Finally, we have some GPU competition - AMD announces the Radeon RX 9070 XT March 6 launch date, starting at $599 alongside the RX 9070 at $549

(Image credit: AMD)

The wait for AMD's Radeon RX 9070 series is over, as it fully reveals the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070
The Radeon RX 9070 XT will start at $599 and the RX 9070 will launch at $549
Both GPUs will be available on March 6, with the RX 9060 series unveiling set for a later date

Finally, after months of waiting for AMD's full reveal of the Radeon RX 9000 series GPU lineup, we've now got a proper look at the next-gen cards via Team Red's performance showcase and pricing for the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 - spoiler alert: fans may be in for an affordable treat.

AMD announced that the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 will launch on March 6, starting at $599 / around £570 / around AU$960 and $549 / around £520 / around AU$880, respectively. Both GPUs will come with 16GB of VRAM using PCIe 5.0 connectivity (the same as Nvidia's Blackwell GPUs). There will be no reference cards direct from AMD, only partner cards that will utilize Team Red's new RDNA 4 architecture, which was built to provide much better ray tracing and raw performance in games.

As previously suggested, AMD claims the Radeon RX 9070 XT variant will be 42% faster than the RX 7900 GRE at native 4K graphics settings - it supposedly matches Nvidia's RTX 5070 Ti across several titles, but more importantly, AMD's new GPU is claimed to outperform the Blackwell card in titles like Call of Duty Black Ops 6, which shows it's 24% faster at native 4K. Ray tracing is also a highlight in the graph (pictured below), with a suggested lead over the RTX 5070 Ti by 8%.

Of course, these stats should be taken with a pinch of salt since they come directly from AMD and don't factor in features like Nvidia's new Multi-Frame Generation, but it's still impressive stuff. The 9070 XT will most likely sit around 5-10% behind the 5070 Ti in real-world testing, but for 20% less cash at retail price.

We will await real-world benchmarks and stats once the RX 9070 series launches on March 6. For now, AMD's performance claims set its XT variant in pole position to become the budget GPU king at an affordable $599 price compared to the RTX 5070 Ti's $749 / £729 / AU$1,509 (if you can even find it at MSRP amid current stock shortages, that is).

Image of AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT vs Nvidia's RTX 5070 Ti — That looks like the budget GPU king right there... (Image credit: AMD)

Now, I can gladly eat my words... Nvidia, you've got trouble

MicroCenter's listed prices before AMD's full reveal suggested the Radeon RX 9070 XT would launch at $699 - which I feared would ring true - but fortunately, it appears as though those were indeed placeholders (unless online retailers decide to inflate prices, that is).

I'm glad to say that Team Red has left me delighted with this reveal, as I've previously stated the GPU market desperately needs competition right now - Nvidia may still lead the high-end thanks to the powerhouse RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs, but what good is a premium GPU if you can't even find one for sale?

If the Radeon RX 9070 XT at $599 ends up outperforming - or even just coming close to matching - Team Green's RTX 5070 Ti as AMD claims, and manages to topple the previous gen's RX 7900 XTX, then in my eyes it's this generation's GPU king. RDNA 4 promises significant enhancements across the board, notably with ray tracing and FSR 4 (exclusive to RDNA 4 GPUs) - based on what Team Red presented, FSR 4's performance mode reminded me of what I saw over at Nvidia with its new transformer model in DLSS 4.

Barring any potential stock issues, the Radeon RX 9070 series (specifically the XT variant) is shaping up to be the go-to GPU this generation, especially considering Team Green's RTX 5000 series launch woes.