Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Review

Introduction

With the arrival of the Radeon RX 7700 XT and the Radeon RX 7800 XT, AMD's RDNA 3 lineup of GPUs is effectively complete - in that, at best, we might see some variations in the future, but this is it in terms of SKUs until RDNA 4 arrives sometime in the future. And with both GPUs launching on the same day, we've now got the mid-range and entry-level enthusiast models from Radeon for its latest generation of graphics cards.

Arriving a year after the launch of the flagship Radeon RX 7900 XTX, how does the Radeon RX 7700 XT fit into the picture? Specifically, the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Gaming 12G reviewed here.

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If we are using AMD's marketing as a guideline and its review materials covering architecture and internal benchmarks, then the Radeon RX 7700 XT, with its MSRP of USD 449, is the company's mid-range answer to the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. With its price sitting in between the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB (USD 399) and the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB (USD 499), it makes sense to compare the cards in-depth - the prices line up a purchase decision could come down to picking up a GeForce RTX 4060 Ti or a Radeon RX 7700 XT.

And with 12GB of VRAM, the 7700 XT is probably better suited for 1440p gaming than the baseline RTX 4060 Ti - reflected in the overall results we'll get to later. 16.7% faster on average when it comes to 1440p gaming. At face value, the Radeon RX 7700 XT's sizeable performance increases over the RTX 4060 Ti is AMD, finally bringing some real heat to Team Green.

However, there's a lot more to it than that. It's also noticeably weaker than the Radeon RX 7800 XT, which is priced at USD 499, so it's probably worth shelling out more - for more. And then, there are drawbacks relating to efficiency and FSR 2 versus DLSS at 1440p. Let's dig in.

Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 6700 XT

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$559.99	$559.99	$578.99	-	Buy
	-	-	-	-	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 2/19/2024 at 7:27 pm CST - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

The RDNA 3 Generation

"The world's first chiplet gaming GPU" is how AMD described its new RDNA 3-based GPUs when it lifted the lid on the new Radeon RX 7000 Series. In layperson's terms, the GPU chip isn't just one big square or die anymore, with billions of transistors all arranged in a single layout. Like with its Ryzen CPU range, which embraced chiplet design to great effect (look at how Ryzen has grown in popularity over the years), bringing this design philosophy into the GPU space felt like the natural evolution for AMD's Radeon brand.

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For RDNA 3, what was once a single Graphics Compute Die (GCD) has now split into a GCD plus a Memory Cache Die (MCD). The GCD still makes up most of the hardware grunt and uses the newer 5nm process technology - a step up from RDNA 2's 7nm process. Interestingly, the MCD uses 6nm process technology, which allows AMD to keep costs down as the complexity and cost of manufacturing high-end tech continue to rise.

And to mitigate any performance impact that could arise from going the chiplet route, AMD has also managed to include the "fastest chiplet interconnect in the world," with speeds of 5.3 TB/s. That said, the Radeon RX 7600 entry-level models using the 'Navi 33' GPU follow a more traditional single-chip setup using 6nm process technology to help keep costs down. But with the same RDNA 3 architecture.

AMD's groundbreaking chiplet design can be found in the 'Navi 32' and 'Navi 31' GPUs - Radeon RX 7700 XT, 7800 XT, 7900 XT, and 7900 XTX. AMD's RDNA 3 architecture also features second-generation AMD Infinity Cache, another CPU-like feature designed to boost performance in 1440p and 4K gaming - a "bandwidth amplifier" that sits alongside the GDDR6 memory interface. It helps alleviate the need for more expensive and power-hungry memory buses and is one of those forward-thinking designs we love seeing.

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RDNA 3 also represents a significant leap forward for AMD regarding ray-tracing and AI accelerators. RDNA 3 GPUs feature the second generation of dedicated RT hardware and new hardware-based AI acceleration. Real-time ray tracing is hardware intensive; this is one area many were looking for AMD to improve compared to RDNA 2. Which, admittedly, was the company's first attempt at hardware-based ray tracing.

RDNA 3 GPUs are the first graphics cards supporting the new DisplayPort 2.1 spec. The latest DisplayPort interface supports up to 4K 480Hz and even 8K 165Hz, which makes it more of a future-proofing measure than something applicable today. But the real benefit comes with 12-bit HDR support and full Rec2020 coverage for improved color accuracy and detail.

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RDNA 3 also introduces hardware-based AV1 encoding to step up its video game for content creators, which means better quality video using the same bitrate. Very cool. For gamers, the introduction of AMD FSR 2 rendering is fully supported here and helps improve performance in intensive games. FSR 2 support might not be as widespread as NVIDIA DLSS, but its addition to games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Starfield is a great sign. Plus, as the tech is fully supported on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 (with both consoles using AMD graphics hardware), in-game FSR support should grow as time passes.

