AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
Update - Following a disappointing launch by NVIDIA, I was fortunate enough to be one of the few who procured an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 from the NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference (GTC) for under MSRP (£1688.15). More details can be found in the post “NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090”.
I recently upgraded my main custom-built PC. I documented this process across two articles.
The impetus for this change was the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, which felt like a worthy upgrade to my ageing NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (I had skipped the NVIDIA 40 series).
Unfortunately, the NVIDIA launch was highly disappointing, with a wide range of issues. Specifically:
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Misleading marketing, unfairly comparing the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.
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Very limited initial availability, compounded by limited ongoing supply.
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Uncontrolled ordering process, resulting in automated “bot” purchases for scalping purposes.
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Failed MSRP pricing, with the GeForce RTX 5090 selling for excess of £3500 (£1500 above MSRP).
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Reports of the controversial 12V-2x6 connector and/or cables overheating (similar to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090).
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A quality assurance failure that resulted in graphics cards shipping with missing ROPs, impacting performance.
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Driver issues, resulting in instability and “black screen” issues.
Frustratingly, many of these issues (marketing, supply, ordering and pricing) could have been easily avoided with better proactive planning.
The hardware and software issues, although disappointing, are not uncommon with new product launches and it is unclear the “true” number of impacted users (Reddit and YouTube commonly overstate the real-world impact). However, with consumer sentiment already low due to the launch issues, this additional bad press compounded the market reaction.
Personally, I can forgive the mistakes. However, what I struggle to forgive is the lack of communication and respect from NVIDIA. Since the “launch” of the NVIDIA GeForce 50 series, NVIDIA has failed to proactively engage the community, with only the missing ROPs being formally acknowledged.
In short, humility and vulnerability can count for a lot. If you make a mistake, own it, and look to resolve it as soon as possible.
It would appear that NVIDIA has become arrogant, and emboldened by its market position, ultimately at the cost of its most loyal customers (the same customers that built the company’s foundation).
In a perfect world, I would demonstrate my dissatisfaction with NVIDIA by voting with my wallet. Unfortunately, there is no comparable alternative to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. This lack of direct competition is a major part of the problem, something we have seen over the years with other technology companies, such as Intel, etc.
Therefore, against my better judgment, I still intend to procure an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. However, I refuse to pay over MSRP. Therefore, I could be in for a long wait.
With this in mind, I devised a new “short-term” plan, which resulted in me purchasing the newly announced AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT as a replacement for my NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090.
This may seem like an odd upgrade, as the performance difference will not be groundbreaking. However, at the current market pricing, I can sell my NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 for around the price of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, delivering a good price/performance upgrade.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
I purchased the ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition which has a list price of £635.99, a little above the £569.99 MSRP stated by AMD. Unfortunately, without a reference card from AMD, it is unclear if the AMD MSRP will be honoured.
The ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition is a dual BIOS, triple fan, 2.5 slot design, with a phase-change thermal pad. It includes a minor out-of-the-box overclock, delivering a boost clock of 3030MHz.
It fits perfectly in my Fractal Torrent Compact case, with a length of 312mm.
The full specification of the ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition can be found below.
- Architexture: RDNA 4.0
- Process: TSMC N4P FunFET (5nm)
- Clocks: 2480MHz (Game) / 3030MHz (Boost)
- Shader Units: 4096
- Texture Mapping Units: 256
- Render Output Units: 128
- Compute Units: 64
- Tensor Core: 128
- RT Cores: 64
- Memory: 16GB GDDR6 (256bit)
- Interface: PCI Express 5.0
Considering the price (assuming near MSRP), the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers an impressive and well-balanced specification. For example, the use of GDDR6 (instead of the newer GDDR7) is likely a good cost-saving measure, without sacrificing much performance for this class of graphics card. However, I do wish they could have included a little more memory (ideally 20GB) to support larger AI workloads.
In addition, unlike NVIDIA, AMD does not mandate the 12V-2x6 connector, avoiding the potential heat issues and negative press. The ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition comes with three 8-pin connectors, with a 750W PSU recommendation. The three connectors are likely overkill but could offer some benefit when overclocking.
The ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition includes one HDMI 2.1b and three DisplayPort 2.1a with HDCP 2.3 support. As a result, it should be future-proof for high-resolution, high-refresh-rate monitors.
The default performance of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is impressive. However, I also configured a minor under-volt/overclock (screenshot below), which worked perfectly in my testing and should be viable for 24x7. This can be done by tweaking just three settings in the AMD Radeon Adrenalin Edition application.
- Voltage Offset (mV): -80
- VRAM Max Frequency (MHz): 2800
- Power Limit (%): 10
Outlined below are some high-level test results compared to my NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090.
Overall, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT outperforms my GeForce RTX 3090 by 23%. Although my tests are far from comprehensive, I do believe they provide a basic insight into the performance benefits of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT.
I also tested some non-synthetic scenarios, which also delivered impressive results, with a dramatic increase in ray tracing performance compared with RDNA 3.0, etc. When combined with the improvements delivered by FSR 4.0, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is an incredibly well-rounded graphics card.
In summary, based on my initial testing, if you are in the market for a medium/high-end graphics card, targeting gaming only, I would highly recommend the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT. It delivers compelling performance across a range of work workloads at a compelling price point.