SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ - RDNA 4's Most Impressive GPU
Quick Navigation
Introduction
RDNA 4 - AMD Levels the Playing Field
Specs and Test System
Physical Design and Cooling
The Games and Tests
Gaming Performance Analysis - 1080p, 1440p, and 4K
Benchmarks - 3DMark Synthetic Tests
Benchmarks - 1080p Gaming
Benchmarks - 1440p Gaming
Benchmarks - 4K Gaming
FSR 4 and AMD Frame Generation
Path Tracing Performance - 1440p
Temperature and Power Efficiency
Final Thoughts
TweakTown's Rating: 90%
The Bottom Line
The SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is one of the best-looking GPUs of 2025, and it performs like a dream. RDNA 4's next-gen ray-tracing and FSR 4 make it a real competitor. However, the NITRO+ is priced much higher than the $599 MSRP, so the value proposition suffers.
Pros
A beast for 1440p and 4K gaming
RDNA 4 levels up ray-tracing performance in a big way
FSR 4 upscaling is a worthy DLSS competitor
Sapphire's stunning NITRO+ design is a winner
Overclocking-ready for even more performance
Cons
Costs a lot more than the $599 MSRP
FSR 4 support is currently limited
Path Tracing image quality is a step behind GeForce RTX
Should you buy it?
AvoidConsiderShortlistBuy
Introduction
AMD's new RDNA 4 flagship, the Radeon RX 9070 XT, is a big step forward for the company's discrete graphics cards for PC gamers. Targeting the mid-range and enthusiast market, AMD has made significant strides in improving Radeon ray-tracing performance and introducing its new and enhanced AI-powered FSR 4 upscaling technology. These are two areas where Radeon has fallen behind GeForce RTX in recent years, where technologies like NVIDIA's DLSS provide what you could label as 'free performance' thanks to the excellent image quality you get - especially in games with real-time ray-tracing.
A quick look at SAPPHIRE's Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+
You might think that the hardware cost or performance impact of enabling real-time ray-tracing is too high. In that case, the one area where AMD and Radeon have stayed relatively competitive, raw traditional rasterized performance, would be enough. If you're a fan of competitive shooters, the realm where raw performance is king, then all you need to know is that the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is an absolute beast when it comes to rendering crisp 1440p or 4K Call of Duty frames.
However, with more and more single-player titles adding cutting-edge ray-tracing effects to enhance immersion, and games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and the highly anticipated DOOM: The Dark Ages requiring a GPU with ray-tracing hardware to run at all, the tide is indeed shifting. Sony's Mark Cerny, the chief architect of the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro, stated that ray-tracing is the future, and AI tools and technologies will make that a reality. You could say that NVIDIA and GeForce are already there, which makes RDNA 4's improvements and AI capabilities one of AMD's most forward-thinking architectural designs in years. Call of Duty includes support for FSR 4, too, further improving performance in the game without sacrificing image quality.
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VIEW GALLERY - 72 IMAGES
Another reason that RDNA 4 and the new Radeon RX 9070 XT have made an immediate impact is the aggressive price point, or MSRP, that AMD has set - $599 USD. Compared to its direct competitor, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, you're looking at a Radeon GPU that delivers competitive performance without falling too far behind regarding ray-tracing (it still trails the RTX 5070 Ti by double digits when it comes to RT) while being sold for considerably less money.
However, only a limited number of Radeon RX 9070 XT cards are being sold at this price point, and like we have seen with the recent GeForce RTX 5070 Ti launch, most cards are being sold at a premium - the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ included. As a premium GPU, Sapphire's design is world-class and incredibly stylish, and it even features an impressive hidden-cable design. It's also one of the few RDNA 4 GPUs that uses the new 12V-2x6 power connector instead of dedicated 8-pin power. Sapphire's switch to the new standard is ingenious because the physical design of the NITRO+ is all about highlighting its stunning frame design without any of the mess that comes from visible cables. It's a shame it's being sold for 30% more than AMD's $599 MSRP.
