The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is probably the most hyped AMD graphics card of the past decade. It is difficult to recall a time when an AMD card received this much attention. As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding.

As the embargo passes and reviews emerge, we can get a far more accurate picture of what sort of performance can be expected from the RX 9070 XT. One of the reviewers who is providing a verdict on the RX 9070 XT is popular YouTuber Hardware Unboxed.

RX 9070 XT is a fantastic answer to Nvidia’s 5070 series

Of interest to most is how the new AMD card performs against its nearest rival, Nvidia's RTX 5070 Ti. Hardware Unboxed ran it through a comprehensive set of benchmarks, including top titles such as Counter-Strike 2, God of War Ragnarök, Dragon Age Veilguard, and Call of Duty Black Ops 6.

The results were not a slam-dunk win for the RX 9070 XT on all fronts, but in most scenarios, it could equal or beat its Nvidia rival. Of particular note were the results from Cyberpunk 2077, where it matched the RTX 5070 Ti at 1440p, and even pulled 3% ahead at 4K resolution. In Call of Duty Black Ops 6, the RX 9070 XT scored an impressive 118 FPS at 1440p, compared to the 97 FPS of the RTX 5070 Ti.

However, in titles such as Counter-Strike 2 and Delta Force, the 9070 XT came in up to 10% under the RTX 5070 Ti. Counter-Strike 2 is one of the most popular games on Steam, so it is surprising that this issue was not detected by AMD. Though overall, the 9070 XT was slightly weaker than the RTX 5070 Ti, it was within 1% of the RTX 5070 Ti at 4K, and 6% slower at 1440p.

Results for Ray Tracing performance were good news for RDNA 4 and its FSR 4 software suite, however. Testing showed a 34% improvement over the previous generation RX 7900 XT which was equipped with FSR 3.

“This is a difficult one to sum up,” Hardware Unboxed host Steve Walton admitted, “but I think overall what is on offer here in the current market is very good and worth recommending. If the RTX 5070 Ti stays well above MSRP, then combined with poor availability, that will make the RX 9070 XT a no-brainer. You'd be mad not to buy.”

About the Author

Rebecca Hills-Duty

Writing and journalism experience at VRFocus, UploadVR, The Escapist, HTC, PC Gamer, Tech Radar+ and Dexerto. Can sometimes be found playing with retro tech.