AMD reportedly shifts focus to RX 9070 XT, RX 9070 left behind
The “memory panic” is starting to mess with GPU lineups. When memory gets pricier, cards that need more VRAM chips get harder to make at a comfortable cost. PROHARDVER explains that AMD’s boxed Radeon RX 9060 XT, RX 9070, and RX 9070 XT all ship with 16GB of GDDR6. That usually means eight memory chips per card. The memory part of the bill stays similar across the stack.
RX 9060 XT sits in a spot that is hard to replace, but RX 9070 non-XT is in a tougher position. RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT can end up close in build cost, but RX 9070 has to sell for less because it is slower. That is not a great deal for board partners, so PROHARDVER expects more focus on RX 9070 XT going forward.
This does not make the Radeon RX 9070 a very good alternative for manufacturers, and according to our information, its production is not stopped, but the focus is largely on the Radeon RX 9070 XT, so they may produce more of this model in the future at the expense of its smaller brother. On paper, this could help minimize the need for price correction, since the fastest Radeon model is already more expensive, so it is less affected by the increase in memory prices.
— PROHARDVER
In the market, RX 9070 also looked awkward next to the XT model. RX 9070 reached MSRP sooner than RX 9070 XT in some stores, but pricing the non-XT that close to the XT left little reason to pick it. Older retail data from last year also suggested RX 9070 was roughly one-tenth as popular as RX 9070 XT. It simply wasn’t a popular GPU from the very beginning.
None of this means RX 9070 is getting discontinued. This is about priorities if memory costs keep climbing, since the higher-priced RX 9070 XT has more room to absorb cost increases. For reference, AMD set RX 9070 at $549 and RX 9070 XT at $599, with a March 2025 launch window.
As we recall, shortly after RDNA4 launch, AMD said it would encourage board partners to keep MSRP models on the market, but that message did not translate into pricing. AMD made a similar remark two weeks ago, and it is hard to see what changes this time.
Source: PROHARDVER
