Yesterday evening, the NVIDIA AI Developer social media account sent out a red alert regarding a time limited sale of flagship-tier Blackwell gaming hardware: "GeForce RTX 5090s are available at the Gear Store in the park right now at GTC 2025. 90 units are available for the next 30 minutes, with more coming tomorrow. Come say hi!" PC hardware news outlets have picked up on Team Green's latest stock bulletin, with Tom's Hardware disclosing some extra details. Under normal circumstances, NVIDIA's Gear Store Mobile Truck would be selling fairly standard merchandise—e.g. T-shirts, sweaters, hats, etc. According to the latest reports, the company's mobile pop-up store is taking orders for add-in-boards (AIB) GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 models. An information placard advertises old school/launch day guide prices of $1999 and $999 (respectively).

Tom's Hardware noted several caveats: "the graphics cards must be purchased from NVIDIA's van from 7 AM to 12 PM on Thursday or Friday and then picked up at South Hall main entrance the same day. The graphics boards are available to conference pass ($1145 for one day, or $2295 for five days) and exhibit pass holders only; with a limit of one card per person." According to folks on the ground, Team Green and its board partners have stockpiled a thousand of each highly-desirable GPU model at the San Jose Convention Center. The first waves of time-limited batches were made available yesterday (March 19). Demand for flagship and top-end GeForce RTX 50 series cards has far exceeded supply, starting back in late January. Following an absorption of plentiful feedback, NVIDIA revived its "Verified Priority Access" scheme a couple of weeks ago. This anti-scalping initiative was advertised as offering: "a limited number of verified GeForce gamers and creators in the United States the opportunity to purchase one GeForce RTX 5090 or RTX 5080 Founders Edition graphics card from the NVIDIA Marketplace."

AMD's Radeon RX 9000 series of GPUs spent just a few days on the retail market, and they are already sold out. If you are wondering just how many have been sold, AMD has a number for you. According to the information shared at the AI PC Innovation Summit in Beijing, AMD claims that it has sold as many as 200,000 Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT graphics cards in the first wave. Current retail channels show severely constrained inventory for AMD's latest GPUs, though supply chain forecasts indicate normalization expected by early Q2. Board partners have implemented significant price premiums across their custom-designed variants, with RX 9070 XT models commanding up to $200 above AMD's reference pricing structure. While AMD has issued statements advocating for adherence to suggested retail figures, the company maintains a hands-off approach to partner pricing strategies, acknowledging the market dynamics of premium component allocation.

The initial allocation bottleneck should resolve as manufacturing capacity scales to meet demand, potentially stabilizing both availability and price points by mid-April. Yeston, one of AMD's longest-standing AIBs, has suggested that "now the supply is unstable, but we will restock every week. Please don't be frustrated if you didn't get it. The supply will become stable and continue to be available after April." However, we still don't understand how AMD is counting these sales. The company noted that the first wave has been sold, and that is likely their first shipment of Navi 48 SKU from TSMC. When TSMC ships more chips, AMD distributes them to its AIB partners for assembly. That could be the second wave. As these GPUs are ordered months in advance, AMD's AIBs are likely already shipping the next wave of GPUs to retail stores.

Graphics card price watchers have highlighted refreshing downward motion in Europe, apparently affecting three out of the four GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards. VideoCardz received a couple of email tip-offs from its pan-European audience, prompting the publication of a short investigative piece. NVIDIA's slight adjustment of official pricing for GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 models is the result of a strengthened Euro. The US dollar's value has dropped by roughly 3.9 %; according to recent detective work, focusing on German trends. Team Green's "generous" reductions have arrived roughly two weeks after a stabilization of the USD-EUR exchange rate.

Curiously, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is an outlier here—NVIDIA did not reduce its German guide price (€879 + VAT) for this upper-mid-range offer. A Founders Edition does not exist at this GPU level, so Team Green has tasked its board partners with the creation of so-called "MSRP conformant" alternatives. One of VideoCardz's tipsters has observed various GeForce RTX 50 series models simply "rotting on shelves," due to potential buyers balking at unreasonable retailer-implemented price hikes. NVIDIA's minor changes (4.3 to 4.6 %) are unlikely to make a noticeable impact across the Euro zone.

