AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB Review Featuring XFX MERC 319

1440p gaming has been getting more and more popular as of late but on the AMD side of things, there hasn’t been anything to cater for it with the stack seeming pretty lacklustre with just 3 models, the 7600, 7900 XT and 7900 XT but today that’s all about to change with the release of the 7800 XT and 7700 XT. So what is the 7800 XT? Well, it's a card that features 16GB of VRAM, aimed at 1440p max setting gamers, and for a price point of just $499 which puts it at the same price as the 4060 Ti 16GB though that has seen retail pricing drop as of late, though that aside, it didn’t exactly have the best launch and has continued to just dwindle with no one really snapping it up. So hopefully this could be a great opportunity for AMD to hit a price point that works and to offer great value for money, something that both team red and team green seem to have been missing the mark on lately. So what do we get from the 7800 XT? 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, 96 ROPs, 60 compute units, 60 RT cores and 64MB of L3 cache which all sounds somewhat impressive until you look at its predecessor, the 6800 XT; as this newer, shiny GPU actually has 17% less shading units, texture mapping units, compute units and RT cores. It also has 25% fewer ROPs and 50% less L3 cache so already, on paper, it’s not off to a great start gen to gen though things do change slightly in the configuration. While it harnesses the same 16GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit memory interface, the bandwidth has been increased to 620GB/s which puts it 21% ahead of the 6800 XT, and 23% ahead of both the RTX 4070 and 4070 Ti but as we’ve seen in every major launch, numbers don’t necessarily equate to extra performance, and it’s more down to the architecture and how games are able to harness the power and potential of it, so I’ll reserve judgment until we’ve seen exactly how it performs. Now another area that has been focussed on, as you’d expect, is efficiency, with the 7800 XT coming in with a TDP of just 263W which is a reduction from the 300W on the 6800 XT, though it’s a stark difference from the 200W TDP of the RTX 4070. AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT Review Now I don't actually have a reference card from AMD for this launch, and in fact have no MSRP-based cards, though the XFX MERC 319 model that we have is only a smidge over the MSRP at around $530, but as we've seen before from this range of cooler, that extra cost does get you a lot more bang for your buck with great cooling potential, silent operation and a robust design that is typically miles beyond the MBA design that AMD put out and we will be taking a look at the cooling potential a little later on in the review. Features Navi 32 XT 3840 Shading Units 240 TMUs 96 ROPs 60 Compute Units 60 RT Cores 4MB L2 Cache 64MB L3 Cache 1800 MHz Base Clock 2124 MHz Game Clock 2430MHz Boost Clock 2425MHz Memory Clock 16GB GDDR6 256-bit Bus 620.8GB/s Bandwidth Video If you want to see more of the card, you can check out our dedicated video review below. A Closer Look So first things first, in typical MERC 319 fashion, we have a very large card and something we’ve grown to expect from that particular line-up, coming in at 335mm long, 116mm high and 50mm thick and weighing in at 1665 grams so not the heaviest GPU we’ve seen but is certainly on the upper-end of the scale. Beyond the size, it’s a nice design that looks more professional than gamery with its triple fan design that breaks the mold a little with varying sizes as the outer fans are 100mm while the middle fan is slightly smaller at 90mm but all incorporate 13 blades and utilise fan stop technology once the card’s temperature drops below 50 degrees C. In terms of the shroud, it’s nice and quite simplistic in the grand scheme of things, with the only part that puts me off is the stickers in the middle of the fans, which I’ve made my thoughts clear on before, but for something you’re unlikely to see, it’s not exactly a deal breaker. The side you will see is the backplate, and this is thick. I mean, really thick at 2.4mm meaning that it’s around double what you’d expect from a conventional backplate and is made from die-cast aluminium and definitely has an industrial look and feel to it which serves a purpose as along with the thermal pads on the rear of the PCB, it does act as a heatspreader and isn’t just for show. For the I/O, we have three DisplayPort connectors and a single HDMI along with plenty of ventilation for heat to escape from. Now when we drill down a little further, the PCB is large, especially by today’s