We're in Taipei, Taiwan for Computex Taipei 2026 - follow our event coverage here.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived

The SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC is a brand-new option for PC gamers seeking a 1440p gaming GPU with RTX 5070-like performance on a budget.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived
Comment IconFacebook IconX IconReddit Icon
Senior Editor
Published
Manufactured by SAPPHIRE with an MSRP of $549
22-minute read time
Learn about how TweakTown tests and reviews hardware. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you.
Voice: Kosta Andreadis
0:00 / 33:23
Use left and right arrow keys to seek audio.
TweakTown Rating: 84%

Our Verdict

AMD's new Radeon RX 9070 GRE arrives with 12GB of VRAM and promises fantastic 1440p gaming performance. And for the most part, it delivers, and with FSR 4, with SAPPHIRE's PULSE design presenting a viable alternative to the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and GeForce RTX 5070.

Pros

  • Impressive 1080p and 1440p gaming performance
  • RDNA 4 and FSR 4 present a major leap forward for Radeon
  • SAPPHIRE's affordable PULSE design delivers OC performance and great cooling
  • Competitive performance and value in the current climate

Cons

  • Falls short of matching the RTX 5070 in performance
  • 4K gaming performance is impacted by the shift to slower 12GB of VRAM
  • Power-hungry when compared to the competition

Should you buy it?

AvoidConsiderShortlistBuy

Introduction

Although a lot of the attention is placed on more powerful PC gaming graphics cards when it comes to showcasing 4K visuals and performance in modern releases, even though over 80% of PC gamers are still gaming at 1440p or lower. According to the latest data from Steam, the PC gaming community is not only gaming at these lower resolutions but also using mainstream hardware or cards that aren't exactly built for 4K. This makes new mainstream and mid-range GPU releases more notable in many ways and more competitive, as it's a market that serves a much larger audience. And this is where the 'new' Radeon RX 9070 GRE from AMD fits into the picture, a GPU built for 1440p gaming, releasing at a price point that makes it the most affordable option in the company's Radeon RX 9070 line-up.

That said, the Radeon RX 9070 GRE is releasing at a time when we weren't expecting any new GPUs to hit the market. And that's because the current memory, storage, and supply crisis has caused chaos throughout the enthusiast PC hardware market, with increased prices and scarcity. With that context, the Radeon RX 9070 GRE's arrival also presents a mid-range reshuffle of sorts as the third release in the Radeon RX 9070 Series. Utilizing the same Navi 48 die, albeit cut down, that powers the baseline Radeon RX 9070 and the flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT, this new GRE variant effectively replaces the Radeon RX 9070 at the $549 price point, which has, in turn, officially increased to $619 USD. And to highlight just how volatile the current market is, this puts the Radeon RX 9070 GRE's price on par with the current retail price of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB GPU, even though, MSRP-wise, its direct competitor is the GeForce RTX 5070.

Setting aside pricing, what separates the Radeon RX 9070 GRE from the rest of the 9070 Series is that its cut-down hardware is paired with 12GB of GDDR6 memory on a slower 192-bit bus, which definitely positions it as a 1440p gaming GPU first and foremost. And when it comes to 1440p gaming, in SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC form, AMD's latest RDNA 4 offering is, on average, around 19% faster than the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, while falling short of the GeForce RTX 5070 by around 6%. Naturally, these are just numbers, as all three cards are great for gaming at 1440p in 2026, so the overall value proposition comes down to additional features, exclusive technologies, pricing, and other factors.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 9

On that note, as it's been over a year since the first RDNA 4 GPU hit the scene, AMD's AI-powered FSR 4 has now reached a point in terms of game adoption where we'd consider it a key feature and reason for picking up a Radeon RX 9070 GRE. At 1440p, you get image quality and additional performance that is competitive with NVIDIA's DLSS Super Resolution. And with RDNA 4's massive improvement to ray-tracing performance, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC is the sort of card, with FSR 4, that can deliver a stunning 1440p ray-tracing gaming in titles like Cyberpunk 2077.

