GoKawiilShould you buy the Radeon RX 9070 or the RX 9070 XT? It is a question we get asked surprisingly often, so for anyone unsure which model is the better choice, we are going to cover everything, including the basics for readers who do not live and breathe this stuff.
The truth is that the RX 9070 and 9070 XT are very similar. When the cards launched, the non-XT version did not make much sense, because it cost just 8% less while packing 13% fewer cores. But it's now been over a year since these models first appeared, and pricing has fluctuated considerably. At times, the non-XT model has been significantly cheaper, which explains why so many of you have been asking about it.
In terms of specifications, both offer 16GB of 20Gbps GDDR6 memory on the same 256-bit-wide memory bus, providing 640 GB/s of bandwidth. Both also feature 64MB of Infinity Cache and support the PCI Express 5.0 x16 interface.
Where they differ is in their core configurations. The RX 9070 features 3,584 cores, whereas the XT version gets 4,096, a 14% increase. According to AMD's specifications, the RX 9070 XT also boosts to 2,970 MHz, compared with just 2,520 MHz for the non-XT model, giving it an 18% clock-speed advantage.
Radeon RX 9070 XT Radeon RX 9070 Radeon RX 7900 XTX Radeon RX 7900 XT Radeon RX 7900 GRE Price (MSRP) $600 $550 $1000 $900 $550 Release Date Mar 2025 Dec 2022 Feb 2024 Process TSMC N4P TSMC N5 (GCD) / TSMC N6 (MCD) Die Size (mm2) 357 mm2 529 mm2 Core Config 4096 : 256 : 128 3584 : 224 : 128 6144 : 384 : 192 5376 : 336 : 192 5120 : 320 : 192 L2 Cache (MB) 64 MB 96 MB 80 MB 64 MB GPU Boost Clock 2400 MHz 2070 MHz 2500 MHz 2400 MHz 2245 MHz Memory Capacity 16 GB 24 GB 20 GB 16 GB Memory Speed 20 Gbps 18 Gbps Memory Type GDDR6 Bus Type / Bandwidth 256-bit, 640 GB/s 384-bit, 960 GB/s 320-bit, 800 GB/s 256-bit, 576 GB/s Total Board Power 304W 220W 355W 315W 260W
Based on those specifications, you might expect the XT model to be considerably faster. But as is often the case, it depends.
Most models do not adhere strictly to AMD's reference clocks. The Sapphire Pure cards, for example, show only a 5 – 6% clock-speed difference between the two GPUs, while the Pulse versions are closer to 9 – 10%.
The PowerColor Hellhound RX 9070 averaged a clock frequency of 2,745 MHz, meaning the Sapphire Pure 9070 XT clocked 13% higher on average. Meanwhile, the Asus TUF Gaming RX 9070 XT averaged 3.2 GHz, putting it 17% ahead.
Given that most RX 9070 XT cards appear to have no trouble operating at around 3.2 GHz, you might assume it would be easy to overclock the non-XT models to similar frequencies. After all, they are effectively the same product, only with a few cores disabled. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Most RX 9070 cards max out at around 2.8 GHz due to power limits enforced by AMD.
The only way around this is to flash the graphics card with a different BIOS, though doing so can introduce a few complications. The BIOS requires a valid signature, meaning you need to use one from a closely related model. Ideally, that means flashing a Pure RX 9070 with a Pure RX 9070 XT BIOS, or at least using an RX 9070 XT BIOS with the same I/O configuration, including the same number of DisplayPort and HDMI outputs.
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