standards and the influx of small PCB designs from team green, but AMD have kept things much larger, though layout-wise, things are pretty well segmented. We have two 8-pin power connectors in the top right, which help to power the 15 digital PWM power phases which are split between 8 for the GPU core, 2 for the memory and the other five for the SOC and I/O. XFX have kept with a nickel-plated vapor chamber cooler that draws heat directly away from the GPU core and into the five 6mm heatpipes that span the whole of the large heatsink while the GDDR6 modules make contact with an aluminium cooling plate to kept each part of the GPU independent temperature-wise from each other. There’s also a large amount of thermal pads on the card covering various components including the phases, the memory and circuitry on the rear of the card to help dissipate heat and provide the very best temperatures. As you can see, the radiator is split into multiple sections, with three large heat pipes helping distribute the heat to the front, mid and rear sections of the radiator. Plus, there's a thick thermal material that covers the VRM and the RAM, with a nice and clean application of thermal paste for the chipset. How We Test We continue to update our testing methods around once per year. As such, we re-test older hardware to reflect changes over time. These can be driver updates, Windows updates, game patches, and more; all of which have an impact on performance figures. Furthermore, we update our test benches to newer and more relevant hardware. This means that our new reviews aren’t always comparable to those of older reviews, so please compare the testing methodology on older reviews should you be trying to compare them with newer ones. Replicate Our Results When it comes to our benchmarks in our reviews, the benchmarks are pretty self-explanatory and are kept as simple as possible, although there are a few exceptions. Remember that your choice of a graphics card, CPU, the silicon lottery, and other factors can yield different numbers, and there’s always a margin for error when using any software. Links are provided below, as well as the settings we use. We encourage you to not just look at how one product compares to any other, but how it compares to your own. If you’re looking to build a new system, you should benchmark your current PC using the benchmarks available to you. You should then look at the percentage improvement from your current hardware to the hardware tested here to give you a ballpark figure of how much of an upgrade this will provide you with. Processor Test Systems Test System (GPU) Motherboard ASUS ROG Z690 Maximus HeroBIOS Version 1720 Buy Now Processor Intel Core i9 12900K Review Buy Now GPU Changes Per Review RAM Patriot Viper Venom 32GB (2x16GB) 6200MHz Review Buy Now CPU Cooler NZXT Kraken Z73 RGB Buy Now Power Supply NZXT C1000 Gold Review Buy Now Storage Seagate FIRECUDA 530 1TB Review Buy Now Chassis NZXT H7 Flow Review Buy Now OS Windows 11 Pro Version 21H2 Drivers AMD Graphics: 22.10.1NVIDIA Graphics: 521.90 Software We use a variety of software from different developers to assist in our testing and to give us the most consistent results possible. Some applications are specifically used for testing, while others are simply used for monitoring and to aid us in making sure that our results are as accurate as possible. Software Used 3DMark FireStrike & TimeSpy (download) Gaming To gauge performance levels which are easily reproduced time after time, by both ourselves and our readers, we now stick strictly to games default profiles. Given how powerful most modern cards are getting, we've began using more demanding profiles for most games, but will otherwise state on a per game basis if we use other profiles beyond High, Ultra, Maximum or their respective equivalent at all resolutions. V-Sync is always disabled in our testing, and all FPS caps that can be removed are. We also enable XMP and Resizable bar technology across all platforms to keep things as fair as possible. Games While we test a lot of games, it's not possible to display all of the data on the website or in our videos. Instead, we include access to all of our testing data for our Patreon members (link), where members get a ton of other benefits as well. What we do, however, is display charts for averages across all game titles to give a better picture of performance across all titles tested. A Plague Tale: Requiem Assassin's Creed Valhalla Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Control Cyberpunk 2077 Death Stranding Doom Eternal Dying Light 2 F1 22 Far Cry 6 Hogwarts Legacy Horizon Zero Dawn Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Watch Dogs: Legion Resolutions 1080 (Full HD) 1440 4K Some tests will also include features such as NVIDIA DLSS and Ray Tracing. However, these will be clearly labelled and may only appear in reviews for graphics cards that support those features. Power Consumption Not being content on simply reading total system power draw, we now run F1 22 for an hour loop and measure power draw at the end of the loop for the most accurate measurement that represents real-world gameplay experience. Temperatures We take temperature readings after the same hour long F1 22 loop with no other background programs running, again to simulate a real-world gaming experience. 