NVIDIA today launched the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell series of professional graphics cards. These cards are based on the latest GeForce "Blackwell" graphics architecture, and the three chips the company already launched on it. Leading the pack, is the RTX PRO 6000, a card that completely maxes out the massive "GB202" silicon, featuring more shaders than even the GeForce RTX 5090, albeit at lower clock speeds. The idea behind this product is to give pro-vis users more shader power, driving a large amount of GDDR7 ECC memory. Specifically, the card comes with 24,064 CUDA cores across all 192 SM physically present on the silicon, besides 768 Tensor cores, 192 RT cores, 768 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. The card gets a humungous 96 GB of ECC GDDR7 memory across the chip's 512-bit wide memory interface, probably using 48 Gbit density memory chips. The card has a TGP of 600 W, making out the 12V2x6 power input. It comes with a board design resembling the RTX 5090.

Next up, is the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q. This card has essentially the same core-configuration as the RTX PRO 6000, but with a reduced TGP, and a simpler 2-slot board design that uses a lateral-blower. This card is meant for machines with multiple such cards installed, though something that isn't quite a rendering server. Lastly, there's the RTX PRO 6000 Server Edition. This card, again, has identical core-config to the others in the lineup, but with a board design optimized for rackmount servers and large rendering farms. The cooler relies on the rack's airflow for cooling.

PNY officially introduced its launch lineup of GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards at CES 2025; all brand-new offerings were plainly labelled as "Triple Fan" models. Yesterday, VideoCardz alerted its readership to the emergence of "Plus" variants—all utilizing upper-mid-range NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5070 Ti "Blackwell" GPU. In recent times, several of Team Green's board partners have stealthily added new products to web presences without any PR fanfare accompaniment. Last week, ZOTAC quietly expanded its SOLID GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 Ti product ranges with "slimmer" CORE options.

PNY's four freshest additions are dubbed "Triple Fan Plus"—quite fittingly, this updated moniker refers to larger card dimensions. Price and launch information was not available at the time of writing, but we can safely assume that their GeForce RTX 5070 Ti ARGB Triple Fan Plus OC SKU will sit at the top of the American AIB's resized pack. A non-overclocked ARGB-lit model is present on TPU's GPU database, alongside non-ARGB OC and standard variants. PNY's Triple Fan Plus shroud design is a chunky unit; VideoCardz noted growth (over vanilla variants) in two dimensions—gaining 1.7 cm in width, and roughly 3 cm in length. The already released Triple Fan housing officially occupied "2.8"-slots, but the larger "Plus" sibling is a proper 3-slot space filler. VideoCardz highlighted revised retail packaging—instead of a simple side-printed "GeForce RTX" logo, Plus boxes are adorned with a full GPU readout: "GeForce RTX 5070 Ti." The newer shroud design seems to sport shinier black accents, and wider ARGB lighting channels.

Coverage of Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 launch batches has mainly focused on Western market conditions, with little insight into goings-on in China. AMD and board partners held a special RDNA 4 kick-off event in Beijing at the end of February, roughly twelve hours in advance of their international presentation. According to VideoCardz, initial supplies of Yeston's Sakura and Sakura Atlantis graphics cards were snapped up quickly by regional customers. The Chinese AIB specializes in brightly-hued shroud and backplate designs, often decorated with "waifu" illustrations and miscellaneous cute graphics. Unfortunately, interested parties from abroad are limited to importing from local retail platforms.

Yeston's social media accounts have alerted potential customers to re-stocks and connected developments—their latest bulletin hints about an improved situation, following another swift depletion of refreshed stock: "hello everyone! Thank you for the support! We have received a lot of messages and would love to inform you now the supply is unstable, but we will restock every week. Please don't be frustrated if you didn't get it. The supply will become stable and continue to be available after April." Interestingly, this morning's message did not touch upon the controversial topic of price hikes. At launch, Yeston's latest Navi 48 GPU-based offerings conformed or floated just above Team Red baseline MSRP (including VAT)—4999 RMB (~$686 USD) for XT, 4499 RMB (~$617 USD) for non-XT—likely boosting demand around that time. Last week, AMD board partners in Japan expressed concerns about current supply constraints—GPU market share in that region had climbed to ~45%, due to the popularity of RX 9070 Series graphics cards. Team Red could lose ground if GPU allocation limitations continue.

