I'm planning a new PC with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D and am considering the RX 9070 XT as a temporary GPU. The two most demanding games I expect to play are Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3. Can the 9070 XT run both at maximum settings at 1440p, or would I need to lower anything? Would an RX 9070 or RX 9060 XT be sufficient instead? I may upgrade to an RTX 5080 or 5090 and a 4K OLED monitor within four to six months, so this first GPU mainly needs to provide a good experience until then.
3 Answers
Baldur’s Gate 3 should run extremely well at max settings in 1440p, including at native resolution. Cyberpunk 2077 is also easy for the 9070 XT with rasterized graphics or conventional ray tracing, but full path tracing is a different story and carries a huge performance cost. For that mode, you’ll likely need upscaling and possibly frame generation, or a higher-end Nvidia card for a more consistent experience.
The 9070 XT is a very comfortable choice for 1440p. You can use ultra settings in Cyberpunk with ray tracing adjusted or disabled and expect a smooth experience. FSR 4 at Quality can help while still looking good, though frame generation is optional if you dislike the added latency or visual artifacts. Baldur’s Gate 3 should run beautifully without needing those features.
You probably don’t need the 9070 XT strictly for 1440p. The RX 9070 should still be a strong option, especially if you’re planning to replace it fairly soon. The RX 9060 XT can handle 1440p with sensible settings and upscaling, but it offers less headroom for ultra ray tracing, demanding areas, and future games. Since your budget is flexible, the 9070 XT makes sense as a temporary card because it will give you the best experience while you wait for the later upgrade.
Path tracing is demanding even on much faster cards, so I’d treat it as an enthusiast feature rather than a normal max-settings target. If you want it, use upscaling and frame generation, but standard ray tracing will be a much better balance.