Video summary

Is The RX 9070 XT Actually FASTER Than The RTX 5090?

Main summary

Key takeaways

Product Review

Product Reviewed / Compared

  • AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
  • Main focus: whether the RX 9070 XT can be faster than the RTX 5090, especially under CPU-limited conditions and at high frame-rate targets.

Main Claim / Conclusion

  • Overall, the RTX 5090 is consistently faster than the RX 9070 XT across the tested games—especially at higher quality settings and at native 4K.
  • The RX 9070 XT can sometimes look competitive or even slightly faster only when the system becomes CPU/driver-limited (notably at 1440p with “balanced” upscaling, or in certain lower quality settings).

Key Technical Explanation (Why “Depends”)

  • Radeon’s occasional edge is attributed to differences in:
    • Driver overhead / CPU overhead: CPU time spent preparing draw calls and game logic for the GPU.
    • The creator argues NVIDIA has higher overhead than AMD, which can reduce NVIDIA’s advantage at extremely high FPS (where the CPU becomes the bottleneck).
  • Upscaling isn’t “free”:
    • DLSS (and FSR) adds its own compute overhead, partially offsetting FPS gains.

Test Setup & Methodology

  • Resolutions: 1440p and 4K
  • Upscaling included and excluded:
    • DLSS/FSR types referenced as “performance” and “balanced” modes
  • CPU choice:
    • Uses Ryzen 7 9800X3D to minimize CPU limits, though CPU limits still appear in some scenarios
  • Bench suite:
    • 11 games total

Performance Results (High-Level)

Averaged Outcome (Across 11 Games; Higher-Quality Focus)

  • ~4K (native, higher quality):
    • RTX 5090 average: ~105% faster than RX 9070 XT
  • 1440p (balanced upscaling):
    • RX 9070 XT narrows the gap; RTX 5090 still leads but by a reduced margin:
    • Video cites ~40% faster at 1440p balanced upscaling, with margins compressing due to CPU limits

Native 4K vs 1440p Behavior

  • The RTX 5090’s advantage is largest at native 4K.
  • At 1440p, more tests hit CPU bottlenecks, reducing the RTX 5090’s lead and sometimes allowing the RX 9070 XT to match or win on 1% lows.

Notable Per-Game Highlights (Where the RX 9070 XT Comes Close)

These are the scenarios the video suggests where Radeon is most competitive (often 1440p + balanced upscaling or lower/throughput-heavy settings):

  • Space Marine 2
    • Native 4K: RTX 5090 much faster
    • 1440p upscaling sections: Radeon can be slightly faster on average (~7%) due to NVIDIA overhead
  • Fortnite
    • Competitive mode: CPU bottlenecks dominate around ~700 FPS at 1440p
    • Radeon edges 1% lows; in some 1440p CPU-limited cases it can slightly outperform on averages (~3% mentioned)
  • Spider-Man 2
    • Higher settings: RTX 5090 dominates at native 4K
    • 1440p + balanced upscaling: gaps shrink; Radeon closes part of the difference (~9% on average)
    • RTX still has better frame pacing (e.g., 39% 1% low lead mentioned)
  • Assassin’s Creed Black Flag / Reyn.
    • RTX 5090 leads at most settings, but CPU limits reduce the margin at 1440p (balanced upscaling shrinks the lead)

The creator summarizes that 7 of 11 games still show RTX 5090 ahead at 1440p balanced upscaling (in higher quality settings), meaning Radeon “close” is generally not equal performance.

Where the RTX 5090 Clearly Wins (Strong Examples)

In many visually demanding titles, the RTX 5090 has very large leads, including:

  • Doom: The Dark Ages (RTX 5090 extremely faster under heavy settings / RT)
  • Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (path-traced ray tracing overdrive)
    • RX 9070 XT struggles heavily (described as near-unplayable for that workload)
  • Forza Horizon 6, Marvel Rivals, Pragmata, Battlefield 6, Star Wars Outlaws (all cited with large RTX leads in most tested configurations)

Pros (Implied by Results / Overall Experience)

  • RTX 5090 delivers the biggest real-world uplift in demanding titles:
    • Large gains at native 4K and higher quality presets
  • Better consistency at high settings:
    • Less risk of falling behind when you are not CPU-limited
  • Often stronger 1% low performance across multiple settings (with exceptions in CPU-limited edge cases)

Cons / Limitations (From the Video’s Perspective)

  • In CPU-limited scenarios (high FPS targets, 1440p balanced upscaling, competitive/very high FPS modes):
    • RTX 5090’s advantage can shrink significantly
    • Radeon can occasionally match or outperform on 1% lows or even average FPS (small margins)
  • Upscaling overhead (DLSS / FSR):
    • Upscaling helps, but doesn’t eliminate bottlenecks and adds compute cost

Comparisons / Framing vs Similar Viewpoints

  • The video addresses an online/media claim:
    • Some argue RTX 5090 may be “not that impressive” in practice versus a cheaper Radeon model at high FPS
  • The creator’s stance:
    • That argument overemphasizes Nvidia’s overhead and conflates it with normal CPU bottleneck behavior
    • Overhead issues mainly matter for:
      • Older / slower CPUs
      • People targeting very high frame rates where CPU limits dominate

Verdict / Recommendation

  • Recommendation: If you’re gaming on the RTX 5090 tier, the video supports that the RTX 5090 is the better GPU overall.
  • The RX 9070 XT only “wins” or looks better in specific CPU/driver-limited scenarios, typically:
    • 1440p + balanced upscaling
    • low-to-medium settings that become throughput/CPU bound
    • extreme high-FPS competitive modes
  • For most users playing at high quality settings, especially at native 4K, the RTX 5090 remains the clear choice.

Unique Points Mentioned (Consolidated)

  1. Nvidia driver/CPU overhead can reduce GPU advantage at high FPS and CPU-limited conditions.
  2. Radeon is said to “lean less” on CPU, giving more headroom when CPU-bound.
  3. RTX 5090 usually wins, but margins shrink at 1440p due to CPU bottlenecks.
  4. Radeon sometimes matches or beats RTX on 1% lows in CPU-limited cases.
  5. Upscaling (DLSS/FSR) has performance overhead, reducing “free FPS.”
  6. At native 4K high settings, RTX 5090 is massively faster in the tested suite.
  7. Competitive/very high FPS modes become CPU-limited around certain thresholds (e.g., ~700 FPS mentioned).
  8. The “RTX 5090 isn’t impressive” claim is treated as misleading/conflated.

Speakers

  • Single speaker (the host/creator “Steve”) provides the entire analysis and performance comparisons.

Original video