AMD RX 9070 Review ft. Sapphire

1. Introduction2. Meet the Sapphire RX 9070 Pulse3. Testing Methodology4. Alan Wake II5. Black Myth: Wukong6. Cyberpunk 20777. Final Fantasy XVI8. Forza Horizon 59. Ghost of Tsushima10. Horizon Forbidden West11. The Last of Us Part 112. A Plague Tale: Requiem13. Senua's Saga: Hellblade 214. Starfield15. Total War: Warhammer III16. Performance Summary (12-Game Average)17. Cost Per Frame Analysis18. Ray Tracing: Alan Wake II19. Ray Tracing: Black Myth: Wukong20. Ray Tracing: Cyberpunk 207721. Ray Tracing: F1 2422. Ray Tracing: Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart23. Ray Tracing: Returnal24. Ray Tracing: Shadow of the Tomb Raider25. Ray Tracing: Star Wars Outlaws26. Ray Tracing Performance Summary27. AI & Productivity Benchmarks28. Clock Speed29. GPU Temperatures30. Memory Temperatures31. Acoustics32. Power Draw: 1080p33. Power Draw: 1440p34. Power Draw: 2160p (4K)35. Performance per Watt: 1080p36. Performance per Watt: 1440p37. Performance per Watt: 2160p (4K)38. Total System Power Draw39. Closing Thoughts40. View All Pages

Launching alongside the RX 9070 XT, today we also have a full review of the slightly cheaper RX 9070 (non-XT). This cut-down Navi 48 GPU targets a $549 MSRP and, as such, is going head-to-head with Nvidia's RTX 5070 which we reviewed only yesterday. But with just a $50 gap between the RX 9070 and the XT model, does AMD's own product positioning make sense? All that and more is explored in this analysis.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
00:41 Recap and spec overview
01:48 Test setup
03:02 Alan Wake 2
03:41 Black Myth: Wukong
04:11 Cyberpunk 2077
04:14 Final Fantasy XVI
05:14 Forza Horizon 5
05:47 Ghost of Tsushima
06:21 Horizon Forbidden West
06:54 The Last of Us Part 1
07:20 Plague Tale: Requiem
07:42 Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
08:09 Starfield
08:36 Total War: Warhammer III
08:55 12-game average results
10:57 Cost per frame analysis
11:55 RT Alan Wake II
12:28 RT Black Myth: Wukong
12:57 RT Cyberpunk 2077
13:19 RT F1 24
13:40 RT Ratchet & Clank
14:00 RT Returnal
14:12 RT Shadow of the Tomb Raider
14:23 RT Star Wars Outlaws
14:43 RT 8-game average
15:18 FSR 4 analysis
18:56 Meet the Sapphire Pulse & ASRock Taichi
20:19 Thermals and acoustics
21:24 Power draw and efficiency
23:18 Closing thoughts

In lieu of an official AMD reference (or MBA) card, today we are using the Sapphire RX 9070 Pulse for our testing. This card still comes at reference specifications, however, while there's a range of factory overclocked models set to launch at retail tomorrow.

It's also worth noting that while this is a standalone review for the RX 9070, we do have a day one review for the RX 9070 XT, and you can find that HERE.

	RX 9070 XT	RX 9070	RX 7900 GRE	RX 7800 XT	RX 7700 XT
Architecture	RDNA 4	RDNA 4	RDNA 3	RDNA 3	RDNA 3
Manufacturing Process	TSMC N4	TSMC N4	TSMC N5 GCD + N6 MCD	TSMC N5 GCD + N6 MCD	TSMC N5 GCD + N6 MCD
Transistor Count	53.9 billion	53.9 billion	57.7 billion	28.1 billion	28.1 billion
Die Size	357 mm²	357 mm²	300 mm² GCD 220 mm² MCD	200 mm² GCD 150 mm² MCD	200 mm² GCD 150 mm² MCD
Compute Units	64	56	80	60	54
Ray Accelerators	64	56	80	60	54
Stream Processors	4096	3584	5120	3840	3456
Game GPU Clock	2400 MHz	2070 MHz	1880 MHz	2124 MHz	2171 MHz
Boost GPU Clock	Up to 2970 MHz	Up to 2520 MHz	Up to 2245 MHz	Up to 2430 MHz	Up to 2544 MHz
ROPs	128	128	192	96	96
AMD Infinity Cache	64MB	64MB	64MB	64MB	48MB
Memory	16GB GDDR6	16GB GDDR6	16GB GDDR6	16GB GDDR6	12GB GDDR6
Memory Data Rate	20 Gbps	20 Gbps	18 Gbps	19.5 Gbps	18 Gbps
Memory Bandwidth	645 GB/s	645 GB/s	576 GB/s	624 GB/s	432 GB/s
Memory Interface	256-bit	256-bit	256-bit	256-bit	192-bit
Board Power	304W	220W	260 W	263W	245W

First, let's take a quick look at the specs. The RX 9070 is built on the new Navi 48 die, measuring 357mm², and it's worth pointing out this is a monolithic chip, so AMD is not using a chiplet-based design as per RDNA 3. In total, Navi 48 silicon packs in 53.9 billion transistors.

