ASUS's mainstream Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card offering comes with a SFF-ready triple-fan cooler design, a phase-change GPU thermal pad for optimal heat dissipation performance as well as a clean aesthetic that is free from RGB bling.

On 6 March 2025, AMD launched its "RDNA 4" line-up of GPUs, in the form of the Radeon RX 9070 XT and the RX 9070. Packing significantly-improved ray tracing performance compared to its predecessors, the RX 9000 series marks AMD's shift away from the flagship GPU scene towards mainstream offerings in a bid to shore up its share of the global GPU market, and is intended to give NVIDIA's mid-range "Blackwell" series of GPUs (chiefly the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and 5070) a serious run for their money.

For this review, I'll be unboxing and testing a mainstream non-MSRP RX 9070 XT graphics card by ASUS - the Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition 16GB GDDR6. Featuring a factory overclock, a cooler design sporting alternate-spinning triple Axial-tech fans as well as a phase-change GPU thermal pad for optimal heat dissipation, the Prime also ditches any form of RGB bling, making it great for end-users who are not looking for a tricked-out card in terms of aesthetics. Read on to see how this card performs with a selection of gaming benchmark tests at the 1440p and 4K resolution, when paired with AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D gaming processor.

Summary of Specifications (PRIME-RX9070XT-O16G)

• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
• Memory: 16GB GDDR6 RAM (256-bit, 20 Gbps)
• Core Clocks:
  • OC Mode (GPU Tweak III): up to 3030 MHz (Boost Clock) / up to 2480 MHz (Game Clock)
  • Default Mode: up to 3010 MHz (Boost Clock) / up to 2460 MHz (Game Clock)
• Bus Type: PCIe 5.0 x16
• Outputs: 3x DisplayPort 2.1a, 1x HDMI 2.1b
• External Power Required: Yes, 3x 8-pin PCIe
• Recommended PSU Wattage: 750W and above
• Dimensions: 312mm x 130mm x 50mm
• Official ASUS product page: https://www.asus.com/sg/motherboards-components/graphics-cards/prime/prime-rx9070xt-o16g/

Packaging & Accessories

The Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition 16GB GDDR6 comes in a box with an outer sleeve that sports an image of the graphics card splashed across the front, where over on the rear of the sleeve, we get the usual overview of features and specifications for this graphics card.

Removing the outer sleeve reveals a black cardboard box that holds the graphics card, where the said box comes with subtle "ASUS" motifs on all surfaces of the box. In terms of accessories, we get the following:

• Quick start guide
• Thank you card
• Warranty card

Aesthetics & Physical Features

The card features a triple-fan cooling solution comprising of a plastic shroud and metal backplate. The said fans come with an "axial-tech" design that supposedly helps improve airflow, and also features dual-ball fan bearings for improved durability.

Over on the rear of the card, we get a metal backplate that helps with structural rigidity, where it also features vents that help with heat dissipation from the heatsink assembly.

The Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition 16GB GDDR6 comes in a 2.5 slot design, where it measures in at 312mm x 130mm x 50mm. For those of you who have no need for RGB lighting in your PC build, you'll be pleased to note that ASUS has done away with RGB LEDs of any sort with this graphics card.

Along the long edge of the card is a Performance/Quiet mode switch that allows end-users to toggle between fan profiles to suit their respective usage scenarios.

In keeping with Radeon GPUs from prior generations, the Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition 16GB GDDR6 utilises three "traditional" 8-pin PCIe power connectors.

In case you're unaware, the Radeon RX 9070 family utilises the PCIe 5.0 x16 bus.

In terms of display output ports, we get three DisplayPort 2.1a ports and a single HDMI 2.1b port.

