Nvidia RTX 4070 vs Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB: Which Is the Better GPU?

The Nvidia RTX 4070 and Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB are two budget GPUs for 1440p gaming, but which is the best? Let’s find out.

Picture of Nvidia RTX 4070 vs Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB — Nvidia RTX 4070 vs Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB (Image via GIGABYTE | PowerColor)

Contents

The Nvidia RTX 4070 was a decent GPU for 1440p gaming when it first launched in 2023. However, this is no longer the case in late 2025, as it is no longer being sold and is only available on the used market. Many people recommend the new Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB instead, which boasts more memory and is cheaper. The question is: Is it really a better alternative to the RTX 4070? That’s exactly what we discuss in this article, with a detailed comparison of the two GPUs.

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

Nvidia RTX 4070 vs Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB: Detailed Comparison

The Nvidia RTX 4070 is designed on the Ada Lovelace architecture, but it is two and a half years old as of this writing. On the other hand, the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB is based on the latest RDNA 4 architecture and is only a few months older. It is also significantly cheaper than the RTX 4070. Let’s check out their specs to get an idea of what they are capable of.

Specs Comparison

Picture of GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC — GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC (Image via GIGABYTE)

You will find the specs of the Nvidia RTX 4070 vs Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB below:

Specifications	Nvidia RTX 4070	AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
Architecture	Ada Lovelace	RDNA 4
Shader cores	5888	2048
RT cores	46	32
TMUs	184	128
ROPs	64	64
Base core clock speeds	1920 MHz	1700 MHz
Boost core clock speeds	2475 MHz	3130 MHz
Memory capacity	12GB GDDR6X	16GB GDDR6
Memory bus width	192-bit	128-bit
Memory bandwidth	504.2 GB/s	322.3 GB/s
Manufacturing node	5nm	4nm
Thermal design power (TDPs)	200W	160W

According to the specs table, the RTX 4070 has a significantly higher number of shader cores, RT cores, TMUs, and memory bandwidth than the Radeon RX 9060 XT. However, the latter has more memory and higher clock speeds. Therefore, it will be interesting to see which GPU reigns supreme in gaming benchmarks.

Performance Comparison

Here’s how the Nvidia RTX 4070 and Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB perform in some popular games on the market:

Games	Nvidia RTX 4070	AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2	54 FPS	42 FPS
Ghost of Tsushima	64 FPS	56 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	60 FPS	61 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077 (RT & DLSS/FSR Quality)	60 FPS	51 FPS
Red Dead Redemption 2	94 FPS	92 FPS
Silent Hill 2	79 FPS	63 FPS
Forza Horizon 5	115 FPS	120 FPS
The Last of Us Part II	71 FPS	57 FPS
God of War: Ragnarok	107 FPS	86 FPS
Horizon Forbidden West	80 FPS	73 FPS
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2	56 FPS	46 FPS
Black Myth Wukong	37 FPS	28 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 RTX 4070 achieved 13% more FPS than the Radeon RX 9060 XT. However, it’s not a clean victory in every game, as the Radeon GPU scored similar to or better than the Nvidia card in Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Forza Horizon 5. However, the RTX 4070 is the better GPU overall.

Additionally, in the ray tracing benchmark of Cyberpunk 2077, the RTX 4070 delivered better performance, as expected, given its higher RT core count. Besides, Nvidia cards have consistently demonstrated superior RT performance.

Price Comparison

Picture of PowerColor Reaper AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB — PowerColor Reaper AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB (Image via PowerColor)

The RTX 4070 was originally launched for $599, which is a lot of money for a GPU with only 12GB of memory. However, it has come down a lot in the US used market, where it is available in the range of $390 to $460 and averages around the $430 mark. That is still a premium price for an old GPU. On the other hand, the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB is currently available for purchase for as low as $366.49 on US Amazon. Therefore, this RTX graphics card is 17% more expensive.

Final Verdict on Nvidia RTX 4070 vs Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB

The Nvidia RTX 4070 delivers 13% more FPS than the Radeon RX 9060 XT. Therefore, the former is the better GPU, but it is also 17% more expensive, despite being a used model. It also has less VRAM, which could become an issue in the long run. Therefore, users building a new PC should go for the Radeon RX 9060 XT instead. It may deliver slightly lower performance, but it will provide better support in the long run. The Radeon GPU is also much cheaper. You can use the funds you saved on this GPU on some other PC components, such as faster DDR5 RAM.

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Nvidia RTX 4070 vs Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB: Which Is the Better GPU?