RTX 4070 Ti vs RX 7900 XT: Which GPU is Better Value?

If you’re on the fence on whether you should get the NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti or the AMD RX 7900 XT, in this guide, we’ve given you a rundown of the pros and cons of each GPU in order to help you choose the right option for your needs.

As the fifth graphics card released in this expensive GPU generation, many gamers were hoping for the RTX 4070 Ti to be a little easier on the wallet. Well, the 4070 Ti is cheaper than the prior current-gen GPUs, including the RX 7900 XT, but it’s still mighty expensive.

The 4070 Ti and 7900 XT are, for now, the two cheapest current-gen GPUs on the market. And while they’re not the absolute best graphics cards compared to more expensive options, they’re very capable, high-end cards.

Still, comparing the 4070 Ti vs 7900 XT, one can’t help but feel a pang of disappointment, since neither card is priced at a point that will appeal to most mainstream gamers. It’s just sad that the GPU market is so inflated.

Nevertheless, if you want all the bells and whistles of current-gen cards, these two GPUs are as cheap as you’ll get right now. Performance differences are tight—and so are prices—so in this guide, we’ve simplified things to help you decide between the two cards, giving you only the most crucial stats, specs, and conclusions.

Buying Options

• Best RTX 4070 Ti Graphics Cards
• Best RX 7900 XT Graphics Cards
• Best RTX 4070 Prebuilt Gaming PCs
• Best RTX 4070 Laptops

What is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti?

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti was released in January 2023, and is, for now, the cheapest current-gen graphics card.

NVIDIA originally intended the 4070 Ti to launch alongside the RTX 4080 in 2020, under an ‘RTX 4080 12GB’ moniker. But there was a backlash because many thought that the GPU wasn’t good enough to be called a 4080 and priced at (lower-specced GPU and a worse memory configuration) $899. So, NVIDIA released the GPU later as a 4070 Ti and priced it $100 cheaper.

The ‘Ada Lovelace’ RTX 4070 Ti is a high-end card, as all the current NVIDIA 40-series GPUs are, but for now it’s the cheapest of the bunch. It offers stellar 1080p and 1440p performance and can handle 4K gaming just as well as previous-gen top-end GPUs. It also benefits from 40-series bells and whistles like great ray tracing and upscaling performance.

What is the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT?

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the cheaper of AMD’s two current-gen ‘RDNA 3’ GPUs. It launched on the same date as its more powerful sibling, the RX 7900 XTX, in December 20790022, and is a high-end card capable of gaming at any mainstream resolution.

While the 7900 XT isn’t as powerful as the RTX 4080 or RX 7900 XT, it’s $300 cheaper than the former card and $100 cheaper than the latter. While its price-performance value isn’t great compared to the XTX, it held a unique spot in the market as the cheapest current-gen GPU—a spot that the 4070 Ti now challenges.

NVIDIA vs AMD Features / New Features

AMD 7000-series and NVIDIA 40-series GPUs offer better ray tracing and AI hardware compared to previous-generation GPUs. They also support AV1 encoding.

However, NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards offer different upscaling solutions. NVIDIA 40-series cards can use DLSS 3, which can use deep learning to generate frames between the ones your GPU renders, essentially (close to) doubling your framerate. AMD 7000-series cards, however, are currently limited to FSR 2, which can’t generate frames in this way.

AMD should release FSR 3 sometime over the coming months, though, and this updated upscaling tech should also include frame generation capabilities.

Another difference is that NVIDIA and AMD GPUs offer different latency reduction technologies. While both offer some driver-level input lag reduction, NVIDIA also offers Reflex technology which, if supported by the game, can reduce lag much more than these driver-level options, providing your system wasn’t already super snappy.

Read More: G-Sync vs FreeSync: Which Adaptive Sync Tech is Better?

Finally, NVIDIA 40-series graphics cards support GSync monitors, while AMD 7000-series graphics cards only support FreeSync or GSync Compatible ones. However, most modern FreeSync/GSync Compatible monitors are just as good as GSync ones.

7900 XT vs 4070 Ti: Price Comparison

At MSRP, the RX 7900 XT costs $899 and the RTX 4070 Ti costs $799. This means the 7900 XT is $100 (almost 12%) more expensive than the 4070 Ti at recommended pricing.

In reality, prices vary. This is especially true for the 4070 Ti, because there is no Founders Edition (FE) 4070 Ti, so pricing is entirely down to AIB manufacturers.

Currently, you can pick up some of the more popular 7900 XT graphics cards for between $799-$1,100, and 4070 Ti graphics cards for between $799-950. On the cheaper end, then, both GPUs are currently going for about the same price.

Alternative GPUs

If budget is your primary concern, there are, for now, no current-gen GPUs cheaper than the 4070 Ti or 7900 XT.

If you don’t mind opting for a previous-gen GPU and want to save some money, you might be able to pick up an RTX 3080 for about $550 ($249 cheaper than the 4070 Ti’s MSRP). This card performs worse than the 4070 Ti and 7900 XT, but only by about 10-20%. It’s still a solid card for gaming at 1080p and 1440p, but it does lack DLSS 3 support.

