It appears like I’ll have performed myself once more. I used to be genuinely enthusiastic about AMD’s RX 9070 XT, however now, I’m beginning to fear about its future. I all the time knew that the brand new AMD flagship wouldn’t be capable to compete towards a few of Nvidia’s greatest graphics playing cards, however I had a number of hope that it’d nonetheless be an awesome competitor for numerous different causes.
I’m not doubting the efficiency of the RX 9070 XT. I’ve no cause to, as we don’t know a factor about it — and that’s precisely why I’m apprehensive. Not solely are the GPUs nonetheless an entire thriller, however they’ve additionally reportedly been delayed. At this fee, I worry that AMD could have misplaced the conflict earlier than it even began, and I’m not alone.
What’s happening with RDNA 4?
I felt pretty excited for the RX 9070 XT, but so far, the launch of RDNA 4 has been a harsh lesson in managing your expectations.
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First, the GPUs barely got a mention during AMD’s 45-minute-long CES 2025 keynote. Then, the few slides that AMD released to the press offered very little information; we basically only learned a little bit about the RDNA 4 architecture and AMD’s performance goals. The information was vague, too — think “improved ray tracing performance” and the like.
The GPUs themselves were spotted at CES, but only those made by AMD’s partners, and they didn’t come with any specifications. So, at this stage, it’s been revealed that the RX 9070 XT comes with three fans in its Gigabyte design. That’s… not a lot.
But wait — there’s hope, or so I thought. AMD told Digital Trends that RDNA 4 would be released “in a matter of weeks,” and that the company thought that the new RX 9000 series deserved its own event. But only silence has followed.
The first update came not from AMD itself, but from B&H. The retailer put the RX 9070 XT up for sale with a January 22 preorder date. The cards had been taken down, but then they reappeared with a release date of March 22. Finally, this tracks.
Radeon 9000 series hardware and software are looking great and we are planning to have a wide assortment of cards available globally. Can’t wait for gamers to get their hands on the cards when they go on sale in March!
— David McAfee (@McAfeeDavid_AMD) January 20, 2025
David McAfee, AMD’s vice chairman and common supervisor of the Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics division, revealed on X (Twitter) that the playing cards will go on sale in March. McAfee later added that AMD is holding onto the GPUs a short time longer in an effort to optimize their software program stack, together with FSR 4.
In the meantime, varied leakers and tipsters are having a subject day with AMD’s troubled RDNA 4 launch. Latest whispers level to AMD nonetheless holding off to see how Nvidia fares. At this fee, AMD will probably get to see the RTX 5070 Ti and the RTX 5070 of their full glory earlier than it launches the RX 9070 XT.
AMD needed to announce its new graphics playing cards alongside Nvidia, however it clearly didn’t have a stable plan for really releasing them. Now, we’ve needed to cobble collectively varied concepts in regards to the playing cards from leaks, board companions, and social media posts, which doesn’t encourage a number of confidence.
I’m dropping religion, and I’m not alone
As soon as I saw David McAfee announce that RDNA 4 wouldn’t be here until March, I knew what was coming — and I wasn’t wrong. PC gaming enthusiasts, including both AMD and Nvidia fans, weren’t happy with the way it’s all gone down.
Scrolling through the hundreds of comments under McAfee’s post reveals just how badly the general public wants to know what’s going on.
Not even, a proper announcement with slides of performance, features. Could be even “price will be reveled at, a later date”. This is so bad PR… i have no words.
— Tomasz Gawroński (@GawroskiT) January 20, 2025
Sitting at over 500 likes, a remark from GawroskiT on X makes a dig at AMD’s PR group. “Not even a correct announcement. […] That is [such] unhealthy PR. I’ve no phrases.”
One other consumer, PlaysRingle, guarantees to ditch AMD for Nvidia primarily based on how issues are going. “AMD goes to make me improve my RX 7900 XTX to an RTX 5080. I can’t preserve defending AMD when it retains doing this stuff.”
I do know that I’m being pretty essential of AMD right here myself, however I can’t assist feeling unhealthy when studying these feedback and seeing the reactions. A few of it’s actually fairly harsh, reminiscent of this remark from noremac258: “Does AMD ever not fail to capitalize on a possibility? […] AMD’s graphics division is a catastrophe.”
What ARE you guys doing? What kind of “advertising” is that this “stealth” reveal??? Your CES presence was so uninformative you’d have been higher off not exhibiting up in any respect, and all we get since then is THIS?
