In a highly anticipated reveal, AMD has officially announced the Radeon RX 9070 Series, promising excellent performance for gaming, AI workloads, and creative applications under the $700 USD mark. With its latest RDNA 4 architecture, the new lineup is also expected to set new benchmarks in power efficiency, ray tracing, and AI-driven enhancements.
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RDNA 4 Architecture
At the heart of the Radeon RX 9070 series is AMD’s RDNA 4 architecture, an evolution of the RDNA 3 design that powers the current Radeon RX 7000 GPUs.
The new GPUs with RDNA 4 architecture boast:
- 3rd Gen Raytracing Accelerators: 2x Raytracing throughput per CU vs AMD RDNA 3
- 2nd Gen AI Accelerators: Up to 8x faster AI performance with Sparsity vs AMD RDNA 3
- Enhanced Media Engine: Up to 20% higher media quality (VMAF) vs AMD RDNA 3
- Future Ready Tech: Supports PCIe 5.0, HDMI 2.1b, DisplayPort 2.1a
Specifications wise, the RX 9070 comes with 56 CU/RT accelerators with a boost clock of 2.52 GHz at 220 W TBP. The Radeon RX 9070 XT on the other hand offers 64 CU/RT accelerators and a boost of 2.97 GHz at its 304 W rated TBP. Both cards comes with 16 GB of VRAM.
AMD Radeon RX 9070
The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is reported to be at least 38% faster compared to the RX 6800 XT, and at least 26% faster compared to the RTX 3080. Official MSRP is slated at $549, making it a compelling option for the midrange crowd.
Versus the RX 7900 GRE, the RX 9070 offers a 20% advantage across all AMD internally tested titles at 1440p.
A similar performance margin could be had at 4K UHD with the RX 9070 offering a 21% faster results on average versus the RX 7900 GRE. Note that these are averaged with both RT and non-RT enabled benchmarks.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
The RX 9070 XT is rated to offer a performance of +51% versus the RX 6900 XT, and +26% versus the RTX 3090 – a good leap of performance compared to the older flagships at $599 USD.
The RX 9070 XT versus the RX 7900 GRE offers a 38% performance uplift at 1440p on average (RT + non-RT).
Now at 4K UHD, the RX 9070 XT comes with a 42% performance boost over the RX 7900 GRE. These are again the combined averages with RT and non-RT titles.
Taking on NVIDIA and Intel
The Radeon RX 9070 series enters the market at a crucial time, competing against NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series and Intel’s Arc Battlemage GPUs. With AMD’s focus on price-to-performance ratio, it is expected to challenge NVIDIA’s dominance in gaming while offering better value per dollar for consumers.
This is also a great opportunity for AMD to leverage the current consumer outlook about their competitor’s products. That includes the issues raised with regards to the RTX 50 series graphics cards.
Release Date and Pricing
AMD confirmed an official release date of March 6th 2025. Pricing is competitive, with flagship RX 9070 XT models targeted at the $599 USD range, while the RX 9070 will be positioned at $549 USD. These prices effectively targets the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and the RTX 5070 respectively. However, note that these are AMD’s suggested retail prices so we might actually see a good amount of price margin between their AIB partners and their own spin with model variants.
With RDNA 4’s improvements, enhanced AI capabilities, and next-gen gaming optimizations, the Radeon RX 9070 series is shaping up to be one of AMD’s most significant GPU launches. If it delivers on its promises, it could shift the balance in the GPU industry and provide gamers and creators with a powerful, cost-effective alternative to NVIDIA’s offerings.
Stay tuned for actual benchmarks, performance tests, and in-depth comparisons once the RX 9070 series hits the market.
