Frank Azor shoots down rumors of crazy RX 9070 XT price that was supposedly planned initially
AMD’s decision to push the launch of the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT to March has given rise to extensive debate regarding the true reason for the sudden shift in plans. On one hand, we’ve heard reports that Team Red held back the RDNA 4 GPUs to perfect the software experience. On the other hand, speculation is high that the true reason for the delayed RDNA 4 release is the mid-range RTX 50 cards, namely the RTX 5070 Ti and the RTX 5070.
Whatever the true case might be, it is becoming increasingly clear that retailers already have stock of RX 9000 cards that they can’t yet sell. Giving credence to previous reports, a Bulgarian retailer Gplay has made a video explaining that the retailer already has the RX 9000 cards available. The cards were seemingly set to come out in January but, as we now know, were pushed back to March.
More interestingly, the retailer suggests that AMD had initially wanted to price the RX 9070 XT and the RX 9070 much higher than the leaks have suggested. Rumors currently put the RX 9070 XT price between $479 and $550.
If Gplay’s information is accurate, AMD had originally wanted to price the 9070 XT like an RX 7900 XT and the RX 9070 quite a bit higher than the RX 7800 XT. Per VideoCardz, this would’ve put the RX 9070 XT and the RX 9070 somewhere around $899 and $749, respectively. For reference, the RX 7900 XT and the RX 7800 XT had launch MSRPs of $899 and $499, respectively. However, you can currently find these GPUs for less than their launch prices on Amazon.
That said, if AMD had priced the cards in line with Gplay’s claims, it would’ve undoubtedly put the RDNA 4 GPUs in a tough spot, since Nvidia has priced the RTX 5070 and the RTX 5070 Ti at a lower-than-expected $549 and $749, respectively.
Frank Azor responds to the rumor of planned RX 9070 XT price
While Gplay’s report does sound intriguing, Frank Azor has denied that AMD ever considered pricing the RX 9070 XT so high. Replying to VideoCardz’s post on X, Frank Azor explains that an “899 USD starting price was never part of the plan”.
Since AMD apparently never wanted to charge $899 for the RX 9070 XT, it is reasonable to assume that the main cause for the RDNA 4 delay could be a combined effect of the company wanting to launch with mature drivers and nailing the price/performance of their offerings. Whatever the case ends up being, the RX 9070 and the 9070 XT need to make a big splash for AMD to have any sort of traction in this new generation.
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