AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE review - a mighty mid-range maverick

Our Verdict

The Radeon RX 7900 GRE is AMD's most compelling graphics card for years, with fantastic performance across the board at a very welcome aggressive price. Even in the currently crowded and hyper-competitive mid-range GPU space, the value it offers is undeniable despite its few weak points.

Reasons to buy

• Fantastic value for money at MSRP
• Often beats RTX 4070 in ray tracing
• Lots of VRAM

Reasons to avoid

• Mild frame rate lead vs RX 7800 XT
• RTX 4070 Super is better at ray tracing
• FSR quality lags behind DLSS

Competition is wonderful and the new AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE is proof of that. The advent of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super has undoubtedly served as a catalyst for AMD to rethink the GRE’s regional exclusivity (it was previously only available in China), resulting in the wider launch of a seriously compelling graphics card.

There is no shortage of contenders for the title of best graphics card from both AMD and Nvidia right now, with the GRE making for another addition to the already crowded midrange market. I’ve spent the past few weeks putting this pixel pusher through its paces, and it’s been a pleasantly surprising experience, in spite of some expected, albeit mild, weaknesses.

Specs

The Radeon RX 7900 GRE packs a Navi 31 GPU, like its siblings the Radeon RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX, but this is the most cut-down version of this chip that we’ve seen so far. Every specification you’d expect, including stream processors, ray accelerators, and memory bandwidth has been trimmed back, but there are also a few unexpected changes that are key to understanding the GRE’s performance.

While there’s little difference between the RX 7900 GRE and RX 7900 XT in some respects, there’s a sizable gulf in others. On the face of it, the differences are small, with the 7900 GRE only having 256 fewer stream processors, and four fewer ray accelerators, than the 7900 XT. However, there’s a big difference in clock speed between the two cards. We’re looking at a 145MHz shortfall in the game clock and 150MHz in the boost clock which, while not massive, is surprising.

Then there’s the memory bandwidth of the RX 7900 GRE (576GB/s), which is not only lower than the RX 7900 XT (800GB/s) but is in fact lower than the Radeon RX 7800 XT (624GB/s). Both the GRE and 7800 XT each have 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM at their disposal, riding on a 256-bit memory bus, but the latter has faster memory clocks, leading to greater bandwidth.

This memory spec is still well ahead of Nvidia’s competing GPUs, though. The GRE’s memory bandwidth exceeds both the GeForce RTX 4070 (504GB/s) and RTX 4070 Super (504GB/s) in this regard. The RX 7900 GRE’s total board power (TBP) also comes in at 260W, 55W less than the RX 7900 XT, finding itself once again in close company to the RX 7800 XT with its 263W power draw. This is why the GRE performs much closer to its Navi 32 cousin, the Radeon RX 7800 XT, than to its Navi 31 siblings, as we’ll see in our benchmarks.

Performance

We captured Radeon RX 7900 GRE performance data at native 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, as well as upscaled resolutions using FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR). However, for the sake of brevity and relevance, our analysis and graphs will primarily focus on 1440p, as this is the resolution that we find best suits the graphics card.

In lieu of a reference card, with AMD opting not to make its cooler design available outside of China and PC manufacturers, our benchmarks have been captured with the gorgeous Sapphire Pure Radeon RX 7900 GRE. Its clock frequencies are slightly higher than the reference ones, with a 1,972MHz game clock and 2,333MHz boost. It also looks lovely to my eyes, with the gorgeous white color scheme and solid build quality of Sapphire’s Pure models.

Ray tracing benchmarks

Despite ray tracing typically being a weak point for AMD graphics cards, our Radeon RX 7900 GRE benchmarks mostly buck that trend. Across our suite, at 1440p, the GRE was 9% faster than the Radeon RX 7800 XT but, more importantly, came out on top compared to the GeForce RTX 4070 with a 3% lead. The difference between these two $549.99 cards can differ greatly depending on the title in question, but this trading of blows between AMD and Nvidia is a welcome sight.

