RDNA4 (RX 9070XT / 9070) launch announced for (delayed to) March 2025

[Kapone33]

You know what I think. If indeed these cards can perform like a 7900 card the retailers are in a real pickle. The alleged price leaked is that of the 7700XT. Just imagine what would happen to the value of every GPU from the 7700XT and up if they are the same price or more expensive. Hence the delay to try to move those old cards. I expect another Game(s) offer for incentive. Look for 7000 cards to get some deep discounts in the coming weeks.

 

[JustBenching]

I know you love to move goal posts, 6800>7800xt was 25% cheaper and manages to edge out its predecessor with less physical hardware in raster, and marginally gaping it in RT (however irrelevant that is). That’s also after the fact crypto and covid boom impacts. Not a single $500 card and below did anything to move the performance needle from AMD or Nvidia.

So back on topic where’s this 20% performance regression that people are praising AMD for on an unreleased x700/xx70 class card, that to the best of our knowledge, is going to perform like a 7900XT+?

I'm moving the goal posts while you are explaining the differences between irrelevant stuff. I said something simple, 6800xt, 649$ 2020. 2 generations later, the 9070xt should be at least twice as fast if it launches at that price point, no?

 

[3valatzy]

The alleged price leaked is that of the 7700XT.

Source? I haven't seen anything other than scalpers asking 1200E and users' expectations about 699$ or 799$. Which, of course, will render the cards DOA. It's obvious.

 

[Zazigalka]

Exactly, the excuses here from some are interesting, if people can't wait then they probably were going to buy an Nvidia card anyway.

Except no one knows how many cards retailers have, there could be several reasons AMD is launching in march including waiting for retailers to have sufficient supply. IMO its better to wait than have everyone accuse of it being a paper launch.

The problem was recently revealed to be the difference between AMD and card makers what the final price should be.

 

[TPUnique]

People would complain about FSR4 not being ready or whatever else anyway.
Why not wait for once?

Because most tech enthusiasts have no patience.

Maybe think about individual situations instead of making sweeping statements.

As for me : none of my computers (laptop, NUC) are fitted with a dGPU, and have reached their limits as casual media devices. They're having increasing difficulty handling recent, light games. Not to mention other applications I have in mind.
All of that is 2018 hardware... I think I've been patient enough.

We all have deadlines. I set myself one which I consider reasonable (CES 2025), and as it is, nVidia somewhat delivered, whilst AMD tripped itself up.

So you're getting a 5090 or 5080 then? If yes you weren't the target audience for any new AMD card anyway. The real competitor is the 5070 and being undercut by Nvidia like a month after release wouldn't be good.

Anyway had they even announced a launch date? I can't recall seeing anything about it.

5070Ti most likely.

AMD had an ace card up its sleeve, but their marketing department blew it.
I'm certain the 9070 will be a good card, and I can see them selling in very decent numbers... but they could have sold even more, and clawed back mindshare too, if they had released the cards right now, pricing them accordingly (they fear nVidia's reaction ? Just set an aggressive MSRP from day one).

Already knew you were going that way anyhow lol, quit lying to yourself

Wut ? The discussion was about AMD crafting a cunning damage control plan against nVidia, so in the post you quote I was musing about Jensen (once again) outsmarting his rival Lisa.

Personally, I was actually rooting for AMD since they tend to provide a better bang for the bucks.

And I'll say again that the 9070 should be a good card, so those who can wait and/or tolerate blatant incompetence, should certainly go for it. My deadline is up and I'm done dealing with inept people, so I'll be passing it up.

 

[Denver]

Apparently, Nvidia also postponed the launch of the 5070 to March, so AMD followed suit. The behind-the-scenes activity suggests they’re likely fine-tuning the software and pricing, but I have to admit, it still feels a bit shady. It's unfortunate that AMD isn't releasing a high-end RDNA4 chip, as it seems like it could have been a serious contender against Nvidia.

