There are the graphics cards that grab headlines; then there are the graphics cards more people can actually afford. All eyes are on the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti, but after a massive wave of stock issues, Nvidia is pushing the cheaper GPU to March. That gives AMD time to showcase what it has to offer with the upcoming mid-range Radeon RX 9000 series. The jury is still out on whether Team Red can offer a card to compete against Nvidia’s much-touted multi-frame gen.
The $750 Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti is still set to release on Feb. 20, but the company’s product page now says the $550 RTX 5070 is coming on March 5 (seen via The Verge). On Thursday, AMD shared that it will unveil the anticipated Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT on Feb. 28 at 8 a.m. ET. The cards should be out “in early March.” Sure, everyone loves an underdog story (even if the underdog is one of the biggest chipmakers in the world). Still, the real question is whether DLSS 4 graphics software will hold the edge over the pure promise of AMD’s mid-range hardware, even if it’s cheaper.
Nvidia’s “Ti” (AKA “Titanium”) cards include 16 GB of VRAM compared to 12 on the base 5070. It also has a higher memory bandwidth of 956 Gbps and a supposed 30% better AI processing performance. Team Green has promised the base RTX 5070 can hit RTX 4090 levels of performance, though that’s only with the help of DLSS 4 and multi-frame gen. We will be testing it for ourselves, but Nvidia’s claims will rest on how many base frames its cards can produce and how many games it can muster to support DLSS 4.
We still don’t know how much AMD’s RDNA 4-based RX 9000 series will cost. However, we may have a pretty good idea about performance. Leaked benchmarks screenshotted by a noted Twitter leaker HKEPC (via WCCFTech) show the 9070 XT includes 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, 4096 cores, and a boost clock of 3.1 GHz. The benchmark is more important, with claims it can get more than 200 FPS on the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds. That benchmark was in a system with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 48 GB of RAM.
Monster Hunter Wild’s recommended system requirements ask for at least an Nvidia RTX 4060 or an AMD RX 6700XT, but that’s to get 60 FPS at 1080p. It’s also important to note that official DLSS 4 on Wilds won’t be available at launch, according to PCGamer. It may mean the game could be a good proving ground for the latest Nvidia and AMD GPUs, if only for the sake of running each card on an even playing field.
If AMD’s RX 9070 can beat Nvidia in supply and price, it could have the strongest GPU showing to date. Consumers have proved they’re hungry for PC upgrades. However, the hype hinges on the promise of playing intensive games at FPS well above 100 without sacrificing ray tracing or other graphical flourishes. Nvidia’s statements on the 5070’s power have hinged on multi-frame gen. That’s not a bad thing, either. I’ve used multi-frame gen in several games and found it was more cost-effective in an RTX 5080 than the 5090. You really don’t need more than 300 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077, especially when you may not easily find a high-quality monitor that does above 240 Hz refresh rates.
That’s why the RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti are so important for the sake of Nvidia’s claims. These are cards you’ll find in far more PCs than the 5090. Still, the Radeon RX 9000 series may be far more economical for those looking to upgrade. However, all we know for now is that the RX 9070 XT won’t cost $900, according to AMD’s chief of gaming marketing, Frank Azor.
Nvidia’s new RTX 5070 launch date is not too surprising. It gives Nvidia more time to potentially sort out any stock issues that have hampered the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 launch. Scalpers have helped decimate stocks online, driving at least one AIM to sell directly to customers through a raffle-based system.
Even when scalpers aren’t driving up prices, the RTX 5080 and 5090 are expensive GPUs. The 5080 starts at $1,000, while the 5090 asks for an astronomical $2,000. OEMs have also raised the prices of their own cards beyond the typical markup as well. Already, Micro Center shows preorders for Gigabyte, MSI, Asus, and other RTX 5070 Ti cards are asking for $900, or over $1,000 for an overclocked version like the MSI Vanguard launch edition. Even if the RTX 5070 Ti can do RTX 4090 performance, customers shouldn’t need to pay RTX 4090 prices for it.
