MSI GeForce RTX 5070 12G GAMING TRIO OC Graphics Card Review

Introduction

It has been a couple of months since the launch of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, and we took a look at the Founders Edition card at launch. Today we will be looking at a partner card from MSI, the GeForce RTX 5070 12G GAMING TRIO OC, which offers a factory overclock and a large triple-fan cooler, among other features.

Another feature of the card, at least as of this writing, is that you can actually buy it. Currently it is listed for sale (and in stock) at Amazon and other popular places, with a price tag of $714.99 USD. Is a GeForce RTX 5070 compelling enough to make you spend almost the alleged MSRP of a 5070 Ti? Let’s look at this card and attempt to find out.

The MSI 12G GAMING TRIO OC Card

Ostensibly a dual-slot card, the shroud design of the 12G GAMING TRIO OC does move this into 2.5-slot territory, with overall dimensions for this card listed as 13.31 x 5.51 x 1.97 inches. If you’re curious, it weighs 2.62 lbs.

Features of the GeForce RTX 5070 12G GAMING TRIO OC via MSI:

• Extreme Performance: 2625 MHz (MSI Center)
• Boost: 2610 MHz (GAMING & SILENT Mode)
• Memory Speed 28 Gbps
• 12GB GDDR7
• DisplayPort x 3 (v2.1b)
• HDMI x 1 (As specified in HDMI 2.1b: up to 4K 480Hz or 8K 120Hz with DSC, Gaming VRR, HDR)
• Powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture and DLSS 4
• TRI FROZR 4: Enhanced fans and airflow for superior cooling and quiet performance
• STORMFORCE Fan: Seven blades with claw texturing for optimal airflow and minimal noise
• Nickel-plated baseplate efficiently captures and transfers GPU and memory heat
• Core Pipes: Square design maximizes contact for efficient thermal management
• Metal backplate with vents and thermal pads boosts cooling efficiency
• Wave Curved 4.0: Wave edges and high-low fins improve airflow and reduce turbulence
• Air Antegrade Fin 2.0: V-cut and high-low fins optimize airflow efficiency
• MSI Center offers GAMING mode for performance or SILENT mode for low noise
• Afterburner: Leading software for full graphics card overclocking control

There is also some tasteful RGB implemented with this shroud design, with some muted color via stripes on the card front over the fans, and a lighted logo on the back edge.

A Look at Performance

I wasn’t expecting performance much different than the Founders Edition RTX 5070 we already tested at launch, and there were no surprises to report. So, with stock performance already known, how can this possible be interesting enough to justify new charts for this review? Overclocking, naturally.

Using MSI’s Afterburner software, and setting the power limit to the maximum 112% for this card, I eventually settled on a 250 MHz overclock setting for the GPU core – leaving the already fast GDDR7 alone. The card will of course regulate its own GPU clocks to some extent, as all modern NVIDIA GPUs do, though you will see that the higher power limit and clocks did provide a lift.

And now, a trio of benchmark results with and without a manual overclock (stock results are orange, OC results are red, and the Founders Edition card results are green):

There you have it, there are more frames to be had when overclocking – though it does make me nostalgic for the old days, when one card could reach the performance of the card above it in the product stack. Obviously, we are not anywhere near RTX 5070 Ti territory.

So, what was the power draw penalty for raising the limit to 112% and raising the GPU clock?

Well, it turns out that power draw isn’t all that much higher with the manual OC after all. A few watts, barely rising above the spikes we saw with stock settings. As usual, modern GPUs just don’t respond to brute-force overclocking, and undervolting (not attempted here) can often produce better results.

As to thermals and noise, the GAMING TRIO OC card was excellent. In a cool 17.1 C ambient room (it was back in March when I tested the card in my Michigan basement), the maximum GPU temperature recorded after stress testing was just 59.2 C, with a max memory temp of 62 C. During these tests the fans did not exceed 33% (~1226 RPM). Noise levels were also very controlled, with the 33% fan speed only producing 33.7 dBA with the SPL meter positioned just 12 inches from the card on an open bench.

Final Thoughts

The GeForce RTX 5070 GPU itself is not an exciting product for enthusiasts, as the street price ($714.99 USD in this case) delivered a lot more bang for the buck as recently as the RTX 3080 launch, but we live in a very different time right now – at least financially speaking. Pricing continues be a major sticking point with all graphics card reviews – that, and availability. To that exent at least the MSI offering presented here is widely available – but it isn’t the only one.

The MSI 12G GAMING TRIO OC card offers RTX 5070 customers a large cooler capable of excellent performance with very low noise, but the value proposition is puzzling when there are options currently on the market for quite a bit less (such as the smaller, non-OC, MSI SHADOW). Of course nothing near the $549 “MSRP” for an RTX 5070 seems to exist post-launch, so some concession must be made if this GPU is on your short list.