The AMD Radeon RX 9070 enters the market at a pivotal time for graphics cards. Following closely on the heels of Nvidia's latest generation, this $549 card directly challenges the underwhelming GeForce RTX 5070. At present, AMD holds a strong advantage in this competition, positioning the Radeon RX 9070 as a top choice for 1440p gaming enthusiasts.

However, the decision isn't straightforward, and AMD's pricing strategy plays a significant role. The Radeon RX 9070 is only $50 less than the superior Radeon RX 9070 XT. While the RX 9070 is approximately 8% slower and 9% cheaper than its XT counterpart, the marginal savings make it challenging to justify not opting for the higher-performing model. Nevertheless, AMD's internal competition highlights the strength of its product lineup, making it an exciting time for Team Red supporters.

Purchasing Guide

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 will be available starting March 6, with a base price of $549. Be aware that various models may be priced higher. To get the best value, it's advisable to purchase a model as close to the starting price as possible, especially given 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 innovative RDNA 4 graphics architecture, the Radeon RX 9070 mirrors the RX 9070 XT. This architecture significantly enhances performance, enabling the RX 9070 to surpass the previous generation's Radeon RX 7900 GRE by a wide margin, despite having 30% fewer compute units.

The RX 9070 features 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, resulting in 56 and 112 accelerators, respectively. These advancements bolster the card's ray tracing capabilities and introduce AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 4, marking the first time AMD GPUs utilize AI upscaling.

Like the RX 9070 XT, the RX 9070 comes with 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM on a 256-bit bus, which is well-suited for future 1440p gaming. Although AMD did not adopt GDDR7, opting for it would likely have increased the price.

AMD suggests a minimum 550W power supply for the RX 9070, given its 220W power budget. However, my tests showed peak consumption at 249W, suggesting a safer choice would be a 600W PSU.

Importantly, AMD is not releasing a reference design for the RX 9070. All versions will be produced by third-party manufacturers. I tested the Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 Gaming OC 16G, a triple-slot card with a slight factory overclock.

FSR 4

Since the rise of DLSS in 2018, AI upscaling has become a key method for boosting performance with minimal impact on image quality. Previously exclusive to Nvidia, FSR 4 now brings AI upscaling to AMD GPUs. By using an AI model to upscale lower resolution images, FSR 4 enhances detail and reduces artifacts compared to the temporal upscaling of FSR 3.

However, the AI model in FSR 4 incurs a slight performance cost. 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 drops to 76 fps with FSR 4.

The Adrenalin software offers a toggle to switch between FSR 3 and FSR 4, allowing users to prioritize either performance or image quality. For single-player games, I recommend FSR 4 for its superior visuals, while FSR 3 may be preferable for fast-paced online gaming.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT & 9070 – Benchmarks

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Performance

Priced at $549, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 competes directly with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, consistently outperforming it. At 1440p, the RX 9070 averages 12% faster than the RTX 5070 and 22% faster than the RX 7900 GRE, which launched at the same price in 2024. This is a notable improvement, especially given the RX 9070's reduced core count.

Note that my test unit was a factory overclocked version, the Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 Gaming OC, with a reported boost clock of 2,700Mhz, suggesting a 4-5% performance increase.

All testing was conducted using current public drivers: Game Ready driver 572.60 for Nvidia cards and Adrenalin 24.12.1 for AMD cards. The RX 9070 and 9070 XT were tested on review drivers provided by AMD, as was the RTX 5070.

In 3DMark, the RX 9070 performs exceptionally. In the Speed Way test with ray tracing enabled, it scores 5,828 points, nearly matching the RTX 5070's 5,845 points. In the Steel Nomad test without ray tracing, the RX 9070 leads with 6,050 points to the RTX 5070's 5,034, a 20% advantage.

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, compared to 131 fps from the RTX 5070 and 143 fps from the RX 7900 GRE, a 26% and 15% lead, respectively.

Cyberpunk 2077, typically favoring Nvidia, sees the RX 9070 outperform the RTX 5070 by 3% at 1440p with the Ray Tracing Ultra preset, a significant achievement for AMD.

In Metro Exodus without upscaling, the RX 9070 averages 71 fps, surpassing the RTX 5070's 64 fps by 11%.

Red Dead Redemption 2 using Vulkan shows the RX 9070 leading with 142 fps at 1440p, compared to the RTX 5070's 115 fps, a 23% performance advantage.

In Total War: Warhammer 3 at 4K, the RX 9070 leads, but at 1440p, it's neck-and-neck with the RTX 5070, with 135 fps to 134 fps.

Assassin's Creed Mirage at 1440p with the Ultra preset and FSR set to Balanced, sees the RX 9070 at 193 fps, compared to the RTX 5070's 163 fps, an 18% lead.

Black Myth Wukong at 1440p on the Cinematic preset is a close contest, 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, compared to 168 fps from the RTX 5070 and 152 fps from the RX 7900 GRE, a 12% and 25% difference, respectively.

The timing of the RX 9070's release, following the RTX 5070, works in AMD's favor. Both cards are priced at $549, but the RX 9070's superior performance across various tests, combined with 16GB of VRAM, makes it a more compelling choice for gamers looking for value and longevity. Even if performance were equal, the RX 9070's larger VRAM capacity would make it the better long-term investment.