Despite the high-profile releases of Nvidia’s RTX 50 Series GPUs, things didn’t go as smoothly as expected. Instead, the launch was quite the opposite. The RTX 5090 and 5080's disappointing “paper launch” suggests that Nvidia wasn’t truly ready to bring its GPUs to the masses and was more focused on being the first to do so.

This begs the question: will another company step in as the golden savior for those looking for a solid GPU upgrade? Many eyes are turning toward the Red Team. AMD hasn’t been the most competitive against Nvidia, which has led in ray tracing and AI features and enjoys 90% of the GPU market share versus AMD’s 10%. However, while AMD's GPUs may not be the most feature-packed, its RDNA 3 architecture did introduce some heavy hitters. The company has been hesitant to push forward with higher-end models and meaningful product refreshes that could draw players from the other side.

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Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition

4.5 /5

Editor’s Rating

How We Review

Specifications

• GPU: GB203
• CUDA Cores: 10752
• VRAM: 16GB GDDR7
• Memory Bus width: 256 bit
• Base Clock speed: 2295 MHz
• Boost Clock speed: 2617 MHz

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One Twitter/X user pointed out that AMD could have easily countered Nvidia's lower-end cards (sub-4090) with some “low-effort” RDNA 3 refreshes, offering more memory and a slight overclock. For instance, a 7950XTX with faster VRAM and enhanced features could have challenged Nvidia's high-end dominance – or at least offered another compelling alternative in the sub-4090 range.

AMD’s RX 9070 series is their best shot now

AMD may not have gone all out to counter Nvidia's sub-4090 series GPUs, but with the RX 9070 series, it could easily turn the tide in its favor. Unlike initial expectations, AMD's upcoming Radeon GPUs are shaping up to be not as mid-range as we first thought. AMD CEO Lisa Su shed light on the company's next-gen GPUs, and revealed that it is targeting the “enthusiast gaming market” with its upcoming releases, promising “high-quality 4K gaming” for “mainstream players.”

This suggests that the RX 9070 series could deliver better-than-expected performance, giving AMD the opportunity to capitalize on stock shortages of Nvidia's RTX 50 series GPUs, especially with confirmation that AMD's new cards will arrive in early March. On top of that, if AMD manages to price the RX 9070 and 9070 XT competitively while offering better performance than the RTX 5070 and more VRAM, it would be a clear win for the Red Team.

Things could improve for the Red Team with the right strategy

If AMD manages to check all the right boxes with its RX 9070 series GPUs, it could deliver a major blow to Nvidia's RTX 50 series – especially since gamers might have to wait 20 weeks or more to get their hands on an RTX 5080. On top of that, some have already started looking toward the RTX 50 Super series, signaling that the current RTX 50 lineup has left a gap that AMD could fill. Now, it's only a matter of time before the RX 9070 series hits the shelves. Hopefully, AMD doesn't shoot itself in the foot and actually delivers something that puts it in the lead at this crucial moment.

About the Author

Hassam Nasir

Hassam boasts over seven years of professional experience as a dedicated PC hardware reviewer and writer.