AMD and Nvidia could be set for epic GPU showdown with RX 9070 and 9070 XT going on sale at the same time as RTX 5080

On January 9, 2025By Littum

B&H Photo accidentally published early listings of RDNA 4 graphics cards
The RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT were given a pre-order date of January 23rd
That suggests a late January on-sale date, when Nvidia’s RTX 5080 (and 5090) hit shelves

AMD’s next-generation RDNA 4 graphics cards, which were revealed (rather fleetingly) at CES 2025, may be available sooner than you thought – at least for pre-order, if the date accidentally released by a US retailer is anything to go by , turns out to be correct.

B&H Photo has apparently put up some Asus RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT graphics cards (TUF and Prime models), all of which came with a pre-order date of January 23rd.

Those listings have now been removed, but not before being screenshotted by one of the regular hardware leakers on X, @momomo_us (hat tip to VideoCardz).

Pre-order starts at 9:00am ET, Thu Jan 23rd pic.twitter.com/kATVQZNtZv8 January 2025

So it looks like we might be able to reserve these highly anticipated RDNA 4 graphics cards in just two weeks, presumably ahead of a release that would come maybe a week or so after.

An AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE from PowerColor on a desktop with its retail packaging

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Analysis: The battle for next-generation desktop GPUs

Interestingly, another recent one rumor on the RX 9070’s release date came from graphics card manufacturer XFX, which has some sort of either announcement or launch of these GPUs planned for January 24th. Somehow, then, it looks like something will happen with RDNA 4 as we get to the last week of January.

It feels like this could be the official reveal of the full specs and pricing details (which weren’t shared at CES 2025), ahead of shelf availability (which is why B&H has it as pre-orders going live) . Of course, take all of this with a large grain of salt, and there is actually a difference in the dates – January 23rd or 24th – which further hurts these rumors. True, the XFX rumors are coming from its Middle East division, but the time difference between that and the 9am ET pre-order kick-off B&H had down is still the same day (just).

We’ll just have to wait and see, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if AMD planned to launch RDNA 4 and have these graphics cards on the shelves in late January, because Nvidia’s RTX 5090 and 5080 go on sale on January 30. So the dates fall into place for what could be a big next-gen GPU showdown – of sorts.

As you may be aware, the RX 9070 models aren’t going to compete with Nvidia’s RTX 5080 (and certainly not the 5090), so how exactly is this a ‘showdown’? Well, the reality is that the RTX 5080 is going to be way too expensive for most consumers, although the MSRP of $999 was more affordable than expected. (Yes, some people thought it would easily be $1,199, maybe more – although third-party boards will inevitably land more in this range, as most of them will be quite a bit more expensive than the Founders Edition at Nvidia’s MSRP).

What we then want is a situation where AMD can theoretically come in with much more affordable next-gen GPUs, catch the interest of potential buyers and garner more sales with RDNA 4 as people realize how expensive the RTX 5080 is GPUs will – when Nvidia’s $999 Founders Edition inevitably sells out in a flash – potentially win the showdown this way.