Thursday, January 2nd 2025
AMD to Launch Mid-range SKUs of the Radeon RX 9000 Series in March
AMD is expected to have a rather lean lineup of next-generation gaming GPUs powered by the RDNA 4 graphics architecture. The series is expected to debut at AMD's 2025 International CES keynote address, with product launches of the series-leading Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 performance-segment GPUs later this month. The RX 9070 should be available by late-January, although add-in board partners from China expect availability to ramp in February 2025. The series will see expansion with more announcements in March.
The RDNA 4 generation is driven mainly by two chips—the larger "Navi 48," and the smaller "Navi 44." The "Navi 48" will power the RX 9070 series, which are performance-segment and designed to compete with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 series; but cut-down variants of the chip are also expected to power certain upper mid-range SKUs that go up against the RTX 5060 series. The "Navi 44" chip is expected to power certain high performance/price SKUs in the mid-range, which AMD will use to target price-points well under the $300-mark. This segment is expected to heat up as NVIDIA has current-generation RTX 4060 series, Intel just made a stab with the Arc B580, and is expected to launch a faster Arc B700-series SKU based on a maxed-out "BMG-G21" silicon.
Sources:
Board Channels, VideoCardz
The RDNA 4 generation is driven mainly by two chips—the larger "Navi 48," and the smaller "Navi 44." The "Navi 48" will power the RX 9070 series, which are performance-segment and designed to compete with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 series; but cut-down variants of the chip are also expected to power certain upper mid-range SKUs that go up against the RTX 5060 series. The "Navi 44" chip is expected to power certain high performance/price SKUs in the mid-range, which AMD will use to target price-points well under the $300-mark. This segment is expected to heat up as NVIDIA has current-generation RTX 4060 series, Intel just made a stab with the Arc B580, and is expected to launch a faster Arc B700-series SKU based on a maxed-out "BMG-G21" silicon.
59 Comments on AMD to Launch Mid-range SKUs of the Radeon RX 9000 Series in March
High end is kinda boring since it will be a one horse race (that I'd never buy anyway) and "performance" segment looks like it will revolve around 7900xt performance.
But the "mid-range" xx60 segment is kinda spicy with the introduction of Intel's B580 cards (impossible though they are to find right now), potentially acting as a spoiler for the 5060 and 9060 cards on a whole bunch of fronts (price/performance/RAM)...
If not, maybe cut the prices and keep selling them for another year, until rdna5 or udna is released?
5060 is likely to be just a couple inches more profound I guess. I don't think it'll be significantly faster than 4060 Ti. If ever. AMD are apparently in the termnial state of "we don't care for gaming GPU market" so I won't be surprised if 9060, or whatever name the 5060's pricemate will get, will be give or take 1% faster on average, trailing leagues behind in power efficiency, for essentially the same money. Or anything even more NVIDIA favouring.
B580 is only alive till then, dead or discounted either way thereafter. 5060 will be something like "the other options are even worse anyway" and 9060 series will receive the next level of detestment: it'll just be ignored by everybody. "Whatevs, it's an AMD GPU. Can't be less exciting than that."
AMD's fine wine is just regular milk. I don't see a reason to be excited.
4 years ago, 6700 XT traded blows with 3070/2080 Ti.
Today, it trails behind 3060 Ti.
Also nice if Navi44 does have a sku under $300, there really needs to be some better price/performance gpu's.
Such an idiocy. AMD should have pushed their boundaries, and try to release their mid end GPUs before both Intel, and nVidia. But this is just rubbish. Maybe. Would be perfect for me personally. 7900xt with better VRAM and bandwidth, and vastly improved thermal and power efficiency. The only big suspicion is, that AMD might sell these 7900xt rivals, for the 7900xt launch MSRP. Or at least sell overpriced stock to their partners.
However, 7900GRE, which seems should have been made in much greater amounts, is already EOL globally, with no inventory to be replenished. I guess the entire MCM, or at least 7900 stack is waiting the same end soon, if not already. That's obvious. Why make inferior SKUs if new ones are almost there. It should be well under $300. There's nothing in these xx50/xx60/or even xx70 cards from nV and AMD (in particular) to be worth even $250, inflation included. They have half PCIE lines, the bus is rubbish, the chips are repurposed bins, the PCB, that has barely any phases, and coolers, that top at $20-$50 at max.
Even though the 9070 XT's performance is slated to be somewhere between 7900 GRE and 7900 XT, it will slot in its place relatively easily as its strengths are what AMD buyers tend to value the most, that is, lower cost and lower power consumption. The improvements to critical areas like the media engine and ray accelerators should also make the 7900 XTX largely irrelevant, anyone who wants more performance than this will have on tap is going to buy Nvidia anyways. This is the one thing I won't fault them for. The RTX 50 series also won't have broad availability on launch day.
All in all, if they manage to pull a launch with no glaring problems (it will be a first in many years), the 9070 XT might turn out to be well-received, especially if they actually reach the performance level of the 7900 XT or 4070 Ti Super for the right price and with a lower system footprint.
The media/convertion is one of the biggest flaws of AMD, for years. They lost so big userbase- people were buying 3060 over 6700XT/7700XT, just because it had a coding/streaming advantage, over AMD higher tier cards. Which is shame.