3DMark Timespy Extreme Time Spy Extreme is a new 4K DirectX 12 benchmark test, available in 3DMark Advanced and Professional Editions. You don't need a 4K monitor to run it, but you will need a GPU with at least 4 GB of dedicated memory. With its 4K Ultra HD rendering resolution, Time Spy Extreme is an ideal benchmark test for the latest high-end graphics cards. The CPU test has been redesigned to let processors with 8 or more cores perform to their full potential 3DMark is available on Steam here. Kicking things off with some synthetics and in Timespy Extreme, we see a small 4% uplift from the 6800 XT to the 7800 XT in both the the overall score and graphics score, so not off to the best start here. 3DMark Port Royal 3DMark Port Royal is the world’s first real-time ray tracing benchmark for gamers. It shows you how well your PC handles ray-tracing effects in real time. Use Port Royal to benchmark graphics cards that support Microsoft DirectX Raytracing. Compare Port Royal benchmark scores to see how overclocking affects ray-tracing performance. Find your PC's performance limits with custom benchmark settings and detailed hardware monitoring charts. 3DMark is available on Steam here. Then in Port Royal we start to see some better numbers with the 7800 XT coming in 19% faster than the 6800 XT, and also ahead of the 6900 XT, while rivalling the 6950 XT. As expected NVIDIA’s RTX 4070 has it beat here, but only by 4% so this could be an interesting one. A Plague Tale: Requiem Far across the sea, an island calls… Embark on a heartrending journey into a brutal, breathtaking world twisted by supernatural forces. After escaping their devastated homeland, Amicia and Hugo travel far south, to new regions and vibrant cities. There, they attempt to start a new life and control Hugo’s curse. But, when Hugo’s powers reawaken, death and destruction return in a flood of devouring rats. Forced to flee once more, the siblings place their hopes in a prophesized island that may hold the key to saving Hugo. Discover the cost of saving those you love in a desperate struggle for survival. Strike from the shadows or unleash hell, overcoming foes and challenges with a variety of weapons, tools and unearthly powers. Available now on Steam. Moving over to games and in A Plague Tale: Requiem at 1080p things are off to a pretty good start, coming in slightly faster than the RX 6900 XT from the last generation and sitting just behind the 6950 XT RDNA2 flagship. What’s the most interesting is that the RTX 4070 which comes in $100 more expensive, is only 3% better at this resolution. 1440p sees the 7800 XT coming in slightly stronger, though only by 2% which is nothing really, but considering the price disparity between the 7800 XT and RTX 4070, this is pretty impressive stuff and also a nice 10% uplift from the previous generation. For those wanting to play at 4K, it misses the magical 60FPS mark ever so slightly, but still sees stronger performance than the competition in the form of the RTX 4070 and manages a 12% uplift generation to generation so things are off to a good start. Call Of Duty Modern Warfare II Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II drops players into an unprecedented global conflict that features the return of the iconic Operators of Task Force 141. From small-scale, high-stakes infiltration tactical ops to highly classified missions, players will deploy alongside friends in a truly immersive experience. Infinity Ward brings fans state-of-the-art gameplay, with all-new gun handling, advanced AI system, a new Gunsmith and a suite of other gameplay and graphical innovations that elevate the franchise to new heights. Modern Warfare® II launches with a globe-trotting single-player campaign, immersive Multiplayer combat and a narrative-driven, co-op Special Ops experience. Available now on Steam. As we move onto Call Of Duty, it’s very clear to see that AMD are extremely well favoured, and here, the 7800 XT does very well, sitting above both the 6950 XT from last generation by 11% as