XFX Radeon RX 9070 XT Mercury OC Magnetic Air

[W1zzard]

Any chance you got a Red Devil (either 9070 or 9070XT) kicking around over there to tell us about? Not rushing you, just curious.

Nope, PowerColor sent 9070 Hellhound

 

[Krit]

This launch is pushing me back towards 5080s.

That's a smart choice if you can get one at msrp. I wouldn't go for those new gpus because msrp is complete bs in both sides.

 

[Bobaganoosh]

Nope, PowerColor sent 9070 Hellhound

OK. I wouldn't expect vastly different performance on all these, but was just curious from a build quality, thermals, audio perspective. I knew you had a pile of cards to get through still. Thanks for the response!

 

[Dragokar]

Why the hell are the new XFX cards so “loud” in comparison????

 

[bitsandboots]

This launch is pushing me back towards 5080s. I'd rather get a 5090 even if I ever find one at $2k.

Just a wee bit of fire eh? If given a multiple choice answer on marked up 9070s or the 5000 series in any shape whatsoever I'll choose option D, none of the above.

 

[VoltDriver]

Banger of a review W1zzard, well done. This is my favorite site to check up for GPU reviews by far.

Interesting that the cooler on this XFX card is kind of mediocre compared to the Taichi or Nitro+. At least this card has a proper power connector though, and not the fire hazard of the 12V 2x6.

 

[Dristun]

Why the hell are the new XFX cards so “loud” in comparison????

Factory curve set for lower temps than others at a higher PL. Fans crank up. Mind you, 36.7dba is still quieter than almost any card from 10 years ago. Btw, you can improve even on Taichi's Quiet Bios results by removing the shroud and installing any decent 120mm fans instead.

 

[BigMack70]

That's a smart choice if you can get one at msrp. I wouldn't go for those new gpus because msrp is complete bs in both sides.

I think this might be the first GPU generation to reduce performance per dollar across the entire product stack. In terms of real availability, it looks like 9070 XT and 9070 are heading towards the prices of the 7900 XTX / XT that we had in 2024. The 5080 is basically a 4080 but a little faster for 20-40% more money. The 4090 is more expensive than it's msrp by a lot. And the 5090 is unobtainium even at $3000.

Anyone who was thinking about building/upgrading 6 months ago and decided to wait for new gen got screwed big time, and I can't remember that ever being the case before.

 

[Dristun]

Anyone who was thinking about building/upgrading 6 months ago and decided to wait for new gen got screwed big time, and I can't remember that ever being the case before.

I remember how I didn't buy a 3080 at MSRP on release day because I wanted to see RDNA2 reviews first but by the time they went live and I got disappointed, the mining boom was starting to hit super-hard and I didn't upgrade at all, haha.

 

[BigMack70]

I remember how I didn't buy a 3080 at MSRP on release day because I wanted to see RDNA2 reviews first but by the time they went live and I got disappointed, the mining boom was starting to hit super-hard and I didn't upgrade at all, haha.

Yeah, crypto booms have caused this same effect on accident before, but this time it has been intentionally caused by both AMD and Nvidia.

Both AMD and Nvidia decided months ago to stop making cards. They did this to ensure they would not need to compete with themselves when they launched new products. Nvidia then proceeded to launch the worst GPU generation ever, and AMD is content to follow suit by refusing to clamp down pricing to MSRP. This is one of the scummiest moves I have ever seen.

The best advice to someone six months ago would have been "go ahead and build/upgrade, because both AMD and Nvidia are going to discontinue all their products and then replace them with worse versions that are more expensive and hard to obtain". And that's not because of some economic accident - it is because of the direct actions and intentions of both GPU companies.

 

[TRIPTEX_CAN]

I bet it's sensors being more accurate than in previous generations on top of a much higher heat density which makes resistance futile. PTM7950 won't do jack.

Its a mix of the sensor being really accurate/located at the actual hottest spot and he massive density of this latest chip. Its dense and hot. Also, good to note that Nvidia has dropped the hotspot sensor reporting on the 50 series. They may have a huge edge temp to hotspot disparity too.

Another note, and I didnt see W1zz mention this, but based on the squish and texture on the coldplate photo. I looks to me like it was factory PTM.

 

[Makaveli]

What happened with the LLM benchmarks on the AMD 9070 reviews?

i would also like to see TPU add LM studio for LLM benchmarks.

