Why the 9070xt Might Not Be the Best Choice for Your PC Build

I recently picked up the ASUS Master 9070XT, running on a platform with a 9700X and an ASUS TUF B850M Plus. The power supply isn’t an issue: I’ve got a Seasonic Focus 850W. I ran all sorts of tests with 3DMark, and everything seemed fine—no hardware issues detected. Mainstream 3A games worked perfectly too.

But here’s the kicker: every time I tried to enter the online neighborhood in NBA 2K25, the driver would crash. Sure enough, after checking the 2K25 forum, it turns out that anyone using the 9070XT experiences the same problem.

I uninstalled everything with DDU and installed the latest drivers. I even rolled back a few versions of the drivers and reinstalled several different operating systems—but nothing helped. Finally, out of sheer frustration and at a premium price, I switched to the ASUS TUF 5070Ti. With this card, the issue vanished instantly.

Honestly, AMD’s drivers leave much to be desired. As they say, you get what you pay for. Please don’t blindly recommend this card to others without considering these issues. Here’s a recent addition to my setup: a ROG card (wink).

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Update: Some people are accusing me of being biased against AMD or calling me a scalper. If you take the time to look through my comments, you’ll see screenshots of my purchase history and records of selling cards. Those who claim I’m creating a new account to drive traffic should also review my previous replies and records.

The fact is, with the current version of the driver, the 9070XT crashes when entering the online neighborhood in 2K25. It’s infuriating to be accused of bias when the evidence is clear. A quick search on the 2K25 forum will confirm that many users have reported the same issue. This card works fine for other games!

It just crashes specifically when entering the MC mode neighborhood in 2K25. If you blame the power supply, consider that I spent 1000 bucks on a high-quality Seasonic Focus 850W, and there are others with even higher-end power supplies experiencing the same problem. Besides, I didn’t encounter any crashes while playing Cyberpunk 2077 or other 3A titles.

Isn’t 2077 more demanding than 2K25? And even on my 4K display, my card wasn’t maxed out. So why does 2077 run smoothly while 2K25 doesn’t? Even the newer 5070Ti occasionally crashes, but I can tolerate that since it’s a relatively new card. Still, it’s far better than the 9070XT, which crashes every single time I try to enter the 2K25 neighborhood.

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P.S.: Let me clarify—I’m not praising NVIDIA either. Just the other day, my 5070Ti crashed once while playing Teamfight Tactics. Stability-wise, neither of these cards matches the reliability of my older 4060 or 6500XT [sly grin].

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One more update: I’m talking specifically about the 9070XT crashing in 2K25 MC mode when entering the online neighborhood. If you’re using older AMD cards or something other than the 9070XT, your experience might differ. For instance, I have another machine with a 6500XT, and it runs perfectly stable.

My friend’s 6750GRE is also rock-solid and has never crashed. Even my 2022-purchased 4060 laptop handles 2K25 flawlessly—it’s just slower in terms of frame rates compared to these newer cards. Both of these new cards have been frustrating since I started using them.

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In conclusion: AMD cards still have their quirks. New cards often come with problematic drivers, so it’s wise to wait a bit before jumping in. Before purchasing, check if your favorite games have known driver issues. AMD needs to focus more on refining their drivers. High performance on benchmarks is great, but if the user experience lags behind, especially for someone like me who dislikes troubleshooting, it becomes incredibly frustrating.