AMDhas released the Radeon RX 7700XT and 7800XT GPUs, which will bridge the gap between the manufacturer’s 7600 and 7900 GPUs.AMD showcased these GPUs at Gamescomthis year, touting their strong performance across a number of different games.
The Radeon RX 7900 has been sold as the high-end GPU option for AMD users, with the 7600 serving as an entry-level model, leaving the middle field unoccupied. This gap is mirrored in the pricing of these two GPUs, as the 7600 is extremely affordable, with a tendency to hover around $300 MSRP, while the 7900 can soar as high as $1000. Entry-level is the key phrase for the 7600, however, as it doesn’t have the capacity for resolutions higher than 1080p or higher frame rates, and is lacking in advanced features.AMD’s 7900 is one of the better GPUson the market today, but it is still compared, sometimes unfavorably, to NVIDIA’s RTX 4060 TI and 4070 series. With newer units, AMD is looking to be more competitive in terms of pricing, performance, and special features like upscaling.
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AMD Radeon RX 7700 & 7800: General Specs and Features
Just like the RX 7600 and RX 7900, these new AMD GPUs are built with the RDNA 3 architecture, but they are also introducing some changes to the existing framework. According to AMD, the 7700XT and 7800XT will feature new AI accelerators and 2nd generation ray-tracing accelerators, which should improve performance at higher graphics settings. The new cards are also coming equipped with the AMD Radiance Display and the next generation of the company’s Infinity Cache, which is designed to improve energy efficiency when compared toolder AMD GPU models. Comparing these new GPUs to NVIDIA’s lineup, the 7700XT has more memory bandwidth, memory interface, and RAM than the base RTX 4060 TI model, while the 7800 surpasses the 4070 in these metrics.
The 7700XT and 7800XT also come packed with new and returning features exclusive to AMD. The third generation of FidelityFX Super Resolution, or FSR, will be launching alongside these new GPUs, offering users the option to activate upscaling to improve performance across a number of supported titles, similar to NVIDIA’s DLSS feature. Like with DLSS, FSR allows for Quality, Balanced, and Performance options, which open the doors for more versatility when it comes to optimizing games for various builds. At the time of writing, FSR 2 and FSR 3 support is available or soon to be available for around 300 games, includingStarfield, a partner of AMD. AMD has partnered with various other developers and publishers as well, which will likely lead to more titles offering support for this feature.
In addition to FSR,AMD’s new GPUs will include AMD Radeon Boost and AMD Radeon Anti-Lag+. These two features, alongside FSR, can be toggled independently or activated through Hypr-RX, which combines the benefits of all three to improve framerate and reduce latency. Other features of these new units include advanced noise suppression, exclusive OBS streaming optimization, Fluid Motion Frames, and Smart Access Memory.
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Performance
AMD has described these new GPUs as being built specifically for 1440p gaming, aiming to provide better performance at this resolution. Several games have been tested on builds with the 7700XT and 7800XT, with and without features like FSR 3 and Hypr-RX, and the results have been mostly favorable, evenoutperforming enthusiast GPUslike the NVIDIA 4060 TI and 4070 in certain titles.
AMD claims that several games, includingCyberpunk 2077, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, andHogwarts Legacy, average above 60FPS more frequently when run on machines with the Radeon RX 7800XT 16GB versus the NVIDIA 4070 12GB. However, some games such asDoom EternalandShadow of the Tomb Raidersee a lower 60 FPS average on AMD’s new GPU when compared to NVIDIA’s. A similar story is told when comparing the Radeon RX 7700XT 12GB to the NVIDIA RX 4060 TI, with the 7700XT appearing to edge out the 4060 TI in almost every game tested. All tests were run at native 1440p. The special features of these GPUs, which can be expandedwhen using AMD motherboardsand processors, should further increase frame rates at higher resolutions.
Despite the RDNA 3 architecture being ostensibly designed to improve energy efficiency, these new AMD GPUs are trailing a bit behind their competitors when it comes to energy consumption; Both the 7700XT and 7800XT require a minimum PSU of 700W, with total board power starting at 245W and 263W, respectively. This is less efficient than the TBP of both the NVIDIA RTX 4070 (193W) and the RTX 4060 TI (160W). The additional strain AMD’s new GPUs will place on PSUs may not be egregious, but it may be a point against it when considering similar graphics processor options.
IfAMD’s partnership with Bethesdaproves anything, it’s that the manufacturer is working hard to be more competitive with its GPUs, specifically when it comes to support for its upscaling features. However, FSR is not nearly as widespread as DLSS, which is still a mark against AMD GPUs for many PC gamers. DLSS has proven to be a reliable, perhaps even invaluable, tool for PC owners with lower-spec machines, so AMD has its work cut out for it if it wants FSR 3 to compete. Luckily, features like Hypr-RX can still be leveraged in games without FSR support - it just may not be as good as DLSS or FSR 3.
All in all, the AMD Radeon RX 7700XT and 7800XT are promising. Measured against other leading GPUs, without taking upscaling into account, their performance is strong and reliable, and they have features that cancompete with NVIDIA’s growing DLSSupscaling options.AMDis also targeting a lower price range for these GPUs, so if they can hold their own against NVIDIA’s offerings, they could be a great choice for gamers looking to upgrade their hardware.