The RTX 3090, on the other hand, still costs too much for us to recommend it over an RTX 4070 Ti or 7900 XT.

If you want a current-gen card and don’t mind spending a bit more, a 7900 XTX ($999 MSRP) is a good option. At higher resolutions, this card performs about 10-20% better than the 7900 XT and 4070 Ti and almost the same as the 4080.

Finally, if the 7900 XTX’s ray tracing and upscaling performance isn’t good enough for you, you could opt for an RTX 4080. This card performs about 5% better than the 7900 XTX at higher resolutions and has significantly better ray tracing and upscaling performance.

Read More:

• 7900 XT vs 7900 XTX: Which AMD GPU is Better Value?
• 7900 XT vs RTX 4080: Which High-End GPU is Best Value?

Graphics Card Specs

Although they both occupy the same broad market space, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT are two very different GPUs.

One thing to note is that the 4070 Ti has significantly fewer ray tracing cores than the 7900 XT. NVIDIA GPUs tend to trace rays better than AMD ones. But, as we’ll see, these 24 fewer RT cores on the 4070 Ti allow the 7900 XT to almost catch up to it in ray tracing performance.

Another thing to note is that the 7900 XT has a better memory configuration. Sure, the 4070 Ti uses faster GDDR6X memory, but the 7900 XT has a much wider bandwidth thanks to its extra 8GB of video memory and its 320-bit (vs 192-bit) bus width.

Finally, although this will only be relevant to a small number of gamers, we should note that the 7900 XT supports 4K 480Hz and 8K 165Hz via DP 2.1, while the 4070 Ti only supports 4K 120Hz and 8K 30Hz.

Dimensions

Because there are no Founders Edition 4070 Ti cards, this size comparison doesn’t mean too much. On paper, AIB 4070 Ti cards should be smaller than 7900 XT ones, but this will depend on the models in question and the coolers they use.

Both cards are pretty big, though, so make sure you check whether they’ll fit inside your PC case.

Thermal Performance

Finally, we can see that the 4070 Ti has a lower TDP (TBP), but considering there are no 4070 Ti FE cards, actual power draw will likely depend on the AIB model in question. NVIDIA recommends a 700W PSU for the 4070 Ti, and AMD recommends a 750W PSU for the 7900 XT.

Also Read: The Best Power Supplies Right Now

Regarding GPU temperatures, online reviews show that the RTX 4070 Ti tends to run a little cooler than the RX 7900 XT. But the difference is within a few degrees and both stay well below 70c while gaming. Plus, it’s hard to give a fair comparison given that there’s no reference model for the 4070 Ti.

4070 Ti vs 7900 XT: Gaming Performance

To give the most accurate picture possible for these two graphics cards’ gaming performances, we’ve collated and presented average benchmark results for different resolutions, taking our data from several online reviews, such as from TechSpot, PCGamer, and TechPowerUp.

Also Read: 1080p vs. 1440p vs. 4K: Which Resolution Is Best for Gaming?

In the graphs below, we’ve presented averages of framerates from all the game FPS data that we collected. Below the graphs, we’ve given you the average percentage differences. The latter are more representative of the difference between the two GPUs, but the graphs map on to these percentage differences closely enough to be useful (especially after we’ve discounted fps data from games with exceptionally high framerates).

1080p Benchmarks

Framerates averaged from multiple online benchmarks.

On average, the 7900 XT performs about 3.1% better than the 4070 Ti at 1080p.

At this resolution, both GPUs perform, for all intents and purposes, as well as each other. Things get pretty CPU-bound at resolutions as low as 1920 x 1080, so it’s no surprise that performance differences are slim.

For gaming at high refresh rates at this resolution, either of these GPUs is a brilliant choice. Unlike, say, an RTX 4080, these graphics cards aren’t completely overkill for gaming at this resolution if you want silky smooth frames for a 144Hz monitor.

But given that both graphics cards perform about the same at 1080p, for this resolution, unless you want to play specific games that perform better with an AMD GPU than an NVIDIA one, it’s probably better to save the $100 and opt for a 4070 Ti. Especially since you’ll be able to use DLSS 3 to boost the framerates of super-demanding games back up to high refresh rate territory.

1440p Benchmarks

Framerates averaged from multiple online benchmarks.

On average, the 7900 XT performs about 4.4% better than the 4070 Ti at 1440p.

At this resolution, the 7900 XT performs better than the 4070 Ti, but, again, the difference is slim. In fact, it’s so slim that you probably won’t notice any difference between the two cards while gaming at this resolution (unless your eyes are uncannily trained to spot tiny framerate differences).

Also Read: Is 1440P Worth it for Gaming?

Both GPUs should let you play most games above 144fps—certainly above 120fps—on max settings. Hitting the average 100fps mark is all but guaranteed. Only in the most demanding games should you drop below 100fps with either GPU.

Because of this, the same remains true for 1440p as for 1080p. For 1440p gaming, unless you can find a 7900 XT for as cheap as a 4070 Ti, it makes more sense to opt for the cheaper 4070 Ti and have the option to enable DLSS should you need to. If you can find a 7900 XT for as cheap as a 4070 Ti, it might be worth it, but only if you’re sure you won’t want DLSS 3’s frame generation capabilities.

