Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X, 24GB GDDR6, 2x HDMI, 2x DP, full retail

Wie schlagen sich die neuen CPUs Ryzen 5 9600X und Ryzen 7 9700X im Gaming auf einer Grafikkarte vom Typ Radeon RX 7900 XTX im Vergleich zur GeForce RTX 4090? Wie reagieren die CPUs auf schnelleren Speicher bis hinauf zu DDR5-8000 in Spielen? Der Test liefert die Antworten.

Ende letztes Jahr präsentierte AMD seine neuen Radeon RX 7900 XTX- und Radeon RX 7900 XT-Grafikkarten, die auf der RDNA 3-Architektur aufbauen. AMD verspricht leistungsstarke und energieeffiziente Grafikkarten der nächsten Generation. Nach den „Zen“-basierten AMD Ryzen Chiplet-Prozessoren sind die RX-7900-Modelle die weltweit ersten Gaming-Grafikkarten, die ebenfalls auf ein Chiplet-Design setzen. RDNA 3 liefert dabei bis zu 54 % mehr Leistung pro Watt als die vorherige Generation und verfügt über ein schnelles Chiplet-Interconnect, das die Chiplets des Grafik- und Speichersystems verbindet. Weiterhin umfassen die neuen Navi-GPUs erhöhten KI-Durchsatz, der eine bis zu 2,7-mal höhere KI-Leistung liefert, und eine Raytracing-Technologie der zweiten Generation, die eine bis zu 1,8-mal höhere Raytracing-Leistung bietet. Insgesamt führt AMD eine bis zu 1,7-fache Leistungssteigerung in ausgewählten Titeln bei 4K im Vergleich zur RDNA 2-Architektur an. Die neuen Grafikkarten unterstützen auch DisplayPort 2.1-Displays mit Bildwiederholfrequenzen von bis zu 4K 480 Hz und 8K 165 Hz. Für einen ausführlichen Test der Radeon RX 7900 XTX mit üppigen 24 GB VRAM, haben wir uns die NITRO+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X von Hersteller Sapphire ins Testlab eingeladen. Die wuchtige Quad-Slot-Karte kommt im Custom-Design und bietet verschiedene Extras wie RGB-Beleuchtung, Overclocking ab Werk oder Dual-BIOS-Switch. Zur Zeit wechselt die Karte ab etwa 1.200 Euro den Besitzer. In unserem Test muss sie sich auch gegen mehrere Nvidia-Flaggschiffe behaupten.

Nach Referenz- und Custom-Design-Duellen treten RX 7900 XTX und RTX 4080 mit OC-Taktraten gegeneinander an. AMDs Grafikkarte kann dabei mit großem Aufschlag auf die Leistungsaufnahme etwas mehr zulegen als Nvidias. Überraschend hoch liegt der maximale Takt von Navi 31: 3,5 GHz sind möglich, aber nicht in Spielen.

Nach dem Start der Radeon RX 7900 XT und Radeon RX 7900 XTX war das Fazit durchwachsen. Einerseits gute Ansätze, auf der anderen Seite aber ist auch bei AMD nicht alles Gold was glänzt. Üblicherweise schauen wir uns nach dem Start der Referenzversionen auch immer direkt einige Custom-Modelle an. Diese verzögern sich in der aktuellen Generation aber bzw. sind spät dran. Insofern sind es zunächst einmal nur zwei Karten, die wir uns anschauen wollen. Die ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XT OC Edition und die Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X. Sind sie jeweils die bessere Interpretation der Navi-31-Karten?

Welche Vor- oder Nachteile bieten Custom-Designs der AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX mit Navi-31-GPU im Vergleich zum Referenzdesign in Bezug auf Leistung, Lautstärke, Temperaturen und Verbrauch? ComputerBase hat mit Asus TUF Gaming OC, PowerColor Hellhound, Sapphire Nitro+ und XFX Merc 310 die Probe aufs Exempel gemacht.

