Let’s fake for a minute it is December 2022 as soon as once more, and the Radeon RX 7900 XT is being launched for the primary time. However on this situation, the graphics card is launched with 9 months of driver growth and $150 slashed off the MSRP. And sure, the GeForce RTX 4060 sequence and Radeon RX 7600 have additionally been launched, however we need not deal with that…
Again to actuality, the Radeon 7900 XT certainly launched with some driver-related points which hampered efficiency and it launched at $900, however right now we will discover a minimum of one mannequin out there for $750, and a number of boards promoting under $800. Given these circumstances, we felt a re-review was due and to evaluate how a lot better the 7900 XT may have been.
This may not be a full top-down evaluation as not all the pieces has modified, however we’ll study the video games which have seen efficiency enhancements, a number of that have not, and take a look at a 15 sport common information. From there, we’ll have the ability to recalculate price per body and see the place this GPU stands.
Readily available for testing, we’ve got a number of Radeon RX 7900 XT playing cards that we have not assessed earlier than. A few of these fashions have been out there for $750 over the previous few weeks. One such mannequin is the Sapphire Pulse, which dropped as little as $720 halfway by means of July and has been $100 under MSRP since March.
Additionally available is the Asrock Phantom Gaming, at present priced at $780 however we noticed it promoting for as little as $720 final month and has been priced at $800 or decrease since March, too.
Then, we’ve got the MSI Gaming Trio Basic, which is comparatively more durable to seek out. Newegg has beforehand supplied it for as little as $780, so this MSI card hasn’t hit the rock-bottom costs that we have seen from the Asrock and Sapphire fashions. It is value noting that MSI was gradual to the 7900 sequence celebration, releasing their customized playing cards a number of months late, seemingly influencing pricing.
For testing, we’re utilizing our Ryzen 7 7800X3D check system with 32GB of DDR5-6000 reminiscence, utilizing the newest show drivers. That being stated, the 7900 XT will probably be in contrast with our evaluation driver so we will observe how a lot progress AMD has made on the motive force entrance over the previous 9 months.
Table of Contents
Benchmarks
First up, we’ve got The Last of Us Part 1, and on this sport, AMD has made some enhancements, boosting efficiency at 1080p by 14%, making the 7900 XT 8% quicker than the 4070 Ti. It is also encouraging to see a 19% enchancment over the 6950 XT, and though that is nonetheless considerably lower than what AMD was concentrating on, it is a substantial enchancment from the 4% improve we famous earlier.
That margin is decreased to 11% at 1440p for the brand new driver, growing the common body fee from 89 fps to 99 fps. That is nonetheless an honest acquire, however not fairly as spectacular as what we noticed at 1080p.
Then, at 4K, we’re solely witnessing an 8% uplift for the newer driver. Nonetheless, with the 4070 Ti efficiency dropping at this decision, the 7900 XT receives a considerable 21% efficiency benefit.
Shifting on to Resident Evil 4, we’re not witnessing any efficiency enhancement with the newest driver, which is kind of typical from our 15 sport pattern.
As we improve the decision, there is no such thing as a efficiency enchancment, leading to the identical 155 fps at 1440p and 92 fps at 4K. This form of result’s fairly typical when evaluating the discharge driver and the newest driver.
The one different sport, in addition to The Final of Us Half 1, to show a substantial efficiency enchancment or any efficiency enhancement, is Forza Horizon 5. Right here, the newest driver improved the 7900 XT by 19% at 1080p, barely edging out the 4070 Ti by a mere 5% margin. Nonetheless, that is a powerful enchancment provided that it was beforehand slower than the 6950 XT.
That stated, the margin shrinks considerably at 1440p, and the newest driver now solely affords a 12% increase, which admittedly is substantial, however notably much less in comparison with what we noticed at 1080p.
Then at 4K, we’re solely seeing a 4% increase, which was sufficient to primarily match the 6950 XT. This is not a powerful outcome at this excessive decision, nevertheless it’s a much-needed enchancment nonetheless.
The F1 2022 benchmark solely noticed a really minor efficiency enchancment at 1080p, mainly throughout the margin of error, with a 2% improve within the common body fee.
At 1440p, we’re taking a look at lower than a 2% improve, transferring from 118 fps to 120 fps after which onto a 3% improve at 4K. Nonetheless, it is value mentioning that the 1% lows noticed a extra noticeable 7% improve, which was pretty constant all through the F1 2022 testing.
15 Sport Common
Here is a have a look at the 15 sport common information, beginning with the 1080p numbers. As we said, two video games noticed substantial good points with little to no change for the opposite 13. Because of this, total efficiency was boosted by simply 3% at 1080p. Whereas this can definitely assist the 7900 XT, by way of total efficiency, it is hardly game-changing.