"Second wave" ASUS price hikes were documented online over the past weekend; affecting air-cooled premium ROG Astral and mid-tier TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 models. Looking at the company's North American webshop, visitors noticed a freshly adjusted price for the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 32 GB OC Edition—going from a previous level of $3079.99 up to $3359.99. Curiously, the asking price of a liquid-cooled sibling was not adjusted—remaining at a "first wave" point of $3409.99. The "cheapest" model—TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 (non-OC)—experienced a $460 (representing 20%) price hike, bringing total cost of ownership up to $2759.99. As a reminder, NVIDIA's baseline MSRP guideline was $1999—as announced at CES 2025—but ROG Astral and TUF Gaming designs demand a premium or two for fancier feature sets. VideoCardz has fervently explored worrying market trends in the recent past; several of NVIDIA's big board partner players have jacked up asking prices for GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards. Availability of stock is still a major sore point for potential buyers, who were not able to secure launch day wares. Despite a driving up of costs, the ASUS US webstore has absolutely zero stock of GeForce RTX 5090 SKUs—at the time of writing.

In addition, VideoCardz and other PC hardware media outlets noted price hikes affecting the manufacturer's stable of recently launched AMD Radeon RX 9070 Series TUF Gaming and PRIME models. In the absence of AMD-built (MBA) reference card designs, board partners were tasked with the providing of baseline "MSRP" conformant custom cards. The ASUS PRIME Radeon RX 9070 XT OC and RX 9070 OC Editions were readied as $599 and $549 options (respectively). Weekend sleuthing work put the spotlight on newly adjusted price points of $719.99 and $659.99 (respectively)—representing further cases of plain 20% elevations over baseline. AMD's debut batch of RDNA 4 cards was met with unprecedented demand earlier on in March, but secondary/tertiary stock shipments face unclear market conditions—Team Red GPU enthusiasts have (similarly) voiced their collective displeasure about elevated prices at retail. Mid-way through last week, the PC hardware community heard about ASUS leadership considering a new pricing strategy. The company is reportedly accelerating its manufacturing exodus from China.

ZOTAC has quietly introduced its brand-new SOLID CORE graphics card design—four GeForce RTX 50-series models appeared on the brand's website at some point last week. An official press release was not issued alongside the fresh publication of product pages. On first inspection, the Hong Kong-based manufacturer seems to be reusing their existing SOLID shroud and backplate setup. As reported by VideoCardz, ZOTAC's engineering team has implemented a very mild shrink in one dimension. Triple-fan cooled SOLID COREs have arrived with a "slimmer profile" 2.5 slot design (56 mm/2.2 inches), albeit with an I/O bracket that still occupies three rows. The original SOLID card is a substantial 3.5-slot prospect; with its shroud's height measured at 68 mm/2.7 inches.

Specification sheets for SOLID CORE GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 Ti SKUs (standard and OC) advertise familiar feature sets—barring a difference in height, the usual SOLID provisions are present. Highlights include a vapor chamber-based "IceStorm 3.0 Advanced Cooling" solution, BladeLink Fans, 12V-2x6 Safety Light, and SPECTRA RGB Lighting. Circa-CES 2025, NVIDIA and its board partners were keenly advertising some "SFF-Ready" products, but ZOTAC's flagship and high-end "Blackwell" GB203 GPU-based models are distinct space fillers—even in 2.5-slot form. The company's GeForce RTX 5070 SOLID design exists as a proper 2-slot solution; VideoCardz believes that a variation of this shroud will be attached to upcoming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti models.

Acer today unveiled its latest Predator BiFrost and Acer Nitro graphics cards, powered by the next-generation AMD Radeon RX 9000 Series GPUs. This cutting-edge line-up includes six models designed to elevate gaming and creative experiences with next-level performance and visual fidelity. The models include the Predator BiFrost Radeon RX 9070 XT OC 16GB, Predator BiFrost Radeon RX 9070 OC 16GB, and four Nitro graphics cards: Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 XT OC 16GB, Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 OC 16GB, and standard versions of the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB and Acer Nitro Radeon RX 9070 16GB.

The new GPUs are engineered for ultra-fast gaming and demanding tasks, leveraging AMD RDNA 4 compute units and up to 16 GB of memory to deliver immersive 8K visuals. The advanced cooling technology, featuring three FrostBlade 4.0 fans, and reinforced designs ensures systems can be pushed to their limits while maintaining peak performance. DIY gamers will appreciate new software features such as Acer Intelligence Space, which offers intuitive AI system detection, and Acer Game Assistance's adaptive aim system to give players a competitive edge.