 

[AusWolf]

Are you guys really splitting hairs just to be argumentative? Would you really call someone with a 1080p pixio monitor and an 8gb 4060 an enthusiast? We all know what enthusiast means.

Really? What does it mean?

I've been in the PC space for over two decades at this point and would very much consider myself an enthusiast, yet am currently using a 4060 Ti. Does that make me an enthusiast or not? I can guarantee you that if you ask 20 people you'll get 20 different answers.

That's why I asked for clarification in this context, so that I can respond to the argument being made with the same understanding as the person making it. Without that basic shared understanding it is impossible to have meaningful discourse.

That notion of an "enthusiast" is being replaced by any dumb nutter who walks into a PC store and asks for the fastest, shiniest new thing because he really has no idea, but has a lot of cash to burn. It's sad but true.

Apparently, Nvidia also postponed the launch of the 5070 to March, so AMD followed suit. The behind-the-scenes activity suggests they’re likely fine-tuning the software and pricing, but I have to admit, it still feels a bit shady. It's unfortunate that AMD isn't releasing a high-end RDNA4 chip, as it seems like it could have been a serious contender against Nvidia.

I suspect it has more to do with aligning reviews to put the cards against each other at launch price.

Also, is a midrange card not a serious contender anymore?

 

[TPUnique]

In a strict sense, even AMD said nothing about the launch date. Not once.

Indeed. This will make their D&D strategy even more obvious, after they announce a price and release date for the 9070, one day after nVidia sets a firm date for the 5070.

 

[Assimilator]

Mid-high-end?

Give me a better term for a card that is slightly above mid-range but not high-end. And don't say "enthusiast".

It's perhaps not a bad thing when it comes to video games. However it does become a problem when you account for other applications, such as machine learning, for which there's never enough VRAM.

ML is a professional-grade workload. You want to run professional-grade workloads, buy a professional-grade GPU. That's always been the case.

 

[mama]

The 2900 XT was much more brutal because they could not get the chips working and were still spinning up new silicon 8 weeks ahead of launch, and even with THAT new silicon they had to drop the clocks for stability/thermals and cancel an entire board assembly they'd spent 6 months working on just to get a product out the door. It was a series of engineering hurdles that they just kept tripping over month after month.

No, this is far worse. AMD has final revisions done and set, working cards assembled, boxed, and shipped, with an announcement already made... And for some reason they delayed. This level of ineptitude is entirely self inflicted by poor management, snotty bean counters, and self-important pencil pushers. At the very least when an engineering team struggles to deliver it's understandable; ASICs are hard to design and they take hundreds of thousands of man hours to create. It doesn't take even a hundred of people one hour to attach a price tag on a finished product and set a release date.

I am really not understanding this general discussion. So why is it "ineptitude" if a company chooses not to release a product when Reddit rumours say they should? What is happening here? AMD clearly has its own ideas on how and when the launch is to proceed. Why is this such an issue for everyone? Why is it relevant if rumours say the cards are already with vendors? So what?

 

[dartuil]

Wont buy 9070xt more than 600€

 

[Hecate91]

I am really not understanding this general discussion. So why is it "ineptitude" if a company chooses not to release a product when Reddit rumours say they should? What is happening here? AMD clearly has its own ideas on how and when the launch is to proceed. Why is this such an issue for everyone? Why is it relevant if rumours say the cards are already with vendors? So what?

Honestly it seems like AMD is screwed with no matter what they do, if they delay the launch out to fix whatever issues there might be, AMD is inept for it, and if they would've rushed the launch to get cards out before Nvidia, people would still whine.

 

[Chrispy_]

Some people are overreacting. It's a midrange card. It doesn't need to launch immediately.

The 5070 isn't going to launch until the end of February (5080's "January" launch is on the 30th, for example) so as long as AMD don't leave it more than a week or two after the 5070 launches then they should be okay.

The problem is that there's probably a lot of people waiting to see 5070 reviews and if Nvidia launch first, and the reviews don't suck, AMD will lose a ton of potential customers who don't have the patience to wait for AMD's response.

