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NVIDIA set October 17, 2018 as the launch date for the desktop GeForce RTX 2070. U.S. partner cards were advertised from $499, while NVIDIA’s factory-overclocked Founders Edition cost $599. That made the RTX 2070 the least expensive model in NVIDIA’s original RTX 20-series desktop launch, bringing Turing hardware, ray-tracing cores and Tensor cores to a lower price tier than the RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti.
What NVIDIA actually announced
NVIDIA’s August 20, 2018 Gamescom announcement promised that the RTX 2070 would be available in October, but it did not name a day. The specific date—October 17—was announced later on September 25, as reported by PCWorld. The launch date referred to the RTX 2070 product family, including NVIDIA’s Founders Edition and partner-board availability.
That date should not be confused with the August announcement, review-publication dates, preorder windows, or the arrival of every custom card in every region. Stock and shipping depended on the board manufacturer and market.
Launch price: $499 partner cards versus $599 Founders Edition
NVIDIA’s launch announcement listed the RTX 2070 at a $499 starting price for partner cards in the United States. The NVIDIA Founders Edition was listed at $599. Both figures were U.S. dollar launch prices, not a promise that every model would sell for exactly that amount.
#1 Best Overall
- Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super
- Boost Clock: 1770 MHz
- Video Memory: 8GB GDDR6
- Memory Interface: 256-bit
- Output: DisplayPort x 3 (v1. 4) / HDMI 2. 0b x 1
| Version | U.S. launch price | What it meant |
|---|---|---|
| Partner RTX 2070 | $499 starting price | Entry price for selected third-party designs; actual prices varied by cooler, factory overclock and region. |
| NVIDIA Founders Edition | $599 | NVIDIA-branded, factory-overclocked design with its own cooler and board specifications. |
The two prices are documented in NVIDIA’s announcement and contemporary coverage from NVIDIA and AnandTech. Premium custom cards could be closer to the Founders Edition price than to the $499 entry point.
RTX 2070 specifications
The original desktop RTX 2070 used NVIDIA’s Turing architecture and the TU106 GPU. NVIDIA’s product specifications and Turing white paper identify the following reference profile:
Rank #2
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Founders Edition Graphics Card
- RTX 2070
- Founders Edition Graphics Card
- item package weight: 2.018 kilograms
| Specification | GeForce RTX 2070 |
|---|---|
| Architecture | NVIDIA Turing |
| GPU | TU106 |
| CUDA cores | 2,304 |
| RT cores | 36 |
| Tensor cores | 288 |
| Base clock | 1,410 MHz |
| Reference boost clock | 1,620 MHz |
| Founders Edition boost clock | 1,710 MHz |
| Memory | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory speed | 14 Gbps |
| Memory interface | 256-bit |
| Memory bandwidth | 448 GB/s |
| NVIDIA-reported ray-tracing metric | 6 GigaRays/s |
| NVIDIA RTX-OPS claim | 45T |
| Board power | 175 W reference; 185 W Founders Edition |
| Recommended system power | 550 W |
| Power connector | One 8-pin connector |
Sources: NVIDIA’s RTX 2070 specifications and the NVIDIA Turing Architecture Whitepaper.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Those are reference figures, not universal specifications for every board. Partner cards could use different boost clocks, power limits, dimensions, coolers and, in some cases, connector layouts. The 6 GigaRays/s and 45T RTX-OPS figures are NVIDIA’s architectural marketing metrics; they are not substitutes for frames-per-second results in a particular game.
