The time has by no means been higher to think about a brand new mid-range graphics card now that AMD made its newest GPU obtainable worldwide. Naturally, potential consumers are going to check the RX 7900 GRE vs RTX 4070, given their shut proximity in worth, but it surely’s additionally essential to think about what they every supply by way of efficiency, options, and general worth to your cash.
The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE is a curious graphics card, launching in February 2024 after being launched solely in China again in June 2023, but it surely’s now obtainable to the remainder of the world and provides phenomenal efficiency for a much more palatable price ticket than lots of the greatest graphics playing cards available on the market proper now. With the promise of the Large Navi 31 die and 16GB VRAM underneath the hood, it even proves itself to be one of many greatest 4K graphics playing cards for many who are on a tighter finances however need a few of that candy, candy 2160p gaming (with applicable settings tweaks).
The RTX 4070 has had one thing of a resurgence just lately, having been successfully changed by the RTX 4070 Tremendous again in January of this 12 months. The latter card provided 20% extra CUDA cores on the identical $599 worth level, primarily getting you considerably extra efficiency with out the necessity to splash out. However that launch additionally dropped Nvidia‘s advised retail worth of the Nvidia RTX 4070 by about 10%, making it a fair stronger contender for the title of greatest 1440p graphics card.
However there’s extra to it than all that, and whereas we’re keen on each mid-range GPUs, we would not be TechRadar if we did not dig deep into our check bench to place every of those fan-favorites to our intensive battery of efficiency checks to seek out out which one comes out on prime.
RX 7900 GRE vs RTX 4070: Worth
When weighing up a mid-range graphics card, the pricing is all the time paramount. The model new RX 7900 GRE is available in clutch with a bonus straight out of the gate with its beneficial retail worth of simply $549 / £529.99 / AU$929. In distinction, the RTX 4070 launched at $599 / £589.99 / AU$999 for the Founders Version mannequin, however has additionally dropped right down to $549 / £529.99 / AU$929 in February.
What’s significantly aggressive concerning the RX 7900 GRE is the way it slots into the present RDNA 3 lineup, being simply $50 greater than the wonderful AMD RX 7800 XT from final 12 months. As compared, the RTX 4070 is kind of the bounce up from its sibling, the Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti, which begins at $399 within the US.
On worth alone, then, this could seem like a tie between the RX 7900 GRE vs RTX 4070, however worth is not the identical factor as worth, and within the case of the RX 7900 GRE, it is general performance-to-price ratio after our testing reveals that it provides you extra for that funding, giving it the decisive edge right here.
- Winner: AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
RX 7900 GRE vs RTX 4070: Specs
AMD’s RX 7900 GRE instantly stands out as a mid-range GPU by providing 16GB GDDR6 VRAM on a 256-bit reminiscence bus. It’s constructed on the AMD Navi 31 die with a complete of 5,120 Stream Processors. By comparability, the RTX 4070 is constructed on the AD104 die with a complete of 5,888 CUDA cores and 12GB GDDR6X reminiscence on a 192-bit reminiscence bus.
There we see the fast architectural variations between mid-range RDNA 3 and Ada respectively. The previous opts for a bigger reminiscence bus with a better quantity of slower reminiscence, in comparison with the latter’s decrease reminiscence pool that’s significantly faster. Regardless of their variations, the 2 fashions are remarkably shut in complete bandwidth obtainable with the GRE boosting 576 GB/sec to the RTX 4070’s 504.2 GB/sec.
That slight lead in bandwidth comes on the worth of elevated energy draw, nevertheless. That’s as a result of the 7900 GRE has a 260W TDP in comparison with the 4070’s 200W TDP, for a distinction of 30%. Ada’s structure is due to this fact significantly extra environment friendly than its rival. With that mentioned, the pink nook wins favor by becoming its newest GPU out with the usual two 8-pin PCIe connectors without having for the likes of a 16-pin adapter, although.
The design languages of each are comparable at base stage. The 7900 GRE and 4070 are each dual-slot GPUs which suggests they need to be best for a smaller type issue mini-ITX construct simply as a lot as a wider tower.
It’s price noting that the GRE makes use of the identical chip because the AMD RX 7900 XT and AMD RX 7900 XTX, simply with considerably much less VRAM and a smaller reminiscence bus to make the most of, and the reminiscence interface matches that of the RX 7800 XT, even with barely slower reminiscence pace. It’s fascinating to see how Staff Crimson has successfully repurposed the Navi 31 silicon for a worth play, although.
In the long run, then, AMD’s providing has extra VRAM, a bigger reminiscence bus, and a better bandwidth for much less cash, so for that purpose, we’re giving Staff Crimson the sting right here.
- Winner: AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
RX 7900 GRE vs RTX 4070: Efficiency
All of it comes right down to efficiency as as to if you must spend money on both an RX 7900 GRE or the RTX 4070, and right here we have completed an unhealthy quantity of benchmarking and testing on these two playing cards and picked up reams of knowledge to assist spotlight what you’ll be able to count on from every. Measuring their common efficiency utilizing artificial benchmarks, some issues develop into fairly clear proper out the gate.
The lead taken by the RX 7900 GRE extends into our industry-standard artificial benchmarks as properly.
Taking 3DMark Sky Diver and Hearth Strike Excessive as prime examples, AMD’s GPU achieved scores of 169,170 and 27,595 when in comparison with Nvidia’s providing of 120,719 and 20,457, trailing behind by fairly a major margin.
That is additionally true with the ray tracing-focused Port Royal with the RX 7900 GRE scoring 11,768 in opposition to the RTX 4070’s 10,415. The RTX 4070 does handle to attain properly forward of the RX 7900 GRE with regards to uncooked compute efficiency although, so knowledge scientists and ML researchers are going to need to go for the Nvidia RTX card.
