My favorite GPU this year is also one you absolutely shouldn't buy right now

Digital Trends

5 days ago

When it comes to some of the best graphics cards that have been released in 2025 so far, I have a strong favorite — and it's not one I thought would end up at the top of my list going into this year. I'm talking about the current AMD flagship, the Radeon RX 9070 XT.
However, as much as I love the GPU, I still don't think you should buy it right now — and although it pains me to do it, I'm about to show you why not (and what you can buy instead).
The RX 9070 XT is a fantastic GPU
In a year when both Nvidia and AMD launched new graphics cards, there's always quite a bit to choose from. However, going into this generation, I knew that AMD would be trying to stick to mainstream GPUs. Nvidia's RTX 5090 was bound to remain uncontested, and I thought that the RTX 5080 and the RTX 5070 Ti wouldn't have too much to worry about, either.
I was wrong, and for once, I was happy to be.
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Upon launch, the RX 9070 XT was said to deliver RTX 5070 Ti-level performance for $150 less, and I was fully on board with that. Benchmarks quickly proved that AMD wasn't throwing around empty promises, either. The GPU can stand its ground, perhaps more so than I expected it to, making it more of an upper-midrange option than a true mainstream card.
Sure, AMD wasn't trying to destroy Nvidia — but it tried, and succeeded, in making a GPU that most gamers can want.
Depending on the benchmark and the reviewer, you'll see the RX 9070 XT falling behind the last-gen flagship, the RX 7900 XTX, in pure rasterization. But in ray tracing? The RX 9070 XT beats the previous-gen halo card, and that's despite its lower price point.
Let's compare to Nvidia. As Nvidia remains ever the GPU behemoth, it's no wonder that many gamers still default to Team Green — but on paper, AMD's option is better here. Most benchmarks pin the RX 9070 XT somewhere within 10% of the RTX 5070 Ti, and up to 15% faster than the RTX 5070. Not a bad score for something that was meant to cater to the mainstream market. I've even seen the RX 9070 XT nearly catch up to the RTX 5080 when overclocked.
Back when the RX 9070 XT launched, I told people that if I had to buy a graphics card this year, it'd have been AMD. Unfortunately, I had to change my mind soon after the GPU hit the shelves.
There's one major problem
It's all about the money, I'm afraid.
No single GPU exists in a vacuum. It's important to know that. Even if the card in question is fantastic, it's always going to be compared against other GPUs, and I'm not just talking about the performance. I'm talking about the price, and this is where, months after launch, the AMD RX 9070 XT still leaves a lot to be desired.
AMD launched the RX 9070 XT at $599, and the RX 9070 at $549. I've seen people complaining about the price, but personally, it was better than I dared to hope for. AMD managed to undercut Nvidia in a major way with the RX 9070 XT, and while the non-XT version was doomed to a less successful life due to the skewed price-to-performance ratio, the RX 9070 XT had every chance of becoming a fan favorite.
Well, what do you know: AMD itself admitted that the RX 9070 XT was selling faster than the manufacturers could keep up with. AMD delivered a good product, and the market was ready for it.
Unfortunately, the MSRP didn't last.
Demand today for our new @amdradeon cards has been phenomenal. We are working with our AIBs to replenish stock at our partners ASAP in the coming days and weeks. MSRP pricing (excluding region specific tariffs and/or taxes) will continue to be encouraged beyond today so don't… pic.twitter.com/8VxGioMkev — Frank Azor (@AzorFrank) March 6, 2025
Although AMD's Frank Azor said back in March that MSRP pricing will continue to be encouraged, the current state of the market has won. Scanning Amazon for the RX 9070 XT shows me a few models in the $720 to $820 range. At that price, the advantage AMD has over Nvidia is all but gone, which is why it's hard to recommend the RX 9070 XT right now. If I had to recommend one, it'd be the cheapest option from Asus, which you can check out here. It's still $120 more than the MSRP, but it is cheaper than the RTX 5070 Ti, if only slightly.
I can't, and don't, blame AMD here at all. The GPU market is rough, and most graphics cards are selling above their MSRPs. In fact, if a GPU sells at MSRP, chances are that the demand for it might be lower — take from that what you will.
AMD doesn't suffer from a lack of demand. If anything, it's the exact opposite. When the GPU flew off the shelves on launch day, I hoped that it'd be back in great quantities somewhere down the line. I was partly right — it is back, and readily available, but sadly, hardly any cheaper. You still have to pay a premium if you want to own AMD's best GPU.
What can you buy instead?
The sad reality of the current GPU market is that many graphics cards sell above their MSRPs. However, there are a few options for gamers who don't want to pay too much of a premium.
One GPU I keep recommending this year is the Intel Arc B580. Unfortunately, it's not at all of the same caliber as the RX 9070 XT, but if you're looking for a budget option to add to your build, it'll do the trick nicely.
If we're looking at cards that offer similar performance to the RX 9070 XT, we're really considering options like Nvidia's RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5070, and perhaps the RTX 5060 Ti. From AMD itself, there's the RX 9070 non-XT, but also the RX 7800 XT, RX 7900 XT or GRE, and the RX 7900 XTX. The last-gen options will offer worse ray tracing performance, so that's something to keep in mind.
Last-gen availability is spotty, and cards are often overpriced. If you want to try to get one of those, I recommend the second-hand market instead.
But let's say you want a new GPU. What do you do?
If you want to keep the same level of performance, I would probably bite the bullet and get the RTX 5070 Ti. It's slightly faster than the RX 9070 XT, offers better ray tracing performance, and grants you access to Nvidia's latest DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation tech. I found the RTX 5070 Ti for $790 on Amazon, so check it out. That's $40 above the MSRP, which is not too terrible for current pricing trends.
Don't mind lowering your performance-related expectations? AMD's more recent RX 9060 XT 16GB is an option — just make sure you buy the 16GB version and not the one with just eight gigs of VRAM. I found this Sapphire RX 9060 XT 16GB at $380. Nvidia's 16GB RTX 5060 Ti is considerably pricier, so if you're buying something cheaper, make sure to choose AMD here.