While a full Navi 48 GPU packs in 64 Compute Units, the 9070 is cut down to 56 CUs, and each CU houses 64 Stream Processors, for a total of 3584 shaders. There's also 56 Ray Accelerators – one per CU – and 128 ROPs.

As for clock speed, the RX 9070 runs notably slower than its sibling, the RX 9070 XT, and instead it sports a rated game clock of 2070MHz and a boost clock of up to 2520MHz.

The memory configuration is the same between both GPUs though, with 16GB of GDDR6 memory clocked at 20Gbps, operating over a 256-bit memory interface, for total memory bandwidth of 645 GB/s. 64MB of Infinity Cache is also present.

Power draw for the RX 9070 is rated at 220W Total Board Power (TBP), but we are using our updated GPU power testing methodology in this review, so read on for our most detailed power and efficiency testing yet.

The Sapphire Pulse RX 9070 ships in a colourful box, complete with the Pulse and AMD Radeon branding on the front. On the back, Sapphire highlights some key architectural features of the GPU.

The only included accessory is a small quick-start guide.

In terms of its design, the RX 9070 is a clear continuation of the previous generation of Pulse cards, given we find a mostly matte black plastic shroud, sporting a few red accents. It also features two ‘AeroCurve Fan Blade' fans, which Sapphire claims offers ‘improved airflow, optimized static pressure, and enhanced cooling efficiency' compared to the previous generation. Each measures 100mm in diameter.

As for the dimensions of the card, it's nice and compact by modern standards, measuring 280 x 120.25 x 51.5mm.

 

The front side of the card is home to the Radeon and Sapphire logos printed in red, though do note there's no RGB or any kind of lighting on the card.

We also find a full-length metal backplate complete with the Pulse and AMD Radeon branding, while there's a flow-through cut-out at the end to allow air to pass directly through the heatsink.

Power is supplied by two 8-pin connectors, while video outputs consist of 2x HDMI 2.1 and 2x DisplayPort 2.1, though the latter are UHBR13.5 bandwidth, not the full UHBR20 spec.

Driver Notes

• AMD GPUs (except RX 9070 series) were benchmarked with the Adrenalin 24.12.1 driver.
• AMD RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT were benchmarked with the Adrenalin 24.30.31.03 driver supplied to press.
• Nvidia GPUs (except for RTX 50 series) were benchmarked with the 566.14 driver.
• RTX 5090 was benchmarked with the 571.86 driver supplied to press.
• RTX 5080 was benchmarked with the 572.02 driver supplied to press.
• RTX 5070 Ti was benchmarked with the 572.43 driver supplied to press.
• RTX 5070 was benchmarked with the 572.50 driver supplied to press.

Results are only directly comparable where this exact configuration has been used.

Test System:

We test using a custom built system powered by MSI, based on AMD's Zen 5 platform. You can view the Powered by MSI store on AWD-IT's website HERE.

CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Motherboard	MSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi
Memory	64GB (2x32GB) Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 6000MT/s CL30
Graphics Card	Varies
SSD	4TB Kingston NV3 Gen 4 PCIe NVMe
Chassis	MSI MPG Gungnir 300R Airflow
CPU Cooler	MSI MAG CoreLiquid i360
Power Supply	MSI MEG Ai1300P
Operating System	Windows 11 23H2
Monitor	MSI MPG 321URX QD-OLED
Resizable BAR	Enabled for all supported GPUs

Comparison Graphics Cards List

• AMD RX 7900 XTX 24GB
• AMD RX 7900 XT 20GB
• Sapphire RX 7900 GRE Nitro+ 16GB
• AMD RX 7800 XT 16GB
• Sapphire RX 7700 XT Pulse 12GB
• Nvidia RTX 5090 FE 32GB
• Nvidia RTX 5080 FE 16GB
• MSI RTX 5070 Ti Ventus 3X 16GB
• Nvidia RTX 5070 FE 12GB
• Nvidia RTX 4090 FE 24GB
• Nvidia RTX 4080 Super FE 16GB
• MSI RTX 4070 Ti Super Ventus 3X 16GB
• Gigabyte RTX 4070 Ti Gaming 12GB
• Nvidia RTX 4070 Super FE 12GB
• Nvidia RTX 4070 FE 12GB
• Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti FE 12GB
• Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti FE 8GB
• Nvidia RTX 3070 FE 8GB

All cards were tested at reference specifications. For factory overclocked cards, this means we manually ‘undo' the overclock via MSI Afterburner or AMD/Intel's built-in tuning tools. Or, for cards like the Sapphire RX 7900 GRE Nitro+, we enable the reference-clocked BIOS instead of the default OC BIOS.