Best Deals: Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 7800 XT
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|Today|7 days ago|30 days ago|
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||$815.56 USD|$980.31 USD|-|Buy|
||$1254.86 CAD|$1285.97 CAD|-|Buy|
||£539.28|£510.74|-|Buy|
||$815.56 USD|$980.31 USD|-|Buy|
|* Prices last scanned on 3/12/2025 at 5:32 pm CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission from any sales.|
RDNA 4 - AMD Levels the Playing Field
Below is a summary of AMD's new RDNA 4 architecture, applicable to all models.
AMD's new RDNA 4 architecture presents a massive improvement over the chiplet design that we saw with RDNA 3. Returning to the monolithic design of RDNA and RDNA 2 might sound like a regression, especially when AMD CPUs have gone in the other direction, but this isn't the case. In a nutshell, RDNA 4 is built for 2025. This GPU architecture embraces ray-tracing performance as a key pillar, lays the groundwork for neural rendering, and supercharges AI performance for the new FSR 4 and complex AI workloads. Throw in revamped media engine for creators and streamers, and support for next-gen DisplayPort 2.1a displays, and RDNA 4 presents a new and revitalized direction for Radeon graphics.
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RDNA 4's overhauled Compute Unit, which houses all of the raster, ray-tracing, and AI hardware, has seen several enhancements over RDNA 3 and is one of the reasons why the Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers impressive performance gains. The RDNA 4 Compute Unit, or CU, features an enhanced memory subsystem, improved scalar units (for raw raster), dynamic register allocation to reduce latency and bottlenecks, and increased efficiency. The improvements also mean that Radeon RX 9000 Series GPUs can ship with much higher clock speeds than their RDNA 3 counterparts, hitting close to 3 GHz in several models, with OC variants pushing 3.1+ GHz.
The show's star, at least in terms of the massive improvement over what has come before, has to be the arrival of RDNA 4's 3rd Generation Ray-Tracing Accelerators. AMD is aware that game developers across PC and console are embracing ray-tracing, which presents a realistic depiction of lighting and related effects like shadows and reflections. The only problem is that real-time ray-tracing is complex, requiring the right blend of raw performance and innovative technologies to enhance efficiency and deliver a playable experience.
One area RDNA 4's RT Accelerator delivers where RDNA 3's don't is the arrival of "Oriented Bounding Boxes," an innovative method of handling ray-tracing Bounding Volume Hierarchy (BVH) data. Think of it as efficiently tracing rays through an environment and geometry with a lower memory cost and less hardware. RDNA 4's RT Accelerator also adds a second intersection engine to double the performance of specific raytracing workloads and calculations. The results can be seen in titles with heavy ray-tracing like Alan Wake 2 and Cyberpunk 2077, where the Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers a significant 30+% performance improvement over the previous gen flagship - the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. A card with 50% more RT Accelerators than the Radeon RX 9070 XT.
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RDNA 4 also fully embraces AI, with new AI accelerators that support FP8 while delivering double the FP16 and four times the INT8 performance compared to RDNA 3's AI accelerators. For gamers, this means the new AI-powered FSR 4 leverages AI to deliver a massive improvement in image quality over FSR 3. However, AMD's custom AI model, which was trained on powerful AMD Instinct hardware, is FP8-based, so it is exclusive to RDNA 4 hardware.
AMD is also looking to introduce its answer to NVIDIA's DLSS Ray Reconstruction for Path Tracing with Neural Supersampling and Denoising. However, it's currently only a tech demo, which means Path Tracing, although possible on RDNA 4, does not look anywhere near as good as it does running on a GeForce RTX GPU.
With improved raw performance and a massive boost to ray-tracing and AI performance, RDNA 4 presents an enormous leap forward over RDNA 3. However, catching up to GeForce RTX in these areas and offering a viable DLSS alternative does mean that early adopters will need to wait for game support and AMD to deliver its Path Tracing solution.
With 30+ FSR 4-ready titles on day one, and over 100 to arrive by the end of the year, a lot of support is coming. However, there will still be a massive deficit compared to DLSS 3 and DLSS 4 as we head into 2026. Falling behind for over five years in these areas means there's a lot of catching up to do, and this will take time. Regardless, FSR 4 is the real deal - and worth enabling in any game where it is an option.
This brings us to RDNA 4's enhanced Media Engine, which offers creators and streamers a big improvement to H.264, HEVC, and AV1 encoding and decoding. NVIDIA's lead in this area has meant that few creators use Radeon hardware. With RDNA 4, AMD is looking to close the gap and offer a viable alternative - especially regarding image quality using popular settings in apps like OBS. Creators and streamers jumping over to Radeon now makes more sense than ever.
Specs and Test System
Specifications
Here's a look at the specs for the new Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070 compared to the previous generation's Radeon RX 7800 XT and Radeon RX 7900 XT.
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GPU Specs Radeon RX 9070 XT Radeon RX 9070 Radeon RX 7900 XT Radeon RX 7800 XT
Architecture RDNA 4 RDNA 4 RDNA 3 RDNA 3
Process TSMC 4nm TSMC 4nm TSMC 5nm + 6nm TSMC 5nm + 6nm
Stream Processors 4096 3584 5376 3840
Compute Units 64 56 84 60
Ray Accelerators 64 (3rd Gen) 56 (3rd Gen) 84 (2nd Gen) 60 (2nd Gen)
AI Accelerators 128 (2nd Gen) 128 (2nd Gen) 168 120
GPU Boost Clock 2970 MHz 2520 MHz 2394 MHz 2430 MHz
Memory 16GB GDDR6 16GB GDDR6 20GB GDDR6 16GB GDDR6
Memory Interface 256-bit 256-bit 320-bit 256-bit
Bandwidth 640 GB/sec 640 GB/sec 800 GB/sec 624 GB/sec
Total Board Power 304W 220W 300W 263W
Swipe / scroll right to see more ->
Without a flagship GPU to compete with the GeForce RTX 5090, or officially take the reigns from the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, AMD's new Radeon RX 9070 XT sits at the top of RDNA 4 mountain - gaming GPU-wise. It's the successor to the Radeon RX 7800 XT, a series that was traditionally an answer to NVIDIA's 80-class range.
Compared to the Radeon RX 7800 XT, you're looking at a modest increase in stream processor count, Ray Accelerators, and AI Accelerators. Memory configuration remains virtually the same, however, the switch to a more traditional monolithic design and RDNA 4's considerable architecture improvements means that the new Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers raw performance that is close to the previous-gen Radeon RX 7900 XTX flagship - while blowing it out of the water when it comes to ray-tracing performance.
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With a sizeable 357mm-squared die densely packed with 53.9 billion transistors, the Radeon RX 9070 XT is still a powerful, cutting-edge piece of hardware. One area where AMD has pushed the technology is boost clock speeds, which have increased by around 25% compared to RDNA 3. The SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ reviewed here ships with an impressive out-of-the-box boost clock speed of 3060 MHz. Naturally, this means the Radeon RX 9070 XT draws 300+ Watts of power when gaming in 4K, with AMD letting its partners like Sapphire draw a bit more as they tap into RDNA 4's overclocking potential.
For those looking for a more efficient option, the baseline Radeon RX 9070 offers a slightly cut-down version of the Radeon RX 9070 XT while providing most of the performance you get here. Ultimately, AMD is giving the Radeon RX 9070 Series a new name to better align with its competition - the GeForce RTX 5070 Series - which makes sense.
However, the new naming also makes sense when you view RDNA 4 as a reboot of sorts of Radeon where raw performance meets cutting-edge AI and hardware that delivers excellent ray-tracing performance. The Radeon RX 9070 XT is AMD's most capable desktop AI GPU, with 1557 TOPs of INT4 and 779 TOPs of INT8 performance. This is enough to power things like FSR 4 while also offering developers and AI enthusiasts the ability to run large complex AI models locally.
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Item Details
GPU Radeon RX 9070 XT
GPU Codename GB205
Model SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
Interface PCI Express Gen 5
Stream Processors 4096
Compute Units 64
Ray Accelerators 64 (3rd Gen)
AI Accelerators 128 (2nd Gen)
Boost Clock Speed 3060 MHz
Memory 16GB GDDR6
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Bandwidth 640 GB/sec
AMD Infinity Cache 64 MB
Total Board Power 330W
Display 2 x DisplayPort 2.1a, 2 x HDMI 2.1b
Power Input 12V-2x6 power connector (3 x 8-pin adapter included)
Dimensions 330.8 x 128.5 x 65.7mm
Kosta's Test System
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Item Details
Motherboard ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X670E HERO
CPU AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
GPU NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Display MSI MAG 321UPX QD-OLED 4K 240 Hz
Cooler ASUS ROG RYUO III 360 ARGB
RAM 32GB DDR5-6000 Corsair DOMINATOR TITANIUM RGB
SSD Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus-G M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD 4TB, Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus Plus M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD 8TB
Power Supply ASUS TUF Gaming 1000W Gold
Case Corsair 5000D AIRFLOW Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX PC Case
OS Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
Physical Design and Cooling
The first part of this statement might be subjective but the second part is genuine - the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is arguably the best-looking and most impressively built GPU of 2025. Sapphire's NITRO series is renowned for delivering stand-out designs with exceptional cooling; however, the shift to the new 12V-2x6 power connector has led to a brand-new look and a commendable hidden cable design for RDNA 4's NITRO+.