AMD's DLSS 3-like FSR 3 frame generation technology called 'AMD Fluid Motion Frames' will debut in September 2023 after this review goes live. FSR 3, like FSR 2, will be platform agnostic in that it will work across AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel hardware - but on RDNA 3 and Radeon GPUs, it will take advantage of the new Anti-Lag+ to reduce latency (something NVIDIA alleviates by pairing DLSS 3 with its Reflex latency reduction technology). Ultimately, RDNA 3 is an impressive leap forward for AMD, bringing massive changes to the underlying hardware while delivering a sizable performance leap over the previous RDNA 2 generation.

Specs and Test System

Specifications

Here, we can see how the specs and hardware stack up for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT and 7800 XT compares to the previous generation's AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT and 6800 XT.

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The Radeon RX 7700 XT is the generational successor to the Radeon RX 6700 XT - one of the most popular cards from the Radeon cards in 2023, thanks to the notable discounts it has received ahead of the 7700 XT's launch. And with the shift to a chiplet design, you're still looking at a nice generational bump in terms of overall specs - with a 35% increase in the Stream Processor, Compute Unit, and Ray Accelerator counts. The only thing that's decreased is the AMD Infinity Cache (48MB, down from 96MB), but you're looking at second-generation tech there.

In fact, with the new AMD Infinity Cache, AMD notes that effective memory bandwidth has increased with the Radeon RX 7700 XT even though it's using a similar 12GB of GDDR6 configuration as the 6700 XT on a lower 192-bit bus. The jump to RDNA 3 also shows a slight bump in the overall Total Board Power rating - now sitting at 245W for the Radeon RX 7700 XT compared to the previous generation's Radeon RX 6700 XT's 230W.

Efficiency is an area where RDNA 3 has been a bit of a letdown compared to NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace generation, and that continues with the new Radeon RX 7700 XT and 7800 XT. Keeping the RTX 4060 Ti comparison going, NVIDIA's card uses, on average, around 40% less power than the Radeon RX 7700 XT when gaming.

• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT
• Model: Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Gaming 12G
• Interface: PCI Express 4.0
• Stream Processors: 3456
• Compute Units/Ray Accelerators/AI Accelerators: 54/54/108
• Clock Speeds: Boost Clock: Up to 2544 MHz, Game Clock: 2424 MHz
• Memory: 12GB GDDR6
• Memory Speed: 18 Gbps
• Memory Interface: 192-bit
• Display Connections: 2 x HDMI 2.1, 2 x DisplayPort 2.1
• Power Connectors: 2 x 8-pin
• Total Board Power: 245W
• What's in the Box: Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, Quick Installation Guide

Kosta's Test System

• Motherboard: MSI MPG X670E Carbon Wi-Fi
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X
• Cooler: Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT Liquid CPU Cooler
• RAM: 64GB (2x32GB) Corsair DOMINATOR PLATINUM RGB DDR5 DRAM 5200MHz
• SSD: Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus-G M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD 4TB, Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD 8TB
• Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 850W
• Case: Thermaltake Core P3 Tempered Glass Snow
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit

Physical Design and Cooling

Unlike with the Radeon RX 7800 XT, AMD has opted not to create a reference model for the Radeon RX 7700 XT and instead is leaving it up to its partners like Sapphire to create the models available for purchase. The Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Gaming 12G represents the company's entry-level effort (and we'll be reviewing a more premium version in the future, so stay tuned). Still, even so, it's an extremely well-put-together unit.

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A metallic backplate, a copper PCB, and composite heat pipes with high-quality power components (with fuse protection) are a testament to Sapphire's long history of creating high-quality GPUs. Like the Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 7600 Gaming OC, which we reviewed a few months ago, the PULSE 7700 XT features excellent cooling that helps keep the temperatures low and the overall sound level non-existent.

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With its twin-fan design, the dimensions of 280 x 116 x 52mm aren't exactly compact, and we were hoping that the Radeon RX 7700 XT cards would arrive in smaller form factors than the Radeon RX 7800 XT cards - but it's a size that will fit in most builds with relative ease. And it looks good, too, with the black and red PULSE look amplifying the AMD Radeon brand with an industrial meets high-tech feel.

Benchmarks - 15 Game Averages

The Games and Tests

In 2023, PC gaming is a complicated and varied space, from indie games to major blockbuster releases and titles that push hardware and technology to their limit with the adoption of effects like real-time ray-tracing.

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This is all a way of saying that the 15 in-game benchmarks we've chosen (run at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K) represent a wide range of styles, not only in terms of genres, like first-person shooters and racing games, but also in the API technology (DirectX 11, 12) and cutting-edge features like ray tracing and upscaling technology.

