Radeon RX 9070 vs Radeon RX 9070 XT: Which Is Better?

Both the AMD Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT are excellent GPUs for 1440p gaming, but which is better, and which will deliver more value for money?

Picture of Radeon RX 9070 vs Radeon RX 9070 XT — Radeon RX 9070 vs Radeon RX 9070 XT (Image via Sapphire | PowerColor)

The Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT are two of the best AMD GPUs in the 9000 series. While they both target premium 1440p gaming performance, there’s a significant performance/price difference between the two cards. Even in the current market, the price gap between them is huge compared to the $50 difference of the actual MSRP. This begs the question: Which one should you buy for your money?

That’s exactly what we plan to answer in this article with a detailed comparison of the Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT. Read on to learn more.

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Note: Parts of this article are subjective and reflect the writer’s opinions.

Radeon RX 9070 vs Radeon RX 9070 XT: Detailed Comparison

Both AMD Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT are based on the same RDNA 4 architecture, but their specs vary significantly. Let’s look at their specs to get an idea of what we are dealing with.

Specs Comparison

Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 9070 (Image via Sapphire)

Here are the specs of Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT:

Specifications	Radeon RX 9070	Radeon RX 9070 XT
Architecture	RDNA 4	RDNA 4
Shader cores	3584	4096
RT cores	56	64
TMUs	224	256
ROPs	128	128
Base core clock speeds	1330 MHz	1660 MHz
Boost core clock speeds	2520 MHz	2970 MHz
Memory capacity	16GB GDDR6	16GB GDDR6
Memory bus width	256-bit	256-bit
Memory bandwidth	644.6 GB/s	644.6 GB/s
Manufacturing node	4nm	4nm
Thermal design power (TDPs)	220W	304W

According to the specs table, both Radeon GPUs are quite similar, but the latter has more shader cores, RT cores, TMUs, and higher clock speeds. However, specs don’t always translate to real-world performance differences, so we should look at actual game performance benchmarks.

Performance Comparison

It’s time to check out some actual game benchmarks of Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT. Here’s how the two GPUs perform in some popular titles:

Games	Radeon RX 9070	Radeon RX 9070 XT
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2	71 FPS	81 FPS
Horizon Forbidden West	113 FPS	125 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	101 FPS	112 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077 (RT)	45 FPS	52 FPS
God of War Ragnarok	135 FPS	150 FPS
Ghost of Tsushima	110 FPS	123 FPS
Forza Horizon 5	171 FPS	194 FPS
Red Dead Redemption 2	109 FPS	121 FPS
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2	68 FPS	75 FPS
Silent Hill 2	59 FPS	66 FPS
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II	73 FPS	83 FPS

Note: The two GPUs tested here were evaluated at a 1440p resolution with High/Ultra Settings, unless otherwise specified. All the FPS numbers were sourced from the Testing Games channel on YouTube. For the tests, the two graphics cards were paired with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU.

On average, the Radeon RX 9070 XT outperformed the Radeon RX 9070 by 12%. However, the differences can be much higher in individual games. In the ray tracing test of Cyberpunk 2077, the former was 15.5% faster than the latter. Therefore, the Radeon RX 9070 XT is clearly the faster GPU in every scenario.

Price Comparison

Picture of PowerColor Red Devil AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT — PowerColor Red Devil AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT (Image via PowerColor)

The Radeon RX 9070 is currently selling for $599 to $649 on Amazon, while the Radeon RX 9070 XT costs around $719 to $770 on Amazon. Therefore, the latter is 18-20% more expensive.

Final Verdict on Radeon RX 9070 vs Radeon RX 9070 XT

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT will deliver 12% more FPS than the Radeon RX 9070 in traditional games, while providing 15.5% more FPS in ray tracing titles. However, this high performance comes at around 18 – 20% higher cost. Therefore, even though the Radeon RX 9070 XT is better than the Radeon RX 9070, the latter will provide more value.

The decision will depend on how you will play games. If you plan on playing games at 1440p in traditional rasterization, then the Radeon RX 9070 will deliver more value and allow you to save some money. You can then use the saved money on some other components. However, if you plan on using ray tracing, then buying the more powerful Radeon RX 9070 XT is the better option.

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Radeon RX 9070 vs Radeon RX 9070 XT: Which Is Better?