Software and Games List

• Alan Wake II (DX12)
• Black Myth: Wukong (DX12)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12)
• F1 24 (DX12)
• Final Fantasy XVI (DX12)
• Forza Horizon 5 (DX12)
• Ghost of Tsushima (DX12)
• Horizon Forbidden West (DX12)
• The Last of Us Part 1 (DX12)
• A Plague Tale: Requiem (DX12)
• Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart (DX12)
• Returnal (DX12)
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 (DX12)
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider (DX12)
• Starfield (DX12)
• Star Wars Outlaws (DX12)
• Total War: Warhammer III (DX11)

We run each benchmark/game three times, and present mean averages in our graphs. We use FrameView to measure average frame rates as well as 1% low values (99th percentile) across our three runs.

Alan Wake 2 is a 2023 survival horror game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games Publishing. A sequel to Alan Wake, the story follows best-selling novelist Alan Wake, who has been trapped in an alternate dimension for 13 years, as he attempts to escape by writing a horror story involving an FBI special agent named Saga Anderson. The game was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 27 October 2023. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Northlight. We test using the High preset, FSR set to native resolution, DX12 API.

Starting things off with Alan Wake 2, at 1440p the RX 9070 hits 68fps on average, putting it about level with Nvidia's RTX 4070 Ti Super, giving it a strong 17% advantage over the RTX 5070.

Up at 4K, we see some more dubious-looking 1% lows from the new RDNA 4 GPUs – the average frame rate is still in line with the 4070 Ti Super, but the frame times take a hit. Something for the Radeon division to iron out with a future driver update for sure.

Black Myth: Wukong is a 2024 action role-playing game developed and published by Game Science. The game is inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West and follows an anthropomorphic monkey based on Sun Wukong from the novel. Black Myth: Wukong was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on August 20, 2024, with an Xbox Series X/S version to be released at a later date. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Unreal Engine 5. We test using the Cinematic preset, TSR set to 100% render scale, DX12 API.

In Black Myth: Wukong, the RX 9070 is bang in line with the RX 7900 XT and RTX 4070 Ti at 1440p, resulting in a much closer showing versus the RTX 5070, given the RDNA 4 GPU is just 4% faster.

4K is too much for this class of card without resorting to upscaling or other image quality tweaks, though performance is still level with the 7900 XT, and that bodes well for the rest of our testing.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed and published by CD Projekt. The story takes place in Night City, an open world set in the Cyberpunk universe. Players assume the first-person perspective of a customisable mercenary known as V, who can acquire skills in hacking and machinery with options for melee and ranged combat. Cyberpunk 2077 was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One on 10 December 2020. (Wikipedia).

Engine: REDengine 4. We test using the Ultra preset, FSR disabled, DX12 API.

Moving onto Cyberpunk 2077, at 1440p the RX 9070 is a good 10% faster than the RTX 5070, despite this game being used as a focal point of Nvidia marketing for years.

Even at 4K we're looking at RX 7900 XT-like performance, with 51fps on average, and that makes the 9070 14% faster than the 5070.

Final Fantasy XVI is a 2023 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. The sixteenth main installment in the Final Fantasy series, it was released for the PlayStation 5 in June 2023, with a Windows version released in September 2024.

Engine: Square Enix in-house engine. We test using the Ultra preset, DLSS/FSR disabled, DX12 API.

Final Fantasy XVI sees the RX 9070 sandwiched between the 4070 Ti Super and the 7900 XT at 1440p, though that works out as a very healthy 15% lead over the 5070.

4K is more of a challenge given the 1% lows drop below 30fps, but performance is still on par with the 4070 Ti Super.

Forza Horizon 5 is a 2021 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Xbox Game Studios. The twelfth main instalment of the Forza series, the game is set in a fictionalised representation of Mexico. It was released on 9 November 2021 for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. (Wikipedia).

Engine: ForzaTech. We test using the Extreme preset, DX12 API.

Interestingly, Forza Horizon 5 seems to massively over-perform on these new RDNA 4 GPUs. At 1440p I have the 9070 coming in a whopping 29% faster than the 5070 – one of the biggest margins we will see today – and it's even faster than the RTX 4080 Super which is quite staggering.

At 4K the margins do change slightly, with the 9070 now 23% ahead of the 5070, but that's still a huge result for Radeon.

Ghost of Tsushima is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The player controls Jin Sakai, a samurai on a quest to protect Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Japan.Ghost of Tsushima was released for the PlayStation 4 in July 2020, and an expanded version for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, subtitled Director's Cut and featuring the Iki Island expansion, was released in August 2021. A Windows version of Director's Cut, developed by Nixxes Software, was released in May 2024. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Sucker Punch in-house engine. We test using the Very High preset, DX12 API.

Ghost of Tsushima is the other title I test where we saw performance for RDNA 4 far outstrip expectations, given the 9070 XT is 28% faster faster than the 5070 at 1440p.

That margin even increases to 31% at 4K resolution. There's definitely a sense Blackwell underperforms in this title, but that's still a great result for the 9070, coming in just behind the 7900 XT.

