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I’m entering a truly hectic work season – when desktop graphics cards like the ASUS TUF RX 9070 XT 16GB start pouring into Ukraine from all directions, alongside announcements of mid-range models and the first laptops based on RTX Blackwell.
Instead of a traditional review, this will be more of a mixed compilation – mostly benchmarks (primarily shown in the video, but some in the text too), along with key details and interesting insights I’ve gathered since my initial video on the 9070 XT.
ASUS TUF RX 9070 XT 16GB specifications
- PCI Express: 5.0
- OpenGL: 4.6
- Video memory: 16 GB GDDR6
- Streaming processors: 4096
- Memory speed: 20 GB
- Memory Interface: 256 bit
- Video outputs: HDMI 2.1b, 3×DisplayPort 2.1a
- Dimensions: 330×140×62.5 mm
- Power supply power: 850 W
- Power cable: 3×8-pin
- Dimensions in PCIe: 3.125 slots
ASUS TUF RX 9070 XT 16GB Video Review
Stability
First fact. The RDNA 4 generation is officially the first in my memory where AMD Radeon drivers have proven to be more stable than NVIDIA’s. In retrospect, not even in a year, but in two or three months, this will not look so important. But it is an indicator that Radeon programmers have finally reached the right level of performance.
Back in February, I was genuinely surprised when I opened DaVinci Resolve and saw the ASUS TUF RX 9070 XT handling plugins and effects that were previously NVIDIA-exclusive – like Speed Warp, for example. That wasn’t possible before, and it raises a serious question: is it still worth sticking with NVIDIA for professional workloads?
FSR 4
And that’s not even mentioning the fact that ray tracing finally works without glitches, and AMD’s frame generation – FSR 4 – has reached a level comparable to DLSS in most aspects. That brings us to the second noteworthy point: FSR 4 turned out to be a lot more interesting than I expected. First, it’s exclusive to RDNA 4 GPUs. Second, enabling it is far from straightforward. You need to activate FSR 4 in AMD Adrenalin software first, and then, in games that support it, you have to enable FSR 3.1 in the settings.
You can’t enable FSR 4 directly in-game – it functions more like a hardware plugin layered on top of a software module. And it doesn’t work everywhere. For example, titles like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 are supposed to support it, but FSR 4 simply won’t activate if the game was purchased through the Microsoft Store instead of Steam. That might seem like a niche issue, but it affects anyone using Xbox Game Pass. And let’s be honest – $5 per month for access to a massive game library is hard to beat.
In short, AMD has managed to catch up to the competition within a single generation. And they did it with a clever move: essentially releasing one GPU in two versions. Meanwhile, NVIDIA launched four distinct models – each with its own configuration – and this time around, their drivers turned out to be a major weak point.
Two cards, one optimisation
Why do I call it one GPU in two versions? Because modder Gurdi managed to flash the standard RX 9070 with the BIOS from the RX 9070 XT – and shared exactly how to do it. That’s the third notable fact. The process requires a physical programmer and comes with a number of caveats, but after flashing, the card draws around 100 watts more and in some cases performs on par with the 9070 XT.
This is not a problem for ASUS, because ASUS also produces the 9070, and not everyone will do hardware reprogramming. And obviously, you can kill the BIOS on the card by doing so. But I’m talking about this fact because these two cards are 95% separated by software. And sooner or later, 9070 XT stocks will run out because of the hype, but 9070 will be on sale.
Specifications and design
Next, and let this be the fourth fact: the ASUS TUF RX 9070 XT surprised me by how… conventional it is. It’s relatively compact in size, features dual BIOS, has three fans, and supports Zero RPM mode. There’s also a subtle RGB lighting strip on the side.
The card has three power connectors – 6+2 pin each – that deliver around 320 watts on average, with occasional small spikes. Modern PSU units with PCIe 5.1 support handle this without any issues.
Two cards… at the same time?
The fifth and final fact is that having three 6+2 pin power connectors is especially useful if you plan to build a PC with two graphics cards – not in Crossfire, SLI, or NVLink configurations, but for what’s called Lossless Scaling, or LSFG. Specifically, LSFG 3 has optimized how two GPUs work together in a single system.
This is exactly what I wanted to test. I received both the RTX 5080 and RX 9070 XT from ASUS for review at the same time. The trick, as I expected, is that LSFG allows you to use one graphics card for raster rendering, while the other handles DLSS or FSR processing.
Read also: Everything You Need to Know About NVIDIA DLSS 4.0 and Reflex 2: What They Offer and Why They Matter
It works better than you might expect. Based on the information I have, AI-based frame generation modules require power from the entire GPU, not just the tensor cores. So, if you offload raster rendering to one card and DLSS to the other, the first card runs more efficiently, the second one isn’t overstrained, and even input latency improves.
Unfortunately, I don’t have tests of this technology to share. I wanted to test the RTX 5080 and RX 9070 XT together, but the two cards simply wouldn’t fit on my test bench at the same time. The RTX is too wide and blocks the necessary slots, while the RX 9070 doesn’t fit into the available slot.
Conclusions
I understand why there’s so much buzz around the RX 9070 XT. Using the ASUS TUF RX 9070 XT 16GB as an example, it’s clear that RDNA 4 is energy-efficient, powerful, and packed with features. It has almost caught up to NVIDIA. Almost. NVIDIA still holds some advantages, which I’ll cover… next time.
Read also:
- ASUS Prime RTX 5060 Ti 16GB Review: A Top Performer for the Price?
- ID-Cooling FX280 Pro SE Review: Efficient Liquid Cooling System
- Corsair Nautilus 360 RS Review: Well-Built Liquid Cooling System
