The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION is a flagship RTX 5070 Ti offering that celebrates the launch of MSI's Vanguard line-up of graphics cards.

Back in February 2025, NVIDIA launched its enthusiast-class "Blackwell" GPU, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. Featuring 8960 CUDA cores, GDDR7 memory and the use of the PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, the RTX 5070 Ti replaced the previous-generation "Ada Lovelace" GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, and goes up against AMD's Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU in terms of performance. 

For this article, ALKtech unboxes and tests a limited edition flagship RTX 5070 Ti graphics card by MSI - the MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G Vanguard SOC Launch Edition. Equipped with a hefty "Hyper Frozr" GPU cooler, the card features an aesthetic chock full of RGB lighting and carbon fiber-inspired design elements. Eagle-eyed readers might notice that the Vanguard SOC Launch Edition is identical to the vanilla GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G Vanguard SOC, where the key difference with the Launch Edition is that it celebrates the launch of the MSI Vanguard graphics card line-up, shipping with tricked-out packaging and a blind box of MSI's "Lucky" dragon figurine. Read on to see how this card performs with a small selection of gaming benchmark tests at the 4K resolution, when paired with AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D gaming processor!

Summary of Specifications (G507T-16VGSL)

• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (GB203)
  • 8960 CUDA cores
• Memory: 16GB GDDR7 RAM (256-bit, 28 Gbps)
• Core Clock: 2730 MHz (OC mode), 2700MHz (default mode - boost clock)
• Bus Type: PCIe 5.0 x16
• Outputs: 3x DisplayPort 2.1b, 1x HDMI 2.1b
• External Power Required: Yes, 1x 16-pin 12VHPWR
• Recommended PSU Wattage: 750W and above
• Dimensions: 357mm x 151mm x 66mm
• Official MSI product page: https://www.msi.com/Graphics-Card/GeForce-RTX-5070-Ti-16G-VANGUARD-SOC-LAUNCH-EDITION/

Packaging & Accessories

With the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION being a special edition graphics card offering, it comes shipped in a rather large box, where we get black silhouettes of MSI's dragon mascot, "Lucky", splashed across the front of the box's outer sleeve.

The outer sleeve opens once you've undone a perforated strip across the top, revealing a black inner box that holds the graphics card and its accessories. This being a graphics card that celebrates the launch of MSI's Vanguard series of graphics cards, we get no shortage of references to "Lucky", MSI's dragon mascot that features prominently as part of the launch campaign "Lucky Around the World". As part of this campaign, the VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION comes shipped with a Lucky figurine blind box that contains one of ten Lucky designs, including a rare secret edition, Apart from the blind box, we get the following accessories:

• Lucky Around the World promotional leaflet
• 3x 8-pin to 1x 16-pin 12VHPWR adapter cable
• Graphics card holder
• Quick start guide

Aesthetics & Physical Features

Once again, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION is identical to the non-launch edition of the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC. In that regard, both cards feature a hefty triple-fan cooling solution comprising of a plastic shroud with carbon fiber-inspired patterns and a metal backplate. The fans sport MSI's Stormforce design for improved airflow, and are used in conjunction with several cooling features such as a large vapour chamber combined with what MSI terms "Core Pipes" to enhance heat dissipation.

The card's "Hyper Frozr" cooler is pretty large, where it measures in at a sizeable 357mm x 151mm x 66mm.

Along the long edge of the card, we get a Silent/Gaming mode switch that allows end-users to toggle between BIOS profiles to suit their respective usage scenarios - the Silent mode utilises a less aggressive fan curve to keep noise levels at bay.

This being a higher-end GPU offering, its unsurprising to see that the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION is powered by a single 16-pin 12VHPWR power connector.

NVIDIA's "Blackwell" RTX 5000 series of GPUs all utilise the PCIe 5.0 bus for connectivity - in this instance, the RTX 5070 Ti utilises the PCIe 5.0 x16 interface.

In terms of display output ports, the card comes with three DisplayPort 2.1b ports and a single HDMI 2.1b port.

The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION and GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC are both clearly designed with RGB lovers in mind, where we get no shortage of RGB LED accents on the card. These RGB LEDs can be customised to your heart's content via the MSI Center app from within Windows.

GPU-Z Screenshot

Benchmarks & Test Setup

To get a sensing of the card's gaming performance, the following gaming benchmarks were run:

• Assassin's Creed Mirage in-game benchmark
• Black Myth Wukong Benchmark Tool
• Cyberpunk 2077 v2.3 in-game benchmark
• F1 23 in-game benchmark

The benchmark tests above were run on the Gaming BIOS at both the 4K and 1440p resolution. Upscaling technologies such as DLSS as well as Frame Generation were also disabled for the test runs.

Test Setup

A test bench with the specifications as listed below was used:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D (stock settings, PBO & Curve Optimiser disabled)
• CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB
• CPU Thermal Paste: Arctic MX-4
• Motherboard: Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER (F37 BIOS)
• Memory: 32GB (2x16GB) KingBank DDR5 Dark Heatsink UDIMM 6000MHz (DDR5 6000 CL28-35-35-76 1.45V)
• Storage: Lexar NM790 1TB NVMe SSD
• Graphics Card: MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION
• PSU: Cooler Master MWE Gold 1050 V2 ATX 3.0
• Case: Phanteks Eclipse G370A with 4x Phanteks M25-G2 fans and 3x Phanteks M25 fans
• Monitor: Gigabyte M27U 27" LCD monitor (4K, 160Hz)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (24H2 with all latest drivers and updates installed, "Balanced" power profile)
• Graphics Driver: GeForce Game Ready Driver 581.15
• Resizable BAR: Enabled

The test results shown below were taken from benchmark runs that did not have any screen capture software running in the background. In addition, the test system's fan curves were left on their stock default settings without any tweaks.

