93% Power for 70% Energy: AMD Radeon RX 9070 Redefines the Game with Undervolting

Modern graphics cards are showing surprising potential when fine-tuned, and the latest AMD Radeon RX 9070 is a prime example. Enthusiasts have discovered that power optimization not only maintains performance but also opens new possibilities for cooling system upgrades and noise reduction.

In tests with the ASRock Radeon RX 9070 Steel Legend model, blogger Alva Jonathan demonstrated that lowering the voltage by 100 mV and reducing the power limit by 30% cut power consumption from 244W to 171W. At the same time, in Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K ultra settings, the card delivered 50 fps compared to the original 54 fps — a drop of just 7%. Despite the reduced power, it still maintained an edge over the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super, and the fps-per-watt ratio increased by 32%.

Interestingly, the RX 9070 also handles the reverse scenario well. Raising the power limit by 10% while reducing the voltage by 50 mV boosted the clock speed to 2.8 GHz, increasing fps to 58. Further optimization (-125 mV) pushed it to 3 GHz and 60 fps — an 11% improvement over stock values. However, experts note that this performance gain comes at a cost: higher energy consumption and increased heat output for each additional frame.

Tech outlet club386 highlights that reducing voltage not only saves electricity but also extends the lifespan of components by lowering heat output. This is especially important for compact builds where noise levels are critical. Chasing maximum fps isn’t always the smartest choice — sometimes it’s better to sacrifice 4 frames for an almost silent system.

Interestingly, in another experiment, a modified RX 9070 XT with a 200 mV undervolt and a 360W power limit reached 3.3 GHz, outperforming the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 in the same Cyberpunk 2077 scenario (without ray tracing). This confirms that AMD's tuning flexibility offers room for adjustments that some competitors can't match.

The undervolting trend is reshaping how gamers approach PC upgrades. More and more gamers are sacrificing a small portion of performance in exchange for a quieter, cooler, and more durable system. The RX 9070 seems to be setting the standard for future GPU generations, where the balance between power and efficiency will be a key factor in decision-making.