RX 7700 XT Vs RTX 3070: Which One Is Better?

At the time of release, the RTX 3070 had an amazing price-to-performance ratio, outperforming even the best card from the last generation. The RX 7700 XT starkly contrasts this, as most people’s biggest gripe with this card is its price. This comparison will take a deep dive to explore the difference between these two cards.

Key Takeaways

• The RX 7700 XT is around 12.5% faster than the RTX 3070, according to our gaming tests at 1440p.
• The power consumption was basically identical between these two cards.
• The price of the RX 7700 XT is about $100 higher than the RTX 3070 at the time of writing this article.

RX 7700 XT Vs RTX 3070

Comparison Table

Architectural Differences

1. Clock Speed: The clock speeds on the RTX 3070 are rather slow, with a base clock of 1500MHz and a boost of up to 1725MHz. Its higher core count allows it to gain some ground back to the RX 7700 XT with its 1700MHz base clock and 2544MHz boost.
2. TDP: The RTX 3070’s 220-watt TDP is a bit lower than the RX 7700 XT’s 245-watt TDP. We will see the actual power consumption of these cards further into the comparison.
3. Processing Nodes: The RTX 3070 shows its slight age with its slightly old 8nm manufacturing process, whereas the RX 7700 XT uses a chiplet design to integrate both 5nm and 6nm processing nodes.
4. VRAM: The RX 7700 XT has a significant advantage over the RTX 3070 in the department of video memory with its 12GB GDDR6 memory transferring data over a 192-bit bus. The RTX 3070 has a relatively small 8GB VRAM buffer, albeit with a wider 256-bit memory bus, allowing for the data speeds between these two cards to be about the same.
5. Other Features: There are some quality-of-life improvements with the newer card, like driver-level FSR support, but other than these, the feature set of these cards is very similar. Both have AI upscaling technologies, FSR for AMD and DLSS for Nvidia, and both have about the same level of ray-tracing performance.

Benchmarks

There is so much at play to make the RX 7700 XT different from the RTX 3070 that the difference between the two is best represented by actual gaming performance. We equipped both cards in our Ryzen 7 7800X3D testbench with 32GB of DDR4 RAM to give you precise measurements of the gaming performance of both cards. All the games tested used the 1440p resolution.

A Plague Tale: Requiem

• The first game in this comparison established the performance of these cards to be more alike than different, with only a 5% advantage for the RX 7700 XT. The newer card had an average framerate of over 77 FPS, whereas the RTX 3070 held up well with a performance of around 73 FPS on average.
• 1% lows had a larger degree of separation, with the RTX 3070 dipping down to 63 FPS when the going got tough, whereas the RX 7700 XT got a minimum framerate of 71 FPS, which increased the smoothness perceived by our testing team by quite a bit.

Also Read: RX 6750 XT Vs RTX 3070

Cyberpunk 2077

• Cyberpunk 2077 with the High graphics preset ran quite differently on both cards, with the RX 7700 XT running 22% better than the older card. Team Red had an average framerate of around 84 FPS, whereas Team Green got around 68 FPS in our benchmark run of the game.
• Stutters were also more apparent in the RTX 3070, with its 1% lows hanging out around the 60 FPS mark, whereas the RX 7700 XT stayed relatively smooth with a performance of 72 FPS at minimum.

Similar Comparison: RTX 4060 Vs RTX 3070

Hogwarts Legacy

• The magic of Hogwarts Legacy allowed it to run more or less the same at the Ultra graphics preset in our benchmark of the game on both cards. The RX 7700 XT hovered around 68 FPS on average, whereas the RTX 3070 was a hair slower with an average performance of 67 FPS.
• 1% lows of both cards were quite the mess, though they did not differ much between themselves. The RX 7700 XT had lows of 48 FPS, whereas the RTX 3070 performed around 46 FPS in graphically demanding scenarios.

Also Check: RTX 2070 Vs RTX 3070

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered

• Swinging through New York at the Very High graphics preset again showed these cards to be more alike than different, with only a 3% difference in performance between the two. The RX 7700 XT had an average framerate of 128 FPS, whereas the RTX 3070 hung around 124 FPS on average. This difference would have been imperceivable to our testing team if the framerate monitor had been turned off.
• The difference in performance of these cards was exaggerated by the 1% lows. Where the RX 7700 XT had 118 FPS as its minimum, the RTX 3070 got a framerate of around 101 FPS at its lowest.

