AMD faces backlash from fans after revealing its new Radeon GPUs aren’t quite ready yet
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One of the most surprising takes from AMD’s CES 2025 keynote was the fact that they left out the RX 9070 series and RDNA 4 architecture. Instead, AMD confirmed them in a pre-briefing shared ahead of the event. Since then, AMD hasn’t provided anything concrete, except a Q1 launch window and some specifications regarding GPU memory. However, we now know that these new Radeon GPUs will be going on sale in March, and fans are not happy about this ‘delay’.
Before we put AMD under the microscope, it’s worth noting that the company didn’t officially reveal any exact launch dates in the first place and only mentioned Q1 2025. March still falls within that window. However, we can understand the frustration of fans, especially since leaks had previously pointed to a January launch for the 9070 series. Now, just as we were getting close to the expected reveal, AMD has seemingly pushed the GPUs even further, leaving fans to question their marketing strategy and possibly even consider switching to competitors.
Fans disappointed by AMD’s stealth PR approach
AMD hasn’t been the most transparent about its new GPUs, and we’ve all seen that. Fans are confused about AMD’s approach as, instead of bridging the gap between their GPUs and the competition, mainly Nvidia’s RTX 50 series, they seem to be doing the opposite. They haven’t offered those waiting on the 9070 series anything concrete, and posting a statement saying the GPUs will launch in March without providing any performance specifications or data that fans have been asking for made it worse.
This has put AMD in a difficult position. Some people who were considering the 9070 series are now leaning towards the GPU that comes first, which will obviously be Nvidia’s RTX 5070, confirmed to arrive in February. Enthusiasts are calling out this mess as “concerning,” especially when you compare it to the success of AMD’s CPU launches, which are far more consistent in comparison.
On top of that, we recently saw rumored pricing for the series, suggesting that the GPUs could cost as much as $599, making the RX 9070XT nearly $30 more expensive than the RTX 5070, which is expected to debut at $549. This has caused fans to question whether the 16GB VRAM upgrade on the RX 9070 series is worth it, especially when a card that may potentially outperform the RTX 4090 series is on the horizon.
Perhaps a March launch was always the plan?
Now, creators like Daniel Owen, after reviewing the situation at hand, have pointed out that AMD didn’t officially announce a date, meaning that a March launch could have always been part of the plan.
However, this is where things get interesting. According to popular tech enthusiast, Moore’s Law is Dead, well-known retailers like Micro Center already have RX 9000 GPUs in their inventory, suggesting this could be a last-minute decision from AMD.
“Just an FYI – we [Micro Center] already have shelves of RX 9000 GPUs filling one of our backrooms as of 1/19…So, this was DEFINITELY a last minute decision to not announce pricing or performance yet. We still have zero communiqué from AMD on what we are supposed to do with these things, and technically we are holding the bag for AMD while they wait to tell us how much money we can make from these cards we ordered lol.”
Source: Moore’s Law Is Dead
AMD’s previous GPUs have generally been priced $50 lower than their Nvidia counterparts, which has worked to some extent. However, with the RTX 5070, Nvidia is not only offering a better-performing card but also better value, something AMD seems to have not anticipated. This could be the reason for the potential delay, as AMD may now want to play the waiting game to assess the final pricing, performance, and reception of the RTX 5070 and RX 5070 Ti.
Since AMD has no direct competitor to the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 this time around, it’s crucial that the company nails the launch of the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT in terms of price and performance. However, with the delay, it may have just left the door wide open for Nvidia to swoop in and claim the majority of sales – even more so than we would first expect.
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