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With the sturdy magnetic metal backplate removed, the power connector sits above the vent and fins with padding to support the cable from directly touching the card. We looked at a few cases in our lab, and either a dedicated 12V-2x6 cable or Sapphire's 16-pin to 3 x 8-pin adaptor easily threads through the case to the motherboard's rear for an impressive cable-free look. Going from three visible 8-pin power cables in previous designs to no visible cable is a monumental update. The result is gorgeous when you pair that with the NITRO+'s revamped aesthetics, stunning brushed metal finish, and vibrant LED light bar. We feel that some truly stunning 2025 PC gaming builds will be sporting a SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ graphics card.
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Of course, when it comes to a premium GPU like this, aesthetics are meaningless if the card runs hot and doesn't feel like it was meant for overclocking. Thankfully, that's not the case here, as the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+'s AeroCurve fans remain virtually silent, even under load, where the GPU temperature stays below 60 degrees Celsius. The impressive frame that encases all sides of the GPU has been crafted from cold rolled steel, and Sapphire's full Tri-X Cooling Technology includes a 16-phase power design, a copper PCB, and Honeywell PTM7950 Thermal Interface Material (TIM) for conductivity.
The Games and Tests
PC gaming not only covers a wide range of genres and styles, from indie games with simple 2D graphics to massive 3D worlds lit by cutting-edge real-time ray tracing technology. With that, the needs and requirements of each gamer vary. High refresh rates and latency reduction become more important than flashy visuals or playing at the highest resolution possible for those who live and breathe fast-paced competitive games. For those who want to live in a cinematic world and become a key player in an expansive narrative, ray-tracing, and high-fidelity visuals are a stepping stone toward immersion.
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Our chosen benchmarks cover various games, engines, APIs, and technologies. For the Radeon RX 9070 XT, all tests are run at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K and include results for performance-boosting Super Resolution technologies like AMD's new AI-powered FSR 4, alongside older FSR 3, and FSR 2 versions. However, our benchmark results are still sorted using 'raw performance' or native rendering.
Here's the breakdown of games, settings, and what's being tested.
Games and Settings Benchmarked
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Game Details
Black Myth: Wukong A high-impact Unreal Engine 5 test showcasing a detailed cinematic world. The in-game benchmark tool with the 'Very High' fidelity setting without ray-tracing and with DLSS and FSR.
Cyberpunk 2077 Competitive multiplayer FPS test with DLSS and FSR. The in-game multiplayer benchmark tool is used with 'Ultra' quality settings.
Counter-Strike 2 Competitive multiplayer FPS test running on Valve's Source 2 engine. A stress test mod map is used to showcase CS2 at its most demanding.
Cyberpunk 2077 Cinematic open-world test with stunning visuals and DLSS and FSR. The in-game benchmark tool is used with 'Ultra' quality settings without ray-tracing.
Cyberpunk 2077 (RT) Cinematic open-world test with stunning visuals and DLSS and FSR. The in-game benchmark tool is used with the demanding 'Ray Tracing Ultra' quality setting.
DOOM Eternal (RT) Fast-paced single-player FPS gaming running on the id Tech and Vulkan with DLSS. The Mars Core campaign mission is used to benchmark.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard (RT) Cinematic RPG from veteran studio BioWare, benchmarking the action-packed introduction sequence with Ultra quality settings including ray-tracing with DLSS and FSR.
F1 24 (RT) Racing game with hardware-intensive in-race ray-traced visuals and DLSS and FSR. The in-game benchmark tool is used, with 'Ultra High' quality settings on a single lap of the Bahrain track.
