I'm finishing a gaming PC upgrade with an ASUS TUF GAMING X870-PLUS WIFI motherboard, Ryzen 7 9700X, and 16GB of DDR5-6000 CL38 memory. My monitor is a 34-inch curved ultrawide currently running at 144Hz, and I expect the new GPU to support up to 165Hz. The RX 9070 XT and RTX 5070 cost roughly the same, so price is not a deciding factor. I usually buy AMD, but I'm weighing the RX 9070 XT's stronger raw performance and 16GB of VRAM against the RTX 5070's GDDR7 memory, ray-tracing performance, DLSS, and other NVIDIA features. I've also heard about early RTX 5070 cards with disabled or defective ROPs, although I understand later cards may have addressed the issue. I want to play at a minimum of 100 FPS, preferably using native resolution rather than upscaling. Both cards should handle most of my games, but I'm especially interested in Forza 6. Which card should provide better image quality and performance in that game? How significant is ray tracing for its visuals, and is it worth prioritizing? Finally, how common are the defective RTX 5070 cards when buying used?
3 Answers
DLSS, frame generation, and NVIDIA’s ray-tracing advantages are useful features, but they do not seem compelling enough here to choose a noticeably slower card at the same price. Since you want native rendering and do not need CUDA or workstation-specific software, the RX 9070 XT fits your priorities better. For a used RTX 5070, verify the exact model, test it thoroughly, and make sure there is still warranty coverage because buying used removes much of the protection you would get with a new card.
For a game that both GPUs can run easily, the base image quality should be essentially the same at native resolution. Ray tracing can improve reflections, lighting, and shadows, but its value depends on how the game implements it and whether you consider the performance cost worthwhile. The 9070 XT’s ray tracing is much stronger than older AMD cards and is generally competitive with the RTX 5070 outside of especially demanding path-tracing effects.
At the same price, the RX 9070 XT is the straightforward choice for gaming. It is effectively a higher performance tier than the RTX 5070, with considerably more raw performance and 16GB of VRAM. At an ultrawide 1080p resolution, either card should comfortably meet your frame-rate target, but the 9070 XT gives you more headroom.
Those NVIDIA features can be valuable in some games, but I would not trade a full performance tier and 4GB of VRAM for them when both cards cost about the same.