AMD could be set to make available its mid-range AMD RX 9000 graphics cards as early as March, according to a new rumor. Historically, gaming GPU manufacturers have tended to launch flagship high-end cards for each new generation first, before launching new mid-range cards several months later, so this quick turnaround from AMD would make for a change from the norm.
Part of the reason for this could be that AMD has long been expected not to compete with Nvidia at the high-end of the market, with the RX 9070 XT expected to be the company’s flagship next-gen card with specs fast enough to only compete with the RTX 5070 rather than the RTX 5090. That means AMD will be highly reliant on grabbing as much of the mid-range GPU market as possible, so the sooner it can launch its more affordable cards, the higher its chances of enticing buyers.
The new rumor comes from Chinese site boardchannel.cn – via videocardz.com – with forum user Expert No.1 posting about the upcoming launch. Initially they talk about the release of RX 9070 models, suggesting AMD-branded boards will arrive as soon as January but that add-in board (AIB) partner cards might not ship until February. However, they then go on to say that “Other models are estimated to be launched in March, that is, mainstream models will be released before March.”
The apparent confirmation of some availability of RX 9070 XT models in January is good to see, and ensures AMD should have some products available to compete with the RTX 5070 launch that’s also expected to see products available in January. However, its the rapid arrival of mid-range cards that’s particularly notable.
The overall AMD RX 9000 launch is expected to consist of graphics cards made up from two main gaming GPUs, the AMD Navi 44 and AMD Navi 48. The latter is believed to power the RX 9070 series while cut-down versions of that GPU could arrive as RX 5060 cards. Meanwhile, the Navi 44 is a smaller overall GPU design that is believed to be set to power even lower-end, sub-$300 cards such as a possible RX 5050.
If these cards do arrive quickly, we could suddenly find the graphics card market having completely flipped on its head. After years of surprisingly uncompetitively-priced and poor-performing low to mid-range GPUs, we could be set to have some very capable cards for reasonable prices. We’ve already seen Intel shake things up with its Intel B580, with that card proving to provide solid performance for well under $300, and we fully expect AMD and Nvidia not to let Intel have it easy.
We should find out more about AMD and Nvidia’s next-gen gaming GPU plans next week, with both companies expected to be officially unveiling their new card ranges at the CES 2025 trade show in Las Vegas, from which we’ll be reporting, with new posts arriving in our CES news hub.
While we wait for those official unveilings, you can read more about what we’ve learned so far about the upcoming launches by checking out our guides to Nvidia’s RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 along with AMD’s RX 9070 XT. The information in those guides and in this article is still based on rumors and leaks but the picture is getting ever clearer as we get closer to those official launches.