Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC review - AMD's answer to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 in a mid-range duel

The Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC presents itself as a powerful mid-range graphics card in the test. However, it is not better than a Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 Gaming OC 16G, for example, in our tests. Thanks to AMD's new RDNA4 architecture, it delivers solid performance in 1,440p and also enables 4K gaming with slightly reduced settings. The card's potential is particularly evident in combination with FSR4 - modern upscaling technologies ensure smooth gameplay with high image quality.

The cooling system with three fans works efficiently and relatively quietly. Although the Nitro RX 9070 OC does not achieve the performance of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT or the older AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, its attractive price-performance ratio makes it a real alternative in the mid-range. Compared to Nvidia, the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC can easily compete with a GeForce RTX 5070.

If you are planning to buy an Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC in Germany, you currently have to budget 599 Euros (~$694). The graphics card can be ordered directly from Notebooksbilliger for 599 Euros.

Acer is another on-board partner that serves the desktop market with AMD graphics cards, among others. With the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC, the manufacturer is launching a factory-overclocked version of the new Radeon RX 9070, which is based on AMD's current RDNA4 architecture. Technically, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 utilizes the full potential of the RDNA4 architecture, which primarily scores with increased efficiency compared to the previous generation. Also included is FSR 4 (FidelityFX Super Resolution 4), AMD's answer to Nvidia's DLSS 4.0, which ensures better image quality thanks to modern upscaling and frame generation. In contrast to DLSS 4, which also runs on older RTX models, FSR 4 is reserved exclusively for the new RX 9000 cards - including the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC.

The Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC makes a high-quality impression at first glance. The simple, angular design is pleasantly restrained. The large heat sink, which is equipped with three fans, promises good cooling performance. We will find out later whether the graphics card confirms this first impression in practice. Acer uses a combination of plastic and metal for the materials. The rear is equipped with a stable metal backplate, which not only contributes to heat dissipation, but also increases mechanical stability. The overall build quality is high - there are no rattling parts and nothing looks inferior.

A look at the synthetic benchmarks shows where the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC ranks in terms of performance. Compared to the Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 Gaming OC 16G, there is no visible advantage or disadvantage for the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC. Both graphics cards work equally fast and are in a neck-and-neck duel with the KFA2 GeForce RTX 5070 1-Click OC. The Nvidia competitor can only gain a slight lead on average.

The Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC delivers solid performance in professional applications and is also suitable for semi-professional workloads. In SPECviewperf 2020, it is around 30 percent behind the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, while the gap in SPECworkstation 4.0 is significantly smaller.

First, let's take a look at the native graphics performance of the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC - i.e. without activated FSR. A direct comparison with the XFX Speedster MERC 310 Radeon RX 7900 XTX shows that the RDNA4 card cannot quite keep up in terms of performance. While synthetic benchmarks sometimes reveal significant differences, the gap is noticeably smaller in our practical gaming test course. The test sample from Acer also delivers the same performance here as a Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 Gaming OC 16G. Compared to the faster XT counterpart of the current RDNA4 graphics card, both have to accept a gap of around 12 percent. The KFA2 GeForce RTX 5070 1-Click OC cannot keep up with our test sample in comparison to the synthetic tests.

Ultimately, the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC is ideal for smooth 2K gaming, although certain compromises in the graphics settings are necessary for demanding 4K gaming.