The place we deviate from the script considerably is with inventive workloads the place the Nvidia GPU pulls out some very stable wins.
That is most evident in Blender 4.0 with the Monster, Junkshop, and Classroom benchmarks with respective scores of two,657, 1,267, and 1,332. There’s no different method to phrase this, the GRE simply can’t match the output with scores of 1,252, 623, and 618, respectively.
In Adobe Photoshop, AMD does handle a greater exhibiting, with the RX 7900 GRE beating the RTX 4070 within the PugetBench for Creators 1.0 Photoshop benchmark, 10,650 to 9,695, although the RTX 4070 beats the RX 7900 GRE in Adobe Premiere, getting a rating of 12,317 to the RX 7900 GRE’s 11,200 in PugetBench. The RX 7900 GRE additionally manages to encode 4K video into 1080p about 10 FPS quicker than the RTX 4070, although each nonetheless carry out exceptionally properly on this check.
However these are actually gaming graphics playing cards on the finish of the day, and placing the RX 7900 GRE vs RTX 4070 throughout a number of gaming benchmarks actually did shock us.
These playing cards have greater than sufficient sources to sport properly above 1080p, however for many who is perhaps utilizing older screens or may need to deliver issues right down to full HD to reap the benefits of quicker body charges may have lots to love about each playing cards, however the RX 7900 GRE nonetheless comes out properly forward of the RTX 4070.
In Cyberpunk 2077 at max settings with out RT or upscaling enabled, the RX 7900 GRE manages to tug out a blazing quick 151 FPS in comparison with the RTX 4070’s 97 FPS, a distinction of about 55% within the RX 7900 GRE’s favor. The RX 7900 GRE is even capable of match the RTX 4070’s ray-tracing efficiency in Cyberpunk 2077 (each scoring 46 FPS with Psycho RT on Extremely high quality), although notably, the RX 7900 GRE’s minimal FPS is sort of twice that of the RTX 4070’s, so you will get a lot smoother gameplay general.
In complete, the RX 7900 GRE averages about 111 FPS at 1080p, in comparison with the RTX 4070’s 82 FPS, a distinction of about 35% within the RX 7900 GRE’s favor.
Beginning with AMD’s newest providing, the RX 7900 GRE was capable of obtain 60 FPS common in Metro Exodus with Excessive settings, in addition to 102 FPS common in Cyberpunk 2077 at Extremely. Impressively, this streak continued in Returnal with 121 FPS common at Epic settings, and Tiny Tina’s Wonderland at 116 FPS on Badass.
The RTX 4070 is not any slouch both. The mid-range Ada additionally bought a mean of 60 FPS in Metro Exodus on the Excessive preset however simply 65 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 when set to Extremely. Scores are comparable with Returnal and Tiny Tina’s Wonderland, with averages of 88 FPS and 97 FPS, falling simply in need of what the RX 7900 GRE was capable of output. That is seemingly as a result of smaller reminiscence pool obtainable.
Neither card thrives in 4K, sadly, so for those who’re contemplating both GPU you’ll need to maintain issues locked to QHD for essentially the most half.
Taking a look at Metro: Exodus, you’re going to get round half the framerate with the GRE pulling in solely 35 FPS; playable, however removed from best. It’s an identical story with Cyberpunk 2077 with the RX 7900 GRE scoring 43 FPS on common. Returnal fared higher with 68 FPS on common and Tiny Tina’s Wonderland retaining rock stable at 60 FPS. Taking part in at 2160p is feasible with the RX 7900 GRE, however your outcomes might be much less constant until you tinker with the settings some.
The RTX 4070 falls properly in need of the RX 7900 GRE at 4K. You’re taking a look at fairly the discount in Metro: Exodus and Cyberpunk 2077 with a mean of simply 29 FPS apiece, falling simply in need of playability. Returnal does a bit higher at 51 FPS however is properly behind the 4K@60+ provided by the RX 7900 GRE. Tiny Tina’s Wonderland additionally lags behind with 50 FPS – a full 10 FPS deficit – or about 18% slower.
In the long run, its probably not all that shut, with the RX 7900 GRE outperforming the RTX 4070 throughout all however a couple of benchmarks, and it solely will get soundly crushed in Blender 4.0 3D rendering, a check that Nvidia has a pure benefit because of it being tied so closely to Nvidia’s CUDA graphics language.
Aside from that, although, the RX 7900 GRE scores practically 27% higher than the RTX 4070, which is unbelievable contemplating that they’re each the identical worth. In Nvidia’s favor although, it is taking lots of energy for the RX 7900 GRE to tug this off, so if effectivity and sustainability are essential to you, the Nvidia RTX 4070 will get lots of efficiency with a lot decrease energy.
- Winner: AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
Which one do you have to purchase?
Which GPU you should purchase will finally come right down to your wants.
When you primarily desire a mid-range graphics card for gaming in the beginning, then you definitely’re going to be higher served by the AMD RX 7900 GRE. AMD’s card performs higher and extra persistently in 1080p, 1440p, and even 4K.
Nevertheless, if gaming is extra of a secondary exercise and also you desire a graphics card for creativity and productiveness then there’s a case to be made for the RTX 4070 right here. When you’re seeking to get into 3D modeling on the (relative) low cost, Nvidia’s midrange card can get you a large number farther than AMD’s, however that is actually a really slim benefit, and most of the people are going to need to get the RX 7900 GRE. Contemplating there isn’t any distinction in worth between the 2, it is a straightforward name to make on this one.
- Winner: AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE