GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design vs L4

NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design

2017Core: 1215 MHzBoost: 1379 MHz
GTX family
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VS

L4

2023Core: 795 MHzBoost: 2040 MHz
Similar parts
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GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design vs L4 Performance Spectrum

About G3D Mark

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design vs L4: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design

2017

Why buy it

  • Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

  • 2017 hardware with 8 GB of VRAM already sits in legacy territory for modern games.
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 4.3 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $2,345 MSRP).
  • 59.7% higher power demand at 115W vs 72W.

L4

2023

Why buy it

  • Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 4.3 vs 0 G3D/$ ($2,345 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).
  • Better long-term bet: Ada Lovelace (2022−2024) on 5nm gives it a newer hardware base for upcoming games.
  • Draws 72W instead of 115W, a 43W reduction.

Trade-offs

  • Fewer clear downsides in this head-to-head, aside from the usual pricing and availability swings.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
L4 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 3.2% in PassMark G3D (10,153 vs 9,842), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
L4 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: a 5nm process instead of 16nm, 60 vs 0 ray-tracing units, and a newer 2023 generation instead of 2017. That gives it the more rounded hardware package for newer games.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
L4 makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup.

GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design vs L4 Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design

The GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in June 27 2017. It features the Pascal architecture. The core clock ranges from 1215 MHz to 1379 MHz. It has 2048 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 115W. Manufactured using 16 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 9,842 points.

NVIDIA

L4

The L4 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in March 21 2023. It features the Ada Lovelace architecture. The core clock ranges from 795 MHz to 2040 MHz. It has 7424 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 72W. Manufactured using 5 nm process technology. It features 60 dedicated ray tracing cores for enhanced lighting effects. G3D Mark benchmark score: 10,153 points.

Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design scores 9,842 and the L4 reaches 10,153 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 3.2% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design is built on Pascal while the L4 uses Ada Lovelace, both on 16 nm vs 5 nm. Shader units: 2,048 (GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design) vs 7,424 (L4). Raw compute: 5.648 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design) vs 30.29 TFLOPS (L4). Boost clocks: 1379 MHz vs 2040 MHz.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q DesignL4
G3D Mark Score
9,842
10,153+3%
Architecture
Pascal
Ada Lovelace
Process Node
16 nm
5 nm
Shading Units
2048
7424+263%
Compute (TFLOPS)
5.648 TFLOPS
30.29 TFLOPS+436%
Boost Clock
1379 MHz
2040 MHz+48%
ROPs
64
80+25%
TMUs
128
240+88%
L1 Cache
0.75 MB
7.5 MB+900%
L2 Cache
2 MB
48 MB+2300%

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The L4 leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q DesignL4
Upscaling Tech
Upscaling support
Upscaling support
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
NVIDIA Reflex
Standard
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 8 GB of video memory. Memory bus width is 256-bit on the GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design and 128-bit on the L4. L2 Cache: 2 MB (GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design) vs 48 MB (L4) — the L4 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q DesignL4
VRAM Capacity
8 GB
8 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR6
Bus Width
256-bit+100%
128-bit
L2 Cache
2 MB
48 MB+2300%
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12.1 (GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design) vs 12.2 (L4). Vulkan: 1.1 vs 1.3. OpenGL: 4.5 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 0.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q DesignL4
DirectX
12.1
12.2
Vulkan
1.1
1.3+18%
OpenGL
4.5
4.6+2%
Max Displays
4
0
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 4.0 (GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design) vs 8th Gen NVENC (2x) (L4). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP6 vs 5th Gen NVDEC (4x). Supported codecs: MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC (GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design) vs MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9,AV1 (L4).

FeatureGeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q DesignL4
Encoder
NVENC 4.0
8th Gen NVENC (2x)
Decoder
PureVideo HD VP6
5th Gen NVDEC (4x)
Codecs
MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC
MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9,AV1
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design draws 115W versus the L4's 72W — a 46% difference. The L4 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 500W (GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design) vs 500W (L4). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 0mm vs 169mm, occupying 0 vs 1 slots. Typical load temperature: 85°C vs 75°C.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q DesignL4
TDP
115W
72W-37%
Recommended PSU
500W
500W
Power Connector
PCIe-powered
PCIe-powered
Length
0mm
169mm
Height
0mm
69mm
Slots
0-100%
1
Temp (Load)
85°C
75°C-12%
Perf/Watt
85.6
141.0+65%
💰

Value Analysis

The newer card here is L4 (2023 vs 2017).

FeatureGeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q DesignL4
MSRP
$2345
Codename
GP104
AD104
Release
June 27 2017
March 21 2023
Ranking
#358
#259

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