Horizon Forbidden West is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn (2017), the game is set in a post-apocalyptic version of the Western United States, recovering from the aftermath of an extinction event caused by a rogue robot swarm. The game and the Burning Shores expansion were collected together, re-released as Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition for PlayStation 5 in October 2023, and ported to Windows by Nixxes Software in March 2024. A sequel is in development. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Decima. We test using the Very High preset, DX12 API.

Horizon Forbidden West is much more favourable to Nvidia GPUs, but even then, at 1440p the 9070 is 7% faster than the 5070, while it's a hair ahead of the 7900 XT, too.

It holds its leads over the 7900 XT up to 4K resolution, too, where it's now 12% faster than the 5070.

The Last of Us Part I is a 2022 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. A remake of the 2013 game The Last of Us, it features revised gameplay, including enhanced combat and exploration, and expanded accessibility options. It was released for Microsoft Windows in March 2023. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Naughty Dog in-house engine. We test using the Ultra preset, DX12 API.

 

The Last of Us Part 1 is another good showing for RDNA 4, with the 9070 coming in 20% faster than the 5070, though compared to RDNA 3 it's just 6% ahead of the 7900 GRE.

At 4K however, its lead over the 5070 skyrockets to 32% and it's actually level with the RTX 5070 Ti – really impressive stuff.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is an action-adventure stealth game developed by Asobo Studio and published by Focus Entertainment. It is the sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence (2019), and follows siblings Amicia and Hugo de Rune who must look for a cure to Hugo's blood disease in Southern France while fleeing from soldiers of the Inquisition and hordes of rats that are spreading the black plague. The game was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 18 October 2022. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Asobo Studio in-house engine. We test using the Ultra preset, DX12 API.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is another game that typically runs best on Nvidia GPUs, but even then, at 1440p we're still looking at an 8% gain for the 9070 over the 5070, while the new AMD GPU is 2% faster than the 7900 XT.

4K resolutions sees the 9070 take a 9% lead over the 5070, while there's nothing in it compared to the 7900 XT.

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a 2024 action-adventure game developed by Ninja Theory and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game serves as the sequel to Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (2017) and is set in 9th century Iceland, drawing inspiration from Norse mythology and culture. Senua's Saga: Hellblade II was released for Windows and Xbox Series X/S on 21 May 2024.

Engine: Unreal Engine 5. We test using the High preset, TSR set to 100% render scale, DX12 API.

The 9070 only trails the 7900 XT and 4070 Ti Super by 3% in Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, giving it a 12% lead over the 5070.

4K is right on the edge of this GPU's capabilities without using upscaling, but we're still looking at a 10% gain over the 5070.

Starfield is a 2023 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. Announced in 2018, Starfield was delayed several times. The game was released for Windows and Xbox Series X/S on September 6, 2023. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Creation Engine 2. We test using the Ultra preset, with 100% resolution scale, dynamic resolution disabled, DX12 API.

Oddly, despite being an AMD-sponsored title, RDNA 4 seems to underperform in Starfield. We see just a 3% gain for the 9070 XT over the 7900 GRE, making it a mere 5% faster than the 5070. It's still solid, but not as impressive as the other games we've tested.

At 4K, the 9070 still holds a 5% lead over the 5070, while it's the same margin faster than the 7900 GRE.

Total War: Warhammer III is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It is part of the Total War series, and the third to be set in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe (following 2016's Total War: Warhammer and 2017's Total War: Warhammer II). The game was announced on February 3, 2021 and was released on February 17, 2022. (Wikipedia).

Engine: TW Engine 3 (Warscape). We test using the Ultra preset, with unlimited video memory enabled, DX11 API.

 

As for Total War: Warhammer III, the 9070 is once more coming in between the 4070 Ti Super and the 7900 XT, though it's only 5% slower than the latter GPU, and still 15% faster than the 5070.

Up at 4K, performance is still on par with the 4070 Ti Super, while the 9070 remains 5% behind the 7900 XT.

Here we present frame rate figures for each graphics card, averaged across all 12 games on test today. These figures can disguise significant variations in performance from game to game, but provide a useful overview of the sort of performance you can expect at each resolution tested.

Overall then, there's no doubt the RX 9070 delivers impressive rasterisation performance. At 1440p it averages 89fps, putting it bang in line with the RTX 4070 Ti Super, so it holds a strong 15% advantage over the RTX 5070. I do want to stress at this point that we highly recommend reading/watching other reviews where possible – some of the performance swings versus Nvidia are quite pronounced, so there will be varying results depending on what games are tested. Even compared against prior RNDA 3 GPUs, though, the 9070 is delivering pretty much 7900 XT performance, while it's 18% faster than the 7900 GRE.

Up at 4K, we're now looking at a 16% gain over the 5070 on average, while performance is still pretty much dead level with the 4070 Ti Super and 7900 XT. It's also 20% faster than the 7900 GRE, pretty much in line with AMD's claims.

