RX - Organizer

The small and mighty DJI Mic 3 is a major improvement on its predecessor in almost every way

1:27 pm | August 28, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Camera Accessories Cameras Computers Gadgets | Tags: RX, US | Comments: Off

DJI Mic 3: one-minute review

The DJI Mic 3 is the latest premium release in the company’s popular wearable wireless microphone range, supplanting the DJI Mic 2. The Mic 2 was only released around 18 months ago, and has topped TechRadar’s best wireless microphone guide for some time, so I was a little skeptical about the need for a new model.

After receiving my review sample of the DJI Mic 3, though, it only took me a few seconds to see why people might want to upgrade from the Mic 2. The Mic 3’s transmitter component, or TX, is far more compact and lightweight than that of its predecessor, making it easier to wear on clothing.

And – praise be! – it’s now possible to fit not only two TX units and the receiver (RX) in the charging case, but accessories like clips, magnets, windscreens and even a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm cable. One of the irritations I’ve had with my own DJI Mic 2 over the past year is that the furry windscreens, which are all but mandatory when recording audio outside, don’t fit inside its charging case. To see that fixed here (as it was on the DJI Mic Mini) is wonderful.

Delving deeper over the course of testing the Mic 3, I found that DJI has made improvements elsewhere: there are now two levels of active noise cancellation rather than one; it’s possible to transmit lossless 24-bit audio from the TX to the RX; and there are three new voice presets to add instant color to vocal recording. All of these features are easy to use and add instant, tangible impact to recordings.

DJI Mic 3 alongside DJI Mic Mini and DJI Mic 2 wireless microphones on a red background — The DJI Mic 3 (center) alongside the DJI Mic Mini (left) and DJI Mic 2 (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

Another new feature is the dual-mode Adaptive Gain Control, designed to deliver balanced audio in trickier recording conditions. The Automatic setting is used to prevent audio clipping during unexpected rises in volume (I found it worked well when recording in unpredictable outdoor environments, such as walking around town where traffic noise can jump up at any second), while Dynamic is more situational, being designed for two-person recordings using a single TX unit in a more controlled environment like a studio.

And, while I wasn’t able to personally test this (having just the standard setup of two TX units and one RX in my possession), DJI says the Mic 3 is able to capture clear voices from larger gatherings of people thanks to 4TX+8RX group recording. It also adds support for timecode, which wasn’t on the Mic 2. So, the Mic 3’s professional production credentials are definitely a bit more impressive than the Mic 2’s.

The wireless transmission range has been increased from 250m to 400m, and battery life also gets a major bump, up from 18 hours (with the charging case and two TXes) on the Mic 2 to 28 hours (although it can’t come close to the Mic Mini’s imperious 48 hours). Oh, and the on-board storage space on the TX units has been increased fourfold, from 8GB to 32GB.

DJI Mic 3 wireless microphone RX unit mounted on top of a Panasonic Lumix mirrorless camera — The RX unit now features a locking TRS output, but is otherwise little changed from the Mic 2's (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

All of these are compelling reasons to make the upgrade from the Mic 2, and there’s very little missing feature-wise. The TX units no longer have a 3.5mm input for a separate lavalier mic, which might be an issue for users who want to hide it when filming, and the Safety Track recording mode has been dropped, but that’s about it.

In terms of general sound quality the Mic 3 is excellent, and similar to the Mic 2. With 32-bit float on board for those who need the extra level of safety and control, and 24-bit for everyday use, I think very few content creators will have issues with the audio side of things here.

With the Mic 3, DJI has managed to combine the best bits of its Mic 2 and Mic Mini into a single brilliant wireless mic – and one that, remarkably, is cheaper than the Mic 2 was at its launch. In fact, when compared to competitors’ pricing, it’s very hard to see how I couldn't recommend it to anyone on the hunt for a new premium wireless mic.

DJI Mic 3 wireless microphone — The charging case is a major improvement on the DJI Mic 2's, with much more efficient use of space (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

DJI Mic 3: price and release date

Available to order now priced from £169 / AU$369
Components available individually or in bundles
No official US availability at the time of writing

The DJI Mic 3 is available to order from its launch date of August 28 2025, and the company is offering a range of bundles. For a complete package comprising two TX units, one RX, a charging case, cables, magnets and windscreens, the price is £259 / AU$569; for a simple one TX and one RX package, it’s £169 / AU$369. Buyers can also purchase individual components like the TX, RX, charging case, and new accessories available at launch include a Lightning adapter and alternate color windscreens.

I think the price is extremely reasonable given the Mic 3’s capabilities and specs, and I’m a big fan of the company selling individual components separately, as it gives consumers the opportunity to start small and upgrade over time.

DJI Mic 3 wireless microphone bundle on wooden table — The complete kit includes the charging case, two transmitters, one receiver and a USB-C connector for the receiver. There are also two clips, two magnets, four windshields, a 3.5mm to 3.5mm TRS cable and a USB-C charging cable in the box, plus a zip-up case to hold it all (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

There’s bad news for US-based readers hoping to get their hands on a Mic 3, however. As with other recently announced DJI products, the company isn’t officially launching in the US, in an apparent response to uncertainty surrounding tariffs. A company spokesperson told me the following:

“DJI Mic 3 is not in stock in the US upon the global launch. DJI remains committed to the US market and making our products and services available to our US-based customers. However, we’ve recently had to adjust our market strategies for certain products in light of evolving market conditions. While we do not have a timeline for when we can introduce the product to the U.S. market, we are closely monitoring the situation and actively exploring every possible solution.”

US-based consumers may be able to obtain the Mic 3 through third-party stockists, however, so it may be worth checking camera stores such as B&H.

DJI Mic 3: specs

Dimensions	28.8 x 28.3 x 16.4mm (TX, with magnet)
Weight	16g (TX, with magnet)
Range	400m
Connectivity	Receiver: USB-C / Lightning, 3.5mm jack
Bluetooth	Yes
Battery	10 hours (TX), 8 hours (RX), up to 28 hours with fully charged case
Noise cancelling	Two-level active

DJI Mic 3: Design

TX unit weighs just 16g with magnet
RX has 1.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen
Charging case now accommodates more components

I’ve already mentioned the smaller, lighter build of the TX units, but there are other clever design touches worth noting too. When using the clips, for instance, you can now rotate the TX orientation to ensure that the mic grille is pointing towards the sound source. The TX units are also now magnetized themselves, allowing them to be attached securely to metal surfaces.

The design of the receiver (RX), meanwhile, seems fundamentally unchanged from the Mic 2’s. There’s a bright, crisp 1.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen on the front, plus a rotating and pressable dial to help select and change settings. The design allows for a USB-C adapter to be attached (or Lightning, but that’s an optional extra), and the 3.5mm output now supports a locking screw to keep it in place.

The charging case, despite being smaller than the Mic 2’s, is a lot better. As I mentioned in the section above, it makes much more efficient use of its space, and can now accommodate not only two TX and one RX but attached windscreens and clips, with room for magnets and the 3.5mm to 3.5mm TRS cable in the lid.

Also included in the larger bundle are extra windshields (so two black and two grey in total), as well as a zip-up fabric bag for storing everything, including the charging cable.

DJI Mic 3: Performance

Two-level active noise cancelling and voice tone presets
Supports OsmoAudio direct connection
Omnidirectional audio and up to 400m range

The Mic 3 seems to be built on similar audio bones to the Mic 2. That’s no bad thing, as it means users get access to 32-bit float recording (large file sizes, but ideal for users who want to ensure their audio doesn’t clip) as well as standard 24-bit recording with adjustable gain. Having used it extensively indoors and outdoors in a variety of conditions, I've found the Mic 3 to be a highly reliable recording partner, no matter what it’s paired with.

And it can be paired with a lot. The RX can hook up to cameras, computers, tablets and smartphones via its USB or 3.5mm outputs (or the Lightning adapter, should you buy it), and it’s also possible to connect the TX directly to recording devices via Bluetooth.

The TX is also compatible with DJI’s OsmoAudio ecosystem products, supporting 24-bit audio and even 32-bit float (which will be recorded as a separate, second file stored directly on the TX’s memory). I used it with the DJI Osmo 360 and DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, and was highly impressed with both the ease of use and audio quality; it’s possible to control gain and other settings through the cameras’ menu screens, and the Mic 3 represents a massive improvement on those cameras' built-in microphones.

Noise cancelling manages to be highly effective without distorting voice recordings too much. You can hear for yourself in the embedded video above, which also demonstrates the new built-in voice tone presets and general audio quality straight from the mic.

As with the Mic 2, the Mic 3's TX units can also record on their own, acting as a completely independent mic thanks to 32GB of internal storage space.

Should I buy the DJI Mic 3?

Buy it if…

You want the most versatile wireless mic

The Mic 3 can connect to a wide variety of products either through its RX unit or via direct wireless connection. The TX even works as a solo recorder with a massive 32GB of internal storage space.

You want a discreet but powerful mic

The DJI Mic 2 is a bit bulky; the Mic 3 is about half the size while delivering even better performance and features. I'm not sure how DJI has pulled this off.

You want flexible buying choice

As with its other microphones, DJI is selling the Mic 3 as a complete kit, a half kit, or as individual components, so you don't need to buy what you won't use.

Don’t buy it if…

You want a budget option

While good value for money, the Mic 3 is still a premium option. If you're just getting started with wireless mics, something like the DJI Mic Mini or Boya Mini is a better bet.

You only shoot with a phone

Smartphone-first creators should consider something with a smaller RX unit, as the Mic 3's can add a little too much bulk to your handset's profile.

DJI Mic 3: also consider

Saramonic Ultra

Previously our top pick for a cheaper but similarly professional-quality alternative to the Mic 2, the Saramonic Ultra offers 32-bit float and flexible connectivity. The Mic 3 comes in at a similar price, though – which makes the Ultra's main USP no longer so compelling.

Read our in-depth Saramonic Ultra review

DJI Mic Mini

Ultra-affordable and ultra-compact, the Mic Mini remains a great budget choice that offers excellent 24-bit audio and incredible battery life. A perfect budget-friendly alternative to the Mic 3.

Read our in-depth DJI Mic Mini review

How I tested the DJI Mic 3

I used it for several weeks
I paired it with cameras, computer and smartphone
Running firmware 01.01.02.10

DJI sent me a review sample of the Mic 3 a couple of months ahead of its launch date, giving me the chance to spend a few weeks testing it in a range of environments and conditions. I connected to a range of devices: my Panasonic Lumix GH6 mirrorless camera, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro and DJI Osmo 360 action cameras, my MacBook Air laptop and my iPhone 13 smartphone. This meant I was able to test both its direct connection and receiver connection methods.

The firmware was updated to the newest available version at the time (v01.01.02.10) prior to the writing of this review, but manufacturers often release updates to coincide with the public launch – so please note that DJI may have tweaked performance slightly since this review was published.

First reviewed: August 2025
Read more about how we test

I spent weeks testing the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB and RX 9060 XT 8GB, and both offer compelling value

7:57 pm | June 23, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Computing Components Gadgets | Tags: AI, GPU, RTX, RX | Comments: Off

AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT: One-minute review

Having missed the initial AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT review cycle earlier this month for logistical reasons, I wanted to do more with this review than just try to play catch-up with my peers who got to review the 16GB card prior to launch.

Fortunately, doing this post-launch meant that I was able to get my hands on both 16GB and 8GB versions of the RX 9060 XT for a single review, and I'm honestly glad I waited.

Both AMD RX 9060 XT cards bring a compelling value, with the 8GB version starting at $299.99 / £269.99 / AU$569 and the 16GB versions starting at $349.99 / £329.99 / AU$689. This puts it roughly in the middle of the price pack for the best cheap graphics cards of the current generation.

The branding along the top of an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Spec-wise, the only difference between the two cards is really the amount of GDDR6 video memory available, either 16GB or 8GB.

This matters, as that extra 8GB VRAM does improve the performance of the RX 9060 XT (and even makes modest 4K gaming possible), but the difference between the two isn't so large that it overrides any consideration of the additional cost.

However, Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and RTX 5060 (an 8GB card) offer better performance vis-à-vis the RX 9060 XT 16GB and RX 9060 XT 8GB, respectively. In the case of the RTX 5060, there's no difference in price with the RX 9060 XT 8GB, so that is a much tougher call between the two for reasons I'll dig into in a bit.

On the other hand, the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB offers better performance over the RX 9060 XT 16GB, but not so much better that it justifies the much higher price.

In the end, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB strikes the best balance of price and performance in this class, making it easy to recommend as the best graphics card in this segment for most people, and both are two of the best AMD graphics cards the company's ever put out.

AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT: Price & availability

An AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT sitting on its retail packaging on a table — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How much is it? $299.99 / £269.99 / AU$569 for 8GB, $349.99 / £329.99 / AU$689 for 16GB
When can you get it? Now
Where is it available? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT starts at $299.99 / £269.99 / AU$569 for the 8GB version, with the 16GB version starting at $349.99 / £329.99 / AU$689.

There's a much more direct comparison between the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB and the RX 9060 XT 16GB, as both are very comparable spec-wise. In that regard, the RX 9060 XT is a slight price increase over the RX 7600 XT (about $20 in the US), but it's not really large enough to ding its score.

The RX 7600 XT and RX 7600 are very similar, but there are differences beyond just their memory pools, so the RX 9060 XT is not quite as comparable to the RX 7600, meaning even though the RX 9060 XT is slightly more expensive (about $30 in the US), it's much more reasonable given the comparably faster clock speeds.

The RX 9060 XT 8GB is one of the cheapest graphics cards on the market right now, and unlike many others out there, it's easy enough to find at its MSRPView Deal

The RX 9060 XT 16GB is easily the best graphics card you can get this generation under $400, and with 16GB VRAM, it comes with a solid bit of future-proofing built into it.View Deal

Nvidia's competing cards, the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and RTX 5060, are more expensive ($429 / £419.99 / AU$799 for the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB) or about the same price or slightly more expensive ($299 / £269.99 / AU$599) for the RTX 5060.

Neither RX 9060 XT version has an AMD reference card, so you'll need to buy one from a third-party manufacturer, such as Asus, Gigabyte, or XFX.

The same is true for Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060, though, so it's hard to knock the 9060 XT cards too hard for this, especially as we've seen fairly wide availability of MSRP cards for sale online that you can actually buy.

Fortunately, we also haven't seen any real stock shortages of the RX 9060 XT cards, so finding stock at MSRP is fairly easy right now.

Value: 4.5 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT: Specs

The power connector on an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

PCIe 5.0
16GB and 8GB VRAM

AMD RX 9060 XT Specs
	RX 9060 XT (16GB)	RX 9060 XT (8GB)
Process Node	TSMC N4P	TSMC N4P
Transistor Count (Billion)	29.7	29.7
Compute Units	32	32
Shaders	2,048	2,048
Ray Accelerators	32	32
AI/Matrix Processors	64	64
Render Output Units	64	64
Cache (MB)	32	32
Base Clock (MHz)	1,700	1,700
Boost Clock (MHz)	3,130	3,130
Memory Clock (MHz)	2,518	2,518
Memory Type	GDDR6	GDDR6
Memory Pool (GB)	16	8
Memory Interface (bits)	128	128
Effective Memory Speed (Gbps)	20.1	20.1
Memory Bandwidth (GB/s)	322.3	322.3
PCIe Interface	5.0 x16	5.0 x16
TGP (W)	160	150
Recommended PSU (W)	450	700
Power Connector	1 x 8-pin	1 x 8-pin

Both versions of the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT have effectively identical specs, other than different memory pools and the slightly higher TDP for the 16GB version to account for powering the additional memory.

Otherwise, they use the exact same GPU die with identical clock speeds, so your decision between the two is really about whether that 8GB of additional GDDR6 VRAM is worth the extra investment.

The number of compute units, ROPs, and available cache on the RX 9060 XT is unchanged over the RX 7600 XT and RX 7600, so the RX 9060 XT is effectively an upgraded version of those cards using the new RDNA 4 architecture and faster game and memory clock speeds.

There's also the issue of whether 8GB is enough for a modern graphics card, even at a sub-$300 price point. Given the performance I found while testing, an 8GB card can perform well right now, even at 1440p, on many games, so long as you don't go anywhere near ray tracing. How much longer will that be the case? It's hard to say, but 8GB cards are already starting to struggle, so even a 10GB card would have been better, much less a 12GB version for the lower-end 9060 XT.

Add to this AMD's maddening decision to stick with a 128-bit memory bus for these cards, which unnecessarily constrains memory bandwidth and inevitably limits the potential performance of the RX 9060 XT. This alone knocks some points off, because if the Intel Arc B570 can use a 160-bit memory bus, there's no reason why AMD or Nvidia continue to do so on their 60-class cards.

That simple widening of the bus could noticeably improve gaming frame rates, and it's something neither AMD nor Nvidia has been able to explain to me beyond vaguely gesturing at cost constraints. If Intel can afford a 160-bit bus, so can AMD, and it makes me wonder how much better these cards might have otherwise been.

OK, end of rant.

Specs & features: 3.5 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT: Design

The backplate of an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT from Sapphire — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

No AMD reference card
Good for SFF cases

There is no AMD reference cards for either of the RX 9060 XT versions, so the design of the card you get will depend on the manufacturer.

The two cards I tested, the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB and the Asus Dual Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB, are both fairly slender and compact cards.

Neither have any RGB lighting, so if you're looking for something with more bling, other cards can definitely offer that.

Also, there are some cards from some manufacturers that use triple-fan designs, which seems overkill to me, but if you want a bigger-looking card for a specific build, you'll definitely have that option.

Design: 3.5 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT: Performance

An AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT slotted into a testbench — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Big difference between 16GB and 8GB versions
RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and RTX 5060 offer slightly better performance than the two RX 9060 XT cards

A note on my data

The charts shown below offer the most recent data I have for the cards tested for this review. They may change over time as more card results are added and cards are retested. The 'average of all cards tested' includes cards not shown in these charts for readability purposes.

As far as performance goes, there's a lot to like about both AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT cards, from their modest power draw to their solid 1440p gaming performance.

It's not all positive though, as there are several points where Nvidia's competing cards outperform AMD's latest offerings, making the final assessment much closer than I initially thought it would be when I began testing these cards.

Across synthetic benchmarks, the RX 9060 XT and RTX 5060 Ti are more or less tied across resolutions, with Nvidia's card only edging out AMD's in ray tracing performance. The RX 9060 XT 16GB is only about 15% slower than the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB in synthetic ray tracing performance. While this is expected, it's not as wide as it's been in previous generations.

The RX 9060 XT 8GB, meanwhile, outperforms the RTX 5060 in 1080p (about 4% better), in 1440p (about 10% better), and in 4K (about 10% better), though the RTX 5060 does hold a slight lead in ray-tracing performance (about 3%).

In creative benchmarks, the RX 9060 XT cards are largely competitive against Nvidia's GPUs in everything but 3D model rendering. Unfortunately, I can't say more about this since Blender Benchmark wasn't able to run on either RX 9060 XT card, so I can't say how they'd fare against the Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti 16GB.

The RTX 5060, interestingly enough, couldn't run Blender Benchmark either, so this will have to be an issue I'll investigate further and update my results once I have them, but given that Blender Benchmark Cycles renderer is optimized for Nvidia CUDA (as is nearly all 3D modeling software), I am very confident that the RX 9060 XT cards aren't going to be competitive on this workload, it's really just a matter of how far behind the RX 9060 XT cards land in the end.

An AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB slotted into a testbench — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Creative workloads aren't what AMD Radeon cards are most known for, though. PC gaming is where these cards really compete, and in this regard, the RX 9060 XT 8GB comes in about 4% slower than the RTX 5060 in 1080p overall, while the RX 9060 XT 16GB comes up about 9% slower than the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB at 1080p overall.

Gen-on-gen, though, the RX 9060 XT 16GB outperforms the RX 7600 XT by about 44% at 1080p, overall, while the RX 9060 XT 8GB similarly comes in about 46% faster than the RX 7600 at 1080p overall.

At 1440p, the story is similar for the RX 9060 XT, with it coming in about 9% slower than the RTX 5060 Ti, overall. For the RX 9060 XT 8GB, the gap widens a bit as it comes in about 8% slower than the RTX 5060, overall.

At 1440p, the gen-on-gen performance improvement is even greater, with the RX 9060 XT 16GB outperforming the RX 7600 XT by about 53% overall, while the RX 9060 XT 8GB outperforms the RX 7600 by a massive 62.5% overall.

In terms of power consumption, the peak power consumption of the RX 9060 XT cards are in line with where the RTX 5060 Ti lands and slightly above the listed TDP for the two cards. The RTX 5060, meanwhile, comes in a good bit lower at peak, in my tests.

Temperature, meanwhile, will largely depend on the model card you end up buying, as they will all have different cooling systems. That said, the Sapphire Pulse RX 9060 XT 16GB stayed a few degrees cooler than the Asus Dual RX 9060 XT 8GB in my tests, buy your mileage may vary.

The output ports on an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

In the end, the RX 9060 XT cards kept things pretty close to their respective competition from Nvidia, though couldn't quite overtake them, even considering that I didn't factor Blender Benchmark's results into the final creative score for any of the cards tested, given that I wasn't able to run it on three of the cards in question.

Had those tests run successfully and been factored into the final scores, the two Nvidia cards would have pulled further ahead, most likely.

But would they have pulled far enough ahead to justify buying them? In the case of the RX 9060 XT 8GB, the RTX 5060 simply offers you a better value given that both can be purchased for MSRP right now, but if you don't want to give Nvidia your money, you're not really losing anything by going with the RX 9060 XT 8GB instead.

For the RX 9060 XT 16GB, though, it comes within just a few points of the RTX 5060 Ti at a much lower price, making it the one I'd recommend to anyone shopping for a GPU in this price range.

Performance: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT?

A masculine hand holding an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Scorecard
Category	Notes	Score
Value	Both RX 9060 XT cards offer great value for their price.	4.5 / 5
Specs & features	While the 16GB option for the RX 9060 XT is great, 8GB is just too little for a modern GPU.	3.5 / 5
Design	Since there's no AMD reference card for either version of the RX 9060 XT, your design will vary depending on which card you get. The ones I tested were fine, but nothing spectacular.	3.5 / 5
Performance	Both RX 9060 XT versions are capable cards with fantastic gen-on-gen performance, though Nvidia's competing offerings edge them out slightly.	4.5 / 5
Final score	While both RX 9060 XT cards don't quite overtake Nvidia's competing cards, they offer a very compelling value for gamers, especially those who are getting tired of what Nvidia has been offering lately.	4 / 5

Buy the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT if...

You want excellent 1080p gaming
If you're still gaming at 1080p, these cards are fantastic.

You're making the move to 1440p gaming
If you just got a new 1440p gaming monitor and want to upgrade your GPU to handle the higher resolution, both of these cards are solid picks for 1440p.

You don't want to spend a fortune
While $300-350 isn't cheap, for graphics cards with this kind of performance, they're both excellent values.

Don't buy it if...

You want the best possible performance
While the RX 9060 XT cards performed very well, Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and RTX 5060 are still the better GPUs if you want the best performance.

You want to game at 4K
The RX 9060 XT 16GB can play some titles at 4K without ray tracing, largely thanks to upscaling, though it definitely struggles. The RX 9060 XT 8GB can only game at this resolution with some pretty heavy compromises.

You can afford to get the AMD RX 9070
If you have some room in your budget, moving up to the RX 9070 is definitely recommended if you want a more future-proofed gaming rig.

How I tested the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT

I spent about three weeks with the RX 9060 XT 16GB and 8GB versions
I used my complete GPU testing suite to analyze the card's performance
I tested the card in everyday, gaming, creative, and AI workload usage

Test System Specs

Here are the specs on the system I used for testing:

Motherboard: Gigabyte X870E Aorus Elite WiFi 7 ICE
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
CPU Cooler: Gigabyte Auros Waterforce II 360 ICE
RAM: G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6600 (2 x 16GB)
SSD: Samsung 9100 Pro 4TB SSD
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower PF3 1050W Platinum
Case: Praxis Wetbench

I spent about three weeks with both RX 9060 XT cards, using my standard suite of benchmark tests with industry standard tools like 3DMark, PassMark, PugetBench for Creators, and more.

For gaming, I use built-in benchmark tools in games like Black Myth: Wukong, Cyberpunk 2077, and F1 2024.

I also used both cards for about a week each as the GPU in my own PC at home where I used it for work, content creation, and gaming outside of formal testing.

Originally reviewed June 2025

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is too close to the RX 9070 XT to really stand out, but it’s a better value given the market

11:09 am | May 1, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Computing Components Gadgets | Tags: AI, CPU, GPU, RX | Comments: Off

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Two-minute review

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is a card that just might be saved by the economic chaos engulfing the GPU market right now.

With 'normal' price inflation pretty much rampant with every current-gen GPU, the price proposition for the RX 9070 might actually make it an appealing pick for gamers who're experiencing sticker shock when looking for the best graphics card for their next GPU upgrade.

That doesn't mean, unfortunately, that the AMD RX 9070 is going to be one of the best cheap graphics cards going, even by comparison with everything else that's launched since the end of 2024. With an MSRP of $549 / £529.99 / AU$1,229, the RX 9070 is still an expensive card, even if it's theoretically in line with your typical 'midrange' offering.

And, with the lack of an AMD reference card that might have helped anchor the RX 9070's price at Team Red's MSRP, you're going to pretty much be at the mercy of third-party manufacturers and retailers who can charge whatever they want for this card.

Comparatively speaking, though, even with price inflation, this is going to be one of the cheaper midrange GPUs of this generation, so if you're looking at a bunch of different GPUs, without question this one is likely to be the cheapest graphics card made by either AMD or Nvidia right now (yes, that's even counting the RTX 5060 Ti, which is already selling for well above 150% of MSRP in many places).

The radeon logo on the AMD Radeon RX 9070

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Does that make this card worth the purchase? Well, that's going to depend on what you're being asked to pay for it. While it's possible to find RX 9070 cards at MSRP, they are rare, and so you're going to have to make a back-of-the-envelope calculation to see if this card is going to offer you the best value in your particular circumstance.

I'm fairly confident, however, that it will. Had I the time to review this card when it first launched in March, I might have scored it lower based on its performance and price proximity to the beefier AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT.

Looking at both of those cards based on their MSRPs, there's no question that the RX 9070 XT is the much better graphics card, so I'd have recommended you spend the extra cash to get that card instead of this one.

Unfortunately, contrary to my hopes, the RX 9070 XT has been scalped almost as badly as the best Nvidia graphics cards of this generation, so that relatively small price difference on paper can be quite large in practice.

Given that reality, for most gamers, the RX 9070 is the best 1440p graphics card going, and can even get you some solid 4K gaming performance for a lot less than you're likely to find the RX 9070 XT or competing Nvidia card, even from the last generation.

If you're looking at this card and the market has returned to sanity and MSRP pricing, then definitely consider going for the RX 9070 XT instead of this card. But barring that happy contingency, given where everything is right now with the GPU market, the RX 9070 is the best AMD graphics card for 1440p gaming, and offers some of the best bang for your (inflationary) buck as you're likely to find today.

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Price & availability

An AMD Radeon RX 9070 sitting on its retail packaging with its fans visible — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How much is it? MSRP is $549 / £529.99 / AU$1,229, but retail price will likely be higher
When can you get it? The RX 9070 is available now
Where is it available? The RX 9070 is available in the US, UK, and Australia

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is available now in the US, UK, and Australia for an MSRP of $549 / £529.99 / AU$1,229, respectively, but the price you'll pay for this card from third-party partners and retailers will likely be higher.

Giving credit where it's due, the RX 9070 is the exact same MSRP as the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, which you can argue the RX 9070 is replacing. It's also coming in at the same price as the RTX 5070's MSRP, and as I'll get into in a bit, for gaming performance, the RX 9070 offers a better value at MSRP.

Given how the RTX 5070 can rarely be found at MSRP, the RX 9070 is in an even stronger position compared to its competition.

Value: 4 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Specs

The power connector ports on an AMD Radeon RX 9070 — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

PCIe 5.0
16GB VRAM

Specs & features: 4 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Design & features

No AMD reference card
Will be good for SFF cases

In terms of design, the RX 9070 doesn't have a reference card, so the card I reviewed is the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070.

This card, in particular, is fairly straightforward with few frills, but for those who don't want a whole lot of RGB lighting in their PC, this is more of a positive than a negative. RGB fans, however, will have to look at other AMD partner cards for their fix.

The card is a noticeably shorter dual-fan design compared to the longer triple-fan RX 9070 XT cards. That makes the RX 9070 a great option for small form factor PC cases.

Design: 3.5 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Performance

About 13% slower than RX 9070 XT
Outstanding 1440p gaming performance
Decent 4K performance

A note on my data

When it comes down to performance, the RX 9070 is a very strong graphics card that is somewhat overshadowed by its beefier 9070 XT sibling, but goes toe-to-toe against the RTX 5070 where it counts for most users, which is gaming.

On the synthetic side, the RTX 9070 puts up some incredibly solid numbers, especially in pure rasterization workloads like 3DMark Steel Nomad, beating out the RTX 5070 by 13%. In ray tracing heavy workloads like 3DMark Speed Way, meanwhile, the RX 9070 manages to comes within 95% of the RTX 5070's performance.

As expected though, the RX 9070's creative performance isn't able to keep up with Nvidia's competing RTX 5070, especially in 3D modeling workloads like Blender. If you're looking for a cheap creative workstation GPU, you're going to want to go for the RTX 5070, no question.

But that's not really what this card is about. AMD cards are gaming cards through and through, and as you can see above, at 1440p, the RX 9070 goes blow for blow with Nvidia's midrange card so that the overall average FPS at 1440p is 114 against Nvidia's 115 FPS average (72 FPS to 76 FPS average minimums/1%, respectively).

Likewise, at 4K, the two cards are effectively tied, with the RX 9070 holding a slight 2 FPS edge over the RTX 5070, on average (50 FPS to 51 FPS minimum/1%, respectively).

Putting it all together, one thing in the Nvidia RTX 5070's favor is that it is able to tie things up with the RX 9070 at about 26 fewer watts under load (284W maximum power draw to the RTX 5070's 258W).

That's not the biggest difference, but even 26W extra power can mean the difference between needing to replace your PSU or sticking with the one you have.

Under normal conditions, I'd argue that this would swing things in favor of Nvidia's GPU, but the GPU market is hardly normal right now, and so what you really need to look at is how much you're being asked to pay for either of these cards. Chances are, you're going to be able to find an RX 9070 for a good bit cheaper than the RTX 5070, and so its value to you in the end is likely going to be higher.

Performance: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the AMD Radeon RX 9070?

A masculine hand holding an AMD Radeon RX 9070 — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Buy the AMD Radeon RX 9070 if...

You want a fantastic 1440p graphics card
The RX 9070 absolutely chews through 1440p gaming with frame rates that can fully saturate most 1440p gaming monitors' refresh rates.

You don't want to spend a fortune on a midrange GPU
While the RX 9070 isn't cheap, necessarily, it's among the cheapest midrange cards you can get, even after factoring in scalping and price inflation.

Don't buy it if...

You want great creative performance
While the RX 9070 is a fantastic gaming graphics card, its creative performance (especially for 3D modeling work) lags behind Nvidia midrange cards.

Also consider

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
The RX 9070 XT is an absolute barnburner of a gaming GPU, offering excellent 4K performance and even better 1440p performance, especially if you can get it close to MSRP.

Read the full AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT review

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070
The RTX 5070 essentially ties the RX 9070 in gaming performance in 1440p and 4K gaming, but has better power efficiency and creative performance.

Read the full Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 review

How I tested the AMD Radeon RX 9070

I spent about two weeks with the RX 9070
I used my complete GPU testing suite to analyze the card's performance
I tested the card in everyday, gaming, creative, and AI workload usage

Test System Specs

Here are the specs on the system I used for testing:

Motherboard: ASRock Z790i Lightning WiFi
CPU: Intel Core i9-14900K
CPU Cooler: Gigabyte Auros Waterforce II 360 ICE
RAM: Corsair Dominator DDR5-6600 (2 x 16GB)
SSD: Samsung 9100 Pro 4TB SSD
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower PF3 1050W Platinum
Case: Praxis Wetbench

I spent about two weeks with the AMD RX 9070, using it as my primary workstation GPU for creative work and gaming after hours.

I used my updated benchmarking process, which includes using built-in benchmarks on the latest PC games like Black Myth: Wukong, Cyberpunk 2077, and Civilization VII. I also used industry-standard benchmark tools like 3DMark for synthetic testing, while using tools like PugetBench for Creators and Blender Benchmark for creative workload testing.

I've reviewed more than three dozen graphics cards for TechRadar over the past three years, which has included hundreds of hours of dedicated GPU testing, so you can trust that I'm giving you the fullest picture of a graphics card's performance in my reviews.

Originally reviewed May 2025

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is too close to the RX 9070 XT to really stand out, but it’s a better value given the market

11:09 am |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Computing Components Gadgets | Tags: AI, CPU, GPU, RX | Comments: Off

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Two-minute review

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is a card that just might be saved by the economic chaos engulfing the GPU market right now.

The radeon logo on the AMD Radeon RX 9070

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Price & availability

How much is it? MSRP is $549 / £529.99 / AU$1,229, but retail price will likely be higher
When can you get it? The RX 9070 is available now
Where is it available? The RX 9070 is available in the US, UK, and Australia

Given how the RTX 5070 can rarely be found at MSRP, the RX 9070 is in an even stronger position compared to its competition.

Value: 4 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Specs

PCIe 5.0
16GB VRAM

Specs & features: 4 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Design & features

No AMD reference card
Will be good for SFF cases

In terms of design, the RX 9070 doesn't have a reference card, so the card I reviewed is the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070.

The card is a noticeably shorter dual-fan design compared to the longer triple-fan RX 9070 XT cards. That makes the RX 9070 a great option for small form factor PC cases.

Design: 3.5 / 5

AMD Radeon RX 9070: Performance

About 13% slower than RX 9070 XT
Outstanding 1440p gaming performance
Decent 4K performance

A note on my data

Likewise, at 4K, the two cards are effectively tied, with the RX 9070 holding a slight 2 FPS edge over the RTX 5070, on average (50 FPS to 51 FPS minimum/1%, respectively).

That's not the biggest difference, but even 26W extra power can mean the difference between needing to replace your PSU or sticking with the one you have.

Performance: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the AMD Radeon RX 9070?

Buy the AMD Radeon RX 9070 if...

You want a fantastic 1440p graphics card
The RX 9070 absolutely chews through 1440p gaming with frame rates that can fully saturate most 1440p gaming monitors' refresh rates.

Don't buy it if...

You want great creative performance
While the RX 9070 is a fantastic gaming graphics card, its creative performance (especially for 3D modeling work) lags behind Nvidia midrange cards.

Also consider

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
The RX 9070 XT is an absolute barnburner of a gaming GPU, offering excellent 4K performance and even better 1440p performance, especially if you can get it close to MSRP.

Read the full AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT review

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070
The RTX 5070 essentially ties the RX 9070 in gaming performance in 1440p and 4K gaming, but has better power efficiency and creative performance.

Read the full Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 review

How I tested the AMD Radeon RX 9070

I spent about two weeks with the RX 9070
I used my complete GPU testing suite to analyze the card's performance
I tested the card in everyday, gaming, creative, and AI workload usage

Test System Specs

Here are the specs on the system I used for testing:

I spent about two weeks with the AMD RX 9070, using it as my primary workstation GPU for creative work and gaming after hours.

Originally reviewed May 2025

AMD announces pricing and availability for RX 9070 and 9070 XT

10:43 pm | February 28, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: AMD, RX | Comments: Off

AMD today finally announced the pricing and availability information for the Radeon RX 9000 series of graphics cards. The RX 9070 is priced at $549 and the RX 9070 XT is priced at $599. They will be available starting March 6. The company also released full specifications for these cards. The RX 9070 has 56 compute units, 2.1GHz game clock, up to 2.5GHz boost clock, and a 220W power target. The RX 9070 XT has 64 compute units, 2.4GHz game clock, up to 3.0GHz boost clock, and a 304W power limit. Both cards have 16GB memory with 256-bit memory interface and 64MB of...

