AMD's Radeon RX 9070 Launch Faces Pricing Hurdles

[AleksandarK]

AMD's upcoming Radeon RX 9070 series graphics cards have hit an unexpected roadblock, according to recent reports from PC Games Hardware. Despite physical units already reaching select retailers, the launch appears to be delayed due to ongoing pricing negotiations. Industry insider and forum moderator "pokerclock," known for accurate predictions about NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 series, reveals that AMD's initial pricing strategy has created tension with retail partners. While boxes bearing the RX 9070 branding have been spotted in retail channels, disagreements over costs have prevented an official release. The core issue stems from AMD's aggressive pricing approach for both the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT models. Retailers have pushed back against what they consider excessive wholesale costs, forcing AMD to reconsider its strategy.

The company now faces the complex task of potentially reducing prices while compensating retailers who have already purchased inventory at higher rates. Sources suggest AMD may offer marketing funds or cashback incentives to bridge the price gap, though negotiations have reportedly stalled. For example, we recently reported on the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT AIB model costing around $549. However, NVIDIA has announced its GeForce RTX 5070 at the same $549 price point, with potentially equal or higher raster, ray tracing, and AI capabilities across the board. For AMD to make the value case, the company would need to undercut NVIDIA's pricing. Until that is resolved, retailers aren't allowed to place RDNA 4 GPUs in general sale yet.



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[Niceumemu]

AMD, the masters of shooting themselves in their own foot

 

[Acuity]

Thanks nvidia for allowing me to get a Radeon at an even better price

 

[dj-electric]

Radeon dGPU division is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Making the cards is expensive and profit margins suck. There's a world of difference between using those nodes for Epyc and using them for Radeon. I'm not sure selling RX 9070 XT cards for 500 dollars will make AMDs investors and high ups particularly happy.

 

[Macro Device]

AMD in a nutshell:

 

[Dristun]

A nice joke was made on a certain other forum about Intel buying the entire stock and selling it as Arc B770 if AMD prices the cards low enough. Better than bothering to produce themselves at a loss!

 

[Daven]

I’m skeptical about this rumor because of the Radeon name change.

9070 = 5070 @ $549
9070XT = 5070Ti @ $749

This rumor makes it seem the 9070XT lines up with the vanilla 5070. Why change the name if it doesn’t line up? If they do line up, $749 as a ceiling is quite high already. What prices was AMD thinking for the 5070 and 5070Ti? If like last series, there’s only a $50 difference. Were these the original RDNA4 prices ($549 and $749)?

 

[_JP_]

Radeon dGPU division is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Making the cards is expensive and profit margins suck. There's a world of difference between using those nodes for Epyc and using them for Radeon. I'm not sure selling RX 9070 XT cards for 500 dollars will make AMDs investors and high ups particularly happy.

It will make them happy if the number of sales highly exceed the predicted amount, which would constitute a successful launch. It's easier if, right now, anything shows-up that brings a product to the sub-500 market segment.
Intel launching at the 350~400 dollar mark will put pressure on the RX 9700 already (Say, a B780).

 

[LittleBro]

One immensely disastrous launch. Price it already at 529 € excl. VAT and let's call it a day.

Meanwhile, MLID posted video with performance leak (think of it as rumor):

 

[AusWolf]

After all this calamity, the 9070 XT must be either the best or the worst GPU in the last decade. In either case, I want one for my collection.

 

[Daven]

One immensely disastrous launch. Price it already at 529 € excl. VAT and let's call it a day.

Meanwhile, MLID posted video with performance leak (think of it as rumor):
View attachment 380700

Those rumored performance numbers pretty much line up with rumors that the 9070XT will perform just under the 4080. So if the price is anywhere between $500 and $700 that’s a good deal and I don’t see the revealed 5070 series prices being a factor.

 

[Tek-Check]

One immensely disastrous launch. Price it already at 529 € excl. VAT and let's call it a day.

Meanwhile, MLID posted video with performance leak (think of it as rumor):
View attachment 380700

Nonsense. There's no disaster as there has not been launch yet.

Besides, the figures below clearly show why 529 euros with VAT is ridiculous proposition. The cards should be and will be more expensive as 9070 XT trades blows with RDNA3 XTX in some games and it is consistently better or equal to 7900XT.

 

[AusWolf]

Nonsense. There's no disaster as there has not been launch yet.

Besides, the figures below clearly show why 529 euros with VAT is ridiculous proposition. The cards should be and will be more expensive as 9070 XT trades blows with RDNA3 XTX in some games and it is consistently better or equal to 7900XT.

Let's remember the time when we got 1.5x the performance at a similar price as last gen. For AMD, it wasn't even that long ago (6700 XT -> 7800 XT).
On that logic, it's not outlandish to assume that we could get similar performance at a lower price this time around.

 

[Tek-Check]

Radeon dGPU division is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Making the cards is expensive and profit margins suck. There's a world of difference between using those nodes for Epyc and using them for Radeon. I'm not sure selling RX 9070 XT cards for 500 dollars will make AMDs investors and high ups particularly happy.

It's not going to cost 500 bucks. Where does this nonsense number comes from in the firstcplace?

It's absolutely bizarre that people throw around any numbers without ever justifying it.

 

[_roman_]

I waited several times for a amd gpu. It was delayed and hardly showed up.

You need a lot of patience.

I see some weird clickbaits on the german pcgameshardware.de website a lot recently. I'm not sure if those stuff are just written to generate clicks. Especially for those other topics about amazon deals or the lego competition brick topics. Honestly I'm not sure if these claims are valid or not.

 

[AusWolf]

It's not going to cost 500 bucks. Where does this nonsense number comes from in the firstcplace?

It's absolutely bizarre that people throw around any numbers without ever justifying it.

Here. It's linked in the above article as well.

 

[LittleBro]

Nonsense. There's no disaster as there has not been launch yet.

Besides, the figures below clearly show why 529 euros with VAT is ridiculous proposition. The cards should be and will be more expensive as 9070 XT trades blows with RDNA3 XTX in some games and it is consistently better or equal to 7900XT.

Sure, but it will not beat RTX 5070 Ti which has MSRP of $749 and is already listed for around 1k € incl. VAT.
Does not actually matter that it will (maybe) beat RX 7900 XTX in few games. AMD is trying to win marketshare from Nvidia, not from itself.
Of course, the prices of RX 7900 XT(X) will then start falling but that's a tax you have to pay for gaining market share.
Still, even lower prices of previous gen hardware could win AMD some market share. Getting RX 7800 XT for around 420 € is not a bad deal. Nvidia will have RTX 5060 around 450-500€ price.

AMD should price RX 9070 XT at RTX 5070's price, maybe a tiny bit above.

 

[Macro Device]

AMD should price RX 9070 XT at RTX 5070's price, maybe a tiny bit above.

What they shoudda done is selling those since late '24. For whatever price that's good enough. Now it's gonna be 5070s sold out and 9070s rotting on the shelves, waiting for a new wave of people who haven't yet bought themselves a GPU. The way I see it doesn't imply AMD releasing this stuff any time soon so it's very safe to assume 5070s hit first.

 

[motov8]

Who remembers the launch of the previous generation, where there were $100 reductions after a week? They really can't price their products at 15% of the market share

 

[mb194dc]

The XT is likely only equal to 7900gre. AMD might have thought 5070 would be 600+. So probably arguing about $50 or so.

Bottom line is mid range cards still cost 550, which is double what you paid in Early 2020.

Meanwhile the 5070 only has 4.35% increase in shaders from 4070.

The market is dead for the moment.

 

[Daven]

The XT is likely only equal to 7900gre. AMD might have thought 5070 would be 600+. So probably arguing about $50 or so.

Bottom line is mid range cards still cost 550, which is double what you paid in Early 2020.

Meanwhile the 5070 only has 4.35% increase in shaders from 4070.

The market is dead for the moment.

All rumors including the most recent MLID say that the 9070XT will be just under the 4080 gen ras performance which would place it about 30% above the 7900GRE. RT performance is looking around 4070Ti to 4070TiS. Any 9070XT pricing below $600 would be a good deal.

 

[john_]

AMD, the masters of shooting themselves in their own foot

Oh, really, you think it's easy to fight a company that enjoys
- better architecture
- more wafers from TSMC, probably at (much) better prices than what AMD can negotiate
- 9 times more sales
- brand loyalty and brand recognition from a big part of that 90% market share that Nvidia enjoys today
- favorable tech coverage
- (much) higher profit margins
- 15 times higher market cap

I have said many times in the past that AMD can't fight Nvidia directly. They will lose. Badly.
Let's hope that the new cards will get positive reviews from tech press and consumers, or things will get even uglier in the future.

 

[Assimilator]

OK AMD, it works like this.

RDNA3 was overpriced and people didn't buy it because you're greedy shits. Therefore your marketshare tanked.

If you want to recover marketshare then you need to swallow your greed, and your pride, and ensure that whatever you launch is cheap enough to attract buyers. If that means you have to make a loss on each GPU you sell then that is what you damn well do. And if you aren't willing to pay that idiot tax for your past greed, then you'd better be happy with your marketshare continuing to tank.

Your partners are not obligated to sell your product. Consumers are not obligated to buy it. If you want it to succeed, subsidise the shit out of it. This really isn't rocket science.

 

[freeagent]

They screwed themselves already lol.

They should have just sold as low as possible to get it out, instead of waiting for Nvidia.

That was dumb. If you give people the choice of A of B for the same price, they are going to go with what they know.

 

[Assimilator]

They screwed themselves already lol.

They should have just sold as low as possible to get it out, instead of waiting for Nvidia.

That was dumb. If you give people the choice of A of B for the same price, they are going to go with what they know.

It never ceases to amaze me how forum randos like you and me can see this, but AMD's highly-paid sales and marketing team cannot.