Performance Issues With AMD's RX 9070 XT Are Widespread

We’re currently in an exhilarating phase leading up to the launch of some of the top graphics cards of next year, which has resulted in a flurry of leaks and predictions surfacing daily. The past few weeks have particularly highlighted AMD’s upcoming flagship, reportedly named the RX 9070 XT. However, we are increasingly encountering a mix of conflicting information regarding the performance we can anticipate from this premium RDNA 4 card. Recent leaks suggest its performance could be quite close to Nvidia’s RTX 4080.

Insights from zhangzhonghao on the Chiphell forums (a well-known leaker in the CPU and GPU community) indicate that the performance difference between the RX 9070 XT and the RTX 4080 might be just 5%. However, it remains unclear which of the two cards comes out on top, as well as the specific games used for testing.

This aligns with numerous earlier predictions about AMD’s new flagship. Some prior leakers positioned it on par with the RTX 4080, while others suggested it would be more in line with the RX 7900 XT, which is not an equivalent comparison. So far, the only leaked benchmark for this GPU comes from a Time Spy test, showing it lagging behind the RX 7900 XT but suggesting competitiveness with the RTX 4070 Ti.

It’s safe to say the information we’ve gathered is quite scattered.

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9070XT Rumor

base 2.8 boost 3.0-3.1

Power: Reference 260W, custom variant up to 330W

Gaming performance: Reference ~4080 (-5%) https://t.co/JOT3IqnWgo

— HXL (@9550pro) December 26, 2024

In addition to the vague performance estimates, zhangzhonghao also shared some significant specifications for the RX 9070 XT. The leaker anticipates the AMD model to have a total board power (TBP) of around 260 watts, although variants from AMD’s partners could reach up to 330 watts. This TBP is comparable to what we might see in the RTX 5070 Ti, though that does not necessarily imply similar performance levels.

Furthermore, the leaker predicts a base clock speed of 2.8GHz that could be increased to 3.0 to 3.1GHz. These speeds are achievable with overclocking in the current lineup, yet they still represent the upper echelon of what’s possible.

With just 10 days until AMD unveils the RX 9070 XT — likely alongside other cards from its lineup — we should approach all of this information with a degree of skepticism. It won’t be long before we learn the precise specifications, providing more clarity on potential performance.