Here’s a rumor that, it seems, has its source in confidential exchanges between AMD partners over the past few weeks. It’s clear that AMD will be launching new graphics cards in the next few days. These launches excite enthusiasts, but don’t necessarily thrill those of us who don’t have the budget or the desire to invest in top-of-the-range versions every time. Forcertain subcontractors in charge of manufacturing for brands, we should be seeing new, more affordable AMD Radeon RX 9000 models, below the RX 9700 bar, as early as March. And it could be that the RX 9070 XT, already expected in February, will leave its place at the forefront of the scene to these “little” sisters, who will also come to titillate the new Intel cards playing in this range. As you can see, the target is those who want to run the latest games at 1440p, or even 1080p with moderate ray tracing support.
RX 9000: more competition in 1080/1440P?
For the moment, Nvidia occupies a comfortable position in the mid-range segment, with references such as the RTX 4060 or 4070, which hold their own quite well. So it’s not out of the question for AMD to try and drive prices down to convince gamers who are still hesitating. Good price positioning would be a major asset for AMD. The irony is that for years, AMD has always been the cheaper alternative. But recently, the brand has sometimes aligned its prices with those of its rival. Let’s hope that this time around, the red team will rediscover the challenger side of its business. The “Navi 44” chip is expected to equip certain mid-range models, and AMD will use it to target prices well below $300. This is an area where Intel intends to establish a lasting foothold, and where Nvidia still holds the cards with its RTX 4060s, with which it can still play on price… and its future RTX 50s.