My friend built my PC a couple of years ago, and I'm not very knowledgeable about hardware. I currently have an RTX 3070, but I'm seeing frequent frame-rate drops and the GPU is often running at 100% while playing Elden Ring, even on medium settings. My CPU stays around 40% under fairly heavy gaming loads, so the GPU seems to be the limiting part.
I'm considering either an RX 9070 XT or a regular RTX 5070. They cost roughly the same, and I play at 1440p on a 165 Hz monitor. My games include Sea of Thieves, Elden Ring, other Souls games, and Fortnite. I'm not chasing maximum settings, but I would like to use good graphics settings without constant frame drops. My power supply is rated above 750 W.
Is upgrading from the 3070 worthwhile right now? Between these two cards, is the RX 9070 XT the better choice? Would I regret losing DLSS, or is the newer FSR good enough?
4 Answers
Before buying, make sure the 3070 is actually the limitation in every game and check temperatures, drivers, and frame-rate settings. A GPU sitting at 100% usage usually means it is being fully utilized, not that it is dying. Still, if the frame drops are making the games unpleasant and you can afford the upgrade, the 9070 XT should be a substantial step up at 1440p.
DLSS isn’t automatically a must-have. It can look better in some games, especially with demanding ray tracing, but FSR has improved significantly on the newer RX 9000-series cards. Unless you specifically care about path tracing or Nvidia features, I wouldn’t drop down to a much slower GPU just to keep DLSS.
The RX 9070 XT is the stronger choice between those two. It performs much closer to an RTX 5070 Ti than to the regular RTX 5070, so if both cards are around the same price, the 9070 XT gives you considerably more raw performance for 1440p gaming.
If you can find the RX 9070 XT at a good price, that’s the card I’d choose. The RTX 5070 only makes more sense if you strongly prioritize Nvidia’s upscaling, ray tracing, or related software features. For regular rasterized gaming at 1440p, the 9070 XT is the better value.
My CPU is only around 40% during heavier gaming, while the GPU stays maxed out. The drops are frustrating enough that I’m ready to upgrade, especially since I’m worried prices could rise later.