Horizon Forbidden West Cinematic open-world test with stunning visuals and DLSS and FSR. The opening section is tested using the 'Very High' quality setting.
Marvel Rivals Multiplayer hero shooter set in the Marvel universe, in-game Practise Range map used to benchmark with 'Ultra' quality settings, DLSS and FSR.
Resident Evil 4 (RT) Capcom's visually impressive remake, Chapter 1 - The Village used to benchmark with 'Max' settings.
Returnal (RT) Third-person action roguelike with in-built benchmark that tests environment destruction, particle effects, ray-traced reflections, and more.
Total War: Warhammer III Action-packed real-time strategy with hundreds of on-screen characters. The in-game 'Battle' benchmark tool is used with the 'Ultra' quality setting.
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 Cinematic third-person action game with impressive visuals. Opening mission tested using 'Ultra' quality setting with DLSS and FSR.
Path Tracing Games and Settings Benchmarked
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Game Details
Alan Wake 2 Full Path Tracing tested in 1440p using the new 'Ultra' setting with DLSS 4, Frame Generation, and Multi Frame Generation. Bright Falls town used to test.
Cyberpunk 2077 In-game benchmark tool used with the demanding 'RT Overdrive' or full Path Tracing mode, with DLSS 4 Performance, Frame Generation, and Multi Frame Generation.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Full Ray Tracing tested in this stunning first-person cinematic game, Marshall College walkthrough used to test with DLSS 4.
Gaming Performance Analysis - 1080p, 1440p, and 4K
Average Gaming Performance - 1080p Results
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The SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is not the sort of card you'd buy strictly for 1080p gaming, unless you're looking purely for a GPU to power competitive gaming on a high refresh-rate display. For the most part, the Radeon RX 9070 XT, like other GPUs that target 4K and 1440p gaming performance - run into bottlenecks at this resolution. However, as we start to see more mid-range and mainstream GPUs launch in the coming months, we'll be including 1080p performance data in more reviews. Here, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+'s 171 FPS average is on par with the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, while only being 8.2% faster than the baseline Radeon RX 9070, and 12.5% faster than the baseline GeForce RTX 5070.
Average Gaming Performance - 1440p Results
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Looking at the 1440p results, on average, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ sits slightly above the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. This is an impressive result, however, it's the superior ray-tracing performance that gives the mid-range RDNA 4 GPU the edge. Its main competitor, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, is 5.2% faster here - and because we're comparing against a $750 MSRP model, the pricing advantage of RDNA 4 does go out the window when looking at models like the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ - as impressive as it is.
Compared to the non-XT Radeon RX 9070, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is 11.8% faster for 1440p gaming, which shows us that there's not a lot of performance separating the two at this resolution. The Radeon RX 9070 XT's lead increases when looking at ray-tracing performance, and with only $50 separating the two GPU's MSRP prices, the XT variant still feels like the better choice.
Looking at 1440p ray-tracing performance in Cyberpunk 2077 using the RT Ultra preset and even though the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is 13% faster than the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+, this is still an unprecedented result for a Radeon GPU. The 54 FPS average is 25% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, 6% faster than the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, and 20% faster than the baseline GeForce RTX 5070 and Radeon RX 9070.
When pitting the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ against the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, the wins, losses, and differences vary from title to title. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a game where Radeon crushes GeForce RTX, with the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ outperforming the GeForce RTX 5080. However, when it comes to Counter-Strike 2, it trails the baseline GeForce RTX 5070, with performance that sits closer to the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER. Dragon Age: The Veilguard and F1 24, two titles with ray-tracing, see the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ outperforming the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. The SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is a fantastic 1440p gaming GPU, and a true beast when gaming at this resolution - with or without ray-tracing.
Average Gaming Performance - 4K Results
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Yes, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is a capable 4K gaming GPU with performance that sits slightly above the previous generation's Radeon RX 7900 XTX. As we saw with the 1440p results, RDNA 4's superior ray-tracing helps give it the edge here, making it one of the fastest GPUs on the market. On average, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is 6.6%; however, the performance between the two GPUs is close in most games, with either card taking the lead in some titles. The two games with the most significant discrepancies are Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 where the Radeon RX 9070 XT outperforms the GeForce RTX 5080, and Counter-Strike 2 where all Radeon GPUs struggle to keep up.