 

[Hecate91]

Maybe think about individual situations instead of making sweeping statements.

As for me : none of my computers (laptop, NUC) are fitted with a dGPU, and have reached their limits as casual media devices. They're having increasing difficulty handling recent, light games. Not to mention other applications I have in mind.
All of that is 2018 hardware... I think I've been patient enough.

We all have deadlines. I set myself one which I consider reasonable (CES 2025), and as it is, nVidia somewhat delivered, whilst AMD tripped itself up.

Well 2018 hardware can run plenty of indie games, I can understand if other applications are work related but if a new dGPU is just a want I don't see why anyone can't wait a few more months.
Although I don't buy things at launch, I'd rather not have to spam F5 on every retailer to maybe get something at an inflated price. Also if you consider Nvidia to somewhat deliver when all of their marketing was focused on AI and fake frames then it seems you've already decided on an Nvidia card.

5070Ti most likely.

AMD had an ace card up its sleeve, but their marketing department blew it.
I'm certain the 9070 will be a good card, and I can see them selling in very decent numbers... but they could have sold even more, and clawed back mindshare too, if they had released the cards right now, pricing them accordingly (they fear nVidia's reaction ? Just set an aggressive MSRP from day one).

If you're considering a $750-800 card then again I really doubt you even considered anything but Nvidia, the rumors so far are the 9070XT might line up with the 5070.
I don't see launch timing mattering as much as some people really think it does, no matter what AMD does in regards to launching before Nvidia or pricing, Nvidia will still outsell them, AMD can only get so aggressive with their MSRP since they can't win any sort of price war with Nvidia. Nvidia lowered their prices $50 from the previous gen and the mindshare acts like Jensen is being generous with pricing, even though the die sizes are smaller and performance increase is in line with the price.

Wut ? The discussion was about AMD crafting a cunning damage control plan against nVidia, so in the post you quote I was musing about Jensen (once again) outsmarting his rival Lisa.

Personally, I was actually rooting for AMD since they tend to provide a better bang for the bucks.

And I'll say again that the 9070 should be a good card, so those who can wait and/or tolerate blatant incompetence, should certainly go for it. My deadline is up and I'm done dealing with inept people, so I'll be passing it up.

It isn't about outsmarting the competition, the strategy is completely different, besides Jensen hasn't cared about what AMD does for years when he can set the MSRP at what he wants and consumers will buy it no matter what. AMD withholding any performance numbers is the strategy they have to take or else Nvidia can change their prices again and win a pricing war.
AMD's marketing team does make plenty of mistakes, but I don't buy anything based on marketing alone, personally I'd rather deal with garbage marketing despite a great product, than deal with the leather jacket man grandstanding while gaslighting their consumers into buying a product based on fake frames instead of a real hardware rendered performance improvement.

 

[eidairaman1]

AMD drivers allocate system RAM too. Where else would you overflow with an 8-12 GB card?

This has been going on since the AGP GART was created

 

[Fouquin]

I am really not understanding this general discussion. So why is it "ineptitude" if a company chooses not to release a product when Reddit rumours say they should? What is happening here? AMD clearly has its own ideas on how and when the launch is to proceed. Why is this such an issue for everyone? Why is it relevant if rumours say the cards are already with vendors? So what?

The ineptitude is from gearing up for a launch, shipping units, running public demos, showing that hardware is done and available and ready to go, then cancelling the launch at the last minute (with media already briefed on a keynote that didn't even happen) and delaying everything with no word on why. THAT is inept. Completely torched any momentum they built up to that point, and look at this thread, Reddit, news article posts; their primary customer base isn't happy about it. The only people they need to impress, the buyers with cash in hand, are annoyed.

 

[Kapone33]

The ineptitude is from gearing up for a launch, shipping units, running public demos, showing that hardware is done and available and ready to go, then cancelling the launch at the last minute (with media already briefed on a keynote that didn't even happen) and delaying everything with no word on why. THAT is inept. Completely torched any momentum they built up to that point, and look at this thread, Reddit, news article posts; their primary customer base isn't happy about it. The only people they need to impress, the buyers with cash in hand, are annoyed.

