity, released in 2014 and currently enjoying a new lease of life on Xbox Series X's back-compat catalogue - plus two fresher titles, Metro Exodus (note: not the Enhanced Edition!) and Dirt Rally 2.0.

In order to deliver precise results, our performance data is more than just a readout of an average frame-rate at the end of a test. Instead, we use the FCAT tool built into Rivatuner Statistics Server (RTSS), which overlays a coloured border to the left side of the screen. Each new frame is represented by another coloured box in the sequence - and its height signifies the time it took to generate. We capture a direct feed of the game footage and border from the graphics card we're testing, analysing the resultant video file with our own tools to essentially write down the frame-time for each frame. This metadata is uploaded to the Eurogamer site, then rendered by the server into the live widgets you see below, allowing us to choose the comparisons you'll find most interesting - while giving you the power to make your own selections too.

Metro Exodus

The Metro Exodus benchmark is a convenient way to adjudge expected in-game performance, and can be found as a standalone program ('Benchmark.exe') in the game's install directory. From here, you can choose from a wide range of presets, settings and resolutions, plus run the game several times in a row to guarantee accurate results - you even get a nice frame-time graph at the end. We're using the Ultra preset here, if you want to play along, and we have RT results later on in this review.

The 3070 Ti is nine percent faster than the 3070 here - quite a typical margin, based on what we've seen so far - while the 3080 is nearly 25 percent faster. The RX 6800 loses its matchup against the 3070 Ti, to the tune of three percent, with both cards falling a little shy of that 60fps advantage we like to see. Note that the Nvidia card does have the optional of DLSS to boost performance, while AMD has yet to deploy their FidelityFX Super Resolution tech that aims to provide a similar performance boost. Compared to the 2070 Super, the 3070 Ti is about 47 percent faster - a decent gain.

Dirt Rally 2.0

Dirt Rally 2.0's benchmark is hard to set up, but runs a treat once you've got the XML files figured out. It's also plenty long, encompassing an a full section of a point-to-point rally race, making it one of the longest repeatable stretches of actual gameplay in an integrated benchmark. We're back to good-ish gains here, with the 3070 Ti seven percent faster than the 3070 and tied with the outgoing RTX 2080 Ti. The 3070 Ti is also slightly in front of the RX 6800, although we've seen the two trade places over the various stages we've witnessed so far.

Assassin's Creed Unity

AC Unity made its DF reputation by showcasing CPU limitations and highlighting issues with driver limitations, and this venerable member of the 2021 GPU test suite still has the power to trip up modern graphics hardware. We see a seven percent lead for the 3070 Ti over the 3070, quite average at this stage, while Nvidia claims a small win over the RX 6800 too. The 3070 Ti is also 77 percent faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, making this a meaningful upgrade for anyone on Pascal-era GPUs.

So that's the standard benchmark suite out of the way. Before we get into the ray tracing benchmarks, let's check out Resizable BAR - a new feature that promises better performance for free in a range of supported games.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti analysis

• Introduction and hardware analysis
• Doom Eternal, Control, Borderlands 3, Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Game Benchmarks Part 1
• Death Stranding, Far Cry 5, Hitman 2, Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Game Benchmarks Part 2
• Metro Exodus, Dirt Rally 2, Assassin's Creed Unity - Game Benchmarks Part 3 [This Page]
• Resizable BAR benchmarks and requirements
• Control, Metro Exodus, Battlefield 5 - RT game benchmarks
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti - the Digital Foundry verdict