AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Review: Incredible 4K firepower

Verdict

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is likely one of the strongest graphics playing cards in the marketplace, making it excellent for 4K gaming and artistic professionals. The magic of DLSS will nonetheless show tempting to change over to Nvidia, however the RX 7900 XTX undoubtedly presents higher worth than the RTX 4090 for uncooked 4K efficiency.

Introduction

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX could price a reasonably penny at $999/£1049, nevertheless it does supply some severely spectacular energy, ploughing by way of 4K gaming prefer it’s nothing. 

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is likely one of the strongest – and most costly – AMD playing cards in the marketplace proper now, with its supremely commanding little sibling, the RX 7900 XT, trailing ever so barely behind.

The flagship Nvidia RTX 4090 is the closest equal to the RX 7900 XTX, and as our exams present, it gave AMD run for its cash. Nevertheless, with a stunning $1599/£1679 price ticket, Nvidia isn’t precisely providing a reasonable different, even when it does include the revolutionary DLSS software program. 

With such high-end specs, the RX 7900 XTX can deal with 4K gaming with out breaking a sweat, in addition to providing help for ray tracing. I examined this card over a number of weeks and in contrast it to a number of different related GPUs to see if the RX 7900 XTX is actually price it; here’s what I discovered. 

Specs and Design

• Options RDNA 3 structure
• Excessive energy consumption
• Boosted clock speeds of two.5GHz

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is constructed on the newest AMD RNDA 3 structure. AMD claims that this presents a 50% higher efficiency per watt than its RDNA 2 predecessor, with 58 billion transistors crammed into the GPU because of the lowered 5nm course of node.  

RNDA 3 additionally consists of 2nd technology ray tracing accelerators, to offer an additional increase in efficiency. Ray tracing permits for higher in-game lighting and shadow results, which might present extra immersive gameplay, particularly in trendy video games the place the graphics are a big a part of the expertise. 

AMD has packed the RX 7900 XTX with 6144 Steam Processors. The RX 7900 XT comes with 5376 Steam Processors, and the last-generation RX 6900 XT comes with simply 5120. The boosted clock velocity has additionally been improved in comparison with its last-generation siblings, leaping as much as a whopping 2.5GHz in comparison with the RX 6900 XT’s 2.25GHz. That is nonetheless overwhelmed out by Nvidia, nevertheless, because the flagship RTX 4090 comes with an extremely spectacular boosted clock velocity of two.52GHz. 

The RX 7900 XTX presently is available in only one reminiscence configuration, at a large 24GB GDDR6. That is 4GB greater than its much less highly effective sibling, the RX 7900 XT, and will guarantee a easy efficiency throughout intensive duties. 

The RX 7900 XTX is obtainable as a Reference Card immediately from AMD, though there are third-party variations too; the scale and measurement of the cardboard will depend upon which you buy.

It comes with a number of connectivity ports, together with HDMI 2.1, USB-C and DisplayPort 2.1. This can guarantee a connection of as much as 4K at 240Hz and even 8K at 60Hz. 

Options

• Ray tracing help
• FSR 2 brings notable enhancements to supported video games

Ray tracing is one space that AMD remains to be trailing behind AMD, particularly whenever you issue within the AI-boosting software program of DLSS which is an unique function to Nvidia playing cards.

AMD’s reply to DLSS is FSR, which renders video games at a decrease decision after which upscales the video utilizing an “superior edge reconstruction algorithm”. That is much less taxing on the graphics card than merely rendering the graphics at the next decision, subsequently delivering higher outcomes total whereas utilizing much less energy. 

Nevertheless, FSR just isn’t an unique function of AMD, and it’s nowhere close to as environment friendly as DLSS, as confirmed with my benchmark outcomes under.

I examined the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX in Cyberpunk 2077 with FSR 2 and ray tracing enabled in Quad HD (1440p). Each the RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT are utilizing FRS 2 on this take a look at and the entire Nvidia RTX 4000 playing cards are utilizing the unique DLSS 3 software program. The ray tracing settings had been set to balanced in each the FSR/DLSS exams to make sure a good outcome. 

These outcomes are an ideal indicator of the distinction between FSR 2 and DLSS 3. Activating FSR 2 on the RX 7900 XTX offered a body fee improve of 93%, leaping from 40fps to a powerful 77fps. Nevertheless, the RTX 4000 playing cards noticed much more enchancment; the RTX 4090 went from 72fps to a whopping 172fps, which is a efficiency increase of 139%.

I additionally ran this take a look at in 4K beneath the identical situations to see how the RX 7900 XTX dealt with high-end gaming. With ray tracing activated, the RX 7900 XTX managed to hit 20fps, however that jumped as much as 77fps with FSR enabled. The RTX 4090 was nonetheless more adept on this space, nevertheless, hitting 40fps with out DLSS and 115fps with DLSS turned on. 

