Graphics card street prices are so fluid and mutable that the retail price hardly seems to matter these days. But every once in a while we’ll get some good news that the manufacturer is issuing an official price drop, and that generally means that the GPU itself (and all of its various packaged derivatives) will reliably get more affordable. So it is with AMD’s mid-range Radeon RX 7700 XT, which today drops from $449.99 to $419.99.
With an RDNA3-based chip and a roomy 12GB of GDDR6 RAM, the 7700 XT competes with Nvidia’s RTX 4070, beating the $600 card in price, memory, and memory bus. PCWorld executive editor Brad Chacos said in his September review, “…the Radeon RX 7700 XT meets or beats the 4070’s rasterization performance for a whopping $150 less.” Nvidia has since upgraded its offering with the RTX 4070 Super, matching AMD’s 12GB of RAM and 192-bit bus, but it’s still $180 more expensive at retail price. Less tangible offerings like DLSS upscaling aside, AMD is clearly winning in pure value.
You should see the big online stores like Amazon and Newegg reflect the new pricing fairly quickly, although it might take a while for independent sellers using those sites as storefronts to adjust their prices. If you’re looking to upgrade, be sure to check out our roundup of the best graphics cards.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.