Assassin's Creed Mirage In-game Benchmark

First up, we've got Assassin's Creed Mirage's in-game benchmark test, where on the 4K resolution, the test bench achieves an average FPS of 97, a minimum FPS of 53 and a maximum FPS of 135. These results were obtained on the "Ultra High" preset with Adaptive Quality set to "60 FPS", and all forms of upscaling (e.g. DLSS) disabled.

On the 1440p resolution with the same quality settings as the 4K run, the test bench puts out an average FPS of 147, a minimum FPS of 69 and a maximum FPS of 210.

Black Myth Wukong Benchmark Tool

With the Black Myth Wukong Benchmark Tool on the 4K resolution, the test bench achieves an average FPS of 48, a minimum FPS of 40 and a maximum FPS of 55 These results were obtained on the "High" preset with ray tracing switched off, and Super Resolution set to "100" with TSR as the sampling mode (i.e. DLSS was disabled). Frame Generation was also disabled for the duration of the benchmark.

Bumping the resolution down to 1440p with the same graphics quality settings as the 4K benchmark run, the test system achieves an average FPS of 84, a minimum FPS of 66 and a maximum FPS of 99.

Cyberpunk 2077 v2.3 In-game Benchmark

Next up is Cyberpunk 2077 v2.3's in-game benchmark test, where the test bench achieves an average FPS of 54.73, a minimum FPS of 44.96 and a maximum FPS of 68.36 on the 4K resolution. These results were obtained on the "Ray Tracing Low" preset with DLSS and Frame Generation disabled.

On the 1440p resolution with the same quality settings as the 4K test run, the test bench puts out an average FPS of 111.46, a minimum FPS of 93.08 and a maximum FPS of 137.20.

F1 23 In-game Benchmark

Rounding things off in the benchmarks section is F1 23's in-game benchmark tool, where the test bench achieves an average FPS of 54, a minimum FPS of 45 and a maximum FPS of 66 at 4K. These results were obtained on the "Ultra High" detail preset with all forms of upscaling technologies (e.g. DLSS) disabled. Anisotropic Filtering was set to the "16x" setting.

Taking the resolution down a notch to 1440p while maintaining the same graphics quality settings, the test system achieves an average FPS of 103, a minimum FPS of 89 and a maximum FPS of 125.

Power Consumption, Thermals & Acoustics

Power Consumption

Under Load [F1 23 In-game Benchmark, 4K, Ultra High Detail Preset, TAA, 16x AF, DLSS Off, Singapore Circuit, Five Laps (~9 minutes)]
• Avg. GPU Power: 275.8W
• Min. GPU Power: 220.1W
• Max. GPU Power: 285.7W

Idle
• Avg. GPU Power: 15.8W
• Min. GPU Power: 12.3W
• Max. GPU Power: 19.3W

The figures above were obtained from "GPU Power" readouts from HWiNFO64.

Thermals

Under Load [F1 23 In-game Benchmark, 4K, Ultra High Detail Preset, TAA, 16x AF, DLSS Off, Singapore Circuit, Five Laps (~9 minutes)]
• Avg. GPU Temperature: 62.6°C
• Min. GPU Temperature: 57.0°C
• Max. GPU Temperature: 64.4°C
• Avg. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 64.1°C
• Min. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 58.0°C
• Max. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 66.0°C

Idle
• Avg. GPU Temperature: 38.0°C
• Min. GPU Temperature: 37.1°C
• Max. GPU Temperature: 39.6°C
• Avg. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 48.6°C
• Min. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 48.0°C
• Max. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 50.0°C

The figures above were obtained from "GPU Temperature" & "GPU Memory Junction Temperature" readouts from HWiNFO64. The thermal results were obtained from benchmark runs conducted in a non-airconditioned room with an ambient temperature of around 30°C.

While under gaming workloads with default fan curve settings, I found the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION's fans to be really quiet, where any fan noise was completely masked by the test bench's CPU fans. While there was some amount of coil whine (in the form of a low buzzing noise), it was barely audible - on a scale of zero to five, with zero being no coil whine at all, I'd rate the amount of coil whine with this card a 1/5, where I could only hear the said coil whine when the side panel of the PC case was removed and I had my ear right next to the card.

Conclusion & Pricing

The MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC LAUNCH EDITION lives up to its namesake as a flagship RTX 5070 Ti graphics card offering, where it has excellent thermal and acoustic performance, and is sure to pander to fans of the MSI brand, especially with its Lucky figurine blind box that comes included with the card.

For those of you who'd like to save some cash, you can instead splash out on the non-launch edition of the RTX 5070 Ti 16G VANGUARD SOC. That said, it's worth noting that the price of this card is likely to be pretty steep - as of the time of publishing this review, the non-Launch Edition of this card is listed on Newegg for US$859.99, where it's presently out of stock. In this regard, expect to pay a premium on the $859.99 price tag should you be keen to get the Launch Edition and its frills.

Get this graphics card from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HZafni (affiliate link)

ALKtech may earn commissions from qualifying purchases made using affiliate links, at no extra cost to you as a customer. These commissions go a long way in supporting the platform!

The graphics card featured in this article was a review unit provided on loan from MSI.