GPU-Z Screenshot

Benchmarks & Test Setup

To get a sensing of the card's gaming performance, the following gaming benchmarks were run:

• Assassin's Creed Mirage in-game benchmark
• Black Myth Wukong Benchmark Tool
• Cyberpunk 2077 v2.21 in-game benchmark
• F1 23 in-game benchmark
• Far Cry 6 in-game benchmark
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider in-game benchmark

The benchmark tests above were run at both the 1440p and 4K resolution, where upscaling technologies such as FSR as well as Frame Generation were disabled for the test runs. Also, the card was tested on the "Performance" mode.

Test Setup

A test bench with the specifications as listed below was used:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D (stock settings, PBO & Curve Optimiser disabled)
• CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB
• CPU Thermal Paste: Thermalright TF7
• Motherboard: Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER (F34 BIOS)
• Memory: 32GB (2x16GB) KingBank DDR5 Dark Heatsink UDIMM 6000MHz (DDR5 6000 CL28-35-35-76 1.45V)
• Storage: Lexar NM790 1TB NVMe SSD
• Graphics Card: ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition 16GB GDDR6
• PSU: Cooler Master MWE Gold 1050 V2 ATX 3.0
• Case: Open-air test bench
• Monitor: Gigabyte M27U 27" LCD monitor (4K, 160Hz)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (24H2 with all latest drivers and updates installed, "Balanced" power profile)
• Graphics Driver: AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 25.5.1
• Resizable BAR: Enabled

The test results shown below were taken from benchmark runs that did not have any screen capture software running in the background.

Assassin's Creed Mirage In-game Benchmark

With Assassin's Creed Mirage's in-game benchmark test, the test bench achieves an average FPS of 161, a minimum FPS of 63 and a maximum FPS of 279 on the 1440p resolution. These results were obtained on the "Ultra High" preset with Adaptive Quality set to "60 FPS", and all forms of upscaling (e.g. FSR) disabled.

Bumping the resolution up to 4K with the same quality settings as above, the test bench puts out an average FPS of 101, a minimum FPS of 43 and a maximum FPS of 222.

Black Myth Wukong Benchmark Tool

Moving on to Black Myth Wukong's standalone benchmark tool, the test bench achieves an average FPS of 84, with a minimum FPS of 61 and a maximum FPS of 95 on the 1440p resolution. These results were obtained on the "High" preset with ray tracing switched off, and Super Resolution set to "100" with TSR as the sampling mode (i.e. FSR was disabled). Frame Generation was also disabled for the duration of the benchmark.

Notching up the resolution to 4K with the same graphics quality settings as the 1440p benchmark run, the test system achieves an average FPS of 46, a minimum FPS of 40 and a maximum FPS of 52.

Cyberpunk 2077 v2.21 In-game Benchmark

Next up is Cyberpunk 2077 v2.21's in-game benchmark next, where on the 1440p resolution, the test bench achieves an average FPS of 116.34, a minimum FPS of 99.95 and a maximum FPS of 140.20. These results were obtained on the "Ray Tracing Low" preset with FSR and Frame Generation disabled.

Bumping the resolution up to 4K with the same quality settings, the test bench attains an average FPS of 58.56, a minimum FPS of 49.02 and a maximum FPS of 76.00.

F1 23 In-game Benchmark

F1 23's in-game benchmark tool sees the test system achieve an average FPS of 92, a minimum FPS of 73 and a maximum FPS of 120 at 1440p. These results were obtained on the "Ultra High" detail preset with all forms of upscaling technologies (e.g. FSR) disabled. Anisotropic Filtering was set to the "16x" setting.

On the 4K resolution, the test system achieves an average FPS of 47, a minimum FPS of 38 and a maximum FPS of 63.

Far Cry 6 In-game Benchmark

We've got Far Cry 6's in-game benchmark next, where the test bench achieves an average FPS of 170, a minimum FPS of 128 and a maximum FPS of 210 at 1440p. These results were obtained on the "Ultra" quality preset with all forms of upscaling disabled. and DXR reflections and shadows were enabled throughout the duration of testing.

