AMD's newest upper mid-range card against its previous flagship. The older RX 7900 XTX is still the faster at 4K and carries 24 GB, but it launched $400 higher and lacks FSR 4. The RX 9070 XT closes most of the gap for a much lower price.
AMD's fastest RDNA 4 card and the strongest argument for Radeon at the high end: 16 GB of memory and rasterisation performance that trades blows with far more expensive NVIDIA cards. Ray tracing improved sharply this generation but still trails NVIDIA at the same price.
The previous Radeon flagship. Rasterisation performance is still high-end and 24 GB is the largest memory pool outside the RTX 5090, but ray tracing and upscaling are a generation behind RDNA 4.
vs
Too close to call: the choice comes down to what you value.
RX 7900 XTX is about 10% faster than RX 9070 XT at 1440p.
RX 9070 XT costs 47% less than RX 7900 XTX.
RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of VRAM against 16 GB.
The score blends performance at 1440p (50%), performance per dollar (30%) and memory headroom (20%), each against every card CompareYourGPU tracks. Fewer than three points apart counts as level. How verdicts are calculated.
Biggest differences
Performance, memory, power and value rows, ranked by how far apart RX 9070 XT and RX 7900 XTX are. The full sheet below has every row.
The largest differences between RX 9070 XT and RX 7900 XTX
Difference
RX 9070 XT
RX 7900 XTX
Edge
VRAM
16 GB
Better: 24 GB
RX 7900 XTX50% higher
Memory bandwidth
640 GB/s
Better: 960 GB/s
RX 7900 XTX50% higher
Performance per $100
Better: 6.4
4.7
RX 9070 XT35% higher
Board power
Better: 304 W
355 W
RX 9070 XT17% lower
Ray tracing index, 1440p
Better: 53
47
RX 9070 XT13% higher
Performance index, 4K
57
Better: 64
RX 7900 XTX12% higher
Full specification comparison
Open any area to see every row. Rows where a card wins are marked; rows where the two match, or where a figure is not published, say so.
Performance indexCompareYourGPU's relative speed rating, where 100 is the fastest card in the database at that resolution. A card at 50 is roughly half as fast.It is an estimate aggregated from public review coverage, not a CompareYourGPU measurement, and it is meant for ranking cards against each other rather than predicting a specific frame rate.CompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here.
70
✓Best in this row: 76
Performance indexCompareYourGPU's relative speed rating, where 100 is the fastest card in the database at that resolution. A card at 50 is roughly half as fast.It is an estimate aggregated from public review coverage, not a CompareYourGPU measurement, and it is meant for ranking cards against each other rather than predicting a specific frame rate.CompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here.
63
✓Best in this row: 69
Performance indexCompareYourGPU's relative speed rating, where 100 is the fastest card in the database at that resolution. A card at 50 is roughly half as fast.It is an estimate aggregated from public review coverage, not a CompareYourGPU measurement, and it is meant for ranking cards against each other rather than predicting a specific frame rate.CompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here.
57
✓Best in this row: 64
Ray tracingA rendering technique that simulates how individual light rays travel and bounce, instead of approximating lighting with pre-computed tricks.It produces much more convincing reflections, shadows and lighting, and it is expensive. Expect to lose a substantial share of your frame rate when you enable it.CompareYourGPU estimate, 100 = fastest card here.
✓Best in this row: 53
47
Measured suite average at 1440pThird-party geometric mean across their game suite, run with vendor upscaling at Quality. A different test from the estimated row below, not a check on it.
88.8 FPS (ComputerBase)
✓Best in this row: 92.0 FPS (ComputerBase)
Estimated FPS at 1440pModelled estimate for a typical modern AAA game at High settings with no upscaling. Not a measurement.
VRAMThe graphics card's own memory. Textures, geometry and frame data live here while a game is running.When a game needs more VRAM than the card has, it either lowers texture quality or stutters. More VRAM mostly buys you higher texture settings and a longer useful life.