Do you remember what happened when the 7900 GPUs launched? Retailers still had 6800/6900XTs listed for hundreds more. Why? Those cards were bought during the Mining/Covid boom and as such commanded a higher price from the distributor. Now we have (as I have said before) a card that could be as fast as the 7900 GPUs for potentially half the price. Just imagine if you were a retailer that has stock of those cards and now a card is coming that will mean the end of all sales. It is not just the new factor but also the performance potential that could make what we are seeing completely destruction of sales for those cards. Then what do they do? That sounds like a proper conundrum to me.

 

[Visible Noise]

Herkelman claims that the E3 pricing was an intentional misdirection - a 'jebait', in his own words, a term borrowed from the Twitch streaming community - based on extensive modelling of rival Nvidia's pricing structure. 'We started modelling different competitive scenarios,' Herkelman told the site. 'Their die size is quite big, and we knew what they could probably afford in terms of margins and pricing and what they were currently pricing their products at. We started using this data to say, okay, if they're starting to see lower sales they're going to be under tremendous amount of pressure on price, and they're going to be under a tremendous amount of pressure to figure out what they’re going to do to increase sales once we launch Navi. We know that they have a tremendous burden on their gross margins, because their die size is big, and so we just game-played SRPs [suggested retail prices].

'The prices that we originally put out, we waited to see what they put out. And then we made the appropriate move not only to deposition their Super series but also to logjam their 2060 and 2070, because we knew that they’re having slower success. And we wanted to do a double Jebait, which is not only block their Super strategy but also slow down their 2060 and 2070. That was the real jebait. I can't go into too much more about detail, but it's been so much fun these last couple of weeks just playing that out. It's just fun finally to win.'

AMD is into self-jebaiting now.

 

[Dr. Dro]

The ineptitude is from gearing up for a launch, shipping units, running public demos, showing that hardware is done and available and ready to go, then cancelling the launch at the last minute (with media already briefed on a keynote that didn't even happen) and delaying everything with no word on why. THAT is inept. Completely torched any momentum they built up to that point, and look at this thread, Reddit, news article posts; their primary customer base isn't happy about it. The only people they need to impress, the buyers with cash in hand, are annoyed.

Mate, you have been dropping banger after banger in this thread. A voice of reason in an endless stream of madness.

As for me, I'm tired, boss. I just can't take the gaslighting anymore.

 

[AusWolf]

The ineptitude is from gearing up for a launch, shipping units, running public demos, showing that hardware is done and available and ready to go, then cancelling the launch at the last minute (with media already briefed on a keynote that didn't even happen) and delaying everything with no word on why. THAT is inept. Completely torched any momentum they built up to that point, and look at this thread, Reddit, news article posts; their primary customer base isn't happy about it. The only people they need to impress, the buyers with cash in hand, are annoyed.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but considering that the 5070 won't launch a lot sooner either, I don't know if it changes anything. Yes, the customer base being annoyed is bad. But you can't buy a next-gen midrange card anyway, so... *shrug*

 

[Frick]

Give me a better term for a card that is slightly above mid-range but not high-end. And don't say "enthusiast".

I definitely wouldn't put it in anything but a mid-range category, but fair enough.

ML is a professional-grade workload. You want to run professional-grade workloads, buy a professional-grade GPU. That's always been the case.

Not anymore. Not with everyone and their dog being aspiring Youtubers/3D artists and stuff like that, and apparently everyone and their dog is really into AI/ML. Toms Hardware basically said a 4070 is faster than a x6950xt specficially because it's faster for AI stuff.

 

[Zazigalka]

Why is it relevant if rumours say the cards are already with vendors? So what?