This isn’t to say that the Radeon RX 7900 GRE is now the defacto ray tracing graphics card to buy within this price range, as it still trails behind the GeForce RTX 4070 Super by 12% on average, which costs just $50 more ($599.99). However, this gap markedly shrinks to just 3% when you push up the resolution to 4K, where the extra VRAM and higher memory bandwidth of the GRE makes all the difference.

While the Radeon RX 7900 GRE naturally falls behind the next most powerful graphics card in the Radeon 7000 series, the Radeon RX 7900 XT, the difference in price between the two cards means the GRE offers much better value. After all, at the MSRP ($599.99 vs. $899.99), that extra $300 only nets a 14% performance boost according to our tests. That said, the 7900 XT is now frequently on sale for as little as $689.99 at the time of writing, but even then he 7900 GRE is still a more compelling option.

So, while it’s not the ray tracing champion of the $500-600 price range, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE does come a close second to its more expensive competitor. This is the closest I’ve seen a Radeon graphics card come to its Nvidia competitors in this type of rendering, and the first to beat its main competitor, the GeForce RTX 4070, and it makes me wish AMD would see sense and officially reduce the MSRP of its more-expensive options, including the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, so we could see more compelling competition at the higher end of the GPU price spectrum.

3DMark Speed Way benchmark

3DMark Speed Way is useful for setting a baseline expectation for real-world ray tracing performance on the Radeon RX 7900 GRE. In this test, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE finds itself sandwiched between the Radeon RX 7800 XT and GeForce RTX 4070, pulling ahead of the former by 387 points and trailing behind the latter by 171 points.

These differences are slight, but they illustrate that the difference in ray tracing capabilities between the GRE and 7800 XT is greater than between the GRE and the RTX 4070.

In terms of percentages, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE is 10% faster than the Radeon RX 7800 XT here, but 4% slower than the GeForce RTX 4070. However, as we’ll observe in our gaming benchmarks, these gaps in performance can vary greatly depending on the title in question.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora ray tracing benchmark

In Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE manages an average frame rate of 59 frames per second (fps) using the game’s Ultra graphics preset. While this does put it ahead of the GeForce RTX 4070’s 57fps result, the margins are slim.

The scales tip further in AMD’s favor, though, when we take minimum frame rate into account, where the 7900 GRE provides better frame consistency (50fps) compared to its Nvidia competition (44fps). These results aren’t indicative of performance with upscaling features, though, and FSR 3 can boost frame rates on all the cards in the graph above through upscaling and frame generation. Meanwhile, Nvidia GPUs can get a boost from DLSS Super Resolution, which is also supported by this game.

Cyberpunk 2077 ray tracing benchmark

Cyberpunk 2077 ray tracing typically thrives on Nvidia’s Lovelace architecture far more than it does on AMD’s RDNA 3. As such, it provides the only win the GeForce RTX 4070 enjoys against the Radeon RX 7900 GRE in our ray-traced gaming benchmarks, using the game’s RT Ultra preset with upscaling features disabled.

However, both graphics cards merely scrape a playable experience in CD Projekt Red’s RPG, with the RTX 4070 mustering a 37fps average frame rate while the 7900 GRE clocks in at 32fps. Turning to minimum frame rates, there’s just one frame per second separating AMD (28fps) and Nvidia (29fps).

The middling nature of these results does become easier to stomach taking the Radeon RX 7800 XT into account, as the extra $50 spent on the Radeon RX 7900 GRE does at least make the difference in playable frame rates (but this is also true of the GeForce RTX 4070). In short, you’ll need to enable either DLSS or FSR to make this game playable on the RX 7900 GRE or RTX 4070 at 2,560 x 1,440, where the latter has the benefit of official support for DLSS 3 with frame generation.

