The GPU market has been heating up lately, and AMD just threw in two new contenders — the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070. Built on the company’s new RDNA 4 architecture, these cards aim to deliver high-end performance while staying competitive on pricing.
Whether you’re a 4K gaming enthusiast or someone who wants maximum FPS at 1440p without burning a hole in your wallet, these GPUs are shaping up to be compelling options.
RDNA 4 Under the Hood
Both the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 are based on AMD’s latest Navi 48 GPU, fabricated on TSMC’s refined 4nm process. RDNA 4 focuses on efficiency and better ray tracing, two areas where AMD has been chasing NVIDIA in recent years.
Key improvements include:
- Next-gen Compute Units (CUs) for higher shader throughput
- AI-accelerated rendering with dedicated ML hardware
- Improved Infinity Cache for better bandwidth efficiency
- Enhanced Ray Accelerators for more realistic lighting and shadows
Specs Breakdown
Here’s how the two cards compare on paper:
| Spec | RX 9070 XT | RX 9070 |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Architecture | RDNA 4 (Navi 48) | RDNA 4 (Navi 48) |
| Compute Units | 80 CUs | 72 CUs |
| Stream Processors | 5,120 | 4,608 |
| Game Clock | ~2.6 GHz | ~2.5 GHz |
| VRAM | 20GB GDDR6 | 16GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 320-bit | 256-bit |
| Infinity Cache | 96MB | 80MB |
| TDP | ~300W | ~260W |
Performance Expectations
While independent benchmarks will tell the full story, early numbers from AMD suggest the RX 9070 XT is built for 4K ultra gaming and can rival or slightly edge out NVIDIA’s RTX 4080 Super in raster performance, all while costing less.
The RX 9070, on the other hand, appears tuned for 1440p at ultra settings, with enough horsepower to push well over 100 FPS in demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 (without ray tracing) and maintain strong results even when ray tracing is enabled, thanks to AMD’s FSR 3 upscaling.
Ray Tracing & AI Features
Ray tracing performance has long been AMD’s weak spot compared to NVIDIA, but RDNA 4 takes a noticeable leap. The updated Ray Accelerators now handle complex scenes more efficiently, narrowing the gap.
On top of that, AMD is doubling down on AI-driven enhancements — FSR 3 with Fluid Motion Frames allows smoother gameplay without a heavy performance penalty, making ray tracing more viable at higher resolutions.
Power & Cooling
With high-end performance comes power draw. The RX 9070 XT sits around 300W, which isn’t outrageous for a flagship-tier card, and the RX 9070 is slightly more manageable at 260W.
Most custom models from ASUS, MSI, Sapphire, and others will feature triple-fan cooling, beefy heatsinks, and vapor chamber designs. AMD’s own reference models retain the familiar two- or three-fan layout, with a cleaner industrial aesthetic.
Pricing & Availability
AMD is positioning these cards aggressively:
- Radeon RX 9070 XT – Starting around $799
- Radeon RX 9070 – Starting around $649