It has support for Cuda, ROCm and Vulkan for its runtimes.

The software is easy to use and more accessible for non expert level users.

 

[Nater]

Why does everyone compare the prices of this card at $800 to 7800XT's and 7900XT's and act like it's out of whack? It's less than 5% slower than a 5070 Ti. Which is $749. I mean $800. No wait, it's $850..oh I got my wires crossed, it's $900...oops, $979. Oh nevermind, NONE OF THEM ARE IN STOCK. Board partners can charge whatever the F' they want you guys!

Ya'll are still paying it!

 

[jormungand]

I went to Microcenter yesterday around 11am, waited in line for around 1 and half hour, always checking the stock. "There were" still plenty of msrp 9070Xt's powercolor, xfx, asrock...sapphire pulse gone and
asus prime just a few. By the time i got inside the guys told us that there were NO MSRP CARDS LEFT, that the cheapest one available was $750 and up.

$600 ~ $700 is admissible for aib partners/models price/performance, WTH asking $800+ for these cards??? i know nvidia is paper launch but why they want to bring the fight at $750 up??
thats the msrp for the 5070ti ffs. Same brand a freaking gpu at $599 some shiny stuff and they lose their minds and ask $200+

i was there, money on hand and they just lost a sale because of f!@#$ greed, i did lost my time but im not bending to these stupid games. xfx was my option #2 and i could have grabbed one if it was under the $700 mark but no..... greed

...still they sold all of them. Good for them, good for the buyers but im not playing that crap.

 

[Nostras]

Call me a bit pedantic, but perhaps it's time to review the "XFX Radeon Mercury OC Magnetic Air" and not the "9070XT".
Performance difference is borderline useless, a quick 'n dirty "I saw +3% performance over stock in 40 games" is good enough.

We can simplify the conclusion by a lot too, instead of copy pasting (not faulting you for that, it's relevant if you want to review the complete card).
So you get this:

At this time I only care about things that make this card unique, not the chip underneath, I know what the 9070XT is. Just refer to the original review.

 

[csendesmark]

i would also like to see TPU add LM studio for LLM benchmarks.

It has support for Cuda, ROCm and Vulkan for its runtimes.

The software is easy to use and more accessible for non expert level users.

LM Studio is the most popular and the best LLM manager for home users IMHO

 

[Baba]

I went to Microcenter yesterday around 11am, waited in line for around 1 and half hour, always checking the stock. "There were" still plenty of msrp 9070Xt's powercolor, xfx, asrock...sapphire pulse gone and
asus prime just a few. By the time i got inside the guys told us that there were NO MSRP CARDS LEFT, that the cheapest one available was $750 and up.

$600 ~ $700 is admissible for aib partners/models price/performance, WTH asking $800+ for these cards??? i know nvidia is paper launch but why they want to bring the fight at $750 up??
thats the msrp for the 5070ti ffs. Same brand a freaking gpu at $599 some shiny stuff and they lose their minds and ask $200+

i was there, money on hand and they just lost a sale because of f!@#$ greed, i did lost my time but im not bending to these stupid games. xfx was my option #2 and i could have grabbed one if it was under the $700 mark but no..... greed

...still they sold all of them. Good for them, good for the buyers but im not playing that crap.

I did the same exact thing. My MC doesn't have bags but for some reason they got them for the release day. Dudes were carrying out their 9070s in paper bags like porn mags. I don't know if MC thinks someone will mug them outside the door but it was pretty funny. My 6950 more expensive and I didn't get a bag a few years ago.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Video cards are simply becoming luxury items, making sense only to those that can spend without thinking about what they get in return.

Video cards have always been luxury items. People got used to the depressed prices of the great financial crisis and then assumed that high end hardware would always be viable to those with little money. With fierce fab competition in the late 2000s we saw some VERY cheap hardware, but that simply isnt sustainable with todays pricing.

The GTX 8800 was $600 in 2006. $961 today. The 8800 ultra was a $830, over $1200 today. The 1950xtx was a $450 card, or $687 today.

 

[Baba]

Just a wee bit of fire eh? If given a multiple choice answer on marked up 9070s or the 5000 series in any shape whatsoever I'll choose option D, none of the above.

