AMD Radeon RX 9070: Two-minute evaluate

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is a card that simply could be saved by the financial chaos engulfing the GPU market proper now.

With ‘regular’ value inflation just about rampant with each current-gen GPU, the value proposition for the RX 9070 may truly make it an interesting decide for avid gamers who’re experiencing sticker shock when searching for the perfect graphics card for his or her subsequent GPU improve.

That does not imply, sadly, that the AMD RX 9070 goes to be top-of-the-line low cost graphics playing cards going, even by comparability with all the pieces else that is launched for the reason that finish of 2024. With an MSRP of $549 / £529.99 / AU$1,229, the RX 9070 remains to be an costly card, even when it is theoretically according to your typical ‘midrange’ providing.

And, with the dearth of an AMD reference card which may have helped anchor the RX 9070’s value at Group Pink’s MSRP, you are going to just about be on the mercy of third-party producers and retailers who can cost no matter they need for this card.

Comparatively talking, although, even with value inflation, that is going to be one of many cheaper midrange GPUs of this era, so in the event you’re a bunch of various GPUs, with out query this one is more likely to be the most affordable graphics card made by both AMD or Nvidia proper now (sure, that is even counting the RTX 5060 Ti, which is already promoting for effectively above 150% of MSRP in lots of locations).

Does that make this card definitely worth the buy? Effectively, that is going to rely on what you are being requested to pay for it. Whereas it is attainable to seek out RX 9070 playing cards at MSRP, they’re uncommon, and so you are going to need to make a back-of-the-envelope calculation to see if this card goes to give you the perfect worth in your explicit circumstance.

I am pretty assured, nevertheless, that it’ll. Had I the time to evaluate this card when it first launched in March, I might need scored it decrease primarily based on its efficiency and value proximity to the beefier AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT.

Taking a look at each of these playing cards primarily based on their MSRPs, there is no query that the RX 9070 XT is the a lot better graphics card, so I might have beneficial you spend the additional money to get that card as a substitute of this one.

Sadly, opposite to my hopes, the RX 9070 XT has been scalped nearly as badly as the perfect Nvidia graphics playing cards of this era, in order that comparatively small value distinction on paper could be fairly massive in follow.

On condition that actuality, for many avid gamers, the RX 9070 is the perfect 1440p graphics card going, and might even get you some stable 4K gaming efficiency for lots lower than you are more likely to discover the RX 9070 XT or competing Nvidia card, even from the final era.

For those who’re this card and the market has returned to sanity and MSRP pricing, then positively contemplate going for the RX 9070 XT as a substitute of this card. However barring that completely happy contingency, given the place all the pieces is true now with the GPU market, the RX 9070 is the perfect AMD graphics card for 1440p gaming, and provides a few of the greatest bang in your (inflationary) buck as you are more likely to discover at this time.

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Value & availability

• How a lot is it? MSRP is $549 / £529.99 / AU$1,229, however retail value will probably be greater
• When are you able to get it? The RX 9070 is offered now
• The place is it accessible? The RX 9070 is offered within the US, UK, and Australia

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is offered now within the US, UK, and Australia for an MSRP of $549 / £529.99 / AU$1,229, respectively, however the value you will pay for this card from third-party companions and retailers will probably be greater.

Giving credit score the place it is due, the RX 9070 is the very same MSRP because the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, which you’ll be able to argue the RX 9070 is changing. It is also coming in on the identical value because the RTX 5070’s MSRP, and as I am going to get into in a bit, for gaming efficiency, the RX 9070 provides a greater worth at MSRP.

Given how the RTX 5070 can not often be discovered at MSRP, the RX 9070 is in a good stronger place in comparison with its competitors.

• Worth: 4 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Specs

• PCIe 5.0
• 16GB VRAM

The AMD RX 9070 is constructed on the brand new RDNA 4 structure utilizing TSMC’s N4P course of node (curiously, it is constructed with a monolithic GPU die, fairly than the MCM design of RDNA 3), so regardless that the RX 9070 incorporates fewer compute models than the 6nm/5nm RX 7900 GRE, they’re extra superior.

The 56 compute models comprise 64 shaders, one ray tracing processor, and two AI processors every, giving the RX 9070 a complete of three,584 shaders, 56 ray accelerators, and 112 AI accelerators. Whereas I am going to get into the precise efficiency of this {hardware} in a bit, in keeping with my testing, the AMD ray accelerators seem to have lastly caught up with Nvidia’s RT cores.

