AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Takes Graphics Performance to New Heights

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Takes Graphics Performance to New Heights

Written by Sanket Goyal, In Graphics Card, Updated On
January 21st, 2024
, 258 Views

The premium $999 Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the first of AMD’s two new Radeon 7000 graphics cards. AMD is adopting a different route than Nvidia, which introduced its GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs in October 2022. AMD intends to attract gamers with a better value rather than a faster GPU. AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has its drawbacks, but this is it if you want a strong graphics card that can compete with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 at a lower price. For that, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX is our high-end graphics card Editors’ Choice.

Gamers have been eager for a new GPU generation, but Nvidia’s fast offerings must be more pricey for most to contemplate. AMD announced the Radeon 7900 XTX with 50-70% performance gains over the 6950 XT flagship, putting it within striking distance of the much more expensive RTX 4090 for rasterisation performance, which increased hype and anticipation.

Specification of AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

Radeon RX 7900 XTX

Graphics ProcessorAMD Navi 31
GPU Base Clock2300 MHz
GPU Boost Clock2500 MHz
Graphics Memory TypeGDDR6X
Graphics Memory Amount24 GB
Card WidthDouble
Card Length11.3 inches

What Is In The Box?

  1. RX 7900 XTX GPU: The RX 7900 XTX graphics card is the main thing. Graphics rendering and gameplay enhancement depend on this component.
  2. Manuals and documentation: Manufacturer instructions, guidelines, and paperwork. These documents cover graphics card installation, setup, and use.
  3. Download or CD driver information: A CD with graphics card drivers. Manufacturers may also list where to obtain the newest drivers on their website.
  4. Power Ports: The box may contain PCIe power cords to power the RX 7900 XTX graphics card.
  5. Various accessories: Manufacturers may include cable adapters, RGB lighting connections, or promotional goods. Models differ in accessories.

Review of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Graphics Card

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX snatched the Nvidia RTX 4080’s bubble gum and kicked ass. AMD had a high bar to pass with their next flagship graphics card. AMD has finally released a graphics card that isn’t just equal to Nvidia’s rival GPU but also delivers a technical knockout that no one expected at a much lower price. Combined, the RX 7900 XTX and Nvidia RTX 4090 eliminate the need for the 4080. AMD isn’t to blame because Nvidia’s RTX 4080 blunders may damage it beyond repair this generation. AMD positioned itself perfectly to exploit these mistakes, and just like that, it comes to market with a flagship graphics card under $1,000, just as frustrated gamers who’ve been unable to upgrade their rigs due to scalpers and crypto hogs are finally ready to upgrade their GPUs.

Pricing and Availability Details for Enthusiast Gamers

Radeon RX 7900 XTX

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX costs $999.99 in the US starting December 13, 2022. It will cost £899 in the UK and $1,789 in Australia. Other AMD board partners like XFX, Gigabyte, and others may charge more than this for the AMD standard card. Still, the RX 7900 XTX compares to the US MSRP of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which arrived for $999.99, and it is lower than the card it is likely replacing, the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT, which was released for $1,099 (approximately £880, AU$1,580).

Most importantly, it’s $200 less than the Nvidia RTX 4080 it’s competing against, which is an evident benefit as buyers face uncertain economic circumstances in the next year. The RX 7900 XTX is $100 more costly than the RX 7900 XT, which comes alongside it and features significantly less powerful hardware targeting upper-mainstream consumers than Team Red fans. AMD GPUs may take time to join our top inexpensive graphics card list, but RDNA 3’s $999.99 price cap is encouraging. Was $999.99 too much for a gaming graphics card? It is, yet a $1,000-minus-a-penny graphics card is hard to call “value” in absolute terms. This is the finest AMD graphics card ever, and it may be the most crucial, given how Nvidia seems determined to raise prices to the market’s limit.

Advanced Features and Dominant Chipset of the 7900 XTX Graphics Card

AMD’s top graphics card, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, uses the 5nm Navi 31 GPU, but there’s more to it. Chiplets, or several dies, are used in graphics cards, with the main computation die utilising TSMC’s 5nm node, and the cache memory fails using a 6nm process with fast interconnects. AMD has substantially invested in this compartmentalised design in its Ryzen and EPYC CPUs. Since the 5nm node is more costly than the 6nm node, this helped AMD keep this card under $1,000.  AMD uses an earlier TSMC technology to manufacture dies that don’t need 5nm’s performance, so it uses as much of the more costly pass as it wants without wasting silicon.

Striking Design of the 7900 XTX Graphics

Radeon RX 7900 XTX

Many RX 7900 XTX design aspects are noteworthy and even praiseworthy. First, the RX 790 XTX is much smaller than the RTX 4080. In a standard PC case, the RX 7900 XTX is 11.3 inches (287mm) long and 2 inches (51mm) thick, much less than the 12.2 inches (310mm) long and 2.4 inches (61mm) wide RTX 4080. The RX 7900 XTX also looks nicer than its predecessor, which could have been more pretty (at least not AMD’s reference RX 6900 XT).

Note the primary 2 x 8-pin power connector on top of the card. AMD doesn’t use the 16-pin connection that has plagued Nvidia’s newest releases, drawing just shy of 360W under severe load. This demonstrates that Nvidia probably didn’t need it either.  Four 8-pin connections hooked into the RTX 4090 may have been “unsightly” for some, but it’s better than hooking them into an adaptor and filling your case with wires. This is especially true with the RTX 4080, which employs a three-8-pin-to-one-16-pin adaptor to offer 320W of TDP, 35W less than AMD’s two 8-pins while avoiding difficulties.

Dominant Performance of the 7900 XTX Graphics Card

Everything comes down to performance. If Team Red’s AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX didn’t offer the gaming performance they promised, AMD’s reputation as the cheaper but weaker Nvidia competitor would be cemented. Buying more inexpensive things is fine, but quality and performance are essential. AMD excels here. A few ray-traced wobbles here and there. But it delivers big. As said, its limitation is the RX 7900 XTX’s creative performance, especially in workloads like Blender that are highly optimised for Nvidia’s CUDA graphics programming language.

AMD is rewriting Blender Cycles workloads run through CUDA in a more open-source language to better use AMD technology, and these upgrades should start with Blender 3.50.  The RX 7900 XTX gets crushed in Blender, so if that’s your creative workload, you can wait for AMD to fix it in the next couple of releases or get the RTX 4090, the actual creative professional’s GPU. At least charge the business account. Those items are for that, right?

PROSCONS
Great Gaming PerformanceHigh Power Use
Advanced Graphics TechnologyForm and Size Considerations
High-intensity graphics VRAM

Should I Buy The Radeon RX 7900 XTX?

The Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a good GPU compared to its GeForce counterpart. However, its value depends on ray tracing performance. The 7900 XTX is a considerable step forward over the Radeon 6800, but it’s also double the price, so it’s not worth the upgrade for people owning previous-generation flagships. Radeon RX 6800 and 7900 XTX may be related.

FAQs

Q: What makes the RX 7900 graphics card stand out?

The RX 7900 uses cutting-edge graphics technology to give a great gaming experience. It targets enthusiast gamers wanting top performance with sophisticated features and a big VRAM.

Q: Does RX 7900 support ray tracing?

In compatible games, the RX 7900 supports ray tracing for more realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections. This function improves gamers’ visuals.

Q: Power consumption considerations?

The RX 7900’s power usage is concerning. Users should ensure their power supply can handle its needs to maximise graphics card performance.

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