Results include DLSS and FSR 2, where possible, as both technologies are the sorts of things, especially in 1440p and 4K, which you'd turn on. Six of the 15 game benchmarks also feature ray tracing. Also, each title is set to ultra-equivalent quality settings to push GPU hardware and minimize CPU bottlenecks at higher resolutions.

Also, it's just fun to max out a game's visual settings and see the results. Here's the breakdown of games, graphics settings, and what's being tested.

• Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Ultra High-quality settings, with the in-game benchmark tool used.
• Borderlands 3: Ultra quality settings, with the in-game benchmark tool used.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II: Ultra quality setting, in-game multiplayer benchmark tool used. AMD FSR 2 and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
• Cyberpunk 2077: Ultra quality setting, in-game benchmark tool used. AMD FSR 2 and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
• Cyberpunk 2077 (RT): Ray tracing Ultra quality setting, in-game benchmark tool used. AMD FSR 2 and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
• DOOM Eternal (RT): Ultra Nightmare quality setting with ray-tracing enabled, the opening of Mars Core campaign level used to benchmark. NVIDIA DLSS results included.
• F1 22 (RT): Ultra High-quality setting with ray tracing, one lap of the Bahrain track benchmarked. AMD FSR 2 and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
• Forza Horizon 5 (RT): Extreme quality setting with ray tracing enabled, in-game benchmark tool used. AMD FSR 2 and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
• Hitman (RT): Ultra-quality settings with ray-tracing, Dubai scene benchmarked. AMD FSR 2 and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
• Horizon Zero Dawn: Ultimate quality setting, in-game benchmark used.
• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (RT): Ultra quality setting with ray tracing enabled, the in-game benchmark tool used. NVIDIA DLSS results included.
• Rainbow Six Extraction: Ultra quality settings and in-game benchmark tool used. NVIDIA DLSS results included.
• Red Dead Redemption 2: Maximum quality settings, with in-game benchmark tool used. AMD FSR 2 and NVIDIA DLSS results are included.
• The Division 2: Ultra quality settings with in-game benchmark tool used.
• Total War: Warhammer III: Ultra-quality settings with the in-game Battle Benchmark tool used.

15 Game Average FPS - 1080p Results

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AMD is positioning the Radeon RX 7700 XT and the Radeon RX 7800 XT as cards built for 1440p gaming, but even so, it's worth taking a look at the 1080p results - which paint a picture of what to expect across all resolutions. With an average frame rate of 136 fps at 1080p, the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers exceptional results at this resolution - outperforming the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti by around 12.4% across our 15-game benchmark suite.

At 1080p, the 7700 XT is also 12.8% slower than the Radeon RX 7800 XT - which is reflected in the price difference between the two cards. That is, of course, until you bump up the resolution to 1440p - the sweet spot resolution for PC gamers in 2023.

14 Game Average FPS - 1440p Results

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The jump from 1080p to 1440p sees an overall performance drop on the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT by around 28% - a figure that helps keep the average performance close to 100 fps with a figure of 98 fps.

At 1440p, the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers an average result that is roughly 14.8% slower than the Radeon RX 7800 XT - which is the sort of gap that makes the more expensive option of the two Radeon cards launching today seem like the better choice. Here, the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT increases its lead over the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB to 16.7%, which is impressive.

There are instances where the Radeon RX 7700 XT simply manages to match or present similar performance numbers to the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, and that comes with games that feature a heavy dose of ray-tracing effects like Cyberpunk 2077 and Hitman.

In the case of Cyberpunk 2077, though, turn off RT, and the 7700 XT even manages to edge out the GeForce RTX 4070 - which is impressive. Other titles where the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT dominates the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB include Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Forza Horizon 5. The latter is likely due to having 12GB of VRAM in the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT.

15 Game Average FPS - 4K Results

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The Radeon RX 7700 XT is not designed for 4K gaming, which AMD has been clear about - as the jump from 1440p to 4K sees performance drop by a sizeable 46%. Compared to the Radeon RX 7800 XT, the 4K averages for the Radeon RX 7700 XT are around 17.2% lower. And seeing as we pointed out that the 7800 XT can be used for 4K gaming under the provision that it'll depend on the title, settings, and trying to maintain around 60 fps - that sentiment rings doubly true for the Radeon RX 7700 XT.

Perhaps what's most interesting about these results is that playing in 4K sees the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT's performance lead over the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB decrease to around 10% - namely because of NVIDIA's superior ray-tracing hardware and performance.

Benchmarks - 3DMark FireStrike

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3DMark FireStrike is a DirectX 11 test and something that has been used to measure GPU performance for several years. As an API, DirectX 11 covers a large portion of games released over the past decade - so it's still a relevant test. The three FireStrike tests cover the main three resolutions - 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. The 1440p test is the one highlighted above, and as a synthetic benchmark, it shows that the Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a score 29.8% higher than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, and one that is roughly on par with the GeForce RTX 4070.