The RX 9070 additionally sports activities 16GB GDDR6 VRAM on a 256-bit reminiscence bus, which is greater than sufficient for 4K gaming whereas maintaining the value of the RX 9070 down.

Lastly, the RX 9070 makes use of 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes, so in the event you’ve received a PCIe 5.0 SSD, be sure your motherboard has sufficient PCIe 5.0 lanes to assist each parts at their full bandwidth, in any other case your SSD efficiency may revert to utilizing PCIe 4.0.

• Specs & options: 4 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Design & options

• No AMD reference card
• Will probably be good for SFF instances

By way of design, the RX 9070 would not have a reference card, so the cardboard I reviewed is the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070.

This card, specifically, is pretty simple with few frills, however for individuals who don’t need an entire lot of RGB lighting of their PC, that is extra of a constructive than a unfavorable. RGB followers, nevertheless, must take a look at different AMD companion playing cards for his or her repair.

The cardboard is a noticeably shorter dual-fan design in comparison with the longer triple-fan RX 9070 XT playing cards. That makes the RX 9070 a terrific choice for small kind issue PC instances.

• Design: 3.5 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Efficiency

• About 13% slower than RX 9070 XT
• Excellent 1440p gaming efficiency
• First rate 4K efficiency

When it comes right down to efficiency, the RX 9070 is a really sturdy graphics card that’s considerably overshadowed by its beefier 9070 XT sibling, however goes toe-to-toe in opposition to the RTX 5070 the place it counts for many customers, which is gaming.

On the artificial facet, the RTX 9070 places up some extremely stable numbers, particularly in pure rasterization workloads like 3DMark Metal Nomad, beating out the RTX 5070 by 13%. In ray tracing heavy workloads like 3DMark Velocity Approach, in the meantime, the RX 9070 manages to comes inside 95% of the RTX 5070’s efficiency.

As anticipated although, the RX 9070’s inventive efficiency is not in a position to sustain with Nvidia’s competing RTX 5070, particularly in 3D modeling workloads like Blender. For those who’re searching for an inexpensive inventive workstation GPU, you are going to need to go for the RTX 5070, no query.

However that is probably not what this card is about. AMD playing cards are gaming playing cards by way of and thru, and as you’ll be able to see above, at 1440p, the RX 9070 goes blow for blow with Nvidia’s midrange card in order that the general common FPS at 1440p is 114 in opposition to Nvidia’s 115 FPS common (72 FPS to 76 FPS common minimums/1%, respectively).

Likewise, at 4K, the 2 playing cards are successfully tied, with the RX 9070 holding a slight 2 FPS edge over the RTX 5070, on common (50 FPS to 51 FPS minimal/1%, respectively).

Placing all of it collectively, one factor within the Nvidia RTX 5070’s favor is that it is ready to tie issues up with the RX 9070 at about 26 fewer watts underneath load (284W most energy draw to the RTX 5070’s 258W).

That is not the most important distinction, however even 26W additional energy can imply the distinction between needing to exchange your PSU or sticking with the one you could have.

Underneath regular situations, I might argue that this might swing issues in favor of Nvidia’s GPU, however the GPU market is hardly regular proper now, and so what you actually need to take a look at is how a lot you are being requested to pay for both of those playing cards. Chances are high, you are going to have the ability to discover an RX 9070 for a great bit cheaper than the RTX 5070, and so its worth to you in the long run is probably going going to be greater.

• Efficiency: 4.5 / 5

Must you purchase the AMD Radeon RX 9070?

Purchase the AMD Radeon RX 9070 if…

Do not buy it if…

Additionally contemplate

How I examined the AMD Radeon RX 9070

• I spent about two weeks with the RX 9070
• I used my full GPU testing suite to research the cardboard’s efficiency
• I examined the cardboard in on a regular basis, gaming, inventive, and AI workload utilization

I spent about two weeks with the AMD RX 9070, utilizing it as my major workstation GPU for inventive work and gaming after hours.

I used my up to date benchmarking course of, which incorporates utilizing built-in benchmarks on the newest PC video games like Black Fantasy: Wukong, Cyberpunk 2077, and Civilization VII. I additionally used industry-standard benchmark instruments like 3DMark for artificial testing, whereas utilizing instruments like PugetBench for Creators and Blender Benchmark for inventive workload testing.

I’ve reviewed greater than three dozen graphics playing cards for TechRadar over the previous three years, which has included a whole lot of hours of devoted GPU testing, so you’ll be able to belief that I am providing you with the fullest image of a graphics card’s efficiency in my critiques.

• Initially reviewed Could 2025