well as the RTX 4070 Ti by 9% so some very strong performance here. As we move up to 1440p, things start shaping up quite nicely as it still sits ahead of the 6950 XT and a staggering 39% ahead of the RTX 4070, but more interestingly, it comes in again 10% ahead of the 4070 Ti. A card that comes in a whopping 60% more expensive. Then at 4K, the 7800 XT continues to impress by pushing ahead of the RTX 4070 by 42%, and sits 7% ahead of the much more expensive 4070 Ti while also showing a 29% generational uplift from the 6800 XT. Control A corruptive presence has invaded the Federal Bureau of Control…Only you have the power to stop it. The world is now your weapon in an epic fight to annihilate an ominous enemy through deep and unpredictable environments. Containment has failed, and humanity is at stake. Will you regain control? Available now on Steam. Switching over to Control at 1080p and the generational uplift from the 6800 XT isn’t as large at 9%, but is still welcomed as it also sees the same 9% lead over the RTX 4070 which is pretty stark considering the price difference between the two cards though neither are aimed at 1080p gaming. The uplift increases slightly at 1440p, now to 11% over the 6800 XT and again comes in with the same lead over the more expensive RTX 4070 which is now looking seemingly average thanks to the newest GPU from AMD. Then at 4K, albeit by a margin of error, the 7800 XT manages to hit the realm of 4K 60 gaming at 59 frames per second, which is a healthy 13% uplift from its RDNA2 counterpart. A card that launched with a $150 extra price premium. Again, the RTX 4070 trails behind by the same margin showing that the 7800 XT actually seems pretty impressive overall. Cyberpunk 2077 Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, action-adventure RPG set in the megalopolis of Night City, where you play as a cyberpunk mercenary wrapped up in a do-or-die fight for survival. Improved and featuring all-new free additional content, customize your character and playstyle as you take on jobs, build a reputation, and unlock upgrades. The relationships you forge and the choices you make will shape the story and the world around you. Legends are made here. What will yours be? Available now on Steam. Moving onto Cyberpunk which is a pretty intensive game, and the 7800 XT fairs extremely well at 1080p, though it’s pretty evident to see that bottlenecking occurs on the likes of the RTX 4080 which shimmies down our chart so really the data at this resolution doesn’t really show much. 1440p shows a slightly different story and it’s still good news for the 7800 XT which sits evenly matched with the 4070 Ti, though with better 1% lows as well as commanding a 21% lead ahead of the RTX 4070 and a healthy 18% increase in performance from last generation’s 6800 XT. Performance drops down to 45 FPS at 4K, though this does mean that it is only a single frame per second behind the 4070 Ti but manages to pump out 22% more frames compared to the RTX 4070 and 15% more than the 6800 XT. Doom Eternal Hell’s armies have invaded Earth. Become the Slayer in an epic single-player campaign to conquer demons across dimensions and stop the final destruction of humanity. The only thing they fear... is you. Available now on Steam. Doom Eternal at 1080p sees some frankly ridiculous numbers at 467 FPS which puts it 2% ahead of the RTX 4070 while seeing the same uplift from its predecessor, though at such high frame rates, any card featured will be a great choice if wanting to play at 1080p in this title. At 1440p, the gen to gen increase is much smaller than what we’ve seen in other games, at just 3% in favour of the newer card, though it’s still enough to come in with 4% more performance when compared against the more expensive offering from NVIDIA. Then at 4K, it’s a very similar story with a margin increase of just 3% over the last generation card and now comes in with identical performance to the RTX 4070, though with marginally better 1% low figures. Dying Light 2 The virus won and civilization has fallen back to the Dark Ages. The City, one of the last human settlements, is on the brink of collapse. Use your agility and combat skills to survive, and reshape the world. Your choices matter. Available now on Steam. Moving onto Dying Light 2 and the gains keep coming with a 6% generational uplift over the 6800 XT and a larger 18% over the RTX 4070. A card that is seemingly looking worse and worse as we go through more games. 