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One of two aftermarket GTX 1070 Tis we have reviewed for launch day, the Palit GTX 1070 Ti Super JetStream is a very effective implementation of the GP104 chip.
It is a good-looking card with its monochrome, silver and black colour scheme – it should fit in almost any system as it is very colour neutral.
Palit opted for a 2.5-slot design, with a hefty heatsink, and the card performs very well in terms of thermal performance and acoustics. I do have to question the cut-out in the backplate behind the GPU core, as our thermal imaging showed this to be a significant hotspot on the back of the card, but it is still not a worry.
In terms of actual gaming performance, our testing proves that the Palit card is actually faster than the MSI Gaming 8G variant – not by much, but usually by around 1-2 FPS. This would be because the Palit card can keep the GPU core cooler (thanks to its thicker heatsink) and that allows GPU Boost 3.0 to push the clock speed further.
Overclocking also brought tangible gains, and just like the MSI 1070 Ti, an overclocked Palit 1070 Ti performs essentially the same as a stock GTX 1080 – so overclocking really does unlock that extra performance tier.
However, while my view of the Super JetStream is very positive, pricing is another concern. If you came to this review after reading the MSI Gaming 8G review, you will know my opinion on the matter – simply put, aftermarket 1070 Ti cards are currently too pricey, with some even costing more than aftermarket GTX 1080 cards. This is clearly an unfortunate situation to be in, as a 1080 is obviously the better buy if the pricing is the same, thus rendering the 1070 Ti obsolete before it's even launched.
We don't yet have a confirmed price for the Super JetStream as it has not yet appeared online – so I would advise our readers to be cautious. An aftermarket GTX 1070 Ti, like this one, at around the £430-440 mark would be a good buy. However, with prices currently closer to £500 – and thus far too close to GTX 1080 – GTX 1070 Ti just isn't worth the cash.
Pros
- Good-looking card.
- Faster than MSI's 1070 Ti out-of-the-box.
- Overclocks well, to essentially GTX 1080 levels of performance.
- Cool and quiet.
Cons
- Pricing is unclear and would have to be a fair bit less than other aftermarket cards to be good value.
- Hotspot on rear of card behind the GPU core.
KitGuru says: With the right pricing, the Palit GTX 1070 Ti Super JetStream could be a very attractive proposition. We will just have to wait and see.
With the shortage of GDDR5X, I’m wondering if the GTX 1080 is being phased out, because this is (95% of) a GTX 1080 GDDR5. Maybe the endgame is for the 1080 to be discontinued, the GP104s going into 1070 Ti instead, and the GDDR5X to be saved for the 1080 Ti and possibly mid-range Volta cards if the early flagships use GDDR6?