RTX 5070 vs RX 9070: Which Should You Buy in 2026?

What Changed Since Launch: The Price Flip#

Both cards launched at $549: AMD set the RX 9070 at $549 in its February 2025 announcement, and NVIDIA said the RTX 5070 would be "available starting at $549." Almost every comparison written in 2025 used that shared price, so they judged the cards on speed and features alone.

The RTX 5070 has since moved much more than the RX 9070. Tom's Hardware's price tracking showed an all-time low of $499 on October 16, 2025 (an MSI Shadow 2X OC at Amazon). By June 2026 it was $559.99 to $599 at Lenovo and Walmart. This week it was $849.99 to $869.99. The RX 9070 stayed closer to its original price: about $600 in Hardware Unboxed's June 2026 review, $629.99 for an ASUS Prime OC at Amazon in late August, and $666.99 to $739.99 now.

Prices checked October 7–8, 2026. Best Buy figures are store pickup prices from one Hawaii store and will differ elsewhere. Newegg prices are for items sold and shipped by Newegg. Stock and price change daily.

For a like-for-like comparison, an $849.99 RTX 5070 against a $699.99 RX 9070 is a $150 gap. Against the cheapest RX 9070 listing, $666.99, it is about $183. We use $150 to $200 as the working range.

On those numbers, the RX 9070 comes out cheaper per frame. By our own arithmetic from Hardware Unboxed's June 2026 1440p average (88 fps for the RTX 5070, 100 fps for the RX 9070, across 15 games), the RTX 5070 costs about $9.66 per frame at $849.99, and the RX 9070 costs about $7.00 per frame at $699.99. That makes the RX 9070 about 27% cheaper per frame. To tie, the RTX 5070 would have to cost about $615 when the RX 9070 costs $700.

Head-to-Head Specs#

Sources: NVIDIA's RTX 5070 family page and RTX 50-series announcement; AMD's RX 9070 specifications page and February 2025 announcement. Prices from our October 7–8 checks.

The RTX 5070 has the faster memory type and the RX 9070 has more of it on a wider bus. Neither number predicts game performance on its own, so the sections below use the reviewers' results.

Raster Performance#

Raster is normal rendering without ray tracing, and it is where most games still spend their time. The RX 9070 leads in every major test we found, though the size of the lead has changed.

• March 2025 (launch): TechSpot tested 18 games at 1440p and found the RX 9070 about 4% faster than the RTX 5070.
• October 2025: In a 23-game, 1440p comparison, TechSpot found the RX 9070 13% faster using native rendering.
• June 2026: In Hardware Unboxed's 15-game 1440p average, as published by TechSpot, the RX 9070 averaged 100 fps against 88 fps for the RTX 5070, about 14% ahead.

The two later tests, eight months apart, agree with each other. At 4K, TechSpot's launch review had the RX 9070 8% ahead. The gap changes by game: at launch it ranged from 7% behind in Counter-Strike 2 to 40% ahead in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. If you mainly play one esports title, check that game's results rather than the average.

Ray Tracing: The Evidence Disagrees#

This is the section most "RTX 5070 vs RX 9070" articles get wrong, because the answer depends on the test and the date.

Three things likely explain the gap. The game mix differs, and the heaviest ray tracing titles are where NVIDIA does best. The tests are 15 months apart. And resolution matters, because in TechSpot's June 2026 data the RTX 5070 pulls ahead at 4K with ray tracing on.

Our read: at 1440p in a typical 2026 ray tracing mix, the cards are close, and the RX 9070 is slightly ahead or tied. In the heaviest ray tracing, NVIDIA still leads: at launch, GamersNexus measured the RTX 5070 57% ahead in Black Myth: Wukong at 4K with ray tracing on. That is a launch-day result and one game, so treat it as a direction, not a current figure.

So "buy the RTX 5070 for ray tracing" is no longer a safe rule. It holds for the heaviest ray tracing and path tracing at high resolution. It doesn't hold for a mixed library at 1440p.

Upscaling and Frame Generation#

This is the RTX 5070's strongest argument. TechSpot's October 2025 comparison of 23 games found DLSS 4 generally has better image quality than FSR 4. It also found the RX 9070 kept about a 13% performance lead in every upscaling mode. At Quality upscaling, the RX 9070 held 60 fps in all 23 games while the RTX 5070 missed that mark in two.

So the trade is image quality and feature support against raw speed. TechSpot's verdict was that neither card is "the obvious slam dunk."

