NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB GDDR6

The RTX 3070 scores 22,099 on PassMark G3D, which is solidly average in our database. It handles 1440p gaming fine but the 8GB VRAM and 7th percentile thermals are real limitations. At $420 renewed, it's a decent budget option but not a future-proof one.

The 3070 rocks 5,120 CUDA cores, 40 RT cores, and 160 Tensor cores, with a boost clock of 2,000MHz. That translates to 15.97 FP32 TFLOPS of raw compute. In rasterization, it sits at the 57th percentile, which means it's solidly average against everything we track today. For 1080p gaming, it scores 51.5 out of 100 in our value-weighted scoring. At 1440p, that drops to 46.6. The card can absolutely push 1440p at high settings in most titles, but you'll be turning down textures in newer games because of that 8GB VRAM ceiling.

Ray tracing is where things get interesting. The 40 RT cores put it at the 49th percentile for RT performance, so it's basically average. You can enable ray tracing in most games, but expect to lean on DLSS to keep frame rates playable. The compute score of 44th percentile tells a similar story. This is a card that does everything competently but doesn't lead in any category. The weakest area by far is AI workloads, scoring just 25 out of 100. If you're planning to run local LLMs or heavy AI inference, this isn't your card.

Stacked against the current crop, the 3070 shows its age. The Gigabyte AERO GV-N507TAERO OC-16GD and ASUS TUF Gaming TUF-RTX5070TI-O16G-WHITE-GAMING both double the VRAM to 16GB and offer dramatically better ray tracing and AI performance. The MSI Suprim G5080-16SLS is in a completely different league for compute and AI workloads. Even the ZOTAC SOLID SFF OC ZT-B50710J3-10P, a compact card, beats the 3070 on thermals and connectivity. The Sapphire NITRO+ 11348-01-20G is an AMD option that trades blows in rasterization while offering more VRAM. The 3070's one advantage is price. You're paying less, but you're getting less in almost every category that matters for future-proofing.

At $420 USD for a renewed unit, the 3070 is in a weird spot. The affordability score of 78.6 out of 100 suggests the price is decent for what you get, but you're paying for a card that's two generations old. The 67th percentile affordability ranking means it's cheaper than a lot of what's out there, but not a screaming deal. The GBP 403 listing in the UK and JPY 93,007 in Japan tell a similar story. You're getting a capable 1440p card for less than a new mid-range option, but you're also getting old thermals, limited connectivity, and that 8GB VRAM ceiling. If you can stretch your budget a bit, newer cards offer better efficiency and features.

The RTX 3070 pulls a PassMark G3D score of 22,099, which lands it right around the middle of the pack in our database. That's not a knock, it's just reality in 2025. This card was a beast when it launched, and it still handles 1440p gaming without breaking a sweat, but the market has moved on. The 8GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus gives you 448 GB/s of bandwidth, which is fine until you hit games that want more VRAM than that. And more and more titles do.

The renewed angle is worth paying attention to here. You're getting a professionally inspected card with a replacement or refund guarantee through Amazon Renewed. That takes some of the sting out of buying used. But the thermal ranking is rough, sitting at the 7th percentile. This card runs hot and loud compared to newer designs. If you've got a well-ventilated case, you'll be fine. If not, you'll hear it.

Skip this card if you're planning to play modern AAA titles at 1440p with high texture settings. The 8GB VRAM is already a bottleneck in games like Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, and The Last of Us Part I. Also skip it if you care about thermals or noise. The 7th percentile thermal ranking means this card runs hotter than nearly everything else we've tested. And if you're doing any AI work, the 25/100 AI score should be a dealbreaker. The 16th percentile connectivity ranking with just one DisplayPort is also limiting if you run multiple monitors. This is a card for budget-conscious 1080p and light 1440p gamers who don't mind turning settings down.

The RTX 3070 is a capable 1440p card that's held back by 8GB of VRAM and a thermal design that ranks near the bottom of our database. If you're building a budget gaming rig and you find one of these renewed units at a good price, it'll serve you well for 1080p and lighter 1440p titles. But the 25/100 AI score and 7th percentile thermals are hard to ignore. This card made sense in 2020. In 2025, it's a stopgap, not a long-term investment. Buy it if the price is right and your expectations are realistic.