Today, we compare AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 GRE to NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4070 Super GPU. Price-wise, these two GPUs are (almost) similar, with the RX 7900 GRE being slightly cheaper than the RTX 4070 Super. Both GPUs are designed for 1440p gaming, and they are more than capable of playing games at 1080p. If you are torn between these two GPUs, our RX 7900 GRE vs. RTX 4070 Super review comparison below will shed some light on the matter, and hopefully, you’ll be able to decide which gaming GPU best suits your needs.
AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super?
AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 GRE
AMD has recently released the Radeon RX 7900 GRE GPU in the US and worldwide. It was initially exclusive to China only. GRE means Golden Rabbit Edition, giving you a hint as to why it was exclusive to China at first. With the release of NVIDIA’s RTX 40 Super series, AMD decided to release this GPU worldwide to better compete with the green team.
In terms of specs, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE features a Navi 31 GPU and is based on AMD’s RDNA 3 architecture. It also uses a dual chiplet fan process design: 5nm for the GCD (Graphics Compute Die) and 6nm for the MCD (Memory Cache Die). It sports 5120 steam processors, 80 compute units and ray accelerators, and 160 ROPs and AI accelerators. Its core specs are closer to the RX 7900 XT, but its memory specs are similar to the RX 7800 XT.
Memory-wise, the RX 7900 GRE has 16GB of GDDR6 memory, 64MB of infinity cache, and a 256-bit memory bus, but its memory clock is only 18 Gbps. Overclocking its memory yields a higher frame rate in some scenarios or game titles.
NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4070 Super
On the other hand, NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4070 Super features 7168 CUDA cores, 224 Tensor cores, 46 RT cores, and a boost clock speed of 2475MHz. It only has a 192-bit 12GB of memory, but NVIDIA is using a faster GDDR6X memory and has an effective speed of 21Gbps.
Since the RX 7900 GRE and RTX 4070 Super are made by different companies and use different architectures or designs, you can’t directly compare their specs. What we can compare, though, is their price and performance. We can objectively compare which GPU is faster based on the fps they produce.
Below are the specifications of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super GPUs. After that, let’s then proceed to the benchmark results and compare their performance.
AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE vs. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super Specs
| Specs | Radeon RX 7900 GRE | RTX 4070 Super |
|---|---|---|
| Fabrication Process | GCD: TSMC 5nm MCD: TSMC 6nm | TSMC 4N NVIDIA Custom Process |
| Transistor Count | 57.7B | 35.8 billion |
| Architecture | RDNA 3 | Ada Lovelace |
| GPU | Navi 31 | AD104 |
| CUDA Cores / Stream Processors | 5120 | 7168 |
| RT Cores / Ray Accelerators | 80 | 56 |
| Texture Units | 320 | 224 |
| ROPs | 160 | 80 |
| Boost Clock | 2245 MHz | 2475 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 2250 MHz | 1313 MHz |
| Effective Memory | 18 Gbps | 21 Gbps |
| L2 / Infinity Cache | 64MB | 48MB |
| VRAM Size/Type | 16GB GDDR6 | 12 GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 256-bit | 192-bit |
| Total Memory Bandwidth | 576.0 GB/s | 504 GB/s |
| Texture Rate | 718.4 Gigatexels/sec | 554.4 Gigatexels/sec |
| Connectors | 2x DisplayPort, USB-C, HDMI | 3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI |
| Minimum Power Supply | 700 Watts | 650 Watts |
| TGP / TDP | 260W | 220 Watts |
| PCI Express Interface | Gen 4 | Gen 4 |
| Release Date | Feb. 2024 | Jan. 2024 |
| Launch Price | $549 | $599 |
Radeon RX 7900 GRE vs. RTX 4070 Super Benchmarks
Synthetic Benchmarks
Using the 3DMark benchmark suite, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE is noticeably faster in the Fire Strike benchmark tests, which are based on DirectX 11. In Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme, the GeForce RTX 4070 Super was able to catch up, but it was only able to outperform the RX 7900 GRE by a hairline.
We all know that ray tracing is not AMD’s forte. NVIDIA was the first to implement ray tracing in its GPUs, so when NVIDIA released the RTX 30 series, AMD just started implementing it. The RTX 40 series is already a third-generation GPU with ray tracing, but AMD’s RX 7000 series is one generation behind.
Unsurprisingly, the RTX 4070 Super outperforms the RX 7900 GRE when ray tracing is involved. In Port Royal and Speed Way, the RTX 4070 Super is 15% to 34% faster than the RX 7900 GRE, respectively.
These are only synthetic benchmarks and give us a general view of each GPU’s capabilities. Let’s test these GPUs with real games next.
Game Benchmarks
In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the RTX 4070 Super outperformed the RX 7900 GRE by about 3 to 7% depending on the resolution. Meanwhile, Call of Duty Modern Warfare II performs better with AMD GPUs. Even the RTX 4090 is outperformed by the RX 7900 XTX in this game title. The RX 7900 GRE is up to 26% faster than the RTX 4070 Super in CoD.
I initially suspected that the RTX 4070 Super would be faster than the RX 7900 GRE in Cyberpunk 2077, even without ray tracing. But the RX 7900 GRE was slightly faster in Deus Ex Mankind Divided.
In Forza Horizon 5 and Horizon Zero Dawn, the RX 7900 GRE and RTX 4070 Super are neck and neck.
The difference is small enough that gamers won’t feel or see it. Even in Forza Horizon 5, the RX 7900 GRE runs a hairline faster, despite the game having ray tracing enabled. However, ray tracing in Forza Horizon 5 is not as demanding compared to other titles, like Cyperpunk 2077 or The Witcher 3.
In Monster Hunter World, the RX 7900 GRE is slightly faster than the RTX 4070 Super. But it was the opposite in Plague Tale Requiem, where the RTX 4070 Super is slightly ahead. Only in 1080p can we observe a somewhat substantial difference. Their difference is so tiny at 1440p and 4K that it is negligible.
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the GeForce RTX 4070 Super gains the lead, but in Red Dead Redemption 2 both GPUs performed similarly.
Finally, in The Division 2 and Watch Dogs Legion, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE was faster than the RTX 4070 Super. It’s not a huge performance difference, though. However, the RTX 4070 Super is faster than the RX 7900 GRE, still not by a lot. The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 favor or perform better with NVIDIA GPUs.
Ray Tracing with Upscaling Benchmarks
I tested only a couple of ray tracing games because we already knew which GPU would win with ray tracing involved. In both games, I set the graphics settings to their highest, using DLSS Quality for the RTX 4070 and FSR Quality for the RX 7900 GRE. With ray tracing enabled, the RTX 4070 Super outperformed the RX 7900 GRE in these game titles.
Another advantage of the RTX 4070 Super, which I didn’t include in the graphs, is Frame Generation. Although AMD already has frame generation, called AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF), NVIDIA’s DLSS 3 Frame Generation is still better than AMD’s.
Though, at this point I’m not completely sold at Frame Generation yet. I can observe anomalies and some sort of distortion in the image. Frame Generation doesn’t increase frame rate, unlike upscaling technology. It only smoothens the gaming experience, giving the impression of higher frame rate.
As for DLSS upscaling, it has reached a point where DLSS Quality is on par with, and sometimes better than, native in terms of image quality. But this is true only in 4K. DLSS in lower resolution is not as good as 4K.
Benchmark Summary
The 13-game average above does not include the ray tracing result. These are rasterizations only, except for Forza Horizon 5. Overall, the RX 7900 GRE is about 2.4% faster than the RTX 4070 Super in 1080p, 4% faster in 1440p and about 1.4% faster in 4K.
I only tested 13 games in this review comparison, and it’s not a huge pool of game titles. But it gives us a general idea of how both GPUs fare. In the end, depending on the game title, the overall result may favor one GPU over another.
If I have tested more game titles that favors AMD GPUs, the difference would be more substantial in favor of the RX 7900 GRE. But if I tested games that favor NVIDIA GPUs sans ray tracing, we could see a tie or the RTX 4070 Super outperforming the RX 7900 GRE by a hairline.
Pricing and Availability Difference
Performance-wise, the RX 7900 GRE is a bit faster than the RTX 4070 Super. However, price-wise, the RTX 4070 Super is slightly higher than the RX 7900 GRE (pun intended). We can only use the base model price since different graphics cards from various manufacturers have varying prices. But the RTX 4070 Super has a base price of $599, while the RX 7900 GRE only has a base price of $549.
AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 GRE is about 9% cheaper than the RTX 4070 Super. Again, this depends on the graphics card model. Prices of these graphics cards tend to change depending on the market. You can check the latest pricing and availability below.
Conclusion: RX 7900 GRE vs. RTX 4070 Super, Which One?
Initially, I thought that the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE would be winner between the two GPUs. It’s cheaper and performs better than the GeForce RTX 4070 Super. So, it’s clear that the RX 7900 GRE is the one to get, right?
Well, it depends on your use case. I have shown you the results above; the only thing not included is power consumption. I will start with this argument first.
The RX 7900 GRE has a TBP of 260W and can reach almost 300W, depending on the workload. Meanwhile, the RTX 4070 Super only plays around 204W on average to 240W. Clearly, the RTX 4070 Super is more power efficient; for some gamers, power efficiency is a factor.
Another thing to consider is if you plan to play games with ray tracing and/or upscaling technology. Between the RX 7900 GRE and RTX 4070 Super, the latter offers better ray tracing performance and NVIDIA’s upscaling and frame generation technologies are better than AMD’s.
However, if power efficiency, ray tracing, or upscaling technology is not a factor for you, the RX 7900 GRE makes sense. Not only is it cheaper and slightly faster in rasterization performance, but it also comes with 16GB of memory, which may prove useful for some applications.
At the end of the day, it’s on a case-to-case basis and really depends on the user. Both the Radeon RX 7900 GRE and GeForce RTX 4070 Super are excellent GPUs, each with its own pros and cons.
Shopping options:
GeForce RTX 4070 Super graphics cards on Amazon here.
Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics cards are available on Amazon here.
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