The RX 7800 XT is a card that has made a name for itself in the graphics card world. Its advantages over the RTX 4070 include more VRAM, better rasterization performance and a more attractive price. It is, however, a more power-hungry card… But with a little undervolting, it’s possible to get a very interesting performance/consumption ratio, similar to its rival!
RX 7800 XT: a performance/consumption ratio similar to the RTX 4070 after undervolting!
The proof of the pudding comes from a Dutch YouTube channel. After arming themselves with a factory overclocked card, a Gigabyte Gaming OC version, the power limit was lowered to 90%. This considerably reduced power consumption. Indeed, by default, the card consumes 40% more power (24% more for the reference card) than the undervolted version, for only 9% more performance.
As far as performance is concerned, lowering the consumption limit also reduces performance. Where the loss is greatest is on Starfield, where the card does 29% less. However, this impact is not the same for all games: -10% on Spider-Man Remastered and -4% on God of War.
But what’s interesting is to see the impact on performance against the RTX 4070, which is on average 1% higher. Of course, AMD’s card literally crushes its rival on Starfield (21%), while it takes a beating on Spider-Man (-14%). Note that both cards have similar power consumption: around 200W.
In short, if you’ve got a 7800 XT and you’re concerned about your EDF bill, undervolting will improve its efficiency. What’s more, undervolting is also interesting from a heating and noise point of view. If the board consumes less power, it heats up less and the fan doesn’t need to compensate as much: the fan runs more slowly and is quieter.