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super review: the true RTX 4080, overshadowed by the looming RTX 4080 Super

5:00 pm | January 23, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Computing Components Gadgets | Tags: CPU, GPU, RAM, RTX, RX | Comments: Off

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super: two minute review

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super is a difficult card to rate, despite it being without a doubt one of the best graphics card releases of this generation.

For a US MSRP of $799.99, you're essentially getting a pared-down Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080, including 16GB GDDR6X VRAM, a wider 256-bit memory bus so you can actually play the best PC games at 4K (with tweaks), with noticeably less power draw. On the flipside, you're also getting a card that is only marginally better than the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, despite its seriously upgraded specs.

As far as the design goes, unfortunately, there is no Founders Edition for the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super, so you don't get the sleek-as-hell all-black metallic finish of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super. Instead, you'll have about a half-dozen or so board partners like Asus, MSI, and others making these GPUs. Which card you get will determine a lot from overclock settings to cooling and RGB lighting effects.

The Asus Tuf Gaming model I reviewed is identical to the Asus Tuf Gaming RTX 4070 Ti I reviewed, and it's a massive chonky card for what it's worth. Given the power requirements and the need to dissipate a lot of heat, you can fully expect that whatever RTX 4070 Ti Super card you pick up, it's going to be a triple-slot monster.

An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super sitting on a desk — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

In terms of performance, there's no getting around the fact that this is essentially the Nvidia RTX 4080 we should have gotten a year ago (it's built off the RTX 4080's AD103 GPU, rather than the RTX 4070 Ti's AD104), and for that, it is one of the best 4K graphics card models to hit the market this year. It's gaming performance is superb pretty much across the board, with the only area it struggles to be playable is where every other graphics card struggles other than the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, and that's native ray tracing at 4K.

Even there, however, this card manages to average about 32fps (though its average minimum/1% fps dips below the 24fps that registers as fluid motion, so yeah, it can sometimes be a bit of a slideshow).

Unfortunately, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is also right there further complicating the picture for this card. Outside of creative workloads that rely on CUDA (like Blender or V-Ray), the RX 7900 XT goes toe-to-toe with the RTX 4070 Ti Super in terms of gaming performance, though the RTX 4070 Ti Super will generally handle ray tracing better.

Surprisingly though, AMD's FSR seems to be at the point where it is battling Nvidia DLSS to a draw by and large, with the only real difference being whether you have ray tracing turned up to its highest setting or not. Given the recent price cut for the RX 7900 XT down to $749.99 in the US, anyone looking at the RTX 4070 Ti Super will have to ask themselves some hard questions.

This is especially true given the big looming release set to drop at the end of January, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super. Though 25% more expensive at MSRP than the RTX 4070 Ti Super, given the high cost of entry for this card, it suffers from a similar problem as the original RTX 4080 had; it's too close in price to a clearly better card, and so ultimately, you'll almost certainly be better off buying the RTX 4080 Super in a week's time. Which is a shame, because the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super is a fantastic card that really should have hit the scene a whole lot sooner than it is.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super: Price & availability

How much is it? MSRP listed at $799.99 (about £640, AU$1,120)
When is it out? It was released on January 24, 2024
Where can you get it? You can buy it in the US, UK, and Australia

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super goes on sale January 24, 2024 for a listed MSRP of $799.99 in the US, which is about £640 in the UK and AU$1,120 in Australia.

This is the same MSRP as the Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti is replaces, which is definitely a positive given the generally terrible pricing of Nvidia best graphics cards this generation.

As stated above though, AMD isn't sitting on its laurels, and it's dropped the price of its competing RX 7900 XT graphics card to counter this release. And, given, their relative levels of performance, it's a smart move as it makes the RX 7900 XT a better value as a result, at least enough to be competitive in the absence of any RX 7050 XT-series releases thus far.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super: Specs & features

16GB VRAM
Wider memory bus
Slightly faster clock speed

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super: Performance

Marginally better than RTX 4070 Ti
Loses to RX 7900 XT in gaming performance
Extra VRAM makes 4K gaming much smoother

Where it counts, the RTX 4070 Ti Super is a fantastic graphics card for work and play, though it's definitely more of a refresh of the RTX 4070 Ti, which is unfortunate since it really should have shown better performance given its specs.

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Benchmark results for the Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti Super — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

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In terms of synthetic performance, the RTX 4070 Ti Super averages about 4.5% better performance than the RTX 4070 Ti, and about 13% slower performance than the RTX 4080, which more or less matching the RX 7900 XT. On this latter point, much like other AMD vs Nvidia comparisons, in pure rasterization, AMD comes out on top with Nvidia winning out in ray tracing workloads.

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Creative benchmark results for the RTX 4070 Ti Super — (Image credit: Future / Infogram)

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For creative performance, the RTX 4070 Ti Super greatly outperforms the RX 7900 XT, but falls well short of where the RTX 4080 lands. If you're looking for the best creative graphics card, then, the RTX 4080 Super is definitely going to be one to look out for considering it's only going to retail for $200 more and should be much more powerful.

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1080p gaming benchmarks for the RTX 4070 Ti Super — (Image credit: Future / Infogram)

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In gaming performance, no card really comes close to the RTX 4080, but the RTX 4070 Ti Super more or less ties the RTX 4070 Ti and the RX 7900 XT.

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1440p gaming benchmarks for the RTX 4070 Ti Super — (Image credit: Future / Infogram)

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In 1440p gaming performance, the additional 4GB VRAM in the RX 7900 XT starts to become a factor to the RTX 4070 Ti's detriment, but overall, the RTX 4070 Ti Super comes up about 3.5% behind the RX 7900 XT, and roughly tied with the RTX 4070 Ti.

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4K gaming benchmarks for the RTX 4070 Ti Super — (Image credit: Future / Infogram)

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At 4K, the additional 4GB VRAM in the RTX 4070 Ti Super vs the RTX 4070 Ti starts to really have an impact, giving the RTX 4070 Ti Super about 6.5% better performance on average but a nealy 10% higher fps floor at 4K than the RTX 4070 Ti.

The RTX 4070 Ti Super also runs about even with the RX 7900 XT as well.

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Final benchmark results for the RTX 4070 Ti Super — (Image credit: Future / Infogram)

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Wrapping things up, a couple of other points I definitely want to hit on, namely that the biggest thing holding this card back in a lot of ways is its TGP. With the same TGP as the RTX 4070 Ti, you get the sense that this card leaves something on the table in terms of performance given its specs. On the plus side though, it does manage to squeeze some extra performance from the same amount of power, which is a good thing. If you want to try and overclock this card to tap into its full potential, have at it.

It's not going to run particularly hot (unless you overclock the hell out of it) and it's gaming performance is exceptional, even into 4K, where you can expect to average about 70 fps at 4K when not using ray tracing, or you can turn ray tracing on and flip DLSS to balanced or performance for the same amount of frames or better.

It's ultimate value proposition isn't as good as the RX 7900 XT's, but it's better than the RTX 4070 Ti's, and since AIBs are likely to be switching themselves over to the Super rather than keep putting out non-Super RTX 4070 Ti's, this card is effectively giving you something extra for no additional cost.

The ultimate value tell though will be how the Nvidia RTX 4080 Super performs, and it's unfortunately the case that the success of this card depends very much on how well Nvidia's last major graphics card of this generation is received.

Should you buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super

Buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super if…

Don’t buy it if…

Also consider

How I tested the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super

Test system specs

This is the system we used to test the Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti Super:

CPU: Intel Core i9-14900K
CPU Cooler: MSI MAG Coreliquid E360 AIO Cooler
RAM: 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5-6000
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z790 Tomahawk WiFi
SSD: Samsung 990 Pro 4TB NVMe M.2 SSD
Power Supply: Thermaltake PF3 1050W ATX 3.0
Case: Praxis Wetbench

I spent about a week working with the Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti Super, running our standard battery of tests on it and similar cards in its price category.

I ran it through a number of real world use cases where it will be used, primarily gaming and content creation.

I've been reviewing computer hardware, including graphics cards, for years now, and I am intimately familiar with the kind of performance you should expect from a graphics card at this price point. I bring that knowledge to bear on my graphics card reviews and make sure that every graphics card I compare to the card under review is retested using the most up-to-date drivers to get the best relevant data for comparison, even (as in this case) it means I only test the most relevant competing cards to provide the reader with the most important comparative data when they are considering making their next graphics card purchase.

First reviewed in January 2024

I spent about a week working with the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super, including using it as my main work PC graphics card for content creation work. I ran our standard battery of tests on it and its two main competitor cards due to time constraints (you can see my RTX 4070 review for its relative performance versus many more cards, and than consider a roughly 12%-15% better performance over that for the RTX 4070 Super).

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super review

5:00 pm | January 16, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Computing Components Gadgets | Tags: CPU, GPU, MSRP, RTX, RX | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: January 2024
• Launch price: MSRP at $599 / £579 / AU$1,119
• Lowest price now: $979.23 / £582.34 / AU$999

Update – April 2025: The RTX 4070 Super was the best graphics card for 1440p and light 4K gaming on the market last year, and with the release of the RTX 5070 this year, you'd hope that prices would come down, but inexplicably, that isn't the case.

