AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Review

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT: A High-Performance GPU at a Competitive Price

For several generations, AMD has striven to match Nvidia's high-end offerings. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT marks a strategic shift. Instead of directly competing in the ultra-high-end market dominated by the RTX 5090, AMD focuses on delivering a top-tier graphics card for the majority of gamers—a goal it successfully achieves.

Priced at $599, the RX 9070 XT rivals the $749 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti in performance. This alone positions it as a leading GPU. Further enhancing its appeal is the inclusion of FSR 4, AMD's first foray into AI upscaling. This makes it an excellent choice for 4K gaming, especially for those unwilling to spend the RTX 5090's $1,999 price tag.

Purchasing Guide

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT launched on March 6th, with a starting price of $599. However, expect price variations due to third-party custom models. Aim for a price under $699.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT – Images

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Specs and Features

Built on the RDNA 4 architecture, the RX 9070 XT boasts improved shader cores, but its standout features are the new RT and AI Accelerators. The AI Accelerators power FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4), introducing AI upscaling to AMD's lineup. While FSR 4 doesn't always surpass FSR 3.1 in frame rates, it significantly enhances image quality. The Adrenalin software allows users to disable FSR 4 if frame rate prioritization is preferred.

The RX 9070 XT features 64 Compute Units (compared to 84 in the RX 7900 XT), each with 64 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), totaling 4,096 SMs, along with 64 ray accelerators and 128 AI accelerators. Despite fewer Compute Units, performance is substantially improved. However, memory is reduced to 16GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus (down from 20GB GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus in the RX 7900 XT). This impacts capacity and bandwidth but remains sufficient for most 4K gaming.

The RX 9070 XT's power consumption is 304W, slightly higher than the RX 7900 XT's 300W. This is a typical power budget for modern GPUs. Unlike previous generations, AMD isn't releasing a reference design, meaning reliance on third-party manufacturers is necessary. The review unit (Powercolor Radeon RX 9070 XT Reaper) maintained temperatures around 72°C during testing.

Power delivery utilizes two 8-pin PCI-E connectors, simplifying upgrades for most users with a 700W power supply. Connectivity includes three DisplayPort 2.1a and one HDMI 2.1b ports. The absence of a USB-C port is a minor drawback.

FSR 4

FSR 4 addresses previous limitations of FSR by leveraging AI to upscale images, similar to DLSS. This results in improved image quality compared to FSR 3.1's temporal upscaling, but at the cost of some performance. Testing showed a 10% performance drop in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and a 20% drop in Monster Hunter Wilds when using FSR 4, though image quality improvements were noted. FSR 4 is optional and can be disabled in the Adrenalin software.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT & 9070 – Benchmarks

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Performance

The RX 9070 XT delivers impressive performance. At $599, it's 21% cheaper than the RTX 5070 Ti while offering comparable speed. Benchmarks revealed it's approximately 17% faster than the RX 7900 XT and 2% faster than the RTX 5070 Ti. Its 4K performance is particularly strong, even with ray tracing enabled. Testing utilized the latest drivers available for all cards. Results varied across different game titles, showcasing strengths and weaknesses in specific game engines.

Test System

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• Motherboard: Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Hero
• RAM: 32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo @ 6,000MHz
• SSD: 4TB Samsung 990 Pro
• CPU Cooler: Asus ROG Ryujin III 360

Conclusion

The Radeon RX 9070 XT represents a significant achievement for AMD. At $599, it offers high-end performance without the exorbitant cost of top-tier Nvidia cards. While not surpassing the RTX 5080 or 5090, it provides exceptional value for most gamers, particularly those focused on 4K gaming. It feels like a return to a more reasonable pricing structure for high-performance GPUs.