Photo of the SAPPHIRE Nitro+ Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC
Best Deals: SAPPHIRE Nitro+ Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC
Today7 days ago30 days ago
$799.99 USD$799.99 USD
--
--
--
--
$799.99 USD$799.99 USD
$1099-
* Prices last scanned 5/31/2026 at 11:47 pm CDT - prices may be inaccurate. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We earn affiliate commission from any Newegg or PCCG sales.

RDNA 4 - AMD Levels the Playing Field

Below is a summary of AMD's new RDNA 4 architecture, applicable to all models.

AMD's new RDNA 4 architecture presents a massive improvement over the chiplet design that we saw with RDNA 3. Returning to the monolithic design of RDNA and RDNA 2 might sound like a regression, especially when AMD CPUs have gone in the other direction, but this isn't the case. In a nutshell, RDNA 4 is built for the modern era of PC gaming. This GPU architecture embraces ray-tracing performance as a key pillar, lays the groundwork for neural rendering, and supercharges AI performance with the new FSR Upscaling (ML) and native support for complex AI workloads. Throw in a revamped media engine for creators and streamers, and support for next-gen DisplayPort 2.1a displays, and RDNA 4 presents a new and revitalized direction for Radeon graphics.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 1

RDNA 4's overhauled Compute Unit, which houses all raster, ray-tracing, and AI hardware, has seen several enhancements over RDNA 3 and is one of the reasons the Radeon RX 9000 Series GPUs deliver impressive performance gains. The RDNA 4 Compute Unit, or CU, features an enhanced memory subsystem, improved scalar units (for raw raster), dynamic register allocation to reduce latency and bottlenecks, and increased efficiency. The improvements also mean that Radeon RX 9000 Series GPUs can ship with much higher clock speeds than their RDNA 3 counterparts, hitting close to 3 GHz in several 9070 XT models, with 9060 XT models pushing up to 3.3 GHz.

The show's star, at least in terms of the massive improvement over what came before, has to be the arrival of RDNA 4's 3rd-Generation Ray-Tracing Accelerators. AMD is aware that game developers across PC and console platforms are embracing ray tracing, which provides a realistic depiction of lighting and related effects such as shadows and reflections. The only problem is that real-time ray-tracing is complex, requiring the right blend of raw performance and innovative technologies to enhance efficiency and deliver a playable experience.

One area RDNA 4's RT Accelerator delivers where RDNA 3's don't is the arrival of "Oriented Bounding Boxes," an innovative method of handling ray-tracing Bounding Volume Hierarchy (BVH) data. Think of it as efficiently tracing rays through an environment and geometry with a lower memory cost and less hardware. RDNA 4's RT Accelerator also adds a second intersection engine to double the performance of specific raytracing workloads and calculations. The results can be seen in titles with heavy ray-tracing like Cyberpunk 2077, where the Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers a significant 30+% performance improvement over the previous gen flagship - the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. A card with 50% more RT Accelerators than the Radeon RX 9070 XT. The mainstream Radeon RX 9060 XT also delivers substantially faster ray-tracing performance than the Radeon RX 7600, to the point where mainstream RDNA 4 is now what you'd call RT-ready.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 3

RDNA 4 also fully embraces AI, with new AI accelerators that support FP8 while delivering double the FP16 and four times the INT8 performance compared to RDNA 3's AI accelerators. For gamers, this means the new AI-powered FSR Upscaling (ML) delivers a massive improvement in image quality over FSR 3, now called FSR Upscaling (Analytical). However, in 2026, the good news is that, even though AMD's custom FP8-based AI model, trained on powerful AMD Instinct hardware, is currently exclusive to RDNA 4 hardware, the company is bringing an INT8 version to RDNA 3 and RDNA 2 GPUs.

