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AMD’s RX 9070 XT to potentially match the performance of RTX 4080

An Asus RX 9070 XT TUF GPU.
Asus

With only a few days remaining until the official launch of AMD’s new Radeon 9000 graphics cards, early performance benchmarks for the Radeon RX 9070 XT have reportedly leaked. According to VideoCardz, AMD hosted a closed-door media briefing where it shared architectural details and performance numbers for the RX 9070 XT, suggesting it could offer a significant boost over previous models and pose formidable competition to Nvidia’s offerings.

The allegedly leaked benchmarks indicate that the Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers a substantial performance uplift over the Radeon RX 7900 GRE, achieving speeds that are 42% to 168% faster at 4K resolution with ‘ultra’ settings across more than 30 games. On average, the RX 9070 XT outperforms the RX 7900 GRE by 38% at 1440p and 42% at 2160p. However, in games that heavily utilize ray tracing—such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Hitman 3—performance gains reach between 164% and 168%.

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The Radeon RX 9070 XT is also said to outperform the non-XT RX 9070 by 16.1% at 1440p and 18.3% at 2160p on average. However, the non-XT model still delivers a solid performance boost over the Radeon RX 7900 GRE, with gains of 20% at 1440p and 21% at 2160p.

Notably, AMD did not compare the RX 9070 XT to Nvidia’s recently launched RTX 5070 Ti, citing a lack of access to the card. It also avoided comparisons with its own Radeon RX 7900 XTX flagship, instead using the cut-down RX 7900 GRE. While AMD did not provide a reason for this approach, the company stated that the RX 9070 series would offer competitive performance against the RTX 4070, RTX 4080, and the new RTX 50-series.

Leaked internal benchmarks can provide an early glimpse of performance, but they should be taken with caution, as final optimizations, driver updates, and third-party testing may yield different results.

AMD announced the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT last month at CES 2025, but the presentation lacked concrete details on specifications, pricing, and real-world performance. Instead, AMD focused on broader topics such as AI-powered gaming enhancements and the introduction of FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4). This omission left many enthusiasts searching for more information, increasing the significance of these leaks.

AMD’s latest RDNA 4 architecture is expected to introduce major improvements in ray tracing capabilities, with the RX 9070 XT delivering substantial gains in ray-traced game performance compared to its predecessors. Additionally, AMD’s upcoming AI-powered FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4) upscaling technology is set to debut with the RX 9070 series, promising enhanced image quality and performance in supported games.

If these leaked benchmarks prove accurate, the RX 9070 XT could emerge as a strong alternative to Nvidia’s high-end GPUs, potentially reshaping the competitive landscape. AMD has confirmed that it will host an event on February 28 to share more details about its new RDNA 4 graphics cards. The Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT are expected to go on sale starting March 6, though AMD has yet to confirm this officially.

Kunal Khullar
Kunal Khullar is a computing writer at Digital Trends who contributes to various topics, including CPUs, GPUs, monitors, and…
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