How a lot worth do you placed on ray tracing as a PC gamer? That is received to be the query on the forefront of your thoughts when you’re contemplating dropping $500 on an AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. As a result of if you’re 100% bought on ray tracing you in all probability want to contemplate whether or not you are really keen to pay one other $100 for the privilege of additional RT efficiency and drop the money on the RTX 4070 as a substitute.Â
If, nevertheless, you are satisfied rasterised efficiency is the one GPU metric value a rattling on this topsy turvy world of PC gaming, then the RX 7800 XT might be the most effective higher mid-range graphics card you should purchase in the present day.
Now, apologies for sounding an excessive amount of like some class-obsessed Victorian English gent, creating strata after strata of card so I can jam the RX 7800 XT someplace that is smart. However when graphics card pricing is so ludicrously unfold out—with the following Radeon up costing $800 at finest—this $500 value level wants some type of classification of its personal.
It isn’t high-end any extra, and it is not likely fanatic as a result of that denotes some degree of respectable 4K efficiency. And for this amount of money I am actually not calling it mainstream. Although it’s basically now the center of the Radeon RDNA 3 line up, calling the RX 7800 XT mid-range would not sit properly with me, both. We are able to then both go for decrease high-end or higher mid-range, and I believe I will stick to the latter.
It might probably combine it with a few of the finest GPUs of this and the previous era.
So, that is the place the RX 7800 XT lives, launching with a reference value of $499 (or £479 for the trendy English gent) and with the type of gaming efficiency which means it could combine it with a few of the finest GPUs of this and the previous era. Successfully now we have now 4 graphics playing cards able to very comparable body charges: the RX 7800 XT right here, the RTX 4070, after which the RTX 3080 (which is just about end-of-life now) and RX 6800 XT from the earlier era.
That final one is perhaps going to trigger some confusion and maybe consternation given that we have two playing cards, a era aside, basically occupying the identical GPU degree and with the identical efficiency. There’s not quite a bit to separate the RX 6800 XT and RX 7800 XT, however everyone knows neither AMD nor Nvidia’s newest GPU nomenclatures actually make any sort of sense in relation to the final era. Their tiering buildings are simply twisted layers of obfuscation and misdirection, and that at all times units my enamel on edge attempting to parse the place a brand new GPU stacks up.
AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT verdict
Purchase if…
✅ You’ve a $500 finances: That is the most effective card on this value vary proper now, providing the usual gaming efficiency of two of the most effective GPUs from the final era.
✅ You need the safety blanket of 16GB VRAM: With a grand complete reminiscence capability, and a 256-bit reminiscence bus, the RX 7800 XT has a reminiscence subsystem that might be ample for 1440p gaming for the forseeable future.
Do not buy if…
❌ You need ray tracing efficiency: AMD’s RT acceleration remains to be a era behind Nvidia’s and with extra video games supporting it that may be a professional concern when you crave the height lighting results.
❌ You had been hoping to improve your RX 6800-series card: Regardless of the chiplet expertise, the sport hasn’t been moved on technologically from the identical GPU tier of the earlier Radeon era.Â
The reductionist means of trying on the RX 7800 XT is that this new era of Radeon GPU is delivering the type of efficiency we needed to pay $650 – $700 for final time round. However that is nonetheless a fairly tantalising means of taking a look at issues. By providing body charges akin to each the RX 6800 XT and RTX 3080 this value level is trying stronger than ever earlier than.
And when it comes to current-gen head-to-head with the RTX 4070—itself delivering RTX 3080 body charges with advantages—you are getting straight raster efficiency in video games that’s broadly comparable (and typically increased) however for $100 much less.Â
That ought to all make it a really easy win for AMD, and the RX 7800 XT a card that should fly off the cabinets. Have been it simply in regards to the uncooked silicon, perhaps that might be the tip of it, however there may be extra to the fashionable GPU ecosystem than simply stream processors today, and it could be silly to not speak in regards to the competing characteristic units and strengths of AMD and Nvidia’s newest playing cards.
