Which choice are you going to go for, AMD or Nvidia?
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With the wide range of GPUs now available, there are some decisions you have to make when choosing which one to go for. Now it comes to the RX 7700 XT vs RTX 4070, you can make a good decision as to which one to go for. Each from different manufacturers has its benefits and drawbacks but both from the latest gen, have a lot to offer.
The first to the market out of these options was the RTX 4070, coming out in April 2023 with a much lower price than from the previous lineup. When it comes to the RX 7700 XT, it was finally released in September of the same year. Fulfilling the gap left by the top and low-end releases in the RDNA 3 lineup. Now with the more popular set of GPUs with the RX 7800 XT release, there is a lot to choose from when picking out these options.
Great performance for a sub $500 GPU
Well-designed cooling keeps temps at less than 85°C
Sapphire Pulse keeps the price low without unnecessary extras
Only $50 less than the RX 7800 XT which has better framerates
Ray tracing performance is still lackluster, but much improved
Relatively high power draw even compared to its predecessor
Impressive build quality
Brilliant aesthetic
Inexpensive
only a dual-fan design
The basis of how GPUs function, the architecture is what’s behind the cores and the processes of the chip. With the building blocks varying between generations and manufacturers as well. This does make it more difficult to compare them but rather a good base understanding of how they function rather than a direct comparison between the Radeon and RTX cards.
For the makeup of the RX 7700 XT, it is based on the RDNA 3 architecture. The chip is the Navi 32 XL variant is an MCM design with a GCD on TSMC’s 5nm process and the MCDs on TSMC’s 6nm process. Coming in with a size of 200mm² and 150mm² respectively they come with 28.1 billion transistors. On the other hand, the RTX 4070 is part of the Ada architecture in particular the AD104-250 variant. It is made with TSMC’s 5nm process in a monolithic design. Measuring 294mm² it fits inside of it 35.8 billion transistors.
| RX 7700 XT | RTX 4070 | |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | Navi 32 XL | AD104-250 |
| GPU process | TSMC 5 & 6nm | TSMC 5nm |
| Shaders | 3,456 Stream processors | 5,888 CUDA cores |
| Base clock | 1,900MHz | 1,920MHz |
| Boost clock | 2,171MHz Game, 2,544MHz max | 2,475MHz |
| Memory | 12GB GDDR6 | 12GB GDDR6X |
| Memory clock/bandwidth | 18Gbps/432GB/s | 21Gbps/504GB/s |
| Memory bus | 192-bit | 192-bit |
| TBP | 245W | 200W |
| PCIe interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |
For some details that might be a bit more comparable, there are some other specifications to look at. We see what these mean for the cards and how they vary between them with what the effects might be for their performance.
The GPU cores are integral components within the processor, each cluster providing distinct specialized functionalities. These cores encompass stream processors for shaders and graphics, as well as ray accelerators tailored for enhancing ray tracing performance, neatly organized into separate compute units.
When it comes to shaders creating the graphics you see, AMD and Nvidia have different solutions. Meaning there is no direct comparison to look at. The lower Team Red Stream Processor count does not entirely mean a lower performance even with the CUDA cores of Nvidia cards that may have a higher count.
Now, let’s delve into the concept of frequency, often referred to as clock speed. It represents the pace at which these GPU cores operate. This clock speed is pivotal for processing graphics and executing instructions, ultimately culminating in the visual output you observe on your display. When comparing the two options, their clock speed specifications are fairly similar.
It might not be the direct translation to performance when it comes to comparing the two but can matter more between the models of the two. There is a similarity to the clocks already with a close to 1,900MHz base clock and boost clock reaching up to around 2,500. AMD differs in providing a game clock of around 2,100 MHz which is the likely clock during heavy processing like gaming. Overclocking is also an option to boost those numbers, as long as you have the power and cooling to spare.
Turning our attention to VRAM, or video memory, several factors come into play. VRAM plays a pivotal role in a graphics card’s performance, especially at higher resolutions. It serves as a buffer for accommodating increased pixel counts, demanding robust memory bandwidth for efficient processing. We’ve seen that come to be the case with all the new games coming out with high textures.
Now when it comes to the differences between the RX 7700 XT vs RTX 4070, they have a lot of similarities but change the clock it. As they both have 12GB of memory but the AMD card opts for GDDR6 instead of GDDR6X. That means it is clocked at 3 Gbps less than the 4070, so with the same 192-bit bus, the RX 7700 has a bandwidth of 432GB/s compared to 504GB/s, giving the advantage to the 4070.
Lastly, we consider the concept of TBP (Typical Board Power), which has replaced the traditional TDP (Thermal Design Power). TBP represents the amount of electrical power the GPU is expected to draw. AMD has gone for a lot more power needs as the card draws up to 245W. The RTX 4070 has a lower 200W rating saving you money on electricity in the long run.
Comparing the MSRP of the cards, we get a look at what the value of the graphics cards is supposedly. The new Radeon GPU is on the lower end in an effort to undercut the Nvidia choices. As such it starts off at a price of $449 compared to the RTX 4070 which is priced much higher at $599. Although this might change with any price drops, it does make the RX 7700 XT $150 cheaper than the RTX 4070.
Looking towards performance we can see the pure performance of the RX 7700 XT from our own review and benchmarks. We don’t have a direct comparison but looking towards other sources we can see the kind of performance you can expect from those cards. Although we also have AMD’s own benchmarks to compare it to and what you might expect from the differences.
Although the RX 7700 XT is a great 1440p card it does fall behind slightly of the 4070. To be fair it does go up against the RTX 4060 Ti instead it does have some potential power against the 4070 although that’s more in the 7800 XT’s domain. You can find the AMD card just a couple of tens of FPS behind or similar in some scenarios. But that is expected with the lower price tag it has. It also falls behind in ray tracing, not as much as previous but certainly not as efficient as an Nvidia card.
The RX 7700 XT is certainly a lot better value than the RTX 4070. It dops the performance and ray tracing of the 4070 but you save a lot more. Especially if you’re looking for 1440p performance, the 7700 XT does get a great performance all around and even pushes it higher in certain scenarios. So the AMD card is certainly a great alternative to opt for.
Overclocked model offers improved performance over factory models
Robust and more interesting design to the card makes it more appealing for your build
Cut out and metal build keeps temperatures down and performance up
OC model does cost you extra over the MSRP
Fantastic visuals
Top quality brand
Dual BIOS
Expensive
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