AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT: In-Depth Review and Performance Analysis

For the last couple of generations, AMD has been striving to keep pace with Nvidia at the high end of the graphics card market. However, with the launch of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, Team Red has shifted its focus away from competing directly with the ultra-high-end RTX 5090. Instead, AMD has set its sights on delivering the best graphics card experience for the majority of gamers—a mission it has undoubtedly accomplished.

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, priced at $599, goes head-to-head with the $749 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, making it one of the most competitive GPUs available today. AMD enhances its value proposition with the introduction of FSR 4, marking the first time AI upscaling is available on an AMD graphics card. This feature makes the RX 9070 XT an excellent choice for 4K gaming, especially for those unwilling to splurge on the exorbitantly priced RTX 5090 at $1,999.

Purchasing Guide

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT becomes available starting March 6, with a base price of $599. Be aware that prices may vary due to third-party models that can be more expensive. Aim to secure one for 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 boasts significant enhancements to its shader cores, but the true highlights are the new RT and AI Accelerators. The AI Accelerators are crucial for the debut of FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4), bringing AI upscaling to AMD for the first time. While FSR 4 doesn't boost frame rates as much as FSR 3.1, it significantly enhances image quality. For those prioritizing performance over quality, the Adrenalin software offers a convenient toggle to disable FSR 4.

Beyond AI upscaling, AMD has also improved the efficiency of its shader cores, enabling a notable performance boost despite having fewer Compute Units (64) than the previous Radeon RX 7900 XT (84). Each Compute Unit contains 64 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), totaling 4,096, along with 64 ray accelerators and 128 AI accelerators.

However, the Radeon RX 9070 XT comes with less memory than its predecessor, featuring 16GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus compared to the RX 7900 XT's 20GB on a 320-bit bus. This represents a reduction in both capacity and bandwidth, yet it remains sufficient for most 4K gaming needs. Ideally, AMD would have maintained the previous generation's memory specs.

The RX 9070 XT's power consumption is slightly higher than the RX 7900 XT, requiring 304W compared to 300W, though my testing showed the RX 7900 XT consuming more power at peak loads (314W vs. 306W for the RX 9070 XT). The card's power budget remains within the norm for modern GPUs, ensuring straightforward cooling solutions. Notably, AMD has opted not to release a reference design for the RX 9070 XT, leaving the market to third-party manufacturers. I tested the Powercolor Radeon RX 9070 XT Reaper, which, despite its compact triple-fan design, maintained a stable temperature of 72°C during my tests.

The card sticks with standard power connectors, requiring two 8-pin PCI-E connectors, which simplifies upgrades for most users, provided they have a 700W power supply as recommended by AMD. The RX 9070 XT offers three DisplayPort 2.1a and one HDMI 2.1b ports, meeting expectations for a modern graphics card, though the addition of a USB-C port would have added versatility.

FSR 4

For years, AMD has been in need of a competitive AI upscaling solution to rival Nvidia's DLSS. Earlier versions of FidelityFX Super Resolution struggled with issues like ghosting and fuzziness. The Radeon RX 9070 XT introduces FSR 4, an AI-powered upscaling technology that analyzes previous frames and game engine data to upscale lower-resolution images to your native resolution. While FSR 4 provides better image quality than FSR 3, it does come with a performance cost.

In Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at 4K Extreme settings, the RX 9070 XT achieved 134 fps with FSR 3.1 in "Performance" mode, but this dropped to 121 fps with FSR 4, a 10% performance loss, though with improved image quality, particularly in elements like grass and text. Similarly, in Monster Hunter Wilds at 4K max settings with FSR 3 and ray tracing, the card managed 94 fps, but this fell to 78 fps with FSR 4—a 20% performance drop.

This performance hit is expected due to the more demanding nature of AI upscaling compared to the temporal solution used previously. AMD has confirmed that this drop is anticipated, emphasizing the enhanced image quality as a trade-off. For gamers focused on single-player experiences where image quality is paramount, this trade-off may be worthwhile.

Fortunately, FSR 3.1 remains available, and FSR 4 can be easily disabled in the Adrenalin software. In my review unit, FSR 4 was off by default, possibly due to early drivers.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT & 9070 – Benchmarks

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Performance

AMD has delivered a powerhouse with the Radeon RX 9070 XT. Priced at $599, it undercuts the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 21% while outperforming it by an average of 2%. While there are specific games where the RTX 5070 Ti pulls ahead, the close competition between these cards is a testament to AMD's prowess.

Across my comprehensive test suite, the RX 9070 XT was 17% faster than the RX 7900 XT, which debuted at $899 two years ago, and 2% faster than the new $749 RTX 5070 Ti. Its performance at 4K resolution is particularly impressive, maintaining a lead even with ray tracing enabled, positioning the RX 9070 XT as an exceptional entry-level 4K graphics card.

All tests were conducted with the latest available drivers. Nvidia cards were tested using Game Ready Driver 572.60, except for the RTX 5070, which was on review drivers. AMD cards were tested on Adrenalin 24.12.1, with the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 using pre-release drivers provided by AMD.

While 3DMark isn't a playable game, it offers valuable insights into the potential of each graphics card. In Speed Way, the RX 9070 XT outperforms the RX 7900 XT by 18%, though it falls 18% behind the RTX 5070 Ti. However, in the Steel Nomad benchmark, the RX 9070 XT's performance surge over the RX 7900 XT reaches 26%, and it even surpasses the RTX 5070 Ti by 7%.

Test System:

In Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the Radeon RX 9070 XT outperforms the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 15%, showcasing AMD's strong performance in this title, with the RX 7900 XT trailing by only 6%.

Cyberpunk 2077 typically favors Nvidia cards, but the RX 9070 XT narrows the gap significantly. At 4K with Ray Tracing Ultra preset and FSR 3 in performance mode, the RX 9070 XT achieves 71 fps, compared to the RTX 5070 Ti's 75 fps with DLSS in performance mode—a mere 5% difference despite the significant price disparity.

Metro Exodus, tested without upscaling at 4K, sees the RX 9070 XT achieving 47 fps, closely matching the RTX 5070 Ti's 48 fps, while the RX 7900 XT lags behind at 38 fps, marking a 24% improvement.

Red Dead Redemption 2 highlights the RX 9070 XT's Vulkan performance, achieving 125 fps with all settings maxed out, outpacing the RTX 5070 Ti's 110 fps and the RX 7900 XT's 106 fps.

However, the RX 9070 XT falls 13% behind the RTX 5070 Ti in Total War: Warhammer 3, with 76 fps compared to the RTX 5070 Ti's 87 fps, and only slightly ahead of the RX 7900 XT's 71 fps.

In Assassin's Creed Mirage, the RX 9070 XT reclaims its lead, achieving 163 fps, outperforming the RTX 5070 Ti's 146 fps by 12% and the RX 7900 XT's 150 fps by 9%.

The RX 9070 XT's most impressive performance comes in Black Myth Wukong, where it achieves 70 fps at 4K with the Cinematic Preset and FSR set to 40%, compared to the RTX 5070 Ti's 65 fps with DLSS—an 8% lead. This is notable given the game's heavy use of ray tracing effects, where AMD typically lags behind Nvidia.

Forza Horizon 5 sees the 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 reasonable 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 come with a hefty price tag of at least $400 more.

The last great flagship graphics card was arguably the GTX 1080 Ti, launched at $699 in 2017. While the 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.