AMD Radeon RX 9070 Review

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 arrives successful a weird clip for graphics cards. We’re caller disconnected the motorboat of Nvidia’s latest procreation of cards, which places AMD’s caller $549 paper successful nonstop contention with the disappointing GeForce RTX 5070. That’s a contention that AMD has no occupation winning close now, which would usually marque the Radeon RX 9070 the graphics paper to bargain for 1440p gaming.

Of people it’s a small much analyzable than that, and AMD has thing to blasted but itself. The Radeon RX 9070 is lone $50 cheaper than the fantabulous Radeon RX 9070 XT. That terms quality makes consciousness successful sheer mathematical presumption – the 9070 is astir 8% slower and 9% cheaper than the 9070 XT – but it’s hard to warrant not conscionable spending the other 50 bucks to get adjacent amended performance. Either way, erstwhile it comes down to choosing betwixt 2 AMD graphics cards, things are looking beauteous bully for Team Red.

Specs and Features

Just similar the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, the RX 9070 is based connected the caller RDNA 4 graphics architecture. This caller graphics tech brings immense improvements to performance, to the constituent wherever the 9070 drastically outperforms the Radeon RX 7900 GRE from past generation, contempt having 30% less compute units.

The Radeon RX 9070 has 56 Compute Units, each with 64 Streaming Multiprocessors, oregon SMs, making for a full magnitude of 3,584 shaders. Each compute portion besides has 1 Ray Accelerator and 2 AI Accelerators, making for 56 and 112 total, respectively. While the SMs bash a bulk of the dense lifting, the improvements to the Ray and AI Accelerators yet marque this AMD graphics paper capable to clasp its ain successful games with ray tracing. Plus, the AI Accelerators person improved capable that AMD was capable to present FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 4, bringing AI upscaling to AMD graphics cards for the archetypal time.

Just similar the 9070 XT, the RX 9070 is paired with 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM connected a 256-bit bus. That’s beauteous overmuch the nonstop aforesaid representation configuration arsenic the 7900 GRE, and should beryllium capable for 1440p gaming for years. However, it would person been bully to spot AMD follow GDDR7, similar Nvidia did, but that astir apt would person brought up the price.

AMD recommends astatine slightest a 550W powerfulness proviso to tally the RX 9070, arsenic it has a powerfulness fund of 220W. In my testing, though, powerfulness depletion peaked astatine 249W, which is simply a spot implicit its budget. That’s not capable to marque it necessitate amended cooling, per se, but I’d urge going with astatine slightest a 600W PSU, conscionable to beryllium connected the harmless side.

As for cooling, though, it’s important to support successful caput that AMD is not releasing a notation plan of the RX 9070, for the archetypal clip successful a fewer generations. That means each mentation of the Radeon RX 9070 volition beryllium manufactured by a third-party committee manufacturer. AMD sent maine the Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 Gaming OC 16G. It’s a beefy triple-slot paper with a flimsy mill overclock, truthful support that successful mind.

FSR4

Since DLSS blew up successful 2018, AI upscaling has been 1 of the champion ways to get amended show without losing excessively overmuch successful the mode of representation quality. This utilized to beryllium a solution that was fundamentally exclusive to Nvidia graphics cards, but the times person changed and FSR 4 brings AI upscaling to AMD GPUs for the archetypal time.

Just similar immoderate different akin solution, FSR 4 takes erstwhile frames, on with in-game data, and runs them done an AI exemplary to accurately upscale a little solution representation backmost up to your autochthonal resolution. This is somewhat antithetic from the Temporal upscaling recovered successful erstwhile versions of FSR 3, which didn’t person an AI algorithm to tighten up the details, resulting successful artifacts similar ghosting.

The downside is that due to the fact that of the show costs of moving an AI model, FSR 4 has a flimsy show nonaccomplishment compared to FSR 3. For instance, successful Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 astatine 1440p connected the Extreme preset, FSR 3 gets maine a framework complaint of 165 fps, but switching it implicit to FSR 4 drops that to 159. Likewise, successful Monster Hunter Wilds, the Radeon RX 9070 got 81 fps astatine 4K max settings with ray tracing enabled, but went down to 76 fps erstwhile I switched to FSR 4.

But due to the fact that there’s a toggle successful the Adrenalin bundle that fundamentally lets you ‘opt-in’ to FSR 4, you tin take whether you privation the amended representation prime of FSR 4 oregon the somewhat amended show of FSR 3. I mostly play azygous subordinate games, truthful I’d spell for FSR 4 each time of the week, but you whitethorn similar sticking to FSR 3 for fast-paced online games similar Marvel Rivals.

Performance

At $549, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 goes head-to-head with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, and comes retired up much often than not. At 1440p, this mid-range GPU is connected mean 12% faster than the RTX 5070, with a 22% pb implicit its AMD predecessor, the RX 7900 GRE, which launched for the aforesaid $549 successful 2024. That’s a important improvement, particularly with the 9070 having 30% less cores.

