For most 1440p gaming, the Radeon RX 9070 has a small average advantage in traditional rendering and offers 16 GB of VRAM; the GeForce RTX 5070 counters with NVIDIA’s DLSS 4.5 and Multi Frame Generation features and a stronger case for players who prioritize ray tracing. Neither wins every game. The better buy depends on your games, preferred features, and the actual price of each card where you shop.
Quick comparison
| Category | Radeon RX 9070 | GeForce RTX 5070 |
|---|---|---|
| 1440p raster performance | Tom’s Hardware measured an 8.2% lead in its 15-game geomean; TechSpot measured a 4% lead in its 18-game, mostly raster suite. Results depend on the games and test setup. | Close overall, and faster in some individual games. |
| Ray tracing | Near level in Tom’s Hardware’s 1440p ray-tracing geomean; individual titles can differ substantially. | Tom’s Hardware’s 2026 buying guide favors it for baseline ray tracing and NVIDIA’s DLSS options. |
| Memory | 16 GB GDDR6; 256-bit interface; memory speed up to 20 Gbps, according to AMD. | 12 GB GDDR7. |
| Board power | 220 W typical board power; AMD recommends a minimum 650 W PSU. | 250 W in Tom’s Hardware’s comparison table. |
| Launch MSRP | $549, as reported in Tom’s Hardware’s 2025 review. | $549, as reported in Tom’s Hardware’s 2025 review. |
Performance figures come from different review suites, so they are useful as context, not as a direct head-to-head result under identical conditions. VRAM capacity is extra memory headroom, not a promise of a particular frame-rate gain.
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GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 5070 WINDFORCE OC SFF 12G Graphics Card, 12GB 192-bit GDDR7, PCIe 5.0,... | Buy on Amazon |
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How do they compare in games?
1440p raster performance: a modest RX 9070 lead on average
In Tom’s Hardware’s 2025 review, the RX 9070 was 8.2% ahead in the publication’s 15-game 1440p raster geomean. TechSpot’s 2025 review found a smaller 4% RX 9070 lead across its 18-game, mostly raster suite. The difference between those averages is a reminder that results depend on the games selected, test conditions, drivers, and settings; neither percentage predicts how every game will run on your PC. Tom’s Hardware’s RTX 5070 vs. RX 9070 comparison and TechSpot’s RX 9070 review describe their respective testing.
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Individual games can reverse the result
Tom’s Hardware reported a 28.2% RTX 5070 lead in Space Marine 2 at 1080p. In its 4K results, the RX 9070 led by 31.5% in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, 31.6% in The Last of Us Part I, and 41.4% in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. These are examples from that review’s setup, not general performance guarantees. If you mainly play a handful of games, look for benchmarks of those specific titles at your resolution and settings rather than choosing from a geomean alone. Tom’s Hardware’s game-by-game comparison contains the cited results.
#1 Best Overall
- Powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture and DLSS 4
- Powered by GeForce RTX 5070
- Integrated with 12GB GDDR7 192bit memory interface
- PCIe 5.0
- NVIDIA SFF ready
Ray tracing: compare the game and rendering mode
In Tom’s Hardware’s 1440p ray-tracing geomean, the RX 9070 led by just 0.23%, effectively a near tie in that aggregate. Its 2026 GPU buying guide nonetheless favors the RTX 5070 for baseline ray-tracing performance and its DLSS feature set. These statements refer to different ways of framing the choice: a near-even average in one review suite does not mean equal performance in every ray-traced game, and feature support is distinct from native rendering speed. Check results for the titles and ray-tracing presets you actually use, noting whether a benchmark enables upscaling or frame generation. Tom’s Hardware’s comparison and its 2026 GPU buying guide provide the cited context.
How much does the 16 GB versus 12 GB difference matter?
The RX 9070 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory; the RTX 5070 has 12 GB of GDDR7. More capacity can provide additional headroom when high-resolution textures, larger resolutions, or memory-intensive workloads use more VRAM. That makes the RX 9070’s capacity relevant to buyers aiming for native 4K or who prefer high texture settings, but capacity alone does not establish which card will deliver higher frame rates in a given game.
Memory bandwidth is a separate specification from capacity. AMD lists the RX 9070 with a 256-bit interface and memory speed up to 20 Gbps. Tom’s Hardware’s comparison table lists 640 GB/s of bandwidth for the RX 9070 and 672 GB/s for the RTX 5070. Those figures do not erase the RX 9070’s capacity advantage; they describe different aspects of memory, and neither metric alone determines game performance. See AMD’s RX 9070 specifications and Tom’s Hardware’s RX 9070 review and specifications.
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DLSS, FSR, and frame generation
The RTX 5070 is the more natural fit if you specifically want NVIDIA’s DLSS 4.5 and Multi Frame Generation ecosystem. The RX 9070 belongs to AMD’s FSR 4 ecosystem. Feature names alone do not settle image quality or responsiveness: support varies by game, and upscaling and generated frames are not the same as rendering every frame natively. Check whether your preferred games support the features you want, and compare image quality and latency in those games if possible. Tom’s Hardware’s 2026 buying guide favors the RTX 5070 for its DLSS options and baseline ray tracing, while highlighting the RX 9070 when 16 GB of memory matters.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Power, PSU, and system considerations
AMD specifies 220 W typical board power for the RX 9070 and recommends a minimum 650 W power supply. Tom’s Hardware lists the RTX 5070 at 250 W board power. These manufacturer and comparison-table specifications are not the same as measured whole-system consumption: TechSpot found the RX 9070 used anywhere from a few extra watts to as much as 20% more than the RTX 5070, depending on the game. Actual system draw varies with the rest of the PC and workload, so treat board-power figures as reference specifications rather than a direct prediction of wall power. Sources: AMD RX 9070 specifications, Tom’s Hardware’s specification table, and TechSpot’s RX 9070 review.
Which card is better value?
Both cards launched at a $549 MSRP in 2025, but launch pricing is not a reliable guide to what you will pay now. PC Gamer’s UK price tracker listed RX 9070 models at £589.98 and RTX 5070 models at £609.99 and £649.99 on October 1, 2026. Those are specific UK listings on that date, not market averages or a guarantee of current stock. Prices differ by country, seller, and board model. Tom’s Hardware’s RTX 5070 review and RX 9070 review report launch pricing; PC Gamer’s price watch is the dated UK listing source.
For a fair comparison, use the checkout price for the exact cards available to you. Factor in cooler design, noise, warranty, seller, delivery, tax, stock, and return terms rather than assuming every RTX 5070 or RX 9070 costs the same. A small performance difference may not justify a substantial price premium unless the more expensive card also better fits your feature or memory priorities.
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Which one should you choose?
- Choose the RX 9070 if your priority is conventional 1440p rendering, you want 16 GB of VRAM for additional capacity headroom, or the specific card is meaningfully cheaper where you live.
- Choose the RTX 5070 if you value NVIDIA’s DLSS 4.5 and Multi Frame Generation support, or your preferred ray-traced games favor its performance in benchmarks relevant to your settings.
- At 4K, give the RX 9070’s 16 GB capacity serious consideration, but check game-specific performance: Tom’s Hardware measured an 11% RX 9070 lead across its three 4K geomeans, while individual results still varied.
- If prices are close, decide based on the games you play, the rendering features you will use, and the exact board’s cooler, noise, warranty, and return terms—not the launch MSRP alone.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
