AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT GPU- Review

The graphics processing unit (GPU) market has always been a battleground for performance and innovation, with AMD being one of the key players. The release of the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT marks another significant entry into the mid-range segment, promising to deliver a balance of price and performance for gamers and creators alike. This comprehensive review will delve into the various aspects of the RX 7700 XT, evaluating its place in the current GPU landscape.

Design and Build

The RX 7700 XT sports a sleek design that aligns with the modern aesthetics of AMD’s latest offerings. It features a dual or triple-fan setup, depending on the manufacturer, ensuring efficient cooling under load. The card’s build quality is solid, with a robust backplate that adds to its durability. It’s clear that AMD has put thought into the design, allowing for a GPU that not only performs well but also looks the part in any PC build.

Performance

At the heart of the RX 7700 XT is the Navi 32 GPU, built on the RDNA 3 architecture. It boasts 3456 stream processors and comes equipped with 12GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit interface. These specifications position the RX 7700 XT as a capable card for 1080p and 1440p gaming.

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, with its robust architecture and advanced features, is well-equipped to handle a wide range of games, from the latest AAA titles to the most popular esports games. Gamers can expect to run graphically demanding games such as Far Cry 6, Cyberpunk 2077, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla with impressive results, showcasing the GPU’s capabilities in rendering detailed environments and complex lighting effects.

Esports titles, which are typically less demanding, like CS: GO, are easily managed by the RX 7700 XT, ensuring smooth frame rates for competitive gameplay. Additionally, well-optimized games such as Doom Eternal also perform exceptionally well on this GPU, allowing players to enjoy high-quality graphics without compromising on performance.

The RX 7700 XT also demonstrates its prowess with newer game releases. For instance, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales runs at 63 FPS with ray tracing set to very high, providing an immersive web-slinging experience through a beautifully rendered New York City. Other titles like STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor and Overwatch 2 also benefit from the GPU’s performance, delivering over 200 FPS, which is ideal for fast-paced action and fluid animations.

Moreover, the RX 7700 XT is capable of handling racing simulations like F1 2023, action RPGs such as Hogwarts Legacy, and narrative-driven experiences like The Last of Us: Part 1, all of which require a balance of high frame rates and detailed graphics to create engaging gaming experiences.

AMD Radeon™ RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT | Game. Stream. Advance.

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT GPU has been put through its paces in various performance benchmarks, which are designed to evaluate its capabilities in handling different computational and graphical tasks. These benchmarks provide a quantitative measure of the GPU’s performance, offering insights into how it stacks up against its competitors and predecessors.

In synthetic benchmarks, which are tests designed to assess the GPU’s performance in controlled scenarios, the RX 7700 XT has shown impressive results. For instance, in UserBenchmark tests, the RX 7700 XT has an average bench score of 155%, placing it 27th out of 714 GPUs tested. This score indicates that the RX 7700 XT is capable of delivering strong performance in synthetic workloads, which can translate to better real-world gaming and application performance.

The PassMark benchmark, another popular synthetic test, provides a G3D Mark score for the RX 7700 XT. With an average G3D Mark of 21,338, the RX 7700 XT demonstrates its ability to handle demanding 3D tasks. This score positions the RX 7700 XT competitively among other high-end GPUs, showcasing its potential for gaming and professional graphics work.

When it comes to gaming benchmarks, the RX 7700 XT continues to impress with its performance across various resolutions and settings. This includes frame rate data for native 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions, using the highest quality preset for each game. The benchmarks, which include both ray tracing and non-ray-traced settings, show that the RX 7700 XT is capable of delivering smooth and responsive gameplay at different resolutions, making it a versatile choice for gamers.

It’s important to note that while benchmarks provide valuable data on a GPU’s performance, they may not always reflect the exact experience in everyday use. Factors such as system configuration, driver updates, and game optimization can influence the real-world performance of a GPU. Therefore, while benchmarks are a useful tool for comparing GPUs, they should be considered alongside other factors when evaluating a GPU’s overall capabilities.

Whether you’re a gamer looking to run the latest titles at high settings or a professional seeking a capable GPU for creative tasks, the RX 7700 XT is worth considering. As with any hardware purchase, it’s recommended to review multiple sources of benchmark data and consider your specific needs and budget to make an informed decision.