It would be one thing if the RTX 5070 was totally out of stock online and was a substantially worse card than the RTX 4070 Super, but that isn't the case. The RTX 5070 might have been disappointing, but it is still a better GPU than the RTX 4070 Super, even if by the barest of margins.

You can find the RTX 5070 online for at or slightly above MSRP pretty easily (the lowest price I've found is this MSI RTX 5070 Shadow OC card at Walmart for $669.99), so going out of your way to buy the RTX 4070 Super at a massive premium doesn't make any sense.

Original unedited review follows...

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super: Two minute review

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super is a graphics card with a lot of expectations built up around it after it's announcement at CES 2024, and if you've yet to upgrade your graphics card in a minute and you've been waiting for a sign, this release is what you've been waiting for, whether you end up buying it or going with a competing card from AMD or Intel.

Looking across the lineup of Nvidia graphics cards in 2023, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 definitely reviewed as one of Team Green's best thanks to fantastic performance and a more accessible price compared to the rest of the GPU market at the time. At $599.99 in the US (about £480/AU$840), the RTX 4070 Super is going to retail (at MSRP) for the same launch price as the card it refreshes, while the RTX 4070 will see a healthy price cut when the RTX 4070 Super goes on sale on January 17, 2024.

In terms of what you're getting for that same amount of money, you're going to get substantially more SMs for more processing power as well as a slightly faster base clock speed. But, sadly, we're still stuck with just 12GB GDDR6X VRAM which does hamper this card's 4K potential. If you're looking for the best 4K graphics card, you may have to wait to see what the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super or Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super have to offer later in January.

If what you're looking for is the best 1440p graphics card on the market, well, in terms of sheer performance, look no further. Between upgraded specs and DLSS 3 with Frame Generation, Nvidia Reflex, and a host of other tech packed into this card, you'll be playing the best PC games at high settings with the best 1440p monitors for many years to come.

Still, it's not an unqualified win for Nvidia here. For one, the price of the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super is still $100 (about £80/AU$140) more than the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT that it's directly competing with. And while the RTX 4070 Super does outperform the best AMD graphics card for the midrange on a number of levels, gaming sadly isn't one of them, unless you lean heavily on ray tracing.

Even in places where you factor in DLSS, without frame generation, Nvidia lags behind the RX 7800 XT overall when it comes to gaming. And once AMD releases its own frame generation tech for FSR in the coming weeks, the advantage Nvidia gets from DLSS 3 with Frame Generation will likewise tighten up. On this point, gamers are going to have some harder questions to ask themselves than anyone else, and the price of the RX 7800 XT alone might be more than enough to tip the scales for them.

Still, it's hard to argue that Nvidia hasn't delivered an absolutely phenomenal card with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super, and for midrange users out there who want fantastic gaming as well as content creation features and raw performance, this is almost certainly going to be at the top of the list when making your choice about a new upgrade.

An Nvidia RTX 4070 Super on a purple deskmat on a desk — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super: Price & availability

How much is it? US MSRP $599.99 (about £480, AU$840)
When is it out? January 17, 2024
Where can you get it? You can buy it in the US, UK, and Australia

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super goes on sale on January 17, 2024, for $599.99 in the US (about £480/AU$840), which is the same price as the launch MSRP of the RTX 4070 when it launched in April of 2023.

And while we love to see prices stay more accessible for gamers and creators, Nvidia is still charging a premium for its card vis-à-vis AMD's competing RX 7800 XT, which has competitive performance for about $100 less.

Still, despite not being the best cheap graphics card on the market, for what you're getting, the price on the RTX 4070 Super is a very good value overall. While not quite AMD levels of performance for price, this is about as good a value as you're going to get from an Nvidia GPU on the market today (at least until we see what the RTX 4070 Ti Super and RTX 4080 Super are working with later this month).

Value score: 4/5

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super: Design

Gorgeous all-black finish
Same size as base RTX 4070
Still requires 16-pin power

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super Founders Edition is easily one of the sexiest graphics cards I've laid hands on in a long while. The all-black shroud, fans, and trim give it a very sleek look that might not have any of the flash of RGB bedazzled third-party cards, but as far as Nvidia's lineup goes, this is easily the most attractive.

In every other way, barring the Super branding, this card is identical to the original RTX 4070, so it comes with all its positives and negatives as well. Its smaller than its larger siblings, so its much more manageable in a wider variety of cases, but it is still heavy enough that some kind of GPU support is going to be needed if you don't have a vertical card adapter for your case.

The cooling solution is also fairly good and has plenty of power for cooling. Its 16-pin connector means that if you don't have an ATX 3.0 power supply, you'll need to use a two-8-pin-to-one-16-pin adapter, which might make cable management a bit of a hassle.

Design score: 4.5/5

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super: Features & specs

21% higher SM count
Slightly faster base clock
STILL just 12GB VRAM

When it comes to the RTX 4070 Super, there is a lot to appreciate here. For the same price as the RTX 4070, you're getting a far more SMs (56 to the RTX 4070's 46, a 21% increase), so that also means that you're getting a hefty upgrade in terms of CUDA cores (7,168 to 5,888), ray tracing cores (56 to 46), and tensor cores (224 to 184) over the original RTX 4070.

You're also getting a slightly higher base clock rate of 1,980MHz , which is about 3% faster than the base RTX 4070. For that, the RTX 4070 Super also has a 220W TGP, which unfortunately means that you're not going to get any RTX 4070 Super cards with an 8-pin connector like you can with the RTX 4070.

Beyond that, there isn't too much different spec-wise with the RTX 4070 Super than you have with the RTX 4070, and this unfortunately includes the 12GB GDDR6X VRAM configuration. Mind you, this is plenty for 1440p gaming, but if you've got one of the best 4K monitors, you'll have to accept some settings compromises if you want to game seriously at 4K.

This is a dual-slot card that is identical in size to the RTX 4070 Founders Edition, as well as utilizing the same cooling solution, so it will run a slight bit hotter thanks to the increased power flowing into the card, but it's not a whole lot so that it'd be noticeable.

An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super slotted into a test bench — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super: Performance

Outstanding overall performance
12GB VRAM hampers 4K potential
Falls behind RX 7800 XT somewhat in gaming performance

In terms of performance, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super is about as solid a graphics card as you'll find in the midrange, offering fantastic gaming performance, while outshining the competition in non-gaming tasks like content creation and compute-heavy workloads.

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Benchmark results for the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super — (Image credit: Future / Infogram)

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During synthetic workload tests, the RTX 4070 Super loses out somewhat to the RX 7800 XT on some tests while winning out on others, so when you don't factor in ray tracing, it's a bit of a wash. Once ray tracing is included, however, you so end up with about 23% stronger ray tracing performance for the RTX 4070 Super, which is expected given the maturity of Nvidia's tech versus AMD's.

It's also worth noting that the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super's compute performance is about 18% better than the RX 7800 XT, and overall, the RTX 4070 Super outperforms the RTX 4070 by about 17%, on average.

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Moving on to creative benchmarks, as expected, the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super outperforms the AMD RX 7800 XT when it comes to 3D rendering tasks thanks to the strength of Nvidia's CUDA processing, which most renderers use.

In terms of rasterization performance, the two cards are about even, while the RTX 4070 Super pulls slightly ahead of the RX 7800 XT in terms of video encoding, but only by about 1%. Over its predecessor, the RTX 4070 Super renders 3D scenes and rasterizes noticeably faster, but it's pretty much even on the video encoding side.

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When it comes to gaming performance, however, the RX 7800 XT pulls ahead of the RTX 4070 Super in a big way, especially at lower resolutions.

In 1080p gaming, the RTX 4070 Super consistently lags behind the RX 7800 XT when ray tracing isn't factored in, and when it is, this advantage is generally diminished (on average) when bringing balanced upscaling to bear, though the RTX 4070 Super and the RTX 4070 tend to do much better than the RX 7800 XT when pure ray tracing is involved.

Against its predecessor, the RTX 4070 Super offers about a 14% average FPS increase over the RTX 4070 at 1080p, an advantage that I expect will grow wider once better drivers are released to support the RTX 4070 Super post-release.

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The story is similar with 1440p gaming where the RX 7800 XT does generally outperform the RTX 4070 Super when ray tracing isn't involved, and lags behind when it is.

Upscaling helps here as well, but broadly speaking, the RTX 4070 Super is going to outperform the RX 7800 XT when ray tracing, and overall provides about a 9% better fps than the RTX 4070, on average. I suspect this latter figure will be higher once post-release drivers are installed, since the RTX 4070 outperforms the RTX 4070 Super in Metro: Exodus when it shouldn't, and so i believe this game is a bit of a driver outlier.

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At 4K, the RX 7800 XT manages to hold up better in absolute terms thans to its larger 16GB frame buffer vs the RTX 4070 Super's 12GB, but the GDDR6X memory and more mature ray tracing cores make ray tracing at 4K a better overall experience with the RTX 4070 Super than with either of the two other cards tested against here.

Ultimately, then, it comes down to whether you're really all that enthusiastic about ray tracing performance. If so, the RTX 4070 Super is the card you're going to want, but at $100 cheaper, the RX 7800 XT offers a much more compelling option for pure rasterized graphics than the RTX 4070 Super. This, ultimately, keeps the RTX 4070 Super from running away with the title of best midrange graphics card, but it's a much tougher fight for the RX 7800 XT than it was when it first launched against the RTX 4070.

Performance score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super?

Buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super if…

You want the best midrange graphics card overall
Given the strength of this card in all categories, on balance, it's the best you're going to find in the midrange.

You want very strong ray tracing performance
With the maturity of its ray tracing cores, the RTX 4070 Super is the best ray tracing GPU in the midrange, for sure.

You want some creative performance as well
With its strong CUDA backbone, the RTX 4070 Super is a great option for those looking to get into creative content work, especially 3D modeling.

Don’t buy it if…

You don't want to spend a fortune
Given the price of the competition, there are better graphics cards for your money than the RTX 4070 Super

You don't care about ray tracing or compute
The strongest asset this card brings to the table are its ray tracing and tensor cores, but if you don't care about ray tracing or machine learning tasks, the RX 7800 XT will offer a better overall gaming performance.

Also consider

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is arguably the best gaming GPU for most gamers, and at a substantial discount from the RTX 4070 Super, it's a hard card to ignore.

Read the full AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT review

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070
The RTX 4070 might not be as fast as the RTX 4070 Super or have as many processing cores, but it is still a powerful midrange graphics card that's going to be a lot cheaper now that the RTX 4070 Super has hit the shelves.

Read the full Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 review

How I tested the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super

Test system specs

This is the system we used to test the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
CPU Cooler: MSI MAG Coreliquid E360 AIO Cooler
RAM: 64GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5-6000
Motherboard: Gigabyte X670E AORUS Extreme
SSD: Samsung 990 Pro 4TB NVMe M.2 SSD
Power Supply: Thermaltake PF3 1050W ATX 3.0
Case: Praxis Wetbench

First reviewed in January 2024

We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Two-minute review

To say I've been looking forward to the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT for over a year is an understatement, and if I were to judge this card on its merits, I have to say that this is easily one of the best graphics card releases we've gotten out of this generation. My heart, though, knows that it should have been even better, so I can't help but feel slightly disappointed.

Released right on the heels of Labor Day here in the US, getting this card properly tested was obviously going to be a heavy lift, so when my preliminary benchmark numbers showed it edging out the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 by about 2% overall (while not getting as badly crushed by Nvidia's midrange rival in ray-tracing performance as during the previous generation), I figured this card was going to be an easy one to review.

Coming in at $499.99 (about £380/AU$725) compared to the RTX 4070's MSRP of $599.99 (about £460/AU$870), that roughly 17% price difference in AMD's favor is going to make a world of difference for a lot of gamers out there looking to upgrade to a current-gen midrange card.

In addition to fantastic 1440p gaming performance and even very respectable 4K gaming performance (thanks in no small part to the 16GB VRAM and 256-bit memory bus), ray tracing performance has gotten better as AMD's ray accelerators have improved and a host of new anti-latency and upscaling features make this pretty much the best 1440p graphics card on the market, hands down.

An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

So why does my heart ache having done a very intense week's worth of testing on this card?

Well, the single biggest negative in this card's column is that there is very little gen-on-gen improvement in terms of its rasterization performance over the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT.

Now the RX 7800 XT does have things that the RX 6800 XT doesn't have, namely AI accelerator cores that can power more advanced AI workloads like upscaling and other generative AI processes, and the 7800 XT does feature much better ray tracing performance than its predecessor, so calling these cards essentially the same would be factually and substantively wrong.

But rasterization is AMD Radeon's bread-and-butter, and by that metric, you only really get about 12% and 5% better gaming performance at 1080p and 1440p, respectively, and there's essentially no difference at 4K. If you don't care about ray tracing or running Stable Diffusion-like AI models (which you're likely to use Nvidia hardware for anyway), then this card is going to feel much more like a refresh of the RX 6800 XT, or even the RX 6850 XT that we didn't get a year ago.

And for that, the RX 7800 XT leaves me somewhat disappointed. If you aren't upgrading from an RX 6800 XT (which you shouldn't be doing even if this card was a true gen-on-gen successor like the fantastic AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is to the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT), then none of this is really going to matter to you.

I'd still tell you to buy the RX 7800 XT over the RX 6800 XT and even the RTX 4070, without question, but there's no getting around the fact that the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT misses its shot at being truly magnificent.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Price & availability

How much does it cost? $499.99 (about £380/AU$725)
When is it available? Available September 6, 2023
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is available on September 6, 2023, starting at $499.99 (about £380/AU$725), which puts it about 23% cheaper than the RX 6800 XT was when it launched in 2020, and $100 cheaper than direct competitor the Nvidia RTX 4070.

It's also just $50 more expensive than the RX 7700 XT that it launched alongside, so anyone looking at the RX 7700 XT might be better served by buying the RX 7800 XT instead since you'll get better performance and extra VRAM without spending a whole lot more money.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Specs

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Design

Unlike the RX 7700 XT, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT does have a reference card, and it'll look familiar to anyone who's been looking at AMD cards this generation. Opting for a two-fan cooling solution, this dual-slot card looks a lot like the AMD Radeon RX 7600 would if you stretched the card lengthwise.

It's not a long card either, measuring 267mm, or about 10.5 inches, so you shouldn't have any issues getting this card to fit inside a mid-tower case or larger. You might even be able to squeeze it into some tighter-fitting cases as well, but that'll depend on the case itself and what version of the RX 7800 XT you end up getting (third-party versions will vary in size and will likely be longer).

The reference model of the card features three DisplayPort 2.1 outputs along with an HDMI 2.1 port, so it'll be more than capable of powering the best 4K monitors with ease, along with the various sizes and resolutions of the best gaming monitors on the market.

What it doesn't have, however, is a USB-C output, so if you have one of the best USB-C monitors (which is common in creative industries), youi'll likely need to pick up an adapter if you plan on slotting this card into a workstation.

You'll also only need two free 8-pin power connectors, so no 12HPWR cable like Nvidia's competing cards. The card is fairly solid with a decent amount of weight, so you'll definitely need a support bracket if you're slotting this directly into a motherboard's PCIe slot.

Overall, the appearance is the same no-fuss, no-bling aesthetic we've gotten from AMD's RDNA 3 reference cards this generation, so if you want that RGB look, you're better off with a third-party card, but otherwise it's a lovely card to look at and won't be the shame of anyone's PC case.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Chipset & features

The Navi 32 GPU in the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the full version of the chip compared to the slightly trimmed-down GPU powering the RX 7700 XT, with an additional 6 compute units over the RX 7700 XT's 54, giving the RX 7800 XT an additional 384 shaders, 6 ray accelerators, and 12 AI accelerators.

The RX 7800 XT has a fairly low base clock of 1,295 MHz, compared to the RX 7700 XT's 1,700 MHz, but the RX 7800 XT's boost clock runs as high as 2,430 MHz (compared to the RX 7700 XT's 2,544 MHz).

This means that even though the RX 7800 XT has slightly more compute units, everything is running slightly slower, which goes a long way to explaining the relatively close levels of performance between the two GPUs.

The RX 7800 XT does feature 16GB VRAM with a large 256-bit memory bus, with a memory clock of 2,425 MHz for an effective 19.4 Gbps. This is slower than the RTX 4070's 21 Gbps effective memory speed, but the wider bus and larger frame buffer offered by the additional 4GB VRAM with the RX 7800 XT really highlights where Nvidia went wrong with lower VRAM and tighter buses this generation, compared to AMD who generally got the memory question on their cards right.

Finally, the TGP on the RX 7800 XT is a rather high 263W, compared to the 200W RTX 4070, but this is still less than the RX 6800 XT's 300W TGP, so there's progress at least.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Performance

And here is where the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT impresses the most, even as it breaks my heart: performance.

I'll start with the good news for AMD here, which is that it by and large scores even with the RTX 4070 in terms of synthetic tests and gameplay performance while faltering rather badly against the RTX 4070 in creative workloads, which is pretty much expected given the Nvidia CUDA instruction set's dominance in all things creative.

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Benchmark results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT — (Image credit: Future / Infogram)

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On the synthetic side, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT outperforms the RTX 4070 by about 2% overall, with rasterization workloads being its breakout strength, while Nvidia's ray tracing capabilities continue to outperform AMD's. Though it's worth noting that the RX 7800 XT does a lot to close the gap here, so Nvidia's advantage is only about 15% at best during 3DMark Speedway and just 6% better in Port Royal.

Meanwhile, the RX 7800 XT manages to score 25% better in 3DMark Firestrike Ultra, showing it to be a much better 4K card than the RTX 4070 thanks to the additional VRAM, a level of performance that is replicated in our gaming tests.

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Benchmarking results for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT — (Image credit: Future / Infogram)

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When not using any upscaling tech, on average, the RX 7800 XT performs 15% better without ray tracing than the RTX 4070 (and just 4% worse with ray tracing at max settings) at 1080p, 6% better on average at 1440p (16% worse when ray tracing on max settings), and 17% better at 4K (though about 25% worse at 4K when ray tracing).

FSR 2 can't hold a candle to DLSS 3 when ray tracing, but in non-RT gameplay, FSR 2 and the RX 7800 XT actually comes out way ahead across all resolutions when FSR 2 and DLSS 3 are set to balanced, with the RX 7800 XT getting 53%, 21%, 19% better performance at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, respectively.