With RDNA 4, AMD has also introduced its answer to NVIDIA's DLSS Ray Reconstruction and AI Frame Generation for Path Tracing with FSR Redstone's new AI-based Ray Regeneration and Frame Generation, alongside support for Neural Radiance Caching. FSR Redstone officially launched in December 2025, with support in over 200 games; however, this is mainly limited to FSR Upscaling (ML). With improved raw performance and a massive boost to ray tracing and AI performance, RDNA 4 represents an enormous leap forward over RDNA 3. However, catching up to GeForce RTX in these areas and offering a viable DLSS alternative still means early adopters will need to wait for AMD to deliver its full Path Tracing solution, which might not arrive until RDNA 5.

This brings us to RDNA 4's enhanced Media Engine, which offers creators and streamers significant improvements in H.264, HEVC, and AV1 encoding and decoding. NVIDIA's lead in this area has meant that few creators use Radeon hardware. With RDNA 4, AMD aims to close the gap and offer a viable alternative, especially in image quality when using popular settings in apps like OBS.

Specs and Test System

Specifications

Here's a comparison of the Radeon RX 9070 GRE specs with the Radeon RX 9000 Series.

GPU SpecsRadeon RX 9070 XTRadeon RX 9070Radeon RX 9070 GRERadeon RX 7800 XT
ArchitectureRDNA 4RDNA 4RDNA 3RDNA 3
ProcessTSMC 4nmTSMC 4nmTSMC 4nmTSMC 5nm + 6nm
Stream Processors4096358430723840
Compute Units64564860
Ray Accelerators64 (3rd Gen)56 (3rd Gen)48 (2nd Gen)60 (2nd Gen)
AI Accelerators128 (2nd Gen)128 (2nd Gen)96 (2nd Gen)120
GPU Boost Clock2970 MHz2520 MHz2790 MHz2430 MHz
Memory16GB GDDR616GB GDDR612GB GDDR616GB GDDR6
Memory Interface256-bit256-bit192-bit256-bit
Bandwidth640 GB/sec640 GB/sec432 GB/sec624 GB/sec
Total Board Power304W220W220W263W
Swipe / scroll right to see more ->

Three GPUs using the same underlying hardware are not unheard of, but it's worth highlighting that the new Radeon RX 9070 GRE, Radeon RX 9070, and Radeon RX 9070 XT are all built on the same Navi 48 GPU. What this means is that the new GRE variant still sports a relatively large 357 mm-squared die with 53.9 billion transistors, albeit in a cut-down form. Compared to the flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT, the GRE sees a 25% reduction in Stream Processors, Compute Units, Ray Accelerators, AI Accelerators, and even VRAM capacity. Compared to the baseline Radeon RX 9070, you're looking at 14% fewer Compute Units and Ray Accelerators. And if you were to skip ahead to the 4K gaming performance breakdown, you'll probably notice how this correlates with an almost 1-to-1 difference in performance across all three cards.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 11

And when comparing overall performance to the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5070, it's worth noting that the 9070 GRE's cutdown Navi 48 GPU is roughly double the physical size and draws up to 50% more power than the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB when gaming. In fact, with the same baseline 220W power draw as the Radeon RX 9070, due to its higher Boost Clock speeds, you're looking at a less efficient GPU even in the context of it being a lower-tier Radeon RX 9070. And with that, the biggest difference is its lower VRAM capacity and slower overall memory bandwidth: 12GB of GDDR6 memory at 18 Gbps over a 192-bit interface, as opposed to 256-bit. This is an understandable change as it better positions the Radeon RX 9070 GRE as a 1440p gaming GPU, leaving the 4K action to the flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT, much like how the GeForce RTX 5070 compares to the RTX 5070 Ti.

One area where the Radeon RX 9070 GRE sees a boost compared to the Radeon RX 9070 non-XT is its Boost Clock speed, and in the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC form, that's pushed even higher to 2920 MHz. Alongside an increase in power draw to 240W, the increased Boost Clock speed translates to faster performance. Looking at the broader RDNA 4 picture, which sees a massive overhaul to the underlying architecture and a move to a smaller TSMC 4nm process, the Radeon RX 9070 GRE represents a new era for Radeon graphics where ray-tracing performance is competitive, and AI-powered Super Resolution and Frame Generation are key parts of the overall picture. The result is that the Radeon RX 9070 GRE maintains its performance advantage over the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti while keeping up with the GeForce RTX 5070. Path tracing is a different story, as NVIDIA's RTX Blackwell hardware seems better suited for the next-gen lighting solution, but it's still impressive to see RDNA 4 close the gap in a meaningful way.

