RX 9070 XT Vs RX 7900 XT: Our Analysis

See full bio

Shehryar Khan

Senior Editor and Content Writer:

• Lead the comparison and blog writing teams at Tech4Gamers.
• Oversee teams with a keen eye for detail and precision.
• Ensure hands-on writing, with benchmarks and testing as guiding principles.
• Guarantee the delivery of the best possible results in concise yet impactful tech tales.

See full bio

Pros And Cons

Comparison Table

Architectural Differences

1. Process Nodes: Both of these graphic cards share the same process node size of 5nm.
2. Clock Speeds: The RX 9070 XT has a clock frequency of 1660 MHz, compared to the RX 7900 XT’s 1387 MHz. Its boost frequency is 2970 MHz, which is higher than the RX 7900 XT’s 2394 MHz. 
3. VRAM: Despite being the older card, the RX 7900 XT has 20GB of GDDR6 memory and a 320-bit bus width. In contrast, the RX 9070 XT has a VRAM of 16GB GDDR6 and a 256-bit bus width.  
4. TDP: Both of these cards share a similar TDP rating, where the RX 9070 XT has a 304W of TDP compared to the RX 7900 XT’s 300W of TDP.
5. Supported Technologies: The RDNA 4.0-based RX 9070 XT uses the FSR 4, which improves image quality and reduces artifacts. This is far better than the older FSR 3, which the RDNA 3.0-based RX 7900 XT uses.  

The recently released RX 9070 XT has been well-received by the community, especially because it is said to have great performance at a decent price. So, in this RX 9070 XT Vs RX 7900 XT article, we’ll compare it with one of AMD’s finest cards, the RX 7900 XT, to see whether it’s worth the upgrade.

Gaming Benchmarks – 1440p

It is crucial to know the real performance of GPUs because the specifications on paper don’t provide the entire picture. So, here are the gaming benchmarks at 1440p in some of the most popular games. 

Recommended Test Bench

• CPU – AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• Mobo – MSI MAG B850 Tomahawk Max WiFi
• RAM – G. Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5-6400 CL30
• CPU Cooler – Xigmatek Aurora 360mm Cooler
• Storage – XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 2TB NVMe SSD
• Power Supply – Enermax Revolution D.F.2 1200W 80+ Gold
• Operating System – Windows 11

Marvel Rivals

• In the first game, the RX 9070 XT displayed a 5.8% lead over the RX 7900 XT, as both GPUs performed with an average of 88 FPS and 83 FPS, respectively. 
• As for the 1% lows, the RX 9070 XT averaged 62 FPS and was precisely 5% better than the RX 7900 XT, which obtained an average of 59 FPS, falling just below the 60 FPS mark. 

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

• Although with a smaller margin, the RX 7900 XT was still the better performer, averaging 59 FPS compared to the RX 9070 XT’s average of 58 FPS, resulting in a 1.7% margin. 
• The 1% lows were also higher on the RX 7900 XT, which acquired an average of 48 FPS. In contrast, the RX 9070 XT was just 2.1% behind, with 47 FPS. 

God Of War Ragnarok

• With an average of 163 FPS, we saw that the RX 9070 XT showcased a 12.4% lead over the RX 7900 XT, which obtained an average of 144 FPS. 
• As for the 1% lows, the RX 9070 XT displayed the highest margin of 15.1% over the RX 7900 XT as both GPUs obtained an average of 150 FPS and 129 FPS, respectively. 

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2

• On Space Marine 2, the RX 9070 XT achieved an average of 98 FPS, being 6.3% better compared to the RX 7900 XT, which averaged 92 FPS.
• The 1% lows also favored the RX 9070 XT because it averaged 86 FPS. On the other hand, the RX 7900 XT produced 81 FPS, 6% behind its rival in this game.

A Plague Tale Requiem

• While the RX 7900 XT performed with an average of 98 FPS, the RX 9070 XT was 14.2% ahead with its average of 113 FPS in A Plague Tale Requiem.
• Regarding the 1% lows, the RX 9070 XT was still in the lead, this time with an 11.9% difference as it averaged 89 FPS compared to the RX 7900 XT’s average of 79 FPS. 

Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty

• Here, we observed that the RX 9070 XT displayed a 10.1% edge because it achieved 125 FPS on average. On the contrary, the RX 7900 XT produced an average of 113 FPS in this game. 
• With an 11.5% margin, the RX 9070 XT was in the lead, as it averaged 110 FPS over the RX 7900 XT’s average of 98 FPS, which wasn’t quite bad either. 

