Conclusion
In today’s review, we took a look at the new SAPPHIRE PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT GAMING 12GB video card, with an MSRP of $449. The SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT GAMING is a custom design from SAPPHIRE, sporting the new Radeon RX 7700 XT GPU, and runs at AMD reference clock speeds. It has a custom cooling solution using SAPPHIRE’s Dual-X cooling solution, and a solid design with a full backplate. The SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT GAMING is geared for 1440p gaming and has 12GB of VRAM on board so your gaming won’t be bottlenecked at 1440p.
Performance
To put the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT to the test we focused on the 1440p gameplay experience with and without Ray Tracing and Upscaling. In Returnal the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT performed with playable performance at 87FPS and beat every video card here. It was 18% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, and 19% faster than the Radeon RX 6750 XT, and 26% faster than the Radeon RX 6700 XT. Forspoken’s performance was also impressive at 72FPS. It was 33% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, 20% faster than the Radeon RX 6750 XT, and 24% faster than the Radeon RX 6700 XT.
In The Callisto Protocol, the game was playable at nearly 80FPS at 1440p with it performing 17% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. It was 40% faster than the previous generation Radeon RX 6750 XT and Radeon RX 6700 XT, showing a big improvement from the previous generation. In Call of Duty Modern Warfare II the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT was very fast at over 100FPS and was the only video card to do that. It was 47% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti and 41% faster than the Radeon RX 6750 XT and 49% faster than the Radeon RX 6700 XT, which is big gains.
In Chernobylite Enhanced Edition the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT was within 5% performance of the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. It offered improved performance over the Radeon RX 6750 XT by 19% and the Radeon RX 6700 XT by 25%. In Dying Light 2 the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT was 14% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti and 11% faster than the Radeon RX 6750 XT and 16% faster than the Radeon RX 6700 XT. In Cyberpunk 2077 the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT dominated performance at 80FPS. It was 25% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti and 33% faster than the Radeon RX 6750 XT and 39% faster than the Radeon RX 6700 XT.
The SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT is also impressive with Ray Tracing performance. It actually wasn’t behind for a change but showed improved performance in big gains from the previous generation. In Returnal it was on par with GeForce RTX 4060 Ti performance and was a very large 32% and 38% faster than the previous generation performance. In Forspoken the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT was 14% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti.
In The Callisto Protocol, the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT was 12% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. Compared to the previous generation it was a very high 43% and 48% faster. Chernobylite Enhanced Edition struggled, but the improvement from the previous generation was pretty high at 45% and 51%. In Dying Light 2 the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT was 36% and 42% faster than the previous generation, though the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti did edge out performance. Finally, in Cyberpun 2077 the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT was slower than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, but picked up over the previous generation by 44% and 51%.
Upscaling also helped performance on the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT quite a bit at 1440p. Utilizing FSR is a good option when performance gets a little tough, especially with Ray Tracing. However, even without upscaling every game we tested was playable at 1440p, and the highest game settings without Ray Tracing, there was no need for upscaling. When you use upscaling on the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT it can push framerates into the 100+ FPS range at 1440p. Where upscaling helped the most is with Ray Tracing, such as pushing Returnal up to 84FPS or Forspoken up to 72FPS or Dying Light 2 to 64FPS.
Power and Temp Summary
The SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT uses custom SAPPHIRE Dual-X cooling technology but does run at the AMD reference boost clock and game clock frequencies. The official quoted TDP from SAPPHIRE is actually 230W, a little less than the AMD-specified TDP. In our testing, the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT reached a board power of 230W, matching SAPPHIRE’s claims on power demand, and it is great to see that come in a little lower, yet still perform as well as it did.
When we overclocked the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT, power rose to 241W, which is not a big gain in power draw. It was just a 5% increase in power, and we think that is mainly coming from the memory overclock. We did see a linear performance increase of up to 5% with this overclock, so the overclock doesn’t seem inefficient.
The simple matter is that the Radeon RX 7700 XT GPU is already dynamically being tapped out, due to its dynamic ability to set the clock speed based on thermals and power. The cooling is so good, and the power delivery so good, that it is already boosting up as much as it can automatically. That just means there isn’t much headroom for manual tweaking at this power limit. It is already delivering as much as it can out-of-the-box, so you aren’t leaving performance on the table.