1440p sees a much smaller gain from RDNA2 to RDNA3 with just 3% separating them, though a more important 18% lead goes in favour of the 7800 XT when pitting it against the RTX 4070, which now sits just below the performance of the RTX 3090 though with much more consistent lows. Then at 4K the 6800 XT and 7800 XT come out evenly matched with just a single frame per second separating them two though again the RTX 4070 sits behind now with the newest AMD GPU coming in 13% faster. Hogwarts Legacy Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world action RPG. Now you can take control of the action and be at the center of your own adventure in the wizarding world. Available now on Steam. Hogwarts Legacy is another demanding game and at 1080p, it’s clear to see that some cards are severely bottlenecked, including the 7800 XT which nears the top of the chart so really there isn’t much to say at this resolution. 1440p sees the results fall a bit more inline, though the uplift generation to generation somewhat disappears, now with just a margin of error single frame per second between both the 6800 XT and 7800 XT, though it’s still enough to come in 29% faster than the more expensive RTX 4070 GPU from NVIDIA. At 4K, performance takes a hit and you’d have to reign in the settings a little to increase the FPS to have a more fluid gameplay experience, but we still see an impressive 26% performance leap over the RTX 4070 though the 6800 XT was already giving us this level of performance anyway. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered Developed by Insomniac Games in collaboration with Marvel, and optimized for PC by Nixxes Software, Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered on PC introduces an experienced Peter Parker who’s fighting big crime and iconic villains in Marvel’s New York. At the same time, he’s struggling to balance his chaotic personal life and career while the fate of Marvel’s New York rests upon his shoulders. Available now on Steam. As we move onto Spider-Man Remastered, again we’re in a situation where 1080p gaming doesn’t really offer us anything worth commenting due to the severe bottleneck on the majority of GPUs tested, though I guess AMD could say that they take the top 3 positions on our chart with the likes of the RTX 4080 sitting somewhere down in the middle. A hollow victory I guess? AMD remain at the top of our results at 1440p, though the 7800 XT moves towards the middle, sitting above last generations AMD cards, and with a 15% improvement over the 6800 XT, though NVIDIA does fight back with a somewhat laughable 1% faster performance over the 7800 XT, and I say laughable due to the extra cash it demands. Then at 4K, we see a 10% improvement over the 7800XT’s predecessor, the 6800 XT and with pretty identical performance to the RTX 4070 which is now just a single FPS behind, though does come in with a 2FPS lead in the 1% lows, so nothing of significance. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 The Microsoft Flight Simulator Game of the Year (GOTY) Edition celebrates all the positive feedback, reviews and awards garnered, but it is also a “Thank You” to our fans – new and old – that have made Microsoft Flight Simulator such a phenomenon. Best of all, the Microsoft Flight Simulator Game of the Year Edition will be available as a free update for existing players on PC. Available now on Steam. Microsoft Flight Sim sees some pretty appalling performance at 1080p, but that really is across the board due to the game just being so CPU intensive, but I wanted to include the results for complete transparency to show how GPUs scale at this lower resolution. This is shown at 1440p where performance really shifts around on a lot of cards, while the 7800 XT still comes in at 55 frames per second, which is again, 10% faster than the 6800 XT, and only just behind the more expensive RTX 4070, so again, chalking up a win for AMD when thinking about value for money. At 4K, while performance takes a bit of a hit, all cards do and the 7800 XT stays towards the middle of our chart at 33FPS. That still puts it ahead of the RTX 4070 by 6% and 22% ahead of the 6800 XT, which is a pretty nice increase when comparing generation to generation. Watch Dogs: Legion Build a resistance from virtually anyone you see as you hack, infiltrate, and fight to take back a near-future London that is facing its downfall. Welcome to the Resistance. Recruit and play as anyone in the city. Everyone you see has a unique backstory, personality, and skill set. Hack armed drones, deploy spider-bots and take down enemies using an Augmented Reality Cloak. Explore a massive urban open world featuring London’s many iconic landmarks and fun side activities. Take your recruits online and team up with your friends as you complete missions and challenging endgame content. Available now on UPlay. Lastly in Watch Dogs: Legion, the 7800 