The video finds that recent AMD driver updates have not improved the performance of the Radeon RX 7900 XT in Star Citizen, with Nvidia’s RTX 4070 Ti maintaining its performance and feature advantages, especially at 4K resolution. Despite some hype around AMD’s driver optimizations in other games, Star Citizen remains better suited to Nvidia GPUs, making the RTX 4070 Ti the preferred choice for players in the UK given the minimal price difference.
The video addresses recent discussions about AMD driver updates and their impact on the performance of the Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics card, particularly in the game Star Citizen. Hardware Unboxed and other channels have reported significant improvements in some games due to these driver updates, but the results appear to be inconsistent across different titles. The creator of the video focuses specifically on Star Citizen, retesting the performance of the RX 7900 XT and the Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti with the latest drivers to see if similar improvements have occurred.
Initial tests from April (version 4.1) showed a clear performance gap between the RX 7900 XT and the RTX 4070 Ti at 4K resolution, with the Nvidia card generally having an advantage in Star Citizen. The video emphasizes that 4K testing is essential to properly stress the GPU rather than the CPU. Historically, Nvidia cards have performed better in Star Citizen, and this has influenced recommendations for gamers choosing between these two GPUs.
Upon retesting with the latest drivers (version 4.2), the creator found no performance improvements for either the Nvidia RTX 4080 or the RTX 4070 Ti. Similarly, the AMD RX 7900 XT showed no meaningful gains either. This suggests that while some games may have benefited from AMD’s “fine wine” driver optimizations, Star Citizen is not one of them. The video speculates that driver-level optimizations may depend on collaboration between AMD and game developers, and Star Citizen’s long development cycle means it is unlikely to receive such optimizations anytime soon.
In terms of pricing, the RX 7900 XT remains relatively expensive in the UK market, still hovering around £630, which is higher than its launch price of under £600. The RTX 4070 Ti is priced slightly higher at about £680. Given the price-performance ratio and Nvidia’s advantages such as DLSS support and anticipated better ray tracing performance, the RTX 4070 Ti continues to be the better choice for Star Citizen players in the UK.
In conclusion, despite the hype around AMD driver improvements for the 7900 XT in some games, Star Citizen has not benefited from these updates. The Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti still holds the edge in performance and features for this particular game, and pricing differences are minimal. For Star Citizen enthusiasts, the current drivers have not altered the landscape, and Nvidia remains the preferred GPU option.