The last word:
The return of AMD in the race ?
Yes, clearly. But to be honest, I had some doubts when the RX 7900 XT(X) was presented, since AMD had only presented very few graphics showing the performance of its cards against the competition. However, AMD is there and manages to impose itself largely thanks to its RX 7900 XTX which shows itself more powerful than its main competitor. As we have seen, in 2160p definition, there is nothing to debate.
Now yes, once we activate Ray Tracing in 2160p, our two sample suffer and if the game doesn’t have FSR or XeSS technologies, it will be a waste to be able to enjoy this definition. You’ll have to do without Ray Tracing or go back down to 1440p. Now, in the opposite case, it will be possible to reach 60 FPS by making sometimes a little compromise and sometimes none in order to enjoy the best graphic quality! However, we also noticed that DLSS is the most interesting in terms of performance when Ray Tracing is activated.
AMD still has a card to play in the next few weeks when its “Ryzen 7000X3D” processor will be available, which should bring a gain in performance when combined with an AMD GPU. We will make a series of comparative tests when it will be available in all logic for early 2023.
The price, always the price
Not to change, this is the one that will have a (psychological) impact on sales. NVIDIA offers its RTX 4080 Founders Edition at 1399 euros (1199$ announced) currently. The brand has lowered its price since the euro has regained some strength against the dollar. So, when is it on the side of AMD?
AMD informs us that the official prices in Europe including VAT will be 1059.99 euros for the RX 7900 XT (899$ in the US) and 1159.99 euros (999$ in the US) for the RX 7900XTX. First observation, the conversion rate is identical to that proposed by NVIDIA, that is to say an additional cost of more or less 17% compared to the price in dollars. Those who were hoping to see a card under the 1,000 euro mark will be disappointed. Advantage to the reds who offer a cheaper solution to take full advantage of the 2160p definition. Now, beware, as we have seen, things get complicated when Ray Tracing is activated. For us, cards at this price cannot do without Ray Tracing, it would be really unacceptable to do without it. The RTX 4080 will allow you to make no compromises, while the RX 7900 XTX will force you to go down to 1440p if the game has neither FSR nor XeSS.
And this Powercolor RX 7900 XTX Red Devil Limited Edition?
Once again, Powercolor doesn’t do things by halves! The card is superb and the imposing radiator allows it to stay cool in any condition and especially in absolute silence. If the fans are triggered, they are ultra silent because of their low speed. Powercolor innovates by offering an additional backplate in a bundle. As we said, Powercolor will continue to offer other backplates in 2023 which can be purchased individually.
The presence of three classic 8-pin connectors will surely have a reassuring effect on potential buyers in view of the problems encountered by NVIDIA with its 12VHPWR adapter, even if the situation now seems to be under control. At the time of writing, we had not yet received information about the price and availability of this model, which will only be produced in a limited edition of 1,500 units.
Powercolor RX 7900 XTX Red Devil Limited Edition
We liked:
- A card to take full advantage of the 2160p
- A RX 7900 XTX more powerful than the RTX 4080 without Ray Tracing
- A perfectly designed power supply with quality components
- The use of classic 8-pin connectors
- Excellent cooling system
- The very reliable noise levels
- The quality of the card’s design
- Bundled backplate and the possibility to buy more
- The return of AMD to a level close to NVIDIA’s
- The limited edition for this Red Devil version
We would have liked:
- Not to find ourselves once again with a card that is limited in overclocking!
- A better control of the power consumption on the RX 7900 XTX
- Even more games supporting FSR
We have mixed feelings when it comes to the performance of this new AMD generation and we can’t decide between gold and silver. The excellent 2160p performance combined with a very well designed, quiet and perfectly cooled Powercolor Red Devil make us opt for the gold award. However, the Ray Tracing will disturb our opinion if the chosen game does not have FSR or XeSS. It is then simply impossible to enjoy it fully and we have to switch back to 1440p. We were also a little disappointed with the overclocking feature, which is almost non-existent, as we quickly reached the card’s power limits, with the added bonus of a fairly high power consumption. Thanks to Powercolor for the sample of this RX 7900 XTX Red Devil Limited Edition.
