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Searching for the Best GPU For the Ryzen 7 9700X
The Ryzen 7 9700X is AMD’s latest 8 core 16 threaded CPU for those who need high clock speeds and peak single-threaded performance.
In this video, I picked the best 3 graphics cards to pair with the 9700X: starting with a budget-friendly option, one for those looking for enthusiast-level performance, and finally a card that offers the best value with the 9700X.
Before moving on make sure you check the following detailed tutorial on how to choose the best graphics card for you: How to Choose a Graphics Card
Our Top Picks
- Best Budget GPU For Ryzen 7 9700X – GIGABYTE Radeon RX 7700 XT Gaming OC
- Best Premium GPU For Ryzen 7 9700X – MSI RTX 5070 Ti GAMING TRIO OC PLUS
- Our Top Pick – Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT
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Why Should You Trust Us?
With over 24 years of hands-on PC building experience, Konstantinos Chiotis has been building rigs and diving deep into hardware since he was 14. His decade-plus in the tech industry, paired with a genuine passion for GPUs, CPUs, and motherboards, ensures every recommendation in this guide comes from real-world expertise and meticulous testing.
Whether it’s picking the perfect GPU for the Ryzen 7 9700X or breaking down performance metrics, Konstantinos’s insights are grounded in a lifelong commitment to tech and gaming, delivering advice you can rely on for your next build.
Best GPUs For Ryzen 7 9700X Reviews
Best Budget GPU For Ryzen 7 9700X – GIGABYTE Radeon RX 7700 XT Gaming OC
Cards like the Gigabyte Radeon RX 7700 XT Gaming OC are pushing the standards of all the GPUs in the 200 to 400 dollar price range.
Even though it is a large and intimidating card with a hefty triple fan cooler that takes up 3 PCIe slots it should fit easily within cases that support full length cards, however I do advise on getting an anti-sag bracket to prevent damaging the PCB overtime.
The temperatures are very good despite Gigabyte prioritizing silence – the GPU stays at around 70 degrees Celsius during gaming and the fans are dead silent. This is because by default, the fans are only spinning at 1000 RPM with plenty of headroom to adjust the fan curve and get even lower temperatures while remaining quiet.
The RX 7700 XT is not to be underestimated whatsoever as it is one of the best budget 1440p cards in the market. Games like The Last of Us, Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, Starfield, and Microsoft Flight Simulator are notorious for being hard to run, and yet the RX 7700 XT can play all of them at native 1440p without any upscaler like FSR with a locked 60 FPS on ultra settings.
And if that wasn’t impressive enough, it can even play slightly lighter titles at a locked 60 FPS like Red Dead Redemption 2 in 4K with a mix of ultra and high settings.
Before the RX 7700 XT, the RX 6800 was my go to budget 1440p champion for quite some time. However the RX 7700 XT trades blows with the older RX 6800 and has much better ray tracing capabilities. Games that became a blurry mess with ray tracing actually run decently at a locked 30 FPS on the RX 7700 XT.
When it comes to the competition, the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB is the only card from Nvidia standing against the 7700 XT at the same price range, but has no chance of competing since the 7700 XT is on par with the much more expensive RTX 4070. Basically, the RX 7700 XT offers the same level of ray tracing performance as the RTX 4060 Ti and the raster performance of the RTX 4070.
Overall, you will be happy with the performance that the Gigabyte Radeon RX 7700 XT Gaming OC can put out. There is just one thing that is bothering me with this card; it consumes anywhere between 220 to 240 Watts of power during gaming.
Also although initially, many people stayed away from the RX 7700 XT due to its high launch price, it is nice that you can find it under $400 now. It is a seriously underrated GPU and together with a mid range CPU like the Ryzen 7 9700X it is a killer duo for top-notch 1440p performance without breaking the bank.
To sum up what I like is…
Great build quality
Incredible 1440p performance
Very low temperatures
Quiet fans
On the downside…
Poor performance-per-watt
Best Premium GPU For Ryzen 7 9700X- MSI RTX 5070 Ti GAMING TRIO OC PLUS
With its completely new architecture and massive 16 gigabytes of ultra-fast GDDR7 VRAM, the MSI RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio OC Plus could be the de facto recommended card in the high end segment.
Looks-wise, the MSI’s Gaming Trio cards have always been inarguably good looking with their industrial design and gamer aesthetic. These coolers are built like a tank and the 5070 Ti is no exception. On the front, there are three massive fans for keeping the temperatures under 60 degrees Celsius during large loads. The fans remain whisper quiet at just 25 decibels even under full load which actually makes this one of the quietest cards of all time. This does come at the cost of size as the Trio OC Plus is a really long card at 338 mm.
Thankfully, it is not a triple slot GPU and just takes up slightly more than two PCIe slots which should still easily fit even in smaller cases.