Star Wars Outlaws

• With a 12.4% lead, we noticed the RX 9070 XT hit an exact average of 60 FPS in this demanding game. The RX 7900 XT couldn’t touch the 60 FPS mark and operated with an average of 53 FPS instead.
• The 1% lows weren’t the smoothest for both games. Still, the RX 9070 XT was 14.7% better with its average of 51 FPS. Simultaneously, the RX 7900 XT produced an average of 44 FPS.

Starfield

• Although minimal, the RX 9070 XT still displayed better results, this time with 1.3%, because it obtained an average of 79 FPS compared to the RX 7900 XT’s average of 78 FPS. 
• For the 1% lows, the RX 9070 XT showed 2.9% better frames at minimum compared to the RX 7900 XT, as both GPUs acquired an average of 69 FPS and 67 FPS, respectively. 

Productivity Benchmarks

After reviewing the gaming benchmarks, let’s examine the productivity benchmarks of these GPUs so you can clearly understand both aspects of these cards. 

Adobe Premiere Pro

• With a score of 12,234 points, the RX 9070 XT was only 0.6% better than the RX 7900 XT, which obtained 12,166 points on Adobe Premiere Pro. We’ll consider it negligible since it is too small to be important.

DaVinci Resolve

• On DaVinci Resolve, the RX 7900 XT scored 9,932 points, took the lead, and showcased a margin of 6.3%. In contrast, the RX 9070 XT was behind with its score of 9,323 points. 

Stable Diffusion (AI Image Generation)

• In Stable Diffusion, which is an AI-intensive task, the RX 9070 XT proved to be the winner, as it was 40.9% better than the RX 7900 XT. Both GPUs obtained a score of 2,646 and 1,747 points, respectively. 

Overall Gaming Performance

Average Framerate

According to our calculations, the RX 9070 XT performed 8.5% better than the RX 7900 XT in eight games at 1440p. This difference isn’t much, and the RX 7900 XT performed similarly to the RX 9070 XT in four of the eight games, with only a difference of a few frames.  

1% Lows

Yet again, the RX 9070 XT was the better performer in terms of the average 1% lows for eight games. In particular, it was 9.3% better than the RX 7900 XT in this area; the differences in minimum FPS were close to each other in four of the eight games.  

Productivity

In terms of productivity, the RX 9070 XT performed better than the RX 7900 XT. However, the difference was only 1.5% because the RX 7900 XT was almost ahead of its rival in video editing. The only notable difference was in the AI-driven task, where the RX 9070 XT had a lead due to its presence of AI accelerators.  

Power Consumption

Despite having almost identical TDP ratings, the older RX 7900 XT had an edge over the RX 9070 XT in terms of power consumption. Specifically, the RX 7900 XT was around 9.2% more power-efficient than the RX 9070 XT in both gaming and ray tracing.  

Price And Availability

Since its release, the RX 7900 XT’s price has only increased gradually and to reasonable points compared to other GPUs. Still, its price is 48.1% higher than the RX 9070 XT’s current price. However, the RX 9070 XT’s price is expected to increase with time. Also, unlike AMD’s other GPUs, the RX 7900 XT has low availability. 

Final Verdict—What We Recommend?

RX 7900 XT: This card has shown great performance, but most importantly, it offers a better dollar-to-performance ratio, especially when compared to its direct equivalent, RTX 4070 Ti. Since it’s already been a long time since its release, its price will not change much, and we can expect it to be around this range.

RX 9070 XT: This is an excellent release by AMD, offering higher performance, especially under AI workloads. Given its performance, it does come with a lower price tag, but its price has just started to rise, and it may very well hike to a point where it won’t be as justifiable as it is now.  

We recommend you buy the RX 9070 XT if its price tag stays at this level or doesn’t rise far above that of the RX 7900 XT. Only then would it be a justifiable purchase. If the price hikes are unreasonable, we suggest you get the RX 7900 XT, which has a much more stable price and still offers high performance. 

Please leave this field empty

Gear Up For Latest News

Get exclusive gaming & tech news before it drops. Sign up today!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Shehryar Khan

[Comparisons Expert]

Shehryar Khan, a seasoned PC hardware expert, brings over three years of extensive experience and a deep passion for the world of technology. With a love for building PCs and a genuine enthusiasm for exploring the latest advancements in components, his expertise shines through his work and dedication towards this field. Currently, Shehryar is rocking a custom loop setup for his built.

Get In Touch: shehryar@tech4gamers.com