Nevertheless a lot AMD would really like you to know that it has improved the ray tracing efficiency of its RDNA 3 structure, with silicon devoted to accelerating the RT pretties, it is nonetheless a era behind Nvidia, at finest. Whenever you throw closely ray- traced video games into the benchmarking combine, Nvidia’s RTX 4070, and to a lesser extent the RTX 3080, takes the lead.
It is $100 cheaper, which might be the true kicker.
However nonetheless the overwhelming majority of the video games you play in the present day might be closely skewed in the direction of rasterised rendering efficiency. That is additionally a stable given throughout the board, put up towards solely the potential efficiency uplift one thing like both AMD’s Fluid Movement Frames or Nvidia’s Body Technology can supply on a purely game-by-game foundation.
Proper now, that places much more positives within the RX 7800 XT nook than the competing RTX 4070: It commonly wins out on straight raster body charges, it has extra video reminiscence, which is a constant theme of gaming in the present day, and it has its personal stable upscaling tech in FSR 2.2, with imminent updates on the way in which.Â
And it is $100 cheaper, which might be the true kicker. If the 2 playing cards had been nearer in value then the Nvidia ecosystem—with the superior DLSS 3.5 and the magic of Body Technology—would have extra pull. However till Nvidia deigns to drop the value on its RTX 4070, too, the RX 7800 XT is trying like the most effective wager for many PC players proper now.
Although we’ll must see how a lot traction this new Radeon card may have if it desires to enhance AMD’s GPU market share in fact…
AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT specs
AMD hasn’t gone into an entire lot of technical particulars for the Navi 32 GPU on the coronary heart of each this RX 7800 XT and the marginally decrease spec RX 7700 XT, however suffice to say that is the second chiplet graphics chip from AMD, which is a feat itself.
There was a lot written in regards to the rumoured struggles for AMD getting chiplet GPUs off the bottom, with some stories suggesting it would even eschew the high-end with RDNA 4 and focus as a substitute on mid-range monolithic chips as a substitute. However AMD has nonetheless persevered with RDNA 3, and with 4 eminently useful multi-chip graphics playing cards launching within the first it isn’t a nasty begin for multi-chip GPUs.
Just like the Navi 31 silicon contained in the RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT playing cards, AMD has taken the straightforward path of utilizing a single Graphics Compute Die (GCD) somewhat than multiples to bump up the general core or shader depend. That was the tactic used so successfully on the CPU facet, however getting a number of GPU elements to speak coherently when confronted with a sport rendering process is quite a bit trickier than with normal number-crunching compute duties.
| Header Cell – Column 0 | AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT | AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | RDNA 3 | RDNA 2 |
| Manufacturing course of | 5nm GCD + 6nm MCD | 7nm |
| Transistors | 28.1 billion | 26.8 billion |
| Compute items | 60 | 72 |
| Shaders | 3840 | 4608 |
| ROPs | 96 | 64 |
| Infinity cache | 64MB | 128MB |
| Reminiscence | 16GB GDDR6 | 16GB GDDR6 |
| Reminiscence velocity | 19.5 Gbps | 16Gbps |
| Reminiscence bus | 256-bit | 256-bit |
| TBP | 263W | 300W |
| Launch value | $499 | $649 |
Our Jacob went in-depth with the RDNA 3 structure in his preliminary AMD RX 7900 XTX evaluate again at launch, and it is nonetheless a terrific reference in order for you some additional nuance, however I will run down the fundamentals right here.
Right here we have now the Navi 32 GCD, which is 2 thirds the dimensions of that contained in the Navi 31 chip at 200mm² vs. 300mm². Round that core chip are 4 Reminiscence Cache Dies (MCD) which home the Infinity Cache, VRAM, and the reminiscence bus.
AMD remains to be going with the identical transistor node setup as with the RX 7900-series playing cards, which suggests a TSMC 5nm GCD and a TSMC 6nm MCD. The mission vital compute elements are those on the innovative lithography, whereas the reminiscence would not must shrink all the way down to the identical extent, which means {that a} 6nm node is totally tremendous for the MCD.
The GCD homes a complete of 60 compute items (CUs), and subsequently 3840 shaders, or stream processors; that is the identical because the RX 6800 (non XT) from the earlier era. However the base structure of RDNA 3, these CUs, have been enhanced to the tune of “roughly 17.4% architectural enchancment clock-for-clock.” So sayeth AMD, which sounds somewhat particular for an approximate measure.