It might be the reason for the delay

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT "bumpy" launch reportedly linked to price pressure from NVIDIA - VideoCardz.com

Radeon RX 9070 launch with retailer background PC Games Hardware reports that their moderator “pokerclock,” a well-informed person within retailer circles, has shared a new update on an upcoming Radeon GPU launch. Previously, this source provided insights on the GeForce RTX 50 series launch...

videocardz.com

 

[ratirt]

It might be the reason for the delay

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT "bumpy" launch reportedly linked to price pressure from NVIDIA - VideoCardz.com

Radeon RX 9070 launch with retailer background PC Games Hardware reports that their moderator “pokerclock,” a well-informed person within retailer circles, has shared a new update on an upcoming Radeon GPU launch. Previously, this source provided insights on the GeForce RTX 50 series launch...

videocardz.com

Very likely. What bother's me with the article is, retailers complaining about the high price of AMD cards. That surely is not a good omen. I'm sure the price will be cut to satisfy retailers but something tells me, the customers wont be satisfied. You cant satisfy everyone and it would seem AMD is pricing the products quite high simply matching NV offerimngs. Bummer. I was going to maybe pull a trigger on the AMD card (if the performance is equal or above 7900XTX) but I'm starting to realize, I will have to stay with the 6900xt I currently have an just skip NV and AMD altogether. Unless there will be an amazing card released unexpectedly which I seriously doubt. I will look at the reviews but something tells me, I will say sorry to my 6900xt, hug it nicely, crank the details down a bit if necessary and enjoy my $600-$700 bucks in my pocket while still playing with a smile and beer in my hand or, I kick things up a notch and enjoy some brown juice.

 

[AusWolf]

Very likely. What bother's me with the article is, retailers complaining about the high price of AMD cards. That surely is not a good omen. I'm sure the price will be cut to satisfy retailers but something tells me, the customers wont be satisfied. You cant satisfy everyone and it would seem AMD is pricing the products quite high simply matching NV offerimngs. Bummer. I was going to maybe pull a trigger on the AMD card (if the performance is equal or above 7900XTX) but I'm starting to realize, I will have to stay with the 6900xt I currently have an just skip NV and AMD altogether. Unless there will be an amazing card released unexpectedly which I seriously doubt. I will look at the reviews but something tells me, I will say sorry to my 6900xt, hug it nicely, crank the details down a bit if necessary and enjoy my $600-$700 bucks in my pocket while still playing with a smile and beer in my hand or, I kick things up a notch and enjoy some brown juice.

Not long ago, I would have said that upgrading every generation is pointless.
But now, it's more like upgrading every two generations is pointless as well (yes, I'm looking at Blackwell, too), especially when you're considering a 2 gens old flagship vs a current mid-tier.

Personally, I'm still cautiously optimistic about the 9070 XT because I'm planning an upgrade from a 6750 XT.
Nvidia doesn't bother me one bit with offering only 12 GB at $550, and asking stellar amounts of money for anything more than that.

 

[JustBenching]

Very likely. What bother's me with the article is, retailers complaining about the high price of AMD cards. That surely is not a good omen. I'm sure the price will be cut to satisfy retailers but something tells me, the customers wont be satisfied. You cant satisfy everyone and it would seem AMD is pricing the products quite high simply matching NV offerimngs. Bummer. I was going to maybe pull a trigger on the AMD card (if the performance is equal or above 7900XTX) but I'm starting to realize, I will have to stay with the 6900xt I currently have an just skip NV and AMD altogether. Unless there will be an amazing card released unexpectedly which I seriously doubt. I will look at the reviews but something tells me, I will say sorry to my 6900xt, hug it nicely, crank the details down a bit if necessary and enjoy my $600-$700 bucks in my pocket while still playing with a smile and beer in my hand or, I kick things up a notch and enjoy some brown juice.

Yeah, what I don't get is, how hard is it? Just release the 9070xt at 649 with twice the perf of the 6800xt, job done. That's not even a preposterous thing to ask, actually normally a 100% perf increase after 2 generations would be kinda of a flop. And yet here we are...