INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The announcement last year by AMD that they'd no longer compete in the ultra-high-end GPU market with NVIDIA may have come as a shock to many people, but the recent release of their Radeon RX 9070/XT cards was more than enough to satisfy most of them. Granted, these graphics cards may not be able to directly compete with the top current models by NVIDIA (GeForce RTX 4090/5090) but they do offer a very good price/performance ratio and well, for most gamers that's the goal. Having already reviewed the PULSE AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT model by SAPPHIRE at launch date today I will be testing their top end NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT model to see just what gains you can expect from it (compared to the PULSE model) and of course how it performs in general.

    SAPPHIRE Technology continues to be a world leading manufacturer and global supplier of innovative graphics and mainboard products, delivering its AMD Radeon based products to the PC market addressing gaming and performance graphics hardware enthusiasts, as well as delivering an array of embedded technology solutions and commercial graphics products.

    The AMD Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT cards are based on the brand new Navi 48 GPU by AMD (4nm lithography - there probably won't be a higher-end model than this, not in the near future) which supports their latest FSR 4 AI super resolution technology (neural rendering ready according to AMD), Hyper-RX (1-click solution enabling Radeon anti-lag, boost and super resolution), Fluid Motion Frames 2.1 (improved picture quality, reduced ghosting and improved temporal tracking), Image Sharpening 2 (improved picture detail) and Radeon anti-lag 2. In terms of specifications the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT packs 64 RDNA 4 compute units, 4096 stream processors, 128 raster units (or render output units), 64 ray accelerators (or ray tracing cores), 256 texture mapping units, 64MB of Infinity Cache and a total of 128 AI accelerators. VRAM amount for the Radeon RX 9070 XT series is set at 16GB 20Gbps GDDR6 based on a 256-bit wide bus interface and thanks to AMD's latest memory management system called Out-of-Order Memory Queuing RT performance gets a boost by eliminating memory request stream misses. The NITRO+ model by Sapphire is their top-end model currently and features their latest FrameDefence construction (cold rolled steel frame), ARGB light bar, TRI-X Cooling equipped with Dual-Ball bearing quick-connect fans featuring the newest AeroCurve blades, hidden 12V-2x6 connector (stealth), Honeywell PTM7950 Thermal Interface Material (TIM) for superior thermal conductivity, 13 Phase Digital Power for increased stability, fuse protection, accurate power control and power efficiency, 12-layer High TG Copper PCB for excellent reliability, optimized composite heatpipes, integrated cooling module and a removable magnetic metal backplate for additional protection and hiding of the 3pin 5V ARGB and 12V-2x6 cables. As for clocks the NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT sports a game clock of 2520MHz and a boost clock of 3060MHz and has a total board draw set at up to 330W. Regarding available connectivity the NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT card by Sapphire features two DisplayPort v2.1a outputs and two HDMI v2.1 outputs.

 

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The front of the box in which SAPPHIRE ships the card is taken by what seems to be a shield, their logo and some product features.

 

 

A product picture is placed at the rear of the box right next to the key features and system specifications.

 

 

The card is placed between two pieces of foam and as you can see the magnetic backplate is placed on top.

 

 

Along with the NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and its magnetic backplate inside the box SAPPHIRE has also placed an 3x8pin to 12V-2x6 power adapter, L-shaped graphics card supporter with its mounting screws, 3-pin 5V ARGB cable, power cable connection instructions and a quick installation guide.

 

 

 

THE NITRO+ AMD RADEON RX 9070 XT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Measuring 330.8mm in length and 65.68mm in thickness (tri-slot) the NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is among the largest cards to ever arrive in the lab.

 

 

Just for comparison purposes I placed the NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 XT next to the PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT and the Phantom GeForce RTX 4080.

 

 

SAPPHIRE has once again used three 90mm Dual-Ball bearing quick-connect fans with the card.

 

 

For cooling the card uses 2 large heatsinks with 6 heatpipes passing through both.

 

 

At the top we find a ARGB light bar and the company logo.

 

 

Turning the card around we see that most is covered by metal.

 

 

There's a small gap on the right side from where you'll route the 12V-2x6 power cable and the ARGB cable (SAPPHIRE has placed a flat piece of foam here so the cables will not get cut (or heated) from the aluminum fins of the heatsink beneath).

 

 

Once you route the cables you can attach the magnetic backplate as seen above.

 

 

Moving at the front of the card we find the two DP v2.1a and two HDMI v2.1 ports.

 

 

Thanks to the ARGB light bar the NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 XT looks great (short clip is available as always on TikTok and YouTube).

 

 

I was a bit skeptical at first about routing the 12V-2x6 beneath the magnetic backplate, but it actually manages to keep it hidden (for the most part).

 

TRIXX V9.81

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The TriXX software is Sapphire's graphics card control software.

Information on the card and your system is what you'll see on the very first tab.

 

 

Second tab is a detailed system monitor.

 

 

You can get a boost in performance for a slight decrease in image quality by using the features in the third tab.

 

 

Testing the fans of your NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 XT is possible from within the 4^th tab.

 

 

Finally, you can control the ARGB light bar from the 5^th tab (8 effects plus off).

 

TEST BED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TESTING METHODOLOGY

 

    Since I changed my graphics card test rig i decided to tweak things a bit and so the entire testing methodology has changed. So, for the foreseeable future for tests, I’ll be using the EV3285 monitor by EIZO (later on I may also add tri-monitor results since I do have 2 cockpits here in the lab) for 2160p UHD (3840x2160p), 1440p (2560x1440p) and 1080p Full HD (1920x1080p) tests. Needless to say, since most of you voted for it, I’ll also be using the Intel Core I9-13900K (5.8GHz P/4.7GHz E/4.9GHz RING), EVGA Z790 DARK test rig which I’ve completed with the Kingston FURY RENEGADE 32GB DDR5 7200MHz CL38 dual-channel kit.