ItemDetails
GPURadeon RX 9070 GRE
ArchitectureRDNA 4
ModelSAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12GB OC
InterfacePCI Express Gen 5
Stream Processors3072
Compute Units48
Ray Accelerators48 (3rd Gen)
AI Accelerators96 (2nd Gen)
Game Clock2340 MHz
Boost Clock Speed2920 MHz
Memory12GB GDDR6
Memory Interface192-bit
Memory Bandwidth432 GB/sec
AMD Infinity Cache48 MB
Total Board Power240W
Display2 x DisplayPort 2.1a, 2 x HDMI 2.1b
Power Input2 x 8-pin PCIe
Dimensions280 x 133 x 51.5 mm
Weight1015 grams

Kosta's Test System

ItemDetails
MotherboardMSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi (Buy at Amazon)
CPUAMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (Buy at Amazon)
GPUNVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition (default) (Buy at Amazon)
DisplayMSI MAG 321UPX QD-OLED 4K 240Hz (Buy at Amazon)
CoolerCorsair iCUE LINK TITAN 360 RX LCD Liquid CPU Cooler (Buy at Amazon)
RAMCorsair VENGEANCE RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 (Buy at Amazon)
SSDSandisk WD_BLACK SN8100 2TB PCIe Gen5 (Buy at Amazon)
Secondary SSDPatriot Viper VP4300 Lite 4TB PCIe Gen4 (x2) (Buy at Amazon)
Power SupplyMSI MEG Ai1300P PCIE5 (Buy at Amazon)
CaseCorsair FRAME 4000D Modular Mid-Tower PC Case (Buy at Amazon)
Case FansCorsair iCUE LINK RX120 MAX RGB 120mm PWM Starter Kit (Buy at Amazon)
OSMicrosoft Windows 11 Pro (Buy at Amazon)

Physical Design and Cooling

SAPPHIRE's dual-fan PULSE design is found in its more affordable models, ditching features like RGB lighting in favor of a simpler, more streamlined design focused on cooling and reliable performance. The two-tone black with red accents will be familiar to anyone who has played around with a SAPPHIRE PULSE GPU in recent years, and the company has kept refining and improving the design as new Radeon generations hit the scene. Here, in Radeon RX 9070 GRE form, you've got a full metal backplate, new AeroCurve fan blades designed to improve airflow and static pressure, optimized composite heatpipes, and a cooling module that covers the GPU, memory, and VRMs.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 13

One thing to note about SAPPHIRE's new AeroCurve fans is that the improved design also paves the way for an increased RPM range for more efficient cooling; however, in our testing, we rarely saw fan speeds exceed 30% or GPU temperatures rise above 60 degrees Celsius. With a direct-contact design, custom heatpipes, and free-flow cooling thanks to dual-fan positioning, airflow paths, and venting, SAPPHIRE's revamped PULSE GPU design is certainly impressive for a value-focused GPU lineup. This extends to the eight-layer PCB with its 14-phase digital power design and fuse protection.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 6

The SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC also arrives with the company's latest version of its TriXX Software, which offers a clean and intuitive interface for monitoring performance, switching between efficiency and performance-focused profiles, and fine-tuning settings. All in all, SAPPHIRE's PULSE GPUs continue to deliver performance, robust build quality, extended features, and exceptional thermal design as an 'entry-level' Radeon series. If we had one complaint, which is more of an opinion, that would be for SAPPHIRE to update the black-and-red design with the sleeker and more modern aesthetics found in its PURE and NITRO+ series.