At 4K with the same "Ultra" quality settings as the 1440p benchmark run, the test bench achieves an average FPS of 112, a minimum FPS of 103 and a maximum FPS of 129.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider In-game Benchmark

Last but not least, we've got Shadow of the Tomb Raider's built-in benchmark test, where at 1440p, the test bench achieves an average FPS of 105. The results above were obtained on maxed out graphics settings, where Ray Tracing Shadow Quality was set to "Ultra" and all forms of upscaling technologies such as FSR were disabled.

On the 4K resolution with the same graphics settings as the 1440p test run, the test system achieves an average FPS of 55.

Power Consumption, Thermals & Acoustics

Power Consumption

Under Load (F1 23 In-game Benchmark, 1440p, Ultra High Detail Preset, TAA, 16x AF, FSR Off, Singapore Circuit, Two Laps)
• Avg. Total Board Power: 312.9W
• Min. Total Board Power: 89.0W
• Max. Total Board Power: 317.4W

Idle
• Avg. Total Board Power: 6.8W
• Min. Total Board Power: 5.7W
• Max. Total Board Power: 8.9W

The figures above were obtained from "Total Board Power (TBP)" readouts from HWiNFO64.

Thermals

Under Load (F1 23 In-game Benchmark, 1440p, Ultra High Detail Preset, TAA, 16x AF, FSR Off, Singapore Circuit, Two Laps)
• Avg. GPU Temperature: 59.1°C
• Min. GPU Temperature: 54.0°C
• Max. GPU Temperature: 61.0°C
• Avg. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 88.9°C
• Min. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 56.0°C
• Max. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 92.0°C
• Avg. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 83.2°C
• Min. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 74.0°C
• Max. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 84.0°C

Idle
• Avg. GPU Temperature: 45.0°C
• Min. GPU Temperature: 44.0°C
• Max. GPU Temperature: 48.0°C
• Avg. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 46.3°C
• Min. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 45.0°C
• Max. GPU Hot Spot Temperature: 49.0°C
• Avg. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 64.2°C
• Min. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 62.0°C
• Max. GPU Memory Junction Temperature: 66.0°C

The figures above were obtained from "GPU Temperature", "GPU Hot Spot Temperature" & "GPU Memory Junction Temperature" readouts from HWiNFO64. Do note that these figures were obtained with an open-air test bench with an ambient temperature of around 30°C.

In terms of acoustics, with default out-of-box fan curve settings, I found the Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition 16GB GDDR6 to be louder than the spate of graphics cards that I've tested in the past few months. At higher RPMs under typical gaming workloads, the Prime's fans were audible and I could definitely make them out amidst the fan noise of the test bench's CPU cooler fan. That said, the fans were nowhere as loud as the Gigabyte AORUS Radeon RX 9070 XT ELITE 16G that I tested some months back. In addition, there was a fair bit of coil whine with the media sample that I tested, which manifested itself in the form of a buzzing noise that was unfortunately audible even from a distance.

Conclusion & Pricing

The ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition 16GB GDDR6 is a mainstream Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card that comes with a factory overclock, decent thermal performance and a RGB-free aesthetic, though its higher-than-usual levels of fan noise is something to take note of if you're looking to build a PC that's on the quieter side of things. That said, given the RX 9070 XT GPU's performance, it'll handle 1440p gaming on modern titles with relative ease, and 4K gaming as well with some quality settings turned down for a smoother gaming experience.

Bearing in mind AMD's MSRP of US$599 for base model RX 9070 XT graphics cards, be prepared to pay a premium for the ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition 16GB GDDR6, seeing as it is 1) an ASUS card and 2) positioned as a non-MSRP RX 9070 XT graphics card offering. As of the time of writing this article, Newegg has this card listed for US$719.99, though it is out-of-stock - unsurprising really, given the state of the GPU market courtesy of supply shortages and the spectre of tariffs looming overhead (especially if you're based in the United States). One certainly hopes that given enough time, the GPU market will soften and normalise in due course.

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The graphics card featured in this article was a review unit provided on loan from ASUS Singapore.