Rank #3
- Powered by GeForce RTX 2070 Super
- NVidia Turing architecture & Real time Ray Tracing
- Wind force 3x cooling system with alternate spinning fans
- Intuitive controls with AORUS engine
- Core Clock 1815 MHertz
Why the RTX 2070 mattered in the 2018 lineup
The RTX 2070 was the entry point to NVIDIA’s first desktop RTX family. The original launch lineup was:
| GPU | Starting price | Founders Edition price | Initial availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 2080 Ti | $999 | $1,199 | September 20, 2018 |
| RTX 2080 | $699 | $799 | September 20, 2018 |
| RTX 2070 | $499 | $599 | October 17, 2018 |
Its importance was not simply a lower model number. The card combined 8 GB of GDDR6 with Turing’s RT cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and Tensor cores for AI-related operations. NVIDIA positioned Turing around ray tracing, AI-enhanced rendering and programmable shading in its Turing overview. Claims about being a “sweet spot” or universal 1440p winner require a specific review and test conditions; NVIDIA’s own post-launch roundup described it as a $499-class 1440p card.
Rank #4
- Product Type -Video Card
- Package Quantity-1
- Package Dimension-14.1338582533 inchesL X 8.4645669205 inchesW X 4.8031496014 inchesH
- Package Weight -3.6155810968 Lbs
Ray tracing was a forward-looking part of the purchase
RTX hardware arrived before broad game support had fully matured. Microsoft’s Windows 10 October 2018 Update introduced public DirectX Raytracing support, and NVIDIA supplied a Windows 10-only Game Ready driver for the update and DXR, as described in NVIDIA’s driver announcement.
Individual games still needed compatible engines, patches and drivers. As a result, an October 17 buyer was paying not only for effects immediately available in supported software but also for a platform whose game support was expected to expand. RTX branding did not make ray-traced effects automatic in every title, and enabling them could reduce frame rates depending on resolution and settings. DLSS and other reconstruction features were likewise dependent on game and software support; later NVIDIA web pages should not be read as a description of every feature available on launch day.
Best Value
- Real Boost Clock: 1800 MHz; Memory Detail: 8192 MB GDDR6.
- Real-time ray tracing in games for cutting-edge, hyper-realistic graphics.
- Dual HDB fans offer higher performance cooling and much quieter acoustic noise.
- All-metal back plate & adjustable RGB
- 3 year & EVGA's top notch technical support.
What buyers could expect at launch
Advantages
- Lower entry price than the RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti.
- 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 256-bit memory interface.
- Hardware support for ray tracing and Tensor-core AI workloads.
- Access to Turing features without paying the top-tier RTX prices.
Trade-offs
- The advertised $499 price was a partner-card starting point, while the Founders Edition cost $599.
- Custom cards differed in clocks, cooling, size, power limits and availability.
- Ray-tracing value depended on Windows, driver, game and engine support that was still arriving.
- NVIDIA’s RTX-OPS and GigaRays figures were platform metrics, not guaranteed game performance.
NVIDIA’s October 23, 2018 review roundup said the RTX 2070 was available worldwide through numerous partners. That confirms October 17 as a market launch rather than merely a paper announcement, while still leaving model-by-model and regional differences.
Later products are not the same RTX 2070
NVIDIA published a roundup of custom boards on November 9, 2018, showing how partner models varied in design and features: custom RTX 2070 cards. EVGA also documented launch-day availability in its October 17, 2018 announcement.
The RTX 2070 SUPER was a separate, later product. NVIDIA launched it on July 9, 2019, with a $499 starting price, as recorded in its SUPER-series announcement. Its price should not be retroactively substituted for the original RTX 2070’s launch pricing. The desktop card is also distinct from the RTX 2070 laptop GPU.
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What the October 17 date means today
October 17, 2018 is a historical launch date, not a current availability promise. The RTX 2070 is a discontinued 2018 generation. Anyone evaluating one now would need separate, current checks of seller legitimacy, used or refurbished condition, warranty, power requirements, driver and game support, and its price relative to newer GPUs. The historical launch sources establish the original $499 and $599 prices, not a 2026 resale value.
The Bottom Line
The original desktop GeForce RTX 2070 launched on October 17, 2018. Partner cards started at $499 in the U.S., while NVIDIA’s Founders Edition was $599. It brought Turing, RT and Tensor hardware to the entry level of NVIDIA’s first RTX lineup, but its ray-tracing proposition depended heavily on software support that was still developing at launch.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
