AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT/7700 XT review vs RTX 4070/4060 Ti

RT/DLSS/FSR2/XeSS benchmarks: Cyberpunk 2077, Dying Light 2, Forza Horizon 5.

Review by Will Judd Deputy Editor, Digital Foundry

Additional contributions by Richard Leadbetter

Published on Sept. 6, 2023

Raw ray tracing performance is one thing, but the truth is that RT is usually used in combination with image reconstruction technology for a better balance of visual features and performance. This page seeks to show how these GPUs compare with both technologies in play, with the same (or very close) base resolutions engaged. It's not factoring in image quality - where Nvidia enjoys a noticeable advantage against AMD - and neither are we considering overall support, where DLSS enjoys wider uptake amongst game developers. Here, we're just looking at raw performance - without factoring in DLSS 3 frame generation on 40-class cards, given AMD's FSR 3 alternative isn't yet ready for action.

Once again, if you're jumping straight to this page without looking at prior results, we should stress that our benchmarking system offers a number of ways to get to the data you want, the presentation varying according to the device you're using. You'll get a basic overview of our findings on mobile, with metadata from the video capture of each GPU being translated into simple bar charts with average frame-rate and lowest one per cent measurements for easy comparisons.

On a desktop-class browser, you'll get the full-fat DF experience with embedded YouTube videos of each test scene and live performance metrics. Play the video, and you'll see exactly how each card handled the scene as it progresses. Below the real-time metrics is an interactive bar chart, which you can mouse over to see different measurements and click to switch between actual frame-rates and percentage differences. All the data here is derived from video captured directly from each GPU, ensuring an accurate replay of real performance.

Cyberpunk 2077

Like all the games on this page, Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't just support DLSS, it also features XeSS and FSR2 as well, which is the way we like it. With FSR2 in play, the RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT are able to get within range of playable frame-rates at 1440p, but there's still a gulf between the cards and their intended Nvidia counterparts - the 4060 Ti is 17 percent faster than the 7700 XT, while the 4070 cleans up by nearly 40 percent against the 7800 XT. In fact, the 7800 XT most closely resembles the cheaper 4060 Ti with a near-identical average frame-rate at 1440p. Again, there's a relatively narrow 16 percent margin between the new AMD cards at their favoured resolution.

Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra RT, DLSS/FSR2/XeSS Quality

Dying Light 2

Techland's support for all upscaling technologies is to the game's credit, though FSR3 support has yet to be mooted - while DLSS3 has been in the game for some time. Ignoring that for the moment, the RX 7700 and 7800 XT have some of their best RT results here, with the lower-end AMD card tying the 4060 Ti and the higher-end newcomer coming within 10 percent of the RTX 4070. Frame-rates are in excess of 60fps in both cases, so that's job done for AMD I think.

Dying Light 2, Ultra RT, DLSS/FSR2 Quality

Forza Horizon 5

Here in Forza Horizon 5, we're set up at extreme settings with RT disabled, delivering a visual feature set in excess of Series X running in its 30fps quality mode - though image reconstruction technologies aren't really a match for native rendering with 4x MSAA, particularly on elements like power lines. If you do opt for a performance-boosting tech of choice though, you can expect reasonable performance from the AMD side of the garage, with the 7700 XT leading the 4060 Ti by 10 percent and the 7800 XT snagging a narrower six percent margin over the RTX 4070. The gap between RX 7700 XT and 7800 XT is massive here, at 33 percent.