The AMD Radeon RX 9070 has entered the market at a peculiar time for graphics cards. Following closely on the heels of Nvidia's latest generation release, this $549 AMD card directly challenges the underwhelming GeForce RTX 5070. In this matchup, AMD's Radeon RX 9070 emerges as a clear winner, positioning it as an attractive option for 1440p gaming enthusiasts.
However, the situation is more nuanced, largely due to AMD's own pricing strategy. The Radeon RX 9070 is priced just $50 below the superior Radeon RX 9070 XT. Although the 9070 is approximately 8% slower and 9% cheaper than the 9070 XT, the marginal price difference may tempt buyers to opt for the XT model for slightly better performance. Despite this, choosing between these two AMD options still leaves gamers in a favorable position with Team Red.
Purchasing Guide
The AMD Radeon RX 9070 will be available starting March 6, with an entry price of $549. However, expect higher-priced variants to be available. For the best value, aim to purchase a model as close to the starting price as possible, especially considering its proximity in cost to the Radeon RX 9070 XT.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 – Photos
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Specs and Features
Built on the new RDNA 4 graphics architecture, the Radeon RX 9070 mirrors the 9070 XT in many ways. This advanced architecture significantly boosts performance, allowing the 9070 to surpass the Radeon RX 7900 GRE from the previous generation, despite featuring 30% fewer compute units.
The RX 9070 boasts 56 Compute Units, each equipped with 64 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), totaling 3,584 shaders. Additionally, each compute unit includes one Ray Accelerator and two AI Accelerators, amounting to 56 and 112, respectively. These enhancements significantly improve the card's ray tracing capabilities and introduce AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 4, marking the debut of AI upscaling on AMD GPUs.
Like its XT counterpart, the RX 9070 comes with 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM on a 256-bit bus, a configuration similar to the 7900 GRE, ensuring robust performance for 1440p gaming for years to come. While the adoption of GDDR7, as seen in Nvidia's offerings, would have been preferable, it likely would have increased the price.
AMD recommends a minimum 550W power supply for the RX 9070, which has a power budget of 220W. My testing showed peak consumption at 249W, suggesting a 600W PSU for safety. Notably, AMD has opted not to release a reference design for the RX 9070, leaving production to third-party manufacturers. I tested the Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 Gaming OC 16G, a triple-slot card with a slight factory overclock.
FSR4
Since the rise of DLSS in 2018, AI upscaling has become a key method for enhancing performance while maintaining image quality. Previously exclusive to Nvidia, FSR 4 now brings this technology to AMD GPUs. FSR 4 utilizes AI to upscale lower resolution images to native resolution, improving upon the temporal upscaling of FSR 3 by reducing artifacts like ghosting.
However, the AI model's performance cost means FSR 4 slightly reduces frame rates compared to FSR 3. For example, in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at 1440p on the Extreme preset, FSR 3 achieves 165 fps, while FSR 4 drops to 159 fps. Similarly, in Monster Hunter Wilds at 4K with ray tracing, the RX 9070 gets 81 fps with FSR 3, but 76 fps with FSR 4.
The Adrenalin software allows users to toggle between FSR 3 and FSR 4, enabling a choice between better image quality or slightly higher performance. For single-player games, I prefer FSR 4, but for fast-paced online games like Marvel Rivals, FSR 3 might be more suitable.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT & 9070 – Benchmarks
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Performance
Priced at $549, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 directly competes with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, often outperforming it. At 1440p, the RX 9070 is on average 12% faster than the RTX 5070 and 22% faster than its predecessor, the RX 7900 GRE, which also launched at $549 in 2024. This performance leap is remarkable, especially considering the 9070's reduced core count.
It's worth noting that I tested a factory overclocked version of the RX 9070, the Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 Gaming OC, with a reported boost clock of 2,700Mhz, suggesting a potential 4-5% performance increase over standard models.
All tests were conducted using the latest public drivers available at the time: Nvidia cards on Game Ready driver 572.60, AMD cards on Adrenalin 24.12.1, and review drivers for the RX 9070, 9070 XT, and RTX 5070.
In 3DMark, the RX 9070 performs competitively. In the Speed Way test with ray tracing, it scores 5,828 points, nearly matching the RTX 5070's 5,845. In the Steel Nomad test without ray tracing, the RX 9070 significantly outperforms the RTX 5070, scoring 6,050 to 5,034.
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 at 1440p with FSR 3 set to Balanced, the RX 9070 achieves 165 fps, surpassing the RTX 5070's 131 fps and the RX 7900 GRE's 143 fps. In Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p with Ray Tracing Ultra, the RX 9070 edges out the RTX 5070 by 3%, a significant achievement in a game traditionally favoring Nvidia.
Metro Exodus, tested without upscaling, sees the RX 9070 averaging 71 fps, compared to the RTX 5070's 64 fps, an 11% lead. In Red Dead Redemption 2 using Vulkan at 1440p, the RX 9070 delivers 142 fps, a 23% lead over the RTX 5070's 115 fps.
Total War: Warhammer 3 shows a close race at 1440p, with the RX 9070 at 135 fps and the RTX 5070 at 134 fps. In Assassin's Creed Mirage at 1440p with the Ultra preset and FSR set to Balanced, the RX 9070 leads with 193 fps against the RTX 5070's 163 fps.
Black Myth Wukong at 1440p with the Cinematic preset results in a near tie, with the RX 9070 at 67 fps and the RTX 5070 at 66 fps. Forza Horizon 5 at 1440p sees the RX 9070 averaging 185 fps, outperforming the RTX 5070's 168 fps and the RX 7900 GRE's 152 fps.
The Radeon RX 9070's launch timing against the RTX 5070 plays to AMD's advantage. Both cards are priced at $549, but the RX 9070's superior performance and 16GB of VRAM make it a more future-proof and valuable choice, even if it uses slightly slower GDDR6 memory compared to the RTX 5070's GDDR7. The combination of better performance and more VRAM makes the Radeon RX 9070 a compelling option for gamers seeking high performance at 1440p.