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And when it comes to these clocks the RX 7800 XT runs at a nominally increased frequency than both the RX 6800 or RX 6800 XT it is changing. Although, notably, not as excessive as AMD initially promised for RDNA 3. There was effusive speak from AMD about RDNA 3 particularly being architected for 3GHz+ clock speeds round launch, however none of that has come to cross. And, in truth, the typical clock velocity in our Metro Exodus assessments present the reference RX 7800 XT really working barely slower than the reference RX 6800 XT.
The generational progress, subsequently, feels somewhat slight by direct comparability.Â
You’re nonetheless getting 16GB of GDDR6 through these 4 MCDs, and in addition an aggregated 256-bit reminiscence bus alongside them. That is fairly damned good for a $500 card, and it is a correct 16GB, too, not clam-shelled in some bizarre design à la the now-$449 RTX 4060 Ti and its meagre 128-bit bus. It is also increased clocked reminiscence than the RDNA 2 playing cards, working at 19.5Gbps towards the 16Gbps of the RX 6800-series.
That every one helps bump the efficient reminiscence bandwidth, too, together with the 2nd Gen Infinity Cache, of which there’s surprisingly much less.
AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT benchmarks and efficiency
As you’d anticipate, and doubtless hope from a $500 graphics card, the RX 7800 XT makes an excellent 1080p GPU. It is solely within the uber-ray traced environs of Cyberpunk 2077 that it fails to prime 60 fps on the tippiest of prime graphics settings. All through the remainder of our benchmark gauntlet the cardboard is ready to prime 100 fps and truly totally on in the direction of the 144 fps you’d need for a excessive refresh charge monitor.Â
Artificial gaming efficiency
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1080p gaming efficiency
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What AMD desires you to know, nevertheless, is that it is a 1440p graphics card, designed to prime 60 fps within the newest titles on the prime settings. And, truthfully, it goes properly past that outdoors of, once more, that brutal Cyberpunk 2077 outlier. These prime 4 playing cards within the graphs—the RTX 3080, RTX 4070, RX 6800 XT, and RX 7800 XT—all commerce blows all through the benchmarks at this degree and that simply exhibits how shut these playing cards are, and it is pleasing to see the RX 7800 XT as the most affordable one typically main the way in which, too.
Even in F1 22 and Metro Exodus Enhanced Version, the place ray tracing is a vital element of the high-end graphics settings, the RX 7800 XT will get throughout that 60 fps line with ease. However then in one thing like Far Cry 6 or Crimson Useless Redemption 2 you are trying past the 100 fps mark.
1440p gaming efficiency
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It is also essential to notice simply how far forward of the following one down the GeForce stack this Radeon GPU is. In contrast with the RTX 4060 Ti, whether or not 8GB or 16GB, the RX 7800 XT is round 25% faster for an additional 25% on the sticker value. And its relative efficiency towards the RX 7700 XT is a nail within the coffin for its Navi 32-toting brethren. On common we noticed a efficiency deficit of round 20%, however the value delta is a mere 10%.Â
That makes the RX 7700 XT’s ludicrous $449 launch value far too near the RX 7800 XT for it to be in any means related. Here is hoping it follows the RX 6700 XT’s trajectory and drops to round $350 sooner or later, in any other case it truly is a DOA GPU.
And all these numbers signify the RX 7800 XT’s native efficiency, so are all simply all the way down to what the uncooked silicon is able to with out resorting to upscaling shenanigans for additional efficiency. After all, you completely can try this with the RX 7800 XT, although it is much less of a given that you will allow FSR with AMD’s implementation not faring too favourably in contrast with Nvidia’s DLSS. That is very true contemplating plenty of FSR-supporting video games have nonetheless not been up to date from the shaky first-gen model of the Radeon tech.Â
The RX 7800 XT even has some 4K gaming chops, as you’ll anticipate from a card that is providing efficiency proper up there with the high-end of AMD’s earlier era of GPUs. At this degree you are going to wish some upscaling to cope with any ray-traced lighting results, nevertheless, as away from pure rasterised rendering you possibly can see the RX 7800 XT begin to chug with this many pixels on display.Â
4K gaming efficiency
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PCG take a look at rig
CPU: Intel Core i9 12900K
Motherboard: Asus ROG Z690 Maximus Hero
Cooler: Corsair H100i RGB
RAM: 32GB G.Talent Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-5600
Storage: 1TB WD Black SN850, 4TB Sabrent Rocket 4Q
PSU: Seasonic Prime TX 1600W
OS: Home windows 11 22H2
Chassis: DimasTech Mini V2
Monitor: Dough Spectrum ES07D03
However, at this degree, upscalers have much more picture information to work with, and so your 4K upscaled expertise goes to look an entire lot higher than a 1080p upscaled one. I imply, that is simply gross, particularly on FSR 1.0. Have you ever tried upscaling on AMD playing cards with Baldur’s Gate 3? Yurgh.
