Introduction
Let’s face it, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 Series video cards are the fight of the year we’ve all been waiting for. It’s time to put AMD’s new RDNA 3 architecture against NVIDIA’s new Ada Lovelace architecture GPUs. AMD’s next-gen versus NVIDIA’s next-gen, head-to-head. This is our AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX review. Also, do not miss our AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT review.
It’s been a busy second half of 2022 with AMD CPU launches, Intel CPU launches, Intel GPU launches, NVIDIA GPU launches, and now AMD’s GPU launch. Out of all those comparisons, this is the one that gamers have been waiting to see. We’ve heard the hype from AMD about RDNA 3 and chiplet technology, we’ve seen the hype from NVIDIA and Ada Lovelace and the dominance of the GeForce RTX 4090, and now it is finally time to put both on the table and see what happens.
The winner, in our opinion, comes down to price and performance. The performance each video card offers at their respective price points is what matters most. The price tag is always the benchmark by which value should be judged. The performance you get at that price rules all. We will be heavily thinking about the price of each video card, the performance they deliver at that price, and the features and value each one provides.
On this page, we will talk about the Radeon RX 7900 XTX specifications briefly, and show pictures of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. On the next page, we will show full RDNA 3 architecture product information and Radeon RX 7900 series product information if you want more of a deep dive into the architecture and GPU series. Then we will move into gaming performance testing 4K resolution, AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution FSR performance, and Ray Tracing performance. All of the graphs show the Radeon RX 7900 XTX performance in this review, to see how the Radeon RX 7900 XT performs check out that review specifically which contains that video card.
Don’t miss our unboxing of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and XT video cards.
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Specs
| Radeon RX 7900 XTX | Radeon RX 7900 XT | Radeon RX 6950 XT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | RDNA 3 | RDNA 3 | RDNA 2 |
| Process | 5nm GCD+6nm MCD | 5nm GCD+6nm MCD | 7nm |
| Transistors | 57.7 billion | 57.7 billion | 26.8 billion |
| Die Size | 300 mm2 GCD 220 mm2 MCD | 300 mm2 GCD 220 mm2 MCD | 520 mm2 |
| Compute Units | 96 | 84 | 80 |
| Ray Accelerators | 96 | 84 | 80 |
| AI Accelerators | 192 | 168 | N/A |
| Stream Processors | 6144 | 5376 | 5120 |
| ROPs | 192 | 192 | 128 |
| Game GPU Clock | 2300 MHz | 2000 MHz | 2100 MHz |
| Boost GPU Clock | 2500 MHz | 2400 MHz | 2310 MHz |
| AMD Infinity Cache | 96MB | 80MB | 128MB |
| Memory | 24GB GDDR6 | 20GB GDDR6 | 16GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bandwidth | 960GB/s | 800GB/s | 576GB/s |
| Board Power | 355W | 315W | 335W |
The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX will retail for $999 MSRP. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is based on the new AMD RDNA 3 architecture and the NAVI 31 GPU package utilizes AMD Chiplet technology. There is a single 5nm GCD (Graphics Compute Die) and surrounding that are six 6nm MCDs (Memory Cache Die). In the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, there are 6 MCDs. The transistor count is 57.7 billion, the die size for the GCD is 300 mm2 and the MCDs are 220 mm2 each.
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX has 96 Compute Units (CUs) and 96 2nd generation Ray Accelerators as well as 192 AI Accelerators and 192 ROPs and 6,144 Stream Processors with 96MB of 2nd generation AMD Infinity Cache. The Game GPU Clock is 2300MHz and the Boost GPU Clock is up to 2500MHz. It has 24GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit memory bus at 20GHz providing 960GB/s of memory bandwidth. The Board Power for all of this is only 355W. AMD Smart Access Memory is still supported.
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX direct from AMD is in an all-black matte shaded shroud, front and back in a triple axial fan design. The shroud curves around the edges and encapsulates the video card, and the back end is capped off. The I/O portion also has no exhaust vents, all the air will get distributed fully inside the case from the top and bottom. The material feels very strong and sturdy, the build feels very robust. The back heatsink aids in cooling and dissipating heat. The video card measures 11.3 inches in length, 5.3 inches in width, and 2 inches in height, and is a 2.5-slot video card.
