The Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT, two of the first gaming GPUs to leverage AMD’s new RDNA 4 architecture, will not be released this month as prior rumors and speculation had suggested, but that’s actually a great thing because if they had, they may have been crushed by NVIDIA and its new GeForce RTX 50 “Blackwell” Series, according to the latest conversations on social media surrounding what some of AMD’s critics have described as a poor “PR stunt.”
“AMD delaying the launch of RDNA4 to March is the right move,” reads a theory from Hardware Unboxed, the popular YouTube review channel led by Steve Walton and Tim Schiesser.
“The last thing they want is stuffing up the launch yet again, which they risk doing if they launch before Nvidia,” they explained before sharing the belief that “very few people would have bought a 9070 XT just because it launched a week or two before the 5070. That’s not something that matters long term. What matters is nailing the price and launch day one.”
“The ONLY thing that matters for Radeon is how much better value the Radeon card is relative to Nvidia. Gamers won’t switch to AMD unless it’s clear the RX 9070 XT is a significantly better choice than the 5070,” the channel noted in a separate tweet. “Instead, going first AMD would have the most to lose.”
The comments from Hardware Unboxed had drawn the attention of AMD’s David McAfee, who responded this afternoon by saying that he appreciates the excitement for RDNA 4, but with red team currently working to ensure that the Radeon RX 9000 Series will be a “great set of products,” AMD is “taking a little extra time to optimize the software stack for maximum performance and enable more FSR 4 titles.”
That said, enthusiasts can expect a “wide range” of GPUs from AMD’s partners when they do ultimately launch.
“Can’t wait for gamers to get their hands on the cards when they go on sale in March!” McAfee told his followers in a older tweet from January 20.
“amd is the best marketing nvidia ever had,” reads a reply from a critic.