We’re not living 10 years in the past, where it was possible to get your hands on a GPU in the $600 and $700 range for AAA gaming. Fortunately, the RX 9070 XT continues to live in that era because the ASRock Challenger version is now available for only $699.99 on Amazon. Best of all, you can get RTX 5070 Ti-level performance while saving a ton of money in the process, making it one of the best GPU upgrades you’ll make in a long time.
With its triple-fan cooler, the ASRock Challenger RX 9070 XT runs incredibly cool and quiet
The ASRock Challenger RX 9070 XT’s ‘out of the box’ GPU clock speeds are 2,400MHz, but the graphics card can effortlessly ramp up to 2,970MHz to deliver top-notch performance, even in the most demanding of games. The 16GB GDDR6 VRAM on a 256-bit bus width with a frequency of 20Gbps also ensures that you can use the RX 9070 XT to run medium-sized LLMs if that’s your “go to” hobby.
As for the cooling design, the ASRock Challenger series employs a triple-fan approach to maximize airflow and reduce temperatures to deliver the best possible performance. The addition of the PTM7950 thermal pad provides better contact with the nickel-plated heatsink for optimum heat transfer (fixed spelling of ‘transform’ to ‘transfer’), not to mention the beefy fins that help keep the GPU running quiet and cool at the same time.
However, as impressive as the cooling design is (added ‘is’ for grammatical completeness), it does mean that the RX 9070 XT will become beefier in size, so make absolutely sure that you have sufficient space in your case to accommodate a 2.8-slot graphics card. For ports, you get three DisplayPort 2.1a ports and a single HDMI 2.1b to support a multi-monitor setup and maximize screen real estate.
Unlike NVIDIA, AMD has stuck to the traditional power delivery system, with two 8-pin power connectors present. Ensure that you have a high-quality 750W PSU installed in your system. If not, we highly recommend pushing for this upgrade first before swapping out your existing GPU.
If you still see yourself wanting NVIDIA’s RTX 5070 Ti because of exclusive features like ray tracing, DLSS Multi Frame Generation, and add-ons for creative professionals, the cheapest on Amazon is available for $919.96. Sure, that’s a massive premium to fork over compared to the RX 9070 XT, but that’s how NVIDIA GPU prices have always been. Maybe if AMD were to improve upon the features it offers, its rival could be forced to lower those figures.
Get the ASRock Challenger Radeon RX 9070 XT from Amazon – $699.99
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About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech’s mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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