The body shape is curved, and the front shroud has two LED features and a metal bracket accent.
The backplate covers the entire back, including the back of the GPU. It does provide passive cooling to the video card.
For I/O it has an HDMI 2.1a port, two DisplayPort 2.1 ports as well as one USB Type-C port. It utilizes two 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors.
The LEDs look quite nice, giving it an elegant visual in dark or light.
Discussion (19 replies)
Join Discussion →Pretty much what I expected. On par or better than the 4080 at rasterization. But gets stomped to death in ray tracing.
Still...for raster workloads it's a bargain.
Now it's just a waiting game for EK to make water blocks for the OC non-reference cards.
Yup - no surprises, which I think is good because I had pretty high expectations to begin with and it pretty well met them.
Now to see how availability and the scalpers play out.
Also can’t wait to see what the power data shows.
Great review thanks
Seems better then my 3080 now to see European prices.
Very nice this card is something to be excited about. ESPECIALLY with AMD's 'Fine wine' methodology to their drivers.
Ray Tracing. 4K is for Ray Tracing.
price is acceptable, but why is the XT even a thing at 899? It wont sell.
Too bad AMD cant figure out how to do more for RayTracing......
Considering they are pretty much on par with 3090's for RT performance that isn't bad. The question is did they revise their RT processing ability to make it stronger and just haven't been able to properly flex it in drivers yet?
I'm perfectly fine with slower RT performance myself - it isn't an important feature. By the time I actually care about RT we will probably be 3+ generations removed from today's cards.
If it's anything like the 5000 and 6000 gens of XT and XTX -- the XT would overclock to darn near the same performance level as the XTX for a few dollars less, and that made it a pretty attractive option.
I don't run RT in any game other than CP2077. I'm an FPS wh0re. So rasterization performance is king in my court. The 7900XTX gets it done for an attractive price....hopefully. LOL We'll see what the AIB OC cards come in at. I have a feel that those with 3x 8 pin power are going to be overclock beasts so long as you can keep them cool. Well, dangit, I watercool all the things. So, we'll see.
I never thought I'd see the day where a $999 card would be considered a bargain... :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
I did expect more from the XTX, sure it beats the 4080 at 1080p and meets or beats it at 1440p, but it looses at 4k for the most part and this is where this card should shine. And that's not even taking DLSS2.x and 3.0 into account.
Not a bad card by all means, but I really hoped for a real RTX4080 KILLER, you know? that card that's been promised generation after generation, but has yet to come.
Refreshing review, nicely done. Very modern RT titles that had exposer to RNDA2, current gen consoles, FarCry6 and Spiderman does very well with RT. Older mostly driven Nvidia RTX titles, DXR 1.0 era takes a significant hit.
Point is RT performance is also heavily dependent upon how programed or optimized for. I don't think AMD rt performance is as powerful as Nvidia's but also think it may not really be that far behind. Newer games will show this or not.
Very tempting buy for a number of reasons.
Maybe I'm looking at the wrong numbers, but the XTX beats the 4080 in every single rasterizing benchmark FPSR threw at it with just one exception: When upscaling is used and DLSS is available and FSR is not (Watch Dogs)
[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.thefpsreview.com/2022/12/12/amd-radeon-rx-7900-xtx-video-card-review/5/#ftoc-heading-7[/URL]
It's not beating a 4090, but it's certainly knocking on the door there. But the 4080? Yeah, the XTX has is beat, until you turn on RT.
Even looking at RT - you are still at 3090/Ti levels, which even just that still costs more than the XTX MSRP.
I have to say I'm not looking at just this review benchmarks, but what I've seen in other reviews.
One thing is for sure, nvidia will have to reduce the price of the RTX4080. $200 for the "nvidia tax" is just too much even at that price range.
Its clear people were waiting for the 7900XTX release and it may have payed off one way or the other.