Radeon RX 9070/9070 XT benchmark results: AMD returns intrigue to the sub-$700 graphics card segment

Recently, AMD officially announced the Radeon RX 9070 series graphics cards. Models based on graphics processors with RDNA 4 architecture promise worthy competition to the new GeForce RTX 5070/5070 Ti from NVIDIA. Technological GPUs, support for FSR 4, as well as quite attractive in their class recommended price tags ($549/599) potentially allow you to count on user attention. Today, reviews of the Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics cards have finally been published. We suggest you familiarize yourself with the first results that our colleagues from the TechPowerUp resource received during testing of the ASUS Radeon RX 9070 TUF OC and Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT Nitro+.

AMD Radeon RX 9070/9070 XT

The Radeon RX 9070 series graphics cards use the Navi 48 graphics processor with the new RDNA 4 architecture. The GPU is manufactured using a 4-nanometer process (TSMC N4P), which allows for a higher transistor density than in the case of the GPU for new NVIDIA graphics cards.

The older Radeon RX 9070 XT uses a GPU in a configuration with 4096 compute units, 64 RT cores and 128 AI accelerators. The frequency formula is 2400/2970 MHz. The Radeon RX 9070 modification has a chip with 3584 compute units, 56 RT units and 112 AI accelerators. The processor operates at 2070/2520 MHz.

Both models feature a 256-bit bus and 16GB of GDDR6 memory running at an effective 20,000MHz, delivering a bandwidth of 645GB/s.

The graphics cards have full support for the PCI Express 5.0 interface, and are also equipped with DisplayPort 2.1a and HDMI 2.1b video outputs for connecting screens with high resolution and refresh rate.

The declared power consumption level (Total Board Power) for the Radeon RX 9070 XT is 304 W, for the Radeon RX 9070 – 220 W.

As for the general positioning of the new models, AMD generally offers them as a solution for 4K gaming, which can be purchased at the price of 1440p video cards. As for the balance of power with competitors, the name itself suggests that potential opponents here will be the GeForce RTX 5070/5070 Ti.

Radeon RX 9070/9700 XT Gaming Performance

The obtained indicators demonstrate that the younger model Radeon RX 9070 16 GB is able to compete on equal terms with the GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB. Moreover, AMD's new product even has a certain advantage, especially when it comes to 1440p/4K modes.

The Radeon RX 9070's gaming performance is also very close to that of the Radeon RX 7900 XT 20 GB, and the graphics card is only slightly inferior to the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER.

As for the Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB, this model came very close to the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB, on average losing to its opponent by only 3-4%. In fact, the same distance is maintained with AMD's previous generation graphics flagship - Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24 GB. Recall that the latter graphics card had a starting recommended price tag of $999 at the end of 2022.

Performance with Ray Tracing

Long before the new models appeared, AMD promised to improve the capabilities of RDNA 4 graphics cards in terms of performance when using ray tracing modes. Are there any significant changes here? The first tests show that there are some improvements, although the indicators of NVIDIA's new products still could not be reached.

The Radeon RX 9070 is on par with the Radeon RX 7900 XTX in RT, but 4–7% slower than the GeForce RTX 5070. But only in cases where ray tracing is used in 4K mode, does the lack of 12 GB of memory in the NVIDIA video card become noticeable.

At the same time, the older Radeon RX 9070 XT outperformed the RX 7900 XTX by 15–20%, although even this was not enough to catch up with the results of the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. However, the overall parity in the same class has noticeably narrowed here. The 15% advantage, although still significant, is much lower than the difference in performance that could be observed in equivalent models of the previous generation.

Radeon RX 9070/9700 XT Power Consumption

It was also very interesting to find out the actual power consumption of the new AMD graphics cards. Recall that the declared figures for the Radeon RX 9070 TX are 304 W, for the Radeon RX 9070 – 220 W. What do we have in practice?

The overclocked Radeon RX 9070 consumed about 240 W under gaming load. Identical performance was also observed in modes using ray tracing.

The older Radeon RX 9070 XT model in the Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT Nitro+ version with a significant factory overclocking of the GPU required about 350 W. This is an indicator at the level of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. We will wait for other results, but obviously the basic Radeon RX 9070 has significantly better energy efficiency. In this indicator, it confidently competes with the same GeForce RTX 5070.

In the case of the XT modification, all efforts are obviously aimed at achieving maximum performance, so efficiency has somewhat taken a back seat.

Overclocking Radeon RX 9070/9070 XT

By all accounts, both models have good frequency potential for additional overclocking experiments. You can add up to ~400 MHz to the GPU frequency if you wish, and the memory usually operates at an effective 22,000 MHz, instead of the recommended 20,000 MHz. Of course, in the case of overclocking, the final results will depend solely on the capabilities of certain models and even specific instances of video cards.

The current version of GPU-Z does not yet correctly display frequency changes for Navi 48 on the information screen, although it is possible to monitor actual performance.

Additional overclocking of the Radeon RX 9070 series models makes sense, GPU/memory overclocking can increase video card performance by 8–13%.

Price and start of sales

AMD's new graphics cards will go on sale on March 6. The recommended price of the Radeon RX 9070 XT is $599, the Radeon RX 9070 is $549.

Probably, it is the actual cost and availability of the models that will determine the prospects of the Radeon RX 9070 line. Technologically, this is a very worthy alternative to the GeForce RTX 5070 ($549) and GeForce RTX 5070 Ti ($749). The confrontation of the older models will be especially interesting. AMD's new product is nominally significantly cheaper, but we will not use this as an argument yet. However, the announced values are rather an approximate/desired indicator. The actual prices are still being formed, and, it seems, this time they will depend, among other things, on the availability of competitor offers.

In addition, original modifications of video cards with overclocking and efficient CO will initially be offered at a higher price than the indicated MSRP. For example, the reviewed Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT Nitro+ will receive a price tag of $730, while the ASUS Radeon RX 9070 TUF OC will be offered for ~$650. Of course, in both cases we are talking about the American market, so a regional correction is necessary.