A farcical "GIGABYTE RTX 5090 Super Bundle" was highlighted by PC hardware media outlets last week—the steep demand for flagship and high-end NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series "Blackwell" graphics cards has prompted the creation of many "innovative" anti-scalper selling strategies. Another ludicrous example has emerged courtesy of fresh news coverage focusing on an "EliteHubs x COLORFUL RTX 5080 Campaign." This competition is open to residents of India—EliteHubs advertises itself as a popular regional "computer accessories store and Esports tournament organizer." Unfortunately, current global market conditions have inflated prices of recently launched new generation graphics card models—the "EliteHubs x COLORFUL RTX 5080 Campaign" apparently rallies against such practices, albeit in an extremely limited fashion. The competition's author delivered crucial details: "we're thrilled to announce an exclusive opportunity where three lucky winners will each receive a brand-new COLORFUL RTX 5080 Ultra White OC graphics card—one unit per person! This powerhouse graphics card is available at the official NVIDIA MSRP of Rs. 1,10,000 (~$1265 USD)."

According to TechSpot, a quick investigation revealed that the advertised cost of ownership was accurate—they noted: "checking other online stores in India shows all the COLORFUL RTX 5080 Ultra W OC models are priced above that MSRP. This is a higher-end third-party card, admittedly, so it appears participants are getting the chance to buy it at a slightly cheaper price than usual. Still, most people expect competitions to have actual prizes, and the fact there will be only three winners is a bit comical." Prior to official launch—in late January—a Vietnamese customer managed to bag themselves the same model for a princely sum of $1400. VideoCardz did not receive a response from COLORFUL, prior to the publication of their news coverage. The Chinese AIB did not provide comment when asked about said promotional campaign.

The PC hardware rumor mill theorized that NVIDIA would unveil its GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060 graphics cards today (March 13). An official announcement has not yet transpired—at the time of writing. Earlier in the week, specification sheets for Team Green's cheaper Blackwell GPU models were leaked online—courtesy of kopite7kimi, a noted inside tracker of NVIDIA activities. Not long after that disclosure, reportage focused on an Acer Nitro N50 pre-built gaming PC—featuring an unannounced GeForce RTX 5060 GPU with 8 GB of GDDR7 SDRAM. The relatively rapid delivery of GB206 related leaks suggests that something is on the imminent release horizon.

An anonymous tip-off from a Chinese audience member has resulted in the publication of another VideoCardz investigative article. Apparently an unnamed local e-tailer provided pre-release price points (presumably including VAT) for GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060 graphics card; 4299 RMB and 3799 RMB (respectively). For reference, the tipster's screenshot also included prices for various GeForce RTX 5070 models—the cheapest being 4799 RMB (~$663 USD). As noted by VideoCardz, Chinese baseline MSRP for the RTX 5070 is 4599 RMB (~$635 USD). Curiously, the webstore's entry for a non-specific GeForce RTX 5060 card designates it as a 12 GB variant. This could be a pre-launch error, based on placeholder material—recent leaks have indicated the existence of a lone GeForce RTX 5060 SKU, with 8 GB of VRAM. The GeForce RTX 5060 Ti is tipped to arrive in two forms: with 8 GB or 16 GB VRAM configurations onboard. VideoCardz has heard whispers from industry moles about a possible official lifting of new product embargoes, ahead of next week's GTC 2025 conference.

More than 700 games and applications feature RTX technologies, and each week new games integrating NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and advanced ray-traced effects are released or announced, delivering the definitive PC experience for GeForce RTX players. With the addition of the latest DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation games, our newest performance multiplier is now available in over 100 games and apps, making it the most rapidly adopted NVIDIA game technology of all time.

Additionally, we can today reveal that Lost Soul Aside, Mecha BREAK, Phantom Blade Zero, Stellar Blade, Tides of Annihilation, and Wild Assault will all launch with DLSS Multi Frame Generation, and our suite of other DLSS technologies, giving GeForce RTX gamers the definitive PC experience in each. Furthermore, today we released an updated Zorah demo, built in Unreal Engine 5, that showcases the latest advancements in neural rendering powered by GeForce RTX 50 Series and AI.

A week ago, MSI introduced its lineup of custom GeForce RTX 5070 graphics card models—headlined by their premium VANGUARD option, with a product stack going down to a budget friendly INSPIRE 3X offering. Since then, the Taiwanese manufacturer has added another entry to its NVIDIA "Blackwell" GB205 GPU-based family. As observed by VideoCardz, MSI is overpopulating its GeForce RTX 5070 stack with two more models. The SHADOW 2X OC and SHADOW 2X (non-OC) have—very recently—popped up on the company's website, with absolutely zero PR fanfare. The triple-fan SHADOW 3X designs received a similar treatment last month—brand-new stealth-black GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 Ti custom designs seemingly appeared overnight.