Interestingly, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+'s ray-tracing lead over the Radeon RX 7900 XTX increases to 30% in Cyberpunk 2077, with GPU also outperforming the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti in Dragon Age: The Veilguard and F1 24 with ray-tracing enabled using 'Ultra' quality presets. The only thing missing when it comes to ray-tracing on the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is AMD's FSR 4 upscaling support expanding to more titles and AMD's DLSS Ray Reconstruction-like AI denoiser getting an official debut.
Regarding 4K gaming, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+'s lead over the baseline Radeon RX 9070 increases to 13.5% with notably faster ray-tracing performance at this resolution. This helps cement the beefier Radeon RX 9070 XT as the better option for 4K. However, the performance gap between the two cards is relatively small compared to the 20% or so we see when looking at GeForce RTX models.
Benchmarks - 3DMark Synthetic Tests
3DMark offers a suite of synthetic benchmarks built to test GPUs in various scenarios. 3DMark Steel Nomad is a cutting-edge DirectX 12 benchmark with newer, modern rendering techniques designed to push GPUs to their limit. The 'Light' version tests at 1440p, while the main Steel Nomad benchmark tests pure native 4K rendering. Port Royal is a benchmark focusing exclusively on real-time ray tracing for lighting effects like reflections, shadows, and more.
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AMD's RDNA 4 architecture performs exceptionally well when looking at 3DMark's 4K Steel Nomad synthetic benchmark, with the score sitting 10.7% higher than the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and 13.7% higher than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. Looking at the 1440p Steel Nomad Light test and the story changes, here the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti delivers a score that is 13.3% higher than the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+, with the Radeon RX 7900 XTX also sitting higher on the chart. These GPUs perform similarly and trade blows when you look at individual game results, so these results don't accurately represent real-world performance.
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RDNA 4 significantly improves ray-tracing performance on Radeon GPUs, which is reflected in the Port Royal synthetic benchmark results. Both the baseline Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT score higher than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX here, with the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+'s score sitting 20% higher. It's enough to deliver a result close to the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, while trailing NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5090. The SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+'s ray-tracing performance is on par with the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti in a lot of titles, with NVIDIA's GPU pulling ahead in games with heavy ray-tracing or Path Tracing.
Benchmarks - 1080p Gaming
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Benchmarks - 1440p Gaming
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Benchmarks - 4K Gaming
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FSR 4 and AMD Frame Generation
With the arrival of the Radeon RX 900 Series and the new flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT, AMD's new FSR 4 represents a massive improvement over FSR 3.1, FSR 3, and FSR 2. The shift to a custom and powerful AI model for upscaling shows that ML or AI is the definite way to maintain image quality that is on par or even superior to native rendering. As FSR 4 was explicitly designed for RDNA 4, and trained on powerful AMD hardware, it is exclusive to the Radeon RX 9000 Series due to the advanced AI hardware requirements. The good news is the games with FSR 3.1 are automatically upgraded to FSR 4 via AMD's Adrenalin Software, with a nice overlay showing a green FSR 4 tick when booting up a compatible game.
For this review, we examined the image quality and FSR 4 performance, including AMD's Frame Generation, in Horizon Forbidden West and Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. Horizon Forbidden West with FSR 4 enabled is impressive, and in 4K and 1440p it offers better image quality than native rendering with TAA when using the 'Quality' preset. Going from FSR 3 to FSR 4, the difference is night and day, and FSR 4 is finally competitive with NVIDIA's DLSS 3. Interestingly, the cost of running FSR 4 is higher (latency-wise and compute times), so the performance improvement you get, percentage-wise, is not as high as that of FSR 3. However, the improved image quality makes FSR 3 irrelevant in titles with FSR 4 support.
FSR 4 delivers excellent results in these two titles, even when enabled at 1440p, which is terrific to see. It means the performance boost you get can be viewed as effectively 'free' - something you'd enable wherever it's available. AMD's Frame Generation also helps smooth the presentation; however, you lose out on overall image fidelity to see frame rates reach 150 FPS in 4K.
