Upgrading our games testing with Sapphire Pulse RDNA 4 GPUs
Upgrading our Games Testing with AMD RDNA 4 Sapphire Pulse graphics cards
We’ve added RDNA 4 to our games testing arsenal – Thanks Sapphire!
Thanks to Sapphire, OC3D will be changing the way that we test new PC games. They have supplied us with a pair of AMD RDNA 4 graphics cards for testing, allowing us to test FSR 4 and see how well AMD’s newest Radeon graphics cards run the latest games.
We’ve received a Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT Pulse, and a Sapphire Radeon RX 9060 XT Pulse. Both of these graphics cards feature 16GB of memory and utilise AMD’s RDNA 4 graphics architecture. This will allow us to test all of AMD’s new and upcoming AI features. AMD’s FSR 4 “Redstone” update is coming, and with it will come some game-changing technologies for team Radeon.
Last month, we reviewed Sapphire’s RX 9060 XT Pulse, so you can already see how this GPU performs.
(Sapphire’s Radeon RX 9060 XT Pulse and RX 9070 XT Pulse)
RDNA 4 presents a lot of testing opportunities
Sapphire sent us their new Pulse series graphics cards to put them to work. We’ll be doing this by testing newly released PC games, and by looking at the newest features that become available to AMD GPU users. We’ve already released an article on enabling FSR 4, but soon we will cover topics like Radeon Image Sharpening 2 (RIS 2), Optiscaler, and more.
We will continue testing AMD’s older RDNA series GPUs when reviewing new games. This will allow us to see how these older GPUs fare in older games, and how AMD’s new RDNA 4 GPUs improve things.
GPU pricing
For anyone interested in Sapphire’s new Pulse series GPUs, here are some links to them at UK retailers and their current pricing. As always, GPU pricing can change rapidly as supply and demand fluctuate.
Sapphire RX 9070 XT Pulse
Sapphire RX 9060 XT Pulse 16GB
It’s time to do some testing!
Instead of doing a standard review for Sapphire’s RX 9070 XT Pulse, we’ve decided to put this GPU through its paces in the new games that we have tested in 2025. Add on some RX 9060 XT Pulse testing, and we can see how AMD’s RDNA 4 architecture compares with the graphics cards that we currently utilise. We’ve already updated these game performance reviews with this new data, allowing gamers to see how RDNA 4 GPUs perform in the newest PC games.
Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT Pulse
Sapphire’s RX 9070 XT Pulse is a large triple-slot graphics card that measures in at 320(L)X 120.25(W)X 61.6 (H)mm. This RX 9070 XT Pulse is Sapphire’s baseline RX 9070 XT model. We’ve already reviewed Sapphire’s RX 9070 XT Nitro+ model, so if you want to see how this model compares to its high-end counterpart, check there.
The Sapphire RX 9070 XT Pulse features 16GB of GDDR6 memory and four display outputs. This includes two HDMI 2.1 ports and two DisplayPort 2.1a ports. This makes this GPU suitable for any modern display configuration. All inputs can support 8K displays and high refresh rate 4K screens.
Powering this GPU are two 8-pin PCIe power connectors, and covering this GPU is a large metal backplate. This may be the company’s baseline RX 9070 XT model, but Sapphire has shown no sign of “cheaping out” with this graphics card. This GPU is hefty and well-built, like all high-end graphics cards should be.
Sapphire Radeon RX 9060 XT Pulse 16GB
As mentioned before, we reviewed Sapphire’s RX 9060 XT Pulse earlier this year (review here). We’ve also reviewed this GPU’s high-end counterpart, the RX 9060 XT Nitro+ (review here). Regardless, we’ll have another look at this GPU here, and put it through its paces with some of 2025’s new game releases.
This GPU features 16GB of GDDR6 memory and measures in at 240(L)X 124(W)X 46.1 (H)mm. This is a 2.3-slot graphics card, and it’s intended for 1440p gaming.
Display-wise, this graphics card supports three outputs. Two of these outputs are HDMI 2.1, while the other is DisplayPort 2.1. Like the RX 9070 XT Pulse, this GPU can support 8K and high refresh rate 4K displays. That said, this GPU is intended for lower resolution gameplay. With an asking price of well under £400, this GPU is a solid 1440p gaming GPU.
Like its RTX 9070 XT counterpart, Sapphire’s RX 9060 XT is well built and features a full-cover metal backplate. This GPU is powered using a single 8-pin PCIe power cable. With a TDP of 170W, this GPU isn’t very power-hungry.
System Specs
Below are the full specifications of our new GPU/Games testing system and links to all the components we used.
OC3D GPU/Games Test System Specifications (Affiliate Links below)
CPU – Intel i9-13900K
Cooling – Corsair iCUE H150i Elite CAPELLIX XT
Motherboard – ASUS ROG Strix Z790-F Gaming WiFi
Memory – Corsair Vengeance 2x16GB (32GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory
Storage – Corsair MP600 PRO NH 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
Case – Corsair iCUE 5000T RGB
Power Supply – Corsair HX1500i
OS – Windows 11
