AMD’s highly anticipated RDNA 4 architecture debuted at CES 2025, focusing on the mid-range market with the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070. While not the headlining announcement of their keynote, these new GPUs promise improved performance and features, including enhanced ray tracing, media encoding, and AI capabilities. Expected to launch in early 2025, these cards aim to compete with Nvidia’s RTX 4070 series, offering gamers a compelling alternative.
Features for AMDAMD’s RDNA 4 architecture boasts improvements across the board, including 3rd-gen RT accelerators for enhanced ray tracing, a 2nd-gen AMD Radiance Display engine for expanded media encoding support, and crucially, 2nd-gen AI accelerators.
RDNA 4 and FSR 4: A Powerful Combination
The new AI accelerators are key to AMD’s next-generation FSR 4 upscaling and frame generation technology. This ML-powered feature, designed specifically for RDNA 4, marks a significant step in AMD’s competition with Nvidia’s DLSS. While previous generation AMD GPUs included first-gen AI accelerators, FSR 4 remains exclusive to the RDNA 4 lineup. AMD confirms FSR 4 compatibility with games already supporting FSR 3.1.
Features for AMDAMD highlighted the integration of second-generation AI accelerators within the RDNA 4 architecture, enabling advanced features like FSR 4.
Targeting the Mid-Range Market
AMD confirmed a Q1 2025 launch window for the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070, with an RX 9060 series also in development. Contrary to earlier rumors of flagship-level performance, AMD positioned these GPUs for the mid-range segment. The RX 9070 XT is expected to rival the RTX 4070 Ti and RX 7900 XT, while the RX 9070 targets the RTX 4070 Super and RX 7900 GRE.
Positioning for AMDAMD’s provided performance comparisons position the new RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 against Nvidia’s RTX 4070 series and their own previous generation RX 7900 series GPUs.
Partner Designs and Pricing: Still Unknown
While AMD showcased partnerships with Acer, Asus, Sapphire, XFX, ASRock, Gigabyte, PowerColor, and others for board partner designs, a Made By AMD version seems unlikely. Crucially, pricing remains undisclosed, leaving a key question unanswered. With competition from both last-gen AMD GPUs and Nvidia’s upcoming RTX 50-series, pricing will be a critical factor in the success of the RX 9070 series.
The true performance and value proposition of these new GPUs will be determined through independent reviews once they become available. However, with a focus on the mid-range market and enhanced features, the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 could be compelling options for gamers looking for a balance of performance and price.