16 GB
✓Best in this row: 24 GB
GDDR6 / GDDR6X / GDDR7Successive generations of graphics memory. Each generation moves data faster per lane than the one before.GDDR7 lets a card with a narrow memory bus reach bandwidth figures that used to need a much wider one.
GDDR6
GDDR6
Memory busHow many parallel lanes connect the graphics processor to its memory, measured in bits. A 256-bit bus has twice as many lanes as a 128-bit bus.A narrow bus can bottleneck a card at higher resolutions even when it has plenty of VRAM, because the memory cannot be read fast enough.
256-bit
✓Best in this row: 384-bit
Memory bandwidthHow quickly the graphics card can move data between the graphics processor and its memory, measured in gigabytes per second.Bandwidth is bus width multiplied by memory speed. It usually matters more than raw VRAM capacity for frame rate, especially at 4K.
CUDA coresNVIDIA's name for the small processors that do the bulk of a graphics card's maths.Core counts are only comparable within one manufacturer and one generation. An NVIDIA card with fewer cores than an AMD card can easily be faster.Only comparable within one manufacturer.
4,096
✓Best in this row: 6,144
Compute unitsA block of stream processors on AMD cards, or an Xe core on Intel cards. Each block contains a fixed number of shader units plus its own ray tracing and AI hardware.Within a single AMD or Intel generation, more compute units means a faster card. Across generations it does not.
64
✓Best in this row: 96
RT coresDedicated hardware for calculating how light rays bounce around a scene. AMD calls them ray accelerators, Intel calls them ray tracing units.If you want to play with ray tracing switched on, the quality and count of this hardware matters more than the raw shader count.
64
✓Best in this row: 96
Tensor coresHardware built to run AI models quickly. NVIDIA calls them Tensor cores, AMD calls them AI accelerators, Intel calls them XMX engines.This is the hardware that runs modern upscalers such as DLSS and FSR 4, and it is increasingly what separates good upscaling from mediocre upscaling.
128
✓Best in this row: 192
Base and boost clockThe guaranteed minimum operating speed and the peak speed the graphics processor will reach when temperature and power allow. AMD also publishes a 'game clock', the speed it expects to sustain while playing.Clock speeds are only comparable within a single architecture. A card clocked lower can easily be faster than one clocked higher.
–Data unavailable
–Data unavailable
Base and boost clockThe guaranteed minimum operating speed and the peak speed the graphics processor will reach when temperature and power allow. AMD also publishes a 'game clock', the speed it expects to sustain while playing.Clock speeds are only comparable within a single architecture. A card clocked lower can easily be faster than one clocked higher.
TDP / TBPThe board power a graphics card is designed to draw, in watts. NVIDIA calls it TGP, AMD calls it TBP; in practice they describe the same thing.It determines the power supply you need, how much heat ends up in your case, and how loud the fans have to work.
✓Best in this row: 304 W
355 W
Recommended PSUThe total power supply wattage the graphics card manufacturer suggests for a complete system built around that card.It accounts for the processor and the rest of the system, not just the graphics card. Undersizing it causes shutdowns under load.Vendor figure where published, otherwise board power plus 300 W of headroom.
Ray tracingA rendering technique that simulates how individual light rays travel and bounce, instead of approximating lighting with pre-computed tricks.It produces much more convincing reflections, shadows and lighting, and it is expensive. Expect to lose a substantial share of your frame rate when you enable it.
3rd-generation ray accelerators
2nd-generation ray accelerators
UpscalingRendering the game at a lower resolution and then reconstructing a higher-resolution image from it. DLSS, FSR and XeSS are the three main implementations.It is the most effective way to gain frame rate for a small image-quality cost, and it is how most people actually reach 4K on mid-range hardware.
FSR 4, FSR 3.1, XeSS
FSR 3.1, XeSS
Frame generationThe graphics card creates additional frames between the ones the game actually renders, raising the displayed frame rate.It makes motion look smoother but does not reduce input latency the way real frames do, and it needs a reasonable base frame rate to feel right. Treat it as a smoothness feature, not a performance fix.
