AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE Review

When the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE came retired backmost successful 2024, it offered immoderate of the champion bang-for-your-buck show to beryllium recovered successful a graphics card, particularly astatine 1440p. The caller Radeon RX 9070 GRE is trying to travel successful those footsteps, adjacent launching astatine the aforesaid $549 terms tag. But the PC gaming scenery has changed a batch successful the past fewer years.

In immoderate different time, the RX 9070 GRE would person a little terms tag than the archetypal 9070; it’s slower and has 12GB of VRAM, alternatively than 16GB. However, owed to the ongoing RAM shortage, the $549 9070 GRE is the aforesaid terms arsenic the archetypal 9070 was astatine launch, though the second has since ballooned successful price.

If AMD’s $549 motorboat terms really holds this clip around, the 9070 GRE is conscionable arsenic overmuch a 1440p all-star arsenic the 7900 GRE earlier it, adjacent if determination isn’t overmuch of a generational show uplift this clip around.

Welcome to the New Normal

The main crushed the 7900 GRE was specified a large graphics paper erstwhile it launched successful the US was that it was so overmuch cheaper than the 7900 XT, portion besides being an highly beardown 1440p graphics card. It launched for $549, compared to the 7900 XT’s motorboat terms of $899, adjacent though the second had a fewer terms cuts nether its loop by then. But this procreation is simply a small spot different.

With AMD’s RDNA 4 graphics cards, Team Red fundamentally ignored the high-end, launching the 9070 XT arsenic its astir almighty paper and leaving the Nvidia RTX 5080 and 5090 to conscionable ain the high-end. That’s why, erstwhile I saw the 9070 GRE’s $549 terms tag I had to bash a treble take. This is simply a mid-generation fund play that, astatine slightest astatine archetypal glance, seems conscionable arsenic costly arsenic the archetypal 9070, but with a smaller GPU and little VRAM. But the 9070, conscionable similar each different GPU nether the sun, has lone gone up successful terms since it launched.

At the clip of writing, the Radeon RX 9070 volition acceptable you backmost astir $620, which is astir 12% much costly than the $549 9070 GRE. With that $70 terms difference, the 9070 GRE shaves disconnected 8 Compute Units (CUs) and 8GB of VRAM. And I fishy that the second is mostly the crushed wherefore the 9070 GRE isn’t a overmuch much affordable paper close now, adjacent though it truly should be.

As I’ll get into a small further down, that 12% terms chopped doesn’t precisely travel with conscionable 12% worse performance. Instead, the 9070 GRE is anyplace betwixt 15% and 32% slower than the archetypal 9070. If prices transportation connected the mode they are close present – and there’s nary warrant that’ll happen, the 9070 volition stay the amended value. But with the mode RAM and VRAM prices person been trending fundamentally each of 2026, determination volition apt travel a clip wherever the 9070 GRE’s little 12GB capableness volition apt prevention it from the worst of the terms increases.

Specs and Features

Just similar the archetypal RX 9070, the Radeon RX 9070 GRE is built connected AMD’s RDNA 4 graphics architecture. This procreation improves the wide show of each compute unit, but besides introduced 3rd procreation ray accelerators and 2nd procreation AI accelerators. The second are down the much-improved FSR Redstone, the archetypal iteration of AMD’s upscaling tech to really usage AI to standard up visuals successful games.

AMD’s Radeon 9000 cards weren’t the archetypal to see these AI accelerators, that grant goes to the RX 7900 XT and the remainder of that lineup. However, these older AI accelerators were relegated to boosting AI show successful originative and nonrecreational workloads. Of course, the second-generation AI accelerators besides boost these pro apps, but Team Red yet fto them escaped successful games. Luckily, AMD is besides retroactively letting older GPUs usage the caller upscaling models aboriginal this year.

On paper, the existent GPU successful the RX 9070 GRE is simply a slightly downgraded, oregon binned RX 9070. The GRE comes with 48 Compute Units, compared to the 9070’s 56, making for a full of 3,072 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs). But AMD did much than conscionable disable 1 of the shader engines, it besides chopped immoderate of the VRAM.

The archetypal 9070, on with its large sibling, the 9070 XT, came with 16GB of GDDR6 memory, but the GRE cuts that down to 12GB, giving it little representation than the 9060 XT. Given the existent authorities of machine hardware, I would accidental this was owed to the RAM shortage that’s driving up the prices of everything close now. However, conscionable similar the 7900 GRE earlier it, the 9070 GRE launched successful China first, and came retired determination earlier the existent representation apocalypse adjacent started.

If the existent RAM shortage wasn’t happening, this would astir apt marque the 9070 GRE rather a spot cheaper than its existent $549 motorboat price, but c’est la vie.

With 1 of the shader units disabled, the 9070 GRE does devour rather a spot little power, peaking astatine 196.18W passim my testing, compared to the 9070’s 247.94W. That didn’t rather lucifer up with little temperatures, with the 2 GPUs getting astir identical results, but that astir apt comes down to the quality betwixt the coolers. Just similar each different Radeon 9000 bid card, AMD did not merchandise a notation mentation of this graphics card, and is depending wholly connected third-party manufacturers.