    Most games have also been changed so instead of manually testing every single one (and always allowing a small percentage of error) i chose all the latest ones to feature a built-in benchmark. In certain cases, built-in benchmarks may perform better than in-game, but my purpose is comparison and not what one can expect in terms of in-game performance. So, this list includes Chernobylite, Cyberpunk 2077, F1 2022, Far Cry 6, Forza Horizon 5, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Horizon Zero Dawn CE, Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Returnal. Also, since some of you have asked for Synthetic benchmarks in the past, I’ll also be using Speed Way and Port Royal from 3D Mark.

    As with the past options like power saving, sharpness, overlays and even zero fan mode are all disabled in the cards we’re testing (to achieve the purest and maximum performance) and all tests are repeated a total of 3 times in a fresh Windows 10 Pro installation with all updates installed until the day of our review (same as all the games used). Room temperature is as usual controlled and steady at 23 degrees Celsius for all tests and to record the temperatures of the cards we used AIDA64, and GPU-Z. Recording noise levels is done with an ExTech HD600 dBA meter from a distance of just 15cm away while power consumption is measured again using GPU-Z*.

* As of January 2025, Thermal Grizzly’s WireView/Pro Models will be used for power consumption alongside GPUZ.

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – SPEED WAY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3DMark Speed Way’s engine is assembled to demonstrate what the latest DirectX API (12 Ultimate) brings to ray traced gaming, using DirectX Raytracing tier 1.1 for real-time global illumination and real-time raytraced reflections, coupled with new performance optimizations like Mesh Shaders.

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – PORT ROYAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3DMark Port Royal is the world’s first real-time ray tracing benchmark for gamers. It shows you how well your PC handles ray tracing effects in real-time.

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – CHERNOBYLITE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chernobylite is a 1st person RPG set in the hyper-realistic, 3D-scanned wasteland of Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone. It's based on Unreal Engine 4 and will be used at Ultra graphics (RT Ultra/Off).

Just like with some past AMD cards RT was greyed out so I couldn't include such tests.

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – CYBERPUNK 2077

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cyberpunk 2077 is the latest game by CD Project and is based on their REDEngine 4. Graphics are set at Ultra/Psycho (RT Psycho/Off).

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – F1 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

F1 2022 is built on Codemasters' in-house engine, EGO, which has been upgraded to include DX12 and Raytracing. Graphics are set to Ultra High (RT is enabled in all tests).

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – FAR CRY 6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Far Cry 6 is based on the Dunia engine. Graphics are set to Ultra with DXR enabled.

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – FORZA HORIZON 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forza Horizon 5 uses ForzaTech, a proprietary engine built by Turn 10. Graphics are set to Extreme (RT is always enabled at high).

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guardians Of The Galaxy is based on the Dawn Engine by EIDOS. Graphics are set to maximum (RT Ultra/Off).

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - HORIZON ZERO DAWN CE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horizon Zero Dawn CE (Complete Edition) is based on Guerrilla Games' Decima engine. Graphics are set to Ultimate Quality.

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - METRO EXODUS ENHANCED EDITION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition is based on the 4A Engine and contains huge graphical upgrades compared to the normal version, including Ray Traced Emissive Lighting. Graphics are set at Extreme quality.

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Red Dead Redemption 2 Rockstar has used their RAGE engine (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine). Graphics preset level slider is set to favor quality.

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – RETURNAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Returnal is also based on Unreal Engine 4. Graphics are set to EPIC (RT EPIC/Off).

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - OVERCLOCKING

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overclocking the new Radeon RX 9070 XT cards has been quite the ride with most people asking for undervolting and well, I am not about to disappoint them. So, for the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 XT I used 300MHz on the core, 289MHz on the RAM (2820MHz effective - fast timings), -70mV voltage offset and +10% power limit (more aggressive fan curve compared to stock is also recommended). Aside performance gains this resulted in a maximum temperature of 58 degrees Celsius (4 less) and a maximum power consumption of 363W (4W over).

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - POWER CONSUMPTION / TEMPERATURES / NOISE LEVELS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The NITRO+ series by SAPPHIRE has always been their top line due to superior cooling, build quality and looks but for the Radeon RX 9070 XT they took things a step further by introducing a stealth (as they call it) 12V-2x6 power connector at the rear accompanied by a magnetic backplate. This looks very nice but if I could choose, I’d prefer the power connector to be somewhere easier to reach (not everyone has a new PSU with an 12V-2x6 cable, and we’ve seen quite a few issues with 12VHPWR cables when bend). That aside power consumption is again set quite high at max load, and I do expect some gamers to have a slight issue with that (majority will probably overlook this however). Everything else from performance (RT as well) to noise levels, temperatures and overclocking headroom checks out and so the NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is probably the best all-around card ever released by SAPPHIRE.

    At the time of my review the NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC by SAPPHIRE retails for USD945.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 884.68Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which although higher compared to what was announced by AMD it still reflects what you’re getting. Long story short the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is a great graphics card and for that it gets the Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Materials / 13 Phase Digital Design / Steel Frame)
- Very Good Performance (RT Included)
- ARGB Lighting
- Overclocking Headroom (Over/Under Voltage)
- 12V2x6 Stealth Power Connector (Magnetic Backplate)
- Noise Levels & Temperatures
- Supported Technologies
- TRIXX Software

CONS

- Power Consumption (For Some)
- Power Connector Location? (For Older 12VHPWR Cables)