AMD has fiercely competed with Nvidia at the high-end GPU market for years, but with the Radeon RX 9070 XT, Team Red shifts focus to delivering exceptional value for mainstream gamers—and succeeds brilliantly.
Priced at $599, the RX 9070 XT rivals the $749 RTX 5070 Ti while introducing FSR 4—AMD's first AI-powered upscaling technology. This makes it the top choice for 4K gaming without breaking the bank on the RTX 5090.
Purchasing Guide
The RX 9070 XT launches March 6 starting at $599, though third-party models may cost more. Aim to stay under $699.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT – Photos
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Specs and Features
Built on RDNA 4 architecture, the RX 9070 XT features enhanced RT and AI Accelerators—the latter enabling FSR 4's debut AI upscaling. While framerates slightly trail FSR 3.1, image accuracy sees dramatic improvements. Users can disable FSR 4 via AMD's Adrenalin software.
Despite having fewer Compute Units (64 vs. 84 on the RX 7900 XT), architectural refinements yield superior per-core performance at a lower launch price. Each CU contains 64 SMs, totaling 4,096 alongside 128 AI accelerators.
The card carries 16GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus—less than its predecessor's 20GB/320-bit configuration—but remains competent for 4K gaming.
Power consumption sees a marginal increase (304W vs. 300W), though real-world testing shows better efficiency. Cooling proves manageable despite AMD skipping reference designs—PowerColor's triple-fan Reaper model maintained 72°C during testing.
Standard 8-pin PCIe connectors and typical display outputs (3x DP 2.1a, 1x HDMI 2.1b) ensure easy upgrades for systems with 700W PSUs.
FSR 4
FSR 4 marks AMD's long-awaited AI upscaling competitor to DLSS, resolving historical ghosting issues through dedicated hardware acceleration.
The technology analyzes prior frames and game engine data—much like DLSS—to reconstruct higher-quality images than FSR 3's temporal solution, despite a 10-20% performance tradeoff.
AMD confirms this is expected behavior, prioritizing fidelity over raw framerates for single-player experiences. Fortunately, FSR 3.1 remains available as a toggleable alternative.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT & 9070 – Benchmarks
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Performance
The RX 9070 XT delivers outstanding value, outperforming the RTX 5070 Ti by 2% despite costing 21% less. It maintains a 17% lead over the RX 7900 XT—especially impressive at 4K resolutions.
Synthetic benchmarks reveal architectural strengths: 18% faster than the 7900 XT in Speed Way, while Steel Nomad shows a 26% improvement—even surpassing the 5070 Ti by 7%.
Game testing highlights include:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6: 15% faster than RTX 5070 Ti
- Cyberpunk 2077: Only 5% behind Nvidia despite pricing gap
- Black Myth Wukong: First AMD ray tracing win (70fps vs. 65fps)
- Red Dead Redemption 2: Leads by 14% (125fps vs. 110fps)
AMD's stealth CES 2025 launch proves strategic—the RX 9070 XT offers flagship-tier performance at mid-range pricing, echoing the value proposition of legendary cards like the GTX 1080 Ti.