Performance

According to existent prices, the Radeon RX 9070 GRE is smack dab successful the mediate of the 9060 XT and the 9070. And, unsurprisingly, that’s precisely however it performs. The 9070 GRE is simply a large small 1440p graphics card, though it tin conflict to max settings retired successful immoderate of the astir demanding games.

To trial the Radeon RX 9070 GRE, I ran it done an updated suite of games to spot however it would execute crossed a assortment of antithetic engines. I besides retested each the older GPUs that I’m utilizing to comparison the 9070 GRE, due to the fact that it’s been astir a twelvemonth since immoderate user GPU has really travel out. I tested each Nvidia drivers connected Game Ready operator 596.49, and each non-9070 GRE AMD cards connected Adrenalin 26.5.2. The 9070 GRE was tested connected a pre-release operator provided by AMD.

The archetypal happening I trial connected immoderate caller graphics paper is 3DMark. While these synthetic benchmarks don’t correlate precisely with real-world gaming performance, they springiness a bully representation of the imaginable a graphics paper has. In Speed Way, which tests DirectX 12 show with ray tracing, the 9070 GRE gets 4,274 points compared to 5897 points from the 9070 and 3009 points from the 9060 XT, placing it close successful the middle. However, AMD gets uncomfortably adjacent to the RTX 5060 Ti connected the low-end here, with Nvidia’s paper getting 4,227 points successful the aforesaid test.

In Steel Nomad, though, which tests non ray tracing DX12 performance, the 9070 GRE fares a batch better. Here, the 9070 GRE gets 5160 points, compared to 3690 points from the RTX 5060 Ti. That’s a immense pb for AMD here, but what’s much awesome is that the RTX 5070, which usually gives the 9070 a tally for its money, lone gets 5222 points successful this test. That’s lone a 1.19% pb for Nvidia, contempt the 5070’s emblematic $640 terms tag these days – 15% much costly than the 9070 GRE.

In existent games, the 9070 GRE continues to unrecorded betwixt the 9060 XT and 9070. For instance, successful Call of Duty Black Ops 7, with nary ray tracing oregon FSR and connected the Extreme preset astatine 1440p, the caller AMD paper gets 136 fps, compared to 167 from the 9070 and 112 from the 9060 XT. This is simply a crippled that has ever favored AMD hardware, too, truthful it shouldn’t beryllium excessively astonishing that it leads some the 5070’s 124 fps and the 5060 Ti’s 92 fps.

AMD’s elephantine pb doesn’t past long, though. In Cyberpunk 2077 connected the Ray Tracing Ultra preset and FSR 4 acceptable to Balanced astatine 1440p, the 9070 GRE gets 78 fps, compared to 91 fps from the 9070 and 61 from the 9060 XT. The RTX 5070 gets its pb backmost here, getting 88 fps with the equivalent DLSS settings and 67 fps for the RTX 5060 Ti.

Crimson Desert is different crippled that I’m investigating astatine autochthonal resolution, mostly owed to its beardown show connected each GPU I’ve ever tested it on. In that game, the 9070 GRE gets an mean of 65 fps astatine 1440p with the ‘Cinematic’ preset, compared to 77 fps from the 9070 and 53 from the 9060 XT. Nvidia’s cards person a stronger showing here, but not by much, with the 5070 getting 75 fps and the 5060 Ti getting 59 fps with the aforesaid settings.

Total War: Warhammer 3 is simply a crippled that hammers some the CPU and the GPU, and doesn’t adjacent connection upscaling features to lighten the load. In that game, the RX 9070 GRE gets 109 fps with the Ultra preset astatine 1440p, compared to 120 fps from the RTX 5070 and 87 from the RTX 5060 Ti. The 9070 GRE mightiness not rather lucifer the 5070 here, but it does get a monolithic 22% pb implicit the 5060 Ti, adjacent though it’s astatine that aforesaid $550-$560 terms point.

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, I max the crippled retired with the Ultra preset and besides crank the ray tracing settings, past crook connected FSR oregon DLSS to ‘Balanced’. Here, the 9070 GRE falls conscionable abbreviated of the 60 fps saccharine spot, averaging 56 fps. While that’s disappointing astatine first, it really matches the 5070 astatine the aforesaid framework rate, and perfectly dominates the 5060 Ti’s 47 fps. But, conscionable similar Call of Duty, this is simply a crippled that has favored AMD hardware successful each the investigating I’ve done.

Forza Horizon 6 is an unusual one, though. In that benchmark, the 9070 GRE gets conscionable 60 fps astatine 1440p with the Extreme preset. I repeated this trial respective times, and yes, made definite that V-Sync was disabled. That’s inactive ace playable, but it falls abbreviated of the 9070 astatine 101 fps and the 9060 XT astatine 68 fps. However, fixed however caller Forza Horizon 6 is, and the information that I was investigating connected pre-release drivers, I don’t deliberation this is rather indicative of however the GPU volition execute aft a fewer operator updates.

There are immoderate games wherever the Radeon RX 9070 GRE falls behind, but conscionable similar the 9070 and 9070 XT earlier it, this caller AMD paper punches mode supra its value class. If the 9070 GRE’s terms holds astatine astir $549, it’s hard to urge thing other for 1440p gaming. But, arsenic soon arsenic the terms starts creeping up towards $600, it’s astir apt worthy spending a spot other connected the Radeon 9070, conscionable for the other VRAM.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra