Tag: Hardware

• A YouTuber has been outlining some compelling theories on RX 9070 performance versus the RTX 5070
• This theorizing is based on purported internal AMD benchmarks for the RX 9070, and napkin maths for RTX 5070 frame rates
• If it pans out, the RX 9070 XT could easily beat the RTX 5070 Ti, and even come within 10% of the RTX 5080

AMD’s RX 9070 models could handily outgun Nvidia’s mid-range RTX 5070 Ti and 5070 graphics cards, if a considered prediction from a YouTuber pans out.

This is regular rumor peddler Moore’s Law is Dead (MLID), who in his latest video (embedded below) engages in some napkin maths to work out where the performance of the RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti GPUs are likely to weigh in (more on the intricacies therein shortly). The YouTuber then compares that to internal benchmarks purportedly carried out by AMD a month ago with its RX 9070 models.

The upshot is this: going by those internal tests from AMD – add skepticism with all this, meaning the benchmarks, and also MLID’s own theories – Team Red was targeting a slight win for the RX 9070 XT over the RTX 4080 Founders Edition (to the tune of 3% or so).

MLID then took that level of estimated performance and overlaid it on a graph of benchmarks (a 17-game average) from Hardware Unboxed that includes the RTX 5080. From this, we see that in theory, the RX 9070 XT is within 10% of the RTX 5080 for rasterized (non-ray tracing) performance at 4K resolution.

On top of that, the YouTuber added in the mentioned napkin maths approximations of RTX 5070 performance, which is that the vanilla RTX 5070 is likely to come in at about 20% faster than Nvidia’s RTX 4070 (so in the ballpark of the RTX 4070 Ti). And that the RTX 5070 Ti is likely to be a rather minor generational uplift, and maybe only slightly faster than the RTX 4070 Ti Super.

Granted, that adds in a good deal of uncertainty, and ifs-and-buts, though it is based on sound enough reasoning. (Namely the uplifts we’ve seen for the RTX 5090 and 5080, on average – a strong flavor of the architectural gains for Blackwell, in other words – and then the relative specs of the new RTX 5070 models versus their predecessors).

RTX 5070 performance may not pan out like this, but if it roughly does, MLID theorizes that the RX 9070 XT (based on those internal AMD benchmarks) could potentially be 15% faster than the RTX 5070 Ti. And that the RX 9070 versus the RTX 5070 could see a win for AMD, too, more to the tune of 10%, but still, a marked victory.

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RTX 5080 Analysis | AMD RX 9070 XT Leak | Nvidia 5090 Supply Update – YouTube Watch On

Analysis: Performance means little without price

Right, so is AMD set to own the GPU mid-range this year? Well, as I’ve already said a couple of times – but it bears another mention just to underline – a lot of this is up in the air theorizing, albeit workings-out that make sense to me. MLID lays some heavy caveats on all this himself, although the YouTuber does assert that he’s confident enough in these predictions on the whole.

We should bear in mind that the graphs used (from Hardware Unboxed) are just straight rasterized performance. Although MLID also notes he’s confident AMD has almost caught up to Nvidia with ray tracing in this generation, but another major piece of the puzzle is DLSS 4 and Team Green’s new frame generation. The latter MFG feature, and other improvements in DLSS 4, are actually huge – and that shouldn’t be underestimated. We don’t yet know how FSR 4, AMD’s rival next-gen tech, will shake out, and so that remains a fairly weighty question mark here.

Another critical point here is that it’s all very well analyzing (potential) relative performance levels in a theoretical exercise like this, but even if this proves correct as to the comparative frame rates we’ll get from the RX 9070 versus RTX 5070 models, there’s AMD’s pricing to consider. We know the rough value proposition of the RTX 5070 flavors as we have the MSRPs, but we don’t with the RDNA 4 graphics cards.

My worry, then, is that AMD will be calculating where to pitch RX 9070 asking prices based on the Nvidia RTX 5070 reviews when they arrive in February (well, if Team Green sticks to its promised launch timeframe for these mid-range graphics cards). It’s certainly been rumored that AMD is still very much weighing up pricing, and the question then becomes: how much does Team Red want to take Nvidia down in the mid-range space?

If that’s a strong motive here, AMD might come in with really competitive MSRPs for the RX 9070 models. But, if maximizing profits and return is higher up the priority list for RDNA 4, then we could get weightier than rumored asking prices.

Who knows, is really the point, and the RX 9070 will only be an RTX 5070 killer – assuming MLID’s napkin scribbling and GPU hypothesizing is in the right ballpark – if AMD prices it to be an RTX 5070 killer. Hopefully that’s the intent, and MLID suggests $499 and $649 (US) as possible price tags for a suitably aggressive move with the RX 9070 and its XT sibling respectively.

Previously, there were hopes of a sub-$500 price for the RX 9070, but if performance does shape up anything like as suggested here, there’s no reason AMD would need to dip lower than the mentioned $499. And again, this comes back to my worry that AMD might feel free to just push pricing harder than originally intended, perhaps, if the RX 9070 models are outmuscling the RTX 5070s in this vein.

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• Nvidia’s DLSS 4 has set the bar for AMD’s FSR 4, with its new transformer model
• The first looks at FSR 4 in performance mode are very promising
• Team Red may struggle to compete if the entire package of FSR 4 is exclusive to RDNA 4

Nvidia has impressed me with its new DLSS 4 transformer model, which provides great image quality and stability even at super-resolution ‘performance’ modes – and now, I’m really hoping that AMD can keep up with FSR 4.

Based on my previous coverage regarding DLSS 4’s enhancements across several games, Team Red definitely has a big task ahead at potentially competing with Nvidia in this space. At the time of writing, FSR 4 is only confirmed to be available on RDNA 4 GPUs (no news yet on whether it can be used on RDNA 3 GPUs), so it may already be at a disadvantage up against DLSS 4 in terms of its capability of catering to older GPUs, since Nvidia’s new upscaling tech will be compatible with GPUs way back to the RTX 2000 series.

Taking DLSS 4’s jump from CNN (Convolutional Neural Network) to the new, superior transformer model into consideration, games will benefit from this, particularly in cases of poor optimization – while this shouldn’t give game developers an excuse to slack off in the optimization department, it’s hard to deny how important it will be going forward.

Demo footage of AMD’s FSR 4 is already out in the wild from CES 2025, and a prime example of this is the Hardware Unboxed FSR 3.1 and FSR 4 comparison video on YouTube (available below). In the same manner that Nvidia’s DLSS 4 impressed me with its improved visual clarity with DLSS 4 in performance mode, FSR 4 appears to follow in those same footsteps – now there’s no frame rate counter, so it’s difficult to judge just how good this mode will be performance wise, but it’s certainly a good sign.

Hands-On With AMD FSR 4 – It Looks… Great? – YouTube Watch On

If AMD’s FSR 4 comes close to Nvidia’s DLSS 4, what does this mean in terms of competition?

In the event that FSR 4 goes toe-to-toe with DLSS 4, the only aspect that would then be holding Team Red back from competing would be the possible exclusivity to RDNA 4. While that could come down to hardware limitations preventing it from working on older GPUs, I’ve once held the same frustrations with Nvidia before regarding DLSS 3’s Frame Generation being exclusive to RTX 4000 series GPUs – so the same case applies here.

In this case, it would be an even bigger omission – we’re not just talking about FSR 4’s frame gen potentially being exclusive to RDNA 4, but the entire package that includes its super-resolution technology too.

As much as I absolutely want AMD to provide the necessary competition against Team Green in the GPU market, it already stated that the focus will be on mid-range GPUs (which we’re yet to really determine with the RX 9000 series), and DLSS 4 will be available on all RTX GPUs – if we’re being honest, it won’t help AMD’s position in this race…

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• Nvidia RTX 5090 supply is looking very shaky according to a UK retailer
• Overclockers has a worst-case ETA of 16 weeks for RTX 5090 stock
• The RTX 5080 is better, but could still take up to six weeks before it’s available to buy again

Nvidia’s RTX 5090 stock situation is rather dire, to say the least, and could stay that way for longer than you’d expect – and the RTX 5080 is looking unhealthy inventory-wise, too, going by the prediction of one UK retailer.

As you doubtless realize if you’ve been mulling a purchase of either of the new Blackwell graphics cards, the RTX 5090 and 5080 are out of stock everywhere (except on auction sites where scalpers are flogging their ill-gotten GPUs at massively inflated asking prices, of course).

According to a major components retailer in the UK, Overclockers (OCUK), RTX 5090 and 5080 stock is sold out and (unsurprisingly) pre-orders aren’t being offered any longer, and they won’t be until the company has “greater clarity on availability and have fulfilled the pre-orders we have taken.”

RTX 50 Series Stock Update 31/01/2025Stock UpdateRTX 5090 sold out and pre-orders ceasedRTX 5080 sold out and pre-orders ceasedDue to incredibly high demand and limited stock, all 50 Series cards sold shortly after launch with some pre-orders taken in restricted quantities.…January 31, 2025

We are told by OCUK (in the above post on X) that the ETA for stock of the RTX 5090 is three to 16 weeks, and the ETA for the RTX 5080 is two to six weeks, a bit more palatable, but still a potentially long wait.

