Rumor has it AMD’s feeling the heat from Nvidia’s RTX 5000 GPU launch prices – but a decision on RX 9070 pricing must be made soon

• AMD is purportedly struggling to iron out RX 9070 pricing with retailers
• The theory is that AMD’s original prices were too high compared to where Nvidia pitched its RTX 5000 GPUs
• AMD needs to put all this gossip and speculation to bed as soon as possible

More rumors are circulating about AMD’s RDNA 4 graphics cards, due to launch at some point in Q1 2025, and there’s some fresh info about what could potentially be going on behind the scenes.

There’s no denying that the reveal of RX 9070 models at CES 2025 was confusingly brief, though an AMD exec has since clarified why – namely the lack of time for Team Red’s presentation at that event (a flimsy excuse, yes), and an apparent admission (possible translation issues must be noted, mind) that the company wanted to wait and see how Nvidia pitched its RTX 5000 GPUs.

Fresh speculation (via VideoCardz) from a forum moderator (Pokerclock, who recently brought us gossip on Nvidia’s Blackwell stock levels) at German site PC Games Hardware throws something else into the mix.

Namely a theory that pricing for RX 9070 models has proved problematic and that MSRPs have not been officially agreed, because the price tags AMD planned originally ended up too high compared to what Nvidia announced with its next-gen Blackwell graphics cards.

Pokerclock asserts that there are difficulties in rejigging that price and working out how to balance and correct this with what retail partners already paid for these RDNA 4 products. Working out this – and we must be extremely cautious around this rumor – is what’s apparently causing some trouble for AMD, and kind of leaving its RX 9070 graphics cards in a state of launch limbo, as it were.

Analysis: Time to take action, AMD

Could there be something in this? Well, it does make sense in some ways, by which I mean that Nvidia’s RTX 5070 and 5080 pricing was certainly surprising – it caught me off guard, and likely AMD, too, I’d imagine. Also, it does fit with what’s happened in terms of AMD’s sort of ‘half-launch’ at CES 2025, and the fact that we still haven’t got a date for the proper launch (an event that could be coming this week, if rumors are right – on January 23 or 24, but that’s very close at hand now, obviously).

Moreover, there are multiple sightings of the RX 9070 graphics cards having arrived at retailers, so that also suggests that the pieces of the launch were all fitting into place, and then suddenly an Nvidia-shaped spanner was chucked into the RDNA 4 works when Blackwell pricing was revealed.

It’s notable that Moore’s Law is Dead also spilled some RDNA 4 details in his latest video on YouTube, and there was no rumored pricing, just a comment that he’s heard a lot of different rumors – from $450 (in the US) upwards.

Again, that paints a picture of everything still being rather up in the air at this late stage for RDNA 4, though the YouTuber gives us a rough guess of $499 (in the US) for the RX 9070 and $599 for the RX 9070 XT. That would, based on some purported internal benchmarks from AMD also shared by the leaker, make for a pair of RDNA 4 graphics cards that would be RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti killers.

Interesting and potentially exciting times indeed, but AMD can’t let these rumors on its next-gen GPU launch and pricing continue to simmer and bubble for too long – it needs to make a final decision on RDNA 4 pricing, if the company hasn’t already, of course. And then those prices need to be aired very soon (which might indeed happen, as noted, if the rumor mill is right).

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