AV1 encodingA modern video codec. Hardware AV1 encoding lets the graphics card compress video efficiently without using the processor.It matters if you stream or record. AV1 delivers noticeably better quality than older codecs at the same bitrate.
Yes
Yes
Video encoder
AMD Radeon media engine with AV1, HEVC and H.264 encode
Dual media engines with AV1, HEVC and H.264 encode
LengthNot compared: data missing for at least one card
–Data unavailable
287 mm
Height from bracketNot compared: data missing for at least one card
–Data unavailable
51 mm
Slot sizeHow many expansion slots on the back of the case the card physically occupies. A 3-slot card blocks two slots below the one it plugs into.It decides whether the card fits your case, along with its length. Larger coolers are usually quieter but need more room.Not compared: data missing for at least one card
Each price carries its source and date, or is labelled as a launch MSRP. The retailer page is the authority on today's price.
RX 9070 XT
$988+64.9% vs MSRP
MSRP $599
Good price
Idealo.es (ASUS RX 9070 XT, 41 converging offers) · ES · new · price checked (40 days ago)
This price is getting old. It was last checked 5 weeks ago, and graphics card prices move week to week.
This price was checked on a specific listing, not necessarily the one linked below — treat the retailer’s own page as the authority on what it costs today.
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RX 7900 XTX
$1,457+45.8% vs MSRP
MSRP $999
Good price
Amazon.es marketplace (Ambitemp) · ES · new · price checked (40 days ago)
This price is getting old. It was last checked 5 weeks ago, and graphics card prices move week to week.
This price was checked on a specific listing, not necessarily the one linked below — treat the retailer’s own page as the authority on what it costs today.
All six axes are normalised to a 0-100 scale so they can share one chart. Performance and ray tracing are CompareYourGPU’s estimated indices; value, VRAM, efficiency and features are each card’s standing relative to every other card tracked here.
Normalised comparison of RX 9070 XT, RX 7900 XTX across six criteria, judged at 1440p.
RX 9070 XT
RX 7900 XTX
Normalised comparison of RX 9070 XT, RX 7900 XTX across six criteria, judged at 1440p.
Criterion
RX 9070 XT
RX 7900 XTX
Performance
63
69
Ray tracing
53
47
Value
65
43
VRAM
80
100
Efficiency
67
56
Features
100
100
Performance, memory and value
Estimated performance index at 1440p. 100 is the fastest card CompareYourGPU tracks.
A card with a verified current price is shown at that price, a dated snapshot; a card without one is shown at launch MSRP. Street prices move, so check the retailer.
Which one should you buy?
The short version: the RX 7900 XTX is faster, but the RX 9070 XT offers better value at the prices on record. Which of those matters more is the decision.
Based on the specifications, estimated performance indices and prices on record for these cards. How verdicts are calculated.
Highest estimated performance index at 1440p of the cards compared here, at 69. It is the right answer if frame rate is the only thing you are optimising for.
Delivers the most performance per dollar of the cards compared, at $988. Choose this if the difference in price matters more to you than the difference in frame rate.
Strongest ray-traced performance here, with an estimated ray tracing index of 53 at 1440p. It also carries FSR 4, which is how ray tracing becomes practical.
Best balance of speed, price and memory of the cards compared: 50% performance at 1440p, 30% performance per dollar, 20% memory headroom. Not necessarily the fastest.
RX 9070 XT vs RX 7900 XTX: common questions
Is the RX 7900 XTX faster than the RX 9070 XT?+
Yes, by about 10% at 1440p on CompareYourGPU's estimated index (69 against 63) and about 12% at 4K (64 against 57). The older card also has 24 GB of memory against 16 GB.
Why would I choose the RX 9070 XT?+
It launched at $599 against $999, draws 304 W against 355 W, supports FSR 4 and has better ray tracing (index 53 against 47). It is also in production, where the RX 7900 XTX is not.
Which is better for 4K?+
The RX 7900 XTX has the edge on raw speed and memory. The RX 9070 XT is a capable 4K card with upscaling and gets most of the way there for far less money, with 16 GB being enough for most games today.
Where to go next
Not sure either is right?
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