Graphics card prices are unusually high where I live. I could probably sell my used RTX 5070 for around $800–$900, then buy a used RX 9070 XT for about $800 or possibly less. The 9070 XT would give me more gaming performance and 16GB of VRAM, but I mainly play competitive games such as Fortnite and Valorant, which I've heard may favor Nvidia cards even though both GPUs should run them well. I also do some editing in Premiere Pro, After Effects, and DaVinci Resolve, so I'm concerned about AMD's software support, encoding features, and potential stability issues. I'll likely sell the entire PC in about a year and a half when I move away for college and switch to a gaming laptop. Would this trade be worthwhile, assuming the used AMD card is tested and still has warranty coverage?
5 Answers
Because you plan to sell the whole system in roughly 18 months, the 9070 XT could be worthwhile if the exchange costs you nothing and the card has remaining warranty. However, the improvement in your current games is less important than the potential editing trade-offs. I’d only make the swap after checking temperatures, stability under load, video outputs, power requirements, and warranty transfer conditions.
For competitive games, I probably wouldn’t swap solely for performance. Fortnite and Valorant run extremely well on both GPUs, and the difference may be hard to see unless your monitor has a high refresh rate and you play at demanding settings. The 9070 XT makes more sense if you also want better performance in newer, graphically intensive games and can confirm the used card is reliable.
The RX 9070 XT is noticeably faster than the RTX 5070 in general gaming, has more VRAM, and could even leave you with some money after the swap. If the card is fully tested, has no damage, and still has valid warranty coverage, it seems like a good upgrade for rasterized gaming. Make sure your power supply is suitable; a quality 750W unit is generally recommended for the 9070 XT.
Before making the decision, verify that those prices are realistic sale prices rather than just listing prices. Actual offers matter more than what similar cards are advertised for, and selling fees can reduce your return. Since you’ve already received offers around $800 and found 9070 XT cards below $800, the financial side looks plausible, but test the replacement card thoroughly before handing over your working GPU.
I’d keep the RTX 5070 because your editing workload changes the answer. Premiere Pro and After Effects generally benefit more from Nvidia’s CUDA support, NVENC hardware encoding, and Studio drivers. DaVinci Resolve can use AMD cards, but Nvidia is often the safer choice for a mixed gaming-and-creator setup. For Fortnite and Valorant specifically, both cards should already deliver very high frame rates, so the 9070 XT’s extra performance may not be noticeable unless you use a high-resolution, high-refresh display.
That’s the main thing I’m unsure about. I’ve seen complaints about AMD cards having worse support or instability in editing software, but I don’t know how serious those issues still are today.
I’ve already listed my 5070 and received offers close to $800. I’ve also found several 9070 XT listings under $800, so the swap seems possible in my area.