Radeon RX 7900 XTX and XT evaluation: AMD’s ‘cheap’ stab at 4K gaming

Whereas I used to be wanting to see how these new GPUs in comparison with NVIDIAs, I needed to undergo a number of rounds of driver and motherboard BIOS updates on my Ryzen 9 7900X earlier than each playing cards have been steady sufficient to truly use. That is one thing I sometimes run into when testing cutting-edge {hardware} (NVIDIA’s playing cards additionally required a BIOS replace), however there have been nonetheless points with AMD’s playing cards even after that. Halo Infinite, for instance, refused to launch matches with both card. Typically my PC would utterly shut down whereas testing Cyberpunk 2077, which required me to unplug my desktop and reset my BIOS earlier than Home windows would boot once more.

I have been benching AMD and NVIDIA video playing cards on this PC, outfitted with a premium Corsair 1000W PSU, for the previous a number of months with none stability points. So it was a shock to see simply how a lot havoc these GPUs might wreak. I have not seen different evaluations complaining of comparable points, so I am going to chalk up my expertise to early drivers. AMD simply launched a brand new driver that resolves a problem of excessive energy draw throughout video encoding, so I am hoping the corporate can also be attempting to handle the bugs I am seeing.

None

3DMark TimeSpy Excessive

Port Royal (Ray Tracing)

Cyberpunk

Blender

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

12,969

14,696/68fps

4K FSR RT: 57fps

2,899

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

11,688

13,247/61fps

4K FSRT RT: 50fps

3,516

NVIDIA RTX 4080

12,879

17,780/82fps

4K DLSS RT: 74fps

9,310

NVIDIA RTX 4090

16,464

25,405/117.62 fps

4K DLSS RT: 135fps

12,335

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

7,713

9,104/42.15fps

N/A

N/A

When the playing cards ran easily, they proved to be pretty aggressive with the RTX 4080. The 7900 XTX was on-par with the 4080 when it got here to 3DMark’s TimeSpy Excessive benchmark and Geekbench 5’s Compute check. The 7900 XT scored 1,000 factors decrease on TimeSpy Excessive, which was 3,000 factors larger than final 12 months’s RTX 3080 Ti, however it was bested by that NVIDIA card when it got here to Geekbench. Hitman 3 additionally ran blazingly quick on each playing cards in 4K, reaching 165fps and 180fps once I flipped on FSR upscaling. Very like NVIDIA’s playing cards, there’s little purpose to run any sport in 4K with out the assistance of superior upscaling tech.

The efficiency gulf between AMD and NVIDIA appeared as soon as I began dabbling with ray tracing. The 7900 XTX and XT scored effectively beneath the RTX 4080 within the 3DMark Port Royal benchmark (not less than they managed to beat the 3080 Ti). I additionally solely noticed round 57fps in Cyberpunk 2077 on the Radeon 7900 XTX whereas taking part in in 4K with full ray tracing and AMD’s FidelityFX Tremendous Decision know-how. With out FSR, that body price dipped to an unplayable 25fps. The slower 7900 XT solely managed to hit 50fps in 4K with FSR and ray tracing enabled.

Mainly, in case you’re wanting to get a video card that reaches effectively above 60fps in 4K with ray tracing, you will must look elsewhere. However in case you can stay with 1,440p, you will discover extra to love: The 7900 XTX reached 130fps in Cyberpunk with ray tracing, FSR and graphics settings maxed, whereas the 7900 XT hit 114fps. That is nearly sufficient to max out a 120Hz gaming monitor! Personally, I nonetheless discover 4K gaming to be overrated — 1,440p nonetheless seems to be nice, and you might by no means discover the advantages of pushing extra pixels. However I’ll admit that I have been spoiled by NVIDIA’s DLSS3 upscaling know-how, which allowed me to hit 74fps in Cyberpunk whereas taking part in in 4K with ray tracing. That is as near gaming heaven as I’ve ever been.

However there’s one factor you will discover with these AMD GPUs that you just will not with NVIDIA’s: Affordable avenue costs. Even after their launch, you may nonetheless snag the 7900XT and XTX near retail. Many RTX 4080 fashions, in the meantime, are inching in the direction of $1,500 at on-line retailers (assuming you could find them in inventory in any respect). Spending near $1,000 on a video card remains to be arduous to abdomen, however not less than it makes extra sense than going all the way in which to $1,500.

The Radeon RX 7900 XTX and XT are a stable step ahead for AMD, particularly in relation to 4K gaming. However I am hoping the corporate can get its driver state of affairs so as, and maybe eke out higher ray tracing efficiency within the course of. Most avid gamers are nonetheless higher off ready for AMD and NVIDIA’s next-gen mid-range playing cards, that are certain to be launching quickly. However in case you’re an avowed AMD fan, you have lastly obtained the high-end improve you have been ready for.