The backplate is sturdy and made of metal so it is sure to protect the PCB from the rear in case of any potential damage. The backplate also has a cutout with the dragon logo on it for the third fan to completely pass through hot air since the PCB itself is very short and only takes up half of the entire card’s length.
To power the MSI Gaming Trio RTX 5070 Ti, you will need a 12VHPWR connector and an 800 Watt PSU as the rated power requirement of the 5070 Ti is at 300 Watts. While the GPU is rated for 300 Watts, it typically stays within the 250 to 280 Watt range during gaming.
Now let’s move on to something a bit more exciting which is gaming performance; the RTX 5070 Ti is fantastic at rasterization at 4K. It is quite spectacular and can comfortably run any game at native 4K with a solid 60 FPS at ultra settings. Games like Cyberpunk 2077, A Plague Tale: Requiem, and the Last of Us all run flawlessly with very high and ultra settings on the 5070 Ti without the need for any upscaling.
Do keep in mind that if you are looking to play games on this GPU with lots of ray tracing, then you will need to opt for 1440p. Cyberpunk 2077 runs well at 4K without any ray tracing, but with ray tracing enabled, you can only expect a locked 30 FPS experience at 4K. Same goes for severely punishing games like Black Myth: Wukong that can hit 60 FPS with ray tracing but only at 1440p so you will need a lot of upscaling if you plan on playing high demanding games at 4K.
If we draw a comparison of the RTX 5070 Ti’s performance to other GPUs, it sits perfectly in between the RTX 4070 Ti Super and the RTX 4080. The aim with this GPU seems to be to provide previous-gen high-end performance at a discount. Of course it would’ve been a lot more exciting had Nvidia made the 5070 Ti more powerful in gaming than the RTX 4080 Super, but as it stands right now, the RTX 5070 Ti is a much better package overall than the 4080 Super especially if you’re looking to dabble in AI as well. The 5070 Ti even beats out the RTX 4090 in AI workloads by delivering 1406 AI TOPS compared to the 4090’s 1321. For those unaware, TOPS stands for Trillion Operations Per Second which is the metric used for measuring the performance of hardware in AI workloads.
All in all, the MSI RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio OC Plus is a fantastic pairing for anyone who is looking for a single GPU that can play games at 4K without ray tracing and at 1440p with ray tracing maxed out while also being an AI workload powerhouse. It may be a steep buy, but compared to its predecessors, it is a massive step up in terms of price-to-performance.
To sum up, what I like is the…
Flawless 4K raster performance
The Excellent 1440p ray tracing performance
And it’s Ultra quiet even at full load
On the downside…
High power requirements
Our Top Pick – Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT
The Sapphire PULSE RX 9070 XT is a completely new GPU built on the RDNA 4 architecture that aims to bring a lot more gaming performance at a lower price point.
Usually, the Sapphire Pulse cards were more muted in their design, that gave quite a professional vibe. This time, Sapphire has tried to improve the design of the Pulse 9070 XT to appeal more to gamers. It still has the classic red strip that is iconic to the design of all Pulse cards but without that it looks a lot like the ASUS TUF graphics cards.
Compared to older Pulse cards, the Pulse 9070 XT has also gotten a lot beefier and now takes up a full 3 PCIe slots so make sure your case has enough room for it. It also comes with a triple fan configuration that keeps the temperatures below 60 degrees Celsius at all times and the temperatures can even get closer to the 50 degrees mark.
The Pulse 9070 XT needs 2 8 pin connectors to power itself and has a rated power draw of 300 Watts but it does go up to at least 310 Watts during gaming.
The RX 9070 XT is AMD’s attempt at completely dominating the midrange segment where the RTX 5070, RTX 4070 Super and RTX 4070 Ti reside. These GPUs however, don’t really stand a chance against the 9070 XT as it manages to outperform them all by roughly 10% consistently. Another issue with all of the Nvidia GPUs is that they are all 12 GB cards that run out of VRAM the moment you turn up the settings on any game.
The rasterization performance of the 9070 XT is quite accurate based on what AMD themselves have reported. In almost every game, the 9070 XT sits between the 7900 XTX and the 7900 XT, however the performance is impressively very close to the 7900 XTX. In demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and A Plague Tale: Requiem, the 9070 XT can deliver a locked and smooth native 4K 60 FPS experience with ultra settings enabled. Likewise, all of the competing Nvidia cards struggle to maintain a steady 50 FPS in 4K due to a lack of VRAM.
Ray tracing performance is the one area that shows the most improvement over the previous generation GPUs. The 9070 XT, despite being a mid-range GPU, can deliver a lot more performance than the previous generation flagship from AMD – the RX 7900 XTX. In Cyberpunk 2077, the 9070 XT can deliver a locked 60 FPS experience at 1440p with ultra quality ray tracing enabled where the 7900 XTX falls closer to 50 FPS. The real challenge for AMD cards remains to be the most demanding titles such as Black Myth: Wukong and Indiana Jones: The Great Circle. You can still expect 60 FPS but not without tweaking the settings quite a bit and setting the resolution to 1440p – I still wouldn’t blame the 9070 XT for this as even more powerful GPUs still struggle in these games. Nvidia GPUs still manage to outperform AMD in ray tracing, but it is good to see that AMD is certainly catching up.