Just to take a closer look at performance versus the 5070, here we can see the 9070's relative performance compared to its GeForce competitor. I didn't see a single instance where the RDNA 4 GPU proved slower, though five of the twelve games tested saw single digit improvements. While Forza Horizon 5 and Ghost of Tsushima are clear outliers, if we remove them from the average, the 9070 only goes from being 15% faster to being 11% faster, so it doesn't really affect the outcome in any meaningful way.

At 4K, we generally saw the 9070 scale slightly better than at 1440p, though it does vary from game to game. The Last of Us Part 1 delivered the biggest win over the 5070, with a 32% margin in favour of the Radeon GPU.

The MSRPs

Using the average frame rate data presented earlier in the review, here we look at the cost per frame using the US MSRP launch prices for each GPU. Please note this only compares rasterised performance and value.

At the time of writing we only have confirmed US pricing – any calculations using GBP will have to wait, unfortunately. Still, the overall trend is clear – comparing MSRPs, the RDNA 4 GPUs are the new market leaders for rasterisation value. At 1440p, for instance, cost per frame is 13% lower than the RTX 5070, and 15% better than the 7900 GRE.

However, the elephant in the room is the RX 9070 actually delivering worse value than its sibling, the RX 9070 XT. AMD has once again priced this card too close to its more expensive counterpart – the RX 9070 really needed to be $100 cheaper, at which point it would 17% cheaper but only 12% slower. Right now it's just 8% cheaper, which is not enough.

Alan Wake 2 is a 2023 survival horror game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games Publishing. A sequel to Alan Wake, the story follows best-selling novelist Alan Wake, who has been trapped in an alternate dimension for 13 years, as he attempts to escape by writing a horror story involving an FBI special agent named Saga Anderson. The game was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 27 October 2023. (Wikipedia)

Engine: Northlight. We test using the High preset, High Ray Tracing preset, FSR set to Quality upscaling, DXR API.

We've seen raster performance – but what about ray tracing? We start with Alan Wake 2, and at 1440p Nvidia is still the clear winner here – the 9070 slower than the 4070 and 3080 Ti, and simply cannot keep the frame rate above 30fps. AMD has still made huge strides, given the 9070 XT is actually 26% faster than the 7900 XTX, but it's not enough to get close to the GeForce competition.

Black Myth: Wukong is a 2024 action role-playing game developed and published by Game Science. The game is inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West and follows an anthropomorphic monkey based on Sun Wukong from the novel. Black Myth: Wukong was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on August 20, 2024, with an Xbox Series X/S version to be released at a later date. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Unreal Engine 5. We test using the Cinematic preset, Ray Tracing set to Very High, TSR set to 67% render scale, DXR API.

 

The same goes for Black Myth: Wukong, though do bear in mind we are using path tracing settings in this title and Alan Wake 2 – non-path traced ray tracing performance is still to come. Even so, performance is even worse for RDNA 4 here, with the 9070 well behind the RTX 4070 and still slower than the 3080 Ti. Again, the gains over RDNA 3 are huge, this time with a 37% uplift over the 7900 XTX, but it's not enough for Radeon to be competitive.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed and published by CD Projekt. The story takes place in Night City, an open world set in the Cyberpunk universe. Players assume the first-person perspective of a customisable mercenary known as V, who can acquire skills in hacking and machinery with options for melee and ranged combat. Cyberpunk 2077 was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One on 10 December 2020. (Wikipedia).

Engine: REDengine 4. We test using the Ray Tracing: Ultra preset, DXR API. DLSS/FSR are disabled.

That changes in Cyberpunk 2077, where are using RT Ultra settings, and not the path traced RT Overdrive mode. Here, the 9070 delivers 41fps on average, sandwiching it between the 7900 XTX and 3080 Ti. It's also just 5% behind the RTX 5070, so it is slower, but that's a much more competitive result than what we've seen so far.

F1 24 is a racing video game developed by Codemasters and published by EA Sports. It is the sixteenth entry in the F1 series by Codemasters. It holds the official licence for the 2023 Formula One and Formula 2 championships. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Linux (through Valve's Proton compatibility layer) on 16 June 2023. (Wikipedia).

Engine: EGO. We test using the Ultra High preset, High ray tracing quality, DXR API. DLSS/FSR are disabled.

F1 24 even sees the 9070 overtake its Nvidia rival by a 17% margin! It's worth saying, this game does tend to run better on Radeon GPUs anyway, but it's still a big achievement for AMD. The RDNA 4 GPUs also seem to have cleaned up the 1% lows, which are very poor on RDNA 3, so perhaps re-testing those older cards on the latest driver will sort that out.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a 2021 third-person shooter platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5. It is the ninth main installment in the Ratchet & Clank series and a sequel to Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus. Rift Apart was announced in June 2020 and was released on June 11, 2021. A Windows port by Nixxes Software was released on July 26, 2023. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Insomniac Games in-house engine. We test using the Very High preset, Very High ray tracing, DXR API. DLSS/FSR are disabled.

