As Usual, The latest round of Nvidia GPUs started with the most expensive and most powerful cards. I was lucky enough to spend some time with the elusive RTX 5080 Founders Edition (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and the practically nonexistent RTX 5090 Founders Edition (7/10, WIRED Recommends), both of which impressed with 60+ frames per second at 4K in a number of major titles. These cards represented premium examples of both GPUs, but they’ve been extremely scarce ever since their release.
As we start to creep further down the budget scale, there are no fancy Founders Edition GPUs to chase after. Instead, a variety of board partners offer more typical card designs, with coolers that you’re likely to recognize from previous years and a spectrum of overclocking levels. That should mean wider availability too, but in practice things haven’t quite played out that way.
The RTX 5070 Ti I have in hand today comes from Asus, and as the Prime variant, it should come in at or close to the GPU’s $749 MSRP—if you can find it. Stock and pricing issues have surrounded the 50 Series launches so far, and this card is no exception. While it performs well for the price point, limited availability and steep aftermarket damage the value proposition.
Form Factor
While card sizes have swelled in the past few generations, I’m glad to see AIC partners taking a queue from Nvidia’s FE cards and making an effort to shrink back down a bit. The Asus Prime is definitely a 2.5-slot card, but in reality it’s just barely wider than its back metal panel, and it fits just fine in my Hyte Y60 (7/10, WIRED Recommends).
It looks nice enough, with a mix of glossy and matte blacks, cut by clean white lines. It should fit aesthetically in almost any case, but it definitely lacks the refined finish of the first-party Nvidia offerings.
The new 12V-2x6 connection is here too, and Asus includes an adapter with three six-pin plugs on the other end. I prefer the slightly longer nylon braided cable included with the Founders Edition (pictured in the installed photos), but the Asus version is nicer than an average PC cable, with heavy wrapping at the GPU end and plastic braiding throughout.