The last word:
So, what do you think of this Gigabyte RX 9070 XT Gaming OC?
As you’ll have gathered, it’s all good, without a doubt. AMD has chosen to concentrate on mid-range cards, and this seems to have paid off, even if the performance is ultimately of a very high level. It’s a risky choice, but one that seems to have paid off, even if we had to wait until March for the cards to arrive. It looks like the gamble of offering cards under the $700 mark, as indicated on the slides, may well be the winning choice, especially if stocks are good and with the MSRP prices in euros we’ve just received from AMD France.
Since the RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX, a persistent question has been: “Why is AMD offering two cards with fairly similar performance?”. AMD launches two cards, with a price difference of $50 and performance that varies by plus or minus 12%. In the end, the RX 9070 XT would have been more than enough. We still don’t really have an answer to this question.
Performance:
There’s no doubt about it. Our Gigabyte RX 9070 XT Gaming OC clearly has the upper hand over the recently launched RTX 5070 Ti. We consider this model to be a card dedicated to 1440p, but which can also cope perfectly with 4K definition. The idea is not to take too much advantage of Frame Generation in order to maintain a good gaming experience. Compared to the previous generation, the RX 7900 XTX remains very slightly more powerful, but with a launch MSRP nearly $400 higher!
For lack of time, we haven’t had a chance to evaluate its overclocking capabilities , but the memory already seems very flexible, and we should be in for some nice surprises too.
The MSRP price is very attractive, but…
AMD surprised everyone by announcing an MSRP of $549 for the RX 9070 and $599 for the RX 9070 XT! It was difficult to comment on these prices without knowing the performance. Now that they’ve been released, we’re thinking these are really excellent prices, especially since AMD France has given us MSRP prices of €629 for the RX 9070 and €689.95 for the RX 9070 XT!
The first regret is the absence of AMD reference boards. Had this been the case, it could have made a big impact, especially as the RTX 5070 Ti is not available as a Founders Edition, but only as a custom card. Now AMD can make room for its partners.
The MSRP of 689.5 euros for the RX 9070 versus 884 euros for the RTX 5070 Ti remains clearly in favor of the reds, given the performance of our Gigabyte RX 9070 XT Gaming OC. Now, neither AMD nor Gigabyte were able to provide us with the price of this Gaming OC model… so fingers crossed we don’t get a nasty surprise on March 6.
Finally, stocks! We have the impression that they should be substantial, since distributors were already receiving cards in January 2025. No doubt partners have had plenty of time to build up their stocks. And where the post-posted launch had led us to fear the worst, such as the need to update the cards’ BIOS following disappointing performance, we can tell you that this is absolutely not the case, since we received our sample of the RX 9070 XT on January 13, 2025. It had been waiting in its box ever since. We can well imagine that if stocks are high, scalpers will have very little interest in buying cards, which should prevent prices from skyrocketing – at least, once again, let’s hope so.
Should you sell your RX 7900 XTX?
Well, as was the case with the RTX 5000: “NO, your RX 7900 XTX will still do the job perfectly”. We chose this RX 7900 XTX model because the performance is quite similar, even if the launch price is quite different. On the other hand, an upgrade from a previous generation is entirely conceivable if prices are consistent.
Now, where AMD is likely to hurt is that, in the absence of RTX 5000 stocks, potential buyers are likely to turn to AMD if the cards are available and priced right. Once again, as we said in our introduction, we’ll know whether AMD has succeeded in its gamble on March 6, the day of the official launch and availability of the RX 9070! It remains to be seen how NVIDIA will react.
Once again, Gigabyte has produced an excellent card, the Gigabyte RX 9070 XT Gaming OC. As with other Gigabyte Gaming models, we’re very satisfied with this series. Less exuberant than the AORUS series, this Gigabyte Gaming has everything to please: an efficient cooling system and a look that will suit most people. It remains to be seen what the price will be in stores on March 6, but if, as we hope, stocks are good, it’ll be banger!
Thanks to Gigabyte France for making this copy of the Gigabyte RX 9070 XT Gaming OC available.