Of the two most recent additions to the Radeon range, we feel the RX 7900 XTX is the golden model. The regular XT just doesn't quite have the performance to justify the slight reduction in purchase price, whilst the XTX isn't that much more expensive for a lot of extra frames-per-second. The Sapphire RX 7900 XTX Nitro+ is a superb entry into the market. There is no denying that the build quality is exceptional. Few graphics cards these days feel as flimsy as some of the ones of old, but even compared to the best around the Nitro+ still feels like a superbly built item. It's rigid and curvaceous. Where it scores very highly is the quality of the cooling. It's been a long time since we've seen one of their famous Vapor-X models, and it has been worth the weight. As you could see on the previous page the Sapphire is a particularly power thirsty card, partly due to the 12 phase, 90A power circuit. Despite this high draw it remains cool throughout our testing and the fans, with their unique design, are quiet in operation. Performance between all three XTX cards was very close, as it is with nearly all modern GPUs and their level of consistent chip yield. Despite having the highest peak core clock amongst the three we've tested, the Sapphire actually had the lowest average boost clock. Lowest being a relative term as they're all very good. What perhaps surprised us was how consistent the performance was despite this theoretically deficiency. In the same way that peak clocks might look good in advertising but average is what counts, so average clock speed might give you an indication of performance but real world results are what truly matter. By that metric the Sapphire Nitro+ gets the job done in no uncertain terms. Anything that can run the RTX 4080 close has to be taken seriously. Such is the fame of Sapphire's Vapor-X cooling that they had to bring it back to market in a way that totally worked, and it unquestionably does here. Robust build quality, extreme power design and a level of cooling that has to be seen to be believed, the Sapphire RX 7900 XTX Nitro+ delivers everything you could ask for from AMDs flagship GPU. Priced, and performing, at a very similar level to the XFX Merc 310, the Sapphire Nitro+ wins our OC3D Performance Award.

Performance-wise, the Sapphire card does sit at the top, and in one case, beats the RTX 4090, at least in the 1% lows, but considering the price of that card, well, colour me impressed. The other side of performance comes down to cooling and power, and yes, it’s a bit of a power-hungry card, but the wonderful trade-off there is that the fans remain virtually silent and I’d happily have that churning away next to me while I game. Couple that with a card that will look amazing in your system, and you’re onto a winner.

Earlier this week we brought you reviews of the AMD reference design RX 7900 XTX and XT, and two custom-design boards from ASUS and XFX. Today we have tested the Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX Nitro+. This is Sapphire's flagship card for this launch, featuring a big factory overclock, a large power limit increase that's supported by three 8-pin power inputs, an amazing RGB light show and a great-looking cooler that can keep things cool, no matter what.

The all-new NITRO+ is a stunning piece of equipment and the fastest 7900 XTX we tested to date; the second you have it in your hands, you'll be impressed. With an out-of-the-box boost clock of 2,680MHz and a higher energy allowance make, this is a super fast Radeon. That higher energy budget, however, is excessive as we measured 431W as total board power. The card, however remains pretty silent and cools excellently. To maximise RDNA3's potential, Sapphire provides two types of custom boards, the top dog of which is the Nitro+. The RX 7900 XTX's goal is to support QHD and 4K UHD resolutions, and Sapphire's adaptation accomplishes this. It is well-made and looks great. We anticipate such characteristics, and while Sapphire's out-of-the-box performance gap is relatively small, several attributes allow the custom card to stand out in comparison to a reference model with a sweet RGB lighting implementation and two BIOS options. Having said that, what Sapphire provides here has pleasantly surprised us, and even impressed us a little. The XTX is a serious step up in terms of overall performance and features, at UHD it is struggling to compete with NVIDIA's flagship product, the GeForce RTX 4090. Realistically that differential is roughly 20%. So as long as the price is reasonable, that is acceptable and yeah, at 1099-1149 USD for the model as tested, it remains that, reasonable. Thanks to the infinity cache, it's sometimes even passing that 4090; however, that applies to lower resolutions, fillrate and CPU-bound situations. The actual performance for a card of this calibre needs to be sought in the UHD performance domain, and there it's sometimes lacking a little. It's still highly competitive with the RTX 4080 and, add to that, less expensive than the RTX 4080. The series 7900 XTX products will provide suitable Ultra HD performance at a more affordable price and be an excellent energy-efficient product while at it. Pure Raytracing performance is a notch slower than the competition; however, you can make up a lot of performance if that game supports FSR. But likewise, NVIDIA can apply DLSS3. Price-wise, this card offers good value over the RTX 4080, which starts at $1199. Since there will be so few 7900 XTX units available at the first launch wave, we highly doubt you will be able to buy one at MSRP. Prices in the EU will be well beyond 1250 EUR. This purebred stallion has high energy requirements and serves a limited clientele. Is it a good idea to buy this item? In our opinion, the price tag is a bit much, and you would be better off waiting for the next GeForce RTX 4070 or 7800. In conclusion, Sapphire nailed it with the new Nitro+ design and features; nevertheless, the default extra performance for this factory-tweaked model is ~5%. If you are truly into silent operation and amazing design, then we can recommend this card over the reference model for sure. We are happy with this card's performance and its beautiful looks, and pricing overall remain trivial, though.