XFX Radeon RX 9070 XT Mercury 16GB GDDR6 Black
ASRock Arc A380 Challenger OC 6GB GDDR6 Black
Buy the XFX Mercury RX-9070 XT OC if you want serious 1440p or 4K gaming performance with ray tracing, and you have the case space and an 800W PSU to feed it.
Grab the ASRock Challenger A380 if you're on a tight budget, mostly play lighter or older games at 1080p, or want a cheap AV1 encoding card for streaming or a Linux media box.
Key Differences
- VRAM: 16GB on the XFX vs 6GB on the ASRock. That's the difference between comfortably running modern AAA titles at high settings and hitting a VRAM wall at 1080p in newer games.
- Raw performance: PassMark G3D of 26,910 vs 6,312. The XFX is over 4x faster in synthetic benchmarks, and the gap widens at higher resolutions (83 vs 22 for 4K gaming).
- Power and size: The XFX needs a 304W TDP, an 800W PSU, and 360mm of case clearance with a triple-fan cooler. The ASRock sips 75W, runs off a 500W PSU, and fits in a 190mm slot.
- Driver maturity: ASRock owners consistently mention driver bugs, software glitches, and Arc Control issues. XFX owners mostly complain about the card being physically large, which tells you where the real headaches are.
- Price gap: The XFX runs around $600-650 while the ASRock sits near $120-150. You could buy four A380s for the price of one XFX, but four A380s still wouldn't match it in gaming.
What Buyers Say
XFX Radeon RX 9070 XT Mercury 16GB GDDR6 Black
The XFX Mercury Radeon RX 9070 XT OC is highly praised for its excellent thermal performance, staying below 54°C under load, and its impressive out-of-the-box boost clock. Users highlight the great price-to-performance ratio, sleek design with customizable ARGB lighting, and the added benefit of a 3-year warranty. The only minor drawbacks mentioned are the large physical size ("chonky") and the short included support bracket extender.
Pros
- Excellent thermal performance
- Great price-to-performance ratio
- Sleek design with ARGB lighting
- 3-year warranty
- Out-of-box boost clock
Cons
- Large physical size
- Short support bracket extender
ASRock Arc A380 Challenger OC 6GB GDDR6 Black
The Intel Arc A380 is generally well-received as a budget-friendly GPU, especially for 1080p gaming and AV1 encoding. Users praise its price-to-performance ratio and the potential of Intel's first-gen dGPU, but note driver maturity issues, software bugs, and limited performance in newer titles. It's recommended for tinkerers and specific use cases like streaming or Linux systems, with caveats about compatibility and power draw.
Pros
- Great price-to-performance
- Excellent AV1 encoding
- Good 1080p gaming
- Solid Linux support
- Quick driver updates
Cons
- Driver maturity issues
- Software bugs and glitches
- Limited performance in newer titles
- Power draw above 75W
- Arc Control software issues
Scores
Specifications
| XFX Radeon RX 9070 XT Mercury | ASRock Arc A380 Challenger OC | |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | ||
| GPU Chipset | Radeon RX 9070 XT | Arc A380 |
| Brand | AMD | Intel |
| Architecture | RDNA 4 | Xe-HPG (Alchemist) |
| Class | consumer | consumer |
| Memory | ||
| VRAM | 16 GB★ | 6 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | ||
| Bandwidth | No data | |
| Compute | ||
| Stream Processors | No data | |
| RT Cores | 64★ | — |
| Base Clock | ||
| Boost Clock | ||
| Performance | ||
| PassMark G3D | ||
| GPU Compute | ||
| Power & Cooling | ||
| TDP | 304 | 75★ |
| Recommended PSU | 800 | 500★ |
| Power Connectors | 3 x 8-Pin | 8-Pin |
| Cooler | Triple Fan★ | Single Fan |
| Fans | 3★ | 1 |
| Connectivity | ||
| Interface | PCI Express 5.0 x16 | PCI Express 4.0 |
| DisplayPort | 3 | 3 |
| HDMI | 1 | 1 |
| Max Displays | 4 | 4 |
| Max Resolution | 7680 x 4320 | 7680 x 4320 |
| Physical | ||
| Length | 360 | 190★ |
| Slot Width | 3.5 | 2★ |
| Form Factor | ATX | ITX |
| Weight | 1.81 kg | 0.40 kg★ |
| Features | ||
| Ray Tracing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Upscaling | AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 | XeSS |
| AV1 Encode | ✓ | ✓ |
| VR Ready | ✓★ | — |
| DirectX | 12 Ultimate | 12 Ultimate |
| RGB | ✓★ | ✗ |
Pros & Cons
XFX Radeon RX 9070 XT Mercury 16GB GDDR6 Black
- Strong feature (96th percentile)96th %ile
- Strong user sentiment (96th percentile)96th %ile
- Strong social proof (96th percentile)96th %ile
- Strong connectivity (94th percentile)94th %ile
ASRock Arc A380 Challenger OC 6GB GDDR6 Black
- Strong affordability (86th percentile)86th %ile
- Strong social proof (76th percentile)
- Strong connectivity (76th percentile)
- Strong feature (72nd percentile)
- Below average compute (5th percentile)5th %ile
- Below average raster (17th percentile)17th %ile
- Below average ai (17th percentile)17th %ile
- Below average rt (19th percentile)19th %ile
Pricing
XFX Radeon RX 9070 XT Mercury 16GB GDDR6 Black
No current pricing available
ASRock Arc A380 Challenger OC 6GB GDDR6 Black
Verdict
Scores 89 overall, wins 8 of 8 usage categories and 12 of 34 specs.