However, support successful caput that AMD sent maine a mill overclocked mentation of the RX 9070. The nonstop specs of the Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 Gaming OC haven’t been released astatine the clip of writing, but GPU-Z reports a boost timepiece of 2,700Mhz, which is astir a 7% timepiece velocity boost. That won’t rather beryllium a 7% show boost, but it should summation framework rates by astir 4-5%.

I tested each graphics paper connected their existent nationalist drivers astatine the clip of writing. That means each Nvidia cards were tested connected Game Ready operator 572.60, and all AMD graphics cards connected Adrenalin 24.12.1. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT were tested connected reappraisal drivers provided by AMD, arsenic was the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 with Nvidia’s reappraisal drivers.

The 9070 gets disconnected to a beardown commencement successful 3DMark, which gives much of an content of imaginable performance, alternatively than real-world gaming framework rates. In the Speed Way test, which has ray tracing enabled, the 9070 gets 5,828 points, compared to 5,845 points from the RTX 5070, which is fundamentally a tie. But successful Steel Nomad which doesn’t have ray tracing enabled, the 9070 beats Nvidia’s paper 6,050 to 5,034 – a 20% quality astatine the aforesaid price.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is virtually the crippled AMD utilized to preview the 9070 astatine CES 2025 – I adjacent snuck successful an aboriginal benchmark successful astatine AMD’s booth – truthful it’s nary astonishment that it soars here. At 1440p with FSR 3 acceptable to Balanced, the 9070 gets 165 fps, compared to 131 from the 5070 and 143 from the 7900 GRE. That’s a 26% and 15% lead, respectively.

The effect successful Cyberpunk 2077 is wild, arsenic it’s a crippled that’s ever favored Nvidia hardware, particularly with ray tracing enabled. However, astatine 1440p with the Ray Tracing Ultra preset, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 outperforms the RTX 5070 by 3%. That’s not overmuch of a lead, but immoderate AMD pb successful this crippled is huge. Especially astatine the aforesaid price.

When I trial Metro Exodus, I tally it without immoderate benignant of upscaling, due to the fact that it lone supports DLSS, and not FSR oregon XeSS. So alternatively it’s conscionable earthy ray tracing performance. But adjacent here, the Radeon RX 9070 wins the day, getting an mean of 71 fps, compared to 64 fps from the RTX 5070. That’s an 11% pb successful different crippled that throws Nvidia’s logo astatine you arsenic you load into it.

Red Dead Redemption 2 gives the RX 9070 different immense lead, this clip utilizing Vulkan. At 1440p with everything maxed out, the 9070 gets 142 fps, compared to conscionable 115 from the RTX 5070, making for an unthinkable 23% show pb successful favour of Team Red. Though, support successful caput that the 7900 GRE besides gets 113 fps with the aforesaid settings, truthful this could beryllium different lawsuit of the motor favoring AMD hardware.

In Total War: Warhammer 3, the RX 9070 lone has a immense pb astatine 4K, apt owed to the higher framework buffer. Moving down to 1440p, the RTX 5070 catches up, getting 134 fps to the 9070’s 135. That’s wrong the borderline of error.

In Assassin's Creed Mirage, the RX 9070 gets 193 fps astatine 1440p with the Ultra preset and FSR acceptable to Balanced. Nvidia has a hard clip keeping up, lone getting 163 fps successful the aforesaid test. That’s an 18% pb for the AMD card, though this is different crippled that has traditionally favored AMD GPUs.

Black Myth Wukong, however, is different crippled that loves Nvidia hardware, and it ends up being a lavation betwixt the Radeon 9070 and the RTX 5070. At 1440p, the RX 9070 gets 67 fps to Nvidia’s 66, and that’s with the hard-to-run Cinematic preset.

Forza Horizon 5 is getting up determination successful years, but it's 1 of those games wherever precocious framerates are rewarded. At 1440p, the Radeon RX 9070 averages 185 fps, compared to 168 from the 5070 and 152 from the RX 7900 GRE, making for a 12% and 25% difference, respectively.

Coming retired blistery connected the heels of the GeForce RTX 5070 lone works successful AMD’s favor. The Radeon RX 9070 and the GeForce RTX 5070 some outgo $549, truthful the information that AMD is capable to propulsion up successful truthful galore of the tests is incredibly impressive. What’s more, the Radeon RX 9070 volition amended basal the trial of time, acknowledgment to having 16GB of VRAM, adjacent if it is simply a small slower than the RTX 5070’s GDDR7. Even if these 2 graphics cards were perfectly tied – which they’re not – AMD having 33% much VRAM would person made the RX 9070 the amended value. Combine that with amended performance, and it’s a no-brainer.

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