This is actually the most shortest RX 9070 XT currently available, at "only" 288mm (11.3 in) long, and one of the narrowest, coming in at 2.8 slots wide. Gigabyte also does not state the weight of the card on their spec sheet, but I have seen it listed at 2.78 lb or 1261g at other retailers. This is light enough that Gigabyte doesn't include a stand. And IMO, it doesn't need one. Compare this to the biggest card, the XFX Mercury, at 5.18 lb or 2350g -- the Gigabyte Gaming OC is nearly half the card.

So you might think that its thermal performance would be underwhelming. Yet it runs cool and quiet despite pulling 330W under load, and they even somehow managed to cram a vapor chamber into the design. It's also backed by a three-year warranty in case you have concerns about endurance. Meanwhile, the RGB is restricted to a small logo on the side, which cycles through a bright rainbow of colors by default. I prefer a stealth build, so thankfully you can adjust this or turn it off with the company's Gigabyte Control Center software. Though I have heard that this app is a bit shoddy, so I wouldn't use it to adjust performance.

Using AMD's Adrenaline software instead, you can undervolt and adjust the power limit with sliders, and here you will discover that you can actually get higher clock speeds, less heat and less fan noise by reducing voltage and power limits. Apparently the clocks hit a thermal ceiling by default, so reducing voltage and power can make them go higher. However, this can introduce some instability (regardless of the video card brand), so some games and apps may crash if your settings are too ambitious.

Overall, I have been pretty pleased with this relatively compact card. RDNA4 introduces a huge boost in ray tracing -- 40-50% higher than my 6900 XT. And raster performance is about 30% higher on average. Then there's FSR4, whose image quality is within spitting distance of DLSS4 (though it's not supported by as many games). A few tweaks to the voltage and power limits can also bring this card's efficiency well in line with the RTX 5070 Ti -- with performance to match, depending on the game. I had my doubts about this specific model after looking at its dimensions and weight, but it has proved to be a pleasant surprise.