Note that pre-orders that have been successfully placed with OCUK (but not yet dispatched) are in a queue, and the retailer is “working with our supply chain to fulfill these within the ETAs above, or sooner if possible.”

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Analysis: Another GPU launch hit with stock misery

Surely a bit of stock of these RTX 5000 GPUs is going to be coming in over the course of February? That must be the case (I assume), but the way in which the above statement is worded makes it sound to me like the small amount of Blackwell graphics cards that will be arriving is going towards fulfilling existing pre-orders. So, there won’t be any available stock to actually buy on the OCUK site for quite some time – maybe towards the lengthier end of the ETAs provided.

The fact that the RTX 5090 is pushed out to a possible 16 weeks is going way past the most pessimistic thoughts I was having, though. That would put us at almost the end of May before the ‘Buy’ button lights up again on some of the flagship Blackwell models, an eyebrow-raising prospect.

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Perhaps more disappointing is the news that this retailer isn’t going to have stock of the RTX 5080, a much less niche proposition than the RTX 5090, for maybe up to six weeks. That’d put us in the middle of March before the graphics card was available again (perhaps only briefly).

We shouldn’t get carried away with the timeframes from just one retailer, of course, and the worst-case scenarios presented by OCUK – but this does, of course, broadly reflect everything we’re seeing right now. And the general accusation of a ‘paper launch’ being leveled at Nvidia, meaning a launch with no real quantity of stock behind it (in the face of major demand).

Unless we do get a quick recovery for RTX 5080 stock that runs against OCUK’s expectations – we don’t expect the RTX 5090 to be back on shelves quickly by any means, especially given that its Blackwell chip (GB202) is more profitable in AI graphics cards, not gaming products – a lot of hope lies with the incoming RTX 5070.

Nvidia’s RTX 5070 vanilla version uses a different GB205 chip – the RTX 5070 Ti is built with GB203 (a rumor that’s now confirmed), also the engine of the RTX 5080 – and so we can hope that Nvidia has more of a depth to its GB205 production, especially as the RTX 5070 is coming a bit later. (If rumors are right, perhaps at the end of February – there’s even talk of a delay to March, which wouldn’t be a positive development, of course).

All in all, though, the situation looks distinctly rocky with Blackwell stock for now, and AMD has a chance to fully capitalize on this by building up good levels of RDNA 4 supply at retail for the launch of its RX 9070 models in March, to take on Nvidia’s RTX 5070 graphics cards. This is a clear opportunity for Team Red in the mid-range bracket of the GPU market, although AMD has had its own missteps with the RDNA 4 launch, it must be said.

Those looking for an Nvidia Blackwell graphics card should keep an eye on our guides on where to buy an RTX 5090 and an RTX 5080 respectively, where we’ll keep you up to date should we spot stock coming back in at big retailers. Best of luck out there, GPU hunters, but for now, the outlook remains seriously bleak.

Via Tom’s Hardware

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• Nvidia’s initial Blackwell GPUs are rumored to have ‘extremely limited’ stock
• It’s claimed that the RTX 5090 will be particularly thin on the ground
• This is the case for the German market, but it could well reflect the wider picture

We’ve heard our first rumblings that Nvidia’s initial next-gen GPUs, the RTX 5080 and 5090, due at the end of January, will be thin on the ground for stock levels.

VideoCardz flagged up a post from a moderator (Pokerclock) claiming this, on the forums for German site PC Games Hardware. And yes, if your rumor-sense is tingling at this point, you’re quite correct – this needs to be regarded with a robust amount of skepticism.

So, armed with that caution – and also the knowledge that this is all translated from German, so some accuracy may be lost in that process – the broad assertion is that stock levels for these first Blackwell GPUs will be ‘extremely limited’ and this will be particularly the case for the RTX 5090.

That’s according to ‘well-informed’ insiders in the trade, but the good news, at least as far as PC gamers go, is that B2B and wholesalers – those selling to businesses – aren’t getting much Blackwell stock at all (if any, if this rumor is right).

The majority of GeForce graphics cards going to gamers, then, is a positive element here, albeit this is just how it should be. These are gaming GPUs after all, they are not supposed to be drafted into AI work and the like (but they invariably are).

