For the last couple of generations, AMD has been pushing hard to compete with Nvidia at the high end. Now, with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, Team Red has strategically shifted its focus from the ultra-high-end, dominated by the RTX 5090, to delivering the best graphics card for the vast majority of gamers – a mission it accomplishes with flying colors.
The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is a $599 powerhouse that goes toe-to-toe with the $749 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. This positioning alone makes it one of the most compelling GPUs on the market today. But AMD doesn't stop there; it enhances the value proposition with FSR 4, introducing AI upscaling to AMD graphics cards for the first time. If you're looking for a top-tier 4K gaming experience without breaking the bank, the Radeon RX 9070 XT is the card to beat.
Purchasing Guide
The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT will be available starting March 6, priced at $599. Be aware that prices may vary, especially with third-party models that may cost more. Aim to secure one under $699 to get the best value.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT – Photos
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Specs and Features
Built on the RDNA 4 architecture, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT brings significant enhancements to its shader cores, but the real game-changers are the new RT and AI Accelerators. The AI Accelerators power FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4), marking AMD's first foray into AI upscaling. While FSR 4 may not boost frame rates as much as FSR 3.1, it significantly enhances image quality, delivering sharper visuals. For those prioritizing performance over visuals, the Adrenalin software allows you to disable FSR 4 easily.
AMD has also optimized the shader cores for better per-core performance. Despite having fewer Compute Units (64) than the previous-generation Radeon RX 7900 XT (84), the Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers a substantial generational leap at a more affordable price. Each Compute Unit contains 64 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), totaling 4,096, along with 64 ray accelerators and 128 AI accelerators.
The card features 16GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, a step down from the RX 7900 XT's 20GB on a 320-bit bus. While this reduction affects both capacity and bandwidth, it remains adequate for most 4K gaming scenarios. However, staying with GDDR6 means this downgrade is slightly disappointing.
Despite its new, more efficient architecture, the RX 9070 XT requires a slightly higher power budget of 304W compared to the RX 7900 XT's 300W. Interestingly, my tests showed the RX 7900 XT consuming more power, peaking at 314W against the 9070 XT's 306W.
Cooling the RX 9070 XT is manageable, thanks to its standard power budget. Notably, AMD is not releasing a reference design for this GPU, leaving the field to third-party manufacturers. I reviewed the Powercolor Radeon RX 9070 XT Reaper, which features a compact triple-fan design that maintained a stable 72°C during testing.
The card uses standard power connectors, requiring two 8-pin PCI-E connectors, making it an accessible upgrade for most users with a recommended 700W power supply. It includes three DisplayPort 2.1a and one HDMI 2.1b port, meeting modern expectations. However, the addition of a USB-C port would have been a welcome touch for added versatility.
FSR 4
For years, AMD has been in need of an AI upscaling solution to rival Nvidia's DLSS. While previous versions of FidelityFX Super Resolution offered solid performance, they were hindered by issues like ghosting and fuzziness. The Radeon RX 9070 XT introduces FSR 4, an AI-powered solution that addresses these shortcomings.
FSR 4 uses the AI accelerators within the Compute Units to analyze previous frames and game engine data, upscaling lower-resolution images to your native resolution. This results in superior image quality compared to FSR 3, though it does come with a slight performance trade-off.
In Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at 4K Extreme settings with FSR 3.1 set to "Performance," the Radeon RX 9070 XT achieved 134 fps. Switching to FSR 4 reduced this to 121 fps, a 10% performance drop, but with noticeable improvements in image quality, particularly in elements like grass and in-game text. Similarly, in Monster Hunter Wilds, the 9070 XT managed 94 fps at 4K max settings with FSR 3 and ray tracing enabled, but dropped to 78 fps with FSR 4 – a 20% performance hit.
This performance drop is expected, as AI upscaling is inherently more demanding than temporal solutions. AMD acknowledges this trade-off, emphasizing that the enhanced image quality should compensate for the reduced frame rates, especially in single-player games where visuals are paramount.
