# AMD Unveils Radeon RX 9070-Series GPUs: A New Competitor in the Midrange Sector
AMD has officially introduced its latest Radeon RX 9070-series GPUs at CES 2025, with a scheduled release in early March. These fresh graphics cards, built on the RDNA 4 architecture, are aimed at the upper-midrange market, directly challenging Nvidia’s RTX 4070 series. With AMD’s gaming division facing difficulties in recent quarters, the company is optimistic that the RX 9000 series will aid in recapturing market share and drawing in more gamers.
## AMD’s Challenges in the GPU Sector
Even though AMD had a robust financial year in 2024—reporting $7.7 billion in revenue and a 51% profit margin—the gaming division has not performed well. Gaming revenue plummeted by 59% year-over-year, generating only $563 million. This downturn has been linked to sluggish sales of both dedicated Radeon GPUs and AMD’s semi-custom chips found in gaming consoles such as the PlayStation and Xbox.
Market insights indicate that AMD’s Radeon RX 7000-series GPUs, launched between late 2022 and early 2024, did not achieve considerable popularity with gamers. The Steam Hardware Survey, a popular gauge of GPU usage, reveals that none of the RX 7000-series cards broke into the top 50 most-utilized GPUs. Furthermore, Jon Peddie Research estimates that AMD has managed to sell merely one dedicated GPU for every seven or eight sold by Nvidia.
## The Radeon RX 9070-Series: AMD’s Fresh Prospect
AMD is pinning its hopes on the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT to reverse its fortunes. These GPUs are crafted to deliver high-caliber gaming performance suitable for mainstream gamers’ budgets. According to AMD’s CES presentation, the 9070 series will rival Nvidia’s RTX 4070 Ti ($799) and RTX 4070 Super ($599), alongside AMD’s own RX 7900 XT, 7900 GRE, and 7800 XT, which currently fall between $500 and $730.
While AMD has yet to reveal complete specifications, several key commitments have been made regarding the RX 9000 series:
– **Enhanced Power Efficiency**: The GPUs will utilize TSMC’s 4 nm process, promising improved power efficiency relative to prior generations.
– **Upgraded Upscaling Technology**: AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 4 will feature machine learning-based upscaling, potentially bridging the quality gap with Nvidia’s DLSS.
– **Superior Ray-Tracing Performance**: The upcoming GPUs will include next-generation ray-tracing accelerators, tackling one of AMD’s major shortcomings in recent years.
## A Chance for Success
AMD’s timing could be advantageous. Nvidia’s next-gen RTX 50-series GPUs, aside from the premium RTX 5090, seem to lack substantial performance enhancements compared to the RTX 40-series. The RTX 5070, for instance, has fewer CUDA cores than the RTX 4070 Super, potentially providing AMD with a better opportunity to compete in the midrange market.
Traditionally, AMD’s GPUs have been slightly cheaper than their Nvidia equivalents, but not sufficiently to compensate for Nvidia’s strengths in power efficiency, ray tracing, and AI-assisted upscaling. Nevertheless, if AMD can present competitive performance with a more aggressive pricing strategy, the RX 9000 series might finally offer Radeon GPUs the lift needed in the gaming arena.
## Concluding Thoughts
The Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT stand as AMD’s most promising opportunity in years to secure a foothold in the GPU market. With enhanced efficiency, improved upscaling, and advanced ray-tracing features, these GPUs could remedy many of the RX 7000 series’ flaws. Ultimately, the real evaluation will occur in March when the cards become available. If AMD can deliver compelling performance at the right price, it may finally begin to bridge the gap with Nvidia.
For the time being, gamers and industry experts will be watching closely to see if AMD’s latest GPUs can fulfill the lofty expectations.