Pokerclock predicts that you’ll need a lot of luck to get your RTX 5090 or RTX 5080 on launch day, and that there’ll likely be queue systems at retailers for those purchasing, meaning the usual GPU scramble amidst scalpers and bots. Sigh…

(Image credit: Nvidia)

Analysis: Say it ain’t so… your stock is a heartbreaker

Bear in mind this is a forecast for the German market, where the big retailers like Mindfactory are expected to secure the lion’s share of RTX 5090 and 5080 stock. Even if Pokerclock is correct in their claims, this may not apply to other regions.

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However, Germany is a large European market, and if there’s creakiness here regarding supply, it’s not an unreasonable expectation that there will be elsewhere. Okay, perhaps the US might fare better in this potential future of scarce Blackwell stock, but American gamers are going to have their own troubles – in terms of the rush to buy before Trump’s tariffs kick in and spike pricing upwards. (Not just for the best graphics cards, either, which Nvidia, and indeed AMD, are surely going to have new candidates for).

There’s already an expectation that next-gen GPUs could be thin on the ground, and difficult to buy, in the early days of Blackwell (and maybe AMD RDNA 4 too, who knows). This isn’t exactly uncommon when it comes to new hardware launches, and PC enthusiasts are always prepared for a potentially frustrating hunt for available stock, and instances of just missing out, then seeing the inevitable appearance of new GPUs on auction sites laden with infuriatingly eye-watering price tags.

If you can be patient, these wrinkles will all come out in the wash eventually, but as noted, those in the US face a very different kind of pressure this time around to buy quick before the hefty price inflation that’s on the horizon for electronic goods kicks in.

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• AMD is purportedly struggling to iron out RX 9070 pricing with retailers
• The theory is that AMD’s original prices were too high compared to where Nvidia pitched its RTX 5000 GPUs
• AMD needs to put all this gossip and speculation to bed as soon as possible

More rumors are circulating about AMD’s RDNA 4 graphics cards, due to launch at some point in Q1 2025, and there’s some fresh info about what could potentially be going on behind the scenes.

There’s no denying that the reveal of RX 9070 models at CES 2025 was confusingly brief, though an AMD exec has since clarified why – namely the lack of time for Team Red’s presentation at that event (a flimsy excuse, yes), and an apparent admission (possible translation issues must be noted, mind) that the company wanted to wait and see how Nvidia pitched its RTX 5000 GPUs.

Fresh speculation (via VideoCardz) from a forum moderator (Pokerclock, who recently brought us gossip on Nvidia’s Blackwell stock levels) at German site PC Games Hardware throws something else into the mix.

Namely a theory that pricing for RX 9070 models has proved problematic and that MSRPs have not been officially agreed, because the price tags AMD planned originally ended up too high compared to what Nvidia announced with its next-gen Blackwell graphics cards.

Pokerclock asserts that there are difficulties in rejigging that price and working out how to balance and correct this with what retail partners already paid for these RDNA 4 products. Working out this – and we must be extremely cautious around this rumor – is what’s apparently causing some trouble for AMD, and kind of leaving its RX 9070 graphics cards in a state of launch limbo, as it were.

(Image credit: Future)

Analysis: Time to take action, AMD

Could there be something in this? Well, it does make sense in some ways, by which I mean that Nvidia’s RTX 5070 and 5080 pricing was certainly surprising – it caught me off guard, and likely AMD, too, I’d imagine. Also, it does fit with what’s happened in terms of AMD’s sort of ‘half-launch’ at CES 2025, and the fact that we still haven’t got a date for the proper launch (an event that could be coming this week, if rumors are right – on January 23 or 24, but that’s very close at hand now, obviously).

Moreover, there are multiple sightings of the RX 9070 graphics cards having arrived at retailers, so that also suggests that the pieces of the launch were all fitting into place, and then suddenly an Nvidia-shaped spanner was chucked into the RDNA 4 works when Blackwell pricing was revealed.

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It’s notable that Moore’s Law is Dead also spilled some RDNA 4 details in his latest video on YouTube, and there was no rumored pricing, just a comment that he’s heard a lot of different rumors – from $450 (in the US) upwards.

Again, that paints a picture of everything still being rather up in the air at this late stage for RDNA 4, though the YouTuber gives us a rough guess of $499 (in the US) for the RX 9070 and $599 for the RX 9070 XT. That would, based on some purported internal benchmarks from AMD also shared by the leaker, make for a pair of RDNA 4 graphics cards that would be RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti killers.

Interesting and potentially exciting times indeed, but AMD can’t let these rumors on its next-gen GPU launch and pricing continue to simmer and bubble for too long – it needs to make a final decision on RDNA 4 pricing, if the company hasn’t already, of course. And then those prices need to be aired very soon (which might indeed happen, as noted, if the rumor mill is right).

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