Doom Eternal – RX 7700 XT

3DMark Benchmark Links (Opens In New Tab)

AMD Radeon Super Resolution

AMD Radeon™ Super Resolution (RSR) is an innovative in-driver upscaling feature that leverages the algorithm found in AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution (FSR) technology. This feature is designed to enhance gaming performance across a wide range of titles, particularly those that do not natively support FSR. By enabling RSR, gamers can experience increased frame rates and improved fluidity in their gameplay, which is especially beneficial for demanding games that require high levels of graphical processing power.

RSR operates by upscaling lower-resolution images to a higher resolution, effectively allowing games to run at a lower native resolution while still presenting a clear and detailed image on the screen. This process can significantly boost performance, as rendering games at lower resolutions requires less computational power. The upscaling is then applied to deliver a visual quality that closely matches the native resolution.

One of the key benefits of RSR is its compatibility with a vast array of games. Unlike some upscaling technologies that require game developers to integrate specific support, RSR can be applied to any game that runs in exclusive full-screen or borderless full-screen modes. This broad compatibility ensures that gamers can take advantage of RSR’s performance enhancements without waiting for developers to implement support.

Furthermore, RSR includes a sharpen effect slider within the AMD Software, allowing users to customize the level of sharpness in the upscaled image. This feature provides gamers with the flexibility to adjust the visual clarity to their preference, balancing performance and image quality to suit their individual needs.

In terms of performance gains, RSR can deliver significant improvements. For example, when upscaling from 1080p to 4K, games like Borderlands 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 have seen up to 2.8x and 3.2x increases in frame rates, respectively. These enhancements make it possible for gamers to enjoy a smoother and more responsive gaming experience, even on hardware that may struggle with native 4K rendering.

RSR is also part of the HYPR-RX profiles, which can be enabled with a single click from the AMD Software home tab. This ease of use ensures that gamers can quickly activate RSR and enjoy its benefits without delving into complex settings.

In summary, AMD Radeon™ Super Resolution is a powerful tool for gamers looking to maximize their gaming performance. Its use of FSR technology, broad game compatibility, and customizable sharpness settings make it a versatile and user-friendly option for enhancing gameplay across thousands of titles. Whether you’re looking to improve frame rates in the latest AAA games or ensure smooth performance in your favorite esports titles, RSR provides a simple yet effective solution.

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RSR vs DLSS

AMD’s Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) and NVIDIA’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) are two upscaling technologies that have been developed to improve gaming performance without compromising on visual quality. Both technologies aim to provide gamers with higher frame rates by rendering games at a lower resolution and then intelligently upscaling the images to a higher resolution. However, they approach this task in different ways and have distinct features.

NVIDIA’s DLSS is a more mature technology that has been integrated into games for several years. It uses dedicated tensor core hardware found in RTX series GPUs to perform AI-driven upscaling. This AI network is trained on high-quality, high-resolution images to learn how to upscale lower-resolution images in a way that mimics the detail and clarity of native high-resolution rendering. DLSS also utilizes temporal data from multiple frames to enhance image quality, which can result in smoother and more detailed visuals.

DLSS offers various upscaling modes, such as Quality, Balanced, Performance, and Ultra Performance, each providing a different balance between image quality and performance boost. The technology has been praised for its ability to maintain high image quality while significantly improving frame rates, especially in games that support ray tracing, which can be quite demanding on system resources.

On the other hand, AMD’s RSR is a newer technology that builds upon the foundation of AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR). Unlike DLSS, RSR does not require specialized hardware and can work on a broader range of GPUs, including older models and those from other manufacturers. RSR uses spatial upscaling, which means it upscales individual frames without relying on temporal data. It also includes a sharpening pass to enhance the clarity of the upscaled images.

RSR is designed to be broadly compatible with a wide range of games, as it can be enabled directly through the GPU driver for any game running in exclusive full-screen or borderless full-screen mode. This makes it accessible to many gamers without the need for game developers to integrate specific support.

