GTX 1070 vs Arc A750 for Gaming: Which Is Better?

The Arc A750 is the better gaming card for most buyers, offering roughly 25-40% more performance in modern DirectX 12 and Vulkan games plus ray tracing, XeSS and AV1 encoding, but only if your system supports Resizable BAR; the GTX 1070 is the safer choice only for older platforms without ReBAR or for players focused on older DirectX 9 and 11 titles. The age gap is six years, and in current games it shows.

Neither card is current in October 2026. Intel’s Arc B570 and B580 replaced the A-series, and NVIDIA’s lineup is RTX 50. This comparison is mostly for used buyers and for GTX 1070 owners deciding whether a cheap A750 is a worthwhile step up.

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#1 Pick

PNY GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Graphic Card (VCGGTX10708PB) (Renewed)

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#2 Pick

MSI Gaming GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5 SLI DirectX 12 VR Ready Graphics Card (GTX 1070 GAMING X 8G) (Renewed)

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#3 Pick

ASRock Intel Arc A750 Challenger D 8GB OC 2200 MHz 256-bit GDDR6 DisplayPort 16 Gbps HDMI 7680 x 4320 Graphics Card Overclocked

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#4 Pick

Intel Arc A750 Limited Edition 8GB PCI Express 4.0 Graphics Card

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Spec Comparison

Both cards have 8 GB of memory on a 256-bit bus, but the A750’s GDDR6 doubles the bandwidth. The A750 launched $90 cheaper than the GTX 1070 did six years earlier.

Gaming Performance

Modern DirectX 12 and Vulkan games

Tom’s Hardware’s Arc A750 review measured it about 25% faster than the RTX 3050 at 1080p ultra across 19 games, rising to 27% in rasterization alone. TechSpot’s (Hardware Unboxed) launch review placed it just behind the Arc A770 and close to the Radeon RX 6600 at 1080p. TechPowerUp concluded it was a strong card for 1080p at maximum details, with 1440p at 60 FPS reachable in many games after lowering some settings.

The GTX 1070 generally lands around RTX 3050 level in modern games, so the A750’s lead over it in current titles is roughly 25-40%, depending on the game and whether the engine favors Arc. GamersNexus’s 2024 retest of the Arc lineup showed notable gains from driver updates since launch, which pushed the A750 further ahead in many newer games.

Older DirectX 9 and 11 games

This is where the GTX 1070 holds up. Arc’s early drivers were weak in older APIs, and while Intel has improved them substantially, some DirectX 11 and especially DirectX 9 titles still run relatively better on mature NVIDIA drivers. In those older games, the gap shrinks and can occasionally reverse. GamersNexus’s revisit also noted specific titles where Arc still had performance problems.

Approximate frame rates

At 1080p high in demanding current games, the GTX 1070 often runs in the 35-55 FPS range, while the A750 typically sits around 50-75 FPS. In esports titles both exceed 100 FPS. These ranges depend heavily on settings, CPU, game patch and driver version.

The Resizable BAR Requirement

The single biggest factor in this comparison is Resizable BAR. Intel’s Arc cards are designed around it, and reviewers listed it as a requirement. TechPowerUp tested Arc with ReBAR disabled and on PCIe 3.0 and found large performance drops and worse frame-time consistency without ReBAR.

That matters because many GTX 1070 owners still run older systems. As a rough guide:

• Intel: 10th-gen Core and newer generally support ReBAR; some 8th and 9th-gen boards received BIOS updates that added it.
• AMD: Ryzen 3000 and newer on 400-series or newer boards generally support it (often called Smart Access Memory) with an updated BIOS.
• Also needed: UEFI boot mode with CSM disabled.

If your platform cannot enable ReBAR, the A750 loses much of its advantage, and the GTX 1070 or a different upgrade may be the better choice.