Turning on ray tracing prety much reverses the case and the RTX 4070 gets as much as 47%, 16%, and 12% better performance at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions, respectively.

In short, if you're planning on gaming without ray tracing, there is no question that between the RX 7800 XT and RTX 4070, the RX 7800 XT is the card you'll want to buy.

Here, as well, the RX 7800 XT manages to perform better than the RX 6800 XT, by about 15%, which isn't awful, but gamers hoping for a much larger improvement on the RX 6800 XT (such as myself) will be disappointed. Getting 15% better FPS on average when talking about the RX 7600 is one thing.

Given the price and the class of card in question, 15% is pretty much all you're going to get, but for a nearly $500 graphics card, I'd have liked to see 25% to 33%, if I'm being honest, and that's where this card ultimately should have landed in a perfect world.

But ours is a fallen land, and we're not comparing this card against a Platonic ideal projecting onto a cave wall, we're comparing it to the cards on the shelf that you have to pick between for your next upgrade.

If you can find the RX 6800 XT for more than 15% less than the RX 7800 XT, that might make the last-gen card the better buy. If that's not an option though, and you're like most gamers looking at the RTX 4070 vs. RX 7800 XT, the vast majority are going to get a better experience from the RX 7800 XT, especially when they have an extra $100 to buy themselves something else that's nice, as a treat.

Should you buy the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT?

Buy it if...

You want to play at 4K
This card has serious 4K gaming chops thanks to its 16GB VRAM and wide memory bus.

You don't want to completely sacrifice ray tracing
AMD is finally getting to the point where you can have both great rasterization and decent ray tracing performance.

Don't buy it if...

You want the best ray tracing and upscaling possible
If ray tracing and upscaling are your bag, then the RTX 4070 is going to be the better buy here.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: Also consider

If my AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT review has you considering other options, here are two more graphics cards to consider.

How I tested the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT

I spent about a week with the RX 7800 XT
I focused mostly on gaming, since that is what AMD Radeon graphics cards are primarily used for
I used our standard battery of benchmark tests and personal gameplay experience

Test System Specs

These are the specs for the test system used for this review:

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K
CPU Cooler: Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z790E Tomahawk Wifi
Memory: 64GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5-6000
SSD: Samsung 990 Pro
PSU: Thermaltake PF3 1050W ATX 3.0
Case: Praxis Wetbench

I spent about a week extensively testing the RX 7800 XT, both in a test bench and as my personal gaming card at home.

I ran our standard battery of performance benchmarks, including 3DMark tests and various in-game gaming benchmarks, on the RX 7800 XT and various competing graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia to get a slate of comparable figures.

In addition to my extensive computer science education and years as a tech product reviewer, I've been a PC gamer my whole life, so I know what to look for and what to expect from a graphics card at this price point.

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: One-minute review

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is a very solid 1440p graphics card with a lot going for it, but its price isn't one of them, and that ultimately holds it back from scoring a major upset for Team Red.

That isn't to say that the RX 7700 XT isn't a card worth buying, but it is one that comes with a pretty big caveat, namely its bigger sibling, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT that launches alongside it on September 6, 2023. At $449.99 (about £350/AU$660), this puts it exactly $50 cheaper than the RX 7800 XT. Now, there are caveats around that as well, since the RX 7800 XT's performance is better, but not so much as to make it the best graphics card to buy between the two.

By offering better ray tracing performance, a significant performance gain over its predecessor, and doing so at a cheaper price point to boot makes the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT an easy card to recommend for anyone looking for the best 1440p graphics card without breaking the bank.

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT — (Image credit: AMD)

Given the end of the summer holiday (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least), I'm still in the process of wrapping up testing on the RX 7800 XT, but it looks to be about 10% to 15% faster than the RX 7700 XT, so the price isn't that far out of pocket on either card, but that does leave you with two cards occupying a very similar niche.

In terms of the RX 7700 XT, its ostensible competition is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, and broadly speaking it wipes the floor with the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB variant when you're not using ray tracing at 1440p and 1080p.

There are times when the RX 7700 XT even gives the Nvidia RTX 4070 some competition, even though that card is supposed to be squaring up against the RX 7800 XT, and it's against our current top pick for the best graphics card overall that really pushes the RX 7700 XT above all the caveats and make it a card worth buying.

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Price & availability

An AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT on a table — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How much does it cost? $449.99 (about £350/AU$660)
When is it available? Available September 6, 2023
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is available on September 6, 2023 starting at $449.99 (about £350/AU$660).

This puts the RX 7700 XT about $30 cheaper than the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT it replaces (which launched at $479.99), which is great, and it puts it dead center between the two RTX 4060 Ti variants in terms of price, so we'll go ahead and call it a wash on that front.

If there's an issue here really it's that the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is also just $50 more ($499.99, about £385/AU$725). As mentioned before, I'm still wrapping up our AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT review, but that card looks to give you about 10% to 15% better performance for an 11% premium, it might be the better value for those who want a midrange card with marginally better performance.

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Specs

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Design

In terms of design, there's not much to say about the AMD RX 7700 XT other than to check with the third-party manufacturers of the card you want to buy, since there is no reference card for the RX 7700 XT.

One thing to note though is that no matter which card you go with, to my knowledge no AMD RX 7700 XT card will require a 12HPWR cable to power it, so two 8-pin cables should be all you need.

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Chipset & features

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, along with the RX 7800 XT, finally brings AMD's Navi 32 GPU to the desktop market after nearly a year of waiting, and overall I can say it's been worth the wait.

The RX 7700 XT features a slightly cut-down version of the GPU than the one used in the RX 7800 XT, so there's not too much difference between the two. The biggest though will be what's not on the GPU die itself, namely the amount of VRAM.

The RX 7700 XT features 12GB, which is the bare minimum for effective 1440p gameplay, and unlike the largely disappointing RTX 4060 Ti, AMD at least made sure to include enough VRAM to be effective and gave the card a wide enough memory bus to give it the texture bandwidth necessary to play at this level without needing to rely on the assistance of upscaling tech.

Speaking of upscaling tech, along with the announcement of the RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT, AMD unveiled FSR 3 which should definitely help AMD level the playing field with Nvidia, but since that's a software-driven tool, rather than being tied to the driver and the RDNA 3 hardware itself, I'll save a deep dive into that for another time, but just know that you should be able to start leveraging that tech soon as well.

If there's a knock on the RX 7700 XT here, it's its power consumption. At 245W, its rated power draw is high for a 1440p card, especially when Nvidia is able to make do with 200W for the RTX 4070 and 160W for the RTX 4060 Ti.

An AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT slotted into a test bench — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Performance

In terms of performance, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is pretty much what we want to see in the gen-on-gen performance increase of a midrange card.

Starting with synthetic benchmarks, the RX 7700 XT scored about 28% better in 1080p performance than the RX 6700 XT, about 35% better in 1440p performance, and about 29% better in terms of 4K performance, or about 30% better than the RX 6700 XT overall.

Against the Nvidia RTX 4070, meanwhile, the RX 7700 XT only scored about 7.25% lower overall in synthetic performance while costing about 25% less, making it a very compelling challenger to Nvidia's best midrange offering.

The same goes for gaming performance, which is really what everyone is interested in here. The story is much as you'd expect: AMD performs as well or better in rasterization performance while falling behind when it comes to ray tracing and upscaling performance against competing RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4070 cards.

Most interesting perhaps is the RX 7700 XT's performance vis a vis the RTX 4070, where the RX 7700 XT averaged 103 fps at 1080p, 77 fps at 1440p, and 48 fps at 4K, compared to the RTX 4070's 117 fps, 88 fps, and 52 fps, respectively. These are very close, and for many gamers this will be a practical tie depending on their rigs, so if you're looking for the best cheap graphics card for 1440p and 4K gaming, the RX 7700 XT is definitely one to consider.

A masculine hand holding an AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Should you buy the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT?

Buy it if...

You want a great 1440p graphics card
The RX 7700 XT is a fantastic card for 1440p gaming, especially for the price.

You don't care about ray tracing
As with any AMD graphics card, if you don't really care about ray tracing, you can pretty much skip Nvidia's premium offerings.

Don't buy it if...

You have a bit more room in your budget
If you've got some extra money to spend, the RTX 4070 is still likely to be the best option for 1440p gaming.

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT: Also consider

If my AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT review has you considering other options, here are two more graphics cards to consider.

How I tested the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

I spent about a week with the RX 7700 XT
I focused mostly on gaming, since that is what AMD Radeon graphics cards are primarily used for
I used our standard battery of benchmark tests and personal gameplay experience

Test System Specs

These are the specs for the test system used for this review:

I spent about a week with the AM Radeon RX 7700 XT running benchmark tests and playing Baldur's Gate 3 like everyone else is doing right now.

AMD Radeon cards are overwhelmingly used for gaming purposes, so I focused my efforts on determining how good of a gaming graphics card it is.

I've been a PC gamer my whole life and I've spent the past few years extensively benchmarking gaming hardware for a living, so I know how a graphics card at this level is supposed to perform given its price as well as the manufacturer's past product launches.