The Games and Tests

PC gaming spans a wide range of genres and styles, from indie games with simple 2D graphics to massive 3D worlds lit by cutting-edge real-time ray tracing. With that, each gamer's needs and requirements vary. High refresh rates and reduced latency are more important than flashy visuals or playing at the highest resolution possible for those who live and breathe fast-paced competitive games. For those who want to live in a cinematic world and become a key player in an expansive narrative, ray tracing and high-fidelity visuals are a stepping stone toward greater immersion.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 7

Our chosen benchmarks cover various games, engines, APIs, and technologies. For the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC, all tests are run at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, and include results for performance-boosting Super Resolution technologies such as FSR Upscaling (ML) (or FSR 4), as well as the new AI-powered FSR Frame Generation. In many ways, FSR 4 numbers are more important than native rendering; however, our benchmark results are still sorted using 'raw performance' or native rendering.

Here's the breakdown of games, settings, and what's being tested.

Games and Settings Benchmarked

GameDetails
Anno 117: Pax Romana (RT)City-building real-time strategy game that uses a custom engine with ray-traced global illumination and detailed environments. In-game benchmark used with Very High graphics settings.
Assassin's Creed ShadowsUbisoft's most recent entry in the cinematic open-world AAA action-adventure series. In-game benchmark used with Very High graphics settings.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7Competitive multiplayer FPS test with DLSS and FSR. The in-game multiplayer benchmark tool is used with Ultra quality settings.
Counter-Strike 2Competitive multiplayer FPS running on Valve's Source engine. Custom multiplayer benchmark run used to test performance with Very High graphics settings.
Cyberpunk 2077Cinematic open-world test with stunning visuals and DLSS and FSR. The in-game benchmark tool is used at Ultra quality settings without ray tracing.
Cyberpunk 2077 (RT)Cinematic open-world test with stunning visuals and DLSS and FSR. The in-game benchmark tool is used with the demanding Ray Tracing Ultra quality setting.
DOOM: The Dark Ages (RT)Fast-paced single-player FPS gaming running on the id Tech 8 engine with ray-traced global illumination and Vulkan with DLSS and FSR. In-game Siege Part 1 benchmark used with Nightmare graphics setting.
F1 25 (RT)Racing game with hardware-intensive in-race ray-traced visuals and DLSS and FSR. The in-game benchmark tool is used, with Ultra High quality settings on a single lap of the Australia track.
Forza Horizon 5Detailed open-world racing game featuring dynamic weather, realistic environments, and cars. In-game benchmark used with the Extreme graphics setting.
Horizon Zero Dawn RemasteredCinematic open-world test with remastered visuals and DLSS and FSR. In-game benchmark used with the Very High quality setting.

Path Tracing Games and Settings Benchmarked

GameDetails
Cyberpunk 2077In-game benchmark tool used with the demanding RT Overdrive or full Path Tracing mode, with DLSS 4 or FSR Performance, Frame Generation, and Multi Frame Generation.
DOOM: The Dark AgesPath Tracing or Full Ray Tracing tested in this stunning first-person game, in-game 'Siege Part 1' benchmark used with DLSS 4 or FSR Performance, Frame Generation, and Multi Frame Generation.

GPUs Included in Our Testing

Offering a wide range of GPUs for comparison adds much-needed context when evaluating overall performance, efficiency, and value. Here's the full list of GPU models included in the results: INNO3D GeForce RTX 5060 8GB TWIN X2 OC, SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB PULSE OC, MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Ventus 2X 16GB, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition, MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition, GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9070 GAMING OC, ASRock Radeon RX 9070 XT Steel Legend, MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Ventus 3X, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition.

Gaming Performance Analysis

Average Gaming Performance - 1080p Results

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 22

Although the overclocked SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC is built for 1440p gaming, it's still a powerhouse for 1080p (FHD) gaming. Here, the 151 FPS average across all games in our benchmark suite, which includes titles with ray-tracing and playing with Ultra-like settings, is 26.9% faster than AMD's mainstream Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB, and 15.3% faster than the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. At this resolution, performance is within 4.4% of the GeForce RTX 5070 and 8.5% of the baseline Radeon RX 9070. As seen with other RDNA 4 GPUs, AMD's next-gen ray tracing delivers excellent performance at this resolution in RT-heavy titles such as Cyberpunk 2077, DOOM: The Dark Ages, and F1 25.

