Finance available from Powerful and compact, let down by dodgy software and loud fans
by MikePerforms great, as a 3070 should. Been using for several weeks with no complaints on how it handles games. It's also compact, length comes in at around the same as my ATX motherboard.The 2 x 8 Pin PCIe power ports are recessed into the card though, and can be extremely difficult to fit.The compact dual fan design means the fans have to work harder to keep it cool. Fans would hit 2200 RPM at stock with temps at 77-79C. A distracting resonant "hum" starts when these fans hit 2000 RPM.The card struggles with fan control apps like firestorm or msi afterburner, three times the fans got stuck at a single speed. Twice they got stuck at 0 RPM!Zotac support's advice was to set the fans to auto, which isn't useful.Thankfully, undervolting in afterburner works a treat. After tweaks it now sits comfortably at 68-70C under load and the fans are much quieter as a result. This is in a large mesh case, so YMMV.Zotac also really needs to sort their software out. Chrome wouldn't let me download firestorm since the connection is unencrypted. Then since the EXE isn't signed windows warned me against running it. The app is buggy and hard to use, and doesn't support voltage curves. Use MSI afterburner instead.Additionally, (this probably isn't the card's fault) but you might also have to use DDU to do a full uninstall / reinstall of nvidia drivers. I had to to resolve driver crashes. Would I recommend? It depends. If you're looking for a cheaper 3070 or are building a small form factor PC then it's worth considering. If you're looking for a card with lots of OC headroom and good thermal performance, look at the triple fan designs with higher power limits. This is assuming that stock levels ever return to normal, and prices actually remain at MSRP.
