Packaging & Accessories: 9 out of 10
No matter if you think the shipping container is a little aggressive for your tastes or not, the fact remains it does get the job done. It is attention getting, filled with good details, offers excellent protection and housed inside it is a very good assortment of accessories. As such few can really complain on this front… and we doubt anyone will complain about the included accessories.
Functionality & Aesthetics: 19 out of 20
It really is hard to choose which is better: the drop dead gorgeous looks of this card or the fact that it works so good. This really is a ‘right sized’ card that makes few compromises on the cooling front. In fact, we have seen competitor’s (previous generation) 3-fan models which could not do as good a job as the AMP HoloBlack does. Color us impressed.
Build Quality & Warranty: 15 out of 20
While we would have liked less reliance on plastic, fewer components on the back of the PCB and less ‘over hang’ which needlessly extends the length of this card it is built to a very high, very good standard. The IceStorm 2.0 custom cooling solution really does work extremely well when paired with two good 100mm fans. More importantly it is attached via numerous heat pads so it is not just core temperatures which are held in check. So while not perfect, it is pretty darn good… and the same can be said of the warranty – good but still room for improvement.
Performance: 27 out of 30
No, this is not going to be the fastest RTX 3070 card out there, but it is going to be right up there in the mainstream corner of the RTX 3070 market. After all, good cooling with clean power is a winning combination. To be honest, Zotac is being a touch too conservative and we really wish this card had come with a 270 (or higher) TDP. That extra room really would have boosted the performance even higher and we think this IceStorm 2.0 cooler is up to the task. They did not, and as such this card drops a step or two against the uber-performer 3070s… but in return is dead silent and rather cool running. That arguably will matter to more people than a bit more Megahertz.
Value: 12 out of 20
If there was ever a poster child for ‘controversial’ value, or ‘highly variable’ value it is the Zotac AMP HolobBlack RTX 3070. For US buyers the tariffs create just too big a hill for this card to climb, but for non-US buyers yeah it is a pretty darn good deal. This goes double for buyers who have cases that simply can not fit those extra-long 3-fan models. Needless to say, the overall value of this card really will be in the eye of the beholder. As such we have split the difference and called it a solid 12 out of 20. Adjust your final score accordingly.
Final Score: 82%
With its combination of decent overall dimensions with drop dead gorgeous looks many a non-US buyer will love this card for more compact builds. Thanks to its excellent IceStorm 2.0 cooling solution even more will love its combination of low-noise with high pixel pushing performance. It really will appeal to a rather wide variety of buyers. Just not United States buyers who will be punished by those tariffs. Which is a shame as you get extremely good performance in an extremely attractive package.