The other big thing to note when looking at the averages is that performance varies from title to title, with a few exceptions. First, the Radeon RX 9070 GRE continues to dominate its GeForce counterparts in Call of Duty performance, with the SAPPHIRE model slightly edging out the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti at 1080p. However, this is the exception rather than the rule, and when it comes to competitive gaming performance, playing Counter-Strike 2 is the one title where performance falls behind the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. Still, at 1080p, performance across most cards is much closer, so increasing the resolution to 1440p provides a clearer picture of how the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC fits into the current-gen line-up of gaming GPUs.

Average Gaming Performance - 1440p Results

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 23

Increasing the resolution to 1440p, and the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC's average performance of 108 FPS solidifies it as a mid-range gaming GPU built for this resolution. It's enough to make it a whopping 30.1% faster than the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB GPU, a card you could definitely pair with a 1440p display, with its lead over the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB also increasing to 18.7%. That said, it's a similar expansion in the opposite direction, with the GeForce RTX 5070 being 6% faster at this resolution, on average, and the baseline Radeon RX 9070 being 12.2% faster. At this resolution, the flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT is 19.4% faster, a notable lead, but that GPU is better suited for 4K gaming.

1440p is also the resolution at which the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC gains the most benefit from enabling FSR 4 and FSR 4.1 AI-powered Super Resolution. Using the Quality preset, which delivers impressive image fidelity, Cyberpunk 2077's Ultra ray-tracing performance increases from 41 FPS to a much smoother 70 FPS, while DOOM: The Dark Ages pushes performance into triple-digit territory by going from 84 FPS to 116 FPS. Likewise, another title with ray-tracing, F1 25, sees its performance climb from 65 FPS to 99 FPS. All of these increases can be viewed as free performance, and with AMD's new FSR 4 and FSR 4.1 supported in hundreds of games, it's a key factor in delivering excellent performance at this resolution.

Average Gaming Performance - 4K Results

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 24

Bumping up the resolution to the demanding 4K, and the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC begins to fall behind its beefier Radeon RX 9070 siblings. Here, on average, it's 16.7% slower than the baseline Radeon RX 9070 and 25% slower than the flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT. Part of this is due to the cut-down hardware, but also the shift to a more efficient and affordable 12GB of VRAM on a slower 192-bit interface. That said, there are many titles where the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC is more than capable at this resolution, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 running at 94 FPS natively and DOOM: The Dark Ages pushing 68 FPS with the help of FSR 4's Quality preset.

At this resolution, FSR is a game-changer for the Radeon RX 9070 GRE, as lower-quality presets like Balanced and Performance modes deliver notable gains while maintaining decent image fidelity. Finally, at this resolution, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC delivers 22% faster 4K gaming performance than the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. At the same time, the GeForce RTX 5070 increases its lead to 9.1%.

Benchmarks - 3DMark Synthetic Tests

3DMark offers a suite of synthetic benchmarks built to test GPUs in various scenarios. 3DMark Steel Nomad is a cutting-edge DirectX 12 benchmark that uses modern rendering techniques to push GPUs to their limits. The 'Light' version tests at 1440p, while the main Steel Nomad benchmark tests pure native 4K rendering. Port Royal is a benchmark focused exclusively on real-time ray tracing for lighting effects, including reflections, shadows, and more.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 19SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 20

