Fresh benchmark data for ”007: First Light” suggests this is one of those rare PC games where Radeon cards punch above their weight. In TechPowerUp’s test run across more than 30 GPUs, AMD hardware generally lands ahead of its usual rivals at the same price tier, even though Radeon support in the game’s software stack is hardly a headline feature. The biggest eyebrow-raiser: the Radeon RX 9070 at 1440p gets close to RTX 5070 Ti territory, while the older RX 7900 XTX even noses past RTX 5080 in one of the scenarios tested.
That is not just a nice-looking chart for AMD fans. It is the kind of result that can make a mid-range card look smarter than a pricier Nvidia model, especially if the gap in the store is as wide as the gap in the benchmark. And because this is a new release with a warm reception from both media and players, it is also a decent stress test for how well modern GPUs handle a glossy AAA game without any of the usual shortcut aids.
1440p is where Radeon pulls ahead
At 1440p, the Radeon RX 9070 does more than edge past RTX 5070; it gets close enough to RTX 5070 Ti to make the comparison awkward for Nvidia. TechPowerUp also found that the price gap between those cards is currently close to twofold, which makes the frame-rate gap look even less flattering for the GeForce camp.
The older high end gets an even rougher look. The RX 7900 XTX from the previous generation manages to beat RTX 5080 in the same game, which is exactly the sort of result that turns a benchmark into a bragging right.
4K exposes Nvidia’s older RTX 40 cards
At 4K, Nvidia cards do better overall, but the weird part is how hard some RTX 40 models stumble. The RTX 4070 ends up slightly behind RTX 3070 and also trails the cheaper RX 9060 8GB, which is not the kind of comparison you want attached to a newer generation.
That drop-off hints at how uneven game optimization can still be, even for a major release. One title flatters AMD, another leans Nvidia, and the only constant is that buyers keep paying for both the silicon and the hope the next patch behaves.
Frame rates stay playable without upscaling
The broader performance picture is healthy enough. In Full HD, even RTX 3060 is good for more than 40 fps, while RTX 3060 Ti reaches 60 fps. At 1440p, that same 60 fps target lands around RX 7700 XT or RTX 4070, and at 4K the load gets heavy enough that even RTX 5080 only manages around 60 fps on max settings.
- Full HD: RTX 3060 exceeds 40 fps
- Full HD: RTX 3060 Ti reaches 60 fps
- 1440p: RX 7700 XT or RTX 4070 can hit 60 fps
- 4K: RTX 5080 is around 60 fps on max settings
All of that is without upscalers or frame-generation tricks, which is the fairer way to judge a new game anyway. The open question is whether this is a one-off for ”007: First Light” or another sign that some studios still tune around one vendor better than the other. My money is on the latter, at least until the first driver update starts rewriting the story.