– AMD’s rumored flagship RX 9080 XT may be canceled to preserve a price advantage over Nvidia.
– The RX 9000 series uses cheaper GDDR6 VRAM while RTX 50 cards use expensive GDDR7.
– A cheaper RX 9070 XT refresh with more GDDR6 is suggested as an alternative to a costly RX 9080 XT.
– Current pricing shows a 25%+ gap between the RTX 5070 Ti (~$900) and RX 9070 XT (~$700).
Rumors of AMD’s RDNA 4 Flagship in June
Earlier in June, we herd rumors of AMD preparing high-end/flagship RDNA 4 GPUs for release in late 2025. The RX 9080 XT was expected to be among the GPUs under development. This seemed like AMD’s strategy to counter the RTX 50 Super series that Moore’s Law Is Dead recently leaked.
Moore’s Law Is Dead’s New Theory
Moore’s Law Is Dead now thinks that the RX 9080 XT, which could’ve been AMD’s RTX 5080 Super-killer, might not launch at all. The leaker explains that, due to the sharp increase in the price of GDDR7 memory, Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 cards are generally more expensive than the competing RX 9000 series GPUs. The reason for this is mainly the use of GDDR6 VRAM in the RX 9000 series boards. MLID reports that the price of GDDR6 is much better than GDDR7, and GDDR6 is going to get even cheaper.
AMD’s Price Advantage Over Nvidia
This gives AMD a major price advantage over Nvidia, not only in regard to the current crop of RTX 50 cards but also the upcoming RTX 50 Super refresh GPUs, as they reportedly also use GDDR 7 memory. MLID suggests that AMD might not want to lose this advantage by launching an RX 9080 XT with 32 GB of GDDR7 VRAM.
Alternative Strategy Suggested
The leaker’s personal opinion is that it makes more sense for AMD to refresh the RX 9070 XT with more GDDR6 VRAM and higher clocks to go against the RTX 5080 than to develop a new card with GDDR7 VRAM, which would make the card quite expensive.
Current Market Pricing Evidence
While we have no insight into AMD’s plans for the RTX 50 Super series, MLID’s argument against the RX 9080 XT does hold some weight. The RTX 5070 Ti with 16 GB of GDDR7 is currently at or above $900 on Amazon. The RX 9070, on the other hand, can be found for under $700 on Amazon. So, there is more than a 25% difference between the price of the RTX 5070 Ti and the RX 9070 XT.
Future Outlook for RDNA 4
It remains to be seen what becomes of the RX 9080 XT and whether or not AMD launches new RDNA 4 GPUs this year. We are looking forward to Nvidia revealing the RTX 50 Super cards, if they exist. More options are always better for consumers. We just need those options at reasonable prices.
- RX 9080 XT: 32 GB GDDR7 VRAM rumored
- RTX 5070 Ti: 16 GB GDDR7, ~$900+
- RX 9070 XT: Under $700 with GDDR6
- GDDR6 prices falling, GDDR7 rising