With three Radeon RX 9070 models all built on the same underlying hardware, the synthetic Steel Nomad and Steel Nomad Light benchmark scores do reflect what we see in real-world gaming workloads, with the baseline Radeon RX 9070 scores coming in around 15% higher, and the flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT scores coming in around 23% higher. But, when you look at how the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC's scores stack up against the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and GeForce RTX 5070, the results don't quite line up as well. For example, in the 4K-based Steel Nomad benchmark, you're looking at basically the same performance on the Radeon RX 9070 GRE and the GeForce RTX 5070, but the RTX 5070 scores around 18% higher in the 1440p-based Steel Nomad Light. Likewise, this means that the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC's 4K Steel Nomad score is 43.6% higher than the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, with that lead significantly dropping when looking at the Steel Nomad Light results.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 21

Port Royal is a synthetic ray-tracing benchmark that has been around for several GPU generations. As it tests raw ray-tracing performance, it's still a good indicator of what to expect when playing games with RT enabled. And with RDNA 4's big gains in this department, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC's score is within 10% of the GeForce RTX 5070, while coming in 27.3% higher than the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. This highlights how competitive the Radeon RX 9070 Series is in ray tracing; however, these results do not carry over to the more demanding cinematic path-tracing modes.

Benchmarks - 1080p Gaming

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 25SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 28
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 31SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 34
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 37SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 40
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 43SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 46
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 49SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 52

Benchmarks - 1440p Gaming

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 26SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 29
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 32SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 35
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 38SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 41
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 44SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 47
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 50SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 53

Benchmarks - 4K Gaming

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 27SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 30
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 33SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 36
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 39SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 42
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 45SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 48
SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 51SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 54

FSR Redstone - Upscaling, Frame Generation, Ray Regeneration

Currently exclusive to RDNA 4 (this is set to change very soon) and the Radeon RX 9000 Series of desktop graphics cards, AMD's latest version of FSR - dubbed FSR Redstone - now encompasses a full suite of AI-powered rendering technologies that finally closes the gap between FSR and NVIDIA DLSS. AMD FSR Upscaling (ML), also called FSR 4, is powered by a new ML-based algorithm that delivers a dramatic improvement in image quality when upscaling from lower resolutions to 1080p, 1440p, or 4K.

FSR Frame Generation (ML) upgrades AMD's Frame Generation technology with a new AI approach powered by a neural network that improves image fidelity and reduces image artifacts, such as ghosting. FSR Ray Regeneration (ML) is an AI-powered denoiser, similar to DLSS Ray Reconstruction, built for ray tracing. FSR Radiance Caching is best described as FSR Upscaling for ray tracing calculations. It accelerates ray tracing by leveraging AI and a Neural Radiance Cache to infer complex lighting calculations in real time, reducing GPU load.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 57

With FSR's new AI-powered upscaling available in hundreds of games, with FSR Frame Generation support also improving, looking at what it brings to the table in games with ray-tracing is a great way to showcase the overall benefits. For example, Cyberpunk 2077's 41 FPS becomes 70 FPS using the FSR 4 Quality preset, which then increases to 133 FPS with Frame Generation. The latter is a motion-smoothing technology designed to enhance motion clarity on high-refresh-rate displays, so that 133 FPS still feels like 70 FPS from a gameplay perspective. Although it's improved greatly, AMD's Frame Generation solution still has some catching up to do as it lacks a Multi Frame Generation option, and image quality and overall stability aren't quite at that DLSS level.

Path Tracing Performance

Path Tracing builds on real-time ray tracing by applying the concept of ray-traced effects to everything - global illumination, shadows, reflections, indirect lighting, and more. With multiple bounces, it's a hardware-intensive, cutting-edge look at the future of PC gaming, made possible only by AI tools and technologies. With RDNA 4 dramatically improving ray-tracing performance over RDNA 3, GPUs like the Radeon RX 9070 GRE are capable of rendering stunning Path Traced visuals; however, it's more proof of concept than practical.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 55SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 56

Path tracing, a full ray tracing mode that's increasingly appearing in major game releases, is incredibly demanding on hardware. It relies on AI technologies to deliver performance, image fidelity, and responsiveness, so right now, it still feels like a mode better suited for GeForce RTX 50 Series hardware. On that note, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC's path tracing performance falls behind the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB GPU, which is a card we'd consider as 'entry-level' when it comes to path tracing. That is, playing at 1080p and leveraging DLSS technologies to hit a smooth 100+ FPS. As the Radeon RX 9070 GRE falls short, and AMD's FSR Redstone technologies aren't fully supported in several path-tracing-ready games, this is an area where there's still plenty of room for improvement. As of now, path tracing on the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC is more proof of concept than an actual feature.

