AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Review

For several generations, AMD has strived to compete with Nvidia at the high-end. However, with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, Team Red strategically shifts focus from the ultra-high-end (dominated by the RTX 5090) to deliver the best graphics card for the majority of gamers—a goal it convincingly achieves.

Priced at $599, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT rivals the $749 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, instantly establishing itself as a top contender. AMD further enhances its appeal with FSR 4, introducing AI upscaling to its graphics cards for the first time. This makes it the ideal choice for 4K gaming, especially for those not willing to spend $1999 on the RTX 5090.

Purchasing Guide

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT launched on March 6th, starting at $599. Note that prices may vary due to third-party models. Aim for a price under $699.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT – Photos

Specs and Features

Built on the RDNA 4 architecture, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT boasts improved shader cores, but the standout features are its new RT and AI Accelerators. The AI Accelerators power FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4), AMD's first AI upscaling technology. While not always improving framerates over FSR 3.1, FSR 4 significantly enhances image accuracy and quality. A toggle in Adrenalin software allows disabling FSR 4 for prioritizing framerates.

Beyond AI upscaling, enhanced shader cores deliver better per-core performance. Despite having 64 Compute Units (compared to 84 in the RX 7900 XT), the RX 9070 XT achieves a substantial generational leap at a lower price. Each Compute Unit features 64 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs) for a total of 4,096, along with 64 ray accelerators and 128 AI accelerators.

However, the RX 9070 XT has less memory than its predecessor (16GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus vs. 20GB GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus). This impacts capacity and bandwidth, but remains sufficient for most 4K gaming. The continued use of GDDR6 is a minor drawback.

While the new architecture is more efficient, the RX 9070 XT has a slightly higher power budget (304W) than the RX 7900 XT (300W). This is a standard power budget for modern graphics cards, simplifying cooling. Unlike previous generations, AMD isn't releasing a reference design, relying on third-party manufacturers. My review unit (Powercolor Radeon RX 9070 XT Reaper) maintained a temperature of 72°C during testing despite its compact triple-fan design.

The Radeon RX 9070 XT uses two 8-pin PCI-E power connectors, simplifying upgrades for most users with a 700W power supply. Connectivity includes three DisplayPort 2.1a and one HDMI 2.1b ports; a USB-C port would have been a welcome addition.

FSR 4

FSR 4 addresses previous limitations of AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution, finally offering an AI upscaling solution comparable to DLSS. Utilizing AI accelerators, FSR 4 analyzes frames and game engine data to accurately upscale lower-resolution images. While offering superior image quality to FSR 3, it does introduce a performance hit (around 10-20% in testing). FSR 4 is an opt-in feature, easily disabled in Adrenalin software.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT & 9070 – Benchmarks

Performance

The Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers impressive performance. At $599, it undercuts the RTX 5070 Ti by 21% while offering comparable speed (within a 2% margin). Across various tests, the RX 9070 XT is approximately 17% faster than the RX 7900 XT and 2% faster than the RTX 5070 Ti. Its strength is particularly evident in 4K gaming, even with ray tracing enabled.

Testing utilized the latest drivers (Nvidia Game Ready Driver 572.60, except for the RTX 5070 on review drivers; AMD Adrenalin 24.12.1, except for the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 on pre-release drivers). 3DMark results generally align with real-world performance, showing the 9070 XT's advantage over the 7900 XT and occasional wins against the RTX 5070 Ti.

Game benchmarks highlight the RX 9070 XT's performance in titles like *Call of Duty: Black Ops 6*, *Cyberpunk 2077*, *Metro Exodus*, *Red Dead Redemption 2*, *Total War: Warhammer 3*, *Assassin's Creed Mirage*, *Black Myth: Wukong*, and *Forza Horizon 5*, demonstrating competitive performance against the RTX 5070 Ti.

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

The Radeon RX 9070 XT represents a significant step for AMD, offering high-end performance at a more accessible price point. While not surpassing the RTX 5080 or 5090, it delivers exceptional value for most users. It feels like a return to the era of truly compelling flagship graphics cards, offering excellent performance at a price point that makes it accessible to a wider audience.