In terms of performance, both RSR and DLSS can offer significant improvements in frame rates. However, DLSS, with its AI and temporal components, generally provides better image quality compared to RSR’s spatial upscaling approach. DLSS’s performance improvement can vary depending on the mode selected, with the Ultra Performance mode offering the highest boost in frame rates at the cost of some image quality. RSR, while not as advanced in terms of image quality enhancement, still offers a substantial performance boost and has the advantage of wider compatibility.

Ultimately, the choice between RSR and DLSS will depend on the specific hardware a gamer has and the games they play. For those with NVIDIA RTX GPUs, DLSS offers a highly effective way to improve performance while maintaining great image quality. For gamers with AMD GPUs or older NVIDIA cards, RSR provides a valuable option to enhance gaming performance across a broad range of titles without the need for specialized hardware.

In conclusion, both RSR and DLSS are impressive technologies that address the need for higher performance in modern games. They each have their strengths, and as the technologies continue to evolve, they will likely become even more integral to the gaming experience. Gamers can look forward to smoother gameplay and more visually stunning graphics as these upscaling technologies become more widely adopted and refined. Whether you’re an AMD or NVIDIA user, there’s an upscaling solution available to help you get the most out of your gaming rig.

Ray tracing performance on the RX 7700 XT is decent, though it falls behind some of its competitors. However, for gamers who prioritize rasterization performance over ray tracing, this GPU offers good value. The card also supports AI-driven features, although it’s not the frontrunner in this domain. For users interested in cutting-edge AI applications, they may want to consider alternatives.

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Introducing Radeon Super Resolution and FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.0

Thermals and Power Efficiency

The thermal performance of the RX 7700 XT is commendable, with most models maintaining reasonable temperatures even under sustained load. Power efficiency is another strong point, with the card drawing less power compared to some of its high-end counterparts. This makes the RX 7700 XT a good choice for users with power supply constraints or those looking to build a more energy-efficient system.

In summary, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT’s thermal and noise performance is a testament to the advancements in GPU design, balancing power and efficiency to provide a superior user experience. Whether you’re gaming for extended periods or running intensive applications, the RX 7700 XT is engineered to maintain optimal performance levels while keeping noise and temperatures in check.

Price and Value Proposition

The RX 7700 XT launched with a price point to place itself in a competitive spot against similar offerings from both AMD and Nvidia. Since its release, the price has seen adjustments, making it an even more attractive option for budget-conscious buyers. The value proposition of the RX 7700 XT is strong, especially when considering its performance in relation to its price point. At the time of writing, in Australia, you can pick up an OC 7700 XT for around the $669 mark.

RX 7700 XT Compared

The AMD RX 7700 XT is a significant release in the world of graphics cards, representing AMD’s latest foray into the high-performance gaming segment. This GPU is part of the RX 7000 series and is designed to compete with NVIDIA’s formidable lineup, including the RTX 3070, RTX 3080, and even the RTX 4080 in certain aspects.

When it comes to raw performance, the RX 7700 XT brings to the table impressive specifications that cater to gamers and professionals alike. With a higher GPU clock speed compared to some of its NVIDIA counterparts, it promises robust performance in demanding gaming scenarios. The floating-point performance, which is a measure of a GPU’s ability to perform complex mathematical calculations, is also noteworthy in the RX 7700 XT, potentially translating to better rendering of 3D graphics and more efficient processing of compute tasks.

Another area where the RX 7700 XT shines is in its power efficiency. With a lower TDP (Thermal Design Power) than some of the high-end NVIDIA GPUs, it indicates a lower power consumption, which can be a crucial factor for users who are energy-conscious or have limited power supply capabilities.

However, NVIDIA’s offerings, particularly the RTX 3080 and above, have their own set of advantages. NVIDIA’s GPUs are known for their superior ray tracing capabilities, thanks to dedicated RT cores that handle these calculations more efficiently. This means that for games and applications that heavily rely on ray tracing for realistic lighting and reflections, NVIDIA’s GPUs might still hold the edge over AMD’s RX 7700 XT.

Moreover, NVIDIA’s DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) technology is a game-changer for many users. It uses AI to upscale lower-resolution images in real-time, allowing for smoother performance with minimal loss in visual fidelity. This feature is something that AMD is still catching up to, despite their FidelityFX Super Resolution technology, which aims to provide a similar benefit.

