RX 9000 delay: Leak alleges fundamental strategic shift with RDNA 4 as AMD provides more context to RX 9070 March launch
AMD’s announcement of a March 2025 release date for the debut RDNA 4 GPUs has been contentious, to say the least. While some are arguing that pushing back the launch of the RX 9000 cards gives Team Red time to assess the RTX 50 competition, others contend that the move is a huge misstep, as the RX 9070/XT could potentially get buried under RTX 5070/5070 Ti’s hype.
In all of this, the real reason for AMD delaying the RX 9000 release date remains elusive. Now, thanks to an X post by David McAfee and a detailed leak by Moore’s Law Is Dead, we may finally know AMD’s true reasoning behind the move.
AMD is pursuing a fundamental strategic shift with RDNA 4
Starting with details shared by Moore’s Law Is Dead, AMD is seemingly adjusting the way it releases Radeon GPUs by decoupling the launch of new products from the competition. Speaking to MLID, multiple AMD sources have alleged that Team Red is shifting its focus to only launching products when they “make the most sense for RADEON” and not when Nvidia decides to release new hardware/software.
AMD is reportedly moving away from “obsessing over Nvidia’s launch schedule” and only launching new products when the company thinks they are “Perfect”. To that end, a source mentioned to Tom that they are “not concerned about RDNA 4” and think it will be a major success.
Moreover, it appears that Jack Huynh, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Computing and Graphics at AMD, has been advocating for a strategy shift from AMD after “RDNA 3’s clumsy launch”. He is supposed to be the one who pushed for delaying RDNA 4 at the last minute and was allegedly a major force behind the decision to scrap flagship RDNA 4.
So, taking MLID’s reports at face value, AMD seems to have decided to stop chasing Nvidia and only release Radeon GPUs when they are truly ready. Interestingly, this is exactly the reason given by David McAfee on X.
David McAfee, a Vice President and General Manager at AMD, confirms on X that Team Red is “taking a little extra time to optimize the software stack for maximum performance”. AMD is also working to “enable more FSR 4 titles” which is unsurprising since FSR 4 will be compared to Nvidia’s latest iteration of DLSS. The delay is also reportedly giving AIBs more time to build up inventory for launch.
In short, RDNA 4’s delay seems to be the result of AMD not wanting to rush out RX 9000 GPUs merely because of pressure from Nvidia. Instead, the company is focusing on polishing the software experience and ensuring robust FSR 4 support. Only time will tell what difference, either positive or negative, this strategic shift makes for AMD.
Source(s)
Moore's Law Is Dead, David McAfee on X, Teaser image:
