Just going by G3D Mark, a synthetic benchmark, the RTX 2070 scores a 14,266 while the GTX 1070ti scores a 12,347. That’s a 15.5% increase for a nearly identical price. More over, the RTX 2070 consumes slightly less power, 175W vs 180W. Not only is that better for your electric bill, it means that your PC will run slightly cooler. The RTX 2070 is also a newer GPU, So, simply based on all of these factors, the RTX 2070 is a better deal.
Having said that, there are other considerations at play here.
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The first system is using an overclocked CPU. That 4.6GHz clock is, afaik, not the native speed. 3.2GHz is. On the plus side, that means that it should run a good deal faster. On the minus side, overclocking shortens the CPU’s lifespan and runs hotter. You better have a case with good airflow and ventilation as well as a quality liquid cooling radiator solution. Otherwise, you may run into stability issues.
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The second system features a MSI mobo that’s generally not as well reviewed as the ASUS board. It doesn’t support USB 3.1 gen 2. It’s also a slightly shorter board, meaning longer video cards might extend past the PCB. Customers and reviewers have found that the build quality is also a bit inconsistent.
Honestly? I’m not sure that the additional 15.5% speed boost of the RTX 2070 is worth having to deal with the rest of the system. The MSI board is kind of a clunker compared to the ASUS and the overclocked i7-8700 should give you performance that’s probably closer to the 8700K. Neither board natively supports Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, which is kind of odd in 2019.
Given my choice of systems, I’d go with the 1070ti based system. The GPU is a little slower, but you make up for it in the long run with a more stable, better built motherboard and a speedier factory overclocked CPU. Just make sure that you have proper cooling and a well ventilated case.
Overall, power-wise, I think that it’d be a draw. In the first system, you get a slightly faster CPU, but a slightly slower GPU. In the second system, it’s the other way around. For your intended use and considering that acceleration these days typically mixes GPU and CPU, both systems might end up performing about the same.
That’s why, for me, it comes down to the motherboard. In the long run, swapping out a slower GPU is much less time consuming than swapping out a whole motherboard. I’d go with the first system for sure. That motherboard is the foundation of your system and the MSI board doesn’t look all that appealing - given the reviews.
