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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.
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.
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
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
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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