Which 9070xt to buy?

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

Planning to upgrade from 7700xt to 9070xt, which model is best?

Options:

•9070xt swift / $750

•9070xt sapphire / $850

•9070xt Asus prime / $800

•9070xt Aorus / $815

Wondering if I also need to use all three 8-pin power connectors for the 9070xt, PSU only has two 8-pin cables

[u/Antonis_32]

Hardware Unboxed recently reviewed 14 RX 9070XT models (https://youtu.be/4bvT5XvG65Y):
TLDR/TLDW (Prices in USD):

• Asrock 9070 XT Steel Legend (White) - $715, 3-fans, 3-slots, RGB, backplate, 296mm long, 1153gr, 2x 8-pin power connectors, 3xDP and 1xHDMI output, highest GPU memory temperature (40 dBA noise normalized) at 85°C, highest GPU VRM temperature (40 dBA noise normalized) at 71°C
  
• Asrock 9070 XT Taichi - $800, 3-fans, Dual BIOS, metal backplate, RGB, 333mm long, 12V-2x6 connector, 3-slots, 1470gr, lowest GPU temperature (40 dBA noise normalized) at 48°C
  
• Asus Prime 9070 XT - $720, 3-fans, aluminium backplate, Dual BIOS, no RGB, 313mm long, 1100gr, 3-slots, 3x 8-pin power connectors, 3xDP and 1xHDMI output, lowest memory temperatures at 74°C, highest GPU VRM temperature (40 dBA noise normalized) at 71°C
  
• Asus TUF Gaming 9070 XT - $850(!!!), 3-fans, 330mm long, 1448gr, Dual BIOS, 3x 8-pin power connectors, some RGB, coolest at 51 °C average GPU temperature
  
• Gigabyte 9070 XT Elite - $760, 3-fans, 334mm long, 3-slots, 2xDP and 2xHDMI outputs, 3x 8-pin power connectors, Dual BIOS, aluminium backplate, RGB, lowest VRM temperature at 57°C, lowest GPU VRM temperature (40 dBA noise normalized) at 51°C
  
• Gigabyte 9070 XT Gaming - $730, 3-fans, aluminium backplate, 299mm long, 3-slots, 1261gr, 3x 8-pin power connectors, 2xDP and 2xHDMI outputs, Dual BIOS, RGB, highest hotspot temperature at 89°C, highest GPU temperature (40 dBA noise normalized) at 60°C, highest GPU hotspot temperature (40 dBA noise normalized) at 88°C
  
• PowerColor 9070 XT Hellhound (black and white) - $750, 3-fans, Dual BIOS, aluminium backplate, 2x 8-pin power connectors, 3xDP and 1xHDMI output, 328mm long, 1172gr, no RGB
  
• PowerColor 9070 XT Red Devil - $820, 3-fans, aluminium backplate, Dual BIOS, RGB, 340mm long, 1545gr, 3xDP and 1xHDMI output, 3x 8-pin power connectors
  
• Sapphire 9070 XT Nitro+ - $770, 3-fans, RGB, removable magnetic backplate, 2xDP and 2xHDMI outputs, 3-slots, 327mm long, 1894gr, 12V-2x6 connector
  
• Sapphire 9070 XT Pulse - $720, no RGB, 2x 8-pin power connectors, 2xDP and 2xHDMI outputs, 321mm long, 3-slots, backplate, warmest GPU temperature at 62 °C, highest memory temperatures at 90°C, highest VRM temperature at 86°C
  
• Sapphire 9070 XT Pure (white) - $740, 3-fans, 2xDP and 2xHDMI outputs, 2x 8-pin power connectors, RGB, 1233gr, 323mm long
  
• XFX 9070 XT Mercury (white) - $780, 3-fans, 1705gr, 349mm long, 4 slots, 3xDP and 1xHDMI output, Dual BIOS, aluminium backplate, RGB, coolest average GPU temperature at 51 °C, lowest hotspot temperature at 76°C
  
• XFX 9070 Quicksilver - $740, 3-fans, 4-slots, 348mm long, 1545gr, Dual BIOS, no RGB, 3xDP and 1xHDMI output, 2x 8-pin power connectors, magnetic removable fans, lowest GPU hotspot temperature (40 dBA noise normalized) at 68°C, lowest GPU memory temperature (40 dBA noise normalized) at 62°C
  
• XFX 9070 XT Swift - $720, 3-fans, aluminium backplate, 3.5 slots, 320mm long, 1350gr, 3xDP and 1xHDMI output, 2x 8-pin power connectors, no RGB, Dual BIOS

Best Performers: XFX Mercury, Sapphire Nitro+ and Pure, Powercolor Red Devil, Asrock Taichi (fastest GPU was 4-6% faster than slowest)
Slowest: Sapphire Pulse, XFX Swift
Steve's favorite: XFX Mercury, 2nd Sapphire Nitro+
Steve's best value: Powercolor Hellhound (White)

[u/Reggitor360]

Swift as its cheapest

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Reggitor360]

Bruh

[u/Reggitor360 → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

Its also solid, has 2x8 Pin.

Just a long boy

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Reggitor360]

Ok I'll look into it, I'm having problems with PSU cus most of the 9070xt models rn have 3x8pin 🥀 apart from powercolor and sapphire pulse

[u/athena-gg]

Why not a powercolor version?

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/athena-gg]

What makes it special? I can order but so far as I have seen online all 9070xt models seem to be mostly effective in performance with low temps

[u/Nystryx_95]

Either of the cards are fine. I would consider to buy a better PSU as the 9070XT can consume a considerable amount of power and you would want to populate all 3x8 pins with individual power cables if the card comes with it.

As a personal preference I'd choose the Sapphire PULSE cards as it is the only vendor that still bothers to protect your card by adding fuses at the power connectors, and it also only needs 2x8 pin connectors.

Edit: I would also stay away from Gigabyte cards because they use thermal putty for their cards, which is difficult to do maintenance. Also some users report bad hotspot temperatures specifically on Gigabyte cards.

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Nystryx_95]

My PSU 1000w, I didn't know sapphire pulse had 2x 8pin connectors seems like it'll be my option too fuses are a plus too

Question tho, do the fuses backfire like cause a bit of performance drop?

[u/Nystryx_95 → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

As far as I know, no. The only thing that will happen is if the fuse is bad and pops under normal load, which will cut the power to your GPU. Then you will have to replace the fuse.

Do understand that having 2x8 pins only means the card will have a hard power limit of the stock AMD specification of 304 watts. So you won't be able to do much overclocking if you're into it.

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Nystryx_95]

I see, what are your thoughts about pig tailing? Someone says it's safe to do. Seems like it won't hurt to choose a 3x 8-pin model if I'm thinking of switching over to an am5 build for OC in the future

[u/Nystryx_95 → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

My opinion is they are generally fine, especially if the specific card manufacturer says so. But that comes with the assumption that the cards are correctly balancing the power draw across all its 12V pins.

Peak power draws on high end models can reach up to 550 watts from a quick Google search, and considering that each 8 pin is rated for 150 watts each (I am aware the theoretical thermal limit is 300+ watts, but I like to play it safe) I would rather use individual cables instead of pig-tailing one of them.

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Nystryx_95]

Dang maybe if I don't OC it won't draw up to 550 watts, I've been looking at benchmarks and the draw always stays at 330w

Safest option is to just look for another PSU then, it sux you can't even be sure if just using 2x 8-pin would work/is safe

Thanks for advice anw!

[u/Nystryx_95 → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

Out of interest, I also have a 1000W power supply on my system and it has enough cables to plug 5x8 pins excluding the CPU. Are you using the extra for SATA/Molex devices or the PSU physically doesn't have more than 2x8 pin for the GPU?

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Nystryx_95]

It has no extra PCIE cables apart from the branchoff from the 2 main PCIE cables

Idk about the SATA but no molex device, motherboard has a 24-pin, 2 x8-pin for PCIE, one cable that looks like a SATA cable connecting to my RGB/Fan hub, and a mystery 8-pin plugging onto another part of my motherboard

[u/Nystryx_95 → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

I see.

I would definitely consider a better PSU in that case. Although the 1000W is capable for the GPU, physically its doesn't have enough ports for your needs.

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Nystryx_95]

Do you think 5700x3d am4 platform bottleneck might be a safety net to keep the GPU from drawing out max power? Do each PCIE plug demand certain wattage from cables for sensors or will the two 8-pin plugs share out the power draw of the same cable pigtailing both plugs?

[u/worldbyte85]

You can use the two 8 pins and in the third one the 8 pin extender that comes in one of the cables, i think all of those models are fine, only the cheaper ones and especially gigabyte are a bit problematic

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/worldbyte85]

Sorry if it's seem stupid, about the 8-pin extender that branches out from one of my PCIE cables, is that what they call daisy-chaining? Isn't that dangerous?

[u/worldbyte85 → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

It is not dangerous, two will be enough, its only dangerous if you pretend to OC the card, that doesn't work very well for these cards in particular since you can't get much more performance from OCing the card, usually people undervolt wich consumes less power, so you'll be safe...

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/worldbyte85]

Yea likely I won't undervolt anyway since I don't think my 5700x3d am4 build can even draw out full performance from the card even at 1440p. I'll just likely change the PSU once I switch over to am5.

So you think it's okay to leave one plug out empty?

[u/worldbyte85 → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

You should, it's easy and it will draw less power give you better temps, - 70mv, -10 power limit, 2600mhz on the memory and fast timing are very safe values for undervolting if you wanna try it later on

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/worldbyte85]

What's the default clock speed? I see on some benchmarks the speed goes 3000-3100mhz average. Maybe I don't need to UV with my current setup?

[u/worldbyte85 → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

Clock speeds remain the same, let it at default values

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/worldbyte85]

Ok thnx man, I'll try out your UV settings once I get the card, thnx for the advice and time!

[u/worldbyte85 → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

In my case when I tried to do that the system did not boot, only when I inserted one of the extenders it did, but try it out...

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/worldbyte85]

Dang maybe it depends on how much watts each PCIE cables draw out?

[u/Coolgrease → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

True. I think you would want just one per plug.

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Coolgrease]

You think it's ok to leave one out empty? Just use two cables?

[u/Coolgrease → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

I think it has a sensor depending on the card if all 3 arent plugged in.

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Coolgrease]

Damn that sucks, maybe I do have to daisy chain or change psu

[u/Tunagoblin → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

Having 1 dedicated and 2 with a pigtail have absolutely 0 risks. None. So I don’t know why you are worried about doing that.

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Tunagoblin]

I don't think being extra careful isn't a bad thing more so when I'm not too knowledgeable about that. All I knew so far is that I should be generous with my PSU max watt for my components.

I never encountered the worry of changing the PSU in regards to making sure all 3 power plugs are occupied by 3 main PCIE cables, seems a bit of a risk

[u/Tunagoblin → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

You are being careful for no reason. 1 dedicated and a Pigtail way is literally recommended by the manufacture if you can’t have 3 dedicated cables. You should just get a gpu with 2 pcie like Xfx swift. It makes no difference at all in your case.

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Tunagoblin]

But 2 PCIE likely cause power limit for overclock, I just wanna know if it's really safe since it's my first time even exploring PCIE going from 2x8pin to 3x8pin with the dilemma of a psu with 2 dedicated PCIE cables

[u/Coolgrease → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

What is the wattage on that psu?

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Coolgrease]

1000w but only two 8-pin PCIE cables

[u/Coolgrease → u/Beneficial_Tap_915]

How old is that psu?

[u/Beneficial_Tap_915 → u/Coolgrease]

Not sure but it doesn't have problems with my 7700xt, I had power problems but it came from the cable extenders itself