Ray Tracing, Upscaling and Features

• Ray tracing: The A750 has hardware ray tracing units, and Tom’s Hardware found it about 21% ahead of the RTX 3050 in ray tracing. The GTX 1070 has no RT hardware. Some recent games require RT-capable GPUs just to launch, which rules out the GTX 1070 entirely for those titles.
• Upscaling: The GTX 1070 cannot use DLSS. It can use FSR and the DP4a version of XeSS. The A750 runs XeSS on its XMX matrix units, which gives better image quality and performance than the fallback path, plus FSR in supported games.
• Frame generation: Both can use FSR 3 frame generation in games that support it. The GTX 1070 has no NVIDIA frame generation.
• Media: The A750 offers AV1 hardware encoding and decoding, useful for streaming and recording. The GTX 1070’s encoder is older and does not support AV1.
• Driver support: NVIDIA has announced that Pascal cards like the GTX 1070 are moving off its regular Game Ready driver updates, so future game optimizations will not target it.

VRAM: Same Size, Different Speed

Both cards have 8 GB, which is still workable at 1080p with high textures in most games, and tight at 1440p in newer titles. The A750’s doubled bandwidth and much larger L2 cache help it at higher resolutions, but it does not get extra headroom in capacity. Neither card is a good long-term 1440p option for the newest AAA releases.

Power, PSU and Connectors

The A750 is far less efficient: 225 W versus 150 W. With a 95 W CPU and about 150 W of headroom:

• GTX 1070: 150 + 95 + 150 = 395 W, so a quality 450-500 W PSU.
• Arc A750: 225 + 95 + 150 = 470 W, so a quality 550-600 W PSU.

Upgrading from a GTX 1070 often means checking the PSU. The GTX 1070 needs a single 8-pin connector, while the A750 needs an 8-pin plus a 6-pin. An older 450 W unit with one PCIe cable may not be enough. Both are dual-slot cards; the GTX 1070 reference design is 267 mm, and A750 partner models vary but generally fit standard mid-tower cases.

Arc cards from this generation are also known for relatively high idle power draw unless specific BIOS and Windows power settings (ASPM) are enabled, which is worth configuring after installation.

Value Calculation

Using the GTX 1070 as 100 in modern games and the A750 at about 132 (midpoint of the 25-40% range):

• GTX 1070 at launch: $379 / 100 = about $3.79 per performance point.
• Arc A750 at launch: $289 / 132 = about $2.19 per performance point.

Used in 2026, a GTX 1070 typically sells for around $60-$100 and an Arc A750 for around $110-$160, depending on condition and region. Even at those prices, the A750 is usually better value per frame in modern games, as long as ReBAR is available.

Who Should Pick Which

Conclusion

On a system with Resizable BAR, the Arc A750 is the clear winner: faster in modern games, equipped with ray tracing and XeSS hardware, better for streaming and cheaper at launch. The GTX 1070 is a ten-year-old design that still runs older games well but cannot launch some new ones and is leaving NVIDIA’s regular driver cycle. If your PC lacks ReBAR, the A750 is the wrong upgrade; consider a card that does not depend on it, or a platform update first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Arc A750 faster than the GTX 1070?

Yes, in modern DirectX 12 and Vulkan games it is roughly 25-40% faster based on review data that places the GTX 1070 near RTX 3050 level. In some older DirectX 9 and 11 games the gap is smaller. Resizable BAR must be enabled for the A750 to perform as expected.

Can I use an Arc A750 without Resizable BAR?

It works, but performance and frame-time consistency drop significantly. Reviewers treat ReBAR as a requirement for Arc cards. Check your motherboard BIOS for ReBAR or Smart Access Memory support before buying.

Does the GTX 1070 support DLSS or ray tracing?

No. The GTX 1070 lacks the Tensor cores DLSS needs and has no ray tracing hardware. It can still use FSR and XeSS upscaling, but games that require RT-capable GPUs will not run on it.

Do I need a new PSU to upgrade from a GTX 1070 to an Arc A750?

Possibly. The A750 draws about 75 W more and needs an 8-pin plus a 6-pin PCIe connector. A quality 550-600 W unit is recommended for a typical system.

Is the Arc A750 still worth buying in 2026?

Used and at a low price, it remains a solid 1080p card for ReBAR-capable systems. If the price is close to a new Arc B570 or B580, the newer cards offer better efficiency, more VRAM and improved drivers, making them the stronger choice.