The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING SLIM World of Warcraft EDITION celebrates 20 years of the World of Warcraft franchise, and comes in a sleek-looking blue and gold aesthetic.

World of Warcraft fans rejoice, as MSI has partnered with Blizzard Entertainment to release the limited edition GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING SLIM World of Warcraft Edition graphics card, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of World of Warcraft and the release of The War Within expansion.

Powered by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER GPU, the limited edition graphics card features the iconic Mystic Blue and Glorious Gold colours of World of Warcraft, and comes with a set of magnetic backplates inspired by the 10 expansions from World of Warcraft's 20-year history; users can swap out the said backplates on the graphics card to suit their personal preferences. For this article, I'll be unboxing and testing the graphics card by putting it through its paces with a series of synthetic and gaming benchmark tests, in a test bench PC that is powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor.

Specifications

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER
Memory: 12GB GDDR6X RAM (192-bit, 21 Gbps)
Boost Clock: 2475 MHz
Bus Type: PCIe 4.0 x16
Outputs: 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x HDMI 2.1a
External Power Required: Yes, 1x 16-pin (12VHPWR)
Recommended PSU Wattage: 650W and above
Dimensions: 307mm x 125mm x 46mm
Official MSI product page: https://www.msi.com/Graphics-Card/GeForce-RTX-4070-SUPER-12G-GAMING-SLIM-World-of-Warcraft-EDITION/Overview

Packaging & Accessories

The MSI GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING SLIM World of Warcraft Edition comes in a large cardboard carry case with World of Warcraft motifs on the front and rear that pay tribute to the 20th anniversary of the game.

Opening up the carry case reveals the main box that contains the graphics card, as well as a section that contains a thank you card, and five hard cardboard sleeves containing the ten magnetic metal backplates that end-users have the option of installing on the graphics card.

As can be seen above, each cardboard sleeve flips open to reveal two magnetic metal backplates, with each backplate featuring a graphic that pays tribute to each of the 10 World of Warcraft expansions that have been released in the game's 20-year history.

The ten backplates are made of aluminium, and each have magnets on all four corners that allow for them to be easily attached and removed from the graphics card.

As can be seen though, attaching the backplates will result in the full obstruction of the graphics card's rear ventilation openings - no surprises here that operating the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING SLIM World of Warcraft EDITION with the backplates installed will have a negative impact on the thermal performance of the card, which is quantified in the Power Consumption & Thermals section of this review.

On to the main box that contains the graphics card, MSI has opted for one that sports a black, blue and gold colourway with a World of Warcraft 20th anniversary motif emblazoned on the front. Over on the rear, we get the usual overview of features and specifications of the card.

In addition to the magnetic metal backplates mentioned earlier in this article, the following accessories also come included with the card:

• 2x 8-pin to 1x 16-pin (12VHPWR) power adapter cable
• World of Warcraft-themed graphics card holder
• Spare graphics card holder rubber pads
• Quick start guide

The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING SLIM World of Warcraft EDITION shares a similar cooler shroud design as the vanilla RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING X SLIM, with the key differentiator being the Mystic Blue and Glorious Gold colour scheme and fan hubs that bear the World of Warcraft 20th anniversary motif. The said shroud is made of plastic, and houses triple TORX FAN 5.0 fans. The cooler assembly comprises a copper baseplate with core pipes to improve heat dissipation.

Over on the rear, MSI has included a metal backplate that forms the backbone of the cooler assembly, which helps reduce PCB flex while improving heat dissipation. Again, it's worth noting that with the decorative magnetic backplates installed, the ventilation openings pictured above will be completely obscured, thereby affecting the GPU cooler's performance.

As its name implies, the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING SLIM World of Warcraft EDITION measures in at a svelte 46mm in terms of thickness, making it an ideal candidate for compact PC builds.

For the unaware, NVIDIA has been increasingly favouring the new 16-pin 12VHPWR connector over the more traditional 8-pin PCIe power connector - the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING SLIM World of Warcraft EDITION is no exception, and employs the use of a single 16-pin 12VHPWR connector for its power needs.

RGB fans rejoice, for the graphics card comes with an illuminated MSI dragon motif and logo on its long edge.

Testing Methodology

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

• 3DMark Time Spy v1.2
• Cyberpunk 2077 v2.12 in-game benchmark
• F1 23 in-game benchmark

All tests above were run at the 1440p resolution.