— DGBurns (@davidgburns) January 21, 2025
I attempted to seek out extra supportive feedback, however there are only a few of these to be discovered. Nonetheless, {Hardware} Unboxed made a separate publish defending AMD, which is what prompted McAfee to make clear that the delayed launch comes all the way down to software program optimization.
AMD delaying the launch of RDNA4 to March is the proper transfer. The very last thing they need is stuffing up the launch but once more, which they danger doing in the event that they launch earlier than Nvidia.
And only a few individuals would have purchased a 9070 XT simply because it launched per week or two earlier than the 5070.…
— {Hardware} Unboxed (@HardwareUnboxed) January 20, 2025
I do know that X is a troublesome crowd, so I made a decision to test Reddit for extra reactions. Lengthy story quick — it wasn’t fairly.
The feedback below this publish, sharing that RDNA 4 gained’t arrive till March, are nonetheless harsh. One commenter mentioned: “Nvidia’s launch was wanting quite underwhelming, so AMD needed to pull out all of the stops to ensure they miss the chance this time.”
“I understand this as having no confidence in your personal product. [AMD] had the chance right here to grab this midrange market phase by popping out first,” mentioned one other consumer, mentioning that ready for Nvidia’s RTX 5070 would possibly backfire.
Seeking people who find themselves extra in favor of AMD than Nvidia, I ventured into the r/AMD group. This publish shortly confirmed me that individuals aren’t prepared to chop AMD any slack.
Aside from the highest remark thread pictured above, all the opposite highly-rated feedback criticize AMD. “Absolute incompetence from AMD’s GPU division, once more,” says one poster. “Doesn’t a major quantity of outlets have already got the playing cards in inventory? What a fumble,” provides one other.
I may go on, however you get the gist. It’s clear that individuals aren’t happy, and whereas the web at giant is rarely happy, a few of this would possibly’ve been averted if AMD had been extra forthcoming in regards to the RX 9000 collection. Persons are annoyed with the delay, but in addition with the lack of understanding.
AMD may nonetheless make the RX 9070 XT a hit
Issues are wanting a little bit bleak for RDNA 4 proper now, however the web is fast to neglect. It’s nonetheless fully attainable for AMD to show this round and make the launch of the RX 9000 collection a hit.
My opinion is that sharing some info can be higher than sharing subsequent to none; even a fundamental spec sheet would go a great distance. Though McAfee performs a key function in AMD’s GPU technique, most followers don’t test his X account every day. These persons are both stored in the dead of night or they’re left to depend on third events to inform them what’s happening.
Letting most people work out AMD’s plans primarily based on social media signifies that lots of people who may need in any other case been completely satisfied to attend will now be influenced by people who find themselves decidedly not completely satisfied. If there are a whole lot of feedback all saying that AMD is doing a foul job, it’s simple to start out believing it your self when you don’t have anybody telling you in any other case.
Sadly, proper now, AMD is de facto not doing a lot to dispel that notion. A fast X publish, even when coming from an AMD government, doesn’t lower it.
Apart from some advertising efforts to drive up the hype, I believe it’s now extra necessary than ever for AMD to lean into that performance-per-dollar metric that makes GPUs like Intel’s Arc B580 such a great deal. The fact is that the RX 9070 XT might still be an exceptional GPU even if it won’t be able to beat all of its Nvidia rivals.
Most people won’t be spending $2,000 (or more) on an RTX 5090. The GPU market needs graphics cards that provide value while being able to run the latest games, and to that end, AMD’s usually done a pretty good job. Strangely enough, some of its best GPUs are the ones that didn’t get a lot of love from the marketing department, such as the RX 7900 GRE — but that’s no reason for the RX 9070 XT to also be launched with so little fanfare.
In the consumer graphics market, AMD is a small fish; Nvidia is a massive shark. Following a troubled launch, AMD may therefore now face an uphill climb with the RX 9070 XT — but I’m still hopeful.
If AMD gets the pricing right, the RX 9070 XT might still turn out to be an amazing card. On the other hand, if it’s too expensive when compared to its Nvidia rivals, it might end up being overlooked regardless of AMD’s marketing efforts. And let’s hope that those efforts actually begin soon, because so far, Nvidia’s winning the battle — but AMD could still walk away unscathed from the war.