This doesn't align with in-game benchmarks, and we've seen this happen with a number of RDNA 3 cards this generation. Perhaps some hidden power inside the Radeon RX 7700 XT will be unlocked in a future driver update - who knows?

Benchmarks - 3DMark TimeSpy and Port Royal

With 3DMark TimeSpy being DirectX 12-based, it's a more relevant synthetic benchmark for modern games that use the latest Microsoft API. Here, we see results that more closely match the in-game benchmarks, though still skewed in favor of Radeon. The Radeon RX 7700 XT's 1440p score is 18.4% higher than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB and roughly 13% lower than the Radeon RX 7800 XT.

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3DMark Port Royal is a synthetic ray-tracing benchmark, and surprisingly, the Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a score that is 9% higher than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. The margin here is smaller than the non-RT 3DMark benchmarks and is more in line with raw in-game RT performance between the two GPUS.

Cyberpunk 2077, with RT Ultra, sees the Radeon 7700 XT deliver a result close to the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, which is surprising. Hitman, another heavy RT title, sees the Radeon RX 7700 XT fall behind the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti - but only by 5%. There is a catch, though, as highlighted in our review of the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, DLSS is a must for gaming with a lot of RT going on, and comparatively speaking, AMD's FSR 2 upscaling looks noticeably worse than DLSS when it comes to 1440p gaming.

Benchmarks - 1080p Gaming

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Benchmarks - 1440p Gaming

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Benchmarks - 4K Gaming

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Benchmarks Summary - RT, FSR 2, and FSR 3

Based on its MSRP of USD 449, it's only fair to compare the benchmark results of the new Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT with the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti - as it's the largest competitor in terms of price point. Regarding the previous generation, the Radeon RX 6700 XT went up against the GeForce RTX 3070, and the Radeon RX 6800 XT went up against the GeForce RTX 3080. This time around, AMD's pricing for these models means that the match-up is seemingly a mismatch - albeit one that's fully in line with pricing.

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Okay, with that little bit of confusion out of the way, it's safe to say that the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT presents a definite alternative to the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti - with double-digit performance gains in most titles tested in our 15-game benchmark suite. Ray-tracing performance sees this lead drop but remains competitive. That is until DLSS Super Resolution, DLSS 3.5, and Frame Generation enter the picture.

It's a shame that AMD didn't have a version of its new FSR 3 and Fluid Motion Frames technology ready to preview in time for this review - as DLSS 3 and Frame Generation is a big selling point for the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti's 1080p and 1440p performance. As mentioned earlier, DLSS image quality is superior to FSR 2. Still, if FSR 3 can deliver comparable results while remaining open to all GPU vendors, it could become a game changer in its own right.

Temperature and Power Efficiency

Where the Radeon RX 7700 XT needs to catch up comes with its power efficiency. However, it manages to outperform the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, it does so, by drawing over 40% more power - which is not an insignificant amount. Of course, performance trumps all in the desktop GPU game - but efficiency still matters.

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But that's an architectural element separate from the overall Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT design - which delivers and then some when it comes to cooling. In a stress test, the card topped out at only 61 degrees, with a hot spot of 80. And this is with a very generous and quiet fan curve - a 23% speed or 919 RPMs, which is barely audible. This is with the stock settings of the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, which matches those set by AMD, though it does leave some room for overclocking to eke out some extra performance.

Final Thoughts and Starfield

Okay, there's another factor to the USD 449 MSRP of the Radeon RX 7700 XT - if you pick up a Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, you'll get yourself a free copy of Starfield, one of the most highly anticipated PC game releases of 2023. And a damn fine RPG to boot. So, to add some context to the whole AMD and Bethesda partnership, let's take a quick look at Starfield's performance using the game's Ultra quality settings using two sections of the game to see how it runs on AMD's new GPUs.

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Starfield loves to use up hardware grunt, so with that in mind, these results are still moderately impressive - with the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT shining when it comes to 1080p while requiring the help of AMD's FSR 2 to bump up the performance when playing Starfield in 1440p.

In addition to adding another relevant test to this review, these results bring to light another factor regarding the overall "value" of the Radeon RX 7700 XT. Go from USD 449 to USD 499 with the Radeon RX 7800 XT, and you're looking at 20% more performance in Starfield. Something that does translate to several other titles, so in many ways, we've got another Radeon RX 7900 XT and Radeon RX 7900 XTX situation. If the Radeon RX 7700 XT were priced lower - it'd feel essential as a mid-range and affordable option.

In the end, there's more than enough raw performance to warrant serious consideration, even if FSR 3 is still an unknown quantity and 1440p DLSS is the better option for performance and visual fidelity.