4K Benchmarks

Framerates averaged from multiple online benchmarks.

On average, the 7900 XT performs about 6.7% better than the 4070 Ti at 4K.

At 4K, the 7900 XT once again performs better than the 4070 Ti. This time, however, the difference is noticeable, albeit only slightly.

Also Read: Is 4K Worth it for Gaming? Why Most Gamers Don’t Need a 4K Monitor

Because this is 4K resolution, these slight-but-not-so-slight differences can add up to something more significant. As resolutions get higher and framerates get lower, framerate differences become more pronounced. A 10fps difference is nothing around the 250fps mark, but it can be everything around the 60fps mark.

That the difference is bigger at 4K than at 1440p and 1080p is probably caused by the 4070 Ti’s worse memory configuration, which adds a plus to the 7900 XT column that goes by the name ‘longevity’.

Even so, we shouldn’t overstate the performance differential at 4K. In practice, the 7900 XT might net you an extra 5-10fps here or there, depending on the game. This may, occasionally, boost you from (say) 57fps to 65fps, letting you hit that stable 60fps for a smooth 60Hz gameplay experience.

But is that worth the extra $100? The answer, in our view, is probably not. Especially not when DLSS 3 can not only close that gap but leave it trailing far behind, eating deep learning’s dust.

Ray Tracing and Upscaling

Score taken from PCGamer’s testing (1440p charts).

Based on PCGamer’s 3DMark Port Royal testing, the RTX 4070 Ti does ray tracing about 2.1% better than the RX 7900 XT at 1440p.

In possibly one of the most anticlimactic endings to a GPU performance comparison, we find that with ray tracing just as with raw performance across resolutions, both graphics cards perform about the same.

This might be surprising to some, because NVIDIA GPUs of late tend to wipe the floor with AMD at ray tracing. But remember that the 4070 Ti has an extremely limited number of RT Cores compared to other 40-series GPUs. It has significantly fewer of these than the 7900 XT has Ray Accelerators, so an even score is about what we’d expect.

As far as upscaling goes, however, the 4070 Ti has all the benefits of other 40-series GPUs—albeit to a slightly lesser extent. GPUs with DLSS 3 enabled outperform GPUs with FSR 2 enabled by far, so until FSR 3 comes out the 4070 Ti beats the 7900 XT on the upscaling front.

Game Performance Summary

Across all three resolutions, both the 7900 XT and 4070 Ti perform so similarly that it’s difficult to say which one definitively wins. They also perform almost identically when it comes to ray tracing.

The 7900 XT performs better on average, but only slightly, even at 4K, where the difference is largest. And remember that there will always be variation between games—some games prefer NVIDIA GPUs, others prefer AMD GPUs.

The 4070 Ti can use DLSS 3, though, which is a big plus for it, considering AMD currently has no answer to frame generation.

More Performance Comparisons

• RTX 4090 vs RTX 4070 Ti
• RTX 4070 Ti vs RTX 4080
• RTX 4070 Ti vs RX 7900 XTX
• RTX 4070 vs RTX 4070 Ti
• RTX 4070 vs RX 7900 XT

Verdict: Should You Buy a 4070 Ti or 7900 XT?

If we compare these cards in a vacuum, it’s quite clear that the 4070 Ti is a better value proposition than the 7900 XT. It costs less and it performs basically as well as it, trailing behind only slightly even at 4K resolution. It can sport DLSS 3, too, which will be a great boon for hitting higher refresh rates at 1440p and 4K (though remember that the 4070 Ti can’t support higher than 120Hz at 4K).

But these cards don’t exist in a vacuum. They exist not only in the context of other current-gen graphics cards but also previous-gen ones.

Take the RTX 3080, for example. You can pick up a 3080 for about $550. You’d be hard-pressed to find a gamer that would be unhappy with a 3080 but happy with one of these two GPUs for 1080p or 1440p gaming.

And for 4K gaming, both of these GPUs have other current-gen graphics cards to compete with.

Probably the biggest elephant in the room is the 7900 XTX. Sure, it’s ridiculously expensive—all current-gen GPUs are—but it’s a fair bit cheaper than an RTX 4080 and not too much more than a 7900 XT. And for that price? You guessed it, significantly better performance.

If you’re dead-set on a current-gen GPU, I’d sooner opt for a more expensive but better value 7900 XTX than either the 7900 XT or 4070 Ti. But if you have to pick between these two, it’s probably best to go for whichever is selling for less at the time, given that they both perform almost identically.

The 4070 Ti has DLSS 3 in its favor, but the 7900 XT has a sliver of extra performance and an admittedly sizeable 8GB extra VRAM for longevity. It’s tough to say which of these factors is more important. On the one hand, we can arguably already see the impact of the 4070 Ti’s meagre 12GB VRAM at higher resolutions. On the other hand, that impact can be more than offset by DLSS.

You can sidestep these tough decisions by opting for a better value card like the RTX 3080 or RX 7900 XTX. Or, of course, given how similar the 7900 XT and 4070 Ti perform, you could just opt for whichever one is made by the brand you’re most loyal to.