Temperature and Power Efficiency

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 58

Although it's the company's entry-level or affordable design, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC is still an impressive performer in terms of overall cooling and build quality. In cut-down form, the Radeon RX 9070 GRE runs cooler than the more powerful variants in general, and SAPPHIRE's cooling keeps GPU temperatures below 60 degrees Celsius under load, with fan speeds also kept in a range that doesn't make much noise. That said, when it comes to 1440p gaming, the Radeon RX 9070 GRE draws as much power as the more powerful baseline Radeon RX 9070 and considerably more power than the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and the GeForce RTX 5070. So in this sense, the overall power efficiency falls short of matching its performance.

Final Thoughts

The Radeon RX 9070 GRE, or Golden Radeon Edition, debuted last year as a China-exclusive release. Cut to mid-2026 and a very different PC gaming hardware climate, thanks to the memory and storage crisis, AMD is now unleashing this mid-range gaming option on the global market. And with that context, the $549 price makes sense after you take a glance at current retail listings for 1440p gaming cards and at its performance relative to GeForce options like the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and RTX 5070. With 12GB of VRAM, it replaces the baseline Radeon RX 9070 at the $549 price point, which is a shame, because in a perfect world, launching this closer to the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB's MSRP would have been a big move. Pricing discussion aside, as it stands, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC delivers impressive 1440p gaming performance with or without ray tracing, bolstered by AMD's new FSR 4.

SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 GRE PULSE OC Review - A New 1440p Challenger Has Arrived 14

NVIDIA's DLSS might still have the advantage in terms of technology and game adoption, but AMD has made massive strides in closing the gap with RDNA 4, making the Radeon RX 9000 Series one of the most competitive in years. And when it comes to SAPPHIRE's revamped PULSE design, you've got overclocked performance and fantastic cooling in a relatively compact and affordable dual-fan design. It'll be interesting to see how the Radeon RX 9070 GRE slots into the current GPU market in the coming months, and whether it will lead more gamers to choose Radeon over GeForce. Especially now, with AMD's FSR finally delivering on that promise of being a viable DLSS alternative.

Performance

82%

Quality

88%

Features

87%

Value

77%

Overall

84%

Our Verdict

AMD's new Radeon RX 9070 GRE arrives with 12GB of VRAM and promises fantastic 1440p gaming performance. And for the most part, it delivers, and with FSR 4, with SAPPHIRE's PULSE design presenting a viable alternative to the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and GeForce RTX 5070.

Photo of the SAPPHIRE Nitro+ Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC
Best Deals: SAPPHIRE Nitro+ Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC
Today7 days ago30 days ago
$799.99 USD$799.99 USD
--
--
--
--
$799.99 USD$799.99 USD
$1099-
* Prices last scanned 5/31/2026 at 11:47 pm CDT - prices may be inaccurate. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We earn affiliate commission from any Newegg or PCCG sales.

Senior Editor

Email IconX IconLinkedIn Icon

Kosta is a veteran gaming journalist that cut his teeth on well-respected Aussie publications like PC PowerPlay and HYPER back when articles were printed on paper. A lifelong gamer since the 8-bit Nintendo era, it was the CD-ROM-powered 90s that cemented his love for all things games and technology. From point-and-click adventure games to RTS games with full-motion video cut-scenes and FPS titles referred to as Doom clones. Genres he still loves to this day. Kosta is also a musician, releasing dreamy electronic jams under the name Kbit.

Right of Reply

TweakTown offers all companies mentioned in this article, or those who have supplied review samples, the opportunity to respond. If your organization would like to provide a statement or clarification, we are happy to publish it here. To submit a response, please contact us.
Newsletter Subscription