100%. However, there were 2 XFXs MSRP 5080s in stock this morning at my MC so $850 9070 vs $999 5080 is a no contest.

With server sales slowing down for Nvidia and AMD, they can shift supply to GPUs. I would hold off and not overpay.

 

[nageme]

When someone destroys the motor mechanism or the plastics for it - the fan is also broken. It would be better when standard sized fan would be used as it was already in the past for another card modell.

I think the benefit may be in cleaning the fan blades more easily.

I wonder if the louder fan noise is related to the magnetic design.
And whether there are any downsides, like lower reliability, or higher power usage.

Anyone else using similar fans?
If it's becoming standardized, why not.

 

[Krit]

I wonder if the louder fan noise is related to the magnetic design.
And whether there are any downsides, like lower reliability, or higher power usage.

Anyone else using similar fans?
If it's becoming standardized, why not.

Bad fan design asus tuf has the same rpm but way quieter than that 30.4dba vs 36.7dba

 

[rusty caterpillar]

"This is the company's most premium custom-design"
"This BIOS switch lets you toggle between the default performance BIOS and a second BIOS. While other vendors offer a "quiet" BIOS here, XFX is shipping the same BIOS on both switch settings, which feels like a lost opportunity to me."

The most premium price and XFX can't be bothered to put a quiet BIOS in the second BIOS? If XFX wants to cost cut then this belongs to their $600 model. What am I paying $200 extra for? On top of this, this is the worst cooler out of all of the 9070XTs tested so far. This is why I walked out of MC once the $600 models sold out.

This launch is pushing me back towards 5080s. I'd rather get a 5090 even if I ever find one at $2k.

Refuse, Resist and Wait

 

[Jism]

It's bonkers how energy inefficient overclocking is. +90 W (over Sapphire Pulse at stock PL) only give +5% performance.
View attachment 388394
If I ever happen to buy an RX 9070 XT GPU I will definitely buy the cheapest one since going beyond 315 W is of almost no fruit.

That is because AMD's reference design pretty much maxed out it's best performance/wattage already.

There's just not much headroom unless you go way over 450W or using way faster GDDR chips.

Anyway; in OC'ed condition the thing is equal to a 4080 pretty much. I love it.

Great review as always Wizzard.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I mean... I get it, the GPU's gonna be in the case and you'll be looking at what it generates, not at the thing itself, but this is arguably the ugliest GPU I have ever had the displeasure to see. It just hits me the wrong way. I absolutely hate the looks on this thing, especially the triangle edges. No. Ugh. XFX RDNA 2 cards were almost peak in the looks department, what happened?

 

[rusty caterpillar]

Yeah, crypto booms have caused this same effect on accident before, but this time it has been intentionally caused by both AMD and Nvidia.

Both AMD and Nvidia decided months ago to stop making cards. They did this to ensure they would not need to compete with themselves when they launched new products. Nvidia then proceeded to launch the worst GPU generation ever, and AMD is content to follow suit by refusing to clamp down pricing to MSRP. This is one of the scummiest moves I have ever seen.

The best advice to someone six months ago would have been "go ahead and build/upgrade, because both AMD and Nvidia are going to discontinue all their products and then replace them with worse versions that are more expensive and hard to obtain". And that's not because of some economic accident - it is because of the direct actions and intentions of both GPU companies.

Seems like it, even though IMHO TSMC, I don't think is overloaded atm, yes they expand with new foundries because they have the money and they need to do it as in the near future will be overloading before those foundries will be able to produce.
But than in this situation, boycott is the only solution, how on earth GN and the like it will able to convince a whole world > to not buy< ??

Call me a bit pedantic, but perhaps it's time to review the "XFX Radeon Mercury OC Magnetic Air" and not the "9070XT".
Performance difference is borderline useless, a quick 'n dirty "I saw +3% performance over stock in 40 games" is good enough.

We can simplify the conclusion by a lot too, instead of copy pasting (not faulting you for that, it's relevant if you want to review the complete card).
So you get this:
View attachment 388445
At this time I only care about things that make this card unique, not the chip underneath, I know what the 9070XT is. Just refer to the original review.

But than if are so many bullet points, you might get lost and not realize the unique side of the GPU is just a blurry shadow.

From the 7000 series what was the weight difference between Pure heatsink and Nitro + heatsink, don't think anybody knows atm for the 9000 series?