I know what you are thinking. “Why opt for the AMP Holo edition if you are already having trouble with finding a normal 3070 Ti in the market right now?” Don’t worry, I felt the same way in the beginning, and I will give you some compelling reasons why you might want to shell out the extra bucks and go for the Extreme Holo version. So if your budget allows it, here’s why I think ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3070 Ti AMP Extreme Holo is the card to go for, in this review.
ZOTAC RTX 3070 Ti AMP Extreme Holo Review
An Extreme Design with More Oomph
With capabilities like DLSS and Ray tracing up to 4k 120Hz if you have a high-end, compatible gaming display, the RTX 3070 Ti offers all the characteristics you’ll need to appreciate next-gen video games, including HDMI 2.1 connectivity. So with an 1890 MHz boost clock speed, 1 extra 6-pin requirement, and taking a whopping 3 slot on your system, Zotac had to put the word “Extreme” in the name. I see why. Before you even plan to get your hands on one of these models, make sure you can fit this beauty in your PC case. It takes a 355.9mm x 145.7mm x 59.7mm / 14″ x 5.7″ x 2.4″ size to breathe properly to begin with. The card is so long and thick, Zotac was kind enough to include their own RGB GPU Support Bracket in the GPU Package.
Talking of the packaging – let’s see what you get in the main box once you get a retail version. So unboxing this monster is nothing less than unwrapping a gift for yourself. The beauty starts from the outer box cover itself. There is a reflective gradient film on the box which reminds you of the Northern Lights. The hints of purple and cyan makes the box stand out even on the shelves of bricks and mortar store, setting it apart from everything else in the market. The box gives you all the specs you need to know about the GPU. Taking the sturdy box from the outer cover makes you feel like you are holding an elite product in your hands. The box opens towards the up to give you all the user manual, and stickers you will need. Then you can continue opening up the box, to see your mighty card enveloped with beefy padding and bubble wrap.
Performance & Specs
Along with the 3 slot card, you will also get an RGB GPU support bracket, which apart from holding your GPU weight in place, will also light up by using a 5V 3-pin connecter to the motherboard. So now as you finally have the card in hand you will see a strong metal backplate and a “Power Boost” chip there (more on this later). The grey shroud is made from plastic. This helps to keep the overall weight down instead of using a full metal design for the shroud too. This is the first time I am happy that a GPU is being made out of plastic. Weird, I know.
Here are the specs of RTX 3070 Ti AMP Extreme Holo compared with RTX 3080 & RTX 3070 Ti Founder’s Edition, below:
All New Features of AMP Extreme Holo
The opaque side edge RGB area is where the magic happens. Along with this, you get RGB lighting on lines on the backplate of the card, and also the Zotac logo on the backplate. The SPECTRA 2.0 unifies all the RGB capabilities of Zotac products including light strips under one unified application. All the lighting areas on the card and the RGB support bracket will all show the same lighting effect thanks to this application. You get many options from solid Static color, flashing Breathe, Fade, Rainbow and tons more. 3070 Ti Extreme Holo comes with the new IceStorm 2 cooling design. When compared to the Founders Edition, this results in a cooler, quieter, and more powerful gaming performance. For optimum cooling efficiency, IceStorm 2.0 improves the total cooling hardware with a large surface area, better Heatpipe architecture, stronger aluminum array heatsink, and extra heat disposal well beyond other GPU designs.
This card has the most innovation from ZOTAC, the FREEZE technology. FREEZE is a brilliant idea that will allow this powerful card to become quiet while also saving fan lifespan. When you are not using the full potential of the card, the GPU fans turn off so that you may enjoy a pin drop silent environment without your system sounding like a jet engine. You can even adjust the parameters to make sure this feature kicks in when the temperature is below 60 degrees. That’s super awesome, as we found ourselves with a silent PC not long after we exited the games on our system. Additionally, Zotac’s POWER BOOST helps to decrease ripple noises and power fluctuations, which helps to stabilize performance. As a result, even when the card is pushed to its limits, you can expect a more constant power supply, a longer lifespan, and more reliable performance.
3070 Ti AMP Extreme Holo also comes with DUAL BIOS technology. That’s right, this is a two-in-one BIOS card. This means you will receive a second BIOS, which will provide you more breathing room. However, the card does not have a physical switch. To change the BIOS, you must first boot into Windows, then launch FireStom, change the BIOS, and then restart. First to try new things and squeeze more power, and the other to trust and rely on if things don’t go as planned. Two bios are always preferable to having just one.
Extra Gaming Performance on RTX 3070 Ti Extreme Holo
With all the new features and additional clock speeds, you will hope the AMP Extreme Holo to give extra fps in your games compared to a normal 3070 Ti. And yes Zotac managed to deliver on this promise. You are getting far better cooling and noise levels when you compare it to the reference design of the founders’ edition. So here’s the FPS we were able to churn out of our card:
ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 3070 Ti AMP Extreme Holo Review Verdict
Okay by the time of writing this review everyone is aware of the current fluctuated market price due to component shortages and also due to tariffs on Chinese imports to the United States. So the price which these cards are well above the initial set prices. Even though Zotac was aiming to make the card available to the public just $100 above the normal 3070 Ti, in the current scenario (also thanks to scalpers) we can expect to get RTX 3070 Ti AMP Extreme Holo for around $1200-$1300. That’s not bad considering the other 3070 Ti selling out for $1100. And this would be way less than the hefty price tag of RTX 3080 with $1800-$2000.
For $100 you are getting an adequate performance boost over the reference card, but the main highlight is the cooling capabilities of Zotac’s IceStorm 2.0 design. You get a hefty 10-degree difference in temperatures when compared to Founder’s Edition. So taking into consideration of the cooling, extra features, and gaming performance which came close to RTX 3080 in a few games, and well over reference 3070 Ti, I would suggest you go for ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 3070 Ti AMP Extreme Holo, if you are planning to game in both 1440p with full eye candy and even 4k, but with raytracing turned off. This is the best RTX 3070 Ti out there right now. And nothing else even comes close to its cooling performance.
While you are here, take a glance at our Zotac RTX 3080 AMP Holo 10GB GPU Review if you are looking for something much powerful. Also, make sure to check out our Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti review, and know in detail how it stacks up to the AMP extreme Holo Edition.
