Sapphire Pure AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT: Great Even in White

Adam Vágner

1 day ago

Introduction and parameters

The Pure AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT by Sapphire is a slightly higher-clocked variant of the base Pulse AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT. It features the same cooling system, differing only in the color scheme and the design of the shroud and backplate. In terms of performance and operating characteristics, both models are nearly identical. The most noticeable difference between the two is the Sapphire logo on the side of the card, backlit by ARGB LEDs.

We’ve already introduced the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 in detail in articles dedicated to the RDNA4 architecture and the specifications of both models, their features, and the new technologies they bring.

We’ve already tested two RX 9070 XT models and one Radeon RX 9070:

Today, we’ll look at the third card from Sapphire, the Pure Radeon RX 9070 XT, which comes with higher factory clock speeds and a slightly increased power limit. Let’s quickly recap the reference parameters of both new Radeons and then dive into the tested card.

In terms of construction, the card looks identical to the Pure AMD Radeon RX 9070 externally. Therefore, I’ll borrow most of the photos from the previous review.

The Pure AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT has higher clock speeds than the base Pulse AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT model. The advertised typical game clock is increased to 2460 MHz, with a boost clock of up to 3010 MHz. The power limit for the card has also been slightly raised from the reference 304 W to 317 W. As a result, the chip’s operating clock speeds are significantly higher, and you can find detailed clock behavior in the operating characteristics section. The power limit can be adjusted in the overclocking panel in Radeon Software, ranging from -30% to +10%.

To the values from GPU-Z monitoring, I’ll add data from HWiNFO, which provides plenty of details. This includes hotspot readings, which are missing on GeForce cards.

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The Sapphire Pure AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT cooler differs from the previously tested Pulse AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT mainly in the shroud design, while it’s identical to the Pure AMD Radeon RX 9070. A heatsink with transverse fins is cooled by three large fans mounted in a white plastic shroud.

What differs from the Pulse RX 9070 XT is the design of the metal backplate on the rear side of the PCB. The perforation near the bracket is less pronounced, while the rear section is slightly more open. Near the PCB, there’s also a cutout for a connector where you can connect an ARGB LED strip.

The external dimensions of the card are the same, with a length of 32 cm. It extends about 3 cm beyond the bracket in width and occupies three full slots in height, so plan for a fourth free slot for air intake. The power connectors are recessed, making the card compatible with narrower cases.

The weight differs from the Pulse model by just a few grams, likely because of the ARGB LED connector and the different illuminated logo on the side of the card.

The bracket features a less common combination of outputs—one of the three usual DisplayPort 2.1b ports has been replaced by a second HDMI 2.1b connector. While in the previous generation, Radeons had an edge over GeForce thanks to support for the newer DisplayPort standard, in this generation, they offer DisplayPort with lower bandwidth (UHBR13.5) compared to GeForce’s UHBR20.

For cards in the upper mid-range performance category, you won’t have to worry about them only handling 54 Gbps. They’re not designed for high resolutions at extreme refresh rates.

For additional power, it uses a pair of classic 8-pin connectors, which, due to the aversion to the new 12V-2×6 connectors, is seen as a plus by most people today.

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Test build

I don’t test graphics cards openly on a desk like most reviewers, I use a classic gaming PC for measurements. The components are mounted in a Fractal Design Meshify 2 case. To give you an idea, for now I’ll borrow a photo of another build in the same case, which you may have come across in articles dedicated to system cooling. It also features a quartet of 140mm fans in all available positions. All system fans have their speeds reduced to about 780 rpm. The build is not completely silent, but it can cool even high performance cards with high power consumption.

Inside is the newer Aorus X870 Elite WiFi7 motherboard, which is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 9800X3D processor. The cooling of the processor is taken care of by the new Noctua NH-D15 G2 in the offset position. The processor is complemented by 64GB of DDR5-6000 memory in two modules from Kingston, and the system and data are stored on a 4TB SSD from the same manufacturer. The whole setup is powered by the top-of-the-line 1300W Be quiet! Dark Power Pro 13 PSU.

Below is a picture of the configuration and current system settings and the version of Windows used for testing. The memories are set to an EXPO profile with DDR5-6000 32-38-38-38-1,350V with XMP/EXPO High Bandwidth Support set to Enabled, Infinity Fabric Frequency and Dividers manually set to 2000 MHz and the UCLK DIV1 MODE divider set to UCLK=MEMCLK.

The SVM Enable setting is deactivated in the advanced processor settings for higher performance and the “Core Isolation” setting in Windows Security is also deactivated.

Furthermore, the Radeon graphics adapter integrated in the processor and the integrated SATA controller are manually deactivated.