This is the result of AMD investing for years only into the most profitable areas. They should pump R&D cash into RTG, to make it decent rival, at each point and angle. And only then, they might be able to enjoy the benefits and fat margins, depending on the amount of efforts done.
But still, not launching earlier, because the almost-three-billion-bucks company decided to wait, is kinda dumb. They should undercut nVidia at every point. And now even Intel has sold their entire B580 stock, already.
www.techpowerup.com/330408/nvidia-plans-geforce-rtx-5080-blackwell-availability-on-january-21-right-after-ces-announcement
The 9070 XT can't come at a moment too soon.
i'm getting to that moment where i decided that this was the last time i spent so much money on a GPU ( 4090 ) and really need to focus on getting the most out of something more "down to earth" :)
Consumers: AMD please lower prices so you can be competitive
AMD: See we have cheaper high end and low end :D
Consumers: That's not what we asked for
AMD: why don't they buy my shit?
Consumers: AMD, please lower prices so you can be competitive.
AMD: *lowers prices $10 below Nvidia on every tier*
...
AMD: Why don't they buy my shit?
I hope this will change with the RX 9000 series, but based on the article, I have my doubts.
Reviews don't show what happens in extended gameplay scenarios where game VRAM usage can increase or certain areas which are more VRAM heavy.Hardware Unboxed and others have shown this happen with modern game engines which reduce texture quality to maintain FPS.Reviewers use PCI-E 5 systems,which minimise the effects of texture spillover into system RAM.I noticed this going from a PCI-E 3.0 5700X system to a PCI-E 5.0 system - it was somewhat noticeable.
The Nvidia runs out of VRAM quicker than the AMD cards - lower 1% lows and more texture pop-ins. The mates with the 12GB cards can run higher quality textures - I have to drop textures and AA down a bit. It's similar to what my other mates with the 8GB Nvidia cards are also seeing.I actually own an RTX3060TI unlike you and so do mates.
So not sure why you are in disbelief that the 8GB is starting to be a problem. It is and I wouldn't touch an 8GB card with a bargepole in 2024,unless it was £200. The consoles have more accessible VRAM. People keep defending Nvidia putting low amounts of VRAM on its mainstream cards just like everyone defending Apple putting 8GB on it's entry level systems. This funny thread on Anandtech has been going on for years: forums.anandtech.com/threads/8gb-vram-not-enough-and-10-12.2595331/
If you want to upgrade to an 8GB card in 2025,then an RTX5060 has your name on it! :peace:
Happened with the 4870, happened with the 5700xt, and it will happen again with the 9070xt.
It's why the Halo product is so important, NV can always drop the price of the 5070/5060 to within $50 of whatever AMD/Intel are doing on the low end and crush them.
Oh btw, gotta check how the 3070 Ti fares. Curious to see if significantly higher VRAM speed does the trick. Last time I watched its reviews 8 GB VRAM was only starting its war on gaming experience (late '21). The reason is this GPU is constantly too expensive for what it offers so it's not interesting. 3080 goes for just sorry 40 dollars more. No brainer. If I were to upgade from a 6700 XT my weapon of choice would definitely NOT be anything mentioned above. RTX 4090 at the very least. Can't be bothered with upgrades less significant than that.
However, I'd happily put a 3060 Ti in my second PC as it has an R9 380, 2 GB variant.
Look at this release? AMD is using TSMC 4N and GDDR6 - they should have released it by November. Instead AMD just waits for Nvidia to launch and prices it a few percent lower with limited volume.
No system integrator can be bothered with AMD - Nvidia is not much more expensive and they can get reliable volumes on time. My experience the Nvidia advantage is in some specific Nvidia sponsored games - it goes both ways though.Many COD releases worked better on AMD cards! Texture quality or streaming bugs are noticeable. Whereas in 2021 when I got this card it was not such an issue,I can see the RTX3060TI increasingly on the edge. Once you start using features such as frame generation,raytracing,etc VRAM usage goes up or if you like modding games.
The RTX5060TI should be at least 12GB and be about RTX4070 performance. If it's RTX4070 performance it will be taking the mickey with 8GB. I hope they only release it when the 3GB GDDR7 modules are available.
The RDNA 4 generation is driven mainly by two chips—the larger "Navi 48," and the smaller "Navi 44." The "Navi 48" will power the RX 9070 series, which are performance-segment and designed to compete with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 series; but cut-down variants of the chip are also expected to power certain upper mid-range SKUs that go up against the RTX 5060 series. The "Navi 44" chip is expected to power certain high performance/price SKUs in the mid-range, which AMD will use to target price-points well under the $300-mark. This segment is expected to heat up as NVIDIA has current-generation RTX 4060 series, Intel just made a stab with the Arc B580, and is expected to launch a faster Arc B700-series SKU based on a maxed-out "BMG-G21" silicon.
Consumers: AMD please lower your prices
AMD: lowers prices to the point of having razor thin margins
Consumers: WTF why doesn't this GPU cost $100 like it was 2009? This is unfair! AMD GREED??!!! FineWine was always just AMD users coping over AMD leaving performance on the table from lack of optimization, sometimes for years. I'll never forget how proud Polaris users were that FineWine had finally made their 480s faster then the 1060, four years after launch when even the 3060 slapped them silly.
Customers: AMD please lower your prices.
AMD: *lowers prices*
Customers: Pff, what a piece of rubbish, Nvidia does RT so much better!