Nvidia RTX 5090 vs AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT: Which is the best flagship GPU?

The Nvidia RTX 5090 and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT are the highest-end offerings from the two companies so far in this generation. However, unlike previous years, Team Red isn't chasing the performance crown. Instead, the focus is on beating Blackwell GPUs with fierce price-to-performance ratios, especially in the mid-range. Unlike the 5090, the 9070 XT doesn't have lofty ambitions and aims for a much lower price bracket.

In this comparison article, we will dissect what each card offers in terms of their performance metrics. Furthermore, we will empirically and philosophically reflect on each flagship's position in the market and try to answer which is the best buy for gamers.

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The Nvidia RTX 5090 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT target separate market segments

The Nvidia RTX 5090 is a high-end GPU designed for enthusiasts (Image via Nvidia)

While the Nvidia RTX 5090 pushes the limits of what's possible on consumer-focused graphics cards, the RX 9070 XT is geared towards commendable 1440p and 4K gaming performance. Moreover, the GPUs are based on different architectures, which have very different definitions of gen-on-gen improvements.

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Specs comparison

In terms of on-paper specs, an apples-to-apples comparison between the two GPUs is not possible. This is primarily because of the vast differences in the underlying architecture (Blackwell and RDNA 4).

Nvidia has beefed up the hardware specs on the RTX 5090 even further. It now bundles 21,760 CUDA cores, a 25% increase from the last gen. The VRAM buffer has also been increased to 32 GB of GDDR7, which outputs a whopping 1.8 TB/s bandwidth. In terms of power draw, you're looking at a whopping 575W, the highest on any consumer video card so far.

The RX 9070 XT is much saner in this regard. It is powered by the Navi 48 graphics chip and has 4,096 Stream Processors. You get 16 GB GDDR6 VRAM, which has a much narrower bandwidth of 644 GB/s. However, AMD's RDNA isn't as power-efficient as Nvidia's formulas, leading to a high 304W TDP.

A detailed specs comparison of the two video cards is as follows:

Specification	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090	AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
Architecture	Blackwell (GB202)	RDNA 4
Process Node	5 nm	4 nm
Transistor Count	92 billion	53.9B
CUDA Cores / Stream Processors	21,760 CUDA Cores	4,096 Stream Processors
Base Clock Speed	2.01 GHz	1.66 GHz
Boost Clock Speed	2.41 GHz	2.97 GHz
Memory Capacity	32 GB GDDR7	16 GB GDDR6
Memory Bus Width	512-bit	256-bit
Memory Bandwidth	1.8 TB/s	644 GB/s
Ray Tracing Cores	170 (4th Generation)	64 Ray Accelerators
Tensor Cores	680 (5th Generation)	128
Total Graphics Power (TGP)	575 W	304 W
Recommended PSU	1000 W	750 W
Display Outputs	1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1b	DisplayPort 2.1a, HDMI 2.1b
PCIe Interface	PCIe 5.0 x16	PCIe 5.0 x16
Launch Price	$1,999	$599
Release Date	January 30, 2025	March 6, 2025

In terms of pricing, the AMD RX 9070 XT is a third of the Nvidia flagship's MSRP. Team Red has kept pricing pretty tight this generation to make up for the limitations of its ray tracing and upscaling architectures. In real life, however, we couldn't spot a single 9070 XT for less than $1,000, hinting at a premium price tag on both graphics cards.

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Performance comparison

The AMD RX 9070 XT has a lot to offer with its strong rasterization capabilities (Image via Asus)

When it comes to gaming performance, it's no wonder that the much beefier RTX 5090 destroys the RX 9070 XT. The huge pricing gap between the two cards does mean they are in different tiers and target completely different sets of audiences. However, what we're looking at is by how much.

A detailed frame rate comparison of the two video cards is as follows. The numbers were sourced from the YouTube channel Testing Games.

	Nvidia RTX 5090	AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
The Last of Us Part II	125 FPS	66 FPS
Forza Horizon 5	188 FPS	130 FPS
God of War: Ragnarok	177 FPS	87 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	117 FPS	71 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077 RT	97 FPS	48 FPS
Ghost of Tsushima	116 FPS	71 FPS
Red Dead Redemption 2	160 FPS	98 FPS
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2	82 FPS	43 FPS
Silent Hill 2	81 FPS	38 FPS
Black Myth: Wukong	62 FPS	31 FPS
Horizon Forbidden West	125 FPS	78 FPS
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2	93 FPS	40 FPS

On average, the RTX 5090 delivers 44.59% better performance than the 9070 XT at 4K resolutions despite a 233% pricing jump. It is worth noting that the Nvidia card still has the added benefit of DLSS 4 multi-frame generation, which we won't get on the AMD GPU (at least for now).

Moreover, the Nvidia GPU is geared toward AI enthusiasts as well as intense gamers. The 32 GB VRAM buffer is designed to fit open-source language models like Llama 3 and Mixtral into its memory. The smaller 16 GB buffer and lack of support for CUDA on the AMD RX 9070 XT limits your options in this regard.

In conclusion, casual gamers looking for a balanced 1440p and 4K gaming experience will find the RX 9070 XT to be value for money. However, enthusiasts, AI tinkerers, and creative professionals will always find use for the extra capabilities of the RTX 5090.