The AMD Radeon RX 9070 emerges as a capable graphics card, often outperforming the RTX 5070 in rasterization, and offering more VRAM. However, its value proposition is undermined by the RX 9070 XT, which offers substantially better performance for a marginal price increase, rendering the RX 9070 a questionable choice at its MSRP.

The Radeon RX 9070: A Look at AMD's Newest Offering

AMD's Radeon RX 9070 has arrived, positioned to compete with NVIDIA's RTX 5070. While the RX 9070 shows promise, especially with its ample 16GB of VRAM, it faces a significant challenge from within AMD's own lineup: the RX 9070 XT.

The RX 9070 finds itself in an awkward position, delivering decent performance but struggling to justify its price when the superior RX 9070 XT is just a bit more expensive.

RX 9070 vs. The Competition

Priced at $550, the RX 9070 aims to match the RTX 5070 in the market. Here's how it stacks up against other cards:

| Card | MSRP | Release Date | Core Config | Memory | | ------------------- | ------ | ------------ | ------------------ | ------ | | Radeon RX 9070 XT | $600 | March 2025 | 4096 : 256 : 128 | 16 GB | | Radeon RX 9070 | $550 | March 2025 | 3584 : 224 : 128 | 16 GB | | Radeon RX 7900 XTX | $1000 | Dec 2022 | 6144 : 384 : 192 | 24 GB | | Radeon RX 7900 GRE | $550 | Feb 2024 | 5120 : 320 : 192 | 16 GB |

While the RX 9070 generally outperforms the RTX 5070, its biggest hurdle is the RX 9070 XT, which is only slightly more expensive but offers significantly better performance.

The Cards Up Close

For this review, the Sapphire Pure RX 9070, PowerColor Hellhound, and XFX Quicksilver were put through their paces. Here's a quick comparison:

| Attribute | Hellhound | Quicksilver | Pure | | --------------------- | --------- | ----------- | ---- | | GPU Junction Temp (°C) | 59 | 58 | 53 | | Hotspot Temp (°C) | 76 | 69 | 71 | | Peak Memory Temp (°C) | 86 | 86 | 86 | | Fan Speed (RPM) | 930 | 1000-1100 | 1000-1100 | | Avg Clock Speed (MHz) | 2745 | 2810 | 2840 |

All three models exhibited excellent thermal performance, with quiet fan operation.

Benchmarks: How Does the RX 9070 Perform?

The RX 9070 was tested across various games and resolutions to gauge its performance.

Marvel Rivals

• At 1440p, the RX 9070 is on par with the RTX 5070, rendering 77 fps on average, but trails the RX 9070 XT by 13%.
• At 4K, the RX 9070 falls behind the RTX 5070, averaging 41 fps.

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl

• At 1440p, the RX 9070 edges out the RTX 5070 by a narrow margin.
• At 4K, performance drops significantly, putting it roughly on par with the RTX 5070.

Counter-Strike 2

• The RX 9070 lags behind both the RTX 5070 and RX 9070 XT at both 1440p and 4K.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

• The RX 9070 performs strongly, even matching the RTX 5080 at 1440p, and significantly outperforming the RTX 5070 at 4K.

  Nvidia will likely need to address its driver for Space Marine 2

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

• The RX 9070 shines in this title, outperforming the RTX 5070 at both 1440p and 4K.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

• The RX 9070 excels, delivering significantly higher frame rates than the RTX 5070 at both 1440p and 4K.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

• The RX 9070 performs similarly to the RTX 5070 at both 1440p and 4K.

Hogwarts Legacy

• The RX 9070 surpasses the RTX 5070 at both 1440p and 4K.

The Last of Us Part I

• The RX 9070 matches the RTX 5070 at both 1440p and 4K.

Performance Summary

• At 1440p, the RX 9070 is 8% slower than the RX 9070 XT and only 4% faster than the RTX 5070.
• At 4K, the RX 9070 is 12% slower than the RX 9070 XT and 8% faster than the RTX 5070.

Power Consumption

The RX 9070 is more power-efficient than the RX 9070 XT, but its power consumption compared to the RTX 5070 varies by title. In some cases, it consumes more power for a marginal performance gain.

Ray Tracing Benchmarks

Ray tracing performance is a key factor for modern GPUs.

RT - Metro Exodus Enhanced

• The RX 9070 performs on par with the RTX 5070 at 1440p but falls behind at 4K.

RT - Alan Wake II

• RDNA4 GPUs struggle with this title, with the RX 9070 lagging behind the RTX 5070.

RT - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

• The RX 9070 roughly matches the RTX 5070 at both 1440p and 4K.

RT - Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered

• The RX 9070 performs identically to the RX 9070 XT and RTX 5070 at 1440p but outperforms the RTX 5070 at 4K.

RT - Dying Light 2 Stay Human

• The RX 9070 trails the RTX 5070 at both 1440p and 4K.

RT - Black Myth: Wukong

• RDNA4 GPUs struggle significantly in this title, with the RX 9070 delivering very low frame rates.

RT - Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

• Ray tracing is not viable on either the RX 9070 or RTX 5070 for this game.

Ray Tracing Performance Summary

• At 1440p, the RX 9070 is 13% slower than the RX 9070 XT and 16% slower than the RTX 5070.
• At 4K, the RX 9070 is significantly slower than the RTX 5070.

Cost per Frame

The RX 9070 XT offers the best value per frame, with the RX 9070 providing 4% worse value. While the RX 9070 offers better value than the RTX 5070, it still doesn't fully justify its price.

Conclusion: The Verdict on the RX 9070

The Radeon RX 9070 is a decent card, but if you're considering it, the RX 9070 XT is the better choice. For just $50 more, you get a significant performance boost.

The RX 9070's $550 MSRP doesn't make much sense relative to the RX 9070 XT, making the XT version the obvious choice.