On the extra holistic facet of issues, ie. temps and energy draw, the superior Nvidia Ada structure is the clear winner. Its RTX 4070 is ready to ship the identical basic expertise, with the additional ray tracing frosting, and nonetheless are available far much less thirsty and much cooler as properly. If we’re speaking about a greater GPU structure, Ada might be that. Although I suppose that is why Nvidia has opted to cost it so excessive.
GPU efficiency
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However the RX 7800 XT remains to be barely much less demanding on energy than its RX 6800 XT forebear, and gives much more efficiency per watt. The difficulty is that it is simply not a metric which displays properly on AMD within the straight up producer dogfight. At 1080p the RTX 4070 gives 47% increased efficiency per watt in contrast with the RX 7800 XT.Â
AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT evaluation
For anybody with a finances of $500 to spend, the RX 7800 XT is the one card on the block.
The place does the RX 7800 XT line up? Properly, it traces up completely with the type of graphics card launches we have come to anticipate from this faintly irritating era of GPUs. However the principle takeaway must be that you simply’re getting successfully unprecedented efficiency from a graphics card with a launch value of $500.
Solely successfully unprecedented as a result of, till they utterly promote out, you possibly can bag an RX 6800 XT for $499 and you’ll scarcely discover the distinction. That may be essential if the RX 7800 XT proves arduous to search out on launch day.Â
It might be an higher mid-range card, nevertheless it’s punching at a degree with arguably the 2 finest GPUs of the final era within the RX 6800 XT and the RTX 3080. That additionally means it is roughly equal to the RTX 4070 in normal gaming phrases—typically faster—with solely video games that specialise within the newest ray tracing results giving a stable win to Nvidia.
And in order for you that additional ray tracing efficiency, or the undoubtedly tempting prospect of DLSS 3.5 and Body Technology, then you are going to must pay for the privilege.
And it does all come all the way down to pricing for this card, which is the place the RX 7800 XT wins. It isn’t a low-cost card by any means, $500 is quite a bit to spend on any element, however it’s bringing down the value of this degree of raster efficiency and a correct 16GB VRAM implementation.  However this suggestion is true solely for a reference-priced card—when you’re taking a look at a third-party overclocked card for $550 or extra I might be much more tempted by the general ecosystem behind the RTX 4070.
Technologically talking, I am much less enthused by the cardboard. Certain, the actual fact the chiplet expertise is functioning in any respect, not to mention delivering such persistently good efficiency, is an enormous tick for AMD’s engineers. However, like virtually all of the graphics playing cards of this era, it seems like we’re getting the naked minimal, simply sufficient.
Proper now, even with its comparatively cut-down specs lagging behind the RX 6800 XT, the RX 7800 XT nonetheless performs as properly, however for a major discount in value. That is essential, as a result of if it had are available at $650, performing this far beneath the likes of the RX 7900 XT at $770, it could have been a catastrophe. And had AMD been in a position to spec the Navi 32 GCD on the identical degree because the 72 CUs of the RX 6800 XT we might have had a much more thrilling GPU on our palms.
However that simply sufficient is nonetheless sufficient. For anybody with a finances of $500 to spend on the newest graphics playing cards, the reference-priced RX 7800 XT is the one card on the block. Even now the 16GB RTX 4060 Ti has had a value minimize all the way down to $449, I might nonetheless advocate choosing this Radeon card as a substitute.Â