Similar Guide: RTX 4060 Ti Vs RTX 3070

The Last Of Us

• Playing The Last Of Us on the RTX 3070 had a very unpleasant performance with an average framerate of only 51 FPS, while the RX 7700 XT was about 29% faster with an average framerate of around 66 FPS. The sub-sixty framerate of the RTX card doesn’t make it unplayable, but the enjoyability is hurt a lot.
• The 1% lows further pushed down the performance of the RTX 3070, which got down to around 38 FPS, whereas the RX 7700 XT had a minimum framerate of around 57 FPS. This data indicates that the lower VRAM buffer of the older card did quite some damage to its performance.

Also Read: ARC A770 vs RTX 3070

Fortnite 

• Fortnite preferred the Nvidia card, which had an average framerate of 102 FPS, while the RX 7700 XT had an average framerate of around 88 FPS in our brief run of the game. This computes to a difference of around 15%, with the RTX 3070 being at an advantage for the first time.
• The lows were surprisingly similar between the two cards, despite them being quite low when measured against their average framerates. The 7700 XT had a minimum framerate of 57 FPS, whereas the RTX 3070 got down to a framerate of 62 FPS.

Similar Article: RTX 3060 Ti Vs RTX 3070

Overall Gaming Performance

The performance difference between the RX 7700 XT vs RTX 3070 was all over the place, ranging from the lower single digits to close to 30%. To compress this information into digestible pieces, we will describe the averages of these numbers in this part of the comparison.

Framerate

• The RX 7700 XT had an average framerate of around 91 FPS in our testing, which was around 12.5% ahead of the 81 FPS average that the RTX 3070 produced.
• 1% lows had even bigger differences between these two cards, with the RX 7700 XT dipping down to 75 FPS on average, whereas the average 1% lows of the RTX 3070 hung around 63 FPS.
• We did not test the ray-tracing performance of these cards, but it’s safe to say that the delta between the two would be the same as the RT cores on both cards bring around the same performance hit. The higher base performance of the Radeon card would translate to it being around 10-15% faster.
• Both cards, at this point, only have the traditional AI upscaling chops that render the game at a lower resolution, and they upscale them to match the resolution you desire. The performance difference between the upscaling feature of these cards is about the same, though DLSS is a tab bit sharper than AMD’s FSR.
• The RTX 3070 did not get the frame generation technology that the newer RTX cards have. AMD has announced its Fluid Motion Frames technology that allows all cards to use this feature that Nvidia has pioneered and locked behind bars. Regardless, you can use this feature in the coming few months to drastically increase these cards’ performance.

Power Consumption

• The load power consumption was more or less the same between these two graphics cards. The total system drew around 373 watts on average when we slotted in the RX 7700 XT, whereas the RTX 3070 consumed around 376 watts.
• Both systems had a bit of a difference between the idle power consumption. The RX 7700 XT system drew around 93 watts on average, whereas the RTX 3070 system drew around 103 watts.
• The difference in power consumption between these two cards can quickly interchange depending on the cooler used on each.

Price And Availability

• The price of the RTX 3070 varies quite a bit on Newegg, but you can find one for as low as $349, whereas the RX 7700 XT recently debuted for a price of $449. You can find the RTX 3070 even cheaper on the used market if you want a good deal.
• These cards are widely available at every significant computer parts retailer worldwide.

RX 7700 XT Vs RTX 3070: What We Recommend

Now that we’ve explored the crevices of what these cards have to offer, we will take a step back to look at the user demographic of the RX 7700 XT vs RTX 3070.

• The RX 7700 XT outperforms the RTX 3070 by 12.5% in our gaming tests, making it the performance winner in our comparison. However, the performance difference can vary depending on the game tested.
• The RTX 3070 offers around 14% better frames-per-dollar compared to the RX 7700 XT, especially if you consider buying it used.
• To achieve similar performance to the RX 7700 XT at a lower price, you can use DLSS with the RTX 3070 or enable FSR on the RX 7700 XT. Additionally, AMD’s Fluid Motion Frames may further bridge the performance gap.
• The RX 7700 XT will be discounted soon if the rumors are to be believed. Most sources predict the card price would hit around the $400 mark, making it a much better deal. If this happens, the value proposition of these cards would be flipped as you would be getting a significantly better performance for only $50 more.
• The power consumption of both cards is similar, so it shouldn’t significantly impact your decision. Their feature sets are identical, so you won’t miss out on unique features with either card. The primary noticeable difference lies in the Radeon card’s driver-level support for upscaling.

Pros And Cons

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.

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