Nvidia’s new launch, the RTX 4070, shakes issues up within the GPU market. After an extended spell of solely releasing overpriced graphics playing cards, Nvidia appears to have altered its pricing technique for the RTX 4070. Whereas it’s exhausting to name it low cost, it’s actually reasonably priced, and it presents efficiency that makes it a great midrange possibility.
Nonetheless, Nvidia’s newest addition to the rating of the perfect graphics playing cards has an surprising rival within the earlier technology of GPUs. AMD’s RX 6950 XT is equally priced, however can it sustain with the RTX 4070? Try our benchmarks and learn the way these two playing cards stack up towards one another.
Pricing and availability
The RTX 4070 hit the cabinets on April 13, 2023. Nvidia didn’t make a lot of an announcement previous to its launch — nicely, not except you depend the truth that it unintentionally leaked it. Nvidia’s personal Founders Version is priced at $600, however a few of Nvidia’s companions might launch costlier fashions. The 2 we examined ourselves had been each $600.
When you think about the remainder of the Ada Lovelace lineup out thus far, Nvidia’s RTX 4070 is pretty moderately priced. It’s $100 cheaper than the RTX 3080 at launch, though additionally it is $100 costlier than the RTX 3070. Nonetheless, with GPUs just like the $1,600 RTX 4090 or the $1,200 RTX 4080, the RTX 4070 is virtually a steal. It marks Nvidia’s entrance into the midrange phase on this technology, after months of solely catering to the high-end portion of the market.
AMD’s RX 6950 XT is nearly a yr older than Nvidia’s RTX 4070 and it belongs to an older technology of GPUs, however it’s the flagship in its technology. It launched on Could 10, 2022, as a late follow-up to the RX 6900 XT. The record worth was then set to $700, however lately, you possibly can often discover the RX 6950 XT for round
$650
.
Specs
| GeForce RTX 4070 | Radeon RX 6950 XT | |
| Structure | There’s Lovelace | RDNA 2 |
| Course of node | 5nm TSMC | 7nm TSMC |
| Cores | 5,888 | 5,120 |
| Most clock | 2,475MHz | 2,324MHz |
| Reminiscence | 12GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6 |
| Reminiscence bus | 192-bit | 256-bit |
| TGP | 200 watts | 335 watts |
| The place to purchase |
Evaluating the specs of Nvidia and AMD graphics playing cards isn’t simple. Each have such totally different architectures, it’s not doable to check every specification on a one-to-one foundation and draw correct conclusions. With that mentioned, there are a couple of variations right here which are price a more in-depth look.
The full graphics energy (TGP) is a serious one. Though AMD playing cards have traditionally been rather less power-hungry than Nvidia, what we’re seeing right here exhibits a remarkably tame TGP for the RTX 4070. Though the RX 6950 XT is a flagship card and could be anticipated to attract extra energy, it’s good to see Nvidia stick to only 200 watts. The RTX 4070 really consumes much less energy than its predecessor (RTX 3070 with 220W) and considerably lower than the RTX 4070 Ti (285W).
The RX 6950 XT packs extra reminiscence and has a wider bus. Nonetheless, AMD continues to make use of the slower GDDR6 reminiscence sort as an alternative of the GDDR6X Nvidia moved on to within the earlier technology.
Apart from specs, every GPU presents totally different options and capabilities merely on account of being an AMD or Nvidia mannequin. The RX 6950 XT helps AMD FidelityFX Tremendous Decision (FSR), whereas the RTX 4070 presents up Nvidia’s Deep Studying Tremendous Sampling 3 (DLSS). DLSS 3 is unique to RTX 40-series GPUs and contains body technology, so it’s a fairly large enhance for Nvidia.
Efficiency
Because of our personal testing of the RTX 4070 and the RX 6950 XT, we had been in a position to get an correct overview of their efficiency. Every GPU was geared toward a distinct a part of the market, however they’re really pretty shut when all you care about are uncooked numbers — on this case, frames per second (fps) in varied eventualities, or artificial benchmarks.
First, we examined the RTX 4070 in 3DMark Port Royal and Time Spy. Proper off the bat, the hole between AMD and Nvidia exhibits. Within the DirectX 12 Time Spy take a look at, the RTX 4070 was round 14% slower than the RX 6950 XT. However, Nvidia’s GPU caught up properly in Port Royal, beating AMD by round 8%. As is usually the case, Nvidia takes the lead when ray tracing is introduced into the equation, so it’s no surprise that Nvidia gained in Port Royal, which is a ray tracing benchmark.
Working a Blender take a look at tells a distinct story — Nvidia’s lead is big right here, and the RTX 4070 particularly does a great job in comparison with its predecessors. Whereas AMD GPUs barely even make the chart, the RTX 4070 is round 50% sooner than the RTX 3070 Ti.