On game support, NVIDIA's January 2026 CES post said DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation was available in "over 250 games and apps." Multi Frame Generation is exclusive to RTX 50-series cards, which includes the RTX 5070. On the AMD side, FSR Redstone (FSR upscaling and frame generation using machine learning, plus ray regeneration and radiance caching) works on RDNA 4 cards only, and that includes the RX 9070. TweakTown reported in December 2025 that more than 200 games supported Redstone's upscaling and frame generation, but that only one game, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, supported ray regeneration at the time. AMD's current supported-games page lists games by feature but gives no total, and we couldn't verify a current count, so we won't quote one.

The practical summary is that NVIDIA's feature list is longer and its game support is broader, and AMD has narrowed the gap but not closed it.

VRAM: 12GB vs 16GB#

The RTX 5070 has 12GB and the RX 9070 has 16GB. At 1440p, 12GB meets PC Games Hardware's stated minimum for new purchases, and it is enough for most games today. It leaves less room later. The extra 4GB is the main reason we'd lean toward the RX 9070 if you keep a card for four or five years.

Don't overread it. We can't tell from the sources whether VRAM caused the RTX 5070's two missed 60 fps results at Quality upscaling in TechSpot's test. Treat 16GB as longevity insurance, not a proven advantage in today's games.

Power Draw and Power Supply#

On paper the RX 9070 is the lower-power card: 220W against 250W. In games, it isn't always. TechSpot's June 2026 testing measured whole-system power in Starfield at 361W with the RX 9070 and 301W with the RTX 5070, and in Star Wars Outlaws the two were about equal. TechSpot's launch review found the same pattern: the RX 9070 drew anywhere from about the same as the RTX 5070 to 20% more (Starfield). So don't buy the RX 9070 for efficiency.

Both manufacturers list a 650W minimum power supply. NVIDIA's page says the RTX 5070 uses 2x 8-pin PCIe connectors (an adapter is in the box) or a 300W-plus PCIe Gen 5 cable. Connector layouts vary by partner card, so read the specific model's listing.

Who Should Buy Which#

Buy the RX 9070 if you play at 1440p, mostly without ray tracing or with light ray tracing, and want the most speed per dollar. It is also the better pick if you keep GPUs for several years, because of the 16GB.

Buy the RTX 5070 if you want DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation, play games where heavy ray tracing or path tracing is the point (especially at 4K), or use software that is built around NVIDIA. At today's prices, expect to pay about $150 to $200 more for that.

Our price rule (our own judgment, not a benchmark result): buy the RX 9070 while the RTX 5070 costs more than about $50 over it. If the RTX 5070 comes within roughly $50 of the RX 9070, it becomes a reasonable choice for the feature-minded buyer. If the RTX 5070 falls to the RX 9070's price or below, buy the RTX 5070. For context, the RTX 5070 reached $499 in October 2025 and $559.99 to $599 in June 2026, so a price drop is possible.

Buy neither if your budget is closer to $500. See our Best GPU for 1440p Gaming Around $500 guide, where the RX 9070 GRE sits about 5% behind the RTX 5070 at 1440p for $220 to $300 less. If you play at 4K, see our Best GPU for 4K Gaming in 2026 guide. And don't confuse the cards in this article with the RX 9070 XT or RTX 5070 Ti: those are faster and cost more.

For context on popularity, Steam's September 2026 hardware survey listed the RTX 5070 at 5.86% of users, the most common card in the table, up from 3.56% in August. The plain RX 9070 was at 0.19% (the RX 9070 XT was at 1.35%). Popularity doesn't make a card better.

Should You Wait for an RTX 5070 Super?#

NVIDIA has not announced an RTX 5070 Super. Leaker reports have claimed an 18GB version, but the timing has kept slipping: Igor's Lab reported in November 2025 that it had been pushed to the third quarter of 2026 over a memory shortage, and later reports called it indefinitely delayed. We found no confirmed date and no official statement.

Our advice: don't wait on a rumor. If a card is announced, prices on the current models will likely move, but we can't tell you which way, and the RTX 5070 has gone up, not down, since the rumors started.

Conclusion#

At October 2026 prices, the RX 9070 is the better buy in the RTX 5070 vs RX 9070 question. It is about 14% faster in Hardware Unboxed's June 2026 1440p average, it roughly ties or slightly leads in 1440p ray tracing, it has 16GB of memory, and it costs $150 to $200 less. By our arithmetic that works out to about 27% cheaper per frame.

The RTX 5070 isn't a bad card. It has better upscaling image quality, a longer feature list, and a clear lead in the heaviest ray tracing at 4K. If those matter to you, it is worth paying more, but not as much more as it costs right now.

Check today's prices before you buy. Everything in this guide is a snapshot from October 7 and 8, 2026, and the gap between these two cards has been moving for months. If the RTX 5070 drops back toward the RX 9070's price, our rule above tells you what to do. See the Best Graphics Cards for Gaming in 2026 hub for other budgets, and our Best GPU Under $300 for 1080p Gaming guide if you play at 1080p.

FAQ#