F1 23 ray tracing benchmark

In contrast to Cyberpunk 2077, F1 23 has often proven a safe haven of sorts for AMD when it comes to ray tracing. On the tarmac, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE turns in a respectable average frame rate of 74fps, pulling comfortably ahead of the GeForce RTX 4070 with its 64fps result.

This time around, it’s the Radeon RX 7800 XT that becomes a thorn in the side of the Radeon RX 7900 GRE, with just 4fps separating the two (70fps vs 74fps). That’s a 5% performance lead at a 10% premium in price, which is naturally less than compelling. To the 7900 GRE’s credit, though, it causes the same problem for the GeForce RTX 4070 Super, which only offers an extra 3fps with its 77fps result.

Returnal ray tracing benchmark

Finally, Returnal’s ray tracing effects lead to results that mirror what we observed earlier in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. The Radeon RX 7900 GRE comes out the winner in the $500-600 bracket, with an average frame rate of 75fps, but its victory is hard-won as the GeForce RTX 4070 turns in a result of 72fps.

With just 3fps separating the graphics cards in question, turning to minimum frame rates once again puts the Radeon RX 7900 GRE ahead of the GeForce RTX 4070. This time, the margins are much more comfortable, with a 7fps lead.

Rasterization benchmarks

It should come as no surprise that the Radeon RX 7900 GRE wipes the floor with its GeForce competition with ray tracing effects disabled. However, the extent of its lead above the likes of the GeForce RTX 4070, RTX 4070 Super, and even the RTX 4070 Ti Super is awesome to behold nonetheless.

In like-for-like scenarios, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE establishes a massive 37% lead over the GeForce RTX 4070. As a reminder, both graphics cards share the same $549.99 price, but this result makes AMD’s offering a different class of graphics card altogether. If this wasn’t proof enough, the GRE leads the more expensive $599.99 GeForce RTX 4070 Super by 14% across our suite, and even manages to break even with the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super, which costs $799.99.

Truthfully, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE’s only major source of competition here is the Radeon RX 7800 XT. We measured a 5% performance difference in favor of the GRE in our tests, making the 7800 XT a better-value buy if you couldn’t care less about ray tracing. For those who prefer to dabble in both types of rendering, though, the extra $50 for the GRE is the smart choice.

3DMark Time Spy Extreme benchmark

3DMark Time Spy Extreme sets a strong baseline for the Radeon RX 7900 GRE, with a score of 10,367, slotting between the GeForce RTX 4070 (9,701) and GeForce RTX 4070 Super (11,835). Rasterization remains a strong suit for AMD, with the Radeon RX 7900 GRE followed closely by the cheaper Radeon RX 7800 XT, which turns in a score of 9,356, beating the GeForce RTX 4070.

As we’ll observe in our gaming benchmarks below, both these cards dominate the first and second positions in the current range of $500-600 graphics cards when it comes to rasterization in games.

Cyberpunk 2077 rasterization benchmark

Night City turns its back on Nvidia when it no longer demands the splendor of ray-traced effects, as the Radeon RX 7900 GRE leapfrogs ahead of the GeForce RTX 4070 and GeForce RTX 4070 Super, managing to beat the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super too. Even without upscaling, the card manages an average frame rate of 102fps, beaten only by the Radeon RX 7900 XT, and even then by a mild 15fps.

Taking price into account, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE is easily the best-value card of the bunch here. The Radeon RX 7800 XT does put up a good fight, with a 94fps average, but its frame rate consistency is much lower. As the GRE musters a minimum frame rate of 86fps, the 7800 XT falls short at 57fps, as the former provides more stable performance for a smoother gameplay experience.

F1 23 rasterization benchmark

Now we come to F1 23, where there’s a photo finish between the Radeon RX 7900 GRE and Radeon RX 7800 XT, with just a few frames per second between the two graphics cards. Meanwhile, not even the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super can keep up with the speed set by AMD here, with the GeForce RTX 4070 Super and GeForce RT 4070 falling even further behind.