XT is somewhat held back at 1080p, but still well within the mix, sitting ahead of the 6800 XT by a mere 3% and performing very close to the RTX 4080 but at 1080p, a lot of games do present some anomalies in terms of scaling and 1440p should show something easier to understand. That is the case, and the 3090 Ti and 7800 XT are pretty evenly matched, though with slightly better lows on the NVIDIA-based GPU though we do see again a solid generation uplift of 10% from the 6800 XT and 19% more performance when compared to the RTX 4070. Then wrapping things up at 4K, the 7800 XT now pushes ahead by 15% over its predecessor and again commands a strong lead over the RTX 4070 of 25%. Overall Game Average FPS So as always, a lot of data to go through and break down to make it easy to understand. The easiest way to do that is to look at the overall averages and it’s here at 1080p where the 7800 XT is starting to look very impressive as it rivals the likes of the RTX 3080 and 3090 which both came in much more expensive at launch, but it’s not all great as at 1080p it does look a little disappointing when compared to its predecessor, the 6800 XT where the newer RDNA3 card only comes in 3% faster, though I’m hoping that bottlenecks at 1080p is the main reason why this isn’t as great as it should be. And….. it’s not. At 1440p, which is where AMD are positioning this card, it’s just fantastically average. Compared to the 6800 XT, the newer GPU gives us just a 5% increase in performance, and for me that just isn’t enough, even if the 6800 XT did launch for $649 and this is $150 cheaper, because the fact of the matter is that the 6800 XT is no longer at that price and can be bought right now brand new on Amazon for $509, so even with that and the 7800 XT coming out with more performance, the gap in terms of value for money and generational uplift just frankly sucks, though the one saving grace is that it’s just made the RTX 4070 look even worse for its money and we’ll look at cost per frame shortly. Before that, 4K shows a very similar story ,though the 7800 XT does come in 5% faster than the 6800 XT and again, further pushes the RTX 4070 down as the 7800 XT comes in 9% faster, and for a cheaper price. Ray Tracing & DLSS Now I’ve probably been a little unfair to NVIDIA in this review, as it’s clear to see that AMD have beaten them in pure rasterisation, but NVIDIA have been more focussed on Ray Tracing and DLSS lately, and maybe the 7800 XT can give a better uplift in these technologies from its RDNA2 counterpart, and maybe NVIDIA can show up as a little more competitive. What we find here is in Control, the 7800 XT packs another 9% more performance when compared to its predecessor with Ray Tracing enabled and performance is now much closer to the more expensive RTX 4070 though this is a game where NVIDIA can fair better due to DLSS upscaling technology, but the same can be said for games that support FSR which would make AMD look better than NVIDIA. In Cyberpunk, Ray Tracing takes a huge hit as expected, though we still see an 18% improvement gen to gen, though the RTX 4070 is still 42% ahead, though none are at what I’d called “playable framerates”. FSR comes to the rescue and gives us 65 FPS on the 7800 XT which is an impressive 14% ahead of the 6800 XT though the RTX 4060 manages to match it with a 1 frame per second difference, and then DLSS 3 comes into it’s own, which is an area AMD really need to hurry up on if they want to compete as the 4060 Ti 8GB is a far cheaper card. In Spider-Man, the 7800 XT still shows a 12% uplift when enabling Ray Tracing compared to the 6800 XT and improves on its upscaling technology too by a smaller 3% which also happens to be enough to beat the more expensive RTX 4070 by a marginal 2%, though DLSS 3 more than makes up for it, so it will be interesting to see what FSR with frame gen brings in the near future. Watch Dogs: Legion is the last Ray Tracing test we’ve done and again we see a healthy uplift of 13% when going from the 6800 XT to the 7800 XT and this now puts it just 7% behind NVIDIA’s more expensive RTX 4070 so AMD have clearly done a lot of work on Ray Tracing to bring the fight to team green. As we look at the overall averages for Ray Tracing, the increase from RDNA2 is pretty decent at 12% in the averages and 14% in the 1% lows though what’s more interesting is how this now compares to NVIDIA with the 7800 XT only sitting 9% behind the more expensive RTX 4070 but sitting 29% ahead of the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, and while the 16GB may perform a little better, it’s still not going to be a match for the 7800 XT, even with it being priced higher, so maybe NVIDIA haven’t