After a low-key announcement at CES 2025, AMD has given an update on when to expect its next-generation graphics cards. The new AMD Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT now have a launch month, according to David McAfee, vice president and general manager of Ryzen and Radeon at AMD.
The next major graphics card launch from AMD has already been hit with a quagmire of confusion. While both the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT were expected to be announced with big fanfare on stage at CES 2025, they got barely more than a passing mention. There were plenty of Radeon RX 9070 XT cards on the show floor, though, and we even managed to conduct an FSR 4 test on one of the new cards at the show.
Now, however, McAfee has confirmed that the Radeon RX 9070 lineup will go on sale in March. Originally expected to be released alongside the Nvidia RTX 5000 series in a big clash, this announcement has had a mixed response. There’s no real reason given for the March launch date given by McAfee or AMD, but some X (formerly Twitter) users are irate over the decision.
One user, Michael aus Lönneberga jibes “Can [you] specify the year please[?]” Another user, DGBurns, appears irritated – along with 104 likes from other posters – about AMD’s decision for a “stealth reveal”. They also mention that CES was “uninformative” and the company shouldn’t have shown up at all.
Part of the confusion and anger appears to come from reports that stores across the world have already acquired stock of the new cards. The RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT have even been shown as “in stock” on some retailer websites.
There are also rumors that the launch has been delayed due to the Radeon RX 9070 lineup’s high prices. The pricing of the 9070 XT will be crucial to its success, as it’s expected to sit in the mid-range rather than do battle with Nvidia’s higher-tier cards.
Nvidia’s mid-range GPUs in the RTX 5000 line are going to be priced at $749 for the RTX 5070 Ti and $549 for the RTX 5070. It’s this pricing that has apparently forced AMD’s hand to delay the launch. The RX 9070 XT was reportedly priced too high, so AMD needed to re-figure out its strategy at retail.
AMD might not be having a good time on the graphics card front, but it’s a totally different story in the best gaming CPU world. The company is currently dominating, and you can read our Ryzen 9800X3D review to find out why.
