With the Radeon RX 7000 graphics card series, AMD is once again putting pressure on Nvidia’s upper-class RTX 4080. The new graphics cards with AMD Navi-31-XT graphics chip are a convincing alternative on the market thanks to good efficiency and high gaming performance.
In a direct comparison to the competition from nVidia, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is classified just below the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080. Expressed in numbers, the new RX 7900 XT calculates on average about three to five percentage points slower than the RTX 4080, depending on the application and games.
However, the slightly lower performance is put into perspective when you consider the purchase price of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. Here the AMD graphics card is around 300-400 euros cheaper over the virtual counter than the competition.
As a result, you get better value for money with the RX 7900 XT. You can see the exact ranking of gaming performance in our live graphics card ranking.
As usual, the launch of new graphics cards is a bit slow and the first custom designs are only slowly coming onto the market. The respective models can shine above all with a better cooling concept compared to the reference design.
The custom designs also offer different clocks, sometimes with or without factory overclocking, and with or without RGB lighting. In terms of length, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT are mostly shorter than the RTX 4080 graphics cards, they can also be as long as 35 cm depending on the manufacturer. A correspondingly large housing should therefore be available here.
The HardwareSchotte editorial team will help you with the purchase and tell you which Radeon RX 7900 XTX models are recommended.
The best AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics cards
- SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT Vapor-X 20GB
- ASRock Radeon RX 7900 XT Taichi 20GB OC
- SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7900 XT 20GB GDDR6
- XFX Speedster MERC310 Radeon RX 7900 XT Gaming
- SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 7900 XT 20GB GDDR6
- XFX Radeon RX 7900 XT AMD Edition
Performance benchmarks for AMD graphics cards
How does the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT perform in benchmarks?
The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT has clearly been beaten by the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 benchmarks. However, the gap in the Nvidia competition is not big at just a few percentage points. The increase in performance compared to its predecessor, the RX 6900 XT, is even in the lower double-digit percentage range. If you are looking for a powerful gaming graphics card for 4k resolutions, you should have the RX 7900 XT in your selection.
You can find a more precise classification in the performance ranking in our graphics card purchase advice.
Which power supply is ideal for a Radeon RX 7900 XT?
The various tests show that AMD has developed efficient graphics cards with the new RX 7000 series. Although the efficiency is not at the level of the current Nvidia graphics cards, you can already operate an RX 7900 XT with a good 750-watt power supply. If you consider that the previous models (RX 6900 XT) also required at least 750 watts with significantly lower gaming performance, this is a step forward in terms of efficiency.
Here you will find high-quality power supplies with at least 750 watts of power in our price comparison.
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT vs. RX 6950 XT – how much faster is the new generation?
In this comparison, the new AMD RX 7900 XT wins the race, as expected. Not only is the performance significantly better, but the efficiency has also been optimized since the RX 7900 XT does not consume more than its predecessor.
Is my CPU too slow for an RX 7900 XT?
Especially with smaller resolutions up to FullHD, you can tell best if the CPU is a brake in the system. With resolutions above that, the graphics card becomes more and more important. We recommend at least a 10th-generation Intel Core i5 or a 3rd-generation AMD Ryzen 5 or better to operate an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT.
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT or Nvidia RTX 4080 – which card is better?
In terms of performance, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 is the faster graphics card. Especially when looking at gaming performance with ray tracing enabled. Without ray tracing, the performance difference between the two high-end gaming graphics cards is much smaller.
Here you should also consider the purchase price, which is a lot lower for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. So if you look purely at the performance, you should reach for the RTX 4080. If the better price performance is decisive, then we recommend the RX 7900 XT.
How long is AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics cards?
The length is a factor to consider when purchasing. Some models of the AMD RX 7900XT series measure up to 35.3 cm. This is longer than some cases support – especially if you already have a water-cooling radiator and fan in the front
