MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Gaming Trio OC Review – Quieter and a little more colorful is always possible

1 - Introduction and unboxing 2 - Test system and equipment 3 - Teardown: PCB and cooler 4 - Material analysis and thermal interface material 5 - Gaming performance rasterization 6 - Gaming performance Super Sampling, RT & FG 7 - Power consumption, transients and PSU recommendation 8 - Temperatures, clock rate and thermography 9 - Fans speed and noise 10 - Summary and conclusion

Temperature curves

Let’s remember my material test: The PTM pad used in this case differs significantly from conventional heat conducting materials in several aspects. Particularly striking is the so-called burn-in behavior, which is shown in the first thermal cycle by a very pronounced run-in phase (green curve). This phenomenon can be explained by a gradual adaptation of the material structure to the specific surface topography and the mechanical pressure between the GPU and the heat sink. During this phase, the effective thermal conductivity of the pad changes significantly, which leads to a characteristic curvature in the temperature curve. Only after a certain period of operation does the material reach its optimum state, in which heat conduction is at a stable level.

Modern NVIDIA GPUs use a variety of efficient control technologies that make the thermal behavior highly dependent on the respective load profile. While a constant stress test results in an even temperature development, as energy consumption and cooling remain stable, real application scenarios show significantly more dynamic curves. Technologies such as power gating switch off unused computing units, while separate power rails regulate the power supply of individual chip areas independently.

This reduces energy consumption depending on the situation and prevents unnecessary heat generation. Accelerated frequency switching, in which the clock frequency and voltage are adjusted within microseconds, is particularly relevant. This fast response improves energy efficiency, but leads to slightly fluctuating temperatures. The resulting temperature curve is less uniform in dynamic applications, but reflects the high adaptability of the architecture. Crucially, the GPU operates well below its thermal limit despite changing loads – a sign of the effectiveness of the cooling design and internal control.

Thanks to the efficient cooling design, memory temperatures remain constant even with dynamic load changes. A separate power supply via separate power rails ensures a stable power supply, regardless of GPU fluctuations. The central placement of the circuit board in combination with large heat pipes and an optimized cooling fin array ensures even heat dissipation and prevents thermal hotspots in the memory area. While the GPU core exhibits significant temperature fluctuations, the memory remains stable thanks to the constant power supply and optimized air circulation. Even under high load, the memory temperature reaches a maximum of 61 °C, which ensures very good performance and a long service life for the memory chips. Here, too, we can see that the melting PTM also increases the contact force on the memory modules because the gap becomes smaller. This is the first time I have seen this so pronounced.

Clock Rate and OC

The clock rates are a maximum of 2848 MHz under full gaming load and only almost reach the 2900 MHz mark under minimum load. Our OC special (see link below) shows how to achieve even more. This card here managed a good 3.1 GHz and just under 3000 MHz for the memory, as long as you set the fans a little faster. The cooling of the MSI card allows for plenty of overclocking reserves.

Make the GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 significantly faster? A Blackwell overclocking guide (not only) for dummies

Thermography during load operation

Thermography with the Optris PI 640 enables precise temperature measurements and provides detailed insights into heat distribution. With a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels and a thermal sensitivity of less than 75 mK, the camera makes even the smallest temperature differences visible. The correct emissivity setting, based on comparative measurements with K-type sensors, ensures accurate results. This allows hotspots and areas with efficient heat dissipation to be reliably identified.

The cooling design ensures reasonably even heat dissipation, which is reflected in the thermography by homogeneous temperature zones. The GPU and voltage converters still exhibit well-controlled temperature peaks, while the memory temperatures remain stable. Thanks to a frame rate of up to 32 Hz, the camera can also capture dynamic temperature changes. The measurements were carried out in three scenarios: in idle mode (see above), in gaming mode and under full load, each after 30 minutes of running time. At almost 80 °C on the circuit board in the gaming loop in the area of the power supply tracks, the temperature is quite high, which is due to the compact design and circuit board layout.

The stress test almost reaches 88 °C and it turns out that MSI has (once again) stuck the pad on the backplate in the wrong place (GPU socket) to reduce the thermal load on the board. I took the liberty of sticking it in the right place during subsequent assembly.