We were very impressed by the cooling from SAPPHIRE. The SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT uses the Dual-X cooling, and this does a much better job than even the previous generation SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 6750 XT video card also tested in our review. The SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 6750 XT had a very high Hot Spot temp of 98c, and a GPU temp of 68c. The new SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT really improves upon the last generation’s temperatures by a large degree.
The new SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT had a Hot Spot temp of 82c and a GPU temp of 60. At these temperatures, it even runs cooler than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition on GPU temp. When we overclocked it, we pushed the fans to 100%. We saw the temperature dramatically decrease. The thermal solution is not holding back overclock potential at all. The fans were quiet at default operation.
Final Points
The SAPPHIRE PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT GAMING 12GB is a very strong performer for $449. When looking at this same price segment from the last generation, you have the more expensive Radeon RX 6750 XT which launched at $549, and then the Radeon RX 6700 XT which launched at $479.
Therefore, if you spent between $479-$549 in the last generation, the new Radeon RX 7700 XT is actually cheaper than the Radeon RX 6700 XT was at launch. If you spent that amount of money then, you can now get much faster performance today, for a cheaper price. There is a generational improvement in performance at a cheaper price. This is the real value of the Radeon RX 7700 XT, and cards like the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT. Don’t forget, with the video card you also get Starfield bundled, which is a huge bonus to that value.
Last Gen Comparison
In our performance evaluation today, the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT was between 25%-40% faster than the Radeon RX 6700 XT. There were a lot of games in the 20-30% range, without ray tracing. When we enabled ray tracing, the advantages continued and we saw advantages such as 30%-40% better ray tracing performance, with advantages as high as 50% with ray tracing. When we compared the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT to the Radeon RX 6750 XT we saw performance advantages in the 20%-30% range, with almost as equal benefits with ray tracing.
RTX 4060 Ti Comparison
When we compared the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT to the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB video card, the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT came out on top in every game. When the performance was similar in one game, it was very close. The SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT was around 17%-47% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB. In ray tracing, the RTX 4060 Ti did have an advantage in some games, but we were surprised by how many games had similar performance with the new SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT compared to the RTX 4060 Ti. Ray Tracing wasn’t that far behind, not like it usually is. This will continue to be determined by the game.
All of these data points are interesting, as they show that the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT is faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB or even the 16GB model in gaming performance. The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti has two VRAM models, 8GB, and 16GB, but performance is the same between them as it has the same GPU, same clock speeds, and same memory bandwidth specs.
Currently, you can find the 16GB model of the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti discounted in price from $499 MSRP, now down to $449, matching the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT pricing. However, it is yet to be seen if these are permanent discounts or temporary, they might go back up over time, but it remains to be seen if this is an official permanent price drop from NVIDIA.
Even at the same price as the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT will still be faster in performance, based on the premise that the 8GB and 16GB RTX 4060 Ti performs the same when not VRAM capacity limited. The 8GB GeForce RTX 4060 Ti model is $399 by MSRP, so that is cheaper than the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT.
The SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT has a $50 premium but offers faster performance, and more VRAM at 12GB instead of 8GB on the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti model. The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti offers DLSS, Ray Reconstruction, and Frame Generation, however. The SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT offers more performance and forward-looking VRAM capacity when looking at it that way, for $50, you get a decent improvement in gameplay performance and longevity.
Summary
If upgrading from a previous generation, the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT is definitely looking like an upgrade in performance, for less money by MSRP compared to the previous generation from AMD. It is a generational upgrade, at the same price point. If you paid $479 for a Radeon RX 6700 XT in the last generation, or even more for a Radeon RX 6750 XT, then upgrading to the Radeon RX 7700 XT today would get you a gameplay experience improvement, for less money than you paid in the last generation. That is what we call good value, gen-to-gen.
If you are interested in a Radeon RX 7700 XT, the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT is a solid video card that offers great cooling, and you get the Starfield bundle.