Path Tracing Performance - 1440p
Path Tracing takes real-time ray-tracing and applies the concept of ray-traced effects to anything and everything - global illumination, shadows, reflections, indirect lighting, and more. With multiple bounces, it's a hardware-intensive and cutting-edge look at the future of PC gaming that is only possible thanks to AI tools and technologies. With RDNA 4 dramatically improving ray-tracing performance compared to RDNA 3, GPUs like the Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT are capable of rendering stunning Path Traced visuals, however, it's more proof of concept than something practical.
Looking at Alan Wake 2 and Cyberpunk 2077, two of the best-looking PC games ever made when you turn on Full Ray Tracing or Path Tracing, NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is around 30 to 37% faster than the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+. However, with performance that is on par with the GeForce RTX 5070 you're getting playable entry-level 1440p Path Tracing with RDNA 4, which is a giant leap forward for Radeon GPUs. However, as Path Tracing relies on technologies like DLSS, Ray Reconstruction, and Frame Generation, AMD has to catch up regarding image fidelity and performance to match GeForce.
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an excellent example of Path Tracing running well on the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+. We hope that these results will see AMD bring FSR 4 support to more Full Ray Tracing titles throughout 2025 while also delivering its solution for denoising to match the stunning image quality you get with DLSS 4's Ray Reconstruction.
Temperature and Power Efficiency
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The SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is a quite GPU, with the fans barely making a sound. GPU temperatures also stay in check no matter the workload, and using the default settings (which can be tweaked with software) we didn't see the GPU temperature hit 60 degrees Celsius once. As an OC model, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ increases the power draw of the Radeon RX 9070 XT from 304W to 330W - which makes it slightly less efficient than MSRP models with reference specs. The Radeon RX 9070 XT isn't as efficient as the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti as AMD has pushed power and clock speeds to hit a specific performance tier. Regardless, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ features excellent cooling with enough room to overclock to achieve even better performance.
Final Thoughts
In the days since RDNA 4's launch with the Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT combo, a few revelations have somewhat dulled the initial excitement regarding the pricing compared to the GeForce RTX 5070 and GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. $599 versus $759 for the Radeon RX 9070 XT compared to the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is a genuine disruptor, where you're getting a GPU with similar performance for notably less. However, the $599 price currently only applies to a handful of select models with most Radeon RX 9070 XT cards, like the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ reviewed here, launching with prices closer to $750.
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What does this mean? Well, it simply affects the value proposition in the current climate. Looking purely at 4K gaming performance, across a range of titles with or without ray-tracing, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is impressive. RDNA 4 is arguably AMD's best gaming architecture in years, as it delivers a massive improvement where it was needed the most while also introducing excellent software support that includes the new AI-powered FSR 4. Throw in video encoding and decoding enhancements, and you're looking at one of the best GeForce RTX alternatives in RDNA history.
However, when you look at Radeon's deficit regarding market share, the widespread adoption of DLSS, and NVIDIA's advantage regarding cutting-edge Path Tracing, it does feel like premium Radeon RX 9070 XT models should feature pricing that sits a lot closer to the $599 MSRP. At around $780, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is priced similarly to the handful of GeForce RTX 5070 Ti MSRP models, a GPU that is faster overall and more stacked in terms of features. The current PC gaming GPU market seems to be all over the place at the moment, and this review first and foremost draws its conclusion based on the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+'s performance, features, build quality, design, and thermals. And with that you're looking at a series of big ticks, as Sapphire has delivered one of the best GPU releases of 2025 - albeit one that is currently priced too high.
Performance 97%
Quality 95%
Features 90%
Value 78%
Overall 90%
The Bottom Line
The SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ is one of the best-looking GPUs of 2025, and it performs like a dream. RDNA 4's next-gen ray-tracing and FSR 4 make it a real competitor. However, the NITRO+ is priced much higher than the $599 MSRP, so the value proposition suffers.
Best Deals: Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 7800 XT
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|Today|7 days ago|30 days ago|
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||$815.56 USD|$980.31 USD|-|Buy|
||$1254.86 CAD|$1285.97 CAD|-|Buy|
||£539.28|£510.74|-|Buy|
||$815.56 USD|$980.31 USD|-|Buy|
|* Prices last scanned on 3/12/2025 at 5:32 pm CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission from any sales.|