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Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition

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Cyberpunk 2077

Global setting RT Ultra

Performance with FSR3 native AA, FSR3 Balanced and FSR3 Balanced + Frame Gen

1920 × 1080

2560 × 1440

3840 × 2160

Global setting RT Overdrive

Performance with FSR3 native AA, FSR3 Performance and FSR3 Performance + Frame Gen

1920 × 1080

2560 × 1440

3840 × 2160

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Global settings RT Ultra

Performance with DLAA, DLSS Balanced and DLSS Balanced + Frame Gen

1920 × 1080

2560 × 1440

3840 × 2160

Global settings RT Overdrive

Performance with DLAA, DLSS Performance and DLSS Performance + Frame Gen

2560 × 1440

3840 × 2160

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F1 24

Performance with TAA

Performance with FSR3 balanced and FSR3 Balanced + Frame Gen

F1 24

Performance with DLAA, DLSS Performance and DLSS Frame Gen

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3DMark Port Royal

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Fan behavior, noise level

The fans are low-profile, making them quieter at higher speeds compared to many other cards. The minimum performance that can be set in the fan control is 15%, at which they run at around 700 RPM, and the measured noise level is below 30 dBA. They start to become noticeably audible around 1500 RPM. At a normal distance of about one meter, they become audible around 1800 RPM.

Cyberpunk 2077, RT Medium, 3840 × 2160

The first set of measurements comes from the Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark with RT Medium settings at a resolution of 3840 × 2160 pixels. With this setup, the GPU is fully loaded. This involves eight consecutive benchmark runs.

The graph always shows the last run, from which the average value for the warmed-up card is calculated.

The GPU clock speed ranges between 2619 and 2788 MHz, with an average of 2685 MHz.

The card’s power consumption hovers around the GPU limit read from HWiNFO. Green represents the card’s power consumption according to monitoring, and blue is the CPU’s power consumption according to monitoring (read via HWiNFO).

The dark color represents the total PC power consumption measured with a UT71E multimeter.

The average chip temperature is below 60 °C, but the control is based on the hotspot temperature. Memory temperatures are at the 90 °C mark.

A small spike always appears with a sudden increase in load when starting the test, but the values are lower than on the Pulse RX 9070 XT. The fan speeds are similar to those of the Pulse RX 9070 XT.

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The next tests are from the F1 24 benchmark at a resolution of 3840 × 2160 pixels with Ultra settings. This benchmark includes five laps on the Singapore circuit in wet conditions. Unlike other benchmarks, this is a sustained load, with no drop in load between loops, and the card is warmed up.

The average GPU clock speed hovered around 2648 MHz.

The card’s power consumption again stays at the power limit.

The average temperature remains exceptionally low, but even the GPU hotspot isn’t faring the worst, as the memory temperatures are the highest.

The graph shows that after heating up, the fan speeds fluctuate. It appears that these fluctuations mirror the temperature movements of the memory.

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The final set of data comes from the Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition benchmark, set to Extreme at a resolution of 3840 × 2160 pixels. Here, the chip load also varies.

The average chip clock speed hovered around 2580 MHz.

In terms of power consumption, the card consistently stays at its power limit.

The noticeable spike in fan speeds is caused by higher hotspot temperatures (marked in dirty yellow).

Under stable load, the spikes are less frequent, only occurring when the memory hotspot reaches 92 °C. The variation in fan speeds with rapid changes in load is the highest in this test, with fans ramping up to 2160 RPM. At these speeds, the fan noise reaches around 39 dBA—still below average, but no longer whisper-quiet.

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Closing summary

The MSRP for the base models of the Radeon RX 9070 is 549 USD. With tax included, this translates to approximately 611 EUR or 16,000 CZK. The more powerful RX 9070 XT model, according to AMD, starts at 599 USD (around 17,600 CZK or 660 EUR with tax). This is the price at which the cheaper black Pulse AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT model should be available.

Currently, this price is rather theoretical, as even for unavailable cards, the starting price begins at 19,500 CZK (around 700 EUR with tax). The higher-clocked Pure AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT model has an MSRP of 679 USD. This would mean an additional 2,000 CZK (or 90 EUR), bringing the price to just under 20,000 CZK (or 750 EUR).

In practice, however, the differences between the two models are smaller—a few dozen euros or a few hundred crowns—because the Pulse model is significantly more expensive in stores than it should be.

The difference in performance or operational characteristics is minimal—the power consumption of the Pure variant increased by only 13 W, and the clock speeds are slightly higher, resulting in a performance impact at the level of tenths, or at most a few frames per second.

If the Pulse RX 9070 XT does not drop significantly in price and the difference between the two models remains similar to what it is now, you can choose based on whether you prefer the simpler black Pulse variant or the white Pure version with ARGB lighting. If the price of the Pulse drops significantly over time, it will make more sense to opt for the black variant.

Pros and cons

+ Price/performance ratio compared to GeForce RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti
+ Cooler offers sufficient performance and is generally quiet, though not completely silent.
+ 16 GB of memory compared to 12 GB on the RTX 5070
+ Factory overclocking
+ Mounting kit included in the accessories for securing the card
+ Significant performance boost in ray tracing compared to the previous generation
+ Ray tracing performance compared to the RX 7900

– Slightly higher power consumption and worse performance-per-watt ratio compared to the RTX 5070 Ti
– Weaker performance in demanding ray tracing scenarios compared to the RTX 5070 Ti
– Competitor’s DLSS outperforms FSR in terms of the number of supported titles and technological superiority
– Rather average coil whine noise levels

Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics cards can be purchased in the Datacomp e-store.

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Continue: Cooler design, connectors