As befits the nomenclature, MSI's SHADOW 2X design sports a TORX 5.0 dual-fan cooling solution. As covered by TechPowerUp's news section in the past, the SHADOW series shares similarities with VENTUS—both families serve as "baseline MSRP" conformant products, due to a minimalistic aesthetic and barebones feature set (i.e. focused on the essentials). MSI marketing blurb describes SHADOW as: "a performance-focused design that delivers the gaming experience players want, making it the ideal choice when upgrading or building a gaming rig." The company has courted controversy in recent times; VideoCardz and other media outlets have leveled plenty of criticism throughout February and March—the lack of "MSRP" models and reported price hiking at launch became major sticking points. Industry watchdogs believe that the freshly unveiled SHADOW 2X models will be in short supply for the foreseeable future.

Around late January, concerned owners of high-end ASUS motherboards uploaded photo and video evidence of alleged physical damage caused by the manufacturer's PCIe "Q-Release Slim" system. Social media and forum posts showed worrying scraping and scratching on graphics card interfaces. The North American branch of ASUS responded to reports with a public service announcement: "in our internal testing and evaluation of the extremely small number of cases reported, we found no damage to the motherboard or graphics card that would affect functionality and/or performance....However, it is important to emphasize that any type of PCIe add-in card will exhibit signs of usage and wear marking after 60 continuous insertions and removals." Rival brands have kept tabs on this sorry situation; many offer similar motherboard-mounted GPU quick release systems. Yesterday, GIGABYTE's Japanese office posted a very "on the nose" demonstration of their EZ Latch Plus design.

The AORUS Japan social media account's "Ultimate PCIe Scratch Test" video involved the repeated insertion and removal of a candidate card from a GIGABYTE Z890 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ICE motherboard. An anonymous employee completed one hundred cycles. Upon the experiment's conclusion, the graphics card's interface displayed zero evidence of physical deterioration. The manufacturer's Japanese AORUS branch boasted (via machine translation): "start building your PC with confidence! GIGABYTE's renowned easy DIY and ultra-durable design ensures smooth, hassle-free builds and rock-solid reliability. No more worrying about peeling golden finger contacts or scratches from metal edges." Their sarcastic delivery seemingly pokes fun at ASUS and the "troubled" Q-Release Slim system; it should be noted that it is a relatively new design. As reported back in early February, ASUS China launched an extensive customer support/compensation program. According to user accounts, some very expensive custom GeForce RTX 50-series cards have suffered cosmetic damage on PCIe interfaces. GIGABYTE's Western web presences have joined in on the fun—the AORUS Official social media account delivered a slightly different spin on their overall message: "game on with confidence! With our renowned DIY-friendly and Ultra Durable design, you'll enjoy a smooth, hassle-free build with rock-solid reliability. No more worries about gold finger paint peeling or scratches from metal edges—our design provides complete protection for both your GPU and motherboard."

This month, we at AMD celebrate two significant milestones in the Radeon story. First, the 25th anniversary of Radeon, a journey that began in 2000 with the ATI Radeon DDR card. Back then, 32 MB of VRAM, a 143 MHz clocks, and 30M transistors were cutting-edge tools that sparked your early adventures. Today, those specs are a nostalgic memory, dwarfed by the leaps we've made together culminating in the 24 GB of memory, multi-GHz clocks, and nearly 60B transistors of RDNA 3 cards driving the immersive worlds you now explore. But we're not stopping there. We're proud to continue that innovation journey with the RDNA 4-based Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070, available starting today. This is more than a new chapter for us, it's a promise to you, the gamers who fuel our passion. We know what matters when you choose your next GPU: raw performance to conquer your favorite titles, tech that's ready for tomorrow's blockbusters, and value that respects your investment. That's precisely what RDNA 4 delivers.

Our goal with RDNA 4 wasn't to chase an elite crown few can reach. Instead, we focused on you, the heart of gaming, crafting cards that bring exceptional power to the setups most of you run. Compared to our last gen, RDNA 4 boosts raster performance for crisper, smoother visuals. Ray tracing throughput doubles, letting you soak in lifelike lighting and reflections without compromise. And with an 8x uplift in machine learning performance, we're unlocking new possibilities - like FSR 4, our latest leap in ML-based upscaling.

