It has been a very long time coming for AMD to disclose RDNA 4, however has it been well worth the wait? Presently, the one two graphics playing cards of AMD’s present GPU era, the RX 9070 XT and 9070, search the fill the finances house left available in the market by Nvidia, as Crew Inexperienced has pushed the bleeding fringe of efficiency (and costs) up over time.

With that stated, there’s lots to go over with the RX 9070 XT vs 9070 as RDNA 4 options many essential distinctions. Whereas they’re each considerably cheaper than a few of the finest graphics playing cards made by Nvidia, coming in on the similar asking value because the RTX 5070 (now not competing on the high-end market), there’s lots that may go into your choice of the usual or XT card in 2025.

Neither the RX 9070 XT nor the RX 9070 will expressly rival what the most effective 4K graphics playing cards can do, nonetheless, I believe you may be pleasantly stunned by what RDNA 4 can do from a price-to-performance perspective. We’re evaluating the 2 graphics playing cards primarily based on their value, specs, efficiency, and extra so that you simply’re absolutely knowledgeable whether or not you are contemplating an improve or debating the swap from Crew Inexperienced to Crew Purple.

AMD RX 9070 XT vs RX 9070: Worth

Each the AMD RX 9070 XT and the RX 9070 had been launched on March 6, 2025. The previous is accessible from $599 whereas the latter is barely cheaper at $549.

On the floor, there’s solely a $50 value distinction between the 2, which might make the selection pretty simple, nonetheless, that is earlier than factoring within the lack of an AMD-made Reference mannequin, which means it is solely as much as AMD’s companions to create, distribute, and set the costs for his or her RDNA 4 graphics playing cards.

Whilst you could possibly discover each the RX 9070 XT and the RX 9070 for his or her respective MSRPs, you are extra prone to see graphics playing cards which can be costlier than the really useful sticker costs relying on whether or not they’re overclocked and have enhanced cooling options. There is no scarcity of AIB choices, equivalent to these from Asus, Sapphire, PowerColor, and Gigabyte, amongst others.

With that stated, the RX 9070 continues to be the cheaper of the 2 RDNA 4 graphics playing cards, which brings an much more reasonably priced gaming GPU even when in comparison with the equally priced RX 9070 XT. When you can profit from the cheaper price, then it is a fantastic worth proposition, however if you cannot, then you definately’re higher off eyeing up the RX 9070 XT for the sake of a $50 distinction as a substitute.

• Winner: AMD RX 9070

AMD RX 9070 XT vs RX 9070: Specs

As you could anticipate from the RX 9070 XT vs RX 9070, given the $50 distinction, the 2 graphics playing cards are remarkably related in some ways.

They’re each midrange choices available in the market, that includes 16GB GDDR6 reminiscence with a 256-bit reminiscence bus and 20 Gbps efficient reminiscence, and they’re PCIe 5.0 compliant.

Nonetheless, the place the previous excels is in its bigger quantity of Compute Models, Shaders, and AI cores by round 14%, which suggests a theoretical efficiency potential distinction of about 10% relying on the software program in query.

The RX 9070 XT can be pushed 17% extra with its near-3,000 MHz clock pace in opposition to the 9070’s simply over 2,500 MHz enhance clock.

Nonetheless, the added enhance in energy potential means the whole thermal energy draw is considerably increased within the costlier card by an unsubtle 38%, from 220W as much as 304W.

This may very well be a make-or-break characteristic you probably have a smaller PSU inside your machine and do not wish to improve it alongside the GPU, in order that’s one thing to remember.

• Winner: RX 9070 XT

AMD RX 9070 XT vs 9070: Efficiency

Whereas there’s solely a $50 distinction between the RX 9070 XT and 9070, paired with extremely related {hardware} beneath the hood, the efficiency disparity of each graphics playing cards exhibits what that further gear can do.

Beginning with the artificial benchmarks, the RX 9070 XT confidently pulls forward in benchmarking instruments equivalent to GeekBench 6 Compute (OpenGL and Vulcan) with respective scores of 178,857 and 210,051 in comparison with 150,919 and 192,027 (variations of 18.5% and 9.3%). Equally, many 3DMark benchmarks, together with Time Spy and Hearth Strike, characteristic a 10-15% enchancment when contrasted immediately.

Taking a look at how each RDNA 4 graphics playing cards deal with artistic workloads, it is neck-and-neck for probably the most half.

A slight hole in favor of the non-XT mannequin could be seen in PugetBench for Adobe Premiere with figures of 14,306, in distinction to 13,615 (a rise of 5%). The XT card is barely higher at Blender, however neither card is nice for this workload in comparison with a comparable Nvidia card on this class.

The 2 GPUs have respective strengths and weaknesses, the place you could be higher with the usual mannequin if you happen to’re doing extra creativity-focused duties as a substitute of purely gaming.

The RX 9070 is (arguably) extra at residence when used for gaming in 1440p as a substitute of 2160p, as our testing signifies. For instance, Cyberpunk 2077 in Extremely settings was no downside for the RDNA 4 GPU at 113fps averages, nor was Black Fable: Wukong at 70fps averages.

There are diminishing returns between the 2 graphics playing cards relying on the sport on this goal decision, with near-identical figures in Civilization VII (208 versus 202fps) and comparable numbers in Dying Mild 2 with ray tracing enabled. If 4K is the way in which you wish to play, splash the money for the XT; if 1440p is extra your pace, you could get away with saving that cash.

All the advertising and marketing across the RX 9070 XT guarantees “Native 4K Extremely” in order that’s the primary decision we’ll be with our in-house benchmarks. The graphics playing cards delivered 63fps averages in Black Fable: Wukong with 50% upscaling in Cinematic, whereas the cheaper RX 9070 solely hit 55fps averages (a distinction of 16.3%).

The identical could be stated of Cyberpunk 2077 in Extremely settings, of which the 9070 XT averaged 61fps, however the 9070 normal could not hit the mark at simply 53fps (15% enchancment). Nonetheless, that is to not say the latter card essentially struggles; it ran Civilization VII on max settings at over 128fps, with Dying Mild 2 at 79fps as nicely.

• Winner: AMD RX 9070 XT

AMD RX 9070 XT vs RX 9070: Verdict

Whereas the RX 9070 XT and 9070 are extremely related, they’ve barely completely different use circumstances and are priced accordingly. For the additional 4K energy, you are going to wish to spend the extra $50 (or so) for the XT variant because it’s genuinely able to 4K60 and above.

Nonetheless, if you happen to’re solely considering 1440p gaming, then you definately will not actually profit from the rise in shaders, compute items, and the upper enhance clock pace by way of real-world potential.

In the end, deciding on the 2 RDNA 4 playing cards goes to rely on the sticker value in your area. AMD has promised “extensive availability” in direct response to Nvidia’s missing RTX 50 collection rollout since January 2025.

As such, discovering the 2 at MSRP, for the sake of $50, you could as nicely get the sooner card, but when there is a a lot bigger hole in value between the 2, then the non-XT mannequin holds up remarkably nicely.

• Winner: RX 9070 XT