AMD RX 9070: Full Review

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 enters the market during an unusual period for graphics cards, arriving shortly after Nvidia's latest generation launch. Positioned against the underwhelming GeForce RTX 5070 at $549, AMD's new offering frequently outperforms its rival - making it a compelling choice for 1440p gaming.

Pricing Considerations

AMD's pricing strategy introduces an interesting dilemma. The RX 9070 sits just $50 below the superior RX 9070 XT. While mathematically sound (8% slower at 9% cheaper), the minor price gap makes the XT's extra performance tempting. Regardless, AMD benefits when consumers compare its cards head-to-head.

Purchasing Recommendation

The RX 9070 officially launches March 6 starting at $549. Given the minimal price difference with the 9070 XT, we recommend sticking close to the baseline MSRP when choosing models.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 - Visual Preview

4 Images

Technical Specifications

Built on the RDNA 4 architecture, the RX 9070 delivers remarkable performance gains despite having 30% fewer compute units than its RX 7900 GRE predecessor. The card features:

• 56 Compute Units (3,584 shaders)
• 56 Ray Accelerators and 112 AI Accelerators
• 16GB GDDR6 VRAM on a 256-bit bus
• 220W TDP (600W PSU recommended)

AMD has opted out of a reference design this generation, with third-party manufacturers producing all variants. Our review sample was the factory-overclocked Gigabyte Gaming OC 16G model.

FSR4 Technology Breakthrough

AMD's FSR4 marks their first AI-powered upscaling solution, competing with Nvidia's DLSS. While introducing slightly lower performance (3-6% reduction versus FSR3), the improved image quality justifies the trade-off for most single-player experiences. Users can toggle between FSR4's superior visuals or FSR3's higher framerates.

Comparative Benchmark Charts

11 Images

Performance Analysis

At identical $549 MSRP, the RX 9070 consistently outperforms the RTX 5070 by an average 12% at 1440p. Notable victories include:

• Black Ops 6: 26% faster than RTX 5070
• Red Dead Redemption 2: 23% lead
• Cyberpunk 2077: 3% advantage in ray tracing

Our test system configuration:

While the RTX 5070 uses faster GDDR7 memory, AMD's 16GB VRAM buffer future-proofs the RX 9070 better. In performance-per-dollar and longevity metrics, AMD's offering clearly emerges as the superior choice.