Strangely, the Radeon RX 7800 XT repeatedly pulls ahead of the Radeon RX 7900 GRE in F1 23. Given that the Radeon RX 7900 XT performs better than either graphics card, it’s clear that a CPU bottleneck isn’t to blame in this instance. The only reasonable conclusion we can draw, given the rest of our results, is that this anomaly has more to do with the game than either the GRE or 7800 XT.

Returnal rasterization benchmark

Surviving Atropos’ biomes with ray tracing disabled is easiest on the Radeon RX 7900 GRE compared to its competitors, as it also emerges as the $500-600 champion in Returnal. The card’s average frame rate of 116fps is great, and while the 72fps minimum is a fair bit lower, that’s still well above 60fps, and we’ve observed this disparity in all the GPUs we’ve tested in this game.

Further cementing the fact that the Radeon RX 7900 GRE punches well above its weight, the GPU is a mere 4fps behind the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super in this test. Closer to home, though, it makes the GeForce RTX 4070 look especially poor, with Nvidia’s graphics card returning a much lower 90fps average frame rate.

Total War: Warhammer 3 rasterization benchmark

Neither AMD nor Nvidia have any features like FSR or DLSS supporting them in Total War: Warhammer 3, so this is truly a fair game for the Radeon RX 7900 GRE and its competition. Nonetheless, the GRE once again emerges victorious and nips at the heels of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super, with that extra $250 only netting the GeForce card an extra 3fps over the GRE’s 83fps average.

The Radeon RX 7900 GRE runs rings around the GeForce RTX 4070’s 62fps result, and is still well ahead of the 73fps brought to the table by the GeForce RTX 4070 Super. Once again, though, the Radeon RX 7800 XT makes the situation somewhat uncomfortable for the GRE, nipping at its heels with a gap of just 4fps.

FSR benchmarks

While the Radeon RX 7900 GRE already impresses when it comes to raw performance, it can go even further with FidelityFX Super Resolution behind it. Support for the latest version of the feature suite, FSR 3, is growing, but we’re still yet to see AMD’s Frame Generation tech arrive in Cyberpunk 2077, putting it at an unfortunate disadvantage against its GeForce RTX 4000-series rivals, which have DLSS 3 at their disposal.

FSR 2, then, gives the Radeon RX 7900 GRE a significant performance boost in Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing enabled. We’re looking at almost double the performance at native rendering, from an average frame rate of 32fps to a much more palatable 57fps. However, DLSS 3 puts the GeForce RTX 4070 well ahead of the Radeon RX 7900 GRE, with an average frame rate of 87fps. DLSS Frame Generation is making a large difference here, as Super Resolution by itself only turns in a result of 67fps which, while still ahead of the GRE, doesn’t close the gap massively.

Frame rates only tell part of the story, though, as the image quality of those frames is much higher on the GeForce graphics cards than on the Radeon cards. This is partly due to the differences in approach to upscaling, with Nvidia benefitting from using its Tensor hardware for DLSS Super Resolution, but also because of its DLSS Ray Reconstruction tech, which returns more detailed ray traced effects.

Results are rosier when ray tracing is disabled in this game, with the Radeon RX 7900 GRE managing to hold off the gains made by the likes of the GeForce RTX 4070 and GeForce RTX 4070 Super. FSR gives the AMD GPU a healthy uplift from 102fps to 129fps, which while not as transformative as the aforementioned ray tracing results, are still nonetheless welcome.

Both the GeForce RTX 4070 Super and Radeon RX 7900 GRE finish this benchmark with an average frame rate of 129fps. This is an excellent result for the GRE, particularly as its minimum frame rates are much faster than the more-expensive Nvidia GPU, at 110fps compared to its 62fps.