FSR 4 is an opt-in feature, easily toggled off in the Adrenalin software if you prefer the performance of FSR 3.1. My review sample had FSR 4 disabled by default, possibly due to early drivers.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT & 9070 – Benchmarks
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Performance
AMD has truly delivered with the Radeon RX 9070 XT. Priced at $599, it undercuts the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 21% while being, on average, 2% faster. While there are games where the RTX 5070 Ti outperforms the Radeon RX 9070 XT, the fact that these two cards are competitive at all is a testament to AMD's efforts.
Across my test suite, the RX 9070 XT was about 17% faster than the RX 7900 XT, which launched at $899 two years ago, and 2% faster than the new $749 RTX 5070 Ti. The card excels at 4K, maintaining its lead at this resolution, making it an excellent choice for entry-level 4K gaming, even with ray tracing enabled.
All graphics cards were tested on the latest available drivers. Nvidia cards used Game Ready Driver 572.60, except for the RTX 5070, which was on review drivers. AMD cards were tested on Adrenalin 24.12.1, except for the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070, which used pre-release drivers provided by AMD.
While 3DMark isn't a playable game, it provides a useful comparison of graphics card potential. The 9070 XT outperformed the 7900 XT by 18% in Speed Way, though it lagged 18% behind the RTX 5070 Ti. However, in the Steel Nomad benchmark, the 9070 XT's performance over the Radeon RX 7900 XT increased to 26%, and it even surpassed the RTX 5070 Ti by 7%.
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
In Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the Radeon RX 9070 XT led the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 15%. This game clearly favors AMD hardware, with the Radeon RX 7900 XT only 6% behind the new card.
Cyberpunk 2077 traditionally performs better on Nvidia cards, but the RTX 5070 Ti's lead over the Radeon RX 9070 XT was only 5% at 4K with the Ray Tracing Ultra preset and FSR 3 set to performance mode. The Radeon RX 9070 XT achieved 71 fps, while the RTX 5070 Ti managed 75 fps.
Metro Exodus, another ray tracing-heavy game, showed the Radeon RX 9070 XT achieving 47 fps at 4K without upscaling, nearly matching the RTX 5070 Ti's 48 fps. The last-generation Radeon RX 7900 XT struggled here, only reaching 38 fps, marking a 24% improvement for the 9070 XT.
Red Dead Redemption 2, despite its age, showcased the Radeon RX 9070 XT's Vulkan performance, achieving 125 fps with all settings maxed out, compared to the RTX 5070 Ti's 110 fps and the 7900 XT's 106 fps.
The Radeon RX 9070 XT fell 13% behind the RTX 5070 Ti in Total War: Warhammer 3, with 76 fps compared to the 7900 XT's 71 fps.
In Assassin's Creed Mirage, the RX 9070 XT regained its footing, achieving 163 fps, outperforming the RTX 5070 Ti's 146 fps by 12% and the 7900 XT's 150 fps by 9%.
The most surprising victory for the RX 9070 XT came in Black Myth Wukong, where it achieved 70 fps at 4K with the Cinematic Preset and FSR set to 40%, compared to the RTX 5070 Ti's 65 fps. This 8% lead is significant, especially given the game's intense ray tracing effects.
Forza Horizon 5, though aging, saw the Radeon RX 9070 XT achieving 158 fps, slightly ahead of the RTX 5070 Ti's 151 fps, demonstrating its competitive edge.
Announced quietly at CES 2025, the Radeon RX 9070 XT feels like AMD's secret weapon against Nvidia's Blackwell graphics cards. At $599, it represents a return to sensible pricing in the graphics card market. While it may not match the raw power of the RTX 5080 or RTX 5090, those cards are overkill for most users and cost significantly more.
The last great flagship graphics card was arguably the GTX 1080 Ti, which launched at $699 in 2017. While the Radeon RX 9070 XT doesn't claim the title of the fastest consumer card, it feels like the first worthy flagship we've seen since then.