Test Setup

A test bench with the specifications below was used:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D (Curve Optimiser at -30, LLC set to "Extreme")
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 622 Halo White
• CPU Thermal Paste: Cooler Master CryoFuze
• Motherboard: Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER (F33a BIOS)
• Memory: 32GB (2x16GB) Neo Forza Trinity RGB DDR5 6400 CL40 (running at DDR5 6000 CL40 EXPO profile)
• Storage: Lexar NM790 1TB NVMe SSD
• Graphics Card: MSI GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING SLIM World of Warcraft EDITION
• Case: Segotep Gank 360 with 2x Cooler Master Mobius 120P ARGB White Edition & 1x Cooler Master MasterFan MF120 HALO² White Edition case fans
• Monitor: Gigabyte G27Q 27" LCD monitor (144 Hz, 1440p)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (23H2 with KB5041587 update installed)
• Graphics Driver: GeForce Game Ready Driver 560.94
• Resizable BAR: Enabled

The decorative magnetic backplates were not installed on the graphics card for the entirety of testing (except for the thermal performance test, which can be found in the later part of this article).

In addition, the test results shown below were taken from benchmark runs that were performed without any screen capture software running in the background. Where necessary, readouts from MSI Afterburner as well as HWiNFO64 were obtained so as to measure FPS performance and other relevant performance metrics.

3DMark Time Spy v1.2

With the 3DMark Time Spy test, the test bench achieved a graphics score of 20790, a CPU score of 13198 and an overall Time Spy score of 19138.

Cyberpunk 2077 v2.12 In-game Benchmark

Cyberpunk 2077 v2.12's built-in benchmark tool sees the test bench attain an average FPS of 79.69, a minimum FPS of 65.71 and a maximum FPS of 97.87 - these results were obtained on the 1440p resolution using the "Ray Tracing Low" graphics preset with ray tracing disabled, and all upscaling technologies such as AMD's FSR and NVIDIA's DLSS switched off.

F1 23 In-game Benchmark

F1 23's in-game benchmark tool sees the test system achieve an average FPS of 73, a minimum FPS of 63 and a maximum FPS of 88. These results were obtained on the "Ultra High" detail preset at 1440p with ray tracing set to "High", and all forms of upscaling technologies (e.g. DLSS) disabled.

Power Consumption, Thermals & Acoustics

Power Consumption

Under Load (F1 23 Benchmark - 2 Laps, Singapore Circuit)
• Avg. GPU Power: 215.2W
• Min. GPU Power: 207.5W
• Max. GPU Power: 217.8W

Figures above were obtained from "GPU Power" readouts from HWiNFO64.

Thermals

For the thermal test, GPU Temperature and GPU Hot Spot Temperature readings were recorded with and without the decorative magnetic backplates installed - this was done to quantify the impact on thermal performance with the graphics card's ventilation openings obstructed when the said magnetic backplates are installed.

Under Load (F1 23 Benchmark - 2 Laps, Singapore Circuit)

Without Decorative Magnetic Backplates Installed
• Avg. GPU Temperature: 67.2°C
• Min. GPU Temperature: 60.1°C
• Max. GPU Temperature: 69.2°C
• Avg. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 79.5°C
• Min. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 71.4°C
• Max. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 82.8°C

With Decorative Magnetic Backplates Installed
• Avg. GPU Temperature: 69.7°C
• Min. GPU Temperature: 61.5°C
• Max. GPU Temperature: 72.3°C
• Avg. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 82.3°C
• Min. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 72.5°C
• Max. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 86.7°C

Figures above were obtained from "GPU Temperature" & "GPU Hot Spot Temperature" readouts from HWiNFO64. The PC case was closed throughout the entirety of testing.

Ambient Temperature of Surroundings: ~28°C

As expected, installing the decorative magnetic backplates does have a negative impact on the thermal performance of the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING SLIM World of Warcraft EDITION, where average GPU temperatures and GPU hot spot temperatures increased by around 2°C.

Conclusion & Pricing

The MSI GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING SLIM World of Warcraft EDITION is clearly targeted at fans of the World of Warcraft franchise who are willing to fork out a premium over MSI's vanilla RTX 4070 SUPER GAMING SLIM - doing so will get you a sleek blue-and-gold aesthetic and World of Warcraft-themed paraphernalia, such as the magnetic decorative backplates that pay homage to the 10 World of Warcraft expansions that were released over the past 20 years. That said, the magnetic backplates are unfortunately, a case of form over function where they do affect the graphics card's thermal performance to some degree, but not to the extent that I'd strongly recommend not installing them at all.

It's worth highlighting too, that the magnetic backplates do add additional thickness to the graphics card, and could therefore leave very little wiggle room especially for end-users with motherboards that come with chunky M.2 drive heatsinks. As pictured above, there is barely any space left between the magnetic backplate and the heatsink of the primary M.2 drive slot of the Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER motherboard, which was used in the test bench PC for this article.

As of the time of writing this article, the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING SLIM World of Warcraft EDITION is available to purchase in Singapore for a price of around $1195 Singapore dollars - for comparison purposes, the vanilla GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12G GAMING X SLIM goes for around $1080 Singapore dollars from typical PC hardware retailers in Singapore. 

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