AMD’s RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT hold their own against some of the top graphics cards, but the RX 9070’s position in the GPU market has always been somewhat precarious. The official release of the RX 9070 GRE (Great Radeon Edition) might just exacerbate this issue. Leaked pricing suggests a close proximity between the two cards’ costs, creating a potential problem for both.
The RX 9070 GRE has officially launched in China, as reported by IT Home. As anticipated, the GPU features some spec reductions compared to the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT. This strategy mirrors the release of the RX 7900 GRE, which ultimately proved to be a strong contender.
AMD’s RX 9070 GRE boasts 3,072 cores (48 CUs), a maximum clock speed of 2.79GHz, and 12GB of GDDR6 RAM on a 192-bit bus. According to VideoCardz, the memory is clocked at 18Gbps. This is an unusual choice, given the 20Gbps memory speeds seen in the rest of the RDNA 4 lineup. If these reports are accurate, the 18Gbps modules would result in an effective bandwidth of 432GB/s.
These specifications place the RX 9070 GRE squarely between the RX 9070 and the rumored RX 9060 XT. AMD claims a 6% performance boost over the RX 7900 GRE. While not a dramatic leap, the RX 7900 GRE’s current scarcity and inflated prices create an opportunity for the RX 9070 GRE to gain traction, even with a modest performance advantage.
Fans on the RX 7900 GRE graphics card.
The RX 9070 GRE’s pricing poses a significant challenge for the standard RX 9070. While undoubtedly a less powerful card, the GRE’s price is reportedly very close to that of the RX 9070. The RX 9070 launched in China at 4,449 RMB, while the RX 9070 GRE is rumored to be priced at 4,199 RMB – a mere 7% difference.
The RX 9070’s initial pricing, already too close to the RX 9070 XT to make a significant impact, now faces competition from the GRE. With such minimal price and potentially performance differences, many gamers might be swayed towards the GRE. However, the current state of the GPU market, with cards often selling well above MSRP, benefits all three GPUs.
Currently, AMD hasn’t confirmed a global release for the RX 9070 GRE. However, given the precedent set by the China-exclusive launch and subsequent global release of the last-generation GRE, a similar rollout for the RX 9070 GRE seems likely. For now, we can only wait for official confirmation.