Ratchet and Clank is more of a struggle for the 9070 as it comes in 18% behind the 5070, though it's not far off the vanilla 4070. We're also looking at a 17% gain over the 7900 XT, another indicator of the clear strides RDNA 4 has made for ray tracing performance compared to its predecessors.

Returnal is a 2021 roguelike video game developed by Housemarque and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was released for the PlayStation 5 on April 30, 2021 and Windows on February 15, 2023. The game follows Selene Vassos, an astronaut who lands on the planet Atropos in search of the mysterious “White Shadow” signal and finds herself trapped in a time loop. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Unreal Engine 4. We test using the Epic preset, Epic ray traced shadows and reflections, DXR API. DLSS/FSR are disabled.

Returnal is much lighter on ray tracing features, and as such the 9070 and 7900 XT are only on par with each other, though that means the RDNA 4 GPU is also very closely matched to the 5070.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a 2018 action-adventure video game developed by Eidos-Montréal and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. It continues the narrative from the 2015 game Rise of the Tomb Raider and is the twelfth mainline entry in the Tomb Raider series, as well as the third and final entry of the Survivor trilogy. The game was originally released worldwide for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. (Wikipedia).

Engine: Foundation Engine. We test using the Highest preset, RT Ultra Shadows, DXR API. DLSS/FSR are disabled.

As for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, performance is on par with the RX 7900 XT, with smaller generational gains on show given this title only utilises ray traced shadows. It's also 4% behind the RTX 5070 at 1440p.

Star Wars Outlaws is a 2024 action-adventure game developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. Set in the Star Wars universe between the events of The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), the story follows Kay Vess, a young scoundrel who assembles a team for a massive heist in order to pay off a crime syndicate. Star Wars Outlaws was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on August 30, 2024.

Engine: Snowdrop. We test using the Ultra preset but with Nvidia RTXDI disabled, DXR API. DLSS/FSR are disabled.

Star Wars Outlaws is a more surprising positive note for RDNA 4, though. The 9070's performance is a hair ahead of the 7900 XT at 1440p, while it's no less than 12% faster than the 5070 – not bad going considering this game uses ray tracing as a fundamental part of its engine.

Ray tracing 8-game average FPS

Here we present frame rate figures for each graphics card, averaged across all 8 ray traced games on test today. These figures can disguise significant variations in performance from game to game, but provide a useful overview of the sort of performance you can expect at each resolution tested.

Overall then, there's no doubt that RDNA 4 has improved ray tracing performance significantly. It seems that the more ray tracing is done, the bigger the gains – as we saw in Alan Wake 2 and Black Myth: Wukong, where the 9070 was some 25-35% faster than the 7900 XTX.

Unfortunately, those are also the games where Nvidia shows its dominance in this segment, and as such the 9070 is still the slower card for ray tracing – losing out to the 5070 by 6% on average at 1440p. It's a heck of a lot more competitive than AMD has been previously, but Nvidia still holds the advantage here. Versus the 7900 GRE, we see a 32% generational gain, bigger than AMD's claimed 21% uplift.

Cost per frame, launch MSRP data

Please note this only compares ray traced performance and value.

Despite being slower overall, the 9070 has shown enough that it's actually now a real contender when it comes to ray tracing cost per frame, given value is in-line with the 5070 Ti, and only 6% behind the 5070. It's still not better than the 5070 in this regard, but this is still a huge turn around compared to RDNA 3, which was really nowhere for ray tracing value.

Here we present a range of AI and productivity benchmarks, designed to offer insight into the sort of workloads that might be undertaken by someone purchasing this calibre of GPU.

We start with the Stable Diffusion 1.5 benchmark, and this shows competitive performance between the 9070 and the 5070, with the AMD GPU 7% faster overall.

The 5070 can't even run the Stable Diffusion XL test due to its 12GB framebuffer, so that's technically a win for the 9070, while it's also 12% better than the 7900 XTX.

Text generation is more of a struggle for RDNA 4, this time lagging well behind the RTX 5070. The exact margin depends on which model you choose, but for Llama 3.1 performance the 9070 is almost 50% slower.

Lastly, Geekbench AI Pro shows some mixed results. For single precision, RDNA 4 is high competitive. Half precision sees the 9070 fall 7% behind the 5070 Ti, while the quantized metric gives it a healthy 26% lead.

Here we present the average clock speed for each graphics card while running A Plague Tale: Requiem for 30 minutes. We use GPU-Z to record the GPU core frequency during gameplay. We calculate the average core frequency during the 30 minute run to present here.

As for clock speed behaviour, I ran the Pulse through our thirty minute stress test and it proved highly consistent, starting at around 2380MHz before dropping slightly to around 2340MHz.

In fact, over the entire run it averaged 2345MHz – quite a ways below the 9070 XT, but remember that the Pulse is a reference-clocked card, so some factory overclocked boards will likely push this higher.

For our temperature testing, we measure steady-state GPU temperatures under load. A reading under load comes from running A Plague Tale: Requiem for 30 minutes.