Most importantly, though, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE still potentially has more to give in Cyberpunk 2077 when CD Projekt Red eventually gets round to updating its RPG with FSR 3. It’s impossible to say how much of a difference AMD’s frame generation tech will make here, but it will certainly be enough to put this mid-range graphics card in the lead without ray tracing.

Price

At $550, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE’s price is one of the most competitive we’ve seen in this generation of graphics cards. Put bluntly, there’s little reason to buy a GeForce RTX 4070 at the same price, given how consistently the Nvidia card loses to its AMD competitor in both rasterization and ray tracing, not forgetting its smaller pool of VRAM too.

However, the RX 7900 GRE can’t match the breadth and quality of the RTX 4070’s feature set, including the likes of DLSS 3 frame generation and DLSS 3.5 ray reconstruction, although FSR 3 adoption is steadily growing, so this could easily change in the near future. To be fair, though, this remains true for all comparisons between the Radeon RX 7000 and GeForce RTX 40 series.

The biggest challenge facing the RX 7900 GRE, however, is the hyper-competitive space in its crowded market segment, where it finds itself beset on either side by the GeForce RTX 4070 Super and Radeon RX 7800 XT. At $600, the RTX 4070 Super provides stronger ray-tracing frame rates, but can’t keep up with the RX 7900 GRE when the ray-traced lights go out, and only offers 12GB of VRAM, leaving it more at the mercy of memory saturation at higher resolutions.

Meanwhile, the $500 Radeon RX 7800 XT offers the lion’s share of performance you can get from the RX 7900 GRE, making that extra $50 only worthwhile for those who want that handful of extra frames per second.

Despite the allure of its competition, though, the superb value of the RX 7900 GRE is evident. Its arrival is likely to be disruptive too, and I expect both the RX 7800 XT and RTX 4070, and possibly even the RTX 4070 Super as well, to drop in price, leading to similar knock-on effects for Radeon RX 7700 XT and GeForce RTX 4060 Ti prices.

Conclusion

If the Radeon RX 7900 GRE is the last graphics card to join the Radeon RX 7000 series, then AMD is well and truly going out with a bang with this generation. This mid-range maverick is such a strong competitor to the GeForce RTX 4070 at $549.99, that it’s seriously difficult to justify buying the Nvidia card over the GRE. If it weren’t for the RTX 4070’s wider DLSS 3 support, as well as the higher quality of DLSS compared to FSR, the RTX 4070 would be practically obsolete.

It’s clear that through cards like the Radeon RX 7900 GRE, as with the Radeon RX 7800 XT before it, AMD can truly compete with Nvidia if it prices its hardware aggressively enough. Annoyingly, though, the $50 difference between these two AMD GPUs creates a difficult decision that could have been avoided if AMD reduced the price of the 7800 XT alongside the GRE’s global relaunch. Seriously, were no lessons learned following the launch of the Radeon RX 7700 XT?

In addition to outperforming the GeForce RTX 4070, the 7900 GRE’s 16GB of VRAM also provides greater confidence in its ability to serve as a longstanding component in your system as texture sizes in today’s games continue to grow, particularly at higher resolutions. In short, for those who want a mid-range graphics card that serves as a jack of all trades, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE is the GPU to buy.

Alternatives

If the Radeon RX 7900 GRE isn’t quite the right graphics card for you, check out these alternatives:

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super

Slightly more expensive than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE, the GeForce RTX 4070 Super primarily justifies its higher price tag with better ray tracing performance. While it does feature less VRAM, at 12GB compared to the GRE’s 16GB, it does come with support for higher quality performance-enhancing features through DLSS 3, as well as bonuses such as RTX HDR.

Read our Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super review for more information.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT

The Radeon RX 7800 XT performs similarly to the Radeon RX 7900 GRE, and is slightly cheaper, but falls a touch behind when it comes to ray tracing performance. Aside from this difference, though, it packs the same 16GB of VRAM, albeit with slightly more memory bandwidth.

Read our AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT review for more information.