Test Setup
Please read the information on our GPU testing procedures and methodology here. Note that our GPU Testing Bench has been upgraded to the Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU and AM5 platform.
Note that we have the 1602 BIOS installed, which uses AGESA version Combo AM5 PI 1.0.0.7c. We are using the motherboard’s current default BIOS settings on the latest release BIOS. We have enabled PCI-Express Resizable BAR in the motherboard BIOS. This means we are utilizing Resizable BAR on NVIDIA GPUs and AMD Smart Access Memory on AMD GPUs in all our testing. We have enabled EXPO I in the BIOS for the memory.
We are using a fresh install of Windows 11 Pro with the latest Windows Updates, including the 22H2 Fall 2022 update. We have the latest drivers installed including the latest chipset drivers from AMD. We are using the “Balanced” power profile in Windows Settings. Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling is ENABLED in Windows. VBS is DISABLED and Game Mode is ENABLED.
When comparing video cards in this review, we are using an AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, Radeon RX 6800, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition. Keep in mind launch prices by MSRP for comparison, the Radeon RX 6800 XT launched at $649, the Radeon RX 6800 launched at $579, and the GeForce RTX 4070 FE launched at $599. The Radeon RX 7800 XT has a launch MSRP of $499. The SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB GAMING OC has an MSRP of $549.
We are going to compare the video cards by launch MSRP compared to the previous generation, and the current generation, to see the performance improvement at similar price segments generation-to-generation.