It’s clear from my exams that FSR 2 is efficient in boosting body charges in supported video games, however it will probably’t maintain a candle to Nvidia’s DLSS. Even with out AI-boosting software program, the RTX 4090 is solely extra environment friendly at dealing with ray tracing workloads than the AMD rivals. In case your foremost concern is ray tracing, then you’ll be higher off investing in an RTX 4000 Collection card. 

It’s additionally essential to level out that not each sport presently helps FSR or DLSS. Some video games solely include help for the primary technology of FSR and a few don’t have any compatibility with the software program in any respect, though that is extra notable in older or indie titles.

AMD claims that over 116 video games help the present FSR 2.2 variation. These embody blockbuster triple-A titles, with the likes of God of Conflict Ragnarök, Deathloop, Resident Evil Village and Baldur’s Gate 3 being supported. Extra video games can be added over time. 

Efficiency and Benchmarks

• Undisputed 4K efficiency
• Can deal with trendy video games with ray tracing enabled
• Improbable content material creation and rendering outcomes

I examined the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX card in opposition to the RX 7900 XT, in addition to a number of Nvidia RTX 4000 and RTX 3000 Collection playing cards. 

With a view to make my exams as honest as potential, I used the identical PC configuration all through all of my exams, the place potential. The breakdown of the rig I used is listed under:

• Motherboard: Gigabyte Know-how X670E AORUS Grasp
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
• SSD: PNY CS3140 1TB
• PSU: Corsair HX 850
• Cooler: Corsair Hydro Collection H150i PRO RGB 360mm liquid cooler
• OS: Home windows 11

Firstly, I benchmarked the entire playing cards utilizing the business commonplace 3DMark Time Spy Excessive benchmark take a look at. This can be a artificial benchmark that evaluates the general graphics efficiency of a GPU. 

The RX 7900 XTX carried out very nicely, solely being overwhelmed out by the flagship RTX 4090. Apart from the RTX 4090 – which received out by 2813 – the RX 7900 XTX simply outpaced the remainder of the RTX 4000 household, in addition to AMD’s personal RX 7900 XT.

I additionally put the RX 7900 XTX by way of numerous gaming benchmarks to see the way it handles triple-A titles. The video games I used on this take a look at embody Filth Rally, Horizon Zero Daybreak, Cyberpunk 2077, Borderlands 3, Returnal, Whole Conflict: Warhammer 3, Rainbow Six Extraction and F1 22. I ensured to make use of a wide range of genres to get a broad overview of how the RX 7900 XTX runs completely different titles.

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is greater than able to working video games in 4K at a excessive body fee, hitting above 60fps in each sport and in each take a look at, irrespective of the decision. 

Apart from a couple of choose exams, the RX 7900 XTX delivered the very best body charges total, making it one of the highly effective graphics playing cards in the marketplace proper now. 

The true spotlight of the RX 7900 XTX is its 4K efficiency; it managed to succeed in 117fps in Horizon Zero Daybreak, 106fps in Borderlands 3, 147fps in Rainbow Six Extraction and a whopping 272fps in F1 22. It solely managed to get to 66fps in 4K in Cyberpunk 2077, nevertheless, proving that not each sport will see large body fee boosts. 

I might advocate investing within the RX 7900 XTX if you happen to’re keen on 4K gaming and desire a full powerhouse. As a plus, the RX 7900 XTX can be much more inexpensive than its Nvidia equal, at $999/£1049 in comparison with the RTX 4090’s $1599/£1679 price ticket. The RTX 4090 is just a worthwhile different if you happen to’re assured you’ll make use of the superior DLSS and ray tracing options.

Energy Consumption

• AMD recommends no less than an 800W PSU at minimal
• Decrease peak energy draw than its high-end Nvidia different

AMD claims that no less than an 800W PSU is required to run the RX 7900 XTX. 

My exams present that the RX 7900 XTX does expend a variety of energy, extra so than its youthful sibling and each different card we examined. We weren’t unable to check the RTX 4090 on this take a look at, however Nvidia says it has a required system energy of 850W, and so will doubtless devour extra energy than its AMD rival.

Should you’re keen on utilizing a formidable graphics card, will probably be mirrored in your vitality payments.

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UK RRP

USA RRP

EU RRP

AUD RRP

Producer

Dimension (Dimensions)

Launch Date

Ports

Energy Consumption

Video Reminiscence

Boosted Clock Pace

Structure

Ray Tracing?

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

£1049

$999

€1049

AU$1789

AMD

267 MM

2022

DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1, USB-C

526 W

24 GB

2500 MHz

SMD RDNA 3

Sure

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