In terms of market share and popularity, NVIDIA’s GPUs have traditionally dominated, but AMD’s latest offerings, including the RX 7700 XT, are gaining traction and presenting themselves as viable alternatives for a variety of users.

AMD HYPR-RX: Next-Level Performance Made Easy

Key Specs

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is a cutting-edge graphics card that boasts a range of impressive specifications designed to deliver a high-quality gaming experience.

Compute Units: The card features 54 compute units, which are fundamental processing blocks of the GPU, each containing multiple stream processors.

Boost Frequency: It can reach a boost frequency of up to 2544 MHz, allowing for increased performance during intense gaming sessions.

Game Frequency: The game frequency, which is the expected GPU clock when running typical gaming applications, is 2171 MHz.

Ray Accelerators: There are 54 ray accelerators, dedicated hardware units designed to handle real-time ray tracing tasks efficiently.

AI Accelerators: The card includes 108 AI accelerators, which are specialized cores for handling AI-related computations.

Peak Pixel Fill-Rate: It has a peak pixel fill-rate of up to 244 GP/s, which is a measure of how quickly the GPU can render pixels to the screen.

Peak Texture Fill-Rate: The peak texture fill-rate is up to 550 GT/s, indicating the card’s ability to process textures.

ROPs: With 96 ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines), the RX 7700 XT can handle a large number of pixel operations.

Stream Processors: The card is equipped with 3456 stream processors, which handle the parallel processing tasks that modern GPUs are designed for.

Texture Units: There are 216 texture units, which are responsible for mapping textures onto 3D surfaces in graphics rendering.

Transistor Count: The GPU contains 28.1 billion transistors, reflecting its complexity and capability.

Typical Board Power: It has a typical board power of 245 W, indicating the average power consumption under typical loads.

Memory: The RX 7700 XT comes with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory, providing ample space for high-resolution textures and game assets.

Memory Interface: It uses a 192-bit memory interface, which affects the bandwidth and speed of data transfer between the GPU and memory.

Memory Bandwidth: The memory bandwidth is up to 432 GB/s, facilitating fast data transfer rates for demanding applications.

Effective Memory Bandwidth: With AMD Infinity Cache technology, the effective memory bandwidth can reach up to 1995 GB/s.

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These specifications make the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT a powerful option for gamers and professionals who require high performance for their computing tasks. Whether it’s for running the latest AAA games at high settings or tackling intensive creative workloads, the RX 7700 XT is engineered to deliver exceptional performance. Its balance of power, efficiency, and advanced features like ray tracing and AI acceleration positions it as a competitive choice in the high-end GPU market.

Conclusion

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is a compelling option for those in the market for a mid-range GPU. It strikes a fine balance between cost and performance, catering to both gamers and creators. While it may not be the best in every category, it offers a well-rounded package that will satisfy the needs of many users. As the GPU market continues to evolve, the RX 7700 XT stands as a testament to AMD’s commitment to providing competitive options across different price segments.

Ultimately, the choice between AMD’s RX 7700 XT and NVIDIA’s lineup will depend on individual needs and preferences. Factors such as price-to-performance ratio, specific feature sets like ray tracing and AI upscaling, power consumption, and brand loyalty will all play a role in the decision-making process.

Would I buy? YES

Doom Eternal – RX 7700 XT RT On VS RT Off

The Good

Offers excellent performance for 1080p and 1440p gaming, and decent performance for 4K gaming
Supports ray tracing and other advanced features that enhance the quality of games
Has a large and fast memory that can handle high-resolution textures and large game files
Reasonable 'bang-for-your-buck' price compared to other graphics cards in its class
Good noise performance and power consumption
FSR and RSR work extremely well with this GPU

The Bad

Ray tracing performance still lower than its Nvidia counterparts
AMD still dealing with minor driver and compatibility issues with some games
Nvidia still has powerful cards at the same price point

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Written by: Kurt Frohloff

A Founder of MKAU, a gamer, a family man. I have a love of all things gaming and a wish of mine is to have more time to actually play the games we review here!

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