AMD made a significant impact with the launch of its Radeon RX 9070 series GPUs at the end of February this year. The flagship of this release, the RX 9070 XT, garnered considerable praise, achieving top marks for gaming performance and strong results in AI tasks. Its sibling, the RX 9070 non-XT, also impressed by delivering compelling performance metrics. The market response has been overwhelmingly positive, reflecting a successful strategy from Team Red. CEO Dr. Lisa Su confirmed this momentum, stating that the Radeon division sold ten times more RX 9070 XT units at launch compared to previous generations, underscoring the strong demand and effective positioning of these new cards. Delving into the performance specifics, the RX 9070 XT establishes itself as a formidable competitor in the mid-to-high tier. It offers performance nearly matching Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5070 Ti in many scenarios, particularly in traditional rasterization, while typically coming in at a more attractive price point. While it may lag slightly behind in intensive ray tracing and path tracing workloads, its overall value proposition is strong. The RX 9070 non-XT, meanwhile, carves out its own niche by significantly outperforming the Nvidia RTX 5070 in rasterization tasks and maintaining competitive performance even in demanding ray-traced environments. Both models benefit from a generous 16GB VRAM configuration, a key feature for handling modern games and applications. Despite the success of the 9070 series, AMD has indicated that ultra-high-end GPUs, such as a potential 9090 XTX or 9080 XT, are not on the immediate roadmap. Instead, the company appears focused on consolidating its strength and continuing its competitive push against Nvidia within the crucial mid-range segment. This strategy leverages the momentum gained from the 9070 series launch and aims to capture a larger share of this volume market. This focus is further evidenced by recent reports and AMD's product planning. Adding intrigue to AMD's mid-range plans, recent reports from the Chinese outlet ITHome suggest that AMD might be preparing another addition to the 9070 family: the Radeon RX 9070 GRE. The 'GRE' (Golden Rabbit Edition) moniker has been used by AMD previously, often for region-specific or slightly adjusted SKUs, lending credibility to the rumor. While concrete specifications remain unavailable, speculation points towards the RX 9070 GRE potentially utilizing the same silicon as the existing 9070 cards but with a further reduction in active compute units compared to the 56 CUs found in the standard RX 9070. It would likely retain the 16GB VRAM configuration, offering a potentially compelling balance of features and price. The potential introduction of an RX 9070 GRE aligns with AMD's broader strategy and upcoming product cadence. The company is also expected to unveil its RX 9060 series lineup within the current quarter (Q2 2025). Notably, AMD has adjusted its naming conventions (9070 vs. 5070, 9060 vs. 5060) to more directly align with Nvidia's product tiers, simplifying comparisons for consumers. A strategically positioned RX 9070 GRE could serve as a powerful counter to Nvidia's upcoming RTX 5060 and 5060 Ti GPUs, potentially disrupting the lower mid-range market by offering strong performance at a competitive price point. It's worth remembering, however, that GRE variants often debut initially in Eastern markets, like China, before potentially seeing a wider global release. Confirmation and details regarding such an SKU are still awaited from AMD, but its potential arrival signifies AMD's continued aggressive stance in the mainstream GPU battleground.