got the Ray Tracing market sewn up as much as first thought. Cost Per Frame So some interesting performance differences from AMD as well as how things compare to NVIDIA as things are a lot closer in certain areas, but for the most part, the 7800 XT is the winner in terms of rasterisation performance, and with a bigger pool of games, it’s worth taking a look at how things stack up from a value for money perspective So what does this mean in terms of value for money? Well, I can honestly say that it’s refreshing for new GPU to come out and actually offer a semi-sensible value-for-money argument. Out of all of the launches from both AMD and NVIDIA, the 7800 XT comes in as a very strong contender at just $3.32 per frame, with its predecessor coming in 7% more expensive per frame, though the more noticeable numbers come by way of the 4060 Ti which demands another 17% more per frame and the RTX 4070 which comes in an astonishing 32% more expensive per frame and for less performance overall and I’ll touch on the value a little later on as we wrap things up. Power & Temperatures Finally rounding things off with cooling performance, we ran F1 for an hour long loop to see how it handles itself under a prolonged gaming session. It's here where during that run the GPU temperature stayed at a very comfortable 57 degrees max but stayed mainly around 55 degrees while the memory junction came in with a max temperature of 76 degrees and a GPU hot spot of 78 degrees. The core clock did max out around 2750MHz but spent most of the run around 2680MHz. The whole run never saw the fans increase much above 1600RPM meaning that the card remained virtually silent throughout all while pulling 275 Watts of power, so pretty impressive overall. How Much Does it Cost? Now in terms of the 7800 XT, it's good value and that's clear to see from the cost per frame argument, and while the XFX MERC 319 will sit you back around another $30, you get a LOT of card for that money with the triple fan cooler, thick backplate and stellar cooling performance. Now speaking of value, it’s good. I mean really good, but on the same hand is it really? Well yes and no, because it’s a bit artificial purely down to the reasons that other cards from both AMD and NVIDIA are simply terrible, so anything that is slightly better is made to look amazing and that’s something the 7800 XT isn’t. It is amazingly average. It won’t set the world alight but on the same hand, it’s the best that you can buy right now, though remember, the 7700 XT is also launching so I'd definitely invite you to check out our content on that. Overview So let's break down really, what we already know. The 7800 XT is a good GPU and is arguably the best graphics card that has launched since the 6000 series or 30 series from NVIDIA. It did seem with the likes of the 7900 XT, RX 7600 and the whole of the NVIDIA 40 series lineup that both brands had lost touch a little with what consumers wanted but it feels like the 7800 XT has clawed things back for them a bit. Compared to the 6800 XT, it’s…well… okay and that’s all I can really say about it. I was honestly expecting a little more, and to a consumer's eyes, I fear they may look at it as AMD doing “enough” and in 2023, is that really enough? A small uplift with some improved Ray Tracing and upscaling performance? What’s happened to the days of having the wow factor where we see huge performance increases from the previous generation to the latest product being released? It just seems like things have slowed down somewhat and there’s just a lack of innovation, and I’m hoping I’m not alone on this one. Should I Buy One? To wrap things up, if you’re looking at 1440p gaming, the 7800 XT set out to hit that market, and it’s done a good job at it and right now there really isn’t anything that can compete for the same price, because that 4060 Ti 16GB isn’t even worth talking about and that’s easily shown as nor NVIDIA or any AIB partners even wanted to sample it, which tells us everything we needed to know about it, and with the fact that the RTX 4070 loses out for more money, NVIDIA really need to go back to the drawing board and look at their pricing. If you have got $500 and want the best, then the 7800 XT is the way to go, and both models we looked at today are great examples of what you can get, albeit for a little more money, but for the cooling performance alone, I don’t think it’s a bad choice at all, though I do personally wish that the Sapphire card had a slightly higher fan speed which in turn would give slightly lower temperatures, but that’s just me being picky. XFX RX 7800 XT MERC 319

Power & Temperatures

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