There is, however, one thing that has gotten me a bit disappointed in the 9070 XT and that is the high power draw. At over 300 Watts, it is clear that Nvidia still has the upper hand when it comes to performance-per-watt as all the GPUs of similar performance like the RTX 4070 Super, RTX 5070 Ti, and the RTX 4070 Ti Super can offer more frames at a much lower power draw. It is possible that someone who is looking to upgrade to the 9070 XT may also need to upgrade their PSU.
Now the one last feature that I want to mention about the 9070 XT is the much improved media engine. If you’re an aspiring video editor or streamer, chances are that you only considered Nvidia given how much better their media encoding has always been compared to AMD. This time, however, AMD has seriously caught up and the new media engine on the 9070 XT renders out videos with nearly the same quality at lower bit rates with AV1 and H.265 as Nvidia’s RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti.
So in conclusion, despite the higher power requirements, the 9070 XT is a game-changer and quite possibly the best mid range GPU. It brings in a lot of new features on a completely new architecture and makes 4K gaming more accessible than ever before.
To sum up, what I like is the…
Incredible 4K raster performance
Significantly improved ray tracing performance
New and improved media engine
On the downside…
High power requirements
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What type of GPU is best for budget gaming with the Ryzen 7 9700X?
The best budget GPU for the Ryzen 7 9700X is one like the Radeon RX 7700 XT. It delivers smooth 1440p gaming at 60 FPS in demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 on ultra settings without upscaling, offering great value for under $400 and pairing well with the CPU’s mid-range performance. - What is the ideal premium GPU for the Ryzen 7 9700X?
A premium GPU like the RTX 5070 Ti is ideal for the Ryzen 7 9700X. It handles 4K gaming at 60 FPS on ultra settings for games like The Last of Us without upscaling and supports 1440p ray tracing, making it perfect for high-end gaming and AI tasks. - Which GPU provides the best value for the Ryzen 7 9700X?
A GPU like the Radeon RX 9070 XT offers the best value for the Ryzen 7 9700X. It outperforms competing Nvidia GPUs by about 10% in 4K gaming, achieving 60 FPS in titles like A Plague Tale: Requiem, and its improved ray tracing makes it a strong mid-range option. - Will the Ryzen 7 9700X bottleneck high-end GPUs?
No, the Ryzen 7 9700X won’t bottleneck high-end GPUs. Its 8 cores, 16 threads, and high clock speeds ensure smooth performance with GPUs like the RTX 5070 Ti, supporting 4K gaming and multitasking without issues. - How does ray tracing perform on budget GPUs with the Ryzen 7 9700X?
Budget GPUs like the RX 7700 XT provide decent ray tracing with the Ryzen 7 9700X, hitting 30 FPS at 1440p in ray-traced games. While not as strong as Nvidia’s offerings, it’s a big step up from older AMD GPUs and suits budget gamers. - What power supply is required for GPUs with the Ryzen 7 9700X?
For budget GPUs like the RX 7700 XT, a 600W PSU is enough, as they draw 220–240W. Premium GPUs like the RTX 5070 Ti or RX 9070 XT, which use 280–310W, need an 800W PSU to support the Ryzen 7 9700X’s efficient design. - Is the Ryzen 7 9700X good for 4K gaming with mid-range GPUs?
Yes, the Ryzen 7 9700X pairs well with mid-range GPUs like the RX 9070 XT for 4K gaming. These GPUs deliver 60 FPS at ultra settings in games like Cyberpunk 2077, leveraging the CPU’s strong single-threaded performance for smooth gameplay. - How do premium GPUs compare to mid-range GPUs for the Ryzen 7 9700X?
Premium GPUs like the RTX 5070 Ti outperform mid-range GPUs like the RX 9070 XT in ray tracing and AI tasks, offering better 1440p ray-traced performance. However, mid-range GPUs excel in 4K rasterization, providing similar gaming performance at a lower cost. - What are the drawbacks of budget GPUs with the Ryzen 7 9700X?
Budget GPUs like the RX 7700 XT have lower power efficiency, drawing 220–240W compared to Nvidia’s alternatives. Despite this, their excellent 1440p performance and quiet cooling make them a solid choice for Ryzen 7 9700X builds. - Can mid-range GPUs handle video editing with the Ryzen 7 9700X?
Yes, mid-range GPUs like the RX 9070 XT are great for video editing with the Ryzen 7 9700X. Their advanced media engines support high-quality AV1 and H.265 encoding, matching Nvidia’s capabilities and complementing the CPU’s multi-core power for editing and streaming.
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