Shortly after participating in AMD's special RDNA 4 launch event, XFX presented its custom Radeon RX 9070 Series graphics card models to Chinese media outlets. The board partner's "QUICKSILVER class" customizable shroud design was highlighted by global PC hardware news sites—a demonstration unit was showcased with attached "racing car red and white" sections. At the time, XFX's web presences teased this intriguing modular system: "the RX 9000 Series QUICKSILVER Class GPUs features customizable magnetic wings which can be easily removed and replaced to match your style and needs." Select models also sport the manufacturer's impressive "Magnetic Air" triple-fan system—as explored in W1zzard's review of a related (higher-end) MERCURY model; worth a read!

Very recently, XFX's RDNA 4 QUICKSILVER splash page was updated with additional information: "3D Printer Required—3D files available in the downloads section on the product pages." A fresh VideoCardz report covered the availability of 3D print files for compatible card models, via official download pages. Owners can print out their own interpretations, but "magnets are required for assembly." XFX has not yet indicated whether it will sell aftermarket magnetic wing parts. The company's general mentioning of "RX 9000 Series" could imply that forthcoming QUICKSILVER models—e.g. Radeon RX 9060 XT—will be similarly provisioned with modular shroud designs.

AMD has officially stated that its portfolio of RDNA 4 generation graphics cards consists of Radeon RX 9070 XT, RX 9070, and RX 9060 XT models. Last December, a longer list of GPUs appeared online—this pre-Christmas 2024 leak revealed Radeon RX 9060, RX 9050 and RX 9040 identifiers. Team Red seems to be working on populating the lower end of its Radeon RX 9000 family—similarly, Team Green is reportedly expanding its "Blackwell" GPU generation into the "entry-mainstream" segment with their RTX 5050 card design.

Late last week, a Mexican PC hardware retailer inadvertently added Radeon RX 9060 and 9050 categories (not product listings) to its webstore. Noted graphics card watchdogs picked up on the shop's accidental adding of search filters; prompting the swift removal of NDA-busting material (by the time of writing). Resultant VideoCardz news coverage has spread the word of possible forthcoming launches of much cheaper RDNA 4 GPU models. AMD and involved board partners are likely aiming to get lower-mid-range Radeon RX 9060 XT cards out of the door by the second quarter of 2025. Recent leaks indicate Radeon RX 9060 (non-XT) and RX 9050-class products potentially arriving at retail closer to summertime, with speculated "Navi 44" GPUs onboard.

Frequenters of the MindFactory.de webshop have highlighted worrying signs of decline. A telling example was posted to the (German language) PCBaumeister subreddit; where a member queried: "what's going on at MindFactory? Only 12 Intel CPUs, 36 graphics cards (all brands), 30 monitors left on offer. Are they going bankrupt or are they emptying their inventory?" Similar alerts landed across PC hardware discussion boards—regional press outlets started to pay attention once a decent number of observations were tallied. Even VideoCardz started to receive tip-offs from its German readership, regarding MindFactory's very limited selection of previous-gen NVIDIA graphics cards (see screenshot below). According to the latest news articles, higher-end GeForce 40-series models are not listed. Additionally, there is a distinct lack of GeForce 50-series products on the webstore. VideoCardz found plenty of entries for AMD Radeon graphics cards, but nothing newer or more advanced than the RX 7800 XT.

Curious customers have contacted the webshop's service team, regarding low inventory and lack of product variety. A typical response reads as follows: "we (Mindfactory.de) are currently restructuring our store, which is why we have so few items in stock at the moment. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us." Following on from community tips, local media outlets have shared their own investigations—currently, several online sites propose that MindFactory is facing bankruptcy. WinFuture.de's article sports a prominent "Insolvenz—Freie Marktwirtschaft" graphic—translation: "insolvency—free-market capitalism." Igor Wallossek—of Igor's Lab fame—took issue with some of the sensationalistic headlines. He weighed in on this matter: "apparently, bankruptcy is to be filed for next week. I cannot speak about the background, it is extremely sensitive. I have known about it since Friday (February 28)." A dedicated news piece did not appear on igorslab.de, due to the following of an ethical code of conduct.

