A Cheaper AMD Radeon RX 9070 Is Rumored With These Spec Changes
We all know it's only a matter of time before AMD fleshes out its RDNA 4 GPU lineup with more mainstream and budget Radeon 9000 series models. Those plans may include a version of the Radeon RX 9070 with some key changes to the VRAM configuration, at a lower price point. The downgraded memory configuration would not the only caveat, though.
The other potential caveat is availability, and we're not talking about the general tug-of-war between supply and demand. According to multiple reports, AMD is prepping a Radeon RX 9070 GRE model for China.
Previously, the "GRE" moniker stood for Golden Rabbit Edition in reference to the year of the rabbit in the Chinese zodiac (the first GRE models came out in 2023). Now, however, it's been rebranded to Great Radeon Edition. Call it whatever you want, but China will get first dibs (assuming the rumor is accurate).
That doesn't mean it won't eventually find its way to US soil, though. To wit, AMD's previous generation Radeon RX 7900 GRE initially launched in China but ended up being offered later in the US (we even reviewed one, an ASRock Steel Legend variant).
In any event, ITHome cites a WeChat communication from a PC dealer saying a Radeon RX 9070 GRE is coming. The site says it will be based on the same Navi 48 GPU powering both the Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT, but flanked with 12GB of GDDR6 and a slimmer 192-bit memory bus.
If true, here's how the three models would compare from a high-level overview...
- Radeon RX 9070 XT: 4,096 streaming processors, 16GB GDDR6, 256-bit bus, $599 MSRP
- Radeon RX 9070: 3,584 streaming processors, 16GB GDDR6, 256-bit bus, $549 MSRP
- Radeon RX 9070 GRE: ??? streaming processors, 12GB GDDR6, 192-bit bus, ??? MSRP
The folks at Benchlife corroborated the rumor, saying it heard from its own sources that AMD's add-in board (AIB) partners are getting ready to mass produce the upcoming SKU. Beyond that, no other details are given, like whether there will be any other specification changes or what price point AMD is targeting with the upcoming 9070 iteration.
Assuming the reports are true, we wouldn't anticipate a huge price reduction versus the regular Radeon RX 9070. That's mainly because AMD will eventually introduce a more mainstream SKU for the global market, likely the Radeon RX 9060 XT and/or Radeon RX 9060.