The overwhelming majority of persons are going to get the RTX 4070 for gaming, which is why we’ve spent essentially the most time testing how the RTX 4070 and the RX 6950 XT fare in gaming eventualities. Whereas the RTX 4070 is marketed as a 1440p graphics card, AMD all the time made it clear that the RX 6950 XT was made to run video games at 4K. In actuality, the 2 GPUs will not be far aside in 4K efficiency.
Throughout our complete take a look at suite in 4K, the RTX 4070 was in a position to preserve 50.3 fps on common. That’s simply inches behind the RTX 6950 XT, which averaged 52.2 fps. Nonetheless, AMD wins out right here, however the positive factors range between video games. All in all, the RTX 4070 performs nicely in 4K for a GPU made for 1440p — it was about 35% sooner than the RTX 3070 Ti.
This head-to-head rivalry ends once we introduce Nvidia’s DLSS 3. Not all video games assist it, however for those that do, the tech brings fairly insane outcomes to each GPU it runs on. Even the midrange RTX 4070 advantages in a serious means. In Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K with DLSS 3 operating, the RTX 4070 hit 86 fps whereas the RX 6950 XT maintained 42.5 fps on common, which is only a hair beneath the RTX 4070 with out DLSS 3.
Transferring right down to 1440p, the 2 graphics playing cards proceed to be pretty shut, though unusually, the RX 6950 XT has a smaller lead in 4K than in 1440p. Nonetheless, the RTX 4070 averages 92.5 fps in essentially the most demanding video games out proper now, and that’s a really snug spot at max settings. The RX 6950 XT is 6% sooner with 97.9 fps.
With that mentioned, we discovered that the RTX 4070 did a greater job of dealing with our complete take a look at suite at 1440p than it did at 4K, so the precise efficiency is healthier than it may appear on the first look. At 4K, it needed to depend on older titles to inflate the numbers; at 1440p, it did nicely with each sport we’ve examined it in, which incorporates Cyberpunk 2077, Forza Horizon 5, Murderer’s Creed Valhalla, Gears Techniques, Horizon Zero Daybreak, Crimson Useless Redemption 2, Vivid Reminiscence, and Metro Exodus Enhanced Version.
We don’t advocate shopping for the RTX 4070 in the event you’re solely going to play at 1080p — there are higher finances graphics playing cards that can assist you with that. We nonetheless examined this decision simply to learn the way it compares.
The RTX 4070 scores some large body charges right here, akin to 143 in Murderer’s Creed Valhallanevertheless it’s all the time behind or on par with the RX 6950 XT. With that mentioned, the hole shouldn’t be that important, and the Nvidia GPU is ready to compete with different Nvidia playing cards. The RTX 3080 Ti is left behind in almost each take a look at, which spells excellent news for Nvidia. After all, this additionally signifies that AMD beats these GPUs too.
As talked about, Nvidia stays king of ray tracing, and it’s not a shock to see the RTX 4070 beat AMD by a great quantity when ray tracing is enabled. In Metro Exodus Enhanced Version at 1440p, the RTX 4070 scores 85.5 fps in comparison with AMD’s 79.5. AMD is ready to outpace it with the RX 7900 XT, however that card can be considerably pricier than the RTX 4070.
Effectively carried out, Nvidia
Nvidia’s RTX 4070 and AMD’s RX 6950 XT are comparable GPUs in a whole lot of methods. They commerce blows in gaming eventualities and so they’re each decently priced — the RX 6950 XT is generally solely round $50 costlier, and this isn’t even true for all the fashions of RTX 4070. Some are certain to hit across the $650 mark, making the pricing nearly a non-issue.
Nonetheless, it’s exhausting to overlook that the RX 6950 XT is an older-gen GPU. It’s highly effective and made for 4K, so it should run nearly any sport you throw at it, nevertheless it does lack among the tech Nvidia managed to introduce within the RTX 40-series. It’s additionally overwhelmed by its costlier next-gen counterparts, the RX 7900 XTX and the RX 7900 XT.
When it comes to pure gaming, you possible gained’t see a lot of a distinction between the RTX 4070 and the RX 6950 XT. AMD is healthier in some titles and Nvidia wins in others; all in all, the playing cards are actually shut, with AMD claiming a small lead. Nonetheless, accounting for ray tracing is, as soon as once more, essential.
With out ray tracing, Nvidia’s RTX 4070 was round 15% slower throughout the board. This makes it pretty easy: in the event you care about ray tracing, it is best to persist with Nvidia. Equally, the introduction of DLSS 3 makes the RTX 4070 a beautiful possibility that unlocks a whole lot of potential within the video games that assist it.
Should you’re not bothered by the considerably subpar ray tracing and the dearth of DLSS 3, AMD’s RX 6950 XT continues to be a secure choose — however in the event you care about these two issues, Nvidia’s RTX 4070 marks a fantastic comeback for the lineup and a less expensive various to different RTX 40-series graphics playing cards.
Editors’ Suggestions