Earlier in the week, SAPPHIRE's Global Senior VP Marketing Manager—Adrian Thompson—posted a fascinating photo of soon-to-be released PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics cards, located in an unidentified warehouse. His social media post/teaser stated: "ready to ship to happy customers." Given the apparent impressive volume of boxed products on display, supply chain insiders have referred back to prior leaks. As far back as mid-January (2025), board partner custom Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 models were reaching end destinations; at retail/e-tail warehouses. In reaction to Thompson's preview of stockpiled RDNA 4-based PULSE boxes, Overclockers UK (OCUK) expressed mild disapproval.

Gibbo (aka Andrew Gibson) posted a follow-up on the company's discussion board: "as Sapphire jumped the gun with our content (TUT, TUT), I might as well share with you guys the Borg Cube (that) Overclockers UK's marketing department spent hours building out of Sapphire RX 9070 XT Pulse Cards and yes the cube is solid, the center is even more 9070 XT Pulse cards, and we have over 1000 in stock just of this model. Even better, OCUK will hit £569 (including VAT) on this incredible beast of a card, with hundreds to go round at MSRP. In fact, we have so much stock we could build an armada of Borg Cubes pretty much out of every model we have and from all brands, we have several thousand cards in stock spanning across Sapphire, PowerColor and ASRock all of which have 1000+ in stock of each brand." This friendly update strikes with a happier tone—in sharp contrast, Gibbo detailed a sorry situation prior to the launch of GeForce RTX 5090 cards. At the time of writing, the Overclockers UK webstore is down—visitors are seeing "504 Gateway Time-out" error messages. A lot of pre-launch buzz and hype has likely drummed up plenty of buyer interest—thus causing an overloading of servers. In yesterday afternoon's board post, Gibbo continued his Star Trek-themed musings: "we then also have several hundred cards from Gigabyte and ASUS as well, this launch will be impossible to resist as such is the reason we built Borg Cubes, because AMD will assimilate you, resistance is futile, BUY tomorrow (March 6) from OCUK at 2pm with prices starting from £524.99 Inc VAT."

Last month, TechPowerUp was heavily involved in the identification of missing ROPs across newly released GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards. NVIDIA, board partners and system integrators have (largely) acknowledged these issues. Certain companies have initiated the processing of customer returned units, but a pre-built PC specialist—CyberPowerPC—revealed a more proactive approach when dealing with less-than-pedigree hardware. Corsair has weighed in on the matter, since its ORIGIN and Vengeance businesses are involved in the building and sale of modern gaming rigs. A company rep—CorsairLucky—provided some insight on their official subreddit: "upon learning of this issue, we immediately implemented a thorough review of the detailed production reports for each system shipped to date. Matching the expected breadth of this issue, we have identified only one customer with an affected GPU and are actively working with them to provide a replacement."

Team Green posits that only 0.5% of released "Blackwell" GPU-based products are affected, Corsair's statement also refers to this percentage statistic. Several media outlets have posited that NVIDIA has produced a "conjectured" figure—in particular, the claimed 0.5% stat was questioned by Gamers Nexus. According to VideoCardz's inside track, NVIDIA's launch of GeForce RTX 5070 cards was delayed due to a number of factors—including lower than expected ROP counts. Earlier today, Team Green confirmed that its GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition launch window has been pushed into "late March."

MSI is excited to introduce its latest lineup of graphics cards powered by the newly launched NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, featuring the VANGUARD, GAMING TRIO, INSPIRE, and VENTUS series. Engineered with cutting-edge graphics technology and refined thermal solutions, these cards are designed to meet the demands of high-performance gaming, AI applications, and content creation. With a focus on efficiency, they deliver outstanding power while maintaining low temperatures and quiet operation, ensuring an excellent user experience.

Powered by NVIDIA Blackwell, GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs revolutionize gaming and creativity with unprecedented AI horsepower. Unlock next-level performance and graphics fidelity with NVIDIA DLSS 4, generate images at record-breaking speeds, and unleash creative potential with NVIDIA Studio.

ASUS has taken the unusual step of formally announcing day one availability of its brand-new offerings—in TUF Gaming and PRIME forms—to the NVIDIA subreddit community. Today (March 5) marks the retail rollout of AIB-built GeForce RTX 5070 graphics cards—unfortunately, NVIDIA Founders Edition enthusiasts will have to wait a little longer for a now delayed launch. VideoCardz has called out ASUS on a number of occasions over the past month and a half, regarding alleged GeForce RTX 50-series "price manipulation" practices. In their latest bit of company coverage, the publication concedes that ASUS representatives are doing a better job in communicating launch day circumstances to its target audience. In contrast, other board partners have (reportedly) not reached out to the hardware gaming community.