Then at 1440p, the margin is decreased to simply 3%, taking the general body fee from 135 fps to 139 fps. It is good to see any sort of enchancment, however as soon as once more, it does not considerably alter the 7900 XT’s efficiency.
Lastly, at 4K, we’re additionally solely taking a look at a 3% increase total, which is not noteworthy. Subsequently, let’s transfer on to a cost-per-frame evaluation.
Price per Body (MSRP)
First up, let’s study the price per body information primarily based on the producers’ prompt retail pricing figures. On the still-official MSRP of $900, the 7900 XT is a joke, providing the identical price per body as previous-gen elements that have been additionally of poor worth upon launch, such because the $330 Radeon RX 6600.
Ideally, we would need a half just like the Radeon 7900 XT providing a minimum of 15% higher worth than the RX 6800, however on the $900 MSRP, it was 7% costlier.
Had AMD launched the 7900 XT at $750, it might have been 13% cheaper than the RX 6800, considerably nearer to the place we predict it ought to have been. Realistically, it ought to have been priced at $700, however $750 marks a considerable enchancment from $900.
However after all, the problem for all current-gen GPUs is the huge surplus of older elements. Even right now, the Radeon 6950 XT can nonetheless be had for as little as $640, which makes a $900 7900 XT totally ineffective. However at $750, if you happen to have been available in the market for a high-end GPU, you’d seemingly pay the small premium for the quicker Radeon 7900 XT. It is seemingly going to age higher with additional driver growth and affords a bit extra VRAM for good measure.
It additionally beats out the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti priced at $800. There isn’t any approach body era is value a 16% premium for many avid gamers. We personally discover that onerous to imagine. After all, if you happen to play aggressive multiplayer titles, then body gen is totally nugatory. Absolutely, the 20GB VRAM buffer supplied by the 7900 XT is a considerably better drawcard given the 4070 Ti solely has 12GB. However, tell us what you assume within the feedback part.
Energy Consumption
We’ll rapidly contact on energy utilization with some complete system figures. When in comparison with the 4070 Ti, complete system utilization in Hitman 3 was elevated by 9%, and each GPUs produced the identical body fee in that instance. So the 4070 Ti is definitely extra environment friendly, however there’s not a major distinction.
That stated, in Spider-Man Remastered, the 7900 XT pushed complete system utilization 25% increased, although it was 7% quicker. So once more, the GeForce GPU is definitely extra environment friendly, however the distinction is not all the time that vital.
What We Discovered (Months Later)
So that is what may have been for our day-one Radeon 7900 XT review. 9 months in the past we concluded that this GPU wanted to price not more than $750. That was absolutely the highest value we may see the 7900 XT making sense, and now that seems to be as true as ever. Relying on the place you reside, it’s best to have the ability to buy a 7900 XT at that value.
Once we have been within the making of this evaluation, a couple of week in the past, the Sapphire Pulse 7900 XT mannequin was out there for simply $750 on Newegg. It is since been adjusted to $770. The PowerColor Hellhound has additionally typically been out there at $750, although proper now it is nearer to the $770-$790 vary alongside a number of different options. We count on the 7900 XT’s pricing to be all over for the subsequent few weeks and months, it will not all the time be out there at $750, however it’s best to completely be looking out for a great deal.
On the efficiency entrance, as good as the huge enchancment in Forza Horizon 5 and The Final of Us Half 1 are, total, the 7900 XT is not a lot quicker right now than it was 9 months in the past. The most important issue right here is the closely discounted value from the unique $900 mark. Furthermore, the most affordable GeForce RTX 4070 Ti we will discover is around $800, and you would be mad to purchase that over a reduced 7900 XT, in our opinion.
All stated and achieved, it is a disgrace AMD botched the Radeon 7900 XT launch. We have been not too long ago discussing how poorly the Radeon division has been executing for years now, and though RDNA 3 fell in need of efficiency targets, the fitting pricing may have made this sequence an enormous success.
Nonetheless, we imagine this era was destined to fail. It failed as a result of the crypto increase ended in a single day, leaving AMD and Nvidia with huge silicon orders with TSMC and Samsung, main to an enormous surplus of GPUs that avid gamers did not need, a minimum of not with no hefty low cost utilized. However had the crypto increase not ended, this era would have been even worse.
Whereas AMD ought to and will have launched the 7900 XT at $750 from the get-go, and even decrease, that may have left them holding a large bag of 6900 XT and 6950 XT’s, a state of affairs they completely did not wish to discover themselves in. That stated, you need to marvel if making that sacrifice to claw again market share from Nvidia would have been a successful long run technique.
Onerous to say, however what we do know is that one more era has handed us by the place the Radeon group continues to tread by means of the waters of irrelevancy, which is unlucky for avid gamers in every single place.
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