As for thermals, the Pulse is no problem at all here, proving more than a match for the cut-down Navi 48 silicon. The GPU topped out at 56C, while the hot spot hit 70C, so that's well within safe limits.

For our temperature testing, we measure the peak memory temperature under load. A reading under load comes from running A Plague Tale: Requiem for 30 minutes.

Memory temperatures are fairly warm however, hitting 88C, though again that is still within safe limits. We'll have to see how other partner cards compare in this regard over the coming weeks.

We take our noise measurements with the sound meter positioned 1 foot from the graphics card. I measured the noise floor to be 32 dBA, thus anything above this level can be attributed to the graphics cards. The power supply is passive for the entire power output range we tested all graphics cards in, while all CPU and system fans were disabled. A reading under load comes from running A Plague Tale: Requiem for 30 minutes.

The good news is that the Pulse runs very quiet under load, with the fans spinning up to just 22%, or 930rpm fan speed, producing just 33dBa of noise – it's practically inaudible.

Here we present power draw figures for the graphics card-only, on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 1080p. This is measured using Nvidia's Power Capture Analysis Tool, also known as PCAT. You can read more about our updated power draw testing methodology HERE.

Per-Game Results at 1080p:

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 1080p:

Power draw for the 9070, even at 1080p, is bang in-line with the rated 220W TBP, given we recorded an average of 219.1W over the twelve games tested.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

The same goes for ray tracing, where power draw was no different.

Here we present power draw figures for the graphics card-only, on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 1440p. This is measured using Nvidia's Power Capture Analysis Tool, also known as PCAT. You can read more about our updated power draw testing methodology HERE.

Per-Game Results at 1440p:

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 1440p:

At 1440p, we're again looking at power draw that's right in-line with AMD's claimed figure, with an average of 218.9W.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

Once more, that's the same when testing with ray tracing enabled, too.

Here we present power draw figures for the graphics card-only, on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 2160p (4K). This is measured using Nvidia's Power Capture Analysis Tool, also known as PCAT. You can read more about our updated power draw testing methodology HERE.

Per-Game Results at 2160p (4K):

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 2160p (4K):

Lastly, behaviour is no different at 4K, with the Pulse averaging 218.6W power draw.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

Once again, the results are identical when ray tracing is turned on.

Using the graphics card-only power draw figures presented earlier in the review, here we present performance per Watt on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 1080p.

Per-Game Results at 1080p:

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 1080p:

Efficiency at 1080p is nice and competitive for the RX 9070 – it's not chart-topping, but it's right up there with the 5070 and 4070 Super.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

Ray tracing efficiency is a different matter, but we can see the 9070 is still clearly superior to the 9070 XT – and every RDNA 3 GPU, for that matter.

Using the graphics card-only power draw figures presented earlier in the review, here we present performance per Watt on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 1440p.

Per-Game Results at 1440p:

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 1440p:

At 1440p, efficiency for the 9070 is best in class, and only fractionally behind the RTX 5080. This means AMD's GPU leads the RTX 5070 by 8% when it comes to performance per watt. It also works out as a 37% improvement over the RX 7900 GRE, which was one of RDNA 3's most efficient GPUs.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

That situation is reversed when ray tracing is on the table, but it's still on par with Ada GPUs like the 4070 Ti.

Using the graphics card-only power draw figures presented earlier in the review, here we present performance per Watt on a per-game basis for all twelve games we tested at 2160p (4K).

Per-Game Results at 2160p (4K):

Click to enlarge.

12-Game Average at 2160p (4K):

Up at 4K –  I can't quite believe it! – the 9070 is actually the most efficient GPU we've ever tested. Not by much, but it sneaks in with a 4% lead over the RTX 5080, while that increases to a 14% advantage over the 5070. That's highly impressive stuff from AMD.

Ray tracing results

As a bonus, we now include the power figures for all eight games we test with ray tracing enabled.

8-Game ray tracing average:

With ray tracing enabled, efficiency isn't quite so good, but it's still competitive, on par with the 5070, but it's 18% behind the RTX 5080.

We measure system-wide power draw from the wall while running A Plague Tale: Requiem for 30 minutes (4K resolution).

Lastly, total system power draw measured at just over 340W, lower than even the RX 7700 XT.

Launching alongside the RX 9070 XT, today we have also put AMD's new RX 9070 (non-XT) through its paces. This is a curious GPU, one that manages to simultaneously beat its GeForce competition by a significant margin, while also proving somewhat of a disappointment in other areas.

Let's start with the good news, though, and that begins with rasterisation performance. At 1440p, the RX 9070 is comfortably faster than the RTX 5070, by a 15% average margin in my testing. That makes it just 2% slower than the RX 7900 XT and it's in the same ballpark as the 4070 Ti Super. Compared to the RX 7900 GRE, which launched the same $549 price about a year ago, the RDNA 4 GPU offers an 18% uplift. I also encourage our readers to check out as many reviews as possible, given performance versus the GeForce competition can vary dramatically from game to game, so other outlets may well find different overall margins.