The ASUS_MKTLeeM account has produced a useful "Day 1 Pricing and Availability in US and CA" buying guide for TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5070 OC Edition ($739.99 USD) and ASUS Prime GeForce RTX 5070 models (standard: $549.99, OC: $699.99). The company rep disclosed the outlook for this opening salvo: "we expect that most, if not all of these will be available at 6am PST for the US. Of course, things happen sometimes; and a particular e-tailer or retailer may have a website issue or may be pending for stock to reach them. Feel free to ask later in the day and we can track this down...For Canada, I do not have confirmation on which stores will have Day 1 stock at this time, unfortunately. If I receive confirmation before the end of the day I will update it." They noted that Best Buy Canada may experience delayed shipments (1-3 weeks) of TUF Gaming RTX 5070 OC Edition stock. Unfortunately, higher-end options are not releasing alongside "cheaper" brethren parts—MKTLeeM stated: "the ROG Strix cards will not be available Day 1. There is currently no ETA for when these cards will be available, but we will update the post and/or the availability post in the comments when we have an update." Press outlets have highlighted the apparent limited range of ASUS launch day models. Interestingly, the TUF Gaming RTX 5070 (non-OC) option was not included in MKTLeeM's subreddit thread.

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Manli Design
There are 6,144 CUDA cores onboard powering the RTX 5070. It also has 12 GB of memory, and GDDR7 memory speeds of up to 28 Gbps, with 5th Gen Tensor Cores, AI TOPS 988.

Yeston unveiled its striking Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Sakura Atlantis card design around mid-January, along with an NDA-busting specification disclosure. The Chinese board partner seemingly disregarded AMD's guarded approach; by happily revealing an allocated pool of 16 GB VRAM. Later on, teasers emerged via the brand's social media accounts—including photos from an outdoor fashion shoot. Press outlets were expecting Yeston's launch lineup to consists of Sakura Atlantis Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 SKUs, but "bog standard" Sakura options have also appeared online.

The company's bafflingly abstract design is a familiar property; due to its deployments on a variety of past-gen hardware. According to one of Yeston's promotional images, their standard Sakura design only applies to a lone Radeon RX 9070 XT SKU. Both product tiers were accompanied by a message from their manufacturer: "Sakura And Sakura Atlantis are here! Yeston RX 9070 Series graphics cards are built to deliver all you need for ultra-fast gaming, with next-level visuals and future-ready features, supercharged with AI."

The Chiphell forum has provided a steady flow of AMD RDNA 4-related leaks—going back to early December; members believed that "Radeon RX 8800 XT" GPUs were imminently entering into a mass production phase. Since then, Team Red and board partners have officially revealed a full deck of Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 models—complete with a "modernized" naming scheme. By Christmas (2024), insiders appeared to have working units in their clutches—denizens of Chiphell have continued to dole out pre-release info; even deep into launch week. UNIKO's Hardware picked up on the latest signals; with owners of unnamed custom Radeon RX 9070 XT cards: "calling out bad cooling on GDDR6 VRAM."

As highlighted by Wccftech, NDA-busting disclosures have alluded to commendable GPU thermal measurements—when driven at full load—but several leakers have noted less than stellar results from VRAM temperature readings. Chiphell-sourced GPU-Z screenshots indicate a maximum recorded VRAM temperature of 94℃, with the involved GPU's hotspot hitting a top temp of 79°C. This leaked candidate seems to be a 329 W TBP-rated model. Wccftech observed inconsistencies with the other evaluated sample: "under full load, the GPU temperature at the hot spot reaches a max of 63°C but the memory temperature touches 88°C. The surprising thing to note in the first case is that the TBP is only 237 W, which seems weird considering the Radeon RX 9070 XT (reference spec) starts at a TBP of 260 W. This might be a bug...The user has confirmed that the first one isn't the RX 9070 as one would think, but it is the RX 9070 XT as well." The "guided" upper limit for newer VRAM standards is 95°C, so one of the anonymous custom cards is dancing dangerously in close proximity to the proverbial flame. Certain hardware news outlets reckon that GDDR6X memory will succumb to damage once a 120°C ceiling is hit. Hopefully, these issues are limited to a handful of review samples—a couple of AMD's trusted board partners have opted for Honeywell PTM7950 thermal pads and robust heatpipe formations. Stay tuned to TechPowerUp for W1zzard's incoming RDNA 4-related verdicts.