Still, there's no question this is a highly capable GPU, and I think it's best paired with a high refresh-rate 1440p monitor. It can stretch to 4K gaming, but coming in 13% slower than the RX 9070 XT means it isn't quite so effective at the higher resolution. It's certainly manageable, you may just want to tweak image quality settings a touch, or enable upscaling in the form of FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), but more on that in just a moment.

Ray tracing performance has also come on hugely, with AMD making several architectural tweaks to improve matters in this area. We saw performance improve by 9% on average over the RX 7900 XT, but certain titles showed gains of up to 58%, which is a huge generational improvement. It seems like the more ray traced effects a game deploys, the bigger the uplift versus RDNA 3.

However, those sorts of scenarios are also the games where Nvidia proves strongest, as the 9070 still trails the RTX 5070 by up to 43% in path traced titles, including Alan Wake 2 and Black Myth: Wukong. The gap is just 6% in Cyberpunk 2077 using RT Ultra settings though, though we also saw wins for the 9070 in F1 24 and Star Wars Outlaws. Ultimately I still feel that Nvidia remains the stronger choice if you want to enable high fidelity ray tracing, especially considering the increasing number of path traced games hitting the market, but RDNA 4 has made huge strides in this area.

I also looked at FSR 4 upscaling as part of this review, with AMD's new ML-based algorithm delivering substantial improvements to image quality when compared to FSR 3.1. It even holds its own against Nvidia's DLSS 4 Transformer model in the few examples I looked at, though further analysis is required beyond what I was capable of today. AMD does need to continue to work hard to improve game support, though – it's great that titles supporting FSR 3.1 can be ‘upgraded' to FSR 4 via the Adrenalin driver, but that's still a relatively small proportion of games out there, especially when you compare the number of titles that support DLSS Super Resolution.

As for power draw, AMD officially rates the RX 9070 for 304W TBP. Given there's no MBA card, I tested an Sapphire Pulse model today, and this runs at both reference clock speed and power draw, drawing an average of 218.7W at 1440p in my testing. That means the 9070's performance per watt is highly competitive, edging out the RTX 5070 by 8% and marking a 37% improvement in efficiency over the RX 7900 GRE. In fact, at 4K resolution, it's the most efficient GPU we've ever tested, so that is another great showing for the RDNA 4 architecture.

That's all sounding pretty positive for the RX 9070 but, unfortunately, things are undone when looking at the pricing and positioning of this card. $549 is simply not the right price for this GPU, and there's two reasons for that. The first is it simply makes no sense when compared against the $599 RX 9070 XT, given that GPU is 14% faster yet just 9% more expensive, so the more expensive option offers the better value. This is exactly what we saw when comparing the RX 7900 XTX to the 7900 XT at launch, and when looking at the 7800 XT versus 7700 XT – it feels like I'm stuck in some sort of a time loop! AMD, let's be clear – your cheaper GPU needs to offer better value than the next tier up! $499 would make a lot more sense, and I'd wager it won't be long before we see pricing drop to that sort of level.

The other issue with pricing the RX 9070 at $549 is that it's a direct match for the RTX 5070. As good as the 9070 is, going head-to-head with Nvidia feels like an uphill battle for AMD, given Nvidia’s dominance in both mind share and market share. My concern is that the average consumer – someone who doesn’t closely follow GPU reviews or market trends – will see two xx70-class cards at the same price and simply default to Nvidia because it’s the much more established brand. Even though the 9070 offers more VRAM, better rasterisation performance, and significantly improved ray tracing, AMD needs to undercut the 5070 if it wants this GPU to stand a real chance.

There's certainly potential for a good card here – just as there was with the RX 7900 XT before its own inevitable price drop. Maybe by the time RDNA 5 rolls around, AMD will have figured things out and the lower tier SKUs will launch at the correct prices right off the bat. We can only live in hope…

A final word on the Sapphire Pulse card we used for our testing today. It runs cool and quiet without compromising on its compact design. Memory temperatures could be lower, but we will have to see how other partner cards compare. Sapphire also told us the Pulse has an MSRP of £524.99 here in the UK, which should make it one of the cheapest RDNA 4 options on the market.

You will be able to buy the AMD RX 9070 and 9070 XT from tomorrow, March 6th.

Pros

• Strong 1440p performance, can also do the job for entry-level 4K gaming.
• Handily beast the RTX 5070 for raster performance, at the same price.
• Offers more VRAM than the competition.
• High efficient at 1440p and market leading at 4K.
• Ray tracing is significantly more viable than with RDNA 3.
• FSR 4 looks very promising.

Cons

• Makes no sense at $549 compared to the $599 RX 9070 XT.
• Needs to be cheaper than the RTX 5070 to help AMD turn the tide.
• Still struggles in more demanding ray traced/path traced games.
• FSR, while significantly better, lacks the near-universal game support of DLSS.
• Nvidia has the edge when it comes to AI.

KitGuru says: AMD's RX 9070 is a good graphics card that is poorly priced out of the gate. We expect to see it down around $499 before too long.

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